“If you’re going to come with me every time, you’ve got to stop being so flashy about it.” I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “My neighbors are going to catch me one of these days, and then we’re going to be in big trouble.”
“Like I said before, do I care what your mom thinks?” Haru hummed, toying around with his phone as we walked down the street to my house. “She’s all talk, I’ll fight her if I’ve got to.”
“Please don’t.” I frowned. I saw my house coming up in the distance and came to a stop, grabbing the back of his coat to stop him. “This is as far as you’re allowed to go. Thanks for walking me home again. I appreciate it.”
He raised his eyebrow, staring me in the eye. “Night then, I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”
I opened my mouth to speak, then my hand flew to my mouth. “Haru- what day is it?”
“Thursday.”
“Holy shit.” I brought a hand up to my hair, tugging at it anxiously. “We skipped school today. I skipped school. Oh god my mom is going to have my ass-”
“Its just one day of school-”
“No!” I shook my head. “I’ve really got to go. Thank you for yesterday, really.” I turned around, making a dash for the house.
I didn’t see moms car in the driveway, a hopeful sign that she was on her date and wouldn’t be home until tomorrow. I opened the door, poking my head in first just in case. The lights were off, and I let out a deep sigh of relief. “Damn it.” I sighed, leaning against the wall. The amount of stress that piled up in my body from just that moment was way too high to be normal, all because of mom.
Why hadn’t Yuki said anything today, when he ran into me? Surely Makato would have said something about my absence, he wasn’t one to just ignore it. He know home life wasn’t great, so if I was missing he’d be the number one person to find out what was happening. And Yuki knew it wasn’t like me to miss school, so- why?
I drummed my fingers on the counter, staring out the window at the road. My phone dinged in my coat, and I sighed, tugging it out. A small smile came to my face when I saw it was Haru, checking in on the situation.
Everything’s good. I replied, slipping the phone back into my pocket and heading for the stairs. I tiptoed past Mom’s room, not letting up on my footsteps until I was in my room. Even though she wasn’t home, I couldn’t help but worry she’d jump out from somewhere and start berating me with questions. I tugged out my phone once the door was shut, pulling up Makato’s phone number.
Within five seconds he’d answered, flooding me with questions and scolding me. “Mei!” He cried. “Where the hell have you been?! First, I get a call to cover for you, then you don’t come to school?! Your mom called me last night. Do you know how much stress I went through to convince her you were asleep!?”
I let out a small laugh, slightly anxious by his worry. “I’m sorry-”
“You should be!” He sighed. “Tell me where you were, I want to know you were safe.”
I frowned, biting my thumb. “Alright- HatsuHaru-san and I went stargazing.” It felt weird saying Haru’s full name out loud, and I had to stop myself from giggling at myself. “And we fell asleep in the park. After that I went to Sohma-san’s home to see Tohru-chan.”
He was quiet for a while, and for a second I thought he hung up on me. “Hatsuharu-san? You snuck out to be with him?”
“When you say it that way I sound like a criminal.” I deadpanned. “I didn’t plan on going, he sorta just- dragged me along.”
“Mei, I’m going to ask you a question.” Makato spoke softly. “Do you like Hatsuharu-san?”
“What!?” I hissed. “Makato, the guys an idiot. And you think I’m stupid enough to like someone like him? With mom watching me twenty-four/seven?” I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “As if. We’re just friends. He hates me half of the time anyway.”
“Right.” Makato sounded skeptical.
“Makato, I’m serious, there’s no way in hell I could ever see myself with him. I’m too school oriented for a relationship, and he’s- Haru.” I paused. “We’ve both got too many family issues to even think about dating anyone either, if you met him I think you’d come to the same conclusion.”
“Alright, you’re right.” He agreed. “I’m just glad you’re safe, even if you were with that- hooligan.”
I laughed loudly at his choice of word. “Hooligan? Really?”
“Scoundrel, delinquent, whatever.” He groaned. “I’ll let you go, it sounds like you need to sleep. And I mean it, get some sleep.”
“Yeah yeah.” I stood up, wandering over to the balcony. “I’m getting into bed right now.”
“Stop teasing me.” He snapped. “Night Mei.”
“Night Makato.” I set my phone down on my bed and stepped out into the cool night air. “Like Haru-” I huffed, amused. “As if. That guy couldn’t romance his way out of a paper bag.” I sighed, looking up at the stars.
First Kyo, now Makato. Maybe I was letting myself get too comfortable with people. Maybe I was getting too comfortable with Haru. If that was the case, I needed to back off, get back on track with school and being cold to everyone. But- It was Haru, he’d just find some way to worm his way back into my bubble, no matter how hard I tried to keep him out.
I groaned, heading back inside. I flicked the lights off, deciding I’d at least try to get some sleep before school tomorrow, and before I had to decide how close I wanted to let myself get to Haru.
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Word Count: 1016 Words
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✔Summer Rain |Fruits Basket| HatsuHaru Sohma
FanfictionMei grew up surrounded by facts, not fiction. Science, not religion. Real life, not some pipe dream fantasy that most others had. Of course it come as a surprise to her that the stupid, blunt black and white haired boy who helped her once would en...
