THE SUMMER FESTIVAL in Tokyo was an annual celebration for love.
Wether it was friendly love, family love or love-love.
Everyone who had time came, it was always held on one of those days were it's dark yet warm. The stands with food and games were kept colourful, the people who came usually either wore kimonos & their equivalents, or summery, fresh, modern clothing.
Mina second week of despair wasn't as bad, after Irina had visited, at least. She still felt down, but decided that wasting her summer holidays wasn't gonna help. So she had a sleepover with Rio, went book-shopping (/manga shopping) with okuda and Hinata, sewed Irina-sensei a cute new hat, helped Maehara, kataoka and isogai beg the arcade owner to keep it open for longer, and did yada and kaede's hair for their self made fashion show- in which nagisa was forced to participate, obviously.
Don't blame her. She just wanted to keep her mind of what had happened.
Rio had Held her hand ever since they appeared at the market place. Perhaps because they didn't want to loose each other in the crowd.
The duo was surrounded by friends and classmates who arrived faster, as well as teenagers on their first date and stressed mothers trying to calm their children. The entrance was decorated like a big chuppah, the colours of the festival blurred from far away.
"Have you seen karma anywhere?" Rio had Been eyeing her best friend worriedly ever since today morning, she didn't like the fact that the brunette avoided her basically-boyfriend like he didn't exist. It wasn't doing her any good.
"Rio," Mina stopped walking, looking at Rio with a warning look. "I told you I have everything under control."
"Mina, look, I love you. Seriously, more than almost anyone," Rio crossed her arms, starting to smile in a know-it-all way. "But I really want you two to make up. Firstly because you didn't the past two weeks, which resulted in you spending the first one like Elle woods after she got broken up with and the second like some recovering alcoholic who's desperately trying to avoid Friday night after hours. And secondly because I want really cute godchildren, and your ignore-it-all attitude isn't helping with that."
Mina looked down on the ground, the smile she had put on to trick her own mind slowly fading.
"Oh, no, sweetie-" Rio quickly continued as she saw her friends face falling. She walked closer and put a hand on Mina's shoulder, looking at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"No," Mina looked up into the blonde's blue eyes before letting out a big sigh "you're right. I just really don't know what to do. Hell, I don't even know if he's here."
"Hey," Rio started smiling, already on a mission to cheer her best friend up. "I'll tell you what, I will go get us some food and we will just sit down and watch the fireworks. That will clear your head."
The blonde already excitedly started running, her hair getting swept into her lip-gloss'ed mouth every few seconds, making her huff and throw it back.
"Just go exploring 'til I'm back!"
____
Mina strolled through the less busier outer part of the park, where only a few games were located and mostly plaid by people she knew anyway.
Her mind had secretly hoped if she would catch him anywhere, it would be by the game stands. Yet he was no where to be found, and the conclusion that he was probably at home without a care in the world made her heart arch in that familiar way.
She decided that she'd just walk around until Rio came back, tell her she wasn't feeling well and go back home to sulk. The girl wasn't in a festive mode anymore, if she even was it at the start anyhow. She could only play tough girl for so long before her emotions scrunched her stomach.
Maybe it was a mistake coming here-
"Hey, Mina!" The familiar voice of maehara interrupted her train of thoughts. He was sitting by a game where you had to catch plastic fish with a net- it didn't look particularly interesting.
He waved her over, and the girl raised her eyebrows before accommodating.
"Why are you standing there all alone?" Something about maehara's presence was just automatic cheer up. He was somewhat of a male Rio, but that could just be hair bias.
The girl kneeled Next to him before shooting him a small, but exhausted smile. It wasn't fair for her to let her dispair out on others. "Well, why are you sitting here all alone?"
"Come on," he groaned, although in a joking manner "that's not the same. You're "sweet girl", miss social butterfly. You're friends with, like, everyone here. Even stone cold terasaka tolerates you after you kept him being infected a secret until after the mission, you know?"
"Like, dude, I don't know if you even ever think about me, and I'd consider you one of my best friends." He laughed a breathy laugh, making Mina smile at him softly.
Hearing those words felt nice, and coming from maehara, she knew that they were his honest opinion. The blonde boy was always fun to be around, he was honest- she grew even closer to him after the volleyball game.
"Seriously,though, what's up? You've been weird for quite some time now. Is it the fight with karma?"
Mina's face grew redder instantly, she looked at him flabbergasted "you know about that??"
"Sorry, but everyone and their mom knows about it by now." Maehara grinned, making Mina groan and letting her head fall into her knees, to hide.
She stayed quiet, then, so Maehara decided to say the only thing he could think of. The womanizer wasn't good at cheering people up, especially girls. But she seemed like she really needed it, so he at least tried. For Mina.
"You know, if it helps, karma hasn't answered to any messages or calls since he came back." Maehara mumbled, looking into the night sky. "Isogai and I tried to get him to go to a local football game with us, and he didn't even answer. I think he's just as upset as you, even if he might not show it to you specifically."
Mina slowly looked up from her knees, eyeing her blonde friend carefully, as if she was getting hopeful.
"He's here though, if you're wondering that. He's somewhere by the big hill behind the trees, I think he misses having you around a lot." He ended with a cheeky grin, looking back at Mina. He hit her shoulder lightly before laughing "i mean who wouldn't, right? I think you know what you have to do now, don't you?"
Mina stared at the blonde for a few moments, comprehending everything he just said. She looked down, carefully thinking about all of it.
She came to one conclusion, and one conclusion only: things had to be right again between her and karma akabane.
Mina didn't know what would've happened without Maehara and his info that night. She liked to think that they'd have made up anyway, but she was glad she didn't have to think about that due to her blonde friend. She was grateful.
He did one more thing, anyhow, that she remembered to this day.
Mina stood up, suddenly, with a determined expression. She quickly pushed herself through the people away from Maehara, even if her knees got wobbly with every step. Maehara grinned at the girl, proudly, before yelling one last thing.
"Hey, Mina!" He started again, so brilliantly, making her stop and look back with a questioning look.
"What?" She shouted back.
"Here," he stated before launching his arm to throw a little, white bunny keychain towards her. Mina catched it, examining it while he continued "isogai and I won it a few minutes ago. I think it fits you."
She locked eyes with the small black dots before pressing her hand around it tightly. She looked up at Maehara, putting it in the pocket of her skirt. "Thanks!"
____
"Why did karma akabane look so pretty in the moonlight?"
Mina hayashi asked herself that back at the Island, just before they stopped talking. She hadn't found an answer until now.
Karma was sitting on the hill Maehara described. She was familiar with it. by daytime, it was usually used by warm ups for joggers or for little kids to ride down with their bicycles. In the night, though, it was beautiful. It gave a perfect view of the stars of Tokyo, shimmering so lovely.
She wouldn't have found it, was it not for that stupid red haired boy.
As she saw him from afar, her shaky knees feeling build up to her stomach, where she felt a sense of nervousness that ate her alive. She was afraid they were going to fight again, that she'd destroy everything and make him ultimately hate her.
She was terrified.
Still, she walked up that hill and quietly sat down next to karma, making him only then notice the presence next to him.
The boy's eyes widened, then. Although she didn't even look at him, his cheeks took over a sort of red tinted colour for maybe one of the first times in his life.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for us to fight." Mina quietly brought out after maybe one minute of silence, she fumbled with her hands and kept her face down. "I was just-" she looked up at him for the first time, still frustrated, so she sighed (to calm down) and continued. "I just didn't want you to get hurt, that's all."
Karma was glad she closed her eyes, for as his cheeks felt hotter like never before in his life. What was she doing with him?
"I, uh, yeah." Karma focused, making his cheeks go back to their normal temperature. "Im sorry too. I overreacted. I know you just cared."
Wait, she cared.
Okay, Maybe he didn't know until now, or maybe he didn't realise.
Care was such a foreign word. karma akabane was never cared for, He was frowned upon. He was really frowned upon.
And right now, he felt like the biggest idiot on earth.
"Well," mina's bodily tension obviously decreased, making her sigh softly. Having those words said- "I'm sorry", made a sense of ultimate relief wash over the girl. Like a big rock falling off her heart "that's that."
She looked back at the sky before smiling adoringly, karma's eyes stayed on her. Mina laid on her back, feeling the soft grass under her back and the hard ground gifting a sense of security. She looked to the stars, counting them.
This unlocked a good, a very good memory in her brain.
When mina was five years old, there was a rare childhood memory of her father, her mother, and herself. It was a little after her fifth birthday, in the middle of summer.
Her father took them camping, somewhere in the woods around Tokyo. They were there for a whole weekend.
It was strange, because she shouldn't remember much, yet this stayed engraved in her mind. She hadn't thought about this for a long time.
So, they camped. They ate American s'mores, went bow-shooting, catched fish in the lake to cook for dinner. And when night time rolled around, they all lied outside and just observed the beauty of the sky.
Mina remembered her mother's warm arms pressed around her in a tight, but gentle hug. Her father's dark, but comforting voice commenting on every star and every constellation he could find.
If she could, mina would live in that moment forever.
"My dad used to explain these to me, I think I remember some." Mina giggled drowsily, holding up her hand to point at each star she was explaining to karma.
He listened carefully, very carefully. To every word she said, mesmerised.
"And that's the big dipper. It's called Ursa Major, which means greater bear in Latin. Or something like that. The small dipper is called Ursa Minor. They don't look like bears to me- but romans didn't see a lot of bears, probably. So I will give them the benefit of the day." She kept on rambling, definitely for more than ten minutes. Karma didn't stop her, he found her voice breathtakingly soothing. Always, but especially now. Unbelievably pretty.
The shine in her eyes made it even better, he wanted it to stay forever.
"What's that one called?" Karma finally said after she had stopped talking to continue looking.
"I don't know," she giggled again, making him smile as softly as he ever will. "but my mom and I used to call it pretty hibiscus. Because it looks like a hibiscus flower, you know? It's my favourite type of flower. Hers too, but I think she's biased. I only like those that start out pink and get either yellow-y or whiteish. I also like light pink roses, oh! And Ranunculus or zinnia. And dahlia, but those don't really grow here. They're native to Guatemala, and I think they got introduced by the Toltecs or their ancestors. I read a book on botanic ones, you know?" Mina stopped to turn her head, looking at karma, only to realise that he had been watching her the entire time.
"sorry," The girls cheeks grew red before she quickly travelled her gaze "I didn't realise I was ranting."
"No, it's alright. Really." He laughed, finally looking at the sky as well. "I think the fireworks are starting in a minute or two. Are you excited?"
"Yes!" Mina instant recovered from the embarrassment, facing him again at the mention of the pretty lights. "I've never seen them from so close-"
And then, boom.
The fireworks went off, interrupting both of them, and probably around 80 other people. It was loud for just a second, and then just beautiful. The Tokyo fireworks were a highlight, always scheduled for the same time, so everyone in town could watch them. They were red, yellow, purple, blue, pink- so different, and matched so well anyway.
"Wow.." the bruentte mumbled after initial shock, her eyes glimmering like never before. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"
She brought out quietly, as if she was scared they would go away if she was too loud.
Karma didn't answer, and when the girl faced him again, he was looking at her again. Mina hayashi and karma akabane locked eyes, breathlessly.
They looked at each other during the firework, and maybe it was then they realised how much they were actually starved of each others presence.
It all happened so quickly, Mina looked at karma's eyes, then at his face, and then at his pink, brilliant lips.
And then his lips connected with hers, and she realised that he was doing the same thing the entire time. And then her eyes widened and she kissed back, as good as she could being shocked like never before.
Karma akabane then let go off her face, leaving them both flabbergasted. And, finally, she saw the red smears she had caused on his lips, originating to her cherry lip balsam she wore because she missed him.
"Yes, they are." He whispered just as quietly.
BONUS
"Hey karma, what's your type? We were just talking about our celebrity crushes," okuda mumbled timidly, her cheeks reddened as the couple walked into class that Monday morning.
"My type?" Karma raised an eyebrow, grinning slightly. He eyed mina with an arm over her shoulders. "Well, dunno. Brown hair, deer eyes, talks a lot. How tall are you?" The boy lightly poked mina, questioning her.
"Huh?" Mina seemed to have zoomed out, she didn't pay attention to the conversation at all. The brunette answered, stumbling over her words, confused "uh- 5'4 and a half, why?"
Karma continued, looking at okuda again "5'4 and a half, pretty smile."
He winked at okuda before continuing to listen to koro-sensei's good morning rant about pudding.
Wait, what?
· ★ ·
2696 WORDS
FRIDAY, 30TH OF MARCH
@MIRAI