01 - Summer Frost
Ah... nothing beats sleeping in on a breezy summer's morning with the soft cozy blanket wrapped around me. I just love summer vaca- "baby baby baby baby baby baby yeaa-" Ugh. There goes my sleep. Groaning, I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed while cursing myself for putting such an annoying ringtone on my phone. "Now who the hell is calling me-" my whining stopped mid-sentence when I saw the caller ID flashing. "Oh, it's you" smiling, I cleared my throat to sound less sleepy and answered the phone.
"H-hello?"
"Hello? It's Akihiko..." my smile turned to a full fledge beam when I heard his voice on the other line. "There's a festival at the Naganaki Shrine today... Wanna come with?"
A festival? With senpai? Of course! "Sure!" trying not to sound too excited, I replied.
"All right, then I'll see you later." I gave him an "Okay!" and with that, he ended the call.
"Yes!" I fist pumped, practically bouncing off from my bed and did a small victory dance; completely forgetting about my sleepiness. I know, I know, I'm getting too happy over a silly little casual invitation but I can't help but have a teeny-tiny crush on the guy, okay?
After slapping myself for sounding like a corny shoujo manga protagonist, I walked over to my wardrobe hoping to find something suitable to wear for tonight. "Hm... since it's a summer festival it's better to wear a yukata..." I pondered while rummaging the inside of my wardrobe. Agreeing to my statement, I closed the cupboard door, flipped open my phone and dialed Yukari's number.
beep. beep. click.
"Oh, Minako? What's up?"
"Hey Yukari. Since there's gonna be a summer festival tonight I'm thinking of getting myself a yukata. Wanna come shop for one with me?" I asked.
"Sure! I'll go get ready. Meet you downstairs later, then."
"All right. Thanks Yukari." beep. Closing my flip phone, I grabbed a towel and went to take a shower.
"So what do you think of this one?" Yukari suggested while holding up an orange flower petal printed yukata. I put a finger on my chin, examining the yukata Yukari was holding. "Nah" I shook my head. "You sure?" Yukari asked putting the yukata down. I replied her with a nod. "So you're going to the festival with the people from the archery club, huh?" I asked.
"Yep," she smiled, "And I bet someone I know is really happy to be going to the festival with that person, am i right?" the smile turning into a mischievous grin as she nudged me by the elbow.
"H-hey!" I looked away, trying to hide my red-turned-face while rubbing my sore elbow. "S-so is Fuuka going to the festival?"
Yukari sighed at my failed attempt to change the subject, "Yeah she said she'll be going with Natsuki."
"I see... oh!" I exclaimed as I picked up a yukata that caught my eye. "Hey hey, should I go with this one?" I held it up for Yukari to see.
"Oooh cute~ I think it suits you." finally deciding my choice, we went to the cashier to pay for it.
"What?" I lifted an eyebrow to Yukari when I saw her mischievous smirk again. She leaned in closer to me and whispered, "I bet Sanada-senpai would love seeing you in that~"
"Yukari!"
"Hmm..." I tilted my head side to side as I examined my appearance in front of the bathroom mirror. "Not bad." I said to myself, liking my choice of yukata. The light pink sakura petal pattern looks just nice on the white background. Not too much, not too little. I wonder if senpai would like it... "Aaah~ Snap out of it, Minako!" I shook my head in an attempt to get rid of the pink tint scattering around my face. I glanced one more time at my reflection before finally stepping out of the bathroom. "All right, let's go!"
The shrine was looking absolutely amazing. All the stalls were set up and they had many decorations on them. Lights were lit up everywhere too. The whole place gave off this "warm summer" kind of feeling.
"Wow, looks like business is booming" the silver haired senior walking beside me stated.
"Yeah, look at all the stalls" I said, agreeing to his statement.
He turned to face me, "There's a lot of people too... Make sure you don't get separated, okay?"
"Should we hold hands?" I grinned to him.
"What're you talking about? I don't treat you that much like a kid, do I?" He laughed. I playfully stuck my tongue out to him while giggling. "Maybe you do, senpai!"
"C'mon, let's go pay a visit to the shrine first." he said while motioning towards the direction of the shrine. I nodded and we continued walking.
"...That looks hard to walk in" Akihiko mentioned taking notice of my yukata as we were walking around the stalls. "You didn't have to wear a yukata here, you know?" he continued.
Damn, so that means he didn't like it?
"Oh, er..." I think he saw my disappointed expression(which I wasn't aware I had) as he began to stammer, "I didn't mean... well, um..." he looked away while one of his hand rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "It... makes it hard to look directly at you."
I raised a thin eyebrow to him while a small smirk was forming on my lips, "Was that supposed to be a compliment?" I tilted my head to one side and placed my hand on the side of my hip.
"Y-yeah! Y-you look good in it! Don't get mad..." his flustered reaction made me couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. Thank you, though." I reassured him. "Wanna go walk around there?" I pointed to some stalls across us.
"Sure."
"...Something smells good." Akihiko said turning towards the takoyaki stall."Takoyaki, huh... Wanna share one? It's my treat." he turned towards me and asked.
"You sure? Okay." to tell you the truth, I was getting a bit hungry. We went to the takoyaki stall to order, "Excuse me, one takoyaki please" senpai ordered.
The cook looked up with her cheery face. "Ooh, you're one fine lookin' man. You get an extra one, hot stuff!" Hot stuff indeed, i silently agreed, giggling to myself. The cook glanced to me and continued "Say, is this your girlfriend? Ahh, the good old days of youth." she handed the takoyaki to Akihiko.
Ha! I wish!
"Th-that's not it!" Akihiko protested in a flustered manner, "Oh... um..." and quietly put a takoyaki in his mouth while we started walking.
"...!" his face cringed.
"Hot?" I suspected. He nodded.
"That was a dangerous bout... but I came out victorious in the end" his triumphant face made me laugh at him again. "H-hey! Don't laugh at me, idiot." Akihiko chided. I laughed an apology while waving my hand dismissively. We continued walking until we found a place to sit for a while. "Here, eat up" he handed the steaming bunch of takoyaki to me. I grinned to him and took it, making sure to blow it cool first before I bite into it. We chatted while sharing the takoyaki with some occasional comment on it like "There's really no octopus inside it" and "The sauce is nice, though".
"You're done? Let me take that out for you" senpai said as he threw away the now empty takoyaki box.
"That was tasty! So, where off to next?" I flashed my cheerful grin to him.
"I don't know... why don't you decide?" he returned his gentle smile to me.
"Hm... then wanna go there?" I suggested, pointing to the fish-catching-game stall.
"That was fun~" I said, a big grin etched on my face.
"It was, huh?" senpai turned and smiled at me. "Is that little guy doing okay?" he asked, pointing to the little plastic bag I was holding. I lifted it up and scanned the small goldfish happily swimming inside it. Satisfied to see that it's okay, I nodded to Akihiko. "I didn't know you were good at shooting games, Sanada-senpai" I mentioned, recalling how he expertly shot those cans at one of the stalls we went to. He scratched his head slightly, saying something like "I didn't either" and laughed.
We kept walking and passed a booth selling masks. "Masks... I remember those..." Akihiko stopped walking. "500 yen huh...? I can actually afford these now?" he laughed and turned to me and continued, "...They were too expensive for me to buy when I was a kid. When I came to festivals, I'd just wander around and go home because I couldn't buy anything" I listened intently to his story and gave him a gentle smile. "Now I can actually afford these" he laughed slightly. I took one of the masks and wore it in front of my face which made him laugh more. Giggling, I put the mask back where it belonged and we continued walking.
"Hey! You two! Would you like to play Lucky Draw?" our attention was caught by a game attendant at one of the stalls. We walked over to the stall and the guy explained, "All you do is pick a ball! It's easy! And, everyone's a winner!" I looked at senpai as he said, "Lucky Draw, huh...? I've always doubted wether it's really possible to win the stuff on display." I agreed with him laughing a "You just said what I was thinking, senpai."
"Give it a try, Minako. I'll pay for it" he looked at me and said. I stuck my hand inside the big box the game attendant held out to me. "Hm..." I decided to stir them around first before picking one. "There!" I pulled out one of the numbered balls from the box. The game attendant took the ball from me and exclaimed, "Whoa! Congratulations! Man you've got some luck to win something at our booth, miss!" he handed me a stuffed toy, "Here's your prize. It's Jack Frost Doll!" I slightly bowed a thank you and resumed walking with Akihiko.
"It would've been amazing if you'd won first place... Though I'd hate for you to use up all your luck here of all places." Akihiko said. I replied him with a giggling "Yeah."
"Oh you're the one who drew the win so the prize is yours... I'm saying you can have it."
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"Thanks!"
We noticed that it's already dark as we were walking near the shrine stairs. "It's completely dark out. Looks like we've been here for quite a while." Akihiko stated. "Yeah, time sure flies, huh?" I said, looking around to see some people already going home.
"I had fun taking a breather today. Thank you." senpai thanked me slightly bowing.
"Oh no, the pleasure was all mine, Sanada-senpai. Thank you." You have no idea. We went down the steps of the shrine stairs and- "Watch out!" before I knew it I was pushed by a sudden impact from behind and came sliding down the stairs as if I'm at the playground.
"Arisato! Are you okay!" Akihiko came running down to me with a worried look on his face. Behind him came along a little girl panting, "I'm so sorry about my dog. Are you okay, miss?" she grabbed hold of her dog's leash. I nodded and smiled at her "No, it's ok. I'm fine." I could see her face expression turn to relief as she said "Thank goodness. I was scared that you got hurt when my dog ran into you." she apologised again and bowed, "Isn't that right, Biwa? Now how many times have I told you not to go running around?" the dog whimpered to the girl's scolding as they went down the stairs.
How cute. I giggled to myself. Akihiko, still looking at me asked, "Are you sure you're okay? You're not hurt anywhere are you?"
I shook my head, "Yeah, I'm fine." I moved my ankle to emphasis the point.
"O-oh... h-here let me help you up" he held his hands to me and helped me up. "Thanks." I slightly blushed at the contact of our hands.
"Ah!" I cried out when I realized that one of my sandal's strap tore off. I bent back down to attempt to fix it (almost crying, that is).
"That looks bad." Akihiko pointed out as he bent down as well. "I think that sandal's done for." Reluctantly, I gave in and decided to just walk with no sandals however I was taken by surprise(again) when suddenly I felt a pair of strong arms picking me up and carrying me in...b-bridal style?! "S-senpai! What're you doing?" I questioned completely overwhelmed with the sudden gesture.
"Huh? Since your sandal tore off I can't let you walk bare footed now can I?" he answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. I wanted to protest but all that came out was a bunch of flustered squirming sounds. "B-but aren't I heavy?" I managed to form a sentence. "Of course not." he said. Though, I would've punched him in the face if he said I did. I halted my objection and just hid my face under the Jack Frost Doll I received earlier.
"There you go." after what felt like a lifetime senpai finally put me down on in front of the entrance to the dorm. I landed on the ground in a quite unladylike manner and almost stumbled just like Bambi when he was first born. "U-uh t-thanks for um.. carrying me all the way here Sanada-senpai" I stammered unwilling to meet him in the eyes. I heard him chuckle a "your welcome." as I opened the door to the dorm. "Good night, Arisato." I turned to look at him and beamed "Good night, Sanada-senpai!"
~o~o~o~o~
Author's note : Aaaaand finally I got around to writing another fanfic~ Okay, so I'm planning on making this a series of semi-related AkixMina oneshots (fluff obviously) so please review and tell me what you think about it 8D Though I'd be updating quite slow due to *drumroll* school~. So yeah.
And special thanks to xXMinekoXKenXx for giving me the idea to put in the most corny event, the bridal carrying part XD