Ah, the summer holidays. It’s so nice when you don’t have to see annoying schoolmates if you don’t want to. You could stay inside your apartment room all day and just enjoy your peace and tranquility.

   Pin-pon pin-pon pin-pon!

   As I mentioned, I was already done with my summer homework. Now I can laze around all day until the day of that dread field trip arrives.

   Pin-pon pin-pon pin-pon!

   Now then, what should I do? Oh yeah, I just bought a new game yesterday. Maybe I should-

   ‘Open up, Bandou-kun! We know you’re in there!’ a familiar and unpleasant voice shouts from beyond the door.

   ‘Go away! I’m not in!’ I shout.

   ‘Come on, Bandou-kun! I’ll give you my autograph if you come out~!’ another familiar voice tells me.

   For those of you who’re wondering, Miiko is busy with her part-time work at Yamamoto’s Canteen. I’m off today, which is why I was lazing around.

   ‘I already got one when I went to one of your live shows! Now leave me alone!’

   ‘Just give up, Takkun~! Aiai won’t leave until you open the door~.’ a laid-back voice says.

   I sigh and get up from my bed. Looks like there’s no getting out of this one. I open the door and sees Nagano, a disguised Nitta and Suzu standing in front of me.

   ‘What on earth are you girls doing here?’ I demand. ‘Isn’t the field trip next week?’

   ‘That is that, this is this. I want to bring you to see my parents today.’ Nagano tells me.

   ‘Why on earth would you even want to do that? We’re not even dating.’

   ‘I want them to know that I’ve made more friends.’

   I groan. I guess I can’t refuse if she wants them to ease their worries.

   ‘Fine, fine. Just give me a few minutes. I need to get changed.’ I tell her.

   ‘Sure. We’ll be waiting you right here.’

   I follow the three of them to leave the apartment after I wore something that is more suitable to go outside. That said, this apartment is only two storeys tall, so the trip only took a while. Besides the three girls, Takeda, Aki-san and even Futaki is here. The three of them are talking with each other and probably getting acquainted.

   ‘Why are literally everyone here?’ I ask Nagano.

   ‘You know what they say, the more the merrier.’

   ‘Your parents must really love crowds.’

   ‘They sure did. They always had lots of guests over at our house during the weekends. It was party after party.’

   ‘Morning, Bandou! It had been a while since we met, huh?’ Takeda greets me energetically.

   ‘Good morning, Takeda. It sure has.’ I agree.

   ‘Was it? I’m pretty sure the festival to gather donations was held just yesterday.’ Aki-san says while looking like she’s thinking really hard.

   ‘Um, it was held last month Aki-san.’ I remind her.

   ‘Is it now? My, time sure flies, doesn’t it?’

   Aki-san is being her usual airhead self.

   ‘So, where are we headed to?’ I ask Nagano.

   ‘To Roppongi. It’s just a few minutes walk from the station.’ Nagano answers.

   ‘Right, then. Let’s get going.’

   Before I leave, I texted Miiko that I’ll be heading out, just in case the visit takes time.

   As we’re heading to the train station, I couldn’t help but notice that Futaki is keep on sneaking glances towards Nitta.

   ‘Is something wrong, Futaki?’ I ask her.

   Futaki is taken completely by surprise by my question. She probably thought no one was paying attention to her.

   ‘It’s just that, well, is that person who I really think she is?’ she asks while looking at Nitta.

   ‘It sure is. That’s Nitta Yuki.’ I confirm.

   ‘So it really is her. What is a popular person like her doing here?’

   ‘Nagano probably invited her. After all, Nitta is part of the Love Consultation Club too.’

   Futaki gasps.

   ‘She is?’ she asks in astonishment.

   ‘Oh yeah, I don’t think we ever mentioned it to you. And then there’s the fact that she has never came to the club room ever since you joined. Which is a good thing, I guess. She’s not much of a help anyway.’

   ‘I heard that!’ Nitta growls.

   Futaki bows respectfully at Nitta.

   ‘Nice to meet you, Nitta-senpai. I’m very sorry for not greeting you earlier.’ she tells the idol politely.

   ‘It’s fine, it’s fine. I understand that some people will get nervous around strangers.’

   ‘She’s right, Futaki. There’s no need for you to be nervous around her. She may be the top idol of Japan and the vice president of the student council, but she’s just a simpleton who always gets carried away.’

   ‘Do you have to put it that way, Bandou-kun?’

   ‘Well it’s true. By the way, are you sure it’s okay for you to come out? Don’t you have idol work to do?’ I ask Nitta.

   ‘No need to worry. I already got Yayoi-san’s permission. She helped me reject all the work scheduled for me today. They weren’t that important anyway, which was why she could do it.’

   ‘Must be nice to have such a supportive manager.’

   ‘I know, right? She’s the best manager ever!’

   Just as we were about to reach the station, Suzu had to stop at a convenience store to buy some rice balls since she got hungry. Nagano also went in to buy some milk chocolate bars.

   ‘My parents used to love these.’ she explains.

   ‘Her stuff aside, can’t you wait until we reach there?’ I ask Suzu.

   ‘Of course not~. I’m a growing girl, so I have to eat, you know~.’

   ‘Oh, just forgive her. It’s not like we’re in a hurry, right?’ Nagano says to me.

   ‘I guess not.’

   ‘And I think I have to apologize to you, Bandou-kun.’ she says to me.

   ‘Apologize to me? What for?’

   ‘Well, you would rather have stayed at your room, right? And here I am, forcefully dragging you out.’

   She’s being so meek I can’t even bring myself to get mad at her.

   ‘Don’t worry about it. I don’t have anything better to do anyway.’ I tell her as I wave her apology away.

   ‘I can’t wait to meet your parents!’ Nitta says to Nagano once we started to head for the train station again.

   ‘I hope I will not impose on them.’ Futaki says in a worried tone.

   ‘There’s no need to be so nervous, Haruka-chan. They were very friendly people. Besides, they loved to be imposed.’

   It takes us twenty minutes to reach Roppongi Station from the Tokyo one. Once we’re there, we follow Nagano to our destination.

   Turns out we were headed to Aoyama cemetery.

   Nitta and Futaki are completely aghast as we’re standing at the entrance.

   ‘Are your parents, um, inside senpai?’ Futaki asks Nagano with a pale face.

   ‘That’s right. This is where their body were buried. Today’s their death anniversary. I made it a habit to visit them every year.’ Nagano answers with a smile.

   ‘Is this why you couldn’t afford to fail the exam held before the summer holidays?’ I ask her.

   ‘Yup.’

   ‘I’m so sorry so my insensitive comments earlier!’ Futaki just couldn’t stop apologizing.

   ‘Me too! Saying that I can’t wait to meet them and stuff!’ Nitta also joins in the apology. ‘And you should have told us! I’m not really dressed up appropriately to visit a grave, am I?’

   ‘It’s fine, Nitta-san. There isn’t any dress code for visiting graves.’ Nagano assures her.

   ‘Well, if you say so…’

   ‘You don’t seem surprised by this, Bandou-senpai. Is it because you knew already?’ Futaki asks me.

   ‘Nope. She didn’t tell me either. I somehow guessed it. She was using past tense, after all.’ I reply.

   Futaki lowers her head in shame.

   ‘It would seem that I still have a lot to learn.’

   ‘Don’t worry about it. You’re already doing better than Nagano.’

   ‘Hey! You don’t have to bring that up every single time, you know!’ Nagano protests.

   ‘My bad. At this point, it just became my habit.’

   ‘Now now, all of you. You should stop being so rowdy when we’re at a place like a cemetery.’ Aki-san says to us all of a sudden.

   ‘Don’t you worry, Aki-san. Even I won’t fool around in a cemetery.’ I assure her.

   The rest of us follow Nagano quietly to where her parents are buried. Wherever it is, it’s kind of far. We’ve been walking for five minutes, and we’re still not there yet. I use this chance to take a proper look around since this is the first time I ever visit a grave.

   This is a cemetery. Needless to say, there are lots and lots of gravestones of all shapes and sizes here. They don’t even discriminate the religions of those buried here. As a proof, I see some gravestones with a cross engraved on them. There are also quite a lot of cherry blossom trees planted behind the gravestones. If we came here during Spring, we might have gotten a great view. Alas, it’s summer now, so none of the trees are having flowers.

   Other than us, there are a few people who are also visiting the graves of their loved ones. They could be friends, they could be family members. Either way, all of those whom we passed by has a solemn look on their face.

   After walking for two more minutes, we finally arrived at our destination. Nagano stops between a pair of gravestones with the names Nagano Ryosei and Nagano Tomiko carved on it respectively.

   First, Nagano puts a bar of chocolate that she bought in front of each of the gravestones. She then steps back and goes down on her knees while putting her hands together. The rest of us do the same. She went quiet for one whole minutes before saying something.

   ‘Hello, father and mother, it’s been a while.’ she begins. ‘As you can see, I’ve been doing well this past year. You may have noticed that the company you have is much bigger compare to the previous years. All of them are my new friends.’

   She then introduces us to her parents one by one.

   ‘The school life I had so far this year was fine, I guess. I still barely passed the exams, though.’ she continues. ‘And I actually formed a club! Can you believe that? And also…’

   Her monologue lasted a few more minutes. Aki-san then takes over.

   ‘As Ai-chan had told you, she’s doing fine, so don’t you worry Ryosei-san, Tomiko-san. Even if she isn’t, I for one will take good care of her and make sure nothing bad will ever happen to her.’ the university student says to the gravestones.

   This is one of the rarer times where I actually get to hear Aki-san being serious. Looking at her like that, it’s kind of hard to imagine that she’s an airhead most of the time.

   ‘Noriko-san is right. I’ll beat up anyone who even thinks of messing with Ai.’ Takeda says next.

   The three of them then get up. The rest of us follow suit.

   ‘Aren’t you going to say anything to them, Suzu?’ I ask Suzu in a small voice.

   ‘Nope~. I don’t know them personally when they were alive, after all~.’ she replies in an equally small voice.

   ‘We’re going to clean up the gravestones.’ Nagano tells us. ‘The rest of you can go back if you want.’

   ‘I’ll help out too, senpai. We can finish faster then.’ Futaki offers.

   ‘Yup yup. We’re already here anyway, might as well stay till the end.’ Nitta adds.

   ‘Thank you both for offering to help.’

   ‘I’ll help too.’ I tell her.

   My offer took her by surprise.

   ‘You’re actually helping out? Is the world going to end soon?’

   I shrug. ‘I’ll leave if you don’t need my help.’

   ‘No, of course not. I appreciate it.’

   ‘The rest of us will clear the weeds around the gravestones, can the two of you get a piece of cloth and a bucket from the nearby shrine?’ Aki-san tells us.

   ‘There’s a shrine near here?’ I ask.

   ‘How else do you think this cemetery is managed? The priests and priestesses who work there, of course. Now come on, I’ll lead the way.’ Nagano tells me.

   The two of us walk in silence for a while before I decide to speak.

   ‘I’m so glad I didn’t say anything along the line of you’ll wish your parents weren’t here when I first told you about mine.’

   She raises her eyebrow.

   ‘What’s this all of a sudden?’ she asks.

   ‘Nothing. I’m just glad I wasn’t an insensitive jerk.’

   ‘I hate to break it to you, but you are one.’ she reminds me.

   ‘I know, I know. But even I have my limits, okay?’

   ‘Even if you did, I wouldn’t have minded at all. I got called names like the unwanted kid ever since I was young. I pretty much got used to it.’

   ‘That’s not something you get used to.’ I point out.

   ‘I know, but I have to. I used to cry a lot when I was called names. Kimi got so angry she would beat up those name-callers. She overdid it once and they had to be sent to the ICU. It was hectic.’

   ‘The two of you get along well, huh?’

   ‘It’s not just us, but Noriko-san too. Even our parents gt along very well with each other. Our three family were very close with each other, which made the passing of my parents all the more sadder for them.’

   ‘That reminds me. Shouldn’t they be here too for your parents’ death anniversary?’

   ‘They’re scheduled to come here during evening so that Kimi and Noriko-san won’t have to bump into them.’

   ‘Are they in a fight or something?’

   ‘They are. Kimi’s parents runs a yakuza gang that rules the underworld of Shinjuku. Kimi wants to have nothing to do with them, so she ran away from home and seek shelter at Koikana.’

   ‘And Aki-san fought with her parents cause she wants to inherit Koikana that her grandmother was in charge of.’

   ‘That’s right. Did she told you that?’

   ‘Yup. During the fundraiser.’

   ‘I see. Well, that’s how it is. Noriko-san’s parents want her to inherit their hospital instead, but naturally she refused.’

   ‘I have to ask, what did your parents do for a living when they were still alive?’

   ‘Oh them? My father was a stockbroker, and my mother was a housewife.’

   ‘And how did two doctors, a couple of yakuza gang leaders and a husband/wife of stockbroker and a housewife ever get to get along with each other?’

   ‘It’s a long story.’ is all she said.

   We soon reach a Nogi Shrine. Nagano heads straight towards a middle-aged priest who’s sweeping the floor of tree leaves with a broom. The priest smiles at Nagano when he sees her.

   ‘Welcome Nagano-san. Are you here to visit your parents’ graves again?’ he asks her.

   She smiles back at him.

   ‘Yes, Akazawa-san. I hope you don’t mind us borrowing your cleaning tools again.’

   ‘Of course not. I’ll go get them for you right away.’

   ‘Please don’t bother. I know where they are. We’ll just help ourselves.’

   ‘If you insist. By the way, is that slimeball Kamei still not back yet?’

   ‘I’m afraid so. Last we heard of him, he’s still in Las Vegas.’

   ‘God may punish me for wishing ill fate towards someone, but I simply wish that he would never come back.’ Akazawa-san says with a distasteful look.

   ‘Believe me, you’re not the only one.’ Nagano isn’t even trying to hide her hostility towards the head priest of Koikana.

   ‘Honestly, if it wasn’t for the dumb rules, Aki-san would have been the one to inherit Koikana, not him. I don’t care if she’s a bit clumsy. Anyone with eyes can tell that she truly cares about the shrine, as opposed to that gamble addict.’

   ‘Thank you for your kind words. I’m sure Noriko-san will be happy to hear them.’

   ‘Well, don’t let a geezer like me waste any more of your time. Go ahead and get what you need.’

   ‘Yes. Thank you.’

   Akazawa-san and I nod at each other politely before I follow Nagano to wherever the stuffs we need are at. She brings me to a small shed, and we get a wooden bucket and a cloth. I then fill up the bucket with water from a tap.

   ‘Is it heavy? Do you want me to take over?’ Nagano asks on our way back.

   ‘Of course not. How weak do you take me for?’

   ‘...Thank you, Bandou-kun. Thank you so much.’

   ‘Why are you being so grateful over me doing a measly slave work?’

   ‘It’s not just this. It’s for sticking around for so long, even though I tried to blackmail you for it.’

   ‘Ah, that.’

   ‘Exactly. That.’

   ‘I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully. Even if you want me to repeat it, I won’t, okay?’

   ‘Sure. What is it?’

   ‘Even though I joined in the club reluctantly, I had fun. I mean it.’

   She takes out her phone and points the camera at me.

   ‘Can you say that again?’ she requests.

   ‘Weren’t you listening? I said I’m not going to repeat that!’

   ‘It’s definitely certain that the world is going to end.’

   ‘Whatever. Let’s just go back.’

   By the time we came back, the rest of them were already done with clearing out the weeds.

   ‘Sorry for the wait. I’ll get it done in a jiffy.’ Nagano tells them.

   ‘No worries. Just take your time.’ Aki-san says to her.

   ‘But at least finish it up before lunch time, okay?’ Takeda requests.

   ‘Got it.’

   After she’s down wiping the gravestones clean from dusts and other impurities, we leave the cemetery and head back to the shrine to return the cloth and the bucket. Akazawa-san wasn’t around when we were there the second time, so we could avoid the unnecessary small talk. We ended the trip by having a lunch at a well-known gyudon chain shop.