Ice Delight

"So she said to wait here?" Arata asked himself out loud. After some tea with Hine and Hifumi, he found himself standing outside by the park. With the turn towards the end of Autumn, this cold air was beginning to give him a chill. Perhaps offering ice cream wasn't the brightest idea, even if he never cared for the best and worst time to eat it.

He put his arms around himself, a futile attempt to battle against the freezing breeze hitting his body. It seemed this day took a much colder turn than yesterday. Even if he hadn't been waiting long, his patience was wearing thin. Thankfully, she made it on time, and she wasn't alone either.

"Arata!" A little bit of a surprise from her, but Yurisa had gotten over her cold from the day before as well. The little girl ran up to him and gave him a tight hug to his leg. "I'm all better now." She turned her head up, a big smile shined from her face.

"That's great." He pat her on the head, glad to see her so cheerful.

"It looks like it's a bit cold for ice cream, don't you think?" Yuriko commented on the weather. Her usual crossed arm stance was used for keeping warm, rather than some response to something she didn't like.

"The place that I was planning on taking us, also serves some hot chocolate. I'm sure they also got some other good stuff for the Winter." He said, though he never tried any of the other things on the menu. Hopefully they were as good as the only thing he did try on said menu.

Arata led them to the location he had in mind. It was a relatively popular locale, with a decent amount of patrons as they entered. The inside was absolutely magnificent.

The lights shone onto the dark wooden walls. Illuminating a warm tone for the senses. Accented by the artworks that hung around the room, their light colors popped out in contrast to what they were displayed on. However, what they were here for, what everyone was here for, was the decadent treats, proudly laid out within a glass display.

"Whoa, everything looks so yummy." Yurisa shoved her face up to the glass display, her warm breath fogging it up. She was enamored by the vast amount of choices there were to eat.

"I guess you two can choose what you want first." He told them, while he took a closer look at the menu he had seen many time. Yet never actually paid attention to. There was one that grabbed his attention, the one that called itself a new item for the upcoming Winter. The name was 'Hot & Cold Chocolate', which seemed like an odd mix for him. "What's that?" He asked the person running the front.

"That's our specialty, it's a unique mix of hot chocolate, with chocolate ice cream on the inside."

"I'll take it." The words 'ice cream' was more than enough to convince him.

Now, with their orders in front of them. There was only one thing left to do. Actually take a bite. The way his treat was created, was that the ice cream was put into a fried shell to protect it from the hot chocolate. At least until he took a spoon to take out a piece.

Carefully, he took one out. The shells had absorbed the liquid, yet still didn't show any signs of melted ice cream. The moment he put it into his mouth, that moment was pure bliss. That crunch, the way the ice cream just melted into his mouth. Mixing with the hot chocolate all at the same time.

"Mm-hmm!" He couldn't resist sending out an audible sound of euphoria from the delicious favors his taste buds were getting.

"Can I try some?" Yurisa asked, intrigued by the effect it was having on him.

"Of course." He offered a spoonful to her. "Do you want one too?" Arata asked Yuriko.

"No, it's fine." She took a bite of her chocolate cake in response. "I gotta say, you really like ice cream."

"Yeah, I guess I do." He replied. His eyes turned down after he said that, the smile he had just a moment ago disappeared. The only thing left now was a blank stare.

"Are you all right?" She asked with concern.

"Huh?" He snapped his head back up. "Oh, sorry I was just thinking…" For a second, he contemplated if he should tell her. It's something that he considered serious, but it was like he was compelled to be honest about his feelings. "I guess ice cream has some meaning to me."

"I just thought it was because it's super yummy?" Asked Yurisa.

"It is really yummy." He replied. "But…" It was more than just a tasty treat for him. For her to really understand where he was coming from, the story had to begin on that fateful day. The day that changed how he would live his life.

After he got so badly beaten, that he was sent to the hospital. Arata was so upset, so mad at everyone. But most importantly, he was angry at himself. For the days he was there, recovering from his injuries. The little boy would hardly ever speak. Not even when his parents came to see him when they had the time.

Things weren't that much different once he had healed and was sent home. The wounds were one, but his spirit was not fixed. All day, he would spend his time just lying in bed. Not wanting to go anywhere, do anything.

No matter what he parents tried to do, nothing they said to him got through. They were concerned that he could become a recluse at this point, and he was barely ten. Things started to change, when his sister tried to talk with him.

"Arata?" She said to him, slowly entering his room. The place was a mess, clothes were strewn across the floor. His bowls were yet to be returned to the kitchen. "Can I come in?"

"...Fine." He replied, then turned to face away from her in his bed.

"I got you some ice cream." She procured a small cup that she picked up at a nearby store. At first, he didn't respond, but slowly his head turned to look at it. Without saying a word, he took it from her, and took a spoonful.

"It's good…"

"That's good to hear."

"I'm not going to go anywhere near people, not again."

"Arata…" She was saddened to see her little brother, so unhappy over what happened. He already didn't want to be near people, but this event pushed him over the edge. "It's okay, I won't force you too."

"You won't?"

"I know that mom and dad want you to, but I won't make you." She told him. "But it's not good to not talk, so how about this? If you ever want to talk about anything, then I'll try my best to talk with you. We'll even get ice cream if you get sad again…"

"…And that's what we did, before she left for college." Arata finished his story to them.

"I see." Yuriko faced turned grim, she had an absurd amount of force for gripping her fork right as she heard that story. "So that's what happened to you..."

"Ah…" He put his hands up to try and calm her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make everything a downer. I was just telling you why, it's really not that big of a deal to me anymore."

"But it did, for years, right?" She asked, her tone had a concerted effort put into it. All the while, she stared hard at her hand, slowly turning into a fist.

"Sure, but really. It's not a big deal to me anymore." He said again, trying to assure her. "Things are different now."

"Sister, please. You're scaring me." Yurisa pulled on her big sister's sleeve, calming the girl. Yuriko immediately relaxed her body, dropping the fork she was holding.

"Right, I didn't mean to make you scared." She said, hugging her head. Her actions worried Arata. Sure, he knew that his story might be upsetting to some, but that reaction seemed over-the-top to him.

"We should get going." Yuriko got up from her seat. "I'm pretty much finished with my food now." They planned on leaving, but a voice called out that they hadn't heard in a while.

"Ah, Arata. It's a nice surprise to be running into you." An elderly lady walked up to the trio. It was Asasuzu Omachi, Hine's friend. The one that used to own this place. Someone that they had met back during the Summer break, that trip they all took together. "And your name was… Yuriko?"

"Yes." She answered. "And this here is my little sister, Yurisa."

"Ah, it's nice to meet you." She bent down to greet the little girl. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised to see you here. After all, you are a big fan of our treats."

"You could say that…" Arata responded bashfully. "But, why are you here? I thought you said that you gave the stores to your son?"

"Ha, I'm not here to run the place. I'm just a patron for today." She laughed. "I was supposed to meet my granddaughter here, but it looks like she's running late."

Asasuzu explained to them, that her young granddaughter sometimes helped out at the place. She would be the niece of the son that she gave the store to. Her daughter didn't want to run the place, so she refused ownership to focus on other parts of her life.

"But today's a day off for her, so she wanted to talk to me about something that's come up at school. Actually, I think she goes to the same school as you two."

"Really?" Yuriko paused to think about it. "What's her name? We might know her."

"Oh, it's-" However, her answer wasn't needed. As the granddaughter she was talking about came in. And as it turned out, it was someone that they knew.