BAREFACED

Chapter 58

You and Emi sit on the couch watching Eli pace back and forth in the living room.

"Eli..." Emi softly says.

"Do you know where mom could have possibly gone?" Eli asks in an irritated voice.

"No... but can you relax. You pacing like that will wake the baby up." Emi quietly says. Eli stops walking and stares at Emi.

"Wait... where is the baby?" You ask looking at Emi.

"I laid her on your bed... if that's okay." She replies looking back at you.

"That's fine." You softly say smiling at her.

"You know what. Yuki- let's go look for her." Eli says as he walks towards the door grabbing onto the doorknob.

"Right now? Eli... its late." Emi sighs.

"Okay?" Eli huffs looking back at Emi.

"You should rest... and so should Yuki." Emi implies. Eli sighs and let's go of the doorknob, and then lays down on the ground, groaning.

"We can look tomorrow after school..." You insist.

"Yeah yeah..." Eli sighs. You furrow your eyebrows and look towards Emi. Emi stares at you and then smiles.

"Wait- You need to sleep right? I will grab the baby-" Emi stands up and walks towards your bedroom.

"No. It's okay." You motion for Emi to stop walking. Emi slowly nods. "You can sleep in there with the baby... I will just sleep on the couch." You softly say.

"Are you sure?" She asks. You nod. Emi smiles and bows a bit. "Thank you." She says turning towards the bedroom. "Come on Eli. Get off the ground." Emi says to Eli who's still sulking on the ground.

The next morning you slowly make your way downstairs to the bakery to hopefully grab a few things for Emi and Eli. Your grandma is preparing the sweets and stuff. You lean a bit to get your grandma's attention. She slowly looks at you and smiles.

"Hi Yuki."

"Hi grandma." You softly say with a smile.

"How has school been?"

Your smile slowly disappears to the thought of school. You know you haven't been doing great at all. You smile again trying to shake the fact that you're failing in school at the moment.

"It's been good."

"You know. Your grandfather misses you... You should make some time to go visit him." She implies. You slowly nod with a serious look on your face. She rubs your cheek and smiles at you. "I made dorayaki with mochi and red bean paste in it this time. You should try some. Take some for your friends too." She says motioning towards the dorayaki on the counter. You smile and nod, grabbing a few and wrapping them up in a paper towel. You hug your grandma before walking back upstairs.

The sound of the baby crying is loud enough to hear from outside the door. You slowly open the door to see Emi bouncing the baby as she tries to feed her.

"Hey... why is she crying?" You ask, slowly walking into the living room and closing the door behind you.

"I don't know..." Emi softly replies. Eli is sitting on the couch rubbing his head. He looks tired.

"I brought some dorayaki..." You softly say placing the paper towel on the table.

"Thank you." Emi softly replies.

"You're welcome."

You and Eli slowly walk to school. Both of you walk not making any conversation. You stare off into the distance feeling kinda weird. Even after telling Eli the truth about who you are, you still feel like there's more you haven't told him. Should you even tell him more. You sigh and rub your arms feeling kind of chilly.