It had been a year since Misaki had met Akihiko and learned his name. They had become what he considered as friends. He frequented the place that Akihiko was staying in quite often-it was a nice getaway from the castle.
It was evening now, as he had waited until after dinner to visit since he had to be present while the castle celebrated his birthday. He kept looking for the perfect time to slip away without being missed. It had taken a lot longer than anticipated.
He had walked this trail so many times now, he almost never realized when he had arrived-it seemed like such a short walk. It was strange to think that he had never ventured out here before last year. So much of the castle grounds still remained unexplored. He knocked on the door but there was no response. He tried again only to have the door swing open to an empty living area.
Confused, Misaki walked around, searching for anyone nearby. A few of the servants pointed in the direction of the lake when he asked them. He thanked them and ran off in that direction. He walked through a thin forest of trees and tall grass before the trees opened up to reveal a lake that stood in the shallow forest, just enough to offer privacy to anyone who wanted a late-night swim. He spotted Akihiko sitting in the grass in front of the lake, and he was actually writing something down, using his leg as a surface.
Misaki approached him, "Hey," he said casually, causing Akihiko to look up in surprise, then relaxed a bit once he saw who it was. Misaki sat down next to him, leaning on the palms of his hands and spreading out his legs in front of him. "Whatcha writing?" He tried to look over to get a peak, but Akihiko just blushed and gave a small smile as he set the paper down in the grass on the opposite side of him. He shrugged. Misaki rolled his eyes, as if to say okaaayyy, whatever. But he was teasing, he didn't mind if Akihiko wasn't ready to share certain things with him just yet.
The sun was barely below the horizon now, and the sky had turned into twilight and the wind had started to pick up, as fireflies started floating around the water, their lights blinking into life. Misaki smiled to himself, the wind made him bring his legs up to his chest and he wrapped his arms around them, he leaned his cheek against his knees and stared at Akihiko. "Can you believe it's been a whole year since I met you?" Akihiko stared at him for a minute, then just nodded, but bit his lip and looked away shyly. He started fidgeting with his hands as if he was nervous. Misaki wasn't sure what he could possibly be nervous about, "Hey, what's wrong?" Akihiko looked at him, from beneath his eyelashes, and gave a small smile.
Akihiko stood up suddenly, his hands were held behind his back and he rocked on the balls of his feet. He looked once at Misaki, then looked very quickly away as he held out something to Misaki to take.
"For me?" Misaki blinked in surprise, his voice slightly more than a whisper. He delicately took the small box that Akihiko was holding out to him. "Thanks, you shouldn't have…" Misaki trailed off. Were they present giving friends now? He hadn't really seen this coming, and if he asked more about it...he wasn't sure if he wanted to read that novel that Akihiko would have to write to explain it to him. He winced internally at himself for not doing anything in return. Heck, he didn't even know when Akihiko's birthday was, much less if Akihiko even had one or knew when it was himself. This thought caused a pang in his chest. But still, maybe he could do something about that...After all, this was the day they met, so in a sense...it was the birth of them meeting-right? Maybe they could share his birthday...together?
A gust of wind brought him back to what he was doing, "Oh, right,"' he murmured. He gently undid the bow that was wrapped around the box and slowly opened it. He took what was inside and held it up to the sky, admiring it. "Did you make this?" he asked. For it was a necklace with a pendant of a small wood carving of a bunny-and it was curled up in a sleeping pose. It was quite cute. And also impressive.
Akihiko looked down at the grass and nodded, as the tips of his ears turned into carnations. "It's beautiful," Misaki whispered and smiled at Akihiko who glanced up at him and gave him a small smile in return. "Help me put it on?" Akihiko blinked in surprise as if to say, Do you really like it?
"I love it," Misaki stated, assuredly. Akihiko took the necklace from his hands and placed it around Misaki's neck. It fit tightly, almost like a choker, right up against the base of his throat. The ribbon the pendant sat in the middle of was open-ended, so it had to be tied securely in the back. "I'll never take it off," Misaki whispered as the night sky blanketed the lake that reflected a million firefly lights.
End of Act 1