Hello there! This is my very first Kimi ni Todoke fanfiction, so I hope you enjoy it!
For three weeks now Kazehaya and I have been officially a couple. Although I still feel embarrassed whenever I think about it or mention it, I also feel really blessed. Sometimes I wonder if I had done something really wonderful in my past life to deserve so much.
Continuing on, just the other day after school, I had finished organizing the folders for our class. To my surprise, I ran into Kazehaya-kun just when I was leaving! ( I couldn't believe how coincidental it was that we were leaving school at the same time! Even though I got out later than usual!) But then he explained to me that he had purposely waited for me. I remember him telling me that it was "his duty as a boyfriend" to walk me home from time to time. I felt bad for making him wait so long, but it also made me really happy too.
"You didn't bring your bike today?" I observed glancing behind him. Usually Kazehaya-kun rides his bicycle to and from school everyday.
"Of course! I promised to walk you home today, didn't I?" He laughed, smiling widely. That's one of the things I like most about him. His smile. For some reason, his smiles never fail to make me happy.
"But Kazehaya-kun must like biking a lot, right?" I asked happily.
"Yeah, I guess so." He laughed again, ruffling the back of his hair. (His hair is usually a little untidy, but I secretly think it's cute!)
"It must be really refreshing." I said, imagining myself riding on a bicycle. The wind brushing past your face, the feeling of speed and freedom.
Kazehaya-kun turned to me. "Do you like bikes too, Kuronuma?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Ever since I noticed you rode a bike, I've always wanted to try it." I felt a little embarrassed telling him that. I looked down at my fingers and fidgeted a little.
"Eh?" Kazehaya-kun wore a really surprised expression on his face. "Kuronuma, you've never rode a bike before?"
I felt my face turn a bit hot." N-no, I'm sorry."
He chuckled again. "It's nothing to apologize over."
"Okay." I blinked several times, feeling a little flustered still. "I guess I've always been more of a walking person. I like to go on walks a lot."
"Yup!" Kazehaya agreed cheerfully. "Because of that, I can walk Kuronuma home."
I smiled back. I was really happy that we shared the same feelings…
"Oh, hey! I got an idea!" Kazehaya's face lit up.
"Yes?" I said, eagerly listening.
"Tomorrow I'll bring my bike and I can teach you. How does that sound?"
"C-can I really?" I asked in amazement. At that moment, I felt so overwhelmed with happiness! Kazehaya wanted to teach me how to ride a bicycle!
"Of course." He grinned. "We can practice on the road by the river. You know, where we found Maru."
"Yeah!" I nodded my head. I couldn't wait!
The next day after that was a Saturday. It took me longer than usual to choose out an outfit, but I finally decided on wearing a blue summer dress.
When I went over to the river, Kazehaya-kun was there already, leaning against his bike. He grinned and waved at me when I made my way over to him. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with dark denim pants. "Hey, we're matching!" He pointed out, since we were both wearing blue. For some reason it made me really happy that we matched unintentionally. I laughed along with him at the coincidence.
"Alright! Ready, Kuronuma?" He grabbed the bike by its handles.
"I...I hope so." I said nervously. But at the same time, I was excited, too. "Do you... have a helmet?"
Kazehaya-kun froze for a moment. "Gahh!" He ran his hand over his face. "That's what I forgot! A helmet!"
"I-I'm sorry!" I was shocked to see him so disappointed! "I-I should have known to bring a helmet! It's my fault!" I shouldn't have expected him to bring everything!
"Don't blame yourself, Kuronuma." He raised his palms up. "It's okay, it really is my fault. It's just that..."
Kazehaya-kun began to blush a little, so he covered his face with one hand. "It's just that I was so caught up with wanting to see you today that I forgot."
He was looking away, but I started to feel myself turn red too. "M...me too!" I said. "I was really looking forward to seeing you too!" I looked down at the floor.
For a moment he stared at me and then he laughed. I could tell he felt more relieved after that.
"Well, since I forgot the helmet, I'll be the one responsible for your safety today." He told me, flashing another one of his dazzling smiles. I was really delighted that he was taking so much care of me.
"Try to balance yourself." He explained to me as I sat on the bicycle. "Once you learn how to balance yourself, riding a bike will be really easy."
I grabbed on to the handles while Kazehaya-kun explained to me how the brakes worked and how I had to press a lever whenever I wanted to stop. Then he told me that I was ready to start and placed his hands over mine. I was so nervous! His and my hand were touching! But I tried not to think about that too much because he told me I should concentrate on my balance.
"Probably the hardest part of biking is starting off." The wheels started to move forward as he guided me, still pushing the bike's handles. "You see, you have to make enough momentum in order to start moving." I nodded, trying to absorb everything that he was saying. Our hands were still touching. I prayed that my hand wouldn't start sweating at that moment! I was still nervous!
"I'm gonna let go now." He told me. I felt his hands gently release mine. The bike wobbled and Kazehaya-kun quickly caught my fall. "Watch out!" His arm swooped around my shoulders and I found myself leaning against his chest.
"So-so-sorry!" I separated myself from him instantly. I was really shocked! I messed up already! "I'll do it right next time!"
Kazehaya-kun smirked. "It's okay, there's no need to rush! We could take the whole day and I'd still be happy."
I bit my lower lip. "Un…" I gave him a quick nod and we continued.
After a few more tries, I got the hang of it. (Riding a bike is pretty easy if you try!) I started to speed up the pace of my pedaling while I could hear Kazehaya-kun's voice behind me. I could feel the soft breeze touch my face. So this is what it's like… riding a bike.
But before I knew it, I felt the front wheel hit a rock on the ground. My mind went blank for a moment as the whole bicycle jolted. I felt myself tumble with a thud into the patch of grass next to the side of the road. My legs were tangled under the weight of the bicycle.
"Kuronuma!"
My eyes flew open, feeling uneasy. Uwa! I got too caught up in the moment! How reckless!
"Kuronuma!" Kazehaya-kun repeated after sprinting towards me. He helped me up from the floor. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay." I answered, brushing blades of grass off of my dress. Pulling my legs from under the bike, my eyes widened. "The bicycle!" I gasped. "I-is it damaged?"
"That doesn't matter!" The was an edge of anger in his tone. Was he mad?
He then folded his arms around me and pulled me close. I stared at the collar of his shirt in astonishment. Kazehaya-kun was…holding me. We were so close to each other, my heart started to race.
His voice changed to a softer tone. "What really matters is that you're alright."
He pulled his arms away to look at my face, smiling wistfully. It felt as if my heart was going to explode from happiness.
Kazehaya-kun exhaled loudly, running his fingers through his short hair. He leaned back so that he was lying in the grass, hands now covering his face. "Just when I said I would be responsible for your safety too… I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Kuronuma…"
"That…doesn't matter." I said, looking at him. His hands slid away from his face to reveal a slightly surprised expression.
"Thanks to Kazehaya-kun… I got to learn how to ride a bike today. And I had a lot of fun too." I smiled, reflecting back on all that happened today. "Falling down… stumbling… these things are nothing when it comes to how much happiness I felt today."
I twined my fingers together, bashfully. "I'm… really happy."
Kazehaya grinned and looked up at the sky. "Yeah."
He pulled himself up from the ground and stood up. "I say we call it a day!" He opened out his hand to me and helped me up. "Wanna buy some lunch right now?"
"Okay." I answered happily, smoothing out the skirt of my dress.
Kazehaya-kun lifted his bicycle and sat down on the seat of it. "Come on," He turned to me, "We can ride together." He patted on the metal rack behind the bike's seat. Feeling a little unsure if I could sit there or not, I took a seat. I wondered if it was safe to have two people on a one person bike?
"I'm not too heavy?" I asked, glancing at the back tires.
Kazehaya laughed. "Of course not! But hang on to me so you won't fall." He took one of my arms and put it around his stomach. "Like this, okay?"
"O-okay." I told him, feeling nervous. I've never done anything like this before.
"Ready?" He gripped on to the handles. "Let's go!" He pushed off and we were moving. I tightened my hold around him to prevent myself from falling.
It was exhilarating! The scenery around us turned into a blur as the wind that swept past us.
I couldn't have felt more happy just to be alive. I smiled to myself, leaning my head on Kazehaya-kun's back.
If I could wish for one thing, and although it may sound selfish of me to say this…
I'd wish that this would last forever.
Finished! That was the first time I have ever written a fanfiction in first person, so I hope the characters aren't too out of character. What did you think?^ ^
You're probably thinking it's strange that Sawako didn't know how to ride a bike yet, hm? hehe Well, the truth is that I never really learned to ride a bike myself until recently. And hey, I'm sixteen, so there! haha (yeah... I didn't get out much as a kid... -.-; )
Anyways! A big thanks to you for reading this fic! Reviews are welcome and I hope you have a wonderful day!