A Hero I Look Up To

Forever Caretaker

Tobio has finished school for today. All the kids were running all over the place with their bags on their backs the moment the bell rang. Mia didn't look like she had fun at all despite her smiles throughout the day. She looked like she was miserable, as if she felt like she never belonged in a friend group. Tobio slowly walked up to Mia and tapped on her shoulder.

"Even if Loid's not here, you still have your first friend!" Tobio tried to cheer up Mia.

"Even if that's the case... hanging out with Chris just doesn't feel the same without Loid..." Mia cried. Tobio remembered that Mia held in her tears throughout the last class when thinking about Loid. However, tears slowly came down Mia's cheeks. "How come... he didn't say goodbye at all...?"

Tobio hung his head low as he understood how much pain Mia had felt. He wanted to comfort Mia all the way through the entire day, but he couldn't, as the school had done a lot of individual work, along with the risk of being scolded. Now is finally the time to hug Mia, so as he slowly walked towards Mia to give her the hug she deserved, she turned around and suddenly gave him a warm hug. It was quite tight and it felt like she didn't want to let go at all. Tobio also noticed tears falling down from her face and a sound of sobs. After a few seconds, she stopped hugging and took two steps back.

"I... I'm sorry... Tobio. I have nothing else to say, so I'll be off now..." Mia walked away from Tobio without waving goodbye–a much different thing to expect. Tobio felt like he should also head out and share the news to Chris once he makes it to his car and maybe about how Mia felt about the situation.

***

Tobio walked to the parking lot where the kids get picked up. There were gray skies with droplets of rain falling from the sky like a waterfall with most parents and children with umbrellas. Tobio also had his umbrella out—painted in a neon red. It was quite crowded since there were a lot of cars, with some cars being similar to Chris, but a different license plate. Some cars were also pulling out of the parking lot to make sure they get home safely from the rain. Tobio noticed something different with Chris' car, as there was a bit of scratches on his car, which is minor and doesn't need to be paid off. If it were a big major scratch that was either caused by Chris or someone else, it needs to be repaired. Tobio saw the car and hurriedly walked to the car door. Chris noticed Tobio and greeted him.

"Hello Tobio, how was school?" Chris asked with a smile. Tobio closed his umbrella, went inside the car, and sat down on the right side of the car as he fastened his seatbelt, making a click to signal that it was in.

When Chris took a closer look, Tobio's face didn't seem like he had a good time. Tobio looked like he wanted to cry, but he was able to hold it in as he kept blinking. Chris felt like he wanted to talk to Tobio, but he also felt like he wouldn't spit out the details. As Chris was getting ready to pull out of the parking lot, using the gear to put it on driving mode, Tobio wanted to say something to Chris. He sighed and said with a broken voice...

"Loid... moved schools."

Chris raised his eyes and looked back at Tobio. "Loid transferred out?"

"Mia found out today," Tobio said. "The whole day... she wasn't happy to... find out the news at all. She tried hiding it, but she let it out all at the end of school..."

Chris didn't know what to say. He didn't pull out of the parking lot yet and he's hearing about this. Chris had the look of someone who was about to shed tears, but he held it in quite good form Tobio not to notice. Then, Chris realized about the Augustin Bakery situation about their financial problem. He remembered the one time when he talked about it with Tobio. With that in mind, he asked Tobio about the topic at hand.