"[...] i'm made for a soul-crushing romance, i need someone who won't be ashamed to worship the ground i walk on, because that's how i love, i give myself completely, i love every day as if there could be no tomorrow, i- god, do you know even one gu...
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the weather was beautiful, just like the forecast from last few days promised. it should have triggered a red lamp in akaashi's head, because there was a sudden temperature of nearly thirty degrees after a few days of barely tens and fifteens. it happened from time to time, but april was overall surprising with the weather, which is probably why he was so calm about it. he was too excited about finally going on a date with yn, and he was so consumed with planning it that when the weather finally cooperated, he just went with it.
he did not come to pick up yn, instead, he invited her to one of tokyo's beautiful gardens, which were filled with blossoming trees, first blooming flowers, and green grass. he needed to get everything ready before yn saw it.
she knew it was going to be a picnic from the moment he told her the location. she didn't tell him what she figured out; instead, she asked him a series of questions that could 'help' her figure it out, such as what to wear or whether she needed to bring anything with her. when akaashi told her she could wear whatever made her feel beautiful, she immediately thought of one dress in her closet. it was an impulsive and extremely expensive purchase, but she saw it on the internet and decided it was the most perfect piece of clothing ever created.
so she bought it and never left the house in it because it was all too dressy and felt like too much. it wasn't right for grocery shopping, a night out with friends, a casual walk, a trip to her hometown, or any elegant event. it just didn't suit any occasion. until now, akaashi had given her one, as their first date was a picnic in the beautiful garden. it just felt so special, and the dress was an perfect choice.
when she arrived, akaashi was nervously arranging everything on a large blanket, his back to her, until she cleared her throat. he almost jumped, not a second had passed before he was standing straight in front of her, holding a bouquet in one hand.
unfortunately, they only got an hour of sitting down on the blanket, while akaashi rambled about how he planned everything and why he chose a cherry cake and not a strawberry one from the bakery, why he picked this particular flowers for her, where he considered inviting her before he decided on that garden, and yn took a lot of photos with her digital camera she packed in her purse, because she wanted to keep this memory forever in another way than just in her mind, making akaashi little flustered with how she praised everything and took a lot of photos just of him. he also asked to take some photos of her, and she was more than happy to pose with her flowers.
after that, a large, dark cloud made it's way in the sky.
it was only a matter of seconds before they gathered everything, not wanting to hope that it would not rain and get soaked if their pleas were ignored. it began to rain halfway to yn's apartment, and akaashi tried to give her his jacket because it showed that she had put a lot of effort into the make-up she was wearing, but she insisted that his jacket was large enough for both of them to hide their heads underneath. it wasn't the most comfortable way to walk, but they managed to make it work.
still, when they reached the apartment, the tops of their heads were wet because it wasn't the season to wear waterproof jackets anymore, and akaashi brought it with him only because he thought that later that day, somewhere near the evening, it might get a little cold outside, and he wanted to be prepared to give it to yn.
but now everything was ruined, and he felt as if thinking about it any longer would make him cry. all of the planning was pointless because they only spent an hour together. it would have worked if he had double-checked the forecast, waited a little longer, or came up with another plan.
"i'm so-"
"don't you dare," she said, pointing her finger at him. "'kaashi," she said softly, taking him by the collar of his button-up shirt. he looked so elegant and pretty, even with his hair flattened by the heavy wet jacket on top of his head, which had already been tossed away as soon as they entered the apartment. "are you going to apologize to me for the weather? what are you? zeus? you can't control that, so don't act like it's your fault," she chuckled before kissing him on the lips. "don't pout, it's fine," she said before kissing him again. "if it was little warmer, we could've dance in a rain."
"it is, right? can you dance?" she dragged him to the bathroom and took two towels so they could dry off a little.
"maybe, but without music," he said, rubbing his hair with the towel. their clothes weren't particularly wet, the shoes and bottoms of akaashi's pants took in the most water. yn's dress was long to the ground, so she only needed to dry her ankles and calves.
"ah, bad with rhythm, i see," she said, nodding as if it made perfect sense to her. "i would lead you," she said, taking the towel from his hands and urging him to lean down so she could dry his hair for him.
"that dress is probably great to dance in," he said, and yn immediately took her hands to herself and looked at him with excitement.
"do you wanna see how it twirls?" she asked, turning around to show him without waiting for an answer. "and it has pockets," she added proudly.
"oh wow," akaashi gasped, trying to match her enthusiasm and excitement. he reached for her and slipped his hands into the pockets she had just shown him, pulling her closer. "really cool," he said, chuckling as yn lightly slapped him on the chest after he pulled her like that. "i know you're not mad, but i'm really sorry that you had to wait so long for this date and it ended barely after it started."
"who said it ended?" she asked, prying his hands away from her and quickly exiting the bathroom, with akaashi following closely behind. "move this away, please." she pointed to the coffee table in the living room, briefly turning on the light. due to the clouds and rain, it was very dark inside.
she took the blanket from the basket, it was a little wet, but that wasn't a problem because she had plenty of blankets at home. she took two to make sure that it was soft enough to sit on the ground, and laid them down in the center of her living room, where akaashi had made space. he watched as she took out all of the packed food and placed it on the blankets, almost exactly as he had done before.
she didn't seem to be finished, even though everything had been unpacked, so akaashi stood still and waited for whatever she was doing.
tn was looking through the drawers of her living room cabinet for a lighter. she eventually found it in the bottom one. it was to be expected that when she bought a large number of candles to decorate her apartments, she also bought a lighter but never used it because she felt bad about lighting up pretty candles and ruining them.
now though, it didn't feel like she was ruining them because, even if they lost most of their whimsical shapes, they would remind her of this moment. she was making a memory with them, not destroying something by literally making it serve its purpose.
aside from that, they couldn't sit under the bright light of the living room lamp, the candlelight was far more romantic and suitable.
after placing some of the candles around the living room, she sat proudly on the ground and extended her hand to akaashi, who accepted it with a soft smile and kneeled down. before he could take his seat next to her, she placed his hands on her cheeks and pulled her into a soft kiss, showing how gratefull he was for her.
