Everything, every answer of my heart ended with you... — Kum Dtaup Tee Mai Koey Roo (The Answer I Never Knew), Pom and Aong
xxxxxx
If Umika could complain even more, she would have done so. But because the chores and errands that she had to do piled up, she had no liberty to do something like that at the moment. Even with that situation at hand, it was still strange that she found herself able to do her tasks with a light feeling.
And she was going to be honest, she didn't even know where that came from.
'Probably loafing around somewhere again...' A sigh escaped her lips as she wiped the last table and took the used plates and utensils from it.
She only had to finish washing the dishes and she would be able to go home early. It was a little uncharacteristic of her. But Touma knew the reason why as she had mentioned it to him a few days before. There wasn't much to do inside the bistro that day other than the usual chores. And so Touma allowed her to go out and head to her destination.
The hill where the lone tree stood.
It was a little far from the bistro. But for her, it was a calming haven where she could forget a lot of her worries. At the moment, she knew she had to go there fast... but for a different reason this time.
Much to her surprise, though, Umika saw someone already standing beneath the lone tree. She halted to a stop as soon as she saw that.
"Oh, no... Can I even stay there and wait for him right now?" she couldn't help questioning.
After a little while of hesitating, she looked at the spot again. This time, she squinted her eyes to have a look at the person standing there at the moment before she could even reach the place.
She gasped when she finally realized who it was based on the figure.
"It can't be... I thought he would be late today." She could only whisper in slight surprise, before smiling. It looked like she didn't have to wait long for him.
With that thought, she started running to the direction of the lone tree and called out the person standing there.
"Nagi-kun!"
Of course, it caught the attention of the young man and also made him smile as soon as he saw her approaching.
"Umika-chan! It's good to see you again."
He even said that already even when she hadn't fully reached the place. She took a deep breath to calm herself when she finally did.
"Why are you here so early? And here I thought I would still have to wait for you."
Nagi chuckled before tapping the spot of the grass that he was sitting at beside him, urging Umika to sit and rest.
"I can't let you do that, you know. Besides, Fuuka let me off early since she would be going on her date today."
"How's Fuuka-chan, by the way?"
"Still busy performing, but doing great overall. It's a good thing that we were able to make time for other things that she liked doing besides performing on stage."
"Like having a date with that guy?"
He chuckled before nodding. "That's one of them." Not long after, his expression turned serious. "You didn't get into trouble going here, did you?"
She couldn't help smiling before shaking her head. "Don't worry. Everything's all right about me. Well, maybe except for the fact that Kairi keeps loafing around and does not do his job at the bistro."
"I did see him at the park a while ago before I got here. He seems to be talking with that policeman."
Umika only nodded and did not broach the topic further. Of course, Nagi understood that. Instead, he brought out a picnic basket and handed it to her.
Her eyes opened wide at the sight before facing Nagi. "What's this?"
"Something I made for a light dinner. I think this is better for us since I don't want to go to restaurants right now. I'm starting to hate cramped spaces recently, for some reason."
Despite the surprise and the slight confusion she felt, Umika couldn't help bursting out a hearty laugh. It caught Nagi's attention, but chose not to say anything and just smiled at her.
"You didn't have to laugh like that, you know," he said as he was shaking his head after a little while.
"So that's why you asked for us to meet here."
"Well, this is where we first met. And in a rather strange way, I might add."
He wasn't lying about that. The two of them did indeed meet in a strange way, and right after fighting a monster, at that. But they did start a conversation while doing so. And it soon turned into a friendship that even she didn't expect.
"Not to mention, this place just gives you some kind of peace that I couldn't get anywhere, for some reason," Nagi added before looking at her.
A smile soon formed on her face and nodded once, immediately understanding what he meant by that.
"I go here whenever I want to get away from a lot of things for a while. But I only started doing that after we met, you know? I don't even understand why." She chuckled after that and took a sandwich that was in the picnic.
Nagi soon did the same. They both ate their sandwiches in silence while watching the slowly setting sun over the horizon from where they were sitting.
For some reason, Umika found it even more comforting to be in that place now that Nagi was with her. At first, she didn't understand why it was like that. But at the sight of that innocent face looking at the setting sun like that, she found her answer in a way.
It was the answer that made her smile brighter, even as she was glancing at Nagi on the side.
Then again, she had no idea that even Nagi made the same assumption as she did. At some point, maybe they could find a way to let each other know about that.
But now, she would choose to enjoy these small peaceful moments together, with each other without a care in the world.
"Let's do this again soon. Okay?" Nagi suggested.
Umika nodded with a smile.
xxxxxx
WRITER'S NOTE: Just something short. But I made it! Thank you for reading. I should really do this more often, you know. I mean, I need to do something to keep the creative juices flowing, regardless of the type of story I was writing. Not to mention, I'm also doing this so that I can repost those photo edits on IG already. I didn't realize I have more than a thousand of them. Yikes! Anyway, I'm trying to finish a Hikari/Kasumi one-shot fanfic as I do this particular one-shot at the same time. So maybe you'll see that next. See you next time! (◠‿◕)
No comments:
Post a Comment