Everything, an Ayamiya story

1

I was very small when I lost my mother. After the tragic loss, I obviously turned to my brother for comfort, as any small child would do, but he was too busy trying to keep the clan from falling apart entirely. Ayato himself was also struggling with his own emotions, and the two of us had already lost everything, and he wanted to guard the little we had left with his life, even if it meant letting go of his childhood entirely.

I had never felt so alone. I was only 8 at the time and it completely crushed me. It pained Ayato to see me like that, so he wanted to do what he could to help. It occurred to him that the family that made fireworks for all the festivals organized by the Yashiro commission had a daughter, just a year younger than me, so the next time he had some free time, he took me into the outskirts of town to the little shop.

When the two of us arrived, a man with grey hair was outside. I wasn't paying attention to their conversation, as I was looking around in awe. it was a completely different environment from anything I had ever seen before, and I loved it. It took my mind off everything, and felt so carefree, a nice break from the suffocating walls I had grown used to. My brother's voice brought me back to reality "Ayaka." I looked up to see him gesturing to a girl, around my age looking back at me. She had blonde hair and cheerful golden eyes.

"Hi! My name's Nagonahara Yoimiya, it's nice to meet you!" the girl said sticking out her hand to me. I shook her hand, and gave a small bow. I was quite shy. "Ryunnosuke, is it ok if she stays here for a while? I have shumatsuban nearby in case anything happens, she won't be a bother at all, and I'll come to escort her back later." my brother said.

"Of course commissioner!" the man said bowing. Ayato kneeled down so he was at my eye level. "I'll be back later, ok? Be polite and don't get in Mr. Nagonahara's way, alright?" I nodded, I was afraid but I knew my brother had important things to do. The man went back to his work and Yoimiya smiled at me.

"You're Ayaka right? Do you want to see a sparkler?" I wasn't sure what a sparkler was, but I politely nodded. She pulled a little stick out of her pocket, and suddenly, it lit up like a little firework. The dazzling lights mesmerized me. "wowww" I said under my breath

"Do you want one? Here!" she said handing me a sparkler. We had so much fun that day, it managed to take my mind off of everything that happened, and I was able to drown the bad feelings in the lights and colours. My entire life, everyone who wasn't my family treated me with great respect, but Yoimiya treated me like a normal kid like her, which is what I loved the most about her.

I went back day after day, and eventually I opened up to her even more. By the age of twelve Yoimiya was the person that knew me best in the entire world. I told her secrets not even Ayato knew. Yoimiya showed me her world, her favorite stores, her favorite games, her favorite fireworks. Everything. That also happened to be what she was to me. Everything.

The one thing I had yet to experience with her though was a festival. If I could have one wish, that would be it, and I told her that. I explained how it could just never work but she didn't seem to understand that concept, because she tried to sneak me out of our estate multiple times, all without success.

We were walking through the city during the week leading up to a festival, chatting away in mid morning sun. "By the way, I would like to state in advance that I don't want you getting yourself in trouble trying to sneak me out of the Kamisato estate." I told her, fanning my face. "Ah, but you didn't say you didn't want to go!" she replied grinning "And why do you talk so formally around me still, I've known you for..." she counted on her fingers "11 years now!" she said holding up ten fingers.

"That's ten" I giggled "You get my point." she said. "Alright, I'm sorry, it's just a habit. I had a meeting with some important people recently." "Why? Did something happen?" "No, we just need to keep up 'public relations' as Ayato calls it, but the people we met with had a son a few years older than me and I think Ayato just wants me to find someone to marry."

"Ugh that must suck." Yoimiya said. I couldn't help but feel like I heard disappointment in her voice? I'm sure she just doesn't want me to have yet another thing eating at the little free time I already have. "It's unavoidable, I've accepted that I'll have to marry for the sake of status and reputation." "Well I haven't!" Yoimiya said, suddenly grabbing my hands and holding them in her own, causing me to drop my fan on the floor.

A few people looked at us and whispered things to each other, causing Yoimiya to quickly let go, embarrassed, and pick up my fan for me, which was good as I could hide my bright pink cheeks. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for, I didn't think." Her face turned as red as the vision hanging from her waist.

"Don't apologize, please elaborate." "oh, well it's silly anyway but... I know you'll have to get married eventually but the thought of you getting married to someone you don't care about to uphold your status bothers me. I really care about you, Ayaka, and I just want you to be happy. I want you to marry someone who makes you just as happy as you make me."

There was silence. I wasn't quite sure how I was meant to respond to that. "Yoimiya I..." I heard a familiar voice through the crowd. "My lady, your brother would like to speak to you about something." I turned around "Ah, Thoma. I'll be there in a moment." I turned back to the Blonde girl standing next to me

"I'm so sorry, I'll have to be going now." I was disappointed I'd have to cut our walk short but silently celebrating that awkward silence had been broken "I probably won't see you again before the festival because I'll need to be helping with planning, but I'll talk to you as soon as possible. And please don't try to break into the manor again, I was able to talk the guards into letting you go last time but I'm not quite sure it'll work again. I don't want the shogunate knocking at our door because the lady of the Kamisato clan associates herself with a criminal." I teased

I waved good bye and turned to Thoma, leaving Yoimiya behind.

Hi, thank you for reading chapter one of my fanfic! I know that there's an unfinished Kaebedo story I should be writing rn, but I don't have any motivation, and Azu ditched me because she can't finish a story longer than a chapter. (I say that like I don't take an average of 2 months to write something) Oh yeah, if you liked this mentally prepare yourself to not have it updated for a while. If you need something else to read try checking out EverFr0st's work, she has scary amounts of motivation.

Kaebedo story posted on shared account hYxp3rZ if you're interested