In A Triangle

"Are you sure it was okay to bring me?" Kyohi asked, standing behind her friend in front of a beautiful wooden house.

Helia looked at the girl with a frown before she answered, "Of course! You are my friend. I've been talking about you lately and they are dying to meet you." She pulled the shy girl by her hand and led her to the door. She then removed a key from her bag and unlocked the door open.

Kyohi watched the entire action in silence. Even though her friend was so enthusiastic to let her meet her family, she didn't know if she was worthy of it. Years of being alone and slow bullying made her self-confidence to the lowest level possible.

"Grandma, I'm back!!" Helia shouted as soon as she opened the door and stepped in, still holding Kyohi's fragile hand. "Grandma?!"

There was no reply from the quiet house. Helia shrugged her shoulders and closed the door locked after her friend entered. "Come on in. No need to be shy."

Kyohi looked at her friend nervously and didn't dare to remove her shoes and really get into the house.

But before Helia could encourage her more, there was a voice from outside of the house. "I'm in the garden, Helia!"

"Okay!" The girl answered back her grandmother and urged her friend to get in. This time, Kyohi didn't have the time or excuse, so she obediently removed her shoes and walked into the house.

"Excuse me for my disturbance."

Helia instantly held her friend's hand and ran down the hallway without wasting any more seconds. She was half excited for her grandmother to finally meet her first friend she made in this country and half because they needed her help.

"I'm back!" Helia energetically informed her grandmother, attending the garden from the edge of the back door.

Suzu slowly stood up from her sitting position and turned to her granddaughter with a small shovel in her hand. "Aren't you a little too early for coming ba-" She abruptly stopped when she found a girl standing in Helia's shadow.

Kyohi was holding her breath when her friend's grandmother suddenly stopped talking. She was looking down at her feet but could feel the stare from the old lady. Did the grandmother think that she was so filthy and unworthy of being her granddaughter's friend? Was she so ugly that the grandmother needed a pair of glasses to confirm she wasn't a monster?

Helia, noticing that her grandmother found her friend, brought Kyohi in front of her and said with a big, proud smile, "This is Kyohi Takanashi. She's the one I've been telling you about."

Kyohi's mind was filled with negative thoughts that she couldn't understand what her friend said next to her. "I'm sorry..." The girl whispered as she bowed deeply.

The pair of grandmother and granddaughter had bewildered expressions. Especially Helia, who also had a mix of upset on her face.

"Raise your head, sweetheart." Kyohi only raised her head when she heard Suzu's soft voice telling her.

The girl still looked down and didn't dare to look into the eyes of the woman.

"Welcome to our home." Kyohi raised her head to meet the exact copy and paste of Helia's smile plastered on the woman's face. "Get into the house. It's going to get hot."

"Okay!" Helia hopped back into the house like a bunny getting her to treat, followed by Kyohi, the calm turtle.

-----

"Did it come off, darling?"

"Almost all... Thank you."

"No need to thank me." Suzu hummed as she stood up from her chair and put away the first aid kit back into the drawer. "Let me bring you some cold tea."

Helia sprung up to her feet from next to her friend and volunteered, "I'll do it."

Suzu gracefully turned to her granddaughter and said, "No. You go to her room and get her something to wear."

That was the moment, Kyohi's mind re-registered what she was wearing. Although she had a pair of tights on, she still felt uncomfortable only covering her legs with two jackets wrapped around.

"Oh yeah..." Helia skipped off to her room at the same time as her grandmother went into the kitchen.

For a while, Kyohi was left alone in the cosy and neat living alone. She looked around just like any other person would have done and breathed the air constantly.

The house had a scent that was different from where she lived. This house was filled with the aroma of food, flowers, wood and love. Just by staying there, she felt like she was different from who she was and belonged here as a part of the family.

Suzu, a lovely woman with a perfectly combed, afro hairstyle, brought a tray with three glasses and one big teapot with ice. She settled what she had in her hands on the table before she approached the girl and gestured to let her take a look at it.

Kyohi felt small but reassuring, and warm hands engulf hers in a second. It had been a while since anyone had touched her like that apart from Helia. They both had the same warmth and kindness.

"There, there." The grandmother said as she carefully separated the girl's fingers.

The girl pushed her glasses up first before she assured her fingers were back to normal. "Thank you." She thanked her and met the eyes of the woman in front of her.

"You're welcome. Now, it's better to go wash your hands and have a drink. You'll find the sink down the corridor and to the right." The grandmother helped Kyohi stand up from the seat and pointed behind her.

"Okay." Kyohi listened to what she was told and followed the directions to the sink.

As she washed her hand with excessive soap on her hands, her friend came. "I couldn't find any clothes that would fit you and new, but I brought the school skirt. What do you think?"

Kyohi stopped the running water at once with soapy hands and said, "Absolutely not! I'm fine with this!"

Helia rolled her eyes at the reply and opened the tap again to wash off the bubbles on Kyohi's hand. "Oh, please. I know more than well that you don't feel comfortable with that. Even I would feel the same way. Now take the damn skirt and wear it." As the girl finished drying her hands, Helia placed the skirt in her hands a little forcefully.

"But..."

Helia kept on pressing the skirt into Kyohi's hands. "Although I don't have the full picture, I have a fair amount of ideas." Her voice wasn't the kind Kyohi's neighbours and relatives gave her; pity. Hers was pure understanding and kindness. "Take it. At least for now. You can return it whenever you want. Besides, I have three skirts, just in case. This one is my backup's backup."

Her friend's eyes were telling her she wasn't going to take a no for an answer and listen to sh*t. Kyohi just had to comply.

"Thank you."

Helia smiled and pointed at the bathroom behind the girl with her jaw. "You can change in there and come after you're done."

-----

As Kyohi got out of the bathroom, checking on the skirt since it wasn't hers and didn't feel familiar, she heard voices from the living room; Helia and Suzu's.

The first thing she did before anything was to freeze in that spot. She had always done this when she was in school when she heard someone mention her name and talk about her. It was weird and uncomfortable for her to just pop up when she was the subject of their talking and receive unfriendly gazes.

Just now, she heard her name being mentioned and she couldn't help but have the same reaction as when she was in school. It wasn't like she could turn off the switch to react that way when she was away from school.

"And then those b*tches were like, 'I'm the boss. You better listen to me and only me.' It kind of annoyed me, you know. Like her spit was getting in the food. Filthy."

It was her friend's voice with a hint of irritation.

"So what did you do to them?" Suzu asked after keeping the glass on the wooden table. Sounded like she didn't mind her granddaughter cursing.

"Oh, nothing much." Kyohi could imagine Helia shrugging her shoulders. "Just publicly embarrassed her and made her lose her social status for some time."

She then heard the woman laugh heatedly. "It must have been satisfying."

"It was."

"I raised you right."

"Sure you did." The conversation died momentarily from the two drinking the tea and resumed soon after with a brand new topic of how Helia's homeroom teacher was petty and sh*tty.

Kyohi once again washed her hands before she walked into the two having a talk over tea and biscuits.

"It looks nice on ya." Helia commented and patted the seat next to her for her to sit in.

"Thanks..." The girl murmured and took the offered seat.

Sitting in a comfortable triangle, Suzu gestured towards the drink and the biscuits before she spoke. "Now, it's time for you to tell me what really is going on."