Hi, I'm back. Wrote something that takes place between Chapter 90 and 91 if you want context. Please let me know if you like it, it fuels my motivation lol
Somehow Chika had managed to find himself in an awkward situation again. Here he was taking the train with just Houtsuki, on their way to her house to listen to the library of tracks her family had.
"That reflex was for me… so I don't put my hands on you all the time." He shook his head vigorously to shake the memory out. He couldn't believe he said that after grabbing her hand again.
And yet she forgave him. They had somewhat made up earlier than morning but Chika still couldn't shake the weirdness in the air. If they had made amends to that whole situation, what was the cause of this awkwardness? He started wondering if she just said all that to alleviate the tension despite not forgiving him. Chika never knew how to make things right with Houtsuki. He always ended up making her cry or making her angry, even when he was trying his best.
He suddenly felt all his weight lean to one side as the train stopped abruptly. Somehow he managed to stay stable using the hand bar he was holding onto. Before he could fully regain balance, he felt Houtsuki bump against him. He looked down to see if she was okay.
"Sorry!" Houtsuki apologized as she quickly regained her own balance, making sure to avoid looking up to his face.
"It's no big deal…" Chika replied, not knowing how to act again. "She's so light," he realised. He hadn't even fully regained balance when she bumped into him and they still didn't topple over. It was like a piece of paper blew into his chest. Come to think of it, when he looked over to see if she was ok, the top of her head didn't even reach his shoulder.
Perhaps since she was such a large and reliable presence in the Koto club and on stage, Chika had failed to see how small she actually was. He couldn't believe that someone who couldn't even comfortably reach the hanging hand bars on the train could cast such a large shadow when she sat at the front of the stage. How did those small hands manage to produce a Koto sound that resonated through his entire body?
As expected, their walk to her house was nothing short of stilted silence. He never knew what to say at these times. He honestly tried so hard to interact with her normally and it was usually to no avail. She would often run off angry, with a red face or crying - sometimes a combination of the three. Chika savoured those rare moments he could speak to her normally, or the times they were able to bicker with each other.
He just didn't understand how to talk to girls. Even if he did, Houtsuki was different. Other girls fell into three categories: (1) the ones that were terrified of him; (2) the ones that were obnoxiously annoying (he found that this category grew quickly after their first performance in front of the school); and (3) people who were family or de facto family who happened to be female (e.g. his aunt, Hana i.e. his sister in law. Honestly Kurusu was like a weird, annoying cousin at this point as well).
But she was different. She wasn't scared of him and she wasn't obnoxiously annoying. The only annoying thing about her was when she would avoid looking at him or talking to him. And he definitely didn't think about her the way he viewed his Aunt or Tetsuki's girlfriend.
"You're stupid," Chika scrunched his nose in reaction to hearing Tetsuki's smug voice in his head. One annoying thing about Testuki was that he always seemed to know what was happening, even the things happening around Chika. But he never let Chika in on anything and to top it off he would act smug about it.
"Oh," Chika stopped as he came across a familiar florist. The sun had already set and he could see the florist-aunty packing up for the day. It was dim but Chika could see that she had changed. She was visibly pregnant now.
"What's wrong?" Houtsuki turned and asked.
"Oh… nothing," he replied as he turned to keep walking. The two barely managed two steps when they heard a crashing sound from inside the shop. The florist had knocked a small pot onto the ground. Even from outside the shop, they could tell she was having trouble getting onto the ground to clean it up.
Without giving in much thought, Chika let himself into the store to see if she was okay and Houtsuki briskly followed after him.
The florist looked up as she heard the bells ring with the door opening. "Sorry, we're closed for today," she said politely.
"Do you need help?" Chika quickly offered as he kneeled onto the floor to pick up the large pieces of the broken plant pot. Meanwhile, Houtsuki quickly offered her hands to help the florist stand up.
"Thank you so much," she said as she holstered herself up from the ground with Houtsuki's help. She grabbed the plastic bag on the counter and Chika placed the broken pot inside while Houtsuki made use of the duster lying nearby and swept up the remaining soil on the ground. "Such helpful young adults, which school do you attend?"
"Tokise," Chika replied, not sure if he should bother reminding her of their last interaction.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind when it's time for this little one in here to pick a high school," she joked as she rubbed her stomach, "that'll be quite some time away though." She raised her eyebrows once she took a closer look at Chika. "Oh my, you're that young man that came in a suit a few months ago. You look so different in your school uniform," she smiled.
Chika bowed his head to greet her, "it's been a while."
"Yes, I wasn't that pregnant back then so I was able to squat with you out front to choose something. Did your 'not-girlfriend' end up liking what we chose for her?"
Chika's eyes went wide as his face flared up. Without realising, he quickly glanced to Houtsuki standing next to him.
The florist caught wind of the situation quickly and turn to take a good look at Houtsuki. Houtsuki stood frozen as the woman's eyes scanned her from head to toe.
"Uh… this is the shop that I got your flower from that time," Chika explained as he looked away and scratched an itch he felt on his neck.
"You're right," the florist said as she smiled in satisfaction, "she is cute and beautiful." Both of them felt their faces burn with a flame of a thousand fires. "You see, this young man was squatting outside my shop with a perplexed expression trying to choose something for you," she went on and on, not realising or purposely ignoring the fact that the surrounding flowers seemed to be wilting from the rising temperature in the shop. Their faces burned so hot the water in the plants was evaporating into the air.
"She probably doesn't remember. She received lots of flowers that day," he quickly interjected to deflect the conversation. "Anyway, do you need any more help? No? Ok, see you next time!" He quickly hurried Houtsuki out of the store before the florist did any more damage.
He couldn't believe the florist had let that story slip. That was so embarrassing. Houtsuki received hundreds – no, probably thousands – of beautiful gifts and flowers that day. Of course she wouldn't remember the one measly flower he gave her. And now she knew how much overthinking he went through just to buy her that one flower.
Imagine how elated Chika was when he found out that, out of all the extravagant bouquets she received that day, his 'measly' flower was the only one she had pressed, framed and hung up on a wall.
He'll be sure to say thanks to the florist next time he sees her.
