104 Sick Day

Ding dong. The door bell was rung by Arata, as he stood outside of Yuriko's house. Though the reason why he's here, isn't because of his high school friend.

"Hello?" She opened the door, a mask covering over his mouth.

"Hey, is Yurisa doing all right?" He was here because of her younger sister, who had contracted a bit of a cold. As a precaution, he had his own mask on as well.

"She's sleeping right now." She told him. "My parents are out to go get some medicine and groceries."

"Darn, I guess that means what I brought won't be needed." Arata held up a bag filled with some of the healthy snacks his dad liked to eat. Along with some soup he picked up at a nearby convenience store.

Even if it wasn't needed, she appreciated the offerings. Either way, she stepped aside and let him in. Arata entered and dropped off his stuff onto the kitchen counter. With permission, he took a pot and began to boil some water to make a meal for the younger girl.

"It's too bad that you two had to miss out on playtime." He said, referring to their babysitting job. It was weird doing it without those two. Almost like a throwback to before he met them. "We all missed Yurisa."

"Yeah, I'm sure that her being gone wasn't fun." She said with a pout. That action made him realize his mistake.

"I mean, I missed you too." He said, trying to save himself. "It's funner when there's someone my age there."

"Whatever, it's not like I do that much at your place." She crossed her arms and left to go check on her sister. The sick girl should be waking up soon, so hopefully he could get his food ready in time.

Arata felt a little bad for Yuriko. That girl is his friend, yet she just gets left out when it comes to anything he's doing. The way he acted made it seem like he only was friends with her because of her sister.

"Guess who's here..." Arata had finished cooking, and peeked his head into the little girl's room. Yuriko was waiting for him, after gently waking her younger sister.

"Arata." She said, in a very weak tone. "You came." Seeing him made the sick girl perk up a bit.

"Yep, and I got something nice for you to eat." He entered the room, filled with what would expect a little girl like herself would have. Stuffed animals covered her bed, the walls had posters of idols and children's anime. The color scheme screamed pink and white.

"Thank you." Yurisa expressed her gratitude, then started getting to work on eating. Being sick built up quite an appetite for her. The trio sat mostly silent. Just allowing the little girl to get her fill.

Something seemed off about Yuriko to him. She was awfully quiet, even more so than usual. Perhaps she wasn't feeling too well herself.

"You know, I got some more soup, if you want me to-"

"I'm fine." She cut him off. "But thanks for the offer." To shut him down so easily, did he do something bad, he wondered. "I'm going to the bathroom, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Yuriko directed that to the both of them. Then she got up and exited the room, leaving only the slurping sounds from Yurisa as the only noise.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked. "Your sister seems a bit upset."

"She's only a little sad because we couldn't see you earlier today." Arata never really considered going to his place as a highlight for her day. "Because she likes you."

"Huh?" What type of declaration was this? That's hardly something she should be telling him, not that he believed it to be true anyway. "I think you're misunderstanding her."

That had to be it. It's not exactly a reach for him to believe that spending as much time as she had with him. That Yurisa came to really enjoy his company and care. Perhaps enough that she might want him to start dating her older sister, so that he could be over more often. Stuff that children get into their minds.

"I know she doesn't like me like that." He leaned into her to whisper in her ear. Even though they were alone. "To let you in on a secret, she actually has a crush on our friend, Yogi."

"I already know about that." She shook her head in response. "We've known him for a while, and I've seen how she acts around him." If she already knew, then what was up with this belief that she also liked Arata?

"Exactly, and I know you usually see me and her together. But that's only because-"

"I can tell she likes you too." Yurisa was persistent in saying this. However, that was because she knew the truth. She was getting tired of seeing her sister keep her feelings in like this. That's all she ever did, whether if it was with Yogi or Arata.

Arata sighed. There was no getting through to this girl. He was certain she was wrong. But she was very adamant, so much so that it was starting to convince even him a little.

There was no way this girl was right, right? After all, he only knew her for having a crush on Yogi. She acted like a classic tsundere towards that boy. She even punched him when Arata teased her about it a little.

Then again, it wasn't like she didn't do some of that tsun stuff towards him as well. And they did spend a lot of time together…

No. He shook his head to clear out that thought. It's not like this was going to be another Misei situation. But, it wouldn't hurt to talk to her a little, just to see how she's acting.

"I'll go talk to her." He told Yurisa. "I'll won't ask, because she'll say no either way. But I'm sure I can tell just from how she acts." He said, playing it off like he'd be certain that the little girl was wrong. But... there's never any guarantees in his life.

Arata exited the room, looking around for the girl. He was certain that she just left for the bathroom, but it wasn't far from where they were. It was also empty as he walked by it. Maybe she went to the kitchen to grab something for her sister?

He wasn't wrong with that assessment, but his timing was wrong, or right depending on how you look at it. Arata turned down to take the stairs down, but it was also the same time that Yuriko had reached the top.

They collided. Yuriko had stuff in her hands, drinks for all of them. Her feet got caught up and she was about to fall down the steps. Arata had to think fast. Using swift movements, he grabbed the rail with one hand, then stretched out his other arm to catch her.

He wrapped around and held her tight. Their faces were just mere inches apart from the other. If she wasn't holding onto some cups, she'd probably have punched him off of her out of instinct. Arata felt his hands tighten their grasp on the handrail, from more than just to keep them from falling. This position was held for some very long seconds.

"Well?" She said, getting him to focus again. "Are you going to pull me up?" He was able to do just that, getting themselves back up and restoring balance.

"Sorry." He apologized to her. From the way the liquid in her hands was moving, it was clear that her hands were shaking from that experience. Surely, he thought, that it was because she nearly took a tumble. It couldn't have been from how close they just were, right?

"Everything should be good now." She said, as they quietly closed the door to the sick girl's room. She had dropped off some water, but her little sister had already dozed off once more. "I guess if you don't need anything else from me. You're free to leave whenever you want to."

"You're awfully eager to make me leave." Why would she want to get rid of him, surely there might be something for them to spend some time on.

"It's fine, you were just here for my sister. You don't have to try and make me feel better." While it was true that he came for Yurisa, was it enough to hurt her feelings? Or was what the little girl said, true?

"Then what if I came for you tomorrow?" He said, confusing her.

"What?"

"I mean, maybe we can go and get some ice cream, or something." He scratched the back of his head. Even if this wasn't the first time he offered something like this, it never got much easier.

"If Yurisa's feeling better, then maybe." She turned around and crossed her arms. It was a poor attempt to hide how flustered his sudden offer made her.

"If she's not, then it could just be the two of us." He said, but quickly noticed the problem with saying that. "I mean, sorry. I guess you meant that you have to watch her."

"…" She turned her head slowly back to him, when he said it could be just them. "My mom's going to be home all day on Sunday. So… I'll take her if she's feeling better." For a second, she sucked in her lips. Trying to think if what she was about to say next was a good idea. "But if not, I'll see you then."

"Great." He breathed sigh of relief. Though, he wasn't sure why he was so tense over this. "I'll message you a good time, because I do have something else I need to do tomorrow first."

"F-fine." She said, pursing her lips now. "It doesn't matter to me if you can't make it." The way he saw her acting about this interaction. Those signs… Arata was starting to think that Yurisa really wasn't wrong about what she said.