Trouble

Chapter 7

We decided to split up into two's and search for Naoki-kun that way. Ayako went with Yasu and I went with Mai. "Where should we start looking?" Mai asked curiously.

"The rooftop. If I were to skip class, I'd go up there. No one really thinks to bother you up there." I said shrugging. She nodded and we made our way to the rooftop.

"Sometimes I go up there when Michiru and Keiko are busy." She said looking a little sad.

"What's wrong Mai?" She smiled.

"It's nothing really. It's just sometimes I feel a little lonely, but it never lasts long because I remember that I have everyone who works with Naru and Lin as my family. Michiru and Keiko are family too, and so are you." She said warmly. I smiled.

"I'll have to agree with you there." I felt the same way about Lin, Naru, and the others. They were all like a family to me. I also have Hajime-san and Suzuki-san. I finally ended up telling them about the situation with my parents and brother. And they have supported me ever since. I've even hung out with Hajime-san outside of work a few times. She is a wonderful cook. I wish I had her cooking skills. I kind of suck at cooking. Anyways, she lives with her two younger siblings, who are still in high school like me. She has to take care of them because her parents died in traffic accident. She works really hard for her family. I also got to know her siblings. They go to a different school than Mai and I, but I did get to the chance to hang out with them too. They're really nice and despite everything they've been through, they're relatively happy with their lives. I'm glad for them.

Mai and I made it to the school's roof top and I was disappointed to see that Naoki-kun wasn't here. "Aw, I thought we would find him here for sure." Mai smiled.

"You can't expect to find him so quickly."

"I guess so." It was true that Naoki-kun managed to stay hidden from everyone so far. Hm... "Do you think he's in a club of some sort?"

"We could ask." Mai said as we headed back down to the school. Luckily for us, we found Minoru-chan on her way to gym from the looks of it.

"Excuse me, Minoru-chan?" She looked at us and smiled.

"Yes?"

"Do you know if Naoki-kun is any clubs?" She looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Well, I know he's in the art club and last year he got into the school's orchestra club."

"There's an orchestra club?" Mai asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah, but it's nothing special. The school can't afford a lot of instruments, so there's only a few violinists, a cellist, and a pianist. I think Kosuke-kun was going to try out for it."

"By the way, what instrument does he play?" I asked curiously. I used to play the clarinet when I lived in America for a few years.

"He plays the contrabass and he's really good at it too." She said beaming.

"What instrument did Naoki-kun play?" Mai asked curiously.

"Let's see, I think he played the trumpet. He wasn't that good at it, but he kept practicing though. Then I don't know what happened at the end of last year. He quit the night of a really important concert; like right before they were about to start too." She said frowning. "He went back to art club this year."

"Okay, thanks a lot, Minoru-chan." I said smiling at her. She nodded and went off to lunch. "Let's check out the art club." Mai nodded.