“Ohno!” Nino called for his chubby friend’s name while he tried looking for him around the mansion. He used to hate playing hide and go seek because of the fact he had to run around, and actually look for someone. However every time he and Ohno played, the game would go on and on until his mom called him for dinner.

“I found you!” Nino slapped his friend’s head causing the boy to yelp like a girl. Though he knew where he was hiding because he’s been picking the same spot for the last few hours. He was just running around the mansion, pretending that he was looking for him.

“Nino that hurts,” Ohno whined while he rubbed the back of his head.

“Bleh!” Nino stuck his tongue out. “That’s what you get for picking the same spot behind these bushes.”

“Sorry,” Ohno apologized as if it really were a bad thing to do, “I was just so sleepy…”

He really couldn’t blame Ohno though. During the day while he was forced to come out of his room, he would just take a tour around the mansion since he was still unfamiliar to it. He would bump into a potted plant once in awhile and behind one of them was Ohno resting his head besides it. At times, he wanted to startle him till he peed his pants, but there were even times when he would just grab a chair and watch him sleep until he woke up.

“Oh-chan,” Nino poked his friend’s face, “How come you’re here? Where are your parents?” He’s only been in the mansion for less than a week, and he never really had a chance to ask Ohno why he was in his house; now was a good time. He pulled Ohno to one of the lawn chairs, and took the empty seat next to him. By the time he made himself comfortable, he heard a light snore coming from his friend.

“Oi! Wake up,” he grab hold of the chair and shook it until Ohno’s eyes flung open.

“Oh uh… my parents they--”

“Lemme guess, they work here!” Nino answered for him feeling proud that he already knew the answer. He expected Ohno to nod his head frantically and stare at him with twinkling eyes asking him how he knew. But instead, he heard nothing coming out of his friend’s mouth, and he thought that he had left him in awe.

“Oh--”

“T-they…died,” Ohno’s voice faltered lower to the point it almost sounded like a whisper. But Nino heard it well. He didn’t miss a single word that came out of his friend’s mouth and he realized he had done something stupid. He wanted to ask more but he could see the tears starting to form in his eyes. Instead, he gently pulled Ohno to his feet and assisted him to his room, the room he ran into the first day he met him, and told him to lay down on his bed.

As he tightly tucked his friend in his blanket, he didn’t realized he had fallen asleep until he heard light snores coming from him. He smiled, glad that he had met Ohno. Only then did he realize that his mom’s words weren’t so bad at all.

“Ma!” Nino yelled across the dinner table causing his parents to glare at him. Despite the many times he was scolded from being rude during dinner, he still did what he wanted to. But right now, he had to find out about his friend and ask them about him.

“Oh-chan he… his parents died,” Nino went straight to the point since he knows they only listen to half of what he was saying.

“We know,” his dad answered, “but he’s here for a reason.”

“Wha--”

“Honey,” his mom cut him off and leaned closer to her husband. She had a strange look on her face, but Nino didn’t know what that meant.

“I don’t think it’s time…” He heard her whisper. I’m not that old, he frowned, they think I didn’t hear it.

“Time for what?!” Nino asked her, while he kicked his legs in the air anticipating for the answer. Whatever the reason was, he was glad his parents had brought Ohno to their house.

He moved his head like he was in a tennis match, waiting for one of them to answer. However, his mom fixed herself again before picking up her utensils, and started to eat again. She’s no help, Nino rolled his eyes. So he changed his attention to his dad, but to no luck he was also doing the same thing as his mom.

“Whatever,” Nino grumbled, “I’m just going to find that out for myself.”

After dinner, he stormed into his room and slammed the door shut. He wanted to let his parents know that he was mad at them for not answering, and mad at the fact they hadn’t told him until he asked. Besides, he had the right to know the truth since Ohno was his friend. If they’re not going to speak, Nino narrowed his eyes on the small hump in his bed, then Oh-chan will tell me. He might know.

Flicking the light switch on, he jumped on his bed yelling and making a tantrum until Ohno asked him to stop in a sleepy voice. He did stop, not wanting to bother him any longer and make himself feel even worse.

“Oh-chan, did my parents tell you why you’re here?”

“No,” Ohno shook his head, “Why? Did something happen?”

“Oh, never mind,” he replied in defeat, his hopes plummeting back down to Earth. Maybe his parents were meaning to bring Ohno here so he could have a friend. Or maybe they brought him here because they felt sad. Or maybe they brought him here because they were friends with Ohno’s parents. This ‘or maybe’ was driving Nino crazy since there were so many stories as to why Ohno was there. He could come up with many excuses but he didn’t see the reason why his parents were keeping it a secret from him.

Taking one deep breath, he slipped inside his blankets wanting to sleep off all those thoughts afraid it will keep him up all night. He exhaled one more time before falling asleep and wandering off to dreamland.

TBC