Festival Night

The tree Yukiko had asked him to meet under was a broad, sprawling willow not far from the bridge. It was a common meeting place for couples who could only meet in public, but still wanted some degree of privacy. Rounding the last row of food stalls, it came into view for the first time.

There she was beneath it, staring out over the city lights sparkling on the water. There was no mistaking her. The red and white silk of her yukata seemed to shine in the evening light, her ink-black hair pooling across her shoulders and falling to her waist like a featureless night sky. She held her hands in front of her, clasped together at her waist. As if she had somehow sensed his presence, she turned, and, seeing him, smiled softly and waved.

If he had known how to breathe up to now, he didn't anymore. He waved back, hoping the nervous shaking of his hand wasn't obvious as he did so. She smiled more warmly and motioned for him to join her.

Now or never, Ichiro. Don't screw this up!

Up close, her pale skin seemed to almost glow in the moonlight. The closer he got, the shyer she seemed to become, until she seemed almost trying to withdraw inside herself. Ichiro swallowed hard, trying to keep himself from exploding out of his skin as he cleared his throat to speak.

"Uh, hey," He said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Hi." 

"So, uh, nice night for fireworks, huh?"

"It's perfect now," she said, looking up at him demurely through her eyelashes.

Ichiro's face grew hot, and for not the first time tonight he felt like he was about to pass out.

"So... I..." He started, but for some reason he couldn't get anything else out.  When she seemed to sense him struggling, she took a step forward and gently touched his hand with hers.

"Ichiro, relax."

Ichiro froze. She had never called him by his first name before, much less touched him. The trace of her fingers up the back of his hand sent a shiver up his spine. She stepped closer, pulling his hand into hers, and smiled up at him, her cheeks flushed red.

"Yukiko-chan, I-" 

She cut him off with a fingertip pressed to his lips.

"Yuki. I want you to call me Yuki from now on, okay?"

"Yuki..."

"Yes?"

She was staring expectantly into his eyes now, her body close enough to feel her warmth. This close, she smelled like vanilla and cinnamon. Did she know how much he loved those smells?

"I..."

The first of the fireworks burst overhead, bathing the two of them in multi-colored light. This had the effect of making Yukiko's eyes sparkle, which was not helping him keep things together at all. She stepped even closer until their bodies were almost touching and leaned forward close enough for him to hear her whisper.

"I love you, Ichiro."

A second set of fireworks exploded inside his head, and it took everything in his power to not scream for joy at the top of his lungs.

"...Really...?" He finally managed to eke out.

"Yes. For as long as I can remember," She replied, another burst of light filling her eyes with flecks of gold. She pulled him next to her and turned to look up at the technicolor starbursts popping in the air over the river.

"I... love you too, Yuki. I have since we were kids. I can't tell you how many times I've dreamed about this. I was worried I was going to screw it all up," he admitted.

"You're doing a lot better than I expected," she said, a look of amusement on her face. Then she sighed and rested her head back on his shoulder. "Tonight's everything I ever hoped it would be."

Ichiro flushed, half from relief, half from embarrassment. He could feel his mind and body slowly beginning to accept that he wasn't dreaming, this wasn't a joke, and he wasn't going to ruin it. As he began to relax, what was happening finally began to settle in. Yukiko loved him. She wanted him to love her too. He reached down and rubbed the spot where he'd bandaged his arm. Nope. Still not dreaming. He laid his head gently on top of hers. For once in his life, everything was finally going right. 

There was a brief lull in the fireworks, and Ichiro thought he could hear faint yelling from the other side of the river where the display launchpad sat. Seconds later, a loud boom like an old cannon split the silence.

"I wonder what that-"

Before Ichiro could understand what was happening, a large shining object rocketed from the launch platform at lightning speed. Not at the sky, but at the crowd. He didn't even get a sound out of his mouth before a firework the size of a school desk hurtled into the two of them. He felt the jerk as Yukiko left his arms in a flash of blinding light and heat. As if on instinct, he twisted unthinking to watch as the firework carried her screaming into the row of food stands, and looked on in open-mouthed horror as she and all of the food vendors summarily disappeared in a deafening technicolor explosion.

Ichiro stared at the flaming wreck in the distance, his mind unable to process what he was seeing. People were running all over now, some on cellphones calling emergency services, others rushing into the fire to try and save the voices calling for help in the conflagration. He stumbled forward with the second group, screaming for help as he searched frantically for any sign that Yukiko could be okay.

The only thing he found was a small, charred piece of her yukata, speared on the broken end of a burning bamboo pole. He picked it up in trembling fingers, staring at it in hollow, unseeing disbelief. As if on instinct, he tucked it into his pocket as he turned to leave.

Ichiro remembered little of how he got from the park to the roof of his apartment complex. That was no issue. He didn't need to remember anything anymore anyways. He looked down at the night street 30 stories below, watching as fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the place where the rest of his life was literally going up in smoke.

He lifted one foot out over the endless drop below.

Then followed with the other.