Truth 3

Arata stood there, awestruck at her leaving in a rush. What caused this girl to get so upset when they were simply having a conversation about the past? It seemed that Ayami had a bit of an idea.

"Oh dear, did she remember it?" She said out loud with sorrow in her voice.

"Remember what?" He asked.

"Sorry, but there's a little bit more that I haven't told you yet." While it was dishonest to hide it away like she did, the girl didn't want to put a damper on the reunion. "You see, you were a little more than just upset that your friend had to move away."

"He liked her back then, didn't he?" Despite being the dumb one in… Well any group he was in, Yogi was the one to figure out the story.

"I remember the day when you came back crying." She gave the explanation. That day, he told her that he was going to give his secret friend a flower and tell her he loved her. It seemed so innocent and adorable to her, but what the girl wasn't expecting was for him to return home in tears and not wanting to see anyone. "I thought it was because she rejected you, but I guess it's because she knew she had to move away."

"I get it now." Arata sighed, thinking that she must've remember that moment after they went digging around. It would explain why she seemed so tense at school. If he kept trying to look into the past, then he was going to eventually find the truth. "She probably feels bad about hurting my feelings, even though it's not like there was anything either of us could do." There was no way he'd hold a grudge on that matter.

"Then we should do something for her." Yogi put his cousin first and foremost. She was running home crying. It was going to be the case that she was going to shut herself in her room and not talk about things. Perhaps even fall back into becoming a lonely girl who didn't want to talk to Arata anymore either. "I'm going to go talk to her."

"Actually, I should be the one." Arata knew this was a matter that was between him and her. It would mean much if her older cousin came to her rescue once again. "I'm the reason she's upset."

"How are you going to get to her?" He asked. After all, it was unlikely she'd allow the boy to enter her room.

"Don't worry, I got a plan." He responded with confidence. "But while I'm doing that, how about the two of you just hang out here?" Even in this situation, the boy was still coming up with ways to help his sister's love life out.

"Well, if you're sure, then sure." Yogi was none-the-wiser about his intentions as he trusted Arata to go while he stayed. It worked once before during the elections, so that boy was likely to repeat the same magic as before. Meanwhile, Ayami simply mouthed the words, 'thank you', to the boy as he made his exit.

So he went towards Yuki's house once again. Things were going to be different from last time seeing as she most likely wouldn't want her parents to allow him through the front door. Thankfully, his time with Erina had taught the boy some neat little tricks for a situation like this. The tree next to her room's window was also a godsend.

Quietly… Now that he thought about his prior denial about being a clingy lover. Arata was feeling that perhaps the insinuation was a little more true than he'd like to admit. There was just something about Yuki that he couldn't help but be drawn to. Hopefully it wasn't her small stature because then he'd begin to seriously question the type of anime he was watching.

As he reached a good branch to look into her room… The more he really thought about it, the worse this was looking for him. Though the boy simply reminded himself that this was all important for her well-being.

While up there, he peered into her room. There the girl was laying in her bed all alone. She was clearly crying as Yuki stuffed her face into the pillow. Next to her was a book that he had never seen before. It didn't appear to be a manga or light novel, in fact there wasn't any cover on it. So that must've been a diary written by her. "I see…" He muttered to himself as he came to understand where her sadness was coming from.

As if she heard him, or perhaps the girl was simply coming up from her pillow for air, Yuki looked up and out her window. There, she saw the boy laying atop the branch, which sent her to scream to the top of her lungs. This caused Arata to lose his balance from the shock and tumble all the way down the tree. Which happened to be one story high, by the way.

He laid about on the ground, prepared to get into massive trouble as her parents had to have certainly heard the blood-curdling screams of their beloved daughter. Obviously it was going to be a bad look to be caught peeking into a teenage girl's room. However, as he laid down in pain, no one seemed to be coming. Where were those angry parents? Instead, as he was on his back looking up to the sky, another figure came along.

"It's you." It was Yuki, who came down from her room to see if he was okay. She was certain that it was Arata that she saw, but the shadows made it difficult to see his face. As it also turned out, the girl's parents were out shopping. So she was on the only person at home. "A-are you okay?"

"I'll live." He gingerly got up into a sitting position, grabbing onto his head from the pain. "I just wanted to talk, but I didn't think you'd let me in your house."

"I don't think you'll want to talk to me when you find out the truth." She hung her head down in shame, but seeing as the girl hadn't high-tailed it back inside. He was confident that she was willing, or perhaps hopeful that a chat could fix things.

"I already know about what happened when we were kids." Her eyes widened in dread as he revealed his knowledge of what she had been trying. "So, I hope that's enough proof that I'm not mad at you." He cringed as the pain was getting a little unbearable. This was only just a little less worse than the time he got hit by that truck.

"Ah… Let me help you." She gave up on being afraid of him as she lifted on of his arms and supported the boy as they moved themselves inside to her couch. As they walked, Arata noted just how close they were to one another. It was an odd feeling that he was getting given their distance made him realize certain things he never noticed on a daily basis when with her. Such as that soft lavender scent she had in her hair, or her fair, smooth skin. The simple fact was she was a cute girl that most boys at school didn't seem to notice.

"Thank you." He expressed his gratitude as she set him down. "And I'm sorry about climbing up your tree."

"You shouldn't be sorry to someone as horrible as me." She always seemed prepared to attack herself with words when no one else was around to mind her own actions. Even after all their little conversations, she never seemed to change her nature. Though now shouldn't be the time after he already told her he didn't hold any grudge. After all, the boy didn't even remember it until today, so why should he care?

"It's not like it was your fault." He consoled her. "So what your family had to move away? That's just life when we're so little."

"But you said you'd hate me forever." She replied.

"When did I…" He was confused where that was coming from. So far, he had been nice to her seeing as this wasn't supposed to be a big deal. Then it hit him. "You found your old diary, right?"

"Right." She responded with her head hung down, unable to look him in the eye. "When I read what I wrote down that day, it made me remember everything that happened." The event was enough to cause her to want to block it out as a child, but realistically it was simply the event that lead her to being more withdrawn from other children. Even when her mind forgot the moment, her instincts prevented her from wanting to form close connections, lest she get hurt again.

That was also why Arata forgot about the ordeal as well. In fact, his brain was so upset with it, that a similar thing like with what happened when the ending of one of his favorite anime caused the boy to get amnesia.

"I wrote down what you said to me, how mad you got at me." She spoke through the tears, recounting the painful memory. "It said that you said you hated me, and that we'll never be friends again."

"Obviously I was lying back then." He put a hand on her thigh in a gesture to get closer. "We're friends again, maybe even better now than before." Arata chuckled when he considered the past. "Well, it's a little funny because back then… I actually had a crush on you."

"You did?" She paused for a while and they sat in silence. The boy partially regretted saying something like that out loud to her. Surely it made her feel embarrassed like always. "Because… I have a crush on you now."