Nanami Wants To Tie Himemiko's String of Fate Part 3
MIKOTO
"Mikoto, are you ready?" Nanami called me from the outside.
"Yes, I'll be there soon", I replied. I look for the last time at my reflection on the mirror and laughed at how fully covered I am since my dear friend is too worried at me even though I told her I'm fine.
I'm wearing simple long-sleeved shirt and jeans and she also made me wear her jacket, a scarf from Tomoe and a beret.. and we're in the middle of spring, not winter.
Achoo!
"Eh? Did I not properly dusted my room? Why do I keep sneezing?"
"Do you have your paper talismans with you?" I reminded Nanami right after I stepped outside the temple with her and her fox familiar.
"Everything is all right here!"She patted her body bag and gave me a thumbs up. I'm glad she also thinks it's always better to be prepared than sorry.
Honestly, she was inspired from that time I attacked Aotake with her white charm. It's not even in the anime but our safety is more important.
The trip was short but I secretly had fun because every scenery is new to me. I feel so excited though I can't show it to Nanami and Tomoe or else, that will be suspicious. How can someone reach Mikage village without reaching the town first?
I think it's definitely suspicious. Especially when I told them earlier about the ice cream parlor at the town.
"Have you been in this town district?" Nanami asked me.
"Not sure, I guess not". I simply replied with a poker face, while letting my eyes wander around.
"I remember you telling me that the first day you came to this place is also the day I met you", she melancholically recalled.
I tilted my head while looking at her. "Does that means I'm safe? I'm not suspicious at all?"
Achoo~
Sniffles~
Glad the scarf muffled my sneeze.
My friend deity smiled and locked her arms with mine while we're walking. "I guess we should tour a little bit more before meeting with Kotarou-kun. This is where we'll meet him", Nanami pointed to me our destination on the map.
"I guess you already got a glimpse at the park since it's just along the way and nearby the ice cream shop", she pointed her finger on the area.
"Nope, not at all. I haven't even in any of those places before", I replied inside my mind while I rub my itchy nose.
Sniffles~
I just need to keep quiet to be safe.
"Nanami, we should hurry or we'll be late", Tomoe reminded us from behind.
"Come on Tomoe, we're not", she pouted.
Geez, as carefree as always. I giggled.
^-^ (-_-) "It will be dark soon. We will not be able to be there on time if you two keep walking in that slow pace"
Well, Tomoe is right.
"What time are we supposed to meet him?" I asked.
"6:30 PM"
I held her hand and showed her wristwatch. "It's already 6 o'clock. How long will it take us to reach that park?"
"WAHHHH!!!" Nanami panicked. "Oh goodness, I didn't noticed the time!!"
Tomoe sighed and shrugged while I can't helped but laugh. "That's what we're trying to tell you".
In the end, we found ourselves running late to our meeting place.
The sun already set to the west when we reached the park. Nanami and I keep huffing, catching our breaths while Tomoe doesn't event break any sweat. To be honest, he has this bored look on his face throughout the whole time.
"Let's... huff.. look for Kotarou-san immediately", I reminded Nanami with a tap on her shoulder.
"Huff..huff, no need. There he is", she pointed to me his direction. Kotarou is currently sitting on a bench under the lamp post and busy with his Rubics Cube.
Nanami didn't wasted any more time and approached the young man. "Thanks for waiting, Kotarou. I'm sorry for asking you to come out of the blue", she greeted him.
"And I'm sorry for the commotion we caused in the shop earlier", she bowed deeply which means they really didn't managed to skip that part from the original timeline. But it's okay.
"And she even didn't said sorry for being late 😅", I muttered with a sigh.
"At this rate, it'll be late for dinner too". Tomoe's sudden speaking behind me gave me a jolt and look at him.
"Tomoe!-" I was about to throw an unnecessary complain just to annoy him but his pale subtle feature caught me off guard.
His hands still tucked inside his kimono's sleeves and wearing a poker face while looking at Nanami's direction. But looking closely, I can see a faint soft sad smile on his lips. And, I'm sure his gaze is only focused on Nanami right now.
Unlike my human deity friend, I can't read what this fox is thinking nor his expressions. Now it makes me wish I really have those psychic abilities.
"Why are you staring?" He frowned now.
"Eh? I'm not", I refuted.
"Yes, you do. With a smile"
"Well I guess I do... and that's rude"
"He was so cute earlier when he worried about Nanami"
Fangirling, I etched deeply that memory in my mind. I don't mind even if I continue being a normal NPC or a background character as Friend A. I didn't saw this side of Tomoe from the anime and I only got the chance to see this rare sight just because I came into this place.
"I just saw something interesting but now it's gone", I replied without lying.
He stares back at me for a very few second with his puzzled looks; brows furrowed like he's trying to analyze something deeply.....or just annoyed.
"Now that it's gone, then I'll take my leave for awhile. I'll call Onikiri and Kotetsu to accompany you two while waiting". He bossed me and turned around, ready to walk away.
"Okay!" I know the reasons, so I don't need to ask why.
"But I wonder if "that's" the reason why he looked like that earlier". I better give it a try.
"Tomoe?" I called him back.
"What?" He coldly replied but he's still kind enough to turn and speak to me face to face.
"Nothing", I grinned.
I'm sure he was about to shout at me if it weren't for the next words he heard from my lips.
"Nanami won't leave you. You're not going to be lonely anymore. So don't worry about it and cheer up~♥"
Tomoe's eyes widened but also instantly disappeared as if it never happened.
"Ha?! What are you mumbling there about? Who says I'm lonely? Thanks to her I lost my chance of freedom again!"
And there goes our Tomoe tsun-tsun(31). I laughed once more but stopped when his eyes glowered in annoyance.
It was just a guess from the hint I remembered from the anime itself and I'm glad it's a bullseye.
"O-okay, bye bye!" I waved at him to tell that he needs to get going now. But acting calmly like I'm not intimidated by him is a pain. "The thing I said earlier isn't a lie", I reminded him.
"Hmph", he scoffed and we parted ways. He disappeared in the dark shadows of the night.
"Hmm?" I noticed that Nanami and Kotarou are quiet. Nanami can't keep the conversation rolling? Achoo-
"Hallo!!, I waved not so far while I approach them. Kotarou noticably turned red in the instant he saw me and the thing on his hand almost fall when he panicked.
"Ah! No, she's not the friend I'm talking about", I heard Nanami panickly cleared out the misunderstanding to him. Lol. I guess my entrance is wrong timing.
"Hello, I am Hoshino Mikoto. But you can just call me Mikoto", I introduced myself as soon as I reached them. The young man with glasses immediately calmed down a bit but is still ducking his head and won't meet me into my eyes while busy on his puzzle cube.
"So you just told Kotarou-san about Hikemiko-sama?" I asked Nanami.
"Yep", she gave me a nod with a big smile. "But Kotarou-kun still not giving his reply.
"Ah, so what do you think, Kotarou-san? Are you fine meeting with Himemiko-sama tomorrow?" I asked him. But I'm sure he'll say yes.
"I... I'm not sure, sorry", is what he replied.
"Ehh?!" Nanami and I both exclaimed.
Yeah, I didn't expected it.
"What? Why?" My friend was the first one to question him. "Himemiko has a crush on you all this time and she badly wish to meet you once more. Can't you please give her a chance?".
Kotarou stayed silent. I looked at Nanami who is also looking at me cluelessly what to do. Their conversation was cut off once more.
Time to help, maybe.
I crouch infront of Kotarou, trying to get his attention. "Please excuse me. Can I borrow your Rubic's cube?"
"Ah!" He was startled but he still lend me his favorite thing.
Turn here. There. Back. Turn again. Okay. Here we go. U R U' R' U' F' U F. Then next. U' L' U L U F U' F. Hmmm.... Wrong orientation? Lemme fix it. U R U' R' U' F' U F U2 U R U' R' U' F' U F.
"Done! Here ya go, thank you." I gave back the Rubic's Cube to Kotarou who's looking at me confusedly.
"Why didn't you finished the third layer?" He asked while he finished my unfinished work in just a few seconds.
"Because I can't. That's my weakness. I can do the first and second but I easily gets confused for the third layer". This time, Kotarou who was still staring at me has forgotten his shyness.
I pointed at the puzzle cube on his hand. "Not everyone is good at that like you. Even Nanami doesn't have any idea how to solve that puzzle"
We heard a "guh" from her and averted his blushing red face from us which made me laugh a bit.
He slightly smiled but it immediately fade away. "Yes, this is the only thing I'm good at". I can hear a sad tone from his voice.
"Himemiko-sama is an honest person. She likes you just the way you are", I assured him with a smile.
So that's how it is. He's hesitating so he just need to hear some reassurance.
I gave a meaningful look at Nanami again and she caught the message I want to tell her.
"So, Kotarou-kun? Do you think you can meet Himeko once? It's alright even if it's after your work tomorrow. We won't force you anymore so we want an honest reply from you."
The young man looked at Nanami and then back to his puzzle cube. "Okay. I'll meet her", he blushed.