po... omg... my po so cute.... 

-Leina

“Zico, I’m going to school, alright?” I said to the sleeping boy. He groggily opened his eyes and looked at me.

“School?”

“Yeah, I’m a high school student,” I said.

“Oh… you’re a high school student? Only…? I thought you would be older… like closer to my age…” Zico yawned.

I froze. “Like… college?” I prompted carefully.

“Yeah…” Zico mumbled into his pillow. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m 21.”

“Oh yeah, right,” I said casually. “Alright, well I’ll be back around four so don’t burn the house down or anything, alright?”

“Kay,” Zico said, closing his eyes. “You look cute in your uniform by the way.”

He was soon asleep again. He may have not realized it, but his memory was slowly returning to him. Twenty-one, huh? The age shouldn’t have surprised me; after all, he definitely looked old enough to be an upperclassman in college. But still, I had been treating him as a younger brother when he’d actually been four years older than me.

*** *** ***

“Leina? Leina!” I distantly heard a voice. Suddenly I felt an invisible force wrap around my torso, keeping me from walking forward. I snapped out of my daze and realized I had just been about to run into a pole.

“Jeez,” PO said, catching up to me. “You’ve been so out of it all day…”

PO, my childhood friend, the one that lived a floor below me, who was my partner for night patrols, has telekinetic powers. The power to move things with his mind, just in case you didn’t get that.

“Sorry,” I gave a breathy apology. I had been thinking about Zico. Pretty much all day. His returning memory was not the only thing that was on my mind. The weekend was over, and the original plan had been for me to take him to the MCC (Magic Control Center) on Monday, which was today. But something… kept me from wanting to hand him over to the officials. I kept telling myself it was because I was curious about his past, but I knew that wasn’t the whole reason.

“You alright?” PO asked, slightly brushing his hand against my cheeks. “Are you sick?”

“Sick…? Oh, no, I’m not…” I replied.

PO frowned, “Maybe you should take the night off today. I can cover for you.”

“No, that’s not fair-” I bit my lip. But I couldn’t help but to think that a night off would really help to collect my thoughts about what I wanted/needed to do about Zico.

“It’s cool,” PO smiled, petting my head. “Just get better soon, alright?”

“Thanks a ton,” I smiled. “PO, what would I do without you…”

“Mm, c’mon, let’s get home,” PO said, putting an arm around my shoulders. “It’s chilly outside.”

“Welcome home,” Zico grinned from the couch as I kicked off my shoes. “How was school?”

“Well… school , but that’s just the norm, so not much,” I said, shrugging off my coat and sitting down next to him. “How about you?”

“Well… I had a house party all by myself,” Zico laughed lightly. “I don’t know, I kinda literally did nothing all day. I woke up past noon, ate, watched TV…”

“Lovely,” I said. “Hungry?”

It was nearing five and although I often neglected eating, Zico seemed to love that stuff called food.

“As always,” Zico grinned. “Food please?”

“Let’s go out and eat,” I said. “I don’t want to cook.”

Zico grabbed his newly bought jacket and slipped into a pair of shoes. He took one of my scarves off the hook and wrapped it around me snuggly then helped me into my jacket. I didn’t usually allow people to pamper me like this… but it was weird thing between Zico and me. Our relationship had started as something more like me caring for an abandoned puppy, but during the few days he’s stayed over at my house, Zico’s uncertainty completely disappeared, replaced by a fun and joking, but mature guy. Now, he liked to baby me with these kinds of small acts.

Zico pushed the door open and froze suddenly.

“What?” I frowned, trying to look around him.

PO.

Holy …

The three of us kinda stood there tensely for a few silent moments.

Finally, PO broke the silence.

“Leina…? Who is this…?” he asked quietly, his voice full of hurt and betrayal. I felt like crap. PO had gone home, thinking that I wasn’t feeling good, willing to do the patrol shift alone. But now, he caught me with a guy he didn’t know, a guy that I only met a few days ago.

“Hi my name is Zico,” Zico said boldly. I couldn’t tell if he was purposely trying to remind me that he was only staying here because his memory was gone. Or… it could’ve just been some sort of passive aggressive jab. “I’m Leina’s refugee.”

“Refugee, huh?” PO asked pointedly, stepping into my house and closing the door behind him. “I think we need to talk.”

“Yeah…” I said quietly, stepping back into the living room. This was a mess.

Together, we explained everything that happened to PO. I could tell PO was not okay with this whole situation, but he stayed silent until we finished.

“Well,” PO said bitterly. “The MCC’s open now, so you can just take him there, right Leina?”

“Right…” I said, looking down at my lap. PO and I both knew that I probably wouldn’t be able to see PO again once he went to the MCC.

“Oh don’t bother,” Zico said. “I can just stay here for a little longer until most of my memory recovers. Then I’ll leave.”

“No,” PO snapped. I stiffened. PO was being unreasonably rude to Zico. I could definitely understand his anger towards me, but Zico did nothing wrong.

“Why’re you making that decision?” Zico challenged. “This’s Leina’s house.”

“Fine then,” PO turned to me. “What’re you gonna do about this guy?”

I stood up. “Sorry Zico. PO and I need to have a talk for a sec.”

Zico nodded his agreement and I pulled PO into my room.

“Okay, I understand why you’re angry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but can you stop being so rude to him? He did nothing wrong,” I said. “It’s not his fault his memory got swiped my some magician.”

“Oh, so defending him now?” PO snorted. “You just say you’re sorry and then it’s over, right?”

“You know what? When you actually think about it, you don’t have any right or reason to be angry at me,” I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning back against the wall. “This’s my house, and I made the decision to let him stay. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do with me… right,” PO muttered angrily. But under the anger, I heard a slight bit of hurt. “It’s always like this, isn't it…”

“What’re you talking about…” I said wearily, already exhausted from our argument.

“Always. You’re always off doing your own thing, not even… thinking about…” PO sighed, pausing for a moment. “Whatever. I’m sorry I didn’t trust your decision, Leina. Just… just be careful okay? You’re important to me. I got angry just because I don’t want anything happening to you.”

I gave him a small smile and stepped closer to him, gently wrapping my arms around his waist. I whispered into his ear, “Thank you PO, for always being here for me. But trust me on this one, okay? He’s a good guy.”

-PO

“Always. You’re always off doing your own thing, not even… thinking about…” my feelings, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence. No. Leina didn’t know about my feelings for her, and I had to keep it that way. If I didn’t… she would surely push me away.

“Whatever. I’m sorry I didn’t trust your decision, Leina. Just… just be careful okay? You’re important to me. I got angry just because I don’t want anything happening to you.”

A small smile tugged at Leina’s lips and she stepped closer to me, carefully putting her arms around my waist and leaning into me. I slowly raised my arms until I was hugging her small figure back.

“Thank you PO, for always being here for me,” Leina said softly into my ear. “But trust me on this one, okay? He’s a good guy.”

It felt like she had just punched me in the stomach. As Leina pulled away, she gave me a small peck on the cheek.

These small things that Leina did so casually, hugs, kisses on the cheek, meant nothing to her. But to me, every time, my heart clenches uncomfortably. The way she did them so casually was just another painful reminder that Leina doesn’t see me as anything more than a close friend.

To me, she was unreachable, unattainable.