Kiss while your lips are still red.
"I love you, Mei Misaki" Were the words he felt like saying. He felt them every time he saw her. He could feel them now, as they were walking home together, wanting to escape from his lips and reach her ears. But then again, he kept them in. Not that she need to know. Not now at least.
How would she react, anyways? Her almost emotionless demeanor meant she could just care little for his feelings. On the other hand, yet less likely, she could even get mad at him, and no longer want to be with him. And even if she loved him back, he´d return to Tokyo eventually. The idea of leaving her alone and heartbroken was worse than his own heartache.
"No" He thought to himself "she wouldn't be alone". He was right; more or less. Ever since the calamity stopped, Misaki spent more time with her –surviving- classmates and Chibiki-sensei, who took the role of class 3's main teacher. But still, she was rather lonely at times, and her only constant companion was, indeed, Kouichi.
On the other hand, Sakakibara himself started to get further from his friends, precisely in order to be with Mei. His crush on her grew more and more obvious, and Teshigawara enjoyed teasing them together. But then again, Misaki is the one who doesn't seem to notice, and Kouichi couldn't stand it.
After all of this analysis of the situation, he finally made his choice: it's now or never.
"Misaki" He said, drawing her attention and prompting her to stop her tracks. Kouichi stopped as well and continued his talk with an increasing blush, "I, uh… well, I'd like us to, you know, go out together" He held his breath, waiting for her answer and checking his own spoken words, fearing he might have gone wrong in any of them. Short dark hair started to catch the wind while the girl listened. "Out" was her brief answer, which drove her companion a little nervous, "um, yeah, out like some park or…" he got silent when he noticed Mei's downed her face, her hair now covered her pale face, like trying to veil the sight of Kouichi, or even the whole world around.
"Misaki and I. We used to hang out in parks and such, when Kirika didn't notice" she explained with a trembling voice; tears started to roll down her cheeks, setting a sense of panic in Kouichi. He didn't mean to remind her of her deceased sister, and he tried to fix whatever damage he could have done to his beloved.
But he was too late, as before he could say anything, Mei talked first "I need to go" she turned around, opened the door near, got in the building, and shut it behind her, leaving the boy both stunned and sad. He looked at the building, and then at the familiar cardboard.
He was at M studio.
Sakakibara and Misaki were enjoying their picnic. The wind blazed slow and calm through the cherry trees surrounding the couple, witling as it passed over the grass. Kouichi cooked a gourmet grade lunch and brought it in a wooden basket for the occasion, he was wearing the best suit he could find and bought a small, portable music player with the best romantic songs for the ambiance. He did it all for his first date to be perfect. Despite all his preparation, he felt humble at his sight of Mei, dressed in a beautiful, breathtaking red dress, petite black shoes and white gloves. However, the boy looked at her green artificial eye, as it was uncovered, something quite rare, but most desirable as he just considered it to be.
It was all perfect, until the fateful moment when Misaki got some sauce left over her lips, out of a messy portion of sauced rice. The boy stared at her delicate porcelain skin disturbed by a horrid stain of food. His next movement was rather instinctive than thought. He approached to her and stole a kiss from her lips, cleaning them seemed like the perfect excuse to do so. It wasn't.
The result was not what he expected.
She grew mad; she started to yell out loud, "what- why did you do that?!" as she stood up. Stunned, he tried to excuse himself, but he couldn't help her storming off. Suddenly, the music turned into a mad violin. The trees died away and the wind ran wild.
He tried to reach her, but he couldn't even move out of the picnic blanket. By every step she took, Kouichi's sight grew blurrier and darker.
Then, he woke up.
He yelled, loud as to feel alive, low enough, as not to alert anyone else in his grandparents' house.
He analyzed his turned-to-nightmare dreams. He's still got no date with, nor rented a suit or played any music. However, he was as heartbroken as in the nightmare.
"Damn it, I can't even get her in my dreams" He said with a sigh. He checked the clock and realized there was little time before the alarm would set off. He'd later see the rest of the dream, for now, he had to go to school.
Much like the horrifying beginning of the course, he kept thinking about Misaki Mei during the class session. He didn't take any notes; instead, he wrote his several ideas for his next approach on the girl, as well as her name, sometimes along with his own inside several hearts.
Once the ring finally marked an end to the class, Kouichi stood up and tried to get to Mei. Nevertheless, Naoya Teshigawara and Yuuya Mochizuki stepped in front of him, forcing him to stay. "Hey, Sakaki, how've you been" Irritated, he answered "Fine, I need to go" "Where? To see a certain eye-patched girl, Huh? "
"What if I am?" "Well, we'd like to give you some help about her" "How could you know…" "She, kind of told us" said Mochizuki, shocking Sakakibara and setting Teshigawara a little more serious
"What? How? When?" "Yesterday, she phoned us when we were at my family's cafe" "She's got your number?" "We exchanged numbers days after the calamity" "How is it I didn't know" "Come on, Sakaki, you've got to go the bathroom sometimes; Besides, we are as friends of hers as you are" "Friends…" Kouichi said doubtfully. As Teshigawara noticed he hit the right spot, he gave the final blow "You… don't like her as a friend, do you?" He could feel the pressure in his chest increasing and just one way to release it "No, I, I… I love her" This said, the tension in the empty classroom vanished. Even if not to the girl they were for, letting those words out was quite liberating. Both Naoya and Yuuya then said almost in unison "Then go get her"
Kouichi left the school building with a decisive smile. He was planning to reach Mei in her house, so he was surprised to see her waiting for him near the school entrance. She was standing alone, until he finally was to get her. He approached slowly, but sure. Heartbeat increasing, and cheeks getting warmer, the young lover, finally reached the girl and claimed some words to break the –awkward- ice. "Hello, Misaki. I want to apologize for what I did yesterday. I didn't mean to hurt you or bring any undesirable memory. I'm sorry" She flashed a smile, something she rarely did, and answered the request for forgiveness "Don't worry Sakakibara-kun, I'm the one who should be sorry" with a mixture of joy and surprise he exclaimed "you mean it?" "I do. You'll see, ever since my sister died, I thought I couldn't meet someone so close to, with whom I could hang out with no concern. But now I realize we've been hanging out, even if we didn't know" "So you're telling me…" "Yes, Kouichi Sakakibara, I'd like to go out with you" A burst of excitement ran through Kouichi's body, he couldn't believe she accepted; the feeling was overwhelming. "Thank you so much, I lo…" he frozen, he was close to say those words, but he felt it was too soon to tell her such secret, as she just explained the why of her initial refusal; instead, he changed his words with some pain "I'll let you know when and where. Meanwhile, can I walk you home?" She replied with a subtle nod.
The walk home was quite normal, besides the little humming from Kouichi, which Mei didn't seem to mind. When they got to M studio's front door, the youngsters set their goodbyes.
"So, tomorrow morning would be fine." "Yes, I'll wait in the main store, so you only need to knock the door." "Ok" Kouichi said as he held his hand. "See you tomorrow, Misaki Mei" Mei took his hand, but instead of shaking it, she used it to lean herself towards him and land a small kiss on his cheek. She took him for surprise, "Goodbye, Sakakibara-kun". She said, opened the door, got in the building and closed it behind her.
This time he kept his hand over the red hot cheek that received the kiss. He took a few steps backwards, and resumed the way to his own home. He walked several meters and, after making sure no one was listening, he yelled his happiness out
He kept trying to get out of the blanket. He didn't care about the desolated dead park he was left stranded, or the insane music that stopped a while ago already. He just kept thinking about the girl. He knew he blew it when trying to kiss her. But now, he just wanted to get to her. He was desperate, and pushed with all his strength to whatever invisible force stopped him from stepping out. Then he heard it. It was her voice; Telling his name. She was calling for him.
All he could do was to yell hers as a way to response. He tried, and kept trying. "Misaki, where are you?! Talk to me!" He waited for an answer, and he's only got one "I'm waiting for you." Confused by the words, he barely paid attention to how the force keeping him locked began to falter away. He almost fell to the floor once his prison disappeared. He didn't waste time, he ran to where he heard her voice sounded from. He followed it through the dead forest, wind going over his face, heart beating faster and faster. In the end he reached small shrine-like scenery. Plants grew green once more, and the lighting was normal. Dolls of all kind and size surrounded a coffin lying over a bed of flowers in the center of a round water pond. There she was, like the doll back in her house. Arms crossed, eye patch removed and a calmed face, she seemed to be sleeping. He called her name and she opened her eyes. "Sakakibara-kun. I'm glad you arrived" She said as the coffin rose up, leaving her in a perfect position to get out of it with no effort. She approached Kouichi, and said with a rather faint voice "Do you want to do it?" he answered decisively "I do" Wasting no time; he grabbed her by the arms and opened his mouth slightly. Their lips growing closer to each other…
-BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP-
He woke up frightened by the alarm clock, cursing his luck and lack of care once he realized he set it up at 5:00 am. He tried to go back to sleep with no success. He opened the wall-door and noticed the sky was still quite dark. It still would take a while before that changed, as the autumn –almost winter by then- had longer nights. He kept thinking what to do, and decided that it was better to finish things once for all. He'd go to M Studio.
He dressed himself with long-sleeved clothes and prepared some quick food, as he felt he couldn't just go without a present, and put them in two boxes which were placed in a small bag he tied to his hip. He avoided the living room where Rei-Chan was and headed straight forward an exit. He could get to the street with perfect stealth, leaving just a note claiming where he was heading, as well that he's got his cell phone along with him.
Yomiyama was indeed a small city: Its streets had enough artificial lighting for one to see, and practically no vehicle was on the road. Having the curse stopped sure helped to the serene sense it displayed, like if it's always been there, hidden by the fear of certain death.
Kouichi arrived at M Studio with no incident. He was about to knock the door, but stopped at the thought of waking everyone. He just needed to see her, not her grandma, nor Kirika. Just. Mei.
He examined the building and noticed the windows upstairs. He took some small rocks he found on the street, and sighed. He tried his luck and threw one of the pebbles to the closed window.
He waited a few seconds, and threw a second rock. Before he could throw the third, the window opened, revealing Mei in her pajamas, eyes uncovered. "Sakakibara-Kun, what are you doing here?" she asked with annoyance and tire. "Well, I'm here to pick you up" "Isn't it a little too early?" He was forced to answer embarrassedly "Ohm, yeah, I… couldn't wait to see you" "Damn it, that sounded too corny" He coursed himself silently as he fixed his eyes on her reaction. Naturally, she displayed little emotion in her answer, although he could swear he saw a smile when she talked "Ok, I'll go down there." That said, she disappeared from the window, leaving Kouichi to wait for her, looking at the door. He began to think about the several possibilities, after her actions. She might've just returned to bed, or she could tell Kirika what is going on. Everything could go wrong in so many ways; he felt relief and surprise at seeing the doorknob moving.
Having her jumping at his arms in order to reach his lips was too much to ask, so Sakakibara resigned to just seeing her standing before him. Her casual clothes were as simple as comfortable; the eye-patch couldn't hide the tiredness on her porcelain face. All he could say without sounding too bad was a "So, shall we?" while tending his arm to the street.
The walk towards Yomiyama's main park was calm for Mei, though Kouichi was rather anxious; trying not to stare at Mei's beauty for too long, and focusing in the way they were going through, rather than their holding hands, by his own suggestion (using the darkness and her fatigue as an excuse).
The park was somewhat similar to that of his dreams. Trees, and grass enlightened by the lampposts, benches in the sides of the walking paths. They even got to a similar clearing to that he imagined. He got the food boxes out of his bag and gave one to Misaki.
While eating, Sakakibara tried to make out some conversation about any theme he could think of. He was, however, replied with her traditional short –somewhat cold- answers. It took their whole meal to stand up, preparing themselves for leaving the park.
The boy had a somewhat bittersweet sensation. He's got a short and not too far from the usual experience with his beloved. However, he was on a date with her, even she approved to use that word. His hopes rose out of this first chance to show her the extent of his feelings; it wouldn't come back, but it sure wasn't a waste. He was almost ready to go when he heard a noise.
He didn't notice earlier, but there were speakers on the lampposts and some tall trees. They were displaying a soft love song, its lyrics and rhythm sounded like made for the teenagers. He could feel his blush increasing when he noticed the shorthaired girl approaching him. His heart almost exploded at her next action. She hugged him.
"Sakakibara-kun" She began to talk as her eyes were about to cry. "There was another reason I didn't accept your initial invitation" She took a step backward without letting go of the boy. Kouichi waited for her explanation in silence. She began:
"As I said, since my sister died, I couldn't get to befriend anyone else, making it easier to deal with being non-existent; however, it was out of a sense of guilt, being in a cursed class which would kill those related to me…" She took a deep breath before continuing "I didn't want to lose anyone else; then you arrived, you talked to me, turned in a non-existent, and defended me before Akazawa and the others; you even stopped the curse…" With each word said the blush in both students increased, at the same time the distance between their lips decreased. With their eyes almost closed she could just mutter "I… I…"
And they kissed. Their lips met with such passion they had to extent it to their arms, which they used to hug each other. For over half a minute time stopped for them. Once it returned to normal, Misaki broke the kiss and faced a Kouichi. His face showed a mixture of feelings. A blush out of his passion; happiness by the kiss (and disappointment out of ending it), but mostly some sort of hope, like if most, or all, his dreams suddenly turned real.
However, he thought it might have unsettled her, and quickly began to apologize with a "Misaki…" just to be interrupted by her "shhh, don't talk, I want to rest." With this said, she pressed her head against his chest, making him blush even more than he already was.
While confused, Kouichi was incredibly excited, something Misaki could tell by his accelerated heartbeat. Sakakibara took a deep, yet silent breath to relax, and embraced the dark haired girl in his arms. His hands were placed almost instinctively near her bosom, an idea his mind playfully thought of, but later decided it was rather embarrassing for such an early step in the relationship that, he assured to himself, had just started.
Instead, he used his left hand to grab Mei's right hand, and slowly raised his right arm up to her head. He gently rubbed her left cheek, causing her soft skin to turn red hot. Once he reached her eye patch´s rope he slowly and carefully used his fingers to untie it from her ear. Once she felt it, Misaki snapped and asked with both shock and concern "Sakakibara-Kun, what are you doing?" He stopped momentarily and grinned "Dear Misaki Mei, I've told you already" he finished untying the rope and let the eye patch fall to the floor "I think your eye is beautiful"
She looked at him; the color of death was nowhere to be seen, much to her relief and happiness. She made a small hop to reach the brunette's mouth with hers in a blissful, glorious kiss. With her arms around his neck, the girl set away her head to meet his gaze. The young boy then pronounced the words he died to say every time he saw her, "I love you, Mei Misaki" She answered with a set of words that represented her mutual feelings "You know something funny? One of the last things Misaki asked me was if I had a crush on anyone. I do now. I love you, Kouichi Sakakibara" And then, almost as if cued, they kissed once more, under the subtle shine of a withering dawn.