Chapter 36: Chapter 36 - Fireworks in Kyoto

The last night of the Kyoto journey seemed to be a fleeting moment in time.

The students gathered to have a festival by the riverside dressed in light-colored yukata that they had received from their lodging, while all around them, colourful lanterns lit the night sky and laughter resounded everywhere -- along the streets where food stalls were located, soft music flowed throughout the warm summer air...

It was supposed to be being enjoyable.

But it wasn’t... How could it?

Kuro Kurogane had been feeling troubled about his heart condition all day long.

Since yesterday, when Akari asked him that question...

He just couldn’t hide from the truth any further.

"What do you feel toward Aoi?"

Each and every time he thought about it, it made his heart ache.

What made it even worse is that he still didn’t know how to answer it.

Or maybe he was afraid .

"Kuro-kun!"

Akari appeared in front of him out of nowhere dressed in a light ceiling pink yukata, with small flower prints all over.

What a stunningly beautiful girl.

What a dangerously beautiful girl.

Kuro blinked and nothing happened; he just blinked with his mouth wide open.

And Akari looked at him with an infuriatingly proud look on her face.

"You looked at me."

"I was shocked by the outfit you wore."

"I’ll accept your explanation for that."

She took a couple of steps back and then did a full spin.

"How do you like it? Adorable?"

Kuro exhaled.

"Yup." Akari stood still at that moment for just a heartbeat. Her face flushed in an instant.

"...W-Why did you say that without any hesitation?"

"Because you ask me."

"NOT IN THAT WAY !"

At this time, the boys who were nearby had a spiritually distressed look again.

"Kurogane is on a winning streak..."

"I loathe romance."

That was a very normal response.

Then Aoi walked out of the inn’s entrance.

As Kuro watched her walk out of the door, he mentally became unstable .

She had on a dark blue yukata with her hair loose and in the soft evening light casting the shadows of her face, she looked just as relaxed as she always had.

However, tonight she had never seemed so gorgeous.

Kuro inadvertently stared for too long.

Aoi noticed him immediately and they both sat in silence until Aoi finally spoke up.

"Do I look weird?"

Kuro had suffered some critical damage from that question. Kuro quickly turned his head away.

" No."

Kuro’s answer was far too quickly stated and too honest.

Aoi’s attitude softened slightly following that incident.

Akari picked up on everything.

It was a very dangerous situation for Kuro.

The festival streets quickly became chaos.

Immediately following Aoi’s response from earlier. Mina grabbed everyone’s hands and started dragging them toward the food stalls.

Rika had tried to stay right on Mina’s heels without being separated.

For the entire time, Akari aggressively latched onto Kuro’s arm.

"This squid on a stick is really good. Try it."

"Why are you feeding me again?"

"Gives it a romantic vibe."

"That explanation should be prohibited."

Mina nearby laughed loudly.

"Kuro-kun’s life has become a full dating simulator!"

"I want to uninstall it."

Too bad that option isn’t available.

As it became later, sounds of fireworks getting prepared could be heard nearby along the riverside.

All of the students became anxious and rushed towards the area where they would watch them.

The streets were packed with people, everything was very warm and there were lanterns reflecting off of the water.

The atmosphere itself was romantic.

Way too romantic.

Kuro moved towards the back of the group and was able to see the other people lined up along the riverside.

Then all of a sudden someone lightly grabbed onto his sleeve.

Aoi.

"It’s too crowded," she whispered softly.

Kuro began to take a look around.

The festival path was packed with people pushing against each other.

Before he even thought about it he moved closer to her in a protective manner.

It came naturally.

Once again.

And the second he realized it his heart began to pound hard for him.

Because these days having Aoi this close to him doesn’t feel strange.

It feels right.

Just moments after that the fireworks began.

BOOM!

And the colors exploded up into the night sky of Kyoto while all of the light of the fireworks was arrayed beautifully in the water below during the summer night.

All around was a cacophony of cheers from their fellow students.

Yet, Kuro could hardly hear.

Because somehow he and Aoi were on different sides of the crowd, separated by mere feet.

They were still near enough to not be totally alone; however, they were also far enough apart that the atmosphere changed again.

Quiet. Private.

While Kuro watched the fireworks from his very position beside her, they also reflected off her face, making her appear so beautiful.

He continued to stare at her and just before he knew what he was doing he had gazed far longer than he should have.

Then, without warning, Aoi turned toward him and caught him in the act of gazing.

This time neither of them turned away at once.

Again, the overhead fireworks exploded, filling the space above them with color.

As bright as the display above, the color of her eyes also changed as they filled with the light of the fireworks.

When the fireworks lit up the night sky above, Aoi said softly to Kuro, "...You have been looking at me a lot lately."

That had to do it! Kuro’s heart almost stopped beating.

"You are far too observant,".

" Only because it’s you," she replied.

Kuro felt as if he were walking a thin line between falling for her and getting burned.

Suddenly it felt as if the distance between them was shrinking. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The sounds of the festival all disappeared and were now just vague noises in the background.

Then Aoi smiled at Kuro.

Her smile was so small and vulnerable that Kuro felt his chest tightening painfully once again.

Because now Kuro truly understood what Akari was afraid of. This feeling could no longer be considered one-sided.

Not entirely.

The scariest part of all?

He felt a desire to be even closer to Aoi when all of a sudden Akari’s voice shattered that moment of thought.

"KURO-KUN!"

Both of them turned around.

Akari stood there with festival food in her hands staring at the two of them without saying a word to either of them.

Her smile was still there, but it was much weaker than before.

It felt forced now.

And for just one moment, Kuro could see this.

Akari was frightened.

Not angry, and not jealous.

Frightened, because she could see the distance between him, and Aoi close up before her in real time.

As the fireworks continued to explode from above in all their glory, Kuro, Aoi and Akari did not speak for what felt like several seconds.

Then, out of nowhere, Akari let out another loud smile. However, it was a little to loud for the distance between them.

"There you guys are!" Akari said. "Mina almost started a war over some takoyaki!"

Even though the moment had been artificially recreated, Kuro began to notice the hidden sadness and disappointment in Akari’s voice.

This also started to hurt Kuro in an odd way.

The group walked home through the gently lit streets of Kyoto that night, in complete silence after the fireworks were over.

The fireworks display seemed to have calmed everyone down.

Each seemed to be in deep thought.

Then Aoi, from out of nowhere, came up beside Kuro again. They brushed shoulders.

Neither of them moved away.

They stood there for awhile, in the comfortable silence that was between them.

Then in a whisper Aoi said, "Tonight has been a special night."

Kuro turned to look at her.

Beneath the light of the lanterns, Aoi had a faint smile.

Before Kuro could say anything, Aoi walked slightly ahead of him, heading for the inn entrance.

Leaving Kuro, with his heart racing, standing under the quiet night sky in Kyoto.

And somewhere behind him Akari was quietly watching the whole thing unfold.