Banana Fish - Another missed flight

Stubborn Atheists, Temples, And Soulmates

"That's the temple gate? That looks...amazing..."

He hadn't exactly been thrilled to visit temple grounds or a gate. As far as he was concerned, religion was a waste of time. As a child, when he had still been defenseless, he had often prayed or begged god to save him. After a while, he had learned the hard way that God didn't exist. He could only rely on himself, his wits, his efforts, and his strength.

Despite all of that, when seeing the gate, Ash had stopped in his tracks and had stared at the entrance to the temple in awe, speechless for once. He had only seen the shrine in Izumo before, so that was the only religious place he could compare it with. Even if he had learned that temples and shrines differed, he had expected them to look similar. So, he had assumed the gate would be held in natural, wooden colors as the shrine had. The Izumo shrine possessed some beautiful ornaments but was primarily held in plain colors.

This gate, however, wasn't held in such modest colors. It was held in bright red and grass green with a typical Japanese flat black roof and two statues on each side. In the middle, a lantern was hanging from the top, also in bright red, with some huge kanji printed on it. Even if you weren't visiting the temple grounds, it stood out and demanded attention, and you couldn't help but appreciate the construction and admire the vivid colors. It was impossible to pass by without stopping for a moment. Even if it was only the entrance, you were instinctively drawn to it and had to take a closer look.

Ash only noticed Eiji and Hana again when they victoriously clapped their hands together and grinned at each other. Then, Eiji quickly took some photos of him and smirked at him. It wasn't the soft smile he usually wore but a smug and wicked grin that said, I told you so.

"Why do you have that annoying, self-satisfying grin on your face?" he asked, a bit irritated.

"I loved what I saw," Eiji simply said, putting both arms around his neck and giving him his most radiant smile. Ash immediately felt how his cheeks heated up. Still, seeing Eiji's bright and happy smile, he immediately forgot his irritation and finally returned the smile.

"And what was it you saw?" he asked curiously. Ash knew it was easy to make Eiji happy, but he had no clue what he had done to deserve his angelic smile just now. All he had done was stare at a temple gate which, he reluctantly had to admit, was impressive.

Eiji chuckled, probably amused again because he had realized he was clueless about what could be the reason for his happiness. Eiji always loved when he didn't know how to read between the lines, applying logic to social cues and therefore incapable of seeing how his own behavior or reaction had led to a pure but knowing smile from Eiji. In that regard, Eiji was way more intelligent than him.

Thankfully, Hana mercifully put him out of his misery, grinning at him. She had fallen a bit behind while chatting to her friends on her phone and had just joined them. She had kept within sight, though, so they wouldn't lose each other.

"I saw your first impression, too. You looked so happy and amazed when seeing the gate," Hana simply said, smiling. "And your stoic face instantly vanished as soon as you saw the gate. I loved the expression on your face. You were seriously impressed."

"That's - " Ash instantly tried to counterargue, but Eiji put a hand over his mouth to stop him.

"Please don't deny it, ok? I really loved that look on your face as well." Eiji replied sincerely while meeting his eyes. "Has anyone ever told you that you have no poker face?" he asked with a provoking grin, his eyes glowing playfully while he obviously enjoyed himself.

All he could do was stare at him for a moment. Eiji grinned at his stunned expression, hooked their arms, and pulled him closer. "Sorry, I always wanted to say that back to you."