-May 2010-

I twirled around, hugging the large pink whale I'd won from a UFO catcher. Sana's hand went over his mouth as he giggled at me. The arcade was playing a song from Ranma 1/2, one of my favorite anime of all time. I started dancing the second it came on, recognizing the starting beats.

"That's it, you're all coming over to my place at some point to watch anime. What do you want to watch? I've got a bunch," Nobu announced. "Summer is a good time for it, I think."

"Why is summer any better of a time to watch it?" Sana asked, smiling and watching me.

"It's kind of nostalgic," Nobu shrugged. "There's lots of anime with good summer scenes. Going to the beach, festivals, summer break trips, things like that."

"Summer break trips? Hmm. I want to go on one," Sana said. "What's your favorite anime?"

"One Piece."

"Hmm." His finger went on his chin cutely. "Yeah, I could see that."

"You can see it?" Nobu started laughing. "What does that mean?"

"Hey, there's Pringles in this machine! First one to win gets to keep all the prizes!" I called to them, running off in the opposite direction.

"Wait, Squirrel!" Nobu laughed. I looked over my shoulder and he took Sana's hand, running with him. Sana was beside himself, having the best time. It was exactly my plan.

Earlier during practice, it'd been terrible. We'd gotten there, and my sister was waiting. She had Tadashi's bass slung over her shoulder, so I already knew it was bad news. It was clear who's side she was on. I'd gotten the tongue lashing of my life as she yelled at me in front of everyone about harming him. She said he was going to quit the band anyway, that being in no band was better than being in Lyra.

From Sana's silent reaction, I knew she'd hurt his feelings very badly. Yami told her to leave, and that maybe it wasn't such a good idea that Hexen practice at the space for a while. She'd told him exactly where to shove it, saying that Hexen paid the rent just as much as Lyra, and he had no right to say that. She'd told me to come with her, but I'd refused. She didn't know I'd taken Tadashi's place as bassist. My plan is to not tell her for a while.

But, it wasn't over. Sana was definitely shaken by her. He couldn't hold on to his notes during practice, his signature long, high notes warbling and cutting off at the wrong places. Obviously, he was nervous. Yami yelled at him again. Nobu tried to explain to us after, that Yami wasn't really mad at Sana, but that he was letting off steam from Tadashi and my sister. It wasn't right, and Nobu acknowledged that, but it all just made Sana even worse.

I'd been the one to suggest we go to an arcade. Yami refused to come, saying it was for kids, making me more mad at him.

Now we were here, and Sana was finally smiling. I'd won a Hello Kitty plush backpack for him, and he was carrying it around. He was so cute. Her pink outfit kind of matched his own. He was wearing a pink sailor collared sleeveless shirt, and a fluffy, yellow tulle mini skirt. His hair was sweetly in high, curled pigtails, with daisy clips on them, matching his daisy themed jewelry and nails. He finished off the outfit with white stockings and pink Converse. He was always so fashionable, keeping me on my toes about what I wore, too.

However, I hadn't been home in a couple of days, so I was wearing the same thing that I'd been wearing for a while. It completely surprised me that my sister hadn't brought my not coming home up in her screaming at us.

I bounced in front of the UFO catcher with the Pringles in it. I inserted a coin, and it perked up with fast paced music. Nobu and Sana finally caught up to me, and watched.

"I'll go to the side and tell you what to do," Nobu said, helpful as always. He went over to the side of the machine, and motioned for me to move forward. Sana stood next to me.

"Which one are you going for?" He asked, getting really close to the action.

"That one there," I said, pointing to the one in the very middle, standing next to the edge. "That tab is looks the easiest to grab. I bet I can shove it over the edge." Now that I was looking at him, he was so pretty staring at the chips. His reflection was on the glass, his beautifully manicured nail on his chin absentmindedly as he watched. He looked like he could be posing for Kera magazine, the lights and colors from the other machines really making his pastel outfit pop. My mouth opened.

"What are you doing? Time is going to run out! Get it!" Nobu cheered for me. I came to, and quickly maneuvered the claw at the chips. With a cheer from both of them, they knocked over the edge just in time. I got them out of the prize area triumphantly, holding them over my head.

"My turn?" Sana asked, cutely. He was so beautiful, so happy finally. I opened my coin purse and gave him some coins, smiling so much. He giggled, holding out his cupped hands.

Nobu came over to watch with me, on Sana's other side. "That green one seems gettable," he instructed. "Over there, at the far end." He gestured with his finger, and Sana obeyed, clumsily coaxing the claw to the back of the machine.

"You've got it, I know it," I said, watching him more than what he was doing. That smile was making my world.

"Okay, you've got it!" Nobu gasped, gesturing wildly.

But in that moment.

"Oh!" Sana cried out, stumbling over to the side. His hand went to the right side of his ribs, holding on tightly to them. Nobu's elbow was out, and he looked horrified. Obviously, he'd accidentally hit Sana in his ribs with it. Sana's face scrunched up, his teeth bared, his eyes bunched up with being closed so hard. I caught him by the waist, keeping him from crashing into me. He braced himself on the machine with his other hand, stopping himself at the same time.

Nobu forgot about the game in front of us immediately. "What was that? I just bumped you," he said, his hands floating around Sana, trying to catch him, too.

Sana's eyes were still closed tightly. He moaned, holding his side still.

"What's wrong with your ribs?" Nobu asked, quieter. "I wondered why you can't sing... Is that why? What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," Sana squeaked out, leaning over the controls of the machine in his pain.

"It's not nothing," I spoke up. He opened his eyes and looked at me desperately.

"Are you in pain? What I just did shouldn't have hurt. What's going on?" Nobu's hand was on his hip, impatient. Sana shook his head. "Annie? Tell me what's going on. Do you know what it is? This isn't a joke. I'm not stupid. I knew there was something wrong." He leaned in to Sana more, and Sana winced at this. His voice came out much more gentle, though. "You can't let stuff like this go. You have a condition."

Sana just shook his head again. Nobu grabbed his wrist, but he wouldn't budge from his position. "Come on, I'm taking you to get seen. It's not a joke. I'll call Yokohara-sensei." He was being so gentle, but Sana kept shaking his head.

"He doesn't want to go, because he's afraid of Yami," I said, matter of fact. Sana looked at me, his face full of a sad betrayal. I felt bad for saying it, but Nobu had to know. He was right. It wasn't a joke.

"Because of Yami?" Nobu sighed. "That's a terrible reason to not get seen. How long as it been hurting? Can you breathe okay? I know you have asthma..." He got closer to Sana's face, looking him over carefully.

Sana shook his head again. Nobu checked his watch quickly. "It's just past four. Let's go to Yokohara-sensei's office. We can still make it. I'll pay for a taxi. Come on." He tugged on his arm with more force. Sana wouldn't budge.

"Sana, please go get seen," I said to him quietly. I leaned in closer to him, and saw his eyes were shimmering. He was about to cry. That hadn't been my intent at all. I wanted to hug him, but that would just hurt him...

"I don't want to be a problem," he whispered. I almost didn't hear him over the sounds of the arcade.

"You're not a problem, Sana," Nobu replied sincerely. "We just want you to feel better. Let's go to Yokohara-sensei, come on. If you're feeling better, Yami won't find out at all. Wouldn't that be better?"

Sana nodded slowly.

"Annie, I'm sorry, but you'll have to go home. I'm going to take Sana to his doctor now, okay? We'll meet up some other time. I want to make sure Sana's taken care of, alright? Is that okay?" Nobu asked, his brows peaking in his concern.

I rubbed the bottom of Sana's back in apology, and he wouldn't look at me. Small tears of my own were pricking my eyes at this. I grabbed my prizes from the floor, and turned to walk out of the arcade, but a hand took my wrist, jerking me backwards a little. I looked around, and Sana was staring at me with a sad expression. His sweet hand was wrapped around my wrist.

He wasn't mad at me. I blinked hard, trying to control my tears. "I hope you feel better," I said. "I'm sorry." He let go of my wrist, and I hurriedly walked out of the arcade before my emotions caught up with me.