Ayaa Kito looked a lot different now. Her long, ebony black hair was no longer covering half her face instead it was tied behind into a fine ponytail, thus revealing her face in whole. Her small, watery eyes, when her spectacles were put on, were even livelier than before. Along with her pinkish cheeks and strawberry red lips, paleness was now totally absent from her complexion.
I was so mesmerized by such beauty, only to be snapped out of it by a piercing feeling all over my body. At first, it was only piercing then it was burning, amplifying the production of endless sweat. And it was heat. Oh, an immense one. Even the fans, which were turned full blast, and widely-opened windows failed to make me any colder. I reached for any possible books, moving them in a gesture that would at least give me a breeze.
I felt a hand touched my shoulder and turned around. A male classmate, of my height, was standing there.
“Hey it’s summer!” the classmate said, now stretching both his arms into midair, eyes closed, smiling. He was smiling so hard that as if edges of his lips were approaching his ears.
“Eh…?”
“WHAT? How a rude response is that! You were supposed to say “Aye! It’s summer! Let’s have fun!”! “he replied, in a rather higher tune though. His eyebrows were focused until they formed a quite solid “V” shape while his mouth was opened so wide that it looked like a big “O” shape.
“Huh? What are you talking about? I don’t even know you yet!”
And his expression changed again, spontaneously. This time it looked like a rather disappointed one. He stared at the ceiling above, and as if something just came across his mind, he glanced at me again.
“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet. Name’s Natsu. N – A – T – S – U. I’m the monitor, BEST MONITOR IN DA’ WORLD!” he yelled, showing me a thumb up and smiling again, revealing his glimmering white teeth. “Hence, I carry a heavy burden to make sure each and everyone in this class is happy!”
The “heavy burden” and “happy” were spoken with a much higher tune than the rest of the sentence.
Though still in shock with his character, I managed to observe him better. His brownish hair was short and spiky, pointing at every possible direction, eyebrows were thick and as black as coal and eyes were quite large. Surprisingly, there were bandages pasted all over his face, and a vertical permanent scar, of about five centimeters long, was visible across his left eye. Although he was of my height, his shoulders were way broader than mine, while his overall structure looked quite muscular.
“Here’s what you have to do, mate. The day after tomorrow, there will be a fireworks display at the beach, an annual event for summer. It is also a tradition for us to ask and accompany girls to that event. This is it! What are you waiting for? Go, make your move! NOW!” there he went again, yelling with all the volume his throat could afford. The weird thing was all his shoutings and yellings did not seem to attract attention from the whole class. Maybe he did that all the time, becoming a normal scene in the class. “Aye, the rest is up to you, mate. Best of luck, I bet you’ll need it. See you! “ and before I could respond, he was already off doing his so-called being-happy-during-summer responsibility.
“Fireworks eh…” stumbling across my mind. It was very obvious of who I was going to ask to the festival. I tried to stare at her again, but in vain. She was not at her seat. Eyes closed, sighing, frustration grew in me.
“Why did you keep looking me?” came a voice. Weird, it was quite familiar. I opened my eyes, only to be startled by the stern figure in front of me. It was Ayaa.
“Oh, Ayaa…It’s…It’s nothing…No big deal…”
Ayaa’s small eyes were focusing at me as I finished talking. The way she did this, at least for me, was pretty interesting; literally, the eyes looked fierce, being able to pierce through those who were weak-spirited, and I could feel the coldness surrounding them. At the same time, they proved to be very mysterious. Since the events where I broke her spectacles, I was already burning with curiosity to solve such mystery.
“You’d better be honest.”
“…Alright. I want to ask you to the fireworks festival, if that’s fine with you that is…” I said, though vividly. A partial comfort flew through me.
“When? Where?”
“The day after tomorrow. At the beach.”
The moment I spoke the word “beach”, Ayaa’s face turned pale again. Her once narrowed eyes grew large, as if being shocked by intense surprise while her lips started muttering unknown words. It was also then that I realised her whole body was shaking. What had I done wrong again?
“H…Hey, it’s okay if you don’t want to go. Just stay calm.” I said, now standing right in front of her, ready to take any possible means. From this distance, I could finally hear that she was mumbling the words “ayaka…beach…ayaka…” .
Then as soon as I tried to approach her closer, she moved, her back facing me and rushed to her seat. Upon reaching for her bag, she hurried out from the class. I was standing there, still trying to figure out what was wrong.
“Oh, sweet…” I sighed at myself.
The day for the fireworks festival finally arrived. I could not believe myself that I still prepared for today, although I knew that Ayaa could not possibly go to the festival with me. Perhaps it was a fool of me to ask her, though somehow, I did not regret it.
By the time I arrived at the beach, it was already crowded with people. Even some students who looked three to two years younger than me were walking in pairs. Annoyed, I tried to find look out for some stalls nearby and treated myself with a bowl of ramen. I even picked up a strawberry lollipop as dessert.
It did not take too long before there came announcements stating that the fireworks would start soon. I was more annoyed by this but there was still something that prevented me from just going home. I waited until almost everyone went to the seashore before I would follow up. Had I not checked three times, I would not believe my eyes either. There, at one corner of the stalls, stood a figure. Aye, it was Ayaa.
“…I thought you weren’t coming.” I said, as soon as I reached by her side.
She looked at me. Her eyes narrowed, and then faced the ground.
“I didn’t say I won’t come. It’s just…”
“Just what? Tell me!” I demanded, ignoring the outcome of my harsh attitude.
Now, she stared at me. She remained in such state for a few seconds before she started talking again. A funny idea of her trying to read my mind came across me.
“I don’t like coming to a beach.”
“Why?”
“Ayaka, my sister went missing at a beach.”
A feeling of deep compassion stirred in my stomach. Empathy was running wild deep within, I wanted so much to ease her pain, yet I was so helpless. She lost her parents, then her sister. Perhaps solitude was her one and only friend all this long.
“She used to work as a lifeguard at a beach. But after the 2004 tsunami incident, I no longer accept news from her. I fear so much that I would find her body at a beach. By staying away from coast, at least I can still hope for her survival, and if she really dies, the impact won’t be too powerful.”
“Running away, huh?”
She looked at me passionately as I finished speaking. Bit by bit, flares of anger built up on her expression.
“You were, are and will still run away from accepting your sister’s cruel fate! I thought you were strong when you saw through me the last time I broke your spectacles!”
She made gestures to lash back at me but I acted just before she could do that.
“I know I won’t understand. But I know the solitude that has been haunting you all this long! Accept the fate, not denying it. You’ll feel better.” I explained in an almost-yelling tone.
She said nothing. She was facing the ground and when I realised, there were some round, circular wet spots on the ground, increasing in amount with every passing seconds. She was crying, I presumed.
“Oh, sweet...Did I go too hard?” I scolded myself.
PEEE…BOOOM…PEEE…BOOOM…
Jolts of lights were shot and exploded into colourful sparks in the sky. The patterns they exploded into varied as well. Some looked like blossoming flowers, rising dragons while others, spiral spheres.
Amidst the show, I could see, though vividly, that Ayaa had stopped crying and was trying to enjoy the show. I reached my pocket for a spare strawberry lollipop and gave it to her.
“Here, take this. Stop crying, will you? You’re spoiling your pretty face.”
“Kite, have you grown tired of living?” she warned me, her whole expression went back to how it was supposed to be; cold and ominous. I could hear her fists tightened as I was going to joke further. The idea of how she defeated two gangsters all by herself sealed my mouth tightly.
“Oh, hey, may this humble me steal something from you?”
“What?” she questioned with such gaze that would petrify me.
Though hesitated for a while, I still said it.
“Your heart.”
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