Hikaru is a young girl who has just commited a terrible crime. She runs away from the police,and stumbles upon the Sohma estate. Tohru finds her on their porch,trying to keep dry from the rain. They take her in,and offer her a place to call home. Kyo doesn't seem to be warming up to the idea,though. She tells them what happened,and expects them to turn her in to the police.
Also,people. If you can think of a title for this story,PLEASE tell me your ideas. I cannot think of something decent for this story. And also please tell me if I should continue this,or delete it.
I had no idea where I was going,and all I could see were trees and plants. But I kept running,because I had to get away. No one was safe around me anymore. I ran harder,faster. My heart was racing,and I was running out of breath. I didn't care if I was lost.
I just needed to get away from all the people,from all the danger. But,I can't really escape the danger. I am the danger. I couldn't belive what I had just done! I...
I killed someone.
I had never meant to kill her. I was just trying to get a gift for my cousin,for his birthday. It was gettting dark,but I still didn't care. I kept going. I had to stay away. But,I... I can't stay away. I'll never be able to. Someone always finds me,and helps me. They don't realize they're in danger just by being near me.
I slowed to a stop,and looked around. Nothing but trees. I started walking again,ignoring the heavy pain in my legs and my chest. I used all the engery I had left to prevent myself from crying. I couldn't show weakness,not even when I was alone. I kept walking,occasionally leaning against a tree to keep standing. My mind began to wander. Before I knew it,I was falling. I guess I tripped on something. I shot my hands forward and caught myself before I hit the ground. I raised my head,and looked around to see where I was again. I noticed a small pond,or maybe just a big puddle. I didn't know,nor did I care. I crawled to it,cupped my hands and dipped them into the cold water. I brought them out,and splashed my face. I washed off the blood on my head and arms,and then dunked my head into the water. Then,I stood back up,shivering.
Another mistake. I was stupid enough to soak almost half my body in cold water in the middle of a cold night. I rung the water from my dark medium-long hair,and rung out the water from the short,torn sleeves of my shirt as best as I could. I started walking again. I knew I was probably going to be sick by tomorrow night,and it'd be worse if I didn't get some sleep. But I didn't sleep. People were out looking for me,to turn me into the police and then let me rot in jail until my execution. I didn't want that,because I'd go insane. I'm already half-way there,and I don't need to get worse. I let out a cough,followed by two more. I leaned against another tree as I felt a very sharp pain in my chest. I held my breath,and waited for the pain to pass. After a few seconds,it did. I continued,and I prayed that I didn't end up back where I started.
An hour passed,then two hours. I soon saw a small,but welcoming light shining slightly through the trees. Without thinking,I began staggering toward it. What I came upon was the thing I had least wanted to see at the moment. A house. The light of a lamp,or something,shone brightly and warmly from the window in front of me. Something small then hit me ontop of my head. Then,on my shoulder. I looked up at the sky,and drops of rain came sprinkling down on me. By instinct,I rushed for the closet thing that would shelter me from the rain. I noticed it was either the front porch,or the back porch of the house. I cursed myself for taking cover under someone else's shelter. I realized that since I was lost in the woods,I'd probably been traveling in circles atleast half of the time. If that was true,then these people probably already heard by means of the news or by rumor of the borrible thing I've done,and I needed to change my appearence slightly if they saw me. I felt my right pocket,and took out my pocket knife. I grabbed all of my hair in the back,and bunched it up in my fist so it looked like a loosely done ponytail. I cut away at it,and placed the hair in a small pile. I then cut my bangs shorter,grabbed the pile of hair,and let it blow away in the wind.
"Shigure,I'm going to get the laundry before the rain gets it too wet!"A girl's voice called out,and I froze as I heard it. I didn't dare move.
"Alright,Tohru! But be sure you don't slip in the mud!"A man's voice said back,in a sing-song tone. I tried to move,so I could run before anyone saw me,but my body wouldn't respond. I heard footsteps,and I still couldn't move. I heard the door start to slide open,but I still couldn't move. I couldn't even turn my head!
"AHH!!"the girl screamed behind me. I finally moved a little,and I whipped my head around,eyes wide.
"Ms. Honda? What is it?"another voice called out. It was a boy's voice,but it sounded much younger than the other one.
"Th-there's someone on our porch!"the girl,who I assumed was the 'Tohru' girl,yelled. I began to slowly back away from Tohru,shaking. A boy ran up to her,and looked at me with slightly widened eyes. Soon,two other people followed. Both were boys. The first one I had seen had silver-colored hair,the second one had black hair,and the third one had... orange hair? I noticed Tohru's long,dark-brown hair.
"My,my... What do we have here?"the man with black hair leaned down,taking a closer look at me. I began to feel uneasy,with them all staring at me. The silver-haired boy grabbed him by the back of the collar,and pulled him up until he stood up straight.
"You're making her feel uneasy."he stated in a calm fashion. I stood up slowly,wincing as my legs began to ache again.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have intruded."I said,bowing as best as I could,from the pain that was also in my chest. I turned to leave,but Tohru grabbed my arm.
"Wait,you don't have to go-"she started,but I pulled my arm from her grasp.
"Yes. I do."I told her. I walked down the steps and back into the rain,and had taken about five steps when...
"Hey,she's trying to give you some help! Atleast thank her for even offering!"The organge-haired boy yelled angrily at me. I stood still for a moment,then turned to Tohru. I bowed again.
"Thank you for offering."I said. I straightened back up. "But,I can't accept it."I said again. I turned to go for the second time.
"But,you're shaking,and it's pouring out here! Atleast let us clean you up!"she said,and began dragging me by my arm toward the house before I had a chance to protest. They had completely forgotten the reason Tohru had even come outside:the laundry,which was now getting soaked with rain.
After about an hour of washing,scrubbing,and brushing,I looked at myself in the mirror of their bathroom. Tohru had done a pretty good job,in my opinion. I looked decent enough. But the clothes were boy's clothes. I guess that they didn't have any female clothes in my size. But,whatever. And,I was surprized that my hair looked pretty good. I had cut it without even looking at it,afterall.
"Hikaru-saan! May I see how you look?"Tohru's voice called from the bathroom door. I sighed quietly,then unlocked and opened the door. She smiled at me. "You look great!"she exclaimed.
"I'm in Sohma-kun's clothes."I muttered(They had introduced themselves to me just before Tohru had shoved me into the bathroom to bathe). 'And I look like a boy' I thought.
"Well,you still look nice in them!"she said. She dragged me out of the bathroom,and back into the living room. The boys all looked at me. I turned to Yuki,and bowed.
"Thank you for lending me some of your clothes,Sohma-kun."I said to him.
"You're welcome."he replied. I gave him a small smile. "But,you can call me Yuki-kun if you wish."he added with a calm smile. I looked at the floor. What was I supposed to do,now? They took me into their house,let me use their bath,lent me their clothes,and how am I supposed ro repay them? I can't just walk out. I've done that one too many times to people who were so kind to me. "Are you alright?"he asked. I looked up,and nodded.
"I'm fine."I said.
"Hikaru-san! Do you just want me to wash these?"Tohru asked,carrying a blood-stained pile of cloth that used to be my clothes. I thought for no more than a moment.
"Throw them away."I said,looking back at the floor. Kyo looked over at them.
"Is that... blood?"he asked a little too loudly. All of their eyes were then on me. I could feel their stares burning a large hole in my head,so I slowly looked back up. "Is it?"Kyo asked again. I wondered what they would say if I told them the truth.
"Yes."I finally answered.
"What happened,Hikaru-san? Are you injured?"Yuki asked me. "Did someone hurt you?"he asked again,after I didn't respond. I knew this was going to happen. It always does. I viciously attack someone,run away,people take me in,they find out what happened,then I have to run again.
"No. I'm not hurt."I answered,my voice getting shaky.
"Then who's-"Kyo started,but stopped when he noticed me starting to silently cry. He understood my reason for crying. "Who did you hurt?"he asked. Before I realized it,I was sobbing.
"Kyo,Kyo! Shame on you! Assuming Hikaru-san hurt someone!"Shigure shook his finger at him. WHACK. Yuki sent Kyo crashing through the paper door.
"I'm terribly sorry for my cousin. He can be very insensitive to other people's feelings."Yuki told me,placing his hand on my shoulder.
"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN,YOU DAMN RAT!"Kyo yelled at his cousin,running back into the room. Oh no. I hated when the people around me started fighting. Wait a minute... 'damn rat'? What's Kyo talking about?
"If you want a fight,then come on. This time,I'm not holding back."Yuki said. It was scary how he could still sound calm.
Kyo threw a punch at Yuki,who easily dodged it. He threw nother punch,followed by a kick. I took a look at the scene:Kyo and Yuki were fighting,Tohru was freaking out because her friends were fighting("Kyo! Yuki! You don't have to fight!"),and Shigure was watching them fight with a complete look of boredom in his eyes. Kyo threw punch after punch at Yuki,who either blocked or dodged them easily. I had to stop them,before they provoked me to start fighting. That,as you may have learned by now,is a very bad thing.
Yuki suddenly punched his cousin square in the jaw,and knocked him four feet away. After a few seconds,
Kyo got back up and went after Yuki again. He threw another punch at Yuki,who dodged it. Seeing an opening,he threw a punch back at him. It collided,but not with Kyo. I stood directly in between the two fighting cousins,and my arms were crossed together,blocking Yuki's fist. Everyone gasped.
"Please... Don't fight."I muttered. I hadn't even realized that I was still crying. I looked at Kyo,then at Yuki. "Kyo didn't say anything to upset me."I continued.
"Then,what happened?"Yuki asked,taking his hand off of my arms. I suddenly felt sick all over,so I sat down. Tohru,Kyo,and Yuki all sat down as well.
"Well..."my voice trailed off. What was I going to tell them? 'Well,you see,I just killed someone yesterday,and now I'm running from the police.'I played the statement in my head like a cd. No,that would just make me sound like I was insane. "Kyo was right,I... I hurt someone. Really badly."I finally got out. Their faces questioned what had happened. "You see I was trying to find a birthday present for my cousin,who I was living with. I bumped into the 'bully' of my school outside a store."I paused,wondering how to word this story. "She had a way with words. Whatever you could say,if she heard it,she'd turned it right around to make you look bad. No matter what it was you said. She was trying to talk to me,but I ignored her. She was only trying to get me to say something,so she could make me look even more like an outcast. And when she realized I wasn't going to talk,she started saying something she knew would really hit me hard."I paused again,to take in a breath. "'Your parents must really be worthless. They don't even teach you how to be respectful to others! Or,did they abandon you?' She said that,and other things. I just... I just started hating her. Right then and there,the hatred in my heart was completely directed at her. I've never completely hated anyone,until that moment. The next thing I knew,I was standing over her body as she nearly bled to death."I took in another breath,and let it out. "Once the ambulance had arrived,she was dead. And,I ran. There were atleast three people who had called the police."I finished. Just by telling the main thing that had happened made me feel like throwing up. I had been looking at the floor nearly the entire time I had told the story,so I looked back up. Tohru's face was a little freaked out,but she still had a slight smile on her face for any reasons beyond me. Kyo was looking at me like I was getting ready to grab a knife and murder them all,Yuki looked uneasy,and Shigure hadn't even taken in the whole story by the look on his face. I slowly stood up.
"I suppose you want me out of your lives,now. So,I'll just go."I head toward the entrance to the house,and found my shoes. Which were now,thanks to Tohru,clean. Someone's hand touched my shoulder,and I turned around. Yuki had made his way over to me without making a sound(A/N:surprising? I think not. ;)).
"You don't need to go,Hikaru-san."he told me. My eyes widened at this statement.
"But... I mean,I..."my voice trailed off. "I killed someone!"I said finally. "I'm a monster,you're not safe around me! No one's safe around me."I said,feeling myself getting weak.
"Hikaru-san,you need a place to stay. Atleast for a few days."Shigure walked up to us. "You're probably going to get sick,so please stay for a little bit,to make sure you're well."he told me,a serious look on his face for the first time. I couldn't turn down their offer. Because...
I felt like they were the only ones that could be safe around me. I didn't know why,but I just felt it. And the feeling was strong,so maybe they really were going to be safe. And we'd become good friends. Maybe.
"Alright."
"Kyo,Tohru,what do you think? Do you think Hikaru-san should stay for a little?"Shigure asked Kyo and Tohru. Tohru,of course,said yes. But,Kyo looked a little uneasy.
"Yeah,I guess. Whatever."he said after a few moments of choking silence.
"Alright,then! Hikaru-san's staying!"Tohru exclaimed.
"She makes it sound like Hikaru-san's staying for good..."Yuki muttered to Shigure. I heard this,but pretended not to. It didn't really bother me,seeing that I never stayed for more than a week or two with someone who helped me after I was lost.
"Where's she gonna stay?"Kyo asked.
"Oh,she can stay in my room!"Tohru suggested. They turned to me,as if asking what I wanted to do. I bit my lip.
"Um,well,I don't want to force you out of your own room,Honda-san."I said quickly.
"If you want,Hikaru-san,you can stay in the extra room."Yuki suggested.
"But that's my room!"Kyo protested.
"So what? You never use it,you stupid cat. You always sleep on the roof."Yuki retorted. Okay,'stupid rat'? 'Stupid cat'?
"Hey,hey!"I interrupted the two's quarrel. "What's with the whole 'stupid cat'-'damn rat' thing?"I asked them. The boys froze,and Tohru seemed to get tense.
"Well,you see,Hikaru-san."Shigure chimed in after a few moments of silence. "Yuki and Kyo used to pretend to be animals when they were very young,and their favorites were the cat and the rat."he told me.
"That makes sense."I said,after thinking about it for a moment. The density in the air lightened as Yuki,Shigure and I went back into the living room. Kyo glared at Yuki,who inturn,glared back.
"Oh! Hikaru-san,you must be hungry!"Tohru shot up from her seat. I held my stomach as I felt it growl. My face turned a light shade of pink. "I'll make us all some lunch!"she said,rushing into the kitchen. Kyo suddenly yelled in frustration,making me jump.
"I'm going!"he said,standing up and putting on his jacket. I watched him as he made his way across the living room and put on his shoes. He slammed the front door behind him as it closed,and I winced.
"Was it... something I did or said?"I asked Yuki and Shigure. Shigure shook his head,while Yuki glared at the front door as if a picture of Kyo was pinned onto it.
"He's just mad,Hikaru-san. You didn't do anything,so don't worry,he'll probably be back by the time Tohru's made dinner."Yuki told me. "Not like I care..."he muttered. I pretended not to hear that,but I couldn't help but feel like he was mad at me. I mean,it was Kyo's room they said I'd be staying in.