"Izanagi!"

Shizuku's shoulder slams into my stomach. I stagger backward. She clutches my waist, her arms wrapped around me like steel bands which keep me from toppling backward.

"Don't send me away again!" She collapses into wailing sobs and drags me to my knees. "Don't...leave...me. Don't...ever...leave me. Don't...ever leave ...again!"

There are more words, but most are lost in her howling grief.

The teacher-who turns out to be Kuroguchi-sensei the art teacher-approaches with more confidence. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Please, Izanagi!"

Kuroguchi-sensei looks at the girl howling at my feet. "Lover's quarrel?"

The trailing students form a smirking circle around me. I fight down an inexplicable blush. "Ah, er, no..."

"It must be nice to be so young."

"No! She... Shizuku-san was trapped in one of the auditorium storage lockers and I think she might be claustrophobic."

"Ah." Kurogushi-sensei looks relieved. "Please take her to the nurse's office so she can calm down and rest."

"Hai." I pull at Shizuku's arms and try to coax her to her feet. "Come one, Shizuku-san."

"Nooo..."

"I've got to get you to the nurse's office."

"Don't make me leave Izanagi!"

The others are laughing now. I pull harder. "Come on."

"No! I don't want to go! I don't want to leave you!"

Unable to endure the humiliation any longer, I do the only thing I can do and scoop her up in a princess carry. "Ah!" Shizuku flings a panicked arm around my neck and clings to me.

"Oh, how sweet," the mocking voices begin.

"I wish someone would carry me like that."

I hurry back to the main building, by way of lesser used hallways hoping not to be seen.

"Let me stay by your side! Always by your side," Shizuku whimpers.

It would sound like a wonderfully romantic marriage proposal if she were actually my girlfriend or my name were Izanagi. I wonder who the bastard was and what exactly he did to hurt her.

I pass students who stop to watch with amused looks but my anger helps stave off some of the embarrassment. I storm down hallways in indignation but still I hold her carefully. She is surprisingly light. I try to remember why she had seemed so imposing-why I was so terrified of her. At the moment, it seems so unlikely.

* * *

"What is this?" The school nurse, Akagawa-sensei, turns a puzzled and accusing scowl on me.

I stand in the doorway holding Shizuku who lies against my chest, eyes closed and sniffing back tears. At least she has calmed down somewhat. "She was shut in a storage locker and panicked. Probably claustrophobia. Kuroguchi-sensei told me to bring her here to rest."

"Very well. Bring her over her." She draws back part of a hanging curtain that surrounds one of the infirmary's narrow cots. "How long was she inside the locker?"

I gently lay her down on the cot. "I don't think it was for more than a few minutes, but I don't really know."

Akagawa-sensei quickly looks her over. She sticks a thermometer in Shizuku's mouth, wraps a pressure cuff around one arm to check her blood pressure and then pauses to write down the results. "Well, she looks OK. I'm sure she'll be fine after a little rest. You can back to your class."

"That's good." Reluctantly, I turn away from the girl trembling on the cot.

"No!" Shizuku screams and grabs my gym uniform sleeve, her eyes are wide with panic. "Don't leave me."

I look to the nurse. "Maybe I should stay for a while."

Akagawa-sensei rolls her eyes and sighs. "I guess it can't be helped. You can sit in that chair and hold her hand if necessary. I have to get back to the first aid station. You kids seem determined to hurt yourselves doing the silliest stuff." She dons a white coat and snatches up a first aid bag. "I'll come back and check on her in a few minutes. Don't use this as an excuse to skip your obligations for the festival." She pauses at the door to cast a severe frown at me. "And don't do anything inappropriate while you're alone."

"Inappropriate? I would never-" I started to object, but she's already gone.

I gently push Shizuku back down on the cot. "Get some rest." Following Akagawa-sensei's suggestion, I sit in a nearby chair and take Shizuku's hand. It seems so small in mine.

Shizuku's eyes, with their silent plea, slowly drift close. Her breathing calms, but her brow remains furrowed beneath her tangled strands of hair and her hand stays firmly clenched around mine.

"Don't do anything inappropriate while you're alone."

Why did sensei have to say that? What did she think I would do? Did she think I was the type of guy to take advantage of someone so defenseless?

But now that she has said it, I find unexpected thoughts slipping into my mind. What kind of life did Shizuku have before she had died? What inappropriate thing did happen to her and why didn't someone help her? Until now she had always been so confident, so forceful, like a natural disaster...not at all like the helpless thing shivering next to me.

She really is a girl.

I reach toward her in surprise, but stop my hand from straightening the twisted locks of hair falling across her face. Somehow being in the room alone with her is making me nervous. I sit back in my chair and focus on my breathing while I wait for Akagawa-sensei to return.

Time passes. I can tell because my butt is sore from the hard plastic chair. Finally, someone enters the nurse's office just outside the infirmary. At last!

The door to the infirmary opens slowly, but the head that pokes inside isn't Akagawa-sensei's.

"Hello?" Kyoko enters and notices our clasped hands with a look of dismay. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah!" I try to yank my hand back, but Shizuku's grip it too strong.

She startles, jerking awake in her bed, eyes snapping open wide. "No!"

"Michi-kun?" Kyoko's tone shifts from hurt to a simmering anger. "What are you doing with her?"