Chapter 2: Days go By II
(Update: Sorry for the long wait, Second Semester just started and I was focused on getting set up in my new major. But I have a plan moving forward and I really want to continue this! Please R and R and Enjoy!)
Kanji woke up in a cold sweat, he had another dream about his deceased father, he shivered as he remembered,
"Damn hospitals" He muttered to himself. He got out of bed and throw on a skull t-shirt and put some jeans on, he looked at his watch,
"Oh, crap, 's time to open shop" he ran downstairs while tying an apron and unlocked the door switching the closed sign to open. Kanji had a relatively slow day, mostly the old women who were regulars at the textile shop, for some reason he really loved chatting with the old hags.
Kanji checked his watch, "that late already?" he was shocked how much time had past while he talked with the old women.
Almost 4:00 in the afternoon, Kanji decided it was slow enough to continue work on the special order for a blue scarf, he retired into the back room with his prized sewing machine that his father had left behind for him.
Kanji was really into his work until a familiar voice knocked out his focus,
"Kanji-kun? Are you in?" It was Naoto
Kanji looked at his watch, "Oh, crap, she's already here, alright, you're a man, you can do this, Kanji." He thought to himself to get pumped up.
Kanji emerged from the back room while untying his apron, Naoto gave no reaction.
"H-Hey Naoto, thanks for stopping by" Naoto gave a slight nod, she looked pale to Kanji but he was too nervous to call her on it.
"So, shall we go, there was something you wanted to talk about correct?" Naoto was straight to the point, and her voice was a lot quieter than usual.
"Y-Yeah, but before we go for a walk, I, uh, wanna show you something a made." Holy crap, he really did it, he got it out only stuttering twice.
"And what might that be?" Naoto had an honest confused look on her face.
Kanji silently led Naoto to his back room, Naoto's jaw nearly dropped upon seeing the lines of stuffed animals and racks of clothing.
"Did you make all of these, Kanji-kun" Kanji sensed his opportunity,
"Y-Yeah I did, you're, uh, not gonna make fun of them are you?" he rubbed the back of his head nervously. Naoto raised an eyebrow,
"Why would I do that?" Kanji froze,
"Well, uh, because I'm a guy, who, uh, likes to make cute shit like this." Naoto tipped her hat down,
"Kanji-kun, I actually think you have a rare talent here, anyone who can craft anything in such detail should be praised, not reprimanded." Kanji didn't know what to say,
"Thank you for showing me this Kanji-kun, so, shall we go on our walk, I am curious as to what you want to talk about." Kanji quickly nodded and the two left for the Flood Plains.
Naoto's face looked even paler than it was back in the shop, Kanji decided to break the ice,
"So, uh, I didn't think it was fair that I saw your shadow but you didn't get to see mine." He trailed off wondering if he really wanted to tell her. Naoto reacted slowly, a rare sight for her,
"Huh? Yeah, I mean it's fine if you don't want to tell me about it Kanji-kun." Kanji sensed another chance,
"B-But I want to, you see, my shadow was, well" he trailed off again, Naoto didn't seem to notice, she was just rubbing her head,
"Take your time Kanji-kun, I can't imagine how embarrassing it was, if my shadow was any template." She cringed and kept rubbing her head.
"Well, uh, my shadow was….gay" he finally said it, he felt his cheeks burn red, Naoto seemed unmoved but pried for information on the subject.
"Was there a reason for this?" she grabbed her head after she said it, she started breathing heavier and her vision blurred,
"Uh, uh, the r-reason for it was, uh, y-you. I thought you were a dude back then and I had feelings for you anyway, so it confused me and that's why my shadow ended up like that." He spoke awfully fast through that, he slowly looked at Naoto to find she was not there.
Kanji looked around him to find his pint sized crush, and located her collapsed a few feet behind him, "NAOTO!" he almost screamed, he ran to her and slid down on his knees, propping her up on his lap, "N-N-Noato, are you alright? What happened?" Naoto was about to passed out, but said something beforehand,
"Thank you for telling me all that" she trailed off and closed her eyes,
"NAOTO! NAOTO!" Kanji felt her head, it was on fire. He got her on his back and started running towards the hospital,
"Damn it, stay with me Naoto."
Kanji got her to the hospital and the nurses got Naoto set up in a room,
"Is she gonna be alright, doc?" The doctor nodded,
"I belive so, she collapsed from a combination of sleep deprivation and a high fever, she just needs to rest in the hospital for a few days, you can visit her tomorrow."
Kanji nodded, he walked home with his head down,
"Come on, she'll be fine right, just wait for her to recover. Wait, I got it, I'll make her something for when she wakes up tomorrow, and I'll make it so freakin cute she'll smile."
Kanji ran the rest of the way home and started working on a blue scarf and a matching blue sweater.