Wait

Their time at the convention had come to an end. Pretty much everyone was waiting at the train station, all except Arata.

"Where's Arata?" Yogi asked, noting that their ride was set to arrive in a couple of minutes. Snow was making its first showing here, as the gently white flakes floated down by the windows. It started to collect, obscuring the view outside.

"He'd be here by now if he didn't get swept up in that card game." Hifumi told her. She didn't know how he could get so into something mostly popular with kids, but it was whatever to her. Either way, he told them not to wait for him, if he couldn't get there in time. It wasn't as if he couldn't just take the next train out of here.

"I wonder if he'll make it." Erina pondered, though it wasn't the hope of him making it in time that got her thinking of something.

"He probably won't." Yuki said. "It usually takes a while to finish one of those games." With this opportunity, Hifumi had a major regret to take care of before they left.

"Hey, Erina." She pulled the girl aside while the two cousins were busy talking about other things. "I just wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier." She realized after she cooled down a bit, that it was far from what she was taught by her family. Acting that way was far out-of-line, and she wanted to make sure that there were no bad feelings.

"It's fine. You like him, right? So, I understand how you felt." Erina forgave her. The sounds of the departing train's doors opened. It was the last call of this one, where the next scheduled one was set for about an hour from now.

"I guess we'll just have to leave Arata behind." As much as Hifumi wanted to spend more time with him, she had to go back in time to meet with her grandmother and family.

"Actually, I think I'll stay and wait for him." Erina said, causing a questioning look for her acquaintance.

"Really? May I ask you a question?" Erina didn't think much of that, so she nodded in response. "Do you, also have feelings for him?"

"Eh?" Erina was taken aback at that suggestion. "O-of course n-not." She waved her hands out in front of her. "We're just good friends, that's all."

"…" That did little to convince her, even if that girl wouldn't admit it to herself. "Okay, well have fun, and be careful while you're waiting for him."

"I will." Hifumi got on first, while Yogi and Yuki came up to Erina. She told them of her plans, partially to Yogi's amusement.

"Wow, that's pretty nice of you." Then he leaned in, causing her to feel her heart race from how close they were. "Are you going to confess to him?" He whispered in her ear.

"E-e-eh! Of course not!" She completely shot down the idea, as if it was a completely ludicrous thing to suggest. "I just want to make sure he's fine and can make it home safely. Besides, we both kn~ow who I want." The girl made sure to finish her statement with a little tease.

"Oh yeah, sure." Just like the girl before him, it wasn't enough to convince him. Though it wasn't because of her reaction, but more due to his naive and honestly stupid nature. "We'll see you back at school then." The two cousins got on the train, and it departed from the station…

"Can't believe how long that took." Arata worked his way inside the station. "That girl was a lot better than I thought, I didn't even realize that the game could end in a tie." With how late it was getting, he was sure that he was going to have to wait alone for the train. Not really a big deal, in fact, it was kind of reminiscence of the last time he was here. Once he got at the right spot, he sat down at a bench to wait.

"Hey." A voice greeted him, almost sending him falling in fear. It was Erina, and she was not someone he was expecting to see.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked her. Of all the times to not leave him alone, he didn't think now was the time. Shouldn't this girl be taking this opportunity to hang out with Yogi, or something?

"I just wanted to make sure you were safe." She said, which was true, but wasn't the whole truth. "So I hope you don't mind if I sit with you." Obviously he wasn't going to reject her. That would've been pretty stupid of him.

The girl sat next to him, and that was the end of talking. Erina had a very important question, that she was worried about saying. This silence was killing him, as he started to wonder if she had an ulterior motive about staying behind. He hoped that she wasn't doing this, because she felt like she owed it due to their past.

"Arata…" She finally spoke up, and he froze. What was she about to ask? "What do you think about the way I look?"

"What?" He looked away as he understood the question. "Kind of an odd thing to ask me." Sure, he had complimented her looks before. But those times were to give a little confidence by making her believe that he was sure that Yogi would like it as well. "Wait, did someone insult your costume?" If that was the case, he had some choice words for that person.

"It's not the costume." She corrected him. "I mean, how I normally look." That was odd for him, when did she ever get insecure about her appearance?

"I'm sure Yogi thinks you're beautiful."

"That's not what I'm asking." She was getting frustrated with him. "I'm asking you, what you think of me?" Where was this coming from? Arata didn't understand what was going on.

"Um, did something happen?" He asked, continuing to dodge the question.

"It's just when I was on the showcase…" She admitted the truth, partially. "I'm just really lucky, aren't I? That I look so much like that girl, but that's what you all see me as, right?" Now he was getting at her problem, though he didn't see a big deal about that, if it was true. That is, if it was actually true.

"Erina, if you really think that I think you're pretty, just because you look like her. Then I don't think you know where I'm coming from." Sure, Arata really liked the manga character known as Kirua. So much so, that he may or may not have looked up rather inappropriate images of said character. Including of which, maybe there was a copy of a doujin involving that character doing some very lewd things, that he just got from this specific convention.

"What are you trying to say?" Of course, she wasn't particular very bright in the subtle ways of discussion. It wasn't easy for him to want to say it, but Arata tried to verbalize it as best he could.

"Well, if she never existed, I would still think you're really… Cu… Cut…" Trying to say it like that, he was starting to wish that he wasn't being so honest right now. "Cute."

"You would?" She couldn't hide the small smile that was growing on her face. Never once in her life, did she ever think being told that would make her feel so happy. Not even when she heard Yogi's comment on the same thing…

Her eyes widened when she ran across that thought. What was she thinking?

"Of course, in fact, I'd even have crush on you… Oh, um." Arata cursed himself on how stupid he just sounded to her. "I mean, of course I-I'm not trying to take you from Yogi, or anything." He nervously waved his hands defensively, acting like she was going to get mad at the suggestion.

"R-right…" She giggled, and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I know you, you're the most trustworthy person I know." He sighed in reaction to that statement. Both in relief, and also in slight disappointment in why she felt that way about him. If he was more than willing to sacrifice his school life, then he could've easily chosen to expose her to Yogi about the blackmail.

"Boy, I'm sure glad that's all taken care of." He got up to stretch his legs. It was about time for the next train to arrive so that they could go home. It was pretty exciting, now that this was done, he was looking forward to having a really nice Christmas dinner with his family. After not seeing his sister during Akiba's party, he was going to love to catch up on the remainder of the year with Ayami.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get out of this ridiculous outfit. It's starting to get pretty cold now." Erina brushed over her arms, attempting to warm her body. This weather was really taking a turn at this point. Though, unfortunately for both of them, a lot worse than they could've expected.

The train pulled up into the station. A pack of people exited, actually every single person that was inside got out. Kind of odd, he thought, seeing as the chances of that happening would be pretty low. Surely there would've been some people that were headed to their town.

"I'm sorry son." The conductor stopped him, as he attempted to get on. "We're not getting out of here soon."

"What?" The snow had gotten a lot worse in the past hour. It was a real storm outside, and the tracks were far from safe for travel. According to the conductor, there were people working on things, but the weather was getting worse. So there was no timetable on when things would get running again.

"We're really sorry, but we'll be doing the best job we can to ensure public safety." The man finished his explanation, and Arata was turned away from the train.

"So, when do you think we'll be able to leave?" Erina asked, as he sat back down besides her.

"I don't know." He took a look out of the window, as the snow continued to heavily fall from the gray skies. "I'm not sure, if we're making it back tonight."