Spring Comes

You Won't Find a Better Spot

Unfortunately, Akito kept Hatori busy through most of the spring holidays. When Hatori met Yayoi again, it was quite by accident. He had left the Sohma estate to make a house call to a member of the family who lived on the outside. He had just enough time for lunch, and since the cherry blossoms were blooming so beautifully in the park he had passed, he bought himself a convenience store bento and went to eat lunch on a bench in the park. When he got there he discovered many other people had had the same idea. The benches were full, and there were people having hanami parties here and there beneath the trees. He was looking for another place to sit, when he heard Yayoi's voice.

"Hatori!" she called.

Hatori turned and saw that Yayoi was sitting on a picnic blanket with her mother and Momo, waving at him with a smile on her face. Yayoi was wearing a pastel green long-sleeve shirt with a round collarless neckline that had three pastel green buttons sewn down the front in a vertical line. Over that was a knee-length pastel green jumper dress with a deep V-neck and a grey and light-tan plaid pattern with a light-tan belt around the waist. Her light-tan ankle boots were sitting by the edge of the picnic blanket beside her mother's heels and her little sister's shoes.

"Want to join us?" Yayoi asked.

"You won't find a better spot," Yayoi's mother said.

Hatori thought that was probably true. They were sitting under a particularly magnificent tree. "Thank you. I'll take you up on that," Hatori said, and he joined them. He removed his shoes and sat on the picnic blanket. He saw that they had a good spread of food, too. They had bentos filled with makizushi, inarizushi, tamagoyaki, kamaboko, fried shrimp, bite-sized pieces of boneless fried chicken, kinpira gobo, potato salad, and salads made with hijiki seaweed and lotus root. They also had sakura onigiri (some of which weren't shaped quite right) and a thermos of miso soup. They had iced tea and juice to drink.

"There's plenty, so help yourself if you see something you like," Yayoi said.

"Is your father not joining you?" Hatori asked.

"He was planning to, but something came up at work," Yayoi said, wishing he could have relaxed with them.

"Yes, it's a shame. He was so looking forward to it," her mother said, wishing he could have been there, too.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Hatori said. The food they had brought smelled delicious and made his store-bought bento look bland, so he took them up on their offer, tasting a few pieces of their food here and there.

"So, what brings you to this area?" Yayoi's mother asked.

"I had to make a house call," Hatori said.

"Is the patient all right?" Yayoi asked.

"They'll be fine as long as they take their medicine," Hatori said.

"That's good," Yayoi said. "It's nice that you were able to find time to have a break during your busy schedule."

"Yes, I'm glad I did," Hatori said. "How have you been?"

"She got some nice return gifts on White Day," her mother said. "She especially liked your gift and insisted on keeping the box. It's in her new room now. So hübsch!"

"Mutti..." Yayoi said, managing not to blush.

"It's a schön box," Momo said.

"New room?" Hatori asked.

"Right. We bought a second house, so I'd have somewhere to stay other than school," Yayoi said. "Also, I've officially transferred to Kaibara High School, so I won't be going back to Hanabira once the break is over."