Disclaimer: I do not own KHR, it belongs to Amano Akira

Chapter Six: Parents

I giggled as I read a text message from Alessandro about Professor Borin's latest demand. It was completely ridiculous and he had to be joking, he told Alessandro to tame a wild bear by the end of the day. I smiled mirthfully at the absurdity of the task.

Riko peered at me as she set down her coffee, "How's your hot Italian boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes as I snapped my phone shut, "He's not my boyfriend."

"Yet."

I stared at my friend in incredulity, "There is no yet! I don't like him that way."

She quirked an eyebrow, "Sooo the goo-goo eyes you make at your phone when he texts you is a testament to how much you dislike him?"

Flushing scarlet, I frowned as I hotly said, "I don't do that!"

"Aww, you're getting so red! You totally like him." She leaned towards me excitedly as she whispered, "I have a feeling he likes you too!"

"And how would you know that? You've never met him." I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back in my chair. Both actions were something Midori didn't do, but at times I let my own habits take over just for a little while. If I didn't I would start getting increasingly annoyed with myself, it's like I was getting withdrawal symptoms from being too nice.

She grinned slyly at me as she stated, "Woman's intuition."

I sighed, not impressed by her logic. I had begun spending more time with Riko as we both hung out right before we started working at the after school program. We usually grabbed a bite to eat at a small local cafe down the street from the school, where we would chat. It was nice having a friend to talk to, I realized I had slowly regarded her not only as Midori's friend but as my friend as well. But sometimes I couldn't follow her logic, for example her reasoning for Alessandro's interest in me.

"Oh come on!" Riko threw her hands into the air as she started to go into a tangent, "You said he asked for your number first right?"

I nodded. I couldn't say no when he asked, it seemed like it took a lot of courage. I also wanted to continue talking to him, he was someone who didn't know Midori before the switch. He never thought my behavior was odd, he just knew me for me.

"Then you guys started to text each other, at first it was kind of slow then you guys began to text each other daily. He even calls you on weekends!"

"That doesn't mean-"

"And you guys have gone on a couple of dates."

"I told you, they aren't dates! Akaya-nii is supposed to come but every time, he says he can't make it at the last minute."

It was eerie the way Akaya-nii always magically got caught up with something before the meeting time. One time he had to help this little boy find her parents because he was lost, another time his professor held him back after class, and the weirdest by far was when he got locked in a classroom.

"Then you guys go to movies and restaurants together, and he pays for the whole thing like a gentlemen."

"That doesn't have to mean anything and I pay for food sometimes."

Riko was starting to look slightly exasperated as she began to wave her hands in the air, "But the way he gets all red and stutters around only you, it's like a pure high school romance all over again! Like last time when you 'accidentally' fell on top of him at his apartment, all you guys did was look at each other like embarrassed middle schoolers."

"It was an accident," I adamantly said as I defended myself from that particular incident. I blinked as I realized something, "How do you know about that? I never told anyone!"

"Akaya-kun and I talk."

My jaw hung open as I asked horrified, "Wait- he-he saw that!? He never told me!"

Riko faltered slightly before she grabbed her trash and deposited it in the garbage can, "Oh would you look at the time! I need to get going, I promised I would go early to set up the crafts today. Ta, ta!" She smiled nervously before she dashed out of the cafe.

I jumped out of my chair and yelled after her, "Get back here Riko!"

-x-v-x-v-x-v-x-v-x-v-x-v-x-

"Okay fine, I'll stop talking about your soon to be boyfriend." Riko finally said as she finished going over her pile of children essays.

"He's not-"

"Ah, ah, ah," the black haired girl said as she wagged her finger in my face. "In exchange you have to stop denying the fact that you feel something for him, or else I'm going to keep harassing you about it."

Sighing I grabbed her papers and secured the pile with a paperclip. Resigned to my fate I let out a defeated, "Fine."

My friend clapped her hands in glee as she excitedly said, "Good, can't wait for some exciting news soon!"

I rolled my eyes as I stood up, "Yeah, yeah." I waved at her as I exited the room, "I'm going to go hand these in."

As I placed the papers in the school's office I overheard a group of teachers chatting to themselves in hushed annoyed voices. I faltered a little as I heard Nagi's name being mentioned. I began to shuffle through the papers as I stood by listening to their conversation.

"Can you believe it? Her parents haven't come to pick her up! Not even the manager this time!"

"Do you think one of us will have to stay again?"

"What can you expect from a family like that, it's no wonder Hayama-chan turned out like that."

My eyes narrowed as I heard the words being laced with pity. What were they trying to say? That there was something wrong with Nagi because of her upbringing? Sure she was shy and quiet, but she was a good kid! She didn't need their pity, she was taking care of herself just fine!

Poor Midori-chan, she can't even play with the other children because she has to take care of her sick brother.

What a sad childhood, she had to mature so fast.

I winced sharply as the words resonated through my head.

What the heck was that?

"Harada-san are you alright?" I flinched as one of the teachers addressed me.

I nodded my head and shyly smiled, "I'm fine, it's just a headache."

The words slipped out of my mouth smoothly, without hesitance. My words weren't completely false as my head did hurt from what I garner was a past memory of Midori's. However it was just a cover up from my eavesdropping, I was still technically lying. I had realized this long ago, but unlike other misdeeds I did using Midori's body such as littering or ignoring people in need, I didn't feel a pang of guilt for lying. It made me wonder how the sweet little me in this world, was such a good liar.

"Oh Harada-san, you're close to Hayama-chan right?" The same woman who had distressingly spoken about staying overtime, addressed me.

"I suppose," I said hesitantly.

Even though I had tried my hardest to avoid her, Midori's stupid kind heart would ache when I saw Nagi sit alone. It puzzled me when I realized what I was feeling for the girl wasn't pity, but empathy. Either Midori excelled in being in another person's shoes or she had experienced something similar, I couldn't tell which one rang true with her.

Since I had decided that I was going to live her life, I gave in and I had started to interact with Nagi. Whenever I saw her sitting alone I would end up doing quiet activities with her such as crafts or book reading. I enjoyed her company, she was kind of adorable.

"In that case, would you mind doing us a favor?"

There was a slight glint in her eyes that made me uncomfortable, but I said yes anyways.

The woman handed me the phone number that was written under Nagi's reference and told me to call regarding the lack of Nagi's guardian picking her up.

"Hello sir, my name is Harada Midori and I'm from the Hakagawa Elementary's after school program-"

I frowned as a crisp professional voice answered, "I was just about to call."

It was neither Nagi's mother nor her step father, it was a voice I had recognized in passing, the mother's manager. I shouldn't have been so surprised, he was the only one who ever showed up when it came to the blunette.

"Just drop her off at Minami hotel."

"What?"

"We are unable to return for tonight, instead we've made her a reservation for her."

I blinked and cried in indignation, "You're going to leave her in the hotel alone?"

"We've already booked her a suite, she will be provided all the necessities. Nagi has gone through this on multiple occasions-"

"Multiple times? This is illegal! I don't know how the hotel even processed your request, but i'm not allowing this" I said hotly. Nagi wasn't even a teenager yet, she was ten for goodness sake! I didn't doubt she was capable of taking care of herself, however to see such bold and obvious mistreatment of her made me so angry!

I demanded, "I want to speak to her mother about this."

Because there was just no way she could be okay with this, right?

I heard him sigh on the other end, further fueling my anger. He was acting as if I was being a bother. All I was doing was making sure Nagi wouldn't have to be by alone in a foreign place at such a young age! It wasn't right, she was just a child!

There was movement and I could overhear hushed voices speaking in annoyed tones.

"Hello?" The woman sounded snooty.

"Hi this is Harada-" I began.

"Yeah whatever," I crunched the paper of her phone number in my hand at her dismissal tone. "If you're so bothered by her being alone just take her back with you or something, we'll pick her up in the morning."

That was not what I meant when I said I wasn't allowing this.

"I'm sorry I can't possibly do that-"

Her mother huffed before saying, "I'll pay you 10000 yen for your services."

"Excuse me?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Fine how about 15000? Just be quiet and don't tell the press anything or I will get you fired."

I couldn't say anything in response, because I had no idea what the hell was exactly happening.

The woman who gave birth to Nagi, because she didn't warrant the title 'mother' in my opinion, took the silence as affirmation. "Good, text your address to this phone. She will be picked up tomorrow." I was still trying to wrap my brain around the notion because, seriously they weren't just going to leave Nagi under my care just like that right?

I may have been her teacher but they haven't even met me before!

Her snide remark returned me to reality, "Make sure she doesn't come back with that disgusting smell of hers."

Then she hung up.

I scoffed.

Who was I kidding, this was the same woman who wouldn't give an ounce of her own blood to save her child's life.

Placing the phone down on the receiver, I realized I had a new problem to face.

I hoped this new event in Nagi's life wasn't going to somehow mess up the plot.

AN: This chapter took so long to write, and I feel like it came out unsatisfactory. Welp.

A little more Nagi interaction with some off-screen situations with Alessandro and Midori/Cassidy. I appreciate any reviews, questions, or constructive criticisms!

Question: Does the pace seem too fast? I'm trying to pick up the pace because I want to introduce some more canon characters in two chapters!

Response to the previous chapter's review: Evenescentfavade:Why did you think the chapter ended inappropriately? Was it an inadequate cliffhanger to you? I ended it there because I didn't want to further go into an embarrassing interaction.