Astrophile

023

Despite being confident while making the deal with your mother, you found yourself sweating bullets as you stood in front of the Sano residence. You took a shaky breath and exhaled out, trying to calm your nerves and not think about the worst possible scenarios that could happen.

'What if he doesn't forgive me but rather starts hating me?! What if they never talk to me in my entire life?! Or-Or what if they punch me and blame me for Uncle Osamu's death?!' You cursed at yourself for overthinking the entire situation, but you couldn't help it. You raised your hand to ring the doorbell, but stopped when you heard something.

"[Name]?!"

You immediately pulled your hand back and turned to the source of the voice. There stood Shinichirō with his hair down and wearing a white long sleeved shirt with black trousers. He was wearing his sandals and had a surprised look on his face.

"S-Shinichirō-ni... I mean, Shinichirō-san...." You corrected yourself, not knowing if you were still allowed to call him that.

On the other hand, Shinichirō was surprised to see you at his house. He was just going out to buy something to snack on but then he caught sight of you trying to ring the doorbell to his house.

He had heard what had transpired between you and his little siblings along with Keisuke, and he couldn't be more worried.

Ever since your uncle died, you had changed completely. He knew that you were probably blaming yourself because he was well aware that your mother was most probably the one who killed him, there was no way that Osamu would kill himself.

It's not like the other three were any better. Manjirō, Emma and Keisuke had also changed after their fight with you.

Manjirō hardly spoke with anyone, even locking himself in his room most of the time.

Keisuke didn't visit the dojo much and according to his mother, didn't even eat his beloved Peyoung Yakisoba.

Emma was a lot more distracted and couldn't even focus on her homework, the teacher going as far to tell that she often ignored while someone called her name.

Even Shinichirō wasn't doing that well, often neglecting his gang meetings and only letting Takeomi conduct them. If he did go there, he would mostly stay quiet.

Takeomi, Wakasa and Keizo were also not as diligent as they were before. Everyone missed you and they were starting to realise how much importance you had in their lives.

"What are you doing here? Is everything alright?!" Shinichirō wanted to ask you so many questions, but thought that he should probably hold them for now.

You gulped nervously at the sight of him. Suddenly, you bowed down at a 90 degree angle, "I'm extremely sorry, Shinichirō-san!!"

The said boy's eyes widened at your sudden apology, "H-Huh?! What are you talking about?!" You kept looking down as your face contoured into a distressed expression, "I know that I've been acting like a brat these three months, and I'm terribly sorry for hitting your brother... Please forgive me, Shinichirō-san..."

"[Name]..." He started with a smile, "No one blames you for acting that way, you weren't a brat..." His soft words made you look up.

"Osamu-san's death must have affected you greatly, and we all understand that it must have been extremely tough for you to deal with it... You pushed us away because you feared the same thing happening to us, didn't you?" Tears started pooling in your eyes as you hesitantly nodded.

He smiled kindly at you while placing a hand on your head and ruffling your hair, "You don't need to apologise, you had every right to feel angry..." The tears that you tried to hold back began pouring out as he chuckled and tried to wipe them with his sleeves, "And as far as punching Manjirō goes, I think he deserves it after hitting you so much in the past!!"

You grinned at his kind words and pulled him in for a hug, "Also, didn't I tell you to call me Shinichirō-niisan?! Do you want me to annoy you again, little lady?!" He playfully threatened as your chuckle vibrated against his warm chest.

"You're warm, Nii-san... I missed this warmth; I missed you..." You placed your head on his shoulders as he kneeled on the ground and hugged you tighter, "I missed you too, kid..."

You then pulled away from him, making him pout, "Are Manjirō and Emma in the house?!" He shook his head and stood up, grabbing onto your hand and pulling you to the park, "They were feeling pretty down these days so I called over Keisuke-kun and sent them with him... They're probably at the park..." You nodded with newfound confidence.

If Shinichirō forgave you then surely Emma will too, though you're not sure about Baji or Manjirō. You were sure that Shinichirō must be curious as to why you suddenly came to apologise... But you didn't want to tell him about your deal or else he might worry.

In the distance, you saw Manjirō with Emma and Baji. The three of them were just sitting on the bench, an awkward silence between the three.

Manjirō had a red scarf wrapped around his neck and was looking at the right and Baji was wearing his prided star pants and was looking at the left while Emma awkwardly sat in the middle and played with her fingers.

"Go ahead!!" Shinichirō ushered you to them and you stumbled slightly as you tried to regain your balance. The three of them had yet to notice you and you already started to regret coming over.

You cleared your throat and they suddenly turned their heads to you. Their eyes widened at your sight while you awkwardly played with your sleeves while looking down.

"H-Hi..." You whispered to them with caution, Baji narrowed his eyes at you while Emma seemed a bit relieved. Manjirō had an unreadable expression on his face as you continued, "I... Um, I-I..." You stammered as you swallowed your nervousness and decided to wing it.

"I'm very sorry for everything I have done in the last three months!!" You yelled as you bowed down again. Baji and Emma seemed surprised while Manjirō seemed stoic.

The raven haired boy and the sandy blonde girl got up and pulled you into a tight hug, "As long as you don't ignore us again, we're fine with it... Just don't leave us okay?!" Baji whispered into the crook of your neck as Emma tugged on your sleeve and hugged your arm, "Even if you hate us... we still love you!!" Emma yelled into the fabric of your shirt.

Their hug made you warm up but a chill ran down your spine when you looked at the bleached blonde boy. He had his hair covering his face as he sat on the bench, motionless.

Baji and Emma turned to look at him, "Oi, Mikey!! He said sorry so stop being such a baby!!" You knew how prideful Manjirō was so it was uncertain that he would forgive you.

Suddenly he got up and began unwrapping his scarf, readying himself to fight. The two kids clinging onto you, let go and walked over to him to talk him out of fighting you. You, yourself walked back in fear and when he stood infront of you with his hands raised, you screwed your eyes shut.

Instead of receiving a punch, you felt a soft fabric wrapping around your neck. You opened your eyes, only for them to be covered by the material of the scarf as Manjirō lazily wrapped it around you, "You were shivering, right?" He held your hand and looked at you with the tips of his ears turning red, "This is warm, isn't it?"

You felt yourself tearing up as you nodded at him. He gave you a shaky smile before pulling you with him, signalling Emma and Baji to follow him, "I'm bored, so now that we're all here, let's play!!"

Emma and Baji cheered as Shinichirō looked at you all from afar with a soft smile. He watched them all jump around and run to the Slides and Monkey bars. He felt his heart warming up at the sight of you giggling and laughing with Emma as Baji hung upside down from the bars and Manjirō hissed at the touch of the metal, complaining about how cold it was.

'Are you watching this, Osamu-san?' Shinichirō grinned at the sight, 'She's finally happy, and I'll make sure she stays that way...'