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"Oreki!"
The groggy boy's green eyes widened as he heard a sharp intake of oxygen beside him and he immediately plugged his ears with the palm of his hands. He felt a light smack on top of his head as he looked at the pink-eyed devil glaring menacingly at him.
"Chii-chan's about to be here soon and you're still sleeping!"
He eyed the smaller girl who was wearing a small, pink, and flower-patterned yukata as she put the small horn away from her lips. She then heaved a deep sigh in defeat and slumped down on the bench.
"Look if you're not intereste-"
"Now, now let's all not be too grumpy." His brown-haired friend appeared out of nowhere and took a seat right in between the two of them. "Let's all relax, and leave the 'having fun' part for later, okay?"
The pink-eyed devil's lips parted as she tried to protest but was met with a mouthful of strawberry-flavored ice cream which she hesitantly accepted. "Plus, we wouldn't want to disappoint Chitanda-san when she sees no sign of our very good friend Houtarou after she… politely asked him to come."
A chill ran down Houtarou's spine as he remembered the… polite coaxing that he received from one Chitanda Eru. The rapid fire words escaping her mouth as she tried to- and inevitably succeeded in inviting Houtarou to watch the festivities unfold before his own very eyes.
"Still… Had it not been Chii-chan, I doubt Oreki would have even cared to wake up today." The small girl glared at Houtarou as his male friend tried to hide a smug grin from him.
"…what's that supposed to mean?" He felt the urge to press his fingertips on the temples of his forehead as a small headache was beginning to form just from speaking once to his friends.
"Hmm.., maybe the fact that this year as well as last year, you were present at the festivities being thrown at the coming of a New Year while you never even bothered to come out of your bedroom door the years prior." The brown-eyed boy stated in an 'as a matter-of-fact' tone that irked him for some reason.
"..again Satoshi, what is that supposed to mean?" His eyes narrowed in on the exasperated sigh that escaped the other boy's mouth.
"He meant that you, Oreki, are acting whipped for Chi-"
"Ah, good evening everyone! I'm sorry I'm late, were you waiting long?" A girl with an almost snow-white complexion bowed in front of them before modestly taking a seat beside Houtarou. "Oh? Was I interrupting something?" She inquired as she tilted her head to the side.
"N-no, Chitanda-san! We were just talking about h-how… Mayaka here was going to whip Houtarou if you arrived before he woke up!"
"Wha- o-oh yeah! Haha! Guess I don't have to since he miraculously woke up before you came!"
Houtarou rolled his eyes at the two who just displayed an incredibly unconvincing ability to lie in front of him. But knowing who was beside him, he had a feeling that that lie would somehow go over her head. And go over her head it did.
"You musn't do that Mayaka-san! It is my fault for arriving late in the first place." She placed a hand on her chest as she bowed to Houtarou. "I apologize for the inconvenience Oreki-san."
Houtarou eyed the raven-haired girl and sighed before lifting her chin up. "You've nothing to be sorry about." He sighed as he pulled his hands and kept them inside the pockets of his thick sweater. "…you look nice." He whispered under his breath, making sure that only Eru was able to hear him.
A slight tint of pink graced her pale cheeks as she looked at the lavender, spring-themed yukata she was wearing. "Ah, thank you Oreki-san." She whispered back before fiddling with the hem of her clothes.
Their two forgotten friends weren't as oblivious as they probably thought and noticed the thick atmosphere forming in between them and as annoyed as Mayaka was, Satoshi was as equally amused.
A quick check at the time got Satoshi standing up and stared them down. "Well, I hate to break… you two apart but we are gathered here tonight, as per Chitanda-san's request, by the way, to witness the 148th New Year celebration in Japan!"
Mayaka sighed, Houtarou stared at him blankly, and Eru clapped lightly at his declaration. "148th? Wouldn't Japan be older than just 148?" Mayaka asked in confusion.
"Uh-uh! Japan would actually be younger than 148 years old! Although the land has existed for a… long long time now, we were never officially founded until the 29th of November of the year 1890 which would just be 130 years ago!"
Eru let out an "oh", clearly entertained and happy with what she was hearing. "But then Fukube-san, why is the 148th celebration this coming midnight if the country's younger than 148 years?
"As you can see my liege, until the year 1873, our country celebrated the Lunar New Year which usually starts on the 12th of February. But when the elites at the time started to have influence over the nation, the belief among them was that Western nations were far superior to us Asians that they started to adopt Western practices which included the Gregorian Calendar, thus starting our new year off at the first of January!"
"Woah, that's amazing Fukube-san! Where did you learn that?" Chitanda inquired in genuine curiosity. Satoshi just grinned at her before wagging his index finger at her.
"My deepest apologies but a database must not reveal his or her sources Chitanda-san." The purple-eyed maiden pouted and deflated as she too stood up, seemingly ready to move on with the night.
"Why wouldn't a database reveal his secrets, Fuku-chan?" Mayaka stared at him with one hand on the ice cream and the other on her hip menacingly. The brown-haired boy's sweat dropped from his forehead but he stood his ground, albeit weakly.
"…because a database would lose its purpose if the inquirer can look for the answer themselves." Houtarou spoke and stood up, yawning onto his palm as he eyed his friends one by one.
"That's… putting it harshly Houtarou but I'd be lying if I said you were wrong." Satoshi dropped the tour guide act and sighed heavily. The green-eyed boy hummed as if he was saying 'damn right I'm right'. "Well moving on, what do you have in store for us tonight, Chitanda-san?"
"Oh!" The modest maiden perked up as she looked up at the bustling shrine hovering above the stone staircase. "Well… how about we get our fortunes first?"
Lady luck has been on their side for the night so far. No unnecessary accidents, incidents, wastes of energy, and most especially, there was no accidental locked shack incident which would've wasted a ton of his energy tonight had the opportunity been given. In fact, they all managed to pull good fortunes from Kaho-san herself earlier.
"This year would be a very fulfilling year for you, Oreki Houtarou-san." Houtarou hadn't the faintest of idea of what she was talking about but that statement alone made him feel… uncomfortable but in a good way. Was it because he liked the idea of a good year ahead of him or was it because he knew he shouldn't put too much trust in a fortune teller's words but here he was, actually hoping that she was correct?
"Oreki-san?" The purple-eyed maiden walking right beside him tilted her head to the side again as she stared at him inquisitively. "Is something bothering you?"
Snapping back to reality for a moment, he eyed the girl for a second before shaking his head. She gave him a small smile as they continued on their leisurely walk along the festival. They had just split up into two parties and now he was left with the raven-haired girl with the other two members of their little group gone and doing spirits know what.
Looking back, it had been a bit of an uneventful year. There were no crazy unexpected events that happened unlike the year before. It had actually been quite a peaceful and normal year for the classic literature club. They managed to somehow take in a member in Oohinata Tomoko after a rough start but aside from that, nothing out of the ordinary really happened.
"Ah, Oreki-san!" Eru stopped in her tracks before grabbing a hold of his wrist. "I saw something earlier that intrigued me. Will you mind if you accompany me?" He gave her a curt nod to which she smiled in glee.
But after a few realizations here and there, maybe this whole year was actually quite the extraordinary ordeal. After the first few months of the school year, he had let all caution go into the wind as he just let Eru have her way with him as she constantly dragged him to all kinds of 'mysteries' as she put it and he didn't really exert much effort to refute her wishes anymore. He had spoken more words this whole year than he ever did before, he had been outside of his house more this year than he ever did before, and he had spent more of his time awake in this year than- you guessed it- he ever did before.
To put it quite simply, he realized that any other year, he would've thought that this year was quite a drag, an ultimate waste of energy but he had grown out of that and had looked at everything as quite normal. Mayaka's constant nagging wasn't as annoying anymore. Satoshi's underlying personality and comedic front didn't feel as stupid anymore, and Eru's ever-so-present curiosity wasn't something he tried to avoid anymore. All of these were now normal to him and he hadn't the faintest idea if that is a good thing or not.
"There!" He felt the warmth of Eru's palm leave his wrist as she excitedly skipped over to the not-so-small stall. He stopped beside her after a few seconds as he observed the stall for a moment. No wonder she was so intrigued by it and he didn't know what to feel about it.
"Hello ma'am, sir! 3 shots each for a hundred yen! Make the furthest and fastest moving target fall and you can name the prize of your choice!" The enthusiastic man behind the counter beamed a smile at them as he offered them a toy gun and a small plastic ball as a bullet.
He looked at the girl beside him who was bouncing in anticipation and he couldn't help but sigh as she handed the handler a hundred yen. She eagerly put a finger on top of the trigger and fired away… and missed. She deflated for a second before straightening her back up once more and fired another plastic ball… and missed even more horribly.
He felt that she really wanted to hit the most difficult target for some prize that was unknown to him. By the way she furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the target, he knew that she wanted it so bad. "Here." Houtarou took her other hand and put it under where the magazine would be had it been a real gun. "I don't know why you wouldn't just settle for the easier targets but you do you… I guess." He pushed her elbows together to straighten them up before pulling away.
"T-thank you, Oreki-san." Eru pushed down the weird flustering feeling that rose up her chest as she focused on the target. She had no idea how to hold a gun even if it was the plaything version and it surprised her how stable her aim was now. She took a deep breath and along with a gasp, pulled the trigger.
A soft clank rang as she hit the target fair and square. She jumped in joy as she immediately headed over to grab the stuffed airplane, much to his surprise, that she apparently really wanted.
"Not so quick young lady." Houtarou eyed the man's hand as he grabbed the girl's wrists gently and pried it off of the toy. "The instruction was for you to make the target fall down." Eru stared at him wide-eyed in disbelief as she hesitantly let go of the stuffed airplane.
Houtarou scowled at the man who noticed him and just grinned smugly. The whole play was dirty all along and he blamed himself for not seeing through it right from the start. He turned his gaze to the dejected girl and he carefully approached her and pulled her away from the stall but not before giving the handler a deep glare.
They walked for some time in silence as Houtarou gave Eru some time to hopefully move on. He didn't know what the deal was with that airplane but it sure meant something to her if a seemingly small thing like that made the ever so bubbly Chitanda Eru downcast and sad.
He motioned for her to sit on the wooden bench overlooking the hilltop. "… give me a second." He told Eru just before he turned around and made his way to a food stand he spotted just earlier when they were walking in peace. It was a small stall of rice-centered food. There were some Western-style ones like the Spanish rice burrito but he ultimately settled for a few simple servings of your traditional onigiris.
He took his phone out of his pocket and read the time. An hour more before the clock strikes midnight and the New Year would officially begin. He scrolled through his contacts and made a quick call to Satoshi before making his way back to where he left Eru.
And there she stood, hovering over the fence protecting her from falling down to certain… from injuring herself. He observed the way she stood straight and proud yet the slight slumping of her shoulders was all it took for him to know that she still wasn't in much of a good mood.
"Here." He casually tapped her shoulders to which she slightly jumped in surprise as he handed her what he had bought.
She stared at it for a few seconds before offering him a small, sweet smile as she took the box of onigiris and bowed in gratitude. "Thank you, Oreki-san. Let us share them together." She stepped back and sat on the bench as the green-eyed boy followed suit who only nodded in reply.
A few moments passed in silence as the only sounds that could be heard were the hustle and bustle of the busy festival, the preparations for the firework show, and the soft munching of two teenagers on their makeshift meal.
"I'm sorry, Oreki-san." Eru whispered in a weak, but seemingly resolute voice which caught Houtarou off guard. He turned his head to face the girl who was staring straight ahead as her silhouette glowed underneath the bright silver shade of the moon. "I was being a bit too sentimental earlier and I apologize if I had ruined this night for you too."
He watched her for a few moments before he too stared straight ahead. "…why?"
Eru turned to his blank face in confusion. "What do you mean 'why', Oreki-san?"
Houtarou turned to gaze at her purple eyes. "Why the stuffed airplane?" He felt warmth rising to his cheeks as he uncomfortably looked away. "I'm… curious."
Houtarou was met with silence as he pondered why on earth did he have to say those two unnecessary words anyway. "…Chitanda?" He called out as he wondered why she wasn't answering. A few more seconds and he received no reply finally made him look in her direction but he was met with a most unexpected sight.
There she was, a young maiden with a snow-white complexion complemented by her jet-black hair topped off with purple eyes which are currently enclosed by her gleeful eyelids. Her eyebrows were raised in joy as she tried to muffle the giggles she was hiding behind her palm.
He wasn't so sure what he was supposed to feel but he was sure as hell that he was flustered and embarrassed or are those two different words with the same definition? He wasn't sure but the point still stands that he did not expect that kind of reaction from her.
He gave her an annoyed glare as her stifled giggles slowly and steadily died down. "My a-apologies, Oreki-san." She took a deep breath and let out a hearty sigh. "Your curiosity… makes me truly happy."
Houtarou let out an inaudible huff as he averted his gaze to the moon once more. "You know Oreki-san," Eru joined him in looking at the silver moon as she played with her yukata. "When I was younger, I thought airplanes were these really big birds flying around going all over the world."
He noticed her slowly looking down at her feet as she hid her eyes behind her loose bangs. "Now that I'm a bit older, nothing much really changed." She stopped fiddling with her yukata and tucked in her arms behind her knees as she swayed back and forth. "Airplanes, birds, they're both free to wander the world and choose where they want to go."
He heard a soft and muffled sniffle from her direction and his heart softened at her vulnerability. "…maybe that's… maybe that's what I aspire to be, Oreki-san…" She tried to hide her tears from his sight by leaning onto his shoulder.
"To be free?" He felt her head nod on top of his shoulder and he left it at that. He felt like he should do something more to cheer her up but it would seem unnatural to both of them. Plus it wasn't too necessary anyway, it would just be a waste of precious energy if his apparent presence was enough for her already.
They stayed close to one another in silence for a lengthy time and the bright silver moon was slowly reaching the middle of the starry night sky. "I apologize again, Oreki-san."
"…I understand and you have nothing to be sorry for." He gave her a quick pat on the head and they stayed silent again although there was a steady feeling of warmth emanating from his shoulder.
"Thank you Oreki-san."
"Hmmhm.."
"Ehem!"
Eru broke contact and Houtarou was left to dust off his shoulder in a nonchalant way as Satoshi and Mayaka arrived at their hilltop spot. Satoshi was grinning at Houtarou and was giving him a knowing wink while Mayaka stood on top of him with her hands on her hips as she scowled at him. But before she could open her mouth to interrogate him, Satoshi had already caught everyone's attention.
"Hey Houtarou, can you grab this end and I'll pull the other one?" He only received a nod as a reply as Houtarou stood from the bench and grabbed one end of the picnic blanket he didn't notice they brought.
Mayaka moved on to talk to Eru as the guys prepared their sightseeing spot. "There's only 5 more minutes before the year officially ends." She told her slightly taller friend who nodded at her earnestly. "Do you have any regrets for this year that you are ready to let go of, Chii-chan?"
"Regrets..?" Eru pondered for a second before shaking her head. "No, I don't have any regrets Mayaka-san. Do you?" A myriad of emotions crossed the pink-eyed girl's face before she ultimately settled for an unbelievable lie "no" but knowing Eru, she would definitely believe her anyway.
"Well then… what about wishes for the future?" Eru smiled at the smaller girl who got into thinking.
"Oh! But I do have a lot of wishes for the future!" Mayaka grinned excitedly with stars in her eyes.
"Hey guys! We're done! Have a seat and we shall indulge ourselves before the fireworks show!"
The pair of girls sat beside each other and across from the other two. Houtarou dropped the box of onigiris they had left while the others opened their own baskets of whatever food they had on them. Two minutes before the clock struck midnight, Eru put forth four small bracelets onto the blanket.
"Misangas?" Satoshi asked and Eru nodded in satisfaction with his answer.
"I want all of us to whisper our wishes to the wind, and put on these misangas until the day they break." Eru clapped her hands as warmth rose to her chest.
"Sounds good to me." The brown-haired boy took one of the bracelets and put them in front of his mouth and closed his eyes as if he was praying.
"Misanga?"
"It's basically a friendship bracelet but with more meaning. It's also a sign of good luck as when the day it finally comes undone on its own, symbolizes the coming of one of your wishes coming true." Houtarou told the shortest member of the group as he too took one of the bracelets and closed his eyes for a wish.
Mayaka shrugged as she and Eru took each a bracelet and then whispered their wishes to the wind.
A loud boom and a crackling sound rang through the air as the fireworks show started right in front of their eyes. They heard the loud cheering from the people gathering from down the hill and from the festival a few meters away.
A year is finally over, and so it is the beginning of another.
"And to our favorite club president," Satoshi spoke as Mayaka scrambled on her feet to reach behind the bench where something was placed.
"A gift for you to take your wishes all over the world." Mayaka smiled at her friend who stared wide-eyed at the stuffed airplane she held in her hands.
"B-but h-how did you-?" Eru received a hug from her smaller friend before Mayaka turned to sit in her own spot once more.
"I was told that a database must not reveal his or her secrets!" She and Satoshi snickered heartily as they watched the fireworks clapping in the background.
Eru didn't know a lot of random things like Satoshi Fukube, or had the reckless courage of Mayaka Ibara, nor did she have the brilliant deducting mind of Houtarou Oreki but at that moment, she didn't have to be special in any area to know what that was all about.
The warmth from before, the butterflies in her stomach, and the pink tint gracing her cheeks came back full time as she saw the small smile gracing the green-eyed boy's face as he watched the fireworks flying underneath the starry void of a sky which told her all that she had to know.
I wish for Chitanda Eru's wishes to come true.