Author's Note: Just for future reference, guys…I don't go long times without updating unless I have a good reason. Also, I said I would be trying to update this monthly…which means if I go a month and a half without updating, as I just did, please don't start asking if I've given up the story. Life just happens sometimes. Like this time, I had planned on updating in April once the spring convention craziness ended, but then I found out that my father has cancer. It kills inspiration a bit. So needless to say, spending time with my father while he was sick and worn down and miserable from all the CAT scans and bone marrow biopsies and nasty medical stuff he had to undergo took priority in my life. And it will continue to do so. I'm sorry if that means you will have to wait a little bit longer for updates once in a while, but spending time with my father is going to take precedence over fic writing for now. My family is more important to me than fandom.

So please, if I miss an update by a couple of weeks or so, please don't contact me demanding an update or accusing me of abandoning those of you who enjoy this fic. I'll have a good reason for missing updates, unless for some reason you consider a dying family member to not be a good reason, so just be patient if you can, please. That said, I AM still going to try to shoot for monthly updates with this. I can't guarantee anything, but I will do my best. This time it's Oishi's turn…enjoy!

Chapter Five: All the Way Down

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice
You make it now
-"Falling Slowly," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

There was something about Eiji in a yukata that was far more fitting than it had any right to be. It was enough to make me feel guilty about staring at him so much in public.

Although I wasn't the only one, so maybe I shouldn't have felt guilty at all.

"Isn't in convenient that we're almost the same size?" Eiji asked as he looked over his shoulder at me and flashed me a blinding smile. "What's the fun in going to festivals if we can't dress up?"

"You do realize that kimonos are intentionally made to fit everyone?" I pointed out, and wondered how Eiji's eyes could be so much bluer than the water on the sleeves of his borrowed clothes.

"Well, yeah, but…you're missing the point," he shot back with a frown.

"I'm sorry. What was the point?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Eiji shrugged sheepishly. "Can't remember now. You made me forget."

"Logic has no place within these walls," I intoned solemnly. "Luckily, we're outside right now."

With a snort, Eiji tossed his head and pointedly turned away from me. Two second later, he let out a shout and took off running towards the temple. "Syuichirou! They have the water balloons!"

"I told you they would," I called back, but by then Eiji was too busy pushing his way to the front of the small crowd at the booth to hear me. It was just as well. I had a feeling that my voice gave away exactly what the sight of my former doubles partner running in that outfit did to me.

I was pretty much positive that the ancient Japanese designer who had created kimonos hadn't intended for them to be so attractive on anyone. Eiji probably would have vexed him to no end.

As I stared after Eiji and tried to decide whether to be amused or annoyed at how much more flattering my yukata was on him, a familiar voice called out from behind me. "Ah! Oishi? Is that you?"

I turned around and smiled as Uchida hurried up the stairs toward me, strands of hair escaping her bun in the humidity. "Uchida! Are you here alone?"

My quiet classmate shook her head quickly. "I'm meeting up with Nishida and some other friends here later. I think Kakashi and Itou are here with some girls from class, too." As she caught her breath, Uchida peered past me curiously. "Is that your friend up there?"

It would have been hard to miss Eiji at that point even if she hadn't met him the previous night. He towered over the kids pushing past him as he bounced away from the booth, swinging a brightly colored water balloon over his head that was exactly the same color as his hair and the fish leaping over the yukata. Had he done that on purpose? You could never tell for sure with Eiji. The effect was impressive, though, that was for sure.

"That's yours, isn't it?" Uchida asked as she studied him with an amused smile. "He looks very handsome, doesn't he?"

I nodded without thinking. "Eiji always looks cool."

"Really?"

Eiji finally managed to extract himself from the crowd and came running back down the stairs towards me. "Hey, Syuichirou, check it out! They had one that matched my outfit!"

Well, that answered that question. Before I could say anything, though, Uchida looked up at me curiously. "Syuichirou?"

"Ah!" Eiji halted suddenly and his grin widened. "Uchida-dono! Hi!" He looked over at me with mock chagrin. "You didn't tell me she got prettier. How come Kyoto has all the good girls?"

Uchida colored prettily at that, but she laughed. "You can just stop that right now. I have two brothers, so you can't possibly tease me more than they can."

Eiji held out his hands in defeat, and immediately was re-captivated by the balloon hanging off of his finger. "You win, then. Hey, Oishi, isn't this one pretty? It's too bad I can't take it back to Bunkyo. It'd just break in my bag."

I watched him bounce the balloon at the end of its rubber band, and replied, "I'm not sure it'll last past this festival."

"Well, fine, then. I won't get you one. Or any new fish."

"I don't even know if you could catch one," I teased right back.

Eiji's face set into an expression I recognized all to well with a pang of nostalgia, and he turned back towards the rest of the festival. "Watch me!"

Uchida studied us both as we followed him up the rest of the steps. "Does he normally call you by your first name, then?" she asked me quietly.

"Sometimes." Some alarm pinged in my mind, but I pushed it away. Uchida was one of the sweetest girls I knew, so what was there to worry about? "He switches back around company to keep from confusing everyone else, I think."

Uchida's lips pursed in thought. "Wouldn't that just make everything more confusing?"

"Eiji doesn't think so. You shouldn't try to figure him out yet, Uchida, it'll just give you a headache."

"And it doesn't you?"

"Well," I replied as a warm feeling spread through me, "I've had years of practice."

Eiji stopped and turned to face us with his hands on his hips. "Ooooiiii! Quit gossiping about me and let's get going! I smell food, don't you two want some?"

"Didn't you forget to bring your floss?" I called back.

A second later Uchida dissolved into laughter as Eiji's water balloon burst over my head.


Apparently Nishida's interest in me did not extend to dripping hair and wet clothing because when she finally met up with the three of us, she suddenly remembered that she had to meet up with several other friends other than us. Uchida's shoulders shook with the effort of trying to hold in her laughter but she simply declined the offer to join Nishida and said she would keep up company and find her again later. The minute that our friend was out of hearing distance, Eiji sent me a knowing look and promptly cracked up.

As Uchida hid her own smile behind her hands, I shook my head. "You both are a lot meaner than you look."

"Am I?" Uchida asked with perfect innocence. Eiji made an attempt to match her angelic expression and ended up sending himself into fits of laughter again instead.

I had to smile. I was just as amused by Nishida's behavior as they were, after all. Plus Eiji was ridiculously adorable right then. That was reason enough for me to feel like smiling.

I love it so much when you laugh.

The unspoken words caught and I had to swallow the lump that formed in my throat at the thought. Instead, I looked up at the purpling sky and shivered. "Okay, it's getting cooler out and you two aren't in wet fabric. Can we take a detour by the restrooms so I can at least try to dry off now?"

Eiji crossed his arms and smirked. Of course he felt smug. His revenge had worked out perfectly. "Oh? And how exactly are we going to dry you off, hmm?"

It turned out by having me strip down in one of the stalls and wait while Eiji wrung out my yukata over the sink and tried to dry off the shoulders a little bit under the dryer. After about ten minutes of listening to Eiji snicker while constantly restarting the dryer, I risked opening the door to the stall a crack to peer out at him. "How much longer do you think we'll be?"

"Maybe five more minutes," he answered cheerfully. "It won't be completely dry, but it should be good enough. The weather is pretty nice out tonight."

"Should you tell Uchida how much longer she has to wait?"

Even with his back turned to me, I could tell Eiji was grinning mischievously. "I'm kind of busy. You could go tell her."

I snorted. "You could walk back to the dorms after I get arrested for indecent exposure."

"They'd never subject a pretty thing like you to jail. You wouldn't last five minutes."

"Would you wait for me?"

I expected him to respond with something like, "No way," but instead the tone of his voice softened a bit. "Absolutely. Stupid Syuichirou."

That lump of emotion shot back into my throat again and I couldn't speak. After a moment of awkward silence, Eiji tossed his head and added, "What do you think the next person to walk into this restroom will think when they see you?"

When I still couldn't find the words to answer, he turned and studied me curiously. "…Nyani?"

I shook my head in a desperate effort to clear it. When I finally spoke, my tongue felt heavy and thick and my voice probably wasn't entirely steady. "I should get dressed again."

"Okay, okay, hang on. Just another five minutes-"

"Eiji," I repeated, "Uchida will send someone in after us if we keep her waiting for too long, and if I keep watching you without…well, we will definitely be in here longer than five minutes. Can I have my yukata back, please?"

Eiji's eyes widened momentarily and then darkened with a look I knew far too well that sent my own blood pounding in my ears again. He rolled his shoulders in a slow shrug and held the damp garment out to me carefully. "Right. Do you, um, need any help?"

Yes. Come in here and give me a hand. I wanted to just reach out and catch his wrist and yank him into the stall and…it was really not the time or place. We'd probably end up with typhoid or something with the state of public restrooms during festivals. I took back my clothing with a regretful shake of my head. "Thanks, though."

"No problem. I'll go keep Uchida company," Eiji answered with a hint of regret as he turned to leave.

"Don't take too long," he added over his shoulder.

"I won't. Thanks."

It took my longer than I thought to get everything back on properly with the way my hands were still shaking. As I tried to make them still again so I could finish the final tie without somehow knotting it around my own wrist, I marveled at exactly how intense that moment of longing and love had been. Maybe there was something in the water, or in the air, or maybe…probably…it was just the way that Eiji looked that night, bright and vibrant and colorful and vivid. It wasn't even how good he looked in my kimono or the freshness of it being only our second day together in ages. There was just something about seeing him with Uchida, the way he had looked halfway bent over by the hand dryer, and when he looked back up at me with my outfit carefully held in his hands. It was like it had hit me for the first time just how much older he had grown, we had both grown…how long we'd been together. How long we'd known each other. How long I'd really loved him.

The door creaked as someone stepped into the facilities and I heard Eiji call out. "Nya, Oishi, hurry up! The fireworks are starting soon and Uchida and Kakashi say they know a great spot to watch them from!"

"Kakashi's there now?" I asked in surprise as I stepped out of the stall. "When did that happen?"

Eiji rolled and grinned at me. "Earlier. I don't know, I was in here with you. Come on, let's go!"

I tried to shake off the immense feeling that still swamped me for a moment and followed him out the door. It didn't work. I wondered if it was even possible to get it to go away. I had a not entirely unpleasant suspicion that it wasn't.

Kakashi was indeed outside with Uchida, along with a few of our other classmates; my sometimes seatmate Shidou and his girlfriend Omori, and a girl I knew only vaguely called Moriya who was Kakashi's lab partner. After a quick round of introductions and excited chattering at my childhood friend that was almost identical to the dinner last night, we set off on our way to what Kakashi and Uchida both assured us was the perfect place to watch the fireworks.

Eiji and I lagged a little bit behind them, all but silent while the others chattered on. I ran my fingers over the fabric around the back of my neck to make sure everything was on straight and found myself staring at the ends of my sleeves and seeing how easily those imaginary signals and yes's and no's and later's had passed between us when he handed it back to me. My eyes drifted up to trace over the back of Eiji's neck, over his profile, and came to rest on his eyes, staring straight ahead and bright with his smile as he listened to my friends tossing stories back and forth between each other. He didn't seem to know I was watching him. I couldn't look away.

I suddenly realized that more matter how much older we both grew or how much we changed, I could see him beside me like this for the rest of my life. And I couldn't even imagine it without him there.

Eiji's lips parted in wonder and he let out and awed breath. "Wow…this is the perfect spot!"

I tore my gaze away from him and realized we were standing at the base of a small hill on the other side of the temple arcade, with the rest of the festival lights behind us and nothing obstructing our view of the sky. It really was the perfect spot, especially with the faint sounds of the festival still audible behind us, comforting and exciting at the same time. Kakashi noticed my expression and grinned in triumph. "Great, isn't it?"

"Bravo," I answered sincerely. "I always go to higher places to watch these things and it's so crowded there."

"You can see the sky from anywhere. It doesn't matter how high up you are."

"Stop bragging," Uchida chided gently. "It's a lovely place. They all know it now."

"Yeah, but I'm the one that found it."

"After I showed it to you, remember?"

As my two classmates argued good naturedly and the others egged them on, I noticed Eiji slip away quietly through the bushes a bit off to the side. Curious, I waited to be certain that no one noticed me following him and made my way after him.

Eiji looked up and seemed surprised to see me behind him. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Seeing what you're up to," I told him honestly. "What are you doing?"

"The fireworks don't start for a few minutes," he answered. "That Moriya girl says there's a koi pond through those trees, so I thought I'd see it before the show starts."

There was a koi pond nearby. I remembered it. "I'll come, too. I know where it is."

Eiji didn't protest, and in the darkness I imagined that he looked completely happy at my words.

It didn't take long at all to reach the pond. It was maybe the distance of a large house away from the bottom of the knoll where my friends had brought us. When we pushed through the branches of the willow trees flanking one side of the pond, Eiji let out a small gasp. "Oh, cool…"

I wasn't much more articulate. "Yeah. Wow."

It was like all of the fireflies in the entire temple park had congregated in one spot. Maybe they had, just to get away from all of the people and be safe. Countless little lights floated in the air around us, reflecting off the surface of the pond so that it looked like the fireflies flew beneath the water as well as above, darting between the branches of the willows like magic mysteries, and bathing the entire pond in an eerie green-gold light. When Eiji turned to me with an expression of pure awe, the light from the fireflies glittered far back in his eyes and I wondered if it was really the lights or if some of the stars had fallen out of the sky and ended up inside of him.

"This is the perfect spot," Eiji told me with absolute certainty. "That other place is perfect for watching fireworks, but this is just perfect, period."

I nodded in complete agreement. "It's absolutely beautiful."

Eiji's lips curved up in a small smile and caught my face in his hands and laid a gentle kiss on my lips. "Mmmmhmmm. Let's live here."

I laughed and leaned in to kiss him back.

The minute our lips touched, I could feel that heat blossom between us again, urgent and demanding. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to give in to that momentary lust…from the way that Eiji's breath shuddered in I knew he probably wanted the same thing. But it was strange…almost as soon as it hit me, it was gone. All I could think was that I wanted everything to stay exactly like this forever. Not just this moment, either. All of them. The expression on his face when I first told him I loved him back, the feeling of his hand entwined in my while we sat under a tree at lunch, the moment we first kissed in the back of a movie theater, the way his arms felt wrapped around mine after we got in the results of our high school entrance exams, the feeling of our bodies against each other the first time we took the next step, the fierceness in his eyes when I realized he missed being with me as much as I missed being with him, the two of us curved together in the same sleeping bag under the stars on a camping trip in Hakone, the sound of his voice when he came barreling out of the subway to meet me yesterday, this moment right now, the first time he smiled at me and just me…they were all one and the same moment, and I wanted every moment to be just like that for as long as I lived.

I rested my hand on his neck and lost myself in the simple kiss a little bit longer. When Eiji pulled away and pressed his cheek against mine, I let my eyes close and felt the warmth radiating from his skin. "I love you, Eiji. I really do."

For a moment, he didn't say anything, and I wondered if I should be worried about that or not. But then… "Me, too," he murmured against my ear. "I've loved you for a very long time."

I smiled at his response. "Perfect."

"Absolutely perfect," he agreed.

"Would you mind staying in love with me for an even longer time?"

"Well, until your little sister is legal, anyway."

I snorted at the absurd reply and Eiji shook his head so that his hair brushed over my closed eyes.

"I already told you. Absolutely. You don't even have to ask me to."