2 Meeting

Natsuo's world wasn't gray anymore.

He hadn't moved an inch since Al had left what seemed like hours ago.

"So how do you think she feels right now?"

He kept hearing those words over and over again. "How does Rui feel right now?"

He hadn't thought about that once after his world had turned gray when he had watched Rui leave at the airport. He hadn't really done anything much, aside from pitying himself. He had permitted himself to drown in self-pity and self-hatred instead of focusing on what was important – Rui.

Natsuo's world wasn't gray anymore. It was Rui colored. His every thought was about her and how he could make her happy. There was no time for being depressed anymore.

"Does she really still love me?" Natsuo had to admit that Al had made some good points. And she had even told him that she still loves him. So why did she want to break up?

"She claimed that we are only a burden to each other and that's why we should break up. It's just – she's never been a burden to me. Not even close! So I guess I am a burden to her..."

The Cafe & Bar L'AMANT was mainly empty. In fact, there was only one customer, a good friend of the family running the business. Natsuo was talking to his best friend, Fumiya, and the owner of the cafe, Masaka Kobayashi. Natsuo often came here for advice. Kobayashi always seemed to have some kind of wisdom to tell you, so he hoped he could also help him with figuring out why Rui wanted to break up. "You know – Tachibana actually visited us while she was in Japan. She told me about your fight and I tried to steer her in the right direction – but I might have made things worse. I asked her whether she's obsessing over you. She seemed very worried about that once the thought had entered her mind. If I had to guess I'd say Tachibana thinks precisely the opposite of what you think. She believes she is a burden to you. She believes she's obsessing over you. Maybe she even believes your writer's block is her fault. " Natsuo was dumbfounded. To think that she would blame herself – "Excuse me, I have to go!" With those words he ran out of the cafe – and towards the airport.

He should have known. Rui always had been a little insecure about whether she was being a burden. He remembered their date on Christmas last year. The husband of the couple running the inn they had stayed at had presumed that it must be tiring to have such a "needy" girlfriend – and Rui had overheard it. He remembered how terrified Rui had been – how she had tried to leave alone. Back then the couple had helped them make up by making them clean the bath together. Now that he thought about it, they had advised them to sort out differences by moving around together – like they had done by cleaning the bathroom back then.

Even though Natsuo hated the way his book had been marketed, it did sell well. Thanks to that he could afford a fast flight to New York without any troubles. Once in the plane, he thought about his plan. Where in New York could you move around together? And how would he get Rui to go with him? Maybe cleaning a bath would be best? Just for nostalgic reasons? But where in the world would he find a bath to clean in New York? Maybe they could pick up trash in some dirty streets? But that would hardly be appropriate for the occasion. If it was just about moving around together, maybe take a walk? That was probably the best option, albeit not very creative.

The plane was supposed to arrive in New York a little before noon. Natsuo decided he should get some sleep before then.

Of course, Natsuo had been way too tense to sleep much, but he still felt surprisingly awake when he arrived in New York. Rui would normally be at work now, but somehow Natsuo didn't think she was. Although she normally was the type to drown her sorrows in work, something just told him he would find her in her room. Rui had once told him where she lived, so the only problem was actually finding it – but it turned out not to be too difficult with the help of his smartphone.

"What if she doesn't love me anymore after all?"

Once in front of the door to Rui's room, Natsuo hesitated, but he quickly brushed his worries aside. This was not about him. If she really didn't love him anymore, he would just have to make her happy as her brother, but if she still loved him, and he couldn't rule out that possibility, he absolutely had to talk to her.

He knocked three times. The corridor was completely silent, but Natsuo couldn't hear any sobbing. That was a good sign. After what felt like an eternity the door opened. Standing in the door was Rui.

"Hey Rui. ... I wanted to talk to you."

Natsuo made an effort not to hug her – he didn't want to impose on her, even if a hug was completely normal among siblings too. Rui seemed to have frozen in place for a few seconds. During that time, Natsuo noticed her right index finger was covered in bandages. Even though the injury didn't seem serious, after seeing it, he couldn't just keep standing there. "Are you alright? What happened to your finger? Did you cut yourself again? Is it bad?" He grabbed her hand to look at her finger. Rui finally reacted and a happy expression hushed across her face, even though Natsuo thought he also saw worry or even fear. At least she wasn't completely against him coming to visit "Natsuo! Oh, don't worry about that, it's just a little cut, not anything like the last time. It didn't even have to be stitched." she greeted him in a pretty normal tone of voice.

"Thank God! But you can't work with that hand can you?" Natsuo asked relieved.

"No, I can't." Rui replied.

After a few seconds of awkward silence he took a deep breath "Can we take a walk together? There's something I wanna talk to you about."

After hesitating a second Rui nodded "Give me a moment.".

Relieved about not having been denied this early, Natsuo waited for Rui to get ready.

"Why a walk? We could have talked in my room." Rui asked.

The atmosphere was a little tense, and both Natsuo and Rui behaved a little awkward, but considering the circumstances they behaved remarkably similar to real siblings. "Oh, that. Do you remember the owners of the inn we visited last Christmas? They... They told us to move around together if we ever have any differences, so... I figured it couldn't hurt."

"I remember" Rui answered.

Following that, they just quietly walked a few minutes. It wasn't really an awkward silence, but still the question what Natsuo wanted to talk about became more and more present. Natsuo stopped. "Rui?"

Rui stopped shortly after him but didn't turn around, so she stood around two meters before him looking down the street "Yeah?"

"I.. I want you to know that you have never ever since I've known you been a burden to me! Not even once." Natsuo almost shouted, starting slowly but saying the end really fast. Rui stiffened. A few seconds passed, but she said nothing. "In fact, even before we started dating, you have been the exact opposite of a burden. You've helped me so much in so many ways. But more important than just whether you were a burden, during the time we were a couple, you made me so happy! Just knowi.."

A sobbing sound came from Rui. She still hadn't turned around, so Natsuo couldn't see her face, but her shoulders had jerked.

"Rui?" Natsuo put a hand on her shoulder "Ru.."

Almost immediately after his hand touched her shoulder Rui turned around and buried her head in his chest. She had turned around very fast and had avoided his eyes, but Natsuo had seen the tears running down her face. She sobbed again. He hugged her tightly, slowly rubbing his cheek on her head. He noticed he himself hat tears in his eyes.

After the sobbing had mostly stopped, Natsuo gently pushed Rui away so they could look each other into the eyes. "Just knowing that you're out there somewhere, thinking of me when you look at your watch, made me so incredibly happy!"

"Can I... Can I get a kiss?" Rui asked shyly. They kissed.

"Oh Rui. You could never be a burden to me. So do you think we can become a couple again?"

"Yes! Yes we can!" Rui answered, once more with tears running down her face, and they kissed again.

"One more thing Rui. I won't keep anything from you anymore, whether I think it will worry you or not. I understand now that even if its bad or unpleasant news, you want to know. I would too."