WARNING
This story contains sensitive topics such as self harm, suicide, suggestive topics, depression, and more.
Read at your risk.

A/N
This story does not support self harm or suicide. This story supports love, help, hope, and understanding. If you think this story will trigger you, please turn back now.
Anyway, this is the first story I think I'm going to be completely devoted to and complete. Any feedback or criticism is welcomed. Thanks for reading! x)

IMPORTANT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE STORY:
It is a story that takes place in Japan so if a term or honorific is used, I'll put an asterisk (*) next to it and explain it and the bottom. Oh and I get all of this from the internet so please correct me if I'm using wrong information. x)

"All alone, on a journey, I lost my way; as I stood still, my heart alone wandered. But now I can walk again, as far as I need to; yes, ever since I met you on this road."
~Tabi no Tochuu by Natsumi Kiyoura

A girl with long black hair and strange violet eyes looked at the building in front of her. It was rundown with lights flickering on and off on the sign. It was dark, but she managed to read it: Yokoru's Homeless Shelter.

"I guess this is home for tonight." She sighed. She would look for a better looking shelter, but it was always close to midnight and she was told this was the only shelter in town On the path she was going, the next town over was about 14 hours away on foot, she sure as hell wasn't going to stay up that long to get a better bed.

She walked inside taking in the sight of the crappy building until she saw a old woman smoking pot at a desk. The woman who noticed her approaching sighed and took the rolled newspaper out of her mouth. "Name and age." She asked(?) without looking up at me again. "Saito Aoko*, 15" I mumbled glaring at the floor as she wrote down my name. "Breakfast at 5, lunch at 11, and dinner at 18:30 (6:30pm). Since you're a minor, you can stay for a week. Then get the hell out. You can come back two weeks after for another stay," the woman then went back to smoking and pointed to a room, I'm assuming to be the housing for women. I snuck in, careful not to wake anyone up, and tiptoed to the bathroom at the other side of the room. After locking the door, I dropped my bag and took out a pair of ripped yoga pants and a plain white tee and put them on. While relieving myself, I noticed the red splotches on the crappy sandpaper textured toilet paper. "Dammit."I mumbled to myself using the last of my protection. Guess I'll make a trip to the dollar store tomorrow morning. I left the bathroom and narrowed my eyes in the dark, looking for an empty bed, but to no avail. I sigh once more laying my bag down on the ground, using it as a pillow. I fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, after having free breakfast of course, I was walking down the street with a killer migraine. Looking down at the cash in my hand, only 513 yen ($5 dollars), I knew I wouldn't have enough to get me a Midol. I need to find a way to get some more money before I leave next week. Finding a dollar store, I got what I needed that was the cheapest (unfortunately, it was cardboard), and walked out. Strangely enough, while touring through the city, I felt a pair of eyes on me.

After roaming through the city for a few hours and not finding any type of job, and ended up missing lunch, I started to head back to the shelter. On the way, I felt uneasy. Something just didn't feel right. I sped up my pace hearing footsteps behind me. They sped up with me. Terrified, I started turning random corners but the footsteps followed. I was definitely being pursued. After a while of turning into random alleys, I reached a dead end with the footsteps behind me. I froze, shut up eyes, and braced myself until-

"W-Wait," two small voices panted. I felt a tug at the hem if my tee and turned around in shock. Two small children were there bent over breathless from the chase, holding the end of my shirt. One was a boy with dark brown hair that reached his shoulders and hazel eyes. He had fair skin like mine. He wore a dirty gray shirt and red shorts. On the other hand, the girl had strikingly beautiful golden locks and teal colored eyes. She was sickly pale and a lot skinner than the boy. She wore a blue knee length dress stained dark with dirt. Simultaneously, they both looked up at me after catching their breath. "Excuse me but... do you have any spare food?"

My heart ached. After all, when I looked in their eyes,

I saw myself.

*Last Name's are said before first names.

No Rin yet ;) I promise he'll show up eventually.