Hi, minna! Glad you're all enjoying my story so far. I know the pace may be going a little slow, but I promise things will soon pick up. This chapter is dedicated to @Yuzuki-. Stay awesome!

I was running down stairs, feeling overly excited to see the person I truly missed. My tiny legs carried me as fast as they could. When I reached the bottom, I stopped with my excitement falling to disappointment. Instead of seeing the person I haven't seen in days, I only saw a man I never saw before, standing in the kitchen right next to my mom. She was slouching over the wooden table, eyes puffy and wet. Why was she crying?

"Mommy?" I finally spoke. "Where is daddy?" By asking that, her face turned more sad. She looked down, covering her face as she sobbed. I couldn't understand what was going on. The strange man stepped forward.

"You are Jack Suzuki's daughter, I presume?" He stated in a calm, controlled voice.

"Y-yes?" I answered shyly. For some reason, I was afraid of this stranger in my house. What did he do to my mom to make her sad? "I am deeply sorry to tell you this, but your father..."

I was being pulled out of the darkness by this beeping sound repeating in my head. My arm automatically slammed the button on my clock, killing the alarm. I rose out of my sheets like a zombie. When I yawned and rubbed my eyes, I felt something wet. I wiped my cheeks and looked down at the smeared tears on my skin. Was I crying in my sleep? It was strange. Even though I felt sad when I've woken up, I couldn't remember what the dream was about.

***

I went down stairs and was welcomed with the smell of sweet pancakes. My mom was settling a fresh stack on the table with Rin already sitting there.

"Good morning." I yawned as I pulled a chair out.

"Morning, sweetie. Had a good sleep?" She asked in a very cheery mood, quite different from mine.

"I guess..."

I stabbed a pancake with my fork and dropped it on my plate. After I spread the butter and was about to apply syrup, Rin spoke. "Hey mom, can I go to the Firework Fall Festival with my friends this year?"

"Will their parents be with them?" She asked.

"No. But I told them that you would be supervising us." Way to be considerate, Rin.

"Mm... I don't know, baby. I have an important art show on that day. Maybe your sister can take you."

My head snapped towards her direction. "But mom, I'm planning on going with Lizz and all of my other friends to the festival." I complained.

"Well then you can let Rin and his friends tag along."

"But mom, that's so not fair! Why can't it just be me and my friends?"

"Because Rin and his friends are too young to go by themselves. Don't worry, while Rin's playing with his friends, you can keep an eye on them while you're with your friends. I'm sure they won't get in the way."

"But I don't want to babysit them!"

"I'm twelve, and I prefer the term 'hang out' than play." Rin got in the conversation, like I would actually care what he says.

"Now that's enough out of you two!" My mother snapped, turning away from the hot stove. "I don't want to hear any more complaints. You can all either go together, or you can just stay home. Do I make myself clear?"

My brother was frightened by our mother's wrath that he immediately shut up and sat straight, but I, on the other hand, just stared back at my pancakes and huffed. "Fine." I replied with my own attitude.

I couldn't believe this. For the first time I get to actually hang out with my friends at the festival without my family and Rin just had to ruin everything. The family decisions always had to go according to to my little brother. It was just so not fair.

***

"It's okay, I wouldn't mind." Lizz assured me with a smile. When we entered our school's hallway, I was just about done telling her the worst part of my morning.

"Yeah, I'm sure you won't mind, but everyone else will be bothered by it. It's so not cool babysitting while hanging out with friends!"

"That's okay. Last night, Yuri and Mia told me that they had dates, so it's just gonna be you and me." She said as we began walking up the stairs."

"Yeah. You, me, and several annoying pests." To be honest, I was slightly relieved that they wouldn't be grouping with us, because I wouldn't want to cramp their style by bringing a bunch of kids.

"Oh don't worry, it'll be fun." Lizz tried to cheer me up with a smile. I smiled back a fake smile.

"Wait, since when did Mia started dating?" I asked.

"You know Riley? she told me that he confessed to her over the weekend and now they're going out."

Whoa, so that makes two of my friends going out. Pretty soon, Lizz might even find a guy, and then I would be the odd one out in the group. The last of us to get a boyfriend, that is if I'll ever find a boyfriend.

When we reached the second floor, coming down from the hallway straight towards us was Yuri, her her black braids riding from the back of her head.

"Hey, Yuri. What's up?" Lizz greeted.

"Hey, did you know that we have two new students in our school today?" She asked with excitement. Lizz and I both exchanged looks. This was our first time hearing about it.

"No." I replied.

"Well one of them is in our class. Although the other one is a year above us, he's really cute." A new boy in our school? I wondered what this new senpai would be like. Was he good looking? Was he charming? "They're in our classroom right now if you want to go ahead and meet them."

"Sure. Class is about to start anyways." I said, already getting a head start from them. I didn't know why I was getting so excited about meeting this boy I never met before. Maybe this could be my chance to finally get Kaito out of my mind. To meet someone new.

When we entered the classroom, there was already a crowd of students surround a single desk, small conversations leaking out of the group.

"Is that where our new classmate is?" I asked, pointing at the spot concentrated with people.

Yuri shook her head. "No. That's just her brother. The new kid is sitting over there." She pointed at a girl who was sitting all the way across the classroom, sitting next to the window. She had long dark brown hair and pale skin. She was just sitting there by herself, starring off into space with her head resting on her hand.

"Why isn't anyone talking to her?" I asked, wondering why she was so alone. Normally, people would go up to the new student in our class, not an upper class man.

"I don't know. She seems really quiet." Was the new guy really that popular that fast, that he would have all these students turn away from the new girl?

I was quite curious to see what all the fuss was about. I scooted my way in as some people moved aside. When I was finally face to face with this new student, I was immediately taken by surprise. "Ah! It's you!" I shouted, pointing at the silver head before me.

He looked at me and smiled. "Hello. My name is Killua Zoric. It's nice to meet you." He politely greeted.

What was he doing here? I didn't expect to see him again, and definitely not here at my school. What was with the act all of a sudden? I soon became aware of all the eyes staring at us. I looked down at the hand he held out in front of me. I was awkward about it, but was mostly obligated to shake his hand, so that was what I did.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said, hoping to sound a little convincing for the audience. "Um... Shouldn't you be in your own classroom?"

"Class hasn't started yet. I'm just here to make sure that my sister is settled in.

I looked back at the lonely girl, then back to Mr. Popular. So he's her brother, I thought.

"Who are you, my teacher?" He joked. The students around him laughed. I grew infuriated.

"Who am I? You know well who I am you-"

The bell rang, blocking the last of my sentence. The teacher walked in right on cue. All of the students dispersed, getting into their seats, as did I.

The teacher walked in front of Killua. "Excuse me, young man. I believe your classroom is down the hall." He said politely.

Killua shrugged off our teacher's comment and got off his seat. "That's all right. I was just leaving." He said casually with his eyes closed. He started walking, but before he went out through the door and turned around with a smile. "See ya, Alluka!" He said to his sister.

She turned towards him, and for the first time, I saw her glow a smile. "Bye, Oniichan!" She waved at him as he entered the hallway.

Once Killua was gone, Mr. Daichi placed his briefcase on his desk and began to speak. "Good morning, class. Now, as you all may have already known, we have a new student in our class, and I expect all of you to treat her nicely." He turned his gaze towards Alluka. "Ma'am, if you please," Alluka stood up and stiffly proceeded towards the green chalkboard in the room.

She turned around holding her hands together, looking at the class nervously. She took a deep breath. "Hello. My name is Alluka Zoric, and I am looking forward to learning with you and being friends with you. Thank you." She bowed her head towards the class. Once the formal introduction was finished, she returned to her new assigned seat. She seemed very nervous to be the new kid at our school, that was understandable. I guess she was just shy.

*****************************

After first period, it was time for gym. As Lizz and I walked through the doors of the girls' locker room, we could hear conversations flying over the lockers.

"That Killua is so hot." A girl squealed.

"And he's mysterious too!" Another girl added on to the topic.

Everyone seemed so interested in the new guy that I didn't understand what was the big deal. He was just a new student, nothing else.

"So what do you think about this Killua person?" Lizz asked me as we stopped in front of our lockers.

"I don't know, I barely know the guy." I said in annoyance of actually talking about him. "We just met him, remember?"

"Well yeah, but word is no one actually knows anything about him." She whispered closely.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard that even the teachers don't know which school he transferred from. I mean, it's possible he's been homeschooled, but they won't give the details of where he's from. The dude himself is a locked diary. He won't tell anything about himself to anyone." This got me thinking about yesterday, when we asked him questions that he didn't answer straight. He must be trying really hard to pull off the tough guy who plays hard to get. Or maybe he was trying to hide something, but what?

"Well, it's none of our business, so it's best not to dwell in it too much."

********************

It was warm and slightly cloudy outside today. I still found it weird that Lizz would still wear her hat even in gym. We were on our way to the track to do some warm ups when something flashed at my right eye. I winced at the source and spotted something shinny reflecting the sun's light at me near the wall of the building. Someone was standing behind it, but who was signaling light at me?

While Lizz wasn't looking, I slipped away and followed my curiosity. As I walked closer to the building, the light stopped deflecting. I turned around the corner, only to find that there was nobody there. Just the tree and the water station attached to the side of the building. Maybe what I saw was just my imagination.

I turned around, when suddenly, a hand covered my mouth while the other quickly wrapped around my waist, forcing my back against someone's body.

"Shh!" The person whispered into my ear. "Don't freak out, and don't make too much noise. I just need to talk to you alone."

My heart was beating fast. This was the second time someone has attacked me this week. I wasn't going to be a damsel in distress this time.

I moved my head forward then forcefully flinged back against the other guy's face. He immediately released his hold on me and cried in agony. As I swiftly turned around and held my fists up, embracing myself to fight, my eyes blinked. The person bending down on the ground while holding his nose in pain was Killua.

"What was that for...?" He groan.

I threw my fists down angrily. "That was for scaring me, you creeper!" I snapped back at him. He rubbed his nose, muttered something that wasn't audible, then slowly stood back up.

"I'm not a creeper!" He yelled back angrily.

"Then what the hell were you trying to do?"

"I needed to talk to you in private." He said. I was still fuming, but when he calmed down, the look on his face when he said that was honest and sincere. Could he be serious about something?

"Why do you need to talk to me in private?" I asked suspiciously, still not fully convince on what he was trying to do.

"Because too many people get around me. Plus..." He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's sort of embarrassing."

I waited, giving him my full attention. After a few seconds, he clapped his hands together and partially bowed his head. "Please be my sister's friend!" He asked  quickly.

Five seconds past before I responded. "Huh?" I tilted my head.

Killua lowered his hands and looked at me in the eyes. "Well, you see... Alluka has been homeschooled for a long time, and she doesn't have any friends. I'm a little worried about her, but we're in different classes. I need someone who can get closer to her when I'm not around."

Wow. I never took him as the overly protective older brother type, considering that he was stealing all of the attention earlier in class when that could've been the perfect opportunity for Alluka to make friends.

"I see. You just need someone to be your eyes and ears while you're not around. But why does it have to be me?" I inquired

Killua's eyes darted around the ground. "I'm just worried about the kinds of influence other people would have on her. You seem like a really nice person."

Whoa, did he just give me a compliment? Not only that, but he does seem genuinely worried about his little sister. Maybe he was a nice guy after all.

"Plus there's still that favor you owe me, so consider this as your repayment."

And that just killed it. Maybe he was just asking me because he knew that I would be a lot easier to negotiate with because of that debt I wanted to pay him earlier. Well too bad, buddy, 'cause guess what? My pay was already due. And I'm not the kind of person who just gives away friendship.

"Sorry bud, but we're already even, remember? Just go ask someone else, okay?" I said as I turned around and waved him off. "Now if you excuse me, I have P.E. to catch up to.

"Suki, wait!"

That nerve of that guy asking me a favor when he doesn't even remember my name. "It's Yuki!" I snapped back as I whipped my head around. All of a sudden, my anger disappeared when I saw him kneeling on all fours, his silver hair covering his eyes.

"Please. I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I am asking you just this one thing." He said.

His character suddenly changed. Who was this person kneeling before me? He was completely different from the guy who seemed full of himself this morning. I barely knew him, not sure if I could even trust him, but could I really turn down someone who was willing to beg on his knees?

I sighed. "So Alluka's in my P.E. class as well, right?" His head shot up with his eyes gleaming with hope. "Okay... I'll try to be her friend." Killua's face then grew an opened smile. He got up and patted me on the shoulders.

"Thanks, Yumi! I knew I could count on you."

"And it's Yuki," I corrected. "Seriously. If I'm gonna be your sister's friend, you could at least know my name." Out of nowhere, a sudden thought popped into my head. "Say, don't you have a class that should be starting right now?"

"Don't worry, I skipped it." He said, as if it wasn't a big deal. First day of school and already skipping class. Wow, he must've been a delinquent from his last school.

"I'm not even going to ask." I said.

"Good." We both turned around and started parting ways. "Oh yeah! There's one more thing." I turned around and was almost surprised to see his once cheerful face transformed into a solid look of seriousness. "If Alluka makes any requests, come find me as soon as you can once you've completed the first request."

What was he talking about? Requests? Where did that come from, and why did it matter? "Uh... Okay. Why-"

"Just find me." He said, then turned around and started walking off. I was so confused by what he meant by that, and why he was he so serious about it. Killua, you are a man full of mysteries.