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Even though they hadn’t, to them, it was as if they had defied gravity. Even if it were just for a moment. The rusted metal bars of the swings creaked under the weight of the two kids, a lavender-haired boy and a mint green-haired girl. They fell back, screaming, cool air following their movement.
The girl, having screamed so much her throat felt dry, said, “I am never doing something like that ever again.”
Laughing, the boy held onto the chains and backed up, preparing to swing again. “Scaredy-cat,” he said, a dorky grin on his face.
“I am not a—”
Once he was at a good distance, he lifted his feet high and let the wind sweep him upwards back into the air. “Scaaaaredy-caaat!!!” he screamed as he swung back and forth at incredible speeds.
On the ground, Nene watched as Rui seemingly flew. Her feet pressed deeper into the sand, her green hair fluttering in waves against the golden-orange glow of the setting summer sun. Rui’s skin glowed, and his yellow eyes were like a sparkler. An angel on earth, she thought.
The thought wasn’t entirely untrue. He was practically an angel. Near-perfect grades, a smile so bright it lit up the late nights when they would sneak out of their houses to play, and a personality so endearing and extravagant it outshone her meekness.
And yet here she was, with him out of all people.
They say your friends are reflections of you, but between them, there was no reflection, no similarities, nothing to connect the two of them except their passions. They were almost polar opposites.
Coming to a slow stop, Rui jumped off the swing, taking a bow with a perfect landing. “Thank you, my wonderful audience! Such a pleasure to perform for all of you!”
A smile fought its way onto Nene’s face, but was soon defeated with a sigh. She stared at the ground, dragging a slow foot in circles.
Rui turned to her and dropped his smile, concerned. “Nene? Is something wrong?
“Eh? N-Nothing!” She crossed her arms and pouted in defense. “I was just… thinking.”
When Nene looked at Rui—stared longingly at his bright smile—all she could see was a boy, driven and passionate. Smarter and lovelier. She could imagine him commanding a stage with a clipboard in his hands, sparkles in his eyes as he excitedly explained directions and how to manage his inventions for the effects.
She saw him ten steps forward in the spotlight, while she remained infinite steps back in the dark, failed and forgotten.
Rui took her hand suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts. She blushed and stammered, “W-What are you doing?”
“Distracting you, of course. You look overwhelmed,” he said, smiling and bright-eyed. Almost dreamlike, beautiful. “July seventh is coming up, right?”
Nene nodded. “I guess, but what—”
He led her to the top of one of the square bollards, Nene squealing as she was pulled along until the two stood at the top, feeling like she was standing at the summit of Mount Everest. The wind picked up, blowing in her hair in flowing waves.
“I’m gonna let go, but stay here. I’ll catch you if you fall.” He gave her hand one last squeeze, and before she could interject, he let go and hopped off the bollard.
Nene’s legs shook. She teetered, breath coming in short bursts. She was so high up, God, she might slip and fall, and—
“Princess Orihime,” Rui began, putting a hand to his heart. “How should we embrace? This river separates my heart from yours.”
That was enough to snap her out of it. She took another glance at the ground, inhaled, then exhaled. “D-Dearest Hikoboshi…” she lamented. “My heart, there is no bridge to bring us together. It’s… It’s hopeless…” She took this cue to cry, and though she never learned how to cry on cue at this point, it wasn’t hard to find the well of tears she needed when she saw the lavender boy, imagining him walking into the future without her. Her tears dropped, creating wet circles in the sand.
Rui gasped. “Princess, look! The magpies!”
The two imagined a flock of magpies swooping in from the darkness, forming a bridge between the two. Nene carefully climbed down the bollard and rejoined Rui’s side, smiling. She felt as if anything were possible with him. She could shake off her anxiety and pretend to be someone else around him. Even herself if she wanted to.
Again, the two were reunited at last as Nene hugged him, with Rui hugging her back.
He leaned back enough to see the smile on her face and asked, “Whatever happens in the future, promise you’ll meet me again on this same day?”
“I promise.”
No, she didn’t know what the future held for the two of them. But, with him, she was certain of one thing.
She would love him until the end of the world, until the final period in life’s long sentence.
♫彡10 YEARS LATER*:･ﾟ✧
Nene snapped out of her thoughts as she returned to the muffled chatter of the audience beyond the curtain, standing stage left.
It’s been a while since she last saw Rui. After he graduated from high school, it was as if he moved forward and never turned back. Sure, there were calls and messages at first, but he got so busy over time—then came Nene’s graduation, and so both of them were busy. She can’t be mad or cry about it. It ended naturally, like any separated friends, or like them in middle school. When they had nothing to tie them together, they would naturally drift away.
So she did all she could to move forward, too. She went to university for a degree in Performing Arts, got signed up to a talent agency, and travelled the world, performing in a variety of theaters; it became hard to count.
Soon enough, she forgot about the boy. The same boy who consumed every waking day of her childhood and adolescence, who always performed beside her until he moved away. That didn’t matter now, though. She had to pull herself together and face the audience. And though she’s done hundreds of shows by now, the stage anxiety never fully went away, but it became controllable.
On cue, she stepped into the light. The audience immediately went silent as the show began. As she began to speak, she spotted something—no, someone—in the crowd. A fleck of lavender in the sea of faces.
Their eyes locked, his gaze sparkling in the dark, and he smiled.
♫彡*:･ﾟ✧
It was hard not to focus on him throughout the whole show. He was like a colored stain on a white shirt, both way too apparent and annoying when you couldn’t easily wipe it off.
She wanted to ignore it, forget he was here, hopefully after a few glasses of wine, but when she stepped out of the stage door to greet an endless line of fans and sign endless autographs and smile in endless selfies… There he was again. The first person in line.
“Hi! Could you perhaps sign my notebook?” He beamed as he held out a black Moleskine notebook and a pen.
Nene, not wanting to appear rude, smiled back forcefully. “Um. Of course, yeah.” She stepped forward and took the notebook, opening it to the first page. Inside was a written message that read: You wanna get out of here?
She gaped at the notebook. The gall he had to ask her to forgo her duty, her fans, after going MIA for so long. After he directed dozens of movies and won countless awards. After he forgot her. Left her.
But she couldn’t help the gnawing curiosity, this overwhelming longing for the bright-eyed boy who both patched her frail heart together only to break it once again. She looked at the new lines in his face, at his mischievous smile that she missed dearly, then at the winding line of excited fans behind her.
“I’m sorry,” she announced. “I’m suddenly feeling under the weather and won’t be accepting any more autographs and photos.”
Everyone else in line began to sigh and lament as Nene subtly mouthed to Rui, “Meet me in the back. Through the fire exit.”
Rui nodded and made his leave. Nene wondered if she had made a grave mistake.
♫彡*:･ﾟ✧
In the alleyway through the fire exit, Rui was already there, leaning back against the brick wall. In the distance, cars honked and zoomed past. A couple passed them, briefly looking at the pair suspiciously before walking off.
“What did you want?” Nene asked, crossing her arms. Nene asked, crossing her arms. “I’m kind of busy with… well, everything.”
“No reason whatsoever. Thought I’d drop by, since you happened to be close to where I’m shooting my next movie.”
Of course, Nene scoffed. It’s just some superficial reason.
She turned away, done with this conversation, but stopped when Rui put a hand on her shoulder. He quickly pulled away, red in the face. “Sorry, that’s a horrible way to start this, isn’t it?”
Nene bit on her bottom lip. “If you don’t come out with it, then I’m leaving.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you, but maybe we could go somewhere else?” He extended a hand for her, patiently waiting for her to take it. She didn’t—but momentarily thought of doing so—and walked out of the alley, Rui trailing behind.
“We’re going out for dinner, and that’s it.”
“Got it. That, we can do.”
♫彡*:･ﾟ✧
Rui was still picking out the vegetables in his chow mein when Nene finished her orange chicken. “You’re wasting your time,” she commented as she dabbed a napkin to her lips. “And you’re still picky?”
A child from the table next over piped up about how salty his food was, and his parents had to calm him down and promise him dessert. A light bulb above the pair buzzed.
“What? Old habits die hard—there we are!” After (somehow) successfully removing the vegetables from the noodles, he began to slurp them from his chopsticks. Nene felt a little embarrassed when she looked down at her used spoon and fork.
“So why are you here?”
Rui swallowed. “Well, if I were being completely honest.” He folded his hands in his lap. “I bought a ticket on a whim. I just saw you on one of the posters nearby, and I thought I couldn’t miss this.”
“You were brilliant, by the way,” he continued, eyes crinkling in the corners with his smile. “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown since we last performed together.”
Since we last performed together. Yeah, and since they last spoke properly together. Nene clenched the side of her leg. “It’s been a while, I know.” She looked out the window, at the dark but illuminated city street where cars and pedestrians passed by. Anywhere but him.
Rui noticed the tension behind her words and frowned. Not really at her, but more so at himself. Disappointment? “You have every right to be mad. I… I should have made more time.”
“You can’t just crawl back to me and expect everything to just go back to how it was before. It’s not that easy.” Not after all of these years apart.
“I know. I know, but… I got busy. And then you got busy. Do you not remember? I tried to plan to meet up again at least once a year, but you always shot me down, saying you had rehearsals or a big project. Didn’t have the time.”
“But that’s because you did the same to me!”
He sighed, eating another forkful of chow mein. By his cringed expression, it’d already gone cold. He finished his food, and the mood returned to a hesitant and frail calm. He said, “I miss you. I’m not hiding what I feel. It’s as simple as that. I miss you, Nene.”
She paused. What was she even doing, holding on to a grudge when he looked just as lonely and sad as she was? She wondered if there was any bad blood or if everything was just one long, drawn-out misunderstanding.
Because the undeniable truth was something she hated to admit. The one thing she’d been running from.
“I miss you, too, Rui.”
“Then what are we sitting around here for?” He suddenly stood up, carefully taking her hand and leading her out the door.
“W-Where are we going?”
“Anywhere, I guess!”
The two ran through the city, through streetlights and people dragging their feet. Past the tall buildings and the storefronts. It’s been so long since Nene felt like this—like the world melted away and there only existed her and him.
He came to a sudden stop, Nene nearly tripping. Rui caught her and set her back straight again, the pair blushing. “Sorry, but… Look.” He pointed to a playground.
It looked nothing like theirs from the past with its grass floor, elaborate slides, swings, and even a climbing dome, but that was fine.
“Do you know what day it is today?” Rui asked.
Nene didn’t need to check. “Yeah. It’s Tanabata.”
Rui smiled, leading her to the climbing dome. This time around, she let go and went up the bars herself, standing on top of the dome as the night carried her hair in the cool wind. From here, she can still see the stars twinkling in his eyes.
“It didn’t rain tonight, Princess. Luck must be on our side again,” Rui said, smiling like such a dork it made Nene want to run down and hug him without another wasted second.
Being with him like this again, it felt like riding a bicycle after a while—though you stumble at first, your body never forgot what it felt like after all these years.
“Indeed, Hikoboshi. We reunite once again.” She carefully took each step back down until she reached the ground, standing before him. “It’s been too long, my heart.”
He held her face with the palm of his hand, gentle and warm to the touch. Delicately brushing a stray hair of hers away, he said, “Then let us make this night last.”
She didn’t know who leaned in first, who initiated it, but when they started to kiss, she hardly wanted it to stop. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Almost desperately.
All of these years of waiting, pining, and longing for him, all of it slipped away as she fell into his embrace and passion. None of it mattered anymore, for he was here again. Because love always finds a way back.