"We are staying the night. Apparently, the gate of Inculto-35 is having too much traffic. It's estimated the traffic will clear up tommorow night. So we can just leave at the last check out time which would be 12 o'clock.", Tachibana says after receiving a call from the man from before.
She really is proving to be helpful during the journey.
"Well, that's great actually. We can go shopping. And there's a grand feast at night on the roof.", Densetsu says.
"We all know what you mean by shopping.", Tachibana teases him.
"Hey! Stop it. I didn't mean we can go to the anime store."
"Bruh.. you are not helping your situation.", I say.
"Not you too Kai!"
"Alright, fine, fine. We'll go shopping and we'll visit your store too.", I act like a king sparing his subjects.
"Thanks, Kai."
"It's settled then. We'll go have lunch now. Then we'll freashen up a li'l and then we'll go.", Aiko makes the plan settled.
"Right!!", We say together.
"Let's go everyone.", Aiko says while clipping her hair.
"Let's go."
I'm driving again. We are going to the shopping area. It's known as Tienda here. It's biggest shopping area of our country. It has a lot of unique items too. As we reach, we find out that the place is really not that crowded. When I saw it on TV it was full of people. But now, probably not more than 200 people are here. Maybe people left because of the war. Atleast the shops are open. It makes it rather convinent for us.
"Alright, let's keep the car here and go." I say.
Everyone gets down. Their eyes are sparkling seeing so many things. I'm not that much of a shoper so I'm pretty calm.
"Should we split in groups and cover more area?", Tachibana asks.
"Good idea. We can let each other Know if we find something cool. Tachibana and Densetsu you guys go together. I'll go with Kai.", Aiko says.
"Alright." Tachibana and Densetsu leaves.
"Shall we go," coming near my ears whispering, "master?"
I skip a beat, "Hey! St-stop. What are you doing? We are in public!"
She looks at me with a cutsy sorry look. Cute!!!!
I try to stay calm and say, "C-come on, let's go."
"K."
Aiko really is excited. She is trying out different jewelries, clothes, perfumes, asking me which looks better. I really can't tell what suits her more. Everything looks cute on her, even the cheap things. When I get my wallet out, I realize I'm spending a lot of money on her. But it's worth every penny. That smile, that pouting because I forgot to complement her, those pictures where she makes me look weird, are worth more than just money. Happiness, it can even be brought by war. Irony, it's everywhere I look.
"Alright, we are coming. Send me your location. Yes ok."
"Was it Dense and Tachibana?"
"Yes, master. They seem to have found something cool."
"Let's go check it out then."
"Yeah, she just sent their location."
"Aiko!", Tachibana waves her hand to us.
"There you are. So what have you found? Wait a minute! What's that on your lips dense?!", Aiko asks.
"What, where?!" Dense rubs his lips. Yup, it's clearly lipstick.
"Wait, you guys were.....??!", I am surprised.
"What?! No, it's not what it looks like. I promise!!", Densetsu starts blushing. Tachibana hides behind Densetsu covering her face with hand.
"Look, if you two were doing something, just say it. We won't say anything.", Aiko smiles.
Wasn't she the one who said no getting lovey dovey before marriage. Now, she is ok with it? This woman is hard to understand.
"Ok, maybe we were a little..", Densetsu looks the other way. His face is red as a tomato now.
"What!? Don't tell them that!", Tachibana grabs Densetsu's shirt while she blushes.
"That's great. You two are finally acting like couple now!", Aiko smiles. How twisted can a woman's mind be!
"You are ok with it?!", Densetsu's eyes light up.
"Of course, you two are going through that age afterall."
"Umm... thank you Aiko." says Tachibana from behind Densetsu.
"Aight! What is it that you wanted us to see.", Aiko asks.
"Ow, there's this small shop that's selling fireworks. I've never seen anything like those before. The owner also fired some up for us to see.", Densetsu says.
"Ok, but are fireworks allowed at a moment like this?", Aiko asks.
"Apparently, I asked some military personnels from my dad's office. They said there's no regulations till now."
"I have a plan. Why don't we use some for the party tonight?", I ask
"Umm... there's a tiny miny problem. The party is for only couples.", Densetsu says.
My heart suddenly skips a beat. Tachibana will obviously go with Densetsu. So, that just means Aiko and I will be alone tonight. Ow no. What on earth is going to happen?
"No problem. You guys can go ahead. We can handle the fire works.", Aiko smiles.
"Really!? Thank you so much!", Densetsu and Tachibana says together.
It's finally night time. The fireworks guys set everything up. They left after that. We just need to fire up a string from the road. I'm not worried about that. Tachibana and Densetsu will probably come back late at night, maybe even tommorow morning. What is going to happen? I can't think straight. Heck, I can't even think anything. My heart is like punching my chest at this point. I'm sweating. Aiko is standing right next to me. I can't really figure out what she is thinking. Her face isn't giving off any emotions. Calm down Kaigara. This is your chance. You get to see amazing fire works with a pretty lady you love. That is your moment. Tell her how you feel. Doesn't matter what she'll answer. Just say it. We took permission from the manager. He was actually glad we are doing this. We are supposed to light it up when the clock hits 12. Tommorow is Valentine's day afterall. That explains why it's couples only. I actually forgot about the day. Wow, Densetsu probably thought it all out for her and Tachibana. What a nice guy he is turning into. I procured a pass for the party explaining everything to the manager. He even wished me luck.
"And now for the big event of the party, the count down. Gather around everyone! Let's count together. Only a minute left.", a lady voice comes from the roof.
It should take about 20 seconds for the fires to light up. That means I have exactly 20 seconds to go to the roof top of a 3 stories high building get the pass checked and be there. It's time for speed. It's 11:59:20 now. I pick up Aiko on my arms.
"What are you doing!??! Put me down!!"
I don't answer. My blood is already pumped up due to the nervousness. Let's see how my body improved in a whole year. It's 11:59:35 now. 5, 4, 3, 2 I light up the string as fast as I can. I'm in the building now, the staircase is to the right. No time to use elevators. I can hear people counting down " 19, 18, 17, 16..." I'm already at the 1st floor. Need to go to the next staircase which is to the left. Aiko is probably thinking what's going on. Hang on for just a few more seconds my love. At the third floor now. Need to hand the pass to the security. I put it on the table next to him.
He screams," wait!!"
I don't stop. People are counting down" 5, 4..."
I finally reach the rooftop, open up the gate. As my leg cramps up I sit down on the ground putting Aiko down first. "2, 1" the bell rings. So does the fireworks light up. I didn't really know what they look like. But according to Tachibana and Densetsu it should look great. The first one launches to the sky. Aiko looks at it and phases. I somehow stand up, hold her hand. The first one is just for catching the attention of the crowd. They sure are looking that way. The next set launches starting from the right to left. They reach the sky and blasts. They are changing colours. First it was red, now it's purple and then blue, now it's grean and then the next one launches. This is a big one in the middle. It creates a flower in the sky while the second batch is still lit. I almost forgot about Aiko. I pull her hand and make her face towards me. She looks sweaty. Her face is changing colours because of the fireworks. She stares at me. She is really at a loss what is going on.
I touch her cheeks with bith hands, "Listen Aiko! I don't know how you feel about me. I don't know if I should even say it now, or ever. I don't know what will happen between us if I say these now! To be honest, I don't care if you leave the family after this. I just want you to know how I feel. I love you, Aiko!! I love you!!!"
"No."
I suddenly feel my heart aching. It's like someone is squeezing my heart. It hurts!!
"What?", I ask.
"You are not supposed to love me.", I see tears sparkling in her eyes, sparkling in different colors, just like the fireworks did.
"What do you mean?", I let her face go.
"You can't love me you idiot! You are my brother!!", Aiko starts crying.
I fall on the floor, "Is that you, Ko-koyuki?"