"I was worried about you." I told Eiji. "It was a good game, though. You took them by surprise."
"Yeah, but I wish I had won…I should have hugged you for good luck!" Eiji said disappointed. "I'll see you at home, I have to do something." He was never specific on what he was going to do after he lost a match, but I knew what he was going to do all the time. This was a tradition since the beginning of middle school.
"Alright, Kunimitsu wanted me to do something with him anyway."
Eiji smiled. He knew he had teased me enough today. He waved then left to go to his "evaluation" spot. I know where it is, but I have never bothered him there. It seems to be a special place for him. Though, at least I knew where to find him.
"Eimi." Tezuka called. "The bus is here."
I walked up to him and got on the bus with him. He let me sit by the window while he sat next to me. He put his arm around me. He probably still had his protective instincts on since there were other students from other schools on the bus as well.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see."
"I don't like surprises. Surprises always end up really weird for me… just ask Eiji."
He chuckled. "I don't want to hear anything else from Eiji."
My head jerked to face him. "What has my brother told you?"
"He said you sleep-crawl in your sleep."
"What?" My hand lightly hit my face. "That's not true." At least... it can't be.
"He also said you'd deny it. He said you're probably not aware of it since he carries you to bed all the time." He looked like he was holding back a laugh.
Of all times that I wanted him to stay serious, it was now. At the same time I was glad that he felt comfortable enough around me. I wonder what makes him so comfortable with me to act so different. I just smiled. I can admit that I don't know what goes on while I sleep. "What else did he tell you?"
"He said you hate getting up in the morning."
"Well, yeah... that is true." I admitted.
"And that you talk in your sleep and your dreams are about me."
"Now, I don't know if that's true. I don't really remember most of my dreams."
"But the dreams that you do remember are about me?" He seemed to be enjoying this, smiling slightly.
I could only return the favor and act the same as him. "You want me to dream about you? Do you dream about me?"
"Yes and probably. I don't remember my dreams, if I dream at all."
"I'm sure that everyone dreams." I said.
"So, answer me. Your dreams are about me?"
I sighed. "I dreamed about us the other night. It was more like a memory. It was of the last time we were together when we were kids."
"I remember that." He put his hand on top of my head and pulled me closer to him. "I want to spend as much time with you as possible."
I blushed at his constant public affection toward me. "I told you I'm not leaving your side."
He smiled. "Whatever weird information Eiji tells me, it won't affect the way I think about you. I'll carry you to bed at night if you sleep crawl."
My face was probably as red as my hair. "W-why would you say such a weird thing?"
"I figured that you still remember the last time we were together as kids. You remember what I told you right?"
I felt my face burning. I wouldn't be surprised if my skin started peeling off like sun burn.
"I meant it, even now. I won't change the way I feel about you."
"That sounds like you're stubborn. It's sweet, but you can tell how stubborn you are." I tried to turn away from him so he wouldn't see how red I was getting. "You were stubborn when you first talked to me too." I laughed trying to hide how I really felt."
"Eimi, don't think that my words were weird. I did what I could to get to this point, to days like this." I relaxed a little. He leaned his head against mine.
I felt almost defenseless and confused. For years, I only trusted Eiji with everything. No other family member meant as much to me as Eiji, but now I have this guy who isn't blood that seems genuinely compassionate toward me.
"Also, I heard you didn't take your eyes off of me while I was playing my match."
I figured that everything was up in the air. Kunimitsu was letting down his shields, so I was going to do the same. I could trust him…"You look like an angel when you play. I could almost see the wings through the sunlight."
"I'm glad that you think that. That's a great compliment, especially coming from you."
"I'm sure you get a lot of compliments."
"I don't get any compliments from you. Your compliments mean a lot more to me."
"You really know how to embarrass me…" I said trying to hold in a nervous laugh. "But I'll try to compliment you more. I promise."
It was really weird, opening up to someone other than Eiji. I always tried to keep a lot of things bottled up, and if I couldn't I relied on Eiji. Now, I have someone that wants me to lean on him and rely on him, someone that will protect me.
"Kunimitsu, I love you." I snuggled my head on his shoulder.
"I love you too, Eimi." He sat up a little and looked out the window. "We're here." He rang the bell on the bus in order for us to get off. When we got off the bus it seemed like we were standing in front of an arcade.
"You always surprise me." But that's what the whole team was best at. They were pros at surprising people. I was thinking that this couldn't be it, but it seemed so since Kunimitsu started leading me in.
"I thought we'd do something a little out of my element." He stopped in front of the claw machine. "You still like cats, right?"
"Do you remember everything about me?"
"I guess it's good I didn't forget the little things you told me." He said. "I'm glad you didn't change much." He begins inserting yen in the machine, and then within in seconds he got something. "I thought this one reminded me of you the most." He handed me a white stuffed cat that had a bow around his neck. It had a wide smile with its eyes closed. It was so cute. I had a big urge to hug it.
"Thank you." My smile was wide, I could feel it almost hurting my cheeks.
He brushed stray hairs away from my face. "It's no problem. I want to do one more thing before I take you home." He started walking toward the back of the arcade.
"You're kidding right?" I said. It was so unusual and out of character.
In the back of the arcade stood a bunch of photo booths.
"We don't have a picture together." He simply said.
"Would it just be easier if I gave you a picture of me?" I felt uncomfortable about taking pictures like this.
"You don't want to?"
I just gave up. I figured that Kunimitsu really wanted to do this. I just wish that I was wearing something better than a tennis outfit, but Kunimitsu was wearing his school uniform. However, he didn't look bad in it. I think I looked ridiculous.
We stepped into the booth and when Kunimitsu inserted money the machine turned on and this very "cutesy" voice came on. It was saying welcome and all that stuff. It was just really awkward since Kunimitsu isn't the "cutesy" kind of person. Maybe he thought that this is something that would fit me, much like the cat…
"Alright, lovely couple!" The machine said. "The count of three, the picture will be taken!" It was really ecstatic and too outrageous for me. The lights brightened a little.
Kunimitsu put his arm around me. "Make sure to smile."
It was really weird posing in front of a machine like this, but I smiled anyway.
"THREE!" The machine said and the picture was taken. "That's so cute." The automated response lied to us… well, at least to me. I feel like I looked ridiculous. "Alright, one more! On the count of three, One… Two…"
I tried my best to smile again, but at the count of three I felt lips on my cheek.
Kunimitsu was kissing me on the cheek. "My body reacts in a different way when I am with you… I just felt like doing that."
"You can choose borders for your pictures now!" The machine said.
Kunimitsu looked at the screen. He smiled. "I'm keeping that."
I looked at the screen as well. The pictures didn't look bad, surprisingly. Kunimitsu was smiling at the camera while holding me tight. We chose not to put a border around the pictures and just simply printed it.
He gave me my copy. For a second, I just looked at my picture. I thought Kunimitsu and I were a mismatched couple. I thought he was at a different league than me, but from this picture it didn't look like it. I smiled. I thought that we were a cute couple based on the picture.
"Thank you." He said. "I wanted something I could keep. It's getting late, so I'll take you home after we get something to eat." He started to walk.
"Wait, Kunimitsu." I held both of his hands in mine. The stuffed animal hung out of my bag. "I thought that I should let you know… that I trust you, with everything."
He smiled. "I won't do anything to lose your trust." He took my hand and led me out of the arcade.
