Hikaru

Eight hours earlier

I yawned and stretched my arms over my head as I walked down the hall towards my homeroom. I was exhausted, I haven't had a decent night of sleep all week since I've been doing all the chores mom left me. My day usually consisted of waking up around four in the morning doing so many chores I could do in the next three hours, either making a quick breakfast or skipping it completely, then going to school, tutoring, come back home to do more chores, hopefully finishing on time to squeeze in some homework and dinner, then after finally finishing everything I usually went to bed around two, only giving me about two hours of sleep if I'm lucky.

I turned into my classroom and grew disappointed to see Haruhi's desk was empty again. She had been gone all week and I was getting a little worried. Usually, if she was sick she would show up to school so something else must be going on. I really wanted to try and maybe rekindle our relationship a bit since I knew she didn't hate me, but with her not here it's been impossible. Yeah, I could text her since I still had her number, but I wanted to talk to her face to face, not over a fucking screen.

I sat down at my desk and didn't bother taking anything out as I placed my head in my hand. I had about fifteen minutes to kill, so I might as well try to get a little more shut-eye before class starts.

"Did you hear about Sakura?" A girl's voice piped up beside me as she talked to another female student.

"No, what about her?"

"She hooked up with Makoto Kobayashi from class D a few months ago and just found out last week that she's pregnant. That's why she hasn't been attending school these past few days."

My eyes shot open as soon as those words left her mouth and the rest of their conversation faded out as everything began to piece together. Haruhi and I hooked up a few months ago...and she hasn't been attending school these past few days...but that has to mean something else, right? I mean, it was both our first times and I used...oh fuck.

How could I have been so stupid? Of course, we didn't use any protection. We didn't even plan on hooking up that night, it just happened while we were drunk. It should've been my first thought after about the possibilities of her getting pregnant, but I was too occupied on trying to fix our relationship and with everything at home that the thought of pregnancy was the last thought from my mind. I can't be a father right now. I'm only seventeen and my life is far from prepared for having a kid. I mean my own god damn mother abuses me for just breathing, so what would she do to me once she found out I got Haruhi pregnant. She'll probably kill me for tarnishing our name. I can just imagine the tabloids.

'The famous fashion designer Yuzuha Hitachiin's son is fathering a child with a low-class commoner out of wedlock.'

There was no "probability," she was going to kill me, and if not me she might hurt Haruhi or the baby.

I swallowed back the bile in my throat as I began to feel sick from my nerves. I couldn't see how I looked, but how cold my body was and my involuntary shaking, I know that my skin must've been ghostly white. I had to go see Haruhi, if she was pregnant with my child I had to be there for her, but what if she doesn't want to see me? I probably ruined her life...No, I don't care about her hatred towards me right now. I had to know.

I shot up from my seat and grabbed my bag before rushing towards the door, but as I turned to the corner as I left the classroom I almost collided with a certain teacher.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mrs. Amari asked, her voice stern as if she thought I was up to something.

"Mrs-Mrs Amari, what are you doing here?" I stuttered out, which only cause her suspicious glare to harden.

"Mr. Hirota is running late so since I don't have a class this period I was requested to look after his." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Now, answer my question."

"I...I…" I couldn't think of an excuse. I couldn't just say, 'Hey I need to go because I think I impregnated my best friend because we drunkenly slept together a few months ago and I have to visit her to confirm it or not.' Yeah, that definitely makes me look good in Mrs. Amari's eyes since she already fucking hated me.

She placed a hand on her hip as she grew impatient. "I see that you can't come up with an excuse." She snapped her fingers as if I was a dog and pointed back to the classroom. "Get back inside."

"But-"

"No buts, I'm not going to hear any of you excuses to try to get out of school today, and if you try to leave during the school hours today I will talk to Mr. Suoh and be contacting your parents. Do you understand?"

I felt myself involuntarily shudder as she brought up contacting mom. Even though she was all the way in London, I could just imagine how furious she was going to be if she thought her son was embarrassing our name, and when she got home…

I let out a sigh, knowing that there was no getting through Mrs. Amari and turned back into the classroom to head back to my seat as Mrs. Amari began class.

For the whole day, I couldn't focus. My mind would just go to Haruhi and us possibly becoming parents. I was worried about her and if she was pregnant the baby. How was she going to afford to take care of it? Her father's paycheck could barely support the both of them, so how are they going to support a baby? Would she give it up for adoption? I wouldn't want to lose my kid...but with here financial issues and my shitty home life, maybe it was for the best...

As soon as tutoring ended I hopped into my car and sped over to Haruhi's, not even caring how hard it was raining or if I was breaking the speed limit. I made it to Haruhi's house in about five minutes, which usually took around twenty minutes. I didn't care if I parked incorrectly or not and threw on my hood from the hoodie that was underneath my leather jacket before going out into the rain to Haruhi's apartment, but as I reached her door I froze. I didn't know what to say to her and if she was pregnant she definitely wouldn't want to see me, but I needed to talk to her for her to confirm if she is or not.

My anxiety began to skyrocket through the roof as I tried to figure out what to do that I began pacing back and forth because I couldn't keep still. If I did talk to her and found out she was carrying my child she might be furious and want nothing to do with me again, but if I don't talk to her...I will maybe never know if she is or not.

No, I had to talk to her. I need to stop being a fucking coward and I need to knock on the door to get her to come out, and that's what I did. But one my knuckles left the door I began to panic.

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I can't do this. I need to go before she opened the door and sees me.'

I looked over towards my car across the street and wanted to run towards it, but my feet were glued to the ground as if God refused for me to leave.

"Hikaru?"

I jumped at the sound of my name and looked back in front of me to see Haruhi in an oversized shirt and pajama bottoms, which didn't make me feel any better. She looked shocked to see me, which was understandable I guess. Even though we somewhat made up we weren't anywhere near going back to where we were before our falling out.

I gulped and clenched the fabric in my jacket pockets to try and calm my nerves. There's no running away from it now. I have to ask her.

Haruhi

"Are you pregnant?"

...

Haruhi just blinked a few times, trying to process what Hikaru had asked her. "Huh?"

"Are you pregnant?"

"What? No, no, no." Haruhi denied profusely and nervously laughed. "I am far from pregnant."

"Are-Are you sure?" Hikaru asked his voice still shaky from nerves. "I mean when we...you know...we didn't…"

Haruhi finally caught on what Hikaru was trying to say and was tempted to reach out and comfort him, but since he was already tense she decided it wasn't the best idea.

"Yes Hikaru, I'm positive that I'm not pregnant. Don't worry."

"But-But…" He stuttered out. "Are you 100% sure?"

"Yes I am, and if you still don't believe me, I have proof that I'm not."

Hikaru furrowed his eyebrows, confused at what she meant. Haruhi could see the gears moving in his head and when Haruhi cocked her eyebrow at him it finally clicked in his brain and his face flushed red.

"N-No, I believe you...but how? We didn't...use anything…"

Haruhi felt her own face heat up and cleared her throat. "Well, after I come home that morning that was the first thing that popped into my mind. I called my friend Mei and begged her to buy me the morning after pill because I knew if I bought it word would get back to my dad since he knows everyone in our town. I took the pill once I got it and was relieved later a few weeks later when...you know."

Hikaru remained silent for a few moments, letting everything he just heard process through like an old computer. He then ran his hand through his damp hair before smiling and letting out a relieved. "Thank God."

"If I may ask, what made you think I was pregnant in the first place?"

"I overheard a few female classmates gossiping about this one girl who was in a similar situation as us but got pregnant and hasn't been attending school, and since you've been gone all week I got worried." His smile then fell and grew concerned again. "Wait, if you're not pregnant then why have you been gone all week?"

"Oh, well since I had to take care of you last Friday I got really sick. So I had to stay home all week."

"Sorry…" Hikaru apologized sheepishly as he looked away.

"You don't have anything to apologize for Hikaru." Haruhi reassured, making him look back up at her as if he was a guilty puppy. "Your mother was the reason why you got sick in the first place so."

"But, if I didn't oversleep and fail my test then none of this would've happened…"

Was he blaming himself for his mother's actions? It wasn't surprising if Haruhi actually thought about it. Usually whoever is in an abusive relationship, either romantic or family, they usually made the person they're abusing feel like no matter what they did was their fault. When Haruhi first met Hikaru, he would always say his mom punished him for nothing and blamed him for literally everything that went wrong. It must have been mentally draining for him by his mother abusing him that he began believing it himself.

"Hikaru…" Haruhi placed a hand on his arm, feeling it stiffen a bit underneath. "None of this is your fault. Your mother is the one who is abusing you for no reason, it's her fault and your step dad's for just sitting around and letting it happen. You're the real victim here."

She saw Hikaru's eyes began to turn glassy with tears and he bit his lip to keep it from trembling. It must've been a long time since someone actually has told him that and it was overwhelming for him to hear.

She knew Hikaru wouldn't like it, but she just couldn't help but wrap her arms around him into a hug. His body grew tense and he put his hands on her shoulders as if he was going to push her away, but instead of pushing her away like Haruhi thought he was going to do, he wrapped his arms around her neck to hug her back. She then began to feel moisture dripping on her shoulder and soon realized that he was crying. He must've been holding back his real emotions for so long so no one would worry about him...or maybe to convince himself that he was alright, and it made her heartbreak for him.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happening to you," she whispered to him, feeling her own eyes began to water, "but I promise that I'll always be here for you no matter what. I won't make the mistake of leaving you ever again. I'm here for you."

She felt his arms tighten around her and she let a few of her own tears fall as she felt him crying harder. He let out a few ragged breaths as Haruhi placed her head on his chest.

"I know…"

Hikaru

I entered my house and was greeted by the dark empty living room that I've been accustomed to seeing all week. I would've usually been happy that mom was away for two weeks but since I had so many chores to do I haven't had any time to relax. All I wanted to do when I got home from school was to make some food, sit on the couch and let all my worries drift away, but I wouldn't be able to finish my chores if I sat down and just watched one show.

Haruhi offered me to stay for dinner, which I was first reluctant about. I knew that if mom found out I came home late she would be furious with me and punish me like she threatened, but I haven't hung out with Haruhi for so long, so I decided to take her up on her offer. At first, it was a bit awkward. It seemed as if we both didn't really know how to start the conversation, but after a few minutes, we began talking as if we never stopped being friends. Were we back to where we were before we slept together? No, but hopefully we'll be able to go back there soon since we were back to being friendly towards each other.

I turned the lights to the kitchen on and placed my bag on the kitchen table before looking around the room. It looked almost spotless, but I knew that I had to clean it all over again. Along with vacuuming the carpet upstairs, mopping and waxing the wood floors and other shit that was on the damn list for today. It was already around eight, so if I started now I should be done around midnight and will be able to sleep in if I'm lucky. So, I immediately got started.

For the past few hours, I did nothing but work. Even though there was nothing to fucking clean. I've been scrubbing down clean marble twice a day for this whole fucking week, but I knew if mom came home and even saw one speck of dust anywhere she would be livid.

I had just finished waxing the floors downstairs and just had to vacuum and I would be finished for the day, but right now all I wanted to do was rest. It was around 1 a.m., cleaning the living room took far longer than I thought, so I was exhausted and just needed to lie down for a few minutes before finishing up.

"Five minutes," I flopped on the couch, placing my arm over my eyes, "just five minutes, then I'll go back to work…"

...

I didn't really remember falling asleep, all I knew was that I closed my eyes and the next time I opened them it was light out. I looked over at the clock to see that it was 10 a.m. Well, I got to sleep in like I wanted to I guess, but I know that since I wasn't able to finish the chores from last night and slept later than I wanted to I'd be up late again doing the same fucking chores all over again.

I slowly sat up and raised my arms over my head to stretch the crick in my back before standing up. I might as well have some breakfast. I could just tell myself that I was ravenous and needed the food for energy through the day, but if I could be honest I was still full from having dinner with Haruhi last night and was just going to eat breakfast to stall from doing my chores.

I grabbed a box of cereal I bought at the beginning of the week from the cabinet, along with a bowl and got the remainder of the milk that was left in the carton. I would have to go to grocery shopping soon. It has been a week, so I guess after cleaning a bit I would take a break to go shopping for a bit. Ever since Kyoya gave me a debit card last week, I've only spent it on groceries and getting gas for my car. I still felt guilty using money that wasn't mine so I'm not trying to spend that much, even though he keeps telling me he doesn't mind as long as I'm spending it responsibly, but I still felt uncomfortable using it.

As I opened the cereal box, my ears perked up when I heard the beep of a car being locked outside but thought nothing of it. Probably somebody was visiting a neighbor so they parked outside of our house so I just shrugged it off, but as I was about to pour the cereal into the bowl I froze when I heard what sounded like the front door being unlocked. It-It couldn't be them, right? Mom said they'd be gone for another week, but who else would have keys to our house?

"Home sweet home." I heard Isao happily sigh from the other room as the front door opened.

My body felt as if it turned into complete stone as I heard Isao and mom enter the house. What the hell were they doing back home so early? I wasn't ready for them to come home yet. I was only halfway through the list. Oh fuck, mom was going to kill me. Please let her be in a good mood.

"Hikaru!"

I flinched as she yelled out my name. I guess she wasn't. I slowly turned towards the living room and gulped as I tried to find my voice to respond back before she got angrier.

"Ye...Yeah..?" I forced out after a few moments of frightening silence.

"Get your ass in here right now!"

Even though all I wanted to do was just run and hide away, my body just listened to mom's command like it was programmed to. I slowly poked my head into the living room to be greeted by my, more drunk than usual, mother. She must've drank a lot on the flight home since she wasn't allowed to bring her own alcohol on board. She didn't look drunk at all. It looked like she just stepped out of a magazine with her pearl white blouse and dark ash grey blazer and pencil skirt. You wouldn't even suspect that she was drunk just by looking at her, but you just stared into her glazed over, bloodshot eyes, you could easily tell that she was intoxicated.

Mom motioned me to come over with her finger. "Come here."

I didn't know how I was able to do it since my body felt so heavy from the fear, but I was able to drag myself over to where mom was standing. I knew she was angry by just her dark aura that was protruding from her body, and I most likely knew why.

Once I got up to her, I gave her a look that a frightened puppy would give to their abusive owner. "Y-Yes mom?"

"What is this?" She hissed out as she motioned to all the cleaning supplies that were spread out throughout the living room.

I didn't know that they were coming home early or I obviously would've cleaned up everything because I knew mom would've been angry by the mess I left out.

"Sorry mom, I was cleaning last night and must've left them out." I looked back up at her, hoping that she wouldn't get mad at me as I continued. "I was just cleaning the house as you told me to and-"

"Let me see the checklist."

"Huh?"

"The fucking checklist I left you. Let me see it so I can see how many chores you did." Her expression hardened. "Because by seeing that there is no meal prepared for us, you haven't finished them."

"I'm sorry mom, but you said you'd be gone for two weeks and-"

"Of course you have fucking excuses." She grumbled. "I told you about the chores you needed to do. I don't care if we came back the exact same day. I expected them to be finished and you welcoming us back home like a normal son who loved his parents would do."

"Mom…"

"All my fashion friends' kids support their family and actually care about them and what do you do? Nothing." Her words were like venom, hurting me more and more with each word she said. "Like a worthless sack of shit that you are. You are really like your father, and it's pathetic."

She then bumped shoulder with me as she passed by and made her way to the kitchen. She may have not hurt me physically, but what she just said to me hurt worse than her hitting or kicking me. Mom knew dad was a sore subject to all of us and would only bring him up mostly to hurt us...was what mom said true? Was I turning into dad? I never abandoned anyone, but was I not caring about my family enough? If I did, then mom wouldn't compare me to him so much...maybe I am a bad son…

For the remainder of the day, I stayed in my bed. I felt too depressed to do anything. All I did was just stare at my wall as I had the TV on for background noise. What mom said to me kept playing in my mind and no matter how hard I tried to think of anything else it wouldn't help anything. I knew I was nothing like my dad, I cared about my family and tried my best to take care of everyone, even if it meant for me to get hurt...but what if I get sick of everyone? Would I leave as well..?

I stared at the lights coming from inside the house as I sat in my car. Mom forced me to go out and get take out since I didn't make them a meal this morning. I knew that I had to go back in soon or mom would get even angrier with me for taking so long, but...I just wanted to stay out here, watching the rain as it hit my windshield. It was actually calming and made me somewhat forget about all the shit that happened today, but as I kept staring at that haunting house, it would make my nerves skyrocket more each time.

I took out my keys from the ignition and grabbed the bag of take out that was in the passenger seat. I knew if I waited any longer the food would begin to get cold and I didn't want to deal with mom's insults anymore tonight.

"God, finally." I heard mom grumble as I entered the house. "Took you long enough."

Mom snatched the bag from me before I could even hand them to her then placed the bags on the dining room table before taking out each carton and opening them to see what was inside, and by home mom's face scrunched up she wasn't very happy with the order.

"This isn't the fucking order I gave you." She hissed. "I asked for kung pao chicken not sweet and sour!"

"But I wrote down everything you said...I even read it back to you and you said it was right…"

"Well, you must've written it wrong because you got my fucking order wrong," she pulled out another box and growled, "and got Isao's wrong too!"

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I'll go back and get the right order."

"There's no fucking point now!" She grabbed the last box in the bag and opened it. "And what is this? Food you got for yourself?!"

"Actually that's-"

Before I could even finish mom threw the food down on the floor, splattering it all over the floors I just cleaned hours ago…

"Now you're going to starve just like the rest of us!" Mom snapped as I just stared down at the splattered food on the floor.

That wasn't food that I ordered myself, it was Isao's and the one mom was looking at before were the sides she forced me to get. I did order something for myself but I ate it in the car because I knew mom would've done something to it. Maybe I did get the orders wrong. I'm pretty sure that I heard the orders mom gave me correctly, but now that I think about it I can't be sure…

"I'm sorry mom." I apologized again.

"God, no wonder your fucking father decided to leave this God-forsaken family. He wanted to get away from the burdens in his life like you." Her glare hardened and she clenched her jaws in rage.

Did she really blame Kaoru and I for our dad's disappearance? That would explain why she abuses us, but it couldn't be our faults why he left. He seemed to always enjoy being around us and said he loved us, even if we were brats...but what if all of that was a facade and he left because he could handle having shitty kids like us...like me…

"I should've followed his lead and left you as well, then maybe my life would actually be worth living but no, I have to take care of you but I'm finished!"

I finally looked up at mom when she said those last few words, terrified what she meant. "What do you mean by finished?"

Mom growled furiously before roughly grabbing my arm and tugging me up the stairs towards my room. She found the first bag she could find in my room, which was an old duffle bag, and shoved it in my chest.

"I want you out of my house."

"Wait mom no, please don't do this." I begged, but it was as if my pleas only hit deaf ears. "If this is about the food then I-"

"It's not about the fucking food!" She shouted as she began yanking some of my clothes off their hangers. "It's about all the shit you've done these past years and I'm sick of it!"

"Mom please," I cried as she began shoving clothes into the bag, "I'm sorry for everything. Please don't kick me out."

She didn't listen to me and continued to shove my clothes in the duffle bag before zipping it up and lead me back downstairs. I was literally an emotional wreck once I got outside. I didn't know what to do, where to go. I was going to be homeless if I couldn't convince mom to let me stay.

"Mom…"

"Give me your keys." She demanded as she held out her hand. "I don't want there to be any possibility of you getting back inside."

"Mom please let me stay. I have nowhere else to go." I sobbed.

"You have that Ootori friend of yours that you stayed with before. Just go over to his house and cry to him. Maybe he'll actually give a shit about you?" Her teeth grinding as she grew angrier. "Now give me your keys."

"But-"

She grabbed my arm tightly, making me cry out as she yanked me up to her, giving me a dark, murderous glare. "Give me your fucking keys Hikaru or I'll break your fucking arms and take them myself!"

I began to feel my body began to tremble and I reached into my pocket and gave her my keys. She snatched them out of my hand before pushing me back away from her and the door, making fall back hard on the pavement. She hardened her glare at me one last time before slamming the door closed and locking it.

I just sat there, hugging my duffle bag to my chest as more tears began running down my face, mixing with the water from the rain. Mom actually threw me out, leaving me homeless with no real place to go. I knew that mom was upset over dad, but I never would've thought that she blamed Kaoru and me for him leaving. I just thought she hated us because we were a product of him, but now I knew the real reason why.

I looked over at the quiet street. Where the hell was I going to stay tonight? Mom took my keys so I couldn't sleep in my car and Kyoya is...wait Kyoya! I couldn't believe I forgot about him. I could just call him up and he'll come to get me and I could stay with him for a while until I can get a place of my own. A huge wave of relief washed over me, but it sadly was only short-lived because when I took out my phone and tried to use it I saw that it was dead. Just fucking great!

I whipped the tears from my face and got up before walking over to the curb to sit down on underneath a tree to shield me from the rain. I didn't know where to go tonight. Kyoya's and Haruhi's houses were too far for me to walk to and I couldn't take a bus because I had no change and they're all probably closed this late at night. I could try to walk to the motel Haruhi and I went to after Kyoya's party, but with a car that was a twenty minute drive, so I couldn't even imagine how many hours it'll take to walk there, but it was better than just sitting on a curb in front of my (now former) house in the rain.

I let out a sigh as I stood up before throwing my bag over my shoulder and began my way to the motel out of memory. Hopefully, I actually remembered where to go.

…

I didn't know how long I have been walking, but it felt like an eternity. The rain has stopped and I knew that I must've walked for a few miles because I was out of surrounding neighborhoods around my town and getting into the business section of the town and I wouldn't like to admit it, but I was fucking lost. I didn't recognize any of my surroundings when I was driving home those few months ago. So, it was most likely that I took a wrong turn and was now going the completely opposite way.

I was able to find a map at the next bus stop and tried my best to read the tiny words in the dark and after a few minutes of examining I confirmed that I was indeed going the opposite way.

"Fuck." I cursed as I sat down on the bench, putting my head in my hands.

I wasted hours walking to the opposite side of town and now didn't have any energy left. All I wanted to do was go home. I know that mom would still abuse me but at least I would have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in. I let my hands drop and looked down at the duffle bag mom packed me. I wonder if there were any warmer clothing in there that I could wear to keep warm tonight. I might've been wearing a hoodie and my leather jacket, but I was damp and it only made me feel colder.

I put the duffle bag in my lap and unzipped it to see what was inside. There were about a few scrunched up shirts and a pair of black jeans, but none of them looked any warmer than the clothes I had on now. I sadly sighed and was about to zip up my bag when I noticed headlights from an oncoming car coming towards my direction slowly as if they were studying me. A part of me wanted to take off in fear it was someone who was planning to hurt me, but the other part of me didn't care and was too tired to move, but as the car grew closer I recognize that it was Isao's car. What the hell was he doing out here so late, and in this part of town?

The car pulled up to the bus stop and the window rolled down to reveal a worried Isao.

"Oh thank God," he said, which only confused me further. He might've been in his room while mom kicked me out, but he should've been able to hear us fight, "I've been looking for you everywhere. Your mother and I have been worried sick."

Mom was worried about me? But she's the reason why I was here in the first place. Could she have forgotten...but it's only been a few hours.

"Come on," Isao unlocked the door to his car, "let's get you home."

I narrowed my eyes at him but decided to just listen to him. I just wanted to go home and collapse in my bed, even if it was in the same house as my demonic mother. I zipped up the duffle bag and got into the car. I remained silent the whole car ride home, just laying my head solemnly on the window as I stared out of it, watching everything pass by as we drove home. Isao tried to start up a conversation with me but soon gave up when he saw that I was far from wanting to talk. The only time I looked away from the window was to look at the clock, seeing that it was just past midnight. I have been walking for four hours, but it felt far longer.

The drive home was around twenty minutes and as Isao turned off the ignition I looked over at him.

"How did you find me?" I asked in a weak voice.

"I used the GPS tracker on your phone." He answered. "Your type of phone has them already installed into them so after finding the password for the account I track your location."

"But my phone was dead. So how could you have-"

"Oh, your mother just opened the door for us." He said as he took off his seatbelt. "Let's go show her that you're ok."

I looked over towards the front door and saw mom standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and I could almost see the black aura surrounding her being. I gulped before opening the door with a shaky hand and stepped out of the car.

"Hikaru!" I jumped as mom yelled and came charging over towards me.

I grew terrified and tried to back away from her, but my back hit Isao's car, trapping me. As mom finally reached me, I tensed my body to prepare myself to get hit, but all she did was roughly grab me and put me into a tight hug.

"Oh my sweet baby, I was so worried when I woke up and saw that you were gone."

That's why she was letting me back inside. It wasn't because she had a change of heart, it was because she fell asleep and forgot that she kicked me out. If she hadn't fallen asleep...I would still be out there for God knows how long.

"Sorry mom," I apologized softly, "I went for a walk to clear my head and got lost. I'm sorry…"

"Aw," mom separated from me and placed a hand on my cheek, my body instinctively stiffening by her cold touch, "it's alright baby, but tell me next time you go out so I won't be worried sick, ok?"

Mom wasn't acting like her usual drunk self. She had far more energy and seem to be speeding through her words. She did have sudden mood swings and was forgetful, but not at this extent and her energy was usually sluggish. It was almost as she was back on…

I looked into mom's eyes and my stomach dropped as I got my confirmation. A couple tears escaped and trailed down my face, but mom didn't seem to notice.

"I promise mom. I'm sorry…"

A few days passed by and nothing bad has really happened at home. Mom was still acting overly motherly that it was sickening so I tried to hide in my room to stay away from her. The worse she did to me was that she slapped me for giving her "attitude," but after I apologized she became overly sweet again.

I was glad when the weekend was finally over and I could go back to school. Haruhi was finally back, and even though we fully made up on Friday, I was still shocked that it wasn't awkward between us. It actually felt really refreshing to have my friend finally back and to have someone I actually like to eat lunch with again. She was far better company than Mari, who seemed somewhat upset that Haruhi and I were talking again and began avoiding me, which I didn't mind at all.

The school day ended and Haruhi and I parted ways, by my displeasure, and I went to the library for tutoring, but as I got there I was surprised to see that Kazukiyo wasn't there. He was never late to tutoring, and it actually made me grow worried as about twenty minutes passed and he still hasn't shown up.

I tapped my pencil impatiently as I continued to wait for him, growing more and more concerned at each passing minute. Should I go look for him? What if some guys were trying to pick a fight with him because he was an easy target and he had no way to defend himself? I should try to find him just to make sure that everything is alright then we could start our tutoring session.

"Hikaru."

I jumped by the sound of someone saying my name and looked up to see Haruhi smiling down at me from across the table.

"Haruhi, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for our tutoring session stupid." She replied as she sat down and began getting her books and supplies out.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Tutoring session? But Kazukiyo-"

"After we made up last week, I requested to the chairman if I could become your tutor again. I had to get permission from the class president first but he said he was willing for me to take over. He likes you, but he thinks that you learn better by the way I teach, so he believes this arrangement is better for you."

I just watched as she continued to get everything ready for our tutoring session. Was this really happening? After all the shit that's happened to me over the past few months, this was hard to believe. I did feel a little sad that Kazukiyo wasn't my tutor anymore since we have become pretty good friends, but I know that he was doing this because he knew it was the best for me.

Maybe, just maybe my luck was finally starting to turn around.

Haruhi opened her textbook and looked back at me, the same smile that I loved on her face. "Ready to get started?"

I just stared at her for a few more seconds until the shock finally wore off and I smiled back her.

"Yeah, let's get started."

Hey guys, I hoped you like this chapter. I also hope that I made some of you guys relieved because Haruhi isn't actually pregnant. I was just planning to keep you guys on your toes and I guess it worked XD. Anywho, thanks for all the support for this story. I really enjoy writing it and have now finished a whole thick notebook just dedicated to this story, but I bought a new one so I can continue to write.

Also sorry if the updates are all over the place, I'm finishing school and got a job so my hours are a bit wonky, but I'm making as much time as I can to writing. So hopefully I don't have to make you guys wait that long for the next update.

Please Favorite, Follow, and Review. Until next time.-HH1957