An Ibarazaki GuaranteePrompt: Someone at Yamaku is having a bad time: either they were involved in a bad/neutral end, or someone else took the good end. Regardless, they need some time to come to terms with things. With the help of another character, however, they're able to let it go, and look ahead to the future.
“Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock! Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring!” The tinny Christmas music rang out of the radio in the student council. Hisao had never been great at English, but he could make out a few of the words in every verse.
If he was being honest, he didn’t feel like celebrating at all in the moment and wanted nothing more than to turn the music off, but Misha had been adamant about it. This was a Christmas party, so they needed Christmas music, she had reasoned, albeit with more loud laughter interspersed in her explanation.
Hisao sighed as he looked out of the window at the campus grounds, which were blanketed with snow. The moon cast its glow down upon the snow-crested hills that surrounded Yamaku, the stark light illuminating the spindly, bare tree branches and leafless bushes, giving a drab reminder of the harshness of winter.
“Hey, stranger. Long time no see,” a familiar voice said. Hisao turned to see Emi leaning against the counter, looking at him. She was dressed in the spirit of the holiday, with a snowman sweater and a Santa hat on her head.
“Hey, Emi,” Hisao responded, turning back to the window.
“It’s been a while, Hisao; I haven’t seen you try to outrun me in a while.” Emi slid over to him, looking out at the winter night too.
“I just haven’t felt like it.” Hisao mumbled.
Emi paused for a moment before going down a new avenue of conversation. “Pretty nice party, right? I think it was all Misha’s idea.”
“Yeah, the party is nice,” Hisao echoed, tapping his fingers on the countertop impatiently. He wanted Emi to leave him alone. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Emi’s smile grow into a look of concern.
“What’s wrong, dude? Something’s up,” she questioned.
Hisao didn’t look at her. “Nothing.”
“Are you still thinking about her?” she asked carefully.
Hisao knew it was pointless to lie; when Emi sniffed something out, she would hound it until she got what she wanted. “Yeah.”
“Hisao, it’s been months since Lilly left,” Emi said. “I understand wanting to be sad for a little while, maybe even a month, but it’s been several months.”
“Is that the only reason you came over here?” Hisao grumbled. “To criticize how I’m feeling?”
“No! I just wanted to see how you were doing and where your head's at,” Emi replied defensively.
“Well, I’m just fine, so you can go back to enjoying the party.” Hisao expected her to walk away at this point, but instead he felt a hand grasp his wrist and roughly pull him towards the door.
“C’mon! We’re going for a walk, Hisao!” Emi dragged him out of the room and down into the entrance hall, ignoring any of his protests. She pushed the door open and pulled him out into the frigid air.
“Emi! Let me go back!” Hisao turned to go back inside, but Emi got in between him and the door.
“No. We’re gonna talk about what happened, Hisao. You’ve been essentially working like some kind of stupid robot since Lilly left. You get up, go to class, do your work, then go back to your room and read or whatever it is you do in your room. You barely talk to anybody anymore.”
“I’ve just decided to focus on studying at this point, that’s all.”
Emi stamped her prosthetic foot, sending up a poof of snow flurries. “That’s not a good enough answer, Hisao. I know what self-isolation looks like.” She looked off in the distance wistfully, before turning back to him with determination in her eyes. “I’ll make you a deal: we go on this walk, we talk about what happened, and then I never ask about it again.” She stuck her hand out for a handshake. “I’ll even throw in some of my mom’s home cooking. Deal?”
Hisao thought about it, and against his better judgement, he half-heartedly shook her hand. They started to walk down the paved sidewalk, which had much less snow on them.
“I know that you spent time with a bunch of different people during your first week here,” Emi started. “Why don’t we start there?”
With some hesitation, Hisao began to talk about what happened between him and Lilly. He talked about the first meetings in the tearoom, shopping for Hanako’s birthday, and Lilly’s first trip home. Emi listened carefully throughout all of it, keeping an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face.
The words began to tumble out easier as he continued, describing their trip to Hokkaido, especially the incident with his heart and the scene in the field with Lilly, while leaving out some of their escapades. He continued on, describing their fancy date, his talk with Akira and how he found out about Lilly leaving. Summarizing the night Lilly had left was the hardest part, and Hisao didn’t even notice the tears rolling down his cheeks until Emi gently brushed them away with her gloved hands.
“Thank you, Emi.”
“No problem.” Emi stepped away as they turned the corner to walk through the courtyard between the school building and the gym. “So, what about after that? What happened after she left?”
Hisao looked down. “Well, we tried to keep calling one another, texting back and forth, but things were different- I mean, how could things not be different after she hid that our relationship was being built on a time limit?”
“Yeah, I can see how that would really impact you two.”
“Yeah. Eventually our conversations grew fewer and shorter, and a few weeks ago we just didn’t bother to call each other. She only sent a text telling me it would be better if we broke up completely and didn’t talk, for both of our sakes.”
“That really hurt, didn’t it?” Emi said quietly, looking at him with sympathy in her green eyes.
Hisao felt his chest tighten. “It did. It felt like it made the distance so much more permanent.”
“Did you feel that maybe, at some point, she would come back, or that you could go to her, or something like that?”
“Yeah, honestly, somewhere inside me I did think that, as pathetic as that sounds.” He felt Emi wrap her arms around him and pull him into a hug. Slightly surprised, he embraced the shorter girl back as they stayed silent, with tears slowly streaking down his cheeks.
“I don’t think it’s pathetic,” Emi said, muffled by his coat. “I know that with the loss I’ve felt, somewhere in my mind I’ve prayed that one day I’ll wake up and it will all be a dream.”
Hisao stayed quiet but hugged her a bit more firmly, wanting to console her as much as she did for him. After a few minutes, they broke apart, before continuing their route back to the school building.
Emi spoke up again as they turned the corner towards the door. “I can see how much this affected you.”
“It has, as much as I hate to say that, especially in this weather.” Hisao gestured around. “It’s very gloomy and dead during winter.”
“Maybe you should look at it in a different way.” Emi pointed to a tree on campus. “That tree looks skeletal now. The snow has blocked all green life from the world, and you look at it through the lens of your Lilly issues.”
Hisao considered this, then nodded. “I guess that’s true. What’s your point?”
“Winter might be this time where things look dead, but plants are strong. Those trees still survive without their leaves. When spring comes, the trees and things that look dead are reborn as vibrant and colorful. You could see winter as a time of renewal and rebirth, don’t you think?”
“I guess I see what you’re saying,” Hisao replied, stopping at the door.
“In the same way, it’s ok to be sad. It’s ok to feel hurt. However, remember that this time will end. It will lead to your rebirth and renewal. It won’t be like this forever; you’re an eligible guy. You can and will find somebody who really cares about you, and that’s an Ibarazaki guarantee!”
Hisao smiled. “Thanks, Emi, for the kind words, and for taking me out on this walk. I think that it really helped.”
Emi lightly punched him in the arm. “Of course, Hisao. Even though you don’t come run with me, you’re still my friend. I still care about your well-being. You needed this. Now c’mon; let’s go enjoy the rest of this party before Misha eats all the Christmas cookies!” Emi charged into the building like she was leading the cavalry.
Hisao chuckled before following her, leaving the cold of winter behind.
