I was dragging my feet as I approached Sora's house. Even though what Natalie said did surprise me, still I couldn't stop thinking of Sora. I was elated to see that he was standing outside his house staring into the distance.
"Sora!" I said as I ran towards him. The tiredness I felt from earlier suddenly gone.
He looked up at me with a brightened smile as I ran and crashed into him, his arms wrapping around me to keep us from tumbling over.
"Fumiko", he said softly in a low warm voice.
I rested my head on his chest for a moment before my face flushed red because I remembered that I had thought he had fallen for me.
"Um...Sora" I said pulling away from him. "There is something I want to ask you. How do you feel about me?"
Sora seemed to blink back at my question before tilting his head to the side and smiling.
"I think your a very nice person. You are always kind and you always seem so warm."
"Warm?" If I had heard someone else describe me those ways it would have been nothing, but hearing it from Sora surprised me.
"Sora your the kindness, warmest person I've ever known. I don't think I'm anywhere as nice as you."
His eyes seemed to gleam at my words and I blushed at what I had said.
I can't believe I said that....
I quickly used my hands to cover my burning cheeks.
"Fumiko" he began softly, "why are you suddenly curious about what I feel about you?" He said leaning towards me.
"Oh it's nothing" I said smiling and staring at the ground.
He stared at me for a moment before smiling lightly.
"So is everything alright with you.... I mean-"
"Yeah!" I quickly said cutting him off because I knew he was going to ask me about school and I was not ready to go into what Natalie had said told me.
He seemed a bit surprised by my quick response, but he only shook his head playfully and smiled.
"So Sora....how are you? - I mean what have you been doing?" I asked changing the topic.
"Oh me" He said scratching the side of his head. "I've just been tending to my crops. They're coming up beautifully"
"Oh really, I'd love to see them when they're harvested." I replied a little enthused at the thought of all those brightly colored vegetables.
"It takes a lot of hard work to get them looking the best, but in the end, the hard work pays off."
I smiled and tilted my head to the side at this.
"Really?"
"Yeah, when cultivating crops everything has to be right. Not only that but the crops have to be given a lot of attention." He continued.
"Sora, how do you know so much about farming?"
"My father always had a thing about it. He only approved of the best work and he always gave me such a hard time. Though I still did love working with him." He replied with a faint smile and a glimmer of distance in his eyes.
"Sora, do you miss him." I asked carefully not to unnecessarily upset him.
"Yeah" he said softly, his voice sounding a little bit broken.
Maybe I shouldn't have asked him about his father, he always seems so hurt whenever.....
Wait that's it! I think I understand now why he doesn't speak of him. He probably had a close relationship with his father and maybe even now he hasn't gotten over his death!
"Sora, did you love your father a lot?" I asked trying to get him to open up.
"I guess so." He said then he paused for a moment. "But I don't think he liked me."
I was taken a back greatly by what he had said that I had to have him clear it up. "Sora, how can you say that! Of course he loved you. You were his son and he must have cared deeply for you." I said in a criticizing voice, though that was not my intention.
"I don't think so. Whenever he looked at me, I could see in his eyes that he thought I was the greatest disappointment of his life." I saw the hurt deepen and grow in his eyes as he spoke.
"Sora" I said realising his pain. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, it's not your fault. I've always known that I was never good enough for him, that I was his greatest embarrassment as a son-" Sora's words came to a halt and I heard his voice crack and I saw tears form in his eyes.
"Sora" I whispered softly as I held onto him and buried my face in his chest. There was a moment of silence between us before I gently lifted my head to look into his eyes and that was when I realized just how bad he was hurting. Even though he said his father never liked him, I could see it in his eyes that he loved him very much.
He is still grieving over his father.
Well why wouldn't he? He is alone, so who would have consoled him.
There is one thing I got to learn over time is that when someone is hurting, the best thing to say is nothing. All the words meant to be said could be felt in a warm embrace.
I took in the silence that had fallen around us as I rested my head on his chest. I listened to the soft pounding of his heart as I felt his chest slowly raise and fall. His arms slowly wrapped themselves around me and I was pulled tighter into his embrace. In that moment I wished I could've stayed that way forever, it was so warm.
But we didn't, the sound of rain drops caused us to let go of each other. In that instant I searched his eyes for any inkling of sadness but I was surprised to see that there was none. There was a light smile on his face as he stared back at me and my cheeks blushed a bright colour of pink. My gaze on Sora was soon broken by the pelting rain around us and we ran onto the porch.
As we were sitting on the porch and watching the rain, something came to me.
"How am I going to get home!" I said realising my situation.
"You can't go yet. You'll just have to wait until the rain stops."
What! My parents will be furious!
"Fumiko, are you okay?" He asked turning to me. "You're shivering."
"What?"
"I guess it's because you were caught in the rain."
"So were you"
He stared at me for a moment before continuing "That's true, but let me get you a blanket."
"Don't worry, I wasn't soaked that badly."
"That's true, but I don't want you to get sick."
He got up and went inside and in moments he returned with a blanket. He wrapped it around me the way someone would a baby before sitting beside me again.
***
Time seemed to slowly drag on as the rain continued to beat down around us. Strangely I felt closer to Sora, and with each passing hour this comfort grew. I was now leaning on him while he was staring out into the rain silently. I yawned and cuddled up closer to him which seemed to have caught him off guard. He stared at me for a brief moment before looking back out into the rain. His eyes were so kind and gentle.
Just then the outdoor lights came on, confirming that it was indeed late. Then the worries I had from earlier returned, "Sora, do you think they'll be mad at me?"
"What?...why?" He asked suddenly turning his attention to me.
"This is going to be the third time I'm late from school."
"No, I don't think so." He said scratching the side of his head. "Are you alright?" He asked as he must have realized my mind had wandered off.
"You're always so nice to me and you've always shown me kindness, but all I've done is trouble you."
"Fumiko, what are you talking about?"
"Earlier this evening, when I upset you-"
"Oh, you're talking about that. You know I've never been able to talk about my father before, well not until I met you. Now it's not so bad."
His words made my heart leap, and for the first time I realized that I cared deeply for him. I smiled brightly at him before I felt a wave of tiredness flood my body. This was the tiredness I had suppressed all day during class and at tennis practice. I leaned over on Sora and rested the back of my head on his lap while staring up into his eyes. He seemed to be surprised by my actions, but I was too tired to care. He then gently wrapped his arms around me as my eyes drew shut. The last thing I remember before drifting off into sleep was this thought, " I think I have fallen for you, Sora."
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