After a long series of victories, we had to come back on time. The temperature was getting quite heavy, the breeze was cool and pleasant. Me and Shun are walking and talking, we talk about everything, about nothing, we just talk. We bang on bars until we arrive in front of the gate of my parents' house, then he decides to spend the night with me. I can already tell that it's going to be a long night.
As soon as my head passes the main entrance, I come across an Izuki in a bathrobe eating sweets with Megumi who is just in front of her TV show.
We go upstairs without saying anything, tonight I still plan to enjoy my holidays as they should be.
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P.O.V: Yuki
The sky gently wraps itself in an orange colour, which gives a fabulous mix of colours on this beautiful sky that I have been given to observe. Dressed in this kimono, I don't dare to leave my room, just thinking about going out like that under the eyes of my ultra conservative mother, I get shivers. Since she fights with my brother to put a kimono on me no matter what happens, for me it's impossible. At least that's what I told myself, it's all her fault and you know it. I did everything I could to avoid her, whether it was inside the school or outside I was doing my best to be away from that boy. By nature I'm a coward, I run away from love, I run away from everything that looks like love, and I run away from good-looking guys, but he's a totally charming guy, smiling, calm at the same time, especially he knows how to talk to girls...
— You're going to be late, if you want me to drop you off, it's now or never ! Crit my twin brother at the other end of the house.
So I rush to free my room, in a hurry I almost forget the presence of my mother who has been pointing at my room door for half an hour. Her smile is frank, she doesn't say a word, embraces me with tenderness and affection before she can detach herself from me. Her mother's tear-rimmed eyes never leave me, despite her glasses; she never stops giving me a makeover. But there's no time to dwell on that. I get into my brother's car on the passenger side.
He doesn't give me the time to put on my seatbelt, let him start :
— I didn't know you liked blue... I didn't know that you liked blue... I didn't know that you liked floral patterns either, it's all new. He says mockingly.
— Izuki told me yesterday that he would find this outfit elegant.
— She also told you not to make films of yourself, you don't know each other, you don't tell each other almost anything, you're here fantasising about him. I just blush, but I neither add nor contradict him. All that's true, but I'm going to improvise, because if I stay away from him for a long time he could be taken away from me, and if I don't manage to confess everything to him before then, I'll surely hate myself.
An auditory blank settles in between Ayama and me. We are so used to it that it is no longer a problem. We have learned to live like this.
The closer we get to his house, the more my heart beats, I almost feel suffocated in this kimono, and this hairstyle?! It's so not me, why am I doing all this? What if he tells me he doesn't think I'm pretty? Or what if he doesn't want to come with me? The gentle pressure of my twin's hand on my head reassures me, he tells me that I'm "beautiful, attractive, a real bomb" and then he takes me in his arms. That's when I realise that I'm right in front of his house, right there. I'm standing in front of his door, even though I'm not the one who pressed the doorbell, the fact that he might come out frightens me even more.
I'm breathing, try not to make my face red when I hear a sound behind the door.
No !
But?
What's wrong with this guy?
Why do I need this?
— Huh? Yuki? Wow, you're so pretty, you don't go to the fireworks with the others, don't you?
Just because he's shirtless doesn't mean you can't talk.
Just talk.
Don't stutter, open your fucking mouth!
— I will if I go. But... with you, if you want to come with me?
— Is that an invitation? That's great! He signals me to come in, and I come in. But since it's at the last minute, I'll try to get ready quickly.
As he runs towards the stairs, I stop him by saying:
— Thank you for the compliment.
— You're welcome. It suits you well, especially the purple lentils, they go perfectly with your kimono. As he is talking, I can't stop staring at him, he notices everything at once....
— I'm getting ready and I'm coming to you.
Let's recap, Riku yes, he only had a towel around his back, a huge smile, he felt too comfortable and he noticed everything. It proves that it's a crush and nothing more, it's just a fantasy that I will never be able to realize, even if I admit that at the beginning I could imagine us together ect... But the more he speaks to me with as much sympathy as it makes me understand, or rather I only see friendship in his gestures.
In my head, a lot of films are being shot in my head at the moment, which is very disturbing considering where I am. I am almost dozing off so I don't have any more in my head.
After a few minutes, he comes out wearing an indigo kimono, with traditional wooden sandals on his feet like me. I can't help but imagine him beside me... As he approaches me I notice that in his hands he is holding two wooden swords in their cases, he puts one on his side like the ancient samurai. Why is he doing this? Obviously, he nonchalantly holds out the second one as if it was perfectly normal to have it in his hands despite the outfit I was wearing.
I hold the case, then question him with my gaze.
— Bha it's to complete the disguise, it's fresher I think. He says with his best smile.
— But it's not a cosplay festival or anything like that, you look great in that. So take this off, I take the sword off and put it on the big table. There we can go.
He smiles, then invites me to follow him. We walk along the road to the little hill, he talks, I talk, I listen to him talk, he makes me laugh. This moment is being engraved in my memory. Since he is taller than me, I spend half of the time looking at his face when he speaks. I can't help but see him in his beautiful light, his facial features are so relaxed; just seeing him so relaxed relaxes me, I've forgotten my crush on him, I've started laughing at everything, this guy puts me in such a peaceful state that when night falls completely I still don't feel like going home.
— Are you coming? We're going to the temple upstairs.
— I'll follow you all evening, miss.
— So tell me, why were you at home on the day of the fireworks? When I said that, I wrapped my hands around her forearm - I couldn't help it.
— It's funny but I watched Firework, I know it's old-fashioned but I like the classics. But this one, on the other hand, was boring.
— I liked it though, it's very lively, especially the story holds together...
— If you say so. And you, why are you here with me?
The question was sudden, brutal, I couldn't help but have a backward movement that he noticed right away, I was afraid of everything I might have said, confessing was no longer on the programme, I intended to take advantage of this moment.
— Wait a minute. We've arrived, let me say a few prayers and then I'll answer your questions.
He just nods his head and goes to the front of the temple stairs. From there he looks at the little set to celebrate the end of summer, the beautiful lights that illuminate below are so beautiful from here.
I make some prayers. Then he joins him.
— So you're a Shintoist?
— Yes, I was born and raised here in this small town, so it was obvious. Why was that? Aren't you?
He lands on the step, I decide to do the same.
— In fact," he begins with a distracted look, "my mother didn't believe before, my father and I didn't either. But as soon as we arrived here - on the land of her ancestors - she started going to Shinto temples, little by little my father followed her, and from time to time when we have the opportunity, I often go with them. And tell me, you are not so close with your brother?
— Not really, I confess without hesitation, we had been separated by our maternal grandparents who didn't want our parents to be together, so my brother grew up with them until he was fourteen, and that's when my father got fed up with them and took them to court with my mother as a lawyer. My mother's parents immediately gave up the idea of keeping my brother. That's when we really got to know each other, we talked but nothing to do, we're not so complicit... It's a real shame as I've always taken him as my cousin.
— At least you are now under the same roof and you will be able to protect your little brother. He backs up his last words by giving me a sneaky look.
— How do you know that?! I take offence.
— I have my sources. He sneers as I keep waving him around so he can tell me everything. But seriously, your feelings, are they temporary?
I don't even dare to think about it.
— I think so.
— So let's stay friends. You just tell me when you're fed up.
— What if I'm not tired of it? What if I still want to be there for you?
I notice that he is amazed by the fireworks and therefore no longer pays any attention to me. I just take my phone out to take snapshots as I have been doing since the beginning of the evening, I'll look at the notifications later on...
I still take it in my arms. It's so warm. So soft.
— I'll let you know if it changes on my side so if you still haven't had enough.
The hug becomes even more pleasant than it was at the beginning, as he also hugs me. You could tell me everything, I couldn't help but see him as an inaccessible crush.
After that. My brother comes to pick me up. Izuki joins Riku.
And I only take off this garment the next day. Because I wanted to sleep with his smell on me. When I close my eyes and then, as if I was falling asleep, I get a message on Line from him.
I open it and see several pictures and videos of me taken by him. I also send my booty and we laugh for a while.
"— You didn't have to take them off. You look even prettier with your glasses. Good night."
I see this message at dawn.
And I smile early in the morning.
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Thanks for reading see you next week !