Chapter Twelve

-Miku-

"Miku! This is important! All of your vacation money has been… Stolen!" Kaito shouts in between hoarse breaths. I let out a shocked gasp as he stops in the doorway to catch his breath. I can suddenly feel Piko's hand supportively on my shoulder. His firm grip sends a chilled rush throughout my body.

"Miku, you'd better go, this sounds really bad. We'll talk later, 'kay?" he tells me, his fingers finding their way into my hair, intertwining through the teal long strands that fall delicately around my shoulders, tied up into two twin tails. I nod my head, secretly shocked by the unexpected touch.

"Miku, what are you doing with… P-Piko Utatane?" Kaito asks. Uh-oh. He thinks we're dating or something. I'd better fix this.

"Nothing, I'll explain later, just tell me about the money!" I shout. Piko lets go of me, eyeing Kaito. I swallow deeply as I see that Kaito returns the look with a fiery glare that sort of frightens me. I've never seen Kaito go as far as even frowning at anyone.

"Luka really wants to talk to you about this. She said that her money was gone from her suitcase. When Rin and Gumi checked theirs, they saw that they didn't have any money either, they started freaking out. Now, they want you to come home right away and check yours. It's extremely important," Kaito says with wide eyes, clenching his fists together.

"Oh my gosh," I mutter, "This is impossible. We couldn't have been pickpocketed… Who would do that?" I ask, my eyebrows narrowing in confusion.

"I don't know. I only know what they told me. They're kind of freaking out right now, and they need you to be home so that they can come up with a plan. I'm also assuming that you guys can't just leave now, since changing the plane flight date would cost tons of money," he sighs, shaking his head worriedly. He brings his head up to his forehead in stress. "Oh, Miku, I just hope you guys will be okay," he sighs. I gulp for what seems to be the tenth time.

"Um, Piko, I really should be going now. My friends need me," I say, touching his shoulder lightly as our lips curve down into a frown.

"I understand. Come by and visit me any time. I'll always be willing to lend you guys some money, as long as you need it," he offers, with a smile that makes me feel as if I can really trust him… No Miku, you can't be thinking like this!

"Alright, Piko. I can't even say how much I appreciate it," I say, closing my eyes softly as my shoulders sink into sadness.

"Yeah," he whispers, holding my stare as I fall into the infinite depth of his eyes… one being emerald, and the other one being inexplicably azure. Our daze is broken by the sound of Kaito clearing his throat impatiently.

"Miku, do you want to help your friends or not?" he asks, craning his neck toward me irritably.

"Yeah, sorry Kaito," I say, tugging on the bottom of my dress as I follow him out of the door. "See you later, Piko-san," I say, not even bothering to look back.

Back there… What had just happened? I ask myself, trying to make sense of the situation. I just talked to someone who I hadn't even seen in years… And now he's incredibly different than he was before, I think, following behind Kaito as he trudges furiously across Piko's yard. He's stronger… Physically… and socially… before, he didn't even have the nerve to talk to me… Except for that one day when he gave me the necklace… I guess one sentence was all I was ever able to get out of him…

He gave you that necklace, a part of me reminds me, not allowing me to forget. He loves you, Miku, the voice concludes. I take a deep breath as we begin walking onto the pathway of our house. I shove the thoughts away, stepping on each one as I make my way up the porch steps. Kaito knocks on the door.

"Alright, they should answer. I've gotta get back to my house. We're just down the street, if you need to talk with either me or Len," he offers with a sigh. He seems to be a little bit calmer, which relieves me.

"Thank you Kaito," I say, waiting outside the door for someone to answer. I watch him walk off, leaving me alone in front of the big, closed door. The wind circles around me, picking up my hair and carrying it along with it.

Suddenly, the door swings open, revealing Luka, who has a red face stricken with uneasiness and stress. "Oh, Miku, I'm so glad you're back," she says, taking my hand and lightly pulling me into the house. "This is terrible. Did Kaito tell you?" she asks as I take off my shoes.

"Yeah," I reply.

"We need to think of a way to fix this. Rin and Gumi are upstairs. Here, come with me. We'll explain to you every last detail of how this happened," she sighs as I follow her up the steps. "Don't bother unpacking. We might not be able to stay."

Could it really be that bad? So bad that we can't even celebrate in Paris?

Sorry that this chapter is so short. Kaito is getting jelly... Piko is getting protective... Miku is getting stressed... This probably won't end well (I mean, of course it will, but there's no way it's going to be sunshine and rainbows in the next chapters, if you get what I'm sayin'). Okay, so I'm planning for the characters and their pairings to link and connect with each other a little bit more... Like, Rin and Len have a little secret that neither of them even knows about (Remember Oliver on the airplane... *hint hint*). Wow, I give spoilers too often. Gumi still has to get introduced to Piko, and Luka still has to... well, that'll be the next chapter when they figure out the details of their plan.

Happy new years! 2014 :)