The First Impression is Everything!

A Chance of Happiness Chapter 22: The First Impression Is Everything!

Mina and Kazuto walked through the hardware store, scanning the shelves and collecting the materials they needed for their project. Kazuto shuffled through the various pieces of hardware while Mina followed, looking as if she was lost in space.

“You really are out of it, aren’t you?” Kazuto turned to Mina, hitting her on the head with one of the PVC pipes he was carrying.

“Ouch… hey!” Mina put her hands on her head, caught off guard. “What did I do?”

“Nothing, which is actually more worrying believe it or not. Usually you’re more involved when it comes to group projects, but you seem distracted. It feels like you’ve been somewhere else these past few days.”

“Is that… so…” Mina frowned.

“It is so!” Kazuto hit Mina on the head again. “Now stop playing dumb and tell me what’s been going on.”

“I don’t know…”

“Is that so…” Kazuto gave Mina a disapproving stare as he began to raise the PVC pipe again.

“It is so!” Mina waved her hands in an attempt to dissuade him. “I really… don’t know…”

“You’re worried.” Kazuto sighed, lowering the pipe.

“What? No– I–”

“You act like I can’t understand what you’re thinking 86.5% of the time.”

“That’s… an oddly specific number.”

“It’s in between being fairly confident and basically being able to read your mind.” Kazuto returned to shuffling through some of the hardware. “You’re worried, but unsure about why.”

Mina looked down, unable to give a deflective response.

“You’re worried about messing this up. Making new friends, that is. It’s a first for you isn’t it? Since me anyways.”

Mina remained silent, but her expression already gave away that he was right.

“You know you don’t have to be.” Kazuto sighed. “Over the past couple of days I’ve seen you act more like yourself than all of last year combined, and I’m sure you’ve noticed it too.”

Mina frowned as Kazuto turned back to her.

“It made me happy… to see you like that.” Kazuto smiled.

“It… made you happy?” Mina replied, giving Kazuto a surprised look.

“It did, and it should make you happy too. Don’t you remember what we talked about earlier with them? They’re here to help you. They’re here to be friends with you. They don’t care about the facade you put on, they care about the person under it.”

“But what if–”

“They don’t like you once they get to know you?” Kazuto cut her off, casting a grin. “I’m sure if they were here they would all agree… that you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Mina and Kazuto continued through the store smiling and laughing as they grabbed the rest of the materials they needed. After leaving the store, they both got a notification on their phones.

I’m leaving the station now, should be there in ten minutes.

Mina looked at the number on her screen, slightly confused as the number didn’t belong to any of her contacts.

“Hm, looks like Rento-kun is going to beat us there. Kashiwa-san’s house is a couple stations away.”

“Huh?” Mina gave Kazuto a surprised look.

“I gave them your number a couple days ago, remember?”

“Oh… right…” Mina stammered. “I completely forgot!” she thought to herself, looking at the number again, selecting it to make a new contact. “This is… his number…”

“Mina?” Kazuto tapped on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.

“Yes! Sorry. What happened?”

“Your railcard.” Kazuto pointed to the terminal in front of them as she looked up to see they were already in front of the station. “You… did remember yours, didn’t you?”

“O-Of course I did!” Mina stammered as she began to frantically search her bag.

“Good, I’d feel bad leaving you behind.” Kazuto waved from the other side of the terminal, beginning to walk towards the waiting area.

“Hey!” Mina yelled, grabbing the card out of her bag. “Don’t leave me, you jerk!”

At the Kashiwa household, a blur was running all over the house, preparing the house for guests. Aoyuki sat on the couch as she watched the blur run back and forth.

“Mai! Stop!”

“But you’re having friends over! Friends! The house needs to be spotless! The first impression is everything! And there has to be drinks!” Mai sprinted over to the refrigerator, scavenging through it. “Do we have drinks? I’ll go get some.”

“Mai!”

“What? Oh right! We need snacks! But what would they like? Do they have food allergies? Would they prefer sweets?” Mai continued through the kitchen, searching the cabinets.

“Mai!”

“What?”

“They’re…. They’re just just classmates here to work on the project…”

“Even better! Now I just have to think of ways to make them your friends!”

“Eh?”

“Ooooo what should we do? What can I do to make you appear the slightest bit interesting…”

“Seriously!”

“Kidding, I was kidding… Oh! I got it! What if we had you sin–”

“Not happening!” Aoyuki yelled, standing up over the couch.

“Come on now, don’t sell yourself short– wait, I probably have a recording of you somewhere!” Mai quickly ran over to the couch, picking up her phone and starting scrolling through it. “Ah! This one!” Mai pressed play on the video she stopped on, which began to play an intro to a song.

Aoyuki leaped over the couch, grabbing onto her sister in an attempt to take her phone.

“Stop! That’s out of the question! Delete that!”

“Aww why? You sound so good in this one! Maybe just a little listen…”

“No!”

Aoyuki scrambled to get the phone out of her sister's hand, but she quickly evaded to the other side of the couch. Aoyuki chased Mai around the house, attempting to get the phone, a moment later someone knocked on the door.

“Oh? That must be one of them now.” Mai held out the phone in front of her, now on the couch, holding back her sister who was still grabbing for the phone.

“Stop! Please!” Aoyuki whispered.

“Fine, I won’t show them this video, I promise.” she sighed. “Now, are you going to go get the door? It’s rude to keep your friends waiting.”

“Ugh!” Aoyuki groaned as she rolled off the couch and onto the floor. “I told you… they’re just here for the group project…”

“Sure sure, of course.” Mai smiled mischievously, cleaning up the now messy couch.

Aoyuki got herself off the floor, walking over to the door to answer it. She opened it to find Jin waiting on the other side.

“Um, thank you for having me.” Jin bowed. “Sorry if I’m early.”

“No… it’s alright…” Aoyuki responded, slightly shrugging up.

Jin gave her a concerned look. “Are… you alright?”

“Oh… um… yes… it was just my sister…”

“Are you sure? It’s just… based on your hair and clothes it looks like you’ve just been in a fight…”

“Eh?” Aoyuki gave Jin a surprised response as she examined her clothes and hair, turning to the mirror beside the doorway to find them all disheveled from chasing her sister a moment ago. “Eh?” her expression quickly turned from surprise to embarrassment as she turned and sprinted up the stairs, leaving Jin at the door.

Mai watched as her sister ran up the stairs, letting out a giggle as she fixed her own hair. Jin waited at the doorway, unsure of whether or not to go in.

“Is he not coming in?” Mai got up and began to walk towards the door. “It’s ok, you don’t have to wait to be invited in. Sorry for that, my sister can be a bit of a klutz sometimes, but don’t let that stop you from being friends with…” she paused upon making it to the doorway. “... her…”

In the doorway, Jin was met with a reaction he experienced far too often, the reaction of someone who knew exactly who he was, the second they laid eyes on him.