Chapter 3: Your Eyes Like Lavender

Yuki grabs his winter jacket and gazes out of his window in the morning as the snowflakes fall, forming a soft layer of clean snow on the road. Yuki's apartment is quite extensive and rich in terms of looks. Outside his window, he can see a society park built right in front of his building and another big apartment building beside the park. Though there is a road between the park and the facilities, many shops and brands are still built near his area.

Yuki wears his dark-colored winter jacket and stands near his window; he seems to be waiting for something, most likely the arrival of a telephone call, as there is a telephone beside him on the drawer's shelf. But he looks down on the street's footpath, where all the lights are switched on early morning, and snow is shuffled on the path. There walks a young girl, a bit anxious. She breathes out on both hands, covered in warm gloves, watching it become misty because of the cold temperature.

She wore a loose yellow sweater cardigan and a black turtleneck under it; her long hair was braided and resting on her right shoulder. She had a slight fade of blush on her face and rubbed her arms before sighing again for more warmth. This description is definitely familiar to a person we saw last time… It's Shiina!

"Later that night, Yuki-kun became my first friend and invited me to an outing. This early morning is such a good time. It isn't too sunny, nor is it too dark. It feels like it's going to rain, but snowflakes are falling. The streetlamps are still switched on… it looks good, though." Shiina's thoughts were rolling with appreciation, showing she was in a good mood.

Upon reaching her destination, Shiina excitedly looks up at the tall building. Noticing Yuki with his elbow supporting his head while searching for something from his window, she tries not to catch his attention and sneakily meets him on the floor. Shiina smacked her face lightly with both palms, cupping her cheeks. She took a deep breath in and breathed out.

Ding-Dong!

The doorbell of Yuki's house rang once again, showing his reflex to the sound that broke his patience. He rotated the doorknob and drew it backward. Standing front was Shiina, different from that late night. She wore a yellow loose cardigan on a dark sweater. Just in case, Yuki grabs a dark red scarf and proceeds to leave the apartment.

He seems to have dressed like he is going out with someone today, but initially, it is just a friend's hangout.

Later, both of them have a pleasant walk outside on the concrete footpath barely covered by patches of snow, passing through aesthetic and variously beautiful shops. The lack of sun rays and visible cold weather in the atmosphere makes it look like early morning when it is already 11 AM.

Shiina looks up in the sky when a tiny snowflake falls and lands on her nose. She tries to look at it right before realizing its coldness on her pinkish nose. Reacting to the chill on her face, she springs a tiny bit, catching Yuki's attention. He looks at Shiina, while Shiina faces backward, covering her face to hide the embarrassment.

Yuki looks towards the front once again as he continues walking with his hands stuffed into both of his pockets, while Shiina suddenly gets a cold chill again and has a light tremor in her old body, so shivery! She quickly joins Yuki again.

The life around them is peaceful and calm, and this feeling of relaxation and relief in the atmosphere is genuinely refreshing. Shiina's soul and mind are uplifted as if she were floating into the celestial heaven. The fragile soul gets too soft this time.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yuki is just walking because he can; he can never notice the sensation of this kind of happiness. They're both living in whole different worlds. But, just like the icing on the top of the cake, the trip is sweetened when they pass by a shop of flowers, correctly and beautifully arranged. There is a round table with a cutely designed white cloth covering it, on which resides a basket full of different flowers.

Apparently, the mystic scent and the lovely eye-catching flowers eventually became the apple of Shiina's eyes. She was drawn away by the mythically looking lavenders but couldn't afford to buy any of them because she didn't bring any money, silly Shiina. Just when the shopkeeper (a young girl) finds her simply distracted from reality because of the flowers, she offers Shiina to have some for free. She is such a kind soul.

"Oh, Ma'am!"

"There is a basket you can take flowers from, and they're free of cost! You can take any type you want!"

The young girl raises her hand towards the basket on the right side on the side, leading Shiina in the basket's direction.

Being extremely embarrassed that she had to be guided by the shopkeeper because of her silliness, she proceeds towards the basket with her head facing down.

Once again, having a nice walk on the street footpath, but this time Shiina held a pair of lavender flowers in her hands and a content, sunny smile on her face! She seems to enjoy the trip so far. As they continue their 'lovely' outing (from Shiina's perspective, she never went out with a friend before, so this is quite special.), they both come across a brown palette-styled café with glass windows and orange fade lamps hanging above each table's ceiling area.

But Shiina is not the only one experiencing something like this for the first time. Yuki is also going out with someone for the first time. He feels anxious if Shiina is enjoying enough, thinking it's just insufficient.

"Let's have some food; we will need energy for later," Yuki suggested neutrally.

"A-ah, right!" Shiina replied in agreement.

They both have a seat on the red-colored cushioned chairs on a table of two. The windows are clean, the tables are slick and polished, and the walls reflect a dark oak texture. There are baskets filled with reddish roses on each table for two people, meaning Shiina and Yuki have one too.

To start a conversation and act like a friend, Yuki begins with a normal chat.

"These flowers look way rosier than ordinary roses." Yuki suspected. "But they look better, I guess."

"Yes… you're right," Shiina agreed to him,

"But… I can't come to appreciate the roses more than these lovely lavenders."

"They're the same color as your eyes…" Shiina said in her mind.

"Yeah." Yuki replied.

A cry could be heard from a bit far, coming out loud from a little boy's mouth, as an annoyed and troubled mother grabs and pulls a child's hand out to the exit. Shiina is confused but relieved to see this. "I'm happy Yuuta doesn't act like this, or else I won't be able to control him." She let out a relieved sigh.

After the excellent breakfast, Yuki had to pay for, he went to the restroom while Shiina waited outside the café.

Splash! Smack!

Yuki splashes water on his face and washes it as he puts both arms on the wash basin's build and glares at himself in the mirror.

"This is not sufficient," Yuki muttered to himself.

"I don't think she's having enough fun. As her first friend and outing, I've got to make it the best. But how do I do that? I've never experienced this, nor can I feel something enjoyable myself. It's such a pain trying to look after humans; she's definitely taking me as boring."

Actually, let's wind up a bit into the past. All this time, from Yuki's perspective, Shiina only looked bitter or had a straight face. Ah, yes, not only Shiina has the ability to overthink, but our Yuki too! Although he has a way calmer version of overthinking, due to this being his first time, his awkwardness got through him and made him overthink about this. The fact that he is having a state of anxiety right now but proceeds to not show any emotion or a tiny bit of anxiousness on his face is impressive; Yuki can surely keep a straight face all the time.

"Achoo!" Shiina sneezes out in the cold and puts a handkerchief on her nose. "I didn't realize Yuki-kun was this wild. That's quite some time."

He returns back to Shiina, "I'm sorry for the wait."

"Oh, it's okay no problem at all."

"I guess he overate."

Back to where the coup- Back to where the two friends were, they cluelessly walk on the concrete footpath on the right side of the road, driving cars swoosh through the air as the wind flows into Shiina's long hair, levitating them. Shiina manages to fix her hair back, but they both remain very silent to each other in a state of awkwardness.

"This is the most normal for me. Ignorance is bliss… but this won't help. I will only attempt to start a conversation to break the quietness out of the blue. Not like I'm even interested in her any bits, but I spent the night on EpicTube advice on how to be a good friend." Yuki said in his thoughts.

"Shiina."

"H-Huh? Yes?!"

"If he calls me like that with my first name all of a sudden, isn't that going to startle not just me but anybody?! But he's the only one who has called me by my name after Yuuta." Shiina is flushed thinking.

"How do you manage to take care of your brother? While doing school stuff and working all night on your shifts?"

"Ah… I didn't expect you to be interested…"

"You have the right expectations." Yuki instantly conveyed his thoughts.

"Despite being 10, Yuuta has an intelligent mind, and he is quick to comprehend and playful in his own world. He is quite the understanding child who can engage with other activities when I'm not at home most of the time."

"It isn't necessary for him to need her either, so why is that a point of worry?" Yuki doubted in his mind.

"But who knows, how lonely he might feel inside when I don't spend time with him most of the time."

Yuki's eyes widened a bit as he looked towards Shiina for a bare moment as she spoke fluently, opening up about her reliable little brother.

"Feel lonely? I never thought about that." In the mind of Yuki.

"My point was how does she raise him and provide for his necessities… But I guess emotions are what she apprehended." Still in the mind of Yuki.

"Yuuta is also very interested in science and crafting and crafts unique inventions every once in a while."

"I wonder how it feels to have someone to look after… Shiina."

"Huh?"

"K-Kazahana-kun, what about your family then?"

"I can't come to call him by his first name!" In the mind of Shiina!

"I live in a world separate from my family, alone in an apartment where you fainted last night."

"Ahh, you d-didn't have to remind me of that." Shiina covers her face with the heat of her palms in embarrassment.

"Although we live apart, they provide for me and my daily needs. I don't feel anything like a family between us."

"Oh, it must be hard for you."

"I'm more than satisfied to live without bother."

"Let's walk faster."

Yuki Kazahana, despite trying to be a more enjoyable person and make this outing fun. Yuki could never keep up with understanding emotions, let alone if he had any.

Yuki and Shiina proceed to walk together, looking at the twinkles of the luminous lights dimming and shining in the street as the dark clouds over the soft blue, the evening strikes, and the reflection of orange twilight mirrors in Shiina's eyes.

"You shouldn't look directly at the Sun."

"Pfft- Kazahana-kun, it's the Sunset, and it's way more beautiful than harmful."

"As beautiful as a rose, as deadly as a thorn."

"O-oh? Was that a line from your past experience?"

"W-Wait, w-was that too rude?! I s-shouldn't act like such a close friend!" Shiina screamed in her thinking.

The evening's sky flashes in Yuki's eyes too, as he observes the sun setting down together with Shiina.

"It's the dialogue from that movie poster there. I would never have somebody to experience either happiness or sadness."

Shiina giggles sweetly as she looks up into Yuki's eyes with a pleasing and soothing smile. "You really act like such a cool guy, Kazahana-kun."

"Act? I'm only stating the truth-" Yuki peeked back into her joyful eyes with a shine of happiness. She was constantly smiling at Yuki's cold looks.

"Well, I suppose we should walk back home now."

"If my words could make her happy and smile, then am I doing a fine job as a friend? In the end, I'll just wait for her to die of work." Yuki's too realistic when he thinks.

Their silhouettes with an outline of orangish neon glimmer separate them from the dark atmosphere falling around, and when the Sun finally sets down, being the first one to come, she takes a seat, sitting on a bench under a light pole of the public park. Yuki stands in front of her. They talk about the end of the day in a local park nearby.

"Today really was fun! Wasn't it, Kazahana-san? Is this what it feels like to have a friend?"

"You can be the judge of that."

"It was only a regular day for me. I don't possess these extraordinary feelings." Yuki thought. "But, making someone smile, it should have made me feel 'happy'… Where's that feeling?"

"Confusing myself in this world might leave me in silence in the real world. I should speak." Yuki realized he's thinking too much.

While Yuki converses with himself in his mind, Shiina's eyes go completely blank as she can only think of one thought. Her breathing gets slower yet quickly as she looks into the eyes of Yuki and then the lavenders. She has a doubtful resisting face at first.

"Say, Kazahana-kun. Would you mind keeping one of these lavenders?"

Shiina grips the flowers better as she raises them towards Yuki.

"You say that as you resist letting go of even a bud."

Shiina's eyes widen as she realizes, she instantly backs off her hands to her chest, keeping the flowers towards her heart in comfort.

A smile brightens the look of her face. Shiina curls some of her hair into her palm.

"Maybe I want to only keep it to myself, as something which can remind me of you." Shiina said slowly and quietly in her mind.

"Your shyness has some resistance to it."

Hearing these words from the mouth of the boy who has seen her sweet side, Shiina is immediately embarrassed, with whirls rotating in her eyes and red shyness rushing around her face. She starts to murmur again. She clenches her purse and stands up, bowing down toward Yuki.

"T-T-Thank you so much for being my company today!"

30 meters away in 3.89 seconds, Shiina has some speed when flustered.

As she walks back home, Shiina takes a deep sigh.

"I only wanted to thank him with the flowers, and I shouldn't get embarrassed."

"But, maybe I'm too happy to finally have made a friend…."

"I'm proud."

The doorknob rotates smoothly as Shiina opens the door of her apartment. Coming across the most chaotic scattering of toys, she notices her little brother Yuuta doing something exciting but weird again.

"Sissy! You're finally home! How was your day?!"

The young ones loudly yelled in excitement as he hugged her sister and gave her an innocent smile, but Shiina raised her hand and plugged a handkerchief into Yuuta's nose.

"Yuuta! You've caught a cold again! Really... you're so silly."

"Hehe." Yuuta giggles as he does not understand a thing but already imagines another destructive war between his action figures.

"What do you mean by "Hehe?!"

He talks and spends the night excitedly, receiving and giving his sister happy family time. The environment is warm and cheerful, with laughs and joyous voices.

"I'm home."

Yuki steps into his apartment, all dark and depressive. Nobody to greet him or to say the sweet welcome of his choice… He switches on the lights and starts cooking as usual.

"I wonder if I needed somebody to love me in the first place to feel lonely."

"Oh well."