Before the Moon Appeared

The curtain brushed my shoulder as I stepped out with the photo strip still warm in my hand. It was a good photo, except for my dumbstruck face and Saya's devious look. We looked even closer in the photo than I thought, making me even more conscious of Saya. I touched my cheek, remembering the feeling of Saya's cheek rubbing against mine.

"You were really sticking to me in the photo, weren't you?" I waved the photo to show her. She let out a small sigh as she approached me.

"Well, you were trying to maintain a weird distance to me all day. So I had to come close. Hope that didn't catch you off guard?" She jested as she gently closed her eyes, like she was remembering something.

"Uh, it's cool."

"Is that so? I'm glad."

Her honest reply just shook me. As we were walking out of the mall, I started flinging my shopping bag to hide my embarrassment. To and fro, it went. Running away from my finger and almost slipping out, but I still kept it in check. I held it close, and didn't quite want to lose it now after all this walking that I endured today to get it.

"Let's go that way, toward the seaside?" Saya suggested as she pointed to the road that was close to the sea.

Her recommendations were always good, so I followed her suggestion. The view was surreal as the sun was kissing the horizon. The breeze had also started to die down, but it still interrupted us from time to time.

"If you only focused this much on your studies," I teased Saya.

"Hey, I try my best!" She gave me a quick, light punch on my shoulder. Too light.

"I had fun today, Saya. Thanks for inviting me."

"Mhmm." Her face looked extremely peaceful, like my comment relieved her of something. I know it will be hard for Saya to fully enjoy these moments right now. If only I wasn't such a coward.

"You can keep dragging me around, anywhere you want."

"That's a given. I'm not giving you a moment. But, for a change it would be good if you can plan it out sometimes." Her proposal was reasonable, but not the smartest. I don't think I can do even an iota of what Saya does.

"I'll try my best!"

As we parted ways, I looked at the starry sky. It was quite early, so there were pretty much only scattered stars filling the blue, though they were the brightest ones you could see. It was like they were waiting for the moon to appear. This yearning stuff is pretty hard, huh?