A Change in Morino Katsumi and Kano Arisu

After what felt like a long weekend to me, it was finally time for me to go back to school. Even though everything that had happened was normal for others, for me it was the complete opposite and to top it off, it was stressful handling not only Katsumi and Kano, but just having bumped into Katsumi yesterday was even more of a pain int he ass than anything else.

"I wonder how today is going to go..."

I let out a yawn on my part and made my way downstairs to get everything ready for both my sister and me.

After a few minutes of heating some leftovers and cooking a bit, I had successfully managed to make breakfast and to top it off lunch as well. When I had done so, the sound of footsteps making their way down the stairs caught my attention.

"You sure took your time getting up today"

"Shut it..."

"Bad mood today?"

"No, it's just too early"

"Got it"

As she sat down, I pulled out some tea that I had warmed up and proceeded to serve it into a cup for her.

"Here you go"

"Thank you, brother..."

"No worries. Let me know if you need anything else"

She gave me a meek nod and took a sip from the cup of tea in her hands and heaved a sigh of relief.

We both ate our breakfast in silence and when we had finished, I could tell that my sister's mood had improved quite a bit compared to earlier.

"You really aren't a morning person, huh?"

"You know me. I can't handle mornings like you"

"The only reason that I can handle mornings is because of all the training that I do, that's all"

"But even then, waking up, doing exercise, showering and then going to school, that's way beyond me"

Hearing her say that about me brought a smile to my face, but I couldn't actually show how appreciative I was from her words alone.

Upon getting ourselves ready, we made our way towards the door and as soon as I opened it, there was a figure standing just beyond the door.

"Huh?"

"Kano? What are you doing here?"

The person standing in front of my door was none other than Kano Arisu herself. I thought that she had something to say in regard to yesterday or something else completely different, but the words that came out of her mouth left me in shock.

"I wanted to walk to school with you"

"H-Huh?"

"I wanted to walk to school with you"

"I heard you the first time... But my real question is why?"

"I just want to"

"But-"

"Do you have to ask me so many questions, maggot?"

"It's not worth discussing this..."

"I'll see you later, brother~!"

"H-Hey!"

I called out to my sister who had ditched me in hopes that she would stop, but she simply continued walking towards her school.

"We should get going, Makoto"

I turned towards Kano and just like that, she was already walking towards the school without a care in the world.

"What's happening today?" I shrugged my shoulders and decided to follow Kano to school. All the way there, I was expecting her to make some form of conversation or something of the sort, but she didn't, we were simply in complete silence.

"..."

"..."

"Makoto"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to start going to school and coming back from school together?"

"Huh? Where's this coming from?"

"I just thought that it was nice being together yesterday and I would like to experiment being in a friendship with someone else. What do you say to that?"

"Well..." Seeing how serious she was, I could immediately rule out the idea that she was just saying this as a joke. One of the ways I knew that she was also being serious was because of her gaze.

She was determined about this for whatever reason, and I couldn't actually refuse her just like that without a reason at all.

"Sure, I don't mind"

"Promise?"

"Y-Yeah, promise"

As soon as I had declared that she beamed me a smile and I found myself entranced by it for a full 30 seconds or so.

"Come on, let's go"

"Y-Yeah"

I walked alongside her the entire way and once we arrived at the front of the school gates, the both of us continued walking until a voice called out to me.

"Makoto~!"

"Hmm?"

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Katsumi running towards me all the while waving at me. When she saw that I was with Kano, she stopped in place for a brief moment and then continued walking towards me.

"Did you enjoy your weekend?"

"No, I didn't" "I had to go out two days in a row that I feel like I'm going to disintegrate at any moment"

"It wasn't that bad right, Kano?"

"Yeah, you're exaggerating"

"I wish that I was..."

Without me knowing, Katsumi had started walking alongside us and even though I was in the middle, the both of them were talking amongst themselves the entire way to our classroom.

"Why do I have to be here...?"

I let out a sigh and just when we were going to head inside, Katsumi stopped in place and grabbed my arm out of nowhere.

"Makoto, can you wait for a bit?"

"Sure..."

I glanced over at Kano, and I could tell for a split second that something had crossed her mind, but even then, she continued heading inside and before I knew it, it was just Katsumi and myself outside.

"I have two things that I want to ask you"

"What is it?"

"The first thing is that I want to talk with you in the club room at lunch. Are you busy today at that time?"

"Are you really asking that to someone like myself?"

"I'm doing it out of courtesy"

"Then no, I don't have anything to do"

"Then I want to talk with you then, second thing is..."

"What?"

"D-Did us going out help you out with your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend? I don't have one"

"I-I guess you wouldn't have one" She giggled a bit and let out a sigh "Well, it'll at least help you when you do get one, huh?"

"I don't think that'll be anytime soon, but I'll have it in mind just incase"

"Perfect~! I'm glad that our date was of use to you~"

"Yeah..."

"Well then, we should head inside before the teacher arrives"

"Sure..."

With that, she entered the classroom and the sound of students greeting her reached my ears and, in that moment, I started to reason something... The fact that we were completely opposite.

She was loved by everyone in school, everyone respected her opinion on matters, she was the ideal student and person in life all the while, I was the one person nobody wanted to be.

"..."

It didn't affect me at all, I was already used to it, but just remembering that I was once like that as well simply made me remember what I was meant to do.

I was meant to make people see the reality of things and at the same time, shed light on the people and make others see their true colors any way possible.

"Regardless... I wonder what she wants to talk about"

I entered the classroom, took my seat and simply waited for it to be time for the talk that I was going to have with Katsumi.

Once it was time, I arrived at the clubroom and saw that Katsumi was already sitting down without a care in the world "Thank you for coming"

"I did say that I would, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you could have easily stood me up, couldn't you?"

"Yeah, you have a point"

"Well, let's eat~"

"Sure..."

I pulled out my bento and started eating after giving thanks. She did the same and for the entire time, we were in complete silence. 

Once we had finished eating, I gave thanks once more and she followed suit with her own thanks. She wiped her mouth and turned towards me "Now then... Onto my question..."

"What is it?"

The way she looked in the moment was more than enough to tell me that whatever it was, it was a serious question, and a half-ass answer wasn't going to cut it one bit.

"When you saved me in the amusement park... That wasn't your first time being in a situation like that, was it?"

"..."

In that moment, I couldn't help but want to escape. I knew what was coming and I knew that it wasn't going to be something nice, but at the same time, I couldn't very well leave without giving my answer.

"You really want to know?"

"I do"

I scratched my head and sighed "Fine... But anything that is said here will stay between the both of us, got it?'

"I promise"

"Fine... Then I guess I should tell you why I wasn't afraid of that"

Dark memories sleep in every single person and there will be a time where such memories will resurface and wreak havoc again. As much as one might try to face it, it might not change a thing. By Miyashita Makoto.