quiet talk #5: Cherry Blossom
Pale pink blossoms, heralding spring’s arrival, blessed both the road ahead and the road of love.
Roppongi — a hilly town straddling the boundary between a low plateau and the flatland below. Behind Antiqua’s building lay a park, cherry trees lining the way in scattered clusters all the way to Roppongi Hills at the district’s center.
Evening. The westward-leaning crimson sun dyed the park, the cherry trees, and Shandy’s porcelain skin beside her a red deep enough to catch the breath.
“Beautiful, isn’t it, Shandy-san.”
Mikoto’s gaze rested less on the crimson sky, less even on the full-bloomed cherry trees swaying in the strong wind, than on Shandy beside her. Lit by the sun, her amber eyes shone like polished amber itself — beautiful.
“Say that after you’ve actually looked at the cherry blossoms. Surely you’ve got some favorite cliché suited to a moment like this.”
“You’re right. Allow me.”
Declaring “let’s rewind time,” like some trendy comedy duo’s bit, Mikoto looked up properly at the full-bloomed trees before murmuring again.
“Beautiful, isn’t it, Shandy-san.”
“Yes. Truly beautiful cherry blossoms.”
“You’re more beautiful, though.”
“I know, fufu.”
Hand pressed to her mouth, Shandy let out a rolling laugh.
Having wrapped up the reversed-roles game as bartender Kurosu Mikoto, Mikoto had walked Rinko to the station and doubled back to Antiqua once more.
Because she’d secured a promise of a date with Shandy.
One that came, from Mikoto to Shandy, with a confession attached.
“Mikoto-san’s heart is completely full of me, isn’t it.”
“I’ll admit it. I was genuinely worried how I could possibly confess enough to actually make the woman I wanted mine.”
“I’m not a cheap woman, you know.”
“Your pride does run particularly high.”
“Well, I really am dignified and adorable both. If on top of that I had the humility not to act so full of myself, I’d be utterly without flaw, wouldn’t I?”
“Yes. Which is exactly why such an arrogant queen needs a truly perfect prince.”
“Exactly. Keep that up all the way to the end, won’t you.”
It really didn’t suit her. Even knowing that herself, Mikoto couldn’t stop reaching for this gentlemanly posture — all because of the grown, mature air Shandy carried. The natural end result of being captivated, drawn in by her beauty; the weakness of being smitten. Realizing as much, Mikoto’s mouth eased into a smile on its own.
“Though simply confessing wouldn’t be much fun.”
“A game, again…? I’d love at least a little grace on something this important.”
“You wouldn’t be happy if I went easy on you, would you? I’m going in seriously too. If you manage a confession I don’t see coming, you win, Mikoto-san. If it goes exactly as I predict, I win.”
“And the winner’s reward?”
“The right to do as she likes with the loser. How does that sound?”
“Couldn’t ask for better.”
Shandy’s eyes shone, brimming with fighting spirit.
But despite her words and bearing, Shandy stopped, hand braced against the guardrail lining the sidewalk. Breathing hard through her shoulders.
“I’ve pushed you too hard, haven’t I, so soon after being sick. Let’s head back.”
“No, I’m fine. Just a short rest and…”
Slight enough that her ribs showed faintly, Shandy’s frailty matched her porcelain looks exactly — a delicate, weak-bodied girl. Her condition wasn’t great either. Her body must feel heavy.
Mikoto crouched down in front of her.
“I’ll carry you, Your Highness.”
“Carry — wait, Mikoto-san?!”
“You’re a lightweight woman, Shandy-san. Even I can manage.”
“W— we’re outside! People can see!”
Ignoring the resistance, Mikoto reached her arms under Shandy’s arms and knees.
Pulling her close against her own body, she pressed her weight down and stood. Just as light as she looked, but even so, Mikoto’s own untrained strength left her legs unsteady.
“See, told you — a lightweight woman…”
“Don’t push yourself pretending otherwise. I am lighter than average, sure, but still, forty—”
“Oh my, isn’t Shandy-san’s weight about three apples’ worth?” 1
“That’s some other cat you’re thinking of. I’m heavy, I really am!”
“I already knew you looked light but were actually heavy.”
“Not that kind of heavy or light—”
Mikoto silenced the struggling Shandy in her arms with their usual kind of kiss. Only after doing it did she remember they were somewhere with people watching.
Looking up, she found a young girl staring at them, mouth hanging open.
“Th— this is bad for a child’s education too. So please, put me down…”
“No. Might as well teach her that this kind of love exists too.”
“So forceful…”
Realizing protest wouldn’t get her anywhere, Shandy buried her face against Mikoto’s chest instead, avoiding anyone’s eyes. So merciless with humiliation inside Antiqua, yet so weak to it outside. That side of Shandy was endearing.
“Was this within your predictions?”
“…There’s no way I predicted this. Honestly.”
Grumbling with obvious displeasure, Shandy’s arms wrapped tightly around Mikoto all the same. Keeping up a composed front while walking toward the center of Roppongi Hills took everything she had. Her arms and legs trembled, but having started this, she wasn’t about to give up partway through.
Somehow reaching their destination, Mikoto set Shandy down in front of the commercial complex’s entrance. The sunset made it hard to read Shandy’s expression, but her lowered head and flustered posture told their own story clearly enough.
Letting out a sigh, Shandy glared up at her with waning-crescent eyes.
“Honestly, what a troublesome Mikoto-san. Sparing no means necessary to win…”
“That just means I’m serious too.”
“Message received.”
Sharing a wry laugh with Shandy, Mikoto passed through the entrance. Their destination: the commercial building’s rooftop, the sky garden.
Right at its far edge. Walking toward the elevated spot with the clearest view. In the distance, Shinjuku’s cluster of high-rises. And below, the park’s full-bloomed cherry trees. Both painted in the same amber sunset, casting long shadows in the same direction.
“Come to think of it, we looked up at a sky just like this once before too, on our last date. This stretch of time — the gradient from sunset into dusk — they call it the magic hour, don’t they.”
“Well informed, aren’t you.”
Third round of the Yokohama outside-the-shop game. The sky she’d looked up at during dinner had been this same magic hour. The single most beautiful stretch of the day. Even a hopeless photographer, they say, can’t help but take a good picture under a sky like this.
“So then. Just what kind of confession will you be giving me? Going so far as to arrange the magic hour itself.”
Whatever bashfulness she’d shown a moment ago had vanished entirely. If anything, as if repaying double the humiliation she’d just suffered, Shandy’s eyes gleamed sharp as she pressed in close. Shandy, seen in the magic hour’s light, was more beautiful than anything, and Mikoto found herself catching her breath.
Still, she couldn’t afford to lose this game. For the sake of getting one over on her, and for the sake of showing real growth, Mikoto reached up on her toes — stretched taller now than she’d ever managed before.
“What kind of confession do you think it’ll be?”
“There’s only one answer I’m hoping for. You’ll actually say it properly today, won’t you?”
“Yes. Though it falls far short of your ideal date, Shandy-san. If I’d found my resolve that night, I wouldn’t have had to raise the bar so high searching for the perfect date course.”
“Fufu, true enough.”
Mikoto had been desperately hunting for something to top Yokohama. Not satisfied with just internet searches, she’d even turned to Yokohama tourist magazines from her own hometown.
Yokohama held countless attractions.
The great Ferris wheel at Minato Mirai, once only ever admired from a distance. Waterbus cruises, the Western-style mansions of Yamate, the English garden. Push a little further and Hakkeijima was a classic spot too.
But Shandy’s preferences remained a mystery. Every attempt to pry them out got deflected, making it genuinely difficult to plan the ideal date.
“So, I decided a proper date could wait for another day. Today, I just wanted to give you my answer.”
“How considerate of you, thank you.”
Alluding implicitly to today being an off-limits day, Shandy turned her gaze away from Mikoto, toward the view instead.
The longer the silence stretched, the louder Mikoto’s own heartbeat clamored. Gripping the garden’s railing, standing side by side looking out over the city center wasn’t going to improve the situation on its own — and yet Mikoto’s mouth couldn’t manage even those two syllables.
It wasn’t embarrassment over confessing itself.
Saying “I like you” again now didn’t feel like it would move Shandy’s heart at all. One way or another, Mikoto had already told her “I like you” more times than she could count by now.
“………….”
Even Shandy, who’d usually be pressing her by now, was clearly waiting today. Watching to see how she’d handle it was probably closer to the truth — her amber eyes still curved in their mischievous shape, glancing sidelong at Mikoto’s profile beside her.
Shandy would surely wait until Mikoto found her own resolve. However painful the one-sided wait might be, she would never make the first move herself.
For Shandy’s own sake too, there was no making her wait any longer.
Mikoto drew a deep breath and spoke the resolve she’d settled on long before now.
“…I like you, Shandy-san.”
“Yes.”
“I’m captivated by you in a way that word alone can’t capture. Your… slightly aggressive, sadistic words. The adorable way you sometimes lose your composure. Including the mystery you so stubbornly guard — I love all of it.”
Roppongi’s noise and the sound of the wind swallowed Shandy’s voice. Glancing sideways, Mikoto found her profile softened into a gentle smile, and felt relief settle over her.
“And… this is embarrassing to admit, but there’s a part of me that wants to be loved by you too. I’ve never felt this way before, so it’s taken me a long while, but… I’ve finally been able to reach a conclusion.”
“The wait was worth it, then.”
“Yes. Thank you for waiting, and for pulling me up into the adult world you inhabit. I finally understand, only now, what that fortune teller meant by a generous, compassionate teacher.”
“There’s still plenty left for me to teach you, though?”
“That’s a harsh one.”
Still, she couldn’t catch up to Shandy. Couldn’t match her.
But staying by her side, surely, someday she would catch up. Someday, she’d be a match for her.
“…Is someone like me really all right, for you, Shandy-san? There must be plenty of people out there more suited to you than I am.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. There’s no one more suited to me than Mikoto-san.”
“Then why me?”
“Does falling in love need a reason?”
“Is that you hiding your embarrassment?”
“You know me well.”
Shandy leaned her shoulder in close. In the chilly early-spring air, wherever Shandy touched carried warmth. That pleasant body heat sinking in — wanting to savor it more fully, Mikoto wrapped an arm around Shandy’s waist and pulled her in, forceful.
“My, quite forceful today, aren’t we.”
“This round of the game, I can’t win unless I give a confession you don’t see coming, Shandy-san. I’d like you to taste a version of me you don’t usually see.”
“Fufu. Reaching up on your toes, on top of reaching up on your toes, is it?”
Called out on something embarrassing, Mikoto instinctively turned her face away. Her view shifted from the city’s skyline down to the park below. Under the fading light, the lit-up cherry trees formed a beautiful path of pale pink light.
“…I want to keep seeing those cherry blossoms with you, from here on. Next year, the year after that—”
“Until death do us part?”
“—Was that within your predictions too.”
However hard she tried for something unexpected, surpassing Shandy’s predictions was never easy. And only after saying it did she realize — that last line had implied a relationship even further along than where they currently stood.
“Fufu. I’m tired of clichés. Besides, take it that far and it starts sounding like a proposal.”
The weight of the words was entirely different. She wasn’t ready to go that far — the resolve to become something like Sanae and Tōko. Mikoto tried, as best she could, to toy with words the way Shandy always did to her.
“Sounds like you’ve already taken it as a proposal, Shandy-san.”
“You do seem fond of playing with words. I wonder who you picked that up from.”
Meeting Shandy’s composed, chuckling smile, Mikoto pushed forward, fair and honest.
“I can’t say for certain right now, since I still don’t know you properly. But… I do hope, eventually, it really does become that.”
“Eh…”
Here. Sensing the opening, Mikoto met Shandy’s eyes squarely. In the dimness that resembled Antiqua’s own soft light, Shandy’s eyes had gone round and wide. Catching the unmistakable sign of her being caught off guard, Mikoto delivered the killing line.
“So that you never have to go back to being a lonely Alice again — I want to stay by your side. That’s my feeling, for now.”
Saying it, Mikoto embraced Shandy. With closing time approaching, the rooftop garden had thinned to only a scattered few people. Not that being seen would have bothered her in the least, anyway.
“How do you judge the game?”
Shandy’s arms circled around Mikoto’s back. She could feel her heartbeat, her breath. Her modest chest pressed against Mikoto’s own, somewhat fuller. Breathless — not from the pressure against her chest, but from something else entirely.
Too tense to manage even a single word.
Wrapped in the scent of orange and her warmth, Mikoto felt herself turned back into a girl in love, plain and simple. Her whole mind filled with nothing but Shandy. No room left to think of anything else at all.
Still so far from a proper adult romance, Mikoto thought, self-deprecating, her mind on the verge of melting entirely.
“…You’ve learned how to use an indirect approach now, haven’t you. And on top of it, the fair, straightforward kind I happen to like. Which would you like to hear first — my answer to the confession, or the game’s verdict?”
“Whichever. However you’d like.”
“Fufu.”
In Mikoto’s arms, Shandy moved. Her porcelain skin drawing close, her lips tinted a pale pink like the cherry blossoms themselves — Mikoto’s attention was entirely fixed there.
Corner of her mouth curling up as if testing her, Shandy’s lips moved.
“What will you do if I say no?”
“I’ll keep loving you until you say yes.”
“What if I told you to wait?”
“You already know I can’t wait any longer.”
“I have a nasty personality, you know? A sharp tongue, endlessly testing the person I love. I play tricks, and I enjoy tormenting them too. And even so—”
Sealing her lips forcefully, Mikoto silenced her.
Pressing her own tongue against Shandy’s, still toying with wicked words.
She vowed to love whatever version of Shandy came her way. Vowed to swallow every mystery whole. The long, warm kiss continued before their lips finally, slowly parted.
Half-lit by the rooftop garden’s dim light, Shandy’s face looked unlike any expression Mikoto had seen from her before. Surprised, and yet bashfully, shyly smiling. If this expression was proof that she truly loved Mikoto from the heart — then Mikoto hoped it was.
“—Yes. I’ve been waiting for this. Mikoto.”
“Still keeping the polite speech, I see.”
“I’m just more used to it this way. But Mikoto, please, drop the polite speech yourself. It still feels like you’re dragging around the shop’s own relationship, keeping a distance in your heart.”
“I use polite speech because I want to show you my most beautiful self.”
“No need to worry about that. Whatever version of you, you’re beautiful.”
Still holding each other, this time it was Shandy who took her lips.
She hadn’t known a kiss, once hearts truly met, could dissolve the body this completely. Her whole self burned hot. Wanting more of Shandy, she held her tighter still. Breathless, unsteady on her feet. Her knees had gone weak.
“Ah…!”
Unable to stay standing, she sank onto the nearby bench. More accurate to say her legs simply gave out beneath her. Before she could even rub at her aching hip, Shandy climbed into her lap.
“Whatever kind of person I turn out to be, will you still love me, Mikoto?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
“No~pe. I need plenty, plenty more words of love before I’ll understand. I’ve got a terrible memory, you know.”
“Always trying to humiliate people like that…”
“That’s just my way of loving. Fufu.”
And for a while after, the kissing continued. Kissing this fervently, this passionately — maybe Shandy really wasn’t Japanese after all. Whatever scrap of reason Mikoto had left could barely manage a thought that pointless.
Once the rain of kisses finally ended, Shandy spoke, as if just remembering.
“Got so caught up I forgot — the game’s verdict. The result… my win.”
“Wait, even all that was within your predictions…? Are you just refusing to admit it because you don’t want to lose to me?”
“Because, honestly, that was such a thoroughly ordinary confession after all that build-up. Still such a child, Mikoto.”
“Ngh…”
She’d been embarrassed nearly to death over this, and here Shandy sat, smirking with total composure — thoroughly unfair. Determined to get one over on her somehow, Mikoto wanted, desperately, to deliver a confession Shandy couldn’t possibly see coming.
That was the moment. A single flash of inspiration.
An idea struck Mikoto’s mind. A double-edged sword of a confession, embarrassing enough to kill either of them.
“Then, can I confess one more time?”
“Fufu, why stop at once more. As many times as you like.”
“You said it.”
She’d gotten the promise on record. Mikoto flashed a bold, daring grin and reached for the railing she’d been standing at earlier.
This next confession — there was no way Shandy could predict it.
Because it was exactly the kind of confession spineless, tiptoe-reaching Mikoto would normally never dare attempt, out of pure embarrassment.
Mikoto drew a deep breath and shouted.
“SHANDY-SAAAAAN! I LIKE YOU! I LOVE YOOOOOU!!!”
“Wh— what are you doing, Mikoto?!”
“What does it look like? A confession! Shouting my love for you right in the middle of Roppongi!!!”
“Don’t pull something out of a teen romance movie! We’re proper adults! Aren’t you embarrassed?!”
“Of course I’m embarrassed?! But I like you, so what else am I supposed to do!”
“Stop it, people are coming! Is it really all right if they hear?!”
“I don’t care! I like Shandy, I love her! I’m in love with her! I love your face, your voice, your words, your kind-but-twisted personality, even how much of a handful you are — I love all of it!!!”
“O— okay, I get it, I get it! It’s embarrassing, so please stop…”
“Then admit I won! Say you never saw a confession like this coming!”
“Th— that, I refuse. I’m not giving up a win I’ve already claimed!”
“That stubbornness — I love that too!!”
“Mikoto?!”
“Then answer my love! Loud, with everything you’ve got! Shandy, I love you!”
“Ohh, for—…!”
Faced with Mikoto’s utterly reckless, throw-caution-to-the-wind confession, Shandy let out an exasperated sigh. Then, standing beside Mikoto, she drew a deep breath of her own.
“MIKOTO! I LOVE YOU! I’M NEVER LETTING GO OF YOU, EVER!!!”
Still trying to keep shouting, Mikoto’s lips were sealed once more by Shandy’s own.
Watching Shandy fluster so thoroughly, Mikoto finally felt the satisfaction settle, and let out a long, relieved breath.
“Take care of me from here on too, Shandy-san.”
“…Honestly, you idiot, Mikoto.”
Cheeks puffed out, blushing, utterly endearing no matter how you looked at her — Mikoto held her close.
-
A reference to Hello Kitty’s canonical height and weight (“5 apples tall, weighs 3 apples”). ↩