“Cute?” I ask sounding out ever syllable, like I didn’t know the word.
“Yes, cute.”
I look into his dark eyes. His meaningful eyes. My heart pounds. I look down, avoiding his gaze.
"Yuki?" his voice calls my name.
I don't look at him. "Hm?"
The swing moves a bit. He walks around, moving towards the nearby bench.
"Never mind," his voice barely says.
I stare at him. His body; moving, sitting down.
Is he mad? Did I do something wrong?
I move my feet, pushing my off the ground. My body lifts in the air. The wind pushing on me. I move: up, down, up, down, up, down.

Time passes. Leon sits quietly on the bench. I still on the swing.
"Yuki?" he finally calls.
I stop. "Yes?" I ask more eager than I wanted to sound.
"Are you done?"
"Why?"
"It's getting late."
He's right. The sun is already going down. How long have we been here? It couldn't bee that long.
My eyes watch the sky change colors. Watching it get darker.
"You want to go home?" I ask.
Leon gets off the bench, and walks towards me.
"Yeah," he says.
I move off the swing, stretch my arms in the air. A "hm" escapes me as I stretch.
Click.
"Huh?" I ask, looking at Leon.
He was holding a camera.
I blush. "You didn't."
He smiles, and puts it in his pocket.
"Leon!"
"Let's go," he sates, ignoring what he did.
His hand grabs mine, and starts walking.
After a few minutes, he stops.
"What now?" I ask.
"Which way is the way back to your place?" he asks.
I sigh. "This way." I begin to lead him.

***

I shallow.
What did Mom want to talk about?
I watch her and Satoshi, as we enter the house.
Satoshi sits on the stairs. His head falls in his hands.
Was he crying? Did he do something wrong?
"Yuki, dear," Mom says. "Let's go to your room."
I nod.
"Satoshi," she looks at him. "Go to your room."
He gets up. He hurries up the stairs. A door shuts.
"Come on." Mom smiles at me.
We walk up the stairs, taking one step at a time. Her arm around me. Helping me.
Was she afraid I wouldn't be able to make it to my room myself?
My room. Pictures hanging everywhere. Both, photos and drawings. She sits me on my bed, her body next to mine. Mom lets out a long low sigh. Her eyes falls to the floor.
"Mom?" my voice squeaks.
She looks up at me. Her mouth forms a thin smile, weak. Face ever so pale.
I look at her with worried eyes.
"Yuki," she says looking away again.
I stare at her, waiting. Waiting to know what she had to say.
Her mouth moves, she tells me.

***

Tears stream down my face.
"Yuki?" Leon voice full of concern.
I look at him.
His eyes fall into mine. "You okay?" His finger touches my face, wiping away a tear drop.
I nod. "Yeah."
"Then why are you crying?"
"Dunno," I say looking away. "I think I was remembering...something."
"Hm." His hand finds it's way to me. It squeezes mine. "Then don't remember it."
I nod, not knowing what to say.
We walk.
Silence takes over. Breathing heavily over us. Making it hard to breathe.
My eyes fall heavy. My breathing becomes faster. The ground flies under me. My mind goes fades slowly. My vision burrs.
"Yuki?" a voice cries in concern.
I go black.

"Leon, what happened?" a soft voice sings.
Who is that?
"I don't know," another voice replies. "She passed out while we were on the way here."
"Yuki!" a worried voice shakes me.
Who are they?
I open my eyes. They hurt. "Ugh," I say barely above a whisper.
"Yuki!" the worried voice cries.
I turn over to see who it was.
Ringo. Has she been crying?
"Why...crying?" I ask. My throat hurts.
"Because," she chokes on her words. She embraces me in a hug. "I thought something bad happened to you!"
I look past Ringo. Ichigo stands next to Leon. Tears flow down her face, as a small smile appears.
"Thank goodness," she mouths to me.
I smile.
"Yuki!" Leon roars at me.
I flinch back. Scared.
He's mad.
His face softens. "You scared me," he says looking away.
"Leon..." my voice trails off.
He walks towards the door. He speaks without looking back to me, "Since you're fine, I'm going to be in my room."
He leaves.
I look at Ichigo and Ringo.
What's going on? Why did he leave?
"Um," I start.
"Yuki," Ichigo stares at me. "You made Leon so worried."
"Huh?" I'm confused.
"He was freaking out earlier," Ringo says. She gets up, and places her body on my bed next to me.
"Really?" I ask softly. My eyes move to the covers around me.
"Yeah," Ichigo says. She moves to the other side of me. "You shouldn't make him worry like that."
"Oh," I say, not fully understanding why.
"Ringo." Ringo looks at Ichigo. "Go lock the door." She nods and obeys her sister's orders.
After locking the door, Ringo joins Ichigo and me on my bed.
"Yuki," Ichigo takes my hand. "What happened?"
My head falls into my free hand. "I don't know."
"Please, tell us," Ringo pleads.
I shake my head. "I honestly don't know what happened. I was thinking about the past...about Satoshi, then everything goes black." Tears roll down my face.
I bring my hands to my face.
I'm crying? Why am I crying?
"Yuki?" Ringo gives me a hug. "Don't cry. I'm sure, Leon isn't mad at you."
"Ringo...Ichigo," I whisper. "You knew me, back when Satoshi was here, right?"
They nod.
"You guys," I look at them, "Do you remember Satoshi?"
"Yes," they both say in union.
"I never liked him," Ringo whispers.
"I'm thankful he died," Ichigo huffs.
"Why?" I ask.
"You don't remember, do you?" Ringo chokes.
I shake my head in confusion. "Remember what?"
Ichigo looks into my eyes, not sure what to make of it. "What he did."
The room becomes still. Silence grows, engulfing us within itself.
What did I forget? What did Satoshi do?
"Just..." Ichigo gets up, "Don't remember it Yuki."
Ringo nods, and take my hand. "It's best if you didn't, anyways."
"Okay," I drag out the word. I throw the thoughts in the back of my mind, trying to worry about it.
I get up.
"Where are you going?" Ichigo asks.
"To go talk to Leon," I say as my hand touches the knob of the door. "I should say sorry for making him worry about me."
"Okay," they say.
I leave.
My feet take me down the hall. I pass pictures: smiling faces, giggling, random pictures of us. Mom, me, Satoshi, Ichigo, and Ringo. I stop to look at one picture. It was of all of us. Smiling, not crying. Not worried. Just smiling.
What would he think of me now? Would we be friends now?
I didn't get a chance to talk to him in two years. I shove any thought of Satoshi to the back of my mind, and continue my way to Leon's room.
The door. The door that separated us earlier this morning, and now it separates us again now. My hand touches the knob, I try turning it. It doesn't open for me. I release it.
"Who is it?" Leon's voice harshly asks from the other side.
I look at the door. "It's me...Yuki," I answer.
A click. It's open. Leon opens the door, not showing his face, only his back. I enter his room.
"What do you want?" he asks as he lays back on his bed.
I stay by the door, holding the knob behind me, not wanting to let go.
"Well?"
"Um," I says not looking at him.
"If that's all you have to say, please leave me alone."
"No...that's not it," I say.
"Then what is it?"
"I'm sorry."
He looks at me. His face pale. His eyes sad. "It's okay."
I hurry over to him, embracing him in a hug. Tears fall down my face. "I'm sorry," I whisper in his shirt.
He hugs back. His arms making me feel safe. Making me feel whole. Making me feel found, no longer lost.
"It's okay," he whispers in my ear.
I shake my head. My whole body shakes.
His hand pats my head, and his hug becomes tight. "Don't scared me like that again."
"I didn't mean too."
"I know, but don't do it again," his voice softly says. "I don't think I'm strong enough to see that happen to you again."
I nod.
"So, stop crying will you?"
I don't answer. How can I answer? It wasn't like I can stop myself when I wanted too.
He hugs tighter.