Chapter 55

Gumi.

I changed into my old clothes and said goodbye to Yuma.

"You sure you don't want me to drop you off?" He frowned, standing by me at his doorstep.

I nodded. "I'm sure," I said, "Besides, you're going to clean up that mess, right?"

I was referring to the mud and water that I had left behind all over his floor and stairs. It had formed a path from the door, up the stairs, and into his room.

"Yeah, I need to do that," he frowned, "My mom's going to freak out if she sees it."

"I'll help," I said. Yuma shook his head.

"She'll freak out even more if she sees you," he said quietly, "It's fine, I'll do it. Besides, you're hurt. Go home and rest, okay?"

I sighed. "Alright," I gave him a quick kiss and limped down the steps and out onto the street. The sun was peeking past the dissipating storm clouds, and people were closing their umbrellas and taking their raincoats off.

The weather was so nice that I felt like going for a run, but the pain in my ankle instructed me otherwise. I sighed. Maybe taking a break wouldn't be so bad. I wouldn't be able to run for at least a few days, I figured. Suddenly, images of Yuma carrying me around drifted into my imagination. I shook my head as my heart began to pound.

Not again, Gumi...

Meiko.

"Hey!" I yelled at my older sister, Maiko, as she left the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn in her hands, "What about me?"

Maiko frowned at me, sitting down in front of the television and popping a kernel into her mouth. "Nobody's stopping you, Meiko. Come and get it."

I crossed my arms, dropping my phone from my hands and onto the sofa cushion, "Hmph."

In one swift movement, Maiko snatched up my phone and grinned evilly at me.

"Hey, give that back!" I tried to take it from her as she scrolled through my pictures.

"Ooh, who's this handsome fella?" She raised an eyebrow and clicked on a picture of Mikuo. I slumped.

"That's...my boyfriend," I muttered. Maiko hooted with laughter, throwing her head back, shoulders shaking.

"You have a boyfriend?" She stifled her laughter, "For real?"

"H-Hey, he asked me out, you know! We went to the movies yesterday! Besides, you said so yourself that he's handsome!"

Maiko's freaky grin turned into a gentle smile. She ran a hand through her long, light brown hair. "Yeah, he's cute," she said, "Maybe I'm just jealous."

I snickered. "Too bad, he's mine!"

"W-Well, maybe you can make him my future brother-in-law? That's the next best thing, you know!"

I made a face, "That's a bit too far in the future, isn't it?"

Maiko gave me the bowl of popcorn. "The future is never far."

I grabbed a handful of popcorn. If Maiko was trying to get me thinking about marriage or something weird like that, then it wasn't working.

"Hey, I'm just kidding, okay?" Maiko said after a while.

"I know!" I yelled, "Did you really think that I'd take your comment seriously?"

Maiko just shrugged. I sighed. She was probably the only person who could rile me up like that.

Rin.

"Here's my mom, just a few years after she finished high school," I showed Len a photograph of my mother, who was at that time a skinny, freckled blonde with the brightest blue eyes that I had ever seen.

Len and I were in a room on the first floor of my house, a room that was filled with photographs, both old and new, of my family. We sat on a sofa that was in one corner of the room, an olive green structure that was classy in design and very comfortable.

"She looks a lot like you," Len remarked, "Except I like you way more."

"Way to make an awkward comment, Len!" I smacked him on the shoulder playfully and put the picture away, pulling out another one from a large stack, "This is me, in kindergarten. My mom and dad were still together back then..."

"That probably makes you miss them even more, huh?" Len squeezed my shoulder.

I nodded. "Back when they were both still happy, they used to talk to each other and to me. After my mom left, my dad sort of...disappeared, too, you know. He calls every now and then, but that's about it. It's almost as though he's just a voice now, or a ghost."

I put my picture away as Len hugged me. "I swear, I'll never let you be lonely again," he said.

"I know," I whispered, "You're not like that. There's something about you...I don't know what it is exactly, but it seems as though you've always been there for me, even though we've only really known each other for less than a week."

"Do you have any pictures with your whole family in them?" Len asked, "You haven't shown me your father, either. If you don't want to, that's fine, too..."

I shook my head. "No, I've been meaning to. My happiest memories are in those photographs, and it's nice to have someone to share my feelings with. Nobody at school even knows about my mother, and I try to keep it that way."

"You told me," Len said, "Did it really just slip out of your mouth, or were you that comfortable around me?"

I paused. "A little bit of both," I said, "But you're the only one who knows."

"Don't worry," Len said, "I won't tell anyone."

Nodding, I flipped through the pictures and found a good one, smiling at the memories that were related to the picture. It was a photo of me and my parents at a park, having a barbecue. We were all grinning from ear to ear. I held a ball in my small hands, and my mother wore a huge sun hat that cast a dark shadow over the upper half of her face. My father stood beside her, his blond hair sticking out in all directions and a skewer in his hand.

"This is from when I was seven," I handed the picture to Len, smiling almost as broadly as I was smiling in the image. He stared at it for a long moment, his brow creased, as if he was concentrating on something.

"It's...nice," he said slowly. I leaned towards him and kissed him slowly, pushing him back onto the sofa cushions. He pulled away quickly.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Maybe he wasn't in the mood. That didn't seem right. I tried to get back onto the topic of the picture, "We were having a barbecue. That's me, the cutie in front, and that's my mom, Shiki, and my dad, Ren. They used to be so happy together."

Len sighed, pushing his hair back with one hand, eyes still on the picture. "Yeah, it looks like that," he said slowly.

"Len, is something wrong?"

He looked at me blankly, as though I was trying to communicate with him in a foreign language. Slowly, he shook his head.

"N-No, it's just...I remembered something," he stammered, turning away, "I needed to be home, like, half an hour ago."

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at the time, nodding quickly.

"Oh," I frowned, "I didn't know that..."

"I-It's okay," Len said quickly, getting up, "I totally forgot, it's my fault."

I stood up and silently walked to the door with Len.

"I guess I'll see you later?" I asked quietly. Len kept checking the time on his phone, and his eyes were darting this way and that. His jaw was taut, and he was scraping the heel of his shoe impatiently against the ground.

"Yeah, I'll...see you," he smiled weakly, "Take care, okay?"

I grabbed him before he could turn and leave. I kissed him again, my tongue vying for entry into his mouth, but he held back.

"I'm sorry, Rin," he pulled away gently, blushing more than I ever had, "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

He ran off, waving as he disappeared down the street. I waved back slowly and sighed.

Great. Maybe I was too eager, I thought, nice going, Rinny.

Len.

"Mom!" I yelled, slamming the entrance door shut. The kitchen was quiet and empty. There was a note stuck on the refrigerator.

We're almost out of eggs, and you weren't picking up your phone, so I've gone to get them.

I ripped the note the shreds and ran upstairs, locking myself in my room. I threw myself onto my bed and let out a loud cry, something that was a cross between a scream and a wail.

The world was a horrible place.