That fateful day

"Shibuya, 13 July @4pm", Natsuki showed me in the notification panel. She was at my place. I was applying for jobs and she was helping me create my resume.       

  "You'll be meeting her on my birthday. I'm so excited. Hope my birthday brings you some luck", Natsuki said energetically. I stared at her face.

     "Is there something on my face, Haru-san?", She asked.   

   "So I'm Haru-san now, huh?", I cupped her face.

     "I'll call you Haru soon", she declared.    

  "What do you want?", I asked. She was confused. "What do I want?" She said, shrugging her shoulders. 

  "I mean, for your birthday. What do you want?", I said. She looked at me with her innocent eyes and said, "You". I blushed.    

   "Anything other than me?", I asked seriously. 

        "I don't know. I don't need anything", she said after thinking for a while. I didn't ask anything further.
The next day, I went for a job interview and it was fucked up. I couldn't say anything when they asked me what I had been doing for two years. I had nothing to say to them. I went home with my head hung in shame. As I was walking in Shibuya someone approached me. "Do you want to become an idol? Are you in any agency?". I wasn't interested in all that stuff. I just walked past him.  

    I felt people's eyes on me. Was I overthinking again? I wasn't feeling okay. I wanted to rest somewhere. Everything was getting blurry and I felt like I'd lose consciousness any time. 

           "You okay, Haruki?", I heard someone's voice. This person helped me find a seat. As I regained consciousness, I looked at her.      

     "Haruki", she called me again.

          "Sensei—", I hugged her. I couldn't stop my tears. I was extremely happy to see her.    

   "Yes. It's me", she hugged back. What good did I do to deserve this? 

      "I called you after the interview but you were lost in your thoughts. And I followed you. You were walking so fast, I thought I'd give up. But since I don't know when I'll see you again. I didn't give up", she told me.     

   "We already planned to meet on the 13th of July. Did you forget?", I asked her. 

      She fixed her hair and shirt. "Ehh…? When? I don't know about that!", She said getting confused. 

      I was about to get scammed again. I'm glad I got to know it before anything happened. I felt lucky. 

       We went to a cafe nearby. It was lunchtime and I was hungry. Fuyuko-sensei wanted to treat me.     

   "So what have you been doing, Haru?", asked Fuyuko-sensei. She rested her chin on her hand. 

        "It was my first job interview, sensei. I– I locked myself at home after graduating from high school", I told her. I was not embarrassed telling her all this.    

    "Oh, I see", she said with a sigh. The waiter brought the food we had ordered and we started eating. 

    "What about you, sensei?", I asked her.    

   "I got married. And… he's nice and understanding. And I've been searching for a job. All my attempts have failed as you can see", she said laughing. She looked so beautiful to me. I wish I could hug her again.

     "Sensei, I'm sorry for everything I've done to you", I bowed my head as low as I could.     

     "Raise your head. I know you didn't say what you had planned to say. When they questioned me they told me that you were foolish for being truthful. And I realized what you had told me about not being able to fight against them was right. I was weak and I couldn't fight them", she said in one go as she was nervous. 

       "You left without a word. I was worried", My tears were back.     

  "I was ashamed of myself. That I couldn't fight. I wanted to run away and not see you again but on that day that I saw you… I realized that you were strong and mature for a teenager—and things don't go as planned in this cursed world", Every word she had said was stored in my mind.

       "You sound like Uchiha Madara, sensei", I said trying to lighten the mood. She smiled and I registered her smile in the back of her mind.      

  "There there, child. Don't cry. Everything will be alright. Sensei is here with you", she said gently. All the fond memories I had with her came flooding my mind. I cried even harder. When I had calmed down. She gave me her contact details and told me I could call her anytime. After we finished our food, we left the cafe. 

        "Thank you, sensei. For everything you've done in my life. For saving me that day. For being there when no one was. I love you, Fuyuko-sensei", I said before parting ways. I texted Natsuki and told her to be at my place. I wanted to hug her and tell her everything.      

     I was walking alone but now I'm not depressed anymore. I saw a cute purple dress on display. I imagined Natsuki wearing it and in my mind, she looked so adorable and perfect. I bought it. 

       When I reached home, she was there. I hugged her. She hugged me back with the same intensity. After telling her what had happened. She said we should celebrate. We lit up some fireworks along with my parents. She was like a ten-year-old enjoying her life to the fullest.       

  On her birthday, I gifted her the dress. 

"Happy birthday, Natsu-kun".

She was so excited to wear it. She went to my room to change. My parents were used to her being there. They loved her. She took care of my mom too. 

         She called me in. She wanted to show me how she looked and she looked even more adorable than she had in my imagination. She looked at me with her innocent eyes.      

   "How do I look, Haru?", She said in a sexy voice. 

        "You look so cute, Natsu", I commented.     

  "When are you giving me 'yourself ', Haru?", I laughed hearing her say such things. 

        "I love you, Natsu-kun. Will you be my girlfriend, Nakamura Natsuki?", I asked her. She jumped at me.      

    "Yes, Haru-san. I'll be with you for the rest of your life. Be prepared", she accepted my proposal. I was going to kiss her but she was faster than me. 

     "I won again", she said. We kissed and wouldn't have stopped if Mom hadn't called me. She laughed as she stole another kiss before I left the room.

~~4 years later~~

     "Congratulations, Natsu. Now you're a working woman", I said, giving her a side hug.       

"I can't imagine this clumsy girl working", said her mother.

      "Cong-latulations, Nat-chu", my little sister congratulated Natsu. 

   "Thank you, Tsumiki", she hugged her.

   "I heard you landed a big role this time", her mother asked me.    

   "Yeah… I got the main character's role. And the manga (comics) is extremely popular", I was happy indeed. I had accomplished my dream of being a voice actor.

"You'll become famous and forget about me", Natsu said pouting.

     "There's no way I would forget about you", I blew her a kiss.

Everything was going fine. I was happy. 
       My parents were happy with Tsumiki being healthy. Natsuki was happy with strengthening her relationship with her mother. I was content with everything in my life. This might not be the end of my story and things might not go as I planned but just for now. I was happy. It feels great to be happy.    

    I looked at Natsuki and remembered something funny.

      "Why are you laughing? It's suspicious", she asked playfully.     

    "I remember when you were a child you would knock at Akira's door and say 'Nii-san come out and play'. I never would've imagined. I'd be dating that kid years later", I laughed so hard my sides hurt. She kicked me. I stole a kiss from her.

      "I won~", I said, singing playfully as I ran away.     

  "Not fair", she ran after me.

 I will never forget that fateful day I saw a beautiful boy underneath the beautiful cherry blossom tree. Thank you, God, for every blessing.

~~~~~~ The End~~~

Author's Note:  Thank you for reading.