Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Springtime

 

- Ryu -

My friend Daisuke and I were sitting on a bench, looking at the passersby and talking about the coming school year. Given that spring vacation was about to end, it was a good subject to discuss. 

"So, what do you want to do once we become 2nd-year students?" Daisuke asked. 
I hadn't thought about it, so I struggled to come up with a reply.
"I guess I will tackle whatever life throws at me, or something." 
My friend ran his fingers through his reddish-brown hair and sighed. 
"How about looking for a girlfriend? It's been months since she dumped you."
"I know, but," I put my hand behind my head and leaned back, "being single is not that bad." 
I had more free time for myself these days, and I didn't have as many expenses now that I didn't have to buy gifts constantly. 
"So you don't want another relationship?"
"I mean, I wouldn't mind, but it's not a priority," I replied.
Daisuke sighed. "See, that attitude is why she broke up with you, man. You're lacking ambition." 

I am aware of that, but is it a bad thing to be like this? What happened to "adapt or die"? By being capable of accepting any outcome, aren't I being adaptable? 

"What about you? You are single, too," I said.
"D-Don't change the topic, Ryu. We're talking about your love life right now."
"I have no such thing. Not anymore, at least. Now then, let us talk about your love life."
"Fine, fine. If you must know, then I'll tell you. I was looking at the card reveals for the next set of AlFor and..."
"And...?"
"I found her. I found my waifu. Look!" 

Daisuke pulled out his phone and, after swiping his way through a couple of screens, showed it to me. The screen showed the official social media account of the popular trading card game "Alter Fortuna", or "AlFor" for short. The specific post Daisuke wanted me to see showed a white-haired shrine maiden wearing headphones and, on top of them, were what looked like fox ears of the same color as her hair.
I read the text on the card, "Beat Exorcist, Kamina-LiNK". 

Hmm, her effect is not bad. 

I scrolled down and looked at the next card. 

Wait, if you use them together... isn't that too OP? No, with that energy cost it would be... 

I scrolled through the cards, looking for the shrine maiden's "boost charm", which let "ace" units such as her reach their full potential. Once I found it, it all clicked. 

"I see... You are just being a tier whore," I said.
"T-That's not true! My feelings for Link-tan are genuine! Besides, scroll up a bit." 

I did as he said and found another "ace" card. This one was a young woman wielding a sword covered in golden flames. 

"Ah, you can counter Kamina-LiNK with this. Fine, I will acknowledge your feelings for her. Guess I can introduce someone to Nicole since you have moved on from her."
"Who moved on from Niko-chan? I still- I mean, I-I have never seen her that way," Daisuke said, averting his eyes. 

Who does he think he is fooling? 

"Yeah, sure." 

Just when I started thinking of further ways to tease him, I felt a buzz in my pocket. It was my phone, so I took it out and checked the notification.
"It's a message from Dad." 
After reading its contents, I put my phone back in my pocket. 
"Everything ok?"
"Yeah, he just said that he wants to talk about something later." 

He could have just told me right now. If he didn't, then... 

Daisuke crossed his arms and said what I was thinking, "It must be something important."
"You are probably right."
I looked up. "Nice weather. Makes me want to stay like this." 

Not wanting to let a pleasant day like this go to waste by going indoors, we kept chatting in the park until dinnertime.
Daisuke needed something from the convenience store, so we went there together and split off after that. I headed home by myself, under the orange sky, trying to guess what Dad wanted to discuss. 

I'm not gonna become a big brother or something, right?

- - -

 

- Rihona -

I let myself fall on the bed and took a deep breath. I had already spent a couple of nights here, but my mind still registered the ceiling as "unfamiliar". Well, now that I had finished unpacking my stuff, maybe I could start getting used to it. With that in mind, I took off my red-framed glasses, put them inside their case, and left said case on top of the nightstand. 

A little nap won't hurt.

It wasn't meant to be, though. I heard someone knocking.
"Rihona! Are you done?" Mom asked from the other side of the door.
"Yeah."
"Could you come down for a bit? Your father and I have something to discuss with you."
"I'll be there in a minute." 

I got up, wondering what could my parents want to talk about. I was going to attend a new high school in April, so I figured it was related to that.
After putting on my glasses, I headed to the living room and found both of my parents sitting on each side of the sofa. Mom gestured me to take a seat between them. 

"So, what is it?"
"You will start attending a new school come April," Dad said.
"Rihona," Mom looked at me, "You have kept your 'gift' under control for years, right? Don't you think it's about time you let go of that incident?"
"What do you mean? I-I already left that behind me," I said.
"In that case, it should be fine if we invite an old friend and his family for dinner, right?" Dad said. 

I mean, it's not like I can stop you. 

"Their son is about your age," Mom said, "maybe you two will get along."
I sighed. 

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If this is all they have to say, I'm sorry to say I'm not interested. 

"I can't make any promises."
"In any case, please be ready for tomorrow."
"Uh-huh." 

Wait. Did he say "tomorrow"? 

A groan almost escaped from my mouth, but I managed to hold it in.
"If that was all, then I'll go for a walk," I said.
"Will you be okay by yourself?"
"Yeah, I can look up a map on my phone if I get lost." 

I wasn't sure if Mom was asking about me being able to find my way back home in this unfamiliar neighborhood or something else, but I tried to not dwell too much on it and headed outside. We had moved her earlier this week, so I wanted to get used to this area. 

Not like I go outside much other than to jog early in the morning, which only required knowing the way to the local park, but still. I want to be able to go to the convenience store at least. 

When I arrived at my destination, two guys about my age were just leaving. One of them was of average height and had black hair. The other was taller and looked like the type to do well in sports. He had reddish hair, a bit shorter than the other boy's. 

"Good luck with your parent talk. Now, if you'll excuse me." 

The taller of the two waved his right hand as he left, carrying a reusable bag with his left hand. 

It looks new. He must have bought it just now. Either he forgot to bring one or he didn't expect to end up buying stuff when he left home. 

The other boy went in the other direction. Given what I had just overheard, I assumed he was going to go through something similar to what happened in my house. 

As far as I can tell, he is not a loner, so it won't be exactly like my situation. 

I had not brought much money with me, so I just bought the cheapest thing I found and went home. 

 

- - -

- Ryu -

"I'm home."
"Welcome back," I heard Mom's voice from the kitchen.
"Ah, Ryu. Make yourself at home," said Dad from the living room, looking up from the book in his hands.
"Why, thank you. Wait, this is my home!" 

Only this man would greet his son with a comedy bit, but it made Mom giggle so I was fine with it.
I took off my shoes and headed to where Dad was. He bookmarked the page he was on and placed the book next to him. 

"So, are we going to have that talk over dinner, or..."
"You are already at that age, huh? Very well. When a man and a woman are-"
"Not that talk. The one you mentioned in that text."
"Hmm, I guess I can tell you right now. A friend invited us to dinner tomorrow." 

That's it? No, he could have told me this over the phone. There must be more to this. 

Since I felt this was going to take a while, I sat next to Dad. "I see. That's not the end of this talk, though. Am I right?" 

"Ryu, you are not seeing someone right now, right?" Dad asked.
"No, but how is this related?"
"Are you interested in someone?"
"No."
"No one? Not even a bit?"
"Uh, well, on the way home, I stopped by the convenience store and there was this cute girl with red-framed glasses. Other than that..."
"Heh..."
I cleared my throat, "So, about your friend..."
"You know about my friend Aoyagi, right?"
"Yeah." 

Dad told me about him before. This Aoyagi person was an old classmate of his. If I recalled correctly, he always sent a New Year's postcard. He and his wife went on a trip with my parent last year.  Oh, and there was one more thing...

"You see, he moved to this city recently, and he has a daughter your age." 

There it is. I knew it. 

One day, I overheard my parents talking about this Aoyagi. Something about pairing off their kids. At the time, I thought it was just one of Dad's jokes, but it looked like I was wrong. He was arranging a marriage for me. Had I not overheard that conversation, I would have thought that Dad was merely asking me to befriend a girl who was new in town. 

"Ah, I recognize that look in your eyes, son," Dad said, "you must be overthinking this. You see, even back in their old city, his daughter didn't have any friends due to a bad experience she had in the past."
Dad looked straight into my eyes and continued, "It was caused by her 'gift'. That's why I hoped you could get along with her, since-"
"Yeah, I understand now." 

I got carried away. Dad wasn't trying to set me up with his friend's daughter. 

"But, if you want to pursue her, that's fine too. From what I heard, she is your type." 

I spoke too soon.

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