Kitase-chan: Hi guys~

OMG. ._. I have too many stories in progress already, I know, but, I'm on a break this week so I intend to try to update everything. :D

Anyway, as for this story... this idea occurred to me totally out of the blue. I hope you like it, I kinda like it, so far. ^o^

Well, those things said, I'll let you read it. Please enjoy! :)

. * .

I'm Ran.

That much she knew.

Ran blinked. She sat up. She identified an unpleasant prickling feeling on her skin, something that crawled up and down her spine and made her shudder. Cold.

Where was she?

Her body felt strange. Too big, somehow. It was awkward when she moved. It shouldn't have been. She was a normal girl, a normal... human girl. Yes, that was right. Was it? She couldn't think of anything else she might be. She raised one hand and felt her bare chest. Yes, definitely a human girl.

Ran stood up, shakily. She wrapped her arms around her chest and glanced about at her surroundings. I'm scared. Something told her that wouldn't have mattered, before. It would have been alright. But something was missing. Someone.

Someone dreadfully important.

Ran held back a sob that suddenly rose up inside her. She closed her eyes and bit down until the choking sensation was gone. It wouldn't do to cry. She had to focus on the matters that were more urgent at the moment, like finding a place that wasn't so cold, and maybe finding some clothes. Dashing at her eyes, she surveyed her current location more closely. She was surrounded by tall, looming trees, their silhouettes eerie in the dead of night. She heard distant sounds – car horns and people calling out to each other and other sounds that promised people – and walked towards them, her bare feet treading softly on the damp grass.

Eventually she came to a place where the untamed gloom of the park met a bustling, noisy main road. Scared. No, she couldn't be scared. But it wasn't right to be this tall, or this heavy, or to see everything from such a strange perspective. Her first instinct in this place was to fly away. And yet her feet were rooted firmly to the ground.

She walked along the side of the main road, cars speeding past her. No one was helping her, why wouldn't they help her? Some people whistled from a car that in another instant was gone. But that was all.

She bit her lip. Don't cry. She never cried; that wasn't her job. Her job was to stop others from crying; to cheer others on. She didn't know where she drew that knowledge from, but she could feel that it was true. As she approached a row of shabby buildings and shops with failing neon signs, she saw a person sitting up against the side of one. A little bowl was set out in front of them, and some threadbare blankets were nestled around their legs. She wasn't sure whether they were awake or asleep, but if she spoke to them, maybe they could help her.

"E-excuse me?" Ran asked shakily as she stood before them. The person slowly looked up and stared at her with haggard, bleary eyes. Had Ran ever looked someone in the eyes before? She couldn't remember. But she couldn't imagine how a single, simple thing could fill her heart with so much pain.

"I-I'm sorry..." she trailed off, not sure why she was apologising, but feeling that she should. The slumped, frail man surveyed her slowly up and down, a look of comprehension coming into his dim eyes. Even a look of pity, she almost thought, though that was hard to guess. Ran felt her heart tear when the man took off his shaggy coat, and slowly held it out to her. She had commanded herself not to cry, but she couldn't prevent the tears from spilling now.

"Thankyou..." she said, taking it and putting it on. It was really all she could say. She wrapped the too large coat tightly around her, wishing there was some way she could thank him properly. But she had nothing, nothing but the emotion she felt at this simple act of kindness from somebody who was as bereft in this world and as on their own as her.

She bowed humbly. He nodded, understanding. Ran brushed away the last of her tears and ran, passing shops and ignoring stares from passers-by. Most shops were closed at this time of night. She ran blocks and blocks way, and though her feet hurt, she found she was physically fitter than she expected. The city seemed to darken further after a while, and the traffic lessened. These things told Ran it was growing even later. Eventually, she came to a small shop that looked promising. In the windows violins were on display. The sign on the door read closed, but the shop was still light inside and a girl with brown pigtails sat hunched over a desk, concentrating.

Ran tapped lightly on the window. The girl looked up, and her eyes widened. She hurried to the door.

"Hello? Can I help you?" she asked, opening it. "Are you okay?"

Ran didn't want to intrude, but she wasn't exactly in a position not to just say what she wanted. "I need a place to stay," she confessed, shivering. "Is it okay if I sleep on the floor in your shop? Just for tonight? I-I don't have any money, but I can repay you by running errands..."

The girl wrapped her arm around Ran and ushered her inside. "That... I'm sure that's fine. Here." She sat Ran down in a chair. "Wait here, I'll just let my grandfather know." Her worried gaze hovered on Ran for just a moment, before she left through another door and Ran heard feet going up stairs. She heard hushed voices.

The girl came downstairs again. "Grandfather said it's alright. I'm staying in the spare room here tonight, but there's another spare room just next to it, you can sleep in there. And I have some clothes that will probably fit you." She studied Ran dubiously. She offered her a smile. "What's your name?" she said kindly. "I'm Kotone."

"Ran," Ran told her.

"Ran, huh..." The girl seemed to be thinking. "Well, let's get you upstairs. You can have a shower and get changed." Kotone was careful as she put her arm around Ran again and stood her up. "You're not... hurt anywhere, are you?" she asked hesitantly as they headed towards the stairs. Ran shook her head, and Kotone seemed relieved.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Ran heard two people speaking. From a door in the narrow hallway came an old man, and a young man with dark hair. "Ah," the old man said, "This is the little girl?" he pushed his glasses up his nose.

Kotone nodded and Ran bowed. "This is Ran, Grandpa," Kotone introduced her.

He nodded. "Yes, yes." He smiled at Ran. "Kotone will take care of you, dear, and tomorrow we'll see what we can do for you, alright?"

"Thank you very much," Ran said, truly grateful.

He laughed and clapped his younger friend on the back. "Alright. Well, Ikuto and I have some business to be attending downstairs, so we'll be doing that, then." He nodded his head and then shuffled off down the stairs.

The boy, who seemed to be called 'Ikuto,' was staring at her. She gazed back a little timidly. "Uh-h, is everything alright, sir?"

He blinked and shook his head. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's just that you look a damn lot like..."

"...Like who?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing, sorry."

Ran wanted to press the matter, but she was already encroaching on these people's hospitality and didn't want to seem disrespectful. So she watched and he turned and went down the stairs, feeling like she was letting something go that she desperately needed to hold on to.

Kotone quietly led her to her room. "Here you go. The shower's in there, and I'll bring in some clothes for you in a few minutes."

Ran thanked her and watched the door closed behind her. And then she sank to the bed and curled up, resting her head on her knees and wrapping her arms around her. This felt wrong, it all felt wrong. Kotone and Ikuto and the old man, and the homeless person from earlier – were they all people she knew? People she had seen, and had met? They were almost familiar, as if she could almost reach out and grasp a time when she'd known them. Like a memory from another life. Yet they were alien.

Ran hid her head in her hands and let the tears fall; she let them stream. It wasn't her - but what was, then? She was here, in this crowded city – a city she knew, she was certain of it. And yet she was completely alone.

Kitase-chan: Well, there's the first chapter. I think it's a bit different to my others fanfics, ne?

What did you think? And should I continue with this one? Review and let me know.~

Thanks for reading, and I don't own Shugo Chara! :)