Chapter 4: Sora and Yamato

The streets of Odaiba were filled with people excited for the arrival of the year 2000, but Sora believed she was more excited than they all. Her father was going to spend New Year's Eve with her and her mother; the girl hadn't seen him in a couple of years.

Toshiko wanted to prepare a special dinner and Sora offered to buy the ingredients she needed. The woman showed concern about letting the girl take care of the task alone, but Sora insisted that she could do it.

At that moment, when Sora was struggling to carry four heavy bags of groceries while trying to maneuver in a crowded street during a chilly December afternoon, the girl started to think that maybe she had made a mistake.

Don't drop anything! Don't drop anything! Don't drop anything! She told herself repeatedly as she started to believe that the task was impossible.

"Sora!" Someone greeted her. She turned around too fast and bumped into Yamato. The grocery bags nearly fell, but he helped to prevent that from happening. They both embraced the four bags, letting their arms touch as they faced each other. Some people giggled at them.

"T-Thank you, Yamato-kun!" Sora said, nervously.

"It's okay, uhmm... let me have two of them."

Without really asking, Yamato took two of the bags and walked alongside Sora.

"You don't have to bother with that," Sora told him.

"It's fine, don't worry," Yamato assured. "I need to carry groceries by myself all the time when I have to make dinner. Not this many bags, though."

"My father is going to spend the New Year with us, my mother is going to make a special dinner," Sora explained.

"Is that so? I'm happy for you," Yamato said, showing her a smile. "Takeru is coming over for the New Year. I spent Christmas with him and Mom."

He glanced down, as if he was feeling awkward. Sora found that endearing.

"Did you have a good time with your mother and your brother?"

"Yes," Yamato muttered as his cheeks got red. "It was very nice..."

"I'm happy you get to spend more time with Takeru-kun so soon," Sora told him. "You and Taichi are lucky for having siblings."

"It is nice to have a little brother, even though I don't get to see him a lot," Yamato murmured. "Don't you have any other kid in your family?"

"My mother is an only child. She mentioned a few times that my father had a little sister who died a long time ago, but I shouldn't ask him about her because it'd make him upset."

"Sorry about that."

"I never met Aunt Ame, there aren't even photos of her around," Sora reminisced, not noticing how sad her voice was turning. "I've always wondered how she was... and if I would get along with her... I don't know anything about her other than that she died and that I shouldn't bring the subject up with my father..."

"How can they act like that? As if she never existed?" Yamato asked, seemingly angry. "If he lost his sister, shouldn't he honor her memory? Or at least keep her photo on a shrine or something?"

Sora didn't comment that remark. Yamato didn't take long to realize he had crossed a line.

"Sorry!" He apologized. "It's not my place to say how your father should mourn... it's just that, I thought about what I'd do if Takeru..."

Yamato stopped talking. Sora noticed how his grip on the bags had intensified. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were trembling.

"I made you imagine something upsetting, I'm sorry," Sora told him.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Yamato assured her. "I need to control my emotions better."

"It's okay," Sora said, smiling at him. "I like you the way you are!"

Yamato's face became even redder.

"I..." the boy began to say, "I... to tell you the truth... I also like you the way you are!"

This time, it was Sora who blushed.

"Thank you, Yamato-kun."

When they arrived at her apartment, Sora announced to Toshiko that a friend had helped her to bring the groceries. To Sora's surprise, her mother wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Toshiko showed up in the corridor, leaving the girl's bedroom.

"What were you doing...?" Sora began to ask, but then she saw her father leaving her bedroom as well and forgot to finish the sentence. The man was looking at her with sadness. He was carrying the framed photo Sora and her friends had taken in the Digital World.

"Your father arrived early," Toshiko explained, looking nervously from her daughter to her husband. "I was telling him about-"

"Your adventures in that other world!" Haruhiko interrupted, forcing a smile. "She didn't give me many details, I can't wait to hear them from you, Sora-chan!"

"Okay..." Sora said, feeling that there was something off with her parents.

Yamato put the bags he had been holding on the ground and said that he should probably leave.

"Thank you for your help, Yamato-kun!" Sora told him, showing the boy a warm smile. "Have a Happy New Year!"

"Thanks," Yamato said, smiling back. "Happy New Year for you too!"

After he left, Sora approached her parents. She noticed that her father was examining the photo, holding it with trembling fingers. His face was pale and sweaty; his eyes shone with tears he wouldn't let fall.

"Are you alright, Dad?" Sora asked, worried.

"Do you get along well with your friends, Sora-chan?" Haruhiko inquired, not taking his eyes off of the picture.

"Yes," Sora replied.

"Do they have good families?" Haruhiko asked. "Are they all... happy?"

"I think so..." Sora said. "Why are you asking me all this?"

"It's not important..." Haruhiko told her, forcing a smile. "I'm going to put this back in your bedroom, okay?"

He turned around and walked away from her. Sora looked at Toshiko, who seemed to be even more worried than she was.

"Mom, what happened to him? Why is he acting like that?"

"Your father is complicated," Toshiko said. "We should start making dinner! He also likes to cook! That should cheer him up!"

"But why is he upset? I don't understand!" Sora insisted.

"Do you want your father to feel worse, Sora?" Toshiko asked.

"No! Of course not!" Sora replied.

"Then, give this subject a rest, please."

Sora did as her mother said her and didn't ask further questions.

An hour later, Haruhiko came to help them with dinner. He seemed to be more lively and asked many questions about the Digital World. Haruhiko shared theories about what he thought the digimon were and seemed rather passionate about those ideas. Although she was still worried, Sora liked to see her father genuinely excited about something.

It didn't take long for her to realize that her father reminded her a bit of Koushiro. Or maybe Koushiro was the one who reminded her of Haruhiko.