S2 Chapter 9

Shimmer and Shine

Disneyland was slowly filling and despite it being in the middle of winter, the sun shone through the clouds and blessed them with a good day. To think that it was going to rain later was hard to believe. Maybe they were just lucky, but then again the Japanese weather broadcast was rarely wrong.

Sae looked around noticing the stark difference in climate between here and Spain. It didn't snow in Spain, or only very rarely. Frankly Sae was not fond of the cold. Summer was just his time, but... - he glanced at Yui who was happily munching on a bag of churros - the cold wasn't too bad every once and a while.

'A squirrel.' Sae thought as he watched Yui's puffed cheeks. They looked very soft and Sae lifted his hand, getting closer and closer and poke-

Yui stopped eating and whirled around. Their eyes met and no one said a word. They were just lost in each other's eyes.

Suddenly, pull.

«...? Sae-» Yui asked in a very confused and shaky voice. She looked at Sae who was pinching her cheeks like mochi. He didn't reply and continued to pull again. It reminded him of the times he used to squish on Rin's cheek when they were younger, the only difference now was that he quite enjoyed Yui's reaction.

« Awn nwod fwoot (I'm not food).» Yui complained half-heartedly. She felt like Sae might be enjoying her predicament a little bit too much. Sae let go of her squishy cheeks. They were now a burning red and he looked at his fingers.

«Did it hurt?» Sae asked unaware of pain.

«Just a bit. But please be gentler next time.» Yui answered truthfully.

She paused for a bit and wondered.

«Should I... pinch you too?» Yui thought that Sae had never been pinched before and thus he wouldn't know what it feels like. She held her cheeks and hoped that they would soon calm down.

Sae didn't reply and looked at her quietly, deep in thought.

Yui's heart fluttered when she saw him. Something about him looked a bit different from the usual him right now. Although his reactions remained as indifferent and distant as ever, Sae's expression seems to have mellowed down ever so slightly. His sunken eyes had regained a bit of ease, the deep frown that would subtly hide in them was now gone. Sae's eyes no longer looked drained and exhausted, something in them was shining.

His clear teal-colored orbs reflected the sunlight like a glimmering ocean that sways in summer. They sparkled beautifully with a gentle calmness and tranquility in them. Sae's eyes reflected something Yui had never seen before.

She had seen the resolve and fire that burnt through them like a spark. She had seen them reflect turbulent seas and raging storms before, and she had seen them water down and fall like shooting stars fall, but this sight of mysterious, mellow sunlight reflected on ocean waves was new to her. She felt the world complete.

«Say... can I take a picture?» Yui asked and slowly pulled out her phone. Her eyes shyly looked at him. They brimmed with hope and light. Sae masked his habitual frown and moved to remove the ears for Yui to take a picture.

«Wait. Can you keep them, please? I really want to take one picture of you with them!» In her eagerness she had taken a step forward and was about to touch his chest. Yui quickly noticed and stopped herself from doing so.

Nevertheless, her plea reached him. Sae froze mid-motion when he saw the eagerness in her eyes. His fingers were already touching the soft fiber of the Minnie Mouse headband.

Without a reply, Sae slowly removed his hand. «Just once.»

«Yes, thank you.» Yui cheered and thanked him with a bright smile. Despite Sae's initial rebuttal and lack of interest in the pictures. He pulled off the huge fluffy ears adorned with a red ribbon well. It neither looked awkward nor weird on him.

Yui looked down at the picture. It showed a side profile of Sae in his black coat. One of his foot was raised and placed on a stair. His face was lifted to the side and he was looking at something in the distance. Sae's handsome jawline and side-profile got Yui to hesitate and stare for a bit. Her heartbeat quickened and she held her breath in an attempt to calm it.

«He's beautiful.» Yui heard the comments from a few girls that had noticed them. They were garnering quite a crowd of attention. The attention made Yui feel uncomfortable and she put her phone away and pulled Sae along.

The teens decided to stick to their plans. Since they both weren't interested in the rides they instead spent their time walking around Disneyland, enjoying the food and company together.

Sae usually wasn't a fan of taking pictures. He also did not like the pair of ears he had on right now, but no matter how much he disliked it, Yui would occasionally glance at him - or rather at his pair of ears - and laugh quietly. Whenever this happened Sae's boredom and annoyance would cease.

Yui took multiple photos of him and she would always smile afterwards. His expression gradually brightened with each picture they took. It turned from a frown and glare, to him posing and actually relaxing in front of the camera. At times Sae played along, at other times he would act coquettish much to Yui's delight.

Time quickly passed by like that and by the end Yui had a photo album filled with pictures of food, sceneries and Sae.

«We are meeting in one hour at the DisneyCastle.» Sae informed Yui after returning from his call with Yuusuke.

The girl was happily munching on some Crepes. «Okay, Thank you.» She replied back overjoyed.

Today was a wonderful day and she had a feeling it's only going to be better.

«...» Sae remained in thought as he watched her eat happily. He felt the corner of his lips raised into a mellow smile. «Let's go back now.» Sae said and stood up to leave.

Yui quickly stood up to follow him but Sae unexpectedly paused in his steps, and held out the palm of his hand in front of her.

His cheeks were a tiny shade of pink. «Don't get swept away, it's crowded now.» As soon as he finished his words he shifted his eyes to anywhere but her. With her heart fluttering like spring blossoms, Yui held onto the hand Sae offered her.

She smiled and chuckled happily. 'Days with you feel like a dream come true.'

Not far from their meeting spot a small commotion broke out. Yui was the first one to notice the change in air and she curiously approached the scene. If possible Sae wanted to hold her back, but Yui pleaded with her eyes and that debate fell down the drains.

After she carefully inched closer, she saw a Middle Aged man clad in a grey-blue suit. For some unknown reason the man wore a deep frown as he glared down at something below him.

It was a small child! She did not look older than five and was nervously fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Her face was staring at the ground and she tried to stammer some words incoherently.

Her eyes were teary and puffy. In front of her was a broken headband and a smashed ice cone.

Anybody could immediately guess what happened. This was Disneyland after all. A family resort. it wasn't that uncommon for small mishaps like this to happen. Most of the adults here had children or were here with their children as well, so usually matters were resolved peacefully.

Yui felt deep concern and worry for the child when she saw her like that. She checked the surroundings to see if her parents might be nearby but no one made an attempt to move. Yui moved forwards to help the girl, but Sae calmly stopped her.

Just then, a blonde teen around their age, stepped forward. His hair was pulled back by a black hairband. There was a hint of something pink seen on his hair ends. He was tall and wore a white puffer jacket, ripped black jeans and a simple pair of Timberlands with it. Just from his attire alone it was hard to say whether he identified as male, female or other. There was a both a sense of grace and fierceness in the way he moved.

The teen's face was darker tanned than common in Japan. It was certainly striking, but what stood out about him the most were his sharp, arrowed, bright-glowing pink eyes. They made him looked soft and ferocious at the same time. Like a greedy beast hunting his prey, or a reptile lying in wait to devour.

Yui tried to move past Sae. She was worried for the child in case a fight might break out. But Sae once again stopped her. He glanced at her and and shook his head without looking away from the mysterious blonde.

Sae had always been good at reading people's body language. It was a necessary for a professional athlete in a certain kind of way. Sae could tell with the way he carried himself that he wasn't here to fight someone. It was more to intimidate.

Yui looked at Sae quietly. A part of her was still worried. Sae however remained calm and decisive and that calmness made Yui trust in him. She quietly watched from her spot next to him. «The child won't get hurt, right?»

As if to respond to her Sae reassuringly pinched her cheeks again. «It's fine. I assure you.» He said with his eyes set on the sight in front of them.

Truth to Sae's prediction, the blonde teen knelt down in front of the child and looked at her.

«Hey, brat. What was that about not running away?» His voice was gruff and slightly detached as he mentioned this. The girl recognized his voice immediately, and turned around and wrapped her small arms around him.

«Uncle Ryu!» Shidou sighed and easily lifted her up with one arm.

With his sight set onto the man he suddenly smirked. «What'cha looking at, huh? Want me to carry you too?» The man turned red at the disrespect.

Now that a family member had appeared, hushed voices came from the crowd. Most of them were directed at the man who showed a lack of understanding and instead got mad at a child.

Those comments silenced the man and he frowned. He was a successful business and not used to being treated in such an insolent behaviour. He would have reasoned back, but amongst the crowds were elders and as such he left with an angry stomp and huff.

The crowd slowly dispersed after that, and Yui went to approach the child.

«Are you okay, little one? The bad guy is gone now.» She spoke soothingly to the girl that clung onto Shidou's neck.

Shidou turned around and met face to face with a beautiful girl. His eyes shifted from her head to her toes, twice.

«Hey, guess what? You're totally my type. Give me your number, darling?» Shidou shamelessly flirted and winked with a confident smile.

«Sur- I mean, uh... what?» Yui was more worried about the girl's well-being and didn't pay attention to him or his words at first. Once the words sunk in, she suddenly faced him.

Their eyes met and Yui focused onto those fierce looking, dragon like, bright pink eyes. «So pretty!» She bursted out with a bright smile and Shidou gasped.

He set down the girl in his arms and brushed his hair in position. «Man, you're really cute, you know? What's your name?»

Without any fear, Shidou took a step closer to her. With his height he looked like a predator preying down on her.

Sae was quietly watching from the sidelines. He wanted to have nothing to do with this, but as soon as the guy got closer and closer to Yui, and shamelessly hit on - mind you - his Yui, Sae's patience was being tested. He took a slow step forwards to pull her back and away from the blonde.

Yui's eyes went from the kid to Shidou, back to the kid and then back to him. Suddenly without any reply, Yui took a step to the side and crouched down in front of the girl. While doing this, she unconsciously dodged Sae's attempt to grab her arm and pull her back.

«?»

Instead Sae was now face to face with Shidou Ryusei.

«!»

Not paying attention to them, Yui focused onto the poor terrified child that clung onto Shidou's black pants. Seeing the child like that one couldn't help but feel pity for her and and Yui felt deep concern for the girl.

«Did you lost your ears when you ran? Look here, Nee-san has some pretty new ones for you.» She held up the pair of pink Mickey Mouse ears she had gotten for her mother.

The girl quietly looked at the pretty, baby pink color of the ears. They looked very fluffy and soft and she was nodding and smiling when she saw it.

«Is it pretty?» Yui asked with relief when she saw the girl's smile.

«Un! It's really pretty. Much more pretty than Mia's.» She replied with a bright smile as she threw Shidou a sulky look. He was the reason she had run away in the first place. Shidou Ryusei, her uncle only chose the ugly colors for her. Frustrated with his selfishness, Mia chose to ran away. However she soon collided with someone in her carelessness, and even spilt some ice cream on him.

«C-can... Can Mia have it?» Mia asked politely with her fingers interlocked nervously as she looked at the pretty Nee-san in front of her.

Yui positively melted at the cute question of the girl. «Of course you can.» Yui replied back warmly and gently. She carefully helped Mia put it on.

The girls finished their bonding moment and Yui turned back to look at Sae who...

«OMG, aren't you a cutie pie. Hey, wanna exchange LINE?»

... was currently being hit on by the same guy.

Sae didn't even bother to give Shidou the time of his day. Instead, he chose to silently stare at Yui with commanding eyes that were saying 'I'm-gonna-snap-and-murder-someone-if-we-don't-leave-here-NOW.'

A big Oops! appeared in Yui's mind and she had the grace to look ashamed. In her concern for the girl, she had completely forgotten about Sae for a moment. She quickly walked back to Sae and held onto his arm tightly. She hurriedly pulled him away from Shidou and Mia. Sae heaved a sigh and followed without resisting.

«Bye bye Mia and... » Yui bid her goodby when they were a safe distance away and paused unsure of the guy's name.

«Ryusei. Shidou Ryusei! You better remember it, babe and bae!»

Chuckling lightly at his friendliness, whilst also being unsure of how to reply to that, Yui just smiled and waved back awkwardly. «Take care.»

She swiftly turned around after that and caught up with Sae who quietly resumed his walk deep in thoughts.

The duo left, and Shidou and little Mia were left watching their backs. After Yui disappeared into the crowd, Mia turned around excitedly to face her uncle. «Uncle! Uncle! The girl was reaaaaaallllyy pretty, wasn't she? Mia even got a gift!» Mia suddenly exploded with joy. Her bright giggle resounded like a chime.

Shidou turned around and easily picked her up and set her onto his shoulders. «They were both pretty people, you're right about that Mia. I like them. Do you?»

He turned around and walked into the opposite direction. Mia thought for a moment. «The girl was really pretty, sweet and kind. She can marry me in the future!»

Hearing Mia's words Shidou burst out laughing and scoffing. «Oi- ... What's my sister teaching you, brat.» He shook his head and smiled. «Well, with a cute smile like that she's not bad.»

Besides...

«So pretty!» Yui complimented with a bright smile.

It was the first time someone ever said this about his eyes. He never had someone compliment him with such a bright and jolly attitude before, and his eyes were the furthest from being called pretty as well.

Shidou quite liked his eyes, but for some reason unknown to him, more often than not, passersby would cower away whenever they saw them.

No one knew, no one understood the appeal of his mighty eyes. They were more than just a predatory, fierce charm. They were his pride.

Now, a pretty girl complimented them and she wasn't just any pretty girl, the girl had also passed his standards.

Moments before Shidou had entered the fray, he passed by a bunch of passersby who were just watching the man scold his niece. Despite them having children themselves or younger siblings, no one bothered to step up. They were all afraid and scared of meddling in a family matter and as such they only pitied the girl from afar.

Before Shidou could get even more fed up with the situation he moved to put a stop to it, but he suddenly caught some movement from the corner of his eyes. There, in the middle of the crowd with a crepe in hand, was a girl moving and fidgeting awkwardly, watching the situation unfold with deep concern.

Despite her small and petite form she had somehow managed to get through the people towards the front. Of course Shidou realized that it was not by pure luck alone - Closely behind her was a guy with an interesting shade of red-hair that loyally followed her. He immediately recognized him as the famous soccer genius Itoshi Sae!

With Shidou's interest perked, his bad mood vanished and he quietly watched from the corner of his eye as Sae carefully shielded her and kept the crowd away so that she could get through unharmed. He watched her attempt to step up, but also how Sae stopped her from doing so and then...

Whether by will, or by chance, their eyes met for a brief moment and Shidou shivered. He knew it was his turn to shine now.

A/N

Alright, with this I have the first half of S2 uploaded. I will try to update here more often since I quite like the format here. I'm sorry for slow updates. It seems that my writing program is incompatible with the desired setting, but I'm working on that.

Thank you for reading.