A/N : First fanfic on I'm kinda excited! XD I want to say thank you to even just take the time to read this first chapter and if you guys review I'll just... cry tears of joy? Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimers : I do not own the universe of Tamako Market and Tamako love story.
Chapter 1 : A Promise
Mochizou stood there, frozen. He didn't believe what he just heard. Tamako was looking at her feet, her cheeks flushed red. This made Mochizou's own cheeks turned a shade of dark pink. Neither said anything until Mochizou finally broke the thick silence, getting ahold of himself.
"Wait... Could you repeat? I think I might have heard wrong."
Tamako was so red that she looked like she was going to overheat and explode. "Gosh, Mochizou. Don't make me repeat this..." She whined.
Still looking down from embarrassment, she repeated in a low voice even though all she wanted to do was to go in a deep hole and never come back. "I love you."
She might have said it quietly, Mochizou could perfectly catch her words. He turned redder than before. He hid his face and, as his legs were slowly giving up, he crouched down. People passing by were starting to look at them weirdly, not knowing what was going on at all. "I never thought I would hear this one day."
"Mochizou?" Tamako walked over, decreasing the big gap between them, and also crouched down. "Are you alright?"
Suddenly, Tamako found herself held in a firm hug. His arms made their way around her tiny frame and held her tightly. Flustered, she started panicking. But Mochizou just held her tighter, like she would disappear from his sight forever if he let her go.
"I'm just too happy." When she heard this, it instantly calmed her down. With a soft smile playing on her lips, she hugged back. They stayed like this for a while, not caring about anything else but the warmth of their embrace. Sadly, Tamako quickly came back to reality. She remembered why her childhood friend was at the train station today. Her heart throbbed with pain. She didn't want him to go.
"Why do you have to go to Tokyo... Tokyo's far..." She said weakly.
"Don't worry Tamako. It's just the entrance exam. I'll come back right after."
Tamako's brain stopped functioning, trying to absorb this information. She was getting confused. Midori told her that he would move to Tokyo today. What was that exam about? "Wait. What? Exam?"
Before Mochizou could say anything else, they heard an announcement about another train going to Tokyo had just arrived. Mochizou pulled away reluctantly. He would have wanted to stay like this forever. "Let's talk when I come back okay? I promise you that I will spend all the rest of the afternoon with you today."
Even with all the questions that rushed in her mind, Tamako's face lit up with a dazzling smile. "Ok! It would be our first date!"
Right after those words escaped her lips, she covered her mouth and blushed despite herself. Mochizou smiled brightly, unable to contain his happiness. He waved at her while climbing in the train. "See you, Tamako."
"Good luck, Mochizou!" She screamed before he disappeared from her sight. As she watched the train go, she had a selfish thought. She knew it was selfish and tried to push it away, but in all honesty, a little part of herself wished he wouldn't do so good in his exam. She hoped he would come back and stay with her forever.
...
"Anko! What do you think of this dress?"
The older sister twirled around in a light spring dress, humming the song her dad composed for their mom. Anko looked up from her homework and sighed. "I told you to call me An!"
Tamako answered like she usually did, saying how Anko was a cute name. Anko sighed once again but didn't add any comments on the subject. Instead, she answered her sister's prior question. "Like I said, you look great. Why do you care so much about your clothing? It's just Mochi."
Tamako put her hands on her cheeks to hide the red that was creeping up. "Y-you're right! It's just him!" She laughed awkwardly.
"You two are acting weird all of a sudden…" Anko reminisced of the past few days. She thought about it for a few seconds then, everything that happened clicked together. "He finally confessed to you, didn't he? And you're going out with him this afternoon?"
Tamako looked at her younger sister eyes wide and turned red like a fresh tomato. The blue eyed girl tried to keep her composure while talking but she kept stuttering. "N-no! Wait. FINALLY?! You already knew h-he liked me?!"
"Yeah. Onee-chan was the only one who didn't know."
Tamako laughed awkwardly once again. "Anko is more aware of this kind of thing than me, huh…" Her younger sibling sighed again and was about to say something but was cut off by voices coming from downstairs.
"You've got no business calling me 'father', brat!" Mamedai Kitashirakawa, the owner of Tama-ya mochi shop, exclaimed. The cry was followed by Mochizou's apologies.
Tamako panicked. "He's already here?! Anko, how do I look?" She twirled around quickly for the nine years old girl.
"It's perfect, onee-chan. Now go." She pushed her sister out of the room and wished her good luck. After the was done, Anko returned to what she was doing before.
"I wish I had as much success…" She mumbled before concentrating on her homework.