It was mid autumn; the leaves flooded the grounds with numerous shades of yellows, oranges and reds, giving the sky a fluorescent tone. She stared out the window of the classroom, chewing on the top of her pen.

"Yuubi-san… Yuubi-san," a voice called out impatiently. She snapped back into reality and turned to face the lean figure, with its hands on its hips, where the voice was coming from. It was Kaoru. "Jeez, Yuubi… I was calling your name for like a full five minutes," he pouted, faced the window and stretched. "Anyways I'm bored; let's go get lunch." He reached over and grabbed her wrist.

"What? Where's Hikaru," she asked, stopping his pull and looking around for the other orange haired boy. Kaoru's vibe felt different today; she didn't know whether to feel concerned or go along with it. There was a subtle air of anxiety that surrounded him. She figured, maybe, it was just the work of her imagination, but it still bothered her.

"He's sick… so he didn't come today…. Now I'm super bored and super hungry, so come on let's go!" This time he pulled her out of her seat and ran towards the cafeteria.

"Ahh wait Kaoru! I have my sandwich in my bag."

"Ugh! Noo way, we aren't going back. I'll just buy for you today," he laughed.

"WHAT?! No way! I'll just eat later then!"

"NO! I'm paying!"

"No! I swear, it's fine"

"Yeah yeah, can you be quiet now? I'm ordering," his expression was blank as he faced the cafeteria lady. "Hi, can I get two orders of steak please. Yeah, the combos for both."

"HEY! No cancel the second order of steak please," she butt in.

"Nah, just ignore her," he said, sticking his tongue out at her.

She finally gave in when it was clear that the lady decided to choose to listen to Kaoru's request instead of hers. "Thanks Kaoru…" she sighed. "Sorry about that…"

"Hehe! Anytime," he laughed, roughly messing up her hair with his hand. "… And why are you sorry? That's what I'm here for! Now let's go sit."He grabbed her by the wrist once again and led her to an empty table. "Eat up," he smiled. "I know you love to eat."

"HAHA! Is it really that obvious," she asked laughing and feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Duh." He stabbed a piece of steak with his fork and put it in his mouth. "Come on! What are you staring at?! Eat!"

"Huh?" She looked at the deliciously cooked medium rare steak in front of her and decided to take a bite. Her eyes lit up instantly, almost forming into hearts. She tried to hide her bliss by taking slower bites and looking down. Her eyes flickered to meet his, who already was staring her. He began to laugh.

"I know it's really good, isn't it? It's my favorite order in the cafeteria… Hikaru always gets the pasta while I always get the steak," he recalled as his eyes shifted towards the side. She watched him momentarily and then, spoke.

"You seem quite different without him around."He looked at her; Haruhi had once told him the same thing. "I mean, it's not a bad thing at all. You seem more mature… but you seem happier around him. He brings out a different side of you... By the way, is he okay?"

"Yeah…" He looked down to his food, gulping down what felt like a large chunk of steak. She leaned down and faced her head up diagonally towards his.

"Ehh… liar…" He pointed his gaze at her; he wore a vulnerable expression. "Your face says he's not… Well if you need to talk to somebody, you can tell me what happened," she reassured.

"Uhh… well… he's not exactly just sick," he looked away from her, not believing that he was about to tell her. Suddenly, a shadow of concern cast over her face. "It's a little more serious than that…"

"Then what…?"

"I didn't want to tell anybody at school or the host members because I didn't want to worry them… But I think I can trust you…" Kaoru paused. "... Well, Hikaru passed out this morning; he had trouble getting up, and at first, I thought he was just being lazy... So I ignored it, then he wouldn't get up, so I ran over to him and saw he was covered in sweat… I got my parents and we immediately called the ambulance, of course, but they forced me to go to school today since I was fine." He covered his face with his hands. "Now he's alone in there and I have no idea what's going on... I'm really worried about him."

She sighed sadly and looked down at her hands, thinking if there was any way for her to possibly help him. On instinct, her warm hands rested over his. He looked up her, who was now smiling gently at him. "Do you want to find out?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want to find out?"

"… How?" His facial expression became doubtful.

"Do you know which hospital he's in? and the room?"

"Umm yeah. It's the one on Brookers street. But how is that –" Before he could finish his sentence, she grabbed him by the arms and pulled him out of the cafeteria, throwing away their finished food on her way out. "Where are we going," he asked as she dragged him outside of the campus.

"Going to check on Hikaru obviously! How much do you got?"

"Umm… A lot…" he hestated.

"Ok!" She let go of him and ran into the street.

"Hey! Where are you – that's dangerous," he shouted running after her.

"Get inside," she had flagged a taxi, soon pushed him inside and followed behind, taking a seat on the worn out leather seat of the car. "To the hosipital on Brookers please." He just stared at her in awe and surprise. He didn't know how to express his appreciation to her. When she looked over at him and smiled, he immediately shifted his gaze away from her and towards the outside of the taxi window; his cheeks tinted with an extra shade of pink.