Kayo X Satoru
Chapter 9
Satoru sat at his desk as he fumbled around with some old documents and hid a piece of paper from his mother as he helped her around the house when, suddenly, there was an excited knock at the door and in burst Kumi."Sachiko! I made it! I got accepted for the school!"
Sachiko smiled as she took the paper from her hand and
Kumi absolutely beamed at Satoru when she noticed him hiding something and jumped towards him to get it.
"What's this?" she asked as she opened the envelope to reveal Satoru's diploma and her smile grew ten sizes as Sachiko looked shocked and grabbed the paper from the girl.
Kumi proceeded to do a secret handshake with Satoru and after the sixth or seventh move, Satoru blurted out that it was too long when he heard his mom sniffle.
He cast his eyes over to her as she looked proudly at her son and her eyes and nose ran.
"I'm not crying" she nearly sobbed as Kumi gave her a hug and Satoru just smiled.
There was one more thing he needed to do now.
Erased*
Kayo sat at the train station waiting patiently for a taxi as the size of the city truly impressed upon her for the first time. The last few times she'd been here, she'd been so focused on Satoru that she'd never really had time nor patience to really sit and look at how big the city really was.
Once she got a taxi, she pulled out her phone and texted Kenya and Satoru that she was on her way, her cheeks flushing as she thought about Satoru.
Out in front of the hospital stood Kenya and he opened the door for her as the taxi pulled up. She paid and stood from the car, following Kenya inside to where Satoru was just finishing his checkup with the physical therapist.
"Yo!" Kenya waved as the two approached him and he smiled at them.
"Oh hey guys! Perfect timing!" he said with a smile as he shook Kenya's hand before looking at Kayo and freezing, unsure what greeting other than verbal would be acceptable and blushing at his own confusion.
"Let's go get some fresh air," Kenya recommended, smirking knowingly as he purposely left the two of them behind him to walk together.
The three of them headed for the roof and, once there they all stood together, looking out over the city, but mostly Satoru smiled as he watched Kayo barely able to contain the wonder she felt at seeing such a massive facility, much less some a huge city.
"We should go get drinks or something," Satoru said with a smile as he looked towards Kenya who held up his hand and shook his head.
"Not today bud," he answered, trying to contain his mischievous smirk. "I have work to finish by the end of the night."
"Oh well..." Satoru trailed off as his eyes met Kayo's and they both blushed and glanced away before Kenya suddenly pushed him into her and her arms wrapped around him as his right arm caught her and his left hand grabbed the railing.
"Don't let my absence stop you two though," he said with a wicked grin.
The two blushed furiously as they quickly composed themselves.
"Anyway," Kenya said laughing, "I brought the folder like you asked."
The air grew tense as the subject changed.
"Are you sure you want to hear about it?" Kenya asked Satoru as his friends eyes drifted down and he seemed to space out until Kayo reached out and her hand rested on his back reassuringly.
"Yes. Tell me about Yashiro."
"He's been convicted after he confessed to the whole court in such intimate detail that they knew he had to have been the man who murdered those children before coming to our school. He even seemed to revel in his telling the story."
Satoru felt Kayo's hand tremble on his back and, without thinking, he pulled it down and gripped her hand in his.
"He's locked up in a Chiba prison and they say he's been a model prisoner. Whenever I've checked in on him, he seems to smile..."
Kayo's whole body trembled and her hand squeezed Satoru's so hard he was sure she was trying to break it but he held tight.
"We did it, huh?" Satoru said, smiling at Kenya and Kayo who both met his eyes and each one nodded before he specifically looked into Kenya's eyes. "I wonder if we were as brave as those superheroes we were trying to be in fifth grade."
Kenya smiled and held his hand out for Satoru to shake, which he did, momentarily releasing Kayo's hand.
"I'd say so." Kenya answered, smiling as they shook hands.
"You're both stupid." Kayo blurted, speaking for the first time.
Both the men looked at her with a curious smile playing on their lips.
"How is it even a question if you're heroes? Idiots. Seriously." she said smiling as her eyes met Satoru's.
"Well would you look at the time!" Kenya yelled as he shuffled to the staircase and pretended to look at his watch meaningfully. "Gotta run. You two go enjoy yourselves, alright? Have enough fun to make up for my absence."
With that the blonde sprinted down the stairs as he tried to contain his laughter and smile.
Kayo looked at Satoru awkwardly.
"You know..." she said softly, red flushing her cheeks as they slowly began walking to the staircase, "you were always my hero."
Satoru froze as his mind tried to process what she'd just said but before he could ask her, she was already running for the stair with a quick smile flashed at him over her shoulder.
At the bottom of the stairs, panting and exhausted, Satoru finally managed to catch up to her and she stood with a smug grin on her face as she patted him on the back.
"So I heard it's time to celebrate since you finally graduated high school! Just a little late idiot." She beamed at him.
With that the two moved out of the hospital and began their walk around the city. He showed her parks and museums and beautiful structures and even a manga studio.
After nearly three hours walking around, they felt hunger gnawing at them and decided to head to the nearest restaurant, stepping inside and sitting down at the bar of a Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki shop called SobaTamaya.
The pair shared some drinks and some laughs as they recalled how awkward it had been with Satoru trying to get Kayo to be his friend in the first place, before the conversation gradually shifted to the present and even the future.
"So what do you plan to do now?" she asked him as her cheeks burned from the alcohol and sitting right next him. The server slid their food onto the grill in front of them, allowing them to dig in but keeping it hot so they could go at their own pace.
"I've kinda been thinking about drawing manga," he said blushing and looking away from her as he took a long drink from his beer.
"Wow." was all she said in return.
"You think I'm an idiot, don't you?" he said laughing and turning to face her but finding her staring at him.
"I mean you're an idiot regardless of what you choose to do," she explained calmly as she waved her hand and he frowned. Then, she quietly continued "But I don't think it's a bad idea at all."
He gave her a shocked look.
"What? Sachiko found the picture you drew of me and, I mean... it was really good..."
Satoru blushed furiously.
"When did-"
"When you were sleeping the next day your mom found it in your hands and she showed me." Kayo avoided his eyes as she continued eating.
They both ate in awkward silence for a few minutes.
"It was really good, though."
He smiled at her and they both tapped their bottles together before drinking again.
After a few more bites, Satoru turned to Kayo.
"Are you going to stay at our old school?"
Kayo paused for a moment and he could see her whole body tense.
"I honestly don't know... Yashiro... I thought he was such a positive role model... I wanted to stay near our old home but I also wanted to be a positive role for kids like I thought he was... but now... I'm not sure... my whole world just feels like it's been knocked off balance and I can't quite get where it's supposed to be."
Awkward silence filled the air as the grill radiated heat.
"You can still be that positive role model. You're kind and caring and loyal. You're better than he ever pretended to be."
Kayo looked at Satoru and his eyes met hers before her eyes began filling with tears as she wrapped her arms around him and she began sobbing into his neck as the staff gave them both curious looks and he blushed.
"You idiot!" she yelled leaning back and looking in his eyes, tears still streaming down from hers. "You can't say that kind of thing to a girl. She might fall in love with you."
She blushed furiously, he thought anyway because her cheeks were red from the drinking and it was hard to tell, and he felt his cheeks getting warmer.
"What?"
"Don't make me say it again," she whined as she sat back on her stool and her eyes wouldn't meet his.
"Are you saying you-" he began before she turned to look at him furiously with tears still welling in her eyes and threatening to fall again.
"I love you you idiot!" she spat at him.
He felt a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he struggled to process the confession. He shook his head and laughed lightly and was about to say something to her when she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a deep kiss, his first kiss.
His eyes were wide enough to fit Okonomiyaki on each as she pulled away, her eyes still closed tightly, he suspected from mostly embarrassment.
With that she slapped her money on the table for the meal and grabbed her coat from the rack and rushed out the door before he could even react. He withdrew his wallet and dropped a 5000¥ bill on the bar before quickly following her out the door.
She was walking incredibly fast in the only direction she knew for sure: the train station. She was absolutely mortified as she rushed to get to the station, when, suddenly, a hand caught hers and she was whipped around to find Satoru holding her hand so tight it was beginning to hurt.
"Let go." she spoke sternly, tears building in her eyes.
"Kayo," he said, stepping towards her, still holding her hand.
"Please let go, Satoru."
He closed the distance and released her hand as he reached up and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up and meet his gaze.
"Did you really mean it back there?"
She didn't trust her voice not to betray her so she simply nodded.
Suddenly, she was wrapped in a warm embrace, lifting her off her feet and twirling her about as she heard Satoru's rare laughter burst out.
"What are you doing idiot?" she yelled, lifting her arms and pummeling his back with her fists. "Put me down!"
He dropped her suddenly and leaned in close.
"I love you too Kayo," he said, his eyes as bright as a child's.
Kayo's breath caught and she felt tears building in her eyes again as she swallowed back tears of joy.
"Are you gonna stand their all night," her voice cracked as she smiled and continued, "or are you going to kiss me, dumbass?"
With that he lifted her in his arms again and kissed her deeply. The whole world seemed to melt away for the two as they finally found the peace they had never had before and it was in one another's hearts.
