She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there; half a day at least. She didn't fidget or complain or hum under her breath. She just sat there, still as a statue, waiting for her new guardian to come home.
She didn't expect him any time soon. He was important, her uncle, and served the queen directly. He couldn't be troubled to leave his duties for the sake of one little girl he'd seen maybe twice and never spoke to before. She was just his niece, an inconvenience at best, and she wouldn't dare think of herself as anything more.
The sound of footsteps coming up the narrow path from the street made her look up. She'd been told not to expect Uncle Zoicite until nightfall, and it was barely afternoon. But it wasn't her uncle looking down at her with a puzzled expression on his face.
Her observer was a strange man with long silvery-white hair and icy blue eyes. He looked like someone had drained half the color out of him, leaving just enough to suggest what had once been there, and he was pale inside his dark uniform.
She didn't speak; children never spoke unless asked a direct question. To do otherwise suggested disobedience and rebellion, neither of which was welcome here. She would not make a sound until he made one first.
"Who are you?" He asked finally.
"My name is Hissori, sir." She answered quietly, standing and bowing. Unlike other girls her young age, she wasn't wearing a dress, opting instead for jeans and a blouse, which made curtsying out of the question.
"What are you doing here?"
"I am waiting for General Zoicite, sir." Courtesy was always a good thing to practice, especially around adults, who might punish you for insolence if they thought you were being cheeky.
"Why would you be waiting for him?"
Deciding that it would be best to just explain everything up front, she took a deep breath and began. "My father has recently disappeared, sir, and my mother has been dead a long time. General Zoicite and my mother shared parents, so he is listed as my next-of-kin. Until I come of age or a more suitable home is found, I will be living under his care."
"Oh." The man said, his puzzled expression clearing. "In that case, you will be living with me, as well. Come inside."
One thought was uppermost in Kunzite's thoughts as he led the blond child into the small house he shared with Zoicite; where in the Negaverse were they going to put her? It wasn't as if they had room to spare, with only one bedroom, one bathroom, the tiny living room, and a closet-sized study.
The girl seemed to have more brains than most of her apparent age group, as she immediately stowed her things under the coffee table and set about cleaning up the mess Zoicite had left in the living room last night.
"Hissori, can I trust you here by yourself?" He asked, wondering if maybe he sounded a bit harsh.
"I believe you can, sir." She said, pausing in her self-appointed chores. "If you would rather I remain outside while you are gone, I will do so."
"No, that's fine. You finish cleaning in here and make yourself something to eat." I have a certain forgetful boyfriend to talk to.
"Was she coming today?"
"Apparently, Zoicite, since she's cleaning our living room." Kunzite said with a sigh.
"Really? That's nice of her. I guess I should go see how she's doing, shouldn't I?" Zoicite asked absently, still glued to his paperwork. "Then again, I kind of have work I have to do here..."
"When have you ever preferred work to anything?" Kunzite snorted, knowing his lover well enough to know what he was thinking. "You're just afraid of her."
"Am not!" Zoicite snapped, finally looking up from his desk. "I just... What the hell am I supposed to do with a kid, Kunzite? Do I look like the kind of man capable of raising a kid? What if I screw this up? I mean, sure, she's my sister's daughter, but why me?"
"Who was it told me not one week ago that I have to face what I'm afraid of or I'll never get anywhere?"
"Who would say a ridiculous thing like that?"
Hissori surveyed the living room with satisfaction. Clean as a new uniform, as her father would say. Everything was put away where it belonged, all of the garbage had been dealt with, and every flat surface was free of clutter and polished until it gleamed. Not bad for two hours' work.
The sound of the front door opening caught her attention, and she turned in time to see the bleached man and her uncle enter the small dwelling.
Despite the fact that she was certain no praise would come of her hard work, she waited in tense anticipation, hoping for just one kind word. There had been so few since her father had gone missing...
"Are we in the right house?" Her uncle asked after a moment's silence, turning to his companion.
"I told you she was cleaning." The man answered with a shrug.
"Yes, but you didn't say she was feild-daying the place."
"I didn't know she was."
"You're no fun, Kunzite." General Zoicite accused, making a face Hissori usually associated with boys younger than her. "So, kiddo, you must be Hissori."
"I am, sir." She said, bowing. Now she had a name to put to the pale man's face. Kunzite... wasn't that a mineral of some kind? Come to think of it, wasn't Zoicite, too?
"Aw! Kunzite, she called me 'sir'!" Zoicite exclaimed mournfully. "Do I really look that much like a sir?"
"Yes, sir." Hissori said, not realizing that the question wasn't directed at her.
"Kunzite, make her stop!"
"You're her uncle; you make her."
With a defeated sigh, Zoicite turned back to Hissori, and she thought she saw a glimmer of mirth in his eye. "Okay, Hissori. As long as it's just you, me, and Kunzite here, please don't call me sir. Deal?"
"Deal." Hissori said, chancing a shy smile. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad living here after all...
-Four Years Later-
"Uncle Zoicite, have you seen my backpack?" Hissori called, taking the stairs two at a time to the second floor. Only a year and a half ago, after more than two years in a janitor's closet posing as a bedroom, Hissori and her uncles had finally been granted larger housing, with four - count 'em, four - bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large den, and a yard. It still felt like they'd never have enough to fill it.
"It should be in the den!" Zoicite answered from somewhere on the ground floor. "Ask Kunzite!"
Hissori obediently peeled off her pre-set course and knocked loudly on her uncles' bedroom door. "Uncle Kunzite, are you up yet?" She called, wincing when he voice broke slightly. Puberty sucked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Came the muffled reply. "Five more minutes."
"No way!" Hissori retorted. "I'm coming in!" She opened the door and quickly closed it again, narrowly avoiding a pillow in the face. If nothing else, in her time here, she'd learned that General Kunzite was not a morning person. "Uncle Kunzite, have you seen my backpack?"
"It's by the front door." Kunzite snapped, glaring blue death from under a tangled fringe of white bangs. "Now go away."
"You have to leave for work in half an hour." She informed him sternly. "And Uncle Zoicite says he's not waiting for you. I have to go to school now, so have a good day." Leaving the bedroom door open and the hallway light on, the 12-year-old turned on her heel and barreled back towards the stairs, praying she would make it to her first class on time.
"Made it!" Hissori exclaimed breathlessly, skidding to a halt next to her desk and plopping gracelessly onto the bare wooden chair. "Oof."
"Jeez, 'Sori, what did you do?" One of her classmates asked, grinning. "Run the whole way?"
"Just about." She panted, smiling. "Woke up early, too."
"Man, you're no fair." A girl with short forest green hair and luminous brown eyes pouted. "I want your body."
The slightly perverted response on the tip of Hissori's tongue died as the teacher stalked into the room, and the class rose to its collective feet to begin another day of learning.
"Hey, Hissori." A soft voice behind her said, and the bench shifted under her. "What's up?"
"Nothing, really." She replied, leaning against her companion's without looking up from her book. "Just doing my stupid Lit homework. You?"
"I had a test to make up in PCT. I swear, Proffesor Red's out to get me. You should have seen her, wailing on me like I knew what I was doing!"
"It's not exactly her fault you can't find the pointy end of a sword without both hands and a map, Matt." She retorted, closing her book and smiling up at him. "But if you'd like, I could spar with you this afternoon. The Generals will be out all evening so you can't come inside, but I do have a yard."
"Would you, Hissori?" Matt was the only student in their school who called Hissori by her full name; to everyone else, she was just 'Sori. "You're the best."
"Not quite." She disagreed, kissing him gently on the cheek after a quick check for watchers. "But I'm pretty damn close."
Although they were only twelve and had known each other less than a year, Hissori and Matt already knew that they were going to be together forever. If the queen would allow it, they would even get married when they came of age. Hissori was sure that she would never have a life that Matt wasn't an integral part of, and had said as much to her uncles once. The rapid-fire third degree that had resulted from the casual statement had frightened her, and she never brought it up again.
A loud beeping noise broke them apart, signaling the end of free period.
"Well, I'm off to go get nearly killed." Matt said with a sigh, standing and offering Hissori his hand.
"And I'll go die of boredom." She responded, accepting the aid up with a smile. "See you tonight?"
"See you tonight."
Hissori waited impatiently on the front porch. Rules of the house stated that no boys were allowed inside if at least one of her uncles wasn't home, even if he was just walking through to the backyard, so she'd have to take Matt around the house when he showed up.
After nearly an hour of waiting, Hissori gave up and went inside, rubbing her thumb along the ring on her right hand. It had been a present from Matt, and the smooth silver band felt good against the pad of her thumb. She always felt close to Matt when she touched it, and could sometimes even tell where he was or what he was doing if she concentrated.
She did so now, closing her eyes and picturing Matt in her mind, willing herself to know.
Darkness. It washed over her like a wave, making her stagger into the wall. Intellectually, she knew the hallway was brightly lit by four evenly spaced lamps, but she couldn't see anything. It was as if she'd been suddenly struck blind.
Pain. Another wave, this time of physical sensation, crashed down, and her left arm felt like it was on fire. Her head began to pound, and she fought to suppress the pain, knowing it wasn't really hers.
Where? She demanded as her vision slowly cleared and the ache in her arm faded. Where are you?
Another wave, this time of knowledge, swept her under. The school. The equipment shed behind the practice field.
She was halfway down the street before she even realized she'd moved.
Fractured forearm… Concussion… Blood loss… shock… overexposure…Dislocated kneecap…
Hissori listened numbly as the dignified medic listed Matt's various injuries and complications, absently playing with the ring on her right hand. She was vaguely aware of Matt's parents, listening intently to the medic, and of the other people in the waiting room around her, but she took no real notice.
"Hissori."
She snapped back to attention, surprised to discover that the medic was gone, and Matt's father was standing over her, waiting for an answer.
"S-sir?" She managed, blinking and trying to order her thoughts.
"Hissori, we just want to thank you." Matt's mother interrupted. "The medics say that another hour in that shed, and he would have been beyond saving. If you hadn't found him, my little boy would be-"
She never finished that sentence, due to the arrival of a breathless, anxious Zoicite.
"Hissori," The General panted, leaning against a handy wall, "the next time you leave a message saying you're at the hospital, at least have the wit to say you're not the one hurt, will you? Kunzite very nearly had a heart attack!"
"F-forgive me, Uncle Zoicite." Hissori apologized. "I was distraught at the time."
"Well, you're all right, so I'll let it pass this once." Zoicite conceded before shifting his attention to Matt's parents. "I trust your son is going to pull through?"
"Yes, sir." Matt's father, like Hissori's birth parents, was a captain, and one of Beryl's Generals showing concern for his offspring had the man off balance. "Your Hissori found him in time, sir, so we won't loose him. She's done us a great service, sir, really she has. If there's any way to repay you, sir-"
"That's quite all right, Captain. About the only thing Hissori needs right now is rest, so I'll be taking her home now. Come on, Hissori."
- Four Years Later -
"Guard duty?" Hissori repeated incredulously. "Why would students have to serve guard duty?"
"Because the soldiers that would normally serve are being sent to the front lines." Kunzite explained. "It becomes official tomorrow, but we thought we should warn you."
"Which years?" She asked dazedly, sinking into her chair.
"Fifth and sixth." Zoicite said. "Listen to me, Hissori- you need to keep your classmates under control. If anyone can keep them from going off when Queen Beryl makes the announcement, it's you and Matt."
"Queen Beryl's going to announce it? As in actually go to the school and announce it? She's never done that!"
"Aren't you glad we let her get it all out now instead of while the queen's watching?" Kunzite asked idly, flicking a grain of rice in Hissori's general direction.
"Oh, my, yes." Zoicite agreed, standing up to clear the table. "Much as Beryl would love the theatrics, I'm kind of fond of our little niece here."
"I get it." Hissori said with a slightly miffed sigh. "I'll keep a tight rein on my mouth when the queen comes to visit, and I'll try to keep my classmates from going off."
"Good girl!" Zoicite said with a fond smile. "Now go do your homework."
And what the hell? Let's stop there and post this chapter. I'll work on chapter two tomorrow. Review? Pretty please?