Slowly [Shirokuma Literature Club]

As I slowly climbed the embankment, holding his hand, a view of cherry blossoms in full bloom spread out before me. I will never forget that night in March, when I could feel the warmth of spring blending into the air.

At that time, I was working at a securities company in Otemachi and was in love with my boss, K, at the same workplace. K possessed everything I lacked. A degree from a top-tier university, professional skill, experience, handsome features, a family with a wife... I had youth, but that was just the flip side of immaturity. It was a weakness that made me feel pain directly as pain. I was not yet able to find a glimmer of brightness within sadness, soothe my turbulent feelings, and gently tuck them away at the bottom of my heart. I heard K's wife was hospitalized long-term, but the fact that he could energetically handle his work without showing a hint of such troubles made him seem like a wonderful adult to me.

On the way back from a year-end drinking party, I happened to share a taxi with K because we were heading in the same direction. As we were about to pass through Chidorigafuchi, K spoke to ease my nervousness.

“That’s right, let’s go see the cherry blossoms for a bit!”

When we got out of the taxi, a mysterious space unfolded. Even though we were in the middle of the city, the streets suddenly ended, and beyond that, they melted into the darkness... The road stretching between the buildings suddenly split in two when it reached the moat. Perhaps that is why I had the illusion that the city had suddenly come to an end. A group of people who seemed to be returning from cherry blossom viewing came walking from the direction of the moat, talking loudly. Perhaps because they were drunk, their voices were unnecessarily loud.

After letting that crowd pass, we turned to the right. The streetlights faintly illuminated the darkness, and the white lines of the crosswalk shone as they reflected the light. I walked along the edge of the sidewalk, hiding behind K's back. Just before the embankment, K turned around, took my hand, and we began to climb slowly.

“They’re in full bloom! Look!”

From the top of the embankment, I could see the cherry blossoms on the opposite shore. The flowers illuminated by the light were white, and the flowers about to melt into the darkness were tinged with a faint crimson, spreading out like a dream with their outlines softly blurred. It was a scene that made my heart ache and brought tears to my eyes every time I remembered it. The cherry blossoms, hazy and white against the night sky, seemed to have forgotten they were flowers and were dreaming in the night... And I was the same as those cherry blossoms...
I looked up at him, on the verge of tears.

“Are you crying?”

His hand moved to my back. My first kiss... I wished that time would stop. It was so poignant, as if squeezed from the bottom of my heart.

A workplace romance, especially with a married man, was never going to bear fruit, and it scattered like cherry blossoms, but every time the Chidorigafuchi cherry blossoms are shown on TV, I remember that day. Along with K's smile.

The End

Please let me participate in Komaki-san's project.
Komaki-san, I apologize for the trouble, but thank you in advance.

Unfortunately, this is pure fiction 😅