"The flower that blooms in the face of adversity is the most beautiful." Her mother had told her that once. "So just be yourself and you'll be fine."
The lone figure huddled closer to itself. "I don't know what to do, mom!" Tohru held the picture of her mother close to her heart, disregarding the twinges of pain strumming through her body. "He's….he changed." She closed her eyes tightly, lowering her head from her sitting position under their bedroom window, where he left her. The stark white moonlight that gleamed through the glass was cruel enough to shine on her slender body. The truth of how Kyo had changed was exposed; all her wounds were uncovered, every one of her cuts were out in the open, and multiple bruises were emphasized, as well as the crowning glory he had saw fit to bestow on her; a throbbing black eye. Tohru shifted slightly, and whimpered with pain at the remembered injuries. She started to whisper to herself.
"I'm ugly, mom. I faced adversity without screaming and…" The tears started to flow. "And I'm ugly." She crawled slowly away from the window, gasping as she felt more of her gashes chafe each other with every inch she moved. Searching the room with wary eyes, Tohru cringed. Such a mess! The pale blue lamp was knocked over and had shattered. The contents from the chest of drawers lay strewn throughout the room, the drawers broken off and thrown about as well. The double bed was moved far off to where it had been and the once-clean blankets were scattered everywhere. She placed her shaking hands on the lopsided mattress, and rose to a standing position. Tohru brushed her long, brown hair behind her ears, ignoring the spasms of pain the movement caused. She moved her mothers' picture on to the nightstand and set to work on cleaning up the room, wiping her tears away with bloody fingers and being careful not to irritate her wounds too much.
Tohru groaned and shifted her head. She had been so comfortable, so content in her safe dreamworld. Or at least, she had been, until that dream came back. It was more of a nightmare, actually. Tohru sighed, and snuggled into her arms, trying to escape again. A voice broke through the fragile barriers she had tried to weave.
"Ms. Honda!"
It was a soft voice. Soft, and persistent.
"Ms. Honda! Hiro took my teddy bear, and he won't give it back! Ms. Honda!" A slight tug on her shirt woke her abruptly. Tohru woke with a start, nearly falling out of her chair at the back of the room. She tried to recover hastily, blinking her blue-green eyes, and caught sight of little Kisa Sohma standing in front of her with a distraught look on her face. The shame at being caught sleeping while at work left immediately, and Tohru felt concern flood her body within seconds. She slid out of her chair and dropped to her knees in front of the orange-haired girl.
"What's wrong, Kisa?" she asked softly, brushing back soft ginger strands from Kisa's youthful face. The young girl blinked, a few tears sliding out from her tangerine eyes.
"Hiro took my bear and won't give it back." Kisa sniffed, folding her arms. She scrunched up her face, clearly upset. Tohru gave a knowing smile, and placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. Kisa looked up at her hopefully.
"Don't worry Kisa, I don't think he meant to upset you. Maybe he likes your bear so much he wanted to play with it a while longer?" She suggested, trying not to upset the child. Kisa's lower lip wobbled ever so slightly. Tohru hurried on. "But, you know, I think we might be able to work something out." The young woman quickly led Kisa to the opposite side of the room, where a young, brown-haired boy with unsympathetic eyes clutched to a white teddy bear in his hand.
"I'm not giving it back." he said scornfully, trying to avoid looking at Kisa. He stared at the floor resentfully, the bear hanging from a few closed fingers. Kisa blinked, and started to sniff.
"Y-you have to, Hiro! My papa gave it to me to hold when I missed him. " The last part was muffled by Kisa's hands covering her face to cry into. "A-and I miss him a lot!" She began to sob quietly. Tohru's mouth turned down at the corners, and she started comfort the girl, turning to Hiro while she did so.
"Hiro, see what you've done? You made Kisa cry, did you want to do that?" Tohru spoke quietly, wrapping her arms around the crying girl, and looked straight at Hiro. She usually wasn't one to guilt-trip, but she cared about the little girl, and sometimes the way Hiro treated others irritated her slightly.
"No!" Hiro looked at the girl he loved, in the arms of another woman. His eyes hardened, and he spat out venomously, "Don't be so presumptuous! What do you know, anyway, you stupid woman? I didn't want to make her cry…I just wanted her to come to me when she's upset, not this thing." Hiro dropped the bear, all malice gone. He felt tired, and folded his arms feeling like a defeated sheep. A single tear escaped his closely guarded eyes. Kisa had stopped crying and was now looking at her childhood friend with something akin to wonder in her eyes.
"Really?" she breathed, "You just wanted me to talk to you? That's all you wanted?" Hiro nodded, clenching his jaw. Tohru disengaged the girl in her arms, and pushed her towards her him. Kisa stepped forward hesitantly, and turned to look at Tohru, before wiping the last of her tears away. She smiled. "If you want me to talk to you, Hiro, then I will!" She picked up her bear, and ran to hug the boy. He just stood there, shocked, his face red as a cherry. Tohru just smiled, suppressing a giggle. She glanced at the clock above the window, and straightened up.
"Okay, how about you two go play?" she suggested cheerfully, "Kisa's father will be here soon to pick you both up." After smiling briefly at both of them, she turned and started to clean up the classroom. It was late in the day, and Tohru had been contacted by Kisa's father earlier, before the school day, asking her if she could possibly take care of Kisa and her cousin Hiro. Being the kind soul she was, Tohru accepted gratefully. At least it would have taken her mind off of him.
Tohru sat herself down in the swivel chair sitting in front of her small wooden desk. The place she worked was fairly large, with quite a few rooms- the main playroom, the kitchen, the cloakroom, a small reception area, and outside, a garden for the children. The garden contained a playground, with swings, a slide and a sandpit. Tohru had been iffy about letting the children play in the sand at first, but her desk was right beside a large glass window that looked out onto the backyard, and every now and then she would glance outside to see if there was any trouble. There usually wasn't- the kids were so sweet!
Tohru picked out a few files and absentmindedly began flicking through them. She picked up the class register 'Only Kisa and Hiro left, then.' She thought, relieved. Not that she didn't enjoy her job, it was just that little kids were so nosy, and they always asked the most unfortunate questions. Such as, Why are your arms all bruised, Ms. Honda? It was hard work deflecting their voracious curiosity. But Tohru loved her job, and nothing would change that.
She check-marked all of her other students at the daycare as being picked up. Normally Hiro's mother would have picked him up, but this afternoon she had gone to the hospital in labor. Tohru had sent her best wishes, and Hiro's mother had promised her that she would be one of the first to see her baby, as payment for looking after her little Hiro so long. Tohru looked at Kisa and Hiro playing on the swings for a moment, to make sure they were okay, and she faintly heard Kisa shriek in laughter as Hiro suddenly assaulted her, lightly tickling her waist. Kisa accidentally overbalanced, and fell into Hiro's arms behind her. They both stood there, in shock, for quite some time before Hiro coughed embarrassedly, and picked his playmate up by the arms.
"C'mon, lets go to the slide." He said gruffly. His face softened when Kisa looked at him adoringly, and he grabbed Kisa's hand and pulled her towards one of her favorite places in the daycare center.
Tohru smiled as she watched them. She and Kyo had once been like that, she was sure. But after Kazuma's death…well, anyone would have been depressed, right? The suddenly very tired young women sat in her straight-backed chair, slowly sliding off her tinted glasses she had worn all day. She brought her hand up to touch her swollen eye, thankful that the bruise had eased. The purpley-black color had also gone. Now, it was a slightly sickening shade of pale green. Tohru closed her eyes, trying to relax. She failed as she started to remember the events of last night, and just as soon as Kyo's angry voice came thundering into her mind, she heard the bell ring from the reception. Thanking who ever put that bell there, Tohru quickly rubbed on some foundation from her handbag (just in case) and moved toward daycare center entrance. She stopped in her tracks a few paces away at the sight before her. Kisa was rising up into the air, laughing delightedly, thanks to the help of two strong arms belonging to a man in a well-tailored suit. It was all black except for a white tie, much like the man's hair. Tohru wondered if she had mistaken him, and if he was really Kisa's grandfather or something. The man brought Kisa up to his face to kiss her forehead lovingly. Tohru turned her head away, realizing she was probably staring wide-eyed at the pair. She didn't see his face, but she thought that he sounded quite young.
"Hello" he spoke calmly, only the slightest bit of happiness in his voice. He set Kisa down, and patted Hiro's head. Tohru turned back towards him, face down. She saw him walking to her through the long brown strands of her hair, shiny black shoes clacking quietly against the wooden floor. The man was looking straight at the now nervous teacher. "I'm Hatsuharu Sohma, Kisa's father."