Our Secret Message

October 1st

Despite their morning going off on a shaky start, it didn't deter the two from continuing their day together. After another few hours spent at the cafe, Scarlett offered to show him around Kingsville. No one gave her a tour, but he deserved to be given a chance.

"Would you?? I haven't gotten to see this place fullysince I came!" Vash said in awe at her thoughtfulness. So, he accepted the offer and they were currently walking down South Main Street. The two walked side by side, the large crowds of people weaving in and out between the streets to go wherever need be. Scarlett made sure to not lose Vash in the crowd, her petite form practically glued to his side as she pointed out the different buildings and sky scrapers.

"So over there in that building, the one with the blue and white accents, is specifically for the law firms here. It's just the basic headquarterssince the main square of town is still in construction. They've been rebuilding the area for a while now, and the guys around here say it'll never be done." Scarlett informed him as the two walked past the law firm.

"Oh, and over here is the hospital. You see that street that continues down? Yeah, keep going and you'll reach Kingsville Hospital and Surgical Center. It's terriblybusy at most times, so I recommend you to not go down this whole area if you're in a rush." She explained. She knew that from experience, having decided to rush to school on this street and ended up later than she intended. She got an earful for being late, so now she knew better. "And oberthere? By the bakery, there's a police station. Since Kingsville is a decent size, they've got four all over the prefecture."

"That's nice to know. I'm glad the hospital and police station isn't too far from us." Vash commented, his eyes peering up the walls of the buildings around them. "I always get myself in trouble somehow, so watch out when you're with me. Violence follows me everywhere."

She grew confused at his sudden confession, "You don't seem to be a troublemaker though? I can't imagine you getting into fights on these streets." She admitted but Vash grinned down at her obliviousness. Oh, the things she didn't know about him. That's why he was happy to move to a new spot where no one knew him, not even her.

"Trouble finds me. I just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." He said truthfully to her. He used to do far more dangerous things before he settled here, but he didn't plan on telling anyone those dark secrets. His whole body under the trench coat was covered with scars of his past, never letting anyone lay an eye on him.

"Hm, alright, if you say so." She said, guiding him to the midtown area. There in the Square was the Kingsville park.

"Here's the Main Square park! As you can tell from the copious amounts of people here, it's very popular for picnics, sports games, and for viewing those flowerbeds over there." She said with her finger pointing to the large garden of florals.

"It's nice here." He said briefly, enjoying the sounds of people talking and enjoying their day in the park. You could spot some having a picnic with their families or the kids playing on the nearby playsets. The trees surrounding the park on the outskirts were green and lush; the grass soft and welcoming to the animals and people who lay their blankets down to enjoy the nature of the Earth. "...it's super peaceful. Just what I wanted when I moved here."

Scarlett examined his expression as it changed from bubbly to calm and serene. There was something in those eyes that were telling a different story compared to the stuff he was saying today. She pressed her lips together for a second, then grabbed his red sleeve after glancing past him. Vash flinched at the touch, looking down curiously at her sudden contact at his wrist.

"What's up, Scarlett?" He asked in a stunned voice, eyes darting back and forth to her and his wrist.

She shook her head fervently, her braid swaying from the motion. "It's nothing... just didn't want to lose you in the crowd!Come on, I think we should show you where the university is. You seemed very shocked that I go there." She said, sliding her palm down to his. She laced their fingers together before she began a brisk walk towards the university. Vash remained quiet, his ears blushing into a bright pink as he was dragged away, not seeing her make a particular face.

Though, she wasn't lyingabout the crowds. Most of the people in the park were kids who didn't have school today and it wasn'tcold enough to stay inside. Scarlettpeeled past a large group of people, Vash watching as the girl easily navigated the crowded spaces like a small mouse. He was taller than the average man and just observed the petite woman guiding him away to the less busy areas of the city.

'Hmm, not bad, not bad.' He thought to himself as he looked down at their hands with a happy grin. Today wasn'tbad so far! He's able to spend a day with a pretty girl who happened to be his neighbor.But he did wonder what her school looked like, he's never been to a prestigious place like hers. He wasn't too focused on his surroundings, ogling at the girl who was taking him away as if she owned him, not that he would care if that were the case.

Soon enough, they reached the University that was located on the north end of town. If you walked from where Scarlett lived, it would take about forty-five minutes. However, she mostly took the bus and that dwindles it down to thirty minutes. The school had a large campus that held many different buildings, the ones in the back for the student's classes and the front designated for extracurriculars. The gates encircling the campus were quite statuesque too, reaching to about midway of a regular building in the city.They walked up the cobbled path leading to the main building, the large clock sitting outside the entrance reading the time to be almost 3in the evening. It was just the two of them in front of the gates.

"Here we are! I never thought of it to be that prestigious, but then again, I do go here for classes every week." Scarlett said as they stood in front of the clock. She released his hand, hiding her faceby angling her face opposite of him.

"Wow! This looks like something out of a fairytale!" Vash gushed outas she let go of his hand. He scurried over to the clock, touching the base of it like it was an ancient artifact. "This clock looks so old too! When was this place established??"

"Er, a long time ago. I think a hundred or so years. I could be wrong." She replied, allowing the cold wind to cool her warm face. She breathed out softly, looking at the old buildings with a disinterested posture. "I like coming here, but I don't at the same time. College just gives me grey hairs."

"Grey hairs? I don't see any on you." He retorted, now traipsing over to where she was settled. He bent down slightly, face going in close to the top of her head with scrutinizing eyes."Nope, not that I see! I have a few dark hairs, but no greys!" He chirped to her.

Scarlett reacted by tilting her head back, now viewing Vash in an upside down position. She released a gasp, realizing how close he was to her head, thus causing their noses to almost graze upon her action. She froze up, watching the blonde man beamdown at her. Her skin erupted into a rosy hue when he leaned down further to make their noses partake in an affectionate greeting, his stray blonde hairs tickling her face as he got in close.

"You've got pretty eyes, ya know that?"

"H-Hey--!" She shrieked at his sneaky maneuver. Scarlett was sure her face was crimson red and crouched to the floor, hiding her face with her hands. Vash was all smiles above her, rubbing the back of his neck with a hearty laugh booming from his throat.

"Haha! Sorry about that! Couldn't help myself there!" He said joyously.

Scarlett was living up to her name at the moment, her eyes peeking at him through the crevices of her fingers. "Oi, don't do that! It's embarrassing and too close!" She cried out in a soft whine, her lips pouting at him.

Vash hopped in front of her, bouncing on his heels to get to her crouched height. She pursed her lips even more when he was taunting her, her fingers sliding down to her knees as she revealed her adorable complexion to Vash. It caused the young man to smile even wider, his individual appearance coloring into freshSakura Blossoms. "Sorry, sorry~! I thought you weren't going to look up at me like that!"

She let out a winded sigh and stood up, fixing her misaligned glasses andpat the dirt off her clothes. She threw him a dirty look, but she broke out into a reluctant smile. She couldn't find herself to be mad at him since it was supercharming. She could be daydreaming, but she thought that she might be starting to like this guy a little too much. "...Whatever. Come on, let's go to the store. I need to get myself a few things." Scarlett said, wanting to put everything that occurred today onto the back burner. She started walking forward towards the direction they haven't traveled,Vash rushing to her side and grabbed her hand, proceeding to walk as if they normally held hands. She stiffened at his touch, but didn't complain about it and continued to walk, his step matching her speed. She shifted her head to the side, her eyes filled with caution. His smile softened as she spoke, her small hand tightening her grip on his gloved palm in a gentle squeeze. She was oh so sure he could feel her accelerated pulse.

"...Just until we get to the store, 'kay?" She said softly, knowing that she intentionally grabbed his hand earlier to remove the attention of some girls she knew at school. They were eyeing him up like he was a fine piece of meat. She only did it to save him the trouble of having to meet those nasty girls who got around like the plague. She glared at them when they noticed her and she was presented with lovely scowls. Seeing those reactions made her smirk, but now she wasquiet as they walked down the street.

Vash bowed his head to her request, now silent as they traversed the oncoming 'sea of survivors.'He peered over the crowds, wondering which ones lived hereand which were visiting the city. You wouldn't know their stories until you asked. And if you were to look at Vash and Scarlet, you'd kindly speculate that they were involved. The intrusivelyspicy imageweighed on his mind, his heart punching against his ribcage with wild rage as he made a sharp glance to the girl beside him. She was so fixated on the road that she didn't have the opportunity to see his dazed expression.

The convenience store was close to the apartment complex, the two having made an oval to avoid a longer distance to travel. She could spend another day showing him the other side of town, but she really wanted to go home and scream into a pillow ASAP. The bigger marketing stores were on the side she didn't guide him to, but he looked too lanky to know how to cook a meal. The two young adults strode down the streets of Kingsville in silence, letting the sounds of people and traffic envelope their lacking conversation.

Upon arrival, the small store's fluorescent lights shined down on the two as they got to the doors. She reached for the handle with her free arm, remembering that she would remove his hand from hers as promised. Originally, she couldn't pull her hand away from his and Vash was facing the same predicament. But she gave his hand another squeeze before escaping inside. The blonde man let out a 'hmm!' as he trailed behind her, that million dollar all teeth smile plastered to his lips like cement. Scarlett chose to ignore him for now, wandering around the store to get her favorite packs of ramen and snacks for her to eat for the next week. As the typical college student trope is, she was utterly broke in the sense that she was saving her money that she earned from her previous job. She wasn't getting steady income at the moment, her mother providing the money to her bank account every month. She barely scraped through the food allowance her mother supplied for each month, just sending it over to the savings account to pay for the next class' books.

Vash went on his own adventure through the store, analyzing all the different types of snacks they had. There were spicy snacks, sweet snacks, and even sour ones too! He eagerly picked each one up, reading the enticing advertisement to sell the item. He didn't snack often until he came here, able to do as he pleased without being held back. His mouth salivated at the descriptions, his arms now full of snacks and drinks. When Scarlett returned from paying, she found Vash in an aisle with his arms brimmingwith junk food. He grinned at the approaching girl and she snorted at his childish appearance, going over and plucking a snack from his pile.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you actually going to buyall of this??" She humored, reading the label of the snack she held. "I don't think I've ever tried this one before. 'Chocolate Chipped Loaders?' A pretzel filled with a gooey chocolate surprise. So is this like the savory version of what a Gushers is?"

"What's Gushers?"

"Pfft, don't worry about it. Just go pay-- you dohave money to spend on all that?"

"Of course I do!" He said while clamoring to the counter. The cashier appeared very spooked by his large amount of items to scan but did the task regardless of the crazy customer. Scarlett waited by the exit, holding her bag and her phone in the other. She scrolled through her phone to see what the world was screaming about on the news and what her annoying classmates were doing on the first day of October in celebration of Halloween. She lowkey forgot that it was October now, peering over to see the holiday candy and costumes set out for sale. The year was going by so slow, thinking she'd be in December in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, something came into the middle of the year to slow down her perception: Vash.

"I'm done! Let's go home now!" Hesported two large bags of goodies to bring home. She chuckled at his snacking splurge and opened the door, the two of them now heading back to their apartment complex.

As the day came to the later hours of the evening, Mother Nature whispered to the winds to dance violently in the air for a party would stir up tonight in the clouds. Scarlett secured her bag to her wrist, refusing to lose her snacks in the wind. Vash on the other hand was humming a song to himself, letting the dance of the spiraling winds flutter through his trench coat in a violent duet.

The store was about five minutes away from their complex, the view of their home appearing down the street soon enough. She scurried when the winds began to go super fast, rushing through the double doors with Vash on her tail. She panted as she stopped at the elevator, taking a moment to press the button to their floor. "Damn, I gotta exercise sometime.." She muttered to herself as she heard the lift arrive to the ground floor. The doors opened and the two went inside, letting the elevator do its job. A few instances later, they were at their individual doors and ready to part ways. However, the dark haired woman had a random thought land into her noggin and she set her bag to lay against the wall.

"Hey, Vash? Can I say something ridiculous?"

He had already opened his door, setting his groceries inside before shutting itto hear her clearly. "Yeah? What is it?" He asked, turning his body to see the woman staring up at him with an introspective gaze. He tilted his head to the side, anticipating her to say what was on her mind. She remained quiet for another split second, thinking deeply about how to say it.

"So you know how everyone casually says the common phrase 'goodnight' before bed? For some really weird reason, I thought that us saying goodnight to one another would be kinda ironic in the sense that we dream at night... but never during the day? Since, y'know, we aren't dreamers..." Her voice silenced itself as she realized how bizarre her thought was.

But he didn't shy away, "No, continue with the thought. I think I'm getting the gist of it."

Scarlett grinned a little at his encouragement and went on, feeling less preposterous of her scattered thoughts. "We aren't dreamers, yet we still say the phrase to wish each other the sweet fantasies we can never have. It popped up in my head after our talk this morning and... I think that it's dumbto say this, but how about we say 'goodnight' to each other from now on? I know we should say it regardless, butI heard that when we dream or think of what we desire in life a lot, those thingstend to manifest into reality." She suggested. "Do you understand what I mean by that? It made sense in my head, but coming out of my mouth sounds stupid."

"I think from how you're explaining it, it's like you're wishing me good luck to dream?" He asked after mulling over her reasoning. It made sense in his head too, but this was going somewhere.She blinked at his statement, needing a moment to think before settling for a firm nod.

"In a way, yes I am." She proclaimed as she grew more confident in her complex thinking, "Dreamwell tolive well-- that's what our 'goodnight' will be! It'll be our special way of saying 'I promise to see you again tomorrow, don't give up!' That we'll one day be true dreamerssimply because we wish for it hard enough that it'll come alive!" She said so happily and so inspired by her wishful thinking. It was difficultto put into words, but the two of them were able to break it down for a bigger meaning, now specially reserved for the two of them.

"A simple promise to keep going, no matter how hard things get... because we'llbe there for one another in the end." She ended her deep initiation with a bittersweet grin. "I-I know we both don't know what we want for ourselves, but I want to cheer you on! Our talk from earlier made me realize that we're struggling, but we don't have to do it alone! Is it weird how you just--completeme? My thoughts, I meant!" She blurted out, covering her mouth at the implications her words could have.

Vash laughed at her apprehensiveness and went over, his smile reaching both ears as he hugged the girl close to him. Scarlett almost short-circuited at the hug, but he was just so warm and welcoming that it brought a flood of emotions to her chest. She hadn't been hugged in so long, finding it to be very awkward as his long arms wrapped around her whole body with ease. She stood incredibly still, her chest hurting from the unfamiliar action that most partook in everyday life. She couldn't remember when her last genuine hug was, probably two years ago when her mom sent her away on the bus to Kingsville.

"That sounds like a good idea. Every night when we can, let's meet outside on the fire escape and say goodnight. We should make that a promise." Vash said, his one hand touching her messy braid and the other on her small waist.

Scarlett closed her eyes, gently leaning into his broad chest. "...Okay."

A minute went by and he released her from his grip, that iconic wide smile on his face as he held out his pinky to her. "Promise?"

She looked at his pinky, wondering if this was a promise she wouldbreak. She'd have to make the promise before doing that. Her pinky extended to his, now wrapping around his long digit. "I promise."

Their locked pinkies loosened their grip after a few seconds and they pulled away, now facing one another with an emotion they couldn't outright explain. Scarlett blushed and turned to her door, unlocking it and stepped onto the threshold. She sent him a shy smile, raising a hand at him.

"Goodnight."

He repeated the action, his hand up to his face as he waved back. "Goodnight, Scarlett." He kept waving until she went inside, his arm dropping to his side as he treaded to his apartment.

Once inside, he leaned against the door and slowly slid down to the floor, tears dropping down his cheeks as he desired to keep her words close to his broken heart. Goodnight, it'ssuch a simple yetcommon phrase-- and this little girlcreated a beautiful definition that these two alone would ever understand. His head leaned back, staring at the white ceiling with his heart aching painfully.

"...Goodnight."