Smiling, Hiro watched his baby sister. As her tiny fingers reached out and held onto his index finger his eyes widened a little bit. At first he wasn't all that thrilled about having a baby sister. For a 12 year old, he had a lot of things to worry about already. Now he was very content and thankful that she was born. She gave him some company he needed. He could tell her anything and she was there to listen because she didn't know how to speak yet. It was nice, but because she was young, he had to choose his words wisely. Not only did he want her to be a healthy baby, but a happy one too. He was a little distressed and actually a little jealous because he could never hold her like his Mom could. It was kind of the same with Kisa. He loved Kisa and he wanted to hold her, but because of the curse, he can't. Unfortunately, he must stay loyal to Akito and not expose anything romantically to Kisa; otherwise she'll get hurt again. He wouldn't be able to bear it.
The thought of his baby sister Hanita finding out about the curse lingered in his mind. What would Akito do? How would his sister react? Would she accept him? Thankfully, there was time before the day approached where he might have to tell her about the dark secret in the family. In some ways, he hoped the time with Hanita went by slowly. "Don't grow up too fast." He whispered to his sister. "Stay with me a little longer." It was possible he could try and hide the curse from her, but eventually she might question as to why he never embraced her.
Suddenly, he heard a small familiar voice call out to him. "Hiro? Where are you? You're here right?" His heartbeat quickened as the girl he loved deeply called out to him. "Kisa!" He whispered. Excitedly, he rushed out of the room, leaving his baby sister alone. He stopped his two feet from rushing just in time before Kisa could see. He greeted her out into the living room. It felt like his heart leaped inside of him. "Kisa!" He gasped. "It's freezing outside! You must be cold!" Usually, in weather like this, he likes to go over to her house, so she doesn't have to walk through the freezing cold outside.
Knowing Hiro was worried about her made Kisa smile. "It's alright Hiro! I'm sorry for not calling. You don't live too far. It was a nice walk."
He noticed that she shivered slightly. Her fragile pale body was cold. It wasn't healthy at all. "You're going to be wearing one of my shirts when you go home just in case."
For some reason, Kisa loved to wear his clothes. At first she found it rather silly, but for some reason, she liked it, and she couldn't put her finger on as to why. He's always so concerned for me with little things like that.
She then realized that his cheeks were rosy. Had the temperature outside affected him? "Hiro! You're face is flushed! Are you okay?" She asked as her small hand reached out and gently touched his forehead. Then the tips of her fingers slowly moved down to his cheeks, still moderating his temperature.
As he watched her small hands reach closely to him and touch his skin, it felt like his heart dropped to his stomach, and came back up again. It caused his flushed cheeks rise to his forehead. He gulped as she moderated his temperature. Although he would have liked them to stay in that position, and even get closer, he forced himself to move away. "Want some hot chocolate? I'll go make some to help warm you up! I don't have time to look after another person!" Realizing what he just said, he silently scolded himself for being so insensitive. You always manage to say the wrong things, don't you?
The warm feeling Kisa had inside from when Hiro entered the room slowly faded by the words he spat at her. Hiro knew how to make Kisa feel warm inside. He knew how to take care of her and give her the things she needed. Sometimes he'd tell her things she needed to hear. Then other times, he knew how to hurt her. It was something he became good at. It was very confusing for her. One minute he pretended to be a friend, and the next minute he acted like an enemy. What were they exactly?
I didn't realize I was so much trouble for Hiro! How could I not see it after he told me that he had been guilty for a long time because of what Akito did to me? He did say that he did something for Akito to hit me. Why would he do such a thing? What could he have possibly done? I forgive him for whatever it was, but Hiro doesn't seem like the kind of friend that word purposely hurt me. Does he? I wonder if…he's upset because he felt guilty for so long? I see it now! I see how much trouble I caused him!
He rested his body against the wall when he arrived in the kitchen. When can I ever do anything right? Even though he still confessed to Kisa that he did something to make Akito hit her, he was still guilty. The problem is, Kisa is clueless as to why Hiro did something. When he explained it to her, he was surprised that she cried for him. It was because he told Akito he loved her. It was because of his love for her that caused her so much pain! Deep inside, he wanted to confess his feelings for her. For a long time he had been waiting for the day. It seemed like it was taking an eternity for that day. It might never happen! The thought of that really stung his heart. I have to go and apologize to Kisa before I lose her! Making up his mind, he rushed back to Kisa. He knew he needed to apologize. It was something he hated doing. He hated hurting the person he loved so much. "Kisa—" He started to apologize, but as their eyes met, he got tongue-tied. Oh god.
Kisa was about to leave when Hiro came back for her. For some reason, she loved the sound of her name being called from him. It was as though his voice was filled with compassion whenever he did. There was a feeling that went with it.
"I'm sorry Hiro!" She apologized before he did. "I didn't stop to think that you would be busy with your new baby sister and then there's school. I should have known better. I'm sorry if you felt like you had to take care of me and I've been too much trouble. I'll go home now." Turning her back from him, she headed towards the door. Her hand paused as she touched the doorknob. She turned it, but before stepping out, she turned and looked at him. "Thank you for everything Hiro. I hope you have a good day at school tomorrow. Bye." Her voice sounded tired. She tried to pretend to be tired, but she didn't do a good job of it. She wasn't tired, but she was hurting from his actions.
After she waved she walked out and closed the door behind her. Maybe he never cared about me like I thought he did? One minute he was nice to me, and the next minute he said something that hurt me? It's my imagination that he would ever really care about me. I'm sure it is. After all of the suffering he's gone through, what reason would he have to? Maybe he never really wanted to be my friend and he said things to hurt me to try and get the picture? I don't blame him. All of the other kids at school…make fun of me…I don't see why he wouldn't. I know he said that he wanted to take me to the places I liked but…maybe he felt like…he had to serve me or that was his way of trying to get rid of the guilty feeling? If only I knew what was going through his mind. The thought of Hiro not being in her life nearly made her choke. She gently put her hand on her throat to try and cure the pain she felt there. I guess Hiro is really busy with his new baby sister and everything. Maybe I shouldn't bother trying to do something with him since he probably doesn't like me, but he doesn't know how to tell me, and being rude is his way of showing it?
Hiro felt an indescribable pain inside of him. He hurt the person he loved! How could he hurt the person he love, and tell himself that he still loved her? It didn't make any sense. Apart of him was afraid to apologize, but he knew he had to. "Kisa!" He ran outside after her accidentally running into her. She was still there! He thought she would have been on her way by now!
"I...Kisa, you aren't a bother at all... I... I like having you around and being with... with you. Don't go Kisa..." He let his cowardliness consume him. His eyes couldn't even glance up at hers when he should be because he was apologizing! What kind of apology was that? At the same time, he knew if he looked at her, it might not come out right. I'm an idiot! By now she must not want anything to do with me and here I am begging her to stay!
Her eyes widened when he told her he liked being with her, but some questions lingered in her mind. "Do you really like to be with me Hiro? I don't understand how or why you do. You were guilty for such a long time because of all of the pain I went through." Kisa had to pause as she gathered the words and courage for what she was about to say. It became more difficult for her to express these feelings she's felt about their friendship. Though there was mixed emotions inside of her, she expressed it to him calmly.
"Ever since Akito hit me, and Tohru came, things have become really awkward between us. It's still awkward even though we're friends. Sometimes, I'm not so sure if we are friends. Most of the time you seem so concerned about me, then you always end up saying something that hurts me. Why Hiro? You told me that you did something to make Akito hurt me. What did you do? Did you…want her to hurt me?" The tigress's orange eyes started to glisten. "It was never like this with us. You were never mean to me before until now. Do you feel that you have to be nice to me or you have to be my friend because of what Akito did? I don't want to see you suffer anymore because of me. I want you to be happy." More tears from her eyes flowed down her cheek. She tried not to cry. She knew it was the something that would probably refrain Hiro from saying that he didn't want to be friends with her. So she thought. Frustrated, she put her hand over her face in embarrassment. This conversation delved their friendship a little deeper yet it felt like they were far away. Finally, she had expressed the questions rather then hiding them in her heart.
