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Yamato hadn't spoken to Sora all day. After greeting her at school in the morning with a short, "Hey," he was mostly silent with her and everyone else. He even declined to have lunch with her when she invited him.
"Hey, what's with him today?" Mimi asked her. "He's being moody."
"Just let him be," Sora replied.
Sora noticed that Yamato had already gone by the time she walked out of the classroom doors, so she went on her normal route home, stopping by the grocery store on the way to pick up some vegetables by her mother's request.
When she stepped out of the store with one full plastic bag in each hand, she noticed a tall figure stop in front of her, with his backpack slinging over one shoulder.
"Yamato?" she said.
"Sora," he answered, seeming just as surprised as she was, then he looked down toward her hands. "Want some help with that?"
"Sure. Thank you."
"You're welcome." He looked at her, meeting her eyes and smiling.
She smiled back, happy to see him smiling for the first time that day.
He grabbed both bags from her hands, and together they walked to her house.
"How are you, Yamato?" Sora asked him.
"I'm fine," he said, though he looked away as he replied. "You?"
"Me too."
When they arrived to Sora's house, Yamato helped her set the vegetables on the kitchen counter, and as Sora began to rinse and cut them, Yamato stood at her side, offering to help her before her mother arrived home from work.
It was then that he started to talk.
"Dad got into an argument with Mom when he visited her and Takeru last night," he said grimly.
"Oh no," Sora replied with a frown. "I'm sorry."
"I talked to Takeru this morning. He says he's fine. He seemed pretty cheerful, anyway. Dad wasn't too happy this morning, though."
"And, what about you?"
"It just… bothers me when they argue. I know it's a normal thing that happens between two people. It's happened between you and me. It's just… different with them.."
"I hated whenever my parents fought," Sora said, grabbing a potato and peeling it. "I learned not to get involved. Just stay quiet and let them go at it. It bothered me because I felt helpless, that I couldn't help fix whatever problem they had going on."
"That's it," said Yamato. "That's exactly how I feel."
Silence fell between them. Sora set aside the potato peelings to the side, only for Yamato to pick them up and throw them into the trash bin.
"But, in most cases they'll resolve it, one way or another," Sora continued. "Sometimes they don't. Either way, the answers don't come right away. It's always going to take time."
Yamato went quiet again, and Sora finished preparing the vegetables. When Sora's mom came home, she invited Yamato to stay for dinner, to which he politely declined. Soon after, Sora walked him out to the curb where they said their goodbyes.
She was the first to hug him, but Yamato's hug was tighter, and it caught her by surprise.
"Thank you," he whispered. "For being there."
"Of course," she replied. When they pulled apart, she smiled at him, and he smiled back, his smile reaching his eyes.