Girls' Next Tour (A Girls' Last Tour fan-sequel)

Chapter 12: September

"Are we visiting Itsuki at the temple again?"

"Of course Aoki, today is a special day. It's the 9th of September or as we call it Orphan's Day. It's our birthday as well!"

"I forgot what were those black things there called mommy?"

"They are called memorials sweetie. It's where people remember those that passed away a long time ago so they are never forgotten, their names are engraved in each memorial and something of their personal value is sealed inside."

Walking hand in hand towards the memorial graves inside the temple grounds, Yuuri and Aoki were looking up the names on each memorial to find their family row. It was a sunny and special day inside the Biodome as the citizens were getting ready for the festivities of this special day. During this special day, the citizens usually visited their friends and families that passed away at the temple's memorials, and at night they had a big festival to celebrate the event.

"Oh, here he is!" Yuuri smiled pointing to one of the nameplates in the stone, the name written on the memorial was Itsuki.

"Hi again, Itsuki! Happy birthday!" The little boy said as they both got closer to the memorial. Yuuri placed her hand near the nameplate and smiled.

"Hey, grandpa, Happy birthday! Look who came to visit you! Look how big he has grown since the last time we've come!" She smiled as Aoki waved and also placed his little hand on the grave. "I hope you are doing fine wherever you are grandpa," she continued speaking still holding her hand on his grave. "I keep telling you every time and you are probably bored from listening to us - but thank you for everything. We are doing well, and just like you used to say, work sometimes can be hard. There are a lot of hungry mouths to feed at the cafeteria up here. After some time I finally perfected my udon recipe as well and now everyone up here wants to eat my food. I think it's equally popular as your curry recipe. Chii-chan is just finishing her job at the garage, she said she has some kind of surprise later for me, I hope it's new food to eat. I've already tried every kind of food up here and I think I gained a little weight. I exercise my legs regularly with Chii-chan and Aoki and my prosthetic leg is still really sturdy. I try to take good care of it every day so it serves me as long as it can. Chii-chan still has those nightmares from the outside and wakes up at night but I don't mind it, I am happy that they are occasional and she is also a strong girl and I am always there to help her. We sometimes argue, but I know it's just what married couples sometimes do but we can't stay mad at each other. Don't worry about us grandpa, I love her and Aoki the most in the world. I hope you are happy somewhere in another life with Yuriko. Reo and the rest are fine as well, I hope they came here earlier to visit you as well. Later we are going to the festival and Aoki wants to catch goldfish and eat takoyaki. We spent all day preparing all kinds of food, it's going to be fun and we will watch the holographic fireworks tonight! I wish you were here with us watching the fireworks grandpa. I love you - wherever you are, grandpa."

"Mom, how did Itsuki look like?" Aoki asked her still holding his little hand on the memorial grave.

"Well, as my memory serves, he looked a bit like Reo. I remember him with white hair and glasses and he was a bit skinnier than him. He was a kind selfless person and always was buried deep in his books, just like your mom. He and Chii-chan's father helped so many people on the outside. He saved our lives and we could never thank him enough." Yuuri answered and smiled as she looked back at him.

"But what happened to him?"

"We will never know. When Chii-chan and I left the village many years ago, he stayed behind to protect us. The last I remember was that he was waving at us, and that was the last time we saw him in our lives. He made plans for years to come here with us, but we didn't have enough supplies in the end for the three of us and he was old. After years of waiting for him, Reo and Mieko decided to finally have a memorial made for him and they sealed something of his value inside. There was a large ceremony to celebrate his life and about a thousand people came, most of who he helped from the outside and their families. He was their hero and our hero to me and Chii-chan as well. His memorial is right next to his wife, Yuriko." she pointed to the left of his grave where the nameplate of 'Yuriko' stood. "She also passed away a really long time ago. We never met her, but from what I've heard she was also an outsider that grandpa saved. She used to be a great painter and she loved grandpa very much. However, her heart broke when he had to leave her."