Year: 10
Season: Spring
Ib: Age 18
Ib had graduated not even a week ago, her diploma was sitting in her room, on top of her dresser, looking impressively over the entire room. She went over to a mirror hanging on the wall, and took out a makeup kit, lightly dabbing her face here and there, and she turned to look at all the dresses she had sitting out on her bed, today was the day she was going to meet Garry, and since she was of age, and out of high school (another requirement Garry sprung up on her), she was going to see him, and claim him as her own.
There was a knock on her door, "Ib? Are you heading out soon?"
"Yes mom," She called, "I'm getting ready."
"Your father and I will be out by the time you leave, we just wanted to let you know. Have fun wherever you're going!"
"Thanks mom," She called, "Have a good time."
"You too, honey." She said, and Ib heard her footsteps walk away.
After finishing combing her hair, Ib put her hair up into a ponytail that reached her mid back, and she began to add some eyeliner. Finishing that, and making sure her red eyes were prominent, she looked over to her bed and looked at the clothes she could wear. She didn't want to be too fancy, but it was going to be the day that she did everything in her power to try and get Garry to admit that they are together now. With that in mind, she went for a sleeveless blouse with a semi-low neckline, to show off her skin and a little bit of her cleavage.
Liking that, she looked at her pants, skirts, and shorts, trying to decide which would look best. While she would like to wear shorts to show off her legs better, she didn't want to be too obvious in her intent, and it was still kind of cold out, even though it was April. Coming up with a solution, she picked out some shorts that weren't too tight or too loose, and looked in her drawers for some stockings. She knew that they were all the rage these days, so she picked one that went to just below her knee. That should keep her warm enough.
She threw on her jacket, and left it open, and grabbed her treasured red scarf, wrapping it around her neck. She took one look around to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, and once she was done, she turned out the lights, locked the front door – putting the keys in her pocket – and left to go to Garry's house, attempting to keep a grin off her face.
Garry would be in for the fight of his life if he tried to deny her one more time.
XxXxXxX
Garry entered his house casually, just getting home from work. He let out a sigh, and put his jacket on the hanger next to his door, and made a beeline straight towards his favorite and most comfortable couch. He let out a sigh as he lay there for a bit, his mind working frantically, trying to remember something important… What was it?
There was a ring at the door, and he suddenly remembered.
"Aw, crap." He muttered, heaving himself off his couch and going to the door, which someone was suddenly knocking on.
"Garry!"
"You just rang the doorbell," He said as he laughed, and opened the door.
"Hello!" She said, her excitement was easy to tell.
He was struck with a bolt of shock as he looked at her standing there. He quickly coughed and looked away, trying to hide the fact that he had been staring at her for a bit, "I just got home not even five minutes ago," He sighed, "Can you wait a bit for me to at least get a cleaner shirt on?"
"Usually it's the guy waiting for the girl." Ib said.
"Yeah, well, usually the girl doesn't stalk outside the guys house and come in right when he gets home from work."
He noticed from the corner of his eye that Ib looked away, trying to seem innocent, "I have no idea what you're talking about." She said.
"I thought we were supposed to meet an hour from now anyway."
"I was eager to see you." She replied.
"You're a very odd girl," He muttered, "Anyway, make yourself at home."
She nodded, and went into the kitchen, straight to where she knew he kept his tea and teapot, and she began to boil some water. The girl knew his house like the back of her hand, hell, it practically was already her house as it was, telling her to make herself at home was a little redundant, since she already seemed right at home.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he went into his room and looked at his available clothing to wear. He had absolutely no idea how he should be dressed for the day – he assumed it would just be a casual day, and then Ib came in looking like that. Now he felt as if he should really dress to impress, but he didn't really have any clothes to do so in. He could wear his button up shirt, but he was never really comfortable with how uncomfortable the cuffs felt on his arms, he preferred to be more open than it allowed.
"Maybe I'm over thinking this."
He nodded once to himself, and quickly changed. Ib had said that the it was going to be casual, and damn it, he was going to be casual, no matter what she wore. He tore off his work shirt, and put on his favorite sleeveless shirt, and put on some baggy pants. Still, feeling at least a little bit self-conscious, he grabbed a comb and quickly tried to comb his hair down, with little success.
After a little bit, he decided the battle with his hair wasn't worth the trouble, and let it go. He looked himself over one last time, deciding that he felt comfortable enough as it were, and went to the kitchen, where he saw Ib had just set down some tea on the table, and began to drink some herself.
"Alright," Garry said, walking over to her, "So where do you want to hang out today?"
She looked at him, and then her gaze wandered his body for a moment before she glanced away, a slightly red tint on her cheeks, "You look nice."
"I always look like this," He noted, "But I suppose you look very nice too, Ib."
"You suppose?"
He laughed, "You look very nice Ib."
"Just nice?"
"What are you aiming for?" He grinned, sitting next to her taking a sip of the tea she prepared.
"I dunno," She said, looking towards the ceiling as she began to count with her fingers, "Beautiful? Wonderful? The girl of my dreams? Take your pick."
He laughed out loud at that, "Hm, I guess I'll pick option one if I had to go with those choices."
She smiled, "Thank you."
"But back on topic, where would you like to go?" Garry asked.
"Well," She wondered, "We could go to some expensive restaurant, and you could propose to me there or something."
"I'd prefer to be at least a little more subtle than that, if I were to do such a thing."
The girl pouted, "I like things to be simple."
"Right." He sighed, "Of course you do."
"So are we going to be an official couple today? Can we start to date?" She asked, looking excitedly towards him.
"You know," He said dryly, "It's generally the guys job to ask the girl out, not the way you're doing it."
She shrugged, "I don't care about gender stereotypes."
"Clearly."
"Stop it with that attitude." She snapped, "If I don't ask, we'd get absolutely nowhere."
"Thinking back on it, you were the one who always tried to push for a relationship with me."
"Exactly." She said, sipping some tea that she had prepared, "So it's really your fault I turned out this way. If you had just been a man and asked me straight up, I wouldn't have had to be so aggressive."
"My fault?" He looked to her with an amused smile, "I guess it is my fault for not asking a thirteen year old girl out. Will you ever forgive me?"
She looked at him with a halfhearted glare, "Ok, maybe you have a point."
"Only maybe?"
"Yeah," She said, "But I'm eighteen now, not a thirteen year old girl."
"Now you are." He agreed.
"So if you don't want me to be the one to ask you out, then ask me."
"Hm," He wondered, "I am eleven years older than you…"
"That again?" She sighed exasperated.
Garry chuckled, "I'm kidding around with you."
"Then ask me," She said, "Because if you keep waiting, I'm going to just jump you right now."
"You're quite feisty today," He noted, picking up a teacup she had prepared for him and taking a sip.
"I've been waiting for this day for years," She replied, "You know, you admitting you've loved me at first sight, saying you want to be with me forever, that kinda thing."
"At first sight you were nine." He said, "I hope I didn't love you back then." He shuddered at the thought.
"So do you love me now?"
"Hm," He wondered, "I wonder if-"
"Alright." Ib set her cup down, "I'm just going to jump you now."
Garry laughed loudly, "You're really cute when you're annoyed."
She growled, "Damn it Garry."
"Shall we go out?" He asked.
"Where?" Ib asked, eying him warily, as if to say that she knew he was evasively changing the subject.
He shrugged, "I don't know, let's just walk around."
She slowly nodded, "Alright, I guess I can do that."
"You have legs," He noted, "I'm sure you'll be able to do it fine."
"You're hilarious, Garry. You should be a comedian." Ib said dryly.
"You really think so?" Garry asked, looking towards her, "I was thinking about quitting my current job to try and do that."
Ib sighed, "Let's just go." She wrapped her scarf around her neck and put her jacket back on, waiting for Garry to put on his own jacket. Within short order, they both were outside.
XxXxXxX
"This is where we first met," Garry said, nodding to the bench in the park, "You were very shy back then, barely said a word."
"That was our second meeting," Ib said.
"It was our first meeting in the real world, I should say," Garry clarified, "We went to drink some tea."
She nodded, feeling a little nostalgic. She vaguely remembered walking up to the man who at the time towered over her, and having some tea and talking to him about school. He was kind and gentle as he always was, and seemed to be infallible. Now she looked at him, he didn't tower over her, but was still a head taller. He had not changed at all either, he was still the kind and gentle man he was back then, the man she loved – something her nine year old self probably didn't even realize at the time.
Ib went over and sat on the bench, and Garry followed her behind not long after, "That was so long ago. It's hard to believe that we've known each other for over nine years now."
Garry nodded, "Yeah. I thought I wouldn't see much of you after the first time. Then I just started to randomly run into you at the oddest times. Sometimes it felt as if you were following me."
"Sometimes I probably was." She said, distinctly remembering such an occasion, "one time I remember I saw you on the street and followed you all the way back home." She blushed, "I think you let me in because it was getting late and said you'd walk me home."
"I think I remember," He laughed, "I was wondering what brought you there so late, and you said that you got lost."
"Yeah," She mumbled, lost in the memory.
"But meeting you here was probably the best thing that has happened to me." Garry sighed, "Back then I just ran away from home not even a year ago, and I was still bitter towards my friends and family."
"Really?"
"Yeah," He said with a nod, he looked over to her, "It's kind of funny that all my friends now are just teenagers. People probably think I'm just trying to be 'hip' with the younger crowd and trying to relive my childhood." He chuckled, "I'm not under such a delusion, I stayed with you because you wanted me to stay with you, and soon your friends became my own. It's something I needed after everything that had happened."
"Yuki says that she misses you," Ib noted, "She wanted to see you at my graduation."
"Sorry," He muttered, "I was busy that day. There was no way I could make it. The only way I could've made it was if I told them a family member was graduating or something like that."
She nodded, "I don't blame you for not being there. It's ok. It was really boring anyway, and we wouldn't have been able to do much anyway."
"Thank you." He sighed, leaning back into the bench. Ib did likewise, and just basked in the comfortable presence with Garry. After some time Garry spoke up, "So what do you plan to do now?"
"I don't know." Ib answered.
"I don't expect you to be the type to want to just become a housewife and start a family with some guy," He laughed, "Do you plan to go to college?"
"Getting into a good art college is really difficult," She sighed, "Even with my good recommendation."
He nodded, "That's true."
"It is also very expensive, I don't know if I want to burden myself or my family with that kind of debt."
"That's also true," He said, "That's all well and good, but what do you want?"
"I want to be an artist I guess," She sighed, "that is why I went to an art school in the first place."
"You guess?"
"It's just… What if I can't find a job? What if I spent tens of thousands of dollars on a worthless education?"
Garry sighed, "You're thinking in 'what ifs'." He looked at her, "You can think like that for hours, days, months, perhaps even years, and you'll feel both regret and guilt every time you do. Never ask 'what if', just go for it, and if it fails, at least you learned from it." He smiled gently at the troubled girl, "For what's it's worth, I think you'd make a great artist."
"You think so?" She asked, "I…" She sighed again, "You're right."
"Of course I am." He smiled, patting her shoulder, "Now 'what if' I don't ask you out today, what do you intend to do about it?"
She blinked in surprise, "I'd probably force you to do it at this point."
"Why's that?" He asked, a smile still on his face.
"Because you admitted that you liked me already." She said, "I wouldn't push you into it otherwise, but I know you care for me, and you told me to wait for so long. If you don't do it today, I will be really upset with you."
"I figured as much."
"Especially since I spent over an hour getting ready for this," She muttered, "You guys have it easy, you just throw a shirt on and call it a day, but we have so many other things we need to do."
"We have to shave," Garry said.
"Yeah, and I have to shave my legs," She noted, bringing her leg up, "I have to put on makeup, do my hair, so many things you don't bother to do."
"Ok," He sighed, "I'll give you that one."
"You'd better," She said playfully, "Especially since you spent only ten minutes getting ready."
"I took a little bit longer than that!" Garry said.
"The point is, I went all out for today, and I want you to think I look beautiful. I want you to hold me close, and I want you to tell me that you love me."
"In that order?" He asked.
"Not necessarily in that order." She said rolling her eyes.
"Well I was thinking," He reached into his jacket pocket, "Would you like to go to Kyoto with me?" He pulled out two tickets she had given her a couple of years ago.
Her heart fluttered, was he finally going to ask her? "S- Sure." She answered. She wanted to curse herself for stuttering, but she couldn't help it.
"And Ib." He looked towards her, putting the paper back in his pocket, "I want you to go there as my girlfriend - as my lover."
"Al- alright…" She said as her heart pounded against her chest.
"Ib," He looked her in the eyes, "Will you go out with me?"
"Yes!" She jumped towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I will, I will!" She couldn't help but let some tears fall from her eyes. The day had finally come for her, he was truly and seriously admitting his feelings to her, and it felt amazing.
"You look absolutely stunning today," He whispered in her ear and he wrapped his arms around her.
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak anymore.
He held her closer to himself, and she allowed it, pressing her face into his chest to try and hide her tears.
"Ib, I love you." He whispered into her ear.
She felt a warm tingling sensation rush down her spine and to the ends of her limbs as he said that. Her heart still felt as if it was about to self-destruct in seconds, and she was crying out loud now, hiccuping occasionally as she gripped the back of his jacket as if it were a lifeline.
"I- I've never felt this happy before." She whispered back.
He lifted her chin up so he was looking into her eyes again, and slowly began to lean forward. Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she closed them tears still freely falling, and leaned forward herself. Their lips locked, and they stayed like that for several seconds before parting. Ib was blinking rapidly to try and quell her tears.
"I love you," She said, "I love you so much."
He nodded.
"I think ever since I've known you I loved you," She continued, "Even when I first met you, I just didn't realize it back then."
He held her tightly still.
"I'm so happy."
XxXxXxX
Ib skipped home, occasionally laughing to herself as she did so. There was a wide smile plastered over her face, and she could barely remember where she was heading, since her mind was occupied with one thought.
He loves me, he loves me, he loves me!
She giggled to herself, her body subconsciously making sure to take her to her house, since she was so far off in her thoughts.
After he had finally admitted his feelings to her in the park, they stayed there for a while. She wouldn't stop crying the entire time, just letting him hold her the whole time, and he would whisper to her about how much he loved her. It was an amazing experience, and one she would never forget. After a little while he had taken her out to eat, and then they wandered around the city together – as a couple – and had a great time. Afterwards Garry had led her to his house, where he had made her some tea (which she couldn't really taste, her thoughts were so preoccupied then), and finally they sat on the couch, again cuddling next to each other.
She laughed thinking about it, Garry was such a gentleman about it too, he never once touched her inappropriately, or said a lewd comment to her, or even stared at her for too long that it became uncomfortable. All her dreams about the man were true – and she couldn't help but giggle again at the mere thought.
After another while, she had to go, and she left after giving him another kiss – something she could get quite used to. She promised to meet up with him again tomorrow, where they would hopefully plan their trip to Kyoto. That was if they didn't get sidetracked.
With another laugh she reached her house, and opened the door.
Tomorrow promised to be a beautiful, lovely day, and she planned to make the most of it. Especially since it would involve the man she loved. With those comforting thoughts in her mind, she locked the door behind her, and planned to head to bed as quickly as possible, so the next day would start sooner.
XxXxXxX
And that is where I stopped it about a year ago, when I finished writing this story. As I got back into Ib again, and started to edit this story, I decided to continue it, so this is no longer the final chapter. The next chapter MAY be the final chapter, if I feel up to it, I might continue it with additional short stories. Who knows.