It’s already half past 18, so I won’t bother her with my thoughts about Inami after all. She also got her belongings ready, she wasn’t paying attention to her phone so her father texted Inami, who in turn texted me and said that he’ll come to pick her up soon, so instead I’ll brew some tea for us and leave a tiny bit for Kai¹.

“He drinks it but I have no clue whether he actually likes it, I just give him a bit so he keeps me company.”

While drinking our tea I see a familiar shape coming from the path that comes from the bar. No wait, it’s two.
“Sup.”
“Good evening, Rori.”
It’s Inami and Kei’s father.
“Tch,” Kei doesn’t seem too happy. Her father just lets out a sad sigh but doesn’t say anything to her.
“Good evening, Rollo. Sup, Inami. Good thing that I made a lot of tea, I didn’t think you’d come together!”
Inami looks intrigued, “is this the one you were experimenting with?”
Right, I told her when I first tried it. “It is, and it’s got Kei’s seal of approval.”
Kei confirms with a shaka sign from her left hand while still drinking her tea.
“Let’s see, mhh… oh yes, it’s great. Good job, Rori.”
I’m awaiting Rollo’s response since he’s a chef and probably has the most developed sense of taste of us all. “Yes, the sweet taste of jasmine and the hint of rosemary in the lavender are a good match, it’s good!”
Yes! I’m stoked to see them all enjoying it.
I can feel Inami’s grin, “look at him and that proud, dumb, smug face, you sure like to be praised.”
“Teehee~”
Kei is looking at me, still with her cup close to her lips, speaking in her monotone voice, “so that’s how it is, ehh…?”
“Aw, come on, I’m not that aching to get some praise…”
“Mhh, I’m not talking about that. Well, whatever,” she chugs what’s left of her tea and stands up. “Dad, let’s go. We need to talk.”
He rushes to grab her backpack, “y-yes! Rori, thank you for being good to Kei!”
“You’re welcome, she’s been great to have around!”
Kei points her finger at me, “you ain’t getting rid of me, we’ll meet again, and I’m gonna ask a lot of questions about bikes~”
Well, it looks like she set foot into the rabbit hole. “Right, right. See you then, and… be good to your father.”
“Okay mom.”
And with that they leave, holding their hands almost as if nothing ever happened. They might be dumb, the crybaby father and the runaway daughter, but-
“They sure are fond of each other, despite all of that,” Inami was thinking the same thing, with a pleased yet slightly nostalgic look on her face.
“Yeah, I could tell. She’s annoyed by her father and she makes sure to let everyone know about it, but she never made it sound like she hates him. They just need to find a mutual understanding.”
She sips more of the tea and points her eyes across the lake, like most of us do when we seek answers, “and maybe learn more about the other. I wonder if they ever tried to.”
Learning more about the other. I guess there are many things I don’t know about many of the people around me. I know a lot about my friends, but my small circle of friends is a tiny part of the people I know. Be at the office, at the grocery store, in the neighborhood, everywhere. I never had much interest in their lives, but that’s pretty normal after all. But Inami, she’s not just like anyone else, it’s clear now that I want to know more about her, and I keep repeating it to myself until I manage to take the first step. The problem is that getting there doesn’t feel as easy as the realization of my feelings, maybe it’s the introversion, maybe the anxiety. Even with that, I still want to find a way to push through my fear.
Inami get the thermal bag she had with her. “Maybe it’s a bit sooner than what you’re used to, but I think we might want to eat them while they’re still warm”. Of course, she’s talking about pizza.

We get the table ready in a second, I wasn’t feeling hungry until she reminded me about the pizza. She made four small ones instead of one for each, so we get to eat different kinds and have some leftovers for breakfast if we somehow manage to resist eating them all. The one I asked for is a salmon margherita (in the end I went for a simple one) and there won’t be leftovers. She cut them all into four pieces so we can share, which is kinda the whole point of making four different ones. Hers are one with radicchio and sausage, and another one with corn, potatoes, ham, and zucchini; then another one for me with mushrooms, speck, and rucola, all things that I love.
We spent the whole time talking about the day and getting her up to speed about how things went with Kei, how Kane tried to hit on her, the lunch, and how I accidentally managed to get her interested in motorcycles, until we can’t eat anymore.
“Man, I’m stuffed! Mhh, to think she had her worries too, ehh? She always seemed so determined to me, like nothing could stop her. But it’s good that she’s made up her mind now, I knew you were the best person for this.”
I’m glad that she thinks this highly of me. “You sure trust me a lot.”
She smiles back at me, with her special, warm, soft smile that I love so much, before opening her mouth. “You’re the one person I trust the most.”
It’s not the kind of reply I was expecting from someone like her. I thought she would make one of her deadpan jokes and fail at it, or just confirm it like any other friend would. Something like that is not something I can respond to easily.
“Hey, I don’t wanna go back home tonight, and my sister will be at the café tomorrow morning. Could you let me stay the night? Only if you can, of course, I only got a blanket.”
This one too, ain’t easy to answer, but this time she’s waiting for my reply. “I hope the blanket and mattress will be enough, I’ll take the sleeping bag.”
Her soft smile turns into her bright one. “Sounds good! Thanks, Rori!”

It’s getting a bit chilly, it’s about time I make a small fire, it’s only a matter of lighting up the wood I had already prepared.
I give Inami the chair I got from Kane, Kai jumps on my lap, and we keep chatting about the day. I told her about the book I read today, and she told me how her family took over the café for this night and tomorrow morning.
Her younger sister works at a pastry shop in the city, I see her once in a while, especially when I have guests over; her parents instead live in a small town on the opposite side of the lake, Inami moved out before she opened the café and lives at her grandma’s house in the same town since she inherited it. I don’t know much about her parents besides that they’re very cheerful and love their daughters.
“What gave your family the idea to take over the café?”
She chuckles a bit, “Noemi’s shop is closed for a couple of days, and my parents don’t work on weekends. They’re both teachers, by the way.”
“…That must’ve been rough.”
“Haha, not really! My mom teaches in a kindergarten, and my father is a technology teacher in middle school¹, they’re pretty chill.”
Well, that is something more about her, I’m making progress after all. Since we’re talking about her family I tell her about mine, how my parents come over for lunch once in a while during the weekend because they miss me, about my mischievous younger twin siblings, and even the small things like how I’m the only cat person in the whole family. We keep going like this for a bit, moving from our family to our friends.

“Hey, did we ever have a long chat like this before?”
“Mhh, nope, don’t think we ever did.”
“Well, I’m glad we’re doing this, then.” Her gaze is pointed straight towards the lake, once again, but I can see clearly her face, her soft smile too, even warmer than the fire that’s lighting her up. She can’t hide it from me anymore.
“Let’s not stop here, then.”

I make some more tea and we talk about our past, our childhoods, our plans and interests. It’s so much fun, and it makes me so happy to finally get to know more about her. We get to midnight in a breeze, I only noticed because I glanced at my phone to find a goodnight message from my mom. That’s when I got an idea.

“Hey, let’s wake up early tomorrow, there’s a place I want to show you.”
“Yeah, sure!”

6:15 in the morning, my watch’s vibrating. Time to get up.
I get out of my sleeping bag and tap Inami’s shoulder until she gets up. “Hey.”
She stretches out and lets out a yawn. “Ngh… yaaawn. Hey, Rori.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Sure, this thing is comfy. You?”
“Me too. Let’s go.”

The sun’s not rising yet. I get Kai in his bag and give Inami her sister’s helmet. It’s the first time I let Inami ride with me, we never had a chance before.
I never went through this road this early. The light of the blue hour manages to make the woods even more magical. We’re not using communicators, but it’s not like we can find any words to say. It’s one of the few times I wish this bike was quieter so that I could hear more of the nature around me.
We go past the Dayglow, in one of the rare moments when I can see it without any of its bright lights. From there I take the same road I came from yesterday.

“You know, I never actually went to this road before, I always take the highway to get to the city.”
“It’s perfect then, it’s gonna be a surprise.”

We get past the fields, the rooftops, and the sea, still speechless, close to the end of the blue hour. We’ll make it in time.
After a bit of riding, we get to the lavender field. “I guess you’ve never been there, right?”
“I didn’t know a place like this was so close. It’s beautiful.”

We walk together through the path, Inami is looking all around, still surprised. The fragrance of the flowers and the sound of the wind are getting stronger as we get closer. We arrive to the benches and I get us some biscuits from the vending machine. Should be about time.
It’s cold so we’re sitting close, our arms touching, not on the benches but on the table to overcome the fence. We look at the horizon, crunching our biscuits, as the sun starts rising before us, warming up the fields with its light, somehow making the smell of lavender stronger than ever, and taking us into a new day in a breathtaking show of lights and shadows. This moment could last forever, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
I look at Inami, but she can’t take her eyes off the scene before us. I, too, can’t take my eyes off her beautiful face. It’s only when the sun has fully risen up that she manages to snap out of its hypnosis.
She finally looks back at me with her soft smile, but this time it’s different. It’s even warmer, even happier, even more honest, and as charming as it can get. She’s not trying to hide it. “Thank you, Rori.”
She gets up and goes towards the fence to gaze over the horizon a bit more, until she turns to face me again. I still can’t stop looking at her, she’s still smiling like before, looking at me with her joyful eyes, right into mine. The embrace of the smell of lavender gets stronger than ever, to the point that even the deepest waters pale in comparison. That’s when she holds out her hand to me as she speaks with the sweetest voice, “I’ve been in love with you for the longest time.”

I haven’t said a word since we set foot in the field, and after this there’s no way I can find the right ones, nor can I get the air I would need to let them out. I’ve been trying to sort out my feelings about her since yesterday, but at this moment it feels like I’ve always been trying to understand them for who knows how long. I hold her hand without thinking twice, still full of insecurities, but right now I have no doubts that this is what I want from the bottom of my heart.

“We’ve been so close yet so distant, I want more. I want to know everything about you, Inami. Will you wait for me, until I have an answer to my feelings?”
I feel her fingers intertwining with mine, “only if you promise to take me here again.”
It’s such a silly condition, she’s joking even at a moment like this. “Pff! Yeah, I can do that!”

1. Be careful with the amount of tea you give to your pets, they might develop caffeine toxicity with smaller amounts of caffeine than a human. Green tea and white tea have very little, almost negligible caffeine and are safe in small amounts. Do your own research, though.

2. “Technology” in secondary education in Sogna (and Italy) is a subject that comprises teaching about industrial sciences and technical drawing.

Licensed under Yozakura BY-NC-SA-NoAI 1.0