Chapter 6: Te wo Tsunagou

Memo: AHHH!! I LOVE THIS SONG! Sorry. Minor freakout there. Did you know that this story's title is the name of ayaka's newest album? Hehe.

Your pOv

*It's so nice today,* you think, walking along the cobblestone path.

You have really been looking forward to this. Not only do you get to spend quality time with Riku, but you love kids. They're so cute.

"Isn't this place nice?" Riku says. You squeeze his hand, smiling.

"Yup, but I like your house better," you reply.

"Well, duh, but still."

"Are all the islands, like, extremely beautiful?"

"Yep."

You sigh happily, walking through a puddle of water. It splashes onto your jeans, but oh well. There are worse things.

"It must've rained last night," Riku says, looking around at the various puddles of water on the ground.

"Hmmm..."

There's no way either of you would've heard that. You were both so tired...

"Well, we're almost there. See it?"

Riku points, and you look to a large white building. Large...large is an understatement! This thing is HU-UGE!!

"Wow..."

"Pretty nice, huh?"

"I can't wait to see what's INside," you gasp, sighing happily.

"Well, some of the stuff inside isn't as...astounding."

"Huh?"

Riku sighs.

"Some of the kids here are really screwed up," he says quietly. "Most of them have never met at least one of their real parents."

"..."

You don't say anything, but you know he's thinking what you are, too. If your child had survived and Riku hadn't come back to life, that would've been the case there as well.

"But a lot of the kids are really fun. The age group I work with is a ton of fun."

"What age group are you?"

"Six to ten," he replies, grinning. "There's this group of boys that are...well, you'll meet them soon enough."

As you're about to inquire more, you realize that you're walking up the front steps of what seems to be the main office of the building.

"Okay," you say, walking inside.

"Good morning, Riku," says a lady at the front desk. She isn't much older than you or Riku, but she looks tired.

"Hey, Emily," he greets back. "This is Rei."

"Hello," you say quietly.

"Well, hey, Rei."

You and Riku grin at each other before Emily continues.

"So, you need a guest pass? Well, just take this short survey and I'll get you one, alright?"

You hesitate.

"Go on, Rei, I'll be on the second floor," Riku says, walking away.

Okay, great, thanks for that, Riku. Sheesh.

Emily hands you the survey and a pen. What is this? A job interview?

1. Name (full): Reina Marie Nichols

2. Age: 18

3. Employment: currently unemployed

4. Marital Status: single but taken (gosh, what is this?)

5. Children: none (ouch.)

"Sorry you have to do that, I know it's a pain," Emily says as you finish. "But it's only so that you're programmed into the computer should you want to come visit again, or even maybe work here." She hands you a little nametag. "If you're anything like Riku, you'll love it here and WANT to come back... Anyway, have fun. Don't do anything illegal, and you're in great shape."

"Umm, thanks?"

As you walk away, you let Emily's words echo in your head.

*If I'm like Riku, I'll love it here? What does she mean?* you wonder, opening the front door to the facility.

"Oh," you gasp out loud, looking around.

This must be where the youngest kids are. Everything is tiny here! It's so...so cute!!

You notice a set of stairs, so you keep walking toward it. A couple of kids wave to you; they're probably four or five years old. You wave back, then make your way upstairs.

Opening a blue door, you see a bunch more kids, older than the ones before. Riku is among a group of about six boys, playing some game that looks to be an innovative version of basketball. There are kids everywhere you look, running around, having fun. Before you can do anything, though, Riku notices you and beckons you over with those gorgeous aqua eyes.

"Hey, time out for a second," he says when you reach him.

"Who's she?" almost all of them mutter at different times.

"This is Rei," Riku says, pulling you by the arm closer to him.

"Hi, Rei," a few of the boys--the younger ones--say.

"Hello," you murmur, smiling.

"You're really pretty," one says.

"Um, thank you."

"Is she your girlfriend?" one of the older boys asks.

"Yeah," Riku replies, giving him a warning look, but he ignores it.

"So, are you gonna be completely distracted now that she's here?" he teases.

"No."

"Prove it!"

Suddenly, startling you and some of the other boys, Riku picks up the boy and flips him upsidedown.

"Hey!" he shouts, laughing.

"Now are you going to take me seriously, Mike?" Riku asks him.

"Well, maaaybe," he says as Riku turns him the right way again.

"Just go start up the game again, I'll be over there in a sec."

"Aha! So you ARE going to be distracted!"

"I said GO."

Mike and his laughing friends run off, leaving you and Riku alone.

"Ignore him," Riku says, smirking. You nod a little, giggling quietly. "So, I wanted to ask you something." He turns you by the shoulder to face the opposite wall. "See that little girl sitting by herself over there?"

It takes you a few seconds, but then you see her. She's one of the youngest in the room, by far.

"That's Katie Dunlap," he continues. "She's a permanent resident here, meaning she's an orphan. Anyway, she never talks. Not to me or the other girl who works up here, Jenn."

"You want me to try to talk to her," you assume.

"If you can. Good luck."

With that being said, you walk away from Riku and towards Katie.

She's a pretty little girl. She isn't very old or anything, maybe seven at the oldest, but she's cute. There's something about her that's very innocent. Maybe it's the big chesnut-brown eyes staring at you right now. Is she scared or intrigued? You can't tell the difference.

Kneeling down in front of her, you smile kindly. Katie looks away quickly.

"Hey there," you say softly, still smiling. "What's your name?"

"..." Katie doesn't make eye contact or anything. Your smile wavers, but you stay friendly.

"...Riku told me your name is Katie. Is that right?"

After a moment's pause, she nods.

"My name is Rei. It's nice to meet you." You sigh happily. "I saw you over here so I thought I'd come introduce myself. You looked kind of lonely."

You notice Katie's eyes close tightly.

"So..." You try your hardest to change the subject, but you're terrible at making new friends! It's a good thing you were basically thrown into Riku's grasp, because there's no way you ever would've gotten him otherwise!!

Then you notice a little brown, stuffed teddy bear clenched in Katie's little arms.

"I like your bear," you say sweetly, smiling again. "Does it have a name?"

"..."

Well. So much for that approach.

Katie's pOv

You have no idea who this girl is. You did see her talking to Riku earlier, but that doesn't mean anything. You wish she would just go away. Maybe if you stare at her, she'll go away.

But when you look up to stare at her, she's already gone. Wow. That was fast! She must be a super fast runner!

By chance you glance down at your bear. Huh. Didn't your bear used to always have black eyes, not silver?

Then it blinks.

"Katie, what's wrong?"

It talks!? It's never done that before!!! WOW!!!

Now you are staring!! This is cool!!

"Is there anything you need to talk about? ...You know, you can tell me anything, okay, Katie? I won't tell anyone. Not even Riku."

You feel your throat close up. More than anything...you just want things to go back to...what they were...

It all happened so fast...what started that fire, anyway? Maybe Daddy left the stove on...

"...I miss my mommy and daddy," you admit. Crying, you roughly cough into your free hand. Ew! You're coughing up gross black stuff (soot) again...

"Aw, Katie, don't cry," your bear says. "It'll be alright." It smiles sincerely and kindly. That smile is familiar.

But wait! What does your dumb bear know?! You're a pretty smart seven year old, right?

"How do you know?" you ask, still crying a little.

"...Well, I don't," your bear admits, closing its eyes. "But I believe that there's someone always watching over us."

"...All the time?" That would be nice.

"All the time."

"...Like an angel?" That would be so cool!

"I dunno. Maybe," your bear replies, shrugging and smiling the familiar smile again.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" you cry, smiling. Maybe things will get better then, if an angel really is watching over you!!

MAYBE THE ANGEL COULD EVEN BRING YOUR PARENTS BACK!!!

THAT'S SO COOL!!!

"Does that make you feel better, Katie?"

You look at your bear, but its eyes are black.

And that Rei girl is back.

Riku's pOv

"Hey, pay attention, Riku!"

You hear Mike shouting at you with his friends. All the more reason to ignore him.

*Wonder where Rei went,* you think, looking over at Katie, who is looking at her stuffed bear she drags around everywhere. *Huh. She must've gone to the bathroom or something. Hope she doesn't get lost.* That could be amusing, though...

"I said pay attention!"

You feel the basketball hit you in the head. Ow...

"HEY! C'mere you!" you shout, whipping around and grabbing Mike by the shirt collar, swiftly pulling him into a noogie.

"YEAH!"

Suddenly all the guys in your area are dogpiling on one another and yourself. Thankfully, you're strong enough to squirm out from under them and make your ultimate getaway. Besides, you see that Rei is back, and she's already moved on to another group of girls. Did she give up on Katie?

"Aw, c'mon, you wussy!" Mike shouts.

"Oh yeah?" you threaten, chasing after him. Ehh...it's all in good fun. Besides, they get distracted within themselves pretty easily, and it doesn't take much for you to just walk away.

Suddenly a blur of pink and brown runs up to you. It's Katie, and she's actually smiling? Wow, that was fast. Maybe Rei should work here, too...

"Riku! Riku! Riku, guess what?!" she shouts, bouncing around excitedly.

"What? What is it?" you ask her, stunned.

"My bear talked to me!"

"...What?"

"My bear talked to me! It's true!" she cries, grinning from ear to ear.

Geez...you hate having to deal with stuff like this.

"Katie, you know bears don't talk," you say gently, hoping she isn't upset by this.

"But mine did! It's true, Riku!" she insists, still smiling.

You start to explain this impossibility, but she skips off before you can say anything at all.

Well, you might as well go talk to Rei while you aren't being mobbed by the kids.

Your pOv

At the feeling of a prescense behind you, you turn around. Riku is there.

"Hey," he says quietly.

"Hello," you greet, smiling.

"So...what did you say to Katie?" he asks. But in a funny way. Did she say something to him?

"Why do you ask?"

"She keeps insisting that her bear talked."

You screw up your face in confusion. That's really...weird.

"Th-that's...odd. I didn't even touch her bear. I mean, I mentioned it, b-but I..."

"Well...she's just a kid, and she's been through a lot." Riku shrugs. "Sometimes when you're traumatized like that, your imagination and reality kind of...blend."

You nod. "Yeah..."

"By the way, where did you go earlier?"

"Huh?"

"When you were talking to Katie, I mean."

"Wh-what do you mean? I never went anywhere." You can't help but laugh. "You're one to talk about imagination and reality blending, huh?"

"What?"

He looks confused, so you try again.

"I was with Katie the entire time. I never left...well, until just now."

"That's..." He shakes his head. "I looked over there at one point and Katie was sitting there and you were gone."

"What...? Riku, seriously, you must've imagined it." You never went anywhere.

"Maybe, but I don't think so, Rei."

Well, whatever. You don't want to argue about something that doesn't even matter. So you change the subject.

"I watched you and Mike messing around at one point-"

"But that's when you were gone!"

"I didn't GO anywhere!" you cry, becoming frustrated.

"...Are you sure?" he asks slowly.

"YES."

Riku stares you down for a while, then finally sighs, obviously defeated.

"Okay, I guess I have no choice but to believe you," he says.

"Gee, thanks," you snap, walking away.