Work Text:
Where there is a will, there is a way. That quote really helped Kume. Last night, after he finished eating, Natsume invited him to go to somewhere place tomorrow. He wouldn't refuse his invitation, of course, so Kume accepted it without a slight doubt. They agreed to meet at nine in the morning. Kume went to his room immediately, ignoring his friends usual drinking party in the night. The most important thing he need to do right now is sleep. He couldn't afford to let Natsume down by staying up late and oversleep.
The lights were turned off, the blanked already covered his body, and yet Kume still unable to sleep. Could this be a side effect of his bad habit of staying up late? If he used his own theory, he should be able to sleep this time because it just a change in sleeping hour, not a reduction nor addion. Even after he lay on his bed, his whole consciousness just won’t let him sleep that easily.
After repeatedly closing his eyes and imagining complicated things in the middle of the darkness, he finally fell asleep when the clock showing eleven o’clock. Kume didn't remember what dream he had, but he did remember how powerful his subconscious alarm that woke him up at seven o'clock in the morning. Two hours was not a short period of time, especially if it’s involved a promise to Natsume, so Kume used it efficiently to prepare himself as neat as possible.
Natsume was surprised when he saw Kume was waiting below as he was going down the stairs. Kume was about to ask where they were going, but someone's voice interrupted him. They shouted Kume’s pen name while composing a haiku. Hekigotou waved his hand from afar.
"Ah, I haven’t talk about this, have I?" Natsume answered his confusion. "I also invited Hekigotou-kun."
"It's fine, right?" Hekigotou zipped up his black hoodie. "Ugh, it's really cold today."
"It’s almost winter, sensei should wears a longer pants.” Kume replied while observing the three-quarter pants that only reached Hekigotou's calf. Hekigotou laughed at his lecture and answered with ‘yeah, yeah’.
Kume asked again about their destination. Natsume said he wanted to visit a restaurant that served a delicious sweets called tenshi no namida. Hearing the name made them both confused. Natsume explained apparently it was a round mochi that looked like a water droplet. Ah, now Kume understood what Natsume wanted to do. In the end, Natsume and sweet foods are something that cannot be separated.
When they got there, they took the empty seats at the counter table. Hekigotou on the left, Kume in the middle, and Natsume on the right. They start to open the menu, looking for something they want. Hekigotou ordered mitarashi dango while Natsume ordered tenshi no namida. When they saw Kume hadn't made a choice yet, Natsume encouraging him.
"Kume-kun, just order whatever you want. Today is my treat."
"Eh, even if Natsume-sensei say that ..." Kume looked at the menu carefully, didn’t know what to order at a place that specializes in sweets. To tell the truth, he didn’t feel hungry at all. Natsume's invitation made his appetite fulfilled even though he hadn't digested anything yet.
Hekigotou's pointed something in the menu book with his finger. "Don't you like banana? How about banana roll cake?"
"Kume-kun likes banana?"
"Yes!" Hekigotou nodded. "If there’s so much fruit he can choose, he will definitely take the banana!”
"Ah ... yeah. Hekigotou-sensei is right." Kume made up his mind. "I think I want that banana roll cake."
"Good, good!"
They called the waiter and named their respective orders. Tenshi no namida, mitarashi dango, and banana roll cake. They also ordered genmaicha to complement their sweets and warmth their bodies. While waiting for their order, Natsume told them that tenshi no namida only being served 10 pieces per day so that’s why he invited them to go out early in the morning.
Their food came shortly after that. When trying the first bite, Natsume was happy because his mochi tasted so good. The mochi has no taste — because it's only made of gelatin and water — but the palm sugar syrup and soybean powder produced an incredibly delicious taste.
As if didn't want to lose, Hekigotou started to burn his dangos. He dipped his dango in the sauce and Hekigotou couldn’t help but bursting with happiness. He took a skewer that had just been grilled and gave it to Kume to took a bite.
“Ah, no, I don’t ...."
"No, no, no, you have to eat this!" Hekigotou pointed the dango in front of Kume's mouth. "Come on, open your mouth!"
Kume felt embarrassed about being fed by his teacher, but he opened his mouth because he knew Hekigotou would keep pushing him until he gave up. The sweetness that enveloped the grilled dango made Kume muttered, "It's delicious."
"Right?!" Hekigotou widened his smile. "The sauce is the perfect combination for the dango. How about your roll cake?"
"Ah, this is delicious." Kume shifted his plate to the left, offering Hekigotou to taste it. "The texture is very soft and it's not too sweet either."
Hekigotou took some of the cake with a fork. "Wow, you’re right."
They peacefully continued eating the sweets. Sometimes they drank the genmaicha when they’re thirsty. Kume almost finished his cake, but he stopped midway. He wanted to ask the person on his right.
"Natsume-sensei …" Their focus was turned on him. “I apologize if what I would ask make you uncomfortable, but I wonder why sensei asked me to go to this place. Usually sensei go with either Matsuoka or Akutagawa-kun."
"Hmm …" Natsume sprinkled soybean powder on the mochi. "Matsuoka-kun and Akutagawa-kun will definitely prohibited me to go to a place like this. Lately they were doing some shady campaigns like reducing sugar intakes on my tea.
"I can understand where they are coming from.” Kume nodded at his statement. “But I am sure I am okay. All I want only eating a sweet food, is that too much of an ask? At least for today I want to get away from their worried look. That’s why I asked you out along with Hekigotou-kun.”
“I see."
The atmosphere became awkward. Kume was about to eat the cake until Natsume said again. "But, apart from that, I don’t need a reason if I want to go somewhere place with you, right?”
"Y-yes, you’re right."
"Santei must be happy right now." Hekigotou chuckled when he saw Kume’s face slighly turned red. "Ah, maybe I should bring this dango to the library. I think Nobo-san and Kiyo would love to eat this.”
"I want that too,” said Natsume. "But someone will protest if I take it home."
"You should disguising this as something else, Natsume-san!”
“What a good idea, Hekigotou-kun.”
Kume took a sip of his genmaicha. The savory taste of roasted brown rice combined with hot tea really satisfied him. If he wanted to bring something, maybe Kume would want to order this tea instead of the sweets.
"By the way, Kume-kun," Natsume called him in a soft voice. "Have you read the story I told you?"
"That book?" Kume recalled the content of the work Natsume suggested a few days ago. "The story is very interesting. The depiction of the scenery is easy to visualize. The conflict the writer brought was light, but I can feel how neat and structured he wrote until the very end.”
Natsume smiled. "What about something their lacking?”
"In my opinion, there is one part that the writer might think could be missed and people won’t aware of it because it’s only discussing the protagonist's relationship with his family. Unfortunately, it can affect the feelings he wanted to convey at the end of the story. I felt less sympathetic to them. all because of the lack of deepening in that section.”
"Ah, Santei is the best at giving feedback to people's work, huh." Hekigotou was amazed at Kume's explanation just now. "I feel like I'm listening to the judge giving comments to the contestants."
"I … used to be a selection committe, so Hekigotou-sensei's statement has a point."
"Eh, is that so?"
"I think that's one of Kume-kun's strengths to be proud of." Natsume agreed with Hekigotou. "The way he sees a work slowly and deeply produces feedback that is straight to the point."
Hearing Natsume's words, Kume was reminded of the past when Natsume gave him a letter about the importance of moving slowly like an ox. He’s proud with the achievement he got; to be a person Natsume's suggested.
While the pride feeling consumed him, there was another thing that dominated his heart so sudden. If he managed to become the person Natsume said in the past, wouldn't that mean he hadn't changed at all? Even though Natsume told him to come forward, even though he should have became into a better one—
"The story you recently showed me was interesting." Kume's gloomy thoughts came to a halt as Natsume continued his words. "You are increasingly improving in several story genres that you haven't mastered before. You are also starting to try to take a new approach by discussing more modern topics. I saw your efforts trying to adapt and I thought that’s a good thing.”
"Let me tell you two a story too." Hekigotou didn't want to lose. "Even though Santei is more focused on novels, he still keeps track of haiku and even writes a few lines. I'm really moved and proud of him. Your enthusiasm for the literature world really encourages people, you know!"
Their compliments made Kume’s heart ache. Why is he always thinking about gloomy things? Even though these people—the people who became his mentors—admitted that he had changed in a good way. The burden that piled up in the corner of his heart gradually disappear and suddenly—
Kume was crying.
"Santei, are you okay?!" Hekigotou was shocked. He grabbed Kume's back. "You're crying ....”
"I-I can’t help ..." Kume's eyes felt hot. Tears just dripped past his cheeks. "I ... don’t know how to thank you two ....”
"It's okay if you want to cry." Natsume's hand patted Kume's head which was covered by the hat. "I've always wanted you to know about that, the thing that burdens your mind up until now. If you can get rid of everything by crying, it's okay, just cry now."
Kume covered his face with both hands. He tried to reduce his sobs, embarrassed if his pathetic self was seen continuously by the people he admired (on the other hand he was also afraid if his tears fell on the roll cake). Natsume's hand that was stroking his head and Hekigotou's hand that was supporting his back were really warm and soothing. He wanted this moment to last forever, or even if it won’t last long, he hoped he would not forget every second moments.
Thank you, Natsume-sensei, Hekigotou-sensei.
To Be Continued