Dandelions | Yuki Ishikawa

Masa & Yuki

Masa's POV...

That one Summer afternoon, my gut was telling me to go Nakanoshima Rose Garden. I'm not one to ignore gut feeling, so I did go. I must have walked the entire garden at least 3 times before faith or luck or whatever it is that led me back to her. I was on my phone looking up a good restaurant for dinner when someone bumped into me. The moment the person spoke, I immediately recognized the voice. It was something that I couldn't forget. I looked at the person and it was her. She did look a little different, her skin was dull compared from what I remembered. The spark in her eyes were gone and all in all it's like life took a toll on her. My heart skipped a beat and my hand started getting sweaty. I took that opportunity for granted, I was not going to let her slip through my fingers again.

We established a great foundation as a friend and I learned a great deal about her. From her car accident before high school to moving to London then to Italy back to London and then back to Japan. There are a couple of subjects that she refused to talk about, her ex boyfriend and the scar on her wrists. It's a sensitive topic and her whole mood would change when it's mentioned. I am not exactly sure how badly her ex treated her for her to act that way, but I hope that I can do better, make her feel loved, make her feel that she's important.

The Summer of 2019 was the best Summer of my life, so far. Mio and I would spend our free time exploring the city, trying our local restaurants, and just relaxing. She's also helped me with my English when given the chance and she's showed me a few of her work or applications that she's programmed, built from scratch. We would message each other throughout the day and would talk all night until one of us would fall asleep. Stupid as it sounds, but I feel like I'm back in high school, courting a girl. All the feelings are there from being shy asking her out to feeling giddy when I see her in person. Slowly, but surely, the spark that she's had before returned. She's more vibrant now as a person and her eyes are as bright as the sun.

With each passing second, minute, day... I fell for her more and more. Everything about her is perfect. She's flawless. I want to make her mine. I want to be able to call her my girlfriend, my love. Show her that she deserves so much more than what her ex gave her.

I decided to make her a homemade lunch one day and drop it off at her work. I knew that she's been busy these past few weeks because of a project due at the end of September and I know that she would sometime skip lunch to make sure that she's ahead of the project. So, I went to her work with a bento box.

At the lobby, I asked the receptionist for her and she picked up her phone and dialed something.

"Yes, please tell her that someone is waiting for her at the lobby" she said, "Fujioka-san will be right with you in a few minutes"

I waited at the lobby with the lunch I made for her inside a bento box wrapped in a white furoshiki with cherry blossoms design. It took her about 5 minutes before she arrived.

"Masa? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" she asked, looking worried.

I have only seen her in casual outfit which usually consists of jean, a plane tshirt, a cardigan, and sometimes dresses. So, to see her wearing a black tight skirt, I think they're called pencil skirt, a baby pink blouse tucked in with a collar and a loose ribbon, and a pair of black heels... that was something, took my breath away. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, swaying behind her as she walked towards me, heels clicking. She's beautiful.

"Hey" I said.

"Hey, is everything good?"

"Yeah, everything is great. I just stopped by to drop this off" I told her as I raised the bento box, "I'm not sure if you've had lunch yet and I know you're super busy... so I figured.."