-Levi POV-
"Ahem. Levi, your hand." Haruka said with his eyes looking at our two hands intertwining, and he's actually blushing a bit.
"Ah. I'm sorry. Let's go meet another animal too!." I said to him excitedly, and he just followed me without any complaint. We make our way to the next location. Meeting the llama and alpaca.
"They're cute." Haruka mumbled softly, but I still could hear him.
"Right. You should try petting them too." I grabbed his hand to pet the alpaca. He was startled at first but then smiled and started to pet the alpaca smoothly.
"Omg, you guys are so cute!" I lost control of my excitement and hugged the alpaca in front of me.
"Levi, you're aware that you are 30 years old and not a kid, right?" Haruka spoke while shaking his head. Is he embarrassed right now?
"I know, and I don't care about it." I'm just doing what I love and enjoying myself. Well, you know that I don't really have the time to go out and enjoy myself like this, right?" I told him that, and he looks clearly taken aback by what I just said. He must be feeling guilty right now because he doesn't say anything.
"You don't have to feel guilty about anything." I even lived in the US for more than a decade against my will. I'm used to it. I have been residing in that manner for the past three decades, and I am now a mature, handsome man. So, I'm going to enjoy every second I have here, especially when you're also here with me."
-Haruka POV-
I have been residing in that manner for the past three decades, and I am now a mature, handsome man. So, I'm going to enjoy every second I have here, especially when you're also here with me." Levi says that with his bright smile that even I could not see that often.
But I know that smile is not the genuine one, at least maybe it's not. He's been living following his father's orders since he was a kid and grew up in the States without his family, later on came back to Paris when his father asked him to. I don't know why, but maybe this time I should just follow what he wanted to do.
"Right. You're an Ackerman, the strongest and smartest after all. Keep playing. If you prefer, I can take the pictures for you. I'll use my phone and send them to you later." I took my phone from my pocket and began to take a picture of him. Honestly, he looks happy in every picture taken, and without realising it, a smile forms on my lips.
"You should also be in the photo." After all, it's our first date!" Levi grabs my hand and pulls me towards him.
"Date? Who said it's our date?" I glare at him.
"I said. Now, smile!"
SNAP! SNAP!
He took a picture of us together. Levi took a look at the pictures he just took.
"Haruka, you look adorable in this one. I'm going to set this as my lockscreen." Well, his action is always so fast and done. He set that picture as his lock screen.
"I didn't even give you the permission to do so." I protested.
"The pictures are on my phone, so I don't need your permission." He said it playfully, then looked at his phone again.
"Oh my, look at the time. It's already 12:30 pm. Let's take a look at the other regions before we go for lunch, shall we?" He glances at me. I didn't reply to him, just giving him a nod. That's because I was able to see his phone wallpaper when he was looking at it earlier. It's a picture of me at the beach yesterday. Did he really like me?
//SKIP//
-After Lunch-
-The Art Gallery of Western Australia-
Here we are, at my mother's art gallery museum. There is an art exhibition here today, as my mother told me, and Levi was very excited when he heard that yesterday. And I did not expect that this was one of the places he wanted to visit here.
"Young master Charles. I heard from Madam Auclair that you'll be coming here today." The art gallery manager came and greeted me.
"Please just call me Charles, Mr. Hudson. This is my friend, Levi Ackerman. He's here to look around the exhibition today." I introduced Levi to him.
"It's an honour to meet you, sir. Your grandmother often comes here to look at the arts. Would you like me to guide you, sir?" He said it politely, and of course Levi's answer will be no.
"Thank you, but it's okay. The young master here can accompany me. Right, Haruka?" He looks at me with his mischievous smile. This man, I should see this coming.
"Right. My mother did ask me to escort him personally, so you don't have to worry, Mr. Hudson. Please excuse us." I tried my best to give a sincere smile.
"Alright, Mr. Charles. Please let me know if you need anything, sir." He said that and bowed.
"Will do. Thank you, Mr. Hudson." With that, I drag Levi somewhere else.
"I thought you wanted to come here to see the exhibition, why drag me also?" I look at him, and he just gives me his poker face.
"You're here to accompany me today, right? So you should do that the whole day." He replied to me. He still has his poker face on.
"This is the last, Levi. This is the last time I do whatever you want. So, don't suddenly drag me again. Let's go. We don't have that much time." I walked first, leaving him behind.
"Okay, let's go!" He grabs my hand. And now, instead of him following me, I'm the one who did that. I don't know why, but this time, I don't feel the urge to push his hand away and just follow his lead. It feels like we're getting closer now.
"OMG! Haruka, look! This is a painting by Tachibana Hachiro!" Levi said that excitedly. What is he? A kid?
"Levi, could you please lower down your voice a little? People keep looking at us. You're acting like a kid here." I told him that, and he's still looking at the painting with his eyes sparkling.
"What. Just look at this. This is so pretty. I wish I could go there one day." Tachibana Hachiro is my grandfather, and I guess Levi knows that. Levi is currently looking at the painting of Fort Goryokaku in Hakodate. It is beautiful, indeed. People said the view from there is worth more than a million dollars and is the most popular spot to confess your love.
"Say, Haruka. Can I buy this one?" I did not expect that to come from his mouth.
"What? Are you crazy? You know my grandfather doesn't really sell his paintings, right?"
"You're his grandson. Can't you persuade him for me? Until now, I didn't have even one of his paintings, despite him being my idol for a long time." He keeps begging me, and of course I wouldn't fall for that.
I just keep walking, and he just follows me from behind until we reach the centre. The centre where my mother put the most expensive painting in the world. An art by L. Schatz. A portrait of a mother and her son. I look at the painting. It's been a long time since I've been here.
Levi also stops there, and I'm grateful he's no longer asking for my grandfather's painting. He also looks at the painting.
"You like this painting?" He looks at me with a smile. A smile that hopes the answer I will give is a yes.
"I do. The first time my mother brought me here was 10 years ago. I don't really like art, to be honest, but when I entered this section that time, this painting caught my attention. In fact, this is the first painting that drowned me deep into it to understand what the artist wanted to convey through this art. I'm going to apologise to my grandfather later, but this is the best painting I've ever seen since 10 years ago."
-Levi POV-
"I'm going to apologise to my grandfather later, but this is the best painting I've ever seen since 10 years ago." Haruka said that sincerely, and I'm glad to hear that.
"Do you know who the artist is?" I asked him.
"My mother said the artist never reveals himself in public, so we don't know who he or she might be." He spoke, and I just nodded.
"Well, that's too bad. But maybe you actually already met the artist, right?" I tried to get his attention, and it works.
"What do you mean by that?" Haruka asked while looking at me seriously.
"Well, you did say the artist never revealed himself to the public. So maybe we might just run into them without knowing, right?" I almost forgot that he's one of the most intelligent people in the world, he's probably not going to fall for it. Well, since he's not really interested in art, maybe he will let it slide this time.
"Well, you might be right. But if I might run into the artist one day, I'm going to tell him that he's the best artist I've ever known." He said it with a smile that I rarely get to see.
"Well, I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear that. Look, this painting is lovely too." I tried to change the topic and walked towards the painting that I just mentioned. It's a painting of the blue ocean and blue sky. Simple, but it's pretty if you could see through it.
"Well, I guess you're right. It's pretty." While looking at the painting, Haruka replied.
"Okay, I'm going to buy this one since you said it's pretty." Again, my words caught his attention.
"Levi Ackerman, don't joke around. Are you really going to buy this just because I said it's pretty?" He asked me again for confirmation.
"Yeah, because you said it's pretty, and that's not the only reason, actually." I replied while looking at him with a smile. A mischievous one.
"And mind telling me what the other reasons might be?" He asked without interest.
"Of course, it looks just like your eyes. Blue and pretty. It'll remind me of you every time I look at it."
TO BE CONTINUED!!!