Chapter Twenty-Five

I Know You Have a Secret, So Will You Tell Me . . .

"I miss Mizki," Neru sighed, leaning back against Yuki's bed. "It sucks to not get to see that awesome little dude every day. I bet she misses her big sis, too."

Yuki peered carefully at the backs of the cards Haku had spread between her hands and hovered her hand over the furthest left. Watching for any shift in Haku's ever-anxious expression, she let her fingers lightly touch the card. Seeing no shift in Haku, she pulled the card out of her grips and spun it toward herself. She tried not to let her disappointment show when she saw that it was the queen of spades. They were far from done this game, though. She could still win.

"You're not even her big sister, Neru!" Piko snapped, looking to the blonde girl as Yuki offered him her hand of cards. Without paying much mind to what he was doing, he snatched a card at random. Yuki beamed. He'd grabbed the old maid already! She saw the flash of annoyance in his eye when he looked to his new hand before turning to let Neru pick one of his cards. "I'm her big brother."

"Yeah, but she doesn't like you," Neru said casually, reaching immediately for the card he'd just grabbed. Yuki sighed, smiling. Those two weren't even paying attention to the game, were they?

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Neru," Haku warned softly.

Neru whipped her head toward the silver-haired girl and cried, "Don't tell me what to do!" Then, the temperamental girl snatched the queen from Piko's hand, looked at it, and drooped.

"She tried to warn you," Piko chastised. "That's what you get for being stupid."

"Before you attack Piko, Neru," Yuki interrupted, seeing that the girl was getting riled up, "we'll be counting it as trying to cheat and see his cards, so you'll have to forfeit the game."

"What?" Neru exclaimed, outraged. "That's not fair!"

Haku had plucked a card from Neru's hand then, and her eyes filled to the brim with tears as she whined, "No! I didn't mean to grab that one!"

"That was a pretty useless round," Piko remarked just as Yuki perked up at the sound of Iroha talking. Rin must have gotten home, then.

"I'll be right back," she said apologetically, setting her hand face-down on the carpet and standing up. Then, seeing Haku looking at her a little sadly, Yuki quickly grabbed a card at random from the girl and glanced at it. Seven of hearts. She didn't have a seven, so she added it to her hand and headed out of the room.

"I guess I really screwed it up," came Rin's near-whisper, disappointment and pain heavy in her voice. "I really thought things would be better if I apologized. Between you, Yuki, and Kiyoteru, I guess I just got cocky. She had no reason to forgive me, after all. None of you did."

Yuki paused, realizing that maybe she shouldn't have come out to see Rin, but she couldn't help herself from continuing to listen as Iroha murmured, "I want to say that maybe she'll forgive you if you give her time—"

She was cut off by a mirthless laugh from Rin. "I know. Don't bother. I know how Aria is. She broke it off with her childhood friend, after all, after everything happened. Her loyalty is great until you screw her over."

"She really did love you, though, Rin," Iroha said consolingly. Yuki couldn't resist the urge to peer around the corner to gaze into the kitchen, where Rin stood, still clothed in the coat and accessories she'd taken outside, as Iroha stroked her arm and gazed at her sympathetically. "She would have stayed by your side to the end if everything hadn't turned out the way it did."

"Make sure you still go see her, okay, Iroha?" Rin requested, looking away until her eyes fell on the pile of diced vegetables Iroha had been working at. "She's still your friend, and she's already lost three of her closest friends."

"Rin, not even you could keep me away from Aria," Iroha laughed delicately, her face indecisive as she carefully studied Rin's reaction. "She and I really hit it off when you introduced us."

"You never hit it off with my other friends, though," Rin remarked, lifting her hand up to the base of the scarf as it rested on her chest, lingering for a moment before she began to pull it off. Iroha was gazing at her worriedly, so Rin smiled and comforted, "Don't worry, Iroha. I'm fine. I'm over it."

Iroha didn't smile, though, and her eyes had darkened as she stared at Rin and argued, "I don't think anyone will ever be over that, Rin."

Rin's smile grew rueful, and she said quietly, "At least let me pretend that I'm okay, Iroha. It's easier that way."

Iroha stared at her for a moment before murmuring, "Alright." Then, with a smile, she looked toward the vegetables and said, "Let's get to work, shall we?"

Yuki slipped back into her room, knowing better than to ask her mothers about what she'd just heard. She'd heard similar statements before, after all. She'd tried asking Iroha about it before, but the woman had just brushed it off and changed the subject, just like both the women had just done. There was something they didn't want to tell Yuki, and she knew that there was nothing she could say to convince them, so she simply feigned innocence.

"It's your turn, Yuki," Piko informed her as she took a seat on the ground again, folding her legs underneath her so that she sat a little bit taller than usual. She'd picked up that manner of sitting from Neru, who was just a little shorter than her, and it really helped out in making her feel better about her height. She was only as tall as ten big apples, after all, whereas Piko and Haku were both about eleven and a half, Neru coming only to about nine and a half.

Haku was offering her hand out with a sweet smile, so Yuki plucked a card. King of clubs. She paired it with the king of diamonds she was already holding and tossed it in the centre pile. She only had three cards now as she swiveled her body to offer Piko the choice of one of her cards. He took the three of clubs, leaving her with two cards, and tossed his newfound pair into the centre. Neru took one of Piko's five remaining cards and paired it with one of her own. Haku took one of Neru's two remaining, but she had no matches. Yuki took another card, almost unable to hide her aggravation when she saw the queen's face. The game continued until only Piko and Yuki were left, she with the jack of hearts and the queen of spades and he with what must have been a jack.

"I'm bored now," Neru announced as Piko studied Yuki's hand, reaching for the queen. When he grabbed it, she grabbed his other card with a triumphant smile and stuck her tongue out at him. The blonde girl stood and headed toward Yuki's chest of drawers. "I forgot pyjamas, so I'm going to borrow some, okay?"

Yuki felt redness come to her cheeks and looked away from Piko to say, "I'll loan you some when we're going to sleep, so don't go through my stuff." Especially in front of Piko, she silently added to herself.

"What difference does it make?" Neru questioned, looking back with a scowl. She'd already opened the drawers. Then, she smirked, and wondered, "What, do you just have dorky little-kid pyjamas that you don't want Piko to see?"

Piko's cheeks seemed to go just as red as Yuki's at the accusation, and he snapped at her, "Sit down and leave her alone, Neru."

"Um," piped up Haku. Piko and Yuki looked to her curiously as she gazed at her feet. Neru was still going through the drawers, regardless of Yuki and Piko's requests. Haku was fidgeting restlessly, her face bright red, as she wondered, "Piko, um, do you, you know?" Piko and Yuki's heads tilted to side in sync, neither understanding what she was asking. Haku squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment and questioned, "Do you like Yuki, Piko?"

"What?" both Piko and Yuki exclaimed, the completed card game absolutely forgotten as they looked at her in shock. Yuki turned to look at Piko to see his reaction, but he was already staring at her, and it was just so embarrassing, so she quickly looked away.

"D-don't be silly." Yuki laughed painfully. "Pi-chan doesn't like me! We're just really good friends; best friends, right?"

"R-right!" Piko insisted. Yuki flinched. She didn't know why, but it really hurt to hear him say that. There was a sharp tang of disappointment flavouring the tip of her tongue as she curled her hands on her knees and stared at the carpet, unable to look at anyone. "Yuki and I are just friends!"

Just friends. That was exactly what Yuki had said, right, so why did it hurt so much more coming from him?

. . .

"You know, Yuki, you'd have better luck with guys if you had sexy pyjamas," Neru announced that night after supper had finished and Piko had left. Yuki felt a trace of discomfort at that word. She didn't understand how it was Neru could say so many of the things she did so casually.

"We're nine years old, Neru!" Haku argued on Yuki's behalf. "You shouldn't be wearing se- . . . se- . . ." Yuki smiled gratefully at Haku, even more grateful knowing that Haku was just as uncomfortable with the words as she was. "Besides, you're not one to talk! You don't have a boyfriend!"

"That's because boys are all scumbags," Neru reasoned casually, dismissing Haku's comment with a wave of her hand as she lounged across Yuki's bed. Yuki couldn't help but be jealous about how much better her own pyjamas looked on Neru. Despite the kitten print all over the powder pink pants, the way Neru stretched across the bed and allowed the tank top to show just a flash of her stomach made her look so much more grown-up. Yuki couldn't stop the thought that maybe Piko would like her if she looked grown-up like Neru. "That's what my big sis says."

"Len wasn't a scumbag!" Yuki argued, pouting defensively. She loved Len. He would come visit her all the time, and he was really nice and everything.

"There's bound to be a few exceptions, but, trust me, Piko isn't one of them," Neru told her. "I'd give up if I were you. That's what I'm gonna tell Mizki about Ryuto. She's just as obvious as you and Piko."

Yuki's brow furrowed in concentration. "Mizki likes Ryuto?"

Neru sighed. "You and Haku are hopeless. She wouldn't even know you liked Piko if I hadn't told her. Lost causes, the two of you."

"You sound like an old woman," Yuki muttered vengefully, resulting in a pillow to the face that only made her laugh and grin. It didn't surprise her when Neru began throwing pillows at random, soon causing all three girls to get carried away in an over-the-top pillow fight until Iroha came in and told them that it was time to go to sleep.