Summer's Promise

Chapter 10: "We'll be friends forever, okay?"

"This is the best!" Ia and Lily exclaimed in synchrony as they dipped their bodies in the hot, steaming water.

Months had passed since the school festival, and the first week of December just kicked in. Since Meiko's and Kiyoteru's classes won first place for the first year students' level, they were given the reward of going to the onsen on the first weekend of December. Their classes left on Friday from the school to the mountains on two buses. They were going to leave on Sunday to get ready for the second week of school in December, which was going to be hectic since the next week after were the final exam for the second term of the year.

While Ia and Lily relaxed in the natural hot spring, Miku and Miki were making Luka's life miserable while they tickled her in the waist. To make it worse, the two girls also kept groping Luka's chest, making her make unnecessary noises. Thanks to the steam, they couldn't really see anything, but since all of them were close, they didn't try to keep their skinship to themselves.

"Please stop it,Miku-chan, Miki-chan!" Luka requested, her face turning red as she tried to hold in her moans.

"Your boobs are so soft and big, Luka-chan!" Miki said, teasing her.

Miku ran her index finger up Luka's spine, making the pink-haired girl's skin tingle.

"You're ticklish everywhere, Luka-chan!" Miku also teased.

"Jeez, stop it!" Luka requested for the final time.

Except for Luka, all of her friends laughed at her angry, yet cute face. She wasn't mad that their closeness resulted to their openly touching each other, but Luka was frustrated that she couldn't concentrate on scrubbing her body. After finally getting tired of picking on her, Miku and Miki started scrubbing their own body and left Luka alone. Even though she just roared at them, Luka still asked for help from Miku to scrub her back.

"I'm glad Luka-chan's finally comfortable with everyone," Ia told Lily as they thought about the past months they had with Luka.

"She still has stalkers and boys chasing after her, but I don't think she really pays attention to them. After all, she's always focused on her studies," Lily added.

"That's true," Ia agreed.

The two girls lowered their bodies under the hot water, only their noses, eyes, and the top of their heads in the surface. They blew bubbles with their mouths that were soaked under the water while they closed their eyes to relax. In their minds, however, was the day Luka told them that she was a part of the academics competition, which was also the day they became closer.

"Wow!" all of Luka's friends said.

"Huh?" Luka muttered, confused.

"That's amazing! You're a part of the academics competition?" Miku exclaimed, completely amazed.

Luka blushed as she fidgeted with her fingers. Behind her was Gakupo, who helped her talk to her friends about her being a part of the academics competition. Since Gakupo encouraged Luka to do so, he supported her, too.

"B-b-but…don't you think…I-I'm l-lame...or w-weird?" Luka asked, still nervous.

"Of course not! You're so smart that you became a part of the academics team!" Miki also praised.

"It's n-not that big of a deal," Luka mumbled, her face warm.

"Yes, it is! Why didn't you tell us, Luka-chan? Only the smartest people in the school gets to be on the team, you know," Ia informed.

For the rest of the time, Luka's friends showered her with praise and support. Luka, who doubted her friends, felt horrible about herself that she started to cry. Her tears were mixed with happiness that her friends accepted her, and anger on how she thought her friends were shallow. Being the good friends they were, they told Luka that she didn't need to blame herself.

Ever since that day, Luka had been more comfortable with her friends and other people in her school. Luka thanked Gakupo many times because of his kindness, support, and encouragement. Also, because he was the one who helped her cope with the boys that chased after her.

"Just focus on your studies," Gakupo said one day when he found Luka alone in the rooftop.

"If you focus on one thing, everything and everyone, especially your fanboys, will seem little and less important. Of course, you need to set your priorities straight and not forget about yourself and friends," Gakupo continued.

Since that time he helped her, Luka gathered more friends not just from her grade level, but even the upperclassmen and some from the junior high school. Luka did as she was told and kept studies in her head, like how she had always done in the past. This time, however, seemed easier because of her friends' support. Her shyness gradually lessened and Luka was friendlier, though she was still scared of some people at times.

"Thank you so much, everybody,"she bowed, Luka's face red.

She extended her hand out before lifting up her head to face her friends. In her hands were hand-woven bracelets, their colors and charms different.

"What are these?" Miku asked, picking up a teal bracelet with leek charms.

"These are bracelets I made for everyone as a thanks," Luka smiled, picking her head up to sincerely look at her friends.

"That's yours, Miku-chan, because I know you love teal and leek. This is Ia-chan's, being your favorite color peach and black, and for being in love with birds. Since you always match with Ia-chan, I made you a black and gold bracelet with lily as charms, Lily-chan. Miki-chan, I know you love red and cherries, so here's yours. Shion-kun, this is yours because I know you love blue and ice creams. Yours is purple with eggplant charms, Kamui-kun," Luka enthusiastically explained as she distributed the bracelets she made.

"Wow! Now we all have one!" Miku said in excitement.

"What about you, Luka-chan?" Miki asked as she put her bracelet on.

"Of course, I have one, too," Luka smiled as she raised her left hand up to show hers.

It was a pink and brown bracelet, like theirs, with tuna charms. Luka had always been in love with tuna since she was a little girl. Though many people just found them delicious, Luka on the other hand, found them somehow cute.

"We'll be friends forever, okay?" Luka cheerfully assured as they all walked to the train station on their way home.

"I can't believe we got the bath to ourselves, though," Ia commented after her reminiscing.

Since they didn't really receive a planned schedule, they were allowed to take a bath whenever they wanted. Earlier in the afternoon, many girls were in the bath, so the five of them decided to just tour the area around. After they ate dinner with their classes, the five girls went to the bath to have it all for themselves.

"No, you don't," a voice answered.

"Just be quiet, Gakupo," another voice scolded.

"You're here, too, Kamui and Shion?" Ia roared, putting up a fist.

The outside bath was separated by a green bamboo wall in the center. This separated the boys' bath from the girls' bath, but occasionally, during school field trips, a boy two were always caught peeking at some of the girls. Ia, who thought that Gakupo and Kaito were going to the same thing, kept roaring and splashing the water around in frustration. Lily, on the other hand, tried to calm her down to keep them from disturbing the other people there. Gakupo kept laughing at Ia on the other side of the bath since he wasn't really doing anything. Kaito, tired of their bickering, just leaned on a rock in the bath and tried to enjoy the warmth of the water.

"Shh, Ia-chan!" Miku scolded as she, Luka, and Miki prepared to go in the water after scrubbing their bodies.

Ia did as she was told and continued relaxing to cool down her temper. She closed her eyes to think that nobody was on the other side, even if she could feel Gakupo's snickering at her.

"This is great," Luka smiled, sighing.

For the rest of the evening, all seven of them finally had the chance to relax in peace and quiet. The warm water was perfect for their bodies, chilled by the winter climate. The quiet atmosphere helped clear their minds from thoughts, even just for a short time.

After enjoying their leisure time in the baths, they all decided to meet up in the lounge room, where they could play games without disturbing anyone. There were board games, a pool table, and a Ping-Pong table available in the lounge room. On their way there, Luka braided a small section of her hair out of boredom. Fascinated at how different it looked, Miki asked Luka to braid her hair while everyone else played games.

"It's called a five-strand braid," Luka explained when Miki asked what it was called.

Luka, who was sitting behind Miki, braided her hair like how she wanted it, while Miki watched her friends battle each other in a game of table tennis. Commotions were created when Gakupo decided to be the scorekeeper and paired Miku with Kaito. However, Ia scolded them and got ready to play.

Since Miku and Kaito were nervous around each other, they weren't doing as well as Ia and Lily, whose moves were basically in rhythm. After all, they've been together since childhood. Just as Luka finished Miki's braid, the game ended with a score of 11-4, Ia and Lily being the winners.

"So cute!" Miku praised, seeing Miki's braided hair.

While the girls were busy admiring Miki's hair, Gakupo grabbed a brush from Miku's purse and handed it to Luka.

"Do you mind brushing my hair, Megurine-san?" Gakupo charmingly asked.

Not really sensing her feelings for Gakupo, Luka eagerly agreed and asked him to sit down in front of her. As she kneeled behind him to match his height, Luka got a closer look of Gakupo for the first time.

"Wow. His hair is so soft," Luka thought, brushing Gakupo's silky, shoulder-length, purple hair.

Luka never really had the opportunity to be up close to Gakupo. If she was, she never really paid attention to how he appeared. However, this time, Luka was able to observe finer details on how Gakupo looked.

Since he was the ace of the judo team, Gakupo's muscles were toned and strong. His shoulders were broad, and his skin was fair and smooth. The smell of his cologne was fresh, but not strong to the nose at all. His straight, purple, shoulder-length hair was longer than usual boys' hair, but he could pull it off, maybe because of his charming smile. Luka didn't think Gakupo's hair was thick, too, because he always had it in a half-ponytail tied with a black band. Usually, people would think you were a delinquent if you had Gakupo's hair, but because of his great personality, he seemed more like a prince from Western fairytales.

As Luka ran her fingers through her hair, Gakupo started giggling, surprising her.

"That tickles," he smiled, covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Luka's face turned bright red at the sound of Gakupo's voice. That was another charming thing about Gakupo. Though his voice was deep, he sounded kind and charismatic because of his looks and personality. All the proof that Luka needed on why girls like him was right in front of her.

Without even realizing it, Luka showed a frowning and disappointed face due to the conclusion she came up with in her head. All in all, Luka summarized that she was nothing compared to Gakupo. He was a prince, and she was a peasant. He was the sky, and she was the earth. He was the sun, while she was merely the moon, whose light came from the sun's radiance.

"If it weren't for Gakupo's help," she thought, continuing to slowly brush Gakupo's soft hair.

"I would've probably lost my friends and not even be here with them," Luka finished her thought as she stopped brushing Gakupo's hair.

Luka quietly sighed, knowing that nobody would hear her. However, she was wrong because Gakupo took notice of her frowning face and sigh when he took a peek at Luka through the corner of his eye. Not wanting to worry anyone, Luka returned her smile before anyone else could notice her scowl.

"It's done, Kamui-kun," Luka announced that Gakupo's hair was done.

"Thank you, Megurine-san," Gakupo smiled as a thanks before he walked away from her to give her some time alone.

After almost half an hour of playing games, simply chatting, or watching Gakupo and Miki bicker, they all finally started yawning and were craving for sleep. Gakupo and Kaito offered to take the girls to their rooms before they went to their rooms. Ia and Lily went ahead of them as they walked down the hallways because they were at their limit.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Gakupo, Kai—I mean, Shion-kun," Miku exclaimed as soon as she realized she had made a mistake.

"Did you almost call Shion-kun 'Kai—" Miki tried to point out.

"My, my!Let's go, Miki!" Miku awkwardly smiled with an embarrassed blush on her face as she dragged Miki into their room with her hand covering the red-haired girl's mouth.

Gakupo laughed at her childhood friends as they disappeared into the room. Luka smiled to see that Kaito's face was blushing as he looked away to hide his shy and self-conscious dark-blue eyes.

"We'll be going now, Megurine-san. I hope you get a good rest tonight," Gakupo greeted with a sign of care for the pink-haired girl.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Kamui-kun. Goodnight," Luka coyly smiled with her reply before slowly closing the sliding door.

Gakupo and Kaito returned to the other side of the onsen resort where the boys' rooms were located. As soon as they prepared their futon, the two lied down and got ready to sleep.

Meanwhile, back at the girls' room, everyone was asleep but Luka. Her eyes were still wide awake as she stared at the tatami ceiling. Luka's mind felt blank, but that was because everything raced around in her head. She couldn't keep her eyes closed, but she found a solution.

Silently getting up after taking Miki's arm off of her, Luka walked out of their room back to the lounge. There, she sat back down on the bench where she brushed Gakupo's violet tresses. She thought about a lot of things, which kept the frown on her face.

All of a sudden, after closing her eyes to think deeper, Luka felt something cold touch her cheeks, causing her to jump and shriek. When she turned to see what it was, she found Gakupo holding two canned drinks.

"Kamui-kun?" she wondered why he was there, her eyes widened in shock.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, sitting down next to Luka.

With a nod, Luka replied as she spilled a bit of her long face. She still kept the smile on her face, but it seemed as if she was in pain to have it on.

"Same here," Gakupo answered to her nod.

Gakupo handed Luka the canned drink, opening his, afterwards. Sipping some, he tilted his head back and gulped some of the drink down his throat.

"Green tea?" Luka wondered when she saw the label of the aluminum can, confused on why Gakupo gave her that.

"It's good for you. Not only will it help you fall asleep, but it's also very good. It's cold green tea, yes, but it's still really good. Oh, and I also love this drink! I don't really know why, but it's a habit for me to drink this after school now," Gakupo kept talking as if he was in a different world.

Luka was surprised of how much Gakupo was talking. Whenever she would see him in the hallways, he was always only saying what the girls that surrounded him wanted to hear. His words were always short and simple. However, Gakupo was surprisingly talkative with Luka.

Not being able to hold it any longer, Luka started laughing while holding her stomach. Gakupo stopped talking about his love for cold green tea and stared at Luka.

"There we go," he said out of nowhere with a hint of relief in his smile and indigo eyes.

"Huh?" Luka sounded, confused again.

"Oh, well you looked down earlier, so I was worried," Gakupo shyly answered, rubbing the back of his head, like what a typical, shy high school boy would do if they were talking to a cute girl.

Luka's mind was cleared of thoughts that bothered her earlier. She felt at ease and relieved of worry, even though her face looked shock.

"Kamui-kun was worried…about me?" Luka thought.

"Is that how you knew I was back here?" Luka voiced her thought differently and asked Gakupo.

"Yeah," Gakupo shyly, yet honestly replied.

Luka pushed the tab of the canned drink down to open it and stared at the hole she had created. She took a tiny sip and found the drink delicious. Gakupo, who watched her every move, felt tensed and nervous because Luka didn't say anything. He thought that, maybe, she found him weird for following her. However, in contrast to what he thought, Luka smiled as she wiped the condensed water on the rim of the aluminum can.

"Thank you very much,Kamui-kun."

Author's note:

onsen- hot springs

judo- a sport created in Japan, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke

futon- Japanese style bedding

tatami- mat made of rice straws