She scoffed, shaking her head. "That may be true, but I still couldn't figure out your last name."
"Because I don't wanna tell you. Now stop being so suspicious." He glared at her.
Daiyu glared right back. "Stop telling me to be suspicious of you, then." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Kaito growled. "Are you gonna help me or are you just gonna stand there all day?"
Before she could say anything else, he pushed himself up, pulling her with him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up, carrying her bridal style to her bed. Before she could process what he did, he was already laying her down.
She stared at him, dumbfounded. "Wha—"
"You don't wanna play fair, huh? Fine. Let me ask you this: do you really love your mother or are you just saying that because of the money?" He asked, interrupting her.
"What?"
"Do you love your mother or are you just saying that because of the money?" He repeated.
Daiyu opened her mouth to but found she couldn't. He was right. Her mother had always been nice to her, helping her whenever she needed it and buying her whatever she wanted. Her mother even let her stay with them while she was studying abroad.
And yet…
"What is this about?"
Kaito shrugged, sitting down beside her. "You should ask her. Maybe your mum would tell you the truth."
She frowned. "I don't think you understand. There's nothing to understand. We're not related. My mother never loved me."
She expected him to say something, but instead he just laughed.
"So, what you're telling me is that my mother didn't love me."
Daiyu glared at him. "Yes."
"Huh…" He leaned back against the pillows, looking thoughtful for a moment, before his face lit up. "Does that mean my dad doesn't love me either? Does that mean that neither one of them loves me?"
Daiyu snorted. "You've obviously never met them."
"Then I should meet your father. Is it possible to meet someone who doesnlove you, Daiki?"
"Of course not. But it's more likely than you think, given how busy your dad is. And besides, even if he did love you, your mother wouldn't approve."
He sighed. "Whatever. It doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I've got a new best friend."
She looked at him curiously. "Friend? Really?"
Kaito nodded eagerly. "Yup. You can come visit me anytime. Any time. Even if you aren't home, I'll wait outside your house, waiting for you to open your window and invite me in."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "How are you supposed to know when my window is open?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "If I'd known sooner, I would've waited for you."
She stared at him, dumbfounded. "So you actually came here today to confess?"
His cheeks tinted pink. "Well...no, I came here to see if you wanted to hang out, but...yeah. That too."
She snorted, looking away. "Sorry, but I donthink I can. Not after…you know…"
"It's okay. That's cool." He stood up, stretching. "I guess I'll go now. See ya."
"Bye," she muttered quietly, turning over on her side and closing her eyes again.
Chapter 3
The next day, Daiyu woke up late, having stayed awake way too long doing homework. She sat up with a yawn, rubbing her eyes. As she stretched, she felt something bump against her foot. She looked down. It was a piece of paper, folded into quarters. Curious, she unfolded it.
To Daiyu –
Hey.
Meet me after school. Don't worry. I'll explain everything. Meet me by the baseball field at two o' clock.
Taiga.
She crumpled the note up and tossed it on her nightstand. What on earth was going on? Why would he want to meet her after school? Wasn't that kind of stupid? Then again, maybe it was. Maybe this was some elaborate prank. He was probably just trying to mess with her.
With a sigh, she hopped out of bed. At least she knew nowShe glanced at the clock hanging on her wall, which read 6:50 am.
Perfect. It was early enough that she wasn't worried about getting scolded by her mother for oversleeping.
After taking a quick shower, she pulled out her school uniform, and put it on. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and combed her hair before walking downstairs where her mother was preparing breakfast.
"Morning, honey," she said cheerfully.
She smiled at her mother, but said nothing. She went to grab herself a bowl of cereal and poured herself some milk from the fridge, adding sugar.
She sat at the table, eating. She ate quickly, and then finished her cereal in record time, setting down her bowl and leaving her house without a word.
As she walked through town, she noticed that the streets were filled with people rushing around. The wind whipped at her hair, and she shivered slightly. She made her way to the baseball field. Sure enough, Taiga was sitting on a bench, staring straight ahead.
She approached him cautiously, stopping right behind him. "Where the hell did you disappear to yesterday?"
He turned to look at her. "I needed to clear my mind."He sighed. "Look, I know we haven't talked much since you got kidnapped and I got involved in this whole mess with your parents, but…just hear me out. Okay?"
She hesitated, but finally nodded. "Alright."
"First off, I know you don't believe me, and you're probably angry at me. I get that. I really do. But please, just listen."
Daiyu bit her lip. "I'm listening."
"My mom left me."
Daiyu blinked. "Your…mother?" She paused. "But I thought she abandoned you. How did you end up alone?"
"Long story short, she died in a fire."
She gasped. "A fire? How?"
He took a deep breath. "When I was five, we moved to our hometown. This is really weird. My mom wasn't a bad person, but she sure as hell wasn't exactly the nicest person either. Anyway, one day she was working late at work, and she never showed up. So, my dad told me to watch TV. When I turned on the TVShe rolled her eyes. "Sure