Remember Summer Days (a Kira Yoshikage x reader)

An Empty Bench

((authors note: DAMN. TWO CHAPTERS IN TWO DAYS? I fee rlly proud of myself. This is probably a filler chapter but i swear, it helps the story progress! enjoy!!))

  You took care of your hands. You were aware of this. You avoided scratching them as much as you can, chewing your nails as a bad habit, and any kind of dirt that could get stuck under your nail. When you were younger, you would go out and get manicures all the time. You liked painting them red. Now you do the whole manicure routine yourself, to save time and money, and still look as flawless as ever. Your friends always told you to try a new, different color, but you continued to refuse. Red was classy. Red was elegant. The specific nail polish you used would sometimes shimmer under the sun if you held your hand at the perfect angle. Positively eye-catching. No matter how messy the rest of you may look, your hands were always the very best that you could get them to be.

  Currently you were sitting on the small armchair that occupied the corner of the hotel room. You had one hand placed out in the arm rest, the other delicately painting away at your nails. Each stroke was even more careful than the last. The stress of traveling had caused the paint to chip. You definitely needed a fresh coat, which you were working on at the moment. You continued to work away, but noticed you were humming some sort of tune.

"The thrill of the thought...that you might give a thought to my plea...cast a spell over me..." you quietly sang to yourself. You hadn't memorized all the lyrics but that one seemed to be circling around your brain. You Go to My Head. That was the name. That's what he told you. Somehow he still remained in your mind. With every stroke of nail polish, you thought back to his almost glowing eyes. His high cheekbones. No matter how blank he looked, he seemed friendly with you. You thought about how carefully he had taken the bag from you. How...big and strong his hands seemed. How that faint vein seemed to bulge through his skin, past his bones. How white his knuckles were as he gripped onto the steering wheel as if it were to fly away at any moment, the two of you doomed to die together. You felt something seeping into your pants.

It was nail polish.

"SHIT!" you yelped as you got up, rushing to the bathroom to grab paper towels to try and avoid making any sort of permanent mess. These were your good pants too...you'd have to go shopping later, you thought to yourself. You looked at your nails. The paint was smudged. After dealing with the almost-fatal-to-the-carpet stain, you began taking a cotton ball and some acetone and removing your nail polish. You'd have to buy new nail polish too. Damn it. All this for some random blonde who had rescued you from dish-washing duty? A man who gave you a free ride to your room? Made sure you got home safely? Give you his number?? You sighed as you chose another pair of pants to wear. God. Not even one full day into coming back to Morioh and you were already a mess.

*******

  A taxi dropped you off on the sidewalk of what seemed to be a street full of small clothing shops. A giant department store sat on the end. Right, Kame-Yu. You remember it. It was only just opening up around the time you left to go pursue a failed career in [[desired failed career, i guess.]]. You sighed. You had made sure to actually grab a wallet with money. It was a warm day, a lot nicer and less humid than the rainstorm during the previous evening. You dusted off your clean pants and decided to start window shopping. The first store you came up to seemed to be a small boutique. It wouldn't hurt to look, would it? You entered.

  A small bell rang as you came through the door. You were surrounded by beautiful floral prints, dresses, button-ups, pants...it was like a garden. You spotted a nice sundress. It was orange with small flower stitches along the hems. You checked the price. Oh god. No. You couldn't risk that. It seemed to be handmade. Maybe you should try and get yourself a rich old man...then you could have all the dresses you want. That's what some of your old coworkers did as a side hustle. A couple hours of talking and you get paid as much as it would cost for rent of a one bedroom apartment. But you didn't want that. You wanted something real. You wanted to work with someone, to build a life together. At this moment, though, you turned on your heel and headed out the door without another word. Maybe another day.

  You approached another store a couple yards away. It seemed to be full of business attire. You entered. You were not greeted by a  nice bell this time, though. You kind of enjoyed the little happy ring. You were surrounded by blazers in all sorts of prints, mainly work-appropriate, and began to browse through them. On a mannequin to your left, there was a full dark blue pantsuit on display. The button up had ruffles on the collar. It looked very fancy. You checked the tag. "Sheesh-" you whispered to yourself. Yeah, you'd definitely not be able to afford anything here. Even a simple black tie would be too much. You left once more.

  The hours seemed to fly by you as you continued the same routine in almost any store. You couldn't find anything that you liked, nor in a price range. You sighed tiredly as you sat yourself down on a bench. It was past noon. You still need to look for a new nail polish... New makeup would be nice. It could be expensive too, though. Perhaps a new lipstick would maybe make you feel better. There was only one place you hadn't checked. Kame-Yu.

"Lost again? You really need a map." came a voice from above you. You lifted your head from your hands which were holding it up. It was him. Kira. "If you needed any more help, you could have just called. You look tired." he remarked. Great. You began to feel the hot summer air slowly deep into your clothes. You became quite self aware. God. You felt embarrassed. You tucked a stray piece of hair back and looked at him, smiling awkwardly. "I'm surprised you even noticed me. It's almost like you're following me, haha." you joked. That was always a scary thought to you. That someone could take your kindness and spin into something else. Maybe you shouldn't have been so vulnerable...

"I'm on my break. I'm not very hungry today so I decided to take a walk. And how about you? What brings you here?" he sat down next to you, not even bothering to ask if he could. It's not like you minded his sudden move. In fact, you were kind of hoping to see him. You weren't fully aware of that fact yet though. He copied your pose, arms resting on his legs, and looked over at you. "Well, I guess things haven't been as easy for me so far today. This morning I ended up spilling my favorite nail polish. It was a shimmery red one. I can only hope that they sell it around here. I can also hope that the hotel owners won't throw a fit over a faint stain on the carpet. I promise I will try to clean it! Somehow..." you trailed off. You looked at him. He seemed to be listening intently.

  "So then I decided to maybe go out and find some new clothes. I got red paint on my favorite pair of pants I had planned to wear. A tragedy, I know. Except, I can't find anything for me here. Maybe I'm just really picky, or broke, but I just haven't come across anything that works." You thought to yourself how whiny you must've been sounding. You caught yourself messing with the skin on your nails. You did this when you were nervous or upset. What were you nervous about? You couldn't specifically point out a source. Moving was stressful, despite you having yet to find an actual house or apartment here.

  Never once did Kira look away from you. Your eyes looked into his for a second before quickly flicking away to the sidewalk. "I'm sorry, I'm wasting your time. You probably have more important things to be tending to than some stranger complaining about silly nail polish." you apologized, still messing with your fingers. Then, he did something quite strange. Kira reached over and took one of your hands to hold in one of his own. You didn't even try to refuse. The two of you continued to stare into each other's eyes. You felt something build up in the pit of your stomach again. Oh God.

  Your hand felt...strange. As if it fit almost perfectly with his. He continued to look at you. You seemed frozen and uttered not a word. Around you, pedestrians and busy shoppers became blurred blobs that seemed to slow down. It seemed as if the world around you two had frozen. As if time was on hold. He finally cleared his throat.

"I work at Kame-Yu. I would not mind helping you. It would be a nice change, aside from me enjoying the quiet plainness of my job. I have some knowledge on nail polish."

You blinked and time seemed to resume again. You felt your cheeks grow slightly warmer than usual. You pulled your hand away and clasped them both together. "Oh, really? Gee, you're too nice to me Mr...Yoshikage?" He nodded. Neither of you mentioned the number on the receipt. The both of you rose from the bench. Kira checked his watch. "Alright then, we're on our way." He didn't offer you an arm or anything to guide you along. For some reason you half-expected him to. Like a prince out of a fairytale. The two of you walked towards the department store, engaging in a calm conversation. About what? Well, nothing specific. You walked on and on...