Stars Fell on Tokyo | ✓

15 | the man on the moon

       THE MOON WAS full and the wind had blown the cherry blossom petals from the trees, scattering them in the air. Louanne couldn't sleep nor did she feel like it either, except she sat by the window and stared straight across the alleyway, and smiled when Kohei narrated the drawings he drew over the summer. She meant what she said about his art becoming big in the future. Louanne knew that if she could believe in him hard enough, that wish could soon come true.

       "And then, this is the part where the main character goes through his first week of training before he has to get into the school," Kohei pointed at the drawing.

       "Well, what's so important about the school?" Louanne asked.

       "It's one of the most prestigious hero schools and everyone with a gift could get in there if they wanted to," Kohei explained. "Lou, if this was in real life, I would want to get into that school with my powers,"

       Louanne giggled. "You better count on it, hero."

       And by the break of dawn, Kohei and Louanne have already fallen asleep by their window sills since they have been talking for hours, not that they were quite meant to. Like all their hangouts, Louanne really enjoyed his company and thought of how he was enjoying hers. She wondered if the two of them were even a thing. The words "I love you" came to mind but she pushed it aside for a moment since it was a bit too early to say that and it was only one kiss at the lake.

       But was it just a kiss?

       It felt like it was so much more than that. The spark ignited inside of her and she had to make herself believe that Kohei must've felt it too. Whenever the word love came to mind, she made up all the reasons why she really loved him even listed them in alphabetical order.

       "Lou?" Kohei spoke first.

       Louanne groaned as she stretched her arms. "I'm still here, Kohei,"

       "Do you want to come over for breakfast? We can have it at our favorite spot," he offered.

       "I don't know. My grandmother is probably still upset about that night,"

       Kohei frowned.

       "But—" she added, "I could ask her,"

      Of course, her grandmother couldn't stay mad at her for the mishap and she made a scout's honor (she wasn't a scout either) to never spook her like that ever again. Like always, Kohei and Louanne had their breakfast in their usual spot underneath the cherry blossom tree by the stream. Rather, they were still feeling sleepy from their chatting about Kohei's comic book that he calls manga, or at least how they say it in Japan. 

       But they talked about what kind of heroes they wanted to be even after their stomachs were full. Neither of them wanted to leave that spot but had to learn from their mistakes.

       Louanne felt the warmth and the softness of his touch as if he was made of cotton and he is being a complete teddy bear. They didn't say anything much and maybe it is for the best to just enjoy the moment. 

       Time was frozen again and they both wished that they could stay like this for hours, watching the fluffy white clouds slowly pass through and the children playing in the background. Louanne hadn't realized that she'd be leaving all of this in the middle of August without even knowing if it should be the right time to say the word "love".

       "Kohei?" Louanne looked at him.

       "Hm?" his arms are still wrapped around her and his eyes are closed tight.

       "Have you ever heard of the red string of fate theory?"

       "Yeah, I think it is this old mythology in China where they believe that an invisible red string is wrapped around the pinkies of those who are destined to meet and be their true love," Kohei told her.

      "That's very interesting," Louanne remarked.

      "And here in Japan, it is kind of the same but there's a tale that makes it different,"

      "Different? What do you mean by that?"

       Kohei began, "well, from what my mother told me, the legend has it that there was an old man who lives on the moon and he comes out every night to look among kin spirits to reunite them on Earth, who learn something from one another. When he does find them, he ties a red string so that way they can find each other."

       "Do you know think the old man on the man had tied a string around our fingers and that's how you and I came to be?" Louanne asked, her brown eyes glimmering with hope.

       "I like to think that he did. I gotta say that meeting you was one of the best things that ever happened to me... that and having my first kiss," he told her, "to be honest, the reason why I said that was because I felt my confidence grow and it's like I can easily reach my goal of being a manga artist since you came here."

        Louanne took both of his hands, pulling them close to her. "And I'm glad that I met you too,"

       They shared another kiss by the stream.