𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟 || 𝕂𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕠 𝔸𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕠

47. The Flower Crown Upon My Head

The gentle breeze held flowers in its embrace, prompting them to dance to the melodies of the songbirds. Water trickled over rock, providing a tinkling constant for the orchestra of nature. A ghost of a flute could be heard as the wind whistled through the weeds, brushing their stalks as it blew through the garden. Such a tranquil composition, only heard, but never listened to.

Kanari listened.

The music filled her ears and rang through her mind, reverberating deep within her. It made her leap and dance and sing, all while standing still and simply doing nothing at all. It breathed life into the lifeless, filling spirits with vigor, but never quite expressing the joyful serenity for the world to see. A secret. An understanding between the quiet souls of the world to communicate only in whispers and hopeful smiles. To preserve the irreplaceable song that they shared between themselves. To live, but only in their own world.

"Can you finally tell me where you're taking me?" Asked Kanari as she strolled loftily through the garden, her hand held tightly in Ayato's.

"But then it wouldn't be a surprise, now, would it?" Ayato said, a smile dancing on his face.

She raised her eyebrows. "A surprise?"

"You'll see," he replied as they continued down the path, venturing deeper still into the forest of flowers. 

Finally, they reached a wooden gazebo that sat overlooking a sector of the pond, tucked deep within the gardens, in a corner untouched by most. It was surrounded by beds of camellias, the vibrant shades of pink, red, and white complimenting the warm hues of the wood that wove into the little structure. Inside, cecilias hung from the supports, bathing the atmosphere with its signature sweet scent. A perfect hideaway when the need for a break arose.

As her eyes fell upon the object in the middle of the gazebo, Kanari froze. A stout little table sat there, innocently holding up a pristine chessboard. It took her only a few seconds to recognize it as the one she and Ayato always used when they played chess together. 

"Did you take me all the way out here just to play chess?" She asked, watching Ayato slip off his shoes and walk into the gazebo with grace. Her voice was nearly a whisper, but she knew he could hear her. He always did.

"Maybe," he said, a twinkle in his eyes as he sat down on one side of the table. "It's prettier out here, though, isn't it?"

Kanari followed him inside and took the side opposite to him. "I suppose so." 

Ayato had the white pieces at his disposal, with Kanari on the black side, as per usual. It had become nothing short of a norm to play that way, though strange it may be. Wordlessly, he moved a pawn up to the fourth rank, which was immediately countered by Kanari's pawn moving up to meet his. 

"There are plenty of openings you can build off of, yet you always choose the Ruy Lopez," he remarked, moving one of his knights so that it was diagonal to his pawn. 

"You do realize—" Kanari moved her knight "—that it does not become the Ruy Lopez until you move your bishop?"

Once she finished speaking, Ayato did just that, placing his bishop by her knight without hesitation. "As true as that is, chess is, in a way, a game of mutual cooperation. You contribute to this opening as much as I do, even though it is not quite beneficial towards you."

"I don't play to win."

"And yet you seem to enjoy watching me lose," he said, moving his bishop back to avoid Kanari's newly placed pawn.

"I'd hate to break it to you, but I'm afraid there's just some undeniable quality of yours that makes you very satisfying to beat," replied Kanari, moving her pieces with lightning speed. "I'm sure many would agree with me."