Trip 2, Old Memories

Asahi stood atop a slide and looking down, reminiscing about his past experiences with his father.

Miyako sat upon a bench around the border staring at the bright blue sky above, white clouds in the shape of an oval, then a triangle and a circle, children ran around playing tag with each other whilst yelling and laughing.

Asahi looked down at the bench where he and his father often sat together to talk about things like school or what he wanted to do later on in life, but now in his father's place still remained someone special.

And as Asahi grew older he came to the park less and less and one day drifted far away from his father as his work consumed him, but now he doesn't have to shoulder the burden of having endless work anymore, so he returned to the place where he shared the most good memories with anyone.

Once he fell down the slide and slipped, injuring his knee.

But his father was quick to pick him and bring him back home, another he played on the swing with his father behind him and another they spoke of the future, Asahi slides down an old slide to sit beside Miyako.

"How long are you going to stare at the sky?" Asahi asked as he walked towards her silence, "I'm just looking at the shapes of the clouds." She said with a cold expression.

Asahi looked up and saw a cat shaped cloud, "oh a cat." He remembers playing with a cat in the playground before, it had black fur and large eyes that glowed in the dark which always fascinated him when he was younger. "How is that a cat?"

"Use your imagination"

He'd always excitedly called his father to play with the cat for hours, they even fed it and were its caretakers everyday, until it stopped showing up.

He was thinking of visiting his father to greet each other for the last time as he thought about their first trip to visit her parents, he felt a sense of obligation that he should as well.

"It was quite fun, visiting your parents, though I was really nervous at first." Asahi looked at Miyako who was wearing a now soft smile compared to her cold expression before, her relaxed face seemingly enjoying his company.

He looked up and sighed, saying that he wished he could have a childhood like that too.

Miyako stared at him as he sat down on the bench next to her, she thought about what he said and told him, "it wasn't as nice as you may think it was."

"There weren't many children in the town that went to school, so I didn't make many friends, and I didn't get the chance to before they all left the town to work in the city and cut off all connections to the town to look better in their resume for the jobs they applied for, including me."

"They all wore a fake smile in their pictures, even in work I never talked to many people, mainly only speaking to others because of work, but that rarely ever happened either."

Miyako looked down at the ground mumbling about her life up to the point she was at, Asahi places a hand on her shoulder, "it's fine, you're still here smiling right?" His words gave Miyako a strange feeling in her chest, it felt as if it was being tightened. She started coughing. "EH???" Asahi loudly yelled.

"What's wrong?! Did I do something??" He frantically looked around for water.

"It's nothing, I just felt like coughing."

"Don't scare me like that..."

They sat beside each other and talked about their pasts, after discussing several topics related to work, they reach the conclusion to visit a museum next.

But before that, they would go and visit a shrine that many locals and people from the city would visit yearly, they wanted to go back and revisit their past so that they can think about what they want to do in the future, they thought they might be able to further enjoy the later days of their lives if they went back to their earlier days.

The shrine wasn't crowded that night, when Miyako happened to noticed a yukata store.

She brought a few yukatas to Asahi to get his opinion, "maybe try red?" Asahi gestured to another corner of the store before he grabbed a red yukata from the nearby shelf and handed it to Miyako, she entered the changing room and 3 minutes later she opened the door, Asahi looked up and down at Miyako and gave a thumbs up with a happy look on his face.

Miyako was slightly disturbed by Asahi but bought the yukata anyway, "let me pay for it, I chose it after all." Asahi walked up to the cashier and took out his wallet as Miyako stared at his back in silence, this was the first time someone had bought anything for her since she became a working adult, she felt a small feeling of embarrassment.

After purchasing the yukata, they walked through a torii gate facing outwards from the shrine, a cold atmosphere surrounded the area in the absence of people, an eerie yet calming silence.

They reach the front of the shrine and dropped money into a hole and clapped their hands, they shook the bell and made their wish, Miyako looks at Asahi beside her, "what did you wish for?" Asahi turned around, "for us to be able to have as much fun as we can." He smiled and soon realised he had said something he didn't mean to say and turned around, "let's go back to the hotel shall we?"

"I'm surprised you can say something like that so nonchalantly."

"You're one to talk, remember that question you asked me back at your parents house?"

Miyako remained at the shrine as Asahi stepped further from her, she looked back at the top of the shrine and chased after Asahi.

Asahi stood at the summit of the stairs, "watch your step." He looked back at Miyako, a small bump was in the ground, Asahi quickly noticed it but Miyako had already reached it and nearly tripped, Asahi ran to her, managing to catch her before she touched the floor, "I- I'm sorry..." they both stood steadily afterwards, "so long as you're not injured it's fine."

"Are you alright?" Miyako worriedly looked around Asahi.

"No problem! I'm just a little out of breath."

As they walked down the stairs, Miyako looked at the yukata that Asahi had bought for her, 'I wonder how this looks on me.'

Asahi sighed loudly and stiffened up for a second from the cold, Miyako looked at him "I apologise for earlier." She felt like holding onto Asahi's hand as the wind started to pick up and she started to waddle.

"I'm alright, it's just that the view from here is so relaxing, and being able to see the whole city like this is something I didn't think I would ever see." The bright lights shone in the city as Miyako and Asahi stopped to look at the view across the horizon, Miyako felt for the first time, something she only felt once before.

Asahi saw Miyako taking small steps as he got further and further away from her, she was breathing loudly but tried to hide it, giving her a headache, he slowly walked back to her and hesitated but still took her hand.

Miyako asked Asahi to go somewhere with her, Asahi followed her as they went off the path and into the bushes nearby.

After making their way through the bushes, Asahi saw a small open spot where there was nothing covering it.

"How did you see this?" Asahi questioned, but Miyako only looked out at the horizon and the city with a glow in her eyes.

She happily smiled and turned to look at Asahi, "isn't this a great spot for a great view?" Asahi let the question go and decided to just live in the moment of dazzling lights, it didn't feel the same as when he and Miyako were alone in a hotel room together, not the same as the feeling he got whenever he saw the relaxing green.

The way he felt when they sat down to enjoy the view, the wind coursing through the sky, a little cold breeze every now and then, surrounded by nature.

The sky was dark, yet filled with white specks, surrounded by a purple and blue aura. The city slowly lit up blue and yellow as it passed night time. Cars drove across the streets and behind buildings, reappearing from the space in between. Dim white lights shone from the insides of every building. And two figures sat in a small patch of grass among large bushes.

They held hands the entire time, Miyako only took notice when her head stopped spinning and she became fully aware of her surroundings once they reached the bottom. She felt nauseous but didn't let go.