It felt like he was in a completely different space-time. The time has stopped and there was complete silence. Realizing that breathing is kind of important Ryu took a step back and fixed his eyes at his….um, how should he call her now?
"Okaay…." Chizu started. Luckily for her, she was wearing long sleeves. At least he couldn't see the goosebumps
"Well…I did not see this coming." Ryu said.
"Hang on, how could you not know you were going to kiss me?"
"Okay, I admit, it wasn't so spontaneous; actually I've wanted to do this for quite a long time."
WHACK!
"Ouch, that hurt. Would you stop attacking me? Just for once. I think we should talk."
"Yep, that's a good idea, but we should go somewhere else. Hold on, I'll just get a hoodie."
"Take your time; you know how patient I am." Grinned Ryu.
Chizu's POV
Chizu walked into the house and smashed the door, sat on the floor and rested her back against the door. Alright, now she has about 2 minutes to restart her mind, which, however, was impossible, because as far as she was concerned she and Ryu have just reached the point of no return. They just could get back to being friends, or basically siblings. Sure, the old Chizuru would just grin and said she was joking, but not this time. She's known Ryu pretty much forever. He's always been like a brother to her, but in last few months she got to meet a completely different side of him than the one she'd been used to. Instead of a sleepy, phlegmatic boy whose life consisted of baseball, eating and sleeping there was a teenager who fell in love with her head over heels and was and despite of his phlegmatic personality, he was clearly freaking out. His confession was something she definitely did not expect, but she'd lie she said that she didn't spent a number of sleepless nights thinking about it. But forget the confession. If confession was surprising to her, then what he did tonight was a shock.
There was something similar on the other side of the door.
Ryu's POV
The truth is, he really did not see this coming, but these words were like permission for him to finally make the change although his reaction may have been just a little bit impulsive. Wasn't he the one who has always solved his issues rationally? Surely, but when it came to anything related to Chizuru, all the rationality and phlegmatic approach were gone, because she was like a hurricane. Okay, the solution he's made tonight was quite reckless, but in the end it worked, didn't it?
Analyzing the events of past few months Chizu almost forgot there's someone at the door waiting for a nice long talk, because him acting like this? It calls for an explanation.
She stood back up and grabbed her jacket. "Dad, I'm going out, I'll be right back!" she shouted and banged the door as gloriously as only she could. She found her friend sitting on the stairs.
"Alright, let's go." Chizu offered him a hand. He clenched it and even though he got up quickly, he didn't let go off it.
She glanced at Ryu finding out he's trying to make an eye contact.
"Hey! Let go off my hand!" she yelped, quite shocked to realize how squeaky it sounded.
"Or what? Are you gonna hit me again?" Ryu smiled.
"Maybe." Chizu grunted. She didn't want him to know that she was actually okay with it. In fact it felt really good.
"Oh, I'm scared!" he laughed. He knew exactly what was going on. They've known each other for such a long time that they were able to read each other's expressions like an opened book.
Chizu gave him another grumpy look, but didn't protest anymore.
They sat down by the river. It's always been the best place for both of them to talk or just contemplate about things.
"So you really…." Started Ryu and his friend interrupted him.
"Yes, I do. You see, 10 years I promised you I would become your sister and so I did, but when you confessed to me, you broke the sister and brother bond between us and I didn't know what kind of relationship there is between us…I mean it's like that…at first I thought it doesn't make sense, but then you started to be really nice to me and then you said you were leaving to college and I just freaked out. I realized that if you left me here behind, it would…how should I put it…it would suck big time, because it's always been the us against the world thing… I couldn't last a month without you, how am I supposed to make it through 5 years?"
"I'm sorry, Chizuru."
"Sorry for what?!"
"I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. I confessed to you, but I never asked if you liked me back. It was a mistake…and also sorry for tonight, I know you were shocked, but when I heard you say that I was just overjoyed and I couldn't control myself."
"Well, it certainly wasn't something that a brother and sister or friends do." Chizu said.
"No, it's not, because you're more than that to me."
It wasn't the first time Chizu heard that from him, but this time it was different. Horrified she started to realize she's turning red and her heart was trying to beat its way through her chest. How could this happen?
"Waaaaah! Stop it! That's too much pressure!" She yelped covering her face with her hands.
"Are you ok?" Ryu asked.
"When-when did you start to like me?" She asked.
"Hmm, now that I'm thinking about it, it's been quite a while. But the moment when I realized I felt different about you was probably in freshman year. When I did, I started trying to bottle up my feelings I had for you, but you didn't make it easy for me. "
"What do you mean by that?"
Ryu fixed his eyes on a tree on the other side of the river and took a deep breath.
"You see, ever since I've known you, you've always been so supportive, caring and protective, and you can put a smile on anyone's face, even after….even after my aunt's passing when my brother moved out, you were there for me. After that car crash I felt terrible, but you were trying so hard to cheer me up that I just had to pull myself together."
Sobbing again, Chizu literally threw her arms around Ryu's neck.
"I'm so sorry! That day I promised I'd always cheer on you, but I made you suffer for years instead! I'm an idiot!"
Suddenly she could feel him gently pushing her away from him.
"Look at me, Chizuru. I don't want to hear this again. You are not an idiot. Don't blame yourself; it's not your fault. I knew you had feelings for my brother and, frankly, it hurt. I've been waiting for months but some things are worth waiting for. Oh, and there's one more thing I forgot to mention. You looked stunning at my brother's wedding. Actually, you always do."
Finally there was something he's been longing to see all evening. Chizu gave him a bright smile and poked him.
"Hey, stop that, I'm blushing!"
"So am I." He laughed.
"This is so strange." Chizu said.
"Why?"
"It's like everything's the same, yet something feels different. Something has changed….by the way, it's getting dark and it's quite cold, we should head back."
"Sure, but there's one more thing I need to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Will you go out with me? I'll never make you uncomfortable again and I'll take care of you!"
"Sure, I will!" Chizu grinned.
