You stare at Emma a bit before putting the sticker back into your pocket.
"He's my friend."
"Friend?" She questions. You slowly nod. She nods too and looks back at her clothes.
"It's been a long time since I heard that name." Emma slowly says.
"Huh?" You look at her confused. She smiles and puts her clothes away.
"Izana... he has tan skin? Kinda like a foreigner?" She asks. You slowly nod. She nods and smiles more.
"He's my brother."
"HUH! He doesn't look like your brother!" You say in shock. She laughs and turns towards you.
"Wait! Do you like him?" She asks.
"I-"
"You know he's like- way older than you."
"What are you talking about."
"Isn't he like in his twenties?"
"I think-" You say, furrowing your eyebrows.
"You like older guys?" She chuckles.
"No!" You say shaking your head fast. She laughs again and takes a deep breath. She stands up and sits beside you.
"I haven't seen Izana in years... Last time I saw him was when he- left with child services."
"Child services?" You look at her.
"Mhm-" She hums.
"I don't remember much... It's been so long." She smiles. "I wonder how he is now."
"Yeah-"
She slowly looks at you and tilts her head to the side.
"What made you ask about him?"
"I don't know- I guess I'm wondering why he suddenly appeared one day looking for me." You say, looking back at the fish in the painting.
"Mmm... weird." Emma stands up and walks towards her closet and pulling a blanket out.
"So- How do you plan on confessing to Draken?" You ask, quickly changing the subject. She quickly looks at you, holding the blanket in her hand. She smiles at you.
"I don't know- Hina said we should do a bunch of fun things together and then... I should ask him out." She soothes.
"Mmm..."
"But I don't know what we should do-"
You relax your eyes and then your eyes widen as you randomly think of something. You stare down at the sticker in your hand.
"Let's go to the beach!" You bubble.
"OH! GREAT IDEA!" She says hopping up and down.
"No-"
"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!" Emma says in a shocked and whiny tone.
"I don't want to go to the beach." Mikey says, furrowing his eyebrows.
"WHAT! WHY NOT?"
"Because I just don't-" He huffs.
"It's really humid out... and besides- there's a bunch of stuff going on with Toman." Draken adds.
"Oh come on... It's just one day of fun!" Emma pouts.
"Yeah- but the fight is a week from now."
"You're acting like you need to prepare for the fight." Emma huffs.
"That's not the point Emma." Draken sighs. You stand behind Emma and next to Hina as you watch Emma and Mikey argue with each other. You stare down at your phone, gripping at it. You stare at the sticker in your hand too.
"AUGH!" You sigh loudly. "FINE! TOO HUMID! THEN LET'S GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!" You shout.
"Eh?" Draken narrows his eyes and looks at you. You grab Mikey's hand and lead him away. "AYE! YUKI! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"
All of you stand outside an arcade. You furrow your eyebrows as you stare inside.
"Why are we here?" Emma asks.
"Well- It should be cooler inside... and-" You lean closer to whisper into her ear. "I heard arcades are really great romantic places."
"OH!" She smiles. You feel your hand tug, causing you to look at Mikey. You let go of his hand and furrow your eyebrows.
"Why did you drag us here?" Draken asks. You slowly turn to look at Draken.
"You said its to humid to go to the beach... so we are going to an arcade instead."
"Right-"
"Please pleaaaase!" Emma pleads, looking up at Draken. His eyes widen and he quickly looks away. His ears are turning red.
"I mean- sure- I guess." He says. She smiles and grabs his hand pulling him inside. Hina follows behind. You stand still, staring at them from outside the arcade.
"I'm guessing you are trying to set them up?" Mikey asks. You slowly look at him and then forward again.
"Something like that."
"Mmm..."
"Don't tell Draken about this." You softly say.
"I won't..." Mikey replies. "You know- if you told me that was your plan to begin with... I would have agreed to go to the beach." He implies. You look at him and squint your eyes. You push open the door to the arcade. Mikey follows behind you.
An hour passes and you are already out of coins. You spend them all on the coin slot machines, gambling all your coins away. You won about seven hundred tickets.
You are sitting at one of those car games, sitting on the seat behind the wheel. You notice movement beside you. Mikey sits beside you and takes a deep breath. You slowly look at him.
"You okay?" You softly ask.
"Yeah- just bored. I wanted Draken to play this game with me... but Emma is hogging him." He sighs. You smile and laugh a little bit. "What's funny?"
"I can already tell how you're going to be in the future."
"What do you mean by that?" He asks, resting his hands on the wheel and looking at you.
"When Draken and Emma gets married... I can see you fussing about her hogging him then too" You smile. He smiles too.
"You know- I never look that far in the future. I feel like stuff like that would give false hopes... but- that future sounds nice."
"What do you mean?" You ask. He smiles and takes a deep breath and pushes himself off the seat.
"Hey... guys- lets go get Ice cream." Emma bubbles as she walks over to you both.
You sit at the table, eating your Ice cream. Mikey sits at the corner of the booth, staring out the window. Emma and Draken are talking to each other about... whatever it is they're talking about. You sit down quietly at the end of the table. Hina sits down across from you, causing you to look up at her.
"What flavor did you get?" You softly ask.
"Peach." She smiles. She looks at you, tilting her head a bit. "You okay?"
"Yeah... I just have a lot on my mind." You softly say. You stare down at your Ice cream, thinking about what Mikey said to you. Your eyes slowly drift towards him. He hasn't touched his Ice cream.
"Yo- Mikey... your Ice cream is melting." Draken motions towards the Ice cream in front of him.
"Oh-" Mikey looks down at his bowl and then relaxes his eyes. He pushes himself out the booth and puts his hands in his pockets. "You guy's have fun- I'm going to go for a ride." Mikey softly says.
"Huh... are you okay?" Draken asks preparing to get out the booth.
"Yes... I'm fine- Stay with Emma. She tried hard to get you all the way out here..." Mikey smiles as he walks out the Ice cream shop. You quickly get up and push yourself out the booth, walking out the door behind Mikey.
"Mikey..." You say, reaching for his shoulder. You grab his shoulder and he turns his head and looks at you.
"I'm surprised you're worried about me." He smiles.
"Huh?"
"I thought you hated me." He softly says. You let go of him and your eyebrows furrow.
"Where are you going to go?" You softly ask.
"Just out for a ride." He answers, as he gets on his bike. "Want to come?" He asks, smiling at you. You stare at him and slowly nod. His face relaxes and you get on with him. He pulls off.
The wind hitting your face feels nice. The ride felt pretty long. Mikey pulls to the side of the road, overlooking the water. You sit beside him as he looks out at the water.
"... last time we were here... I told you I had felt lost." He calmly says.
"Yeah..."
"Ever since Shin passed... I've felt this strange anger- and emptiness." He holds his hands out, and squeezes them close. He relaxes his arms, and his hands fall into his lap.
"Baji and I are no longer friends... Toman is falling apart... and I feel like you- hate me." He softly says looking at you. You furrow your eyebrows and he takes a deep breath. "When you talked about the future earlier... I couldn't help but think that- maybe one day everything will get better."
"What do you mean?" You question.
"Like- how you said. Draken and Emma are married... Mitsuya is a fashion designer... Baji owns a bunch of cats and runs a cat shop or something... Pah would be back to being Pah... everyone is friends again- and maybe you... you would love me too." He softly says, with a soft smile on his face. Your eyes widen. His face softens as he stares off into the distance.
"Mikey..."
"Hm?"
"Do you love me?" You softly ask. Mikey's eyes widen as he slowly looks at you.
BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ
You furrow your eyebrows and reach for your phone. A random number is calling you. You answer the phone, holding it up to your ear.
"Hello?" You say into the phone.
"Yuki..." The voice says. You furrow your eyebrows, confused to who this is.
"Who is this?" You ask. You hear their background a bit. It sounds like they are inside a hospital.
"Its... A- Its Kasumi."
"Kasumi? Why are you calling me?"
"I know this is random but- can you help me."
"No-... Please don't call me ag-"
"Asuka is missing."
"Huh?" You say in shock. You quickly turn your body and jump off the ledge onto the ground near Mikey's bike. Mikey watches you. "What do you mean she's missing."
"The hospital called me saying that Asuka ran away..."
"Why did you decide to call me?" You ask.
"They said you were the last person to visit Asuka... I was wondering if you knew where she was." Kasumi says in a panic. You stand still, furrowing your eyebrows. Then your eyes widen when you remember what Asuka said.
"I think I know... I will call you if I find her..."
"Thank you a lot Yuki..."
"Yeah." You say before hanging up the phone.
"Are you okay?" Mikey asks.
"Can you drive me to the beach?" You ask.
"Are you sure... its going to get dark soon"
"Please Mikey- It's important." You say in a stressed tone. Mikey's eyes relax and he nods. He hops down the ledge and gets on his bike.
"Let's go." He says.
You both ride to the beach. The second the bike stops, you jump off.
"HEY! WAIT- YUKI!" Mikey shouts as he tries to get off fast too, but his shoe gets stuck on the motorcycle causing him to fall over. You run down towards the beach. Stopping at the sand. People are slowly leaving while others are still in the water and laying down on the beach. You quickly walk off, looking for Asuka. Mikey runs down towards the beach looking for you.
"YUKI?!" He yells out as he looks around for you.
After searching for almost an hour, the sky begins to get dark as the sun starts to set. You feel hopeless. Usually this wouldn't mean anything since this involves Kasumi... the one who not only lied to you but has been faking her identity... but the way Asuka spoke to you yesterday has been making you feel anxious... and that anxiety is really hitting home right now. You continue walking, feeling helpless.
You stare off into the distance, staring at the sky.
"It's so pretty..." You quietly say. Your eyes drift towards the dock to see someone sitting at the edge of it. You squint your eyes to see them better. "Asuka?" You say to yourself. You quickly rush over towards the dock. Once you get on the dock, you slowly walk towards the person. They have a banana milk next to them.
"Asuka?" You softly say. Asuka slowly looks at you, and smiles. "What are you doing out here..." You ask. Her eyes soften and she looks forward again.
"I told you... I was going to the beach." She answers.
"Your sister- she's worried about you... I'm going to call he-"
"Can you sit with me." She interrupts.
"Huh?"
"Come sit with me." She smiles at you. You stare at her for a bit before nodding and sitting beside her. You pull your phone out, preparing to text Kasumi.
"Don't worry my sister."
"Huh?"
"I don't want to leave just yet." She softly says.
"Yeah but-"
"I want to watch the sun set... one last time." She continues. Your eyes relax and you place your phone back into your pocket. She smiles when you do.
You stare at the sky as the sun slowly goes down. The breeze and the sound of the water makes you feel at peace.
"My mom would sit with me here on summer nights." Asuka softly says. "We lived a couple blocks from the beach... so this was a fun thing to do every night." She sooths. "She always said the sun setting was a lot prettier then the sun rise."
"Do you agree?" You softly ask.
"... I wouldn't know... I never seen the sun rise." She answers.
"..." You look down at the water and then at the sky. "The sun rise looks like a light breaking through the darkness..."
"Really?" She smiles. "That sounds really pretty."
"Yeah." You slowly nod. It gets silent, causing you to look towards her. She looks different from yesterday. Her eyes are glossier... but-
"Yuki."
"Yeah?"
"I know my sister can be a handful sometimes..." She softly says. You relax your eyes. "Our parents would always say she was a strange kid..." She smiles.
"..." You sit quietly, looking off into the water.
"... She was always obsessed with wizards and magical girl stuff..." She takes a deep breath. "After our parents passed away... she changed. Usually you would think that's a good thing... a little girl growing out of her make-believe world... but watching her change made me so sad. She looked miserable."
You furrow your eyebrows.
"And when I got sick... she looked even more sad..." She frowns. You slowly look at her. Then a smile grows across her face as she looks down at the banana milk. "But- when I saw her with you that day... she seemed a bit happier." She softly says.
"..."
She picks up the banana milk and hands it to you. "My mom would always drink the banana milk..." She smiles. She opens up the strawberry milk and looks off towards the sunset. You look down at the banana milk then up at the sunset. "I never really liked the taste of banana milk... it tasted like baby food..." She softly chuckles. You look back down at the milk and take a deep breath. "I always liked strawberry milk... because it tasted so sweet."
You smile to her comment and nod.
"I like strawberry milk... but banana milk is pretty yummy too." Asuka's eyes widen and then she smiles at you.
"Yeah..." She breathes. Your eyes widen when you hear her. You look at her and relax your eyes as the sun almost sets and the sky darkens around you.
"Yuki..."
"Hm?"
"Do you think my mommy is waiting for me...?"
Your eyes widen. The sound of something splashing causes you to quickly look at Asuka. Her strawberry milk was no longer in her hand.
"I'm sure she is..." You softly say. She gives a tired smile.
"... can you do something- for... me Yuki..." Asuka struggles to say.
"Sure..."
"Take care of Ayame for me..." She smiles at you. Your eyes widen. "I don't want her to be lonely..."
"Ayame...?"
"M..mhm- take care of my sister for me..." She says. Her eyes then darken and her head droops forward. You quickly grab her and lay her back.
"Asuka?" You shakily say. She doesn't respond. Your breathing quickens. Mikey quickly walks towards you on the dock. You place your head on her chest, trying to listen to her heartbeat and breathing.
"YUKI... Are you alright... I've-" He pauses when he sees tears falling down your face.
"Her heart- there's no heartbeat..." You cry.