The New Girl

“I’ve missed you so much, Yuta!”

He stood there, confused, as she clung onto him. “Um… who are you?”

“Has it really been long enough for you to forget?” She released him from the hug and straightened herself out. “Maybe this will jog your memory!” Her hands moved at high speed to tickle Yuta’s sides.

His body cringed away from her fingers, and he tried to hold back his laughter. The response his body had to the tickling was to drop to the floor and shield himself using his arms.

The girl stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Now do you remember me?”

Yuta took a second to catch his breath. “Sorry. My memory wasn’t very good when I was younger. A few years ago was when it improved.”

A pout appeared on her face. “How could you forget your own cousin?”

“Cousin?” He could remember playing with a cousin when he was young, but he couldn’t recall anything about her. “Well, it has been ten years.”

“Do you even remember my name?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

She sighed. “It’s Kotori. Kotori. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah. So what brings you here?”

“I came to let you know that I’m transferring to your school!”

“You’re… what?” He stared at her, the gears in his head turning.

“Transferring. You’re not going deaf, are you?”

“No, just confused. Why transfer to my school?”

“Because I want to, duh!”

“How old are you again?”

“I’m only a year younger than you!” She crossed her arms. “Honestly, how much can you forget?”

“A lot has happened these last ten years,” he shrugged. “So you’re a first-year, then?”

“Yup!” Behind her, a couple customers entered the building.

“Well if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready. My shift is about to start.”

“Okay! I’ll just say hello to Kaori then!” She ran up the stairs, disappearing from Yuta’s view.

“My cousin, huh? It feels like life is trying its hardest to get me to socialize…” With another shrug, Yuta entered the kitchen and washed his hands.

His father was at the counter, handing out menus and chatting with the people that had walked in.

‘I hope she’s not here when Ozaki arrives. Her energy would be too much for her to handle.’ Yuta’s thoughts drifted to his childhood, attempting to remember details about Kotori. Only a few images came to his mind. In these images, he saw himself walking to school with someone and playing with them in a couple different places.

A yell from his father brought his attention back to his work. “Yuta, two orders of the Premium Spicy Unagi Roll!”

“Got it!” After putting on an apron and gloves, he grabbed the ingredients–cucumbers, jalapenos, eel, rice, seaweed, cabbage, and the special hot sauce that his family made specifically for the dish–and started preparing the two meals.

…

The restaurant was fairly busy during Yuta’s shift. As he was the only cook in the kitchen, he was strained at certain parts of the day when it got a little busier. Nine-o-clock came, concluding Yuta’s work for the day. Once he had put away the apron and threw away his gloves, he let his father know his shift was over and went upstairs.

He stopped in the doorway to his room. Kotori lay on his bed, reading a book. Her feet kicked the air behind her. She looked up to see Yuta and pushed herself to her knees. “Yay, your shift is over!” Leaning over the bed, she reached underneath and pulled out a board game. “Now we can play!”

“Sorry, but I don’t waste my time anymore.”

His sharp words made Kotori flinch. “But–”

“I have someone coming over in less than an hour that I have to teach. I need to prepare before she gets here. Understand?”

Kotori nodded slowly, feeling rejected. “Okay…” She slid off the bed and walked past Yuta to leave the room.

“Now that she’s gone, I can make a practice test to give Ozaki after the lesson is over.” Making his way over to his desk, he picked a pen and a sheet of paper from the drawer. “Since we’re going over science today, I’ll put some general knowledge questions and a few application ones on the test. It’s best to build off of what she knows, and slowly add a few more concepts over time…”

An hour passed, and a buzz distracted Yuta from his work. He turned on his phone and saw a message from Shiori.

‘Will be late. Just got done with my physiatrist appointment.’

‘Okay. I’ll be waiting for you.’ Once the response was sent, Yuta put his phone in his pocket and took the test he had written in his hand. There was no sign of Kotori in the hallway, to Yuta’s relief. He walked down the stairs and looked around the lobby.

His mother was cleaning the tables while his father cleaned the kitchen.

“There you are, Yuta.” His mother finished wiping down a table and turned to him. “The last customer for the day left a few minutes ago.”

Yuta placed the test down on a table that was not wet from being cleaned and pulled the seat out to sit down. “How is Kaori?”

“She’s still resting. I told her to call me if she needed anything. It’s getting late, so I want her to sleep.”

“That’s good.” He looked at the time displayed on his phone. A quarter past ten. “My student should be here any minute…”

As if his words summoned her, Shiori strolled into the lobby. Both hands held her bag in front of her. She spotted Yuta and sat down across from him. Reaching a hand into the bag, she pulled out a notebook and her science textbook.

“Did you want something to eat before we begin?”

She nodded, still setting out her supplies.

Yuta stood and grabbed a menu from the counter to bring to Shiori. He placed it in front of her.

Shiori looked over the menu and pointed to the Premium Spicy Unagi Roll. “I’ve never tried spicy food before…”

“Are you sure? It might not be pleasant if you’ve never had anything spicy in the past.”

“I want to try it.”

“Okay.” He pivoted on his seat to face his mother. “Can you tell dad to make a Premium Spicy Unagi Roll?”

“Of course.” She vanished into the kitchen, leaving Yuta alone with Shiori.

Shiori stared at Yuta with a very troubled look.

Worry gnawed at Yuta. “What’s wrong?”

“I have a confession to make…”