Summary: How lucky Ayako is to have Sendoh in her life. Musing on their beatific relationship reinforces Ayako's sense of how lucky she is. Ayako X Sendoh. One-shot. Re-uploaded.
A/N: Originally published in June 2010.
"Let's go for a walk, shall we?"
He smiled, standing in the doorway with his hand held out for her to hold—a simple gesture that said she could trust him—nothing more, nothing less. It was devoid of the neediness people had betrayed in the past when trying to win her heart, but was not without a certain intimacy, such as could only be matched in its warmth by the smile he wore on his face. It made her feel light to think that he was smiling at her.
"Why not?"
He asked the question as if their evening walks together were something new, and she answered it with the same freshness. It was not so much a formality as it was a reprisal of the first time she had seen him in the doorway of her house.
Their relationship was not new, but it renewed itself with every passing day, every time they passed each other's school and felt the familiar thrill of living a moment they were not meant to live, defying the unwritten law that forbade people from rival schools to see each other. They laughed as they remembered the looks of consternation on their friends' faces when they broke the news about their relationship to them.
"It took them a while to get used to us, didn't it?" She gently stroked his arm, and leant against him as they walked.
He laughed softly.
"Sooner or later they would have had to."
Both of them laughed, and held on to each other's hand with intrepidity, not afraid or embarrassed of showing their love publicly.
"You're beautiful, you know?" he said.
"You always tell me that," she giggled.
"Why shouldn't I? It's the truth."
They wandered into a park, and sat down on a bench by the lake, gazing with pleasure at the children running around and feeding the ducks. The air was filled with happiness, and everything was just as it should be.
"You know," he said, "I've always wondered what life would be like if I hadn't met you."
"So have I."
"The truth is, I fell in love with you when I first laid eyes on you."
"So did I."
They retraced their steps all the way back to her house as night closed in on them. The electric lights in the street cast a warm glow on them that caused their heated passions to course through their veins with palpable pressure.
He stood in the doorway and leant against the frame; and she saw that his face was flushed even though the evening had not yet begun.
"You know how lucky we are, don't you?" she said.
He nodded. Then they leant in, and kissed.
"Same time tomorrow?" he said at the end of his sojourn.
"Sure."
"You'd better stay true to your word." He laughed. "I can't bear the thought of not getting to see you for a whole day."
She laughed in turn.
"Neither can I."
"I love you." He waved.
"I love you, too." She shut the door, and stood for a few moments facing her apartment, smiling widely, as if the reason for her happiness were still there beside her.
She sighed dreamily, and lay sprawled out in bed that night, unable to stop thinking of him, of his charming face, his looks, his niceness.
She was the luckiest girl in the world.
No. Ayako sighed, crumpled the sheet of paper, and tossed it into the overflowing trashcan next to the door.
She looked wearily at the wall clock. It was nearly two in the morning.
What was she thinking? Sendoh could never love her.
End.