Live a Little

6 Years Ago

Hikari
The rainy season has officially passed and the grass surrounding the Tama River stood tall, lush, and green with white and yellow flowers sprinkled throughout the field. This has always been my favorite place to be when the sun sets. Genji and I come out here and watch the sun disappear behind the buildings of Tokyo. He's now fully comfortable next to the river, which is a full 180 from what he used to be when I rescued him here 6 years ago. He's curled up on my lap, tail tucked up against his belly. It's moments like this that I really sit back and think of how grateful I am to be here living this life that I built for myself. It's almost perfect.

...Except for one itsy bitsy tiny little detail that takes up about 99% of my conscious thoughts. That infuriating, gorgeous, stubborn man. The man who I know is somewhere out here too. Watching me like he always does.

Baji Keisuke.

Baji
The night Chifuyu and Takemichi finally told us the truth, the night that put my entire life into perspective, the night that made me realize that life was more fragile than glass...that's when I saw her. It was pouring. I was riding my bike down the edge the Tama River when I caught a glimpse of a woman running into the water about 50 feet ahead of me. This woman must be high out of her mind if she's going into the river in this weather. Any other day I probably wouldn't have stopped. I would have told myself that it was her choice, her funeral. But after that mind fuck of a conversation, I couldn't just ride past her. I shut off my bike, leaving the lights on and threw my helmet down in the muddy grass next to it. Almost slipping several times, I get close enough to realize how young she actually is. "Are fucking insane?!" I shout at her over the rain, squinting so I can try to make out what it is she's doing but it's too dark for me to see much of anything even with the light coming from my bike. She's bent over in the water but she straightens her spine when she hears me call out, she turns to me and she's clutching something to her chest. I don't notice immediately because I actually forgot how to breathe. I ACTUALLY forgot. The knowledge temporarily left my brain. I don't know how long I go without taking a breath in or without blinking but by the time I remember how to inhale again, she's directly in front of me, mouth moving, with one arm flailing wildly. This woman can't be real. She can't be. She's not just beautiful in the photoshopped-model-on-a-magazine kind of way. She is stunning in a way that I didn't know could even be attainable. Her chin length hair is stuck to her face and her eyes are wide and burrowing into my own. I couldn't stop staring if I tried. "HELLO?!" Her hand comes up to snap her fingers in front of my face which only slightly breaks me out of my trance. "Hm?" I said. Wow, real prolific. Let's try something less monosyllabic next time, idiot. "I said I know you don't know me but this kitten will die if we don't do something NOW, is that your bike? Will you take us to the nearest veterinary hospital? It's just a five minute drive, tops!" She shouts at me, struggling to be heard over the thunder of the storm. I will take you literally anywhere, to fucking Mars if you want. I look down at her chest. Unfortunately it takes a moment to register the tiny wet kitten in her arms because she's wearing a tank top that is clinging to every curve she has and leaves nothing up to the imagination. Her nipples are greeting me emphatically and I now believe in God. Holy fucking shit - WAIT SHE'S HOLDING A KITTEN. My mind comes crashing back to reality and I yell "Oh shit, yeah! Let's go!" We run to my bike in the least graceful way possible, sliding through the mud. "Put this on!" I hold out my helmet to her. "What about you?!" She says even though she's already slipping it over her head. "Not really worried about that right now" I say as I rev up my bike, she climbs on behind me and I gesture to the kitten "we've got bigger problems". Like how to ride a bike with a boner. Or like how Takemichi would kill me if he saw me riding without my helmet in the rain an hour after he told me about my death in another lifetime. She wraps her arms around my waist. I take a shaky breath in and ride as quickly and as safely as possible to the hospital.