Chapter 96

Mew.

"Hurry!" I yelled as Miriam ran after me, "Rin's place is down this street...I think!"

"You think?" She called from behind, panting as she caught up, "That's what you said for the last four streets!"

"Well, there's a big house down this street, so that just increases the odds," I explained between breaths. The boxes of cookies and pastries were starting to feel like boulders in my arms.

"There's a big house on every street!" Miriam groaned, "Whatever..."

"Hey!" Someone called from down the street. I caught a glimpse of short brown hair in the distance, and that voice sounded pretty familiar.

"Is that Meiko?" Miriam frowned.

"I think so," I said, picking up the pace again, "Come on, this one is it!"

I huffed along with Miriam down the street. My arms ached and I felt as though they would fall to the ground any second, letting the food fall, as well.

"Here, let me help!" Meiko ran up to me and Miriam and took some of the load. She grabbed a couple of boxes from my pile and a couple from hers. We both sighed and thanked her.

"So this is Rin's house," I said, catching my breath and looking at the large, black iron gates, "It's nice..."

"Her father was a big businessman," Meiko explained, leading us past the gates and across the serene and beautiful garden. Mikuo stood by the door, hurrying up to us once he saw us and taking some more of the boxes.

"We decorated the place," he explained, "The party's going to be in the living room, at least, so that's all we decorated."

"No, it's just that the living room is so huge!" Meiko laughed, "What did you guys get?"

I looked up at the sky thoughtfully, recalling what I could. "Cookies, chips, candy...and some other stuff."

"Other stuff?" Mikuo frowned. Miriam nodded.

"Miku gave us a lot of money!" She beamed, "The delivery truck should be here soon!"

Meiko and Mikuo stared at us with both their eyes and mouths wide.

"Y-You mean that all these boxes...," Meiko stuttered.

Miriam shook her head. "That's what we could carry!" She exclaimed before whispering, "There's a delivery charge for too much stuff, you know."

We were all shaken by the sudden honking coming from outside. Mikuo put the boxes down by the entrance door and sprinted out.

"Speak of the devil," Miriam whispered with a grin. I nodded.

"The stuff is here!" Mikuo hollered, "Make room; they're bringing it in!"

Miriam, Meiko and I hurriedly took the meagre boxes that we had carried inside to the kitchen, where a young hazel haired woman was busy unpacking.

"That's Doris," Meiko said quickly, "Rin's guardian."

"They're coming," Mikuo ran in, "I told them to drop it all off in the kitchen. Hope that's okay with all of you?"

Doris looked up at him. "How much food is there?"

Mikuo paused and counted on his fingers, mumbling the numbers under his breath before looking back at Doris.

"Twenty pies, fifteen cheesecakes, fifteen other cakes, two hundred donuts, five hundred donut holes, one hundred regular salted pretzels, one hundred chocolate covered pretzels, fifty tubs of ice cream in various flavours such as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, leek, orange, banana, caramel, cappuccino, and others..."

He paused to take a breath. Miriam and I weren't surprised. We had ordered all that, after all! Meiko and Doris, however, were just gaping at Mikuo's words.

"...One hundred leeks, leek soup, orange candy canes, ten boxes of banana flavoured yogurt, fifty pizzas with various toppings, one hundred burgers, a lot of pasta, seventy pieces of fried chicken, five hundred French fries, twenty boxes of chow mein, sixty egg rolls..and I think I'm forgetting some stuff, but oh well," Mikuo shrugged with a small smile.

Miku.

"Kaito, hold still!" I yelled over his constant, childish laughter. He squirmed and nearly fell back, laughing so hard that his breath was in short gasps.

"S-Stop, Miku, I'll do it myself!" I pulled him up so that he sat up straight again and then I unbuttoned his shirt as fast as I could.

"Kaito, look at me!" I yelled. He stifled his laughter and looked at my blushing face.

"Aw, you're red!" He chuckled. His eyes were wet from all that laughing, "But you're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"M-Maybe!" I admitted furiously, "But I'm trying to help you! Look, I even told Jeremy to go buy you some clothes! You'll look nice in them!"

"Okay, okay!" Kaito nodded. I pulled the shirt off of his shoulders and threw it to one side.

"Jeremy, shirt," I said quickly. Kaito grinned at me.

"Well, stop staring," he teased, making me blush harder.

"Stop acting so out of character!" I yelled, throwing his shirt at his head.

"Out of character?" He laughed, "Princess, I'm just thrilled to be with you! I'm acting normal!"

He was right, but I didn't want to admit it. I was the one who was acting strangely. It wasn't my fault! He took everything so lightly and could make a joke out of anything! I just blushed and locked myself up.

"Okay, fine," I frowned, draping the sleeves of Kaito's new shirt over his shoulders. I began buttoning it up, "You're normal. I'm not."

Kaito reached back and pushed me forward with the flat of his hand against my back. I fell forward into his lap, still clutching his shirt buttons.

"That's right, you're not normal," he smiled, stroking my hair. I hated it when he did that, but it was weird. I only hated it because I loved it, and Kaito knew that. He could make me melt with such a gentle touch, "My leek-loving princess is one of a kind."

He closed his eyes and kissed me softly, cupping my face in his hands. I kissed harder, suddenly forgetting everything and becoming lost in moment, pushing him down onto his back. He pulled away though, leaving me a little disappointed, but then he pulled me back and started peppering my neck with kisses.

"Kaito, stop...," I groaned in spite of myself, his mouth reaching my shoulder, "Rin's..."

"Right," he smiled, pulling away. He was blushing adorably, "You want to finish buttoning this up?"

"Y-Yeah," I stammered, getting up. Jeremy had left the room, probably catching wind of what was about to happen between me and Kaito, but it was done, so I called him back in.

"There," I said, finishing up with Kaito's shirt, "Here's a tie. Put it on!"

"I thought you would've brought me something more casual," Kaito drawled, "Watch, everyone else is going to show up in whatever!"

"Fine!" I yelled, pulling the shirt right off of him. It got stuck around his head and he began freaking out and screaming. I started screaming too, until Jeremy stepped in, nimbly undid a button, and pulled the shirt straight off of Kaito's head.

Kaito exhaled and slumped. I sighed and sat down beside him. Jeremy handed a plain, navy blue shirt to Kaito, and he pulled it right on.

"That's better," he sighed before turning to me and grinning again, "I'll wear the suit and tie on our date!"

"Date? What date?" I frowned. He laughed.

"Any date!" He elbowed me in the ribs, "I'll change my pants myself..."

I sighed. "Yeah," I muttered, "I think that's best."

"Are you sure?" He chuckled, "Even though it's my ankle that's twisted, not my arm..."

I nodded quickly.

"Jeremy will help," I said before getting to my feet, "I'm going to change in the bathroom."

Len.

Gumi and Yuma clung to me and Rin, eyes wide and staring.

"What happened?" Gumi asked, her voice a whisper. I looked at Rin, who looked at Gumi with a small smile.

"It's okay," she said softly, "We're okay."

"Wait, so that means...," Yuma pulled her over to one side as she thought about the situation. I watched as Haku slumped past us, over to Oliver, Neru and Mr. Dell.

"Well," Haku sighed, her eyes just a little wet, "This is goodbye again, Oliver."

He nodded slowly. "Thanks for helping me with my essay the other day," he said softly, "I really learned in your class."

"Right," Haku nodded. She tugged at the straps of the backpack on her shoulder and briskly walked down the hall. Rin's hand slipped out of mine and she ran after her. I followed quickly, without another thought.

"Wait!" She grabbed Haku's sleeve and looked up at the English teacher with eyes that were also brimming with tears, "Thank you."

Haku smiled and tousled Rin's hair. "You're very welcome," she whispered, "My last good deed, huh?"

"I swear, I will find you, ten years from now," Rin said, swallowing back her tears, "And...and I will..."

"Rin, that sounds like something a stalker would say," Neru whispered from behind. Personally, I couldn't argue with that.

"If that's the case, then I can't wait for ten years to go by, Rin," Haku said softly, "I'm glad beyond words to be able to help you two."

And then, silently Haku turned again on her heels, tugging once more at the straps of her bag and snapping her gaze to the floor, before walking away quickly.

Her pace was quick, but her presence lingered. I glanced up at Mr. Dell, whose eyes were hidden under silver-grey hair akin to Haku's. It seemed as though he wanted to say something, but he was holding it back.

"Go home, all of you," he said suddenly and quickly. That wasn't what I was expecting from him.

"Right," Oliver mumbled, nodding and walking away in the other direction. Neru hurried after him, followed by Gumi, Yuma, Rin and me. We ran after him and I grabbed him by the arm, scaring him a bit.

"Oliver," I said slowly, "Thank you."

"Len, stop," he whispered, "I need to go."

"No, Oliver, listen," I persisted as he tried to pull away, "You helped Haku. You helped me and Rin."

Oliver paused. "Ultimately, I failed," he said sharply.

"Oliver, come on," Neru tugged at his other arm, her eyes softer than usual, "You need a Slurpee. It'll help."

"We'll come with you!" Gumi smiled, "We could all use a Slurpee...right, Len?"

I nodded quickly, remembering that Miku and the others were getting ready for Rin's surprise party. Quickly, I pulled out my phone to check for any messages. There weren't any. They still needed time.

"Right," I said, nodding at Rin, "If that's all right with you, Rin?"

Rin yawned. "I don't know...," she mumbled, "I'm kind of tired, but I don't want to hold you guys back."

Gumi's expression suddenly changed. "No, that's fine! We'll drop you off, right guys?"

Yuma nodded, and so did Oliver. Neru shrugged.

"Sure, I guess," she offered.

I hoped that Miku and the others would be ready soon.

Haku.

My time at the school was done. I swallowed slowly as I headed downstairs, the dimly lit stairwell making my shadow dance gleefully against the brick wall.

I certainly wasn't feeling happy. I kept biting back sobs and fighting back tears. Crying was not an option. Crying wasn't justified. This was all my fault, so I wasn't supposed to cry.

"I'm such an idiot...," I mumbled as my voice cracked. I tumbled down the steps and arrived at the flat ground before the turn and the rest of the stairs, crashing into the wall on my side, hair over my face as tears dripped down my cheeks.

It would be hard to get a job as a teacher anywhere now. My drinking habits were going on my record, but the way I had worked with Oliver to curb the habit wasn't.

Then came the thumping footsteps, clamouring down the stairs and shaking me from the inside. I looked up just slightly, barely able to identify the figure that was hurrying towards me.

"Mr. Dell," I muttered, turning away and briskly continuing down the rest of the steps, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be lingering."

"Haku, listen," he said quickly, grabbing my arm when I didn't stop. I looked at him dully.

"This could be considered assault," I said flatly, pulling my arm away.

"Listen, Haku, I...I didn't realize," he went on, and I wasn't sure whether I should stop or leave, "You really belong in this school."

"No, I don't," I said, "You kicked me out. Now let me leave."

"I want to revoke that," he said as he hurried after me, "Haku, I'm sorry. You were completely sober today. You really believe in a teacher's job, too. I really, really..."

"Stop," I cut him off and pushed the doors open, letting in the warm summer wind, "I have a flight, Mr. Dell, and I don't want to miss it."

"H-Haku!"

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