12 Izumi Yamato

For the past few days I couldn't bring my self to attend classes.

I just stayed in my apartment and played videogames.

I tried everything to make myself not to think about what happened last time.

Kaori's gone because of me.

It was all my fault.

If only I could've convinced Hina.

I could've-

The ringing of the doorbell cut the thoughts in my head as I was still playing videogames.

I glance on my watch to see what time it is.

7:00pm WEDNESDAY

I wonder who it is.

I paused the game I was playing and headed for the door.

I saw Izumi's meticulously combed short hair as I opened the door.

"Good evening." She slightly bow and greeted me with a nice soft voice.

It's sure nice to hear her like this instead of her usual stern tone.

"Good evening It's good to see you, but why are you here, Izumi?" I asked her after returning her greeting.

"The homeroom teacher asked me to check on you since you're not attending class for three days now." She said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"I brought some sushi along, would you mind letting me in?" She shifts her arm to show a box of sushi in a plastic bag.

"Wait here for a sec, I'll just sort some things." I gently closed the door after she nods.

I can't let Izumi see Hina.

What would she think if she see me keeping a cat-girl? I thought.

I quickly head to Hina, and there she was. Still sleeping on my bed.

She doesn't do anything all day, except steal every fish that I keep on my fridge.

I grabbed Hina by the collar of the white t-shirt I made her wear again.

She's surprisingly light in her loli-form so I easily shoved her in the closet.

She yelp as she hit the wooden corners of the closet, pulling her away from her sleep.

"What do you think you're doing human?!!" Hina's high pitched voice echoed throughout the room.

"My classmate's coming in, stay here for a while." I whispered.

"Who are you to command me-"

I instantly slid the closet door shut.

I cleaned the the table from the empty cans of drinks and empty bags of chips.

After feeling satisfied with the appearance of the room, I let Izumi in.

I took the box of sushi she was holding, and lay it on the table together with the two glasses of water I prepared.

Izumi sat beside the table with grace.

"Everyone was asking when will you resume attending class." Izumi stated.

I quietly sat across from her.

"I-I don't really know."

I was planning to skip class for the rest of the week.

She stayed silent for a while and just stared blankly at the glass of water resting on the table she was holding with both her hands.

"I know it's hard losing a loved one." She said in a somber voice.

She must be referring to grandma's death.

It didn't bother me too much since I barely spend time with her.

"I lost my mother from a car accident ten years ago, since then I was the one taking care of my father and siblings, my father is an unorganized person and easy to forget things so I couldn't really rely on him."

"What I'm saying is." She looked me in the eye.

"Even if it hurts, you have to keep moving forward."

"I appreciate your concern but-"

Before I could even finish what I'm saying, Hina burst out the closet and quickly snatched the box of sushi from the table.

In a swift movement, she sat on the floor in front of us and opened the box.

"Hah! my nose was right!" She picked up a piece of sushi and triumphantly raised it.

I was expecting Izumi to be shocked but the look in her face shows confusion more than anything else.

Without warning, Hina started to gobble up the sushis one by one.

"Hayato." Izumi mutters my name, as she stared at Hina.

"I didn't know you had a little sister this cute!"

She quickly got ahold of Hina's cheeks and starts squeezing them.

Hina couldn't care less as she swallow another piece.

I guess even a stern woman like Izumi still has a girly side.

"Who is this woman?" Hina asked nonchalantly.

Izumi noticed Hina's ears and starts to feel them.

"What's this?" She gives Hina's ear a squeeze which made Hina make an annoyed expression, but was completely washed away by the delicacy she was experiencing with her tongue.

"S-She's cosplaying!" I hurriedly came up with a horrible lie.

"Hmm.." Izumi continues to squeeze Hina's ear while staring at it intently.

I didn't notice the sweat accumulating on my face as I wait for Izumi's conclusion.

"These are pretty realistic accessories!" Izumi states in amazement.

Phew, I didn't know how but she completely believed what I said.

I couldn't tell what was Izumi's thinking but after what happened she started to come over everyday.

She uses my class skipping as defense everytime I ask here why she's here, saying the teacher asked her to check on me, It doesn't take a genius to figure out she's lying at this point.

In actuality, she's just here to play dress up with Hina.

Everytime she comes over she's bringing new costumes to fit on Hina, maid outfit, sailor outfit, goth outfit, you name it.

Hina just goes along with it since Izumi gives her a box of sushi for compensation.