Somewhere Only We Know [a Ninomiya Kazunari love story] - Chapter 46
Somewhere Only We Know, Chapter 46
Pairing: Ninomiya Kazunari/OC
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Arashi or Johnny's Entertainment. Sorry if I misuse some Japanese phrases.
Summary:
When you've been alone for so long, sometimes you forget that you're lost. But if one day you brush across another hand grappling in the dark - if you dare to take it and hold on tight - you just might find the way out together. Love, in the end, is what saves us all; if you're brave enough you'll find it, and if you're crazy enough it just might stay.
All previous chapters in the master post!
-----------
Manager Satake had watched everything from the control room, dumbfounded that Ninomiya Kazunari had gone and done something so rash, and yet utterly impressed by the performance. He knew of course why Nino had disobeyed orders - for love’s sake - so he took his time to flag him down. After searching all over the station’s headquarters he found his runaway charge in the bathroom, bent over the sink, splashing his face with ice cold water over and over again. Ninomiya Kazunari drew up for air, sputtering and pale
.
credit: veeeeecky on Tumblr
The suited man looked on with pity, knowing full well the numbing restrictions him and the company had forced upon Nino - and of course, all the others - like a crystal cage all these years. Most days he tried to tell himself that the gains were worth it, but then again, he was not the one making the sacrifices.
“Ninomiya-san, you…”
“I apologize, Satake-san. It won’t happen again.” the idol evenly muttered, patting himself dry with a paper towel as calmly as if simply stepping out of the shower. “I promise… I will never make that same mistake again.”
“Listen--”
“-- Let’s go back. We need to finish up the discussion.”
Although bursting with curiosity, the staff could not build up the courage to ask what that duet with his former co-star had meant. They did note however the sudden shift and the captivating focus in the idol’s round eyes.
“I just want Nino-san to be a show that gives viewers a space to relax and laugh and be honest, even if it’s at my expense. I’d like to be able to be… myself.”
-------
credit: mitsujii on Tumblr
The nimble motorcycle swerved around all obstacles with powerful, effortless elegance, and Tokyo turned into a kaleidoscope of neon lights. As they flew through the dark city streets Yuri’s mind raced from the sheer thrilling speed. Not once did she fear for her safety, for the engine purred steadily like it was well-cared for, and Minoru maneuvered the bike with a firm, intuitive grip. Yuri felt invincible, if only for a short drive.
It was only when they came to a gradual halt in an unfamiliar neighborhood that she realized that riding head first into the sharp winds had turned her absolutely frozen. An uncontrollable yet rejuvenating shiver ran through from her head to her toes.
“Yabai, gomen, I should’ve - here-“ Minoru fumbled, shrugged off his heavy leather jacket, and draped it over her thin shoulders. It was both a relief and a worry for her to receive the garment.
“Ii desu kedo--”
“Wait right here, I’ll be right back.”
The man ran into the nearest convenient store and soon returned with two steaming hot beverages. Yuri accepted one gratefully; the warm barley tea comfortingly coursed through her insides and seemed to even loosen her lungs.
“So where are we exactly?”
Minoru searched on his phone. “Looks like this is… the Motoyoyogicho. If we go a little east, there’s the Embassy of Bulgaria. Omoshiroi.”
“Eh? You really drove us to a random place?”
“That’s what you asked for.”
Yuri chuckled, looking over at the small screen. “What else is around?”
“Let’s see - a children’s garden, a dog café, the Olympic Memorial Youth Center…”
“Oh, Yoyogi Park!” she pointed to the giant block of green on the map.
“Well I said we were in Yoyogicho after all…”
“I’ve always wanted to see it!”
“Hountou desu ka? But that’s too bad, it’s definitely closed by this hour.”
“Ah sou ka?”
“Hey, I have an idea.” Minoru brightened. He switched the maps to Street View, and within a minute he found what he was looking for. “If we walk down a few blocks and turn here, there is a small sports park with some trees. Let’s go there.”
Yuri followed along as Minoru guided them with the map. The beginning of a smile couldn’t help but tweak at the corners of her lips as she watched him take her simple whim so sincerely.
“Google Maps is amazing, ne.”
“Did you know that I interned with them for one season?” the photographer said. “It was back around when Google Earth was first starting, and America had been the only place with a lot of footage… We went all over Taiwan and just took frame after frame of panoramas around the entire capital. I had never been there before then so it was awesome to see literally every meter of it.”
“Sugoi! That must have been great to get to travel even as an intern, ne.” she sighed wistfully. “How does it work, then, the panoramas?”
“Eh?”
“The photos are like 3D, and when you’re clicking through you can travel forward one hundred meters at time. It’s surreal. Did you need special equipment?”
Minoru blinked, thrown off his guard. No one outside of the photography community had ever asked him about the technicalities and yet Yuri’s open-eyed curiosity was genuine, so he hesitantly started rambling about rolling shutters, fisheye lenses, and digital editing, and caught himself after a few minutes.
“Sorry, I’m probably boring you.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You can be honest.”
“I am. I might not understand most of it but I can sort of follow. Besides, it’s just fun to listen to people talk about their passions. Their eyes light up and they talk in run on sentences and they have all these grand images in their heads…”
That tricky balminess began to bloom in the man’s chest once more so he forced himself to look elsewhere.
“Oh shoot…” He held up his phone, comparing the image of greenery on the screen to the urban bridge that now stood in its place. “I guess things changed a bit since they built the map. Gomen.”
The pair decided to rest, leaning over the railing and watching the cars pass through underneath them in a steady stream of reds and yellows. Numerous questions brewed on Minoru’s tongue but he sorely swallowed them back; he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answers. He glanced sideways to see Yuri’s liveliness fading back once again as she stared out into the shadows. Over the past few months Yuri had told their group bits and pieces about her nameless, faceless boyfriend, but she had always been so cautious about the information that they had all wondered where her shame was coming from. Now it made more sense.
credit: fuckyeahjapanandkorea on Tumblr
“Kawashima-san?” Yuri began out of the blue. “Have… have you ever been truly heartbroken before?”
Minoru deftly paused. “Yes. Years ago.”
“What was it like for you?”
Despite its odd simplicity, deep down he understood the root of her query.
“I felt absolutely worthless, and replayed all the memories again and again as if I would be able to find the exact moment where it went wrong - as if I could go back in time and fix it in the first place. It hurt… every day… until it was only every other week, then every once in a while when something like music or deja vu would trigger it. Then one day it just didn’t hurt anymore, like I finally forgot to tell myself that I should be sad.”
To think that some man hadn’t realized just how much treasure he had possessed and would dare to hurt her very spirit, irrationally infuriated Minoru.
“Maybe that sounds impossible right now but it will pass, Shimada-san, I promise you. You’ll…” He chose his words carefully. “You’ll find yourself again.”
“That’s the thing - after each hardship I’m afraid that I come out a bit of a different person each time.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Well…”
“Now of course I don’t know everything that you’ve gone through, Shimada-san, but from what I can see you haven’t turned into some sort of jaded old miser; you’re still the girl who brings grace wherever she goes, the one who mellows out Elena’s feisty arguments and the one who is the most patient with Taiga’s oddities. You treat Anzai-san more like your older sister than your manager.”
Her eyes danced in wonder, and so he kept speaking the truth. “People who play a part in our lives will always influence us, and that’s normal too. Did you know that I always stay through the end of movie credits now? That’s because you showed me how much dedication all the behind-the-scenes staff really put in, and how much recognition they deserve.”
“Yamette,” Yuri sniffled bashfully, quickly dabbing at her puffy face. Why was he pouring so much kindness out on her? “You’re going to make me c-cry again--”
“-- Besides, would you really want to be the same person as 10 years ago? If I met my 20-year-old self right now I would punch me in the face!”
Like the first birdsong of the morning the sound of her own chortle was beautifully alarming, and yet the one beside her seemed pleased that he had managed to recover it once more. Yuri tilted her head, pondering why despite knowing so little about each other after all these months, that their thoughts could flow so freely as if they were old friends. Maybe it was still the alcohol in her system, but she was staring.
“What were you like back then?”
“Desperately foolish. That year I made so many mistakes, and my best efforts didn’t cut it either.” he smirked wistfully. “Realistically, I think that - even more than any bad breakup - life itself can tear you down and shake you up the most. It can truly ‘break’ you.”
Self-conscious that this had sounded too bitter, he furtively checked the listener who was not off-put by his darkness. Yuri’s piercing, steady gaze, reassured that not only did she empathize, but that she too had lived through such days.
“My father,” she sighed after a minute, “has a kintsugi on his mantel. It’s a lovely little speckled, lacquered bowl with a gradient of blues and greens like the inside of an oyster, but what always catches my attention are these streaks of pure gold almost woven into it as if they were originally meant to be there. He bought it the very day after my mother and I left him for Korea… The potters, he says, take the broken shards and re-approximate them with gold on purpose. They want the cracks to be seen because they believe it makes the pieces even more beautiful. Maybe… maybe people are like that, too.”
Certainly in that moment, Minoru swore he had never seen anyone more stunning. In the easy silence he gulped down his expanding heart, knowing that life was going to make him wait a little longer. Yuri still had to heal and be her whole self again - and then maybe one day, when she was ready, he could dare to come closer.
“Ahno, is my makeup all smeared?” Yuri blushed as he studied her closely. “I must look like a clown.”
“Actually you probably cried it all off…”
Yet as much as he trusted his feelings, he equally doubted hers. What guarantee was there? What if tonight in her pain she needed to reach out to someone, and he had just happened to be someone conveniently available? What if she would never able to give him a proper look because she loved that other man too much to forget?
Minoru stood up before he got too carried away. “Shimada-san, I - it’s getting late. I should get you back home as promised.”
She blinked at the harsh abruptness. “Sure.”
“Would you mind taking a taxi? It’ll probably be easier.”
“Ah - hai, of course not…”
Following him back to the main street, she wondered why he was walking so fast and not making eye contact. Had she tried his patience, or wasted his evening? They stood there waiting for a yellow cab to arrive, the air between them perturbingly strange.
“Kore…” Yuri began to shrug off the leather jacket from her shoulders.
Minoru’s brow softened. “No, go ahead and keep it. It’s cold.”
Her heart was absolutely bewildered at why it mattered so much to refuse the gesture, but she knew that if she did not return it, it would not be fair to either of them. “Kawashima-san, I really can’t. It’s hard to explain--”
“I won’t be needing it, anyway.”
“Eh?”
“I’m going away for a while.”
“Where are you going?”
“Los Angeles. My company is establishing a branch studio over there. They’re sending me since I studied abroad in the States for one year in high school and my English is workable.”
“Sugoi!” She read his guarded expression and it dawned on her. “For how long?”
“… Six months.”
“Six months…?! And - and when do you leave?”
“… Tomorrow. I’m already packed.”
“So soon?” The startling wave of perplexing disappointment took some time to settle down in Yuri’s stomach. She supposed in her absence this news had already been broken to the rest of their group. Gathering her wits, she murmured avidly, “Omedettou gozaimasu, Kawashima-san. I’m sure you’re the perfect person for the job.”
The hesitating flutter of her lashes did not go unnoticed. “Hopefully the time will by quickly.”
“Who knows; LA is where dreams come true, deshou? Maybe you’ll like it so much you’ll want to stay.”
The man could not reply to this statement. Instead he looked down at his feet and muttered, “I guess I’m going to miss the hanami this year. Yoyogi Park is definitely one of the best places for it.”
Yuri did not understand why she was so upset when the taxi pulled up in front of them at that very moment and Minoru silently opened the car door like a butler.
“Please, take this back.”
The leather jacket was hastily thrust back to him. His gaze fell. While he completely understood, this didn’t cushion the pang of disappointment.
“… Wakatta.”
Stalling for one more second Yuri rolled down the window. “Have a safe trip, okay?” she urged. “Knock their socks off.”
“Nn.”
Internally Minoru chastised himself for losing his control at the last minute and asking for too much. Yet unnerved as soon as the cab began to cruise down the road, the man suddenly threw away all his previous reasoning and chased after the red tail lights. Maybe he was still a fool after all. Catching up at the crosswalk he pounded on the trunk and the vehicle came to a squeaking halt.
“Chotto!” the driver cried in alarm.
“Nani kotto?” Yuri gaped, rolling down the window once more.
“Ahno… will you…” He clutched the door, having forgotten to breathe. “Will you still be here in six months, Shimada-san?”
“Of course I will be. Why…?”
“Good, that’s all I need to know. I’ll see you then.”
Driving off again through the heart of Tokyo, a pressure filled Yuri’s chest like during one of her jogs after a long period of abstinence, as if her heart was not conditioned to such exertion anymore. All the sorrow of that day seemed to have overflowed and drained out of her, leaving her a lightness she did not know how to process. Half asleep, the city lights danced inside her eyelids like hazy fireflies; each one was a flash of a memory - Ninomiya’s last dazzling smile, the blinding stage, the deafening karaoke lounge, Minoru’s caring hand outstretched… the latter being the one she kept returning to one way or another.
-----------------
I'm not sure how many readers will be interested with chapters largely focused away from Nino, but I thought it does the characters justice this way.
At this point Yuri is of course confused, having just had her broken heart re-broken, then being face-to-face with the feeling of how a healthy relationship should be... At first I thought she should waver a bit more, but I think deep down she had given up hope about Nino a long time ago. Then there's Minoru, who has known since the first day he met her, and yet is trying to respect her boundaries and wait. Hope you can empathize. As for Nino, I think he has gained a new perspective and found more of a purpose and goal.
Two-three more chapters to go!
Pairing: Ninomiya Kazunari/OC
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Arashi or Johnny's Entertainment. Sorry if I misuse some Japanese phrases.
Summary:
When you've been alone for so long, sometimes you forget that you're lost. But if one day you brush across another hand grappling in the dark - if you dare to take it and hold on tight - you just might find the way out together. Love, in the end, is what saves us all; if you're brave enough you'll find it, and if you're crazy enough it just might stay.
All previous chapters in the master post!
-----------
Manager Satake had watched everything from the control room, dumbfounded that Ninomiya Kazunari had gone and done something so rash, and yet utterly impressed by the performance. He knew of course why Nino had disobeyed orders - for love’s sake - so he took his time to flag him down. After searching all over the station’s headquarters he found his runaway charge in the bathroom, bent over the sink, splashing his face with ice cold water over and over again. Ninomiya Kazunari drew up for air, sputtering and pale
.
credit: veeeeecky on Tumblr
The suited man looked on with pity, knowing full well the numbing restrictions him and the company had forced upon Nino - and of course, all the others - like a crystal cage all these years. Most days he tried to tell himself that the gains were worth it, but then again, he was not the one making the sacrifices.
“Ninomiya-san, you…”
“I apologize, Satake-san. It won’t happen again.” the idol evenly muttered, patting himself dry with a paper towel as calmly as if simply stepping out of the shower. “I promise… I will never make that same mistake again.”
“Listen--”
“-- Let’s go back. We need to finish up the discussion.”
Although bursting with curiosity, the staff could not build up the courage to ask what that duet with his former co-star had meant. They did note however the sudden shift and the captivating focus in the idol’s round eyes.
“I just want Nino-san to be a show that gives viewers a space to relax and laugh and be honest, even if it’s at my expense. I’d like to be able to be… myself.”
-------
credit: mitsujii on Tumblr
The nimble motorcycle swerved around all obstacles with powerful, effortless elegance, and Tokyo turned into a kaleidoscope of neon lights. As they flew through the dark city streets Yuri’s mind raced from the sheer thrilling speed. Not once did she fear for her safety, for the engine purred steadily like it was well-cared for, and Minoru maneuvered the bike with a firm, intuitive grip. Yuri felt invincible, if only for a short drive.
It was only when they came to a gradual halt in an unfamiliar neighborhood that she realized that riding head first into the sharp winds had turned her absolutely frozen. An uncontrollable yet rejuvenating shiver ran through from her head to her toes.
“Yabai, gomen, I should’ve - here-“ Minoru fumbled, shrugged off his heavy leather jacket, and draped it over her thin shoulders. It was both a relief and a worry for her to receive the garment.
“Ii desu kedo--”
“Wait right here, I’ll be right back.”
The man ran into the nearest convenient store and soon returned with two steaming hot beverages. Yuri accepted one gratefully; the warm barley tea comfortingly coursed through her insides and seemed to even loosen her lungs.
“So where are we exactly?”
Minoru searched on his phone. “Looks like this is… the Motoyoyogicho. If we go a little east, there’s the Embassy of Bulgaria. Omoshiroi.”
“Eh? You really drove us to a random place?”
“That’s what you asked for.”
Yuri chuckled, looking over at the small screen. “What else is around?”
“Let’s see - a children’s garden, a dog café, the Olympic Memorial Youth Center…”
“Oh, Yoyogi Park!” she pointed to the giant block of green on the map.
“Well I said we were in Yoyogicho after all…”
“I’ve always wanted to see it!”
“Hountou desu ka? But that’s too bad, it’s definitely closed by this hour.”
“Ah sou ka?”
“Hey, I have an idea.” Minoru brightened. He switched the maps to Street View, and within a minute he found what he was looking for. “If we walk down a few blocks and turn here, there is a small sports park with some trees. Let’s go there.”
Yuri followed along as Minoru guided them with the map. The beginning of a smile couldn’t help but tweak at the corners of her lips as she watched him take her simple whim so sincerely.
“Google Maps is amazing, ne.”
“Did you know that I interned with them for one season?” the photographer said. “It was back around when Google Earth was first starting, and America had been the only place with a lot of footage… We went all over Taiwan and just took frame after frame of panoramas around the entire capital. I had never been there before then so it was awesome to see literally every meter of it.”
“Sugoi! That must have been great to get to travel even as an intern, ne.” she sighed wistfully. “How does it work, then, the panoramas?”
“Eh?”
“The photos are like 3D, and when you’re clicking through you can travel forward one hundred meters at time. It’s surreal. Did you need special equipment?”
Minoru blinked, thrown off his guard. No one outside of the photography community had ever asked him about the technicalities and yet Yuri’s open-eyed curiosity was genuine, so he hesitantly started rambling about rolling shutters, fisheye lenses, and digital editing, and caught himself after a few minutes.
“Sorry, I’m probably boring you.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You can be honest.”
“I am. I might not understand most of it but I can sort of follow. Besides, it’s just fun to listen to people talk about their passions. Their eyes light up and they talk in run on sentences and they have all these grand images in their heads…”
That tricky balminess began to bloom in the man’s chest once more so he forced himself to look elsewhere.
“Oh shoot…” He held up his phone, comparing the image of greenery on the screen to the urban bridge that now stood in its place. “I guess things changed a bit since they built the map. Gomen.”
The pair decided to rest, leaning over the railing and watching the cars pass through underneath them in a steady stream of reds and yellows. Numerous questions brewed on Minoru’s tongue but he sorely swallowed them back; he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answers. He glanced sideways to see Yuri’s liveliness fading back once again as she stared out into the shadows. Over the past few months Yuri had told their group bits and pieces about her nameless, faceless boyfriend, but she had always been so cautious about the information that they had all wondered where her shame was coming from. Now it made more sense.
credit: fuckyeahjapanandkorea on Tumblr
“Kawashima-san?” Yuri began out of the blue. “Have… have you ever been truly heartbroken before?”
Minoru deftly paused. “Yes. Years ago.”
“What was it like for you?”
Despite its odd simplicity, deep down he understood the root of her query.
“I felt absolutely worthless, and replayed all the memories again and again as if I would be able to find the exact moment where it went wrong - as if I could go back in time and fix it in the first place. It hurt… every day… until it was only every other week, then every once in a while when something like music or deja vu would trigger it. Then one day it just didn’t hurt anymore, like I finally forgot to tell myself that I should be sad.”
To think that some man hadn’t realized just how much treasure he had possessed and would dare to hurt her very spirit, irrationally infuriated Minoru.
“Maybe that sounds impossible right now but it will pass, Shimada-san, I promise you. You’ll…” He chose his words carefully. “You’ll find yourself again.”
“That’s the thing - after each hardship I’m afraid that I come out a bit of a different person each time.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Well…”
“Now of course I don’t know everything that you’ve gone through, Shimada-san, but from what I can see you haven’t turned into some sort of jaded old miser; you’re still the girl who brings grace wherever she goes, the one who mellows out Elena’s feisty arguments and the one who is the most patient with Taiga’s oddities. You treat Anzai-san more like your older sister than your manager.”
Her eyes danced in wonder, and so he kept speaking the truth. “People who play a part in our lives will always influence us, and that’s normal too. Did you know that I always stay through the end of movie credits now? That’s because you showed me how much dedication all the behind-the-scenes staff really put in, and how much recognition they deserve.”
“Yamette,” Yuri sniffled bashfully, quickly dabbing at her puffy face. Why was he pouring so much kindness out on her? “You’re going to make me c-cry again--”
“-- Besides, would you really want to be the same person as 10 years ago? If I met my 20-year-old self right now I would punch me in the face!”
Like the first birdsong of the morning the sound of her own chortle was beautifully alarming, and yet the one beside her seemed pleased that he had managed to recover it once more. Yuri tilted her head, pondering why despite knowing so little about each other after all these months, that their thoughts could flow so freely as if they were old friends. Maybe it was still the alcohol in her system, but she was staring.
“What were you like back then?”
“Desperately foolish. That year I made so many mistakes, and my best efforts didn’t cut it either.” he smirked wistfully. “Realistically, I think that - even more than any bad breakup - life itself can tear you down and shake you up the most. It can truly ‘break’ you.”
Self-conscious that this had sounded too bitter, he furtively checked the listener who was not off-put by his darkness. Yuri’s piercing, steady gaze, reassured that not only did she empathize, but that she too had lived through such days.
“My father,” she sighed after a minute, “has a kintsugi on his mantel. It’s a lovely little speckled, lacquered bowl with a gradient of blues and greens like the inside of an oyster, but what always catches my attention are these streaks of pure gold almost woven into it as if they were originally meant to be there. He bought it the very day after my mother and I left him for Korea… The potters, he says, take the broken shards and re-approximate them with gold on purpose. They want the cracks to be seen because they believe it makes the pieces even more beautiful. Maybe… maybe people are like that, too.”
Certainly in that moment, Minoru swore he had never seen anyone more stunning. In the easy silence he gulped down his expanding heart, knowing that life was going to make him wait a little longer. Yuri still had to heal and be her whole self again - and then maybe one day, when she was ready, he could dare to come closer.
“Ahno, is my makeup all smeared?” Yuri blushed as he studied her closely. “I must look like a clown.”
“Actually you probably cried it all off…”
Yet as much as he trusted his feelings, he equally doubted hers. What guarantee was there? What if tonight in her pain she needed to reach out to someone, and he had just happened to be someone conveniently available? What if she would never able to give him a proper look because she loved that other man too much to forget?
Minoru stood up before he got too carried away. “Shimada-san, I - it’s getting late. I should get you back home as promised.”
She blinked at the harsh abruptness. “Sure.”
“Would you mind taking a taxi? It’ll probably be easier.”
“Ah - hai, of course not…”
Following him back to the main street, she wondered why he was walking so fast and not making eye contact. Had she tried his patience, or wasted his evening? They stood there waiting for a yellow cab to arrive, the air between them perturbingly strange.
“Kore…” Yuri began to shrug off the leather jacket from her shoulders.
Minoru’s brow softened. “No, go ahead and keep it. It’s cold.”
Her heart was absolutely bewildered at why it mattered so much to refuse the gesture, but she knew that if she did not return it, it would not be fair to either of them. “Kawashima-san, I really can’t. It’s hard to explain--”
“I won’t be needing it, anyway.”
“Eh?”
“I’m going away for a while.”
“Where are you going?”
“Los Angeles. My company is establishing a branch studio over there. They’re sending me since I studied abroad in the States for one year in high school and my English is workable.”
“Sugoi!” She read his guarded expression and it dawned on her. “For how long?”
“… Six months.”
“Six months…?! And - and when do you leave?”
“… Tomorrow. I’m already packed.”
“So soon?” The startling wave of perplexing disappointment took some time to settle down in Yuri’s stomach. She supposed in her absence this news had already been broken to the rest of their group. Gathering her wits, she murmured avidly, “Omedettou gozaimasu, Kawashima-san. I’m sure you’re the perfect person for the job.”
The hesitating flutter of her lashes did not go unnoticed. “Hopefully the time will by quickly.”
“Who knows; LA is where dreams come true, deshou? Maybe you’ll like it so much you’ll want to stay.”
The man could not reply to this statement. Instead he looked down at his feet and muttered, “I guess I’m going to miss the hanami this year. Yoyogi Park is definitely one of the best places for it.”
Yuri did not understand why she was so upset when the taxi pulled up in front of them at that very moment and Minoru silently opened the car door like a butler.
“Please, take this back.”
The leather jacket was hastily thrust back to him. His gaze fell. While he completely understood, this didn’t cushion the pang of disappointment.
“… Wakatta.”
Stalling for one more second Yuri rolled down the window. “Have a safe trip, okay?” she urged. “Knock their socks off.”
“Nn.”
Internally Minoru chastised himself for losing his control at the last minute and asking for too much. Yet unnerved as soon as the cab began to cruise down the road, the man suddenly threw away all his previous reasoning and chased after the red tail lights. Maybe he was still a fool after all. Catching up at the crosswalk he pounded on the trunk and the vehicle came to a squeaking halt.
“Chotto!” the driver cried in alarm.
“Nani kotto?” Yuri gaped, rolling down the window once more.
“Ahno… will you…” He clutched the door, having forgotten to breathe. “Will you still be here in six months, Shimada-san?”
“Of course I will be. Why…?”
“Good, that’s all I need to know. I’ll see you then.”
Driving off again through the heart of Tokyo, a pressure filled Yuri’s chest like during one of her jogs after a long period of abstinence, as if her heart was not conditioned to such exertion anymore. All the sorrow of that day seemed to have overflowed and drained out of her, leaving her a lightness she did not know how to process. Half asleep, the city lights danced inside her eyelids like hazy fireflies; each one was a flash of a memory - Ninomiya’s last dazzling smile, the blinding stage, the deafening karaoke lounge, Minoru’s caring hand outstretched… the latter being the one she kept returning to one way or another.
-----------------
I'm not sure how many readers will be interested with chapters largely focused away from Nino, but I thought it does the characters justice this way.
At this point Yuri is of course confused, having just had her broken heart re-broken, then being face-to-face with the feeling of how a healthy relationship should be... At first I thought she should waver a bit more, but I think deep down she had given up hope about Nino a long time ago. Then there's Minoru, who has known since the first day he met her, and yet is trying to respect her boundaries and wait. Hope you can empathize. As for Nino, I think he has gained a new perspective and found more of a purpose and goal.
Two-three more chapters to go!