in which minami kotori, a fashion student at otonokizaka university, develops a strange fondness for sonoda umi, the girl who sits in the row in front of hers.
[this book is based on a comic strip of kotoumi that inspired me to transform it into an...
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the daffodil: the flower of regard and chivalry.
— in which umi finally realises that she might hold kotori, the girl who sat in the row behind hers, in a special place in her heart.
~
the summer festival was crowded, and umi struggled to keep up with kotori, who absolutely loved the atmosphere, and was jogging around to the different stalls enthusiastically. umi felt like she was walking a dog.
kotori comes running back with a candy apple, and umi follows her once again, navigating through the crowds. umi, however, had to admit that she wasn't comfortable at all. there were too many people; students and their families, or just outsiders who found the festival interesting and came for a look. umi found it harder to keep a look out for kotori in the sea of people — she was a tad shorter than everyone else in the crowd.
"oh, oh!" kotori exclaims, stopping in her tracks to wait for umi, who was beginning to feel a little hot and bothered by the swarms of people crowding around them. "do you want to watch the fireworks? there's a nice place over there."
she points to an empty area guarded by dimly-lit lampposts, overlooking a small clearing below, where the fireworks would be set off. umi nods, and kotori smiles before continuing through the crowd.
umi makes to follow her, but she's cut off by a boy bumping into her, and she gives him the most pissed-off expression she could make, leading him to flinch, bow, and move out of the way. by the time umi looks up again, kotori's nowhere to be same.
"kotori!" she calls, rushing forward into the crowd, no longer caring about the people who pushed past her. "kotori! where are you!"
and she doesn't understand why, but there was an aching in her heart, like she had just lost something dear to her. why was she over-reacting? she just happened to lose sight of kotori. she'd find her soon. she just needed to keep searching.
her face falls. searching. what was she searching for? she remembers the faces of her parents looking down at her disappointedly, remembered the ecstatic expression on her sister's face as she left the house, left her behind.
maybe she shouldn't be thinking so much about this. she should grow up. just suck it all up and pretend that everything will go just fine. it was her life after all — she had to stop being so daunted by the thought of her parents and her successful sister.
but still, she does wonder: will there ever be a time when somebody stayed behind with their hand in hers, walking the road with her? she was tired of seeing people leave her. she was exhausted travelling on her own.
illusions and hopes were all she had. but reality always fell short somehow.
she stops calling kotori's name. she really wants to just go back to her dorm and lie down. just sleep till the end of the world. it would be fine, right? kotori could just watch the fireworks on her own. besides, umi had already spent most of the festival with her. she'd be fine.
she turns to leave, but a gentle hand grabs a hold of her sleeve, spinning her around to come face-to-face with a grinning honoka.
"erm, sonoda-san, right?" honoka asks, looking oddly elegant in her orange yukata. "kotori-chan talks about you a lot."
umi just nods mechanically. what was she thinking, would kotori have come back for her? of course not. she wasn't in some cliche romance novel.
"do you know where she is?" honoka asks again. umi just avoids her gaze and shrugs her shoulders, turning away from her.
"oh," honoka clears her throat awkwardly, keeping her eyes on the taller girl. "erm, thanks! i'd better keep looking."
"she didn't come here with you," umi scowls, and honoka freezes. "why are you looking for her?"
"well, hachigoro-kun is looking for her, actually. he wants to watch the fireworks together."
umi clenches her fists angrily, trying to control the urge to just scream and yell in frustration, anger, and whatever feeling that was eating her up from the inside.
"umi-chan, there's where you are!" a gentle, soft hand encloses around her fist, and she relaxes, turning around in surprise to see a worried kotori right by her side.
"kotori..." umi murmurs, looking down at her feet, something welling up in her throat, threatening to choke her.
"sorry," kotori squeezes her hand softly in apology. "i saw a stall selling takoyaki balls and went to get them, but when i turned around, you were gone."
umi nods slowly, barely processing her words, just oddly glad that her hand was in kotori's, her heart beating quietly, tame in her chest.
"kotori-chan, hachigoro-kun is looking for you."
umi almost forgot that honoka was there with them, and only then does she truly make contact with kotori's golden eyes, which were especially beautiful that night.
"sorry, honoka-chan," kotori says, tearing her eyes away from umi's to look at her friend. "i'm with umi-chan for today."
honoka looks at her, then at umi, an unreadable expression on her face. kotori grips umi's hand slightly tighter, and umi's fists loosen.
"okay," honoka says, shrugging. "i'll just tell him that i can't find you."
kotori nods and watches her leave, only turning to face her taller companion again once she disappeared into the crowd, her hand still around umi's.
"shall we?" she smiles, and umi's earlier moodiness was lifted immensely. she manages a small smile in return, and kotori teases her fingers apart so that they were holding hands properly.
umi's eyes widen as kotori stares into her soul.
"oh yeah, here," the shorter girl stuffs a stick of three ball-shaped snacks into umi's mouth before she could protest.
umi looks up at her again, their eyes meeting once more.
"come on, we're gonna miss it." kotori yanks umi after her, their hands connected, jogging through the crowd.
umi watches her, not caring that her feet hurt as they ran, just the two of them, forward. kotori's grey hair flows prettily behind her in its braid, and umi could only look on helplessly as she dragged her forward, as her heart continued beating steadily in her chest.
she pulls the takoyaki from her lips with her free hand, and looks down at their fingers — just inches from touching.
