"Rin-chan!"

I turned around and saw Miku waving at me. I stopped walking and waited for her to catch up. "How are you?" she asked.

"Awesome! What about you?"

"Pretty good. You seem excited."

I beamed. "I am."

Miku smiled and rolled her eyes. "What, are you having twins or something?"

I started laughing. "Oh god, no!" I paused and stopped laughing. "My sister's coming over this evening."

Miku's eyes widened. "Wait—what! A sister!"

I laughed. "Long story. But she's coming to live with me this evening!"

"That's cool."

I was so hyper in school I could barely pay attention in class. "Miss Kagamine, is everything all right?" the teacher asked me.

I nodded. "Yes, sir." I looked back at my paper and tried to do the next problem.

I finally just sighed and stood up. "Miss Kagamine, is there anything you need?" the teacher asked me. My whole class was staring.

"Miyakawa-sensei, may I please go to the nurse's office?" I asked him.

"Certainly," he nodded. "Take your books."

I gathered my things and left, the whole class watching me.

Thank God no one's in the hallway, I thought. I went inside the stairwell and sat down on a step.

The bell rang. "Crap!" I exclaimed aloud, and stood up and went down to the first floor. I was about halfway to the nurse's office when swarms of first-years started pouring into the hallway. I sped up my walking and finally made it to my destination.

"Hello, Miss Kagamine," Hanamori said, "how are you feeling? Are you all right?"

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I'm fine. Just feeling a little nauseated, that's all."

"Why don't you go lie down for a bit?"

"Okay." I set my books down in a chair and laid down on the bed.

After a few minutes, I sat up. "Hanamori-sensei," I said, "…I think I need to go home."

She nodded. "What's your home phone number?"

I sighed. "No one's home, ma'am."

"Well, what's your mother's cell phone number?"

I wiped a tear from my eye. "Ma'am, my parents, they're—they're…dead."

The nurse gasped. "Oh, Rin, I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

"That's okay. I'm used to it." I sighed as I traced the scar on the back of my hand with my finger. When I was four, I was helping my mother bake a cake. I grabbed a bowl off the counter to take it to her, but it was too heavy and I dropped it. The bowl broke, and I cut my hand on a shard trying to clean it up.

"I'll let you go home. You can make it there okay, right?"

I nodded. "Thank you so much, Hanamori-sensei." She smiled at me and I left.

I flung open my front door and dropped my satchel and books in excitement.

I sat on the couch and dialed Yukino's number. "Rin-chan!" she exclaimed.

"Hi," I replied, "where are you?"

"I'm almost there. About an hour and a half. This train is faster than I thought!"

"Great. Call me when you get closer."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

We hung up and I squealed with excitement. Yukino was only an hour and a half away! But pretty soon I remembered something important.

I ran into what was now the spare bedroom—Auntie's room. I was originally planning to turn this into the baby's nursery, but that wasn't going to happen now. I quickly pushed some boxes into the closet and made the bed. Done.

I stood back and admired my work. "Okay," I said to myself, nodding in approval. But there was still so much more to be done!

I went into the kitchen. "I will make snacks!" I declared, and went through the cabinets to find my mother's old cookbooks.

"Good pudding," I mumbled, my mouth full of pudding. I put the spoon in the sink and put the pudding in the fridge. My phone rang and I spun around to get it.

"Hello?"

"Rin-chan, I'm only half an hour away!"

"Great! I'll start heading over!" We said goodbye and hung up.

I went into my bedroom to get changed. I took off my powder-covered sweater and skirt and put them in the hamper.

I found my favorite shirt in my closet and put it on. When I had bought it over a year ago it was really loose, but now it was really tight. I rubbed my belly and sighed. The baby kicked and I giggled. I hoped Yukino would like the baby when she was born.

When I was done getting dressed I grabbed my purse and phone and started heading toward the train station, about a ten minute walk. When I got to the station I sat down on a bench and waited for the train to arrive.

After a few minutes I heard rumbling in the distance. My heart started pounding and I stood up. The train whooshed into the platform, but I waited for it to stop before I got any closer.

The doors opened and a swarm of people poured out. The search for Yukino was on! I looked around but didn't see a blonde anywhere.

"Rin-chan!" I heard someone call. I frantically looked around, trying to find my sister. All of a sudden I was being squeezed in a very, very tight hug.

"Rin-chan!" Yukino exclaimed. "Oh, I knew it was you when I saw your face! You look just like I did when I was your age!"

"Ow…. Yukino-san…." I gasped. "I've got a baby here, don't squeeze so tight!"

"Oh, right. Sorry!" She laughed in embarrassment and picked up what appeared to be her only bag.

"Is that your only bag?" I asked.

She nodded. "One of my friends in Kyoto is going to send me my things." She scratched her neck. "I didn't know how big your house would be, so I sold about half my things to get more money."

"Yukino-san!" I exclaimed. "You didn't have to do that! I have plenty of room!"
She laughed. "No, I wanted to. And besides, I need the money anyway."

We started walking. "How far is it to your house?" Yukino asked.

"Not far," I replied, "maybe about a mile? It took me ten minutes to walk to the station."

"That's not bad at all!" she exclaimed.

I smiled and nodded. "Everything's close around here," I replied. I paused. "Do you want me to carry your bag for you?"

"Oh, no, I can carry it!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then."

We walked in silence for a few minutes. "I cleared out a bedroom for you, Yukino-san," I finally said.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Yukino exclaimed. "And please, just call me Yukino, or even Yuki, if you'd like."

I smiled. "Okay, Yukino," I replied. "Oh, this is my street. Come on!"

Yukino smiled and nodded. "You're quite the adult," she said. "I kind of feel like our roles are reversed!"

I laughed. "Be glad you're not me!"

I turned into the walkway and unlocked the gate. "This is it," I told Yukino, and locked the gate behind her.

"This is beautiful!" Yukino exclaimed as she set foot inside the house.

"Your shoes," I reminded her.

"Oh yeah." She took off her shoes before formally entering the room.

"I'll take your bag to your room," I told her. She handed me her bag. "Just wait in the kitchen." I went to the bedroom and set the bag down on the bed.

I came back into the kitchen. "I made snacks," I said, walking over to the refrigerator. "Pudding, to be exact."

"Rin-chan," Yukino replied, "you didn't have to do that!"

I laughed. "How many times will I do something I didn't have to do?"
My sister laughed and took a bite of pudding. "Wow, you're so nice, it's hard to believe you would ever let a guy get you pregnant!"

I giggled nervously. "I didn't let him," I mumbled, "he let me."
Yukino almost jumped out of her chair. "What!" she exclaimed. "What do you mean, 'he let me'? Did you make the first move!"

I slowly nodded as I rubbed my stomach. "But the good thing is, he's supporting me and our little girl."

"I guess that is pretty nice of him," she decided.

The baby kicked. I rubbed my stomach and giggled.

"How many months are you?" Yukino asked.

"Seven." The baby kicked again.

"Have you had a baby shower yet?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm pretty sure neither me nor my friends would have time for that."

"Are you kidding me!" Yukino reminded me of Auntie when she said this. "You're seven months pregnant and have not had a baby shower! That's ridiculous! You're fourteen, you have all the time in the world, yet you don't have time to celebrate the fact that you are pregnant!"

"Why should I celebrate?" I mumbled. "I didn't want this. I really didn't. Like I told Len's parents, I was being stupid. Len's really nice, really friendly, and I'm thrilled that he, out of all the guys out there, is the one that fathered my child, but I'm not ready to begin a life together! I wish I could've gotten to know him better!" I noticed I was crying. "I'm just not ready to be a mother yet!"
Yukino hugged me. "Oh, Rin-chan, honey!" she said. "Everything will be okay, I promise. Whatever happens, I'll be here for you." She smiled. "Now, where were we?"