My best friend told me he regrets he took me into this fandom because of the things I've done to his "babus".
They're my babus too, darling. So I hope you forgive me with this...
IX
Days and months go by once again, and everynight the same silent gesture takes place.
Simple intertwined fingers. Simple heartwarming contact that Shouyou hopes will soothe Oikawa's pain.
Shouyou thinks is funny how he has never been found out, because he always manages to wake up earlier and withdraw his hand.
Oikawa knows better.
願いはずっと叶わないまま 今夜 星座を連れ去って 消えてしまった.
Shouyou's been staring at the garden for over an hour already. His classes don't start until the afternoon, so he has all this time to reflect about his life as part of the Oikawa household.
As the emperor's "wife".
"Hina-chan?"
He turns around instantly and battles again his default reaction of bowing down before Oikawa. He knows he doesn't want that ―but it's a bit difficult not to do exactly that when he appears dressed not with his royal attire but with a simple pair of hakamas that do nothing to decrease this air of royalty that surrounds him.
If it's true that the emperor descends from god, Shouyou he can assure so while looking at his husband.
"I'd like you to dress up. We're going for a walk downtown"
He doesn't know where does this come from. However, he bows his head slightly and returns to their room so he can get dressed. All this time, he hasn't accepted any help to do so. He has adamantly refused, and when the scandalized maids reported this issue to Oikawa's most loyal servant ―an old man who had served his family since childhood, he had only replied that "there are ladies more sensitive than others" and ordered to leave it alone.
When he's finally wearing a plain blue yukata (because yes, he has actually learned to put it on by himself), a maid informs him that Oikawa is waiting for him in the front. Outside, he meets his husband, who just smiles and tells him:
"That yukata suits you perfectly."
The next thing he does is offering him his hand to help him hop onto the carriage. The words "thank you" become trapped between the tip of his tongue and his lips when he feels first his gentle fingers and then the warm body of his husband sitting beside him.
He doesn't ask where are they exactly going, and just focuses on grasping every single thing he can see, and burn it into his mind ―every single detail of the town he's visited merely a couple of times as a stable-boy. Now, everything appears new to him: the children's laughter, the couples walking in sync, the shopkeepers and their different voices almost singing about their products' prices that mean nothing to Oikawa and in turn, not a long time ago, meant three whole days of food to Shouyou.
But there's something else: the town is illuminated, clean and tidy, and even the youngest children are well dressed. Tiny lamps with even tinier letters that Shouyou recently begins to read hang from nearly invisible ropes that jump from a roof to another.
He recognizes the letters for "sunshine" and "river" in two separate lamps, and feels his insides warm because of such a small, but obvious progress.
"Tooru-san…"
He's about to ask him about the town when the carriage suddenly stops. Oikawa hops off unceremoniously, to everyone's disbelief ―they look at the scene as if the ground were unfit to be stepped on by him. Nonetheless, he only has eyes for him, and Shouyou must admit that, just this once, he's happy with the way things are. It's as if Oikawa couldn't be bothered by any of the glances thrown in his direction, couldn't be bothered to look at any of the pretty girls that congregate a few steps away to admire his out-of-this-world beauty.
Shouyou is certain he won't look back at them, just as he's certain that his lack of interest isn't due to him but to an absent soul.
Oikawa interrupts his train of thought with a simple phrase:
"I hope you didn't think we would be missing the bon odori."
Of course. Shouyou isn't exactly aware of the dates in which each festivity takes place because his father wouldn't let him out of the stable regularly ―let alone if there were festivals to which the Hinata family, the official Hinata family had to attend. However, it makes sense it's this particular celebration the one they're attending to ―it's been a while since the cherry trees have taken away their dresses to give way to the aestival songs of the cicadas.
No, he knows nothing about celebrations nor parties; he would only watch the fireworks from afar, reveling in their ethereal beauty, waiting for his sister's return to listen from her mouth what he could only hope to experience in another life.
In spite of that, he's here now, strolling beside the one and only japanese emperor. His eyes light up when he spots the different game stalls and food stalls and the flowers and the clothes and oh, the children playing and laughing and everything is so, so much better than what Natsu could have ever described.
He controls himself to not go running around the place when Oikawa leans toward him so he's able to whisper in his ear ―and Shouyou does hear it perfectly, as if all the noises around them had suddenly vanished:
"Go explore. I'll be close behind you."
Should he forgive me? Reviews?
-Pequeña