Haunting (Panty) Shot

Arata and Yuriko finally returned after that small adventure. Upon her return, she had a mouthful to say to the children responsible for it. So much so, that he didn't really feel a need to say anything himself. Her words were enough of a punishment.

"We're sorry." They all said in unison. Their heads all bowing to the two of them.

"All's well that ends well." He responded, forgiving them. "But why did you do it?" Arata asked, but he already knew the answer.

"We just wanted you to get together." Yurisa admitted. That was a lot more direct than he was expecting. "You're always hanging out together, and we just thought you needed a little push."

"Push?" The only time these children saw them together, was when they were watching over them. Surely there was no way some people would take that as romance. At least, that's what he figured, but who knows?

"Sheesh, Yurisa why?" Yuriko shook her head in disappointment. Without warning, she grabbed her sister's arm. "I'm sorry, but we need to talk privately."

"Umm…" Arata was concerned at what was unfolding before his eyes.

"I'm not going to get mad at her, it's fine." She assured and moved towards a corner of the room. Away from any peeping eyes.

Hopefully, she wasn't going to do anything he wouldn't approve of. With that, he decided to rejoin the others who had just finished up setting things up. This little party for the kids was about to begin.

"This is going to be a lot of fun." Yogi commented, elated that they were going to be enjoying a little bit of the holiday festivities. "Right Yuki?"

"Yeah…" She had a much more muted tone compared to his. Parties are far from her strong suit, to say the least of it. If anything, she absolutely dreaded the idea of a party.

This one particularly more so, because of her agreement with Arata.

"Come on, Yuki." Arata offered his hand to her. "We should talk with some of the kids." He knew her type, she was definitely going to just sit off somewhere alone, unless he intervened.

Wow, the two of you really got close, didn't you?" Yogi commented, glad at this development. Of course, he didn't know the true nature of what was going on.

So Arata took her by the hand and pulled her along to some school children. She was nervous, this was going to be one the first time she spoke to people that she didn't know without her cousin by her side. At least, since coming back to Japan. Thought they were almost half her age, that fact didn't make her feel better about this.

"Hello, are you all having fun?" He brought them to some kids he never met before. Surely they'd be nice though, since none of the kids he knew in this classroom mentioned any trouble makers.

They nodded in response, their smiles made it clear that was the truth. This seemed like a good spot to start, just a small group of kids. Two boys, and two girls. This should be safe for Yuki, he thought.

"H-hi." Yuki spoke up, when he nudged her a little with his arm. "Do you… Think the… Decorations look nice?" She asked, barely able to come up with any subjects to talk about.

"They're really nice and scary." One of them said. "Did you put them up?"

"I might've done... a little of it. Yes." She said it as if she was guilty of something. When all they were giving was a compliment.

"How come you're so small?" One of the girls asked. "Aren't you the same age?" Now things were moving in a direction she wasn't a fan of.

"We are…" She said, feeling ashamed by her lack of growth. "I'm just late at growing, that's all." At least that's what she told herself to make her feel better.

"Really?" One of the boy said. "But my big sister is already more grown up than you, and she's only in junior high."

"Oh, um." He could tell that she was already floundering. The kids weren't trying to be mean or anything. Just confused given their small worldview and knowledge. Arata believed it was time for him to step in now.

Before he got the chance to, Yuki was already taking defensive movements away from them. They posed no threat, but she was feeling attacked. She took some steps backwards, but she didn't see a leftover decoration on the ground behind her. She slipped and tumbled down backwards to the ground.

"Oof." She said, rubbing her back in pain. When she looked back up, she saw something horrifying. Her panties were on full display to both Arata and the children, though the former was kind enough to avert his gaze. Quickly, she shoved her skirt down to hide her decency, but it was already too late.

"Her underwear…" One of the girls saw what was on it. Something that she was hoping they wouldn't catch. "Was that a 'Pretty Heal' girl?" No, Yuki thought. They actually caught it.

"'Pretty Heal'?" One of the boys said. "Isn't it that show you both like to watch?" She couldn't bare to hear them talking about it. She knew what they were thinking. They thought she was some baby that likes to watch baby shows. Tears started to form in her eyes. Desperate to get out of there, she got up and ran from them.

"Yuki…" Arata said, about to give chase. Until he was stopped by another little girl. Yurisa, to be specific.

"Can I talk to her?" She asked, having seen the whole thing. Yuriko was behind her, backing her up in this.

"Yeah, you have better things to do right now."

"What better things do…" He turned over to the kids that he was chatting with. "… Go ahead, I'll take care of things here." He let her go, and the pair went to go look for Yuki.

It wasn't that hard to find her. The girl simply ran to the nearest bathroom and locked herself in one of the stalls. She sat on the toilet, knees up to her face, crying to herself. Yuki felt she really made herself look like a fool, just like she always did.

No matter how hard she tried, she always felt like she did something to mess things up. Embarrassing herself in front of her peers. Now she did it to children half her age. Yuki thought she must be the biggest loser in the world. While sobbing to herself, a knock came to her door.

"Occupied." She responded, unable to hide her sniffling.

"It's us." Yurisa said through the door.

"Yeah, we're making sure you're all right." Yuriko followed up. "I'm guessing you're feeling pretty bad right now."

"Why are you even talking to me?" She replied. "And what about Yogi?"

"Well, he wanted to talk to you." Yuriko explained. "But I'm not about to let him into the girl's bathroom at an elementary school."

"And we wanted to talk to you because... Arata's trying to help you, right?" She couldn't believe that they somehow knew that, Arata wouldn't have broken his promise so soon.

"And what if he is? I mean, it's just between the two of us." Yuki deflected.

"Because I understand how you feel." Yurisa explained. "I mean, I used to be shy. Scared of people too." But it was thanks to him, that she came out a bit more. She always felt like she was a burden, but he showed her that wasn't the case. Arata improved her relationship with her older sister by making her open up a bit. To express her feelings, just a bit more.

"Yeah, he's been more than helpful for us." Yuriko continued on. "Which is why I'm repaying the favor." Of course he'd try and take care of this on his own. She could even see herself a bit with that thought process. But that was why she couldn't just leave him be on it, even if Yuki wanted it to stay private.

"Will you come with us back to the classroom?" When she heard that, Yuki slowly opened the door to her stall. She was still wiping away from tears from her cheeks.

"Are you sure? I mean, they'll probably still make fun of me if I come back."

"They weren't trying to." Yurisa clarified. "They just didn't know that you would feel bad about it."

"Yeah, and I doubt any of them are thinking of doing it now." Yuriko was confident in Arata's swift retribution to them.

"I can't wait anymore!" A boy's voice came ringing in. It was Yogi, who was concerned over his cousin's well-being "Are you okay Yuki?!"

"This is the girl's bathroom, get out of here!"

One slap later, and the group was now making their return back to the classroom. Yuki could finally see what they claimed was going to happen.

"We're sorry." The children hung their heads in front of Arata, whom had just scolded them.

"Don't say sorry to me." He responded, arms crossed to assert his dominance. "When she gets back, I want you all to apologize for making her feel uncomfortable." As he was saying that, they all saw her make her return. Quickly, the kids ran up to her, and asked for forgiveness.

"We're sorry." They all said in unison.

"Yeah, we weren't trying to make fun of you." One of them said.

"We were just curious, that's all." Another one continued on. "And we think it's cool that you like the show."

"It's okay." Yuki smiled, relieved that they weren't trying to be mean to her. Realizing that her fear might've been a bit overstated. "I forgive you."

"I'm glad that you came back." Arata awkwardly came up to her, his hands behind his back. "I also want to apologize. It's not like I want to put you into any bad spots."

"It's fine." She said. "You're trying your best, and… I want to try my best too."

"Yeah, Yuriko leaned into the conversation. "And don't think that you'll be doing it on your own." Arata nervously laughed, realizing that they knew the truth now. "We all want you to be a little more open to us, so don't think you should have to do it without any help."

"Right, I guess I still need to remember that." He admitted, glad that she was on his side. "Anyway, how about we get back to this party?"

That was agreed upon by everyone, who was ready to have a little more fun before this day ended. While today wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination for Yuki. She couldn't deny that it was also the most fun she had in a long time.