"My Eminent Serenity" | chapter 15
A/N: Konichiwa! Yey, here's the next chapter! I think this is an EPIC failure. I couldn't actually write something acceptable about this part for one thing: I haven't gone into any Japanese Festival. I don't know what happens or what they offer... GAHH! It's somehow frustrating but I hope you'll pardon my innocence -- stupidity.
Self-beta'd. Thanks to MSWord-sama for minor corrections. I'm really sorry for everything you won't like.
Word Count: 2365 words.
Chapter 15:
"Tanabata Festival"
-x-x-x-
Finally, it was time for the Tanabata festival. Ayako looked around and saw people of different walks of life around her. They all looked excited for the festival too. She smiled inwardly. She was waiting for Yuto near the park wherein stalls of different entertaining and amusing stuffs were available. In the town of Machida, that was the usual place where people gather to celebrate Tanabata Matsuri (festival).
Five minutes had elapsed. She found no Yuto around so she started to get impatient. It was impatience mixed with excitement that she felt so funny.
Just then, a group of girls around her age passed wearing wonderful Yukatas. She grimaced when she looked at how she dressed herself compared to them. She knew she was not a fashionista and wasn't even wearing Yukata to commemorate the event but she couldn't help it. She thought she would never be an inch nearer to being beautiful no matter what she wore on that day. She was intimidated.
"Gomen Aya-chan!!!"
The sight of a tall and lanky guy panting in front of her made her heart jumped a couple of beats, forgetting all the insecurities she had in life.
"Y-yuto-kun, it’s fine!" She managed to say.
Yuto arched his back and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch up with his breathing. "I-I’m really sorry. I thought the meeting we had with manager-san wouldn't last long but he discussed so many things then..."
Ayako cut him off, "It's fine... really!" She smiled.
Her heart wanted to melt when she saw Yuto smiling back at her and saying arigatou in a way she thought as the coolest. 'I really like this guy...'
"So, where do you want to go first?" He asked as he looked around the park.
People were flooding from all the directions. He could smell the sweet scent of summer around as the delightful sight of the stalls met his eyes. For once, he thought it would be a total pandemonium if people found out who he was but nevertheless, this was for Ayako so he would try with all his might not to draw any attention from the people.
"Hmm, let's go to the lottery!" She exclaimed, "We could ask the seller if he could give us the one which will tell our destiny or something..."
Yuto grinned in enthusiasm, "Sure!"
Then they joined in with the sea of strangers wandering around the park.
On the process, Ayako lost sight of Yuto and got worried. Suddenly, she felt panicking when a warm hand held her wrist. She looked at where the arm was coming from and almost leaped inches higher from the ground when she saw it was Yuto's hand.
'Oh gosh..... Why on earth is he holding me?' She blushed hardly as her eyes widened.
"I'll just hold your hand so we don't get separated if that's alright with you..." Yuto muttered in the midst of the noisy surroundings.
She just nodded and looked away, shunning Yuto's eyes or else she knew she would melt in an instant.
Unseen from her point of view, Yuto bit his lips with what he was doing. 'Crap, I am holding her hand. I'm getting crazy!'
-x-x-x-
As the night got deeper, Ayako and Yuto indulged themselves into the festival mania. They tried so many stalls; from those that drew lotteries to those selling cotton candies, yakiniku and even those that sold kois. Even though Yuto intended that event to cheer her up, he was the one who seemed to be enjoying it to the fullest. He looked like a child who went to a summer festival for the first time. He was happily trying every stall they passed by and curiously inquire about so many things.
'He really looks a child, a very tall child...' She thought as she looked at him aiming the toy gun on a mini action figure three meters away from him.
The man on the stall said that if Yuto would be able to shoot down 3 action figures given only 6 attempts to fire the toy gun, he would be taking home the blue over-sized cat stuffed toy Ayako thought very cute as a reward.
Taking the challenge from the man, who was just doing sales-talk to gain more customers, Yuto squinted, aimed and fired. On the first attempt, one toy man down. Everyone who was looking was astounded. Yuto smirked at the man who challenged him.
While Ayako was still in awe and her mouth forming an 'o', someone caught her attention. "N-naoki-kun?" She muttered as she examined the guy standing beside her, looking intently at Yuto.
The guy was taken aback. It took him a couple of seconds to respond. "Ayako-san?! What are you doing here? Are you alone?"
Ayako wanted to laugh at her classmate's continuous questions, "It's Tanabata festival, of course I'm here to celebrate."
If she would be asked what random moments make her heart flutter, one of those would be unexpectedly seeing a classmate on the most random place she could imagine... and she loved it.
"I mean, I saw Michiko-san a while ago... She was going to a shrine and I just thought you were with her, that's why I'm kinda surprise seeing you here!" Naoki explained his self. "Who are you with?" He asked again.
She wanted to deviate the topic but noticing the expression on his face, he seemed not interested on any other topic but just the answer for that short yet difficult question, "Me? Oh, I'm with a friend..."
"Really, where is your friend then?" He followed up, sounding like interrogating. "You looked alone though." He roamed his sight around to see anyone standing near her who would look like an acquaintance.
"I dunno, she was just around here. Maybe she got interested on something and chased it." She said, chuckling nervously at the end of her sentence.
Naoki looked suspicious with what she said but they noticed someone tugging the hem of his shirt. It was Kira-chan, his younger brother. "Oniichan, let's go now! The guy already won!"
Hearing what the cute kid said, Ayako was pulled back to reality. She slowly moved her eyesight around to search where Yuto was.
"Oh, I need to go now Ayako-san. Enjoy the rest of the festival!" Naoki said.
She smiled to them, "Thanks and the both of you too!"
Then the brothers were gone in an instant. It was like the sea of strangers had eaten them alive.
Ayako sighed.
"Who was that?"
She heard Yuto asked from behind in an unusual tone. She knew it was him but when she turned around, she only saw the over-sized blue cat. "Ehh..?"
A pair of hand tilted the cat on the side. The action made the person behind the stuffed toy visible -- Yuto looked a little disappointed.
'He seemed to have heard what I've said to Naoki-kun. I'm a goner.' Her thoughts freaked out. "Ahh, gomen Yuto-kun! I know it's wrong to lie but I can't help it. If I tell him that I'm with you, I know he will laugh at me and even though he might not believe me, I'm sure he'll tell our other classmates and it may lead to a big problem." She blurted out, bowing and closing her eyes.
Yuto smiled, 'I'll really look forward to the time when you can freely tell the world that you are my friend without worrying that it may cause a problem.' "It's fine. If I were you, I would do the same thing." He faked a smile.
She straightened up, "Really?! Okay..." She sighed in relief.
"Oh, by the way, here's your cat!" He said as he handed the stuffed toy to her.
"Wahh?! I thought you like it!" She said, hesitating to take it since she knew he worked hard to get it.
"Yeah, I like to get it so that I can give it to you!" He stated.
Ayako's heart was at a critical level. She wanted to melt into liquid and get absorbed by the earth under their feet. On one moment, she thought of confessing to him on that instant.
He gave her the cat and she was hugging it like it was the first gift she ever had. "Thank you very much Yuto-kun!" She whispered as they walked around the park.
Yuto only gave her a smile.
Though that was just a smile, it made her so happy. She wondered how his eyes sparkle every time he smiles. Maybe it's because he smiles genuinely from the heart that's why it always look so beautiful and real.
"Hmm, since this is your first gift to me, I'll call this Ichi-chan!" She announced.
Yuto found her naming sense funny, "Ichi-chan?" His brows furrowed along.
"Yeah, so that the next gift will be Ni-chan, then San-chan, Yon-chan and so on!" She muttered childishly.
"Hahaha!"
Ayako's eyes widened. She just realized how embarrassing she sounded, "Wait, I don't wanna sound like I'm expecting more gifts to you! Please just forget what I said..."
"Hahaha! You rather sounded so funny!" He remarked.
"Okay, so what do you wanna call this cat then? Since you're the one who got this, you should partake in naming it and also the gender."
"Hmm..." He looked pensive. "It's name is Ichi-chan and Ichi-chan is a male!"
"Nehh?! You just repeated it. Think of another!"
"But I like it...!" Yuto pouted.
Ayako was dazzled again. 'Why does everything this guy do seem to be oh-so wonderful and breathtaking?!'
"Well, you can change it though... You're the new owner." He said, sounding like surrendering.
She hugged the stuffed toy tighter, "Yeah! He'll be Ichi-chan!"
He smiled at her, again. "You wanna eat takoyaki?"
She nodded like a child, "Sure!!!"
They started marching off to where takoyakis were sold when Ayako noticed the straps of her sandals were loosening. She clicked her tongue in mild frustration. If she won't tighten it sooner, she knew she will stumble on her own feet. "Yuto-kun, just go ahead. I'll just be tying this one." She said, pointing down to her sandal.
Yuto stopped from his tracks, "No, I'll just wait here."
"Oh please, go ahead. The takoyaki stall is just near from here anyway. I'll just catch up with you the moment I finish this." She insisted while putting the cat stuffed toy on the bench nearby.
"Okay, I'll just buy you a takoyaki and wait for you near the stall." He said before disappearing.
She sat down on the bench and then noticed a girl seemingly on her 5th or 6th grade in elementary sitting on the other end of the same bench. The girl was wearing a beige yukata, put on a flowery headband and laid her long straight her across her back. Ayako thought she looked like an angel.
"Kawaii!~" The girl commented as she looked at the stuffed toy between them.
Ayako smiled, "Are you alone dear?" She asked while stooping down and taking care of the straps of her sandals.
"Your boyfriend is handsome, oneechan!" She remarked, totally ignoring Ayako's question, and turned her gaze to the direction where the both of them could oversee Yuto and his tall body even in a distance talking to the seller of the stall across them. "He looks like someone on tv."
'This girl is weird, ne~ She didn't answer my question and now she sounds like she has a crush on him!' "Oh no, he's not my boyfriend." She answered while straightening her back. She had done tightening the straps.
"I guess he will be..."
"EHHH?!" She blurted out as her eyes widened. Her heart was pounding. There was something enigmatic on the girl's voice that made her stomach turned weird.
The girl was still looking at where Yuto was.
"Seriously?!" She asked.
The girl turned to her and smiled eerily, revealing a badly-arranged and lacking set of front teeth that sent chills on Ayako's spine. She giggled before standing up and ran away from her.
Ayako left her mouth open as she looked at the running figure of a peculiar girl in a beige yukata until she heard someone calling her name.
"Aya-chan! Aya-chan!!"
She blinked twice and realized that the girl she was looking at disappeared with the wind. That gave her a goose bump.
"Are you alright?" Yuto was sounding terribly worried when she looked at him. He placed the takoyakis on the bench, beside her.
She nodded, still in trance. "H-hai..."
"Thank God! I was worried when you didn't follow me immediately and when I checked, you were in here looking at something on a distance..." Yuto exclaimed.
"G-gomen... T-there was just a girl... She was talking about..." She muttered, staggering.
Yuto looked puzzled, "G-girl? What did the girl say?"
"She said Ichi-chan was cute and..."
Yuto was silent in anticipation of what she would say.
"...and she seemed to have blown up your cover." Ayako looked at him seriously.
"R-really..." What she said seemed to have made his reflexes soften, "G-good thing she didn't announce it to the people around here..." The scene of a great mob of fangirls madly chasing him had crossed his mind. 'No, that won't happen because if it will, I know Johnny-san will kill me for going out on this festival with a girl...' He felt fear lingering on his thoughts.
"Y-yeah..." 'B-but, she also said that Yuto will going to be my boyfriend... Does that signify that I should really confess to him tonight?' Ayako got more confused of what she should do.
-x-x-x-
I know, I screwed it up... :'(
I'm not really familiar about the events on a Japanese Festival so I somehow associated it with the festivals we have here in my place.
And the weird girl part... I know it's really weird. >_< I don't know why did it pop out from my mind.
I'm really sorry and comments are well accepted!~
Thanks for reading! ♥
Next Chapter: Click here!~
Self-beta'd. Thanks to MSWord-sama for minor corrections. I'm really sorry for everything you won't like.
Word Count: 2365 words.
Chapter 15:
"Tanabata Festival"
-x-x-x-
Finally, it was time for the Tanabata festival. Ayako looked around and saw people of different walks of life around her. They all looked excited for the festival too. She smiled inwardly. She was waiting for Yuto near the park wherein stalls of different entertaining and amusing stuffs were available. In the town of Machida, that was the usual place where people gather to celebrate Tanabata Matsuri (festival).
Five minutes had elapsed. She found no Yuto around so she started to get impatient. It was impatience mixed with excitement that she felt so funny.
Just then, a group of girls around her age passed wearing wonderful Yukatas. She grimaced when she looked at how she dressed herself compared to them. She knew she was not a fashionista and wasn't even wearing Yukata to commemorate the event but she couldn't help it. She thought she would never be an inch nearer to being beautiful no matter what she wore on that day. She was intimidated.
"Gomen Aya-chan!!!"
The sight of a tall and lanky guy panting in front of her made her heart jumped a couple of beats, forgetting all the insecurities she had in life.
"Y-yuto-kun, it’s fine!" She managed to say.
Yuto arched his back and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch up with his breathing. "I-I’m really sorry. I thought the meeting we had with manager-san wouldn't last long but he discussed so many things then..."
Ayako cut him off, "It's fine... really!" She smiled.
Her heart wanted to melt when she saw Yuto smiling back at her and saying arigatou in a way she thought as the coolest. 'I really like this guy...'
"So, where do you want to go first?" He asked as he looked around the park.
People were flooding from all the directions. He could smell the sweet scent of summer around as the delightful sight of the stalls met his eyes. For once, he thought it would be a total pandemonium if people found out who he was but nevertheless, this was for Ayako so he would try with all his might not to draw any attention from the people.
"Hmm, let's go to the lottery!" She exclaimed, "We could ask the seller if he could give us the one which will tell our destiny or something..."
Yuto grinned in enthusiasm, "Sure!"
Then they joined in with the sea of strangers wandering around the park.
On the process, Ayako lost sight of Yuto and got worried. Suddenly, she felt panicking when a warm hand held her wrist. She looked at where the arm was coming from and almost leaped inches higher from the ground when she saw it was Yuto's hand.
'Oh gosh..... Why on earth is he holding me?' She blushed hardly as her eyes widened.
"I'll just hold your hand so we don't get separated if that's alright with you..." Yuto muttered in the midst of the noisy surroundings.
She just nodded and looked away, shunning Yuto's eyes or else she knew she would melt in an instant.
Unseen from her point of view, Yuto bit his lips with what he was doing. 'Crap, I am holding her hand. I'm getting crazy!'
-x-x-x-
As the night got deeper, Ayako and Yuto indulged themselves into the festival mania. They tried so many stalls; from those that drew lotteries to those selling cotton candies, yakiniku and even those that sold kois. Even though Yuto intended that event to cheer her up, he was the one who seemed to be enjoying it to the fullest. He looked like a child who went to a summer festival for the first time. He was happily trying every stall they passed by and curiously inquire about so many things.
'He really looks a child, a very tall child...' She thought as she looked at him aiming the toy gun on a mini action figure three meters away from him.
The man on the stall said that if Yuto would be able to shoot down 3 action figures given only 6 attempts to fire the toy gun, he would be taking home the blue over-sized cat stuffed toy Ayako thought very cute as a reward.
Taking the challenge from the man, who was just doing sales-talk to gain more customers, Yuto squinted, aimed and fired. On the first attempt, one toy man down. Everyone who was looking was astounded. Yuto smirked at the man who challenged him.
While Ayako was still in awe and her mouth forming an 'o', someone caught her attention. "N-naoki-kun?" She muttered as she examined the guy standing beside her, looking intently at Yuto.
The guy was taken aback. It took him a couple of seconds to respond. "Ayako-san?! What are you doing here? Are you alone?"
Ayako wanted to laugh at her classmate's continuous questions, "It's Tanabata festival, of course I'm here to celebrate."
If she would be asked what random moments make her heart flutter, one of those would be unexpectedly seeing a classmate on the most random place she could imagine... and she loved it.
"I mean, I saw Michiko-san a while ago... She was going to a shrine and I just thought you were with her, that's why I'm kinda surprise seeing you here!" Naoki explained his self. "Who are you with?" He asked again.
She wanted to deviate the topic but noticing the expression on his face, he seemed not interested on any other topic but just the answer for that short yet difficult question, "Me? Oh, I'm with a friend..."
"Really, where is your friend then?" He followed up, sounding like interrogating. "You looked alone though." He roamed his sight around to see anyone standing near her who would look like an acquaintance.
"I dunno, she was just around here. Maybe she got interested on something and chased it." She said, chuckling nervously at the end of her sentence.
Naoki looked suspicious with what she said but they noticed someone tugging the hem of his shirt. It was Kira-chan, his younger brother. "Oniichan, let's go now! The guy already won!"
Hearing what the cute kid said, Ayako was pulled back to reality. She slowly moved her eyesight around to search where Yuto was.
"Oh, I need to go now Ayako-san. Enjoy the rest of the festival!" Naoki said.
She smiled to them, "Thanks and the both of you too!"
Then the brothers were gone in an instant. It was like the sea of strangers had eaten them alive.
Ayako sighed.
"Who was that?"
She heard Yuto asked from behind in an unusual tone. She knew it was him but when she turned around, she only saw the over-sized blue cat. "Ehh..?"
A pair of hand tilted the cat on the side. The action made the person behind the stuffed toy visible -- Yuto looked a little disappointed.
'He seemed to have heard what I've said to Naoki-kun. I'm a goner.' Her thoughts freaked out. "Ahh, gomen Yuto-kun! I know it's wrong to lie but I can't help it. If I tell him that I'm with you, I know he will laugh at me and even though he might not believe me, I'm sure he'll tell our other classmates and it may lead to a big problem." She blurted out, bowing and closing her eyes.
Yuto smiled, 'I'll really look forward to the time when you can freely tell the world that you are my friend without worrying that it may cause a problem.' "It's fine. If I were you, I would do the same thing." He faked a smile.
She straightened up, "Really?! Okay..." She sighed in relief.
"Oh, by the way, here's your cat!" He said as he handed the stuffed toy to her.
"Wahh?! I thought you like it!" She said, hesitating to take it since she knew he worked hard to get it.
"Yeah, I like to get it so that I can give it to you!" He stated.
Ayako's heart was at a critical level. She wanted to melt into liquid and get absorbed by the earth under their feet. On one moment, she thought of confessing to him on that instant.
He gave her the cat and she was hugging it like it was the first gift she ever had. "Thank you very much Yuto-kun!" She whispered as they walked around the park.
Yuto only gave her a smile.
Though that was just a smile, it made her so happy. She wondered how his eyes sparkle every time he smiles. Maybe it's because he smiles genuinely from the heart that's why it always look so beautiful and real.
"Hmm, since this is your first gift to me, I'll call this Ichi-chan!" She announced.
Yuto found her naming sense funny, "Ichi-chan?" His brows furrowed along.
"Yeah, so that the next gift will be Ni-chan, then San-chan, Yon-chan and so on!" She muttered childishly.
"Hahaha!"
Ayako's eyes widened. She just realized how embarrassing she sounded, "Wait, I don't wanna sound like I'm expecting more gifts to you! Please just forget what I said..."
"Hahaha! You rather sounded so funny!" He remarked.
"Okay, so what do you wanna call this cat then? Since you're the one who got this, you should partake in naming it and also the gender."
"Hmm..." He looked pensive. "It's name is Ichi-chan and Ichi-chan is a male!"
"Nehh?! You just repeated it. Think of another!"
"But I like it...!" Yuto pouted.
Ayako was dazzled again. 'Why does everything this guy do seem to be oh-so wonderful and breathtaking?!'
"Well, you can change it though... You're the new owner." He said, sounding like surrendering.
She hugged the stuffed toy tighter, "Yeah! He'll be Ichi-chan!"
He smiled at her, again. "You wanna eat takoyaki?"
She nodded like a child, "Sure!!!"
They started marching off to where takoyakis were sold when Ayako noticed the straps of her sandals were loosening. She clicked her tongue in mild frustration. If she won't tighten it sooner, she knew she will stumble on her own feet. "Yuto-kun, just go ahead. I'll just be tying this one." She said, pointing down to her sandal.
Yuto stopped from his tracks, "No, I'll just wait here."
"Oh please, go ahead. The takoyaki stall is just near from here anyway. I'll just catch up with you the moment I finish this." She insisted while putting the cat stuffed toy on the bench nearby.
"Okay, I'll just buy you a takoyaki and wait for you near the stall." He said before disappearing.
She sat down on the bench and then noticed a girl seemingly on her 5th or 6th grade in elementary sitting on the other end of the same bench. The girl was wearing a beige yukata, put on a flowery headband and laid her long straight her across her back. Ayako thought she looked like an angel.
"Kawaii!~" The girl commented as she looked at the stuffed toy between them.
Ayako smiled, "Are you alone dear?" She asked while stooping down and taking care of the straps of her sandals.
"Your boyfriend is handsome, oneechan!" She remarked, totally ignoring Ayako's question, and turned her gaze to the direction where the both of them could oversee Yuto and his tall body even in a distance talking to the seller of the stall across them. "He looks like someone on tv."
'This girl is weird, ne~ She didn't answer my question and now she sounds like she has a crush on him!' "Oh no, he's not my boyfriend." She answered while straightening her back. She had done tightening the straps.
"I guess he will be..."
"EHHH?!" She blurted out as her eyes widened. Her heart was pounding. There was something enigmatic on the girl's voice that made her stomach turned weird.
The girl was still looking at where Yuto was.
"Seriously?!" She asked.
The girl turned to her and smiled eerily, revealing a badly-arranged and lacking set of front teeth that sent chills on Ayako's spine. She giggled before standing up and ran away from her.
Ayako left her mouth open as she looked at the running figure of a peculiar girl in a beige yukata until she heard someone calling her name.
"Aya-chan! Aya-chan!!"
She blinked twice and realized that the girl she was looking at disappeared with the wind. That gave her a goose bump.
"Are you alright?" Yuto was sounding terribly worried when she looked at him. He placed the takoyakis on the bench, beside her.
She nodded, still in trance. "H-hai..."
"Thank God! I was worried when you didn't follow me immediately and when I checked, you were in here looking at something on a distance..." Yuto exclaimed.
"G-gomen... T-there was just a girl... She was talking about..." She muttered, staggering.
Yuto looked puzzled, "G-girl? What did the girl say?"
"She said Ichi-chan was cute and..."
Yuto was silent in anticipation of what she would say.
"...and she seemed to have blown up your cover." Ayako looked at him seriously.
"R-really..." What she said seemed to have made his reflexes soften, "G-good thing she didn't announce it to the people around here..." The scene of a great mob of fangirls madly chasing him had crossed his mind. 'No, that won't happen because if it will, I know Johnny-san will kill me for going out on this festival with a girl...' He felt fear lingering on his thoughts.
"Y-yeah..." 'B-but, she also said that Yuto will going to be my boyfriend... Does that signify that I should really confess to him tonight?' Ayako got more confused of what she should do.
-x-x-x-
I know, I screwed it up... :'(
I'm not really familiar about the events on a Japanese Festival so I somehow associated it with the festivals we have here in my place.
And the weird girl part... I know it's really weird. >_< I don't know why did it pop out from my mind.
I'm really sorry and comments are well accepted!~
Thanks for reading! ♥
Next Chapter: Click here!~