49: Ice Cream

Shyba—

By the time we make it to the creamery the sun has gone down, and the lights of the boardwalk are all glimmering. Somehow, it is like everything is so much brighter and more colorful tonight. Everything feels… good.

We pick out our treats and I pay with the card Nicky had given me for Christmas, before going down the boardwalk to a secluded bench overlooking the ocean. The whole time I feel like I’m floating. This is a dream come true.

As we sit, I pause to watch her take a bite. She always does this little dance when she gets to have a sweet treat and I always try to watch. It is such a cute thing. She notices me watching and blushes. I can only smile.

“You better eat your ice cream before it melts mister,” she grumbles, stuffing a bite into her mouth.

I chuckle and try a bit of mine, the chocolatey cold flavor washing over my tongue. “Mm. It is good.”

“Mine too,” she says. “I always love their strawberry ice cream. They put real strawberries in it. You can see the chunks. And they’re always fresh!” She dips out a spoonful with pieces of strawberry mixed in and looks over to me with a gentle grin. “Interesting how our favorites are chocolate and strawberry. And chocolate strawberries are a great pair.”

I stare for a moment, soaking in her words. A great pair. “Mm.”

She blushes again. “Have you ever had chocolate covered strawberries?”

“Ah, I don’t think so.”

“We should make them sometime,” she says, kicking her feet as her legs dangle over the bench. “It would be fun.”

I nod. “Mm, yes.” I am excited just thinking about it. Eating chocolate and spending time with my best fr— my girlfriend? What a wonderful notion.

She looks between our cups, before looking up at me. “Want to try a bite of mine?”

Her words send my heart into the sky, my face catching fire. I never even thought about it, but couples share like this all the time, right? Oh wow. This is really happening.

She tilts her head. “It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“H-hai!” I stammer. She giggles and I clear my throat. “Ah… Y-yes. I want to.”

Then she holds out her spoon for me, giving me a sweet smile. I stare at it, my heart pounding in my ear. Her lips had touched it just moments ago. Not to mention, she wants to share with me her favorite sweet, one she never wants to share with anyone… except now me. I take a breath, my heart going crazy, and lean over. I open my mouth and quickly take it, swallowing as my mind short circuits.

“Good?” she asks.

I feel my shoulders deflate, my face feeling like it could burn off. “I ah… I ate it so fast there was no taste,” I whimper.

She laughs, my face flaring more.

“Th-that was my first time to share!” I protest. “A-and I am not used to the couple things. My heart was going fast.”

“Here, you can have another bite,” she says, dipping her spoon back into her ice cream.

She holds it up and once again I am staring at it. I go to take the bite and she moves it away. She laughs as I stare in bewilderment, her hand now shaking from the laughter. Determination overtakes me and I grab her hand, holding it steady. The ice cream is sweet and the chunks of strawberry lightly tart to balance each other out.

“You’re just so cute when you’re flustered,” she says. “And look. You weren’t as nervous, were you?”

My heart continues to pound in my ear as I take a spoonful of my ice cream, holding it up for her. She takes it and I watch as she sways back and forth while she tastes it.

“Mmm, it’s good,” she says and looks up at me with big eyes. “One more?”

I smile, the way she looks at me making my heart flutter. Anything for you.

I dip out another spoonful and hold it up. As she goes for the bite I grin, pulling it away as she tries to follow it. Her expression makes me laugh as she gives a half-hearted grumble but knows she can’t be mad.

“You are cute when you are flustered too,” I tell her.

She grabs my hand with both of hers, pulling it back so she can have her promised share. Her touch sends warmth up my arm and for a moment I am unable to move. I watch as she enjoys the treat before she seems to realize she is still holding my hand. She lets go and looks up, giving me a shy smile.

We are silent for a moment as we both go back to eating our own ice cream. My heart seems to skip a beat with each bite I take, knowing her lips touched my spoon as well. Would it be so nerve-wracking to actually kiss her? It makes me wonder what it would be like. For a moment I reminisce kissing her forehead earlier, how my heart seemed to overflow.

We finish our ice cream, catching each other stealing glances and giggling amongst ourselves over nothing. I never imagined I could feel so giddy just being with her. I feel like I can do anything right now. I want to climb the tallest building I can find and scream how happy I am. This is the best day of my life.

She kicks her feet and looks up at me. “What now? I don’t really want to go home yet,” she says, and her cheeks become darker. “I want to stay out with you a while longer.”

“Me too,” I say, my heart squeezing at her words. “What do you want to do?”

She looks around, thinking. “Oh, we could go and walk down by the beach. The moon is full so we can still see pretty well.”

I nod. “That sounds fun.”

We leave the boardwalk, making our way down to the beach, her leading me by the hand. There are a few others still out, but we go down a little further and find ourselves alone. She giggles excitedly before pulling her socks and shoes off and tossing them aside with her backpack, going to run around in the gentle tides. As I set my socks and shoes aside to roll up my jeans, I watch her splash around and laugh.

I go to join her and as my feet touch the water I gasp. “Ah! Samui!”

She laughs. “I guess it is still a bit early to go swimming.”

“I was only surprised,” I tell her and look down at the water as it washes over my feet. My eyes follow the tide as it is pulled back into the ocean and for a moment I watch as the moon sparkles against the vast blackness.

She comes to stand beside me and looks out. “It’s so beautiful in the moonlight.”

I nod. “Mm… It is a strange feeling,” I murmur. “On the other side of this water is where I came from… and then suddenly I was here.” I turn and look at her. “And now I am here with you… like this.”

She looks up at me smiling and I watch as the moonlight softly illuminates her face, her blue eyes mesmerizing. I silently memorize this moment, the feeling of the gentle waves lapping at our feet, how her subtle freckles trail across her nose. I follow her gaze back out across the water and for a moment all is silent apart from the waves.

“If you could go back to Japan and not have to worry about anything, would you?” she asks.

Her question stuns me, and I take a moment to ponder. “I would like to see it again,” I mutter, letting my mind roam about the streets I used to walk each night, though many things are still fuzzy. “I was so lost before that I did not get to enjoy much. I feel like I missed out and… I would go back to visit, to experience those things.”

I turn to her. “But I would come back here. This is my home now,” I tell her, feeling the smile melt onto my face and chuckling. “I never would have believed my home is in America.”

She giggles. “I wish I could see it too. Ever since I started learning about it and being around you, I’ve been so interested in it. I would love to go and see the place you were born. And experience those things with you.”

My brows arch. “I am sorry I can’t take you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I mean, it would be cool and all, but it’s not like it’s the end of the world if I don’t go. Besides, there’s things here we can do that are in Japan like that new restaurant that opened downtown um… ‘Nakamura’, right? We did our own watermelon smashing… Oh! And we can do Karaoke and—”

I start laughing, the feeling having overcome me. “What did you say? Carry oaky?”

Her cheeks turn red, and she gives me a forced glower through a smile.

“Gomen, gomen,” I chuckle. “Kah-rah-oh-keh.”

She grins. “Sumimasen,” she starts and clears her throat, “Karaoke.”

I nod. “Nn.”

Her smile is everything and then we are walking through the waves, hand in hand. I soak it in. “If we could go, where would you want to go first?” I ask.

“Mmmm…” she murmurs, swaying her head back and forth as she contemplates. “Well, I would love to see some of the gardens and parks. Oh, especially during sakura season, but I also would love to see the trees during fall. And I really want to see some of the architecture of the gardens too, like the bridges and pagodas. They’re called ‘pagodas’, right? Oh, a picnic at one would be soooo amazing!”

As she continues babbling on, I watch and listen, smiling gently. It’s always so cute when she chatters like this. And it makes me happy she feels safe doing so with me.

She turns to me. “Where would you want to go first?”

“Hnnn… I would take you to Osaka,” I say.

“Osaka?” she asks. “I was expecting somewhere in Tokyo. Is there something in Osaka you want to see?”

The sudden realization that I never mentioned it hits me. “It is my hometown.”

Her eyes widen. “All this time I thought you were born and raised in Tokyo,” she says and then a smile spreads across her face. “I got to learn something new today! Or… Well, a lot of new things.”

I smile, seeing her so happy to know something about me makes my heart flutter. “I would show you the places I used to go when I was a kid if they are still there,” I say and look back across the water. “I went to Tokyo when I was ten and… you know the rest.”

She is silent and my mind seems to drift back in time, to that place. While it is easier to talk about now, I know it will always be there, this shadow. I look back at her and take her other hand, standing before her.

“Why choose me?” I ask.

For a moment she gazes up at me and then gives me a sweet smile. “You’re not that person anymore. You’re Shyba. The boy who likes to read under the apricot trees and always makes sure that my favorite mug is the first one on the shelf so I can reach it. The boy who will go out of his way to pet a cat while we are in town and who is more excited for dessert than any other part of a meal.”

Her words stun me, and I can feel heat in my eyes. To think she pays that much attention, even more so than me. I wish I could see the person she sees when she looks at me.

“I… I don’t know if that is true about me not being that person anymore,” I tell her. “I keep trying to run away from who I used to be, but I do not think it is possible. There are parts of me that will always be from before. I cannot change that… But I decided that I would not run anymore. I can learn from it and be better.”

She smiles at me. “Well, I guess I can’t argue with that,” she says and glances down. “What about me though? Everyone has always told me I’m either boring or annoying. How did I ever interest you?”

Is that how she thinks of herself? For a moment I am stunned at such a revelation. I gaze into her eyes, trying to wrangle my overflowing feelings into words.

“Because you talk to flowers… and sing to them nicely. Sometimes when you sing, I hide and listen because when someone is around you stop, and your voice calms me. You create amazing things out of scraps with your own hands. When I go to pet a cat, you follow with something for it to eat,” I tell her. “When you talk so much, I am able to focus on you instead of my thoughts. A-a lot of times I don’t understand what you are talking about but… You are far from boring or annoying to me.”

She stares up at me with tears in her eyes. I suddenly notice the goosebumps on her arms and the way she has started to slightly shiver. Without much thought I quickly pull her out of the water, removing my jacket and pulling it around her. Her eyes are wide, cheeks red. She pushes her arms through the sleeves as I zip it up for her.

She brings her hands up, the sleeves hanging off as she blushes more. My heart pounds at how cute she looks. I cannot believe someone so adorable and amazing would want me.

“Aren’t you going to be cold?” she asks. “You always wear this, so you’re not used to it, right?”

I pull her into my arms. “I am warm now,” I mutter and rest my head on top of hers. I suddenly realize how much taller I am than her and how her smaller shoulders fit against my chest. Did I have a growth spurt since I carried her on my back last autumn? Maybe I just never noticed how tall I actually am.

As we stand here, I can feel my heart pounding against my chest, feeling her nuzzle against me. “Kiara, I want to protect you,” I whisper, and a half-laugh escapes my lips. “I am trained for it… If you need any more reason to be with me.”

She sighs against me. “Mmm. I feel completely safe right here.”

My eyes are damp as I let her words sink in. “I will make sure that never changes.”

Translations:

Hai – Yes

Samui – Cold

Gomen – Sorry

Sumimasen – Excuse me