Daishi and Delilah

My hands were clasped together and eyes were closed.

…And then we came back from the trip and told the orphanage what we did. Let me tell you, Mom and Dad, they were furious.
We've been grounded for the rest of the year, which means we can't go out unless it's for school and therapy. We can still do peer outin’s, just not with each other. That doesn't really bother us since we can still hang out in the orphanage. We also had our phones taken away for a month, and they gave us these temporary flip phones so they can still keep contact with us. Again, that doesn't bother us too much, but it did suck for D4Dream and music. Whatever, the crime was worth it. The only punishment that does bother me is the fact that our duties are doubled now. That's pretty much it, I'm happy I can remember you guys now. I have to go to therapy now, but it was good talkin' to you. Thank you.

I stood up from the grave with my eyes on the offering, a Toki apple from Aomori.

"I forgot to say, but tell Yoru-chan's parents I want to confess to her, okay? Thanks."

It was the Saturday of the same week, and I left the cemetery to head to my morning session of therapy. I elected to stop by the pie shop for a quick snack, despite not technically being allowed to go there. Inside the shop, I saw Daishi working the register; it was my first time seeing him since leaving for the trip.

"Vieira-senpai!" he exclaimed. "How was the trip? Where'd you go? What'd you bring me? How you do'n?"
He was like a puppy seeing his best friend return.
"It'll be the usual order, right?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'm doin' good. There's a lot I have to tell you about the trip, but I'll do it at school when I give you the souvenir. I don't have time today, goin' to a therapy session right now."

After a moment of waiting, Daishi handed me my slice of key lime pie and matcha latte to go.

"Thanks. See you soon, Daishi-kun…"
There was a dim change in color across his face had caught my eye.
"What's wrong?"

"I want t’make a request, but it's probably too much t'ask for."

I grew more curious. My underclassman was having trouble with something and it was my job to help him out.
"Hit me with it, I'll do my best to help."

He was trying to find the right words to ask. Once he did, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
"I want to go with you to your therapist… I think I might need t'talk with one too."

My eyebrows raised to widen my eyes.
"W-Wow, I wasn't expectin' that. U-Um, is everythin' okay with your family?"

"Yeah, things are fine there. I just…I just want a place to vent, and I ain't tell'n my mom, see'n how fragile she is. So I've been think'n about find'n a therapist."

I had believed families were supposed to tell everything to each other, but perhaps when something was partially broken, it was easier for the rest of it to fall too, which explained his caution. I looked at the time on my phone and saw that I'd been running late soon.

"Daishi-kun, if you can get off work now, I'll take you. My therapist is a good man and will take a walk-in for me."

"You f'real? On it!"
He didn't hesitate to go to the back of the shop.

I waited by the door for a few minutes and he eventually came out in his regular clothes. Apparently he had someone cover his shift. I led him to Dr. Shizuko's house.

"Hey, you want pop rocks? Got a bag on me."

I had finished my key lime pie and was sipping on the remainder of my latte.
"I'm quite full now, so no thanks."

"Got'cha."

We arrived at the house and I led him to the waiting room where Dr. Shizuko was expecting me.

"Good to see you again, Chamaru-kun. Who's this you've brought with you?"
He walked over to shake hands with Daishi.

"I'm Ashikaga Daishi, a second-year in high school. I burdened Vieira-senpai with bring'n me here because I feel like I need t'talk about some things that have been bother'n me."

"I'm Shizuko. I've been Chamaru-kun's therapist for roughly six years now. I––"

A fourth party entered the room, interrupting the therapist.
"Daddy? Did you start work already?"

Daishi and I turned around and looked down to see little Delilah still in her morning pajamas. She held a teddy bear over her chest and was transfixed on the boy she hadn't seen before.

"Are you daddy's new patient?" she asked him, rubbing her eyes.
Once her vision became clearer, she realized his physique.
"Woah, you're big! Bigger than Matcha-kun!"

He turned towards me with a raised eyebrow and a slightly amused smile grew on his face.
"'Matcha-kun' huh? I'm go'n to start call'n you that too."

She pouted, "What~? That's my name for him, make up your own."

He bent his knees to be eye-level with her, his amused smile turned genuine the more they looked at each other. He then patted her on the head and frizzed her hair more than it already was.

"Got'cha kid, check this out."
He stood up and faced me.
"Senpai, do you know what the Hindi for 'cha' is?"

"Chai?" I responded.

"Exactly, I knew you'd know it, Chai-maru-senpai."

Delilah and her dad both snickered at the name, and I couldn't fight back the grin that Daishi was hoping for.

"That's a good name~! Hey, can you come up with a name for another one of my friends?"

"I'd love to, but it looks like you just got out of bed and haven't eaten. Your stomach will get hungry. Why don't you feed it now so you'll have plenty~ of energy to talk afterwards? We'll discuss names later."

"Oh, okay!" she cheered. "My daddy is fantastic at his job, so you won't regret talking to him! See you later then."

She left the room and we turned back to Dr. Shizuko. He directed his narrowed eyes at Daishi.

"You handled that pretty well. Usually if I have a patient here who she likes, she won't leave even for food."

"Well…she reminds me of my little sister. She was equally talkative and chipper, which was one of her best qualities."

"Was, you say."
Dr. Shizuko shifted his eyes to me, and I gave him a pout of unfortunate confirmation.
"Very well, Ashikaga-san, take a seat here while I do my session with Chamaru-kun. Once we're done, I'll see you after."

He displayed an open smile and bowed. "Thank you, Shizuko-sensei."

For most of my session, I got lectured by Dr. Shizuko about the Aomori trip. In contrast to the caregivers, I actually paid attention because of my respect for him. After the lecture, he switched gears.

"I must say, I'm very proud of how much you've changed since the peer outings began five months ago, after five and a half years of nothing."

"I didn't expect it either, but I guess I have changed a bit. It's pretty much thanks to the girl who joined me on the first outin'."

We talked about the positives of the trip like my memories returning, alongside my feelings for Ringomori due to the Proust effect and how we reconciled because I used my other senses to see the situation at its purest. On the topic of her, I wanted to confirm something with my therapist.

"You knew about my past with Ringomori-san, didn't you?"

Dr. Shizuko slouched back in his chair and rubbed his chin.
"Indeed I did. I couldn't tell you because I abided to the laws of confidentiality, but Yoru-san has instructed me that if you ever figured it out on your own, then I can speak about it."

"How long have you known us [Her]?"

"I started seeing her around the time her mother became ill, as we intersected paths through my wife. She would talk to me about her situations with her father and a 'lost friend' and I connected the dots to you since I had been treating you for some time already. I knew losing both parents and a dear friend was a heavy toll, so when she entered the orphanage, I took her in as a patient. Then you moved to the same place and you both brought each other together."

I pondered his response.
"Sensei, have you ever thought of us [Her] like a daughter?"

"Great, now you're on board with this "Us" thing too, you two are weird."
He thought deeply about the question, then came to an answer.
"She's definitely like a sister to Delilah, but perhaps you should ask my wife that question instead."

My session ended, and the two of us entered the waiting room where Daishi and Delilah were talking on the couch. She had a bag of pop rocks in her hand and was laughing hysterically at the sensation in her mouth. I don't think I had ever seen him smiling that much before either.

"Ashikaga-san, I'll be seeing you in my office now," Dr. Shizuko directed.

Daishi stood up astutely and bowed.
"Yes, sensei, on my way."
He then turned to Delilah.
"That was fun, Delilah-chan."

"Mhm~! Thanks for the pop rocks, I hope you bring more next time."

"Finally, someone accepts them," he said while shifting his eyes towards me.

"You never found the right time to offer them to me," I protested. "Anyways, I'll be headin' back now, you should know your way home from here, so good luck in there."

"Right, thanks again, Chaimaru-senpai. I owe you big time for this."

I said goodbye to everyone and left the house.

Returning to the orphanage, I had realized I was missing her. Her. The only girl I'd ever miss. I would see her soon, but I was eagerly anticipating our next peer outing when our punishment ended.

That would never happen.