Chapter 50: Friends are a precious treasure, part 2

And so, with all of their might , they literally forced me to go to the Sakura Brew Haven.

The walk towards the best place to get milkshakes was full of laughs, topics and jokes.

Benjiro told us that he met a new girl named "Hikari Shirakawa" who used to attend our same school.

He told us how much he was in love, to the point that this girl didn't leave her mind not ever for a split second.

Evangeline was really curious about this and she kept asking about some informations regarding this girl.

Then, Benjiro described her.

"Oh... well... She has short and black hair, purple eyes... a very petite physique and she is adorable when she speaks. Oh, and she also has a very small but adorable mole under her right eye... Oh i'm so in love..." Benjiro said, with a very overjoyed tone of voice.

But I knew that the description that he gave to us also perfectly matched the one of Ema's sister Kanna.

For some reason, these two girls seemed to be very similiar...

I kept listening to them while walking silently.

Evangeline then started to give Benjiro some love advices, like how he had to behave, or something to appear more cool in that girl's eyes.

Well, healthy and peaceful conversations, just like always... but Ema's absence made my heart actually feel an empty void.

So, during our walk I usually scratched my chest , where my heart was, like I wanted to wipe the pain away.

"So, Benjiro-Kun, to win a girl's heart you have to do... certain things." Evangeline said, while taking a small glance to me before speaking.

She gave me a little smile and, after an istant of silence, she started to speak with Benjiro again.

Evangeline probably done that to just check how I was feeling.

"What a good girl..." I thought.

"Mh-Mh. I'm all ears." Benjiro said with a friendly tone, while walking closer to Evangeline.

After that, Evangeline began to speak.

Suzuki was also listening to them and was walking on my left behind Benjiro and Evangeline.

She was staying silent , probably listening to our friends speaking, or because she wanted to start a conversation with me and didn't know what to say.

"Well... first of all, don't act like a cool guy or pretend you're someone who you aren't. Girls can easily sense when a man is faking his personality. So , be yourself." Evangeline said, sounding like a teacher.

Benjiro nodded at her. "Yes. Yes. What else?" He then asked.

"Second thing: don't lie! don't be too sweet around her, and more importanly: Don't act like you're her prince who came to save her life, giving her too much attention. Let her breathe!" Evangeline added.

That thing sounded a little bit personal.

"Okay. I'll take note, teacher." Benjiro said, with a sparkle of admiration in his eyes.

"Good, my student. Now, as last thing... I'll just repeat the most important thing. Don't live your life like you're only living for her by denying yourself and other things!!" Evangeline added.

Her words seemed to have hit Benjiro deeply as he remained stunned for some seconds.

Evangeline actually found out Benjiro's main problem with girls: once he meet someone new, he literally lives for them to the point where he stops living his life just to fullfill the others.

Then, after a little moment of silence, he bowed his head in gratitude.

"THANKS , EVANGELINE-SENSEI!" Benjiro said with a very grateful tone of voice.

Evangeline giggled in response.

"Oh! There's no need to thank me! Now raise your head up and continue walking!" She said with a proud smile.

"YES!" Benjiro said before starting to walk again.

All of us playfully laughed.

Simple but deep moments with friends are something we usually underrate...

Every single moment we're living is a precious treasure.

We should be grateful for every single breath.

Then, after we started walking, Suzuki finally spoke to me.

"Hey, Fumi... are you feeling okay ?" She asked, with a slightly worried tone of voice, while moving her hair behind her ear.

I must admit that I was lost in my milion thoughts.

Her words actually made me snap to reality.

"A-ah..!" I slightly gasped. "Y-Yes, I'm fine... just a little-*Fake yawn*-tired" I replied.

Suzuki giggled a little and also covered her mouth with her right hand.

"Okay... but I don't believe you... we've known each other since a lot of time... I know when you're lying or when you're sad... so I'll ask you again: Are you okay?" She asked again, with a very loving tone of voice.

I sighed a little and then replied to her. 

"Well... I guess you can say that something is happening but is complicated to explain and I don't feel like I want to talk... so-" I replied, but she interrupted me before I could finish my sentence.

"It's okay. You have my phone number. So feel free to talk me whenever you want to... Oh, and I'm free this evening if there's something you want to do." Suzuki said with a reassuring tone, like she wanted to cheer me up.

"Well..." I said, while looking down on the ground.

I didn't know what to say.

In other occasions I would've said yes but... for some strange reasons I felt like I was betraying Ema...

Maybe i was feeling like this because I was feeling positive things after my breakup... 

I felt guilty, thinking that she was crying in her house alone while I was happily hanging out with my friends... 

I felt... horrible.

"Fumi...?" Suzuki said, with a worried tone. 

Then, Evangeline turned her head towards me and called my name.

"Oh, Fumi, look!! There's a donkey flying in the sky!!" She said, with a very surprised tone of voice.

"What? Where?!" I said , while looking around in the sky like an idiot.

Then , after realizing that she was just joking, i sighed.

"Ah. You got me." I said, while letting out a small laugh with everyone else.

It seemed like that Evangeline's little joke actually cheered me up.

Then, after that little moment of playful things, we kept walking and we finally arrived at the Sakura Brew Haven.

"Oh... I can't wait to get Ayaka-San's Vanilla Shake...." Benjiro said while rubbing his hands together.

We stopped walking as soon as the big logo appeared in front of us.

Then, Evangeline turned to me and spoke.

"Oh, it seems like we arrived..." She said with a "normal" tone of voice.

But despite her attempt to sound natural, she seemed flustered as her expression darkened a little.

I could literally see that she didn't want to be there for some reason but she was forcing herself just because of us... or because of me...

"Wait for me, I'll go call Ayaka-San." He said with a proud and almost lustful smile on his face.

Well... Ayaka-San was such a beautiful woman.

Then, Benjiro walked inside the "Sanctuary" like he used to call it.

The Sakura Brew Haven was also famous for its craft beers, but it usually only served them at nights.

During the day, it just looked like a normal caféteria.

Then , I remained alone with Suzuki and Evangeline.

We looked at each other.

Evangeline was being strangely silent and... she grabbed the sleeve of my shirt for an instant, like she was searching for some kind of comfort.

Suzuki noticed that and I saw a small pout forming on her face.

Then, after some minutes, Benjiro walked out with Ayaka-San.

My best friend still had that proud smile on his face , while the owner of the Sakura Brew Haven had a motherly smile on her face.

She was still dressed with her usual green tracksuit, perfectly matched with her green and long hair tired in a ponytail.

She took a rapid glance at us and then her smile widened even more after seeing Evangeline's presence.

"Hello, my children--!" Ayaka-San said with a very cheerful tone of voice.

Well yes. 

We literally grew up with her.

She has known us since we were children, so that's why she used to call us like this.

More importantly, she was married to a man who seemed to have died in a car accident a lot of years ago.

Since then, she remained silent... 

That would've also explained why she saw us as her babies.

When I used to go at the Sakura Brew Haven with Ema, Ayaka-San once told me that she always wanted a baby, but she couldn't since her husband died.

The shock on her was so strong that she never had the force of meeting someone new.

Whenever we asked if she had the intentions of marrying again, she always said that she didn't feel the necessity of doing that since our visits were the only thing that she needed...

But for some strange reasons, I felt like Evangeline was deeply connected to her.

And her change of behavior was a hint...

I had the feeling that I was about to receive a big news.