It took several seconds for my situation to really sink in; I had fully relied on Nagihiko to have some sort of plan to get me back into the house, but it was apparent that he had thought of no such thing. Now, he was standing next to me, completely silent and staring guiltily at his shoes.
"Just great," I said, letting out my breath, which I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "I'm locked out of my house, and my parents don't even know that I'm gone." My own words sounded strange to me as my mind registered what they really meant, each one clicking into place: if my parents found out that I'd snuck out of the house this late, I would be in huge trouble, and so would Nagihiko. Though I knew that there wasn't anything my parents could do to him, I still didn't want him to be caught.
This thought was completely overshadowed by another—one that I would've much rather not had: if my parents found out about this, I would be punished. And I knew for a fact that this kind of situation would hold consequences far worse than anything I'd had to endure before. Whatever penalty I received would make the bruised I'd gotten earlier seem like a harmless accident.
These thoughts alone were enough to bring tears to my eyes, and I swiped at my eyes, trying to get rid of them. "I'm sorry, Rima," Nagihiko was saying, his voice low. "I didn't stop to think—hey! Why are you crying?" His hand was on my shoulder instantly, though this time it did absolutely nothing for me. I couldn't be comforted when I was thinking about something like this—I was scared. "Rima? Hey, Rima!"
I said nothing, staring down at my feet. I wondered if I was trembling. Nagihiko's face was suddenly level with mine—he was kneeling on the grass, staring directly at me. Something that resembled fierce determination gleamed in his eyes, but it was shadowed slightly by something else that I couldn't quite place.
"Rima," he said, and his voice was firm. "I'm not letting you get in trouble. I told you earlier, I won't let you get hurt. I'm going to find a way out of this." Th e way he said it, with a firm conviction, it sounded like he was making a promise. I had nothing else to go on, so I had to pin my hopes on Nagihiko. Embarrassed for crying, I knuckled my eyes and sniffed once, feeling like a small child.
Nagihiko stood up and walked back to the house—there was a window beneath mine, on the first floor. I watched as he tried to lift it, but after a second his arms dropped to his sides and he shook his head in frustration.
"The kitchen window might be unlocked," I offered, and he nodded. I followed him around to the other side of the house, and the sound of my parents, still arguing, faded slightly as we moved away from the living room.
"It's no use," Nagihiko huffed after failing to get the unyielding window to budge. "It's locked."
There were no other windows that weren't in close proximity with the living room—there was no way in. I felt hot tears prick my eyes, and I held them back while simultaneously trying to swallow the painful lump in my throat. It was hopeless—I was going to get in trouble no matter what. "Nagihiko," I said quietly. "You should go home." If there was no way to keep me from getting caught, at least Nagihiko shouldn't have to suffer as well.
The look he gave me was enough to make me rethink that statement, as well as wonder if he thought I was completely and irreversibly brain-damaged, or something of the sort. "It's my fault that you're in this mess," he reminded me, and his voice was incredulous. "Do you really think I'm just going to leave you here and let you be beaten because of me?!" I flinched at his harsh choice of words, and he attempted to lower his voice, which had once again shot up several octaves. "Look, Rima. This is my fault. If anything, I can at least convince them that it was my responsibility for getting you to sneak out—I said that I wouldn't let you get hurt, and I don't go back on my word."
It was my turn to stare at him, dumbfounded. In a split second, that staggered silence was filled with a high-pitched, rage-filled shouting that I was surprised to discover was coming from me. "You idiot!" I screamed. "Do you want to keep yourself from ever seeing me again?! Because if you do that, that's exactly what will happen! No one likes a stupid hero, Nagihiko!" I managed to shriek this entire thing out in only one breath, so I started panting, trying to bring some relief to my oxygen-deprived lungs as well as calm myself down.
Nagihiko blinked, and then suddenly looked at me questioningly. "Hey, do you have a hairpin?" he inquired, and I fumed.
"Are you even listening to me?!" I shouted, and he glared.
"Do you have a hairpin, or not?" he asked rather testily, and I stopped yelling. I'd never thought it was possible for Nagihiko to sound mean or irritated—usually when he was mad, he used a sweet tone and a smile that made him even scarier—so this was new to me.
I reached up and managed to free a small hairpin from my unruly curls, which I placed in his outstretched hand without hesitation, wondering what he'd do with it. Nagihiko turned away from me and walked up to the back door, which was next to the kitchen window—we'd tried the knob earlier and found it to be locked as well.
Nagihiko kneeled in front of the door and jammed my hairpin into the lock. I watched carefully as he moved the pin around, and suddenly there was a sharp click. Nagihiko stood up and grinned at me triumphantly, while I stood there staring at him in total astonishment.
"Where," I asked slowly, "did you learn how to pick locks?" He just grinned, and I decided that it would be better if I didn't know.
"Be careful that you don't let the door squeak when you open it," he cautioned. "Don't forget to lock it behind you. Get inside and make yourself scarce—don't make any noise, just get up to your room without being seen."
"Duh," I said, rolling my eyes. Even though I was being stubborn, I was very grateful. I rested my hand on the doorknob, and then lowered it. Turning back to Nagihiko, I was annoyed to find that there were tears in my eyes. "Thank you," I murmured, trying to keep my voice steady—I had no idea why I was about to cry.
Nagihiko smiled and suddenly hugged me tightly, startling me so much that I let out a tiny yelp. "That's what friends do," he whispered. And I realized that, even though he annoyed me most of the time, Nagihiko was my friend. I highly doubted that I would've ever been able to confide in any of the other Guardians about my situation—not even Amu. So even though we didn't always see eye-to-eye, I was glad that Nagihiko was there.
"Yeah," I agreed when he finally let go of me. "I just love how my friends show up at my house at midnight and nag me into jumping out a window." I stuck my tongue out at him, and he laughed.
"Good night, Rima-chan," Nagihiko said, still smiling. He ruffled my hair, and I sighed—I could tell already that that was going to become a habit of his.
"Goodnight, Nagihiko," I replied. He used an honorific with my name, even though it was unnecessary. I didn't bother—after everything I'd told him, I figured that it wouldn't make much of a difference to leave off the honorific. Besides, his name was long enough without me having to add "-kun" to the end of it.
I gave him a little smile before opening the door quietly and slipping inside. Nagihiko waved to me before I shut to door, and I waved back, neither of us daring to say a word for fear of alerting my parents.
Quickly and quietly, I made my way from the kitchen to the stairs—my parents were still fighting, so they didn't notice. I stole a glance at the clock and noticed that it was almost five in the morning. I scrambled up the stairs and into my room, shutting my door to block out my parents' yelling; I wasn't going to get much rest as it was, seeing how late it had gotten, but I wanted to get at least a few hours' worth of much-needed sleep.
Pure exhaustion made it difficult to move very fast, so it took a bit longer than I would've liked for me to change back into my nightgown and discard my clothes on the floor—I was too tired to worry about that.
I had just curled up under the covers and closed my eyes when my cell phone, which was sitting on the little table next to my bed, emitted a loud, high-pitched beep. The part of my brain that wasn't either asleep or resisting the urge to pick up my phone and throw it against a wall wondered who in the world would be texting me at five in the morning. Eventually, my curiosity got the best of me; either that, or I was worried that if I didn't see who I was, I wouldn't be able to sleep at all—I wasn't sure which.
I sat up irritably and snatched my phone, flipping it open. Didn't it occur to the idiot that was texting me that I should be asleep at 5 AM? Or that they should be asleep at 5 AM? I checked the caller ID, and though my sleepy haze I was able to register faintly that the idiot was Nagihiko—so explained why the sender wasn't home and in bed.
I was too tired to really care about the text message, but something in my head just wouldn't let me be lazy and leave it unopened. So I read the words—though they seemed blurry from my lack of sleep—and took a moment to let them sink in.
Meet me at the school tomorrow at noon -Nagihiko
It sounded simple enough, so I flipped my phone shut and put it back on the table, too tired to respond to the message. Even though I was exhausted, mentally as well as physically, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about everything Nagihiko had said, and it was making my tired mind race.
I forced myself not to think about it, and focused on trying to go to sleep; if I didn't get at least a little bit of rest, there was no way that I would be able to drag myself out of bed, let alone meet Nagihiko at the school tomorrow. I was just thankful that it would be Saturday, and I wouldn't have to get up early to get ready for school. At least I would be able to sleep in a little.
I curled into a ball beneath the comforter and closed my eyes, emptying my mind of the day's events in order to get some peace. But I couldn't get rid of every thought—I couldn't help but find myself wondering, why does he want to meet me tomorrow? Even though I was truly curious, I was too tired to think about it for long before my body finally took over, overpowering my fatigued mind, and sleep pulled me under.