The rest of the vacation was spent with me getting to know my dad's family a little better. They requested us to keep in touch and so too did my grandparents. It seems my mom has forgiven them somewhat, enough to not have a completely neutral face around them. After arriving back in Japan I only had two days left of our spring break, the first day was spent with us just unpacking and readjusting to the time zone. The next day though I called Shota to see if he and maybe the others wanted to hang out before school started again.
"Hello?" I hear Shota answer his house phone seeming to be half awake as I called them around eight in the morning.
"Shota, its Akihiko, I'm back. Was wondering if you and maybe the others wanted to hang out together before school tomorrow," I say to him over the phone.
"Akihiko! We were wondering when you'd come back. Sure, give me maybe.....twenty mins and I'll come over. You gonna call the others?" Shota says to me and seems to have woken up after hearing it was me.
"Yeah I'll call them, see you in a bit," I say before hanging up and calling Hizashi next.
"Yo! Akihiko?" I hear Hizashi's voice on the phone having guessed it was me from the caller ID.
"Hey Hizashi, I just called Shota and we are gonna hang out in a bit, you in?" I say laughing a bit at Hizashi's way of answering the phone.
"Hell yeah! Where at?" Hizashi says and I can hear his mom in the background chastising him for 'Cursing' though he just seems to ignore her.
"Not sure yet, but we can meet in the park that had the fair for New Year. Try to be there in an hour," I say thinking where a place we could all meet halfway to each other.
"Cool, see you in a bit," Hizashi says hanging up the phone and I just laugh as he is one of the few people in Japan that is not so formal all the time. I then call Nemuri next.
"Hello, this is the Kayama household," I hear Nemuri's mom answer the phone.
"Hi Mrs.Kayama, this is Akihiko Yagi, is Nemuri there?" I ask her.
"Oh! Akihiko your family is back from vacation, that's great! How was it? Nemuri has been asking a lot about you since you left," Nemuri's mom says and I hear Nemuri in the background confused about who she is talking to, but realizing it is me she wrestles the phone from her mom.
"Mom! Stop!" Nemuri says as they are fighting over the phone and I laugh since her mom, gives it to her before I can speak.
"Sorry Akihiko, my mom is just being annoying! Though I'm glad you are back….." Nemuri says on the phone but her mom breaks out laughing hearing Nemuri on the phone, probably making her embarrassed.
"Thanks and I was just calling to see if you wanted to hang out with our group. We are meeting in the park where the new year festival took place, in an hour," I say trying not to laugh at the interaction between Nemuri and her mom.
"Yeah defiantly, see you soon," Nemuri says then hangs up as I hear her mom teasing her in the background.
'Does Nemuri actually have a crush on me?' I think to myself. I'm not that dense I've seen how Nemuri acts differently around me and I think she has a crush on me. Though I'm not sure I feel the same way about her, plus right now I want to focus on becoming a hero. Maybe in the future when I'm a hero I will consider finding a girlfriend. Snapping me out of my thoughts I hear someone knock at our front door.
"Hey Shota," I say opening it and seeing Shota having arrived, sooner than he said. He nods his head in greeting me, enters my house, and takes his shoes off.
"My mom just finished making breakfast, want some before we go and meet the other?" I ask Shota since he arrived before I ate breakfast.
"Sure," Shota says and we enter the kitchen to see my dad and mom having finished setting the table and preparing breakfast.
"Oh, hi Shota. Are you joining us for breakfast?" Dad says to him seeing us enter the room.
"If that is ok," Shota says with some hesitation.
"Yeah why wouldn't it be, you're basically family," Mom says to him and smile getting another spot prepared for Shota.
After breakfast, Shota and I quickly say our goodbyes. Then we walk to the park that I planned for us to meet in, after that we can decide to do whatever as a group.
"So how was the US and family reunion?" Shota asks me as we walk to the park.
"It was…..interesting. I learned more about my dad's side of the family and met my two cousins. One was our age and the other was her younger sister. I did get to actually fly through the sky though," I say to Shota, describing how high I flew and what the feeling was like. Then tell him what my family was like, along with what I did for the rest of the vacation.
"Your cousin sounds like Hizashi, maybe they'd become fast friends if she met him," Shota says with a chuckle as we enter the park.
"You're not wrong," I say with a laugh. As we enter we see Hizashi and Nemuri talking by the fountain in the center of the park. Seeing us, they both waved hello, though from the looks of them, they were just bickering about something.
"Hey guys, long time no see," I say with a smile as Hizashi gives me a bro hug and Nemuri gives me a slightly awkward hug.
"So what are we doing?" Hizashi says after the greetings. Everyone looks at me as if I was the one who asked everyone to meet up.
"Uh, didn't really have anything in mind. Just wanted to see you all again before school starts tomorrow. Anyone wants to do anything in particular?" I say to them and look around at their faces, they go thoughtful for a bit.
"We can walk around the mall, and maybe go to the arcade there or see a movie too," Hizashi says and we all seem to be on board with that idea. On the way to the mall, I tell Hizashi and Nemuri about my vacation, just as I told Shota on our way here.
"Hear that Hizashi, Akihiko's cousin might just be the girl that can deal with you," Nemuri says with a snicker at Hizashi and Shota laughs. Hizashi glares at them and snorts.
"Only if Akihiko is cool with it would I pursue his cousin, as the saying goes bros before....before girls," Hizashi says and pats my shoulder, but stops before he says the real saying seeing Nemuri narrow her eyes at him. Shota and I just laugh at the situation, but I'm glad Hizashi would be that loyal to me.
Arriving at the mall we walk around and just window shop while seeing several other kids our age and slightly older also walking around window shopping. Seems that this place is a common area for kids our age and in high school to hang out. Though we can tell Hizashi likes this place for several reasons, as he is not so subtly staring at the girls we pass.
"Do you have to stare at every girl we pass with a perverted look?" Nemuri says rolling her eyes at Hizashi's staring.
"Two things Nemuri, first, there is no law or moral saying we cannot enjoy the sights of beautiful women. Second, you'd never know as no one wants to stare at you, you have nothing to stare at," Hizashi says with a tone of superiority.
Shota and I share a look at one another that shows our disbelief at what Hizashi just said. Though much to our surprise instead of flipping out right away at Hizashi, Nemuri just looks down at herself with a face that is red both with anger and embarrassment. Not that Shota and I agree with Hizashi on much, but he is not wrong Nemuri is pretty compared to most girls in our school, but unlike some, she hasn't developed much in certain areas.
"WHAT'D YOU KNOW! Your not much of a looker either! That's why no girl has returned your advances!" Nemuri says extremely angered and embarrassed but quiets down as her first loud outburst made most people turn to us. However even though she quieted down some, she was still very upset at Hizashi.
"Ok, everyone needs to calm down. Hizashi you went too far and should apologize to Nemuri. Nemuri tries not to think much about what Hizashi says, everyone has their own preference and some guys find you very beautiful. I think you are very pretty," I say trying to placate them before the argument can reach higher levels.
Though what I said now registers in my brain, as they all look at me surprised. Nemuri's face is somehow even redder and looks at me stuttering not sure what to say. The realization of what I said makes my face turn red as everyone looks at me with surprised looks.
"How about we go to the arcade now," Shota says breaking the awkward silence that took over our group. Everyone just nods their head agreeing and we all silently walk to the arcade together.
Once we are in the arcade, we all give the worker some money for change that can be used on the machines here. After we all play some of the games inside, we start to play this one game that can be played in pairs. Both people dance and try to get a higher score than the other, by following the directions on the screen of where to step next on the gamepad. Up first were Nemuri and Hizashi, as they had an underlined score to settle with one another, so this game would help decide the winner between the two.
"Akihiko, do you actually like Nemuri?" Shota asks me in a hushed voice as we watch Hizashi and Nemuri play against one another.
"I mean, we all think Nemuri is cute, pretty, beautiful, or whatever, right?" I say looking at him with some confusion on my face, as I thought we all thought that. Shota stares at me in silence for a bit and looks back at Nemuri for a few seconds.
"Yeah I guess she has a certain charm about her, but I don't really think that way about her," Shota says with an indifferent shrug.
"But you never answered my question, do you like Nemuri?" Shota says quickly after seeing my hesitation and a raised eyebrow.
"I…..I don't know. I mean I meant what I said, I think she is pretty, but I don't know if I like her like that or not. Plus I'd rather focus more on getting into U.A. and becoming a hero, than getting a girlfriend like Hizashi desperately wants," I say to Shota and chuckle awkwardly at the end.
"I get it, though you and Nemuri might want to talk about that soon. Because even I can tell she probably has a crush on you....like most girls," Shota says to me with a slightly bitter voice at the end.
"Can't help that I have the looks of an…..Angel," I say with a laugh at the end making a pun on my quirk. Shota just rolls his eyes at my poor pun.
"Whatever, just make sure you tell her how you feel. Cause if you guys don't talk soon we might just lose her as a friend, especially now that she probably thinks you like her as she likes you," Shota says to me with surprisingly a lot of wisdom.
"What?..... I'm not some idiot who doesn't understand love! I happen to like someone too….." Shota says to me with an annoyed face seeing my surprised look, but now my curiosity spikes hearing the last part.
"So.... you gonna tell me or am I gonna have Hizashi bug you until you tell us both?" I say after he goes silent with a red embarrassed face. Then hearing me he lets out an annoyed sigh.
"Fine, but don't tell anyone! I mean anyone, not even Hizashi, especially not Hizashi!" Shota says to me with a very serious voice and I nod my head motioning for him to tell me.
"It's Sara," Shota says with an almost too quiet voice and I just look at him surprised, as he has fallen for someone older than us and in our club. I just smile at him and pat his shoulder.