A/N: Well, here's a new story for you. I know I should be working on one of my existing stories, but this idea has been nagging at me. I promise I won't give up on them!
Anyways, here's the first (and probably the only) chapter of Kindness. Enjoy!
Kindness
Kaonashi sat on the steps before a shrine, his elbows on his legs and his arms holding his chin up as he sighed and watched the humans pass by him. Not one of them had even glanced in his direction for the whole day. He wasn't upset about it, though. It was like that every day. And besides, he understood that most people couldn't see spirits.
Yes, Kaonashi was a spirit. And a very lonely one at that. The few humans with the ability to see spirits (called the Kenki ability) were all scared of him. For some odd reason, he couldn't enter a building unless he was invited in, and none of the humans who could see him wanted to let him in, so he always had to sleep outside. As for food, he couldn't get any from humans, so he had to eat the food that people threw out. Because of this, he was always hungry.
But that's how it had always been. Even in the Spirit World, where everybody could see him, he was despised. He wasn't allowed into any of the inns, and none of the restaurants (which weren't really buildings there) would ever serve him food. So he was actually better off in the Human World.
Not that he liked it, of course. He was very lonely. He didn't particularly dislike it; he had become used to it, just like the hunger and the cold, and he knew that loneliness was better than the pain of rejection.
The thing that he hated the most was that nobody was ever kind to him, even if he tried to be kind to them. That was all he really wanted, some kindness. Sadly, he didn't think he'd ever get it. Humans in this country had heard stories of him, apparently, and would want nothing to do with him once they found out his name. They would always run away from him as if he would eat them if they stayed. That was what hurt most.
A tear slipped down Kaonashi's cheek. He wished somebody would show him kindness without running away after learning his name. The loneliness, the unkindness, it was unbearable, and he knew that, if just one person were kind to him, that it would ease the pain, if only just a little.
He was starting to give up hope, though. It had been so long, surely, if anybody were to be kind to him, it would've happened in the millenia or so that he'd been alive. If it hadn't already come, then why should he even hope for it, he wondered.
"Ah," he sighed as another tear slipped down his cheek and, although he couldn't say it, he wished that he didn't even exist.
A shadow fell over him and he looked up to see a girl with blue eyes looking down at him with worry. He almost cried more as he realized that she could see him. That meant more of the pain of rejection.
He didn't get his hopes up when she asked why he was crying, he simply sighed again. "Ah." He couldn't ever remember a time where he could say anything more. Maybe, if he had more to say, then he could speak, but...
She sat down on the step next to him and put her hand on his shoulder, telling him that, whatever it was, it would be okay, and he leaned into her and cried, knowing that it would never be alright. She simply sat there and tried to comfort him as he cried soundlessly, which made him cry even more.
Eventually he stopped crying and just sat there, deciding to enjoy the kindness for a while longer. A few minutes after that, the girl, who had noticed odd stares from the passersby, stood up and asked him if he wanted to go inside for a little while. He agreed, and they both climbed up the steps to her home at the shrine, hand in hand.
About three minutes later, the two of them sat at her kitchen table drinking tea. He felt a little less hungry after downing the first cup, and had set his empty cup down on the table in front of him as he took the time to study the girl, who had introduced herself as Ren. She was dressed sort of like a modern miko, with a plain white shirt and a red skirt that reached her knees.
When she noticed that his cup was empty, she asked if he wanted more. He nodded as he said the only thing he could say, "Ah." So she poured him a new cup and tried to start a conversation with him as he downed the new cup.
"So, what's your name?"
He didn't know how to answer. "Ah," he said, shaking his head. He really didn't want to tell her his name, because he really liked her. He felt that she was somehow... different, from the others. After a few seconds, though, he decided to get the pain over with and tell her his name, scaring her away. He touched his throat and shook his head, saying "ah" again.
"You can't speak?" He nodded and said it again.
"Can you read and write?" Another nod and "ah."
She stood up and walked over to the counter by the phone, where she knew there was a pad of paper and pen. She grabbed them and brought them back with her, stting them on the table in front of him. "You can write, then, instead of talking."
He immediately picked up the pen and began to write, both wanting to tell her who he was and wanting to never tell her at the same time. After he was done writing, her turned the pad to her and she read it aloud.
"My name is Kaonashi." She blinked and looked up at him. "Kaonashi, like from the stories about the spirit Kaonashi?"
He took the pad and wrote a quick "Yes, that's me," and gave it back to her. She read it quicky and smiled, throwing him off. He almost didn't want to believe it. She was smiling! She was supposed to be screaming and running off like all the others had, not smiling! Even after learning his name, she wasn't scared.
"Well, Nashi-kun," she started, noticing the slight blush on his cheeks after he heard his new nickname, "You can stay here if you like." She set her now-empty cup down. "You look like you're about the same size as me, so we can share clothes, okay?"
He blushed even harder and shook his head, waving his hands in front of him as he said "ah" a few times. He, for some odd reason, believed that she'd eventually realize that she was scared of him and change her mind about letting him stay, and he didn't want to face being rejected again. She misinterpreted his refusal as him not wanting to impose and laughed. "I'm offering, silly! You don't need to worry about imposing."
He stopped and wrote something else on the page in front of him. "You're not..." she began reading it out loud, then suddenly stopped. "Of course I'm not scared, silly! I knew that you were a spirit the moment I saw you, and I still invited you in, didn't I?"
"Ah," was his reply. She smiled and stood.
"I'll go get the guest room ready then."
As she walked away, he teared up again. But this time, unlike before, he was crying with joy. Somebody finally accepted him! He sniffled a bit and Ren stopped, turning around to see what was wrong. She saw him crying and quickly returned to his side, asking what was wrong. He whispered so low that she couldn't hear him, "ah." Then, a little louder, he repeated himself. He brought his left hand up to his heart, which he felt beating wildly in his chest, and smiled as the tears continued to flow.
"What-"
He suddenly tackled her with a hug, cutting her off. She stood frozen in shock a few seconds before returning the hug, and he began to cry harder. He opened his mouth to thank her and-
"Ah-"
He was so upset that he couldn't speak. He had so much he wanted to say! He wanted to thank her for easing the pain, he wanted to thank her for accepting him, and he couldn't even get out a "thank you." He finally had something to say, and somebody to say it to, and he couldn't even say it?
He wasn't content with that. So he tried again. He tried so hard that he started to shake with the effort. And, after a few moments, he finally managed to whisper to her, "Arigatou." And when he did, he shook some more and began to sob, hugging her tighter and saying it again and again.
She stayed with him until he stopped crying, and then she let him go and smiled and said, "You're welcome."
And he almost started crying again.
A/N: Wow. Turned out better than I thought.
Has anybody noticed that I really like using Ren? Well, it's taken me years to develop her character, so I suppose I'm just really fond of her.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!