Episode 12: Kuchizuke

[Hayate]

Power of Love

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~ Episode 12: Kuchizuke (Kiss) ~[/u]

Act 1: A Kiss’s Meaning

New Chitose Airport.

Monday morning.

Kyosuke stands before Miyako at the center of the terminal building. He was seeing her off as promised. To Miyako’s side was a small bag she had brought with her to Sapporo. To Kyosuke’s side…was Emiri. Despite the boisterousness of the noises that clouded the air, it was deafeningly quiet as far as these three were concerned. “It was great seeing you again, Kyosuke.”, Miyako starts, being the first to break the silence. “If you’re ever in Miyako-jima again, be sure to look me up, ‘kay?”

“You got it.”, replies Kyosuke with a grin.

Then, meeting Emiri eye-to-eye, Miyako bares her pearly whites in a widened smirk. “I leave Kyosuke in your capable hands, Emiri. Try not to run him too ragged, okay? Hee-hee!”

In response to the brown-haired girl’s remark, Emiri’s face flushes with pink. “S-Sure.”

Over the airport intercom, a grainy male voice suddenly announces, “Flight 107 for Miyako-jima is now boarding. I repeat, Flight 107 for Miyako-jima is now boarding.”

Picking up her bag and propping it over her shoulder, Miyako places her other hand firmly on her hip. “Well, that’s me. Mata ne, futari tomo.” Then, after motioning to the two an ‘until-we-meet-again’ wink, she turns around and walks in the direction of her appointed flight terminal.

As Kyosuke watches Miyako depart, taking pleasure in watching her long brown hair sway from side to side, an earnest smile appears on his face. Miyako’s words from the day before echo in the annals of his memory.

‘You and I’ll only ever be friends, and I’m perfectly fine with that.’

Though the boy would never admit it, he often wondered what would happen if he and Miyako became more than just friends. But that didn’t matter now. After all, Miyako wasn’t the one Kyosuke chose.

A short time later, Kyosuke and Emiri board the train bound for Kita-ku. This being the Golden Week holiday, they were on vacation from school, and were no doubt looking forward to spending their vacation time goofing off. However, for the duration of the train ride, the two would remain eerily silent. Neither spoke. Whenever one would turn to face the other, the other would simply look away. Ever quiet, ever distant.

The peculiar silence between the two would persist all the way to the point in Kita-ku at which their paths home branched off from one another. Kyosuke goes right while Emiri heads left. “…” Just then, the redheaded girl was fed up with the silence. Turning to face her rear, she calls out, “Kyosuke!”

Her voice being a sort-of wake up call for him, Kyosuke stops in his tracks and faces her. “…Yeah?”

Emiri twiddles her thumbs as she attempts to put her thoughts into words. “Um… What happened in the park yesterday…”

“!!!” Of course. How could Kyosuke forget? The fateful kiss.

“It was so…incredible that I…I kept telling myself it was all just a dream… But it wasn’t a dream, was it…? …It was real…” As she spoke, the girl’s cheeks flush deep-red.

“…” His head lowering ever slightly, Kyosuke pockets his hands. “…Yeah… It was…”

Then came the silence again. Emiri’s heart was racing at practically 3 beats per second. How would she tell Kyosuke she was falling in love with him? Would he return her affections? The uncertainty was unbearable. “…” Then comes the sound of footsteps. “…?” Looking up, Emiri sees Kyosuke standing just a few feet away. “K-Kyosuke!”

“…You wanna go out and do something tomorrow, Emiri?”, he suddenly asks her.

“Ara?” It was a rather out-of-the-blue question from the girl’s point of view. “Y-You’re asking me out…on a date?”

“Sure. Is that…weird?”

“N-No, not at all! I-I mean, of course! I’d love to go out with you, Kyosuke!”

Emiri’s answer brightens Kyosuke’s face. “Awesome. …I’ll swing by your place at noon, alright?”

“Y-Yeah, okay…” With Kyosuke’s back turned to her, Emiri’s heartbeat accelerates even further. It took all off her willpower to keep herself from fainting. ‘Oh, wow! He asked me out! On an actual date! And I didn’t have to bribe him or blackmail him or nothing! He must really like me! …Our first real date… Shimatta! The hell am I gonna wear!?’ Spinning rapidly to her rear, Emiri departs for home.

Some time later… “HAHAHAHAHA!!!” College girl Satsuki can be seen laughing her ass off, holding her sides in pleasurable pain and frantically kicking her feet. Whatever she had just been told must’ve been truly amusing. “Say it again! Say it again!”, exclaims the blue-haired girl, short of breath.

Standing just a few feet away, Kyosuke gives the laughing girl a rather annoyed look. “Is it that unbelievable?”

“C’mon! Say it again!”

“…I asked Emiri out on a date…”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Exaggerated veins pop all over the boy’s forehead. “It’s not that funny!”, he shouts in anger.

Wiping away her laughter-induced tears, Satsuki looks over at Kyosuke from the couch. “Ahhh… Gomen, Kyosuke. It’s just something I didn’t expect to hear. I mean, you of all people asking a girl out on a date?”

“…Hmph.” Saying nothing else, Kyosuke crosses his arms and leans against a wall.

“Heh.” Rising to her feet, Satsuki approaches the lad and places a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “Gomen ne. I didn’t mean to laugh. I really am happy for you, Kyosuke. I’m glad you’re showing such initiative by asking this girl out. It’s a sign that you’re growing up. …You really like her, don’t you?”

“…” The boy looks over and meets her eye-to-eye, expressing to her an indirect ‘yes’.

“Good. Glad to see you found the answer you were looking for. …I’d better get an invite to the wedding, ‘kay? Hehehe.”

“…Urusai.”

Meanwhile, over at the Sakurai house, a different brand of tension was rising. Emiri is seen sitting beside the bed in her room. On top of her bed sheets were assorted articles of clothing. “Argh!!!”, the redhead can be heard groaning while ruffling her hair. “Come on, Emiri, think!” She picks up a shirt, jumps in front of her closet mirror, and holds it out in front of her. The shirt itself was a generic white shirt adorned with a large red heart. “…Nah!” Another reject, Emiri thought, as she tosses the shirt aside. “Maybe…this one!” Jumping in front of her mirror again, Emiri holds out a light-blue crop top that, if worn, would expose her midriff. “Hmm… Too ‘valley girl’.” Tossing this shirt aside as well, Emiri gazes at herself in the mirror. “I can’t believe this is happening. Feels like just the other day I was palling around with Kyosuke, and now I’m turning my closet upside down trying to pick out something to wear for our date? I feel so silly right now…” The girl couldn’t help but laugh at herself and this sudden change in her attitude.

Just then, who should pop inside the redhead’s room but her darling little sister Ayumu? “Hey, Emi-nee!” spouts the pink-haired brat as she enters. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Ayu-nee! Don’t you know how to knock!?”

Paying her sister’s fit of anger no mind, Ayumu looks around and finds a multitude of clothes scattered across the room. “Ahhh… Got a hot date tomorrow with Kyosuke?”

“That’s none of your business! Now get out of my room!”

“Jeez, why so defensive? …So did you kiss him yet!?”

“!!!”

“…Hehehe… Yappari…”

“…” Glancing back towards the mirror, Emiri gazes at her reflection. “…It’s our first real date… I mean, it’s not like we haven’t hung out together, just the two of us… But when I think of us going on a real date, I get so nervous that I can’t think straight… It’s like the kiss changed everything between us…”

“Hehehe. That’s kinda what a kiss is supposed to do, Emi-nee. Sure you were best buds before, but once you share a kiss, things are never the same. But just ‘cuz they won’t be the same doesn’t mean they won’t be better. Ne?”

“…You sound just like Chiaki.”, Emiri jokes with a short giggle. “…Arigatou, Ayu-nee.”

“Ah, whatever! Just don’t blow it, ‘kay? Unless you wanna be lonely your whole time! Hahaha!”

“Why, you-- Aah!” Before the redhead could dish out revenge for her sister’s remark, one of her shirts comes into contact with her face…

…courtesy of Ayumu herself. “Hahahaha!” Having had her fun, the girl with pink hair swiftly departs from the room.

“Grrrr… That little…! I oughta… Huh?” But before contemplating any payback just yet, Emiri takes a second look at the shirt Ayumu had thrown at her, holding it out before her while posing in front of the mirror. “…Hmm! Not bad!”

…The next day, just a couple minutes before noon, there’s a bit of a spring of Kyosuke’s step as he makes the trek towards Emiri’s home. There had apparently bit a considerable change in his attitude as well. Not at all a bad change, but even Kyosuke himself found it a little humorous. As he makes his final approach to the Sakurai home’s front door, the boy exhibits actions customary to what a guy does before his first date: straightening his attire, tidying his hair, making sure his breath doesn’t smell, etc. Now having reached the front door, Kyosuke breathes in deeply and slowly exhales his held breath. Finally, reaching out his left arm, he rings the bell.

Behind the door, a voice calls out, “H-Hai! Be right there!” Kyosuke hadn’t paid enough attention to determine who the voice belonged to; it could’ve been Emiri, Ayumu, or their grandmother as far as he knew.

As the door swings open, Kyosuke – with his head absentmindedly turned away – says, “Hey, Ayumu. Is Emiri ready--” But, as the kid would then discover, it wasn’t Ayumu who answered the door this time…but Emiri herself. “--yet?”

Standing before Kyosuke was his redheaded date in all her tomboyish beauty. She wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt that exposed her shoulders, a light-blue knee-length skirt with dark-blue trim, and heeled sandals that showed off her elegantly small feet. “…Um…H-Hey, Kyosuke.”, Emiri shyly greets.

The girl’s attire accompanied by her loveliness had thrown Kyosuke for a loop. The color red overtakes his face once again, but he makes no effort in hiding his blush. “…Wow… Emiri, you look…amazing…”

“!!!” It was then Emiri’s turn to blush. She never pegged Kyosuke as the kind of guy to dish out compliments, so it was only natural for her to be embarrassed. “…T-Thank you, Kyosuke…”

“OI!!!”, a certain pink-haired girl spouts as she pops in. “Are you two gonna go out or are you just gonna make goo-goo eyes at each other all day!?”, Ayumu blurts out with a cat-like grin.

“Shut it, ‘pinky’!”, Kyosuke and Ayumu snap in unison.

In spite of the day’s less-than-graceful kickoff, Kyosuke and Emiri managed to enjoy each other’s company long enough to have fun on their date.

Their first stop was the maid café they had gone to on their ‘faux date’ several months prior. Fortunately, Kyosuke wouldn’t be covered in confections this time around.

Then came watching the cherry blossoms bloom in the sakura fields of Hokkaido Shrine. The multitude of petal colors was a pleasing sight for both boy and girl.

Later came a walk along the Toyohira River pier. With their arms interlocked, the couple found pleasure in enjoying the sights that the pier had to offer (and ice cream cones).

Some number of hours later, what better way to wrap up the day than with a gorgeous view of the sunset from a hillside overlook? As the gentle spring breeze blows, Emiri’s and Kyosuke’s eyes meet in a heartfelt gaze. And there, beneath the budding stars, they embrace as their lips make contact.

“…Thanks for today, Kyosuke.”, says Emiri to Kyosuke, the two now standing on the front porch of the Sakurai house. “I had a wonderful time.”

“Yeah. Ore mo.”, replies the black-haired lad.

Then, rising up on tiptoe, Emiri leans in towards Kyosuke, expressing her gratitude with a brief yet fond kiss. Just then…

CLICK!

…That’s the sound Kyosuke and Emiri hear as they were having their moment. Turning to face the door, they see Ayumu standing in the doorway…holding a camera. “Awww! Kawaii ne! Hahaha!”

“Ayumu!” Their precious moment thus ruined, Emiri angrily chases her bratty sister into the house.

Before walking away, Kyosuke chuckles at this comical display. With that, the boy pockets his hand and departs, satisfied with the day he and Emiri had shared. Not even the tirade Satsuki would inevitably give him when he walked in through the front door of his house would be enough to get him down. For that was the beauty of…

…l’amour.

~Kuchizuke: End of Act 1~

Act 2: The Perfect Couple

Sapporo South High School.

The Monday after Golden Week.

Within the tranquil walls of Class 7-A, homeroom teacher Kozue Natsushima is heard giving an English lecture to her students. Before her, the students themselves take notes. Even as he sat there motionless in his window-adjacent seat, Kyosuke is seen writing in his notebook as well. With a meager yet content smile on his face, no less.

Sitting just a couple of feet to the boy’s rear, Emiri jots down bits and pieces of her dear teacher’s lecture along with the rest of her classmates. The week that had just passed was one she’d remember for as long as she lived. Emiri had spent the majority of her vacation time in Kyosuke’s company. The two had planned to tell their friends the news during lunch; however, through some twist of fate…

“…Hmm? Nanbara? Emiri-chan?”

“Oh! M-Misuzu!”

“Surprised to see you out amongst the living, Nanbara! Hahaha!”

“…Very funny…”

“So what are you two doing here?”

“Uh… W-We’re just…out for a walk! Hehehe…!”

“…Wait… Don’t tell me you two are on a date!!!”

“…Aw, crap…”

…And the rest was history. Knowing Misuzu, she likely spilled the beans to the other members of their little clique at first given chance. “…Hmm?” Glancing downward, the red-haired Emiri sees Chiaki – sitting directly in front of her – pass her a folded-up note. Inconspicuously seizing the note, Emiri opens it up and reads the following:

‘so, is it true? you and Kyo are really an item now?’

Apparently, Emiri’s suspicions were right on the money. No sense in keeping it a secret anymore, the girl thought. After writing on the slip of paper Chiaki had handed to her, Emiri hands it back.

‘yup’

Chiaki could barely contain her excitement, as both Kyosuke and Emiri detected. Quickly writing on the paper again, Chiaki passes the note back to Emiri, triggering an unspoken dialogue between the two.

‘see? I told you he was into you! you really oughta listen to me more often’

‘gomen’

‘ah, no biggie - I had a feeling you two would end up together anyway’

‘sou ieba, thanks for believing in me’

‘hey, what are friends for?’

‘are you two enjoying yourselves back here?’

“” This last snippet of writing had confused Emiri as she read it. The handwriting was neither hers nor Chiaki’s. As she lifts her head up, Emiri’s spine freezes over as a pair of cold hazel eyes glare back at her:

The heart-stopping gaze of Kozue Natsushima. “Sakurai… Fuyutsuki… I’d appreciate it very much if you didn’t pass notes during my lecture…”, she says in a menacingly low volume. “Is that clear…?”

“H-Hai, Kozue-sensei!”, exclaim the red- and green-haired girls in trepidation.

“…Good!”, says Kozue-sensei with a scowl-turned-smile. “Now, as I was saying…”

As their ‘loving’ teacher walks away, Emiri and Chiaki sink low into their seats, but not before Emiri passes one last note to her friend-in-fright.

‘man, she’s scary!’

The 8-note melody of the school bell signals the start of lunch hour, and Kyosuke’s circle of friends meet on the school rooftop for lunch as their routine dictated. Despite Kyosuke and Emiri now dating, certain customs in the group remained unchanged. Rudy was his usual jokey self, and Chiaki was as noisy with her food as ever.

Sitting across from the adjacently seated couple, Yuzu addresses the two with a beaming smile. “I’m so happy for you, Kyosuke-senpai, Emiri-senpai! You look so cute together!”

Emiri finds herself red in the face at Yuzu’s comment. “Hehe… Thanks, Yuzu-chan.”

“You surprise me, Nanbara.”, says Misuzu. “A person like you going steady with Emiri? And just when I was beginning to lose hope! Hah!”

“…You never let up, do you, blondie…?” But the boy didn’t mind. Recent events have rendered him somewhat immune to Misuzu’s incessant series of clever quips.

“But you know…”, Rudy starts, his thumb and index finger resting upon the underside of his chin. “…you two have started dating, but you sure don’t act like it.”

“Oh? And what makes you such an expert on how couples act?”

“Years of experience and observation, my dear Misuzu!”

“…More like just plain observation…”

“Where’s the passion!? Where’s the love!? You’re a couple now, so act like one! ‘Kiss me, my darling Kyosuke!’ ‘I’ll never side your side, my lovely Emiri!’ Chu, chu, chu*!”

The silver-haired, silver-tongued boy’s less-than-respectable display made everyone else in the group queasy, complete with exaggerated beads of sweat. Although it wasn’t to say that Emiri hadn’t considered behaving in such a manner towards Kyosuke. In fact, trying such behavior in front of her friends seemed rather embarrassing, but Rudy’s comments had left a bit of a mark on her psyche. “…” Emiri’s cheeks flush with a deeper shade of red as she paces herself for what she was about to do. From her bento she picks up a bite-sized takoyaki with her chopsticks and turns to face Kyosuke, holding it out in front of his face. “H-Here, Kyosuke. Say ‘ahhh’.”

Taken aback by the gesture, Kyosuke’s face turns red as well. “W-What…?”

“C’mon.”

For Kyosuke, it was an awkward situation in and of itself, but as with Emiri, it was even more so with his friends watching. “…” He opens his mouth and wraps his lips around the dumpling. The boy typically enjoyed takoyaki, but for some strange reason, its flavor and texture were savored a greater deal when Emiri fed it to him. “Mmmm… Heh. It’s good.”

The circle of friends watching this romance-novel-esque scene relish in the moment. “Hehehe! That’s more like it! …Ah, love… Such a pleasing sensation it is…”

“Don’t worry, Beaumont! I’m sure you’ll experience it someday! Hahaha!”

“Oh, Misuzu … Your words, they sting like the bumblebee…”

The group of close friends shares in a short bout of laughter. Two of their own had gotten together, but they still found time to enjoy each other’s company as they normally have up until now.

Hours later, after school lets out upon the ringing of the final bell, Kyosuke and Emiri depart for home, side by side. Of course, even before they started dating, they had done this regularly, but as with everything else, this too felt different now that they were in a relationship. Never is there a moment of silence between the two during their train ride home, as they share humorous tales of their childhood. “…This one time…”, Emiri starts. “…when I was 13, Ayumu had told all the kids in my class that I had a crush on this guy named Tatsuya. It was sooooo embarrassing! Tatsuya even approached me the very next day and asked me out! …Naturally, I turned him down…”

“And Ayumu?”

“As payback, I put spicy hot food in her bento! Her tongue burned like crazy for hours!”

“Hahahaha!”

And before the two realized it, they were in front of Emiri’s house. “Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me home, Kyosuke.”

“Sure, anytime. Mata ashita.”

Motioning a fond wave to the boy, Emiri bids farewell to her boyfriend. ‘Boyfriend’. The very thought of the term made the redhead giddy with joy. At that moment… “…H-Hey, Kyosuke!”

“Hmm? What’s up?”

“Um… I just wanted to say… I know you and Miyako had a lot more history together, but…I’m glad I’m the one you chose in the end.”

“…Yeah. I am too. …See ya later, Emiri.”

With that, Emiri says goodbye to Kyosuke for the second time and watches as he fades in the distance.

…Fast-forward to the third week in June. On top of Kyosuke and Emiri dating for longer than a month now, summer vacation was rapidly approaching. As they leave the school grounds together as a group, Kyosuke and friends eagerly plan their summer activities. “I say th’ day after school lets out, we all hit th’ beach!”, spouts Chiaki.

“That sounds like fun!”, concurs Yuzu.

“Ah, yes, the beach… Sun, surf, sand…and sexy swimsuits!”

“…Get your brain out of your pants, Beaumont…”

Looking over at Kyosuke, Emiri teases, “Bet ya can’t wait to see me in a one-piece, can you, Kyosuke? Hehehe.”

“If you’re trying to get me flustered, it isn’t working.”, retorts the black-haired teen.

“Oh, don’t try to hide it!”, Emiri snaps back, nudging her elbow into the boy’s ribs. “You’re just dying to see me in a bikini, aren’t you?”

Even though the two were together, they still found pleasure in poking fun at each other like they had before. Then again, what happy couple doesn’t do that every now and then?

A short while later, Emiri is seen approaching the front door of her house after Kyosuke escorted her to her front gate. Using her house keys, she grants herself entry into the house and calls out “Tadaima!” to her unseen sister and grandmother.

Just then… “EMIRI!!!” …the pink-haired Ayumu dashes out into the open to confront her elder sister as she enters.

“A-Ayumu? What’s the matter?”

“In the living room…!”, the short girl starts in a heavily panicked state of mind. “Otou-chan wa…! Okaa-chan wa…!”

“!!!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Emiri drops her schoolbag to the floor and dashes into the living room. There, she sees two people – one man, standing up, and one woman, sitting down – lounging in the room there, waiting for her to arrive. Emiri’s eyes go wide and blank as the man and woman look back at her. “…Otou-san… Okaa-san…”

The man, revealed to be Emiri’s very own father, stands rigidly with his arms at his sides. Curling his mouth to form a smile, he greets, “…Hello, Emiri.”

~Kuchizuke: End of Act 2~

~Power of Love: End of Episode 12~

~ Power of Love: Next Episode ~

Kozue-sensei: Kyosuke… As your teacher, I’ve watched you grow this year into a fine young man. You’ve opened up in ways I never would’ve imagined. …That’s why you…

Chiaki/Misuzu/Yuzu/Rudy: Next time on Power of Love. The final episode, “Sayonara (Goodbye)”.

Kyosuke: …Emiri…

Emiri: …Kyosuke… Forgive me…

*Japanese sound effect for kissing

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