Hydrophobia

Eight

"Are you sure she's okay ?" asked Makoto. Haruka exited (Name)'s room and sighed.

"I don't know." he said. (Name) had fallen asleep on their way back home. Haruka had tucked (Name) warmly into her bed and kept juice, food, magazines, books and everything else she needed within her reach.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to come over." said Makoto and left. The rest had left earlier after making sure (Name) was home.

Haruka went back to (Name)'s room. He had no apetite. He sat beside her bed and stared at her. Her face wasn't pale anymore but there were tear stains on her cheeks. He took her cold hand in his hands and sighed.

"I'm sorry, (Name). All of this was my fault. I shouldn't have left you alone. Heck, I shouldn't have let you come along." he said. Haruka looked at (Name) for a reply, but she was sound asleep. He sighed once again. He got up and pulled your blankets up for you. He switched the lights off and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Haruka knocked once on (Name)'s door.

"(Name), Makoto's here. I'm leaving. Are you coming ?" he asked.

He waited for a reply for some time and then walked inside. (Name) had the blankets over her head and was curled. But Haruka knew she was awake.

"(Name)." he said, sitting on the bed beside her. "You can't skip school." he said.

(Name) shook her head from under the blankets. Haruka sighed and tried pulling the blankets off her, but she wouldn't let go.

"(Name)." said Haruka, sternly.

"Haru, don't force her if she doesn't want to come." said Makoto. He was standing near the door.

Haruka looked at him, then at (Name). He sighed and stood up. " You spoil her." he said. But inside, he knew (Name) just wasn't ready. He himself didn't want to force her to come, but he wanted to try at the least.

"I made breakfast for you today, (Name) - and it's not mackeral." said Haruka. Once again, he waited for a reply from (Name) although he knew he wouldn't get one. He left after making sure one last time that (Name) was okay.

"You're giving her special treatment." said Makoto, and smiled at Haruka.

"I'm not." he said, and looked away. (Name) hadn't spoken or left her bed since yesterday and that worried him.

"Mako-chan ! Haru-chan !"

They stopped when they heard Nagisa's voice. They were outside the school gate. Rei was with Nagisa.

"Where's (Name)-chan ?" asked Nagisa.

"She's taking a day off today." said Makoto.

"Hey, how about we take a day off too and spend it with her ?" said Nagisa. He already started tracing his steps away from school. Rei caught him by his shirt's collar and pulled him back.

"Let's do that after school." he said, and Nagisa pouted. "Besides, I'm sure she's alright." Rei looked at Haruka, who nodded after a second.

Suddenly, Gou appeared in front of them.

"I am extremely sorry." she said, and bowed deeply.

The boys who were surprised by her appearing out of nowhere jumped a little by her sudden bow.

"I-It's not your fault." said Makoto. A small crowd had formed around them. Haruka glared at everyone who made eye contact with him.

"But, it is my fault !" Gou insisted. "Only if I hadn't left early yesterday... I should've told my brother about it ! I apologize for my brother." she said.

"What happened was nobody's fault." said Haruka.

"Yeah, Gou-chan is not at fault !" agreed Nagisa.

"But--"

The bell rang, signalling that classes were about to start and everyone left for their classes. None of them noticed a figure near the gate spying at them.