Reckless

An orphan for several years, Rin has constantly gotten herself into trouble. The stealing and lying is out of control and every foster family has given up on her. Venturing toward a dead-end life, Rin finds herself given one last chance to turn it all around…but will she?

No ownership of Inuyasha

Ch 1

She sat with her back against the wall of the store as she tried to wriggle her wrists free of the cuffs.

"Don't even try it." The officer spoke as he continued taking notes down as the store owner explained how Rin tried to make off with the snacks they'd recovered from the book bag.

"Ga! It's just chips and a soda!"

"Be quiet. It's still stealing."

"Blah, blah, like you haven't ever stolen anything pig!"

Rin found herself in the back of the cruiser, facing the familiar grate that separated her from the front seats. Some way to celebrate a thirteenth birthday. But then again, none of this was new and it was either being out here on the streets or sitting in alternative school for another day. The teachers blamed her for everything. What was she supposed to do, let the girl talk about her like she was a nobody, let her tease her for the clothes that she wore. So what she didn't dress like all the pretty preppy girls? Even if she wanted to she couldn't. She didn't have parents who could buy her nice clothes or shoes every month. What was so bad about a t-shirt and jeans that had a few holes here or there? It was a look. The girl deserved both black eyes for picking. She blew the single orange streak of hair out of her face that stood out from the brown.

…

"Rin Hoshida. You're back in front of me again young lady. Why can't you keep yourself out of trouble?"

"…"

Rin looked at Judge Farrow but said nothing. She and the judge saw each other enough that she could have almost considered her another foster mother.

"Stealing again. Well, this time you can give back to your community and try to beautify it. I think picking up around the park for a few hours will be good, not to mention some counseling."

"For a bag of chips? Come on!"

"Don't start with me Rin. You skipped school too. The way I see it, this is a slap on the wrist compared to the amount of times you've been through here and if I see you in here one more time, you're going to YDC. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

Rin half rolled her eyes before being escorted out to wait on Vivi. She was the closest thing to a mother that Rin had at the foster home. But then again, she was the closest thing to a mother that all of them had at the foster home.

Rin rested her head on the now empty book bag as her stomach growled. She'd been through five families in the last eight years. Everyone knew once you became a teenager, your chances of being adopted were slim to none. Everyone wanted the sweet little ones that hadn't been poisoned by the real world yet.

Rin lifted her head from the bag as Vivi stood in front of her. Most of the kids at the foster home teased that she would look like Vivi when she was older. But this woman's brown eyes were soft and hidden by glasses. She always wore her hair braided down her back and stood maybe three to four inches taller than herself. Vivi couldn't have been out of her thirties.

Vivi sighed and shook her head. She didn't even wish to address the stealing. Rin was a professional thief. She stole something everyday and it would take a whole lot more than words to get her to quit.

"Why did you skip school?"

"I hate it there."

"Who's fault is that?"

"You're going to blame me too?!"

"Rin, you hit that girl in the face and pushed the teacher that was trying to break you two up. They could have done a lot worse than put you in alternative school for a couple of weeks."

"I wish they had!"

"You don't mean that."

"I do mean it. They treat us like we're a bunch of criminals or something."

"Stealing and fighting are in fact criminal acts Rin."

"Not when they're meant for survival."

"Rin, we provide plenty for you to eat, there's shelter, there's…"

"No clothes, no family..." Rin interrupted

"Rin you get clothes but how you take care of them is another matter entirely. I have tried to place you with compatible families but you…"

"Find a way to mess it up right?"

Vivi's heart sank as Rin turned to stare off. She wished that there was just a switch that she could flip for Rin, a way to turn things completely around, make the girl forget how tragically she'd lost her family, make her forget the families that she'd been placed with, forget how to steal and all the negativity she'd been taught by some of the other girls around her; but she couldn't.

"Rin, you've got to stop this behavior or you're going to wind up in here for good do you understand?"

Rin shrugged her shoulders. She knew that wherever she wound up, it wouldn't be with a family and if that was the case then it didn't matter. Nobody wanted her anyway.

Vivi rubbed her forehead before sighing and looking off. She couldn't count the number of times she and Rin went through this conservation. Sometimes once a month and then there were times when the subject would be brought up twice or three times during the week. If only Rin knew how hard she worked to place her with a compatible family but it was to no avail. Rin would inevitably steal something and continuously lie about it or get into too much trouble for the family to want to keep her. It was starting to look hopeless and the road Rin was headed down didn't look good. She'd ignored the director at their facility to write Rin off as a lost cause, to quit wasting her time trying to find the girl a family that would put up with the kind of behavior that would drive any parent to drink if they didn't. Still, she felt for the young girl. All she wanted was to see Rin happy with a family that would embrace her, flaws and all.

Vivi reached into her purse, "…I was going to wait to give this to you, but for some reason, it seems more fitting to give it to you here. You're in trouble but it is still your birthday. So..."

"You got me something?"

She handed Rin the small book and pen wrapped with a bow, "Happy Birthday."

"…Thanks." Rin bit at her lip feeling a hint of guilt at the way she'd just responded to Vivi. She ran her fingers over the small orange bow. It wasn't unlike Vivi to remember the small things

"I figured this might be a good way for you to keep that little temper of yours in check. Maybe if you wrote down your feelings more often you wouldn't want to express them with your mouth and your hands."

Rin gave a momentary half smile as she watched one of Vivi's brows quirk.

"Now, that is a smile I haven't seen for some time. You should try a full smile one of these days." Vivi chided as she wrapped one arm around Rin's shoulder to lead her out.

A/N: Hello everyone. It's certainly been a while. I just can't seem to put down my love of these characters or writing about them no matter how much time has gone by, so occasionally I come up with these little gems for others to enjoy.