For a while, no voices were heard, no words were spoken.
Only the sound of Cupid stroking his arrow on my fragile heart strings—strumming the lullaby of my fast-beating heart—and our endless footsteps
filled the air.
• • •
The night sky, so dotted with stars and celestial bodies, smiled as it hovered us with its twinkling. As I looked up, it seemed as if all the stars in the sky were calling out to me, saying "Ganbatte!"
With a small sigh, I look back down to my feet.
I only wish I had the confidence right now to take a chance and make something happen—whether it be little or big step.
Beat beat.
No matter how much I try to distract myself, my mind is occupied—what a day.
Friends.
Fireworks.
Yuri.
Yukata.
Love.
Feelings.
Kou.
Yuri.
Kou.
Feelings.
Kou.
Love?
Beat beat.
Kou.
Walking right in front of me.
Just the two of us.
Quiet this whole time since we'd left the festival, he'd neither opened his mouth or recognized my presence.
Hands in his pockets, he continued forward with long strides, leaving me behind little by little.
What is this? This distance between us.
I don't like it, I'm uncomfortable—my chest feels tight—but it's no good,
I'm afraid.
How do you measure this distance between us?
We're so near, yet so far.
As he walks, our distance grows—my steps as little as my self-esteem.
Will we stay this far that we will reach the end just like this? Will we reach our destination separated?
Or are we closer than I think?
I want to believe that.
I want to believe that in reality, we're close, and could be even closer.
I want us to be close, to be comfortable, to be familiar.
I want these feelings of uncertainty to be washed from my body, swept away by the tides of affection and bliss.
I want us to be close.
If I reach my hand out to his silhouette, will I have closed a gap between us?
Would he take my hand in his?
But he stopped in his tracks, and I in mine.
The sound of pacing has vanished.
We're still.
Beat beat.
Beat beat.
Unsteady is my heart.
Beat beat.
Beat beat.
"Ganbatte!" they say to me.
Beat.
He is in my sight.
And I see him, hands in his pockets turn slowly.
And I see his face, partly covered by his wavy, black hair.
And I see the color of his skin, gradually exposing itself to me.
And I see his ever-so-lovely eyes, his eyes full of hidden emotion—his eyes that always suck me in.
And in those eyes—though too far to see—is me.
Somewhere lost in those dark, brown eyes
is me.
My reflection.
I am in his sight.
And I look on, as does he.
"Hey," Kou says, "what are you doing?"
"Walk next to me."
And just like that.
In that single moment.
Through the power of four words.
The distance between us closed.
Or maybe we were already closer than I thought?
• • •
The stars now shined more brightly than ever, twinkling above the two walking side by side in a city.
She, though looking down at the ground before her, was hiding her internal warfare.
He, though unbeknownst to her, would sometimes turn his head with the slightest of movements, and look at the female figure beside him from the corner of his eye.
She was thankful for her long hair, her hair that fell over her cheeks, hiding her hot blush.
He was enamored with such hair, her hair that sometimes exposed her peach skin and that framed her face perfectly.
She had closed her eyes, afraid that he would see her fluster.
He had noticed her feminine eyelashes, long eyelashes that curled under the illumination of street lights.
She pursed her mouth tight, falling deeper into her hidden flurry of emotions.
He searched for her lips, looking for the delicate pink that would adorn her face.
She walked on, in the cold of the night, trying to find a source of warmth.
He walked on, in this linear path, noticing her breath in the icy air.
To the two of them, they walked for what seemed to be an eternity.
Or rather, what they longed to be an eternity.
For as far as they were concerned,
they, indeed, were close.