Dear diary,

Athrun made dinner for us just now. He's a really good cook. Cagalli said I'm going to start school tomorrow. She's going to talk to me again later. I've never been to school before. He never sent me. In the orphanage, it was Mrs McPhee who taught us the ABC and how to count. I've heard about school though. I've heard the older orphanage kids talk about it before. They said we'll learn a lot of stuff. And when we learn enough, we'll get jobs. I want to buy something nice for Cagalli once I earn enough money. I want to make her happy.

Kira

... ... ...

Chapter 4

"Kira, it's time to wake up now," I heard Cagalli's voice. I opened my eyes and I saw her darting across the room. She looked flustered as she grabbed some of my clothes from the closet and threw them at the foot of the bed. She then made her way to the mirror, combing her hair. "Kira, you have to hurry. We're going to be late."

I quickly got up, afraid to make her mad and want to leave me. I hurried to the bath room to take a shower, pressing the buttons Cagalli taught me to get the water running. I was always fascinated with the shower; it was as if it was raining indoors. Water would magically fall from the ceiling when I pressed a button. It was unlike bath time in the orphanage where we only get one pail of water.

I tried my best to dress quickly. Cagalli was already at the front door waiting for me. I guessed there was no time for breakfast.

It wasn't long before Cagalli and I stood in front of a building made of bricks. We walked into a long hall way. Cagalli was looking for something. She was mumbling before she finally exclaimed, "Ah, there it is!" She brought me to the door and knocked.

A lady with light brown hair, almost blonde, greeted us.

"Hi, I'm Cagalli Yula Athha. And this is Kira," Cagalli introduced.

"Oh yes of course. I'm Talia Gladys. We spoke on the phone the other day. I'm happy to have Kira join us," she smiled at me kindly.

"Well thank you for taking him in at such short notice."

"It's no problem at all Miss Athha. Lunar Prep is lucky to have such a handsome boy."

Cagalli looked at me. This was the cue that she was going to head off to work. I had to stay behind, I couldn't follow her. She would come back for me later. We already talked about this last night.

"Hey," she kneeled down to my level as she tilted my chin to look at her. "We already made a pinky promise remember? I'm coming back for you."

I bit my lips hard as I tried hard not to cry. No matter how many times Cagalli assured me she would never abandon me, that fear still always lingered.

Cagalli gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before she left. It was the first time she kissed me, the first time I've actually ever been kissed before. I used to envy those kids who were kissed by their parents. I wanted kisses too. Now I have gotten it. And I never want to wash my face again.

Miss Gladys brought me inside the room. There were many children my age wearing similar clothing. The boys wore shorts and a knitted vest over a white shirt like me, while the girls wore a skirt instead of shorts. There were all seated in groups around the tables.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet Kira."

I didn't really feel very comfortable with all weird looks the kids were giving me. I took the only empty seat right at the back. I was going to keep to myself, just like I did at the orphanage.

It was art class and Miss Gladys left us to draw anything we liked. There were crayons on the table and I took the red one. Red was Cagalli's favourite colour, so I made it my favourite colour too.

Kids were suddenly gathering around the round table next to mine. They all seemed excited over something.

"Wow! Isn't that the latest set they displayed outside the store?"

"That's so cool! There are so many colours!"

"You're so lucky! I wish my dad would buy them for me too!"

I watched as the others squealed over the box of colour pencils. There were over a hundred of them, all different colours.

"Alright, I'll let some of you guys use them," the owner of the colour pencils said. "Now which of you guys should I pick?"

"Oh me! Me! Pick me!" the other kids said.

"Setsuna, Rika, you both can use them."

"Yay! Thanks Jona! You're the best!"

"Can I use them too, Jona?" asked a boy with curly hair.

"You?" Jona exclaimed. "Eww! Of course not! Why would I lend someone like you? You fuzzy wuzzy lumpkin!"

The surrounding students started bursting into fits of laughter.

"Ignore him Kuzzey," a boy with glasses said. "Jona's just being a bully, that's all."

"Oh! Four-eyed freak is coming to lumpkin's rescue!"

The rest laughed even louder. I took an instant dislike to Jona. He reminded me of some of the mean kids back in the orphanage. Deciding that I heard enough, I switched my mind off and continued drawing.

... ... ...

It was break time, they called it recess. We were all dismissed and let out into the garden. I chose to sit under the tree furthest from where all the other kids sat. They all came prepared with food of their own. I didn't bring anything. My stomach growled and grumbled. It has been doing so since we left the house. The feeling of hunger wasn't unfamiliar to me. I used to get one meal a day when I was with him. Two, when he was in a good mood.

I hugged my knees closer to myself. I wondered when Cagalli was coming for me. I could ask her for something to eat.

"Whacha doing?"

I looked up to see a girl with long pink hair watching at me.

"What food did you bring?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing," I replied only out of what Mrs McPhee called as courtesy. I would have otherwise preferred to ignore the girl.

"You didn't bring any food?" she seemed genuinely surprised.

"No."

"I brought nutella," she said as she sat herself next to me and opened her lunch box. "Let's share!" she said as she gave me half of her sandwich.

I hesitated for a while. I was unsure of whether to take it. Why was she being so nice to me? Why didn't she avoid me like the others? I accepted it in the end after the continuous protest from my stomach.

"I'm Lacus by the way!"

I didn't say anything back. The sandwich was good. The filling was brown and gooey, but sweet. It tasted like chocolate. The girl mentioned that it was nut-la?

"What's your name?" she seemed rather insistent that I talk to her.

"Kira," I finally told her.

"You don't talk very much do you?" she giggled.

... ... ...

Dear diary,

Kira's starting school tomorrow. I just had a long talk with him. I had to make sure he understood what's going to happen tomorrow. I was worried that he might go on hysterics. It would be a new environment for him. There would be strangers... And we all know how he responded to strangers taking care of him. But then again, it was Yzak, so I suppose that time doesn't count. It's a bad idea to let Mr Grouch take care of kids. I learnt that the hard way. Paying for Yzak's therapy, that's was just the easy part. It's putting up with his temper subsequently and convincing him to let Kira into his club again is the harder part. I'm thinking of a million ways on how to go about it now. Bribing him won't work... Blackmailing and threatening sounds really appealing... But it might actually just work. Alright! I've made up my mind!

Yours truly,

Cagalli

... ... ...

I cursed for the millionth time that morning as I was again forced to stop by the traffic light. Oh why oh why was Haumea against me? It seemed to me that I was caught by all the freaking lights in the city. Even if my convertible could go 329 km/h, I would still not reach work on time.

Green.

I slammed my feet hard on the accelerator. I wondered how many speeding tickets I would get as I sped through the roads. I even forwent my daily latte booze. The vending machine would do this time round.

Natarle had a clear disapproval look as she spotted me trying to creep into the meeting room. She was briefing everyone about the plans for the upcoming fashion week. I sat myself beside Luna as I tried my best to ignore Natarle's accusing glare. I could almost hear her voice inside my head saying, "You're late!"

After what seemed like hours, the meeting ended and Natarle finally dismissed us to get back to our work. I had a lunch meeting to attend with one of our clients. We made reservations at the newly opened cafe called Blitz. I heard the food there was exquisite. Speaking of food, my mind wondered back to Kira. We were in such a rush this morning that we did not have time for breakfast.

I looked at my watch. It was already noon. Kira must have eaten already. Recess was long over. I wondered what he ate. The school severed pasta on Tuesdays... Pork or chicken chops on Wednesdays... Fried rice or noodles on Thursdays... Pizza or burgers on Fridays... Now what did they serve on Mondays?

Oh crap.

It's Monday. Monday was Bring-Your-Own-Food-Day. What the hell was that? I mean, whoever thought of that must be a fruitcake or something. As if we had all the time in the world to make something for children to bring.

Double crap. I didn't make anything for Kira. The poor boy must be starving now. I could almost see myself behind bars wearing the hideous orange prison uniform. Social Service was going to jail me for neglection!

"Hey, gotta go! Be back real soon!" I shouted over to Luna as I made a dash for the elevator. There was a convenience store across the road.

I grabbed a sushi pack and a bottle of orange juice from the cooler.

The queue was insanely long. I had half a mind to just run off without paying.

"Next!"

Finally it was my turn.

... ... ...

I reached school in an hour. My luck was all the way down at pit bottom. I was caught in a traffic jam. Literally. The cars weren't even crawling. They had altogether just stopped moving. Some accident happened to take all three lanes of the road.

I fumbled inside my large bag, looking for my Blackberry that had just gotten lost somewhere in the depths of all the junk I had stuffed inside. I had to check what time my lunch meeting was again. I didn't take notice of what was in front of me until it was too late and I had crashed right into it- or him would be a better word.

Strong hands held me to keep me steady on my feet. I looked up at my saviour.

"Cagalli?"

"Athrun?" I prayed hard that I didn't just squeak out his name. He looked surprised to see me.

"What are you doing here?" we asked at the same time.

I thought I saw a tinge of red on his cheeks.

"I-I work here," he said. "What about you?"

"Oh me? Nothing much. Just stopped by because I'm such a terrible guardian. I forgot that it's Bring-Your-Own-Food-Day today."

Shit. Did I just say that out loud?

Athrun chuckled. Damn, I must have said it out loud.

"So Kira's studying here?"

"Yea... You said you work here right?"

"I'm an English and literature teacher here."

So Athrun's a teacher... I didn't know teachers were paid so well. He owns a Lamborghini.

"Well umm I better go and find Kira. To err... Deliver his food..."

"Do you need help finding your way?"

"Err, I think I can manage. Thanks for asking," I smiled at him.

We said our goodbyes and thank Haumea I didn't get lost afterwards. It would have been such an embarrassment for me otherwise.

I felt really guilty about Kira. The poor boy looked five kilos lighter. Alright, I was just exaggerating. He looked fine. In fact, his face brightened up when he saw me.

"Are we going home now?"

"Sorry buddy, but school's not over yet. I only came back to deliver your lunch. I'm really sorry I forgot."

His face fell immediately and I bit my lip. So he really did think he was going home.

"I brought sushi!" I tried my best to sound cheerful.

He didn't reply. His gaze was cast onto the floor.

"Hey, you're not mad at me are you?" I asked.

Kira quickly shook his head.

"I'll see you later ok?"

He finally made eye contact with me. He still looked really sad.

"Go back to your class now and be good alright?"

... ... ...

I was late for my lunch appointment again. I had no idea what was up with me and traffic jams today. Kate, our client, waited ten minutes for me. She wasn't mad. But Natarle was there and let's just say that if looks could kill, I would be lying in a coffin now.

The meeting with Kate took quite a while. Kate was the editor-in-chief of Rouge, one of the top fashion magazines in the world. She was picky in choosing models for photo-shoots. She wasn't fond of the skinny ones.

Work wasn't any better when I came back to the office. I had a truck load of files to oversee. I slotted in some coins in the vending machine. I needed some coffee boost to last me the afternoon.

Three o'clock...

Three thirty...

Four o'clock...

Four thirty...

Five o'clock...

Six o'clock...

It was eleven minutes past six when my phone rang. It was an unknown number. I answered it anyway.

"Cagalli?" the voice on the other line sounded really familiar.

"Hey it's me, Athrun."

"Oh what's up Athrun?" I asked. When did I give Athrun my number? Or more importantly, why was he calling?

"Umm... Are you coming to pick Kira up any time soon? The kid's been waiting for quite a while now."

"Shit."

"I'm sorry? What did you say?"

Crap. Oh crap. How could I forget about Kira again? If there seriously was an award for being the worst guardian ever, I would easily take first place. I was supposed to fetch Kira at four. It was six now. And did I just say 'shit' to Athrun?

"Cagalli?"

"Hmm? Oh, yea."

"Listen, if you're a little busy now, I can take Kira back to my place first."

"Really? I mean, you don't mind?"

"Yea, don't worry. It's no problem at all. What are neighbours for?"

What are neighbours for? It's official. I would nominate Athrun for the best neighbour award. And me, I would nominate myself for the worst guardian award.

To be continued.

A/N: Hey sorry for the long wait everyone! I hope you guys haven't given up on my story. I have more bad news. My next update could be in a few months (Latest December! I promise!). This is because I'm in my final year and I have to study really hard for my final exam to get into university. I'll see if I have free time to write in between but no guarantees! But I promise (you can throw rotten eggs at me otherwise), I'll be update in December! Sorry again for the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will appreciate if you can tell me what you think of this story and/or this chapter. Thank you!