Knock, knock, knock!
"Mmnh…"
Knock, knock!
"Mm…Yes?" Heavy eyelids slowly swept the sleep off of themselves as Art shifted around on the floor for a bit before reluctantly sitting up and crawling across the tatami mats to where the screen door was.
Today he had been moved to the south wing of the estate since there would be guests over in the part of the house that Art was usually kept in, and his mother would not stand having him within a ten mile radius of guests.
This room was much better though, as the south wall of the room was a screen door that opened up to the huge garden in the middle of the estate property. He slid the screen open enough to peek out to see his visitor, a sleepy smile growing on his face when he saw who it was. "Good afternoon, Nice."
"Hey! Sorry, it looks like I woke you up from a nap," the brunet grinned sheepishly while he habitually scratched one of the bandages on his cheek.
"It's fine," Art shook his head with a faint smile that always seem to find its way onto his face when he talked to Nice, "But shouldn't you be working right now?"
The other dismissed the notion entirely with a wave of his hand, "I wanted to show you the cherry blossoms that have bloomed!" Nice was grinning like a mad man.
Art gave it a moment of thought, well, everyone is preoccupied with the guests. After a long pause of consideration, Art responded to his friend with an adventurous gleam in his eyes, "Alright, but we have to be careful not to get seen," the excitement was easy to spot in his voice.
Nice didn't miss a beat in grabbing the other's hand and shooting up as fast as a bolt of lightning, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep an eye out!" And without another moment to spare Art was being dragged out of his room and into the garden.
"W-wait! Slow down, Nice!" Art's giggling mingled with the chattering birds that took up residence in the many trees of his father's garden. He could hear Nice laughing in excitement as well, only adding to the high he got from sneaking out of his room to see what his mother wouldn't allow him to.
"Look," a finger pointed ahead, "they just started blooming now that it's spring!"
Art's breath caught in his throat as they seemed to fly down the path lined with cherry blossom trees that were at the highest peak of their beauty, all in full bloom. He felt weightless with Nice pulling him further and further down the rows of trees with pink flowers that dotted his vision like little kisses from the sun. Their petals came down to greet him personally, caressing his skin so lightly he could swear they were a ghost's fingers.
It wasn't until his feet had suddenly stopped moving that he noticed Nice wasn't pulling on his hand anymore, but now he was just holding it and looking at Art with the most serene smile he had ever seen.
"It's like a whole other world, huh?"
"Huh––? Oh, yes, it's amazing," do you mean the outside or being with you?
Art was too busy watching the cherry blossoms float around him like miniature stars to notice the smirk on Nice's face. "Come on, I want to show you something else!" Right as a petal was about to land on Art's nose he was yanked forward, forced into a jog.
The rest of the cherry blossom trees whizzed past them as they left the grove and entered a part of the garden decorated with shrubs and an arrangement of flowers. Their footsteps slowed down and Nice led him to a glistening pool of water with big dots of oranges, blacks, and whites that darted around underneath its surface. Upon closer inspection, he realized that they were koi fish, something he'd only seen in illustrations. He noted that the real things were far more beautiful and captivating than their still, painted brethren.
"I didn't know we had them. They're like miniature water dragons," purple eyes were fixated on the colorful fish in the pond.
A chuckle of bemusement escaped Nice, "I guess they are. Spring is their favorite season because they get to eat all they want after sleeping for the winter."
He got no reply from Art who was progressively leaning in closer and closer to the water until the point where Nice had to hastily grab hold of him before he fell in. "Woah, that was a close one! I know they're pretty but you don't need to see them that up close," The blatant worry and fear from the shock Art just gave him faded into a chuckle with underlining relief.
Purple eyes met blue ones and blinked several times before darting away to look at an incredibly interesting rock on the ground.
"S-sorry..," Good job, Art, you managed to almost fall into a pond looking at fish.
This time Nice's trademark laugh was cut short by new voices making their way to their location. Art recognized one of the voices immediately. Lavender tinted hair tossed left and right as he frantically looked around for the body to match his mother's voice.
Luckily, Nice was quicker to act and sprinted off toward a cluster of trees in the garden with the other boy in tow. They could hear the familiar voice amongst several unknown ones come closer to where they just were and the young servant didn't stop running until they had put a safe amount of distance between themselves and the voices.
The two of them gasped for air behind a thick-trunked maple tree. Chests heaving, their eyes met and both could see that they both had gotten a thrill out of their close escape from being spotted.
"Eheh...Ahahahaha!" they simultaneously burst into crippling laughter, holding their stomachs with each breathless giggle that escaped them.
The spring of Art's twelfth year will always be dated as one of his favorites.
