One hour later"Sumire, if you keep staring, I"ll get embarra.s.sed."
"S-sorry. ."
How embarra.s.sing getting caught. But she peers over, isn"t it alright for a bit? It seems like he"s changed quite a bit since the last time.
"You"re still doing it.." Yuhi trails off. The brunette thought that he would be more embarra.s.sed, and yet that"s not what happened. Her violet orbs went wide as he s.h.i.+fted closer.
"Hus-" Her sentence fell short when he leaned down and touched her cheek with the palm of his hand.
"Sumire."
"Yeah…?"
His face is so close to her; it"s difficult to remain calm like this.
"Now that we"ve met, I finally realize how long I haven"t seen you."
Uwaa, is he serious? Is that why he"s touching her? Even though it"s only on her cheek, he is still touching her. But still, such an action is so unlike him. She"s speechless here.. What kind of face does she make? Sumire didn"t know, so she kept her head low.
After a while, Yuhi noticed and drew his hand back from her face. "Uh, was that too forward of me?!
"Moron. Now you realize? My heart completely stopped there."
She almost thought that he was going to kiss her. Yuhi seemed embarra.s.sed, too, but he smiles, "I--wouldn"t do anything like kissing you in public. N--no it"s not like I don"t want to kiss you, in fact, I do but. . ."
What is he saying? Rather don"t just go admitting things like that.
"If you"re going to be embarra.s.sed about the action, shouldn"t you be embarra.s.sed about admitting it too?"
"Your right."
He really is foolish.
"But, it can"t be helped, can it? Right now, I"m displaying signs of jealousy."
Eh-- wait, did he say what she thought she did? He"s sly! Really sly, this person really is sneaky.
"Sumire, I won"t kiss you, but at least let me hold your hand."
"That"s equally as bad. .." she murmurs and yet extends her hand out to him. He"s too sly and yet she finds herself relaxing as she leaned on to his shoulder, "Let me rest for a bit. I"m tired, husband.!
She"s so tired; she"s exhausted. In order not to let Yuhi worry, she"s made sure that it doesn"t show on her face. But in reality, she"s been feeling so very drained. Now that they have time for themselves. Sumire knew she could no longer hide things from her husband.
"Now who is doing things that are bad for the heart? Gee, you are filled with contradictions today, wife."
Sumirr chuckles, "Should a person like yourself be the one telling me that?"
"Your right, I"m not worthy."
They remain that way for a few minutes before she spots something from the corner of her eyes. "Isn"t that the diary?" Sumire asked. Sticking out of Yuhi"s bag was a lilac-colored diary. Sumire came up with this activity when she noticed the strain between her daughter and husband"s relations.h.i.+p.
"Yeah."
Sumire noted how Yuhi casually tried to slip the diary away. But Sumire quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed it, her eyes widened, horrified when she read the contents. Ahhh! She should have known. Oh, Lilchan...
"Yuhi, not so fast. I can"t let you go so easily now that you know my secrets.."
They ended up sitting beside each other on the bench. "Well, then, Yuhi."
"Hm?"
"You didn"t even tell me even though you knew. I think that"s cruel of you."
"That"s why I came with you earlier. I wanted to advise Lila write about herself in today"s entry. More importantly, you could have checked your daughter"s diary more subtly, couldn"t you?"
"I obviously can"t do that," she trailed off when she saw the expression on his face
"The real reason?"
Is he that dense? Why on earth does she have to say it? Geez.
"If I looked, I"d be troubled is why."
"By what? Are you not going to give me a reason after lecturing me?" Yuhi questioned. By this point, she was already fidgeting uncontrollably. "If you don"t tell me I"ll spread a rumor, that back then you"d practice kissing me whenever I was sleeping..--"
Sumire shoots up then clearly fl.u.s.tered not because of the threat but because of the words that left her lips right after she got up, "How could I possibly look at something that exposes how much you love me?" she exclaimed. Even for her reading, something like this is too much.
"That"s exactly right. Did you not check the entry? Last time I wrote about your scent and stuff. .."
"Gee! Don"t say anymore!"
She didn"t want to see it, didn"t want to see how warmly he thinks of her even now. A year has pa.s.sed since she came back. But Sumire is still adjusting to everything; she left for so long. To see her husband still so devoted and madly in love with her after so long.
Sumire felt happy and yet uncomfortable at the same time. Why does this person care so much about her, even now? It made little sense to her. No matter how much she wracks her head about it, nothing comes to mind. Whenever she is with this person, she loses all sense of rationality.
"I"m the worst," Sumire mumbles, "I"m pleased that even now you love me so much, Yuhi. But I"m not able to properly respond to your feelings right now. I-- "m. ."
"Still afraid."
"Still lonely."
The years she spent away from Yuhi damaged her mentality. Even though everybody has welcomed her back. Sumire understood the damage of her actions.
Yuhi reached over and grabbed hold of her arm, "It"s fine, I"m sorry Sumire. I know your heart hasn"t been able to move on from that day. You may hide it from the others, but - the others, and I can tell that you"re still thinking of him. I have absolutely no intention of rus.h.i.+ng you. I want you to know that my feelings aren"t going to change. Please feel free to leave me if you ever don"t need me anymore."
Sumire shook her head; the tears streamed down from her eyes. "What are we doing? Lilchan will lecture me again."
His lips curve into a smile, "Yeah, she will do the same with me too."
There were plenty of other occasions where he could have easily broken the boundary between the two of them. Yet never once has he taken such an action. Even though she gave him plenty of opportunities to do so. To test him? Or to test herself.
Sumire was never really sure, and even now, it"s something that remains unanswered.
Yuhi merely smiles at her, "Relax, do you know how favorably I view our current situation? I can dispel your unease and get you to fall in love with me all over again. The situation isn"t that bad."
Really he"s a fool. But she"s always liked it, his smile and the warmth that comes from his kisses. Completely different than person and yet she likes it, her violet-colored orbs softened. "You know, Yuhi, I did read a bit," she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his neck. Her favorite scent, and the words he wrote. All of it is overlapping, "I love you, even if the whole world were to fall apart. I"d follow you everywhere to the end of time and beyond it.."
"Mmm, cheesy enough for you?"
"You"re very foolish."
But she is so happy.