I woke up the next morning to police sirens. It was too early to get around for school, but I couldn't get back to sleep. So I just got around anyway. Making sure to lock my door before I left. The hallway and stairs in my apartment were very dirty with graffiti all over. In the halls especially it smelled like cigarette smoke. I turn the bend on the stairs and run right into Yuma.
"Yuma," I say shocked to see him. He was wearing his school uniform and for the first time I noticed his ear piercings.
"Haru, what in the world are you doing here?" Yuma says, shocked as I.
"I just moved in last night," I reply. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here," Yuma says. "Why are you out so early anyways it's dangerous."
"Couldn't sleep so I was going out to get breakfast," I say.
"Well if that's the case I'll walk with you" Yuma says.
"Ok, thank you" I replied, kind of happy since it was still dark out and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared.
"So why are you now living in such a dump?" Yuma asks, taking a bite of a blueberry waffle.
"What about you, why do you live there?" I ask, also taking a bite of my own warm blueberry waffle.
"Well my mom died when I was young so I was left to my fathers care, he had a gambling problem so once I got to high school I had to live alone" Yuma says.
"I'm sorry for your loss" I replied.
"It's okay, now let's hear your story," Yuma says, taking another bite.
"Well it started a few weeks back at the first of the school year, my dad left when I was young and my older sister moved away with hardly any notice so that left me and my mom, my mom eventually fell sick. Leaving me to fend for myself. So I got a job and moved into the cheapest apartment I could find that was somewhat close to our school" I tell Yuma.
"I hope your mother gets better," Yuma says.
"Thank you," I replied, giving a little smile as I took another bite of my waffle. Looking up from the park bench where I was sitting at, I can see the sun peeking through the trees. "We should probably get to school."
"Yeah, we don't want to be late," Yuma says, getting up. I get up. I was kind of happy I ran into Yuma, otherwise it would have taken me a long time trying to find the train station by myself.
"Well I'll see you after school then" Yuma says, waving goodbye as he runs off. I wave too.
"See ya" I yell back, watching him run off. I got to my classroom, there were already other students showing up. I instantly spot Yuri.
"Morning Yuri," I called out to her.
"Oh morning Haru, aww it's going to be so sad now with you moving, now I we can't walk to school together" Yuri says.
"Don't worry Yuri, at least I didn't have to transfer schools" I say, setting my school bag down on my desk.
"Oh, Haru is your new place, nice" Yuri asks.
"Oh yes, a little dirty, but nothing I couldn't fix" I replied.
"Well that's good, so it's now official then this weekend we got to have a sleepover" Yuri says, smiling. I panic a little.
"Well yeah we should then" I say. I didn't want to tell Yuri that I was living by myself, because I didn't want her to worry. The rest of the day was tiring, by time our council meeting was over I accidently fell asleep at my desk.
"Haru'' Someone calls out to me, making me open my eyes. Looking up I see Yuma at our classroom door.
"Oh my god, I fell asleep" I say, jolting awake. "Yuma what time is it."
"It's around 4:30," Yuma says checking his phone.
"I'm going to be late for work," I say, jumping up. "Thank you Yuma for waking me" I yell out as I run off. Thankfully I made it to work just on time, a little out of breath though. It was very late by the time I was done, since I worked the night shift. I was a cleaner for a fancy hotel, so my hours depended on how fast I worked. Changing back into my normal clothes, I head out into the night. I was walking when I heard someone call out from the darkness in front of me.
"You shouldn't be out this late little lady." Looking up, I stop as I see three boys a little older than me surrounded me.
"I'm sorry I got to get home" I say nervously, trying to walk away.
"Why such a hurry" The tallest boy says smiling, grabbing my arm quickly. I instantly pull back trying to break free from his grasp. I dropped my bag and tried pulling harder but I still couldn't get away.
"Let go" I yell in a panic. "SOMEBODY HELP."
"Let her go" I heard a familiar voice call out from the darkness of night. His voice makes me look up. There standing in the street was Yuma. The boy holding me lets go immediately, stumbling back I run to Yuma. "Get out of here before I show you a lesson," Yuma says coldly. At the cold warning the boys run off, leaving us standing alone in the dark street.
"Are you okay Haru?" Yuma questions, grabbing my bag that was laying on the ground.
"I'm fine, and thank you" I say blushing, Yuma hands me my bag.
"Well it's getting late I'll walk you home" Yuma says.
"Thank you," I reply. "Did you just get out of work?"
"Yeah, what about you?" Yuma asks.
"Yeah I had to work late tonight" I replied.
"It isn't that safe for you to be walking this late at night though" Yuma tells me as we walk. "So from now on I'll walk you home."
"You don't have to do that" I say.
"No it's fine, I don't want you getting hurt on my watch" Yuma says. "It's not the safest around here and it's better to walk with other people than alone."
"Okay, but I don't want to bother you," I say.
"Don't worry you won't bother me any, actually it sounds nice to have some company once in a while" Yuma says smiling. His smile was so sweet, which made my heart flutter. Even that Yuma seemed so popular he also seemed really lonely like he was hiding something.