Our Spot

Satoku ran to get Kaito and Haido, on Kaden’s request, while Kaden walked up to Amene. She was still on the edge of the water, now staring over the horizon. Kaden stood a little behind her, so his feet didn’t quite touch the water yet.

“Have you come to join me?” Amene asked, the moment he got there.

“Ah, I was always here, I just didn’t want to get wet.” Kaden responded, surprised she had even heard him coming. Since she always had a dreamy air about her, he didn’t take her for the observant type.

“I meant in watching the ocean.” She giggled and turned around to look at Kaden.

“Ah, uhm…” Kaden started, “yes, sure, why not.”

Amene turned back around to watch over the horizon once more. Kaden walked a bit closer to join her.

“I can tell that isn’t why you came over here, from your answer.” Amene stated dreamily.

“Ah, right, sorry.” Kaden said awkwardly, hoping he hadn’t disappointed her too much.

“It’s quite alright,” Amene said kindly, “I’m happy you still joined me regardless.”

Kaden looked at her carefully. She had the same half-smile on her face as usual, but something about it felt different, though he wasn’t sure what exactly it was.

“Of course, we’re friends.” Kaden responded.

“That’s true,” Amene said, in an almost gasping tone, “I’ve never had them before, so I almost forgot.”

She turned to Kaden and gave him a smile, before turning back to the ocean.

“We’ve been hanging out for weeks now, of course we are.” Kaden said softly.

“Sometimes people can be deceiving,” she responded, “even after having known each other for a while.”

Kaden didn’t say anything.

“But you seem like a good person, so I am not worried.” Amene added.

“I hope so…” Kaden mumbled to himself.

Soon, Satoku arrived with both Haido and Kaito on his back. Though on closer expectation, it was just Kaito that was on his back, while Haido was biting the back of Satoku’s head, unbeknownst to him.

All of them joined Kaden and Amene at the edge of the sea.

“Oh, more friends.” Amene said happily.

“So, what was your idea?” Satoku asked excitedly.

Everyone turned their heads expectantly towards Kaden, who quickly pulled himself out of his thoughts.

“Well, I was thinking,” Kaden hesitantly started, “what if we had a secret hideout outside of school?”

Kaito and Haido both looked excited about the idea, but Satoku looked conflicted.

“Why are you bringing this up now?” He asked suspiciously.

Kaden gave him a pleading look, but Satoku took his arm and pulled him aside.

“Are you suggesting this because you don't want to go home?” He tried to whisper.

Kaden nodded shamefully, but had no intention of backing down.

“Why don’t you want to go home?” Haido asked, having clearly heard Satoku’s loud voice.

Satoku gave Kaden a guilty look, and Kaden let out a deep sigh.

“I can't say, sorry.” He said quietly and turned his head down.

“Alright, we'll help you find a place.” Kaito then said firmly.

Kaden looked up at him, and saw that every one of them gave him a meaningful look. Even Satoku seemed to accept that Kaden wasn’t backing down from this.

“But, I can't even tell you why.” Kaden stated sombrely.

“You've helped me since the first day of school,” Kaito told him, “I wouldn't even be here without you.”

“I didn’t really do much…” Kaden mumbled.

“And if my baby brother is on board, so am I.” Haido added.

“I am sure it will be loads of fun.” Amene said dreamily.

“If you really want to do this, then I ain’t gonna stop you.” Satoku sighed. “Besides, a secret hideout would be so awesome!”

Kaden looked around at all of them.

“Thank you, everyone.” He said quietly.

“That’s what best buds are for!” Satoku exclaimed while slapping Kaden on the back.

“Does anyone have any suggestions?” Kaden asked softly.

Satoku’s hand excitedly shot in the air, while he started doing a sort of jumping dance.

“This isn’t a class.” Said Haido shortly, upon which Satoku disappointedly lowered his hand.

“Do you have a suggestion?” Kaden asked him, while comfortingly patting him on the back.

“Yes, yes!” He said, once again excited, “There’s an abandoned hut, not too far from here.”

“That sounds like as good a place to start as any.” Kaden said, while giving Satoku a friendly smile.

They all headed towards the hut, with Satoku in the lead. Like he had said, it was not too far from where they were. In fact, the beach was pretty much bordering it.

The hut was old, and made of rotting wooden planks. It appeared abandoned, alright. It looked like, with the slightest gust of wind, it would topple right over. The musk from inside was dank, and Kaden thought it was most likely unsafe to inhale it for too long.

“Are you sure it’s safe to stay here?” Kaden asked hesitantly, covering his mouth with his shirt.

“Of course, I’ve stayed here loads of times!” Satoku laughed, while he patted the hut, making some planks creak and fall down.

Haido carefully pulled Kaito back, as if she was afraid it would spring to live and attack him. Amene, of course, didn’t seem to mind and carelessly took a stroll inside.

“There’s not much in here,” she said after a while, “other than some mold, and spiders, oh, and I think those are barnacles!”

Kaden looked judgingly toward Satoku, who just shrugged like it was no big deal.

“I guess it floods occasionally, but not that much.” He said conversationally.

“Amene, we’re leaving!” Kaden shouted at her, before turning his back to Satoku and not giving him a chance to protest.

“Maybe we could stay at our place?” Kaito suggested, once they all had gathered again and had started walking.

It seemed for a second like Haido was going to object, but after she saw the expectant look on Kaito’s face, she closed her mouth.

Everyone followed Kaito and Haido, to the forest where the portable school had parked itself, after the entrance exam.

“You live in the forest?” Amene asked, once they had entered.

Haido nodded.

“It’s the best hiding place from maggots.” She said confidently.

“I somehow doubt that…” Kaden mumbled, as he swatted away some flying insects.

They walked deeper into the forest than Kaden head ever been. They’d wandered off the path a while back, and the trees kept getting denser and denser, to the point where almost no light came through anymore.

“This is it.” Haido said, gesturing to a big tree.

Kaden looked up at the tree, which just barely reached above the others.

“How do you get up?” He asked hesitantly.

Haido held up her hand and formed three needles between her fingers.

“You climb all the way up there, every day?” Kaden asked, baffled.

“Sometimes we stay home during the weekend.” Haido said casually.

“I'm not sure that's going to work as a hideout.” Kaden said, still looking up at the tree.

“Yeah, maybe not…” Kaito said disappointedly.

“We should take the sapphire to the new hideout, though.” Haido said after a moment of silence.

Kaden looked at her, confused. He had forgotten all about the King’s Sapphire after everything that happened at home.

“We decided it would be safest at their place, after you’d left.” Satoku nodded.

“Ah…” Kaden said quietly.

“M-Maybe we shouldn’t walk around with a recently stolen gem.” Kaito added shakily.

“It’s fine, dudes, I can just keep it in my backpack!” Satoku said confidently, while unzipping his backpack.

“Go get it, Kaden.” Haido then said firmly, slapping Kaden on the back.

“What? Why me?” Kaden asked, shocked at Haido’s proposition.

Haido shrugged as she handed Kaden two needles. Kaden looked around at the others, who all seemed on board with the idea, judging by the looks on their faces. He let out a deep sigh and grabbed the needles firmly.

After walking up to the tree, he inspected it a little closer. There were small holes all over it, presumable from where Haido had previously stuck her needles in. Now that he was so close to climbing it, it seemed ten times taller than before.

“You got it, dude!” Satoku said excitedly.

Kaden let out another sigh, then stuck the first needle into the tree. Then the second needle, a little higher. After that, he wasn’t actually sure what to do. He tried to lift himself up by one of the needles, but didn’t have the strength to and slumped back down to the ground.

“I’m just messing with you, there’s no way I’d let you up there alone!” Haido cackled.

She scooted smoothly in-between Kaden and the tree.

“Well, grab on.” She commanded.

“W-what?” Kaden stammered, feeling himself become redder.

Haido irritably grabbed his arms and put them around her.

“Now hold on, so you don’t fall to your death.” She chuckled, as she began climbing.

Haido was slightly smaller than Kaden, which made holding on to her a bit awkward. Regardless, it seemed she had no effort in pulling Kaden and herself up. Kaden tried his hardest not to look down, once they had reached a considerable height, but before he even realised it, they had reached the top.

He could barely see a small trapdoor, through the foliage, which Haido pried open effortlessly before climbing in.

They entered a small treehouse, one side barely decorated, though there were a few spiky objects scattered about, the other side filled with stuffed animals, mostly teddy bears. The treehouse looked just barely big enough for two people to live in, and Kaden thought that the size would be another factor in why this wasn’t a good secret hideout for all of them.

The sapphire was neatly placed down on the spiky side. Kaden wanted to go over there and grab it, but Haido stopped him.

“My room is off-limits for maggots.” She said sternly, as she walked over to grab it herself.

“R-right.” Kaden said nervously, when Haido handed it to him.

Kaden looked through the gap in the floor, to where the others stood.

“How are we going to get it down?” He asked slowly.

“Just hold it with one hand.” Haido shrugged casually, as she proceeded to the trapdoor.

This was easier said than done, since the sapphire was quite heavy.

Clunkily, they made their way down again, Kaden fearing he might drop either the sapphire or himself at times. He let out a quivering sigh as he handed it over to Satoku. Satoku proceeded to throw out a bunch of junk from his backpack, before stuffing the sapphire in there.

“You two should really infest in a ladder…” Kaden shakily said.

“So, where to next?” Satoku said excitedly, once he was done.

Everyone looked around at each other.

“Well if you're just looking for a place to stay, we could try the school.” Haido suggested.

“Some people stay there, if they don't have anywhere else to go. For you, it would cost a small amount, however, since you have a home still.”

“How much?” Kaden asked hesitantly.

“Only a few thousand per month.” Haido snickered.

Kaden almost choked when he heard it.

“That’s daylight robbery.” He sighed gloomily.

“Well, we are villains!” Haido cackled.

Satoku patted Kaden on the back comfortingly.

“I might know a place.” Amene said, suddenly.

Everyone looked in her direction. Wordlessly, she walked forward and lead the way. The rest followed.

Eventually, they ended up in front of a big building, made from the same marble as Amene’s mansion, on the outskirts of town.

Kaden had never been to this part of the city before, as it was supposedly always under construction.

“It’s an old storage of my parents.” Amene explained. “They haven’t used it since they got the bigger one, but I think there might be some stuff in there still.”

She opened the big doors with a rusty key.

The place looked like a mess, with gadgets scattered about, cobwebs and dust everywhere, and furniture in random places. Even so, it was big enough for all of them to fit in and more. There were multiple levels, and a balcony surrounded by one-way glass, to see outside.

“We can get a key for everyone.” Amene said dreamily.

“We might have to clean up a bit, but I think it’s wonderful, Amene.” Kaden said, gaping in the giant room in front of him.

“I don’t see what’s so different from the place I suggested.” Satoku moped.

Everyone, except Amene, turned to him, judgingly.

“We could try out the gadgets too!” Haido said with a dangerous wonder in her eyes, as she ran inside.

Kaito ran in too, and Amene followed.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Satoku asked, as he stood himself next to Kaden.

Kaden nodded.

“It wasn’t just for me.” He explained. “I was reminded of a conversation I had with Amene, back at her place. I thought that… all of them must get lonely, you know? You must too. I still don’t think I can go home yet, but I felt bad for not wanting to, when at least I have one. I wanted them to have a place to call home too. Where they didn’t have to be alone.”

He looked inside, watching Kaito run after Haido, who was firing off different gadgets at once, while Amene stood on the side, giggling.

Satoku thought for a moment.

“We’ll call it ‘Our Spot’.” He then said firmly.

Kaden let out a sigh.

“We really shouldn’t let you name these things.” He laughed.