March 12th

Excited for dinner later, Hikari had been singing the entire time at work and it was starting to make her current coworker, Mizuki Hisahito, curious.

"Why do you keep singing like that, Hikari? It's starting to get weird," he bluntly says, shooting an arrow through her head.

"The real question is, why are you even here, Mizuki-kun? You're a professional soccer player and here you are working at your sister's flower shop?" Hikari spits back.

"It's because I got injured again," he emotionlessly explains, however, he's deeply sad inside.

Hikari gives him a disappointed face before returning to doing what she was doing before she was interrupted.

"Well, you should stop getting yourself injured if you want to play so badly, baka," Hikari says and sees Mizuki's feet twitching to touch a soccer ball.

"I know, I am a baka," he agrees. "So, why are you so happy again?"

Hikari blushes but smiles as she looks down at her ring.

"My husband and I are going to celebrate our first year of marriage later and I'm excited!"

"Why? Is he going to do something for you?"

Hikari happily shakes her head. It didn't bother her too much if he didn't do anything for her, as long as Akaashi was there with her, she was happy.

"I'm just going to cook us some dinner!"

"Heeh, having a wife sounds nice. She cooks yummy meals and cheers you on at tournaments, but soccer is more important! If I could, I'd marry soccer." Mizuki nods at his own statements as Hikari sweat drops at her boss' younger brother.

"Are all men like this?" Hikari rhetorically asks herself before going back to work.
-

On her way home, Hikari passes a familiar shrine and stops.

'Maybe I should go pray; I have time,' she thinks and parks.

Heading up the stairs, she finally reaches the top and walks towards the shrine where she bows her head.

'I pray for tonight to go well and for it to be blessed.'

Once she's done, she looks one more time at the shrine before happily heading back.

-

"Finally, finished!" Hikari wipes the sweat off her forehead as she stares at the feast she's made. It was currently 6:45pm and Akaashi would be coming home at 7:30pm. "Time to go get changed!" she excitedly says to herself and skips into their room.

Somehow, Akaashi and Hikari's parents convinced the two to share a room and bed. It was super awkward and nerve-racking at first and every night, Hikari would blush like crazy. She still does from time to time; however, they both got used to it after living with each other for almost a year.

Putting on a dress and doing light makeup, Hikari looks at herself in the mirror in satisfaction.

"I hope he likes this! I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard though!" she talks to herself and realizes that it's already 7:20pm. "I should go wait in the dining room!"

Excitedly yet shyly, Hikari waits for her husband's arrival. Earlier, she had called Yuki about the exciting news. Yuki was indeed shocked, but she was especially happy for her best friend.

"I'm so happy for you, Ari," she said which almost brought tears to Hikari's eyes.
This was technically Hikari's first time asking Akaashi on a 'date.'

Slowly, as time went on, so did Hikari's patience and happiness. A storm also erupted out of nowhere which brought her mood down even more. Every five seconds, she would look at her phone and just sigh. This lasted for so long that it was finally 9:30pm. As much as she didn't want to doubt that Akaashi had forgotten; she knew deep down the truth.

"He wouldn't do that; would he?" she asks herself and places her head in her hands. Tears start to fall down her cheeks and what Yuki had said the other day played in her head. "I really am just a stupid simp for him." Her voice cracks and she starts to expressively cry.

"Yuki was right. If he wanted to live this kind of life, he didn't need to marry me!" she angrily exclaims and slides the ring on her left ring finger off. She instantly stops in the middle of her actions and stares at the ring Akaashi had gotten her. Even though her heart told her to put it back on, Hikari listens to her head and keeps it in her palm.

As much as she wanted to convince herself, their rings weren't a sign of their love. It was simply just a symbol of an agreement.

'He doesn't love you and he probably never will.'

Abruptly, her thoughts are interrupted with a harsh bang against the back sliding door. Running over to look at what had happened, Hikari sees it's raining excessively and the wind was harshly blowing her belongings around.

"My umbrella!!" Hikari yells, hesitantly slips her ring in her pocket, and slides the door open. The umbrella that was currently being ruined by the storm was gifted to her from Akaashi and his family on her birthday. She often used it when she would be gardening outside to shield herself from the sun.

Running out, the wind harshly blows against her face and rain gets all over her. However, she doesn't feel a single inch of coldness and continues to grab her umbrella. Unfortunately, the umbrella had flown closer towards the forest. When she finally gets a hold of the umbrella, she closes it and ties it up.

"Thank goodness," she sighs in relief and is about to head back towards the house when the wind gives her a severe push, causing her to drop the umbrella and her body to fly backwards. Without her noticing, the ring in her pocket flies out and lands beside the umbrella.

"H-help!" Hiraki yells for anyone to hear, but she falls back. Pushing her further and further into the forest, the view of her house gets covered by the trees. "Help me please!" she yells once more and before she could scream once more, she trips on the root of the trees and falls into a pit. Harshly, Hikari hits her body against the ground and she can hardly use any muscle in her body. "Is anyone there?" she whispers one last time before passing out.

March 14th

Moaning, Hikari's eyes tighten from the light and she slowly opens her eyes; her entire body aches. The first thing her eyes meet are the sun's rays peeking through the tree's leaves and she instantly covers her eyes. With all of her might, she lifts her body and looks around to see she's surrounded by trees as the birds happily chirp; it had looked totally different than how it did the night of the storm.

"Where am I?" she rhetorically asks and rubs her eyes. Looking down, she sees she's still in her dress that is absolutely ruined. "Am I in the forest?"

Trying her hardest to stand up, she falls back down and notices the scratches on her body.

"These are probably from the branches of the trees last night... but how did I end up here? I fell into a pit?"

Suddenly, a branch breaks and Hikari instantly turns her head to meet familiar golden orbs. Time stops and the two stare in silence before Hikari decides to break it.

"You're so cute," she happily exclaims and holds out her hand for the fox to come near.
Hesitantly, he does and once he's close enough, Hikari carefully touches his soft fur.

'This feels familiar!' she thinks. As she massages his neck, he purrs. "A-are you my savior?"

A/n:

Here's Mizuki Hisahito from Days!! If you haven't yet, y'all should go watch it. It's one of my favs!

Date: 9 October 2020