A/N: So, I'm really sorry for not updating for awhile, but I haven't had much time. I may start taking longer to update from now on, as I'm still working on chapter 8... Anyway, people who love Kyle will probably hate me after this chapter.. I hated writing it. Also, people have been asking what's been going on with him, and it's answered here. This chapter isn't one of my longest, but it's a good one. Um... also, ever since Kyle showed up (a few chapters ago) I've had this unspoken head-cannon that Hikaru and Kyle would be friends for some reason, and that gets shown here also ^.^

Um... by the way... OVER 900 VIEWS! You people are awesome.

The next day gets off to an interesting start. When I get to school. I run into Yuki in the hall. "Aislin," He starts, and I try to ignore him. He grabs my arm and demands my attention, however his demeanor quickly changes. "I think you misunderstood." He starts again, "No, I think that you misunderstood." I say coldly, finally paying attention to him. It's like I didn't say anything at all, he ignores me. "Look, I can make it up to you." He promises. This time I turn to face him. He seems nervous, but I am perfectly calm. "You did misunderstand. You see, I am the type of person who gives second chances, you were right about that. But I am not the kind of person who gets taken advantage of. I am kind when it is deserved, and right now it is not." I explain cooly. He isn't looking at me directly, and doesn't say anything back. I take this as a victory and walk to class.

When I get to class, a lot of people are already there. Most everyone is talking about the dance. Just walking to my desk I hear several accounts of what happened, from several points of view. I wonder how many of them are true, because with some stories it seems like we went to two different dances. I get to my desk and one conversation attracts my attention. "She looks nice with her hair like that, though." Is Hikaru actually complimenting somebody? I need to hear this, so I walk over to them. "Who?" I ask as soon as I get close enough. Hikaru looks over at me and answers, "Haruhi." " 's cousin..." Kaoru finishes quickly, elbowing Hikaru afterwards. It seems kind of strange, but with these two I never know.
"I didn't know that Haruhi had a cousin here." I say, surprised. "Well, she does." One of them replies. I can't tell you which one, because I'm not really paying attention. "Oh! Is she the one that I saw dancing with Tamaki? They were cute together!" I say, glad to figure out who it was. I'd never seen her before, and it was slightly bothering me. Hikaru has an irritated expression when he replies "Yeah... anyway, hey look there's Haruhi!" He says, pointing to Haruhi, who's been sitting in his desk the entire time. Why did Hikaru suddenly change the topic? I'm about to ask, but class is starting.
We sit down in our desks and the lesson begins. It's another boring math lesson, and I don't really pay attention. My mind wanders to what I think Kyle is doing right now. I remember that he told me his class was doing a lesson on poetry. Maybe he is writing a haiku, those are very lovely. Kyle has only been with my family for maybe a week, but it feels like he's always been one of the family. They haven't told us directly, but I'm pretty sure my parents are going to adopt him completely. I wonder how Kyle feels about that? I've wanted to ask him what it is like, being in a foster home. I would ask him, but somehow it seems rude.
The rest of class goes by, nothing really interesting happens. Next thing I know, it's lunchtime, and I'm talking to Haruhi. "Well, that was rude." He remarks as I explain my encounter with Yuki this morning. Just a moment later we're joined by Hikaru and Kaoru, who question why Haruhi is eating in the lunchroom today when he usually doesn't. "It's because he likes me better, right Haruhi?" I tease.
They ask what we were talking about, and I sigh before re-telling my story. We get back to the topic of yesterday's dance, and why Haruhi wasn't in attendance. "Oh, you were sick right? I think there must be something going around, my brother was sick yesterday." I say, wondering if that's right. Mom thought Kyle had a slight stomach flu yesterday, maybe Haruhi did too? "Oh, is he okay?" Haruhi asks, and I respond. "Yeah, he seemed alright. I honestly think he just didn't want to go to school." I explain. "But, I thought Kyle liked school?" Hikaru asks. I don't exactly know why, but Kyle seems to like Hikaru- and Kaoru too, but mostly Hikaru. I sometimes wonder if they only reason they talk is to plot against me, because Kyle even seems to act like Hikaru sometimes-and not in the good way, in the annoying way. "Yeah, I thought he did too." I shrug.
After school, when I get to the front where I meet Kyle, he's already there. Usually I have to wait for him. It seems like he has some friends with him, so I wait a moment before going over to him. It's so good that he made some friends, I thought it would be hard for him. "Kyle, our car is here." I say as I walk over to him. He looks kind of embarrassed, but comes with me anyway. One of the other kids says something sort of teasingly, but I ignore it. "So, how was your day today?" I ask him as soon as we're in the car. "Oh, it was fine." He says, then adds. "We wrote a poem." I smile. "Oh, can I read it?" Suddenly he gets all defensive. "N-No! It's not... it's not finished yet."
"Okay." I say, although I would like to read his poem. We get home and I go up to my room to do my homework. After I'm finished with my homework, I go to Kyle's room to see what he's doing. When I get there I find that he's not there, he must've went to get a snack. Something catches my eye, though. Kyle left his homework scattered on his desk. It annoys me, so I go over to fix it. I notice the poem he wrote for class, so I decide to read it. I don't want to snoop, but Kyle doesn't tell me anything. So I read the poem:

Why is it that,
when one already finds himself alone,
others must make it worse?

The pain,
and the torture,
brought on simply by words.

Sometimes I wish
that they would beat me instead
rather than let the hell live on,
inside my head.

The poem is titled 'Bullying: The Hell in Your Head'. I leave his room quickly, and run into him in the hall. "Oh, I was just looking for you." I say. "So, how have you been lately?" I stupidly ask, and he looks suspicious. I sigh. "You would tell me if something were bothering you, right?" I ask, and he nods. "So then, answer me honestly. Do you have trouble with your classmates?" He hangs his head and mutters quietly "A little bit." I put my hand on his shoulder. "Just remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent." He just nods a little. "Yeah, I know." He says as he goes to his room.
The next day at school, I'm not concentrating at all. I'm too worried about Kyle. I don't like my situation one bit. I need to do something to help him before he hurts himself, but I can't tell my parents. They would make it worse by talking to the principal or the school board, or something. "Aislin, are you alright?" Hikaru asks me. I'd just about forgotten that I was in class. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I reply. "Oh. It's just, it seems like there's something bothering you." Is it that obvious? I sigh. "Well, it's Kyle. The kids in his class have been picking on him." I say. "Have you tried talking to him?" Hikaru asks, sounding concerned. "Yeah, but he won't listen to me." I say, then I get an idea. "But, he does like you. I bet he would listen to you if you tried to talk to him." I say, but he doesn't look convinced. "Please, if he wouldn't listen to you, I mean you're his sister-" I interrupt him. "Exactly. I'm his sister, of course he won't take me seriously. It would be the same as if my parents were talking to him. But you, he looks up to you." Hikaru sighs in defeat.
After class Hikaru fills Kaoru in on what happened, and they decide they'll just come over to my house today. I should've known that they would use this as an excuse to come over again. Kyle seems excited to see that they're coming. "See, Kyle likes it when we're around." Hikaru jokes. "Well, that makes one of us." I reply, and he acts offended. When we get home, Kyle says he's going to go do his homework. "Why don't we help you?" I suggest. "Um... no thank you." Kyle says, continuing to his room. "Hey, why don't you do your homework later and come play ball with me instead!" Hikaru says, and Kyle nods and joins him. "At least he has his priorities straight." I say sarcastically. "Wait, so what does that make me, chopped liver?" Kaoru jokes as they leave and I shrug. "We both are."
"Hey Aislin, do you really think that Hikaru would be able to help him?" Kaoru asks, and I nod. "Yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said Kyle looks up to him." Kaoru looks like he's thinking pretty hard about something. "Why do you think that is?" He finally asks. "That's simple." I say, then I elaborate. "Kyle has always had to be really serious, and not really be a kid. His situation was forcing him to grow up rather quickly. Hikaru, on the other hand, well I don't think he knows how to be serious. Kyle is trying to re-learn that." I explain, and Kaoru nods. "That makes sense."
"So, what make you think Kyle was having trouble." He asks. "Well, he just seemed to be acting strange. Then, he didn't want to go to school. I'd thought that he was acting strange for a while, then yesterday I found that had written a depressing poem, so I asked him about it." I explain. "Poetry? He doesn't seem to be the kind of person who writes poetry." I just shrug. "Well, apparently he does. I didn't think so either, though."
Kyle and Hikaru come inside, so we shut up. "I'm going to go do my homework now." Kyle says as he goes to his room. Kaoru and I just stare at Hikaru until he says something. "What?" Is all he says and I roll my eyes. "Well, what happened?" I ask. "That kid has a great arm! He should sign up for baseball or something." He replies, and I glare at him. "Okay, okay. He said the kids were picking on hi because he has to take the beginners language class, because he doesn't speak in Japanese too well. So, I told him to do what you would do. Well, not in those words. I told him to ignore them and wait until he gets to do something that he's good at, then he can show them up."