Of course I knew I had baseball practice. I always knew when it was, but I just couldn't say no to her.

The next morning I paced around my room, trying to figure out a way to get out of practice. I couldn't just tell coach I was seeing somebody because he would never count that as a valid excuse.

My mother was still in the house every morning. She spent her one week of free time by sitting around or cleaning, or just relaxing and wasting time. It was Tuesday, so my father was out at work, early as usual.

"Hi Mom," I walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning. How are you feeling? You better get moving or you'll miss the first bell at school."

An idea suddenly popped into my head. It might not work, but my mother believes almost anything. "Oh, I'm feeling kind of sick..." I rubbed my stomach like it hurt. "I don't know if I can make it."

She stood up from the table and came over to study me. "You sure? You look fine," she observed, feeling my forhead.

"Yes I'm sure. My stomach is killing me."

"You don't think it's something you might have eaten?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps. It's hard to tell."

"Well I guess you're not going to school like that," she said, and I silently celebrated in my head. "You need to get some rest if it hurts so horribly." She pushed me into my room and told me to get back into bed.

"I'll call the school and let them know you're not coming."

It was perfect. I would just act like I was sleeping and I could sneak out, and spend the day with Yui. "Okay Mom. I don't want to be woken up so just let me rest please."

She nodded, put the blankets over me then walked out and shut the door behind her. I listened for a good few minutes to make she was gone, and slowly stood from the bed.

"Shit," I cursed, looking around for the best way to get out. If I tell my mom to leave me alone, she wasn't likely to check on me for a minimum of a few hours. As quietly as possible, I grabbed a jacket from my closet and locked the door. The only way out was the window.

Luckily my house was only one story tall so there was no risk of me hurting myself by climbing out the window. I put my fingers around the bottom, and being as quiet as humanly possible, I slowly lifted up. The window squeaked, making my heart pound in my chest, but I heard no footsteps in the hallway.

The air outside wasn't freezing cold, but it wasn't warm either. The sun was blazing down, yet the breeze was cool enough for me to shiver slightly as the air traveled into the room. I pryed the glass up far enough for me to climb through, and crouched under it into the soft grass.

Closing the window just as slow, I thought of all the things that could go wrong with my plan. But then I thought of my promise to Yui, and all those bad thoughts were washed away.

Putting my hands in my pockets, I made it to Yui's house a few minutes later. I rapped on the door, and Yui's mother answered almost instantly.

"Welcome back Hinata," she smiled brightly. I returned the smile and stepped inside and removed my shoes. "Yui has been talking about this all morning. She's very excited."

I laughed. "I'm glad. It's the least I could do."

Her long black hair was tied back and she wore an apron caked with flour and other food stains. She must had noticed me looking so she explained. "I'm making food for my next meeting for work. All the workers love fresh bread and pastries!"

I nodded, stepping into the living room. "I just realized I never asked what your name was..."

"Miyoshi. Hotaru Miyoshi. But you may just call me by my first name if you like."

"Alright... Hotaru."

That was going to take some time to get used to. "Miyoshi huh? Yui Miyoshi..."

"Yes it's been our family name for generations. My name temporarely changed once I got married, breaking the cycle since I'm an only child, but it turns out I wouldn't have been breaking it after all."

I wanted to ask about her husband and what happened to him, but I didn't want to pressure her or make her uncomefortable. She just sighed and smiled at me again. "Why don't you and Yui get going? She's all ready to go and waiting in her room."

I started to go down the hallway, but she stopped me. "Oh, Hinata?"

I turned. "Yes Ma'am?"

She was silent for a moment before answering. "Thank you. Yui needs someone like you in her life." And with that she left to the kitchen to finish her baking.

I felt flattered by her kindness, yet strangely confused. It felt like I hadn't done a thing; I was just being nice and doing things like I would do with any other friend of mine. I honestly wasn't doing anything special.

When I came into her room, she sat in her wheelchair by her bed and smiled when she saw me. "Hinata! Oh my gosh I can't wait to get out of here!"

She talked so fast I almost didn't understand her. "What?" I laughed. "You don't get out much do you?"

She shook her head. "No not at all. My mom is always busy with work so she can't take me places all the time. I haven't been outside in days!"

I only half heard what she was saying as I studied her. She looked really pretty; wearing a light purple sundress that went well with her pink hair partly tied up with ribbons. She seemed to always have her hair like that. A few bracelets were around her wrists to match her flat black shoes.

"You know it's a bit chilly outside right?" I asked.

"I'll be okay won't I?"

I shook my head. "You'll freeze. Shall I grab a blanket for you?"

She told me they were in the dresser, and I picked a small warm one and put it on her lap. "Alright Yui, just tell me if you want me to re-position the blanket for you. It's no trouble, I promise."

She grinned. "If I could clap my hands in excitement right now I would be." And I had no doubt in my mind she was right.

"Where do you want to go first?"

She looked deep in thought. "How about the zoo?"

"The zoo?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Out of anywhere we could go, you want to go there?"

"Why not? I've only been there once before."

It had never dawned on me that she couldn't just go to the zoo whenever she wanted to like I could. If I wanted to go somewhere I could just walk or bike myself, no problem. "Wow, only once?"

"Mhmm," she nodded. "Unless there's some place else you'd rather go?"

"Oh no, that sounds great. I haven't been there in some time myself."

She asked me to turn off her television for her, and we said goodbye to Hotaru. She reminded us to be safe and waved to us as we left down the pathway.

"Hinata?" She asked. "How exactly are we going to get there?"

"The bus of course," I informed. "I'm still taking driving classes so I wouldn't have been able to drive you."

I continued to push her wheelchair in silence towards the bus stop. It seemed like the fastest option avalible. According to my watch, the next bus should be there within the next five minutes.

I looked down at Yui and noticed she was shivering. "See? I told you it was cold."

"How was I supposed to know?" She complained.

I sighed and picked the blanket off her lap and put it around her shoulders. Dispite the chilly breeze, the sun still beamed down on us like a lightbulb. The leaves on the trees were just starting to change color. Fall was aproaching.

"Better?" I asked.

"Better," she agreed.

"It should get warmer as the day passes. It's still quite early."

We made it to the bus stop just in time, and the bus driver was an older man. I explained what Yui's situation was, and he offered to help her onto the bus.

I lifted Yui up into my arms and I was surprised at how light she was. One arm was under her back and the other was under her legs. The man collapsed her wheelchair so it fit in the bus, and I carried her up the steps. Yui blushed at my touch, but it was the only was to get her inside.

I was thankful to see it was mostly empty with only a few people sitting near the front and middle, so I headed to the back with the driver behind me. I placed Yui down in the seat, and the man gave me the collapsed wheelchair and her blanket. I gave him my thanks, and he trudged back up to the front.

I sat next to Yui and I noticed she was still blushing and avoiding eye contact by looking out the window. "Uh... Sorry about that."

"No- it's okay. I'm just not used to people carrying me besides my mother."

"Makes sense," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "What animals do you wanna see?" I decided to change the subject.

I had been to the zoo a handful of times when I was younger with my dad, but I haven't had the chance to visit in a few years. I was surprised at how excited I actually felt.

"Sea lions," she answered. "Sea lions and macaws."

"That's an interesting combo. Don't you like the cool animals like giraffes?"

The bus hit a few bumps and I made sure she was safely secure in her seat. "But sea lions and macaws are my favorites."

"Why?"

"I like the way they look," she told me like it was obvious. "They're really fascinating creatures."

"But giraffes are cool. How many animals have long necks like that? It's really crazy when you think about it."

"I guess."

Our small talk ended there and we sat in silence the rest of the way. I wasn't exactly sure how I got in this position to even taking her here, like the past few weeks never happened. If someone told me weeks ago that I would be making friends with a parazyled girl and skipping school and practice to take her to the zoo, I would have called them crazy.

"City Zoo," the old driver announced as he pulled into the stop. I stood up along with another mother with her child who looked even more excited than Yui was.

The man came to the back where we sat again to help us, and he took the wheelchair outside. I looked at Yui this time, asking for permission and she nodded.

I took her under my arms once more and carried her down the bus steps and out into the parking lot. I was happy to see that the zoo wasn't busy at all, with most of the parking spots free of cars. Well it was a weekday, at a time where most kids and adults were at school or work.

The driver set the chair back up and I set Yui into it. I paid him for the ride, making sure to give him an extra tip for his kindness and for helping. "Stay safe now," he instructed before disappearing into the bus.

I gripped the wheelchair handles. "All set?"

Once we made it to the booth, I paid for the tickets and we went inside. I had forgotten how big this zoo was.

"Look's like we've got the whole zoo mostly to ourselves!" I observed, looking around me and only seeing a few people who looked like tourists. "So what do you want to look at first?"

I grabed a map from a nearby container attached to the Welcome sign. I held it out in front of her.

"Sea lions," she declared.

I looked at the map and saw the aquatic mamals building was all the way on the other side of the zoo. "Yui it's so far away. Can't we stop there later?" I complained.

She shook her head. "Nope." I could tell she was just playing with me. "Onward!"

I sighed and went down the wide road to the building as she laughed, and for some reason I didn't mind the walking anymore.

I'm really sorry it took me so long to update. I've started school again so I don't have the time to write as much, so thank you for being patient. I'll probably try and update once a week, but I can't make any promises so please understand if I'm a bit late :) Anyway thank you for all the nice reviews!