On Cloud Nine

At that moment, Ichiro felt like he had made a massive mistake.

The rain had intensified, preventing them from leaving after Izumi signaled that she had gained enough from the experience. Her lips had since formed a wide grin, and her eyes sparkled with attentiveness to their surroundings."

As soon as Ichiro saw that expression on her face, a strange thought rippled through his head: So this is what she looks like when she actually smiles.

But now, even as he occasionally found himself lost staring at her lips, bigger concerns stared him in the face. They patiently waited for the rain to clear up, and Izumi pointed out that there was a pop-up cafe being held in the tower itself.

Humoring her excitement and having nothing else better to do at the moment, he agreed to treat her. While Ichiro settled for a simple hot tea to keep himself warm in the chilling air, Izumi went all out.

Their table was presented with a large glass bowl almost the size of her head. It overflowed with a massive sundae, adorned with several bananas and toppings on the sides, and crowned with a tower of whipped cream covered in strawberry sauce. It stood imposingly over her head.

“This looks amazing, doesn’t it?” Ichiro heard someone exclaim from the other side of the ice cream monstrosity. However, he couldn't even catch a glimpse of who said it.

“Uh, sure…” he rolled his eyes, trying to remain nonchalant as he took a sip of his tea, but inside, he felt his wallet crying from what he had just put it through to afford that treat.

“Are you sure you don't want any?” Izumi leaned to the side, attempting to get a better look at Ichiro. It was the first time he had seen her since the bowl was placed between them. “I mean, it's supposed to be for two people, a couple’s dish or something, right?”

“Yeah, I'm good,” he cringed at the mere thought of consuming so much sugar in one sitting

“Suit yourself,” Izumi shrugged and disappeared back behind the dish, hastily devouring the ice cream as quickly as she could. Occasionally, she'd pause to dispel a brain freeze that attacked her progress.

As he watched her struggle to consume the immense amount of ice cream, Ichiro couldn't help but feel the corners of his lips rise, no matter how much he fought against it. But he also remembered why he came here in the first place.

“So, what happened on the Ferris Wheel?”

He asked, raising his tea to his face but pausing before taking a sip. He knew being too forceful on the subject could backfire, but he had to get to the heart of the matter sooner rather than later.

Having made quite a dent in her dessert, Izumi was just barely visible around it, but it had become evident she had come to a full stop. She kept her head low for a moment before speaking.

“I don’t know what you want to know,” her voice was low but still clear. “It was just girl talk, you know how those things go, right?”

“And that made you want to leave?” Ichiro set down his cup and rested his head, propped up with his free hand.

“I was tired,” she mumbled softly, “that’s all it was. I promise you.”

He observed her over the ice cream tower, but she remained motionless, keeping her eyes cast down at the spoon she had laid down when answering him.

"Alright, if you say so," he replied, taking another sip of his tea and diverting his attention to the window beside them. However, the rain obscured the view, and all he could see was their reflection in the glass. While his own reflection stared back at him, he noticed Izumi's reflection trembling at her shoulders. He couldn't be sure if it was the rain hitting the glass outside or a tear trailing down her cheek.

Feeling frustrated, he scratched his temple and let out an uncontrolled low groan. After a prolonged silence, he spoke again, trying to change the topic. "Have you written anything yet?"

He couldn’t explain why but as he said those words, he could feel his cheeks start to burn and had to squeeze his eyes shut in order to get the words out.

"What do you mean?" she asked quizzically, picking her spoon back up and eating, though not with as much gusto as before.

Ichiro felt his head slip from his hand and nearly crash chin first onto the table. "What do you mean 'What do you mean'?" he sputtered, almost spilling his tea from her strange response.

"Exactly that, what do you mean?" Izumi replied with her mouth full, leaning to the side of the bowl so she could see Ichiro. One of her brows raised as she swallowed her large bite before continuing, "What are you talking about my writing for?"

"It's the reason I've been taking you to all of these places!" he wanted to shout, but he managed to keep his voice down by gritting his teeth.

"Oh, you were serious about all of that?" Izumi shrugged, taking another bite.

"Why does this not surprise me?" Ichiro resisted the urge to bang his head on the table repeatedly.

As he nursed his recently forming headache, Izumi ducked back behind the bowl once more.

"Honestly," she slowly started, her voice wavering as she struggled to string the words together. "I... I have been... writing..."

Hearing that, Ichiro raised his head with blinking eyes, more surprised by her delivery than her words. "Is there anything I could read?"

"I-I mean," she nervously stuttered, "It's only been a few things. Little things here and there. Nothing special. So nothing you can read. Yet."

He was about to give up hope, until he caught the last word she held out the longest before offering. "Alright, if you say so."

Once again, a long moment of silence hung between them, broken only by the soft clinking of Izumi's spoon hitting the glass bowl as she resumed eating.

"I'm just glad you seem to be enjoying yourself," Ichiro mused quietly, making sure Izumi could still hear him. "You seemed so nervous and not yourself right before we got to the top."

"I seemed nervous?" she asked, with her mouth full, "Why do you say that?"

"You were so quiet after I started pushing you," Ichiro chuckled, "I thought you might want to leave like last time."

"I just don't like being pushed, is all," Izumi answered in a soft but direct voice. "I can handle things like that on my own. I don't need help."

Ichiro blinked, vaguely remembering Mizuki pushing her at least once but decided not to raise the point. "I understand," he nodded, the only thing he could think of doing at that moment. But then, he tried to get the conversation back on track, "Again, I'm just glad you enjoyed the trip. I wish the view was better though, you know, without the rain and all."

Izumi was almost done with the entire bowl, and now they could clearly see each other. However, when Ichiro mentioned the view, she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"No, it was perfect. I love it, especially in the rain," she shot back, very confused as to why he would think the rain would be a detriment to her enjoyment of the view.

"You know," he leaned back, contemplating her words. "I remember you saying that before. That the rain was beautiful. What do you find beautiful about it?"

She looked down, her eyes as soft as her words, which came from her gently smiling lips. "You saw it from the top like I did, didn't you?" As he stayed silent and wondered what she was talking about, she continued, "All the lights from all of the buildings. The cars that were hurrying to where they were going. All of the people desperately trying to get out of the rain. The rain changes everything for them. They end up stuck where they are and all have to just sit and wait while looking up at the sky. And for just a little while, they are all just like me."

Hearing those words, he felt a bitter sting in his chest. Unable to find the right words, he just lowered his head and kept quiet.

"Hey! I don't want to be a downer anymore," Izumi chirped up again, lifting her head to see Ichiro sulking in front of her. "I want to thank you for all that you have done for me so far!"

“Oh?” he nervously laughed back, “How are you planning on doing that?”