Teriyaki Burgers with my Childhood Friend

However, one day, Rin didn't show up at our usual time.

I waited 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and yet, Rin never came to the library. I became worried, so I stopped writing and left the library. I walked around school looking for Rin. Because I was still in elementary school, I didn't have a phone to contact Rin at all. That's why I searched all over the place, looking in every classroom. However, I still couldn't find her.

Before I knew it, I spent so much time searching for Rin. My legs were getting weary from walking too much. It was possible she could have taken the day off. Is she somewhere at school or is it possible she's already home?

Left to stew in my own depressing thoughts, I found myself entering an empty multi-purpose classroom. And there, I found Rin. A sense of relief washed over me, but that quickly turned to shock and confusion. Rin was curled up in the corner of the room crying. It was the first time in my life that I bore witness to a crying girl. Before I knew it, my legs tightened up and I rushed over to Rin. I crouched down and immediately opened my mouth.

"What's wrong?"

Rin didn't answer. Still curled in a ball, she covered her eyes with her hands as the sounds of her weeping filled the room. I honestly had no idea what to do, since this was the first time I ever experienced anything like this. My mind blanked out, my body began to move on its own.

Without putting too much pressure, I place my hand on Rin's face. I wanted to know why she was crying, and I wanted to somehow cheer her up any way I could. So I continued brushing her face. Even when she stopped crying, I continued.

"Sorry..."

A weak apology is the first thing that came out of Rin's mouth as she slowly tried to calm her messy feelings.

"Why are you apologizing?"

Rin wasn't able to tell me the reason why. The only thing I knew was that her face looked absolutely dejected. Rin was still sad. I'll do whatever it takes to cheer her up. I came up with an idea in my head, and I immediately told Rin my plan.

"Hey, I know a good place to go to cheer up."

"Good... place?" She nods and with that, I take the hands of the teary eyed girl and rush out of school.

____________________

We finally arrived at the hamburger restaurant near our school. This restaurant, of course, was a world renowned hamburger chain, but at the time I didn't know that.

"Come on, let's go."

We take a seat and Rin is directly across from me.

"This is...?"

"A teriyaki burger! You know about them?"

Rin shakes her head.

"They're really yummy, you should try one."

As I say that, Rin takes a bite out of her burger. In that moment, her dejected pupils light up, opening wide.

"This is... so delicious."

"Told you so!"

I was relieved that she seemed to like it. It felt like just waking up in a still-warm futon. It gave me a sense of comfort. Crying a lot can make you hungry, so it's good that Rin is happily eating away at her burger. Looking at Rin eat is making me hungry, so I start digging in too.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

When we were both about half way done, Rin asked me that.

"Why... did you bring me here?"

Seemingly reluctant to ask her question, I answered her immediately.

"When you're sad, eating something yummy is the best, that's why!"

I told Rin my honest feelings. A while back, I got a bad grade on a test and I got scolded for it. I ended up crying a storm afterwards. However, my mom took me here after to cheer me up. My mom wanted to apologize, but she still wanted me to do my best, so she bought me a teriyaki burger. It was probably the best thing I had ever ate and something I would never forget. My sadness was completely wiped away and in its place was the desire to do my best. That experience had been deeply seared into my mind ever since.

When I saw Rin crying, taking her to eat a teriyaki burger was the first thing I came to my mind. I'm not sure if Rin really understands my reasoning without knowing my backstory. Despite that, today was the first time I saw Rin smile.

"Thanks... so much."

She really did find it delicious. That made me relieved.

"So, about the price..."

After we were done, Rin timidly brought that up. I took out my wallet and showed it to Rin.

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

The teriyaki burger was 300 yen and the cheeseburger was 100 yen, so a total of 400 yen. For a second grader, it's pretty expensive, but it didn't bother if it meant I could see Rin's smile again.

"B-but that's a lot... sorry."

Her eyes downcast, Rin grabbed my wallet.

"Hmm, then hear me out on something."

Rin looks at me in confusion, my request obviously confusing her but I didn't have any ulterior motives. I told her my request straight on.

"Let's go somewhere else and hang out more!"

Perhaps some part of me wished to hang out with Rin more, besides the time we get after school and so I turned those feelings into words that I would direct towards Rin. For a moment, Rin looked around in hesitation, and then gave me a smile as bright as the summer fireworks.

"Yes..."

And on that day, the time I would spend with Rin on a daily basis would increase. The gap between us closed and we began to feel like family to one another. We took one step closer in deepening our relationship and we were steadily advancing towards being childhood friends.

Eventually, I would find out the reason for Rin's tears later on.