Chapter 12-5 - To Bloom With You
5 - To Bloom With You
“Tadaa! Surprise invasion!” Yume said, barging into Kaito’s apartment. A month had passed, and Yume had finally arranged it so she could move in with her soulmate. She looked cheerful. And Kaito...looked pretty much the same.
“You’re finally here?!” Kaito asked. “I thought it’d take you another year or so.”
“Oh shut up, it took me a while to pack my stuff.” Yume complained. “I’m not a minimalist like you.”
“You think caring more about efficiency rather than aesthetics is a bad thing?” Kaito asked.
“I think that living in a gloomy place like this will mess you up.” Yume said. “That’s why I brought in some friends!”
She took an array of plushies out of one of her luggage bags. There was a small pink octopus, an orange fox, and a rather chunky white duck. She neatly lined them up on the floor.
“What do you think?” Yume asked with a smile.
“I think that these are the best things I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” Kaito said. “I think we should keep them.”
“Yay!” Yume cheered, hugging Kaito. “I’ll go check out your fridge, I’ll make you a dessert for lunch.” She said, before breaking off the embrace and running to the kitchen.
“You mean the one you told me about yesterday?”
“Yeah!”
“Isn’t it just ice cream with strawberries and apples?”
“Yeah!”
“Well, no one’s stopping you.” Kaito said, looking at the plushies. “I wonder how long she had these for...they look adorable.”
In the kitchen, Yume was surprised to find a whole box of vanilla ice cream, it made her happy. She took some of the strawberries from the bottom compartment of the fridge and washed them, positioning them neatly on the cutting board. She grabbed the knife, zoned out for a minute or so, and started cutting the berries.
“Yume, I need a movie suggestion.” She heard Kaito’s voice from the living room.
“Just pick whatever you like.” She replied, not taking her eyes off of the blade.
“I guess we could just watch some romance stuff.” Kaito said. “Something like a romcom...”
“I thought you didn’t like them.” Yume said.
“Well, it’s different when you’re watching them with a partner.”
“Hah, I guess that’s true.” Yume tried to smile. She slowly put the knife down, took a deep breath, and mixed up the ice cream with the berries. She forgot the apples, but it was okay. She brought the lunch to the living room.
“Here you go!” Yume said, putting the plate down on the table with a pair of spoons.
“Thanks.” Kaito smiled. “Ah, I think I forgot to buy the apples...could’ve sword I did though.”
“Ah, it’s my fault...I just forgot them...” Yume said, chuckling but also terrified. “Haha, never can get anything right...”
“It’s okay.” Kaito said. “Ah! I almost forgot!” Kaito said, rushing over to the door. In the meantime, Yume zoned out for a bit, probably blaming herself for messing up the dessert. Kaito returned with the three plushies and neatly positioned them on the couch he and Yume were sitting on.
“Doesn’t this just look adorable?” Kaito asked.
“It...kinda does.” Yume said.
And they started the movie day. This was the first time both of them skipped classes to spend time together, and it was one of the best decisions they’ve ever made. They cuddled up and watched movie after movie, criticizing, praising or outright ignoring them.
It was already evening outside, and after yet another movie ended, Yume spoke up.
“I thought of another poem.”
“Really?” Kaito almost jumped up, excited.
“Yeah.” Yume said, clearing up her throat.
“To see the sky being painted pitch black,”
“Disguised as despair, so cruel and bleak”
“I wonder, if I wrap myself with the fallen night,”
“Can it comfort me, like I wish the sun did?”
“That’s...actually pretty thought provoking.” Kaito said. “It’s a bit dark though.”
“Well, we just watched a pretty sad movie.” Yume said. “It kinda inspired me.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Fair enough.” Kaito said. “Speaking of which, I know you don’t really like talking about them, but...are you seeing any traction on your online posts?”
“The poems? Nah, nothing at all.” Yume sighed. “I’m not surprised, to be honest. Ugh, I always hated sharing poetry anyways.” She giggled a little. “I only like sharing it with you.”
“It doesn’t really make sense though.” Kaito said. “Your poems are nice. Why aren’t they successful already? I’d rather read those than whatever is filling up the front page on those forums.”
“Well, that’s you.” Yume said. “It’s fine. I’m used to the fact that everyone hates me.”
“Hey, it’s not really about hate, is it?” Kaito said, gently caressing her hair. Yume, in return to the gesture, snuggled closer to Kaito like a cat.
“Well, it is the truth.” Yume said. “I’ve already told you about how my stepdad was a piece of shit, how my mom almost locked me into a psych ward, and how I’ve been on the receiving end of mockery pretty much my whole life. It’s fine. Like I said, I’m used to that fact.”
“Hey, none of that will ever happen to you, okay?” Kaito assured her.
“And why is that?”
“Because I’m with you now.” Kaito kissed her on the forehead.
“Ah...I see.”
“If someone tried being mean to you, I’d probably kill them.” Kaito said, holding Yume a little tighter. “No one is saying anything to my adorable little poet.”
“Hah, knock it off...” Yume said, blushing a little. “You’d have to kill quite a lot of people in that case. Ugh, all of those comments saying I’m just typing random words or that I’m onto nothing...”
“Grass and flowers, Yume.” Kaito said. “Or stars and planets, or...whatever version of the idea works best.”
“Ugh, I wish there wasn’t any grass at all...” Yume yawned. “I think the world would be better off without any grass.”
“Maybe it would for people like us.” Kaito said.
“Huh...”
“Just imagine, not being hated, or resented, or...left alone.” Yume sighed, a little sadder this time.
“You just want to listen to me ramble about philosophy, don’t you?” Kaito chuckled.
“And what if I do? I like hearing your voice.” Yume said, snuggling even closer. “It makes me feel safer.”
They stayed like that for a while longer. They watched another movie, they ate some more snacks, they cuddled and talked about both nonsense and smart stuff alike. They just...spent time with each other.
“Yume...” Kaito said, as the two were in the middle of indulging in yet another film.
“What is it?”
“I’m just...happy to be with you.” He said.
“I’m overwhelmingly happy. It’s like every single moment is filled with color...and that color is you.”
“In an otherwise pointless world, you gave me my purpose.”
“And I’ll never be able to express how grateful I am for that.”
“Truth is...”
“These weeks, I’ve lived more than I had for the rest of my life.”
“I really, really, really love you, Yume.”
“Hah...where’s that coming from?” Yume asked, but she wasn’t smiling this time. She appeared zoned out.
“From the bottom of my soul.” Kaito said.
“I wish this moment would last forever.”
“Actually, I don’t. It’ll take away from all the better moments that we’ll experience together.”
“Really?” Yume said, feeling emotional. “You don’t...hate me?”
“How could I ever hate you?”
“I think there’s something wrong with me, and that’s why everyone hates me.” Yume said. “And if that trait of mine annoys you, you’ll hate me too...I’m...really being a bother right now, aren’t I?”
“I don’t think that you’re a bother, Yume.” Kaito said. “And no, your pain doesn’t annoy me. It makes me want to be there for you even more.”
“I...” Yume laughed to herself. “You talked about building a future with me, and yet here I am, unable to even look at plushies without thinking about doing bad things...”
“I can describe the future I envision us having in even greater detail.” Kaito said.
“Really...?”
“Yes.” Kaito said. “We’ll get our academics done, we’ll start making good money...you’ll make it as a poet, too. We’ll live in a nice house, we’ll have a nice wedding that only we would attend, haha...and we’d maybe even have a family.”
“Yeah, I remember...we did talk about it...” Yume smiled a little.
“I always wondered what it’d be like to raise a son.” Kaito pondered out loud. “I think despite our issues, we’d try our hardest to be good parents.”
“Hah, you’re right...I don’t even know if my child would love me, but...” Yume shifted her gaze to Kaito. “At least I hope you do.”
She kissed him.
He kissed her back, and they expressed their love for each other with almost primal passion.
...
Kaito woke up alone in his bed. He sat up straight and stretched a little.
“It was...an incredible night.”
“I know for sure that my attraction to her isn’t limited to her heart, but also her body and her appearance.”
“She hid her scars with bandages, I assume she is ashamed of them.”
“Yume...?” He called out. A few seconds of silence later, Yume came to the bedroom.
“Good morning...I thought I’d try making breakfast.” Yume said with a sad smile.
“Did you...enjoy what happened?”
“I did.” Yume replied. “I know you did too. Hey, maybe I’m not so worthless after all. Ah! The breakfast!” Yume rushed to the kitchen.
Kaito smiled.
“You gotta stop with the self-deprecating jokes, Yume.”
“Are we gonna skip classes today too?” Kaito asked, getting out of bed and dressing up. “Or should we not play around with the attendance rate too much...”
He didn’t hear a response, he went to the kitchen and saw Yume deep in thought about something.
“Hm? What do you think?”
“Ah, sorry, I’m still a bit foggy from yesterday.” Yume said. “Yeah, we can go. I think we should go.”
“Alright then. The route from here takes about twenty minutes by foot, so we can walk there easily.” Kaito said.
“Sure!” Yume tried to smile.
They continued to bloom further and further. The same types of conversations, the slightly different but similar activities, the fun and passionate nights and the busy and thoughtful days...Kaito’s passion for Yume only increased as time went on. And Yume’s own feelings...