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When the sun took the centre position in the sky on New Year's Day, Mahiru was already up and putting on her furisode kimono that she bought especially for the day; a striped blue and white robe patterned with white and orange flowers on brown stalks, tied together with a darker blue obi. It was difficult to put it on by herself, but she when she looked into the mirror, she was incredibly happy with the results. She styled her hair intricately and adorned a set of matching blue sandals and a white handbag. She wanted to look perfect today; it was her first New Year's Day with her lover after all. He was not super attentive, but with how elegantly she was styled, he was sure to notice. Satisfied, she packed everything she needed with her and made her way to her partner's house and called him as soon as she was outside.
After a few rings, a bleary voice answered. "Hello? Who is it?"
The twinge of annoyance was overshadowed by the joy of hearing her beloved's voice. "Come on, Aoi. Are you really sleeping in on New Year's Day?"
The other paused for a few seconds before groggily asking, "Mahiru?"
"Yes, it's me. Now, open the door, will you? It's cold out here, you know~"
This seemed to snap him out of his daze. "You're here already? Wait, hold on a minute, I'm coming." The immediate tone of him hanging up was followed by the sound of hurried footsteps from within the house, and he opened the door still in his pyjamas.
Mahiru smiles at him warmly. "Happy New Year, love."
"Happy New Year. You look really good."
Mahiru beamed at the praise. Finally, he had acknowledged her efforts. "Thank you very much! You don't look quite ready yet. Come on, we need to head to the shrine, soon," she said, walking into the household.
"Ah, so we're doing that. Oh, but I don't have a kimono."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're always so inconsiderate on such matters. That's why I brought you one myself!" Mahiru revealed a paper bag from which she pulled out an orange kimono decorated with white flowers that was meant to match with hers.
"Oh, wow. You're always so thoughtful about this kind of stuff."
Mahiru giggles. "Let's get you ready. Come along." She led him into the bedroom, where she helped him wear his kimono and fixed his appearance. She took him before a mirror. "What do you think?"
"It looks great. You always had better style than I did."
"Ehe, I aim to please. By the way, you haven't eaten anything yet, have you?"
"Ah, no. I just woke up, remember?"
"Now, that won't do at all! Let's pull out the osechi box I made earlier." The two of them pulled out the boxes that Mahiru had made the day prior from the fridge and sat down at the table, making a short prayer before eating them. Mahiru noticed Aoi poking around his black soy beans with his chopsticks. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"Ah, no, not really hungry."
"Well, you have to eat something. Here, let me feed you." Mahiru picks up a piece of herring roe with her chopsticks and brings it to his mouth. "Say ahh."
"Oh, I don't —"
"Say ahh~"
Reluctantly, he bit down on the piece and swallowed it.
"See, that wasn't hard. Wasn't it good?"
"Uh huh. Your cooking is always good, Mahiru."
"Really? Then, you would like to have more, right?"
"Huh? Oh, that's not —"
"Open wide," said Mahiru, holding up another piece of herring roe the other forced himself to chew upon. In this way, she managed to feed him a decent amount of the food in between her own bites. She wasn't able to get him to eat his skewered prawns, but the train was going to arrive soon, so they had to get to the station quickly. Oh, well. He can have them later. The two of them packed up their meals to save the rest of it for later and headed to the train station. As they walked, Mahiru clung onto his arm and leaned against his body.
"Hey, aren't you excited for the visit?"
"I'm not super sure how exciting it's supposed to be. We just go there and pray, right?"
"What are you talking about? The shrine itself is a wonderful experience. Being in that spiritual area makes it feel like your mind and body are being cleansed. Plus, there's not just the prayer. We'll be drawing our fortunes, and playing the big drum. Have you never been to shrine on New Year's, darling?"
"Not really," he chuckles. "Never saw much point, and didn't have anyone really to go with."
"Aw, well, now you have me to take you there!"
"Yes, I suppose that is nice. By the way, which shrine are we going to?"
"It's a secret!" Mahiru giggles. "Trust me, you will love it there. It's a bit out from the city, so it's not so crowded, and super serene. It's a real hidden gem."
"That sounds good. I do like the quiet."
"I know you do."
The two of them arrived at the station, and it didn't take long for a train to arrive. The train was fortunately not too crowded, so they were able to get seats together.
"I hope you're ready for a long journey," said Mahiru.
Aoi chuckled, "Perfectly ready. Actually, I'm looking forward to it."
"That's good."
After a while, Mahiru leaned into his shoulder. "Hey, don't you feel a bit cold?"
"Not really. These kimono are pretty warm."
"Well, I'm pretty cold."
"Really? You don't look cold."
"Well, it's true!"
"Oh, sorry. The place you're taking us to seems like it would be quite cold too, so it might be tough for you. There isn't much I can do, though. Sorry."
"Hm? Isn't there one thing?" Mahiru nudged even closer to her boyfriend and looked up expectantly.
He looked at her in confusion before it clicked, and then wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, right. Is this fine?"
"Perfect! Now I feel so much better!" She cuddled closer to him, snuggling into his embrace.
"Hey, isn't this kind of embarrassing? Being so close to each other in public?"
"Who cares about that? I just want to be close to you."
He sighed. "Alright then. Whatever you say."
The two of them remained this way until their stop arrived, at which Mahiru dragged her lover out of the train and let him to the shrine, practically jumping with excitement as she did.
"We're here!" Mahiru shouted as they arrived at the Torii in front of the shrine. Aoi looked at the scenery around him, which looked peaceful and serene. "Wow. You picked a really nice place, Mahiru."
"I know you would like it. Come on, we have to wait in line for a bit before before we can go in."
The two of them recited their greeting gs before stepping in and joining the line to the shrine.
"That's quite a queue," said Aoi.
"You should see the lines of some of the ones in the centre, especially earlier. We did come kind of late after all."
They stood in line for a while as it slowly brought them closer to the front of it.
"Hey, what are you going to wish for?" Mahiru asked all of a sudden.
"Hm? Not entirely sure. Good health is a typical one at these things, isn't it?"
"That's true. It's a bit basic, but it works. Good health us a fair thing to want, after all."
"What about you? What are you wishing for?"
Mahiru giggled. "It's a secret."
"That's not fair," her lover whined.
Finally, the couple was able to reach the steps. They stepped up in unison and Mahiru counted down for them to throw their coins at the same time. When she glanced over for a second, Aoi seemed to have a serious, almost troubled, expression on his face, which confused her, but she paid it no mind. Her New Year's wish had already been decided long before this day.
Dear Lord. Please allow me and my lover to stay together forever, and may nothing get in our way.