Bridal ✽ Chapter 6

[karoruru]

 

[Scene – the beach]

Kaoru: Ahh no, this isn’t because of you…

Uhh, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it? I guess I’ll have to hide it with make-up or something…

Kanata: Kaoru, are you in the middle of a ‘job’?

I’m proud~ good boy, good boy~♪

Kaoru: Oh, it’s not the real thing yet…but Kanata-kun, is it just me or are your hands wet?

Kanata: Ah, did you notice? Actually, I was putting ‘water’ on just my ‘hands’. This is okay, right?

Kaoru: Even if you look at me with those eyes…

Ahh fine. My eyes aren’t swollen because of Kanata-kun, so don’t worry.

Things just weren’t going so well for me…so I just came here, and cried a little bit in secret.

Kanata: I see~ do you want to eat ‘fish’?

Kaoru: Eh, wait, why are we talking about that? I didn’t say I was hungry, right?

Kanata: It’s good to eat and be ‘full’, when you’re feeling ‘down’~ and I am good at ‘passing judgement’ on ‘fish’, too~

Ah…the ‘fish’ are swimming around~ I’m going to go catch them♪

Kaoru: Sto- stop floating around like that, it’s scary!

Ahh seriously! I’m glad you were thinking of me though. But instead of playing around with cooking fish, could you listen to me for a little bit?

Kanata: Okay~ I am ‘free’ today, anyway…♪

Kaoru: Thank you. Well, I got a request for a gravure photoshoot.

The theme is bridal, you see, and I honestly don’t know what I should be feeling.

Sena-kun tells me to imagine a bride on the other side of the camera…

But every time I try to imagine it, I think of my sister.

…I started wondering if she was a happy bride. That maybe she really didn’t want to get married at all. These thoughts just kept coming.

It sounds like an excuse, but when I heard my sister was going to have her omiai, I felt so much better after letting myself go a bit wild with my classmates and sleeping it off. (1)

But this time…the bridal theme just brought back all my feelings.

I’m grateful that Tenshouin-kun was so mindful of me, but…the timing was just bad, I guess.

Sorry about that~ I said a lot of pointless things.

I can’t really talk about this to anyone else. It really helps to have Kanata-kun listen to me.

Kanata: If you are okay with me, I am always happy to ‘listen’.

I am not Kaoru, so I do not perfectly understand the ‘emotions’ that Kaoru is feeling, but…

It is not a bad thing to shed ‘tears’. As ‘people’ let their tears out, they also ‘grow’ as a person.

…no, they become stronger. Therefore, please don’t ‘hold back’ when you want to cry.

Kaoru: Kanata-kun… if this was the usual me, I’d say I don’t want a man complimenting me, but…

Thank you. Hearing you say that made me feel better.

Kanata: Fufufu, I am glad I was of help~♪

Kaoru, you are like the ‘childen’ of ‘Ryuuseitai’.

Kaoru: Wait, what’s this all of a sudden? You’re not trying to start a fight, right?

Kanata: I don’t like starting fights~ I am not ‘good’ with violence.

Um… the ‘children’ of ‘Ryuuseitai’, also have their problems, and get stuck at places, like Kaoru.

Every one is ‘still growing’, after all.

It is the same with us. Maybe ‘children’ was not the right word~ sorry, Kaoru.

Kaoru: Ah, you didn’t really have to apologize.

But speaking of. Kanata-kun, before you used to say that children were loud and you were bad with them, and things like that, weren’t you? What’s with the change of heart?

Kanata: Fufufu, that is a ‘secret’. But I think I will be able to live on ‘land’ as well…♪

Kaoru: H~m. I don’t quite get it, but it seems like Kanata-kun is having fun at Ryuuseitai.

I’m a bit jealous~ UNDEAD is just a bunch of cheeky kids, after all.

Haha, I think speaking with Kanata-kun has made me feel much better.

If Kanata-kun was a girl I’d definitely give you a thank-you hug~ how unfortunate.

Kanata: You can ‘hug’ me if you want? Kaoru still looks a bit ‘lonely’…

Kaoru: Ah, no, I’ll refuse that.

I’m really okay now. I’ve switched myself back in gear, so I think I’ll be able to do my job.

…no, I have to do my best♪

Notes:

(1)   Omiai refers to pre-arranged marriage meetings.