Chapter 36:
Title: “Flying to the Moon” with you
An extremely awkward atmosphere enveloped the room. Yuki’s gentle breathing vibrated my eardrums. My heartbeat felt unbearably loud. The calming background music filled the store. I watched as the owner swapped the records. A moment of silence passed—Then, Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ began to play. He really chose such a sweet song at a time like this, huh.
—Fly me to the moon.
I met Yuki’s gaze. As expected, her face was bright red. I could feel my cheeks burning up too. Despite that, I still didn’t want to let her hand go, not even for a moment.
I still can’t believe it though—.
(It was a mutual love, huh)
My worries from before now seemed pointless. Even so, I still couldn’t believe it. This isn’t a dream, right?
I took a small breath. It didn’t slow down the beating of my heart at all.
I found myself getting sucked into Yuki’s eyes. I couldn’t take my gaze off of her.
No matter where Yuki wants to go, even if it’s the moon or Mars, I want to take her there. That’s what I thought to myself. Before, I had been desperately struggling to swallow my feelings, but, now that I had put them into words, they had become even more uncontrollable. It was like they had been amplified.
Oh. Once again, I realized that I had been unable to think of anything except Yuki.
Today, I was supposed to be Yuki’s barista, and she was supposed to be my customer. As her barista, there was no way I could just keep looking at her like this. I let go of her hand and tried to stand up—.
“Here, Kamikawa-kun. You’re fine with an American Black, right?”
Before I knew it, Miki-san had placed a cup of coffee in front of me. Soon after that, the owner placed an apple pie on the table.
“I was just talking with Miki about how an apple pie would go perfectly with that less bitter cafe au lait. And why don’t you sit down and have some too, Kamikawa-kun?”
“Wait, but, I’m supposed to be serving—”
“This is Cafe Hasegawa, you know? There’s no need to be so formal about it.”
This time it was Ema-senpai that spoke. Automatically, Yuki bowed her head.
“Lo…Long time no see, Ema-senpai.”
“Yeah, finally getting to meet you again like this makes me happy, Shimokawa-san.”
Ema-senpai spoke those words, a kind smile on her face.
■■■
“U–, um…Could the owner and Miki-san join us?”
Yuki seemed to resolve herself before speaking up. I was a bit worried about her breathing, but there was no wheezing to be seen, so I felt relieved.
“Is that okay, Yukinko-chan? I’ve gotten a rough idea of your situation from Kamikawa-kun and Ema-chan. Don’t push yourself too much, okay?”
Miki-san spoke, seemingly worried. She nodded, but—Another thing had caught my interest.
“Yukinko-chan?”
Hearing my murmur, Yuki’s face turned bright red, and she looked downwards. Grins appeared on the three observers’ faces.
“Um, Fuyu-kun, that’s…..It’s what my dad and his friends used to call me when I was younger.”
“Did you already know the owner?”
“…..I know the people here pretty well.”
Her gaze was being cast even further downwards. Even so, she wouldn’t let go of my hand. Hearing that they were already familiar, I was thrown into a bit of a small panic. That’s why the owner had looked at me with such a warm gaze when I had asked for advice on the cafe au lait. It was like he had been watching over me.
“You know, Cafe Hasegawa is quite a famous restaurant in our neighborhood association. When it comes to special dinners, this is the place, and this place is often used for neighborhood association and school meetings. That….That is to say that there’s not many people who don’t know this place. So, um, Hasegawa-san has looked after me since I was in nursery school—”
“Man, you got up to a lot of mischief back then. At least it was still cute, though. Can’t really say the same about the rest of those brats—”
The owner squinted his eyes in nostalgia. Yuki seemed flustered.
“I–, I mean, that…..That was a long time ago. I don’t do anything like that anymore, so, so could you stop talking about it—–”
“Do you not want Kamikawa-kun to hear about it?”
“I don’t want him to know. I mean, it’s really embarrassing, you know~”
Yuki squeezed my hand tightly. I, however, was thinking the exact opposite of what she was thinking.
“I wish I could–”
Driven by instinct, I spoke up.
“Fuyu-kun?”
“Ah, sorry. I was just kind of feeling jealous. I was thinking I wanted to know more about your past, and I was wishing I could call you by that special nickname too.”
“Fuyu-kun, you absolutely, absolutely cannot call me ‘Yukinko!’ Okay?!”
Faced with such an earnest response, I faltered.
“I can’t?”
“You can’t. You definitely can’t. I like it when you call me ‘Yuki,’ okay? Getting called “Yukinko” makes me feel like a childish brat.”
“It’s deeply moving, though. The small child has grown into such a cute person.”
Master smiled as he spoke. At the same time, though, Yuki was shaking her head. Apparently, she was trying to emphasize her absolute rejection of me calling her “Yukinko.”
“I don’t want you to see me as that mischievous child. Instead, I want you to see me as the girl in front of you, the girl I am now. I already know that I’m not that cute, but it’s for that I absolutely cannot let you call me ‘Yukinko.’”
“I see. I got it. Sorry, I’ll make sure to properly call you ‘Yuki’ from now on.”
I nodded and smiled. Seemingly relieved, Yuki’s expression cleared up—Still, though, I felt like playing a little trick on her. I wanted to see more of her expressions. That’s how selfish I was.
“But is it okay for me to say it at least once?”
“Huh?”
She blinked in surprise. Without waiting for her response, I moved to whisper into her ear.
“Yukinko-chan.”
She seemed dumbfounded. Her face flushed red—She pounded my arm with her hand. Her eyes were half teary and filled with shame.
Well, I could understand her feelings.
If I was in her position and my past with my childhood friends was dug up, then I probably wouldn’t be able to bear it either. At the same time, though, that was just how much I wanted to learn more about Yuki.
“Sorry.”
I briefly chuckled before apologizing.
“I won’t say it again.”
“You never did such mean things when we were just friends. You’re being such a bully today, Fuyu-kun.”
Her cheeks puffed up into a pout. It was an expression I hadn’t seen on Yuki’s face before. Still, though, I didn’t think this was a good thing. Rather than being angry, she seemed more down. Perhaps she didn’t want me learning more about what she was like in the past.
That being said, I really didn’t know enough about Yuki. That’s why I wanted to learn new things about her, one after another. I wanted her to tell me those things one by one. I couldn’t help but think that way.
“I mean, I was just hoping that I could learn more about you. Is that still not okay?”
“…..If you keep saying stuff like that, I won’t be able to say anything in reply.”
“Look, I’m sorry.”
I spoke in a whisper.
“Yuki, I’m really sorry.”
“I–, I demand proper compensation.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Hold m–……Ah, sorry. Forget about it. It’s nothing. Fuyu-kun, just ignore what I just—”
Before she finished speaking, I pulled her to me a bit forcefully. Then, I sat her down on my lap and squeezed her into the hug that she had been hoping for.
“Wh—……What a bully of a butler. I hate you.”
“I won’t do it anymore. Next time, I’ll make sure to properly ask you for permission. So can you tell me more about your past? Not knowing makes me feel a bit lonely.”
“O–, okay….”
She nodded and put her arms around my neck.
“I like a kind Mr. Butler. And…..I love the Mr. Butler that is willing to spoil me. I’ll make sure to properly tell you about myself, okay? I want you to hear that information from my mouth, after all. Because I don’t like it when you tease me. Also……I want you to tell me a bunch of about yourself too.”
“Yep, that sounds perfect. We’ll learn more about each other, a little bit at a time.”
Yuki nodded.
“I mean, I don’t know much about you at all, Fuyu-kun. There’s so much about you that I still want to learn.”
The way she spoke sounded a bit lonely.
“I think that’s part of what that phrase means, right? ‘Fly me to the moon.’”
“Yeah.”
I nodded and brought my cheeks closer to Yuki’s. I had already decided on what I wanted to say. I just wanted to whisper it softly into her ear.
“Yuki, as long as it’s with you, I’d gladly take you to the moon. But it isn’t exactly like it’s only me taking you to the moon, you know?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, you’re pulling me forward too. If you think about it, aren’t we just jumping to the moon together? That’s how I feel anyway. Holding hands like this. Doing a prep run into a big jump together. Flying by the other person’s side. That’s true for today’s cafe au lait as well, isn’t it? All I did was the preparations. It was thanks to your courage that we got to spend time together. That’s how I feel.”
“……..Fuyu-kun, can you say that phrase to me too?”
“Of course.”
I spoke to Yuki in a whisper.
“—–Fly me to the moon.”
Yuki’s body trembled. At the very least, I could tell that she wasn’t trembling out of anxiety or sadness. If anything, I’d say she was trying to work up courage.
Nuzzling up to my cheek, she whispered into my ear.
“I’d love to do that with you too—–”
■■■
“What in the world are they showing us?”
“Ema-chan, sorry. It was my fault for stirring them up. This time it’s completely on me….”
“But it’s interesting. Kamikawa-kun and Shimokawa-san become this caught up in their own world, huh. It’s kinda cute. And heart-warming to watch. This is a rather enjoyable experience.”
“Dad, this isn’t an enjoyable experience at all. If they continue scattering this energy everywhere, everyone will take a bunch of damage.”
“But that Yukinko-chan…Seeing her be this spoiled is really moving.”
“Miki, I feel like it’s kind of the reverse, you know? Shimokawa-san probably always wanted to be pampered. There just wasn’t anyone that could do that. In that sense, I guess Kamikawa-kun is the pampering master.”
(I can’t hear what they’re saying, I can’t hear what they’re saying)
Sure, I did regret losing track of my surroundings, but that didn’t mean there had to be commentary from the Hasegawas—As that thought crossed my mind, I gazed at Yuki.
I really needed her to lose that expression on her face. The way she was smiling so happily that it seemed like she would melt was going to make it impossible for me to put any distance between us.
More than likely, after this, when we calm down, the two of us will probably freak out in embarrassment. I can only see a future where we mentally overheat for a while.
Even so, at least for right now—–
“Yuki.”
I called the name of the person I loved in her ear. Over and over again. She was precious and dear to me. That was the feeling I was trying to convey in my whispers with all my might.
I never thought that I would be this happy after not having to hold myself back under the label of ‘friends’ anymore.
I want to see more of her expressions. I want to learn more about her past. I want to go to more and more places with her. That’s what I felt.
——Fly me to the moon.
Yuki whispered that to me once again, making sure that no one else could hear.
—––If that’s what you desire, then gladly.
—––Fly me to the moon
I whispered that to Yuki.
—––If that’s what you desire, Fuyu-kun, then gladly.
““Let’s fly to the moon together–””
Without even thinking about it, our voices overlapped. Yuki looked up at me, a truly happy smile on her face.
And then, once again, she buried her face in my chest—
■■■
“Um……Sorry, Kamikawa-kun. And Shimokawa-san. Could I talk with the two of you for a moment? Oh, and Ema had something else to talk with you about, right?”
The owner tossed some words at us.
We once again came to our senses and quickly untangled our bodies in a panic.
But, even so, we were still unable to separate our hands. Well, I guess it would be more accurate to say that Yuki wasn’t willing to let go of me. It felt a bit ticklish but comfortable.
Even more.
I was supposed to have regained my composure by now, but, apparently, I was going to need even more time for that one—–.
■■■
Citation (Wikipedia)
”Francis Albert “Frank” Sinatra 1915-1998
“Fly Me to the Moon”, originally titled “In Other Words”, is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard.
It’s a famous song covered by various artists, and it was also used in the ending sequence of a certain anime, so you may have heard it before.
Sinatra was a singer who charmed the world with his crooner’s voice (low, whispery singing).
Why not let Sinatra’s voice decorate a few moments with your loved ones?
The owner also recommends “My Way.”
Please feel free to contact the owner for restaurant reservations and music requests.
【Taken from the Cafe Hasegawa Records Notebook】
[TLN: Maintenance mode tls most likely(like 1/week) for like 3 weeks. I have a decent amount of work to do because I procrastinated. After that I’ll be chugging more tls again.]
ShanTLs 