Luo was still pulling on the arm of a stunned Haku as she led her out of the school gates and down a completely different route than the one Haku normally took.

"W-where are we going?" Haku asked, a little scared.

"My place," Luo said. "Come on. I'll clean you up and introduce you to my cousin."

They walked for some time until they reached Squatter's Lane, a nickname given to part of a neighbourhood where there are a lot of vacant houses and squatters living in them. This unnerved Haku a bit more.

Eventually, they emerged from the really crappy part of the neighbourhood and into a much nicer area.

Then, Luo stopped in front of a small two-story house painted white with grey shutters and a pyramid-shaped roof. This particular house had been on the market for some time, and it was plain to see that its new owners are taking good care of it. The front door had been mended and the two broken windows had been replaced. The lawns had been mowed and the gardens weeded. There was nothing in them now but Haku could imagine rose bushes and strawberry plants with wisteria adorning the freshly painted fence.

They walked up the path. Luo opened the door and wordlessly motioned for Haku to enter first, which she did.

It was a lot darker inside than out. Haku rubbed at her eyes to adjust them to the sudden light change. It was cool inside, and quiet.

Behind her, Luo pulled the door shut and bellowed out, "Gongyu, I'm home! And I've brought a friend!" Haku felt herself growing redder. She felt like crying out of joy. Friend! Luo considered her a friend! She was often told by Miku and the others that she'll never have friends because no one likes an ugly, poor skank with hygiene issues, but they were wrong. For the first time in a long time, Haku felt a glimmer of hope that the future would be better.

The sound of footsteps snapped her out of her reverie and she looked up to see a young woman who looked a bit like Luo descend the staircase. She had a similar hairstyle and facial features but her eyes were red and she obviously looked way older than Luo.

Luo pulled them together. "Gongyu, this is my friend Haku. Haku, this is my cousin Gongyu."

Gongyu smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you."

Haku's face grew redder. She wasn't quite used to being treated kindly by most people, so her voice stammered a little when she said "you too."

Then Gongyu noticed the stains on Haku's shirt and the darkening skin around her eye. "Er, what happened?"

"Bullies happened," Luo's voice was sharp and clear.

Gongyu's eyes widened. "Oh, you poor thing! Hey, come into the kitchen and I'll make us a drink. And I'll get you some ice for that eye." She ushered the girls down the hallway.

Haku and Luo seated themselves at the kitchen table as Gongyu bustled about, filling the kettle and collecting three mugs.

"Do you like hot chocolate, Haku?" She asked as she bent down to retrieve an ice pack from the freezer.

"Yes please,"

"Did you know your head's bleeding?" Luo asked.

"What? No, I didn't! Is it bad?" Haku sounded shocked.

Luo leaned in for a closer inspection. "It's mostly all dried blood. Did you hit your head on anything today?"

Haku recalled lunchtime. "Yeah. I hit it on one of the seats in the cafeteria." She carefully held the ice pack in place over her bruised eye.

Gongyu stopped what she was doing. "You might have a concussion. Have you been feeling sick, or have blurry vision?"

Haku thought for a second. "Well, I was feeling a bit dizzy for a while."

"Sometimes symptoms can take days to appear. They usually include dizziness, blurry vision and difficulty focusing. Don't hesitate to tell anyone should you start feeling sick." Gongyu said.

"Don't you have a nurse at school?" Luo asked.

"We do, but I don't think she likes me very much. I used to go to her nearly every week before she got annoyed and told me to sort out my problems and to not come back unless it was serious."

"Seriously, who thinks it's okay to say something like that to a student?" Gongyu shook her head. "A victim of bullying, no less!"

"Are all the adults at school useless? You should have seen the English teacher today, Gongyu. She just yelled at Haku for being late and for having food stains on her clothes. And the librarian just completely looked the other way."

"Oh, fuck that!"

Just then, the kettle on the stovetop began whistling. Gongyu walked over and began pouring the hot water into each mug.

"Can you get me the milk, Luo?"

Luo fetched the milk and put the bottle handle into her cousin's outstretched hand. Gongyu removed the lid and more or less dumped some milk into the first mug.

Once she was done, she put a mug down in front of Haku.

"Thank you," Haku said.

"Such lovely manners!" Gongyu marvelled, "Luo almost never says thank you!"

"I do so!" Luo protested, but she was smiling. To prove her point, she made a big show of saying "Thank you!" when Gongyu placed her hot chocolate in front of her. All three girls laughed.

Once the drinks were finished, Luo asked, "do you want to go up and have a shower?"

Haku reached one hand behind her head and touched the dry, flaky blood. "Yes please. That would be nice."

Luo nodded. "I'll bring up some spare clothes for you."

"You don't have to do that…"

"Oh, don't be silly," Gongyu said, "you need clean clothes."

Haku blushed once more. "Okay. But may I please call my dad first. I just want to let him know where I am."

"Sure," Gongyu motioned towards the wall phone.

Haku picked it up and dialled her home phone number. Her dad picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello Dad, it's me."

"Haku! Where've you been? You should have been home by now! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Dad I'm fine. But guess what: I've made a friend. I'm over at her house."

Her dad gasped on the other end. "Oh my god, really? That's great! What's she like?"

Haku smiled a little at the relief in her dads voice. He too, was beginning to lose hope in her ever finding a friend.

"She's really nice. Her name's Luo and she's from China. She's new to our school. Seriously, she's wonderful."

"That-that's amazing, honey, really it is! But now, when do you plan on being home? Your Aunt Meiko is coming, and she'll want to see you."

"Okay Dad. I think I'm only going to be another hour or so."

"That's good, sweetie, see you in an hour."

"Bye."

Haku hung up and turned around to face Luo. "I'm good for another hour."

Luo nodded. "Great! Gongyu just went up to run the shower. It's upstairs, the first door on your right."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"No, I meant thanks for everything. I'm really grateful. And I'm glad you're my f-friend."

Now it was Luo's turn to start blushing. "That's all right. And I'm glad you're my friend too."