A hot and humid night prevented Kaito from falling asleep until the early morning hours when a rush of rain finally broke free, ushering soothing breeze through his bedroom window.

Unfortunately for Kaito, the rain quickly subsided, replaced by the blistering early morning sun, the chirping of birds, and the chorus of cicadas that started their early-morning screeching, right on time.

Kaito rolled out of bed with sleepy, red eyes and burning cheeks. He then hunched his way toward his bedroom curtain. “Uuuggh, it’s so... hot!” he mumbled, drawing his curtain shut.

In the middle of his room, still in his underwear, he stood stretching and yawning. That was when Kaito’s ears picked it up: the lovely sounds of an acoustic guitar coming from the crack in his bedroom wall.

Miyu?

A smile appeared on his face, and he made his way toward the angelic melody. Kaito sat down with his back pushed up against the cold concrete wall, which caused goosebumps to run up his back and down his arms.

He closed his eyes and tried to picture Miyu striking the chords of her big brown guitar. He wasn’t sure why, but he visualized a small girl, not young, just... small; with her tiny little fingers trickling through the strings on the guitar.

C…

E minor…

D

Kaito knew the chords as she struck them.

A minor…

C…

He moved his head from left to right, and before he thought too much about it, he opened his mouth and sang:

“Good morning, Miss!

How are you?

I hope you ain’t, feeling blue...”

Miyu missed a chord or two but quickly resumed playing, and after a giggle, she joined Kaito in his silly song.

“Good morning, fellow!

Nope, I’d say more of a yellow

Feeling rather mellow...”

Miyu stopped playing abruptly and laughed. “That was horrible! Ahahaha.”

Oh my…

That laugh…

Kaito blushed. “Not at all! I think we make a great coupl— uhh… couple of people that can sing well together!”

What am I saying?!

“I mean… You know! Like in a band or something!” he added, trying to salvage the awkward situation.

She giggled again. “I know what you mean, silly! And I’m doing okay… actually no, I’m doing good right now! Say… Kaito could you help me? I’m trying to add new chords to this song. I just… don’t know any.”

“Of course, I can! Let’s see… Why don’t you add a G chord followed by an F sharp chord? Do you know those?”

“Um, nope...”

Kaito instructed Miyu in playing the chords he’d mentioned, and the two of them shared a rare moment of accomplishment when Miyu learned and successfully played them. Besides, the chords fit the song she was trying to make extremely well.

“Thank you so much!” she beamed. “Oh wow! It sounds awesome!”

Kaito smiled, listening to Miyu replaying her new song.

Suddenly, she stopped playing, and the last note drifted off into the distance.

“So… how are you? How was last night?” Miyu asked.

Uhhhh…

“It was… okay, I guess.”

“Just okay? Why?”

“My best friend, Touma...”

Best friend, huh!

“…Well, he kinda punched me last night because of a misunderstanding...”

“He kinda punched you?”

“He punched me… In the face.”

“Kaito! Are you okay?! Why would he do that?” she asked with a shrill in her voice.

“Oh, I’m fine; it didn’t even hurt! It was all just a huge misunderstanding. There was this girl called Sara...”

Kaito relayed the events of the previous night to her. He made sure not to go into too much detail as he didn’t want her to feel sad about not having gone with them.

“But yeah… How about you? We haven’t spoken since...”

“I know, I’m sorry about that...”

“Don’t be! I just… I thought you were mad at me.”

“Aw! No, not at all. I had to… go for a checkup at the—”

“A checkup?”

“Yip, just a routine checkup! My dad made me go. Other than that, I’ve just been reading this new book my dad bought for me. It’s such a nice story! Do you like reading?”

“I, uh… yeah, well I used to read a lot. I haven’t had the time recently though. My mom… she used to read fantasy stories to me when I was younger. Sunday afternoons, we would sit outside for hours, and she would just read to me. I loved it so much. And I have no idea why I just told you all of that!”

“I thought it was cute!” she giggled.

Kaito took a deep breath.

I wonder if she will think it’s weird if I ask her what she looks like…

There’s only one way to find out…

“Miyu… I know this is weird but—”

“KAITO! KAITO! Your friend is here, and he is being super weird!” Kanna yelled from downstairs.

Sigh.

“Did you hear that?” Kaito asked Miyu.

“Yip!”

“KAITOOO!!”

“I’m coming!” Kaito answered, with his head turned to his bedroom door.

“You should go,” Miyu said.

“I’m sorry! I wanted to—”

“I know but maybe tonight we can… talk again?”

“Sounds good! Talk to you tonight, Miyu!”

“Bye-bye, Kai-kai!”

Kaito smiled and shook his head.

This girl, this girl.

He got dressed and made his way downstairs. He caught a whiff of smoke and realized he was wearing the same shirt he wore the previous night.

Touma stood in front of Kanna and Yui. His whole body jerked up and down as he bent down to a ninety-degree angle every few seconds and kept repeating the words, “I’m so sorry, Kanna; I’m so sorry, Yui!” and when Kaito joined them he added, “I’m so sorry, Kaito!” He continued.

“Yup… he finally broke,” Kaito joked.

“Touma, you can stop now,” Kanna said, grabbing him by his shoulders.

“I… uh… I really am sorry!”

“Yeah… so, I’ve heard! Now, take a seat over there. Here, I’ll take this,” Kanna took a basket from Touma’s trembling hands. “Okay, now tell me—why are you apologizing?” Kanna asked, helping Touma to a chair.

“Didn’t you tell her?” Touma asked Kaito, with wide eyes.

“What are you on about, Touma?! Is this about last night?”

“To-to punched Kai-kai last night, in the face!” Yui said, pointing her little finger at Touma.

“What? Is that how you got that on your face?” Kanna chuckled. “I thought it was makeup!”

WHAT!

“Makeup? You thought it was makeup?! Why would I wear makeup?” Kaito asked with his head tilted toward his aunt.

“Well, I don’t know what you are doing up there in your room! Always talking to yourself, singing, and who knows what else!”

Kaito shook his head in disbelief.

“I take it you guys worked it out already?” Kanna asked.

“Yeah, we did, and no, it’s not makeup. He punched me moments before asking me to replace him as lead in the school play. And please don’t make a big deal abo—”

“LEAD?!?” Kanna and Yui echoed.

“I said don’t make a big deal about it!”

“But— but!” Kanna protested.

“Well… Let’s eat! Shall we?” Touma interrupted with his beaming smile.

“Eat? Are you making breakfast?” Kaito asked.

“Nope!” Kanna said, pointing at the basket Touma brought along with him.

“I brought a basket with— well, my mom made me...”

Inside the basket were freshly baked slices of bread, boiled eggs, small glass jars with different jams in them, and a bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice.

“Did your mom make all of this for us?” Kaito asked, reaching for a slice of bread, which was still warm.

“Yeah… but I helped her!”

“Tell your mom I said thank you, Touma, and she should come by the Coffee Shop sometime! She deserved a cup of coffee, on the house of course!” Kanna said.

“I’ll tell her! She’ll love that!” Touma said.

After breakfast, Kanna and Yui decided they were in the mood to bake a cake, so they chased the two boys out of the kitchen.

“Have you spoken to Himari since last night?” Touma asked, plunging down into the living room couch.

Kaito shook his head. “Nope, I only woke up a little while ago...”

“She’s not returning any of my texts! I think I made her mad somehow. I just don’t know how!”

“You really don’t know?”

Touma sat up straight. “No, I don’t! Do you?”

“Uh… No, no I don’t. But yeah, you probably did something stupid again,” Kaito teased.

I can’t just tell him… Can I?

“This is bad, Kaito! Whenever Himari gets mad at me, she ignores me for weeks! Do you think it’s because I didn’t invite her with to Odawara?”

“Hmm, it might be, yeah!”

“You know what! I’m gonna invite her and… and I’ll get her a gift as well! She can’t possibly still be mad at me after that!”

“What are you gonna buy then? Flowers?”

“Nah, there’s only one flower she likes, and it only blooms in fall!”

“Wow… Okay. What about some candy? Or chocolates?”

“No, no… she’s trying to lose weight at the moment.”

“Doesn’t sound like you need my help. You know her so well.”

“I guess… She’s just always been around, so you tend to pick these things up, you know?”

“Suuuure,” Kaito concurred, nodding his head up and down.

“I got it!” Touma jumped up. “But you have to come with!”

“Come with where?” Kaito asked, looking at his red-headed friend jumping up and down with excitement.

“To the mall! We should go tomorrow! It’s quite far away...”

“The mall?” Yui’s voice queried from the kitchen, and she came running. “You guys are going to the mall? Please, can I come along? Please?!”

Before Kaito could open his mouth, Touma had already agreed, and the two of them were holding hands, bouncing around the living room as if the carpet were a trampoline.

The following morning, Kaito was surprised to find Yui sitting in the kitchen when he walked in—she was already dressed and ready to go.

“Morning,” Kaito greeted.

“Morning!” Yui answered.

“Tea?” Kanna asked with a smile.

“Mmh, please,” he answered with his raspy morning voice.

Kaito yawned and felt a tingle of sadness in his chest.

“I know but maybe tonight we can… talk again?”

She definitely said that…

I guess… She was busy?

“Kaito.”

I wonder if that checkup truly was just a checkup...

“Kaito!”

“Mhm?”

“Your tea is getting cold,” Kanna said.

“Oh! Thank you.”

“What’re you thinking about so hard this morning?” she asked.

“Oh, uh… nothing!”

“If you say so,” she smiled. “I’m leaving now, take good care of Yui!” she said, giving them both a kiss on the forehead before she left for work. And before long, Touma arrived.

Yui ran and gave him a hug. “To-to!”

Kaito offered him tea but Touma declined, saying they should be off as soon as possible, so the three of them made their way down the apartment building staircase and set off toward the train station.

“You seem excited?”

“Well, yeah… I want Himari to stop ignoring me!”

“Oh, do you miss talking to her that much?” Kaito asked.

“Ha! If only it was that easy! My mom has been freaking out ever since I told her that Himari is mad at me. She didn’t even want to make me my morning coco-choco! Just imagine that!”

“That’s hilarious!” Kaito chuckled but soon stopped when he saw the grim look on his friend’s face. “I mean… that sounds terrible!” Kaito gasped mockingly.

“And my dad keeps giving me speeches about what it means to be a real man!”

“Coco-choco huh...”

“Oh, you think it’s very funny, don’t you?”

“I mean… Yeah,” Kaito said with a smile.

Yui giggled then grabbed Touma’s hand, and the two of them were soon skipping until they reached the train station.

They found an open seat and shortly after they settled in, the train started moving.

“So, how’s school here in Hakone, Yui?” Touma asked. “Made lots of friends?”

“I like it! Everyone is so nice! And not so many meanies like in Tokyo!”

Did she have a tough time back then? I never even noticed…

Kaito swallowed his guilt.

“And your grades? Are they good?” Touma asked.

“Yes! I have lots of A’s!” she said proudly.

“How many A’s exactly?” Kaito asked.

“Uhmm… Uh, four— five, no, six!”

“Well, then I’m gonna buy you six chocolates when we get to the mall!” Kaito said.

“Euw! No! I don’t want holes in my teeth!”

Kaito was shocked by her response. “Just how old are you?”

“Aunty Kanna said you get holes in your teeth from too much candy!”

“Well, she isn’t wrong,” Touma agreed.

“Yeah, but she’s just a child. When I was her age, I was only thinking about… about, uh… never mind.”

“No, come on! Tell us what you were thinking about?” Touma asked.

“I was thinking we should get you a cup of coco-choco when we get to the mall!” Kaito retorted. “And maybe a carrot or something for Yui.”

“Maybe just one chocolate!” Yui said with a smile on her face. “My teeth are pretty strong.”

“How about boys? Do you have a boyfriend?” Touma asked.

“Euw! Noooo!” she giggled.

The three played mini-games and engaged in silly conversations for the length of the fifty-minute train ride.

When they finally arrived at the mall, it wasn’t what Kaito expected. “Mall” in Tokyo denoted giant buildings with multiple levels, filled with rows upon rows of shops. In front of them, however, was a brick courtyard surrounded by a wall of shops.

Kaito dreaded coming to the mall with Touma, but seeing the Hakone mall, he was relieved. There were no more than twenty shops and about the same amount of shoppers.

“What did we come here for by the way? You know there are shops closer to home, right?”

“Yeah, but there’s a bakery here that sells Himari’s favorite cheesecake.”

“I thought you said she was trying to lose weight!”

“But it’s a wobbly cheesecake!” Touma answered.

“That makes no sense! If she’s trying to lose weight, eating cheesecake is a bad idea. Doesn’t matter if it’s wobbly or not!”

“But it’s a WOBBLY cheesecake!” Touma repeated as if he made a good point.

They soon arrived at the bakery, which smelled amazing, like most bakeries do. They picked up the wobbly cheesecake, which Touma had apparently ordered for over the phone, as they had it packaged with a ribbon and Himari’s name had been printed on the box.

Instead of chocolate, Yui asked for a chocolate croissant. Kaito bought one for each of them as he could no longer say no to his stomach’s rumbling response to the bakery’s delectable aromas.

Kaito glanced around the mall to see if there were interesting-looking shops around, but when he saw how excited his friend was to leave, he decided it’s best they just return home.

“You guys are coming with me, right?” Touma asked.

“Uh, I don’t know about that—”

“Yes! Yes!” Yui countered. “I want to see the look on Himari’s face when she receives her gift! Please, can we go?” She begged her brother, with pouted lips while tugging on his shirt.

“Did you learn that from a movie or something?”

She shrugged.

“Fiiiine!” Kaito caved.

And so they were off again. They got off a couple of stops from Kaito’s usual stop. Touma carried the cheesecake box as if it was made of thin glass and could spontaneously explode at any moment, shattering into a thousand pieces, if not handled with care.

“I take it you know where to go?” Kaito asked.

Touma pulled his face at Kaito as if he had just asked the world’s dumbest question. After walking about fifty feet, he stopped and turned to his right. “We’re here,” he announced.

“Oh, okay,” Kaito replied, reaching his arm out to ring the bell.

But before he could, the glossy-brown door swung open.

“Yui! Kaito!” Himari beamed. “Oh, and you.”

She moved aside and welcomed them inside.

“I— I brought you s-something,” Touma said, handing over the box.

Himari opened it, and a blank expression lingered on her face.

“I told him not to get it! You’re on a diet, aren’t you?”

Himari and Touma shot glances at Kaito and perfectly synchronized, they both yelled, “But it’s WOBBLY!”

“Oh my god, you two are the same!” Kaito shook his head and laughed.

“Take a seat. I’ll get us all some ice tea! Yui, do you want to come and help me?” Himari asked, and then the two of them disappeared into the kitchen.

“I gotta hand it to you, you know Himari pretty well,” Kaito remarked.

“I just hope it’s enough! My mom said if I come home without her forgiveness, my butt is gonna be on fire… Whatever that means!”

Shortly after, the two girls returned, carrying a jug of delicious-looking ice tea and small plates with cake forks. Himari cut the cake they bought into pieces and true to its name, it wobbled like crazy.

Himari took one bite of the cake, and her face lit up, eyes widened, and a pleasant smile spread from cheek to cheek.

“There’s one more thing!” Touma said. He got up and made his way over to Himari, but instead of his usual confident strides, he shakingly approached her, with a note in his hands.

Himari read the note, and as soon as she finished, she jumped up and hugged Touma tightly. She smiled even more than before, and Kaito could make out the words, “Thank you” being whispered in Touma’s ear.

When the three of them said their goodbyes, Kaito glanced over the note, which laid on the table.

Himari

I don’t really know what I did, but I’m sure it was stupid! Maybe one day you can tell me?

I’m really sorry.

Please, come with me and Kaito to Odawara this Friday? I have a whole thing planned for us!

~ Touma