On Cloud Nine

Ichiro was regretting every decision he had made up to this point.

At that moment, his body became rigid, and he tried his best to suppress even the slightest breath. It was just a simple outing, nothing so Earth shattering that he would be nearly brought to tears like this. And yet here he was, struggling so immensely.

It all began so peacefully. Such a beautiful Sunday, how could anything go wrong? It's not like he could have picked any other day, either. Ichiro had practice after school every day and games on Friday and Saturday. Even if he managed to finish early, there was no way he could escape doing his homework. Maintaining good grades was crucial, or his family would be furious.

Since Izumi also had commitments on most days, they agreed to meet for their first adventure on Sunday. Ichiro didn't think much of the meeting as the days passed, gradually approaching the agreed-upon date. However, as he stood at the entrance of the chosen shopping center, waiting patiently after arriving early, a strange thought crept into his mind.

Would she actually show up at all?

It wasn't a question of whether she would abandon him, leaving him looking foolish for waiting for someone who would never appear. It wouldn’t be the first time she would make him feel that way. She hadn’t been to a single one of his games, though he had looked out for her among all the fans gathered there, he hadn’t once seen her there. It stung in his chest whenever the game was over without a single glimpse of her.

That wasn’t the thought making him regret asking her to meet her near their destination. It was more about whether she could make it all the way here.

He wasn't sure where exactly she lived, Ichiro suddenly became aware of every step he had taken to reach this point. Even the slightest irregularities in the ground seemed treacherous to him now.

In his mind, he questioned if he was unable to walk with his own two feet, if he would even be able to get as far as he did every day. But the last message Izumi sent assured him that she was on her way, so there shouldn't be any reason for him to worry. Right?

Then an idea popped into his head without him even realizing what he was doing. Taking stock of each step he took, trying to find the easiest, most straightforward path he could, but it couldn’t have any steps up or down. Even the gaps in pavements, he simply had to find an easy way around. Several times along his journey, he found himself coming to an impassable obstacle, making him stop and reroute as best he could. In the end, the shortest path he found more than doubled his time getting there, making him slightly late for the promised arrival time.

Luckily, he purposefully left early. It was just something else ingrained into him by his father. Early is on-time, and on-time is late.

Arriving by the park entrance to meet her, he had to check his phone’s time against the clock pole located inside the playground of the park repeatedly. He was only a few minutes late, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

What if she can’t make it here? The dreaded thought took hold of his senses, making his heart race with the numerous thoughts of what to do to solve this issue.

But suddenly, calls of his name snapped Ichiro out of his daze. Looking up from his phone, he spotted a slender girl maneuvering her wheelchair across the sidewalk, heading straight towards him.

A rush of relief washed over Ichiro, and he finally took a deep breath, as if emerging from an eternity of holding it in. He felt so light for the first time since he left his house earlier, while he exchanged the usual pleasantries.

“How was the trip over here?” He found a polite way to word his concerns as he gazed down on the small girl in the wheelchair.

“Oh it was fine,” Izumi gave him an upturned smirk with prodding eyes, “It’s a nice sunny Sunday. Streets are a bit busier than normal. I got stopped at a few stoplights on the way here, if you are wondering why I am so late.” Playfully shaking her head, she checked her phone, rolling her eyes and flashing it up to him. “I am only 7 minutes late. Give me a break, alright?”

Chuckling slightly, she swirled her chair to face away from the park and towards their next destination. “Come on, let’s get going. I am super excited for this.”

And with that, Izumi was taking off away from Ichiro, who was still stuck in place, dumbfounded by her casualness today. Snapping back to his senses, he moved quickly to join her side again.

As they head towards their destination, Ichiro felt completely cognizant of everything about Izumi. From the way she arched her back as she put her full strength into each push on her wheels, to the simple, casual clothes she was wearing.

It wasn’t much, she was wearing a pink top and jean shorts in the warming summer air. Her hair was flowing free in the wind as she kept pushing herself forward, the only thing keeping it in place was a simple hair clip on the side. He hadn’t seen her in anything but medical clothes at the hospital and her sailor uniform at school, so something such relaxed clothing made his cheeks begin to burn when he realized he was staring.

Though he wasn’t much different from her at the moment. He was lightly dressed in a graphic t-shirt Hina had told him looked “very handsome” on him and a simple pair of jeans. There was no reason for him to have, but he had stressed the entire morning on what to wear that day. Everything he had felt like he was going to school or was going to play a game soon. Finding everyday clothes that he felt comfortable wearing around Izumi was like pulling teeth.

Glancing between himself and her, he felt like he made the right choice in making her look better than himself by accident. Scoffing at his earlier trepidation, he began to smile a bit as he walked more calmly next to her as she kept repeating how much she was anticipating this day, paying little attention to the path before her. She looked up at Ichiro with a brilliant grin on her face, eagerly pushing her wheels forward.

The day seemed like it was well on track for the two of them. The only hiccup occurred when she briefly got caught on the entrance's threshold, requiring extra effort to pull herself over the edge.

As it happened, Ichiro found time seemed to slow to a halt. He desperately wanted to reach out and help her out of being stuck, but he found his body unable to move in time as she effortlessly cleared the hurdle and entered the establishment.

Completely unfazed, Izumi approached the hostess inside and asked for a table as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Ichiro sat there in a state of disbelief, trying to process what had just occurred. Watching Izumi turn over her shoulder to guide him to their table, he couldn’t help but internally kick himself for both being so desperate to help yet so unable to do anything of value at the moment.

Dumbfounded, he quietly followed Izumi to their designated table.

***

That more or less brought him back to his current predicament. He struggled immensely to suppress a sneeze as his nose was tickled from below.

He felt paralyzed, at least out of respect. A cat sat peacefully on his lap, and he couldn't gather the nerve to shoo it away. So, the feline calmly waved its tail just below his nose. Though this wasn't a situation Ichiro ever wished to find himself in, he remained perfectly still, his eyes watering. Glancing around in an attempt to distract his tickled nose, he slowly surveyed the surroundings.

The seating consisted of low-set chairs arranged in the mostly empty space, with a large and intricately designed cat tree at the center. Several catwalks branched out from the tallest points of the tree, extending to various spots throughout the establishment.

Different groups of people occupied the tables. A couple of older ladies chatted amongst themselves while gently stroking the cats that wandered by. A young newlywed couple played with the felines using cat toys, sipping their coffees together. Even two British tourists recorded their experiences on camera while cats rested on their laps.

The atmosphere in the café was warm and inviting, and it appeared that everyone was genuinely enjoying themselves. Considering this, Ichiro couldn't bring himself to create a scene and disturb the ambiance. He quietly endured his discomfort, though he was secretly glad.

However, it wasn't because of his own predicament.

“Meow meow.”

Those words didn't come from Ichiro, not at all. They came from the small girl who had managed to pull herself out of her wheelchair and sit on the floor, engaging playfully with the cats. She was beaming with smiles and giggles as she effortlessly maneuvered herself around using only her arms, unencumbered by any worries.

He couldn’t bring himself to deter her excitement in the slightest. So many things swirled in his head, like his concerns of her mobility on a daily basis or his questions as to why she went behind his back to remove him from her assistant role.

But instead, he watched her roll around with the cats, who seemed to love her back. Multiple times, she lifted a cat, showing it to Ichiro with squeals of delight about its cuteness.

In that very moment, Ichiro felt a profound sense of tranquility being in her presence.