I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARS
It was that day again which Arata hated: Mother's Day. Being abandoned at the orphanage just a day after he was born and his foster mother killed in an accident, no one who knew this would blame him for disliking this day. It drove him nuts just watch other students rushing around preparing cards and presents to send to their moms and gush on how awesome he or she's mother was. He sometimes felt jealous of the students who had mothers to love.
It was Yuno who first noticed that he was not doing anything for Mother's Day. Even Hikaru, who seldom talks about his family, had already sent off a card to his mother. So she decided to confront him about it.
"Arata, aren't you going to send a card to your mother?" She asked him the day before Mother's Day after War Time. "I'm sure she'll appreciate it if you did so."
It was all Arata could do to not yell at her for not understanding his situation. He clenched and unclenched his fist in an effort to remain calm.
Luckily, Mia had heard Yuno's question and quietly went over to him. "Arata, Reika was looking for you just now, something about your…project."
Arata knew that she was lying but was thankful for the change of subject and nodded. "Alright, I'll go find her." He turned to Yuno. "Sorry, I'll get back to you later."
"Um, that's fine." She said, obviously upset that he did not answer her question.
But once Arata left the class, Mia turned to Yuno and said in a low voice, "I would not talk to him about mothers if I were you. It's not a pretty subject for him."
Yuno's eyes widened. "Why?"
"He'll tell you in his own time." Mia said mysteriously. "But for now, just leave him alone. He's busy with his project with Reika."
"What project is he working on?" Haruki asked, having heard her last sentence.
"Not my place to say it." Mia shrugged.
"Does it have anything to do with all those electronic manuals he has been reading a lot recently?" Hikaru asked.
"Something like that." Mia grinned and turned around. "If you'll excuse me, I got to meet up with my brother so that he can sign the card we bought for our mom." She smirked and left the class, knowing that Haruki was sending slightly disapproving looks at her direction.
Catherin had also heard her sent frowns in her direction. "I don't like it. Arata and Reika are obviously doing something but we don't know what and Mia…"
"Catherin, you always find anything that Mia does suspicious." Haruki cut in. "I admit that I am not comfortable with her communicating with Muraku, but she's only going to see him for her mother today. So drop it. But I agree about Arata and Reika…Where's Sakuya?"
"He left before Arata did though he did say something about dropping by the electronic shop for some new parts." Hikaru told him.
"Do you think Sakuya knows what they're doing then?" Catherin narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I mean, they could be building a new LBX for all we know but Reika is from Harness."
Yuno raised an eyebrow. There were times she did not like how Catherin would simply jump to conclusions without checking the facts first and now was one of those times.
"Thanks for helping us out Sakuya." Arata thanked the green haired mechanic later that evening when he and Reika met up with him outside the dorms with a box in their hands.
"You're welcome." Sakuya smiled. "So what else needs to be done?"
"I think we should check for any defects and then test it." Reika told him.
Arata nodded in agreement and took out the ice cream maker he and Reika had been building with Sakuya's help out of the box. "Yuko-nee will be so surprise when we give it to her."
"Yeah, especially since we made it from scratch." Reika grinned as she pried open the covers to check the wiring.
"I have to say, this is a first for me." Sakuya admitted. "I never made a household electronic before. So this is a new experience for me."
"We really appreciate your help." Arata told him and handed over one of the parts for him to check. "I think the wires on this side is a little loose."
Sakuya looked at the spot Arata indicated and took out the tool he bought earlier and helped adjust the wire. "If you don't mind me asking, but why are you making this ice cream maker for Kuriko-san?"
"Her last ice cream maker broke down and could not be fixed." Reika explained. "So we wanted to get her a new one but the problem is, it's too expensive so we decided to make one. I have to admit though, I can understand what Takeru has to go through now to make all his LBXs from scratch. It's not easy trying to find all these parts and preventing Yuko-nee from finding out."
"Alright." Sakuya handed back the part to Arata who replaced it in the mixer. "Let's test it out." He switched it on and it hummed to life. "So far so good."
Just as those words left his mouth, the mixer spluttered and died down. The three of the stared at it for a second before Reika turned to Arata with a death glare. "Arata, next time. Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut!"
Sakuya chuckled nervously, remembering the autograph incident. Arata on the other hand, was shooting Reika glares. "I know. But we got to fix it now and figure out what went wrong."
"I think I might have tightened the wires too much." Sakuya sheepishly admitted.
Arata sighed and opened the covering of the mixer and took out the damaged part. "Let's see if we can fix it tonight."
Later, when the trio came back in, Catherin started to approach them to confront them but Yuno immediately beat her to it, much to her surprise.
"Arata, where were you just now? I was looking for you." Yuno smiled innocently while looking over Reika's shoulder at Catherin.
"Oh, Sakuya was helping Reika and I put some finishing touches on our present for Yuko-nee." Arata smiled, not entirely noticing Catherin's agape mouth or Haruki and Hikaru raising their eyebrows.
"I see." Yuno nodded in understanding.
Reika suddenly tugged in Sakuya's arm to pull him away. "Arata, we'll be keeping the ice cream maker now. Remember to wrap it up tomorrow."
Arata nodded. "Sure." He turned back to Yuno and rubbed his hands together. "Listen, about your question earlier…"
"It's ok." Yuno smiled. "Mia explained that you don't like talking about the subject so I won't push it. But, I'm curious. Who are you going to celebrate Mother's Day with?"
"Oh," Arata shrugged. "Reika and I were thinking we'll just make the ice cream maker for Yuko-nee to show our appreciation for taking care of us since we were eight."
Yuno's mouth formed an 'o' in understanding. "I see. Well, thanks for telling me. Mia won't tell me when I asked about it."
"She couldn't." Arata admitted. "We wanted it to be a surprise for Yuko-nee so she had to keep quiet about it in case someone accidentally tells her. Sakuya knew because he was helping us build it. It was hard but we eventually did it."
"I see." Yuno smiled. "Well, good luck in giving it to her. Oh, and when you are ready, you can tell me about your mother." She told him softly with a comforting smile.
Arata blinked in surprise. "What did Mia tell you?"
"Nothing other than you don't like to talk about your mother." Yuno whispered.
Arata lowered his head. "I'll tell you another time, but not here and not now."
Yuno nodded in understanding. "Alright, but remember, I'm always ready to hear if you want."
Arata managed a small smile. "Thanks."
The next day, once War Time was over, Reika and Arata made a beeline for the dorms and picked up the wrapped up box before heading over to the sports center where Atsuya and Mia were waiting.
"I bet nee-san will love it." Atsuya told Mia as they cleaned up the long table and set the snacks on it.
"Yup." Mia nodded in agreement. "Where is she by the way?"
"I convinced her to train in the Aviane dimension until Arata and Reika comes over but I didn't tell her about the surprise party."
"Alright." Mia smiled and placed a bow of sweets on the table. She lifted her head when she saw Reika and Arata coming in. "You got it?"
"Yup." Arata grinned as he nodded. They placed the box containing the ice cream maker on the counter just as Yuko was coming down.
"Oh there you are." Yuko said when she saw them. "I was beginning to think…" She trailed off when she noticed Reika and Arata's wide grins. "Is there anything wrong?"
In response, Reika and Arata stepped aside, revealing the box. "Surprise!"
Yuko blinked in surprise but her lips formed a small smile. "What is it?"
"It's our present for you." Arata explained. "Since today is Mother's Day, we decided to turn it into Sister's Day for us."
Yuko felt her eyes moisten and quickly blinked away her tears. "Thank you. So what's inside?"
"Open it and you'll see." Reika smiled mysteriously.
Yuko smiled and opened the box but it faded slightly when she realized it was an ice cream maker. "This is…"
"We made it ourselves." Reika gestured at her and Arata proudly. "Do you like it?"
"Y-yeah." Yuko forced a smile. 'Great, now I have to cancel my order…but maybe I shouldn't just in case this one does not work…Oh well, they made the effort to go so far for this. I will not tell them that I already ordered a new one and just use this one or they'll be disappointed.'
"Thank you so much." Yuko thanked them as she took out the ice cream maker and placed it on the counter. "But why do you want to make it Sister's Day instead?"
"Well, for one, you are more like a sister to us than a mother and we want to show our appreciation for everything you have done for us." Reika shifted on her feet. "And for me and Arata, we don't like Mother's Day since the only mother we had was our foster mother."
Atsuya, Mia and Yuko became grim at that. They knew that neither Reika nor Arata like to celebrate Mother's Day because it painfully reminded them that they were abandoned and the only mother figure in their life was dead.
Wanting to change the subject, Atsuya clapped his hands. "Since we are celebrating Sister's Day, it's only right that I also give you a present, nee-san." He reached over the counter and pulled out a receipt. "Here you go."
Yuko raised an eyebrow and read it but her eyebrows shot up when she was done. "Atsuya, this is…"
"An order for cream, milk and vanilla on me." Atsuya said proudly. "Now you can make all the ice cream you want for the rest of the month."
'Oh why!? I placed another order for those things after I ordered the ice cream maker!' Yuko screamed in her mind. 'Maybe I should have listened to Reina and just waited…don't tell me she knew about this!?'
Mia looked amused as she read Yuko's thoughts since she was curious as to why Yuko's thoughts were very erratic. She tapped into Yuko's mind and replied, 'No, Mito-sensei does not know. But we did imply that we were getting something for you to her.'
Yuko glared at Mia who merely smiled angelically. She sighed and shifted he gaze between the ice cream maker and the receipt and smiled. 'Oh well, it's the thought that counts. I'm grateful for all they had done for me today so I'll just accept all of this with a smile.'