A/N: Ciao! Yep, I started this fic around 5 years ago but welcome to my first KHR fic! I hope you'll like this little story of mine and tell me what you think so I can make it better. Enjoy! ^^
Warning:This fic is set in AU (alternate universe) and due to the different flow of story, characters will be OOC (out of character) but I'll try to make it as canon as possible. Pairings are hetero 2795, 5986, 6996/1896, etc of age 18-20s. English is not my main language and sorry for careless typos if there is ever any!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own KHR. :T
Re-Edited: 18/3/15
(Readers who're re-reading my fic might find little changes)
Dreams & Debts
"Kyoko-chan..."
A whisper, soft and loving reached her ears as slowly, warmth enveloped her cold hand in a tight squeeze.
Where am I…?
The bed under her gave no comfort to her small frame and the smell of antiseptics filled her lungs as the cold, night breeze blew in, brushing against her skin. But the hold around her hand made her felt warm, a nostalgic feeling that she thought she'd never forgotten.
"I'm…sorry…"
That person was praying for her, she thought as he squeezed his hold yet again but gentle as if afraid that the simple gesture may cause her harm. Her curiosity grew and as she struggled to let her honey brown hues flutter open and with a hoarse voice, a word slipped out of her lips.
"Who…?"
It wasn't hard for her to adjust her sight, the room she was in had moonlight pouring in and that was enough for her to recognize the person she wanted to see. However, the gentle touch turned rigid and soon left her as if he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. The orange haired girl tilted her head weakly tilted her head at the source of light rustling of clothes. Candy irises fell on the boy standing beside her, shifting in his place yet his small lips formed a thin, grim line. The girl then tried to sit up on the bed, a smile reserved for him adorned her lips despite the pain shooting up her body. The boy was alarmed by her sudden move, worry filled his eyes but before he could do anything to stop her, the pain was too much for her small body. She relent. Slumping back to the bed and the boy retracted himself from trying to help her.
She whispered his name, questioning, wondering what had happened to her and why was she in this place.
The boy hesitantly parted his lips.
"This will be the last time I see you." He muttered in a tone of apology, the bangs from his messy chestnut hair shadowing his expression. Kyoko widened her eyes in return.
She parted her lips but words failed to escaped as the figure refused to meet her searching gaze. The orange haired girl unconsciously gripped the sheets in her hands, afraid of what was to happen.
"What…do you mean…?"
Not a word was spoken by the silent boy as he merely popped a pill in his mouth and a light crunch sound could be heard.
Orange flames flickered on his forehead as he finally tilted his head up, a weak smile forming on his lips as he raised his index finger, a warm, soothing flame flickering against her forehead.
"This is goodbye…Kyoko-chan."
THUD!
The teen fell from her small futon as the sun crept up into her room. Kyoko moaned, her sleep disturbed by the impact of her own body against the cold floor. She sat up and blinked several times before finally, the blurriness were gone from her sight.
"A…dream?"
Kyoko mumbled, the word left hanging as she turned her head around and surveyed her surroundings. She really is in her comfy, little apartment—it was only a level up from the ground floor and a little run down from the age of the building but anyway, Kyoko Sasagawa was still the only soul present in her home.
"But if felt so real….wait, what was his name again?"
Kyoko thought back to her dream but the image seemed to fade as soon as she woke up. She tilted her head to the side, wrecking her brain for the mysterious boy's name….that is, if he even really existed in the first place. But if he was someone important to her, she would remember soon enough…right?
Her thoughts were stopped in their tracks when the door slammed open, revealing a happy brunette with her dark-blue uniform and a short, tied up ponytail.
"Good morning Kyoko-chan!~"
Haru Miura, her best friend since her first year in high school, sang every syllabus of her name cheerily, entering her humble abode as if it was her second home. She looked at Kyoko for a second and paused, her smile turning into a more worried expression.
"Good morning, Haru-chan." The orange head answered, still feeling half-asleep as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "What is it Haru-chan?"
The brunette gave a long sigh at the state of her friend, she placed her hands on her hip, a brow raised. "You do know that school starts in 15 minutes, right?"
Kyoko stared at her for a few seconds before the words finally sunk in. Her face grew paler as she scurried for her alarm clock on the side of the bed. The teen rushed to her feet but had slipped and fell instead. Haru sighed once again, being used to it by now as she lend out a hand to the orange haired teen caring for her aching head.
"You must be really sleepy, huh?"
"I-I just came home late from my part time job last night, that's all." the other teen blushed in embarrassment as she took the hand.
Kyoko walked over to the washroom, not noticing the worry written all over her friend's face at her statement. Well, she does work for three part time jobs everyday and what's worse is that it all ends up to paying the debt her late parents left her with ten years ago. Her parents had died on a car accident when she was young. Haru tried to help her countless times with the debt but she insisted that she couldn't drag her friend into her problems. She'd insisted on it, especially since the amount she owed could make any person faint at sight. Kyoko shudder at the thought of the red zeroes on that cursed piece of paper.
Maybe they really were cheated or something…and it's all passed down to her. The young Sasagawa breathed out a deep sigh. She knew it was useless to complain. She just have to keep working and saving...for probably the rest of her life if it comes down to it.
"Great…"
The orange head scoffed sarcastically remembering the gloomier side of her life. Haru tossed her bag and a full set of the Namimori high uniform before she put it on hastily. Both teen ran all the way to Namimori High when that weird dream and the boy came to her mind again.
"Who…is he?"
"Hey, Haru-chan and Kyoko-chan."
School was finally over and Kyoko blinked when she heard Hana Kurokawa, one of their close classmates calling for her with several girls following suit.
"So...you two wanna hang out and go karaoke or something?" Hana beamed.
"Sorry Hana-chan, but I have to go to my part time job in a while."
Kyoko declined politely as she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulders, though it was true that she had to go to her work at a convenient store a few hour from now. Hana seemed disappointed as she pouted. An idea popped in Kyoko's mind as she eyed her clueless pony-tailed friend who blinked in return.
"But...Haru-chan can go! She just loves karaoke." Kyoko smiled almost too brightly as she lightly pushed the said teen to Hana.
"W-What?" was her dumbfounded reply.
"Really?" Hana eyed the two girls. One of them was still grinning while the other looked uncomfortable and shifted her gaze from Hana to her friend.
"Well…now we have enough people to go! I'll invite you again next time Kyoko-chan!~"
Hana clasped her hands together and before she knew it, Haru was dragged by the collar as Hana Kuyokawa pumped her fist to the air happily.
"B-But Kyoko-chan—" Haru whined. It's true that she likes having fun with their friends but she couldn't just leave Kyoko by herself.
"I'll be fine, you can have fun for me instead." Kyoko giggled as she waved at her friend.
"Uhh, okay...but don't push yourself too hard!"
Haru said to her friend before she disappeared out of the classroom. A soft smile tugged on her lips at the thought of her friend who always worriy for her. But it also made her happy that she had a caring friend.
As soon as she stepped in her home, Kyoko threw herself on the bed, enjoying the few minutes of peace before rushing to her tiresome work. Sleep almost came over her when suddenly, there was a 'click' sound of the door opening.
"Haru-chan…?" Kyoko muttered as she got up from her bed warily.
"So you're the girl with the debt…"
A rough looking man appeared wearing black overall tuxedos and sunglasses that made him look like he came out from a movie with addition of real scars on his face.
I forgot to lock the door and now this…?
What exactly did my parents do for crying out loud?!
"W-What do you want?" she eyed him carefully as she stood up, looking for any chance to escape from the corner of her eyes.
"Well missy…apparently, I was sent here to collect your parent's debt."
He started off and paused to scan around the apartment nonchalantly. Kyoko cursed as she knew that this was not going to end well when the stranger flashed an evil smirk at her.
"After all those trouble just to track you down…you don't seem to have the money, girlie." The man said as he whipped out a switchblade, toying around with it around his fingers as if knowing that his prey would be weak. He could kill her anytime he want.
"I'm afraid I can't be nice to people who doesn't pay up..."
He trailed off threateningly, eyes darkening a shade as he slowly moved closer to her. Kyoko took the chance to run for the windows but the thug caught her hand from behind and grabbed her shirt before throwing the teen against the wall with a loud thud. She groaned as the concrete wall hit against her back. Kyoko slid down to the cold floor as her head started ringing from the pain, it'd hit a part of her skull, it seems. However, before she could even struggle to her feet, the thug grabbed the her neck forcefully as her feet left the ground.
"So, the little girl thinks that she can run away, eh?" The man had a sly smirk stretched on his lips as the orange head felt air stolen from her lungs. Her attempt in trying to get away from his grasp was futile.
"Maybe we should just end it here…isn't that better for you than suffering with your ridiculous debt? A little girl like you will never be able to pay it off." He placed a hand on his pockets and cackle out loudly.
"S-Shut up..."
Kyoko muttered out as she grabbed the man's hand. The thug merely smirked as the blade was cool against the skin on her neck, she winched in return.
"If you want someone to blame, it'll be your stupid parents for abandoning you. But don't worry, you'll meet them soon enough..." She could feel her strength leaving her body as the grip around her neck tightened. Still, she refused to, and will never scream or begged for her life. She gritted her teeth, eyes shutting from the pain on her body and the last bit of air that she couldn't swallow. But her sight blurred and all she could hear was the smug cackle of the man.
This isn't fair.
I've worked so hard…
An image flashed in her mind. She expected it to be a replay of her life or something similar to that as what others said moments before death welcomed her. However, instead, it was a boy with messy chestnut hair, a bright smile gracing his features.
Why is she remembering about that boy now?
But as the boy parted his lips, gentle chocolate brown hues gazed at her softly...
"...Kyoko-chan!"
She regret not being able to know who he is till the end.
The grip around her neck was gone and the image of the boy vanished from her mind, bringing her back to reality with her coughing and taking in the much needed air desperately. Cold air wafted in and her side where the door to her home was broken down. But what caught her attention was the presence standing before her. Orange irises looked up slowly with blurred sight, only to see messy brown locks of a man who was in a neat, pin-stripe suit holding a….briefcase?
The next thing she noticed was that the debt collector was apparently at the other end of the room with what seemed like a broken nose, blood smudging his shirt. The thug got on his feet and growled as he took no time to dash towards the brunette.
"You...how dare you!" he screamed as he held the knife in hand.
To her surprise though, the brunette only clicked his tongue and threw his briefcase at the thug, landing it straight on his face. The thug fell to his knees with a pained scream as the briefcase fell loudly by his side.
"That…should be my line..." The other teen said, his ice cold tone filled with murderous intent as he glared at the thug with glowing amber hues. The debt collector flinched as the teen's intimidating presence. Deep pools of orange orbs seemingly to pierce at him fiercely. He simply stared dumbly at the brunette, somehow knowing very well that he couldn't even lay a finger on him even if he tried.
"That's the whole amount of money she owed in the briefcase." He pointed to the said item near the debt collector before holding up his gloved hand, a fierce orange flame flickering furiously on his forehead.
"Never appear before her again" the brunette growled furiously.
Knowing that it was now his life that was in danger, the thug scurried immediately and ran through the door for his life with the briefcase on hand. He had been in the business for more than a decade but has never seen anyone like the brunette before. Only those who've seen the worst had those eyes, the debt collector trembled as he dashed far away from Kyoko's home. Silence filled the little apartment as the Kyoko mustered her strength to stand up. She staggered before holding her ground and looking at the brunette with hazy caramels.
"Who…are you?" Kyoko muttered out softly.
The brunet switched his sight and looked at her with sharp amber hues. Then, he did the unexpected. As if the coldness in his eyes disappeared for a moment and was filled with warmth instead.
His arms wrapped around her securely, protectively and dared she say….lovingly.
"I finally found you…Kyoko-chan."
His voice was broken, as if they were words that he'd held back and now, he'd found the one he's always wanted to say it to. His warm breath brushed against her ear while she was lost in his embrace. Kyoko didn't know whether it was from relief or the pain that has taken a toll on her tired body, but all she could do was give in to the warmth of his hold as darkness engulfed her.
END
A/N: That wasn't so bad was it? You know you want to continue. Or not. Reviews are welcome! :))