Chapter 13

Ispent the rest of the day hanging around with Meiko. I found that when she wasn't beating people up for hurting Luka, she could be very childish, running around and squealing randomly. Nearing 5 pm, we went to the car park and waited for Luka to return.

"You know, Kaito," Meiko said suddenly. "You're not as terrifying as you try to make yourself seem. When you came in, you seemed like this real rough guy and I was honestly quite intimidated. You want to know when I realised you had feelings?"

I snorted at that sentenced but gesture for her to continue. "It was when you stood up for Luka that day in the Shokuhin hall. Although your language wasn't fabulous, you did stand up for Luka, despite her disability."

I gazed down at my shoes, imagining Kaiko's smiling face. Even through her sickness, she managed to keep that smile and even pass it on to people who needed it. "Let's just say I know what it feels like," I muttered, not elaborating.

Meiko gave me a confused look and was about to ask me something but a loud honk interuppted her. She looked up to see a battered black car making its way into the carpark. Sticking her head out the window and waving madly was Luka. The car pulled to a stop in front of us and Meiko ran over to give Luka a hug.

Luka caught hold of Meiko's arm and pulled her over to the boot of the car, where she showed her something. Meiko gave Luka a confused look and Luka pointed at me, then back to the stuff in the boot. Luki came out of the car and whispered something into her ear. Meiko's eyes widened and she looked at me in shock before giggling. I was beginning to get very confused as all three of them whispered and giggled, sneaking looks at me.

Eventually, Luki clapped his hands together loudly, announcing his departure. Luka smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his chest. Luki rested his head on Luka's, whispering and rocking her back and forth. When he let go, he gave a quick hug to Meiko, a quick wave to me and got into the car. He started the engine and drove off, Luka waving at the car until you couldn't see it anymore. She and Meiko picked up the bags left on the ground and began walking back to me.

I gave Luka a small grin, which she happily returned. I tried to sneak a peak in the bags but Luka slapped by head away, tutting.

"Come on, we've got to hurry!" Meiko announced. Luka grinned, nodding her head happily but I raised an eyebrow.

"Why are we hurrying?" I asked.

Meiko groaned and Luka rolled her eyes. "The dance, Kaito! The dance!" Meiko reminded me. Realisation dawned on me and I suddenly felt really stupid.

When we reached the dorms, the other four girls were running around, doing hair and trying on dresses. Miku was back from her trip with her parents and her eyes lit up when she saw Meiko and Luka. She practically dragged them into their cubicle and shut the door behind her. I walked slowly into my dorm and lay down on the bed.

The door was flung open and Gakupo marched in. His eyes landed on me and I can't tell whether they lit up or narrowed. Maybe a bit of both.

"Come on, you gotta get dressed!" he yelled. I glanced down at my clothes. Hoodie, jeans and crummy runners. Not too shabby.

"Can't I wear this?" I complained. Gakupo looked at me like I asked if I could go wearing a banana suit.

"Are you crazy?! At least put on a shirt!"

"I don't think I own one..."

With an exasperated sigh, Gakupo walked over to his wardrobe and opened. Inside were thousands of shirts and hundreds of pairs of jeans. I don't think he owned one hoodie! Or tracksuit! Gakupo, I need to introduce you to the world of comfortable clothing...

He stared long and hard at the many selections of shirts, back at me and back at the shirts. Am I doing something wrong? I felt like I was being examined closely for any faults. It was creeping me out.

Eventually he threw a grey shirt at me and told me to get changed. He left the room while I got dressed. Fuck, I didn't know how you were meant to wear a shirt if it wasn't for school. I stared at the item of clothing in my hands before putting it on. The amount of ways I tried! All buttons buttoned, the top button left unbuttoned, two buttons left unbuttoned. No matter how I wore it, I felt like I was being choked.

"Uh, Gakupo?" I called. "Ho-How do you wear the shirt?"

There was a loud groan from outside and Gakupo stormed in, complete despair written on his face.

"Name of God... Have you never worn a shirt outside school before?" he asked.

I shook my head and stared back down at the foreign object I was wearing. It was so uncomfortable!

"Undo the top button, don't tuck it into your jeans... Kaito, stop making that face! This is necessary!"

After much huffing and sighing from the both of us (I was doing the huffing, Gakupo was doing the sighing) I finally looked presentably. Though I still felt like I was being choked, it wasn't that bad. I didn't have to wear a tie, so that was a plus...

As I was about to leave, Gakupo called my name again. I though he was going to tell me that I needed to brush my hair or change my shoes but his face looked serious as he stared down at the ground.

"Usually, at these discos, I dance with Luka. This year, I wanted to say-"

I put my hands up quickly, hoping that he wasn't going to attack me. "It's okay! You can dance with her, I wasn't going to, I swear! Please, I don't have any romantic feelings towards Luka and I'm not going to steal her from you!"

"No, dumbass!" Gakupo yelled, his face going red. "If I liked Luka, I think I'd have to kill myself. She's like a baby sister to me and liking her would be wrong and gross and... Ew!" He made a face of disgust before calming down and looking at me seriously again. "No, I wanted to say that I want you to dance with her tonight."

I looked up in shock, waiting for him to explain. Gakupo cleared his throat and smiled sadly. "Luka has this idea in her head that no one really likes her. She thinks she's a chore and an inconvenience. As a favour to me, Meiko and Miku... Would you try and show her she isn't."

Kaiko's face flashed in my mind. When we were ten, Kaiko went into relapse. It was serious, the doctors didn't even know if she was going to make. Mom and Dad tried everything they could think of, literally flinging money at the doctors to try different operations. But nothing would work. I went to visit her one night, just her and I in the room. As I sat in beside her on the bed, holding her ice-cold hand, she uttered the words that will haunt me till my dying day.

"Maybe it's best that I die, y'know. I won't be such an inconvenience to you, Mommy and Daddy. You'll get to make friends, have a normal life, not be weighed down with my illness. Yes... I think it's best if I go..."

Luckliy, Kaiko made it. She recovered and was fitter than ever. But seeing her that night, tears running down her face and saying that it was better if she died... It broke my heart. Dad always told me that men have to be strong, boys don't cry but, that night, I broke into tears, sobbing and crying. No one but me knows that Kaiko wanted to die. Now, hearing that Luka feels the same way, I wanted to do something about it.

I looked up at Gakupo and nodded solemnly. "I'll do it."

Thank you to reviewers:

-Sheepy

-Kegi Springfield

-karenanzora 09

-Ambokiko

-Sal The Happs Dude T3T

-Dwarfsniper

iNSaNiTY will not be updated this week guys. I don't know if Behind the Mask will be either. My aunt passed away this week and I didn't have a lot of free time. Next week this story, Behind the Mask, iNSaNiTY and a surprise LuKaito story will all be updated.