Part Four: A Secret Discovered

Chapter Eight: Out of the blue

It was Friday night. Though not that it made much difference to Tai Kamiya. For every night was a study night at present. In fact, this weekend he even had the arduous task of catching up on all the work he should have done yesterday. Made worse by the fact that he hadn't felt this low since the immediate aftermath of his breakup with Kari. After he had spoken to his sister over the phone the previous night, he'd had no contact whatsoever from her. Hell, she wouldn't even look at him this morning and point-blank ignored him when he had said good morning. Evidently, as expected, she was pissed. For a brief moment last night, his resolve had weakened to the point that he'd almost told her that they'd made a serious mistake. Now he felt like the chances of them ever getting back together were sub-zero. He wanted Kari more than anything, yet she probably hated him now and he fully deserved it.

The scars on Tai's right wrist had itched more today than they had on any other since the wounds had fully healed. On several occasions, he had caught himself scratching at them. He looked down and saw that he was doing it now. It seemed that tonight was going to be one for the stress ball and Hawkwind. Tossing his pen down in frustration, he packed away his things and left the study room. He'd planned to stay until the teacher shooed them all out, for he had little desire to go home. His parents would already have gone out for the evening and the idea of being home alone with a pissed off Kari did not enthral him. However, the teacher in question was not a fan of students using music players while studying and Tai now desperately needed his.

Making his way outside, Tai trudged towards the bike racks. Even though it had only just gone five pm, the air temperature had dropped considerably. Although there was no wind, he still felt thankful that he'd decided to wear a sweater underneath his blazer today. Unlocking his bike, he rolled it towards the main gate; in no rush to get home.

"Hey, Tai," a voice called out from behind and he stopped. He recognised it instantly but it immediately raised the question of what its owner was doing here? Turning around his eyes caught sight of the slender figure dressed in a green Odaiba Middle School sailor-suit. Her long lavender hair hung down her back and her large round glasses were perched upon her nose. She wore a thick winter jacket, however, her legs were offered no such protection from the cold. What on earth was Yolei doing here?

"Hey yourself," Tai replied as the girl strode over to walk beside him. He decided to get straight to the point. "what are you doing here?"

"Well, I've not been waiting here since the chime went for the good of my health," she replied.

He watched as she stowed a book away inside her bag. "Why on earth would you have waited out here for over an hour? It's freezing."

"Not quite, but it is bitterly cold." She gave him a friendly smile. "So I'd appreciate it if you started walking."

"Huh?" Tai said in confusion. "I've got a bike." He indicated the red-framed bicycle he was pushing.

"Well, unless you intend to let me ride on the back, we need to walk. However, we won't exactly be able to talk if you do that."

"Ok..." Tai began, "...you've lost me?"

Yolei rolled her eyes. "I'm here to talk to you, Idiot. Only I'd rather do it while we walk as I am very cold and would like to get my blood circulating before it turns to ice."

"Why do you want to talk to me?" he asked, but started walking nonetheless; he was getting cold too.

"Urgh, I forgot how dense you can be," the lavender haired girl said in an exasperated manner. "I want to talk to you about Kari. You know, that girl with the lit match hair who is supposed to be your sister.

"Don't remind me," Tai automatically said. The thought escaping from his mouth before he had a chance to stop it. He sighed internally. Kari, his current least favourite subject. Of course Yolei was here to talk about her.

The girl immediately leapt upon his remark and asked, "why?"

"Because I did something last night to seriously piss her off," Tai spat without thinking. "However, that's none of your concern," he added in anticipation of the follow-up question.

"Geeze, you're in a bad mood," Yolei exclaimed, not sounding at all phased by his slightly aggressive tone. "Have you eaten recently?"

He ignored the joke but did say, "sorry. I've been having a rough time of it lately. What is it about Kari you want to talk about?"

"I want to know what's wrong with her," Yolei said firmly. "And before you say it, I've asked her, but she keeps telling me that everything is fine. However, I know that's a load of bull. I missed the signs with her last year, but now that I know to look for them I can see that she's slipping back into depression. She's barely talking to anyone, has started making excuses not to hang out again and she's reverted to her old wardrobe on the few instances I've seen her out with school."

So Yolei had noticed Kari's slide too. Only unlike last year, had not simply put it down to her being a whiny bitch that needed to get her shit together. However, he'd already done enough damage by telling their mother the semi-truth of the matter last night. "I'm sorry, Yolei, but I haven't noticed anything and Kari certainly hasn't told me that there's something wrong."

The lavender haired girl suddenly shot in front of him so quickly that he had to squeeze the brake on his bike in order to stop it from hitting her. Since when could she move that fast? When he recovered from the momentary shock, Tai found himself facing a piercing stare.

"Bullshit," Yolei spat with venom. "We all know that you're like the God of big brothers. If I've noticed something's wrong with your sister, then you definitely have."

As he listened to her words, Tai knew that nothing he said would dissuade the girl from her belief that he knew something was wrong with Kari. And he was about to open his mouth to say that even if he had noticed, he did not know what the actual problem was, when a voice in the back of his head said softly, "Kari needs help." He sighed internally again. It was true. Whether she wanted it or not, his sister needed help, but for once he could not provide it. If she already hated him for last night, what difference did it make if he enabled someone else to try? At the end of the day, it was his sister's state of wellbeing that mattered. If that meant his relationship with her got irreparably damaged, then so be it. He would sacrifice anything if it meant she would be ok.

"I can't tell you what's wrong with her," Tai began, his words meeting with a firm scowl. "However, if you come home with me, you'll probably be able to see first hand just how not ok she is."

"I already know she's not ok," Yolei spat. "It's what's wrong with her that I want to know."

"True, but anytime you've spoken to her, Kari has denied it. If you see first hand that she isn't ok, she can't deny it anymore and hopefully, she'll talk to you."

The lavender haired girl moved away from the front of his bike ."That doesn't sound like much of a plan, but ok. I'll come with you."

Tai nodded his head and the pair set off once more in the direction of the Kamiya residence. They shared no other conversation during the journey. Something that he was quite thankful for. He had nothing against Yolei, rather he did not feel very talkative at present. All he wanted to do was shut himself up in his room, put some Hawkwind on and get on with his studies so he could get to bed at a reasonable time.

When they eventually reached the apartment building, Tai locked his bike in the undercroft before leading Yolei up the stairs. He found the front door unlocked, indicating that Kari was already home. While he had seen her bike downstairs, it meant little these days. For she sometimes didn't take it. Although what the reason for this was, he did not know. Silently he pushed the front door open and indicated for Yolei to keep the noise to a minimum. They took off their shoes and Tai beckoned for the lavender haired girl to follow him through the main living area and down the hall to Kari's bedroom. Carefully, he took hold of the handle and turned it softly, hoping his sister had not locked the door. With a gentle push, he discovered that she had not. Ever so slowly, he opened it to reveal his sister sitting huddled on the floor, back resting against the bedframe. She had her headphones on and he could tell her eyes were shut.

"There you are," he said, standing aside and indicating for Yolei to enter. "When she eventually comes home, she spends all her time in here."

"Oh, Kari," the lavender haired girl said as she crossed the threshold. "What has happened to you?"

Tai remained in the doorway and watched the girl walk towards his sister. Part of him thought about leaving. About going to his room and letting Yolei handle the situation. However, the overriding feelings of love he had for his sister and the desire to help and protect her, compelled him to stay. Even if the only thing that would happen would be for Kari to yell at him. With bated breath, he looked on as the lavender haired girl reached out a hand to give his sister a light shake.