Twenty-Two

"Akane-chan." Agari-san furrowed her brows on seeing me. "I am really sorry... for your loss."

"We are." Watase-san added, an equally solemn look on his face.

Hearing that reminded me all the more about what had happened. I also remembered our shrine date and the promised festival date.

Oh, Shibata-kun.

I ended up just nodding and looking down at my feet. Chiyo, who was standing next to me, took hold of my free hand. I was just carrying one bag containing my basic belongings and Terasaki-san was carrying his and Chiyo's. Training at the shrine entailed actually staying there and hence, we had locked up our home for the time-being.

"Watase-san." Terasaki-san spoke up. "We would like for you to take off the charm."

"The bracelet?" He looked at me. I nodded. "Then, could you hand it to me for a little while?"

I held it in my hand briefly before giving it to him after taking it off.