3 To me you are brighter than the Sun

back when my dad was still alive whenever I had trouble sleeping he would always tell me the same fairy tail.

the story was about a world, which unlike our world it was large, colorful and it had many continent's with a lot of unique groups of peoples living in them.

he also told me that those groups lived on smaller pieces of lands called countries.

dad told me about those countries, every time about a different one.

he used get excited and go on and on about those ancient cultures and civilizations and even tho I was too young to understand most of the stories, those special times are precious memories for me.

why am I remembering it now?

well the place we are just about to enter is a cafe my dad used to take me to when I was younger. it was our secret hangout place, which was kept secret from my mother and sister.

and now I'm sitting at the cafe which is full of nostalgia and memories together Yuri.

when the waitress arrives I order milk tea since I always used to order it back in the day and Yuri to my surprise orders the sour cream dark coffee that my dad always used to order.

I'm pretty sure most girls her age would order a vanilla shake or something similar.

my dad once let me taste it and it was sour to the point it was not drinkable. Yuri's tatse buds must be broken.

"hey day dreaming in a middle of a date is quite rude"

looking up I see Yuri having a cute annoyed expression.

is this even a date?

"uh sorry. I tend to do that sometime its seriously a bad habit of mine"

"ehh is that so? anyway why are you still being so polite its ruining the mood lol. also did you just question my sense of taste in your head?".

crap, how did she know.. is she an esper or something?

"I never said that. there is nothing wrong with having broken taste buds".

eh what did I just say? well she ask me to speak up

I carefully glance her way and her face is pretty red. crap she looks super mad.

then Yuri suddenly started cranking up.

"pff that was totally unexpected. hilarious... I was sure you were the timid type.. haha you guts lol".

ehh seriously? so she is not mad?

"sorry.. I didnt intend it to come out this way. you did tell me to be less polite tho".

"pff I guess I did didn't I"

"...."

"okay, okay I'm sorry I'll stop laughing.. it was totally hilarious tho. I was always sure you were pretty shy since you barley speak whenever I'm around".

isnt that your best friend's fault tho? also I tend to believe I talk quite a bit for someone in my situation.

"not gonna lie its hard to talk when I get beaten by your friends whenever I open my mouth".

the air feels a little more awkward.

"well.. when you say it like that that... I'm really sorry. I would like to apologize for April as well but..".

"its fine dont worry about it. is this it tho? did you just feel guilty and wanted to apologize?" I feel like shit asking this but I have to know

it looks as if she has a hard time coming up with an answer and then our drinks arrive giving her a few more seconds.

after taking a few sips from her coffee she finally answer.

"while I do feel guilty about everything April did to you its really not just that. its just that you are always alone even though you are trying so hard".

as I thought.. I'm probably some charity project to her.

"its been a while since I got to hang out with someone so when you asked me out I was really happy you know. but I'm not some charity case so if thats the case then lets break this off".

the mood becomes a little awkward and she has a complicated look on her face. then she smiles and looks directly into my eyes.

"its really nothing like that. I genuinely want to get to know you. I find it really cool how you manage to stay strong and smile while going through shit every day".

I'm strong? I dont understand. she is wrong I'm not strong at all.

without my family, without track I really have nothing left.

the only reason I can keep on smiling is because I have those two things supporting me.

thats right I dont need anything else, it's just false hope anyway.

April will never let something like this go anyway, so its better to just go before either of us gets hurt.

"I'm sorry, thank you for everything I really appreciate it but lets just break this off. you shouldnt worry about me, April will just go after you as well. bye".

just like that I drink my entire tea cup in one go. its hot, scorching my throat as if its punishing my behavior right now. I pull out enough money to pay for both of us and gets out of the coffee shop.

I feel like shit. I'm a piece of shit arent I.. but its better if she doesnt bother with me after all. well everything will go back to normal tomorrow.

then something is pulling me out of my depressing thoughts.

its Yuri, grabbing my shirt and looking really out of breath. even after all of this she doesn't wanna give up on me?

"h...how can someone walk this fast, I totally had to run just to catch up to you".

..why doesnt she give up. whenever I speak to people at school they ignore me. now when I think about it if someone were to be my friend then April might just bully them as well.

"why are you doing this? April might go after you as well. I'm fine dont worry about me".

I start walking away and then all of a sudden Yuri grabs me and looks at me with a desperate look. she is surprisingly strong for a girl.

"why are you keeping this tough guy act with me! please just give me one more chance! just for today...

please?".

why does she care about me this much? I dont think anyone but my family ever went this far for me.

I give up. I'll trust her.

"if you do this much, there is no way I can refuse you know".

Yuri's eyes shine and her expression completely changes into a brighter one.

"thats perfect! I wont disappoint you. I will show you a super pretty viewing point I found out the other day, oh but first lets go... and then maybe bowling? I'm super good you know and after that we can... ".

wow that girl talks a lot. somehow that makes her look really bright, like the sun.

I wonder why someone as nice as her hangs out with April.

no even if April acts like a complete bitch to me she is nice to basically everyone else. I shouldnt judge her like that.

my phone spasms, cutting my thoughts off. its a message from my sister.

[From:~Kana] can you pick me up at around 8 from 'univocal'? pretty please!!! love you <3.

univocal? I think it's a karaoke place. lets ask Yuri she probably knows where it is.

first lets reply,

[To:~Kana] sure, ill be there at 8. have fun with your friends. also remember since you are cute if anyone weird tries to hit on you just start screaming pervert and rapist and they will go away. if you need anything call me.

looking back at Yuri she is still rambling about where we should go.

"say Yuri, do you know where univocal is? my sister wants me to pick her up from there at 8".

she looks a little disappointed

"ah right I forgot about that.. silly me. ehm its about 20 minutes of walk from here, its a popular hangout for middle schoolers in the area".

"really? well karaoke was never really my thing since I cant really sing".

"somehow I'm not really surprised lol. in any case lets hangout around that area, there is a mall there as well as some other fun stuff to do".

after that we went to a bowling place which Yuri was surprisingly good at. at the end of the game she almost doubled my score.

after the bowling we went to the mall were we had lunch and after that Yuri took me to check out stores. we mostly checked out clothes shops and other girl stuff which I didnt really understand. it was still a lot of fun looking at her getting all excited about how cute a shirt was, getting frustrated about it's price and then making fun of my fashion sense.

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after hanging out for a while it started getting dark, looking at my phone it was about 7 pm.

I was starting to feel pretty sad that our time together was about to end and then I felt someone hold my hand and lean into me.

it was Yuri.

she is soft... I think my heart is beating faster than before.

"I had a really good time today..".

I sighed.

"me too its been a while since I had this much fun... too bad the day is already over".

Yuri gets even closer and whispers. now I can feel her breath on my ear.

"actually we still have some time left.. come with me, I wanna show you something".

she started running, holding my hand even tighter, taking me into a large dark nearby alley.

she leans into one of the alley walls and grabs me closer into her and whisper,

"I'm close to you now".

my heart starts beating faster and my cheeks are starting to heat up.

"..."

she takes my hand and put it on her chest.

eh?? its soft, unbelievably so and I can feel her heart beats.. wait? are heart beats usually this fast? confused I look at her and her face is completely blushed.

"you can feel my heart beats right? Its this fast because I'm with you. if you come close something amazing might happen".

she lets go of my hand yet she doesnt look like she wants me to remove it so I dont.

as I move closer, her eyes looks greener than before and I noitce a little mole on the top of her right ear.

I can feel my nose touching hers.

Yuri giggles.

"our noses touched"

"yea.." I think im getting even redder then before..

"hey.. wanna try moving even closer?"

if I go any closer our lips will touch.

her eyes are staring into mine with heat, daring me to move.

I move even closer.

for a brief moment out lips meet.

it feels different from what I expected, her lips are soft and the kiss has a somewhat electric feeling to it.

so this what a kiss is.

then the moment ends and our kiss cut off. Yuri's expression completely changes.

click.

Author note:

would you prefer it if I add a name tag when someone is talking? somthing like [Yuri]"text...".

thank you for reading!