Memory like a fading fire (Part 2)

I want to think that Takito won't leave the school, I can't know how expensive the school is since I have it all paid for me but I would like to believe that Takito will find his path in this school, is not hard to leave a school like this but leaving also means Takito will leave back all the glory that the school can bring to him, in the end, the decision is his though, I can't really force him to stay

I mean nothing in life stays the same no matter how sweet, boring, hard, or easy it is

"What are you spacing out for? We are almost here!" Takito said

His vibe was changed and that was very clear, it was more distant and cold

"Yeah..."

Both of us then entered a popular coffee shop named Galaxybucks, the girls already had occupied a table so we made our way in

"What took you so long? We already ordered!"

Seeing the girls act so casually makes me feel a bit weird

"You have Su-kun to blame! This guy was picky about not only his but my Yukata too!" Takito said with a smile as he stuck my on my back

"Well, you took too long so might as well show them to us!" Ichika said as she was sucking on a lollypop

It was cola flavored, I want to purchase a box of these when I go back since I really like them

"Here is mine! What do you think?" Takito asked them

"Whoa! What a playful color!" Trita said surprised

"Right? I was surprised I didn't see it at first, Su had to show it to me"

"What did you get Su-kun?" Yua asked me out of the blue

"I'm not showing! I want it to be a surprise to all of you"

"Hey stop that! We are going to see it anyway!" Yua whined

"Show me yours first then"

"N-No..."

"Exactly!"

Yua seemed mad when I said that

"Enjoy your drinks! Are you boys going to order anything?" The waitress said as she handed the bubble teas the girls ordered

"Just water!" Takito said

"Two chamomile teas with milk!"

The waitress then left

"Are you this thirsty?" Ichika asked me confused

"The one is for Takito-kun"

Takito was confused

"What? I didn't want one"

"I lost a bet remember?"

I didn't lose anything, after telling me all that about his family I understand why he spent so little on outside things, and why he wanted to buy the cheapest yukata

It hurts me to see him think this cautiously about the money he spends

"Excuse me! I will go to the bathroom!" Takito said as he quickly got up

"What's wrong with him?" Yua asked suddenly

"What do you mean?" Trita asked

She looked a bit offended by what Yua said

"I mean he looks a bit sad, is he okay? Did you guys fight or something?" Yua asked me

"I guess stomach ache got him! Didn't you see how fast he left the table?"

I said as I cracked a smile

The girls seemed to have believed me but judging by Yua's eyes she didn't believe me enough so I had to make sure Takito got back fast

"I will go check on him! He might be a bit dizzy from the bus ride"

I said before quickly going into the bathroom

On my way to the bathroom, my phone vibrated

It was a message from Takito

<Come to the toilet>

I opened the door to the bathroom and I saw Takito glaring at me

"Why did you do that? Are you pitying me?" Takito asked angrily

"No, I just..."

"YOU JUST WHAT?" Takito yelled

He then took a step back and apologized

"Don't do that Su-kun... I told you to forget about me..."

"I can't do that..."

"Don't make this harder than it has to be Iriasu-kun!"

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize you idiot!" Takito said as he slammed the door of a toilet next to him

"In my life, I have lost many people I don't want to admit I lost, and all of that was because of me... I'm a piece of shit for not fighting harder to be friends with them and neglecting them, the same thing is happening again in front of me so this time I won't quit, I won't let my pride get ahead of me! Please reconsider staying in Yusuke High!"

"I can't..." He replied with a rather sad look on his face

"I can help you financially! Please just try to find a reason! Even if it is silly, petty, or even straight-up disgusting, find a reason to stay with us! With ME!"

A moment of silence followed, the only thing we could hear was the buzzing sound the light made

Suddenly a loud fart disturbed the silence

I looked at Takito. He looked at me. We both quickly ran outside laughing

Ignoring everything that happened inside that room

We sat at the table and to our surprise, our drinks were here

"You seem alright! Why did you worry us, idiot?" Yua asked me

"Why am I being flamed again?" I said while trying to control my laugh

"What happened why are you laughing?" Ichika asked

I looked at Takito. He looked at me

HAHAHAHA

…

"I can't believe we are going to the Yahiko Shrine! I heard Niigata has many shrines but this one looks the best, I mean look at the images!" Takito said as she showed me images of the shrine

"I guess it's cool but please don't show me images! I want to see it with my own eyes!"

"You are like those kind of people?" Takito said with a disappointed look on his face

"What the hell do you mean "those people" why would I want to see pictures of a place I will literally see in less than thirty minutes?"

He seemed a bit skeptical but he then returned to seeing pictures

This dude is something else

I started peeking in front of me and to my surprise I saw Yua's head peeking toward me, we stared at each other for a bit but then Yua pulled her head back in the seat, and shortly after my phone vibrated

<Want to switch spots with Trita-chan?> Yua texted me

I figured that it would be good for them to sit together so I sent a thumbs-up emoji and I got up to switch spots with Trita

"Why are you switching places?" Terresa asked us confused

"I feel kind of dizzy so I asked Trita to swap places with me"

"Hmmm, okay" Terresa said as she returned to her seat

I then sat near Yua...

It is kind of awkward, nobody is saying a word, I guess I have to take the initiative again

"Why did you text me to come here?"

"I just wanted to have someone to talk to"

"You had Trita"

"W-Well it's not the same!"

Yua got a bit red saying that

"What do you want to talk about then?"

"Well to be honest I wanted to ask you something"

"Okay, I'm all ears"

"Have you ever been to Japan?"

That question caught me off guard, I mean I know the answer but asking me that after we spent so much time together is kind of off

"The truth is that I have spent some years here, but it was when I was a young kid and my memories of that time are basically nonexistent, why do you ask?"

"I just got a feeling that you have been here, it sounds crazy to me that you don't remember anything"

"Yeah, it sounds crazy to me too..."

Saying this out loud made me realize how clear it was, for some reason after I arrived in Japan I started behaving like everyone without having any time to adapt

What I mean about that is that I started to have the habits Japanese people have without having anyone to tell me to do that and I also had an easy time learning Japanese and reading, it just felt natural

As for my actions, they felt mechanical and obvious, but to act like that you have to learn these habits while you are still young, the type of habits that are never forgotten until the day you die

I didn't feel like I moved to a different place

I felt like I returned to the place I belonged...

"Yua, do you happen to know me from the past?"

Yua's face shifted dramatically when I asked that

"Why do you ask that?"

"Because it seems weird, every time I see you, you make me feel like I can act however I want, I feel like I don't have to put up an act, and no matter what I do you won't judge me, it's like you know the real me"

"Are you sure what you feel is love and not the feeling of hanging with an old friend?"

I slowly turned to Yua and she was bright red

I felt my heart beating strongly, the only thing I could hear was the beating of my heart, and that alone

"Love you say? I don't know if I could call it that... Familiarity would fit the description more, don't you think?"

"P-Probably..." Yua said as she looked at her legs

WHAT AM I SAYING????

IT'S LOVE

L-O-V-E

Why the hell did I say otherwise?

Now my heart is beating even stronger and faster

"Su-kun?" Yua said

"What?"

"I'm a coward!" She said as she got off her seat, she then went to the back of the bus and changed seats with Takito

"What happened, dude? Yua-chan seemed tense"

"I might be stupid..."

…

Some time passed and we finally arrived at the shrine, a person was waiting there to greet us, he told us some facts about the shrine and then allowed us to explore it on our own

"Let's pass through the Torii gate!" Ichika said

Everyone bowed their heads so I did too, we then passed through the right side of the Torii gate

It was very beautiful, the nature around the shire was gorgeous and the silence it had was enjoyable

We then purified our hands and mouth so we could pray

Once we reached the altar, we quietly threw a coin into the offering box.

Rang the bell to greet the deities

Bowed twice

Clap our hands twice, expresed our joy and respect toward the deities

We said a prayer with our hands still together

We bowed one more time and then left

I took part in that process too, and I prayed for good luck

After all that it was finally time for us to take our charms or omamori, they are charms that bring good luck, some of them also had a specific focus, but what made me interested was the Kanai-Anzen, which brings protection to your family

Surprisingly enough most girls also bought specific ones

Ichika bought a Yaku-yoke

Trita bought a Gakugyō-jōju, and Takito bought the same

As for Yua, she bought an En-musubi which is a charm to find love

The shrine also had the luck based charms that we would burn in the fire dance, unlike omamori, those charms were more casual, at the end of the year we were said that we have to return the omamories here so they can properly dispose of them, but the other luck charms were more like a gacha thing than a religious or spiritual thing and the range of luck could differ

At least that was what it said on the outside of the machine we drew the charms

"I got natural luck! What is this supposed to mean?" Ichika said as she opened her charm, she looked annoyed

"You shouldn't rely on your luck since it will more likely disappoint you! That's written on my charm" Ichika continued

"Good luck! You will do good in school/work, sweet!" Takito said with a smile

"Me too! But mine says you will be lucky with your lover..." Yua said as she showed us her charm

"Situational luck? It says sometimes can end up bad and sometimes good for you, what even is that luck of mine?" Trita said confused

"What did you get Su-kun?" Ichika asked

She probably saw the weird face I made

"Terrible luck, bad energy will follow you in your life so if you are not a hardworking or smart person then pray hard to god, why the hell is mine so ominous?"

"Don't worry about it, it is simply a gacha thing, since you have an omamori you will be okay!" Takito tried to brighten me up

"I guess you are right.."

…

After spending some time at the shrine the time to leave quickly arrived

I left this place back with a pinch of anger, is not like I believe that stupid gacha thing, but "Terrible luck" is the last thing I want now...

"You should at least throw the charm in the garbage"

Terresa said as she handed me the torn to-pieces charm I destroyed and threw not long before

We then got on the bus and started to leave

Goodbye, and next year may god bless me with extraordinary luck...