Chapter 93

Oliver.

I was sitting in class during the last period of the day, and I couldn't stop looking at the time. There was only twenty minutes left before the day's end. Twenty minutes before I had to approach Ms. Yowane.

I had to stall her. Len had promised that he would arrive no later than fifteen minutes after the bell. The airport was far, and going and coming back in a few hours was no small feat.

"How am I supposed to keep her busy for fifteen minutes?" I groaned, resting my head in my hands.

I hadn't told Haku about Rin and Len's issue. I would've, but she had enough on her mind already, not to mention the fact that it was something that the two ought to discuss with her themselves.

"Psst," Neru poked me from behind with a pencil. I groaned and rolled my eyes. This was the only class we shared.

"What?" I hissed, turning around.

"I dropped my eraser," Neru smiled. I slumped and looked down by my chair's legs.

"There's like, twenty erasers here!" I whispered. Apparently, erasers were the most commonly lost stationery items.

"It's the one that looks like your head!" Neru hissed.

"Okay, one that...," I paused and looked back at Neru, "What?"

"It's a big, yellow circle, idiot!" She frowned. I grit my teeth and spotted the eraser almost immediately.

"Here," I said, slamming it down onto her desk, "Looks like my head...stupid..."

Neru let out a whistle. "Somebody's burning with anger," she teased, "You need a Slurpee."

"What the hell is a Slurpee?"

"Wow, have you really never had a Slurpee before?" Neru looked at me inquisitively, with her head tilted to one side and her lips pouted, "Are you serious? Have you been living under a rock, Oliver?"

"If you're not going to tell me what it is, then leave me alone," I growled.

"It's like a snow cone, but not really," Neru offered.

"Oh, that really helps," I rolled my eyes, "What's a snow cone?"

Neru stifled a laugh. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," I said through grit teeth.

"Like, shaved ice with sweet syrup. Fruit flavoured shaved ice, in a cup so that you can drink it," Neru made some gross slurping sounds, "With a straw."

"That sounds stupid."

"It'll give you brain freeze," she said, "You've never had a Slurpee before."

"So what?" I snapped.

"That's sad," she said quietly, "Hey, I should get you to try one!"

"N-No thanks," I turned away and she pulled my collar, nearly choking me.

"Come on, after school!"

"Ack! Let go!" I screamed. Students turned to look at us.

"Not until you make a deal!"

"A deal?"

"That you'll come with me and have a Slurpee! You're always so serious, you need one!"

"Okay, okay, just let me go, you crazy person!"

Her hands slipped away and I fell forward, hitting my face on the desk.

"Today," Neru sang, "After school!"

I seethed silently.

Len.

"How much longer?" I frowned, furrowing my brow.

"About three minutes," Doris said.

"It's been ten minutes since the bell went," Gumi said, looking at Yuma's wristwatch. I nodded.

"It's okay, Len," Rin smiled, "If we can't get to her in time..."

"No, we have to," I said quickly, "We have every right to know, so why shouldn't we? Why should we live under an illusion?"

"What if it's not an illusion?" Rin said, "You're the one who said that we probably really are siblings."

"That won't change anything," I said, "There's a hunger inside me, Rin, and it's a hunger for the truth."

Rin rested her head on my shoulder. "I understand," she said, "I guess it's true. I want to know the truth, too. I just don't want you to stress out over it."

"We're almost here!" Yuma said, "See, there's the street where my house is..."

"Hurry, Kai!" Rin urged the driver to go faster, "We're almost there!"

"Kai, his name's Kai?" Gumi frowned, "That's like, half of 'Kaito!'"

Rin giggled. "Hey, that's true! Now that you mention it, he looks sort of like a grown up Kaito..."

I sucked in a breath, listening to their conversation, watching as we sped up to the school. As soon as the car stopped, I threw the door open and took Rin's hand, pulling her out.

Throngs of students stampeded out of school and I pulled Rin close, pressing her against my chest so that she wouldn't fall over.

Rin.

"You're tired," Len said, looking down at me. His cobalt eyes burned with adrenaline and affection, "It's okay."

"Hey!" Gumi whistled and we both turned to look at her as she leapt out of the car, "I'll find Ms. Yowane real fast! You two hurry up! Yuma, come on!"

Gumi sprinted through the crowds, dodging and ducking past students. Yuma ran after her, leaving Len and me behind.

Len grinned slyly. "Only one thing to do," he said.

"W-What?" I frowned.

Suddenly, he lifted me in his arms and I yelped in surprise. He had one arm around my back and one under my knees, and he began weaving through the crowds at a brisk pace. I shut my eyes and buried my face into his neck, afraid of looking down.

"This is fun, isn't it?" Len said between breaths. I pulled back slowly and opened my eyes as we entered the school. My eyes took a while to readjust, and as I looked around nervously, Len planted a quick kiss on my cheek.

"I'm not going to drop you," he smiled. I nodded, still afraid.

"This is actually higher up than I would've expected!" I said, freaking out again as he carried me upstairs.

"This is how I'll carry you when we're getting married!" Len laughed.

"Don't you think that's a bit too far off?" I answered with a smirk. He just laughed again.

"Sorry, Rin, it's just...absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?"

Oliver.

"Ms. Yowane, wait!" I called after her as she walked away, "I need to say goodbye to you again!"

Neru had followed me, and now she was standing beside me with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"See, you do have a crush on her!" She teased. I ignored her and ran after Haku.

"Haku!" I yelled, grabbing her sleeve. She turned and looked at me, and when I saw her eyes, I stopped breathing for a moment.

I had never seen Ms. Yowane cry. I had never even imagined her crying. Even when I'd hang around her house and talk to her and stuff, when she told me stories about her life, about her alcoholic father and her mentally disabled brother, she had never cried.

Sure, I could picture her crying tears of joy, but the tears in her eyes were clearly ones of sadness.

"Stop, Oliver," she said and her voice began to crack, "I can't...can't handle saying any more goodbyes..."

"Ms. Yowane...," I looked at her. We were almost the same height. She put a hand in her silvery grey hair and stifled a sob.

"It's all my fault," she whispered, "My attitude, my bad habits, my mistakes, my choices...that's why I'm losing the job I loved."

"No, you're not!" I said without thinking, "We'll go and talk to Principal Dell right now!"

"Hey, Oliver!" I spun around to see a green haired girl sprinting down the hall, followed by a boy with pale pink hair.

"Gumi," I said softly, "What're you two doing?"

"Len and Rin, they're...they're coming!" Gumi said as she came to a stop, "Just give them a minute, they'll be up soon!"

"I've sent Rin a message telling her where we are," Yuma panted, "They're almost here."

"What's going on?" Haku looked down at me, and then at Gumi and Yuma.

"Haku, please," I pleaded, "If you really have to leave...then don't go without helping out Rin and Len."

Just then, Principal Dell turned a corner and began heading towards us.

Am I the only one whose heart is just beating faster and faster?
Also, I don't know where Haku's mentally disabled brother came from. When I wrote it, I was like, "Wait, what?" But there you have it.