Chapter Six

If I Call for You, Will You . . .

Yuki peered around a bend in the hallway as Rin talked to Miki. She was too scared to go meet her classmates. She wanted to just stay with Rin and Iroha. But Rin would get mad at her, especially when she'd taken her time to walk Yuki here in the first place. Rin turned to walk away, and both Yuki and her teacher watched her go. Then, Miki turned around and caught Yuki watching a little ways away. The kind woman smiled.

"Hello, sweetie," Miki said. "Are you alright? Do you need to see your mom one last time before you go?"

"My . . . mom?" Yuki murmured softly. Was Rin her mother? Rin probably wouldn't like it if she called her that, even though Yuki was meant to be her daughter. Yuki shook her head slowly. "No, I'm okay. Rin was nice and brought me here. That's enough for me."

"Shall we go meet your classmates, then?" she suggested, smiling gently while she offered a hand to Yuki.

Yuki averted her eyes from Miki's kind gaze. She didn't want to be mean and say no, but she didn't think she could handle meeting anyone new. What if they were like Rin? What if they didn't want her, either? Yuki was prepared to accept Rin's general distaste for her, because, she knew, deep down, that the Rin Len had told her about was still there, but what about her classmates? Did they really want another student in their class, one whose own parents hadn't even wanted her?

"I understand," Miki said, drawing her hand away when Yuki glanced back at her. "I'll come and check on you in a couple minutes, okay? Or you can come in if you feel ready for it. We'll all be waiting, so don't worry. We're not going anywhere."

Yuki nodded, unable to find the proper words, and watched Miki as the woman slipped into the classroom. She listened to her classmates chatting inside, echoed by Miki's sweet voice chiding someone who'd said something snarky. Yuki leaned against the wall outside the door, listening to the sounds inside the room. She felt sick. She just wanted to go home. This was too much.

"Len," she whispered desperately, drawing her knees up to her chin as she sat against the wall. "Iroha. Rin." She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "I don't want to be here. Please take me home. I want to go home."

Yuki stayed like that for a while until Miki came out again. The woman sat down next to her and wondered, "Do you want to call someone, Yuki? I know this must be hard for you." Yuki nodded. "Okay, sweetie. The office is at the end of the hallway. Tell them I said you could call someone, okay?" Yuki nodded again. "Okay. I hope you'll come join us soon. Everyone's really excited to see you." Another nod. Then, after giving Yuki's hand a comforting squeeze, the teacher stood up and returned to her class. Yuki gently brought herself up to her feet and made her way down the hallway. She entered the office, where a blonde-haired secretary was working. Yuki stared at her curiously. She looked like Rin, only her hair was longer. The woman caught sight of her.

"Do you need something?" she wondered. "Were you sent down?"

"Teacher said I could call someone," Yuki managed, her voice little more than a whisper.

The secretary, known as Lily according to the nameplate on the desk, handed Yuki a phone. Yuki murmured her thanks and stared at the phone. Len had made her memorize Rin's cell phone number, and Yuki had copied Iroha's phone number off the list on the fridge and placed the slip of paper on which it was written into her pocket.

Yuki placed the phone against her ear and listened to it ring until a, "What is it?" came from the other side.

"Rin," Yuki murmured, finding such comfort in the woman's voice.

Yuki knew Iroha was more likely to be supportive and make her feel better, but, last night, she'd had a dream. In that dream, Rin had tucked her in. Yuki wanted to believe that such a thing was possible. She really did want to make it up to Rin. Then, maybe, Rin could be her mother.

"How the hell are you calling me in class?" Rin replied.

"I don't feel well," Yuki informed her desolately.

"Well, that's too bad. Stop being a wuss and go to class."

"But I wanna go home, Rin."

"Too bad. You're not wasting those lunches I made, so get your butt in class right now."

"'Kay . . . ," Yuki mumbled right before Rin hang up, feeling the corners of her mouth turn up. Yuki smiled fondly at the phone. Rin hadn't just told her to go home. She'd actually cared about Yuki staying. That had to mean something, right?

But Yuki was still too scared to go to class. She handed to phone back to Lily with a quick thanks and then sat in one of the chairs in the office. She'd just wait here until the end of the day. She didn't want to go to class.

Then, a boy entered the office. Lily frowned when she saw him enter. "What are you doing in here, Piko?" she wondered.

The boy, apparently named Piko, put a finger to his lip and said, "That's a secret. You can call Miki if you want to know."

"Sure . . . ," Lily mumbled, already having lost interest as she got back to work.

Piko hopped onto the chair next to Yuki and smiled at her. Yuki wanted to look away, but that would be rude, so she quickly said hello instead. In response, he said, "Hiya, I'm Piko! What're you doing here?"

"I'm not feeling well," she lied nervously. "Are you in trouble?"

"You could say that," Piko stated. Then, he smiled invitingly to her. "So, Yuki, wanna join me?"

"Join you?" Yuki asked curiously, startled by the boy's spontaneity.

"You know, be my partner in crime," he said, his eyes sparkling mischievously. "We'll go back to class and tell the teacher that I got my scolding even when I didn't. I'd seriously owe you one. C'mon, what do you say?"

The way his eyes were sparkling so excitedly made the blood flush to Yuki's face. Her heart stuttered as he stared at her, making her feel like they were the only two there. Shyly, she nodded. Piko smiled widely. "Great, then let's go!" Yuki didn't have time to react before he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the office. She stared at the back of the white-haired boy's head as he towed her down the hallway. He was smiling so brightly. To be honest, it made Yuki kind of jealous. She hadn't smiled that brightly since finding out Len was dead. She wanted to smile like that, truly, but she couldn't remember how to. She stopped and squeezed the boy's hand to tell him to stop, too. He obliged and looked back at her curiously.

"Why are you so happy?" she wanted to know as she gazed at him.

He laughed. "That's a funny question." Then, without any inhibitions whatsoever, he replied, "Because I met you, of course."

Yuki found her cheeks going red as she mumbled, "Oh, okay."

Now, Piko pouted. "What, aren't you happy to have gotten to meet me? C'mon, Yuki, smile!"

Her face burned the brightest red. He knew her name. For some reason, hearing him call her name just made her so . . . happy. Before she knew it, the corners of her mouth lifted up into a smile as she stared at him. He beamed in response.

"See, that's what I mean!" he proclaimed. "Wait till you meet Haku and Neru! They're awesome! They're my best friends in the world!"

He was being so nice that Yuki didn't dare bring him down by mentioning that, never, not even once, in her life had she had someone she could actually call a friend. The closest she had were Len, but he was more like a father, or the woman who always came in to see her but who never made any actions toward building any sort of relationship with Yuki other than their distant one. Len had never liked that woman for some reason.

"Piko," she tested, trying to recall his name. He smiled, signalling that she was right. Then, she continued, "Will you be my friend?"

"I thought we were friends already," he stated, tilting his head to the side curiously. "We're partners in crime, after all."

"Can I sit with you in class?" she interrogated, glancing at the door she'd been sitting outside off all morning.

"Of course!" Piko said indignantly, as if he'd have it no other way.

"Are you gonna hold my hand the whole time?" Yuki wondered, embarrassed to be acting so childish in the fifth grade. But she was too scared. She didn't know how she'd do it without Piko standing beside her.

"As long as you want me to," he replied. "We could walk home together, too, if you want. Miki won't mind."

"What does teacher have to do with that?" Yuki wondered.

"Miki's my big sister," Piko replied. Yuki widened her eyes in shock. Was that even allowed? "She's the only fifth grade teacher."

"Oh," Yuki mumbled, still a little thrown-off.

"So, Yuki, are you ready?" he wondered, staring at her as he gestured to the classroom door. Yuki nodded and gripped tightly to his hand. "Okay then."

And the door opened.

. . .

"Bye bye!" Yuki called to Haku and Neru as Neru's older sister, the secretary, Lily, began to lead them home. Haku gave a little wave, and Neru nodded with a smirk. The two were herded into a car, and then they were gone, plowing down the road.

In Yuki's hand, Piko's remained. She held onto it tightly, feeling herself grow nervous as her classmates all left, each waving a farewell to her. She waved back and smiled, but she was beginning to grow anxious. She couldn't remember how she was supposed to get home. She'd never planned anything out, had she? She hoped Iroha or Rin would show up and pick her up, but they'd never made any promises.

"Wanna walk home together?" Piko wondered, snapping Yuki out of her anxious daze.

Yuki looked around for Rin or Iroha. "Um, can I wait a little longer?' she dared to request. What if Rin or Iroha came and she was gone?

"Sure, of course," he said, smiling. She offered him a thank you, which he denied being necessary. Then, when another ten minutes or so passed by and the school had completely emptied, Yuki knew she had to admit defeat when he asked, "Miki's gotta do work, so I gotta head out. You coming?"

"Yeah," Yuki mumbled sadly. She'd really hoped somebody would come pick her up. Piko led her back into the school, over to where Miki sat in the classroom, tidying. Miki looked back at them and smiled.

"Ready to go?" she wondered.

Yuki nodded. She'd really been hoping Rin or Iroha would come get her, but Rin had brought her here this morning. That was enough, right?

Right . . . .

Author's Note: First post of the New Year! Sorry I haven't been updating lately. Life's been getting in my way, but I'm back now (I think). Please review because it makes me happy!