The mild climate of the month of March welcomed him warmly, hugging him gently and with great enthusiasm for the trip to the hot springs, where he would spend the next three nights in the company of his family and the Aihara.
Everything would be in sync if he was not involved in his mother's imprudence that took him out of his normal state, and that woman took him out of his boxes.
They were all sitting in Kotoko's father's car, which he used when they moved home; Kotoko's father was driving with her occupying the place of the co-pilot, because she was in charge of playing the music so as not to bore others.
His brother was sitting next to him in the back seats, while his parents were in the middle.
His mother forced Kotoko to put the disc of the film Grease , and although she opposed it at the beginning, he caught her singing some songs far below her breath, in that he took advantage to observe her without interruptions from his father or his brother.
When the Grease movie disc was finalized, Kotoko put on the Guns N Roses "Appetite for Destruction" disc, where the car creaked due to the intensity at which the sound vibrations of the songs were heard in the speakers.
Yuuki began to sing along with Kotoko, who shook her hair from side to side, frightening her father, from whom, she tried to concentrate to handle instead of surrendering to the charms of the rock group that, in Naoki's eyes , he liked.
"Onee-chan" Yuuki told her from his seat.
Kotoko nodded, tilting her head.
"What other records did you bring?"
"Slippery when wet by Bon Jovi" She replied in a sense of freshness.
"Oh! I love that one!" Mr. Aihara said enthusiastically.
"Do I put it on, dad?" Kotoko suggested.
"Sure!"
"I like that one, Onee-chan" Yuuki complemented, in momentum.
As soon as she put it on, the three began to sing since the first song began to play from the car stereo, what Naoki didn't expect was that his own father would join them in singing and the car instead of staying in silence, he was roaring in joy, bringing new noises to the life of the genius, who never saw himself in a position like the one he was experiencing in the vehicle, being just the beginning of his journey.
His brother between songs, offered him some goodies, which he gladly accepted, because such an unusual gesture made by his brother did not see him daily; he supposed it was because his family was influenced by Kotoko's strong presence expanding anywhere.
"How are they all at the back?" Kotoko turned to see them with a smile planted on her face.
"Super good, Kotoko-chan." His mother approved.
"At ease, Kotoko-chan" His father chanted enthusiastically.
"And you, Naoki-kun" She glanced at him, emanating from her pupils the expectation she claimed to have fixed on him. Naoki swallowed, showing indifference.
"Good." He flinched to say modest.
"And you, Yuuki-kun?" She directed her attention to his brother.
"Very good, Onee-chan," He pointed with his thumb up.
"Excellent!" She made a high fist, smiling sideways.
"Daughter" Mr. Aihara turned her so that her sight was on the front of the road. "Don't neglect the front, I need you to read me the map"
"Yes, father" She said, slapping him on the shoulder.
Overall, the road was full of overflowing trees with huge greenish thick canopies, the sea that accompanied such a beautiful view, shone from the horizon with its bluish natural charms and the smell of the sea breeze was to undergo a dream lived in meat and bone.
Similarly, Naoki was in a good mood, thanks to Kotoko winning the contest, they could spend a holiday together, adding that he would have to endure his noisy mother, his nosy younger brother, but outside, there was no harm For good don't come.
Spending a few days accompanied by Kotoko were of imminent happiness.
Upon arriving at the hot spring, Naoki was the last to get out of the car, since his family immediately got out of the vehicle with the intentions of being given his room, even so that didn't stop him from helping his family with the suitcases, in order to spend extra time next to Kotoko, who stayed in the same way to lower and load the bags, taking advantage of the fact that she was strong enough to load things without spilling sweat in the process.
"How fun we are already on vacation" She said, when they had taken all the bags out of the trunk.
"Yes" He muttered, a little nervous that he could see her in other airs. "Kotoko" He decided to call her, to which she nodded. "I was wondering if you decided to return with us or not"
Kotoko watched him with her mouth half open, staring at him silently.
"What?" He inquired, embarrassed. "Forget it, Kotoko." He turned, but just as he turned around, Kotoko spoke:
"Soon" Was her response, followed by a mischievous giggle. "Don't be impatient"
"Who said I'm impatient?" He grumbled blushing.
"Oh, whatever you say" She scoffed. "You're always right"
"Do you insinuate something, Kotoko?" He dared to ask, fluttering inside.
"No" She replied coolly. "On the contrary, I am happy to be able to be out of my apartment for a few days, at least I have a beautiful view to contemplate and I am in the company of the people I love" This time, else he tilted to see her, with the pretext of taking two bags with him (one was from his parents and the other his own). She was smiling, as if musical notes came out of her ears or something similar.
For him, that made her look funny.
"Well, I don't imply anything either" He grumbled in mock attitude. "In case you ask" He emphasized that phrase, going to the hotel where they would be staying; As soon as he did that, he was followed by Kotoko, who was watching him curiously, carrying two suitcases without problems. "Do your classes go well?" He felt terribly pathetic when asked something like that, in addition to almost always seeing each other, he asked the same thing: If her classes went well.
He could clearly have asked something better than that, like the previous question.
"Of course" She said, hovering. "And yours?"
"Good, as always" He presumed.
"Obviously" She chanted, winking. "If you were born with a prodigious brain" She said with mock amazement, which made her expression graceful. "Unfortunately, I'm not the brightest of the bunch, nor the prettiest of all the girls like Matsumoto is" She paraphrased dramatically. "But, if I'm still here, it's something." He took her performance for granted, making a smile appear on Naoki's lips that he wanted to laugh at how funny Kotoko's performance seemed to him, but he didn't because his nosy mother He had sneaked between them, taking the reins of their coexistence.
He snorted, making a face of indifference in front of his mother, so she could notice, but unfortunately his mother went unnoticed.
Kotoko left in the company of her father, and he in that of his family.
How annoying his vacations in the hot springs would be.
Arriving at his room, he had to share it with his brother (as expected from the beginning), Kotoko in the company of her father, and his parents together.
He didn't consider his own a misfortune of destiny, or a bad move made by his family, although he did not deny that he was not in a good mood to deal with the others around him, rather than with Kotoko. However, she was not with them when they went to eat at the hotel restaurant, as she went to film the landscapes surrounding the hotel; besides, he was not clear-minded enough to be able to talk openly with her about a subject, although he reiterated that he was not opposed to chatting with her about anything, but a part of him prevented him. A kind of force outside his own absorbed him into that world in which his thoughts collided with each other and joined the dance of words that his mind conjured by inertia.
Nothing was enough to remain pleased with the guidelines that the road threw to him to solve, so as to put another guideline, and so on until he was fed up. It was like covering the sun with one finger.
An unfavorable situation for someone of his mental caliber, but despite being intelligent, he was a man in love, with ample desire to express his love freely and at any time when he could do it.
Being a despotic man did not save him from falling in love.
"Oni-chan," Yuuki spoke with a sidelong face.
"Tell me" He muttered, unpacking his suitcase.
"I'll go find Onee-chan" He notified him with some skill. "Surely she must be lost somewhere out there"
Naoki flinched, slightly opening his blank eyes.
"Will you go alone?" He pointed him.
His brother shook his shoulders, nodding.
"Why don't you leave her alone?" He grumbled, hiding the resentment he carried in relation to his younger brother. Without offending him, his brother wrinkled his eyebrows, looking at him suspiciously.
"Don't be so hard on her, Onii-chan" Yuuki defended. "If you really know her, you will realize that she is a person worth spending time with"
I know that, he thought, a vein gushing from his temple.
"I'll go find her" His brother notified, rolling his eyes in his direction.
"Since when do you get along so well with Kotoko?" Without thinking he threw himself to ask, holding his brother out of the room door. The nominee stopped, with his hand suspended in the air, a few inches from the handle.
Yuuki tilted his head toward him, seeing him with wide suspicion present in his pupils.
"Since I discovered she is great" He admitted sincerely. "She is helping me with something of mine, and from there I realized how great she is." Seeing that Naoki said nothing, he turned the handle and left, saying, "Well, if that's all, I'm leaving."
Naoki was absorbed, in the absolute silence that was seizing the room, allowing his brother to go behind Kotoko in front of his nose.
He didn't it think much, he just went to the side of the door and left in search of Kotoko, knowing that perhaps he would find her accompanied by his younger brother and perhaps, he would not have the same attention that his brother received from her .
It was like seeing the sun and not finding the drops that fall from its incandescent rays, or seeing the sky dazzled, blocking its view, likewise, clouding its reasoning.
He sighed deeply, bitter that things didn't usually appear in his life by magic, and without any other remedy, he had to look for her, find her, go after his goal and reach it as it would. The rest did not matter anymore, while its main objective was solved.
He went out through the hollows of the landscape, passing through narrow passages, smelling the gentle breeze that emerged from the sea at some distance, guiding his feet through the pebbles that contrasted the green natural landscape of the forest that suspiciously concealed the treasures of the hot springs.
To be the afternoon, there were not many people outside, since they would surely be enjoying the main purpose of coming there: the hot springs.
There were some hikers in light sportswear, some ladies in casual clothes with mountaineering boots with their thermos of water, one or another young boy running along the trails, and not a trace of Kotoko anywhere.
Who will know where that disastrous girl was.
He climbed to the highest point of the hill, managing to appreciate a spectacular view that was recorded in his memory, since the sun shone with its warm rays the small glitters that decanted and colored the unmistakable blue of the sea and its crashing waves with the rocks creating a clash of forces that spread through the air in unparalleled beauty.
That landscape only increased his desire to want to have Kotoko by her side so she could appreciate the view just like him.
They were just mere wishes… simple wishful dreams.
Hill down, Naoki walked sighing the clean oxygen that the trees possessed with their huge canopies, their elongated and thin branches stretched fragile like clock pendulums that hung rocked in amazing tune.
Naoki passed the small path, passing through some steps that led the way back with stealth and respect for nature.
He heard a few quick steps, meaning that someone was running up the hill, unlike him, what he least expected was that the person running was about Kotoko.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw she was running towards his direction, with the headphones on her ears, with a concentrated gesture; her hair fell stunningly from a ponytail that kept her from blocking her view of the road. She wore cream-colored knee-length sports shorts, a dark honey-colored tank top, and her basketball shoes.
When she was about to pass him by, some boys went through him awkwardly, since they rode their bicycles without taking care of who was passing by.
Kotoko noticed this, and threw herself on the ground, but just then, he took her to him, falling over him, her head landing inertia on his chest and her hands leaning on his forearms with pressure to not move much .
Naoki paralyzed by his action, he caught her firmly in his arms, dropping directly to the soft ground, since the blow didn't hurt when he fell.
Kotoko coughed, apologizing immediately, with an embarrassed face.
"Please forgive me" She said alarmed, bowing her head. "It wasn't my intention to hit you that way."
"Kotoko, that's fine" He said, feeling that his heart was about to burst with the excitement of having her so close to him. In fact, it was the first time he had her so close, locked in his arms, protecting her from the fall.
"Naoki-kun." She mentioned his name in fright. "Good thing I didn't crash into a stranger" She sighed with relief, lowering her shoulders.
"Same thing" He said stiffly, tensing every muscle in his body from the nerves.
Kotoko laughed friendly, standing up, then lending him a hand to help him up. He accepted the gesture, sighing in between. "Thank you"
"It's nothing" She dissuaded with her free hand. "By the way, what were you doing here? Did you take a walk?"
"Something like that" He replied grimly. He wouldn't admit that he was looking for her, because fortunately he found her before his younger brother did.
"I went for a run after recording the landscape a little." She put a hand to her head, adjusting her ponytail. "But, as soon as I did, it made me want to go running on my own, really" She sighed, giddy. "I needed to relax in nature"
He looked at her, still, sighing again.
"Do you mind if I go with you?" He asked, reaching into the pockets of his pants.
"Yes" She smiled kindly. "I don't see why not"
And so they both ran up the hill, even though he was already back, he didn't care about climbing again, since this time he was accompanied by his special person; in addition, he would show Kotoko the beautiful view he saw in the highest part of the hill.
There was no reason not to be grateful for how the situation turned curiously in his favor.
