Bygones 4

The children cheered as everyone entered the living room. Of course they'd be happy to see some sugary treats to eat. So as he set it down on the table, they all gathered around as little Yurisa took the center stage. While she may no longer be as shy as she used to be, the girl was feeling rather overwhelmed with having all the attention casted on her.

"Go ahead now." Her mom encouraged her as the kids sang happy birthday to her. "Make a wish."

"Um, okay." She replied uneasily as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The little girl blew with all her might as the flames went out, leaving only small trails of smoke behind. Everyone cheered for her as it was time to cut out the first slice.

"I hope you wished for something real special." He said as the boy cut the cake and handed it to the birthday girl.

"I did." She replied with a smile. "I wished for-"

"Ah, ah, ah." He cut her as off as they handed down cake along the line so that each person got a slice. "You have to keep it a secret or else it won't come true." While Arata knew that wasn't the case, since these were only childhood wishes. He did what he believed her parents would want him to do.

"Okay." Like a good girl, she listened to him as she had respected him as a babysitter. And also liked him as a person. "I hope it comes true soon."

"Well, depending on what it is, I bet it can even happen today." Obviously without knowing what she wanted, he couldn't say for certain when it'd happen. There was no way he'd consider telling her that it wouldn't come true, even if it was an impossible feat.

With that, he took himself a slice and enjoyed the baked goods with the rest of the party goers. It tasted pretty much as expected coming from a birthday cake ordered ahead of schedule from a local bakery. Still, there was lots of fun to be had with all the kids around them.

The next thing for them to do was for the birthday girl to open up her presents. It seemed everyone had gotten her something. So there was a lot of stuff for them to go through as she opened up each gift. Each time it happened, all the kids would clap and of course she would thank the person who gave it to her.

"Thanks Yuriko." She said once she got to her older sister's gift of headphones. "I'll make sure to listen to them as soon as I can."

"I can live with that." The older girl breathed a sigh of relief knowing that her ears were going to be thankful for the future. "Now, it's Arata's turn."

"Yep." He said, presenting it to the little girl. "I hope you like it."

"Of course I will." She said with no worried as she tore off the wrapping. "Oh my gosh, I love it so much." Yurisa said as she tightly hugged the notebook he got for her.

"It'll be great if there's any secrets you want to keep away from mean old Yuriko." He laughed at his own joke. Though it earned him a pinch on the ear from the target of the joke. "Owowow."

"What's this about me being mean and old?" She said in an irritated manner. Well, if she wanted to prove his point, she certainly did so in front of everyone. As much as one wouldn't think she used to be a delinquent. Her actions definitely showed why she had a past like that. Meanwhile, the children laughed at what they thought was a funny show between the pair. Because apparently violence was funny.

"A-anyway." He tried to pull the subject off of him so she wouldn't continue hurting him. "We should have one more present to go through."

"Yeah, and it's obviously the best for last." Rouza bragged as if she was the one to pick out the gift. Well, for all they knew she could've, but her little brother seemed a bit hesitant to pull it out. "Now, go on and give it to her."

"Well…" He was unwilling for some reason. "I can't do it."

"I don't understand, what's wrong?" He asked the older sister.

"Tsk, none of you business." She said out loud, but did explain it to him quietly. "He had the same present as yours." Now the problem became more clear to him. The boy didn't feel like he would be able to live up to in competition against someone like Arata.

"Come on now." He spoke in a nice tone to try and encourage the boy. "Go ahead and share your present to her. I'm sure she'll love it." Ruo sat still, holding his present as he saw all of the other kids looking at him. The boy didn't like being the center of attention and this broke him.

"I… I'm so sorry." In tears, he ran off from the others.

"Hey, Ruo!" Rouza ran after her younger brother as he ran out the door away from the others. She followed right out with him, leaving the others with this weird scene.

"Why did… He run off?" Yurisa asked Yuriko, worried about her friend. "Does he not like me?"

"No, it's nothing against you." She did her job at consoling her sister in regards to this situation. "He's kind of like you, sometimes he gets shy with people he likes." It was certainly something she could relate to when it came to the boy sitting besides him. Why couldn't she just go out and say it? As much as the girl wanted to use the excuse of things getting in the way. Only she was the one getting in her own way.

Meanwhile, he felt bad about how the boy was too worried about comparing gifts to others. It was apparently enough for him to cause a scene by literally running out of the house. A shame, since it seemed like he really liked Yurisa a lot to come out to this party even though it made him really nervous.

"I… I want to go look for him." Yurisa made a suggestion that surprised everyone. "I, um, really like Ruo a lot. As a friend, I mean." She blushed a lot in saying it. "And I don't want him to be sad."

"We understand honey." Her mom responded. "But, it's not like we can contact him so easily." They didn't have Rouza's cell phone number seeing as none of them were her friends. It was unlikely he already got home by now, so calling his parents wouldn't work.

"Then, we should try and catch up to him." Of course a child would suggest doing that. Even though he ran out a minute ago and definitely gained a lot of ground over them. Still, Arata cared for her feelings, so he was willing to give it a shot.

"Then, I'll take you." He said, getting up on his feet. "If we go together, maybe we'll have a chance at catching up?"

"I'm coming along too." Said Yuriko. Her feelings for him had grown stronger, and the girl wanted to be able to support him as much as she could. "I can't let you just be alone with my little sister." Plus, it didn't hurt to have an excuse she could say out loud.

"All right everyone…" The girl's parents went along with keeping the others occupied as they attempted to pull off this impossible plan.

"Okay, let's-" Arata was going to lead the way as he opened up the door. However, that was all the work that needed to be done in terms of finding Ruo. The little boy and his older sister were sitting atop the porch steps. "Oh, they didn't actually leave." That was good, at least they wouldn't have to go running very far after all.

"Ruo, what's wrong?" Yurisa was first in asking the question as the boy sat down crying. Rouza was sitting next to him with a hand over his head, patting it. "Do you not have a present for me?"

"I do, but you won't like it." He was blunt when it came to telling her how much of a failure he was. "I got you a notebook too, but that Arata person got you one that looks so much more prettier."

"Well, that Arata guy's a loser anyway." While it was kind of Rouza to help her brother feel better. Arata could've lived with not being insulted over it. "Your present is at least ten times better than his."

"Can I see it?" Yurisa requested for it anyway. The boy gingerly handed it to her as she opened it up. As expected, it was a notebook meant for her to write a diary with. "It's really pretty." There wasn't that much on it to make it special. Though she liked it just the same.

"Well, I did spent a lot of time looking for the right one." It seemed that her words were encouraging him to come out of his shell a bit. "I really wanted you to like it, because… Well because I like you so much."

"When he says that…" Arata whispered over to Yuriko. These two kids seemed like they were a little closer than he expected out of children.

"That makes me really happy because…" Yurisa got shy all of a sudden. "Because I like you a lot too…" The two children got quiet, revealing to all of them what they really meant with those words.

"Ahh, just say you have a crush on her!" Having already been aware of this, Rouza got a bit too loud in telling her brother to finally confess his feelings. Arata certainly didn't see her pushing it, but then again, it wasn't like he was the romance expert either.

"She's not lying." Said Ruo. "I really, really like you."

"You do?" That got the little girl to perk up in excitement. "Because, I really, really like you a lot too." They held each other's hands after learning of the truth in a cute fashion that kids do when facing each other.

"Looks like we've got a happy ending here." Said Arata, gushing over the scene.

"Yeah…" Yuriko replied in a slightly disappointed tone. It wasn't that she was unhappy about her sister. The only problem for her here was now her own little sister had managed to confess to her proper crush.