A Start of a New Beginning!

[ Chapter 13 ] - [ Happiness ]

"From Shu?"

You and Valt briefly stopped your card game of Go-Fish that evening. Both your eyes were tired and exhausted after sulking all day about your loss from Wakiya the day before. Nika and Tokonatsu had walked by with glasses of juice in their grasp with full intent to not bother the both of you before Nika realized something Shu wanted to ask you earlier.

"Yea, a message from Shu!" Nika turns her body to you with a smile.

"He was practicing in the park!" Tokonatsu recalled before taking a quick sip.

"—And he wanted us to tell you something!" Nika continues, her eagerness almost making her drop her glass and shyly smile at her tiny mistake. She then curiously peers down her orange eyes to the table, tilting her head. "What're you two playing?"

"'Go Fish'! [First name] found them while exploring the attic," Valt explains and looked at his cards "Okay, [First name]! Go Fish!" Valt shouts while pointing at you. You roll your eyes and did as told.

"Oh, uh," you trail, looking at your deck of cards in your hands for a second. Then, nervously, looked up at Valt with a sheepish look and used the cards to cover below your nose with a light chuckle. "Um. . .what do you do after you tell me to, 'Go Fish', again?"

Valt's finger lowered with a bewildered look and sighed with a smile, "All right, lemme explain again. After you get told Go Fish, you—"

"W-Wait!" Nika interrupts your game for the second time. You and Valt paused again to look at Nika who pouts, "Listen! Message from Shu!" She points at Tokonatsu determinedly, "Go!"

"E-Eh?" Tokonatsu jumps from suddenly being put on the spot. He narrows his eyes at his sister before looking at the two of you. "Shu wanted to ask you this," he takes in a dramatic deep breath. "'Is [First name] happy?'"

"Am I happy?" You repeated, confused out of your mind. You turn to Valt who looked just as confused as you were. You tilt your head, "What does that mean?"

"Dunno," Valt responds.

"Welp, go figure what that means," Nika shrugs her shoulders and sipped her juice happily. "I'm gonna go and rewatch all of Shu-kun's matches!" And with that, Nika giddily skipped to the staircase and raced upstairs. Her girly giggles rang throughout the house.

Tokonatsu watches his sister with a sigh. "I feel like she's added over a thousand views on her own," he says before waving goodbye to the two of you. "Okay, I'm going to take a quick nap. See ya!"

Then, there were two.

You settled your cards on the table (with the numbers facing down), Valt doing the same thing. The TV behind Valt was only put on to have something going on in the background so that the two of you weren't alone with your thoughts about your loss. The kotatsu the two of you were under was nice and warm, but the cold and unnerving feeling about that question Shu supposedly asked left you worried.

You peer upward to see how Valt was doing. His posture looked tensed, his gloveless fingers seemed tighter around the cards. Eyes were half-lidded, lost in wonder. He seems to be biting his lower lip. Was it a subconscious decision, you wondered.