𝐌𝐘 𝐈𝐍-𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 [Kozume Kenma]

30. CANDIED APPLES

~ SHIRO ~

I felt the urge to punch the mirror for showing me something this horrific. A kimono's purpose was to enhance a woman's figure and bring out her beauty. But in my case, was there anything to bring out? Anything that didn't hurt the eyes?

I sighed. It had been a long time since I bothered with my appearance. It didn't usually trouble me, as no one really paid attention. But today, I genuinely wanted to look good for Keiji. It was weird that I felt kind of responsible, as if it was my basic duty, being his girlfriend.

After all, tonight was our first festival together. This was supposed to be important, right? In a lot of animes, entire plot arcs were dedicated to festivals and they was usually the setting for key character developments. And not to mention, romantic stuff always happened during the fireworks. Therefore, I couldn't afford to screw this up.

But easier said than done, I was already on the verge of a meltdown trying to get this kimono to look half decent. Perhaps I'm wearing it wrong. Or maybe it would look better if I tried tying my hair up.

I immediately proceeded to prove myself wrong the moment I moved my hair out of my face. Sighing, I let it down again. This was too hard. I guess Keiji would just have to be deal with... whatever this was.

Speaking of the devil, the doorbell rang. My time of reckoning has come. Grabbing my phone in one hand and my purse in the other, I hurried down the stairs to answer the door. As usual, I was greeted by a smiling Keiji.

"Well, don't just stand there." I looked away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "Say something." Just try not to hurt my feelings. 

My eyes widened in surprise when he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "Don't worry," he whispered assuringly. "You look really pretty today."

I felt my face heat up and I quickly pulled away to put some distance between us. "What... who said I was worried?"

"Whatever you say," Keiji simply laughed and reached for my hand. "Come on, let's go."

Thankful that he didn't choose to dwell on the subject of my appearance, I let him drag me to a place I had never thought of going.

~~~~

When we arrived, the sun had already set and the sky had transitioned into a deep navy shade, but the streets were far from dark. Tokyo was a place where you couldn't exactly see stars but that was compensated by the lanterns hanging overhead to the bright neon signs that lined the buildings and walkways. 

Like every year, the show-ground was crowded and although the night was still young, the festive mood had already taken effect in the smiles of people around me. As a child, I used to love these festivals, but as I got older they began to lose their appeal. It wasn't the crowd that bothered me because, believe it or not, at an event like this, no one really spares the time or effort to observe strangers. For once, anxiety wasn't the issue here. To be honest, I wasn't sure if there really was an issue, it just felt pointless.