fanfic; the first miracle; part 3

[acperience]

▶ Part 2

—

It’s a silent afternoon, if not deafeningly so.

Walter’s gone off to work, with today being an earlier—but longer—shift. As usual, he didn’t even as so much say goodbye when he left the house. The only indications he gave of leaving where the sounds he made as he prepared for work before exiting—no doubt making sure to escape before their parents could get angry at the noise he was making, even if it wasn’t much at all. As Guriko often did, she’d watched his back as he walked away, a part of her wishing for his return.

It’s silly, she supposes, as Walter is family, but sometimes, she’s afraid that he’ll walk away from this house for good.

It’s a sentiment that Guriko will never be able to empathize with. Though she may have been born into this household of noise, where their parents yell constantly over mistakes Guriko can’t understand but is certain she must be making if they hate her so much for them, her family is her family. These are her parents who gave birth to her—the reason she was brought into this world. She doesn’t see how she could ever resent them when they gave her that much, even if they often remind her of how much they regret it.

Minato, at the very least, seems to understand the sentiment. Kind, wonderful Minato—her older brother who’s always been there for her and whom Guriko can’t remember a day without. Even today, unlike Walter, as he left to spend time with his friend Yukari, he stopped by Guriko’s room to notify her. A quick hug and soft words, before leaving the house as quietly as he can. A note’s been left on the dining room table for their parents, explaining that he won’t be home until later. It’s safer that way, than telling them in person, though their mother has gotten angry more than once over the indirect notification.

Guriko would be lying if she said weren’t somewhat jealous over Minato being with a friend—a good friend, at that—but at the same time, she’s glad. Though some memories of her childhood are hazy, she recalls that when she was younger, her older brother didn’t seem very sociable. Instead, he always elected to spend his time with her. A part of her misses those days when she was the only one he seemed to care for, but all things considered, she knows that she should be happy that he’s found friends now.

Guriko lets out a sigh, knees huddled to her chest as she sits on her bed. With both her brothers out of the house, there isn’t much to do—though she realizes that even if they were here, she wouldn’t be able to spend time with them. She still has chores left to do, and with their mother having decided to spend the day at home, it’s more important than ever that they be done, lest she get angry over Guriko wasting time. With a light hop, Guriko moves off of her bed and out the door. Her steps are quiet as she walks down the hall, so as to not alert her mother, who frequently demands silence.

As Guriko passes by their parents’ bedroom door, she hears the sounds of movement and freezes. In a moment that’s likely shorter than it feels, she waits. Instincts tell her to move, for it’s safer to be away from there than near, but she finds her feet rooted to the spot. Fortunately, the door doesn’t open, and with that, the spell over Guriko is broken. Still as soundlessly as she can, she continues walking.

Later, watering can in hand (and careful not to let a single drop fall onto the floor), Guriko heads out to the garden. It’s her favourite area in the house, as is Minato’s. It only makes senses, after all, as she has a distant memory of her brother reminiscing over the time he planted them—with their parents’ permission, of course, but the work was his. He told her that it was a few months before she’d been born, with the first flowers blooming just a few days before her birth. It was no coincidence, he explained—for the flowers were meant to be his welcome gift to her.

Walter’s opinion of it, Guriko doesn’t know. However, their parents seem fond of it as well, despite rarely attending it, if their wrath over any damage to it is any indication. Guriko remembers how furious they were, the one time she made the mistake of accidentally crushing the flowers.

She’s never made the same mistake again.

Still, in spite of a few poor memories, Guriko loves the garden. It’s been around for as long as she can remember, with its tree that Minato likes to lie beneath and the white flowers that she’s come to water. Growing in shrubs, they’re a burst of white and green that lines the walls of their house. In the summer sun, they almost seem to glow in their radiance. Guriko isn’t particularly enamoured with flowers—not as much one would expect a girl her age to be—but perhaps, because of the sentimental value, she has a fondness for these ones.

Though, as Guriko realizes, there’s something off. Not from yesterday or any recent day, but there’s a feeling in the back of her mind.

She tilts her head, staring at the flowers. After a few moments pass by, it hits her.

“There were more of you last year,” Guriko murmurs, crouching down by a patch. “Are you dying, flowers?”

Now that she thinks about it, it’s not only this year. If she recalls correctly, the amount of flowers decreases each year, though this time, there’s a more significant gap.

Placing the watering can down, she rubs the petals of one of the flowers, as she recalls her brother often doing so. The others blow gently in the wind, and though they’re still vibrant in their pure shade, there seems to be something almost frail about them in light of Guriko’s realization, despite a vague memory of being told that they were strong flowers. Still, even if, by chance, her memories are wrong, she can see the dead branches and leaves—more than there usually are, she’s sure. She’ll have to ask Minato to prune them, before their parents notice. And even their parents aside—

“Poor flowers,” Guriko says quietly, letting her hand drop to her side. For a while, she remains like that, in a silent moment between her and the gift her brother gave her.

“Guriko hopes you had a happy life, at least.”

—

“Thanks, Minato-kun,” Yukari says, hands behind her back as she smiles. “I had fun.”

Minato nods. “Me too.”

It’s evening now, as people around them return home from work. And then there are those like him and Yukari, who spent the day enjoying their free time. It was a simple outing, truth be told—they had lunch together and then watched a movie. A romance one, at Yukari’s suggestion, seeing as how Minato hadn’t exactly had much of an opinion. He had faith in Yukari’s tastes, after all, and either way, if she was enjoying herself, then he was as well. She did seem to like the movie, in any case, though it was occasionally hard to tell with the way she kept glancing at him instead of looking at the screen. Still, it’s the most rooted, for a lack of a better word, Minato’s felt in a while.

Both he and Yukari stand there on the sidewalk like that for a few moments, as the sun sets in the distance. Minato, with his hands in his pockets as he waits for Yukari to make the next move, and Yukari, still with her hands behind her back as she appears to be fidgeting. The light of the evening dyes the land in the warm colours and casts a glow from behind Yukari, as she looks away. It seems that there’s still something she wants to say, and so Minato waits patiently.

Finally, she breaks the silence, as she rummages through her bag. “Hey, Minato…”

“Yes?”

She hesitates, before pulling something out. He can’t see what it is, with her hand tightly wrapped around it. “I wanted to give you this.”

She holds her hand out, before uncurling her fingers. Now, he can see that it’s a cellphone strap, with a small figure attached to the end.

“Isn’t that your…?”

“Yeah,” she says, glancing away for a second. “It’s my cellphone strap. The one I always had with me…”

There’s a pause, before she continues. “Well, I want you to have it, okay? Is that weird?”

The sudden attitude might be off-putting for another person, but Minato is used to Yukari’s mood swings. He shakes his head. “No, I was just surprised. Thank you.”

Gently, he takes it from her hand. Yukari’s face is turning red now, as she covers her mouth in a poor attempt to hide her shy expression.

“You know… I’ve had that for a long time,” she says, her voice muffled beneath her hand, before she drops it. “It’s got a lot of sentimental value to me.”

Minato blinks. “Then why…?”

“Hey, I’m getting to that!” Yukari says, fiddling with the strap of her bag. “It’s just… I used to talk to the figure attached to the end of it.”

She laughs quietly. “Pretty silly of me, huh? You must think I’m nuts or something.”

“I don’t,” Minato says simply. Yukari smiles.

“Thanks. Anyway, the more I got to know you, Minato-kun… the less I started talking to it. I guess I just didn’t need it anymore,” she continued. “Well, that’s not why I’m giving it to you, though…”

Though Minato’s expression (or lack thereof) doesn’t change, he starts to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. He can’t say for sure, but he might have an idea as to where this is going.

Yukari moves her hands behind her back again, as she stares up at the sky. “Well, I guess I might as well just come out and say it: I… love you. There. There you have it.”

She then looks at him straight in the eyes, clearly expecting a response.

Ah, well.

This is perhaps a bit complicated. More than a bit, actually.

Minato stares back, trying to think of an appropriate answer as the seconds tick by. Lightly, he grips the cellphone strap—a sign of Yukari’s affection—as he lets out a quiet breath. In hindsight, he supposes he should’ve seen this coming when Yukari had asked if he wanted to go to the movies, but honestly, he hadn’t. Where Yukari might’ve seen it as a potential date, he’d only seen it as hanging out with a friend.

“I’m sorry,” he begins, and with just that, he can see disappointment creep onto Yukari’s face. It hurts, but he knows that for her sake, he has to continue. “You’re a very important friend to me, Yukari-chan, but…”

She lets out a weak, mirthless laugh, cutting him off. “… But that’s all I am, right? Just a friend? I should’ve figured.”

“You’re not ‘just’ a friend, Yukari-chan,” Minato tells her quietly. “Even if I don’t feel the same way that you do, it’s like I said: you’re someone very important to me. Someone irreplaceable.”

And he means it. Though he hasn’t known Yukari for that long, she was one of the first to approach him at school, for that, he’s thankful. For simply being by his side—though, in Minato’s eyes, there’s nothing ‘simple’ about that—he’s thankful. For being his friend. It may sound so trivial, but any relationship is important, as far as Minato’s concerned.

A meeting, time spent together, and possibly, a goodbye—they all have meaning. Even if this relationship isn’t turning out the way Yukari hoped for, he hopes that it still helped her in some way, just as it’s helped him.

Yukari smiles faintly at his response. “… Well, I guess that’s better than nothing… Damn it, why do you always have to be such a smooth talker, Minato-kun? It’s just not fair...”

He blinks. “… I don’t mean to be.”

“Heh. Well, you are,” Yukari says, looking away. She’s crushed, he can tell, but he was hardly about to lie to her. He pauses, before reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him, surprised. He smiles softly.

“I’m sorry I can’t be the person you wanted me to be, but I hope that one day, you do find that person,” he says, his voice calm. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

It seems that he did, though.

“… I know,” she replies, before smiling wryly, even though she looks as if she’s about to cry. “You’re too nice of a guy for that. That’s probably why I started liking you in the first place.”

She lets out a sigh and then laughs a laugh that Minato knows she doesn’t quite mean. “Well, at least I got that off my chest. I mean, it sucks being rejected like that, but… I guess it can’t be helped, huh?”

He’s about to say something, as the last thing he wants is for Yukari to feel like she has to make light of the situation for him. However, before he can speak, she shakes her head, as if reading his mind or perhaps having a silent conversation with herself.

“I’ll just have to take being irreplaceable to you,” she says, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. “And, well, this is probably pretty obvious, but… you’re irreplaceable to me too, Minato-kun. There’s no one else in the world like you.”

He’s a quiet for a moment, before he smiles sadly. Yukari may have claimed that he’s a smooth talker, but right now, he doesn’t know what to say to make things better.

“Thank you, Yukari-chan,” he says. “That means a lot to me.”

There’s a period of silence, with Yukari evidently not knowing what to say to that. Even in the dimming light, Minato can see tears start to form at the corner of her eyes, which she apparently notices as well, as she quickly says, “Well, I should get going soon. It’s getting late.”

Minato nods. Perhaps, at the moment, the best thing is to give her time. “See you, then. Have a safe trip home.”

“Yeah…” she says. “You too. I still had fun today, even… all things considered. Say hi to Guriko-chan for me, will you? And Walter too, I guess.”

There’s a note of disdain as she says the last name, which comes as no surprise to Minato. He’s seen how Walter and Yukari interact, in the few times they’ve met. He chooses to ignore her tone, however, and nods again. “I will.”

“Keep the strap,” she says, wiping away at her tears in what’s likely supposed to be a discreet manner but failing. “I still want you to have it. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to stop talking because of this, right?”

“Of course,” Minato says easily. “We’re irreplaceable to each other, after all.”

“… Heh. You got that right. Hopefully, we stay friends for a long, long time,” Yukari says, her expression brightening even with wet eyes. “Anyway, I really should get going now. See you later, Minato-kun.”

“You too, Yukari-chan.”

He watches as she walks away, until her figure is nothing but a blot in the distance. He stands there for a while, before turning the other way. Guriko must be waiting for him back home. Vaguely, Minato wonders if Walter’s returned from Shirley’s place yet.

That’d make him the last one, then. He just hopes their parents won’t be mad.

—

As Minato walks home, in a mixture of slight discomfort over rejecting Yukari and the sense of warmth that comes from having spent the day with a friend, a sudden wave of sadness hits him. Sadness, grief, and a distortion of other feelings that he can’t identify—feelings that he doesn’t think he’s ever experienced before in his life.

For a moment, it feels like something is going horribly wrong. It strikes Minato as an absurd thought, for at least today, things have gone relatively well. Certainly, Yukari’s confession was awkward and he regrets that he hurt her like that, but at the very least, they ended it on a positive note—to be told that you’re irreplaceable is something that anyone would enjoy hearing.

… It is, isn’t it?

And yet, there’s a permeating sensation of loneliness—among other things—within him.

He can’t explain why.

—

He isn’t quite the last one home, but he can’t say that he isn’t not the last one home either.

Rather, before he even reaches his house—a few blocks away, he spots a familiar mop of blond hair, slowly moving alongside a building wall.

“Ah…” Minato’s eyes widen slightly in surprise.

Navigating his way through the crowds, he makes his way over to the figure. Sure enough, in his typical blue and white garb—his favourite colours, Minato remembers—it’s Walter. Even as Minato looks at his back, he can tell. He’d recognize him anywhere.

Walter doesn’t seem to have noticed his approach, though, as he continues walking, hand pressed against the wall. It’s a bit odd, Minato notes, given how alert Walter usually is aware of his surroundings. It’s near impossible to sneak up on him—Minato knows, because Guriko has tried.

Minato takes a step towards him and is about to call out when, not for the first time that day, he’s interrupted. Not by a voice, however, but by an action.

Walter collapses.

“Walter…!” In a few, quick strides, Minato is by his side, hand on his shoulder. People start to gather around, but Minato pays them no heed. Walter doesn’t react immediately, but given a few seconds, turns to look at Minato.

The expression on his face is not a happy one. “What are you doing here?”

“I was out with Yukari-chan,” Minato explains. Walter glances around, no doubt checking for the girl in question. It’s probably just as well that she isn’t here. “Are you all right…?”

“I’m fine,” Walter says in his so very typical tone, rising to his feet—and rejecting Minato’s attempts to help him. Despite Walter’s success, Minato can’t help the worried expression on his face. He certainly hasn’t forgotten what happened just a few days ago. With this repeat performance, it occurs to Minato that this might’ve happened more frequently than he’d believed. It’s hardly as if Walter would mention it.

“Are you sick—” He’s cut off by a glare, courtesy of his brother, before the other boy begins to walk away without waiting for him, pushing past the people that came to see what was happening.

“… Walter.”

Walter ignores him, however, and continues walking. Minato lets out a sigh, before quickly catching up with him. Behind him, he can hear the people begin to disperse. They seem to think that Walter’s fine; Minato has a feeling that’s not the case, even with Walter’s show of stability.

“… I’m sorry, Walter. I can’t just ignore this,” he says, his voice sterner than it usually is. Again, Walter gives him a sharp look.

“It’s none of your business.”

Minato stares back impassively. “Guriko will be worried. You can either deal with me or deal with her.”

Walter stops, and with him, Minato. He doesn’t look at Minato, instead staring straight ahead. While Minato realizes that he can, at times, be stubborn, he doesn’t think of himself as particularly pushy. Their younger sister, on the other hand, can be a force to be reckoned with when her mind is set on something.

Walter scowls, before he continues walking, apparently refusing to acknowledge Minato’s ‘threat’.

“… Guriko it is, then,” Minato says. “You know how she can be.”

“You’re both too nosy,” Walter replies in an annoyed tone. Minato shrugs.

“Because we care.”

Walter doesn’t respond. The two of them walk back to their house in silence.

—

▶ Part 4