Summer in the air

Hanging out or a date?

It was around 8am. Misuzu rushed over to the garage and knocked. She opened it and Yukito was sound asleep on the floor.

"Good morning Yukito." She said from the door. There was no reply as he was still asleep. So, she went towards him and shook him awake, saying, "Get up you lazy, sleepy head." in a joking way.

"Aah," Yukito was suddenly awake. His eyes were looking deep into Misuzu's. And Misuzu's eyes were looking deep into his.

He got extremely flustered as he looked away and covered his face with his hands.

Misuzu giggled at his shyness and said, "Meet me by the front door when you're ready. I want you to help me with something." She winked and then skipped out.

"Ok," Yukito replied, slightly confused.

Later, Yukito met Misuzu by the front door.

"So, what's up?" He asked.

Misuzu quickly put 2 boxes into a bag as she replied. "I want you to cycle me to my old primary school. It isn't too far from the shrine."

"Uhh, ok. Why though?"

As Misuzu put the bag on her back and the camera around her neck, she said, "I want to hang out with you. Also, it's for my summer project from college."

"No way, you're in college! I could swear you were younger than that." Yukito teased, running his fingers through her long hair.

Misuzu pouted and looked away. "I am in college. I'm actually about to graduate too."

"Yeah? And what are your plans for after college?" He asked casually.

Misuzu looked down. Her eyes went watery and her throat went dry. This question bothered her. "I don't want to talk about it."

Yukito was quite confused, but didn't want to push Misuzu since she felt uncomfortable. "Alright then, we should get going." And he walked towards the bicycle and pushed it towards the road.

Misuzu nodded and followed behind.

They eventually reached the shrine when Yukito asked, "Hey, which way do I go from here?"

Silence.

He stopped cycling to look back. Misuzu arms were wrapped gently around his waist and she seemed to be asleep.

"Hey," He said a bit louder. This woke her up. "Which way do I go from here?"

Misuzu yawned. Then said, "Left until you see the library, then straight until you see a grassy field with a small school building on it."

"Got it."

She fell asleep soon after again. Then she was woken up when they arived.

"Are you ok? If you're tired, do you want to go back home to bed?" Yukito asked, a bit worried.

"Don't worry about me." She smiled and took Yukito's hands in hers. "Let me take you somewhere special. Special to me at least."

She guided him to behind the school building, still holding his hand. There was a huge tree in the middle of all the green grass.

She sat down and began to dig the soil.

"What are you looking for?" He asked.

"Haruko isn't my real mom. She's my aunt. My real mom died when I was little. I put lots of photos and memories of her into a tin and buried it under this tree." Misuzu explained. "I promised myself that I would open them up again when I turned 20."

"Oh." Yukito replied. He didn't really know what else to say. So, he began humming a calm, slow tune.

"Found it!" She exclaimed as she pulled the tin out of the mud.

"You wanted to see your real mom again, didn't you?" Yukito said in a serious voice, thinking about his dead mom.

"That's not it." Misuzu said quickly. "From a young age, I've told myself that I have to move on. That Aunt Haruko is my real mom. I don't need these memories anymore." She took out a lighter and burned each photo and memory, placing them back in the tin.

Carefully, she got up. Leaving the fire of her burned memories and photos behind, she walked up to Yukito.

As she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, she asked, "Can I kiss you? Would it be alright?" She got on her tiptoes and went closer to his face.

"We met just yesterday. Take things slowly." Yukito replied, feeling his face heat up and his heart beat uncontrollably faster.

Misuzu stepped back, saying "Sorry, I can't help it. It's love at first for me and I'm running out of time."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"I'll tell you, but let's go inside. I brought some food for us since we didn't have breakfast." Misuzu said as she gathered her stuff and lead him in through a broken window.

In the empty classroom, there was a gentle breeze that blew as they ate and talked.

Misuzu explained her illness to Yukito. She told him everything, lacking any reason to hold back.

"That's crazy! The doctors can't figure out what's wrong?" He almost yelled and hit the table.

Misuzu nodded with an unreadable expression on her face. It was like a complicated mix of guilt, sorrow, desire for more life and time.

"You could start acting like my boyfriend, if you want." She chuckled.

"This is serious, Misuzu, don't joke around."

"I like the way you say my name too. It's almost as refreshing as the summer itself."

Yukito's expression wavered.

"I told you not to worry. I meant it. If I'm not worrying, you definetely shouldn't be." She softened her expression and hugged him. "Come on. Let's go home now. I have a story to tell you on the way home."

So, after a long morning spent in Misuzu's old primary school, they made their way to the cycle.

"It's called the legend of the winged woman. Oh, and take me to the shrine please before we go home. I want to make a quick prayer." She added.