Chapter 10

Kimiko stepped out of the principal's office still trying to wrap her mind around what she had just been told. She clutched the paper in her hand as she started to head back toward the girls' dorm. Kimiko had just stepped outside the main building to cross the garden to her dorm when she saw Natsuki waving at her from the fountain in front of the main building.

"Hey, Kimi, over here!" Kimiko blushed at the nickname Natsuki had given her. She had never had someone call her by a nickname before and it made her kind of happy. She walked over to Natsuki who was wearing the school uniform.

"Hello, Natsuki." Kimiko smiled keeping her eyes down.

Natsuki smiled and put a hand on her chin lifting her gaze up to meet his. "You're cuter when you hold your head up." He smiled at her.

"Y-You think so?" Kimiko blushed.

Natsuki nodded and noticed the crumpled paper in her hand. "What's that, Kimi?" He asked as he went to take a look.

Kimiko hand it to him. He paused as he read it. "Oh, so you just need your parents to sign this, right?"

Kimiko nodded slowly and Natsuki could tell that something about this was troubling her. "Is everything ok, Kimi? You don't seem yourself today."

Kimiko was confused by this statement. How could he possibly know what she acted like normally when they've only known each other for six days? They only started hanging out because he had helped her when she had gotten lost on the way to one of her classes. He showed her the way and even introduced her to Mr(s? xD) Ringo, who was her teacher. Kimiko had thought he was nice and since her friends were busy with their crushes and school work she had decided to hang out with Natsuki and they quickly became friends.

"It's just that my parents are divorced." Kimko's gaze quickly went to the ground.

Natsuki was a little surprised, but it would explain a lot. Natsuki had heard that some kids would become withdrawn after experiencing a divorce, especially if they were young. Kimiko seemed very withdrawn and this only made Natsuki want to get to know more about Kimiko and all her cute sides. When he found her wondering around like a little lost puppy he couldn't help but think she was one of the cutest things he had ever seen.

He lifted her chin up once again. "What did I say about keeping your head up." He smiled releasing her chin. "Look, it doesn't matter that they're divorced. You only need one of them to sign it."

Once again Kimiko looked nervous. Natsuki sighed and pulled Kimiko over to the fountain and sat at the edge patting the space next to him. "Why don't you explain to me what it is about your parents that has you so on edge."

Kimiko nodded and took her seat. She could tell from the tone in Natsuki's voice that he was determined to find out and it was better he found out from her than someone else.

"So why did your parents divorce?" Natsuki asked.

"That's because my father cheated." Kimiko looked down at her hands. "My mother found out when he lied about having a business meeting. My father then decided to go with the new woman instead of making up with Mother."

Natsuki nodded. "I'm sorry."

Kimiko smiled at him. "Don't be. I don't like to be a burden on people."

This caught Natsuki's attention. "Who said you were being a burden?"

Kimiko tensed a bit. "My mother and father. Once they got divorced there was the issue of my custody. My mother had just gotten a promotion at the designer corporation she works at and said that raising a child would be too big a burden on her. My father on the other hand said that he didn't want to dump the responsibilities of raising a child onto his new lover; said the burden would stress her out too much." Kimiko put her hands together, something Natsuki had quickly realized only happened when she was nervous.

Natsuki stared at Kimiko. She had just stated that neither of her parents wanted to take care of her as if she was reporting the weather. She had accepted it. Natsuki reached over and wrapped his arms around Kimiko. She blushed as he held her. "Why don't you and I go get that paper signed. If we don't you'll get expelled."

"I don't want to inconvenience you." Kimiko could feel her face getting hot.

"Stop saying that!" Natsuki grabbed her shoulders and turned her so they were face to face. "It's never an inconvenience to help a friend!"

Kimiko blushed as she looked into Natsuki's bright green eyes. "A-Are you sure?"

Natsuki smile and stood offering her a hand. "Let's go get that paper signed." Kimiko smiled and took his hand. "Where does your mom work?"

"Gin's Fabrics."

"Oh, that's close enough to walk to." Natsuki turned toward the front gate leading the way. The streets were busy with the evening rush and Natsuki's grip on Kimiko's hand tightened. "Don't want to get separated, do we?"

Kimiko blushed yet again. "Right." She wasn't used to being treated like this. No one ever paid that much attention to her. She was used to being ignored. She used to tell herself that she wasn't actually there and that she didn't actually exist in this world. She merely went through the motions. She made friends like she thought she was supposed to. It wasn't like she didn't like Mai and Jun, or Hikari and Yumi, it was just that she knew they didn't need her, no one needed her. Her parents didn't, her friends didn't, and nothing did.

This man holding her man though seems to be disrupting her usual routine. If he hadn't found out about the paper she probably would have waited until the school kicked her out. Kimiko didn't like causing trouble for her parents and didn't like going to them for things.

Natsuki stopped as they arrived in front of her mother's work place. It was a tall building that faced a nice little park. To the left was one of Kimiko's favorite bakeries and to the right was a publishing firm. Natsuki was about to go in when he felt Kimiko tug on his arm. He turned to look at her and noticed she looked a little scared.

"Kimi? Is something the matter?" He put a hand on her shoulder to give her support.

She shook her head. "Everything's fine. I-I'm just a little nervous that's all."

"Don't worry," Natsuki smiled. "It'll be fine. I'm here with you, right?"

"Right!" Kimiko said as Natsuki took her hand once again and pulled her inside the building. It was clean and had posters of fashion models all over. Natsuki walked up to the receptionist's desk.

"Excuse me, is Miss Suzuki available? I'm here with her daughter Kimiko and we need to see her. It'll only take a minute or two, I promise."

The receptionist looked like she was about to make a smart remark but stopped as she looked up at the boy who had been bugging her. She blushed and quickly started typing into her computer. "Hold on one moment, sir." After a few moments she looked back up at Natsuki. "You're in luck she's on break right now. She should be on third floor, in the employ's lounge. Just take the elevator over there up and it'll be the first door on the right, but please do make it fast. She is on break." Natsuki nodded and went to leave when the woman grabbed his arm. "Wait," she slid a piece of paper into his hand and winked. "Call me."

Kimiko felt something inside her burn up as the woman openly flirted with him even though he was clearly here with her. Kimiko pulled him away before he could respond. She pressed the up button and waited for the doors to open.

Natsuki looked down at Kimiko trying to figure out what just happened. "Um, Kimi, what was that about?"

"Nothing, I mean she did say to hurry, didn't she." Kimiko's voice clearly said that wasn't what the problem was.

"Oh, right." Natsuki was starting to think she might have been jealous and if that's the case it only made her even cuter. He smiled as she began to tap her foot while waiting for the elevator doors to open. He liked this new side of Kimiko.

The doors finally opened and Kimiko quickly pulled Natsuki in and pressed 3. The doors closed and the awkward silence began. "Kimi?"

"Yes?" She didn't even bother to turn toward him.

"Are you mad at me?"

Kimiko finally turned to face him. Her face looked confused. "I- I don't know. I guess I might be, but I think I might not be."

Natsuki looked at her confused this time. "What?"

Kimiko shook her head. "I don't know, ok? I think I'm just frustrated with that girl. I mean you're obviously too young. I mean yeah, you're nice and handsome, but still."

Natsuki smiled. "You think I'm handsome?"

This made Kimiko blush as she realized what she had just said, but the doors opened and made it easy to change the subject. "Let's just find my mom." They stepped out and looked around. The hall was long and had more posters and pictures hung up. They went to the first door on the right and looked in. Only one person was in the room at the time. It was a tall woman with a thin figure and short light brown hair just like Kimiko's. Natsuki could tell this was Kimiko's mother.

He was about to confront her when Kimiko stepped up. "H-Hi, Mother."

The woman spun around and stared at Kimiko in shock. "Kimiko, what are you doing here?"

Kimiko handed her the paper. "My school needs you to sign this."

The woman grunted as she took the paper and walked over to the table to sign it. She hadn't even bothered to read it before handing it back. "Now, please leave, Kimiko. I don't have time for your silliness."

Kimiko took the paper, folded it, and put it in her purse. "Yes, of course, sorry Mother." Kimiko left and Natsuki quickly followed. "Are you ok, Kimi?"

She ignored him and just got back into the elevator and pressed the button for the main floor. Natsuki stood beside her not sure what to do. They left the building without saying a word and were about half way back to the school before Natsuki finally grabbed Kimiko's arm.

"Kimi?"

She spun around and put her head against his chest. "I'm sorry, Suki."

Natsuki was surprised by both the sudden movement and the nickname she had come up with. "Wait, why are you sorry?" Natsuki pushed her away so he could look her in the eyes.

"I don't know, that's the weird thing." She looked like she was on the edge of tears.

Natsuki sighed. "I think you're just starting to realize your feelings. You hid yourself away for so long to numb your feelings because of your parents, right? I think you're just coming back to reality, that's all."

Kimiko couldn't believe it. He had her completely figured out.

"Kimi, you don't need to be strong for me. You're allowed to cry, get angry, and even get jealous," he teased making her blush. He then pulled her into a hug. "You can let it out."

Kimiko felt so happy at the idea of having someone who knew and someone she could be the real her with. She hadn't realized she had started crying until Natsuki started patting her head to comfort her. After a few moments she stopped and pulled away. "Thanks, Suki."

Natsuki smiled. "No problem, but what's up with the 'Suki' thing."

"Well, you call me Kimi so I thought I'd give you a nickname too. Do you not like it?"

Natsuki smiled and kissed Kimiko on the forehead. "No, it's fine. I'm just not used to people giving me nicknames."

Kimiko laughed and Natsuki took her hand in his as they continued their way back to the school.