"Well then class, it's almost time for dismissal. Does anybody have any questions about what we covered today?" When greeted with the customary silence, our instructor merely shrugged.
"Fine then, but I better not get any bad grades on this next test. Class dismissed."
I gathered my things, already neatly organized on my desk top. Merging with the flow of students towards the door, I headed for the council room like usual. Our work was never done it seemed, mine and my Haruka-chan's, but that was okay; at this point during the day, I was just looking forward to seeing her again.
"Hey Yukino-chan, how're you doing?" Mai-san asked, walking with me for a few steps, "Going to meet Suzushiro-san right now for some executive stuff?"
"I'm doing well, Mai-san, how are you? Yes, I am going to meet Haruka-chan, we always have something to do. Are you going to meet Mikoto-chan right now?"
"Yep, I can't leave her to starve now, can I? I'll see you later Yukino-chan."
"Bye, Mai-san, say 'hello' to Mikoto-chan for me."
"Hey Yukino-chan." Now it was Kuga-san, sidling up next to me as I walked, "Heading for the council room?" I nodded.
"Me too, Shizuru wanted me to go there after class." I couldn't help but smile. Kuga-san had been notorious for missing class, but now she was staying longer than needed? It was interesting to see Kuga-san's subtle transformation since the festival; and more importantly, since she and Fujino-san had gotten closer. She was still curt and gruff as usual, but she also wore an easy smile more often nowadays, and seemed more at ease. That was what love could do for a person, I guess.
"You and Fujino-san are very close, aren't you, Kuga-san?" I asked. I wondered idly if my Haruka-chan would change at all, were she to find somebody to love. Would she smile that wonderful smile more often? Kuga-san blushed a bit, but managed a smile. Even she knew it wasn't exactly a secret around school that she and the President were together. She didn't answer though, which was fine with me, I hadn't really expected one.
We finished the rest of the walk in silence, and came to the council room.
"So President, you sure you'll be able to handle things if I'm not around this weekend? I won't be that far from campus, if you should require assistance from the executive team." Haruka-chan's voice through the partially open door spoke volumes of reluctance for leaving the President in charge.
"I'll manage somehow Suzushiro-san. You enjoy your time with your family."
We opened the door just in time to see Fujino-san raising her teacup to her lips, in her classic method of punctuating statements.
"Hello Kikukawa-san."
"Hello Kuga-san."
Haruka-chan and Fujino-san spoke at the same time, the former to Kuga-san and the latter to myself. It might seem odd, at first, but saying "hello" to one another wasn't something Haruka-chan and I did often; being together wasn't something that had to be acknowledged, it was something that just should be. Apparently, it was something of the same for Kuga-san and Fujino-san now.
I watched as Kuga-san walked over to Fujino's desk, and as the latter arose to embrace the younger girl. At a previous time, I think that Haruka-chan would have probably looked pointedly away and made a quiet comment on the wrongness of their relationship--this being after her more dramatic outbursts earlier--but this time she didn't, she just kept calmly gathering her possessions.
"Hey Yukino, ready to go?" She asked.
"Yes, Haruka-chan." I said. Haruka-chan straightened, and turned to face the other two in the room.
"I'll be taking my leave then, Fujino-san, Kuga-san. I'll be back on Monday to resume my duties."
"Goodbye then Suzushiro-san, Kikukawa-san. I'll try to keep the school standing until then."
Haruka-chan and I left the other two to their business, which I couldn't help imagine was quite fun and something that I'd like to also be enjoying soon, but rather doubted I ever would.
"So Yukino, are you sure you want to come with me this weekend? It would be nice to have you along. I love my parents, but since I've moved to the campus dormitories, they've been a little over-exuberant whenever I go to visit." Haruka-chan had told me about them the last time she visited, for just an afternoon. Apparently no matter what they thought of me, they didn't think Haruka-chan should be living away from home when home was such a short distance away, especially after all the strange things that had happened a while back. From the way Haruka-chan described it, it had been the most violent and intense exchange of pleasantries and light conversation that had ever been, with her parents not-so-subtly hinting that she should come back home, and her hinting even less subtly that she was not going to.
"I'm sure, Haruka-chan, maybe it will help to have me along this time. I sure don't want to spend this weekend alone; and you're parents like me well enough." She smiled.
"Thanks Yukino. If this is going to be like last time, I wasn't really looking forward to two days alone with them, my parents or not."
We started towards our dorm room, intending to pack up for our two days away. There was another time, I remember, a bit like this one. Was it really ten years ago? I remember so clearly...
X@X@X@X@X@X@X
Going back to school on Monday was kind of strange. I tried to listen, I really did, but the only thing I could think of was that girl who helped me yesterday at the park. We said we were going to be friends, but then I had heard my parents call me to leave and I had to go. We said we were going to be friends, but what would happen now? I didn't want to think about never seeing my new friend again, but when would I ever get too...
Back to school on Monday then. I tried to force myself to think about what the teacher was saying, but I kept thinking about that little girl I talked to at the park yesterday. It still felt a little bit strange to think "friend", but that's what we were now, right? Then her parents had called to take her home, and I had been thinking about her ever since. Oh well, maybe I would have more time to talk to my teacher about anything I didn't get after class. I just got told that my parents were going to be working really late again, which wasn't new, but my babysitter had to go out of town, so I had nowhere to go after school. I was going to have to wait here until around six or seven o'clock...
I stepped outside, single file with the rest of my class. When we got outside, I walked over to my favorite tree where I always waited for my parents, and sat down. I pulled out my new library book to begin reading, but then I just saw way over across the crowds of people...
I had to come out with the rest of the class, even though I was going to be staying at school. My teacher couldn't leave me in the room by myself, and she had to take our class outside to wait to be picked up. I sat down on the steps to wait for my teacher to come back and take me inside.
It was Haruka-chan, I was sure of it. I hadn't even thought about her going to my school. She was sitting on the steps over there, by the door where the people in year two got out. She was just sitting there, and she looked sad. Why wasn't she down with the other kids waiting for her parents? I opened my backpack and put the book back in, getting up and walking towards my new friend. When I was halfway there, a teacher walked over to Haruka-chan, and they both walked inside. Now I was a little bit worried, was Haruka-chan in trouble? I didn't care what had happened, I was sure that it wasn't her fault, and she didn't deserved to be in any trouble! I started to go faster, trying to catch up with them.
I saw Haruka-chan and the teacher disappear inside the doors, and went as fast as I could to get over there. But, by the time I did and went inside, they were both out of sight, and I wasn't sure if I could go inside the empty school all by myself. But then I thought about Haruka-chan's sad face and asked myself what she, my new hero and friend, would do in this situation. So I walked inside and started down the empty hall, trying to be brave.
I was walking past a door in the building when one of them opened and a teacher walked out. She was about to run right over me, but saw me at the last second and stumbled off to the side. I thought for sure I had done something wrong and was going to get in trouble, but all thought like that vanished when I saw the other person who was coming out of that classroom...
X@X@X@X@X@X@X
My teacher had finally come back, and she took me back inside. She said she had to stay at school for a long time to grade and stuff anyway, so she would be here to look after me until my parents could come. I guess it won't be so bad, staying at school. It sure was going to be a little lonely though, but how was that different? It's not like I had any friends to go and play with after school. Except, now I did have a friend. That cute little girl named Yukino. I wondered how she was doing now, and hoped she was happy.
My teacher said that we wouldn't be staying in her classroom, and would go to the teacher's lounge, but that she had to pick up a few things from the classroom first. I asked her if I would be able to ask her questions about school while I was stuck here, and she said she would help me. I hoped that would help the time go faster. She picked up her teacher notebook and a bunch of papers from her desk, and we started to leave. She opened the door and walked out, me right behind her, but then all of a sudden she stumbled and looked like she feel off to the side.
"Haruka-chan!"
I heard the voice right before I saw the little girl it came from. Yukino, here? I didn't have enough time to think too much about it, as she ran over and gave me a hug. I hadn't even thought about seeing her at school, but of course she went here too.
"Yukino! What are you doing here?"
"I saw you coming back inside, and you looked sad. I thought something might be wrong, Haruka-chan."
"And who might you be young lady?" Yukino looked stricken as my teacher asked her that, picking herself up off the floor and looking slightly irritated, though she gentled her face when she saw how scared Yukino looked.
"This is my friend Yukino, ma'am," I answered when it didn't look like Yukino was going to be able to talk.
"Thank you, Haruka-san. Okay then Yukino-san, maybe a better question is what are you doing inside right now? Shouldn't you be on your way home or waiting for a ride?" Yukino was still looking shy and worried, so I kept answering my teacher's questions.
"She said she saw me waiting outside and then coming back in. Yukino just wanted to make sure I was okay, please don't be mad at her."
"Thank you Haruka-san. Well, Yukino-san, you can see that your friend is fine now, how about you go outside for your ride before anybody worries, okay?" Yukino still looked unsure.
"Are you sure that everything is okay, Haruka-chan? You aren't in trouble or anything, are you? You shouldn't be in trouble, no matter what happened."
"No Yukino, I'm not in trouble, it's just that I'm gonna have to stay at school for a little bit while I wait for my parents to come pick me up, but I'm okay."
"How long are you going to have to wait, Haruka-chan?"
I tried to make it sound like no big deal when I answered, I didn't want Yukino to worry about me anymore.
"Oh, just a few hours, Yukino, I'll be fine. My babysitter just had to go out of town really quick, or else I'd be going home." I don't know why I said I had a babysitter, when I really didn't. Sometimes on the weekend, if they had to work all day, but not most of the time.
"But it can't be fun to stay at school when you're supposed to go home!" Yukino answered sorrowfully, and scrunched up her face. "I know, maybe you could come over to my house!"
"Really, Yukino, you think I could?" I thought that sounded really nice. Surely better than being here at school. Yukino smiled that bright cute smile I remembered from before, and I felt that funny feeling in my stomach again. Like that little tickle you feel just right before you laugh, is this what it was like to have a friend?
"Now wait, you two. Haruka-san, you don't have your parents permission to do that, and you don't either Yukino-san. I know you two are friends, but maybe you could try this some other--"
"Pleeeeeaase?" Haruka-chan and I said at the same time. We looked at each other, and then Haruka-chan started asking the question.
"Please, you could call my parents and ask them, and Yukino could ask her parents when they get here to pick her up. If they say no that's okay, but could you let us ask, please?" Yukino and I both looked as sad as we could, trying to make her say yes. After a moment, the teacher finally sighed. She laid her head to the side, hair swishing, and smiled at both of us.
"Okay, okay, we can ask. Let's go to the teachers lounge, there's a phone in there." Yukino smiled really big, and turned around and gave me another big hug. This time I returned it as we jumped up and down in happiness. After my teacher looked back at us, we quickly stopped and followed her.
My teacher called my mom at work, and I asked her about going over to my new friends house. She didn't sound like she was going to let me go, but after I got Yukino's home phone number and gave it to my mom, she finally said it was okay. Now it was up to Yukino's parents.
"You can come, Haruka-chan!" Yukino yelled to me, after we had gone outside to see her parent's small, light blue care waiting outside and she had talked a lot to her parents through the window. I smiled and walked over, and opened the backseat door so she could get in first. I followed her, and got my first look at Yukino's parents.
"Well then, is this our Yukino's new cute little friend? What's your name?" This was her mother, a sweet looking lady with long auburn hair and a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, just like Yukino. The eyes were different though, Yukino's mom had deep green eyes.
"My name is Suzushiro Haruka, Mrs. Kikukawa."
"It's nice to meet you Haruka-san, we're happy to have you over today." I couldn't think of any way to respond to that, I wasn't very good at talking to other parents.
"So, Haruka-san, do you have any idea when your parents usually get off work?" This was her father speaking now, a serious-looking man with disheveled hair and glasses. Behind those glasses I could see where Yukino got her hazel eyes from, though they didn't have the same brightness as my friend's.
"They usually come home at around six or seven o'clock, Mr. Kikukawa, but sometimes I'm already asleep by the time they finally come home."
"Okay, looks like you might be having dinner with us, is that okay?" Mrs. Kikukawa was speaking again.
"Oh yes ma'am, I'm bet you're a very good cook."
"I'd like to think so too, thank you Haruka-san. But, it's Mr. Kikukawa here who's the cook in the family."
"Oh! I'm sor--"
"It's okay, Haruka-chan." I turned around to see Yukino smiling at me, and I smiled in return. Maybe I was a little scared about just going over here so fast, and meeting her parents, even if I was really happy about it too.
Mr. Kikukawa pulled up to a house soon, a nice house in a nice neighborhood. Yukino looked happy to be home and quickly opened the door, hand motioning me to follow her.
X@X@X@X@X@X@X
I waved for Haruka-chan to follow me, I really wanted to show her around my house. We waited while my parents unlocked and opened the door, and I hurried inside. I showed her all the regular stuff, like the main room and the kitchen, and started walking down the hall to my room.
"Oh, Yukino, is that your cat?" I turned around, I had forgotten about Kitty. The small calico cat was laying on the floor where Haruka-chan was pointing, staring at us.
"Yes, Haruka-chan, that's our Kitty. C'mon." I started walking over to him, but when Haruka-chan followed he ran off, hiding under the table. I turned to Haruka-chan.
"I'm sorry, Haruka-chan, I guess it'll take him a little bit of time to get used to somebody new."
"That's okay, Yukino, what's his name?"
"Kitty, we just call him Kitty..." I said, almost apologetically, thinking that he should have a better name, but Haruka beamed reassuringly at me.
"Kitty sure is cute, maybe he'll feel more like playing later. Where were we going again?"
"Maybe he will. Oh yeah, I was going to my room. Let's go, Haruka-chan."
I took Haruka-chan to my room. When we walked in, I heard Haruka-chan's footsteps stop. When I looked at her, she was looking around my room like she was really surprised. I felt good, then. I always thought my room, with everything all in shades of green, was very nice. It was a good time of day, too, and the sunlight was streaming in brightly through the window. Everything was decorated in shades of green, my parents liked to do rooms in colors. The other nice parts were my bookshelf and my tea-set. Sitting at my little table with the tea-set were Hikari and Prince, my stuffed pink bunny and big yellow teddy bear.
"Oh, what are those books you have there, Yukino?" Haruka-chan asked finally. I was glad, because I wasn't sure what to do next. I smiled at her and took her hand pulling her over there.
"These are my favorite stories, Haruka-chan. I like to read books, and these are the favorite ones that I have." I explained proudly.
"What are they about?" She asked curiously.
"You want to know?" I was surprised, not a whole lot of people were interested in the books I brought to school.
"I asked, right?" She said kindly, and laughed. I felt my cheeks warm up a little bit.
"Okay, come over here then, Haruka-chan." I picked out a couple of books and walked her over to the table.
X@X@X@X@X@X@
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Suzushiro-san, we were happy to have little Haruka-san over, she's a very good friend for Yukino."
"We're happy to hear that, but it's time for us to take her home, my apologies for your having to keep her so long."
"No trouble at all, really. She and Yukino are down the hall, they fell asleep while playing."
Footsteps traveled down the hall, and cracked open the door, letting in a beam of light. Inside, the group of parents could see their children. The tea-set was scattered about, along with its two plush members. As for the other two, they were fast asleep. Little Yukino was curled down on the floor, using Haruka's folded legs as a pillow, while Haruka rested upon Yukino's tousled head, arms wrapped around her looking very protective. The both had a blanket draped over them, because Mrs. Kikukawa thought they might get cold.
"Thanks again for having her, Mr. and Mrs. Kikukawa-san."
"Any time, if you ever have to work late again. They sure do look cute together, don't they?"
"Yes, I'm almost reluctant to take Haruka away, but we need to get her home." Both mothers stepped into the room to pull them apart, so Yukino could get into bed and Haruka could go home. Mrs. Suzushiro tried to lift Haruka, but at the movement Yukino reached and grasped onto Haruka's dress, while Haruka awakened slightly and squirmed, trying to get back down to Yukino.
"Mmm.. Haruka-chan?' Yukino mumbled sleepily, cracking her eyes open. Mrs. Kikukawa gently loosened her hold and picked Yukino up, moving her over to her bed. After a few more moments of slight struggle, Haruka lay still and fell back asleep in her mother's arms.
"Maybe sometime Haruka-san will be able to stay the night? I think they would both enjoy that." Mrs. Kikukawa whispered after they had exited the room.
"Maybe sometime, we'll see."
X@X@X@X@X@X@X
"You okay, Yukino? You look flushed," I looked quizzically at Yukino. She didn't seem ill, but even as she looked up, I could have sworn that she reddened further.
"No, Haruka-chan, I'm fine. Just thinking about something," she replied. I smiled at her her, looking so cute like that. Yukino could be so shy sometimes, and I wondered what she was thinking about. I was doing some thinking too. For some reason, I found myself remembering the first time I'd ever gotten to go to Yukino's house when she had "saved" me from the--I smiled at this thought, just like a seven-year-old to think so--"horror" of staying after school. Seemed like ever since I met her, Yukino was coming up with ways to keep me company. This trip was already looking infinitely better now that she was coming along, just like my whole life has been better ever since she came along into it. I finish packing.
"Well Yukino, ready to go?"
"Yes, Haruka-chan."