“Man, I'm glad finals are over,” Yuna said as the three of us walked home.  

     “I know they were so hard,” Kaito said. “Asuka looks like she had it the worst though.” 

     “I’m sure I did well, I did a lot of studying.” Though it’s been really hard to focus. Dad hasn’t come into my room again, but I wonder what he was thinking. A shiver ran down my spine as the memory returned to me. I get a weird feeling around him now. 

     “So, any plans for the break?” he asked, “Also where’s Mei? She usually walks with us.”

     “Her mom picked her up, she’s taking her to her grandma's for the summer.”

     “Aww I wanted to hang out with her more,” I said.

     “Well my aunt has a beach house, she's letting us use it,” Yuna said excitedly. “I was planning on inviting you both. If you want to come. Mei is already going to be there.” 

     “I’d love to, I'm sure my mom will say yes,” I said excitedly. I could use a distraction right now and the beach sounds perfect. 

     “What about your dad?” he asked. 

     “I don’t care what he says,” I said, harsher than I even intended. After all, he doesn't care about me. “I'm gonna need a new swimsuit.” I was pretty excited.

     “We should go buy new ones together.” Yuna grabbed my hand and I looked over at her. She had an excited look in her eyes. 

     “I'd love that.” 

     “You girls have fun with that. I'll ask my parents if I can go, does your Aunt's place have enough room?” he asked.

     “Yeah, her house has plenty of space.” 

     “That’s good,” He said.

     A companionable silence fell between us as we walked to my house. after a few minutes we arrived at my house. 

     “Anyway, I have to go now, I'll send you both the details later,” Yuna said.

     “Take care,” I hugged her, “and I'm looking forward to the beach.”

     “Cya,” Kaito raised his hand. He turned and asked me, “Hey wanna go get something?” 

     “I’d love to,” I smiled and replied. “I just need to get changed.” 

     I opened my door and saw mom sitting on the couch again. She was watching something, but it was too quiet for me to guess what. I greeted her and she asked how I was, to which I responded. I told her I was going to go somewhere and she told me to have fun. I closed my door behind me and went to my dresser. I have a lot more clothes now, It's funny. I used to just wear jeans and a t-shirt before but now I have so many choices. After a bit, I decided to wear the skirt my mom got me with my favorite Lily shirt. 

     I changed out of my uniform and into the outfit. I also brushed my hair, it had gotten a bit messy earlier. Grabbing my wallet from my desk I became aware of my lack of pockets. Having gotten everything I needed, I opened my door and saw my dad standing there.

     He looked me in the eyes which sent a chill down my spine for some reason. “Why are you wearing that?” he asked. Mom flashed him a dirty look which he ignored. He didn’t wait for a reply, going to his room instead.

     “Because she wants to.” mom said loudly to the closed door. “Don’t listen to him sweetie I think that looks wonderful on you. Hello Kaito, how are you doing today?”

     Asuka ducked into the bathroom and started to put up her hair as they talked.

     “I'm good, Asuka and I are going to go get something to drink, maybe eat.” I didn't notice him standing there.

     “That's nice,” mom said with a smile. “Just don’t keep my daughter out too late.”  

     “I won't.” 

     “Let's go,” I said tugging on his shirt. 

     As we opened the door to leave I heard my parents' door creak open. Dad emerged and looked at me, his eyes drifted down. Looking at my skirt, girl's shoes, and girl's wallet, and his eyes went cold.

     “Are you going to say something to your daughter?” Mom said with a slight aggressiveness. 

     “What daughter?” he asked in an annoyed tone.

     Mom got that look in her eyes, the one she got when she was upset. “Let’s leave Kaito.” I pushed against him. Not wanting to be here when she started. He watched for a second before opening the door. I put on my shoes and closed the door just as mom started yelling. 

     “Asuka...?” he began. 

     “I’m surprised dad is home,” I said, interrupting him. “I’m really hungry so let's hurry.” 

     I tried to walk normally, but I failed. Kaito didn't say anything however and just followed in silence. He stepped up behind me and gave me a hug

     “Asuka...” he started but was interrupted again as tears fell on his arms.

     “Where should we go?” I said, trying to sound normal. “That place we went to with Yuna was nice.” 

     “Asuka what’s happening?” 

     “Nothing. Let's go eat,” I tried to move but he kept hugging her. 

     “That wasn’t nothing. You can talk to me.” 

     I began to shiver in his arms, as more tears ran down my face. “Can I? You won’t hate me?” 

     “I promise.” 

     “My dad he... hates me,” she said crying. “Because I am like this. It’s making me wanna turn back to a boy. So that he will love me again. I'm trying to be strong and ignore his words…” 

     “Why do you have to be a boy? Just for him? Is that what you want? You should be what you want to be. Even if that's a girl, if it makes you happy then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.” I cried harder at his words. “Plus you’re a very pretty girl,” he added, patting my head.

     “I just want my dad to love me again,” I said, hiccuping a little.  

     He turned me around to look me in the eyes. “Your dad needs to love you for you. Not what he thinks you should be, and not for what's under your clothes. He needs to realize that you are you and can't be anything or anyone else.” 

     He gave me another hug, my face grew warm as I hugged him back. Was he always this cool? “Thanks. We should go.” I said, he hugged me a moment longer then let go. 

     Kaito reached down and took my hand. “I’m happy, you have been smiling and laughing a lot. I like to see you smile, you're much prettier that way.” he grabbed my phone and wallet and put them in his pockets. 

     I blushed brightly and muttered a thank you which made him smile. 

***** 

     “I don’t know what to do,” I took a bite of my food. “Mom and dad have been fighting about me.” 

     “You don’t need to do anything,” Kaito replied. “It’s their issue to work out. If your dad can't accept you it might be better for him to leave.” 

     “I just want things to go back to normal, when we were all happy.” 

     “I hope things can. I like the new happy you.” 

     “Thanks,” I said awkwardly, I'm still not used to being treated like this. 

     We ate our food in silence for a moment before Kaito broke the silence. “The beach trip is gonna be fun.” 

     “Yea I’m looking forward to it. Though I only have my school swimsuit…” 

     Kaito watched me as I talked, a half smile on his face. I wondered what he was thinking as I continued to talk. His smile faltered for a second before returning even bigger. Something about it made me blush. 

     “How about you?” I asked, finishing my thought. 

     “Sorry?”  

     “I said I'm looking forward to the festival too, how about you?” 

     “Yeah, I can’t wait to see you in a Yukata.”  

     I blushed and stammered. “Quit joking.” 

     He placed his hand on mine and smiled again. “It’s not a joke.”  

     I blushed even more, and my heart skipped a beat. What's wrong with me? He stared at me, captivating me leaving me unable to look away. “We should finish…”

     “Sorry,” he said embarrassedly, removing his hand from mine.

     We finished our food and Kaito paid for mine. I waited for him to return and we left the restaurant. Kaito started walking towards my house but stopped when I didn't follow him. “Can we go somewhere else? I don’t want to go home right now.” 

     “What do you want to do?”  

     “How about an arcade?”  

     “Sure.” 

     I went to get my phone but remembered I don't have pockets. Kaito took my phone from his pocket and handed it to me. 

     "Thanks, I need a bag to carry my stuff.” I started looking for directions. “I’ve never been to one before, it'll be fun.” 

     “Shouldn’t we go back?” 

     “I don’t wanna,” I grabbed his arm and looked up at him and asked with a probably worried expression. “Stay with me please?” 

     He blushed slightly. “Ok if that’s what you want.” I shivered slightly. I didn't want to go home yet, not if he was still there. Thankfully Kaito picked up on it. “Everything is gonna be alright. Let's go have some fun.” 

***** 

     We went to an arcade nearby, thankfully I still had some leftover money from my mom. After getting a play card, I always lose them. I took Kaito to the fighting games. He didn't care for them but he always played with me. I played a few rounds, it was fun. Some people at other machines joined my matches. It was funny seeing them come around to yell at me only to see them deflate when they saw they lost to a girl. There were more challengers, though no one else came to yell, they did look a little sad when they saw me. 

     This person is good. I’ll need to play seriously. It was close but I took the first round. The second round was just as tough as the last, and worse so my opponent figured out some of my combos. It was another close one but this time they took the win. In the final round, this was the deciding win. I began my strongest combo, which they interrupt at the end and unleash a devastating combo in return. Thankfully I managed to block the ending leaving me just ahead in health. We both hesitate, testing each other's blocks and tossing out feints. The timer ticked down and we each traded blows. Our health was both low but try as we might, neither of us was able to land the decisive blow. When the timer counted down to zero I was declared the winner. 

     As I celebrated, my opponent came around the corner. I was surprised to find my opponent was a girl.

      “Hey nice moves kid,” said the older girl. She looked to be in high school. Her hair was dyed a subtle pink. She was wearing a pair of tight shorts and a band t-shirt. Her ears had multiple piercings. “You’re the first person in a while to beat me.”

     “You were pretty good yourself, oh I'm Asuka Takahashi by the way. And this is my friend Kaito.”

     “Cute name, I am Sakura Watanabe. Do you come here often? you’re pretty good at this game.”

     “I would spend a lot of time here. This game is my favorite.”

     “Same, though probably for different reasons.”

     We chatted a little more, but she had to leave so we exchanged contact info. It was still really early and I didn't want to go home yet. So I started to look for something else to do.

     “Well, we should get back now…” Kaito began.

     “Let's do that,” I said, interrupting him by pointing to a karaoke sign.

***** 

     “Bah! I'm out of breath," I said as I sat down, a smile spread on my face “Singing is hard.” 

     Kaito laughed and browsed through the songs. The wall phone rang and I answered it. “They said we have fifteen minutes left.” 

     He picked a song, a duet. “Sing with me then we’ll head home.” 

     I stood next to him and took the second mic. I had to stand close to him to see the screen. I hadn't noticed how deep his voice was, my own seemed small and soft by comparison. Being close to him like this made me feel funny, but he didn't notice. When the song finished we sat down on the couch.

     “I’m glad we came. Things have been stressful lately. I don’t want mom and dad to split up. I don’t know what to do, I'm destroying my family.”

     He moved next to me and pulled me into a hug. “You aren't.” 

     “BUT I AM. You saw it yourself. Dad's rejecting me...” A shiver wracked my body as I started crying, “My family is... falling apart... and all I can do... is cry. I'm useless...” I cried harder as he held me tight. I started to get tired as I sobbed into his chest. 

*****

     “Let's go,” he said when someone came to check the room. “Asuka?” He looked at her, she was fast asleep. He put her on his back and exited the arcade. “I should take her to Yuna’s.” He started walking toward her house. As he carried her, he felt her breath on his neck. It was warm, slow, and even. He blushed a little as he continued to walk. 

     He noticed that she was so light now. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to carry her too far but he was already a third of the way there. She mumbled something, which caused a couple of people walking in the opposite direction to look at them. He arrived at Yuna's house shortly after lunch. He struggled for a second as he had to only half-hold her to hit the doorbell. 

     “Hello.” Came Yuna’s mom’s voice through the intercom.  

     “Hello, it’s Kaito. I have Asuka on my back. Can I come up?” 

     “I'll be there in a second.” The intercom buzzed as the connection was cut. Emiko opened the door shortly after her breath labored. “Bring her in. What happened?” 

     He walked in following her to the elevator. “We were singing Karaoke and fell asleep after crying.” 

     “Why was she crying?” The elevator arrived at the floor and they went inside Yuna’s house. 

     “Her parents are fighting about her. And I think she hasn’t been sleeping well.” 

     “Mom, what's going on?” Yuna asked, in an odd tone as she saw Kaito carrying Asuka. 

     “Kaito brought Asuka, she fell asleep. You can put her in Yuna’s bed.” 

     Kaito put her in the room. “I need to go now, please take care of her,” he said as he opened the door and walked out. Yuna walked into her room and watched Asuka sleep.  

     “Yuna, let's swim,” she said in her sleep. A lock of hair fell over her face as she rolled over. Yuna smiled and brushed it aside, kissing her forehead and covering her with the blanket. She turned off the light and went to the living room.

***** 

     I don’t know what time it was when I woke up. I tried to move but something warm and heavy was lying on me. As my eyes adjusted I saw Yuna’s head lying on my chest. One of her arms was wrapped around me, as well as one of her legs. How did I get here? The last thing I remember was at the karaoke Kaito. He probably had to carry me, I’ll have to thank him later. I thought before I closed my eyes again. As I drifted back to sleep Yuna reached out with one of her hands and intertwined her fingers with mine.