章 128: Resolutions
After a nice Winter break for the holidays, there was only one thing left to do before classes were to resume.
That would be make new years prayers. Arata arrived to the shrine with his family. As he always did each and every year. Normally, he'd ask for the same thing, which was for people to leave him alone. Which seemed to be working until his fate would cross with Erina.
And just as she changed his life, his own desires had also changed. For he now had very different things surrounding his life compared to one year ago. Things had certainly gotten a lot more complicated for him.
"I wonder if we'll see the others?" He asked his parents as they were walking up to the shrine.
"I'm sure we will." His mother answered. Every year, he never seemed to be that into the spirit of the tradition. So her son usually would disappear to avoid talking with others when he finished up his prayers. She was happy to see that his demeanor had changed, given his excitement of finding those closest to him.
"I have to say, you know a lot of people now." His father commented on the turn around. It seemed a little odd just how many people Arata now called friend. At this point in time, there was well over a dozen, among many age groups at that. A massive change for someone who had zero friends just nine months ago.
"It is nice, isn't it?" Said Ayami. Arata only nervously agreed, the truth was a bit of a mixed bag. Though, he was truly friendly with everyone, so it wasn't that big of a deal to him. "Oh, could we separate so that we might find them?" She offered.
"You are an adult now." Their mother responded. "So go ahead and have some fun while we're out here."
"Awesome, come on Arata. Let's go." She pulled him with her. A little harder than he'd like, since it wasn't as if he'd just not follow his big sister.
"You're pretty excited this year." He commented on her sudden enthusiasm. "What's gotten into you?"
"Well, things are different this year." She replied. "You didn't want to spend time with anyone, but now you're friends with Yogi."
"This isn't some excuse for you to try and get with him, is it?" Don't get him wrong, he was very supportive of his sister. It was just that this didn't seem like the day for that. However, her goal of finding her crush would have to be delayed.
"So, we finally see each other again." A voice cut through their conversation, stopping the pair in their tracks. When he turned to see who it was, he was certain that voice only belong to one person. Ichiri Susaki. "And who are you?"
"Arata, who is this?" Ayami whispered over to him.
"It's just Ichiri, she's a year younger than me. Except she skipped a grade, so we're both second years." He answered his sister first, then turned his attention to the girl in front of them. "And this is my older sister, Ayami."
"It's nice to meet you." Ayami calmly said, a contrast compared to the girl she was meeting for the first time. "Arata's never mentioned you before."
"What, you've never told her about me?" She took offense to this realization.
"Well, I don't think there was ever a time to bring it up?" He weakly defended actions that didn't need defending.
"I can't believe this." Ichiri was more than unhappy with this. "And after I put you in the school play when I was the director. Especially as one of the leading role!"
"You played a leading role in the school play?"
"I prefer to not mention that happened." He crossed his arms and pouted to play it off. "And you didn't cast me in it in the first place. I was just an understudy that had to fill in when Yogi hit his head!"
Ayami wasn't sure what to make of this conversation. Apparently she missed out more of her brother's life than she was expecting. Not to mention that this was one very strange girl.
"Never mind, it's in the past now anyway." Ichiri gave up the argument by trying to show she didn't care about it. Even though she was the one to bring it up. "Anyway, what do you think of my new outfit?"
It wasn't like it was the most major change compared to what Arata used to. In fact, he was used to her wearing the standard school uniform. However in public, she'd be wearing what a lot of girls her age wear. Which is a skirt and a blouse. Though for her, that also included a sweater that was much too large for her. Ichiri's excuse is that she's still a growing girl and surely she'll fit into it eventually.
What she normally wore is also what she was currently wearing. Only this time, she had on black tights that covered her legs.
"You added tights?" He couldn't observe anything else different with her. So the boy wasn't certain if there was a trick being pulled here.
"I knew my senior would be able to tell." She bragged as if she was the one that found it out. "Don't I look really mature now?"
"Sure?" He answered in the affirmative, but that was a lie. Someone that cares so much for looking mature, usually hardly is. Along with the fact that in terms of maturity, he'd put her at the bottom of the list. This list also including the children he babysat.
"Um, where are your parent?" Ayami asked, since this girl was all alone in this crowded area.
"Well, I'm a perfectly grown girl." She responded. "I don't need any adults keeping an eye on me." That's what she said, but someone else entering this scene had something different to say about that.
"Ichiri, there you are." An older woman entered this conversation. She didn't look very happy either. "We were worried looking around for you." She scolded the young girl. This turned out to be Ichiri's mothers, upset about losing one of her children. "Now come on, don't let yourself get separated again." She pulled her by the ear, much to the embarrassment to the younger girl.
"Eh, mom don't be so mean!" She pleaded in humiliation of this scene. "Pl-please, not in front of my friend."
"Maybe you should've thought of that before making us get scared out of our minds…" The pair left Ayami and Arata with mouths dropped from the sight.
"You have some interesting friends." Ayami broke the silence.
"I do…"
There was nothing they could do about that scene. So the two of them forgot about it and moved on. "I wonder who else is around here?" He asked while they walked. Surely, it was mostly going to be his friends, but that did make him wonder something else. "Say, what are your friends like in college?"
"Oh, things can get hectic with them around." She joked. "When we're not in classes, we can have a lot of fun. Plus, there's some pretty cool bands in our grade we love checking out."
"Sounds like you get plenty done there then." Hearing her short story made him get a little excited for what college life would bring for him. Especially considering that he was over halfway done with his high school life. Of course, that's not to say his high school life wasn't hectic either. "Should we make our prayers first before we run into any of my other friends?"
"It sounds a little lonely if you don't do it with the people you care about." She frowned. "But, I guess if they're with family, then we'll just be getting in the way." They went to the usual place to do so and began.
Quietly, nothing was said. Instead, the pair kept to themselves as they went into their thoughts.
"So, you prayed for the same thing as always?" Arata spoke up when they were finished. That being the health and prosperity of their friends and family.
"Of course." She giggled. "But something tells me that you didn't." It was obvious that he'd have different goals than last year. Which he would admit to be the case.
"I just hope that everyone will be in good health." He responded. "It's not that different than just doing it with family."
"Is that really all?" She prodded.
"Well, I hope that I can make the right choices too." He admitted to her. "But that's on me, I can't rely on that hope to carry me through though."
"Oh Arata, you shouldn't be so naive." She pulled him into a tight hug, much to the boy's embarrassment with this being in public. "I held out hope for you all these years. It… It helps a lot when things get hard." Her voice broke while speaking. "So please, don't give up. I'm sure if you do your best, nothing can go wrong."
"…" Arata was silent for a little while, but he understood where his sister was coming from. These words were for her, as much as they were for him. "Right… Thanks… Thanks for everything."
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