Chapter 3

Yoimiya is laying beside me on her bed. We're facing each other, lying on our sides. Her hands are brought up to her mouth, as if to hide a smile, and mine are clasped to my chest, over my rapidly beating heart.

I'm almost positive that my eyes are about as widen open as they can go. If I keep staring her in the eyes like this, I'l never be able to sleep.

Her eyes.

From up close, they are even more stunning than I first thought. They are softly shimmering, and I finally know what people mean when they say that the eyes are the windows of the soul. I can positively hear every thought in her head, although there is a soft guard around her eyes, as if both tempting me to ask her what it means, and also softly warning me about the very thing.

I turn to the other side, my head facing the wall. I screw my eyes shut, trying to erase the image from my mind.

Arms wrap around my waist before I can comprehend what's happening. Yoimiya moves closer to me, and practically cuddles into my back. I draw my knees close to my chest, revelling in the feeling of her. Just her, being so close, so, so very near to me.

"Love you." Yoimiya whispers into my ear, and I'm sure my heart has stopped. Her breath warmly rushes onto my neck and ears.

"Feels like we're oceans apart…" Yoimiya's is singing in her sleep. Singing. In. Her. Sleep. It's cute, yes, but seriously, could she have said anything else? I'm pretty sure it's a pretty vague Adele song or something. My heart relaxes, but my chest doesn't. I am still fully aware of Yoimiya snuggling me. I can see her arms. The skin looks so smooth, her hands callused, but still making me want to hold them. Her grip tighens around me, her chin coming to rest on the top of my head.

"Love you too." I murmur, so softly that I myself can barely hear my voice.

(Timeskip)

My eyes open slowly, dawn light rousing me. I forget where I am for a moment. Ah yes, I'm in Yoimiya's room.

Yoimiya. I panic, not knowing where she is, before my senses become fully awake.

My head is snuggled into hers, and she's still holding me, but now our positions have switched in a way. Before, she was the one holding me, and now the opposite has occurred. Her back rises and falls softly, and her face is completely peaceful. I wouldn't mind staying like this, but my face is becoming quite warm, quite quickly.

"Y- Yoimiya." I stammer. Her eyes open softly, and she smiles almost immediately.

"Hi Ayaka." She says, and I get the feeling she's been up for awhile, because she doesn't sound one bit tired. "Good morning." My heart starts pounding out of control, because oh, she looks so cute, with her hair messy, and her eyes peaceful. My head races, my mind is reeling, because all I can think is,

There is a cute, beautiful, stunning girl cuddling me. Cuddling. Me.

"I- Get off!" I say, my hands fumbling, perhaps a bit more forceful than I thought.

She removes herself quickly, and a flash of hurt can be seen in her eyes.

"S- sorry." She says, her voice taking on a sort of scared tone.

"N- no I…" I can't seem to form words. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- to sound that harsh. I'm really sorry. I was just surprised."

"Hm. Okay." We lapse into awkward silence. I can tell Yoimiya feels remorseful, despite me saying it was alright.

"So… festival…" Yoimiya scratches the back of her neck.

"I can't wait to go." I say immediately. "I'm sure the fireworks will be great."

"Yeah!" Yoimiya regains the brightness in her eyes, if not a small bit dampened from our previous predicament. "The fireworks are so beautiful! Which reminds me, I have to go to my job today."

"Your… job?"

"Yeah! When you agreed to come to the festival with me, I picked up a few more shifts at that coffee shop we were at."

"How… responsible of you."

"That way, I can pay for stuff!"

"You- No! I refuse to let you pay for me. That's not fair." I say indignantly.

"Nope, I've always wanted to- I mean-" Yoimiya stumbles on her words for a moment, before regaining her composure. "You're just not allowed to pay."

"Why?" I ask, still fully intending to pay.

"Because I- Because I- I invited you!" She says, her voice strained, and her eyes panicked.

She's panicking. Because of me.

I have no idea why, but this rubs me the wrong way. In which I mean, I like it too much. Her being panicked and flustered is just… too cute.

"Alright." I sigh, my face burning.

Yoimiya nervously smiles, and says quietly,

"Thanks."

(Author here, I thought it might be good to do a lil POV switch to see Yoimiya's part of the story, because I thought of a good storyline for her. This time skip is after Yoimiya arrives at her part-time job at the coffee shop. Yes, it is the one with Kazuha. Yes, Kazuha is going to tease her.)

My face burns as Kazuha asks,

"You did what?"

"…I asked her to the festival…"

"You mean you, Yoimiya, who's had a crush on this girl from the moment you laid eyes on her, has, ACTUALLY, done something about it?" Kazuha says, a bit too much feigned surprise in his voice

"Well don't act so surprised!"

"You weren't the one who had to sit through rants about her 'Magnificent pale blue eyes' or her 'Radiant, soft smile' or even her 'quiet, kind demeanour' for years!"

I bury my face deeper into my hands.

"Ka-zu-ha." I drag his name out, saying each syllable separately. "Stop. I get that there aren't very many customers, but please refrain from embarrassing me TOO much."

So what? I had liked Ayaka when I first saw her. But not to the magnitude I do now. Seeing her, hearing her voice, just being near her was a small miracle to me. We had gone to the same elementary school, and I was always vaguely aware of her. We never spoke once, but I was always aware when she passed me in hallways, and literally anywhere.

In middle school it started. I started catching myself admiring her from afar, sometimes even staring blatantly. I caught her eye at one point, and I remember than moment, although I'm sure she's forgotten. Her eyes were soft, a pale blue, like freshly fallen snow, or a frozen lake.

Winter became my favourite season, evidently.

I started liking the colour blue as well. No shade of blue could ever rival her eyes, but I liked testing the limits. My interest only grew as time passed, and when I heard about a way collaborate with music students, I jumped at the opportunity. I was extremely lucky to be partnered up with Ayaka.

The first time I actually spoke to her, it was like fireworks erupted everywhere around her. Even if we were just in a group project, I loved her.

A voice drags me reluctantly out of my reminiscing.

"Excuse me?" A male voice says, slightly annoyed. I look up to see a boy, probably around the same age as me, scowling as if I personally offended him.

Oh. It's this guy. Always comes in on weekends in the mornings, orders the bitterest tea known to man, and silently drinks it. He's a bit grumpy, but considering how he hasn't left, I assume it doesn't bother him.

"Yes, sorry, what would you like?"

"Your bitterest tea." Of course you do. Not like you get that every time or anything-

"Name?"

"Scaramouche."

"How is that spelt?"

"Just remember the name, goddamnnit! Doesn't need to be spelt right. Theres only two of you here, and Kazuha knows my name."

"Alrighty! We'll be with you in a moment, sir!"

(Another time skip)

I sigh in defeat. I just got off work. It's almost dinner, almost the time when I'll meet Ayaka.

Ayaka. Her name repeats in my head constantly, like a mantra.

I check the time. 3 PM. In half an hour, I'll meet her. I'm suddenly extremely self conscious about myself.

How fancy will Ayaka dress? Will it matter if I'm not being proper?

I look down at myself, walking faster. I'll get in the shower, and pick out something decent to wear. I need to get this all perfectly.

I stumble out of the shower and pick out an outfit. One of my signatures orange sweaters, and some ripped jeans. Then, I immediately rethink. Will she like me in this? Is there something I'd look nice in? I text Ayaka in a panic.

(Ayaka and Yoimiya - Dms)

Firework 💥: so are we going for a formal look? Casual? Semi-formal?

Ayaya: Um

Ayaya: I dont know??? What do you want to do???

Firework 💥: what would I look nice in???

Ayaya: Anything??? lets just do casual??

Firework 💥: got it ma'am

I quickly grab the sweater again, and slip it on. I'm no longer as panicked, but still nervous nonetheless. I'm going to a festival with the girl I've secretly liked for almost three years. That'll make you nervous, I suppose. I check the time again. 3:30 PM. I've got time to kill.

Time is my worst enemy, honestly; that doesn't change now. My mind endlessly lists ways that this could go wrong. I mean, what do I plan to do? Confess?

Wait.

Do I plan to confess?

Nope. Nope, nope, nopeity nope nope. That would absolutely be the worse mistake I could make, aside from openly kissing her.

Kissing her?? The thought sends my mind into a frenzy. I'm thinking of her lips, her face; her neck. I'm thinking about my arms wrapped around her, like that morning. I'm not sure how we got into that position, but it was the best feeling in my life. Waking up there, it felt too good to be true.

So a new point is added to the ever-growing list of 'What not to do with Ayaka'. It is currently as follows:

- Kiss her

- Confess

- Hold her hand

- Make her uncomfortable

- Not ask for consent when doing things

- Mess up

- Have a slip of the tongue

- Do anything that upsets her

- Stare at her

- Revisiting the previous point, I don't care how breathtaking her eyes are. Don't stare, it's rude.

I'm listing off more things in my mind, when a notification snaps me out of my thoughts.

(Ayaka and Yoimiya - DMs)

Ayaya: I'm outside your house

Firework 💥: excuse me?

Panic engulfs me in an instant. Alright Yoimiya. Put on your game face. Go out there, and try not to die, or worse, say any of your many, many thoughts out loud.