X-x-X-x-G-U-M-I-X-x-X-x

'You said that you'd take me Christmas shopping, onee-chan.' Gumi said in a simple tone. Rin looked as if she remembered something. She turned to the other girl who Gumi saw a lot lately, with chocolate skin and really dark hair and matching eyes. Gumi thought that she was really pretty.

'Rin, you made a promise. I'll try my best to calm everyone down.' The girl said firmly. Rin smiled at her and put Gumi down.

'OK, let me just get some warmer clothes on and we'll be off as soon as possible.' Rin said warmly. Gumi smiled at her widely. Rin gave Gumi a hug, and rushed up the stairs, her bunny ears bouncing up and down as she went. Gumi had been excited all day about her shopping trip with Rin. Gumi wanted to buy something for Mama and Papa for Christmas, to say thank you for being nice to her and not hitting her so much. She wanted to buy something for Rin too, for letting her share her room with Gumi and acting really nice as well. But she didn't want to tell Rin that, it would ruin the surprise! Gumi was sitting on the step, fiddling with her new furry boots that were next to the steps. Rin bought them last week for her because Gumi was pretty desperate for them; they were chocolate brown with cream fur on the inside and matching colored fluff that trimmed the outside top part. And Gumi wanted them badly. But she only had two dollars from spending most of her money on a new bunny teddy that looked like Snuffles. So Rin bought them for her. Gumi's always wore them ever since; she's even wore them in the bath, but Mama told her that they would break if they touched water too much.

But Gumi could tell that Mama wasn't happy at all.

'You should have known the consequences of your actions, the pair of you! Don't you roll your eyes at me Akaito,' Mama yelled at the boy with red hair, 'this is half of your problem anyway!'

'She said she wanted to have sex with me, if she didn't she would have said so-' Akaito said coolly. The girl with the chocolate skin stepped forward and slapped Akaito in the face. Everyone was stunned silent; even Mama stopped yelling.

'Don't lie Akaito; I know what happened between you two that night, saying that "Oh, if you loved me you'd have sex with me." You're pathetic. Stop twisting the past to fit your liking. Life doesn't work that way. Neru is pregnant with your kid, whether you like or not. Do I make myself clear?' The girl added sharply. Gumi couldn't help but be in awe. That girl was so cool. Gumi could hear footsteps, and looked up to see Rin. She was wearing a very pale dress with the hem of the dress covered with fur, a pale yellow scarf and a cream colored long sleeved fluffy coat that reached her waist and a cute pair of yellow earmuffs and some boots that looked exactly liked Gumi's boots. But Gumi was still wondering how she was able to keep her bow on with the earmuffs and all.

'OK Gumi, just get your boots on and we'll be off.' said Rin chirpily, beaming at Gumi brightly. Gumi shoved her boots on quickly as Rin went to grab a pair of keys from the hook in the wall next to the front door. Just as Gumi got her boots on, Rin got onto her knees and looped a scarf over Gumi's neck. It was bright orange, and Gumi thought that it was really soft. And what made it better what that it was orange. In Gumi's opinion, anything with orange on it was worthy of her.

'This is the scarf that my mommy gave to me when I was your age. It kept me warm during any cold weather and it made me very lucky, so it should keep you just as warm and lucky as well.' said Rin warmly, her eyes beginning to get very teary. Gumi thought that she could cheer her up, so she did was she would usually do to cheer Mommy up after Daddy would beat her and kissed Rin on the tip of her nose. Rin looked shocked, and her cheeks went really pink, but she started giggling a bit. So Gumi took that to say that Rin was happy again. Rin stood up and Gumi automatically grabbed Rin's hand.

'We're going now Mama Lily. We should be back by seven at least!' Rin called as she opened the door. Gumi waved behind her and walked through the door with Rin. To Gumi's surprise, it was snowing! Gumi hadn't actually seen snow before, but she heard about it a lot. There was already a thick layer of snow on the ground and covering everything in sight. It was like a picture from a Christmas card. As they walked down the path, Gumi kept trying to catch the little snowflakes on her tongue. One did land on her tongue, but it suddenly melted.

'Onee-chan, why do snowflakes melt when they land on your tongue?' asked Gumi, curious. Rin shrugged her shoulders.

'That sounds like a question you should ask Len-kun.' replied Rin. Gumi made a little mental note.

The walk to the shops wasn't long, a good five or ten minute walking. But when the winds became a lot colder and harsher, Gumi was half-thinking of asking Rin to take her back to the home and just do the shopping during the week before Christmas. But Gumi didn't say anything; she wasn't going to let the winds defeat her! When they reached the shops, Rin lead Gumi into a café. It was really warm, and it smelt nice. Like cookies and hot cocoa.

'Before we do any shopping, we need to warm you up missy; your nose is already turning blue.' Rin said, picking Gumi up. Gumi clung onto her tightly. Rin was surprisingly really warm for some reason. Maybe her coat was really warm on the inside. Rin carried Gumi to a table in the corner with really huge stuffed chairs. Rin set Gumi down on one of the chairs gently.

'Stay right here, OK? I'm gonna get you a drink.' Rin beamed, giving Gumi a small cuddle. Gumi nodded, even though she still didn't like being alone. Rin walked towards the line of people who were waiting to get a hot drink. So Gumi decided that she would just hum a song to herself, but what song, she didn't know. Rin had taught her plenty of songs ever since Gumi came to the home. So she started humming on of Onee-chan's songs called "Skeleton Life." Gumi liked the beat to the song, even though she never really understood the reason about the song. Rin came back a few minutes after Gumi stopped humming with a tray that had two huge mugs and even a chocolate bar on it as well.

'Here you go Gumi; I got you a hot cocoa. You do like hot cocoa, right?' asked Rin suddenly, as she passed Gumi one of the mugs. Gumi nodded and took a little sip on it, which burnt her tongue a lot.

'Owwie, onee-chan, I burnt my tongue.' Gumi mumbled, her poor tongue stinging like crazy. Rin sighed a bit, and pulled Gumi towards her. Gumi then automatically started to nuzzle her head into Rin's chest. It was a usual thing really. So Rin decided that she was going to give Gumi her drink, which Gumi didn't mind really. Rin looked up as Gumi started to eat the chocolate bar. Rin went really still. She was like a statue. She was even turning white.

'Onee-chan, what's the matter?' asked Gumi. Rin didn't reply. Instead Rin just grabbed Gumi, picked her up and literally ran out of the café with Gumi.

'Aaah, onee-chan slow down, where are we going?' Gumi cried. But Rin didn't even reply to her when she asked her that question. Gumi looked at Rin as they arrived outside a toy store. Rin looked out of breath, and scared at the same time.

'Onee-chan, you're scaring me…' murmured Gumi. She didn't like Rin acting like the way she was at all. It really scared her. Rin put Gumi down onto the floor and looked at Gumi.

'Gumi, listen to me. I want you to stay close to me in this shop. Don't leave my side, and if you get lost, wait inside by the doors, and don't talk to strangers. I'll come straight to the doors if you're not by me.' Rin said sternly. Gumi nodded. What was wrong with Rin?

It should be easy to realize what Rin was scared of in this chapter.

I made it so obvious, but I'm sure you guys are smart enough to realize Rin's reason for her sudden rash reaction.