Truth Is

NOTE: Just to let you know, almost everybody in this story, all the characters are sophomores unless I say so otherwise. And I don't own RK characters.

You see, Misao always wanted to be number one in Aoshi's eyes. Sadly, after failure and failure again, Misao finally decided maybe no guy would want her. But summer's full of new opportunities, right?

Chapter one – Take me Away

It had been a long strenuous year at Kabanaka High. Full of gossip, lies, crushes, and drama. But the lowlight of her year by far was getting rejected by Aoshi her crush, during the final day of school. All of her sophomore year did she pursuit after the tall young man Aoshi. She would talk to him at any open opportunity, and would try to make herself as noticeable as possible, and also, she tried to flash her best smiles at him every so often.

It all started in the freshman year. It was about a few weeks after she began her high school career. Ever since the first time she made eye contact with the man, who was then just a boy, did he always have a special place in her heart.

He went out with a couple girls in the past two years, and so did she except the other way around. But no matter how much she tried to divert her attention, her eyes always searched for Aoshi in the crowd.

For all of her first year, she tried to tell herself that he wasn't all that. She tried to stop thinking about him, and even mentally beat herself down sometimes. It was only during the second year, her sophomore year, did she actually try to go after his heart. It was hard, because he usually liked the calm girls. The extraordinary looking girls. But Misao, she was the sporty type. She played as many sports, as many as she could actually. She played soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and softball in the spring. She was a sparkplug! And apparently, Aoshi only liked those types as friends.

"Misao! Wait up!"

It was Omasu, her best friend who was know running towards her trying her hardest to catch up. You see, Omasu was the conservative type. She actually almost went out with Aoshi once since he was said to have had mentioned her names in a few accidental statements. But that all ended when this new girl, Okon, came to Kabanaka High at the beginning at their sophomore year. And that was the last known relationship Aoshi had ever been in. Okon…

"Misao! Please wait! You know I'm not as fast as you!"

Misao finally turned around, "What?"

When Omasu finally caught up, she had to rest her hands on her knees for some time before she finally caught her breath, "Sorry Misao, I just wanted to see what's up."

You see, Misao was in a really bad mood.

Ever since about twenty minutes ago, when Aoshi asked her to try her hardest to persuit someone else, had she never been so embarrassed in her life.

"Nothing's up, I just wanted to get home."

"Why?"

That was a good question actually, all that was at home were chores and crap like that.

"Because Shiro needed help with something, that's what."

Omasu finally stood up straight while wiping away the sweat from her brow, "Why would your brother need your help with anything?"

Misao shot her a deathglare, "I mean…! I mean why WOULDN'T your brother want your help with EVERYTHING?"

Misao slumped her shoulders and flung her head up towards the sky above, "Omasu! What's am I gonna do the entire summer?"

Omasu looked up to the sky as well while staying silent for a while. When she finally did speak, she said, "You know, I was talking to Aoshi for a while and he said he felt awful for what he said…"

She looked back at Misao who was now staring at the ground. Her eyes looked so sad now. Her first real rejection, you know how those feel.

"I have to go now, I'll call you tomorrow, ok?"

With that, she jogged off in the direction of her home. Omasu watched in the distance and remembered how lively Misao was at the beginning at the school year. It seemed like nothing could get in the way of her hopes, ambitions, and dreams until she met Aoshi. That was one of the reasons Omasu abandoned Aoshi's wishes for her to be his girlfriend. You see Omasu was a very good friend. She was also a good friend because no matter how many times Aoshi tried to ask her, she always denied him. Only when Okon came was the time when she could focus more on trying to make Misao feel better on herself. But by then, the damage was already done.

Misao soon arrived to her house and entered the kitchen to grab something to eat. Shiro was there already looking at some magazines with his friend Kuro.

"Hey shrimp, I thought you were going to hang out with Omasu after school?"

She shook her head, "Nope, I decided not to."

Kuro then spoke up, "So how was your last day of school Misao?"

She shrugged, "it was ok I guess."

Shiro nudged Kuro with a smirk on his face, "Seems like it was pretty bad, maybe it was that dude Aoshi who she's been crushing over for a long time."

They chuckled while Misao blushed shades redder than a tomato and yelled, "DON'T TALK TO ME EVER AGAIN!"

She then sprinted up the stairs to her room while she heard the laughter coming from downstairs finally seemed to fade.

And she didn't really mean what she said, about never talking to her brother again. That was one of the reasons why she was sad the school was finally over. She was sad because her brother was now going to college in the upcoming fall season. She was going to miss having him around the house…soon there was going to be no one to bug around the house.

She sat at her computer and clicked on the AIM icon.

She signed on and just sat there for a moment. No one talked to her and she didn't talk to anyone.

She felt kind of lonely sometimes.

But her hope for finding that special someone was always what kept her going. She just always hoped that special person was Aoshi. But maybe she should move on.

"Hello?"

It was her mother coming from the other room over, "Oh yes, how are you? I'm fine thanks."

Misao paused a moment. For some reason, she was interested in her mother's phone call, "Oh…really? We have?"

Misao listened intently as she inched towards her door so she could get closer to the conversation, "Oh my…Oh no that's horrible…!"

Misao blinked a few times. Her mom sounded stressed, "She would? Well…well alright, I guess that's ok. I'll have to talk to my husband and children about it first though. …Oh we do? So long do we have? …Uh huh, I see…ok, two days? Sure thing. Talk to you later…ok, bye."

Misao paused for a moment since there was only silence. But after a few moments, she heard her mother's door clicked and footsteps coming towards her. She scampered to her bed and pulled out a magazine and began to read it.

When her mother opened the door, she entered and crossed her arms, "Misao, listen up, this is serious business."

Misao's eyes perked up as she heard the sternness of her mother's voice, "You remember your cousin Hagiri up north?" she nodded, "Well his mother's friend, my good friend as well, has just had a terrible accident. The father is in the hospital and they don't have the financial support to keep their son with them so I was wondering if it was ok with you if he stayed here. It will probably only be for a month and you wouldn't be held responsible to hang out with him. But, she's a really good friend of mine and I really want to help her out."

Misao agreed and asked, "Just wondering, why didn't she ask you her self?"

Her mother rubbed her head, "She's a very modest person and is probably embarrassed about it so, are you sure? I don't feel like I need to ask Shiro since he's leaving soon but I just wanted to clear things up with you."

Misao nodded, "Sure."

Her mother smiled and nodded once more before leaving the room, "Thanks Mis."

With that, she clicked the door shut.

Misao really didn't think about it. She just thought about how she had to clean her room before he arrived. She didn't even wonder about what he'd look like. All she knew was that she wanted to spend as much time not thinking about Aoshi as she could.

And it was also a little hard to imagine. In the next week, a new guest would be staying at their house. Probably taking Shiro's room no doubt. She wondered if things would change at all. She doubted it and went back to reading.

But right before she did, she looked out the window and sighed, 'Goodbye Aoshi…'

Then she went back to reading her magazine.

If only she knew how much the newcomer would change her life…

A few days passed and Misao and Shiro were waiting out on the front porch. Misao was wearing a red tank top, cutoffs, and sandals while she stood rocking back and forth as she began to get bored.

"Shiro, do you thin they're going to be here soon?"

Shiro shrugged as he leant back on his feet a couple times, "They should be here any second so just hold up."

Misao watched down the street as if she were forcing them to come faster, "Come on…"

All of a sudden, their mother's car turned the corner and began driving towards them, "Here they come," Shiro commented quietly as they pulled up to the driveway.

Misao's breath was caught a little short as the car pulled to a halt. She hadn't really thought about it before, but something about a person she had never met before coming into her house sounded kind of scary. But, her mother knew his mother so everything was ok, right?

Hopefully.

The driver's door opened and out popped her mother who ran over the other side of her car and opened the door for whoever was inside. She paused for a moment while smiling widely towards Misao and Shiro before she opened the door. When she did, a hand emerged from inside the car and gripped the outside border of the car. Next a foot, then another foot, then his entire body.

Misao looked up, he wasn't uncontrollably hot, nor was he that bad looking. He had dark brown hair that almost looked black and matched his dark blue eyes, which wasn't all too common. He stood about one or two inches taller than Misao and also had a slim figure. The most curious thing about him though, was the fact that he wore this smile that just stood out more than any of his other features.

"Misao, Shiro, this is Soujiro Seta. He'll be staying with us for the next month, month and a half, and he'll be staying in the guest room."

Misao and Shiro bowed while Soujiro bowed back. Then Misao's mother continued, "And Soujiro, this is Misao and Shiro. They are my children and they will assist you with anything you might need help with."

Misao flinched a little, she thought her mom had said she didn't have to do anything with him? She mentally shook her head and ridded it of all bad thoughts, 'This is supposed to be a learning experience. Like…and exchange student.'

"Shiro," Misao's mother continued, "Why don't you take Soujiro up to his room and while you're at it, give him a tour around the house."

Shiro nodded and called, "Come on, lemme show you around."

Soujiro walked after Shiro, but while he walked by Misao, he gave her one of his smiles.

She watched him pass then enter the house, "Nice boy isn't he?" Her mother asked.

Misao shrugged, "Well he hasn't really said anything so I wouldn't know."

Her mother agreed, but Misao wasn't finished, "So why is he here again?"

Her mother lowered her head just a slight bit and inhaled deeply, "Well," she began, "Her father became sick and he had to go to the hospital and that's about it. The family is pretty well off, but the sudden jump in expenses made the mother panic. Also, she preferred if Soujiro didn't have to see his father like that."

Her mother drifted off, and rubbed her eye a little, "I'm sure I haven't heard the whole story, but that's all I know so far."

Misao watched her mother. Ever since her husband, Misao's mother, passed away, things had gotten so much harder. It was in the fourth grade. Sure it might've seemed like a long time ago, but it still affected her sometimes. She even felt a little guilty for not crying that much, but pain has its different ways of getting to people.

She still felt bad sometimes though, like sometimes she would just stare up at the ceiling to herself while she would finally drift off to sleep. She would think about the great times they had together. But what bothered her the most was the fact that she wished she got to spend that much more time with him. But what always brought her back to reality was the fact that some things were better left a mystery.

But it still hurt sometimes.

Misao walked through the door and walked up the stairs to her room.

She saw Shiro and Soujiro talking in front of her bedroom door.

She then pried into their conversation, "And make sure you don't go in there or you will, for no doubt, get your ass kicked. Also, she just has funky little girl things in there anyways."

"SHIRO!"

He looked down the stairs and smirked as if he knew she was there, "Hi Missy."

She hung her mouth open a little as she jogged up the stairs as fast as she could, stopped right in front of him, and tried to push him out of the way, "Moove!"

"Moove?" Shiro taunted, "What? You're a cow now?"

Soujiro chuckled a little at this remark and Misao finally pushed through. When she reached the door, she opened it and slammed it behind her.

Well this was going to be great. Her crush for forever just shot her down and there was a new member in the house living with them who now had just witnessed her get made fun of by her brother.

Great. Just great.

The rest of the day went by peacefully though. She just basically stayed in her room the whole time and took plenty of naps. The next day wasn't that peaceful though. Because tomorrow was a special 'bonding' day.

Woo!

Misao woke up with a late start. It was around 10am when Misao left her room and headed downstairs. She smelled eggs, 'I like eggs,' she thought to herself.

When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she went bug-eyed to find Soujiro standing at the stove cooking what looked like eggs.

"I forgot…"

Misao muttered to herself.

Soujiro turned around, surprised to see that anyone was there, "Good morning Misao. I was told that you like big breakfasts so I'm making some eggs if you can wait for a few minutes."

Misao just kind of stood there. She was way past the point of embarrassment to even utter a word except for, "Thanks…?"

He disappeared for a quick moment and all of a sudden, Misao felt a slight pushing on her back. It was Soujiro who was now trying to nudge her over to the table which he was constantly bringing food to, "Where you learn to cook like this?" She asked him.

He replied, "My mom taught me a while back for when she was working and I was home alone.

That was odd, the words poured out of her mouth like she was so comfortable, when in truth, she had just met him. She sat in her seat for a while and ate little by little until she finally finished off everything that was given to her, "So Soujiro," she began, "do you like it here so far?"

He nodded, "It's very nice. The weather's always just right, the sky has the right amount of clouds, and the wind breezes by just when I expect it to."

Misao kind of just sat there, "Well, I was kind of just expecting a yes or no answer but…ok."

She played with a little food on her plate, "So what were your friends like where you come from?"

Soujiro shrugged, "They're like any other friends a person might have I guess."

Misao nodded and was about to say something else but before she could, the phone rang. He scooted her chair back and scampered to the phone, which was now on its third ring, "Hello?" she asked while she answered the phone.

"Oh hey…nope, nothing. …Really? When? Today? Now? Kay, I'll try to be there in half an hour," she was just about to say goodbye until she glanced at Soujiro and continued talking, "Actually, Omasu? Can I bring a friend? …No, you don't know him. Yeah it's a him. Thanks, bye."

She hung up the phone and ran around the kitchen while trying to clean everything up while Soujiro asked, "Who was that?"

"That was my friend Omasu!" She gasped as she continued to run around while trying to wipe and tidy things.

Soujiro watched her run around, "Where are you going?"

Misao stopped at the sink and began scrubbing, "WE'RE going to an end-of-the-year party in ten minutes so get ready and see you downstairs in the living room in nine minutes!"

Then she was gone.

He liked Misao. He liked how open she was and how she was willing to try new things. He also liked how she didn't make things awkward when he was around him. There were always those girls…but obviously Misao wasn't one of them.

He went upstairs to change. When he passed by Misao's room, he heard her singing to herself. She had a pretty voice. It was one of those voices that sounded good even though the singer didn't know. He stopped and waited by the door and listened to the tune. It made him think of his family before all of the 'issues' came about. Sometimes he wished things didn't change but…

"Are you ready?"

…things didn't seem all that bad, you know.

He shook his head and then jogged to his room and ran out with better clothes on, "Now I'm ready."

"That was fast," she commented as she and Soujiro traveled down the stairs.

"So, what are you doing?"

Misao opened the door and went outside, "WE'RE going to an end-of-the-year party at my friend Aeko's house. Don't worry, everyone's nice and stuff. They'll love you."

He looked up as they began walking, "How do you know?"

She shrugged and rolled her eyes, "They just will."

They continued walking for some way and also continued talking about anything that popped up. It started with small talk and then led to bigger things. Well, they weren't that big, it was really just about people who lived in the area.

It took about ten minutes to get to Aeko's house and when they did, it was just getting started, "Misao! What took you?" Omasu asked.

She hopped over, "Oh I have someone with me…come here Soujiro!" she called out as Soujiro walked out from a couple feet behind her.

Omasu gaped a little as she took a good look at him, "I'm Omasu," she said as she held out her shaky hand, "Nice to meet you."

Misao smirked a little as Soujiro took her hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you too."

"Misao!"

All three of them turned to see a girl walking over while waver her hand overhead. She wore a mini jean skirt with sandals and a bikini top. Ok she was a bit of a provocative dresser but she was still a sweet girl. Soujiro stared a little bug-eyed while some of the girl's features were 'bouncing.'

"Hi Aeko…!"

Aeko stopped right in front of Misao, Omasu, and Soujiro, "Who're you?" she asked while pointing at Soujiro

He pointed at himself and replied, "I'm Soujiro."

They stared at each other for a while before Misao began looking back and forth between the two.

After a few seconds Misao clapped her hands and blurted out, "WELL I'M THIRSTY!" she grabbed Soujiro's hand and sprinted off to a table just several meters away.

Soujiro pulled back a little and asked, "What was that for?"

Misao glanced over to Aeko who was now talking to Omasu and some other guy. She sighed and patted Soujiro's shoulder, "I'm afraid she's not the best person to know at certain times."

He glanced over as well and saw Aeko flirting with the guy that had joined Omasu and Aeko's conversation. Omasu was looking back as if she were pleading to be saved, "Oh."

Misao then grabbed herself something to drink as Soujiro asked, "So who here goes to your school?

Misao looked around, "Well, you already know Omasu and Aeko do. Um, the guy by the table over there is Sakuno, then there's …"

She stopped talking for a moment as she glanced over by the pool. There, Aoshi stood while standing next to Okon as they talked to some other people, "Who's that?" Soujiro asked as Misao turned around, "Is he your friend?"

Misao spun her drink around a little, "I wish he…well, we were."

He understood he didn't need to ask anymore. He could tell just by the body posture she had that she had something but obviously didn't want to share it.

She was different than other girls he had met. She was extremely open yet at the same time, she was mysterious.

She was the door that stayed open until he tried to walk through it, then it slammed shut.

Maybe he just needed to find the matching key…

"Misao," she looked up, "Let's get out of here. How about you show me around town instead of this?"

Her eyes brightened just a little as she smiled and grabbed his hand. They ran past Omasu who was now watching Aeko taking the guy by the hand into her house, past Okon who watched them go, and past Aoshi who didn't even notice she was there in the first place.

They ran out the fence and down the street as they began walking again, "Well this is the avenues where a lot of shops and food places are. And then there's the smoothie shop where I used to go every day after school when I was in middle school…"

As she went on, Soujiro cam e to notice that Misao was a very lively person. It was just the strings of society that held her down. Maybe this was the wrong time for her to be born? But maybe that just meant he had to help her out, even though he just met her.

But maybe it would've been so much different if…

End.

Haha I don't really understand why I wrote this. I kind of just busted out and started typing.

It took around a week to finish it and I think it stands for a world of improvement. With this story, I've decided to not write as many notes, so the reader (you) can think of things on your own. But I will tell you this, if you thought the ending was a little weird, I want you to think about it carefully for a moment. 'Maybe this was the wrong TIME for her to be born.' I'll just tell you, it's hinting about the real Soujrio and Misao that happened during the Meiji era blah blah blah. I don't know why, but I just felt like doing that.

Also, this story might seem odd because of the pairings but hey, reading is also about using your imaginations, right? The fluffy bit will happen much more often than my other story because in this fic, Soujiro doesn't have as many 'issues.'

This story's about real life. I've tried to adapt it as well as I can. And also, you be the judge on the rating. There might be some things that promote something wrong, but hopefully, you know what's wrong and what's right, right?

Live!

NaiALUG!