So that incident where papa's temper flared against Natsumi passed. Well, it was just misdirected frustration, if you ask me. I mean, those boys are the one who got the beating in the end. Papa didn't wake Natsumi up, so she missed the goukon. Natsumi didn't show any signs of being too upset over the things papa had said earlier and he didn't speak of it. We all just walked home together as usual, as if nothing happened. Like the two had a silent agreement. I think they both knew that subject would break what peace they had.

Next morning, Natsumi's hair was down straight, she had swapped her earring for small silver studs, her nail polish was wiped clean and her skirt was magically longer again (I was more surprised papa could tell it was any shorter at all). Again, they acted as if the last day never happened.

There was one thing changed from that incident though. The boys in class started to stay away from Natsumi, and they sometimes even whispered things behind her back. If I were one of Natsumi and papa's classmates, I would have noticed something too; walking to and from school together almost every day and how the guys flirting with Natsumi were all conveniently hospitalized the next day. Even if papa pretended to ignore her all the time, it's not as if Natsumi being so friendly to him might let the others think they were just strangers.

That's how it all started.

Slowly, some of the girls started alienating Natsumi too. Not a lot of people respected what it was that papa did. People started to vaguely associate Natsumi with the Namimori Disciplinary Committee. It was what I was hoping to achieve and not at the same time. Being close to papa was pushing Natsumi away from everyone else. I don't really want Natsumi to lose all her other friends but Papa needs a special person who will stick with him even when he can be pretty nasty. He really wasn't as horrible and terrifying as everyone thought; nobody knew him like I did, is all.

If it could be any consolation, the rest was headed in a good direction. With few real friends left, Natsumi sort of hung around with us more. She had lunch with us on the roof from time to time and just hung around in papa's office every now and then. I guess, somewhere inside, papa must have realized it was partly his doing that made people leave Natsumi. It made him run away a little less. Or rather, it made him look over his shoulder and slow down so she could keep up even while he pretended to be getting away.

# # # # #

"Sleeping again, Hibari-kun?" I had committed this voice to memory now. I chirped and hopped on the spot on papa's head to turn to face the familiar face. Lunch breaks were peaceful up on the roof, not busy like where boys played soccer on the field or noisy like where girls chattered in classrooms. It was no wonder someone like papa would spend time up here alone.

Papa stayed still, his back resting against the outside wall of the building, eyes of his hung head closed in rest and his book still open to the last page in his hand. When she sat down on the empty spot next to him, I flew over to Natsumi's shoulder and snuggled up to her warmth. She felt warmer than papa, and softer. Maybe girls were all just soft and warm?

"Hibari-kun, lunch break is almost over," Natsumi said as she petted the top of my head. When he didn't respond, she sighed and leaned back comfortably against the wall. "Sleeping all the time, I wonder what you do at night when normal people are asleep," she mumbled as she carefully tugged papa's book out of his relaxed hand.

"Why are you here?" papa demanded evenly as he finally opened his eyes. He stared down at his empty hand for a moment before raising it only to stifle a yawn.

"Lunch break is going to end any minute now; we should get back to class," the girl replied as she held papa's book up before her face. "Wow~ As expected of the head of the prefects! I don't understand a word of this book," she said with a laugh as she placed the book face down next to her. I didn't think that was anything for her to be so proud of though.

The bell rang.

"Kuroyama, you are now late to class." Papa closed his eyes again.

"Well, then maybe the head prefect should set a good example for me," she mused, smiling. It was unlike papa to go easy on someone just because of their gender, but he had a soft spot for this girl… because she was just a small animal to him. "Shouldn't the head prefect have a flawless attendance or something?"

This was usually when papa would threaten to bite her to death if she doesn't abide to Namimori Middle School regulations; papa was the only one allowed to miss classes because he felt like it. "Why are you here?" he asked again. Papa lifted his head and opened his eyes again slowly, his gaze fixed on the forms of clouds passing over head.

"Hm?" Natsumi looked up from her finger nails. "Since we're friends, and friends are bound to worry when the other shows no signs of showing up to cla—"

Papa cut her off, "Hmph, I don't remember making friends with someone like you." Aloof as ever, aren't you papa? To be honest, I was happy that he had someone as stubborn Natsumi who wanted to be friends with him so much. "Stop crowding me," papa muttered as he stretched out his legs and crossed one over the other.

"I think you got that wrong," Natsumi said with a small grin as she placed me in her palms. I snuggled in to her cupped hands and puffed up my down for warmth.

Papa shot her a strange look when she called him out on being wrong.

"I'm pretty sure the phrase goes 'two's company but three's a crowd'. So, we're safe!" What a strange girl, I thought happily as I relaxed in her hands. Even papa let out a small laugh. "Ohhh! Just now, you laughed! Didn't you, Hibari-kun?" Natsumi asked excitedly.

His face apathetic and bored again, papa turned back to face the sky. "Hmph. Clearly, you can't tell the difference being laughed with and being laughed at," was his blunt reply.

Natsumi just smiled to herself pulled her knees up to her chest. "It's nice and warm out," she mumbled quietly, blinking slowly. She yawned into her shoulder and said, "I think I can see why you two like it up here so much." She wasn't expecting a reply, and papa didn't give one. In what seemed like a matter of seconds her breathing slowed and we could hear the soft exhales as she slept.

"Only a foolish herbivore like you would fall asleep like that," papa muttered as he peeked over at her sleeping face. Papa extended a finger to me and I quickly hopped out of Natsumi's slipping hands. It wasn't the first time I would have been doomed if I couldn't fly. Natsumi's dropped me before too…

On papa's shoulder, I didn't make a peep as Natsumi slept. Papa was wide-awake but it wasn't as if he was in a hurry to get to class or anything. More like, it's not as if papa would; 1) wake Natsumi up, or 2) go to class without Natsumi.

Then she suddenly almost squished me this time. Natsumi's head suddenly dropped sideways onto papa's shoulder where I sat, and I almost fell off when her head suddenly came out of nowhere. Safely retreated to papa's head, I calmed myself and settled in comfortably in papa's hair. Papa took a single finger and slowly pushed Natsumi's head back so it was against the wall—but it slipped again.

And papa gave in to the weight of her head resting on his shoulder. "At least support the weight of your own head," he mumbled as he crossed his arms.

# # # # #

Somehow, Natsumi won and got papa to be her partner for their Literature Project. Or rather, papa let her win; besides, it wasn't as if papa was too fond of any of his other classmates. Of course, it was a good thing for me too. It meant we would see Natsumi more outside of class time. Papa originally wanted to divide the work but she insisted on working together and invited herself over (I mean, I would invite her if she understood my chirps) to our house on Saturday.

Papa even got up early to clean his room and he even considered wearing something other than his school uniform for a minute. Of course, he just decided to stick with the uniform of his beloved school. Don't get me wrong, papa, but you could at least try to look nice. I liked how papa fretted checking on the contents of his fridge. He snapped at me for watching, though. He was definitely stressing. It was sort of a good thing; it meant Natsumi coming over had some meaning to him—but checking on the fridge… That was still somewhat weird.

Of course, it made sense later.

"It's already seven and we hardly chose a subject," Natsumi whined as she stretched her arms over her head. They made me sleepy with talking about the book they were reading, some story about a prince with many love affairs (including one with a young girl and one with his father's concubine—yuck). "Maybe we should just do the rest tomorrow; I should probably get home for dinner."

Dinner. Bingo.

"Stay," papa gave the command as he held out his hand, as if Natsumi was his pet dog.

Wide-eyed, Natsumi sat still as papa disappeared around the corner into the kitchen. I looked up at Natsumi, mirroring her curiosity, as rustling noises came from the kitchen. I cocked my head from side to side, mimicking Natsumi as we heard various noises from the kitchen. With a worried look on her face, Natsumi extended her finger out to me.

"Should we go check on your papa?"