Yui looked just as surprised as I was. "Okito... What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Woah woah woah," I put my hands up. "You know eachother?"

Okito laughed. "Yeah, we're neighbors. I think I told you that, don't you remember?"

Yui turned. "Wait, YOU know him?" She asked.

Okito walked over to us, putting his hands into his blue sweatshirt. "Well it seems like we all know eachother. This is interesting."

I ignored him. "Yeah, we're friends. He's on my baseball team."

Our waitress came back with our food, but saw Okito and awkwardly put it down in front of us. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No, we're fine," I excused her and she quickly left without coming back.

Okito's face made it clear that he was waiting for me to explain. I sighed. "Look, can we just discuss this another time..."

He shook his head. "No. We were horrible in practice today because you weren't there. Coach was so pissed off at our preformance that he made us work twice as hard, so I believe I deserve to know what's going on here," his eyes traveled back and fourth between me to Yui.

Now Yui was questioning me. "You skipped baseball practice to see me?"

"And school," Okito added.

I growled. "Not helping!"

Okito leaned across the table, making the dishes shake. "So you missed practice and school just to hang out? To chill?! What's gotten into you man?"

My hands balled into fists under the table. If he wanted to know what was going on so badly, he would find out in a minute. "Fine Okito, let's go talk. In private."

Yui's large eyes widened even more. "Hinata?"

"Just stay here. I'm just gonna go talk with him. I'll be back in a minute; promise."

"Well it not like I'm going anywhere," she pointed out, and my heart sunk as soon as she said it. "It's fine just go," she added after seeing my expression.

I stood up, not having to look behind me to know Okito was following. Down the street there was an alley in which I had been before, but it looked a million times scarier when only being lit by a street lamp. The last time I had been there was when I got into a full-out fist fight with some guy who I had beaten in a game of baseball, and aparently the team was undefeated until we broke their streak. One argument led to another, and suddenly I was fighting this guy who was twice my size and could have seriously hurt me bad if he wanted to. The only reason I wasn't half beaten to death was because the shop owner from across the street saw us throwing punches and he ran over to stop us.

Okito leaned against the brick wall, folding his arms across his chest. "So, you and Yui huh? I gotta admit I never saw that coming."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I spat. "I was only trying to be nice to her; something that you seem to fail to do."

I didn't know why I was so angry with him. Me and Okito had always gotten on really well, having occasional disagreements about stupid things but never really had been angry with eachother.

"You're her neighbor... Ever thought of walking over to her house and talking to her?! She's been so lonely and hardly has ever had any friends. The least you could do is just visit her sometimes!"

The moon light revealed his face, curling up into a smile. "So I was right, then? You've been visiting her?"

I suddenly remembered the last game I was at, when we were cleaning up afterwords and he told me to go and see her. I had almost forgotten about it. "Yeah, you been stalking me or something?"

He smirked. "Nah, I'm not that nosey. My mom is good friends with Yui's mom, so they chat all the time on the phone. I just happen to overhear their conversation about you."

About me? I hoped he hadn't heard too much. "It's still none of your buisness."

There was a long round of silence, the wind becoming noticibly cold. I knew my mom had to notice I was gone by now, so there was that I'd have to deal with when I got home.

"Hinata, I don't think you should see her anymore."

I felt like slapping him. "That's not for you to decide," I hissed. "She needs someone... She needs me."

"You can't continue to miss practice like this."

"Who said I was ever going to miss it again?"

He looked up at the star filled sky. "Hinata, if you keep skipping baseball practice for this... to see this girl... we're not gonna make the playoffs. I want to win the championship more than anything this year, because I've actually worked hard this season."

So there it was. He didn't want me to see Yui because of the playoffs?

He didn't stop. "You're one of the best players on the team Hinata. We need you. If we lose two more games, we won't make it. And unlike you, I haven't had the experience of winning a championship."

Okito had only been on the team for two years, whereas I had been for almost five. Ever since I was twelve I had been on the same team with the same people, never missing a moment of a game. In those five years, we had managed to win two championships.

But my mind forgot about baseball. "Well maybe someones happiness means more to me than that.

He stepped closer, causing me to back up. "Hinata. After all we've worked for this year, you just want to throw all that away for... for her?"

I shoved him away from me. "I never said I was throwing it away. I'm not going to miss any games, Okito. But you can't force me to stop seeing her."

"I know I can't. She obviously means a lot to you if you chose to just not show up at school. It's not like you."

I didn't want to talk to him anymore. Before leaving the alley, I stopped under the street lamp, my back to him. "Oh and one more thing," I paused. "Don't mention this to coach or he'll kick my ass."

I waited. "Only if you promise not to miss another practice."

"Fine," I said before I would regret it, then I walked away down the street, and by the eerie silence behind me, I knew he wasn't following.

-.-.-.-.-.-

I made it back to Yui a few minutes later. She sat right where I left her at our table, and I instantly felt guilty seeing her stare hungrily at her plate of untouched food.

"I'm so sorry," I said sitting down again. "I forgot that you couldn't-"

"Eat on my own?" She finished for me; not angrily but jokingly.

"Yeah. Here let me help," I took her chopsticks and twirled some noodles onto it, putting it in her mouth when she opened. My own food was probably cold too, but I didn't mind. I gave her a few more chopsticks full before taking a bite of my own sushi. "How is it?"

"Good," she said, and I could tell she wanted to tell me something. "Can you give me my water please?"

"Oh sure," I took her glass of water and put it to her lips. She wasn't acting like her usual vibrant self which made me wonder what she was thinking about.

"Why?"

"Hmm?" I asked, putting the glass back down.

Yui wouldn't look at me. "Why did you do it? Why did you skip school and practice for me? You didn't have to do that."

I sighed, knowing all along she would have felt bad if she found out. Of course she would. "I couldn't break my promise."

"But I've gotten you into so much trouble-"

"It's fine Yui, I don't mind. I get yelled at all the time; it doesn't effect me."

She still didn't seem convinced. Her long hair blew in the wind, the tablecloth fluttering underneath the dishes. "But your mom is going to be so mad-"

"Yui listen. None of that matters to me okay?" I wished she'd just looked at me. "I didn't do it because I had to, I did because I wanted to. I wanted to spend time with you."

"I still feel bad."

I took another bite of sushi. "I know you do."

It was awhile before either of us spoke again. "If I hadn't skipped class, nothing we did today would have happened."

"But-"

"Did you have fun?"

She started to protest. "That doesn't-"

"Did you have fun?" I repeated, already knowing the answer.

"Of course I did, but-"

"That's all that matters to me," I cut her off, wiping my mouth with a napkin. "A long as you're happy, I'm happy. Now let's finish our meal before it gets really late."

The expression on her face made me know she wanted to say more, but decided against it and ate her noodles when I gave them to her. I finished my own plate and waited patiently for Yui to be done as I continued to feed her and give her water when she asked. I left the money on the table and we headed to the bus once more, making it just in time.

We didn't talk much while the city lights and buildings wizzed by our heads. I had to admit I was tired from walking all day long, but in the end it was worth it. After a few minutes we made it back to Yui's house, and I dreaded knocking on the front door.

Hotaru answered seconds later, and I was relived to see she wasn't angry I brought her daughter back so late. "You're back! Did you two have fun?" She chimed in, using her delighted motherly voice.

"Yeah the zoo wasn't busy at all," Yui smiled as I wheeled her into the house.

"Sorry we're so late. We stopped to get something to eat," I added, making sure she wasn't going to randomly start yelling at me for my lack of timing.

"Oh no, dear it's alright. I'm sure you had a lot of fun, so you better rest up."

"I'll be sure to do so," I handed Yui's wheelchair to her mother. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then, Yui."

She nodded. "Yeah. Soon."

"Soon," I promised once again, hoping this time it wouldn't be so hard to keep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Walking in the darkness to my house was more terifying than I ever would have expected. Every time I turned a corner or heard a noise, I half expected someone to jump out and kidnap me. In the back of my mind I knew that my mom was going to kill me when I showed up, but I tried not to think about it. I checked my watch and thanked God that my dad would still be at work by the time I arrived. Waking up tomorrow for school was going to be a pain, along with all the unfinished homework I hadn't done.

I took a huge breath before opening my front door. It creaked as I slowly swung it open, and stepped inside. It was dark, but my mother's tiny figure sat on the couch by the television, staring at me dead in the eyes.

"Sit down now," she ordered. "Explain to me right this isntant. I want the truth." Her tone wasn't furious like I had been expecting, but it was stern and demanding.

I obeyed and took off my shoes, then sat across from her. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Where were you all day?"

I made up my mind and decided to just tell her everything. "At the zoo."

That was probably the last place she expected me to be. "And why," she closed her eyes in anger. "were you at the zoo?"

"I took my friend there because I promised her I would."

"So you lied to me and escaped out of the house to take your friend to the zoo? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Yes."

She was staring at me so hard I had to look away. I knew she was trying to figure out if I was lying, but she seemed like she knew I was being totally honest. "Mind explaining to me the rest?"

I sighed and just spilled everything out. I started by explaining who Yui was and about her condition, specificly telling her that she didn't have any friends to depend on and that I was just trying to help her. I went on to telling her how I hit a baseball into her window which was how we met, but leving out the strange connection I felt towards her. I told her everything from start to finish, and when I was done we both sat quietly for a moment.

"Hinata, I know why you might have wanted to do something for her but that doesn't mean you can just lie to my face and run out of the house to see her. For Christ's sake, I was going to call the police if you didn't show up in the next hour!"

"I'm sorry mom. I really am. But you wouldn't have let me skip class anyway."

"Probably not, but now that you've told me what you've been up to I can understand why you've been acting a bit strange," she leaned forward, resting her elbow on her knee. "You need to just tell me these things ahead of time so we can avoid stuff like this from happening."

"It won't happen again."

She smiled. "You're lucky I'm not grounding you for this Hinata."

I sat up. "So I'm not in trouble?" All this time I had thought she would nearly kill me for doing everything I did.

"I'll let you off the hook this time, but if I catch you again don't expect to be so lucky."

I grinned and hugged my mom tightly. "You're the best mom," I told her, and I could feel her smile against my shoulder. I ran off to my bedroom, tore off my shirt and almost passed out onto my freshly made bed. I was so exausted and relived that everything turned out to be alright, and I fell asleep almost instantly.

Hope you liked the chapter :) thanks for all the nice reviews; you guys are awesome x