Thursday
Today was the day. I was going to tell Takumi I liked him!
I shoved the box with the kimono in it into my bag, and walked out of my bedroom.
"Takumi, I'm going to Erika and Subaru's house," I call. "I'll meet you at the festival right near the fountain!" I say. I already gave him all the other information about the festival earlier.
"Okay, have fun," I hear him call back. I grin, and happily jump down the stairs. I was in a great mood today.
I walked quickly to Erika and Subaru's house, wanting to tell them all about my exciting plan. Once I arrived in front of their door, I gave it three quick knocks. The door opened shortly after.
"Ah, Misaki! What's up?" she asks.
"Can you help me put this on?" I request, holding out the box. Honestly, I've never worn a kimono in my life, so I didn't know how to put it on.
"Of course! Come in in," she welcomes me. I walk in, and hand her the box. She pulls out the beautiful silk dress and unfolds it.
"So, are you going with someone.?" she asks me. I laugh.
"Of course. I'm going with Takumi," I respond. She smiles.
"Are you two officially dating now?" she inquires. I shake my head.
"No, but today at the festival I'm going to confess my feelings for him," I grin.
"Oh, wow! Really? I wish you the best of luck!" she encourages me. "Now, get changed into this. I'll tie the back for you," she suggests, handing the kimono to me and pointing in the direction of her bathroom.
"Thanks Erika," I say gratefully, walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind me. I quickly change into the red kimono, also slipping on some black leggings and matching red flats. I make my way back to the living room where Erika was waiting for me.
"You look gorgeous," she compliments, tying the ribbon on the back of my dress.
"Thanks," I smile.
"Can I do your hair?" she asks. I nod in approval. She scurries around the room to grab a hair tie and a few bobby-pins. Erika grabs my hair and twists it up onto a traditional bun, shoving the bobby-pins into my hair to keep it in place.
"There. Perfect," she says, taking a step back to admire her work. I giggle.
"Thank you so much, Erika!" I exclaim. She shakes her head.
"It's honestly my pleasure. Here, let me walk you to the festival. It starts in about an hour, right?" she offers.
"Ah, no, it's quite alri-"
"Misaki, how would Takumi react if you got hurt? It's pretty dark out already," she reasons. I sigh in defeat, knowing she was right.
"Okay, fine. But once we get there you can leave me- I'll be perfectly fine," I say.
"Alright, alright," she says, laughing. "Subaru! I'm going to drop Misaki off for the Nebuta Matsuri!" she calls.
"Okay," Subaru replies from another room. Erika leaves the house without another word and locks it behind her. We begin our journey towards town.
"Misaki?" she asks.
"What's up?" I inquire.
"When did you realize your feelings towards Takumi?" she wonders. I ponder upon that question for a moment. When did I realize I liked him...?
"Well, you know me and my personality," I laugh. "I probably liked him but denied it for a while," I reply honestly. "But when Charlotte came to visit, I think that's when I was certain I liked him," I conclude. She gives me a confused look.
"Who's Charlotte?" she asks. I frown.
"Ah, she was one of Takumi's childhood friends," I reply. "She was really possessive over him and liked him a lot," I say bitterly, remembering how she tried to kiss him. "And... I-I got a little jealous," I admit. She giggles.
"Is that when you came over to our house for the night?" she questions. I nod.
"Yeah, I caught her at the wrong moment," I say. "It was a misunderstanding," I reply with a shrug.
"Makes sense," she says in understanding. "Oh, we shouldn't be too far away from town by now! I can see the lights," she exclaims, pointing ahead. I look at the direction her finger's pointing in and gasp. It was beautiful.
There were red, blue, yellow, green, purple, pink, and orange lights. It was so colorful. I loved it. I began to sprint as fast as I could, and luckily this was a very versatile dress so I could move my legs freely in it. I heard Erika calling for me, but I couldn't stop myself. The wind against my face was thrilling and I found my excitement growing as the lights got closer and closer. Eventually, I stopped running. Yeah, even I could get tired at times too, believe it or not.
"Mi-sa-ki," Erika says weakly, panting. She bends over and places her hands on her knees. I smile sheepishly.
"Sorry?" I offer. She laughs a bit.
"You're fast," she comments.
"I did lots of sports in high school," I reply with a shrug. She smiles weakly.
"It obviously paid off," she remarks. I smile when I notice our surroundings. We were here. We were at town. I was going to meet Takumi and have a great time with him. Everything was going to be perfect.
"Thanks for walking me here," I say gratefully. "It's a long walk home, so I'm sorry," I apologize. She waves it off.
"No no, it's nothing. Think of it as me repaying you for all the fun times you shared with Subaru and I," she grins. A small smile creeps onto my face. Fun times. I made friends here. And I was about to have my first boyfriend here.
"T-Thank you for being my friend," I say, my voice wavering a bit. I was feeling pretty emotional right now. She pats my shoulder.
"Misaki, don't cry. You have over a month here still. We'll visit you from time to time even afterwards, okay?" she comforts me. I nod. "Also, we'll see you on TV all the time," she laughs.
"You know I'm an actress?" I ask. She scoffs.
"Duh! You're famous, Misaki! Also, Director Hirayama informed us before he sent you guys here," she giggles. "Anyway, I'll be heading back now. Enjoy your night, and good luck!" she says with a grin, before spinning on her heel and walking back to her house.
I look around and admire the town- but not too much. I could always admire it after I find Takumi. I head over to the large fountain in the middle of town, which was pretty empty. I take a seat on the concrete ledge it had, and wait there. I check the time on my watch. It read '8:09'. Okay, so he wasn't even that late. It only started 9 minutes ago. I'll be patient.
I glance at my watch only to see the numbers '8:20' flash up at me. Well, he could be late. It was almost an hour walk from our home to here. I wouldn't blame him for being a bit late.
Just to be sure I didn't miss him, I circle around the fountain once, only to see no sign of Takumi. Well, I'll wait a little longer...
9:40. It was fucking 9:40 at night, and he still wasn't here. Did he forget about me? Maybe Charlotte came back and he was busy with her? I clench my fists. He wouldn't do that do me... Would he...?
"Hey," I hear someone say. Almost instantly, I turn around hopefully to face the person who spoke.
"Takumi?" I ask. Disappointment fills me when I see a boy with lime green hair standing in front of me.
"Sorry I'm not who you're waiting for," he says dully. "You looked upset- I just wanted to make sure you were okay," the man says.
"Oh- thank you... I'm fine," I assure him. He frowns.
"You've been staring there for the past hour and a half," he states.
"And you've been watching me?" I accuse. He shakes his head.
"I just noticed you there for a while. C'mon, you should have fun at the Nebuta Matsuri," he says in an attempt to cheer me up. Obviously, he had noticed the sadness in my eyes.
I don't respond to him, and instead just look away from him. He sighs, and walks up to me. Catching me off guard, he grabs my wrist and drags me off somewhere.
"Hey! What are you-"
"Can we get a lantern?" he asks an older lady, cutting me off.
"Sure," she replies, grabbing one and handing it over to the man. "Oh, who's the girl, Tora?" she asks. He shrugs.
"Found her near the fountain," he replies curtly, carrying the lantern in one hand. The lady giggles.
"Take care," she dismisses us.
"Tora, where are we going?!" I demand.
"How do you know my name?" He asks.
"The lady said it," I respond, rolling my eyes.
"Oh. Anyway, you'll see where we're going," he says, leading me somewhere. I find him bringing me up a cliff, and suddenly wonder if I should be trusting this person I just met.
"Err- what are we doing on a cliff?" I ask suspiciously. "You better as hell not throw me off," I warn. He laughs.
"Throw you off? Where'd you get that ridiculous idea from?" he smirks. "Hold out your hands," he instructs. I do as he says. "Now, write a wish on the lantern," he says, handing me a black sharpie.
"A wish?" I repeat. He nods. I tap the sharpie cap on my chin in thought. Suddenly, an idea comes to my head. I quickly scribble my wish into the lantern and recap the sharpie. I face my wish away from him.
"What'd you write?" he asks.
"Not telling," I reply with a smirk of my own. He frowns, but doesn't bother me about it. He pulls out a box of matches and lights one. He sets the metal ring (or whatever they're called) on fire, and the lantern suddenly feels lighter.
"Release it," he tells me. I walk closer to the edge of the cliff and I let go of the lantern. I watch as it floats into the night sky. It flies over the sea below, and I just stare in awe. It was such a magical moment... I only wish Takumi was there to experience it with me.
"Wow..." I say breathlessly.
"What's your name?" he suddenly asks. I snap back into reality.
"Oh, me?"
"No, the other person," he rolls his eyes sarcastically. "Yes you,"
"Ah, sorry. My name is Misaki Ayuzawa," I introduce. His eyes widen.
"As in the actress?" he asks.
"Yeah..." I reply hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't treat me any differently now. He smiles.
"Good to know. I was starting to think you were lost or homeless sitting next to that fountain for so long," he sighs. I laugh.
"When did homeless people wear such nice clothing?" I joke, gesturing toward my outfit. He shrugs.
"I don't know. All I'm saying is it's reassuring," he responds. "I'm Tora Igarashi, by the way," he says.
"Well then, Tora, thank you for letting me have fun tonight," I grin. "You really cheered me up," I admit. He smiles.
"I'm glad. Not to be blunt or anything, but did someone stand you up?" he asks. I tense up at the question.
"Uh- yes and no? Kinda, but I know he must've had a good reason for it," I confess.
"That sucks," he says. I nod in agreement. I check the time on my watch and it says '10:20'.
"I should really head back now," I say apologetically. "Once again, thank you so much," I thank him.
"No problem. Maybe you'll come back for the next Nebuta Matsuri?" he inquires hopefully.
"Of course I will!" I exclaim. "I'll go now-"
"Misaki, let me walk you back home," he says, grabbing my arm to stop me from walking off. "Do you live far?" he asks. I nod.
"Almost an hour walk," I frown.
"Crap. I have to be home soon as well..." he sighs. "Do you live with anyone?" he questions. I nod.
"The guy I was supposed to be with here tonight," I say. I can't help but notice his face drop a bit when I say that.
"Ah... Why don't you call him?" he suggests. I sigh, knowing that was probably the best option. Pulling out my phone, I find 'Takumi Usui' in my contacts. I press his number and hit 'call'.
After about five rings, he finally picks up.
"Misaki?" he asks weakly. My eyes widen at his raspy voice.
"Are you okay?!" I ask immediately, obviously concerned. What the hell happened?
"Nothing... I just have a cold. I tried to get you from Erika's house before you left but-" he moves his phone away from his face to cough a few times, but I can still hear it. "But you already left," he says, his voice still sounding awful. I really didn't want to ask him for any favors right now while he was in such a condition...
"Oh, okay. I'll head back home now. Take some medicine and rest-"
"Don't. Wait for me- I'm almost there," he says. My eyes widen once again at this.
"You idiot! Why are you even outside in your condition?!" I yell.
"It's not even that bad. Also, where are you?" he asks.
"On a cliff," I reply, noting how weird that sounded out of context. "I lit a lantern," I quickly explain.
"Okay... Meet me at the fountain," he says hoarsely.
"Got it... I'll be there soon. Bye," I respond, hanging up.
"He's at the fountain," I tell Tora. He nods.
"I'll walk you there," he offers.
"Thanks," I say. We walk back the direction we came from, and I walk really fast. I wanted him to get back home and rest as soon as possible.
When I could see his figure sitting on the fountain ledge, I started running involuntarily.
"Takumi!" I yell. He looks over at me. I run up to him and sit beside him. "Are you okay?" I ask, placing my hand on his forehead. He had a temperature.
"Yeah..." he replies, giving me a reassuring smile, though it only made me worry more. "Who's he...?" he asks, pointing at Tora who was standing right behind me.
"Ah... He's a friend," I reply.
"He's the one who stood you up?" Tora asks bitterly. I glare at him.
"Stood you up? I've been trying to get a hold of you the entire night," Takumi asks me accusingly.
"I know, it's fine-"
"No, it's not! You made Misaki wait almost two hours for you-"
"TORA! IT WASN'T HIS FAULT!" I snap. Takumi and Tora both look at me in surprise. I blush. "H-He's sick," I calmly explain.
"Sorry," Tora mutters, shooting a glare at Takumi. Takumi gives Tora a glare of his own. I sigh.
"Takumi, you're sick. Lets go home before you get worse, okay?" I say, still concerned about his temperature. I stand up and start to walk away, but Takumi possessively wraps his arms around my waist.
"Takumi!" I hiss. He rests his chin on my shoulder, and gives Tora a dirty look. I try to pry his hands off me, but it works to no avail.
"Tch. Whatever. Visit sometime, will ya, Misaki?" he dismisses Takumi's childish behavior.
"Of course. Thank you, bye," I say quickly, walking forwards slowly, Takumi still stubbornly clinging onto my waist. I watch Tora's retreating figure, and when he's out of sight, I push Takumi off of me.
"Jesus! Be more mature, would you?" I scold him. He frowns.
"Were you with him for the night...?" he asks, a bit of anger evident in his voice.
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter right now! Takumi, you're burning up!" I exclaim. I grab his hand and pull him along. "Hurry up," I say. He chuckles.
"Misaki cares about me..." he grins. I roll my eyes.
"Of course I care about you, idiot," I sigh. "Let's get home..." I mutter, trying to walk as fast as I could.