Issei Hyoudou sat at the swing, sulking over how his best friend, Irina, had left Japan for France. He understood it was because his (her, as he later learned) parents had given a better work opportunity.
Even so…
'It sucks that he has to go…'
The boy groaned as his eyes stung. The sadness in his heart came bubbling once more, threatening to overtake his state of mind once more. He pushed it down though, so that he can stay optimistic for Irina's sake.
*Hic*
'Huh?' He thought to himself before looking around, thinking that he might have misheard it.
Another sob. So someone must be crying somewhere near him! He surveyed the surroundings and paid attention to the source of the cry. He heard an old man preaching about boobs and all, but he paid no mind to it.
He took his time, slowly getting closer to the source as if he was a dowsing machine. As he was closer, he could hear the distinct sound of someone sobbing. A girl's sobbing too, if he would have to guess.
Eventually, he got closer to the tube slide.
'She must be in there to hide herself to cry.' He eventually approached the tube and looked into it to see who was crying.
In the slide sat a young girl, about his age. She had long beautiful red, no, crimson hair and a pair of sapphire eyes that enraptured Issei. The girl was currently wearing a beautiful yellow dress and a blue ornament flower on her hair.
The girl stopped her sobbing and stared at Issei, as if fear had taken over her. Neither spoke for a moment before Issei fished out a handkerchief to her.
The girl hesitantly took it to wipe her tears before blowing her snot into it. She hiccuped slightly before coughing, startling Issei.
"Stay here. I'll get some water." Without waiting for her reply, he went off on his own to a nearby vending machine. The boy checked the amount of money he had with him, only to see there was enough for a bottle of water.
"Yosh!" Nodding in approval, he inserted his remaining money before taking the water bottle back to the girl.
The girl, thankfully, stayed on the slide. When Issei entered her view, her eyes glowed slightly as if she was happy he returned.
The boy gave her a positive grin before handing her the water bottle, which she accepted. She carefully sipped the water while the boy watched.
Neither spoke a word when the girl stopped drinking, seemingly falling into a kind of silence they preferred. It was not awkward at all, to them. It was just as if they agreed they needed this kind of silence.
Even so, the girl still had to speak.
"T-thank you." The girl said with a small blush on her cheek. Issei also sported a blush as he scratched the back of his head, telling the girl "You're welcome."
"I just can't leave a crying girl alone anyway."
The girl smiled, her blush became redder. "E-even so, I still have to say thanks… uhm…"
"Issei Hyoudou! But you can call me Ise." The boy stretched out his hand to her, still grinning ear to ear. "Nice to meet you…"
"Rias Gremory." Rias meekly introduced herself before accepting his hand, shaking it as a sign of their acquaintanceship.
"So… Rias-chan." The girl yelped at the way Issei addressed her, but the boy merely continued. "Why are you here?"
The girl twiddles her thumbs nervously before she shielded her face with her knees. "I ran away from my daddy and mommy…"
'Wat?'
"My parents came to Kuoh with me to both visit and do some business with their friend. I wanted to explore the town but… daddy and mommy won't allow it. I… I threw a tantrum over it and…" The girl slowly trailed off at the end of her sentence, pushing herself closer as if being embarrassed by her action.
She heard some movement before feeling a hand placed on her head. "I guess you didn't get to do this often?" She nodded without looking at Issei. "Do you want to look around Kuoh?" Another nod.
"Then let's go!" The girl shot up and looked at Issei, who stretched his hand out to invite the girl. "Since your parents are too busy, why not let a local show you around?"
Rias paused at the boy and her heart beat faster. She merely met this boy for a few hours but he had shown a level of kindness similar to her family and Sona.
For so long, every stranger she met knew who she was and gave her fake smiles and kindness. They merely wanted to get close to her to earn the favor of the Gremory family.
With a smile, she nodded aggressively and took hold of Issei's hand.
"Yes!"
The pair of children walked hand in hand with smiles on their faces. Issei giddily introduced the different parts of the district from his favorite shops to where his parents tend to buy groceries. Many adults who noticed them merely giggled or cooed at the cute sight of a boy escorting a girl.
Over the course of their trip, Issei learned that Rias had similar interests when it came to hobbies. They liked reading shonen jump mangas, playing video games, and playing some sports.
Rias, on the other hand, felt giddy over learning different things about the town the boy lived in. She heard stories from Claria Belial about the town, but seeing it with her eyes was better than words.
She imagined a day where she could walk around the town alone, or perhaps with friends, shop around, and talk about mundane mindless topics. She would even wish to have a date with her future lover, hand in hand.
'Just like with Ise…'
A face of realization fell upon her before her face turned into the color of her hair. 'I AM HOLDING HANDS WITH A BOY AND WALKING AROUND THE TOWN HAVING FUN!'
"Rias-chan?" Issei waved his hand on the face of Rias to get her attention.
"Y-yes?" She spoke at a higher pitch before quickly covering her mouth with her free hand.
The boy tilted his head in confusion, but decided to brush off the odd behaviour. "I was asking do you want to sit down for a break?"
Rias looked around and found themselves near a fountain where couples and elderly rested. She nodded meekly before sitting down on a bench with Issei, still hand in hand.
"So, did you have fun?" Issei asked excitedly.
The girl gave a strong nod and an approving grunt. "I heard stories of this town from my parents' friend, but I am so happy that I get to walk around the town."
Rias's expression became wistful as she continued talking. "The town is so peaceful and nice. It's just like many other towns I've gone to before, but I like this place a lot. The people seemed nice and there were so many places for us to have fun."
She looked up into the sky before closing her eyes with a smile, allowing herself to fall into her imagination. "I wish that… I can walk around the town again with friends."
"Aren't I your friend?"
Rias turned to Issei with a surprised expression.
'Did he just say…'
"We're… friends?" Rias asked, unsure of what she heard a moment ago.
Issei nodded to confirm her question. "Yep, we walked, talked, and had fun! I say we are friends!"
Rias remained stuned for a while before tearing up and hugging the boy. Issei nearly lost his balance in surprise before realigning himself in time. The boy, even in his confusion, began comforting Rias.
After a while, the pair began walking hand in hand once more back to where they met.
"I apologize for what I did just now." Rias apologized, blushing in embarrassment.
Issei gave the girl a reassuring smile and a comforting rub on her hand. "It's okay. I guess you just need that. On the plus side, you got a new friend!"
Rias nodded with a bright smile. "Yeah. Aside from my other friend, Sona, you're my second friend."
As soon as they are near the park, they hear a pair of adults calling out a familiar name.
"Rias! Where are you?"
"Rias dear! Mommy and daddy are looking for you!"
The pair of children realized it was the Gremory parents before hastening their pace to meet them. When they reached there, the pair of parents noticed Rias and Issei jogging towards them.
"Oh Rias dear!" Rias's brown haired mother ran to the girl before glomping on the poor children at the same time. "You made us so worried!"
"Mmm!" Issei cried out, swinging his arm wildly as oxygen slowly deprived him.
"Venelana, dear, you're going to kill the poor boy." Rias's father, a handsome redhead, quickly came to the children's rescue.
As soon as the mother realized her action, she released the children who were gasping for air.
'Who knew being glomped on by such a huge boob can kill me!' Issei thought to himself before quickly recovering.
"So young lady…" The children felt a chill down their spine as they looked at Rias's mother, who had a (not) smile on her face.
"Would you mind telling me why you ran away?"
It took some time for them to tell them the tale of their journey, from meeting each other to their walk in the shopping district. By the time it had ended, Venelana sighed before giving an apologetic smile.
"Mommy is sorry for getting angry at you for asking me to take you around the town. To be honest, we are thinking of taking you for a family day in Kuoh tomorrow."
"Really?!" Rias excitedly asked before becoming downtrodden. "But I was a naughty girl… So I don't think I can."
Rias's father laughed before giving her a reassuring pat. "You definitely can go out with us. In fact…" He turned to Issei. "You can even bring your friend here for the outing."
Rias turned to the boy before a bright, glowing smile plastered on her face and nodded rapidly.
The parents giggled at the cute sight before turning to Issei. "Thank you for helping our daughter, Ise-kun."
"It's no problem." He gave the parents a toothy grin and a thumbs up. "It's good to be her friend and help a girl once in a while."
Rias ran to him and took hold of his hands with her own. "So you're coming with us tomorrow?"
"I'll have to tell my parents but I'm sure they'll be fine with it."
Rias jumped and swung his arm in overwhelming happiness. Finally, she gets to stick with her friend longer and tomorrow they get to hang out again!
"So we're going on that outing like today?" Issei asked.
Rias nodded. "Hand in hand!"
Might be a short series that I decided to make. This has been on my mind for so long that I write it so that it won't distract me from me writing my original webnovel. Aside from that, what do you guys think? Let me know in the review.