lavender; nishimura riki

nine.

4/26 2:57pm - in your hotel room.

You're scrolling mindlessly on your phone when you heard a knock at the door. You tilt your head back off the bed to glance at the door. "Don't we have a doorbell?"

The knocking comes again.

"I'll get it." You sigh. Felice glances up from her laptop and shuts it as you start unlocking the door. "Who is it?" She asks.

"Guess." You call back. You swing the door open to find the one and only Nishimura Riki looking down at you. You frown. "Hello."

He holds out a sprig of lavender. You tilt your head. "Oh."

"I found it on the way. I was going to keep it but Mateo told me to give it to you." He mumbles. He pushes the lavender gently into your hand and closes your fingers over it. "Uh- thank you."

"Yeah." He darts his hands back to his sides and steps into the room causing you to take a small harried step back so you don't bump into each other. Mateo leans in after him. "That was awkward." He smiles. "But we did bring snacks." He holds up a couple plastic bags and over your shoulder makes eye contact with Felice. You watch his eyes sparkle as he fight back a grin. You step aside to let both of them into the room.

You twist the stem of the lavender around between the pads of your fingertips as you shut the door.

———

You and Riki are comfortably lying on one of the beds next to each other, although still as far apart from each other as possible without falling off, with one of the bags of snacks in between you. You're balancing a box of blueberries on your chest, holding it with one hand and popping the berries into your mouth with the other.

You him and shut your eyes. "I really needed a snack."

"You're welcome."

You turn your head and, hesitantly, reach your hand across to Riki. He glances at you, inching his fingers towards yours. He gently brushes his fingertips over your knuckles and your hand twitches slightly at the fluttering of warmth.

His eyes are oddly gentle. Rounder then they usually are, filled with curiosity and bright with wonder. He lets out a soft breath and in the same moment, a clump of downy dark hair falls into his eyes. He blinks quickly, eyelashes fluttering and you feel your stomach flip quite queasily- in a good way, though.

You had been able to hear Felice and Mateo talking outside the door for a while, but now you've gone deaf to their conversation. Every molecule in your body is filled with an unexplainable energy, all focused on him, him, him.

"You know..." You start. Riki's gaze dashes to your hand, softly drawing shapes with his fingers all over your skin.

"You're not so bad." You breathe. Riki smiles.

Felice and Mateo come pattering into the room and turn the corner with scheming laughter, causing you and Riki to lose your hold on each other and for you to roll off the bed. You hit the ground with a loud thump and a cry out loud. A moment later, you're looking up at all of their faces, surrounded by utter silence.

Riki, hanging off the bed, is the first to start laughing. Then Felice, then Mateo. You whine and reach your arms out for help. Eventually, Felice gives in and pulls you up. By this time, you're laughing is well.

———

4/26 - 3:31pm - at the zoo.

"I didn't know there was a zoo here." You marvel. You gasp as an otter comes swimming towards the glass, doing little flips in the water. After all of you had regained your breath lost in laughter, Felice and Mateo had proposed visiting the zoo since there were still quite a few hours until you had to get back on set.

Riki leans over your shoulder, watching the otter as it climbs out of the water, sleek brown fur slicked back with wetness. "There's pretty much everything here." He says.

"Yeah." You blow a breath and trace a heart into the glass. You feel a tap and turn towards the boy hovering by your shoulder. You raise your eyebrows, "What?"

He holds up a bag of popcorn. "Mateo believes our appetites are endless."

You grin and snatch the popcorn. "He's right!" You gently tear it open and hold it up to Riki. He's chewing on his bottom lip, sucked deep into thought. You tap his nose. "Take some."

"Oh- right." He smiles faintly.

You turn back, shoving a handful of popcorn into your mouth. You hum in pleasure, absent mindedly staring at the ripples in the water. "You're not so bad." You recall saying. He didn't get the chance to respond. You can't help but wonder what Riki might have said in response to that. Does he also think that you're not all that terrible? Does he still hate you? He wouldn't be kind to you if he did, right? You begin to take a subconscious step away but he catches you by the elbow and tilts your chin in the direction of a couple of otter babies emerging from a little enclosed section in the back. "Look!" His voice is pure with delight. You feel your heart flutter slightly. You grin.

"They're so cute."

"They are." You can feel Riki's breath brushing your ear and the side of your face, causing your hair to flutter slightly. Why does he get this close to you? Make your heart do flips like that? It's annoying. He doesn't like you anyway, he just acts that way. It's bothersome. Your rapid pace of running thoughts pause, lingering. Yes, he doesn't like you anyway, but if you're thinking that, does it mean that you like him? Your gaze shifts towards Riki, his soft fingers still pressed against your elbow. "Too close." You say softly.

"Oh." His face screws up in a strange disgusted expression as he steps away and tucks his hands into his pocket. "Sorry." He mumbles.

Of course he doesn't like you. That small moment proves it easily to you. He got close on accident and when he realized how close he was, he was uncomfortable with being that close to you. He doesn't like you. Do you like him? Maybe. Yes.