Our Eternal Summer (MakoHaru)

Chapter 7

           

The Odaiba Ferris wheel loomed large ahead as we queued for our turns. A disc that framed a neon flower, it revolved slowly against the backdrop of a sky lit up by twinkling city lights.

The time had come.

I stopped everyone else when it was our turn. "Gou. Here's the full cabin ticket. Go." I said, and then, "Nagisa, stop jumping, you can go in the next one with Rin and Rei."

An awkward air stole over us. Gou said nothing. Her lips were tight in tension. A pale sheen of sweat had broken on her face. She took the ticket, grabbed Sousuke's hand and mounted a red cabin. Absentmindedly, I remembered the bow on her school uniform that would cushion her jaw when she lowered her face. It was almost the exact shade of red. Hold your head up high, Gou, I thought. Good luck.

Nagisa, as shrewd as he was rowdy, asked carefully: "So...is this why Gou-chan has been acting weird the past few days?"

I nodded.

"And...you said 'Rin, Rei and I'? Does that mean...?"

I nodded again.

"I see...Sure. Sure. No problem." I swore I could see the glee and interest bubbling behind his attempt – which was an epic fail – to look solemn. He looked like a kid in a pretend-funeral in class, looking sad while he thought about the castle he would build in the sandbox during recess.

I couldn't help it. "I know you'd rather go alone with Rei, since it's a must-try for couples and all, but I hate to think that Rin would be left alone. Sorry Nagisa, sorry Rei."

Rin's jaw dropped so wide open it revealed not only the upper row of his zigzagged teeth, but the lower one as well. The couple-in-question spluttered, blushed like a beetroot, and – I kid you not – Rei pushed out his chest and said with equal parts embarrassment and pompousness: "There's nothing wrong for me to love Nagisa, Makoto-senpai!"

And for once, Nagisa was speechless. Nonplussed Nagisa. If I weren't as anxious as I were I would've snapped a photo.

Rin was already howling with laughter.

I squeezed their tickets into the wedge where his palms were holding his stomach in his mirth, grasped ours tightly in my left hand, and grabbed Haru's hand with my right.

His palm was slightly cool in mine.

I was careful to avoid seeing Haru's expression as I led him into our cabin. An electric blue one.

When I finally had the guts to look at his face, our cabin had already risen halfway. The Rainbow Bridge, in all of its colourful glory, was right there, like a miniature toy I could touch if I simply lifted my hand.

The lights casted shadows on Haru's face, shades of dark orange and magenta and pink on his pale skin. His brows were furrowed the way they do when he thinks about things. And it was rare for Haru to be puzzled over things about me, or about anything, really. He loves water. And water loves the Haru.

Would he even want something or someone else to love in his life?

From the moment we walked into this space, confined in glass and steel, ascending to the apex and coming down again, I have fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes till the metal doors unlock and swing outwards with a loud creak and we step out, our feet once again on cemented ground.

"Haru. I have something I need to tell you." I couldn't smile.

I sat on one edge of the cabin, Haru at the other side of the perimeter. If I leaned forward far enough and held out my hand, I could touch his thigh. The steelworks groaned quietly, on and on as if it need not breathe, as it hedged us higher and higher.