A Childhood Moment - Takumi Arai
Some random mostly unplanned thing out of my mind that I wrote on my phone real quick (so no read more or typo correction sorry) before bed as a late birthday gift for @gessoyouknow
Happy (belated) birthday!
I’m hiding behind a tree, waiting for Tsubasa and Yasu to be done talking. The evening sky casts it’s light upon their faces.
Truthfully, I wasn’t intending to spy on them. I was just coming to tell Tsu that her mother wanted her home for dinner. But then I saw it. Tsu’s cute round face, a pink glow on each round cheek as she looked down and shuffled her feet. My brother Yasu, looking down at her curiously, a patient good natured smile on his face.
Yasu is really handsome and cool. Plus he’s a teenager so I can’t really compete. But I’ll be a teenager too, soon. I’m already eleven so…
Why won’t she look my way?
“Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?” Yasu asks Tsu.
“Oh. Er, um…” Tsu mumbles, smiling.
My hand turns into a fist at my side. My gaze deepens to a glare.
Tsu continues, “I just wanted to tell you-”
Something snaps inside me and I step out from behind the tree. Yasu’s wide eyes immediately move to me and Tsu turns around.
Moving on instinct, I run up to Tsu and throw my arms around her neck. All I have time to see is her cute surprised face before we both fall over from the force of my hug.
We both fall to the ground, me half on top of Tsu. I push myself up, not altogether displeased with the situation. Tsu pushes me off her though, and turns her angry brown eyes on me.
She stares at me, demanding an answer and for a moment my mind shuts down.
(It’s because you were going to confess-!)
My face slowly hears up then, as I realize both what I was about to say and what I just did. I jump up and begin to stammer.
“I-I just t-thought you had a bug on you.”
Tsu stands up, her small hands balled into fists. She leans forward into my face and I reflexively lean back.
“So you TACKLED me?! What kind of bug needs to be tackled?!”
Not knowing what to say, I simply stare back at Tsu with wide eyes. Silence stands between us, at least, until I hear laughter.
We both turn to look at Yasu who’s now nearly bent over, wheezing with laughter.
“What?” Tsu and I ask at the same time.
Yasu slaps his leg in mirth and Tsu and I both frown.
“Y-you… You two… You’re so weird. ”
Yasu stands up straight then, wiping his eye.
“Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing. Especially when you’ve got each other to be weird with. You two will make a cute couple some day. ”
“Whaat?!” Tsu screeches in a high pitched voice, causing Yasu to start laughing all over again.
I can’t bring myself to look at Tsu but I bet her face is as red as mine.
Later, Tsu would scold me for bothering her and giving Yasu the wrong idea, and I’d listen, disappointed.
But nothing she said could take away that moment of happiness from me; the moment where my older brother saw a future I would often dream about years later.
A happy future with the woman I…