— 2015
word count — 2014
♪
The music festival that I had been part of organizing finally happened. It was one of the best distractions I had – or so I thought.
It wasn't enough to keep the demons away; to keep the melancholic thoughts of my 'missing' best friend away. Despite the fact that I was supposed to be enjoying myself, talking to people, hitting up hot girls, and maybe even scoring a date or two (heh, I wished), I passed the majority of my time alone. After all, I had spent three weeks straight with the festival committee, and if I were being honest, I just wanted a break from their ugly mugs.
And simply being around Nishiki for that long gave me sleep terrors.
Night was about to fall and there were still so many acts that evening; if I were lucky, it would end at exactly nine thirty P.M and I'd finally be able to go home and have a good night's rest.
I smiled and nodded at every person who called out to me as I walked through the crowd farthest away from the stage, waving at the cute girls that beamed at me.
Still...still...
I'll go back to normal and mingle. Just gotta give myself a few minutes. Maybe get a girlfriend tonight?
I missed him too much, and I wished he were here.
In all honesty, he would have had an awesome time at the concert. He would have stood on the sidelines with me (or alone as I danced with others and made friends in the crowd), stared at the pretty girls that passed by us, listened to my jokes about him staring at them and not actually doing anything about it, rolled his eyes at my remarks, listened to the music, reveled in the atmosphere...
This may not be the type of thing Kaneki does often, but he would definitely like it. For the first five minutes. Then he'd get bored and go home to read a book.
Pulling out my phone, I checked to see if I had received any new messages from him, only to be greeted by an alert-less inbox. Me and clingy went along like pencil and paper; I just hoped he'd reply to my hills and mountains of unlimited messages soon, even though a part of me knew that he wouldn't...
"Excuse me,"
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see one of the pretty girls glancing at me. And if I were being honest, she was damn hot – I mean, beautiful, of course. I wasn't checking her out. Not her luscious thighs in that short dress or the curve of her waist...
Ah, definitely, not hot.
Shaking my head to release myself from the trance that I was in, I cleared my throat. "Yes?" I questioned with a wide smile. I had never seen her around campus, except for the one time she stole my gaze in the lunchroom with a girl I was barely familiar with.
She must be from a different department...fine arts?
The thought didn't feel right. There was a certain sharpness to her.
"O-oh, hello," she gave a short bow as she smiled, the flower thing on her head almost falling off her brown hair.
Huh, how endearing. Maybe I should ask her out?
I bowed and greeted her in return, taking notice of her bare feet and her bright summer dress. Her skin was a lot darker than mine – maybe a lot of tanning trips? – and pigmented freckles dotted her face, scattering down to her arms. I couldn't tell what the colors of her eyes were in the dim light around us.
Was I staring?
My brain once again registered how physically attractive she was the more that I looked at her. Pretty eyes, pretty lips...what a bod...totally out of my league.
With a cigarette held between her two fingers, she scratched her forehead and asked, "Do you happen to have a lighter?"
Her accent was hard to place, and I wondered where she moved to Tokyo from.
Ah, of course that was all she wanted. Why did I make a big deal out of it in my head...?
' Because you're delusional', Kaneki would say. Only to get back at me for calling him that on multiple occasions.
"Sure, of course!" I grinned, patting my front pockets until I felt something similar to a lighter to pull out. "Are you enjoying the festival?"
"Yeah, very much." She nodded enthusiastically. "It's very well put together."
I began to brag while she wasted no time in lighting up her cigarette.
There's no harm in a little self-promo.
"Y'know, we, my university's festival committee were the ones—"
Her ringtone interrupted me and she didn't hesitate to answer it. Bowing, she uttered a gentle "thank you" and hurried away.
Oh, she has my lighter.
♪
The concert was over around ten and when the zeroes lined up the twenty-four-hour clock, the stadium was nearly empty. There were a few couples that littered the area, and a few groups of friends still sitting down and conversing loudly. My own friends had offered a ride home right after the festival ended but I refused; I stayed back, knowing that the committee needed to in order to take care of wrapping up the venue.
Clean up duty...
Why didn't I ask her out when I had the chance?
With my head hanging low, I walked towards the stage, looking at my feet. My green shoes were covered in grass and unknown objects stuck to them. I groaned at the sight; just thinking about the amount of time I had to spend cleaning these gave me a headache.
"Excuse me," a voice said from behind me, followed by a tap on my shoulder.
When I turned and saw no one, I began to walk again, and a sharp giggle came from my left.
"Hey, I'm over here."
I turned once more to see the girl that was on my mind; the girl from earlier.
Why's she still here?
"Pardon, I didn't mean for that to happen." She stumbled slightly, probably drunk, but she still bowed in proper greeting.
French?
"It's fine," I beamed, feeling ecstatic, albeit a little embarrassed, as I returned the salutation. "Are you all right? Have you had too much?" I used my hand to gesture drinking.
Steadying herself, she shook her head. "No, they didn't serve drinks at the venue. It's a natural high...or I'm tired. Pardon."
"Don't worry about it! You're from earlier, right?" I cleared my throat and straightened my posture, not knowing what the expression on my face was. "I didn't get your name that time."
"Hm? Ah...it's Uchiyama." She said, nodding.
I squinted my eyes and tilted my head. "Given name?"
"Mirélle." She answered with a sly grin, as though she knew what was on my mind.
"Mirélle-san, huh? Did you want to see me again? Is that why you're still here?"
The atmosphere made me feel a certain, unfamiliar way; as if this were the first time my nerves threatened my honesty.
"What? No..." she covered her face with a sudden bashfulness, but the smile reached her eyes as she changed the subject. "You have a nice style, je crois...it must have stuck with me."
I didn't know whether she was being sarcastic or not. I also didn't know which part of my attire she meant: my blue jacket, my slightly dirty, exposed white t-shirt, or my beige pants? Or maybe she was being sarcastic and meant my shoes.
"Thanks." I chuckled, still embarrassed, feeling the heat beneath my cheeks. "You should see how I dress up on dates."
Was that too subtle or too straightforward? Did I give the right hint?
"Actually, I forgot to give you your lighter back." My lighter rested in the palm of her outstretched hand. "We were going to leave but I'm glad I stayed long enough for me to find you and return it."
I was about to take it but it was abruptly out of my sight when I heard her say "Wait."
"Huh?" I frowned in confusion as she glanced back with wide, curious eyes.
"Are you willing to make a trade?" she stepped a bit closer, smelling like something familiar. Coffee, maybe.
"A trade? What kind of trade?" I murmured, growing tense despite trying to calm down my overactive imagination.
She hesitated for a second, but then her eyes lit up with the same shine she had earlier that evening. "Anything?"
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Sure, why not? Unless you want my social security number or something."
She laughed at the lame joke. The conversation had shifted along with the ambiance surrounding us; it went beyond the lighter at that point, and she knew it did. I had a good feeling about it.
"Well?"
"Um...can I have your LINE info?"
My eyes widened, not realizing until a bit after that I was smiling from ear-to-ear before bursting out into a fit of laughter. She's joking, right? She must be!
"You're funny," I pulled back, wiping off tears that weren't actually there. "Don't tease me like that."
"I'm not teasing you," she protested. "I...I just think...we'd be good friends," she scratched her face again, not meeting my eyes. "Don't you think?"
It wasn't every day that a girl asked for my info, so naturally, I was surprised. Nor was it every day that a girl talked to me the way she did—it was usually me doing all that: asking girls out, asking whether or not they were single, and asking everything at first glance.
Kaneki would know: I'd embarrassed him with it on many occasions.
"We could," I grinned. I was about to ask her out, but instead I said, "Give me your phone."
Play it cool, Hide. Don't want to scare her off with your enthusiasm, do you? Gotta make it look like girls ask for your LINE all the time.
I didn't know what I had said exactly, but a smile flew up her cheeks as she nodded. "Oh, but the battery's going to die." She pulled out a clear cased phone that had flowers decorating it and a kitten charm hanging from it. Cute.
Once she handed me the phone, I quickly typed out my number in the search bar, but I wasn't quick enough; her phone went black, resulting in my complaints. "I didn't save it..."
Giggling, she scratched the back of her neck. "Comment tu t'appelles?"
"Ah! I know that! Je t'appelles Hide." I grinned, handing her dead phone back as she handed me the lighter. "Can you please keep the French to a minimum? At least until I learn more."
She let out a laugh, bending forward. "It's 'je m'appelle Hide', not t'appelles. You said, 'I call you Hide'." She couldn't stop.
"Man, all right. I said I was still learning!" I actually stopped learning French the more I learned English.
Sighing, her giggles came to a stop as she straightened herself, pushing the hair out of her pretty face. "Alors...just Hide?"
"Nagachika Hideyoshi, Uchiyama Mirélle." I bowed grandly.
"All right. Now I'll know how to find you." She said it as if it wasn't creepy, but it made me smile.
Pretty girl going to stalk me now. Dream come true...or is it?
"Do you usually look up people that you first meet?"
"You don't?" A catlike grin emerged along her features. "It was nice meeting you, Nagachika Hideyoshi. I hope I don't find anything off-putting." She winked, bowing before turning around and rushing towards the group of people that I had noticed in my peripheral vision.
They must've been waiting for her.
"I'm clean! And just Hide is fine, Mirélle!"
She twirled, still beaming. "And just Miri is fine, Hideyoshi!"
And she turned away again, rejoining her group of friends. From where I stood, it looked like she was walking with some people that I knew from university — people from the festival committee. Not Nishiki.
Hmm...maybe I got lucky.
Mirélle.
...A Ghoul?
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•• Translations ✎ ••
Excusez moi // Pardon, in French - excuse me
Je crois - I think // I believe
Comment tu t'appelles? - What's your name?
Alors - so, ...
votes & comments appreciated ♡
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