Invitation to Gather

The marked day was hardly a long time away, but for Yuki it seemed to arrive much faster than he had wished for it. In part, his work at the school made the time pass quickly. There was also the fact that he had finally brought some calm to his mind that he wasn’t focused on forgetting and resolving the problem. Everything that needed to be done was not going to be easy and it still made his heart tighten at times feeling the dilemma surface.

He arranged with Ayumi to speed up the work a little so that the remaining construction would be finished within the day. The progress on the school moved along accordingly. It came together quickly bringing the final pieces of the wall up in the afternoon. From the exterior, the school looked whole and unchanged from two weeks ago. The only sign that anything had really changed was that the building looked newer and the grass was completely gone from all of the construction work.

All that remained for the school was interior work left to Ayumi’s machines. There was still going to need to be smaller work done to make the place usable. But for them the major task was completed.

Yuki managed to keep his spirits high for his last day. Since he solved most of the troubles in his mind that made it significantly easier for him. Last night made it clear to him that how he had been acting was far more transparent than he wished. Changing back meant that he drew less attention and provided little concern to those that might be watching. He hoped it would blow over smoothly enough.

Chapter 89 – Invitation to Gather

As the afternoon began to close, the finished school stood as their achievement. Yuki already left along with Saki and Ayumi, but Yori’s sister remained behind with Yori. Yori still had a few things left for him to finish. So she waited for him at the tent.

On the main table sat several water bottles waiting to be picked up and thrown away. There were a couple of the volunteers for the tent still around, but they were out picking up anything that might have remained on the grounds. She kept to the tent, mostly due to Yori’s continued insistence. She picked up a couple of the bottles in her arms before she found herself staring at one of them. ‘He seemed to be back to his usual self today…’

She walked the empty bottle over to the trash bin. Her mind hung around Yuki trying to sort it out for herself. ‘So did he solve his problem?’ She dumped the contents of her arms into the bin. She paused, unable to return back to her work. ‘But what was it? Why did he seem so troubled before?’

“Yumi?” called a familiar voice, one that had been trying to get through to her for some time.

“Huh?!” She jumped completely startled by Yori suddenly being next to her. “B-Brother!? What are you doing here?”

Yori, confused by her reaction, took a step forward to trying to calm her down a little. The movement, unfortunately, had the opposite effect. She stumbled backwards knocking over the trash bin in her frantic state trying to keep distance between them. “Yumi?! What’s wrong?”

She looked around at the mess that she had caused and scrambled around trying to fix it. ‘Look at the mistake I’ve made!’

“Are you feeling ill again?” He was already on the ground helping her pick things up so that she did not over exert herself. “You don’t have to do everything yourself.”

“I-I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t…”

Once they cleaned everything up, she rushed off to resume what she had been doing. Yori followed her, still not satisfied with it just being an accident. “If you’re tired you should rest. You don’t need to push yourself. No one will think anything of it.”

“It’s okay! I was thinking about what dinner to make tonight and I got distracted. You just startled me.”

Yori remained unconvinced, but he wasn't going to push her. He figured that she would tell him when she was ready. However, he stuck by her side to help clean up the rest of the area around the tent. All of his work was finished already so he waited on his sister.

The walk home left her no better off on her internal issue. She kept away from the problem interfering with her too much so that Yori didn't suspect anything. However, even while she cooked dinner her mind couldn’t give up the idea that there was something wrong. ‘Does it have something to do with that man who attacked the school? Is he planning to go after him? But what about school and his friends?’

Dinner ended fairly quietly between the siblings, despite her best efforts, it was very clear to Yori that something was wrong. He continued to keep it to himself, but watched her carefully for any health problems. When he found her outside of the house staring at the starry sky he knew that he couldn’t hold himself back. “…sister…we need to—“

She turned around quickly to face her brother. Her face revealed to be narrowed and serious, one that made Yori cut off his word. “We need to talk, brother…” She folded up something in her hands making it disappear in the pocket of her work pants.

‘What’s with Yumi? I’ve never seen her like this before…’

“I’m going to help Yuki. I know you don’t like him, but this is something I’ve decided on my own!”

Yori could see there was no talking her out of it. If she looked so determined about doing it there wasn't going to be anything he could say. “I’m going too then.”

“What?!” She froze up with surprise. ‘I thought he was going to say no and do whatever it took to make me stay!’

“You’re right. I don’t like him. There’s something about him I still don’t trust. So I’m going with you. Wherever you go I’ll be there to protect you.”

While their mother was still out the siblings left their house together with her guiding them. She held back on the reason that they were leaving, but insisted that it was related to Yuki. He was unfamiliar with seeing her taking such an assertive position. It pleased and troubled him to see this side of his sister surfacing, especially since it was Yuki that was drawing it out of her.

They drew out of their neighborhood into the evening air of the city. A slight scent of dread hung in the air. Ever since the city changed travel at night was prohibited by the mayor. But not even the police dared to patrol, so it was an empty order.

The dangers weren’t lost on Yori, but his sister appeared uninterested in the unknown that might threaten them. The driven expression on her face revealed how together she kept herself. It was impossible to know if she was acting or every drop was real.

She slowed her pace down once they arrived in one of the larger city parks. Considering the condition, being called a park became a matter of opinion and memory. Like the rest of the city, tall grass grew through with no care for order or design. Massive flowers sprouted throughout the field to provide color to an otherwise bland affair.

A great tree that would have been considered ancient, if it had not been obviously grown two weeks ago, sat in the center pretending to be nature’s skyscraper. The tree managed to dwarf everything around it including the buildings with a trunk that was easily as thick as a city block and a canopy that covered more than four times the size of the park, which was substantial itself. Any of the remaining trees became intimidated by its presence looking like saplings in comparison.

The massive tree was the target of his sister. She strolled up the roots quickly, forced to treat them like steps and then cliffs to be climbed. When she came to a stop, she found a small mound of grass that seemed to divide the roots creating a comfortable little knoll. Around the small piece of earth was a source less light that illuminated the area in a warm glow. Yori arrived shortly after her, still not certain of the purpose.

He looked about the area trying to find anything that might have been of significance to them. “I didn’t know this was here…”

“Neither did I…” She couldn’t explain it, but she had a feeling since before Yori came out of the house. The feeling told her where she needed to go and that it was important. It seemed so vague and soft, yet natural and instinctive. She understood without having to actually know.

“If you didn’t know about this place, how did you find it?”

Her eyes were becoming distant for a moment as she tried to recall, peering out over the park. “I didn’t know, but I still knew. It’s weird, but it was like there was a path laid out in my mind.”

“You’re not making much sense—“ Nearby scrambling and scraping underneath them interrupted Yori. He immediately placed himself between his sister and the root foundation where the noises were coming from. “Stay behind me…”

“It’s alright, brother!” She stepped out from behind him and moved out to the edge of the grass. She leaned out over the wooden cliff to see a darkened figure coming into reach. His sister looked back at Yori to reassure him. “It’s safe. They’re friends.”

“Yumi!” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back. “You can’t be certain about this time of day with the way the city is!”

“But!”

Another sound of fumbling on the roots bounced up to them. The uncertainty tightened Yori’s hold on his sister pulling her back towards him. A struggling hand appeared up from shadows taking hold firmly on the roots.

“Dammit!” snapped a young, but rough sounding voice. “Why the hell it’d have to be like this?!” A few seconds later found the other hand to surface soon followed by the rest of the person. The faint unnatural light of the hill revealed the individual to be a young man with a wild look about him. He dusted himself off and looked back down at the roots that he had climbed. The man knelt over casually examining his route. “Damn, I guess I should have taken the gentler sloop.” He threw off the concern and shifted his body back to face towards the siblings.

She stretched out from Yori’s still solid hold to greet the young man. “Hello…did you receive a letter as well?”

“Letter?” Yori loosening his hold on her, becoming distracted.

The man nodded back to her, being cautious. “I’m guessing you too?”

“Do you know Yuki somehow?”

“Yeah…I knew him from junior high. Why?”

A letter slid slowly out of her pocket. She held it in her hand showing it while keeping the contents a secret. “I believe the letter is related to Yuki in some way.”

The teenager took a couple of steps forward becoming drawn in with questions. Her declaration made him consider several options quickly. There still remained some skepticism at his heart. “Why are you so certain? The letter is pretty vague.”

“I know, but it’s a feeling I have.” She tightened her hands a little reflexively, reacting to her acknowledging the doubt that others would have for what she said. Behind the self-consciousness, she stood firm in her belief. “I can’t explain it. I just know.”

“I have my doubts as well, but I’m inclined to agree with her,” a new voice said out of the shadows. The voice carried a softer touch, one of a girl, but a slightly deeper in pitch than Yori’s sister. She casually stepped on to the lit mound of grass joining the small gathering. The girl stood taller than the rest of them and appeared more mature in her face than the others.

Once she reached the center, she looked around at the others that she joined. “I see that I wasn’t the only one with a letter or questions.” When she came upon Yori there was a moment of recognition. “Student Council President Yori Mizuno?”

“He’s a student council president?” the boy asked for a moment before quickly accepting it. “He does have one of those pretty boy faces, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

The implication that Yori earned his position through looks struck him hard, but he kept it to himself. He held his gaze to the upperclassman taking a second to remember her name, as he knew it was familiar to him. “…yes… you’re the head of one of the Literature Club branches, Fumiko Terauchi.”

Interrupting the introductions, the rough edged boy placed himself between them to get the attention. “The whole warm greeting is nice and all, but are you all saying that you know Yuki and that’s why you got a damn letter?”

“It’s probably because that weakling needs protection,” joined another young girl’s voice to the party. The voice preceded the person by enough time to give everyone pause to search around. They found nothing despite it feeling as though the words had come from someone next to them. As though testing them the girl appeared suddenly behind the punkish teenager.

He swiveled on his heel providing force and speed to his outstretched arm to strike at the shadow. His arm was skillfully blocked, but the weight behind his attack compressed the blocking arm. “A kid? Dammit! Don’t sneak up behind me!” He held his arm against her block pressing into a power struggle not willing to back down.

The black clothed girl grinned with great interest in her discovery. “A worthy opponent. Perhaps my whim will pay off.”

“Worthy?! Kids playing pretend as a shitty ninja should respect those older than them!”

“If one was pretending…perhaps…”

“That’s enough,” spoke a calm voice entering into the light of the hill. “You’re not here to fight everyone.”

“Shit, yet another one?! How many people got called out here? This is getting ridiculous, not to mention conspicuous.”

“Oh, the muscle head knows big words.”

“You looking for a fight now, kid!”

Yori’s sister watched the situation quickly fall apart. She didn’t know what to expect when people started to show up. “Shut up, everyone!” she roared in a voice that seemed impossible from the demure shell that she kept.

To everyone’s surprise, it happened to be enough to quiet them all. She looked around at everyone fixing them with a stare. “We’re all here because of Yuki. We should be working together and not fighting!”

“I still have my doubts,” remarked the boy.

“This is a strange band, I’ll agree,” commented Terauchi.

“I’m more interested in the purpose of this letter,” added the short boy.

“The shy girl’s correct,” confirmed a very high pitched voice from above. Floating in the air, a fairy lowered herself down in the middle of everyone making her known to them all. Her presence held everyone’s further interruptions. “It was me, who sent you the letters. And yes, it does involve the matter of Yuki Hayashi…”