their breath smells like strawberries and mint
I wake up on Sunday feeling sick. I know I’m not sick and it’s just the 16 hours of sleep messing up my body, and yet, I still feel ill. My blanket is tangled around my legs, I’m sweating all over, my poor platypus is on the ground—I snatch him up as soon as I see him and apologize profusely for dropping him in my sleep—my hair is a mess, my pajama pant legs have been rolled up to my knees, I’m hanging halfway off my couch-slash-bed, my stomach is growling angrily at me in desperation for something, anything to digest, I’m dehydrated beyond comprehension, and I have a faint memory of a dream I had about me, Nene, and two strangers at a very colorful rendition of Phoenix Wonderland. There were talking plushies and I was a director for stage plays. Also, for some reason, the Vocaloids Hatsune Miku and KAITO were there in silly clothes that were way too bright for me.
I sit up but fall off my couch-slash-bed in the process, landing on the cold hard floor. Ow. I stand up with my platypus—which I decide to name 'Kiseki', meaning 'miracle'—held tightly to my chest and roll my pant legs back down so they fall at my ankles. First stop: the kitchen.
When I go in there, my mother is already there, making her own breakfast. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” she says to me without even looking at me. This makes me try and smooth my hair down a bit so it doesn’t look as messy.
“Morning,” I croak, my throat dry from the lack of water. I clear my throat. “You didn’t eat dinner last night. I called you and you were asleep,” my mom points out. “Yeah, I felt super tired, so I decided to sleep early,” I half-lie. It is technically the truth, I did sleep early because I was feeling tired. I just didn’t tell her about me pulling an all-nighter. “Are you feeling okay?” she asks me.
I grab a cup out of the cupboard near the sink and fill it with water. “Yeah. Why?” “It’s unlike you to sleep early, even if you are extremely tired.” I take a sip of water, then respond, “Nene told me to.”
Mom’s expression softens at the mention of Nene. She treats Nene like a daughter she’s never had. “How is she? Is her work going okay?” I take another sip of water. “Yeah. She’s doing alright. Still homeschooling.”
“I really do hope she’s able to go back to school again so you’re not too lonely anymore.” Jeez, Mom, no need to twist the knife. “Actually, I have someone at school. I met them on the first day of school.”
“Oh, really? What’s their name?” “Mizuki.” “That’s a pretty name,” Mom muses to herself. “Would you like some?” she gestures to the food on the stove. “No thanks. I’ll make something myself.”
———
Monday, and finally, Mizuki is back. Sure enough, when I asked them where they’ve been, they replied, "Oh, I just had a few family issues to deal with." I didn't question further. Now, Mizuki and I are sitting on the rooftop bench after school. Everyone except for a few other people have left to go home. Neither of us are saying anything. I should say something. But Mizuki beats me to it. "We haven't really done anything different," they say quietly. Different? "What do you mean by 'different'?"
"Well, we're dating now, aren't we? But we haven't done anything that even proves we're dating. You just asked if we could date and I said 'okay'...we haven't done anything, like, physically," they mumble. "...what are you trying to say?" A long pause of silence follows my question before Mizuki answers, "I'm trying to say that we should kiss."
…kiss? "Like, on the…?" I point to my mouth. "On the lips, yes." Okay, okay, um, Rui, don't freak out. But we've only been dating for, how long, five days now? Six? Not even a week. But…I can't bring myself to say no. After all, I've been considering suggesting we kiss, too. I was just sort of worried Mizuki would say no.
"Rui?" Ah, crap. I was supposed to respond to their suggestion. "Like, right now?" Why am I asking so many questions? Am I meant to ask this many questions? Mizuki places their hands overtop mine, snapping me out of my thoughts. Their hands are still cold compared to mine. "Yes, Rui, right now."
"Right. Right, sorry, yeah, I knew that. I totally knew that. Sorry. Um…we- uh, we can…yes." God, I suck at this. Get it together, Rui! You know how to speak. Speak normally. "We…we can kiss, yes." There. I got the words out. Mizuki giggles at my struggles. "Great."
I don't move, expecting Mizuki to engage the kiss. But they don't lean forward. Wait, am I supposed to…? I lean forward, but Mizuki also leans forward, and our noses bump against each other. Crap! I quickly pull away and reach up to cover my nose as if that would undo our unprompted nose-bump. This is super embarrassing. Mizuki giggles again, and I feel my face start to heat up. Ugh…okay. Try number two.
I wait for Mizuki's giggling to die down, then I lean forward again. My eyes shut before Mizuki's do. The next thing I feel is my lips pressed against something wet. Is this how kissing is supposed to feel? It feels…weird. Weird and awkward and wet.
Oh, wait…crap. I force myself to pull away and open my eyes. Without thinking, I wipe at my mouth with my sleeve. Mizuki doesn't. Both of us are too embarrassed to say anything to each other now. I turn away, blushing and wiping at my mouth.
I quickly grab my things and mutter a quiet 'see ya' to Mizuki before rushing off. I forgot to say 'I love you' to them, but I think the kiss spoke enough for that. I continue trying to wipe my mouth on my sleeve.
I can faintly pick up the smell of strawberries. And mint. Strawberries and mint.