131 New Resolve

Arata tried his best to move on from that terrifying experience. While it wasn't easy to just forget, the boy was going to make sure everyone else was having fun. This day wasn't going to last forever, so they'd eventually have to say their farewells. That meant doing one major thing.

"I wonder where the elderly are?" He asked out loud while everyone was leaving the fortune's place.

"I'm guessing you want to take a picture with everyone?" Erina smiled as she pulled out her camera.

"I did." He was impressed that she was able to read his mind. Though, it was partially because she wanted to do it. The blackmail incident did more than just introduce Arata to everyone here. It was thanks that, that everyone became this group became whole.

"If you want, I can go grab my sister and her friends to join us." Yuriko joined in the conversation.

"Well, you don't have to go out of your way for just me." He responded. "But if they want to, then I'd love their company." The boy was glad that they could have so many people he could call friend. There really were all types of people he met along the way. Though some of them, he'd rather not run into right now.

"Hey look, it's Yurisa's older sister." A small boy spoke up, which drew their attention. Of course, saying Yuriko's sister's name would do that. Also not a surprise was his older sister, Rouza, was with him.

"Don't say it so loud." She scolded him, a bit miffed that she was stuck with another conversation with them. "Hey." The girl greeted them with a rather harsh tone.

"Hello to you too." Arata wasn't looking forward to. Especially considering the last time he ran into this girl. However, unlike before, she seemed to not be in the mood for bullying.

"We were just walking back to my family." Yuriko took command of this conversation. They lagged behind the others as they talked. "So, I guess this is also goodbye." All she wanted to get out of this awkward situation as quick as humanly possible. That was on all their minds, but something was going to make this go the opposite of what they desired.

"So, you're going to Yurisa?" Ruo asked, perking up a bit. "I mean, that sounds like fun…" Arata could tell from the way he was acting what he really wanted out of this.

"Do you want to go see your friend?" He crouched down to the little boy's level to talk with him.

"Hey! Don't go acting so friendly with my brother." Rouza was not a fan of this interaction. For once, Yuriko also agreed with her.

"She's not my friend, but…" The boy didn't finish his sentence, but it was more than enough for Arata. He turned up to look at his friend, and his bully, and silently pleaded to them to just drop their hostility for now.

"Okay, we'll go if they'll have us." It took a lot of effort for Rouza to ask for permission.

"And you guys can join us, if you want to." Yuriko was the same way in allowing them to join. The little boy had a silent cheer and the four of them rejoined the group towards their destination.

It didn't take long to locate their parents. It also was easy to find the elderly, as they knew these kids would be coming here soon.

"It's nice to see you again Arata." Hine greeted them as they got close. "And it looks like you've brought some new friends." She commented on Rouza and Ruo, who had gingerly made their way to the rest of the little children.

"That's one way of describing them." Even though he was the one that convinced the others to let her join. It wasn't that he was glad to have them. Nor was everyone on board with that plan either.

"How could you invite them?" Ichiri scolded him when she saw the girl with them.

"How'd you know that I did that?" She wasn't with them during that conversation, so he felt that it was a bit rushed to accuse him. Even though that was the truth.

"Because you're the type of person to just forgive someone of doing something really bad." She was getting peeved off from that type of behavior. "I know we've talked about it, but I just don't know how you can keep doing it."

"Well, I'd say he's learned from some really smart people." Hine told her in a bragging manner. As much as Arata wouldn't admit it, that woman really did rub off a lot on him. "But I don't think him forgiving people of their flaws is really your problem here." She threw out some shade towards the younger girl as bait for trying to force her to admit her real problem.

Some people might take issue that Arata is willing to forgive transgressions towards him. However, some might even think he's being nicer to people that have wronged him, then the ones that have always been on his side.

"What? I-I-I don't know what you're… You're talking about." That got Ichiri to act really defensively. "I'm just saying some people need to learn their lesson, that's all. You see, I've always been a good girl. So I don't need to learn it." Arata just stared at her with a blank expression. While she might not need lessons on treating people well, she did need them on humility.

"Well, I suppose we should get to why you're all here." Hine simply laughed at her declaration. "You are all here to take a group photo with us, correct?"

"Right, so we should all get together to get one done." Said Arata, who got the attention of all the girls.

"Ooh, can I stand next to you?" Matsu was on top of things. However, being very loud about it only brought some of the others to ask the same thing. Arata felt surrounded by them, but he had a plan on getting out of situations like this.

"Actually, I'm sitting in the middle with Yogi." He said, while grabbing the other boy out of the conversation he was in.

"We are? Cool." Yogi didn't mind this arrangement at all. Disappointed, everyone else took their own spots around this large grouping. Arata's mother took Erina's camera and stood before them all to take a good picture. There was only one thing left for her to do before finishing the task.

"Aren't you going be in the picture?" She asked Rouza, who had been standing off to the side while her brother was with the rest of the children.

"Well, I'm not really anyone's friend here." She was caught off guard at being asked this. The girl felt everyone's eyes on her, which was making things rather awkward.

"But you're with us right now. Come on, it would be a shame if we ended up forgetting you were here." Arata wasn't a fan of how pushy his mother was being. However, what he did know was how she was speaking from experience. "Please, it might seem embarrassing, but I know in the future. You'll be glad you did it."

"...Fine." She said, only slightly entering the frame off to the side. Rouza didn't even bother to pose or smile for the camera. Instead, she stood barely facing the front with arms crossed.

That was good enough for Arata's mom, who got the camera ready to take picture to cap off this day.

"You know, the wish I made last year came true." Yogi told him right before the picture was to be taken.

"Really? What did you wish for?" The answer Arata got wasn't in the form of words. But it was clear what it was when Yogi took an arm and squeezed the two together. His grin was a mile wide.

Arata could only sigh in response. This really was the life he ended up being forced to. But just like the look on his face when the camera took the photo.

He was going to live it with a smile on his face.