Chapter Text
The snow lightly fell as Takeo walked home, his breath visible in the air. He only noticed then that he should feel cold but an aura of heat surrounded him.
He put a hand to his mouth, “First kiss, first kiss, our first kiss,” replaying ceaselessly in his head. His already warm face grew hotter when he remembered what transpired not three minutes ago.
The bursts of emotion, declarations, something that threw him out of orbit and yet kept him tethered to the ground. It was something so unfamiliar and something that Takeo would welcome over and over again.
He almost ran into a telephone pole and stumbled out of the way. He shook his head and continued walking. The snowfall was getting heavier and Takeo drew his arms around himself once to rub his arms.
He kept his arms away from his stomach, his chest, so as not to erase the phantom feeling of Rinko held close to him. She felt just as warm as he did, clinging closely and shouting her thanks and that she would take care of him too.
She’d waved at him from the doorway until he was out of sight, occasionally bringing a hand to her face and brushing at it with her knuckles. Takeo had to blink away a few of his own tears and wondered if warm tears meant tears of happiness.
He imagined a shell, tangible, and all of these emotions stored there. The shell was hung on a string and placed around him, the shell singing like the sea. All at once he understood the poets and the songwriters that poured over the writings of their love and joy.
“I’m glad you were born,” Takeo said to no one, but it was something he would show with his actions forever.