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 Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:06 pm
Demare's right eye twitched slightly as he made his way out the door, making sure to close it behind him before following Mayu out to the sidewalk. This was a stupid argument.
"I'm not hungry," he grumbled, trying to keep himself calm. "Besides. If we do get hungry, we could just snack on something. However, you seem intent on carrying the baskets, so it's up to you whether or not we should lug them around all day or not."
The teenager looked as though he tripped for a moment at the mention of this being a date. He blushed, moving his hand to rub at the back of his neck. He'd thought they'd decided that it wasn't one... Now suddenly it was?
He decided he no longer understood how women worked.
"Do you even know where we're going?" the halfling asked, just to be sure. After all, Barton was in the other direction.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:22 pm
"Fine, let's go to the viewing first then," Mayu sighed. She could never win an argument anyway. Hoisting the baskets up proudly, she continued down the sidewalk.
"Of course I know where we're going!" she stopped suddenly, and stated proudly. Of course, that was a big fat lie. Mayu really had no idea where they were going at all. From Demare's tone, she was probably going in the complete opposite direction.
Turning around, Mayu started, running ahead of Demare. "We're going in this direction, of course~!" She laughed nervously, her face dropping into a deadpan expression. Way to make yourself look stupid!
She chided herself silently for her display of cluelessness.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:33 pm
Demare stopped abruptly as he watched her run off further in the wrong direction, the most confused and blank expression on his face that he could possibly manage. He was completely stunned, feeling a slight breeze pick up for a moment.
This... this was the girl he enjoyed being with so much...? Thinking about it now, it was almost unbelievable how incredibly random the two of them used to be. Lifting a hand to his throat, he fingered the star-like pendant on the necklace Mayu had given him almost a year ago.
That's what he liked about her. She didn't care what people thought, or if she was right or wrong. So long as she was having fun, she appeared to be happy. The halfling began to smile as he waited for her to come back. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, thinking how silly he was being.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:45 pm
"Come on, let's go!" Mayu called over her shoulder, with a wide grin on her face. As soon as she realized that Demare wasn't following, however, her face deadpanned once more. Okay, so maybe this was the wrong direction too..
She strolled back over to Demare nonchalantly, forcing a grin as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously with her free hand. "Okay, maybe you should lead the way instead."
The girl reached up to take his hand, mostly as a preventative measure to ensure that she wouldn't be tempted to run off in the wrong direction again.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:54 pm
The halfling mearly laughed to himself silently, reaching down to take Mayu's hand into his own. At least she admitted she was wrong. Steering her around, he guided her to Barton.
"So, why two baskets?" Demare asked curiously, looking down at them for a moment. "I know we never ate THAT much..."
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:09 pm
"I should get myself a map or something," Mayu muttered to herself, making note of the landmarks on the way to Barton. "That way I won't get lost as much when I go outside."
She looked up at Demare, then down at the baskets in her arm, then back up at Demare. "They're not both filled with food," she said, grinning. "This one's for you!"
She shook her hand free from Demare's for a moment, taking the smaller basket off of her arm and handing it to him.
"I picked 'em this morning from the bushes near the kitchen," Mayu said, with a smile. "I thought you'd like them."
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:24 pm
Demare was about to comment on the map remark, but stopped as he was handed the basket. For... him? He released Mayu's hand momentarily to flip open the wooden lid, peering inside. Roses...? While he wasn't really a flower person, he did blush slightly, smiling a little bit.
"Thank you, Mayu. I'll be sure to take good care of them," he assured her, dropping his hand in case she wanted to take it again.
It wasn't much longer before the tops of the sakura trees could be seen in the distance as they left the actual city, the park not really being IN Barton. The flowers were in full bloom at this time of year, the brilliant color almost glowing in the sunlight.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:18 pm
"Put them in a vase when you get home, fill it up halfway with water, and sprinkle some sugar in the vase," Mayu said, smiling as she took his hand again. "That'll keep them from wilting as fast."
She looked up, noticing a pink petal being carried along in the breeze. The girl's eyes widened significantly and a grin spread across her face as she took notice of the trees in the distance.
Mayu started into a brisk walk, tugging on Demare's hand as she moved ahead. She didn't want to let go of his hand because she was liable to get lost, but she was so anxious to see the flowers up close!
"Come on, Clare! Hurry up!" she called, trying to run ahead but not getting very far because she was still hanging onto his wrist.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:43 pm
Demare began to move faster as Mayu quickened her pace, a little surprised at how anxious she was getting. It wasn't like the trees were going anywhere... and it would be at least another week or two before the blossoms were gone. Perhaps she hadn't seen so many trees like these ones before...
Then again, she had one on her back. Why did this excite her so much?
"Mayu, slow down," he requested, pacing himself to force her to comply. "It's not like we're going to miss anything..."
As they grew closer to the park, they could see string-like fences around the trees, in an attempt to keep people from getting too close to them. There was a fairly large crowd today, a majority of them being couples of all ages. Young loves, old wedded, even puppy loves walked along the dirt paths that lead around the park.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:59 pm
"This is so exciting, though~!" Mayu exclaimed, though she did listen to his request and slow down her walking slightly. She had never been to a cherry blossom viewing before! It was true that she had branches with the same flowers sprouting out of her back, but those flowers were magical. They were stationary, unless she pulled them out by hand. These trees seemed almost alive, with the blossoms wavering in the breeze and petals fluttering through the air like snow.
"" she cried with joy, lapsing into Japanese. She would still sometimes forget what language she was speaking when she got really excited. If only Miroku and Kuro were here to see this, too! The hostile landscape that they had been living in for what seemed an eternity did not easily support life, the only plants growing in the dirt being wild grasses and weeds. They would have been delighted to see all of these trees in full bloom.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:17 pm
The halfling glaced down at Mayu for a moment, wondering what jibberish she'd just said. It didn't sound anything like what he heard on an every day basis.
"Huh...?" he questioned, hoping she wouldn't do it again. He didn't like it when he couldn't understand people.
"Don't stare, sweety, it isn't nice," a young woman's voice had piped up from near by.
Demare looked to see what was going on, feeling a pair of eyes watching him. A few feet away was a little boy with his family, green eyes as wide as saucers. When she woman noticed that he was looking, she began to usher the child away, as if the teenager were doing something wrong. His wings tucked themselves closer to his back, drooping down slightly as if that would make them appear smaller.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:32 pm
"I said, it's lovely!" Mayu repeated, wondering if he hadn't heard her the first time. Her gaze was fixed on the nearby trees, a sort of dreamy look in her eyes as she watched the blossoms waver to and fro in the gentle breeze.
A group of three women, all in their mid-thirties, stared at the couple as they walked past, speaking amongst each other in hushed whispers.
"My, look at them!"
"What an odd pair."
"But that boy looks way too old for that little girl, don't you think?"
"Maybe he's one of those people you hear about on TV ever so often."
"Ah, yes, yes."
Mayu glanced over to Demare for a moment, realizing that he was a bit quiet.
"What's wrong?" she asked, a confused expression on her face. She had been so absorbed in watching the flowers that she hadn't paid attention to anything else; she hadn't noticed the boy or the group of women at all.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:53 pm
He hadn't heard what she said. The halfling kept looking where he had been, but he could hear everyone else all too clearly.
Look at them...!
What an odd pair...
He looks so much older than she does...
Kids these days...
Without realizing it, his grip on Mayu's hand had become loose, and for a brief moment, it was as if he'd slipped away completely. Demare caught himself, however, as he heard the girl's question, finally turning his attention to her as his fingers curled around hers.
"Hm? Oh, it's... it's nothing," he told her, shaking his head a little bit. In his mind, he couldn't help but wonder if all of this was really okay. Mayu didn't seem to mind, and of course he didn't care, but... it seemed as if society wanted to outcast them soully because he'd grown up before she had.
"Let's... Let's go this way." Not waiting for a reply, he started down the path again.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:10 pm
Mayu had returned to watching the trees by then, so she was caught quite off guard when Demare suddenly started walking down the path. She hopped sideways a few times as she was being pulled over, finally stumbling over and straightening herself up. She was still lagging behind a few steps, and she quickened her pace to catch up with the teen.
The hushed whispers and odd looks only followed Mayu and Demare as they walked by. Before, when they were standing around, they might have looked like two random people that happened to be standing next to each other while observing the flowers. But now, since they were walking together, it was obviously made out to the crowd that they were a couple.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:44 pm
It was bothering him. What people were saying was bothering him. It got to him so much that he hadn't noticed Mayu stumbling. He didn't even realize that he'd released her hand, only growing concerned with getting away. Why couldn't people just accept them? Why did they have to talk like that? Why couldn't they just be left alone?
Why couldn't they all just disappear...?
Demare kept moving, not paying attention to where he was going. He nearly walked right into another couple, but he managed to step out of the way in time, taking himself off of the trail.
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