pureryudo:
“Haha, don’t jinx it, or there really will be a movie like that soon!” She jokingly patted his back while saying that. Even though she disliked them, if a bicycle would have a role in a horror movie, even she would find it just ridiculous and not scary…
At this point, she wasn’t even surprised that her friend would understand and even feel for her dilemma. There were many things she wanted to try, be it some sports, or things like sewing and cooking, but knowing how important her hands are for that what she does, she had some kind of responsibility to avoid certain activities. Not that it would stop her in any case though… In the end she still was a very curious girl, eager to experience and trying new things every day.
Still, Rantaros kind words made her feel warm on the inside. He always was so kind to her, sometimes it still was hard to believe, that even after all that happened, they could laugh together like this.
“A bucket list?” She know it was a joke, but it made her think of something. “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if you really would have something like this!” She giggled. “I don’t know how to describe it, but you seem to me like someone who experienced already a lot of things. More than me, and that even though we’re in the same age! I’m kind of jealous of that, you know? So… right back at you! You’re just as amazing as I am, if not even more, Amami-kun!”
Though, there was a some sort of change in the mood, right after she made a comment about him being a good brother. It was hard to describe, but Kaede had quite a good feeling about social clues like that, and something felt just off… Did he maybe dislike talking about his family? She was distracted to think more about it, when the other confessed his dislikenes of cars though.
“Cars…? Really? That’s surprising! Are you scared to drive one, or do you feel unsafe if you’re sitting in one? To be honest, I always wanted to learn how to drive! It seems like a very comfortable way to travel from one point to the other to me.” A shame, if she’d ever learn how to drive here, she would have liked to take Rantaro with her, but maybe she should first hear him out, before giving completely up on the idea.
"Haha, what do you think they’ll call it -- Spokes of Death? Pedal Me to Hell?” Rantaro joked right back in turn, laughter tickling the back of his throat as they continued along their bike ride. Maybe this whole thing started off as a way to soothe her fears about bike riding, but it sure was soothing him at the same time. Despite being in this city for quite some time, a sense of normalcy was still hard to obtain at times; perhaps a remnant from the rather extreme situation that the two of them had come from, but urgency had always been something on his mind before that, he was sure. His wandering feet gave him both a means to calm himself and also work on that urgency, so being stuck here only gave him one of those two solutions. For that reason, maybe it wasn’t an overstatement to say that he was really grateful for the presence of Kaede - and his other classmates too.
“Me? Nah, I’m not that amazing. I’m not particularly skilled in one area like you are, Akamatsu-san. What’s that saying, jack-of-all trades but master of none? Haha, it’d be like that for me.” He paused, it wasn’t like he wanted to ignore Kaede’s compliments or turn them away. Aside from all that, it was a little embarrassing to accept all that too! With an awkward but flattered chuckle, he spoke again. “But uh, haha... thank you. You’ve always been so straightforward with what you say, huh? Maybe I should put that characteristic on my bucket list too, haha!”
Did it work? Did he somehow gloss past the whole little sister thing? Sure seemed like it, especially when she latched onto that next topic like he was hoping she would. Sorry Kaede... as much as Rantaro wanted to talk to someone about all this, he still wasn’t the type of person to put his burdens on someone else if he could help it. Especially in this situation, where nothing could really be done on just about anyone’s part -- there wasn’t any need for Kaede to feel bad about the situation needlessly, after all. Maybe... in time, he could start telling her more about himself in that aspect but for now, he was grateful for the quick shift in topic.
“Ah no, it’s nothing operational or anything like that! I’ve got a boating license after all, I’m pretty confident in most motor vehicle operations and all. It’s just that well... it’s something about a car that really makes me motion sick.” He laughed sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his head out of habit.
“You’d think my stomach would be rugged enough to handle a simple car ride after all this other bumpy stuff I do, but it’s the one thing that really gets it going in a bad way! I can cope if it’s not too bumpy, but otherwise... well, I’d just prefer to not take a car if there’s other options, that’s all!”














