Fuutarou 1

"Okay, our cab should be here in ten minutes or so." Yotsuba points her phone screen toward Fuutarou as she says this, but his eyes are so adjusted to the darkness here that he can't read the screen.

"I don't mind waiting. I'm just glad to be able to get any kind of ride at this hour."

Fuutarou steps up behind Yotsuba, who is still seated on her favorite swing, and he reaches over her head to loop a ribbon around her head.

I thought I had lost her, and all I had left was her ribbon. Things are a mess, but I'm so glad I found her. I'm so glad she stopped running. I'm so glad I can put this back on her head.

Fuutarou gently pulls the ends of the ribbon around to her forehead, and begins to try to tie it. He tries to picture in his head the way she normally has it tied, but exhaustion distracts him, as well as the distraction of her soft orange hair brushing against his hands.

I have ruffled her hair a hundred times. I have messed with her ribbon a hundred times. So why am I suddenly so conscious of how her hair feels?

"I'm sorry, Yotsuba, you look like a derpy bunny. I can't quite get it right."

"I am a derpy bunny, so it's perfect. Thank you for returning it to me."

She is trying to get out some of her normal humor, and I'm glad. But she still sounds like the life has been drained out of her.

She pulls the ribbon down and shakes out her hair over it.

Why am I mesmerized by her hair? Maybe because my nerves are shot?

Fuutarou stands up on the other swing. "We have time. Let's do it."

Yotsuba sniffles and gives a weary smile. "Yes!"

She stands up on her swing too, and the pair begin swinging back and forth.

Come on legs. I know you're tired, but it's not the time to give out on me yet!

It emerges from the treetops. The view that Fuutarou wanted to see. The view of the city that Yotsuba showed him last year.

"Hya!" Yotsuba vaults from her swing, soaring through the air with her arms out to her sides and her legs bent below her. She is smiling.

There it is. What I really wanted to see.

Fuutarou tries to do the same, using the strength left in his legs to catapult himself forward.

CRACK!

The chain breaks. Time seems to move in slow motion.

Confusion.

Vertigo.

Falling.

Yotsuba gasps.

The ground is rushing up.

Gritty dirt.

Tickling grass.

Pain.

"Fuutarou!" He can feel hands on his shoulder and back. "Are you okay?"

His back aches as he lifts his head.

Dirt? Grass? Twigs? Pebbles? Whatever it is, something is definitely stuck to the side of his face.

Something erupts from the deepest recesses of his body. It overpowers the exhaustion and the guilt and the worry.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Fuutarou collapses in laughter.

Yotsuba giggles. Her giggles turn into a full belly laugh like his. She lifts him by the shoulders into a seated position and brushes the side of his face, laughing while she does it.

Their belly laughs both die down, probably because of exhaustion. But Fuutarou can still feel his face stretched into a goofy smile. And more importantly, he sees her smile. The smile that thawed his heart.

That was fun. But damn my knees hurt.

Just then, yet again time seems to move in slow motion.

A hand on the back of his head. Warmth. Warm breath. Blue eyes. Sparkling eyes. So pretty.

It feels like everything is spinning.

Softness. Goosebumps. Stomach tingling.

This feels familiar.

Soft and warm.

Lips.

The ground greets his back.

Pain. But he barely notices.

Pressure on his chest. And warmth. Fingers in his hair.

Blue eyes. Lips.

Feels lightheaded. Feels happy.

Lips pull back. Smiling face. Her face.

It's too much. It has been too long. Feelings that have been waiting too long are done waiting.

Hands on her back. Pulling her in. Lips meet again.

A bell comes to mind. And stairs outside the school. But this time is different. Two rivers, dammed for six years, have been set loose and are now colliding. It feels like everything has led to this moment. This kiss.

When Fuutarou's head stops spinning and his brain sputters to life, he doesn't know how long he has been kissing Yotsuba. His hands are on her back pulling her onto his chest, but he doesn't feel the slightest bit of resistance from her. It feels like part of his brain didn't really understand what was happening until this moment, and is now in shock.

He releases his hands from her back and she raises her head slowly.

"You're such a klutz," she says, smiling.

Yotsuba hops to her feet and extends a hand to pull Fuutarou up. She starts brushing grass and dirt from him.

"Anything broken?"

"I'm great," he says.

I really am.

Yotsuba gestures to a bench at the edge of the park. "We should sit and rest before the cab gets here."