𝓣𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂 𝓜𝓲𝓷𝓮 ☆ 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐚

~𝑲𝒆𝒐𝒎𝒊~

°•☆•°☆°•☆•°☆°•☆•°☆°•☆•°☆°•☆•°☆°•

   I gaze into the rose-pink sky through the windshield as the sun is beginning to set. I love sunsets. They are so beautiful. The way the pink fades into orange and then a reddish-orange. The way the clouds turn a peach color. It just makes me feel like all my worries don't exist.
   Sanemi is next to me sitting in silence, driving to somewhere else. He has one hand on the wheel and the other on the center console. He takes turns down streets, left and right. Some of the streets I've never heard of.
   I can't help but just keep looking out the window for some kind of hint of where we're going.
Sanemi has a car freshener in one of the vents in between us. It smells kind of like the ocean mixed with a bit of cologne. Maybe the cologne part is from him but either way, it smells so good.
   I rest my head on the gray cloth seatbelt and just look out the passenger window of his truck. The streetlights begin to turn on as the sunlight fades, going to a different part of the world. Granting them the same light.
   We soon turn onto a back road. There are hardly any cars passing by and only a few streetlights.
I steal a glance over at Sanemi. His face is unreadable. I want to know what he's thinking. Sometimes it's impossible to know what he's thinking. Now is one of those times.
The little bit of sunlight that's left, shapes his face perfectly. His jaw, his nose, his lips, his eyes, everything. He looks so calm and peaceful. I think this is probably the most relaxed I've seen him.
   We take another left onto another back road that's uphill. The back road curves, cutting into part of the hill. The road goes entirely over the hill but we stop halfway up.
   Sanemi looks behind us. I do the same. There's no one behind us. Maybe that's what he wants?
All of a sudden the car jolts, making my body jump.
   He looks at me, "Sorry. Are you okay?" He glances at the hill in front of us that we're driving on, then back at me. I briefly nod before returning to the window.
   Once we reach the top of the hill, Sanemi puts the car in reverse and flips the truck around to where the front is facing where we just came from. Then he moved the lever to park and turned the truck off.
   In an instant, he's at the passenger door, opening it for me. I didn't even realize he exited the truck.
   I hop out. The top of the hill is quite flat. Much flatter than I expected. I walk towards the edge of the hill where it begins to descend.
   I hear Sanemi put the tailgate down. The truck is just close enough that you can see down the other side of the hill. "Are you looking on the other side of the hill yet?" I hear Sanemi say from behind me. I can hear his footsteps getting closer and closer.
   "No," I shout just loud enough so he can hear me. "I'm almost there though."
   "Okay, wait for me." I hear his footsteps speed up. I stop and look back, waiting for him to approach me. He reaches me and grabs my hand. He leads me to the edge.
   I look down and see the city lit up. The sun is almost gone and what seems to be every light in the city is on. The sunset is now behind us and the moon is in front of us. It's the perfect view. I never knew the city was so pretty at night. I never knew the city could be this pretty at all.
I smile, "It's so pretty." I say, latching onto his arm.
   He looks down on me since I'm a little under a foot shorter than him. "Isn't it?" He focuses his gaze back at the city.
   "It so is. It's amazing." I look up at him, the moonlight reflecting off his face. "How'd you find this place?"
He looks down at me once again. His expression is no longer amused. It's now a sorrowful one with a soft smile spread across it. "What's wrong?" I ask with concern for him.
   "It's where my mom used to take me. Y'know before..." He looks at the lit city. "When it was just me and Genya. That's when she took us. Back when she was happy." The last part he said under his breath.
   He just gazed at the lit city with a calm demeanor. "I don't know what it was, but when Genya and I were younger, I was about nine, and Genya would've been four at the time. Anyway, she took us here for the first time." He continued, "She said that she used to come here regularly. When she was in high school. It seemed like this was her place, and when she brought us, it felt like she was giving it to us."
   I looked over at him, "Have you brought anyone else up here?" I didn't say girls specifically but he knew what I meant. I didn't mean to be rude. It just popped into my head, and if I didn't ask now, I would probably forget.
   He laughs, "What? You think I bring all the girls I meet to my place?" He says with a big smile on his face.
   "No," I mumble. I didn't mean to assume that I was just curious and now I sort of feel bad for thinking that. "Sorry," I say in guilt.
   He chuckles, "It's alright, I was just messing around." I don't feel as bad anymore now that I can tell that he's not offended. He quickly changes the topic, "Do you like it up here?"
   I look over at him and nod, "Yeah, I do. It's lovely." My eyes return to the city. I squat down and sit down on the ground cross-legged.
   He sits down next to me. "Every time I'm upset or angry or whatever, I come up here. It's like my safe place." He pauses and lets out a long breath,    "This is the only place I feel comfortable... other than when I'm with you." He says with a soft tone and a soft smile to go along with his tone.
   I grin at him in return. I can't believe that he's actually mine. No one else's. I don't have to share him with a single soul. He's just mine. That bright smile is all mine. That's a wish come true. The number of times I've dreamt about him. Just thought about him or looked at him and wished for him. The number of times I've blown every seed off every dandelion I see. Maybe it works. I'm mean... here he is with his perfectly perfect smile.
   Our gaze turns back to the sunset in front of us. "Question..." I look at him to show I'm listening. "If you were to have a kid, what would you name them?" Mid-sentence he looks at me.
   "Um...if I had to say, and for context it's a boy, it'd have to be Akiro." He now has a puzzled expression, so I go into more detail, "It means bright and intelligent." He nods his head along with what I'm saying. "What about you?" I ask.
   "If they're a girl, I'd choose Keomi." This time I give him a puzzled look. "Pure."
   "It's such a pretty name!" I respond with a bubbly tone in my voice. "I'm going to steal it!" I giggle.
   "Hey, hey! Sorry, but no. That's mine." I give him one of my signature "pouty" faces. "You never know. Maybe we'll have a little girl together." He has a big grin across his face. How does he say things like that and still have a straight face?
   "What if we don't?" I question with doubt.
   "Okay, we'll have a deal. If we don't have a daughter together, then whoever has a daughter first can name her Keomi. Okay?" I nod in response. "Cool. Don't you try to keep that name all to yourself." There it is again, his soft, bright smile. He leans in and kisses me. "Is that okay with you?" I nod. "Good." He kisses me once again. We spend the rest of our night watching over the city.

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W/C|1438

Sorry this took absolutely forever but I've been grounded, still am. Anyway, I was able to sneak this hope y'all enjoyed. Happy now? Also, I have an announcement on my profile so if you're not following and didn't get that notification, go check it out.