Chapter 4

Do Fairytales Come True?

The small girl heard a knock on the window behind her in her room. It was already dark with a full moon showing and giving out light. Akika saw the horse peeking in the room, making her smile grow wide. She rushed to the window and opened it, and Rin smiled back.

"Stowy time?" Akika asked. Rin paused and looked around. Akika blinked.

"No story time for you!" Rin laughed. She reached in and tickled Akika's stomach, making the child squeal and laugh. Rin couldn't help but to smile. She stopped tickling Akika and watched her jump onto the small bed full of stuffed bears. As the child cuddled up with one or two of the chosen bears, Rin pushed herself into the room and kneeled next to the bed.

"What stowy Rin-oneechan haf today?" Akika asked. Rin thought for a moment. She was running out of story ideas.

"Well," She started. "Today, I will tell you about a girl in elementary school that helped a girl in her class." Rin smiled. "Ready?"

Akika nodded. She snuggled up with her bear and smiled.

"Okay. Once, there was a girl who was named… Hmm… Mimi." Rin laughed a bit as she tucked Akika in. "Mimi had a bad mommy and daddy. They didn't like Mimi, and they… They gave Mimi many boo-boos."

Rin tried to avoid words that could've frightened the sleepy child. Little did Akika know, the 'Mimi' was Rin herself.

"Mimi went to school. It was a boring, normal day, until the teacher told everyone to get with a partner to do… Uh…" Rin stopped again. She had to think of a subject the kindergartener knew. "…Drawing. They had to do a drawing together. Mimi had to work with… Nana, another girl in the class. Mimi and Nana worked well together, and became good friends. Mimi noticed that no matter how hard life is at home, her best friend Nana would help her."

Rin glanced at Akika, who was still wide awake. Akika waited to only find out that the story ended. Rin wasn't surprised at the fact that Akika didn't fall asleep. In fact, Rin's stories usually were meant to keep Akika awake and listening. Rin usually made the stories to give hope to the child who given up on all hope for a better life. To give the child courage and to make her believe the story will happen to her someday, the horse also made sure to make her story characters around Akika's age. In that story, Mimi was Rin herself, and Nana was Tohru.

"Will that happen to Aki too one day?" Akika asked sleepily. Rin paused again and stared at Akika blankly and guiltily. She couldn't promise something that she couldn't make happen, especially when Akika was a child that trusted Rin with her whole heart.

"Will it?" Akika asked again, whining softly. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and tilted her head slightly into the pillow. Rin smiled gently.

"Yes," Rin answered. "Someday, it will." She placed a hand on Akika's cheek and kissed the small girl's temple. Akika smiled happily and closed her eyes, falling asleep immediately.

Rin stayed near the bed where the child slept for a while. A guilty, sad look was on the older girl's expression.

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"Okay everyone, sit in your seat!" Akika looked up to her teacher when she heard that voice. She sighed and sat down.

"Today, we are going to get partners and draw! I want you to draw me a pretty picture together, ok?"

"Yes ma'am!" All the students said in union. Akika looked around to find who she could be partners with. She turned to Tsubasa, but he was already with someone else.

"….Ah…" Looking around for someone else, Akika found herself alone, just like another girl in the corner. Akika frowned when she saw who it was.

"Akika, you're partners with Sayumi, ok?" The teacher said. She led the small child to the other girl and smiled. Then she placed a box of crayons in front of each girl and a paper in the middle.

"Be nice and work well, make me a pretty picture!" The teacher said encouragingly. Akika and Sayumi nodded. When the teacher left, they both shot a glare to each other.

"Like, why do I have to work with the most 'pretty' girl in my class? This is like, so hell." Sayumi started she grabbed her green crayon and started scribbling on the paper. Akika blinked, confused.

"Sayumi-chan, we haf to work together…" Akika said softly. "What are we gonna dwaw?"

"I'm drawing your ugly face." Sayumi shot quickly. Akika glanced down to the drawing, noticing a girl's face in the scribbles. Wanting to get along until the lesson was over, Akika smiled at Sayumi friendlily.

"Then Aki will dwaw Sayumi-chan's pwetty face!" She said cheerfully. Getting the red crayon, Akika started to scribble a face on the paper as well.

"Your drawing sucks!" Sayumi glanced at the paper. Akika didn't say anything back. Annoyed, Sayumi narrowed her eyes and grabbed Akika's wrist with the hand that held the crayon. She then pulled Akika's hand across her own drawing, making the big red line across her own.

"Teacher!!" Sayumi then cried out. Akika's eyes widened in surprise.

"What's wrong, did you do a good drawing?" The teacher walked to the children, then blinked at Sayumi. "Sayumi, what's wrong?"

"Akika-chan messed up my drawing!!!" Sayumi cried. The teacher looked at the drawing and at the red crayon in Akika's hand.

"Really? Why did you do such a thing, Akika?" She asked calmly. Akika clenched her small hand around the crayon.

"….Aki didn't…" Akika mumbled.

"What happened?" The teacher asked again.

"….She did it…" Akika pointed at Sayumi, and Sayumi cried louder. The teacher sighed and picked up Sayumi and started to rock her back and forth.

"You can't blame other people for what you did. Tell Sayumi you're sorry." The teacher scolded. Akika's eyes filled with tears.

But… Aki didn't… Akika thought to herself. She stayed quiet, and the teacher raised her tone.

"You go to the time-out corner, young lady!" She pointed to the corner of the room. Akika glanced at the chair and walked to the corner, sitting in the chair quietly. Her classmates all walked to Sayumi worriedly and narrowed their eyes to Akika. No wonder, Sayumi was the most popular girl in class.

Tsubasa, however, looked at Akika worriedly. Akika didn't notice Tsubasa however, and turned away from the class with tears at the corner of her eyes.