19.1
Part 1: A Lot of Getting Used To
"For the record," Hikaru said as he pedaled back to the house. "I didn't think your voice sounded bad."
"For the record," Konako pointed out as she held on to Hikaru from behind. "That doesn't mean it sounded good."
Hikaru laughed.
As he did, Konako felt her heart soar. She stared at the ink black sky peppered with bright lights and contemplated of the possibility that the delicate workings of the galaxies governed human lives. Perhaps that meant that everything that had transpired just now had been written in the stars all along. If she thought about it that way, she found herself glad that her life thus far led her down to this one glorious moment.
Sighing with content, she laid her cheek on Hikaru’s back as he continued to pedal away.
*****
Hikaru had Konako wait outside while he returned the borrowed bicycle down to the basement. Closing the door behind him, he looked up and was wholeheartedly enthralled by the sight that awaited him upstairs.
She stood there, cloaked in silver moonlight, with the tree littered with its own version of stars as her backdrop. He could have sworn she was an angel.
It wasn't until Konako had turned his way and abruptly transformed into a furious shade of pink that he realized Konako had caught him ogling.
He grinned at her.
She grinned back. "Well..." she started awkwardly. "Good night."
It was only then that Hikaru realized he couldn't spend the rest of the night staring at her. Which, honestly, was disappointing. "Yeah! Um, good night."
She turned away but didn't move. She looked flustered.
That made Hikaru smile. "Hey..." He opened his arms wide in invitation. When Konako accepted and he had her wrapped in his embrace, he kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he whispered again, just because he liked saying it.
She had to stand on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "And I love you," she said, letting the words roll out of her heart and out of her mouth.
Hikaru felt his stomach do summersaults at the touch of her lips on his skin. "Forever and after," he promised.
He could get used to holding her like this.
*****
It hadn't been agreed upon but both Hikaru and Konako were determined to avoid getting any embarrassing attention to their newfound relationship. They entered the building expecting they could pass by without anyone noticing but as luck would have it, they were met immediately by who was arguably the most talkative member of the group, Daiki. He was just passing by from the kitchen, happily noshing on a pack of cheese puffs.
"Oh hey guys," he greeted. "Glad to see you're back. We're just going to watch a movie. Kuraki said he had a couple we could borrow. I dunno why we were so scared of him. The guy's actually pretty decent. Wanna join us? Where've you two been anyway?"
"Oh." Konako looked down.
"Um..." Hikaru turned away. Of all the worst times to be tongue tied.
Daiki narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second... Did you two - Are you -?"
Hikaru thought quickly. "Could you get me more of those cheese puffs? I am so hungry." He pulled Daiki back to the direction of the kitchen all the while silently urging Konako to run upstairs.
She grabbed the opportunity gratefully. She just had enough time to smile at him before disappearing to the second floor.
When she did, Hikaru released his grip on Daiki's shoulder. He wanted to dance for joy.
Daiki shook his head but smiled. “Well, it's about damn time!”
*****
Konako felt like her legs would give way before her and she'd melt into a puddle.
Amiya had been staring at her smiling blissfully through the packing. "So," she said. "Is it safe to presume that you guys -?"
Konako didn't even have to answer. The bright flush on her face was more than enough to confirm Amiya's suspicion.
She grinned. "So how are you gonna break the news to Kuraki?"
*****
For some reason, Konako found herself waking up early again. She would have normally gone back to sleep but now that she was awake, she remembered everything that had happened last night. It was almost like a dream...
Unless, it was all just a dream.
Suddenly, Konako's eyes shot wide open.
Now she was really awake. She jumped out of bed and ran through a quick morning bathroom ritual. She wanted to go straight ahead and confirm if things had transpired exactly as she believed they did last night.
No, she realized as she put on her bra. That was stupid... What would she say anyway? Disappointed by this uncertainty, she stepped back into the room. She had just opened the door when she found Hikaru outside about to knock.
"Hi!" she squeaked.
"Good morning," he greeted cheerfully.
She still wasn't used to this proximity. Konako had to remember to breathe before she realized she had to close the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked carefully, knowing fully well that Hikaru's presence here this early in the morning did not immediately mean her so called dream wasn't anything more than that.
"I was wondering if you would like to take that walk with me now," he said a little shyly. "We never did get to go to the beach yesterday and I know we just went on that evening bike ride last night-"
Konako inhaled sharply.
"-But we'd never get another opportunity like this for a long time, and I'd really like to do this with you at least this once."
Konako couldn't answer. It felt like all the oxygen was pushed out of her lungs. So the last night she remembered wasn't a dream after all...
When she remained silent, Hikaru instantly looked concerned. "Hey, are you all right?" That was when realization flood his vision. Could he have been pushing this too far? Or worse, could last night have been all just a dream? "Oh... Uhm... Sorry if it sounded like an ultimatum or something. We don't really have to go if you don't want to."
But Konako didn't mind at all. "Hikaru, I'd love to," she assured him.
He sighed with relief. For a moment, he thought last night had been nothing more than temporary bliss.
"I love you," he said, just so he could get used to saying that.
"And I love you," she replied. "Good morning."
Yes, he could definitely get used to saying that.
******
"No kidding. You thought last night was a dream?!" Hikaru repeated in disbelief as they made their way through the white shore. The water felt cool on their bare feet. They had left their slippers at the base of the steps.
"Yeah," Konako replied, digging her toes into the sand in embarrassment. "Sorry..."
"Why would you think that?" He shouldn't have asked. He already knew. Last night had almost been too perfect. He would have doubted his memories in a moment's hesitation too.
"Well, because everything was like a dream..." Konako said softly. "Things were going too perfectly. It couldn't have been real. You... and I..." She didn't get to finish.
Hikaru liked the sound of that. Smiling, he laced his fingers around Konako's. He had grabbed her hand numerous times before but never like this. Never quite like this. This was different in a thousand ways and better by a thousand times. It was shot through like lightning, like caffeine that activated through touch but all the while as gentle and calming as a lullaby.
She stared at their intertwined digits before looking up at him. He found that he liked it when her eyes looked up at him while she kept her head modestly down.
"You and I..." He repeated, bringing her hand up to his lips.
She smelled like spring. He wanted to breathe her in. He sighed.
"Something as good as this can't possibly be just a dream," he murmured as he kissed her hand.
******
"You guys are done packing, right?" Divine asked as she got out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of eggs and another of bacon and sausages.
"Yep~"
"All set!"
"Ready for launching."
"Here, let me get that for you," Keito offered, giving her a hand with the load.
"A gentleman!" Divine shrieked in delight as she set down what she could on the table. "Oooh, I like you!"
Keito blushed.
"Don't get any weird ideas, dear," Yamada told her. "Keito does this to everybody."
"Which is more than I can say for you," Divine responded. "But don't be jealous, dear. That cake still holds a special place in my heart."
Yamada laughed. "You know, I'll actually miss you." Divine was delightful company, sweet but raucously funny and determinedly ridiculous. People could not help but be drawn to her animated and vibrant energy.
Divine would have dropped the plates if Keito hadn't already taken them from her hands. "You would?!"
"Oh, stop flirting already. You know you're not emotionally prepared for a boyfriend," Kim said as she swooped in the front door with Paul.
Divine giggled. "That's true. What fun is having a boyfriend when I am denied the joy of gazing upon others?"
Hikaru nudged Konako at this, shooting an eyebrow up questionably, as if daring her to agree with Divine's statement. But Hikaru had a way of exaggerating his faces. Konako almost shot orange juice out of her nose from the overwhelming urge to laugh.
Kim looked at the guys at the table with a frown. "You all better hurry up because we're leaving in an hour."
"The important question is," Takaki began as he beamed at her. "Have you eaten already?"
"Yes," Kim was quick to say when Konako spoke up.
"But Paul looks hungry, Kimmy. Why don't you guys sit down next to Takaki?"
"We still have a lot of food," Chinen said, inviting.
"Yeah, come on, Kim," Amiya said, wanting in on the fun. "It's our last day here. Why don't you eat with us?"
"Please!" Hikaru entreated with an exaggerated gesture. "Indulge!"
Even Paul gave her a look that she knew meant "Oh come on, what's the worst that can happen? I want to eat that bacon!"
She finally threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine."
Unfortunately for her, everyone, including her brother, made sure she was sitting next to Takaki.
"I despise you all," she growled but she blushed despite herself.
"For the record," Hikaru said as he pedaled back to the house. "I didn't think your voice sounded bad."
"For the record," Konako pointed out as she held on to Hikaru from behind. "That doesn't mean it sounded good."
Hikaru laughed.
As he did, Konako felt her heart soar. She stared at the ink black sky peppered with bright lights and contemplated of the possibility that the delicate workings of the galaxies governed human lives. Perhaps that meant that everything that had transpired just now had been written in the stars all along. If she thought about it that way, she found herself glad that her life thus far led her down to this one glorious moment.
Sighing with content, she laid her cheek on Hikaru’s back as he continued to pedal away.
*****
Hikaru had Konako wait outside while he returned the borrowed bicycle down to the basement. Closing the door behind him, he looked up and was wholeheartedly enthralled by the sight that awaited him upstairs.
She stood there, cloaked in silver moonlight, with the tree littered with its own version of stars as her backdrop. He could have sworn she was an angel.
It wasn't until Konako had turned his way and abruptly transformed into a furious shade of pink that he realized Konako had caught him ogling.
He grinned at her.
She grinned back. "Well..." she started awkwardly. "Good night."
It was only then that Hikaru realized he couldn't spend the rest of the night staring at her. Which, honestly, was disappointing. "Yeah! Um, good night."
She turned away but didn't move. She looked flustered.
That made Hikaru smile. "Hey..." He opened his arms wide in invitation. When Konako accepted and he had her wrapped in his embrace, he kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he whispered again, just because he liked saying it.
She had to stand on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "And I love you," she said, letting the words roll out of her heart and out of her mouth.
Hikaru felt his stomach do summersaults at the touch of her lips on his skin. "Forever and after," he promised.
He could get used to holding her like this.
*****
It hadn't been agreed upon but both Hikaru and Konako were determined to avoid getting any embarrassing attention to their newfound relationship. They entered the building expecting they could pass by without anyone noticing but as luck would have it, they were met immediately by who was arguably the most talkative member of the group, Daiki. He was just passing by from the kitchen, happily noshing on a pack of cheese puffs.
"Oh hey guys," he greeted. "Glad to see you're back. We're just going to watch a movie. Kuraki said he had a couple we could borrow. I dunno why we were so scared of him. The guy's actually pretty decent. Wanna join us? Where've you two been anyway?"
"Oh." Konako looked down.
"Um..." Hikaru turned away. Of all the worst times to be tongue tied.
Daiki narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second... Did you two - Are you -?"
Hikaru thought quickly. "Could you get me more of those cheese puffs? I am so hungry." He pulled Daiki back to the direction of the kitchen all the while silently urging Konako to run upstairs.
She grabbed the opportunity gratefully. She just had enough time to smile at him before disappearing to the second floor.
When she did, Hikaru released his grip on Daiki's shoulder. He wanted to dance for joy.
Daiki shook his head but smiled. “Well, it's about damn time!”
*****
Konako felt like her legs would give way before her and she'd melt into a puddle.
Amiya had been staring at her smiling blissfully through the packing. "So," she said. "Is it safe to presume that you guys -?"
Konako didn't even have to answer. The bright flush on her face was more than enough to confirm Amiya's suspicion.
She grinned. "So how are you gonna break the news to Kuraki?"
*****
For some reason, Konako found herself waking up early again. She would have normally gone back to sleep but now that she was awake, she remembered everything that had happened last night. It was almost like a dream...
Unless, it was all just a dream.
Suddenly, Konako's eyes shot wide open.
Now she was really awake. She jumped out of bed and ran through a quick morning bathroom ritual. She wanted to go straight ahead and confirm if things had transpired exactly as she believed they did last night.
No, she realized as she put on her bra. That was stupid... What would she say anyway? Disappointed by this uncertainty, she stepped back into the room. She had just opened the door when she found Hikaru outside about to knock.
"Hi!" she squeaked.
"Good morning," he greeted cheerfully.
She still wasn't used to this proximity. Konako had to remember to breathe before she realized she had to close the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked carefully, knowing fully well that Hikaru's presence here this early in the morning did not immediately mean her so called dream wasn't anything more than that.
"I was wondering if you would like to take that walk with me now," he said a little shyly. "We never did get to go to the beach yesterday and I know we just went on that evening bike ride last night-"
Konako inhaled sharply.
"-But we'd never get another opportunity like this for a long time, and I'd really like to do this with you at least this once."
Konako couldn't answer. It felt like all the oxygen was pushed out of her lungs. So the last night she remembered wasn't a dream after all...
When she remained silent, Hikaru instantly looked concerned. "Hey, are you all right?" That was when realization flood his vision. Could he have been pushing this too far? Or worse, could last night have been all just a dream? "Oh... Uhm... Sorry if it sounded like an ultimatum or something. We don't really have to go if you don't want to."
But Konako didn't mind at all. "Hikaru, I'd love to," she assured him.
He sighed with relief. For a moment, he thought last night had been nothing more than temporary bliss.
"I love you," he said, just so he could get used to saying that.
"And I love you," she replied. "Good morning."
Yes, he could definitely get used to saying that.
******
"No kidding. You thought last night was a dream?!" Hikaru repeated in disbelief as they made their way through the white shore. The water felt cool on their bare feet. They had left their slippers at the base of the steps.
"Yeah," Konako replied, digging her toes into the sand in embarrassment. "Sorry..."
"Why would you think that?" He shouldn't have asked. He already knew. Last night had almost been too perfect. He would have doubted his memories in a moment's hesitation too.
"Well, because everything was like a dream..." Konako said softly. "Things were going too perfectly. It couldn't have been real. You... and I..." She didn't get to finish.
Hikaru liked the sound of that. Smiling, he laced his fingers around Konako's. He had grabbed her hand numerous times before but never like this. Never quite like this. This was different in a thousand ways and better by a thousand times. It was shot through like lightning, like caffeine that activated through touch but all the while as gentle and calming as a lullaby.
She stared at their intertwined digits before looking up at him. He found that he liked it when her eyes looked up at him while she kept her head modestly down.
"You and I..." He repeated, bringing her hand up to his lips.
She smelled like spring. He wanted to breathe her in. He sighed.
"Something as good as this can't possibly be just a dream," he murmured as he kissed her hand.
******
"You guys are done packing, right?" Divine asked as she got out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of eggs and another of bacon and sausages.
"Yep~"
"All set!"
"Ready for launching."
"Here, let me get that for you," Keito offered, giving her a hand with the load.
"A gentleman!" Divine shrieked in delight as she set down what she could on the table. "Oooh, I like you!"
Keito blushed.
"Don't get any weird ideas, dear," Yamada told her. "Keito does this to everybody."
"Which is more than I can say for you," Divine responded. "But don't be jealous, dear. That cake still holds a special place in my heart."
Yamada laughed. "You know, I'll actually miss you." Divine was delightful company, sweet but raucously funny and determinedly ridiculous. People could not help but be drawn to her animated and vibrant energy.
Divine would have dropped the plates if Keito hadn't already taken them from her hands. "You would?!"
"Oh, stop flirting already. You know you're not emotionally prepared for a boyfriend," Kim said as she swooped in the front door with Paul.
Divine giggled. "That's true. What fun is having a boyfriend when I am denied the joy of gazing upon others?"
Hikaru nudged Konako at this, shooting an eyebrow up questionably, as if daring her to agree with Divine's statement. But Hikaru had a way of exaggerating his faces. Konako almost shot orange juice out of her nose from the overwhelming urge to laugh.
Kim looked at the guys at the table with a frown. "You all better hurry up because we're leaving in an hour."
"The important question is," Takaki began as he beamed at her. "Have you eaten already?"
"Yes," Kim was quick to say when Konako spoke up.
"But Paul looks hungry, Kimmy. Why don't you guys sit down next to Takaki?"
"We still have a lot of food," Chinen said, inviting.
"Yeah, come on, Kim," Amiya said, wanting in on the fun. "It's our last day here. Why don't you eat with us?"
"Please!" Hikaru entreated with an exaggerated gesture. "Indulge!"
Even Paul gave her a look that she knew meant "Oh come on, what's the worst that can happen? I want to eat that bacon!"
She finally threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine."
Unfortunately for her, everyone, including her brother, made sure she was sitting next to Takaki.
"I despise you all," she growled but she blushed despite herself.