Her Saviour

Chapter 34: Fireworks Part 2

Haru’s Point of View

Haru drove as Rin played music. After she played one song, she asked Haru which song he liked, and then she would play that song.

Haru turned to look at her and saw her reaching for the bag full of snacks.

He heard her opened a packet and saw that she had opened the packet of gummy bears. He was not fond of gummy bears.

Rin handed him some but he refused.

Then he heard her ask, “You said you like the things I picked?” and he quickly looked at her and saw her eye roll at him. Haru laughed. He liked how Rin remembered the little things. It was cute.

He heard Rin also laughing after he laughed. It had been around fifteen minutes since he started driving. This meant that they were halfway there. As he continued driving, he felt the need to smoke. He was about to ask Rin to light a cigarette and pass it to him when he heard her speak.

“Can we stop for a minute to smoke?”

Haru looked at her and thought, “Can she read my mind or something? Anyways this was a nice coincidence”. Then he replied, “Of course. Let me find a nice place to stop.” He then drove for around two minutes until he found a place.

They got out of the car. Haru walked around the car to where Rin was. After he reached, they leaned on the car as they took out two cigarettes and lighted them. They smoked in silence.

As they smoked, Haru checked the time on his watch. It was 6: 50 pm.

Then he heard Rin ask, “How long until we reach the place?”

Haru smiled. He knew from this that Rin was an impatient person. He spoke, “Well, if I tell you that. It would be ruining the surprise.”

As soon as he said that, he saw Rin stuck out her tongue at him. Haru could not help but laugh at this gesture. It was so cute. Then, Rin also joined in the laughter.

They laughed together for a while. Then Haru checked the time. It was 7:00 pm. “If we move now, we will probably get there by 7: 15 pm. We will have few minutes to smoke. Then we will walk up the hill and then it would be time for the fireworks to start. Okay perfect.” He thought.

Then he spoke, “Rin, it is 7 pm. We should get going.”

Rin nodded and they got back into the car. After that, Haru felt thirsty. So, he reached for the bag and picked two cans of soda. Then he handed one to Rin.

Rin thanked him and opened the can to drink. Haru did the same. After that, Haru started the car and started driving. As soon as he did that, he watched as Rin kept her can in the bottle holder in between their seats and she looked out of the window.

Haru switched between looking at her and the road. She was not turning towards him and he let her be. He picked up his phone and connected it with the car’s stereo. He then played a song.

After around the fourth song he played was in its last part of the song, they reached their destination. As soon as he stopped the car, he saw the gate that had fairy lights around it. He thought it was pretty.

Rin was still looking out of the window, so Haru tapped on her shoulder to let her know that they reached. She turned around and their eyes met. The fairy lights were shining brightly, due to which Haru could see Rin’s face perfectly. With these beautiful lights perfectly falling on her face and her blue eyes lighting up his entire world, Haru felt a tingling in his body and he wanted to kiss her. However, he could not muster up his courage to do that and he did not want Rin to become uncomfortable.

So he hastily broke the eye contact and the silence by saying, “We are here.”

Rin nodded and looked outside.

Haru got out of the car the moment Rin did. He watched as she looked at the gate with the fairy lights. He watched as her eyes light up. He saw that she liked the place.

Haru had no idea that the place itself would be so pretty. He just wanted to bring Rin here for the fireworks. He was glad that even when he did not research a lot about the place, he brought her here.

Just then Rin turned around and looked at Haru. She smiled at him and said, “This is so pretty Haru.”

Haru thought, “I am glad you like it” but just smiled back and said, “It is 7: 15 pm. Do you want to smoke a cigarette?”

Rin nodded. Haru took out two cigarettes and handed one to her. She took it and lighted it. She then handed the lighter to Haru.

After about five minutes had passed, Haru checked the time and decided that it was time they went up the hill. So he spoke, “Rin it is time we go up the steps.”

Rin nodded.

Haru remembered that the bag of snacks was inside the car. So he opened the car door and took out the bags. Then he locked the car.

Haru then walked towards the gate and up the steps with Rin following behind. Haru slowed down his pace so that Rin did not get exhausted.

They reached in about five minutes. On the top of the tiny hill, there was a canopy. The roof and the pillars of the canopy were also decorated with fairy lights.

The view was incredible. The lights from the houses and the buildings were pretty.

Haru walked towards the canopy and sat on the bench there. Rin followed him and sat down. Haru found out that she had only then seen the view. Haru watched as Rin looked at the city mesmerized by it. Haru thought that even though the view was incredible but when he watched Rin happy and her eyes light up it was so much more incredible.

He noticed that Rin was going to just look at the view and might also forget him. So he tapped on her shoulder and handed her a can of soda.

She thanked him. Haru watched as she opened the can to drink it. With the drink, Haru opened a packet of potato chips. They started eating and drinking.

Haru watched as Rin was searching for something in the bag of snacks.

Haru looked at the time. It was 7: 30 pm. It was time for the fireworks. So he tapped on her shoulder again and pointed towards the city.

Rin looked confused when she saw him pointing towards the city.

However, when she looked up to the city, a smile made its way onto her face. Haru saw her smile and he melted. He could not get one thing out of his head and that was, “She is so pretty”.

Then together they watched as the fireworks started.

The whole time of the fireworks, Haru watched Rin more than he watched the fireworks. Rin was fascinated by the fireworks and he was fascinated by her. As he watched her smile more and be happy, the urge to save her and then spend the rest of his life was becoming stronger. He watched as the connection he felt with her grow stronger and stronger.

The fireworks were going to start at 7:30 pm. It was going to continue for ten minutes. After which there was going to be a ten minutes break and then start again from 7:50 pm and end by 8 pm.

Haru knew that but he did not tell this to Rin because the surprise would have been ruined. When the fireworks started, he did not want to disturb her while she was fascinatingly watching it.

So after ten minutes, the fireworks stopped for a break.

As soon as it stopped, Haru looked at Rin to tell her it was a break and that it would start again. He thought that she would be sad about it. However, Haru watched as she looked down at her shoes and then at Haru.

Looking at her, Haru clearly understood that she was disappointed it was over. He found her so cute.

So he spoke, “I kind of had the feeling that you would be looking like this. Like you have lost your purpose in your life. Right now they are taking a ten minutes break and will continue for ten minutes again until it is 8 pm.”

As soon as she heard that, she nodded at Haru. Haru watched as the smile came back to her face.

In that ten minutes, they ate the chips and drank their sodas.

When the ten minute break was over, Rin asked, “Can you give me one cigarette?”

Haru answered, “Sure”. He passed one to her and took out one for himself.

As soon as she lighted her cigarette and passed the lighter to Haru, the fireworks started again.

Even though Rin's eyes were on the fireworks, she still inhaled the smoke from time to time. Haru’s eyes were fixed on her. Her smile made the fireworks prettier. He slowly stood up. He walked a little back and then took out his phone.

He opened the camera app on his phone and then placed it in a position that captures both Rin and the fireworks.

As if fate wanted the photo to look more beautiful, at the moment that Haru clicked the picture, Rin was smiling looking at the fireworks. It was a beautiful picture.

Rin was so mesmerized by the fireworks that she did not know what Haru was doing. By the time Haru sat on the bench as silent as possible, she was still watching the firework. Haru decided to show the picture later and apologize to her for taking it without her permission. 

After a few more minutes, the fireworks show was finished. There were no more fireworks being shot into the sky. Haru was about to ask Rin if she wanted to smoke and then leave. However, as soon as he saw her, he could not bring himself to ask her anything.

Rin was still watching the sky. So, he did not disturb her. He just waited and looked at her until she spoke. “It was beautiful. Thank you so much for inviting me to come here. I will never forget this” and then she smiled at him.

Haru’s heart skipped a beat as soon as he saw her smile. He had seen her smile several times now but it still felt special. He then spoke, “Do not worry about that. I am glad you liked it.”

They then proceeded to smoke one last time before they left the place. After they were done, they picked up the trash they had made from the snacks they had and put it in the trash can nearby. Then they walked down the steps together.

They reached the bottom of the hill and walked towards where they parked his car. As soon as they reached, Haru walked fast towards the front seat of the car and opened the door for Rin. He heard her laugh but she also said a “Thank you”.

Haru walked around the car, opened his side of the door, and got in. He put the key in and started the car. He then started driving. Both of them were silent and Haru was not sure how to break the silence.

Instead, he let it be. For now, he did not want to be in control. So he just let it be and go with the flow. He sneaked a peek at her, her gaze was outside the window. After seeing her like that, he did not want to disturb her.

So he continued driving in silence. After about fifteen minutes, Rin asked if she can connect her phone with the car’s stereo. Haru replied, “Yes of course.”

Haru watched as she connected and then played some music until they reached back to college. After Haru stopped his car, they both got out of the car. Rin turned towards Haru and spoke, “Thank you so much for today. The drive to the place, and the fireworks were amazing. I had so much fun today.” She smiled at Haru.

Haru looked at her and smiled.

“Anything for you.” He thought but also said it aloud. Then as the realization hit him, he became embarrassed. He was not supposed to tell that.

“Oh my god, what is wrong with me?” he thought. In between it, he looked at her and Rin was staring at him with her cheeks red as the tomatoes.

"I made her mad," he thought "I should apologize".

“Um….. Ri...Rin. I.. I..am very sorry about that. I do not know what I was thinking. Can you forgive me?” Haru started by stuttering because he was nervous but then he regained his composure and was able to speak properly.

He was scared to look at Rin but he did anyway. He could see that she was not able to face him.

Haru started thinking that he messed up everything but then he heard her say, “It is okay. Let us not worry about that. People can make mistakes." Then she smiled at him.

"She is an angel," he thought.

“Thank you Rin," he said. However, he also wanted to say that it was not a mistake but he decided not to make it more awkward than it already was.

By then, it was 8:45 pm.

Rin spoke, “Haru, it is getting late. I have to go home or my father is going to worry. Thank you again for tonight. See you on Monday?”

Haru smiled at her and spoke, “No problem. Drive safe. See you on Monday.”

Then he watched as she got in her car and drive away. Then he also got into his car and drove home.

In about fifteen minutes, he reached home. He grabbed his bag and then rang the doorbell. After a while, his mother came and opened the door. He then walked inside and was about to directly head to his room when his mother asked, “Haru what about dinner?”

Haru turned around and replied, "I ate snacks mom so I am not hungry. I feel tired so I am going to go sleep, okay mom?"

His mother smiled at him and nodded. Haru walked into his room and locked the door. He changed into some comfortable clothes and then got into his bed. He remembered that he forgot to show the picture he clicked of Rin to her. So, he took out his hone and sent the picture to her.

 He kept his phone on the bedside table to rest until he got a reply. However, he was so exhausted that after putting his head on the pillow, his eyes closed and then he fell asleep.