It was about 6:30. The sun was setting and forcing the sky to glimmer in a sweet pink and orange hue. The bench, that a tall, older man sat on, was cold; even as he wore his lighter wool coat.
"He's late." The man whispered under his breath as he looked down at the black and blue watch that had fastened around his wrist. He took a deep breath before he tried to calm himself down.
'Shinobu's working now, he has work that he needs to put first…and it's only your anniversary, nothing important…after all', he told himself as he tried to rest his wandering mind. The tall man grew frustrated with himself and roared out a cuss word making a spectacle of himself. The people around him all gawked and stared.
"Where is he, he'd better not have run off with a new boy-toy or something!" He whispered to himself. The frosty autumn air brushed against his hands and he quickly shoved them into his pockets. His long muscular fingers brushed against a soft, black velvet box and he softly smiled when he looked down at the pavement.
"Chill, Yo. He's not like his sister…" The elder man whispered to his feet before he grabbed a hold of the small, square box and pulled it out of his pocket. He placed his fingernail in the small crevice of the box and flipped it open. His strong features quickly softened when his eyes took in the custom details of the piece of jewelry in the small box.
"He'll love it…" Miyagi muttered in a hushed tone as he fell back into one of the cold metal benches and waited for Shinobu to come meet him. He sat back and grinned as he remembered a conversation he had with Katsura Rema, Shinobu's old college friend, the week before.
Dinga-linga-ling!
Miyagi's phone rang when he'd received a text back from Shinobu's friend, Rema. It seemed that since she finished college she'd go into business for herself, considering that more than one company had a problem with her hair that changed its color every week or so. Miyagi quickly gathered his phone, slipped it open and tapped the numbers for his password.
"I can meet you at the jeweler, not a problem. What time?" She seemed curious about why he wanted to meet at a jeweler, but didn't question him on it.
Miyagi took a deep breath and grinned happily before texting back that he'd rather meet her at the juice bar.
He stood up from the office's couch and stretched as Kamijou Hiroki walked in through the door. "You and your boyfriend got married, right?" The elder man asked bluntly as he saw a golden band shimmer in the office lighting.
Kamijou froze up, looking down, he quickly removed the ring and slipped it into his pocket.
"How long?" Miyagi asked as he shadowed the younger man.
The younger man tightened up and zipped his lips, up until Miyagi wrapped his arms around the small man and tried to hug the answer out of him.
"Miyagi!" A voice from the open door way called with a large amount of rage entangled in it. Miyagi took a deep breath as the dark and ominous aura around them filled with anger and resentment.
"Shin-Shinobu-chin…" Miyagi stuttered and then looked down at the compromising position he'd been caught in with his subordinate.
Kamijou's body was tightly wrapped in Miyagi's strong arms; the younger man had managed to get turned around and had his hands on Miyagi's chest. He looked down and thought, 'Ah yes, this is what most people would call a misunderstanding.'
With a mean and hurt glare, the young man stormed off down the hall, at a pace the old man couldn't even think to compete with.
"Damn it…" Miyagi huffed under his breath as he ran down the hall and down the stairs. Miyagi let out a sigh and figured that a few days would pass by and Shinobu would be back to normal. So instead, he walked back into his office and studied his lesson plan.
By four-thirty that afternoon, the autumn sun was high in the sky as Miyagi began walking towards the small juice bar that Katsura owned. She was right down the street from the university's campus. He wanted to support the business of his lover's friend by buying a drink. He opened the door to the small shop and he'd been taken by complete surprise. The small establishment she was the owner of was packed with customers.
People were all shoved together as they all gawked awkwardly at the woman behind the counter, her magenta-pink strands hanging loosely from her chestnut-brown bun that she'd had covered in a black hair net.
"One banana-blueberry-mango smoothie with cherry whipped cream." She called out and the patron, who had already paid for their drink and was looking at her hand.
"Can you feel it?" He asked, a sly look in his lustful-green eyes.
"Feel what?" She asked with an inquisitive smirk on her face as she looked over her shoulder at him, already preparing the next customer's drink.
"The connection between us, it's like a match that belongs in heaven, and I am the only one who can get you there." He winked and Katsura Rema rolled her eyes at him.
"Nice try stud, but I don't date customers." She softly smiled as the guy frowned and left his business card, his cell number on the back. She picked up the business card, slapped it down on a pointy receipt holder and then handed the next man his order.
"Hey, did it hurt?" A tall college student asked with a wink that Katsura missed.
"Did what hurt?" She asked back, and then she saw Miyagi walk into the establishment, she waved for him to come over and the older man did so.
"Did it hurt when you fell down from the heavens?" He used the same old pathetic pick up line the others had and she sighed.
"Hey honey, what can I get'cha?" She looked over to Miyagi and smiled softly, acting a little more than friendly with him, trying and get the customer off her back. Miyagi shrugged and then named a random drink. The young college slacker gawked awkwardly as she looked at him with a sad smile. "Sorry, I don't date customers." She shrugged before she hugged Miyagi lightly over the counter.
"What the hell!?" The slacker shouted with anger. "You're all over him!" The pissed off man exclaimed and then went to dock Miyagi in the face. Miyagi caught the fist and twisted it slightly, making the young man cry out in pain.
"Please leave. You're causing a disturbance." Miyagi sighed as he looked to Rema.
"Oh and sir, he's not a customer, it's on the house for him." She smiled softly at Miyagi and then began creating the next three drinks, since they were all girls and most likely wouldn't hit on her.
"Thanks!" The girls all grinned gratefully and walked over to a seat by the window, the lime-green walls really brightening the place up.
"Thanks for that, he's been coming in the past week and bugging me." Katsura Rema sighed and looked at him, the long line of patrons fizzled out after about fifteen minutes. She looked over to Miyagi and took a seat so she could take her break.
"What did you want to shop for at the jeweler?" Rema asked as she sipped out of a drink she'd made for herself.
"I want to marry Shinobu…" He looked down with a light blush and a large grin.
Katsura Rema happily smiled and got up from her warmed seat to hug him.
"I'm so happy for you, Miyagi!" She brimmed to the rim with joy. "So how're you going to do it?! I wanna hear EVERYTHING!"
Miyagi took a deep breath and shook his head. "You're full of energy, ya know…" He sighed and then looked at her as she rushed to the back to grab her purse and keys to the shop.
She turned off the lights and placed a sign on the door. "Be back whenever" The sign said and she looked over to Miyagi.
"Tell me on the way over, okay?" She felt like she could cry. Her best friend, who she loved like a brother, was getting married! She felt like a proud sister. Shinobu deserved love. It had been a strange six months since his and Nanami's wedding that fell apart at the seams; but that's what they all wanted so no harm was dealt.
Well, except for Nanami, who found out that she was pregnant with her half-brother's child. It turned out her father liked his sister-in-law more than they knew. Rema took in a deep breath.
"Let's go…" She smiled and walked out the door, Miyagi following her and walking out first so that she could lock up the shop.
"Do you have any idea on what you're going to say or when you're going to do it?" She adjusted her bag that hung from her shoulder and started walking down the street.
Miyagi smiled softly and pulled the hairnet off her head and handed it to her, letting her brunette and bright pink strands free.
"Yes, I plan on doing it the night of our anniversary." He took a deep breath and looked at Rema, who could only express pure happiness to him.
"That's romantic, Miyagi. I'm happy for you." She looked up at a sign that said "Tokyo-Jeweler."
Miyagi grabbed the door and pulled it open to let Rema go in first. Right off the bat, a salt-and-pepper haired man looked at them as if they were a couple.
"Ah, are you two shopping for engagement rings?" He smiled softly and clapped his hands together.
Rema and Miyagi looked at one another and shook in rejection. "No, we're just friends! He's looking and I'm helping!" She exclaimed with a blush.
"Oh-my I'm so, so sorry!" The clerk expressed his deepest apologies and began walking over to the women's rings, where Miyagi split off from him and looked at the men's section. Suddenly, he smiled softly as he browsed the ring cabinet.
Miyagi looked over every single ring and frowned, none of them seemed to scream "Shinobu, I love you with my entire heart, you're the one I want, the one I dream of, the one who could break me with a single good-bye, the one who is my everything.''
The salesmen looked at him and grinned. "Do we see something we like?" and within a few seconds Miyagi shook his head.
"Oi, Miyagi…." Katsura called, she had a napkin and a pen, which she had borrowed from a woman whom was helping another couple with their rings.
"Come here." She ordered and took a seat at the counter. "Sir, can we send out a design and have a ring custom-made?" She asked with a bright and sweet smile.
The man simply nodded and then grabbed a piece of paper from his printer.
"Miss, please use this, if you're going to design something. We wanna be able to see it.'' He smiled and placed the paper in front of her.
Katsura looked at Miyagi and smiled.
"Let's start with the band, okay?" She drew out the ring band and looked at him. "Gold or silver?" She questioned.
Miyagi took a deep breath "Silver. He's not the type to wear gold, it's too flashy." He looked down.
"What kind of carat diamond do you want, 1/2, 1, 1 ½? " She asked in a simple way.
"One karat. It's the middle; not too big and not too small." He watched as Rema drew the diamond in the ring, her detail was remarkable. Rema could have easily been an art major, if she'd only apply herself.
"Okay now do you want anything in the band, like maybe his birthstone, or a special stone that means something, like I don't know...a ruby could mean a fire that is always burning…" she mumbled a little unsure of herself.
"Amethysts and rubies, four of them, going in a pattern of ruby, amethyst, ruby, amethyst…." Miyagi made up his mind within seconds and once again watched as Rema designed the ring further.
"That looks beautiful!" The salesmen interrupted with a large grin, he then smiled softly. "Would you like that engraved?"
Miyagi nodded and thought up a line. "You're a terrorist, you blew up my heart, and I love you for that, Shinobu." Miyagi listed the first thing off his mind and a few seconds later Rema slapped her hand over his mouth.
"Try again, Miyagi…" Her eyes were wide in fear as she looked at the clerk.
"You-your lover…is a terrorist?" The jeweler was flabbergasted. He didn't know what to think.
Rema clapped in with a laugh. "He just means that….Shinobu took over his heart and made him feel the love…" Rema laughed and then looked at Miyagi, "laugh." She ordered and within seconds the elder man let out a large roar of laughter.
"Old men…are idiotic, aren't they?" Rema asked in a low breath, her heart raced when she thought the salesmen meant an actual terrorist. "We'll just put: I'm a slave to your love, Shinobu."
The jeweler grinned and looked at Rema's drawing, and grinned. "It'll be ready by next week," he said and the two friends left the shop.
"Miyagi, Miyagi!" A semi-distant voice loudly called out as he saw a man sitting on a bench under the clock.
Miyagi looked up and saw his lover's blonde locks, he looked at the open box and flipped it upside down. He crammed the box into his pocket, and focused so much on the worried expression of his lover, he didn't even notice when the ring he had in the box slipped out and softly clanging on the pavement.
"Are you ready?" Miyagi asked as he wiped a few beads of sweat from his lover's forehead. Shinobu nodded and entangled his arm with Miyagi's and walked off.
"Sorry I'm late. Work was a hassle." Shinobu apologized as they walked away from the bench and towards the a little bar a few blocks away.