Raido Shotai Past7

     School was almost over for them. Soon it would be time for Military school. All five looked forward to it, especially Raido. Hikiki thought it was cute that he was so excited about getting into Military school. It was like a child looking forward to Christmas, or his birthday.
     That reminded her – Raido’s birthday was coming up. Ever since they’d all grown older, they appeared to be interested in different things. Daikiki took an interest in money, Eddodo took an interest in exotic animals, Nozizi took a bit of interest in religious studies, and Hikiki herself had become even more interested in flowers. She hadn’t seen a change in Raido’s interests, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t any changes.
     The morning before his birthday, she ran into Daikiki, Eddodo, and Nozizi at the store.
“Hey, guys,” she greeted.
“Princess? I never thought we’d see you here. Tell me that you aren’t becoming a girly-girl with shopping habits,” Daikiki teased.
“No; I’ll still break your nose if I want to,” Hikiki retorted, “And what about you? Have you developed girly-girl shopping habits?”
“Touché. No, we’re just helping Nozizi with a gift idea for Raido,” Daikiki replied.
     “You too, huh?” Nozizi asked. Hikiki nodded.
“It’s hard… I don’t know what he wants,” she said.
“I can think of one thing…” Daikiki mumbled.
“What? What is it?” Hikiki asked.
“No way! I can’t tell you!” Daikiki barked.
“Why not? Did you already get it for him?” Hikiki asked. Eddodo and Nozizi started laughing hysterically. Daikiki’s face reddened.
“Shut up, guys! That’s gay!” he snapped.
“Eddodo knows, that’s why it’s hilarious!” Eddodo laughed.
      “Well-! What is it?! Whatever it is, I’ll get it for him!” Hikiki said. The three got quiet and their faces reddened.
“No. We want it more than he does…” Daikiki snapped.
“Well, I want it more than either of you,” Nozizi said.
“No Nozizi doesn’t, shut up,” Eddodo spat.
“Augh. Fine. Be jerks; see if I care!” Hikiki snapped, walking off. She quickly hid behind an aisle and listened to her friends.
      “Do you think she suspects…?” Nozizi asked.
“No… she’s too angry with us for not saying it,” Daikiki said.
“Raido would get mad if we did, Daikiki…” Eddodo said quietly.
“Yeah. Raido would think Hikiki would think he was some sort of pervert if we told her that he wants kiss from-” Nozizi blurted.
“NOZIZI!” Daikiki yelped, covering his mouth quickly, “The walls have ears!”  
“Really?” Nozizi’s muffled voice asked, “Do phones have ears too?”
“…Nozizi… sometimes Eddodo swears you don’t have common sense…” Eddodo said. Hikiki quietly continued down the aisle.
      That’s what Raido wanted? A kiss? He was worried about Hikiki knowing? It was so cute. Hikiki suddenly felt her face burn. She said that she would get it for him. Did that mean she would kiss him? She wanted to, but she couldn’t bear to make herself do it. What if Raido didn’t want a kiss from her? What if he was already eyeing another girl?
      That afternoon, she went with Daikiki, Nozizi, and Eddodo to Raido’s house to hang out for the rest of the day. Daikiki rang the doorbell. Raido’s mother answered.
“Hello, there! Come on in; Raido’s in his room,” she smiled.
“Thanks, Ma’am,” Daikiki replied respectfully. Eddodo smiled at her. Nozizi gave her a hug. Hikiki briefly smiled at her. Raido’s mother was a very nice woman. She seemed to adopt Hikiki and her friends as her own children. Hikiki felt like she was her second mother. Secretly, she wished that one day, Raido’s mother would be her mother-in-law.
      The four reached Raido’s room. Raido seemed a little troubled.
“Hey, Rai-Rai,” Daikiki smiled. Raido looked back at them. The front of his hat was torn. A tuft of his light brown hair stuck out.
“Hey, what happened?” Nozizi asked.
“I don’t know…” Raido mumbled, “I woke up this morning and there was a huge tear in it… I guess it was too small. I’ve had the thing since I was a tadpole… It’s kind of beyond repair at this point…”
     “Aw… we sorry…” Eddodo said quietly. Raido merely shrugged.
“It’s okay…” he said quietly, “What did you guys want to do today?”
“Just hang out, I guess,” Daikiki said.
“Okay. We can hang out here. My grandfather sent me a new CD for my birthday; we can listen to it,” Raido said.
“Sounds fun!” Eddodo grinned.
      As the group listened to the CD, Hikiki thought about the situation. Raido wanted a kiss, but he seemed a little upset about his hat. Instead of worrying about embarrassing herself, she could just make him a new hat identical to the one he already had. It could work.
     “Hiki-chan? Are you okay? You’ve been kinda quiet today…” Raido said. Hikiki blushed.
“I-I’m okay…” she said quietly.
“She’s stressed out,” Daikiki said, “because she’s a shop-aholic.”
“I am not! Will you shut up?!” Hikiki snapped. Daikiki laughed hysterically. Raido chuckled and sat beside Hikiki, putting his arm around her. He sat like that for awhile. Hikiki blushed. No one else noticed. It was just them. Their cheeks were only inches apart. Hikiki wanted to kiss him, but she knew that she couldn’t. Not here, not now.
     That night, Hikiki went to a craft store for supplies. She grew worried when she couldn’t find the right shade of blue. The closest one she could find was too dark. She knew it would have to do. When she got home, she started work on it. She stayed up way late to finish it. At one point, her mother came downstairs and offered to give her help. Hikiki declined it; she wanted this gift to be from her completely.
      She finally finished at around four in the morning. Hikiki was grateful that it was the weekend and fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up, it was already late in the afternoon. Panicking, she quickly grabbed the gift bag containing the finished hat and rushed to Raido’s house.
     She arrived at his house and knocked quickly on the door. This time, Raido’s father answered. He looked neither irritated nor upset by Hikiki’s presence. It was a bit unusual. Usually, Raido’s father wasn’t terribly friendly towards her or her other friends – including Raido. Today, he seemed slightly pleased to see her.
“Hello, Hikiki. Here for Raido?” he asked. Hikiki was reluctant to answer.
“Y-Yes, sir…” she replied.
“He’s in his room. He’s been expecting you,” Raido father replied, allowing her to come in. Hikiki stepped in and went to Raido’s room.
     She peered around the door at Raido. He was checking the tear in his hat in the mirror.
“Knock-knock,” she said. Raido looked over at her and smiled.
“Hiki-chan! Hey, I missed you today! Where’ve you been?” he asked, giving her a hug. Hikiki blushed.
“I’m sorry… I… I slept in. I was up late last night. Happy birthday, Raido-kun,” she said.
“Thanks,” Raido smiled.
      “Did… uh… you get good gifts this year?” Hikiki asked.
“Yeah. I was kinda surprised; my dad actually got me something this year. He seems to be a bit friendlier now that I’m an adult…” Raido said.
“So I noticed…” Hikiki replied, “Have the guys stopped by?”
“Yeah, you just missed ‘em. They stopped by and dropped off my gifts, but they all had someplace to be, so they didn’t get to stay long. Y-You don’t have to leave, do you…?” Raido asked.
“N-No; I’ll stay as long as you want me to,” Hikiki replied. Raido blushed and smiled.
“Thanks… that means a lot,” he said shyly.
      “You’re welcome…” Hikiki replied. She suddenly remembered the gift, “Oh. I, uh… I made this for you for your birthday…” She handed him the gift.
“Oh, thanks, Hiki-chan,” Raido smiled, “What is it?” He took the hat out of the bag and gazed at it with amazement.
     “Oh, wow… you made this?” he asked. Hikiki nodded.
“I-I know it’s not the right color…” she started.
“Well, that’s okay! I really love it! Thank you so much!” Raido smiled. Hikiki felt herself blush and grin.
     “Want me to put it on you?” she asked.
“Sure,” Raido smiled. Hikiki took off his old hat and placed the new one on. She blushed with sheer embarrassment. The hat came down too low in the front; it covered half of his eyes.
“Oh… Raido, I’m so sorry! I guess I was just so tired last night, I didn’t notice-!” she apologized.
“What are you talking about? I like this. It’s very comfortable. I can still see you perfectly fine,” he said truthfully.
     Hikiki was quiet a moment.
“You… you can?” she asked. Raido smiled and stroked her arm.
“Yeah… you… you still look beautiful…” he said quietly. Hikiki felt as if someone had taken a flamethrower to her face. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned forward and pecked Raido lightly on the cheek. Raido’s eyes widened a bit and his face reddened.
     Hikiki was mortified. She felt horrible. She turned to run off, but Raido quickly grabbed her arm.
“Wait-!” he said quickly. Hikiki reluctantly looked back at him.
“I…” he started. He seemed dreadfully shy about what he wanted to say, “You said that you’d stay…” Hikiki blushed.
“Oh… that’s right. I’m sorry,” she said, going back to him. Raido smiled very slightly.
“You know… I think… I got almost everything I wanted this year…” he said quietly. He wrapped his arms around her. As he held her, Hikiki blushed harder. Her face was barely touching his. She longed to kiss him again, this time upon his lips.
“Settle down, girl…” she thought to herself, “Once is enough for one day…”