Trace

"Um, excuse me," Natia expended all of her energy to seem polite, formal, and approachable. Because it was a skill she had never learned, she had hoped her behavior was not a chaotic disaster. She held the two dresses in such a manner that shrouded her nose and mouth in nervousness. Her social skills and manners outside of Sunlight were phenomenally abhorrent. Her eyes frequently traced themselves toward another direction, hoping Ryo would see her taking initiative to purchase her own clothes in a kind and natural manner. "I was wondering if you could tell me which dress would look better on me." She whispered.

The elderly seamstress, whose eyes were barely visible because of her aging features, smiled widely at the sight of Natia, a young female seeking fashion assistance. She took the two dresses and placed them on the countertop. Her young granddaughter also took notice of Natia's presence as she silently organized fitting room clothing from other customers prior.

"Ah, two excellent choices," The elderly woman's low voice had a hint of excitement. She threaded her hand through the silk of the first dress and twiddled her fingers through the puffy one. Natia watched as she perfected her expertise through her many years of experience, and how her young daughter's eyes sparkled in admiring glory. "These look all amazing! But, for you, I think the best one would be this small and silkier one."

"Oh," Natia muttered, retrieving the slender dress and feeling its silky texture. The young granddaughter approached her and took the other dress back behind her to put away. "Thank you."

"Do you want to know how I know that dress fits you?" The elderly seamstress asked, leaning forward to whisper in Natia's ear. "Because I saw your face when you wore it earlier. You came outside and looked so happy compared to the other one!"

"You... saw me?" Natia shyly uttered, hiding her embarrassment with the dress pushed toward her face. "W-Why?"

"Oh, dear... you and that boy are the only customers here. Of course, I would see you," The elderly seamstress admitted with a grin on her face. She leaned forward again and whispered in Natia's ear secretly. "Although I did notice you were hiding from that boy. Did you not want his opinion?"

"No, I don't think he-"

"What's the occasion?" The elderly seamstress asked with a smaller whisper. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Grandma, stop scaring the customer," The young granddaughter said. She had a light aqua-colored hairstyle with a cute and intricate puffy beige dress for decoration purposes. She approached Natia through the countertop and lightly pushed her aside in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. She's not actually supposed to work today, and-"

"Ah, I remember when I wore dresses like that in the past," The elderly seamstress spoke, causing her granddaughter to roll her eyes. "I was a young woman looking to have some fun on a Friday night. Nowadays, I can't even wear dresses like this. Sometimes, all I do is sit around and embrace the past, revisiting it when I can because of the good memories."

"Embrace... the past?" Natia's fingers slipped off of the silky dress. She caught it immediately and stumbled her steps, thinking about the seamstress's words. Although she could not blame the seamstress for not knowing Natia's background, those words stuck with her. She could not embrace it. She could not revisit it. But perhaps there was something that she could do to remove the trace of the past in her mind.

"Grandma!" The young granddaughter shouted, hoping her voice could pierce her grandmother's aged hearing. She took note of Natia's saddened and deepened expression and panicked herself. "Grandma, let me handle it. Go fold some of the clothes in the back, you're scaring her!"

"Oh, of course, Saki!" The grandmother said, blushing considerably at Natia's future choice. "I hope you pick the right one to fit yourself, young lady." She hoped before moving to the back of the room to fold clothes.

The granddaughter known as Saki sighed and shook her head at her grandmother's behavior. "I'm sorry about that. We're a small business from Japan that recently moved to Aries. My grandma doesn't really get that most people are different here, which is something I've been trying to tell her..."

"It's okay," Natia voiced out, returning to her natural demeanor. However, it was slightly altered as she respected Saki for taking her out of the awkward situation. She attempted at complimenting both of them, which was another thing she could not do out of her comfort zone. "Both you and your grandma are really nice." She said.

"Oh, thank you," Saki said, stroking her hair back to push it away from her view. "Um, anyway, will you be buying that dress?"

"I think so," Natia said, placing it on the countertop. She then placed her hand behind her pouch to retrieve her money to pay for the dress. "Here, I think this should-"

Natia turned her head to witness Saki crumpled up on the ground, placing her forehead on the edge of the countertop. Saki sobbed lightly as Natia struggled to find out how to respond to their unusual interaction. She panicked; her hands lifted themselves next to her waist and she began looking side by side around her surroundings to find Ryo to rely on. He was not there.

"Uh, are you... okay?" Natia asked, peeking her head over the countertop to see the top of Saki's blue hair.

"S-sorry," Saki's feeble voice trailed off as she attempted to return her calm composure to normal. She stood up, cracking the bones on her knee caps as she wobbled her legs. She wiped a small tear off of her left eye. "It's just that... we barely get customers these days because of my grandmother. She scares away so many of them that they leave and go to the bigger mall where there's a wider selection of clothes. We're an old-school tailoring shop that can't compete with these new designs in Aries... and it just made me so happy because you decided to stay. I'm sorry."

"H-hey," Natia had no idea how to react to the massive and unexpected bombshell of emotions Saki tossed at her. "It's okay, really. She's your grandmother. She's getting old and she doesn't know how to adapt to her new surroundings yet. If anything, you should be proud that you're staying here with her even though she's like this."

"I... I am proud!" Saki exclaimed, pulling Natia's purchased dress back to scan the price tag. However, she stopped as an invisible emotional force within her prevented her from doing so. She closed her eyes and handed her the dress after clipping off the price tag. She handed her the dress with her eyes closed shut. "You're the first to understand, which is why I believe you deserve this dress for free!"

"Wha-" Natia's eyes lit up. "Free?"

"Y-yeah!" Saki said, dropping it on the countertop on Natia's side. She slammed her hands on the countertop and pushed her upper body forward, confessing her inner emotions. "And, if you would, I'd like to hang out with you! I think you're cool, and if you're okay with it, I would like your phone number!"

"P-phone...?" Natia stammered, unsure if it was a confession of love or friendship.

"Yeah, so I can hang out with you and your boyfriend!" Saki exclaimed.

"Boy-" Natia's face spiraled out of control as she took on an aghast nervous expression with her face, wanting to expunge the idea of 'boyfriend' out of existence. Natia ducked down and copied Saki's prior nervous breakdown, hiding her face as her heart fluttered rapidly like a metronome. Her flustered self was as if steam and smoke escaped her ears in utter embarrassment. Saki took a step forward to witness it all, and she lightly chuckled at her alarmed reaction.

"Natia?" Ryo's voice abruptly came out of the blue. He wrapped his suit around his arm and approached the front countertop. "Everything okay?"

Natia shot herself back up, standing as stiff as a skeleton to pretend that nothing had happened before his arrival. She clenched her stomach tightly and pinched her cheeks together by sucking them in with her breath to make her appear innocent, but it elicited a reaction that favored the opposite completely.

Saki leaned forward and whispered into Natia's ear after seeing Ryo's presence, struck in awe by his handsome complexion. Like grandmother, like granddaughter, Natia thought. "Boyfriend?" Her gentle voice and breath tickled Natia's earlobes as if she was being teased beyond oblivion.

"N-no!" Natia shunned it, despising the word as she turned away from Ryo with her dress in hand. After Ryo was unsure of what Natia was planning with her back turned, he peeked his head inside Natia's view so that he could examine what was bothering her. Instead of Natia allowing him to do so, she spun around swiftly so that her short hair smacked Ryo on the nose. She rushed toward Saki and handed her smartphone to her so that she could type her contact information inside. "T-Type it in."

"Oh, okay," Saki giggled, enjoying Natia's obvious reaction. After typing her information, Natia swiped her phone back. She turned to Ryo and bowed respectfully to greet him. "Hello there, you must be friends with..." She gazed at Natia's contact information to obtain her name. "Natia!"

"Right, well, I'm here to buy this suit," Ryo said, handing his tuxedo over to Saki.

"Ooh, what's the occasion, may I ask?" Saki asked, scanning the price tag.

"Oh, just..." Ryo had trouble coming up with an excuse to hide the casino invasion.

"Date night?" Saki continued teasing.

"We're not doing anything like that!" Natia cried with her back turned. She spun around once more with her cheeks violated with redness before looking into Saki's eyes. "I'll text you. Bye." She said abruptly before speeding off.

Saki waved at Natia, who exited the tailor shop immediately after her flustered attitude forced her to run away. Ryo, who had been purposefully acting dense and clueless, approached Saki with a small grin on his face. "She's a friend of mine," He explained. "She's actually never been out often. Are you two friends?"

"I... well..." Saki blushed, rubbing the back of her left arm. "I guess what you could say is that I was a little impulsive. I moved here recently with my grandma trying to make a living, but because of that, all of my friends from Japan left."

"You're from Japan?" Ryo asked. "Where from?"

"Osaka," Saki said. "Are you from Japan too?"

"I'm from Asahikawa," Ryo said. "I could tell you were from somewhere like Osaka. You have a strong Kansai accent."

"Oh, thanks," Saki giggled, examining the suit that Ryo purchased. "It's always nice to see someone from Japan up here. Someone that's not my grandmother, at least," She chuckled. "I just wanted to be friends, and Natia seemed like a really nice and honest to heart person. Don't you agree?"

Ryo rewinded all of the prior experience he had with Natia and concluded that it was the complete opposite. He did, however, want to believe that they should have been factored out because of their complex nemesis-like relationship in the past. This time, now that they had a completely different experience after spending enough time with each other, especially during their meal, he had reason to believe differently.

"I agree," Ryo replied with confidence. "She is a really nice person, and I'm glad you decided to be friends with her. She needs other people out there supporting her. She's going through a tough time."

"She is?" Saki asked. She leaned forward and whispered in a hushed tone. "Would you mind if you told me what's happening with her?"

"I think you can ask her that, if you two ever decide to hang out," Ryo said. "I think it would mean a lot more to her than just me telling you."

"Maybe I can invite her back to the store again," Saki said, blushing and looking at her cellphone. She then pumped her fist beside her chest to signal a strong latent optimism. "All right, it's a deal! Thanks so much! What's your name again?"

"Ryo Nakai." He introduced.

"That's a really nice name," Saki complimented. "I'm Saki Shizuka," She flipped her hair back and moved toward the small curtain where her grandmother was folding clothes. She smiled at Ryo and gave him a curt nod of understanding. "I'll see if I can hang out with Natia. Thanks for everything, and enjoy your new suit."

Ryo smiled sincerely and bowed in respect. He then exited the store and found Natia outside reservedly crossing her arms with her dress in a bag. Instead of inquiring Natia about her unusual behavior, he leaned forward and mentioned something else.

"Looks like you have a new friend," Ryo stated, reminding her about Saki. "You're really expanding your boundaries and testing the waters. I'm a little surprised."

"Don't talk to me like I'm new at making friends," Natia mumbled. "I've got loads of friends."

"Yeah, all zero of them." Ryo teased.

Natia, enraged by Ryo's comments, chased after him with their clothes in hand. Ryo reciprocated her behavior by running back toward the middle of the grassy plaza, passing through human and alien families alike enjoying the time bathing in the sunlight.

Ryo hadn't laughed nor enjoyed his time with someone else for a very long time. He spent the majority of his childhood living in fear and guilt of having someone control him. With Natia, Ryo believed he finally had the opportunity to control himself and freely explore happiness.

Yet how was it possible to rid himself of the fear and guilt knowing that his problems still lie awake in the hearts of others? His time with Natia was only temporary, and soon, he would have to face his fears in Kathuz once more. To gain his strength back, to gain confidence, and to fix his errors were all that he ever wanted.

And he saw progress today.