2733/The Quietest Part of Summer

The Quietest Part of Summer
Date of Scene:	13 August 2025
Location:	Ferrari Testarossa
Synopsis:	Obon has come again. This year, Makoto has Masato to accompany her.
Cast of Characters:	Nephrite, Makoto Kino

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Nephrite has posed:
This was the quietest part of Summer, for many people.

A reverant lull as many people prepared, in various regions, to take time aside for travel. Not for a holiday, but for tradition, many people returning to their hometowns, or otherwise returning to where their family eternally rested. This was a time to be with their returning spirits and celebrate them.

The gentle purr of engine was a low rumble, reverberating through the hand he kept upon the steering wheel--woven star bracelet still worn. Public transport was certainly busier at this time in the season, but Masato barely noticed it from the comfortable leather of his Testarossa.

The entire car had a pleasant floral scent about it, like a hint of perfume, owing to his passenger. Sapphire eyes turned her a look as he drove, crisp in his tucked red shirt and dark trousers.

"Mako-chan?" He said it softly, if only to draw her away from her thoughts.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"...ah, sorry." Makoto drags her gaze away from the Ferrari's passenger window to smile apologetically at Masato. "I didn't mean to space out on you."

She fusses just a little with the small bouquet of red and white chrysanthemums resting across her lap. Her woven bracelet with its star charm, the match to his, adorns her wrist like always. The Obon season is always a difficult time of the year, even if the past few years have softened the lonely edges of it quite a bit.

"Thank you for driving me," she says. "Usagi-chan's mom went with me last year... it was great of her, but I didn't want her to feel like she should do it every time."

Nephrite has posed:
Masato hums, watching her for a moment while they wait at an intersection. He understood. It was one thing to be shown care and to have help once, but it was quite another to feel like a burden on somebody if they became obligated to the fact, however kind the intent. It took away time from their own family, after all.

Being told you were like family to somebody still wasn't quite the same thing. Nevermind pride-- Makoto was no pity case.

"It's fine. I wanted to come, anyway." He noted with a lift of his chin. "I want to know them."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Mako's smile takes on a brief wistful quality. "I wish you could've known them for real." Then again, she could say the same thing for herself. Her memories of her parents will forever be the hazy, idealized ones of a young girl. Who they were as people, she can't really claim to know very well.

She glances out the window again at the scenery moving past, and breathes out a soft breath. "I don't know if Usagi-chan mentioned it or not, but it was right around this time of year, actually. So I'm extra grateful for the company."

Nephrite has posed:
"I've heard a little." Masato noted mutely, letting his gaze remain ahead. He didn't know the finer details, and he'd never pried for them-- Masato understood the situation well enough. Their plane had crashed, and the event had been splashed all over the news for good measure.

If Makoto wanted to tell him anything more, he trusted she would in her own time and words. But, like many other painful things in the past, sometimes certain things were better to remain there, too. Moving forward quietly was sometimes easier. That was a choice he'd leave to her.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." The car pulled forward with restraint, its power teased as they turned smoothly onto a new road. With a clear stretch, a little speed made them glide. "Always prefered cars to planes, anyway."

A glance again. "I may not have met them when they were here, but they're still a part of who you are now. They brought you into the world. That's something I have to thank them for, at least."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto nods gratefully, and doesn't elaborate further, at least not for now. It is clearly not a thing she finds easy to speak of - she's talked to Usagi about it, but only the once.

His remark about preferring cars gets a little hitch of a laugh. "I'm just glad that we can teleport when we have to," she admits. "Otherwise I'd probably never have made it back from Paris. I'd have just had to stay there and learn French or something."

The wistful look returns, tempered now with fondness. "I'm sure that they would like you very much."

Nephrite has posed:
Masato makes an unkind face at the thought of her being stranded in France, and he has the mental image of her in a beret very briefly. Which is less ridiculous as it is cute. But Paris did sit rather permanently now upon a blacklist of places he'd rather avoid for the rest of his life.

"That would've been a terrible shame. Not for France, I'm sure you'd have become an award winning patissiere, or something. But, for Japan and the rest of us..."

Still, he softens at the last, his hand shifting gears in a swift, natural motion. "Do you think so?" Masato sounds almost hopeful.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I'm sure of it," Mako replies without hesitation. "Why wouldn't they? You're intelligent, very charming, kind... and of course very handsome." She grins sidelong, her mood lifted enough for some gentle teasing. "Though you don't exactly need me to tell you that part."

Settling back in the passenger seat, she tips her head back, gazing up at the sky through the windshield. "You make me happy," she adds after a moment, in a softer voice. "I'm sure that if they had the chance to meet you, they wouldn't have a single thing to complain about."

Nephrite has posed:
"Maybe my terrible sense of humour," Masato muses as one possible flaw, but this too comes with a faint smirk. After all, she hadn't listed funny as one of his good qualities.

But, all of the rest was eclipsed by the warmth that bloomed in his chest, for saying that he made her happy. It filled him head to toe with a kind of gratitude he could hardly explain. Heart full, ego vanished under the glow and left him soft.

Such a simple thing. It was a rare feeling, like he was truly enough.

"I hope they don't mind, I brought the same incense I burn for my mother. A few pieces of shaped wagashi too... I wasn't sure what to offer them."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto laughs a little at his quip, and shakes her head.

"There's no way they'd mind that," she assures him. The same incense he burns for his mother... it's a touching thought, that he'd offer her parents the same respect that he does his own mother. "It's a fine offering. They'll be honored."

She lapses into thought for a short space, filled by the low growl of the engine. "...Have you already visited her?" she wonders presently, a bit hesitant. "If not... if you wanted, I'd be glad to go with you."

Nephrite has posed:
Masato turns his head to look at her, and smiles a little for what she's asking, "I'd like that... we could teleport out to Kochi, later this evening." He brightens, though it's mildly sheepish, "Not to feed into the stereotype, but after the cleaning, I usually pour out a shot for the family tomb."

Well, that sort of thing ran in the family, he couldn't deny.

"I've left a lantern next to the family Elm at the apartment, as well... It's a strange kind of altar, maybe, but I like to think that she and everyone in her family who took care of that tree is part of it now." Quieter, he confessed, "I talk to it, sometimes."

It didn't talk back, but that was probably a good sign. The days of him literally conversing with stars and hearing voices were long behind him, and that was for the better.

"I think she'd be very thankful that I plan to marry somebody as attuned to nature as you are. She wasn't the warmest woman in the world, but she'd have respected your greenthumb and strong will."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto inclines her head, smiling a little. Of all people, she's the last to find anything odd about the idea of talking to trees. Not when she herself sometimes feels she can hear their voices in the rustling of leaves on the wind.

"I like to think that trees have their own memory," she comments thoughtfully. "They're living things just like we are. It's not so strange to imagine that they might hold onto a little bit of the people who have cared for them, in their own way."

She ducks her head as a faint blush begins to warm her cheeks. "...I hope you're right," she murmurs.

Nephrite has posed:
"You've already become acquainted with her in one way or another. You've taken care of something that meant the world to her," Masato remarks fondly, and she'd be forgiven for thinking he meant himself at first. And yet, "That bonsai couldn't be in better hands. You've honoured her plenty by just accepting that gift."

It was comforting to know that they aligned on these sorts of things.

"I want to be a Kino, one day." He decides to tell her, because now is perhaps as good a moment to bring it up as any. Sapphire eyes flash her way.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Eh?" Taken by surprise, Makoto sits up straight, green eyes widening as she looks over at him. That uncertain gaze searches his face for any hint that he's being funny, but she doesn't find any, and sits another moment or two with that realization.

"You're sure about that? I mean..." Mako hesitates, biting her lip as she tries to sort out her feelings on the matter when it's never really occurred to her to even consider up until now. When it's still a little bewildering to know that he's serious about marrying her, one of these days.

"I wouldn't mind that," she decides eventually. "You taking my family name. If that's something that you want. I don't really get why, though."

Nephrite has posed:
"Well, for a start, my stroke fortune as Kino Masato would be fantastic." Masato first gives the more practical answers, rather than leaping into the more emotional aspects (though they're always lurking).

"It would be extremely lucky, and the sort of name that's perfect for starting from scratch to create something new. It's resilient, if a bit pushy-- which I am-- and it's strong like wood. It's a name that survives hardships, and an honourable one that attracts good money."

All things that he thought favoured their future, and their personal ambitions. "And Kino is a much more marketable name, rather than us being tied to my father's business group, even by association. Being independant of all that is much better... And, besides your name is beautiful." And his was a little bit dirty, thanks to the past, or at the very least loaded with poor memories.

He quietened a little bit, and dipped into a more sentimental bent. "I'd rather carry forward the things that the name Kino seems to value. I want a family where people cook together, garden together, hug and laugh, and... love each other."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto listens to his reasons, one by one. As he explains each, her expression grows slowly but steadily more wondering at the realization of how much detail he's thought this through in, from the superficial all the way down to the deepest meanings.

When he's done, she lets out a little breath of a laugh. "Well," she says, "when you put it like that..." She takes a moment, breathing in. "That's what I want, too." It's a warm feeling, knowing that these are the things he associates the name 'Kino' with. "I imagine it would make my parents very happy, for that to be the legacy of their name."

Nephrite has posed:
Nobody would ever accuse Masato of not thinking (or overthinking) through things-- especially not emotional matters.

There is a very faint colour to his cheeks as well, now. The ferrari slows, cruising, until he can park. Idling still, he takes a moment to sit and look at her. He will never be tired of looking at her. He can't help but smile at her. He adores her. It is so obvious that he does, and there is no sense in hiding it.

He reaches across to set his hand upon her wrist, affectionate contact. "Are you ready, then?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
She takes a moment herself, sharing in the companionable quiet of the parked car. For Makoto the sense of wonder lingers. How strange and unexpected, but how welcome, to realize that even in this quiet and wistful season her heart can feel this full.

"Yeah," she answers quietly. With one hand, she gathers up the bouquet of chrysanthemums she's brought for the Kino family grave. The other turns under his until she can clasp them together, just briefly. "I'm ready. Let's go and introduce you."