Suffocating, asphyxiation gripped her throat as air frantically tried to pass through her lungs.

'Ah, it's here again.' A single thought was all it took for pale hands to clutch deeper into auburn hair as the rapid breathing became shaky, almost as if the shake of her body transferred to an audible form. There was a faint touch in the back of her mind, but the panic that arose her made her shake it off with a small wail.

Disgusting.

It was so disgusting, letting those things touch her. She was alive, she was well, she was breathing, she was a child.

That's right, she was a child. The sweet age where people were generally far from cold, rotting grips of death, far from the hands of those skeletons that tried to claw at her, drag her down, strip away all her flesh and drain her of the blood that flowed through her veins to make her into one of them.

Afraid.

She was so afraid. She didn't want to become one of them. She escaped them once, but how was she suppose to do it again when she wasn't even fully human? Yes, she wasn't human. She was just like those tragic semblance of bones at some point, given a second chance through a child with auburn hair and amber eyes. Such warm eyes they were, too. A shame that they were were mucked up by the haunted feeling of death like a pond when the silt was stirred from its rest.

"-ru. Ju- breathe. Ca-" Words came in and out of her ears as she curled into herself, hoping to escape the hysteria that had her in a vice-like grip. She would've curled in more if it wasn't for her own skeletal system that protested against it, crying out in protest in a threat to poke one of her vital organs or simply snap in two.

"-okay." She finally felt herself calm to the point of being able to feel the warmth of human flesh instead of the cadaverous images that had replaced them prior. The thin arms around her were tolerable as she made no move of removing them, instead she sat and let the feminine voice coo to her.

"Better now?" A small nod of affirmation left her feeling cold again as the person receded and stood up. Her tired eyes finally had enough of the suspense as she looked up to see a woman who looked remarkably similar to her own appearance.

Another woman stood behind her, whom she immediately recognized as the caretaker of the orphanage, and a kind looking man with a dark, trimmed goatee and mustache. The caretaker took on her nervous habit of wringing her hands as she stared at the scene, but she was given no attention as the bright eyed woman held out a gentle hand to the younger version of herself. A small smile was all it took for the haggard girl to loosely grip the hand, but push herself as close to the woman as she could without going past the invisible boundary that only she felt between them.

Somewhere in the distance bells chimed, the carillon filled the silence as they walked the bleak halls devoid of any life forms other than their own, seeing as the other children were sent to different wings of the building in an attempt to keep the girl calm during her time of panic.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Mr. and Mrs. Hitachiin?" The wispy and grey woman nervously croaked. The man simply sent a small small towards her as he nodded his assent while his wife offered a more bold term of acceptance.

"Yes, we'll be able to take her home today, is that right?"

"Well, no-" The woman was truly to be pitied as she skittishly trailed after the trio, she knew the power of these people, but what made her restive was the more frequent episodes of turmoil of the girl.

Their orphanage did not have much money to spare if the girl needed any special treatment and most families wouldn't take a child such as her because of said panicked episodes. The occasional broken pottery and crying child were heard of and many were not willing to deal with such a thing from a child that was not born of their flesh and blood. She would consider herself an amicable person as she worried about all the children in the house and those who have left, wondering if they were happy and well in their new homes, or what has become of past residents who were well into their adult lives by now. Nonetheless, she worried about the girl who seemed to repel all the chances she got to get a new home. She simply hoped that the Hitachiins would be willing to take in such a burden as the girl's psyche was not in the most optimal condition.

"We can pay right now, cash in hand. We have the documents that say we're qualified for adopting a child if that's what you're worried about."

And that itself was enough to relax her a small amount, maybe she'll be able to get the girl a home after all.

"Then you will most likely be able to take Kaoru home today, Mrs. Hitachiin. We can just finalize the transaction in the office and you'll be set on making a new life for yourself." She flashed a wrinkly smile towards the girl, though she didn't seem to notice as she stared at the floor, lost in her own little world.

"Perfect, let's get this done as quickly as possible."

And they did just that as they sat in the archaic woman's office. Mr. Hitachiin signed the papers and discussed certain legal parts of it as Yuzuha Hitachiin cradled Kaoru in her lap, giving her the simple comfort that the child the unspoken necessity that seemed to relax her into a state of calm sleepiness.

"Everything seemed to be in order." The caretaker paused in reading the documents as her eyes flickered over to the child and then to her new parents, remnants of worry seemed to make her wrinkles deeper and her face more gaunt. "Please take care of her. We don't know what she has been through, but it must have been quite traumatic as you have seen from her episode. Poor dear just appeared out of nowhere one day on our doorsteps."

"Don't worry. We'll do everything we can for her." She seemed to be satiated by the small action as she nodded her head and handed them a copy of documents that they would need for their private records, looking them in the eye as she sincerely spoke her gratitude.

"Thank you."

Author's Notes:

So, I thought of this idea recently and I just couldn't let it go. I thought it was a fairly interesting idea, so I went with it.

Hopefully, you all found it interesting, too. I'm also sorry that it's such a short chapter; I'm pretty busy, so I can't really write much until the weekends. So, future chapters will most likely be longer unless I don't have time to make it so.

Please tell me what you thought in the reviews, it is very much appreciated.

Thanks again for reading!