“Oh, it’s blondie.  Jesus, it looks like he’s having a pretty heated conversation.  Wanna get closer?”

I nodded and we edged towards him.  He was speaking in Italian and whoever was on the other side of the phone was yelling so loudly Chann and I could make out their words.  It was a woman, judging from the pitch of her voice, and I guessed it was his mother.  She seemed to get angrier and angrier every time Sasuke spoke, hardly letting him get a word in edgewise, and Sasuke was getting more and more flustered.  He finally went quiet, his shoulders slumping in defeat, and let his mother scream at him.  After a few moments, the line went abruptly dead and Sasuke stared dejectedly at his phone.

“Wonder who was yelling at him like that?” Chann murmured.  “Whoever it was, they really laid into him.  Look how upset he is.”

“I’m gonna go talk to him.”

I nodded and followed him over to Sasuke.  He turned to face us with a small gasp of fear.  He whipped his phone behind his back, trying and failing to mask the distress on his face.  Was he scared of us overhearing his conversation, even though we didn’t speak Italian?

“Hello!”  His voice was high-pitched and strained, and he flushed as he met my gaze.

“Hey, mate.  You seem lost.  Not sure how to get home?”

“No, I am fine!” he gasped.  “My papa is coming to get me.  I will wait here.  It is okay; you do not have to stay with me.”

Chann quirked an eyebrow, fixing Sasuke with his brilliant emerald stare.  “Whatever you say.  Well, we’re off.  See you tomorrow!”

Sasuke nodded earnestly.  He turned to smile at me, his blue eyes twinkling kindly.  A strange glow spread through me.

I followed Chann through the streets, a trembling smile on my lips.  The world seemed brighter and more fragrant.  Was I floating?  I felt lighter, almost as if a cloud had formed beneath me and was lifting me up and up and up, to where the angel named Sasuke was waiting for me…

“Hey, Mr. Graceful!  You’re about to walk into a wall.”

I looked up and staggered back a few steps; Chann had waited until the split-second before impact to call my attention back to reality.  I shook my head, dazed.  What was that about?

“Boy, you have got it bad.”

I glanced back at Chann.  “Got what?”

“Got a big, bad, super-strong, first crush.”

I stuck my tongue out at Chann.  “Do not.”

“Mirai, you’re not even on the same planet as me right now.  You’re on the magical love planet, imagining what his lips feel like, how hot his body is, what it’d be like to suck his di–”

“Aw, c’mon, champ!  Admit it:  you’re falling in love!”

“Sometimes that’s all it takes.”

“Maybe not, but attraction at first sight does, and you two have got chem-is-try!”

“Doesn’t seem to matter to him.  He likes you too – it’s so obvious!”

Chann darted in front of me and stared me dead in the eye.  “Is this going to turn into one of those painful movie clichés where you two dance around each other flirting but denying your feelings until some big dramatic event happens and you fall magically in love forever and ever and get married and have lots of little gay babies?”

“Too many chick flicks, a touch of insanity, and your father’s influence.”

Chann grinned saucily.  “Sooo…  does that mean you’ve got the balls to tell him you like him?”

“I can’t hear sign language, Mirai.”

I backhanded Chann’s cheek and he let out a yelp that was only half-fake.  “Ow!  God, you’re such an arsehole!”

Chann chuckled and turned back to the road that would lead us to his house.  I followed, sometimes overtaking him in my haste; I was eager to be alone with him and relished that I didn’t have to go to my house until seven.  What better way to spend my time than with my closest friend?

It felt like a weight lifted off my chest as I stepped through the doorway.  I was so happy to be there that I didn’t care that it reeked of B.O..  I immediately dashed up the stairs and skidded into my room, letting out a gasp of relief as I spotted my guitar.  Chann had kept it in prime condition, thank the stars, although it was probably majorly out-of-tune.

“Do you think you could play for me?” Chann asked from the doorway.  “I haven’t heard your music in months.  I miss it.”

I nodded and sat on the floor, my legs comfortably crossed, my guitar carefully cradled in my lap; Chann sat on my bed and gestured for me to join him.  I settled myself beside him, plucking at the strings to check the sound and adjusting the tuning pegs with the slightest of twists, then began to sing one of my favorite songs.  It sounded different acoustic, but wonderful and powerful all the same.

“I don’t want to be popular,” I whispered as I fiddled with the frets of my guitar.

“You do what you want, champ; it’s your life.”  His expression softened.  “I noticed that you sounded a bit rough.  Before today, when did you last talk?”

“A month ago…”

“Champ, didn’t you ever talk to yourself when you were alone?  Just to keep your voice in practice?”

“I didn’t feel like it.”  Sharqiq would cut my tongue out if he heard me talking.  Stay silent, only speak when spoken to.  Less speaking means less trouble, in a lot of ways.

I flopped back onto the bed, but not without putting my guitar back in its case and setting it safely aside.  Chann sprawled out beside me, his leaf-green eyes compassionate and imploring.

“I know something’s wrong, Mirai.  You just have to tell me what it is so I can help.”

“My parents and my sister are dead.”

“There’s something else.  Something going on right now.”

“Chann, please…”  I felt like I was about to cry.  I was sick of having this conversation over and over and over again.  It felt like he asked me about it every day.  Stars above, why did he have to ask me so often, knowing I would never be able to answer, even though I desperately, desperately wanted to?

“Ahh…  I’m sorry, Mirai.  I guess I’m just hoping that, one day, I’ll ask and you’ll answer.  Every day could be that day.”

“I know you care about me,” I rasped.  “I would tell you if I could.  I know that if you knew, you would do everything in your power and then some to help me.  Just…  Just please stop asking me.”

“You promised me years ago that you’d tell me what’s going on the moment you’re able to.”

“And I will.”  I gently thumbed my promise ring as I spoke.

“Okay.”  Chann pulled me close and nuzzled my forehead.  He was so sweet to me.  Who needed a boyfriend when I had him?  He treated me like a prince, was there for me whenever I needed him, held me long into the night…  The only thing he didn’t give me was the intimate, romantic stuff only a significant other could provide.  The best way to describe it was like having a best friend, a big brother, and a father all in one.  I remembered laying beside Aba-san like this when I was little…  My brave, intelligent Aba-san who had sacrificed so much to provide for my siblings and I. Ima had been just as incredible, a spitfire warrioress.

I missed them so much.  Had it really been a decade since they died?

“Do you remember my parents?” I asked.

Chann didn’t hesitate.  “‘Course I do.  They were amazing people.  Our brothers used to get in so much trouble with our dads – that sword was the worst!”

I chuckled as I pictured Aba-san’s thousand-year-old katana mounted over the fireplace.

“Do you remember when they finally got it down and tried to slice open the couch?” Chann asked

“Of course!  I don’t think Charlie’s ever been that angry, and Aba-san was trying so hard not to laugh.”

“They were such idiots!”

“They really, really were.”  I sighed.  “Hey, Chann?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think my parents would be proud of me?”

Again, he didn’t hesitate.  “I know they would be.  You’re a great guy, Mirai, even if you can’t see it.  I see it, my parents see it, Dr. Stephens sees it, and it seems like Sasuke sees it – for now, that’s enough.”

“What if I never see it?”

“Then I’ll just have to tell you how awesome you are every day for the rest of our lives.  It’ll sink in one day.”

I smiled in spite of myself.  “Don’t say that.”

“What, don’t speak the truth?  That’s not what we were raised to believe – unless you suddenly tossed your beliefs out the window?”

“I would never get rid of my beliefs.  I value them too much.  My parents raised me well; the things they taught me are some of the only things I have left of them.”

“Don’t forget that about your dad’s guitar and your mum’s earring.”

Chann reached over to touch the earring.  I smiled, serenity softening me, as his fingers grazed the silver-and-sapphire Star of David.

“And in the spirit of truth-telling, I am compelled to tell you you look absolutely knackered.  Maybe take a kip until you have to go home?”

I nodded and waited until Chann had closed the door behind him before I began to undress.  For the first time in months, I was going to get a good sleep.  I checked the time – 3:52 – and set an alarm for 6:20.  I went over to the nest of pillows and blankets that were in the corner of my room beside my bookcase and fell asleep almost immediately.

“Mirai!  Mirai, champ, wake up.”

I jerked awake at Chann’s touch.  My alarm was beeping, loud and rapid, and I winced at the time:  6:27.

“C’mon, get up.  I’ve gotcha.”

Chann helped me get dressed again, bracing me with his shoulder in case I fell, and handed me my bag when I was steady.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, mate.  Any special requests for brekkie tomorrow?”

“A Boost.”

“Then I’ll have one ready for you.”  Chann sighed.  “Well, you’d better get going.  Bye, champ.”

“Bye.”

He affectionately nuzzled my cheek before I slipped out the door.  Every step of the way back to my house felt hot and heavy, and not in a good way.  The joy and lightness I’d felt after school seemed so far away.  The nest I had at Chann’s home might as well be the bed of the Queen of England’s, it was so much more comfortable compared to the floor I would struggle to sleep on tonight.  Each step was more agonizing than the last.  I reached my house with three minutes to spare and, remembering my brother’s words, I loitered at the bottom of the driveway until 6:59:35.  At exactly seven, I knocked on the door, and it opened before my knuckles left the wood.

Lance closed the door behind me, only momentarily glancing at me with his cool eyes.  Neither of us said anything.  We stayed silent as Lance beckoned me forward and led me down the basement stairs.  My brother was on his throne, lazily swaying a leg as he stroked the hair of the girl kneeling beside him as if she were a dog.  Ashley was slavering in the sight of her as if he were a dog and she a piece of meat, a malicious glint in his eyes.  He, of course, saw me first and huffed in annoyance.

“I suppose I owe you money, sir.  He came back after all.”

“Of course he did.  He’s well-trained…”