Chapter 15

I woke up and went to breakfast. It was Sunday. Mine and Kaiko's birthday. I checked my phone with its smashed screen. As if the phone wasn't battered enough, I proceeded to throw it at the wall again. Not one measly message. Not from Mom, not from Dad and not from any 'friends' at home. As stupid and weak as it sounded, I could feel the tears pricking at the sides of my eyes. A little love on my birthday would have been appreciated.

I sighed and got changed. I was finally free of that cursed shirt. I put on a hoodie and sighed dramatically. I then went outside the door where Meiko stood, a large smile on her face.

"Goood morning Kaito!" she sang. I grunted in return and ran a hand through my blue tangles. I smile crossed my face as I thought of Kaiko's happy face when I showed up at the hospital. Realisation suddenly struck me and the smile faded.

"I have no way of getting to the hospital..." I muttered. Well that was a bit of a large oversight... I turned to Meiko with a desperate look on my face.

"Meiko, have you got a car?"

Meiko raised an eyebrow. "No I don't. In fact, no one but that pink haired guy with the hats and cigarettes has a car and he doesn't let people use it too often."

I was out the door before she finished.

I ran outside and behind the wall in the off chance that I'd find Yuma and co.. I did. I came to a sharp stop in front of Yuma, breathing heavily. When I gained back my breath I stood up and looked him straight in the eye.

"Yuma, can I borrow your car?" I asked quickly.

There was a snort from behind him. I peered over his shoulder to see Lily leaning against the wall, watching her shoes. "Yumi doesn't let people use his car, especially weirdos who stand up for stupid dumb girls," she said bitterly. I was about to snap but Yuma did it first.

"Lay off Lily, stop being a bitch." She sneered at him and shot me a nasty look. I had never seen her so hostile before.

Yuma looked back at me with actual curiousity. "Why do you want it?"

I wondered if I should tell him the truth or make up some long winded excuse about this, that and the other. I let out a sigh and went with the truth. "I want to visit my twin sister in the hospital. She has cancer and I want to say happy birthday to her but I can't get there."

Another snort from Lily. "So Kaito hangs out with dumb girls and has a diseased sister? Wow, you're worse than I thought."

"Lily, I said shut the fuck up," Yuma snapped. He turned to me again and looked me up and down, judging me. Then his eyes softened, he gave me a smile and dug around in his pocket before throwing a set of keys at me.

"Go see your sister man. Make sure she knows she's loved. And tell her I said hi and happy birthday." With another smile, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked off. Lily ran after him, banging into my shoulder as she passed me.

I glanced down at the keys in my hand and a huge smile spread across my face. I almost skipped to Shokuhin hall. When I got there, I walked up to the table where Luka was sitting.

"Luka."

She turned around to face me, her mouth so full with food that she had her cheeks puffed out and crumbs all around her face. I laughed when I saw her. She quickly swallowed and gave me a toothy smile.

"Come on. Go wash your teeth and we'll leave then."

She grinned and stood up quickly, running out of the hall. I turned to Meiko, who was giving me a quizzical and slightly annoyed look.

"Where are you going with her? Luka is an innocent soul and if you plan on tainting that innocence in any way, you will answer to me."

I put my hands up in a gesture of reassurance. "I'm taking her to the hospital to see my sister. I asked her yesterday and she said she wanted to go."

Meiko stared at me for a moment, as if she was trying to find some sort of hidden motive. But then she smiled sweetly, which really scared me. "That's sweet, Kaito. Thank you, I think she'll love to meet her."

I smiled back and jogged out of the hall. As I walked out the door, I bumped into Luka, who fell back from the force. I smirked and held out a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully and stood up. We ventured to the car park. I knew which car was Yuma's immediatly. It was shabby and battered, like him.

I unlocked the car and sat into the front seat. Luka sat into the passenger seat. The chairs were creaky, the wheel and handbrake were stiff and there was a layer of cigarette smoke at the top. I doubt he'd notice if I had a fag so I grabbed one from my back pocket and lit it. Once it was in my mouth, I went about starting the car.

Now keep this in mind. I was just gone 17 and had no license or driving experience to speak of. The last time I got into a car, I crashed it and was never allowed touch one again. But I had played plenty of car driving games, so how hard can it be?

As I fiddled with the various levers and buttons, I felt Luka's concerned gaze on me. She tapped my shoulder and showed me a note.

"Mr. Kaito... You can drive, right?"

I could practically hear the nervousness from her note. I tutted and gasped dramatically.

"Of course I can! Look, look. This," I pressed down on the rightmost pedal and the engine made a horrible reving sound. "That's to go. And this one..." I pushed the pedal beside the go pedal, which tightened the wheels. "That one's the stopper. And this..." I pressed down on the one furthest to the left. Nothing happened. I pressed it again, harder. Nothing happened.

"What the fuck is this? Seriously, what the fuck does it do?"

Another tap on my shoulder. "I believe that's the clutch, Mr. Kaito."

"Oh ok... What the fuck does that do?"

Luka let out a sigh. Then she quickly wrote something down and showed me. "Mr. Kaito, perhaps I should drive."

I really wanted to shake my head and tell her I could do it but if I drove, we'd either not get there or we'd get into a car crash and still not get there. So I nodded. "Y-Yeah that might be best. But can you drive?"

She nodded proudly and hopped out of the car and over to the drivers seat. I shuffled over into the passenger seat and sat with my hands on my lap, a look of shame on my face. Luka took hold of the 'clutch', pushed down on the pedals with her feet and drove us out of the car park and down the road. I gave her directions to the hospital and we stopped at a petrol station so I could pick up a shitty card with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!" written on it. Oh well, it's the thought that counts.

The moment we approached the hospital, butterflies began to set in my stomach. I hated hopitals. But that's pretty much a universal hatred. Have you ever heard anyone say "Man, I sure do love me some hospitals."? Didn't think so.

Once we had parked and gotten out of the car, Luka came over and stood by my side. We walked towards the front door. When we were inside, the overwheleming smell of hand sanitiser hit me. The place was too white and too clean. I instinctively grabbed Luka's hand. She looked up, smiled softly and squeezed my hand. I knew I didn't have to give her an explanation.

She completely understood.