Episode 22.5 Part 2. Making Memories

Tomo sat down in the backseat of Ichirou’s car, behind Tatsumi, together with Yuu and Susumu. Ken was in Umio’s car with Aoki and Sayoko. Shouji drove a minivan with the rest of their group.

“Fasten your seatbelts,” Ichirou told them matter-of-factly.

The boys quieted down and did as they were told, before they began chatting again. Tomo’s friends had never been to the place where Tomo’s great-grandfather lived, and they were excited to visit the unfamiliar town.

Tomo, though, had been there several times, and had seen most of it already. He plugged his earphones into his phone and put them into his ears as the car started. He yawned before even the first song had played.

“I’ll sleep through the trip, so don’t talk to me,” he said and put music on.

He closed his eyes before his friends had time to give him any looks.

#

Someone shook him awake. Tomo blinked the sleep out of his eyes, adjusting his glasses that he had forgotten to remove. He squinted at Yuu.

“Momocchi, we’re almost there.”

Tomo put the earphones in his pocket, before he looked out of the window to get an idea of where they were. “I hate this trip.”

“We’ve just arrived and you hate it already?” Susumu laughed.

“I hate the drive,” Tomo said as he tried to stretch his legs, but he didn’t have enough leg space. It took him slightly by surprise. Before, it hadn’t been a problem, but it had been a while since he sat in a car.

Tatsumi looked back. “Sorry I took the front seat.”

“No, you needed it. I’ll just walk it out once we’re there.”

Right then, Ichirou turned into an inn’s parking lot. Shouji’s cousin ran it, taking over after her parents. It was a little out of the way from the most interesting parts of the town, but that was part of the charm.

Ichirou parked the car and looked over his shoulder. “Be careful when you step out.”

Tomo opened the door and stepped right as Ken’s father did. Their eyes briefly met, and Tomo turned away. He got his things out of the trunk, taking a detour to avoid Umio as much as possible.

Ken took some luggage Tomo was carrying. “You okay?”

“I want uncle to—”

“Tomo-kun! It’s been a while.”

Tomo looked to see a woman dressed in jeans and an oversized sweater. Kanna always wore rather casual clothes, and Tomo had never seen her in a kimono. Some of his relatives said she took after Shouji and rebelled against the family head, Shinnosuke, as well.

“Aunt Kanna. It’s been a while. Thank you for letting us stay.”

Ken bowed as well. “It’s been a while. I’m Yamada Kenta, Fujita Kouta’s younger brother.”

“Oh! You’re that little kid! You’ve really grown!” She put her hands together and her eyes sparkled. “I’m overjoyed to see you two are friends! Nao-kun and Kouta-kun seem to be good friends still, but keeping childhood friends can be hard. I remember—”

“Excuse me, aunt Kanna. If you don’t mind, we’d like to go inside.”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I just haven’t seen you in so long, Tomo-kun. If we get time, I’d like to talk with you.”

She showed them to their rooms while she talked.

“I know grandfather told me to give you your own room, but I thought it might be lonely and there’s room to divide the boys in two groups. If you don’t want to, that’s fine as well. Just let me know.”

Ken looked at Tomo. “We’ll decide later, but for now we’ll be two in one room. Right, Tomoki-kun?”

Tomo nodded with a sigh and a slight smile.

Kanna smiled. “I’ll go get your friends now, Tomoki-kun, Yamada-kun. If there’s anything, just ask me or any of the staff.”

“Thank you. We will.”

#

While most of them didn’t mind the arrangement, Miyake complained when he heard about it. Susumu, Tatsumi and Yuu looked at Tomo, who shook his head.

“Momo’s aunt owns the place. She was considerate enough to provide a room big enough for Yama-senpai to move to it,” Susumu said.

“Besides,” Tatsumi continued after Susumu, “Momo isn’t really comfortable changing around people. He...” He looked at Tomo, studying him. “...has a nasty scar from an accident. I don’t want to see it again. Do you, Yuusuke?”

Yuu shook his head. “It was terrible.”

“And,” Ken added, “he doesn’t have any sensation around it, so if any of you move around a lot in your sleep, you could hurt him and he might not even notice.”

“Aw, so you won’t go to the onsen then?” Aoki said.

Tomo shook his head with a smile. “They have very nice baths in each room, so it’s fine.”

“Ao requested onsen, so he doesn’t care who goes, as long as he can be an old man.”

“You said it’d be nice to see the girls in yukata, Fuji.”

It took Tomo a second to remember who ‘Fuji’ was.

“Tomoki-chan, what is it?” Sakuya asked.

“It just gets confusing if Ken is Fuji too.”

“You got a point,” Ken said. “Niisan and Arata call each other Fuji-chan because they’re Fujita and Fujiki. Call me something else?”

“But then we aren’t Aofuji anymore. Though I guess we can be Aoyama instead.”

Ken thought for a while before he laughed. “Takken?”

Aoki laughed as well. “Aoyama it is.”

“Aoyama who?” Sayoko asked as she and the other girls entered the room. “The door was open.”

Ken turned to them. “We left it open for you. Tomo and I’ll sleep in the next room, the other guys in here, and you girls in the room after that. Are all fine with that?”

Sayoko grinned but said nothing.

“That sounds like it’s for the best. The scar is pretty bad,” Sakura said. The grin on Sayoko’s face disappeared.

Tomo silently sighed in relief.

“You’ve seen it too, Hana-chan?” Miyake asked.

“I visited Tomo-chan when he was at the hospital, so yeah.” Sakura shrugged.

“Fine,” Miyake said. “If it gets too crowded, I’m sending people to your room.”

“Kazu, I think it’s more likely the rest of us flee there. You snore.”

#

Once they had settled in and got a night of sleep, they hit the town. Ririi pulled Tomo along. He could somewhat understand it. She had a completely different friend group than the rest. Even if they weren’t all friends, at least they talked to one another regularly. Meanwhile, Ririi’s friends were from other classes.

Why she had joined was beyond Tomo.

“Ririi, wait! Everyone needs to go together. I’m the only one who actually knows this place.”

“But we have GPS on our phones.”

“I promise you’ll get lost. Ah, uncle Kouki!” Tomo bowed to the man passing them.

“Oh. Naomichi’s boy. It’s been a while. Are you here to see father?”

Tomo smiled his best Momo-san smile. “I’m here with my friends. This is Katou Ririi from my class. Ririi-san, this is my father’s cousin Momoi Kouki.” Tomo looked the way they came. “And my friends are coming this way. Would you like me to introduce them?”

“No, it’s fine. Will you see father while you’re here?”

“I’m certain my great-grandfather will have it no other way. Have a pleasant day and stay safe.” Tomo bowed to the man.

“You too,” the man answered and continued to walk. Tomo saw Ken bow to the man as he walked past. When Ken and the rest caught up, Ken looked irritated.

“Of all people, we met Kouki.”

Tomo felt his frustration, but it wasn’t anything they could do about it now. “It can’t be helped, Ken. He owns the bookstore down the street. We’re going there for Airi’s sake. At least we know he won’t be there if we go there now.”

“I wanted to look at clothing stores,” Ririi pouted.

Tomo smiled. “We can do that when Airi has got her book. Eguchi can ask the staff there about what places might be of significance as well. I can point you to where my father was born, and what is owned by a Momoi, but I know little of the history.”

“And we need to know if there’s a theatre,” Sakura said. “I want to visit. Just visit. Look around. Stand on the—”

“Sakkun, I don’t think you’d be allowed on the stage,” Ken pointed out. “But I’m curious too. I want to see what a theatre here looks like. Is it old? Or new? Is it small? Is it big? What colour are the seats?”

“I know right!” Sakura was really excited.

Tomo couldn’t really get their fascination with theatres. Maybe it came with acting for too long. It might have been good he stopped years earlier...

“Finding a nice place to eat lunch would also be good. Your aunt would only recommend her own inn,” Aoki said.

“Perhaps it’s just the best in town.” Sakuya looked at his phone. “There aren’t a lot of reviews, so we should ask around for local opinions. Tomoki-chan is useless for this.”

“I’ve only eaten with Shinnosuke-san or at aunt Kanna’s inn as far as I can remember. I can’t help it.”

“There are a lot of older buildings here though,” Sayoko said in fascination. “And they are well-kept.”

“My great-grandfather makes sure that anything on his land is taken care of. Mostly because it looks better and makes people more willing to come, but it does increase the value.” Tomo walked, almost dragging Ririi now, down the street. “Though Shinnosuke-san would die from stress if anyone tried to sell any of the lands here. It’s been in our family for generations, apparently.”

“Is there maybe a park or something?” Nakata asked. “We could have a photo taken as a memory.”

“There should be one to the south,” Tomo answered. “We can go there after lunch.”

#

Tomo slumped down on the bench outside a small store.

“Kyou-chan,” he heard, and he looked to his left. An elderly lady in a kimono and a fur shrug was standing there.

“Aunt Kanako, it’s been a while.”

She chuckled.

“How many years has it been? You have grown quite a lot, Kyou-chan.”

He chuckled as well. “Aunty hasn’t aged a day.”

“You know how to flatter an old woman.”

Tomo moved to make space for his grandmother’s younger sister.

“Oh, Kanako-san!” a woman who looked through the door to the store. “And... You look familiar...” She looked at Tomo in thought.

“It’s Chitose’s grandchild, Tomoki-kun,” Kanako said with a smile after a while. “Give him something sweet.”

“Ah, no. Please don’t give me anything too sweet.”

Kanako chuckled. “I heard from my sister that you’d be here for a few days with your friends. You look like you’ve had a busy day.”

Tomo looked across the street where his friends were looking at souvenirs. “I haven’t had many days that were busy because of friends before, so I enjoy it. Though I also need some time alone.”

The woman came out with a cup of tea and a plate of chocolate. Tomo gave the plate to his grandaunt

“I don’t dare to eat this.”

Kanako smiled. “I’ll gladly eat it for you.” She removed a glove and put a piece in her mouth. “It seems you dress in lighter colours, much like when you were a child. I haven’t seen that in quite some time.”

Tomo drank some tea. It was warming him up in the chilly December air.

“I have wonderful friends.” He looked at the steam rising from his cup with a smile. “And a wonderful family.”

“Shou-kun’s taken good care of you children. My sister’s lucky to have a child like him. When she gets older, she’ll have him to care for her.”

“If Shouji doesn’t care for you as well, I will, aunty.”

“Tomo! There you are,” Ken said. “I got worried we’d lost you when I noticed you weren’t at the store.”

“This must be your friend.”

“This is Yamada Kenta. He’s Shouji’s friend’s younger brother and a childhood friend of mine and Chika’s. Ken, this is my grandaunt Momoi Kanako. She’s the one without children that I mentioned before.”

“So this is Kenta-kun,” Kanako said joyfully. “I’m thrilled to meet you. Chitose has told me about you.” She gave Tomo a meaningful look and continued: “It’s not just any friend, I hear.”

Tomo’s cheeks felt warm.

“I’ve always wondered what kind of person would pick Kyou-kun’s interest, and who would accept him for the person he is. He’s a very special child.”

Ken bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kanako-san. I’ve only heard good things about you from Tomoki-kun.”

Kanako motioned toward the empty spot on the bench. “Sit down, you too. It doesn’t look like your friends will be finished any time soon.”

Ken sat down and the woman at the store looked out again.

“Lots of business today,” she laughed. “What’ll this young man have?”

“Give him a warming cup of tea,” Kanako said, and the woman went back inside.

Tomo removed one of his hands from his cup and took Ken’s hand. Ken looked surprised at first, then smiled, rubbing his cold fingers against Tomo’s warm hand.

“If you’re meeting with my father, please stop by, you two. I’d like to talk with you a little more before you leave.”

“If we have time, I’d love to,” Tomo said.

Kanako stood up and put the plate on the bench. The woman came out with a cup of tea and the old woman paid for it.

“Well then, excuse me for leaving early.”

Tomo and Ken bowed a little to her.

“You two are adorable together. Stay that way.” She turned and left.

#

“You’re drinking tea! I want some too! It’s cold!” Sakura complained.

The woman stuck her head out once again. “There is a menu up there.” She pointed at a fading sign. “You’re welcome to come inside as well.”

Sakura watched Ken and Tomo drinking their tea, still holding hands.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll just go get my friends. We all need something to warm us up.”

Sakura hurried over to the other side of the street. She spoke to Airi and Nakata, who stood in front of the store. They went inside and soon they brought the group to the small shop Ken and Tomo rested at.

“Tomoki-kun, you really bring me business today. You should surprise me again.”

Tomo chuckled. “If I come by this area, I will.”

“Hmm.” Aoki held a cup, warming his hands. “That’s one way to warm your hands.” He grinned at Ken.

“Are you dating?” Miyake asked.

Sakuya glared at him while Ken shrugged. “Don’t ask the obvious, Kazu.”

“Did everyone else know?”

Nakata shrugged. “Rumours say that Kenta-senpai stopped dating, so I figured he dated someone. He only hung out with Momoi though.”

“He told me not to date senpai.”

“I just sit nearby.”

“We did overhear them on the phone, Kazu.”

“They haven’t really hidden it at all to the rest of us,” Sakura said.

“I got a bit of a shock when they told me,” Susumu said.

“Chika told me. She doesn’t know how to be quiet.”

Ken raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you already knew.”

“Fu—I mean, Kenta told me,” Aoki said with a shrug.

“You annoyed the hell out of me.”

“There’s when senpai came down to our floor first thing after the exams. He fidgeted and as soon as we told him it was alright to hug Tomoki-chan he did,” Sakuya added.

Ken laughed.

“Tomo, we are terrible with secret relationships.”

“Are you telling me you actually tried to keep it secret? I never noticed.”

“Sawa might not know, yet?” Ken laughed.

“Tomo-chan’s mother wouldn’t even figure it out if you got married,” Sayoko said with a sigh. “I’m surprised she remembers who her husband is.”

“Sometimes I think she forgets... That or she must really enjoy calling Shouji when she should talk to Ichirou-san.”

“That’s just awful,” Ken said. “Tomo, don’t be like that. I’d cry if you started calling Sakkun when you should talk with me.”

“Then I’ll call Yuu and ask him if I should marry you if you propose instead,” Tomo said with a chuckle.

Yuu looked confused, but Ken sighed.

“That’s not any better.”