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Trembling hands adjusted the top button on his collared shirt. Teeth bit down on his dry and cracked lip. He looked at himself in the mirror for what seemed to be the tenth time in the past twenty minutes. When he wasn’t checking himself in the mirror, Makoto Naegi continuously looked outside to make sure the perfect summer weather hadn’t decided to play a prank on him. There were still no clouds in the sky, and the temperature was perfect for an outing. He couldn’t find the strength to call it a date just yet.
Makoto took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. He had gone on private outings with Kyoko Kirigiri before, so why would this be different? Perhaps this was a date. He managed to ask her to accompany him to a private field he discovered a week ago. Makoto checked his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. He should leave to pick Kyoko up soon. He checks his appearance in the mirror one last time. Perhaps he should have smoothed his hair out. He didn’t have time for that now. He dashed out of his apartment so fast, that he would have forgotten the present for Kyoko if he didn’t have it sitting by the door.
He had mentally prepared himself for how Kyoko would look when she opened her apartment door. He figured she would look breathtakingly beautiful.She always did. However, when she opened the door, Makoto’s breath hitched. It was like he forgot how to breathe. She hadn’t done anything too different with her hair; she still let it fall down past her waist, with a single braid on her left side. What made him frozen where he stood was her white summer dress that was two inches above her knees. Her face was devoid of any purple coloration - which she always wore makeup to hide, but what had Makoto staring was the red lipstick that made Kyoko’s lips pop out and made him wish he had applied chapstick, just in case.
“Good afternoon, Kyoko,” Makoto said as calm as he could. In reality, he was anything but calm. “I-I have a present for you.” He handed the box to Kyoko, which he held in front of his face to hide his blush.
“A present?” Kyoko asked. Her voice made Makoto want to faint. He still couldn’t believe she was still alive and talking. He saw Kyoko take the box from his hands, and noticed her wearing her signature purple gloves.
“I don’t mean to be rude,” Makoto blurted out, “but don’t you think a different set of gloves would match your dress better?”
Kyoko pondered on Makoto’s suggestion for a moment before responding. “I figured it didn’t matter as much. If you really think a better pair would suit my outfit, I could go back to my room and find a white pair.”
Makoto shook his head. “N-No, it’s okay. You look great either way.” He gave her a smile and his face grew hotter. “So, are you going to open your gift?”
Without another word, Kyoko opened the box. Inside was a floppy sun hat, that coincidentally matched her dress. She put the hat on immediately, and smiled. Makoto’s heart skipped a beat or two at the sight of her in that hat along with her smile. He wanted to say she was beautiful, but he felt that was an understatement.
“Thank you, Makoto.” Makoto’s heart was ready to stop completely when Kyoko called him by his first name. “This was very thoughtful of you. Now, shall we go?”
Makoto was lost in Kyoko’s appearance that it took him a few delayed seconds to respond. “Oh, right!”
The pair silently walked side-by-side on the city sidewalk. The only noise that came from them would be audible gasps when Makoto swore his hands brushed Kyoko’s. Sometimes, he’d let his hand linger on hers longer than necessary, though Kyoko didn’t seem to mind. Makoto looked up at the clear blue sky and smiled.
“It’s amazing how the world is turning back to normal so quick,” he said to break the silence.
“Agreed,” Kyoko replied.
Makoto’s heart was pounding as hard as a timpani. He wasn’t sure why it was so difficult to talk to Kyoko at this moment in time. They had been close for years, and made it to Hell and back. But with the world at peace, it was now of all times that he couldn’t find the right words?
“The new school will be finished soon,” Makoto said to try conversation again.
“You must be nervous. You haven’t been given enough time and training to be a headmaster.”
Makoto shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “I’ll learn when I’m on the job. To think, I’m going to be headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy, it seems unreal.”
Kyoko smiled slightly and Makoto was sure his legs would collapse on him. “I think you’ll do a wonderful job.” Her smile widened. “Besides, I’ll be next to you to cover your back in case anything happens.”
“Are you sure you even want to do this?” The two of them turned a corner to walk out of the city, and into the wild green grass. “Don’t you want to be a full-time detective?”
Kyoko lingered on Makoto’s question for a moment. “Perhaps in the future,” she admitted. “But for now, I’d like to stand next to you and help Hope’s Peak get back on it’s feet.”
Silence plagued the two once more until they reached their desired destination. In what seemed to be a gray and somber ruin of dead trees and destroyed buildings, lied a peculiar field of bright green grass and summer flowers. Kyoko found herself staring at the field, though Makoto couldn’t figure out if she was puzzled, or in awe. She slipped the sandals off her feet and stepped onto the field filled with life. Her eyes widened at the feeling of soft soil on her skin.
“This is what you wanted to show me?” Kyoko asked as she turned her head to face Makoto. “This place?”
Makoto nodded bashfully. “Yeah. I found this place a week ago when I was going through the collapsed buildings.”
“To think a place like this exists right now,” Kyoko said quietly. “The earth is recovering quicker than I imagined.”
Makoto and Kyoko sat down in the middle of the field together. Whether it was instincts, or the need to fiddle with something to calm his nerves, Makoto picked some of the flowers surrounding them, and linked them together into a wreath. Perhaps this could be a decoration for Kyoko’s hat, or even a necklace. He wasn’t sure just yet.
When he reached down to pick another flower, he felt Kyoko’s bare hand touching his. He looked down to see the scars that covered her skin, and how they moved when she gripped Makoto’s hand. He looked up at Kyoko, surprised.
“Don’t act so surprised,” Kyoko said teasingly. “After all, you were the one who said my gloves didn’t match my outfit.”
Makoto’s heart wanted to jump right out of his chest. Kyoko had held his hand gloveless before, but not like this. Never had she held his hand when the world was at peace. He didn’t know whether to stare at his hands, or Kyoko’s eyes.
“Thank you, by the way,” Kyoko continued. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
Kyoko’s words brought Makoto’s eyes up to her own. For her eyes being an icy cold hue such as purple, her gaze seemed rather warm. Makoto swore her face was pinker than usual. He hoped she was blushing; she was adorable when she blushed.
“Remember when I said I was looking forward to facing the world with someone like you by my side?” she asked.
Makoto nodded. “Of course.”
With her free hand, Kyoko took her new sun hat off and placed it on the ground. She lowered her head and rested it on Makoto’s shoulder. Makoto stiffened at the touch.”This field is part of the world I was looking forward to seeing with you.”
Makoto’s brain went haywire and his thoughts became nothing but gibberish. He couldn’t believe the events that were happening at that moment. Kyoko held his hand without her gloves, her head rested on his shoulder, she smiled for minutes without any sign of that smile going away, and he was pretty sure Kyoko confessed that she liked him. He wanted to say he was happy that he could share this moment with her, and that he wants to have more moments like these, yet the moment he opens his mouth, no words come out. Perhaps his red cheeks and ears could tell Kyoko that he felt the same way.
Kyoko laughs softly, and to Makoto, her laugh is like a chorus of angels singing. “Lost for words?” she teased. Kyoko lifts her head off Makoto’s shoulders, and her eyes are on his once again. Makoto is so fixed on her gaze, that he doesn’t notice her getting closer.
Makoto feels Kyoko’s soft lips against his own, and his mind goes blank.