disclaimer: khr! © amano akira
66.
wild berry
dear strawberry, please make me smile
;
It was her routine afternoon—a departure from a throng of uniform-clad schoolgirls, grin on her face and traces of weariness tucked away in her schoolbag, a last cheerful good-bye screeched before making a swift turn in the opposite direction—a silent walk in the aftermath of a light rainfall, dodging mirror-like puddles hop-scotched on the sidewalk.
The streets had been blanketed in quiet, only her humming making an attempt to fill the space empty of interaction. Whispering a few song tunes and mumbling a couple equations, her almond eyes were turned to the destination ahead, which was fractured and blurred with the gauze of rising rain.
He had been an approaching figure on the opposite sidewalk and originally, she had taken no notice of him. When she did, however, she took notice of the lanky approaching figure, a little more than a few breaths taller than her, yet with the hunch of his shoulders and the way he dragged his scuffed shoes along the pavement, he seemed overwhelmed by his school uniform.
(—the Namimori school uniform.)
She remembers pouting, trying to decipher who he was—she had waved silently, in an attempt to catch his attention. It had worked and eyes, once focused on the hazy horizon, fixed on her.
(—even from where she stood, she could distinguish the unusual garnet shade.)
With long pale fingers adorned in scraps of white cloth and decorated by small cuts that refused to heal, he waved back, offering an awkward quirk of the lips that may have been a smile.
Their exchange had been brief, little more than a wide, welcoming and slightly confused, smile on Haru's part and a shy trembling one on his. Almost immediately, Haru had found herself intrigued, completely fascinated by the fragile (almost breakable) existence that cowered under a mass of crimson hair and bloodied bandages.
Their meeting had been chance and brief, no more than a few seconds, most of it filled with the silence that came when you crossed paths with one you never expected to meet again.
Yet within those few moments, there had been, there had been something.
Somewhere, deep inside Haru had quivered and shook and sighed and longed.
Some part of her, the scary and uncontrollable part that got her in trouble and hurt and confused, had latched onto the boy with the ruby hair and strikingly garnet eyes that constantly studied the ground.
That day, during their coincidental and short meet, a small piece of Haru's heart latched onto that strange and unknown boy, and refused, absolutely refused, to let go.
.
Through her connections within Namimori (read: Kyouko-chan), Haru came to find out who the boy was.
His name was Enma. Kozato Enma, Kyouko had said. The name was befitting, Haru thought: unfamiliar and strange but in no way startling. Soft and subliminal almost, just as he, Kozato-kun, had been that day.
Haru had not seen him in any other part of town after that rainy afternoon. She had searched for glimpses of garnet amongst the crowd wherever she went, for what reason, she could not identify.
His face remained fresh in her mind and his name rolled off her tongue as if she had known him forever (how she wished she did). Something about him was so remarkably different. It wasn't just the fact that he was a transfer student or that he possible had Italian lineage or that his hair was the same shade of red as camellia blossoms. There was something, something else.
She couldn't possibly put her tongue on what it was and found herself lying awake at night on the fringes of sleep with visions of crimson, scarlet and vermilion warmly painting her sight.
.
Haru met him again one day, at the flower shop.
Despite her new found (read: unusual) interest in Kozato-kun, Haru hand't expected to meet him again. She had searched for him, diligently so, yet it hadn't occurred to her what steps she would take once she met him agiain, no mumbles or passing greetings but the with the familiarity that came upon unexpectedly meeting someone once more.
Almond eyes idly examining the freshly picked spring orchids, she caught a glimpse of crimson. It was all to bright to be a flower of spring, all too out of season. Summer maybe, alongside the vibrant greens and deep blues, but spring? Spring was far too faded.
She had looked up and without warning their eyes met ; the dangerous flash of recognition swept through tired, garnet eyes. He stood far from her, though not far as he had been that rainy afternoon, opposite her as he returned home with coin bags under his eyes and definitely not so far that he was the barely distinguishable crimson painting of a prince. He was far, but not far enough, close, dangerously close, close enough that if she decided to, she could all him over.
For some reason, she found herself breathless.
Noticing her lingering stare, he mustered up something akin to a smile, a small, quieted curving of lips that was all too inviting for someone like her.
She took his cue, forgetting the orchids and sweeping out of the flower shop as fast as she could. Her heart was racing. She felt heated, yet not in the angry way she was familiar with. She stomped ungracefully just to reassure herself that her feet were touching the ground.
Outside, it was bright and the air tasted of young blossoms. The sky shaded somewhere between light blue and azure. Somewhere, a truck rumbled past and the faint inklings of a memory tickled her conscious.
Taking a deep breath in, she sighed.
Haru, what have you gotten yourself into this time?
.
dear strawberry, i've fallen in love
;
a/n2: i'm gomen this ended up rEALLY STUPID