memories
thoughts
Kyoko Ashiya hated bad news. She felt as if her whole life was filled with bad news. This news though was horrid. She felt her blood freeze and felt herself grow cold. She had never liked moving to America after having lived in Japan for her whole life but she wasn't complaining anymore. She had a routine down and it wasn't great but it was fine. Her life was fine. She did NOT want to go back to Japan. Her father, that criminal bastard, wanted to move back. His work in America was done. Useless man! Why was he doing this to her? She didn't want to return to that place. She would have to see HIM and she did not want to see HIM at all.
Therefore, she was throwing a fit. A fit that would battle any two-year olds temper tantrum. She was throwing plates in the moving box. Each plate that broke made her feel a little in control. Her father's assistant that was actually only there to take care of her cringed at the sight before him.
"Why do we have to go back to Japan?!" Kyoko yelled.
"We just do," Minami sighed.
"But I like it here," she lied.
"You hate America," Minami countered.
"Why the same town though?" she begged. "And the same school?"
"It's not my decision," Minami said.
Not his decision. Of course, it wasn't his. He knew she would rather stab her eye with a fork rather than go back to Japan. She loved Japan. She really loved the life she had had there. It was how everything had ended when she left that was killing her. She couldn't forget the look on his face.
"Whose decision then?" Kyoko demanded to know.
"You know whose," he sighed. Yeah, I know it's my stupid idiot of a father, Kyoko thought.
"I'm not going back," she cried. "I can't go back!"
"Go pack because you are," he stated.
"I REFUSE," she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"You have no choice," he laughed.
"We'll see," she taunted.
"Try it. I'm ready for anything," he taunted back.
In her room, she found four black and white suitcases and ten moving boxes. She screamed at the top of her lungs and threw all the boxes outside of her window. She was not moving! She could not go back and see him. That boy who broke her heart and his uncle who hated her. She didn't want to see him because she wasn't over him. Her heart, yes her stupid heart, was still in love with him. There was a knock at her door and she just threw a book at the door. It was probably Minami bringing back all the things she had thrown out of the window.
"You'll need these," Minami sighed.
"No I won't," she hissed.
"We're leaving in two days. You start school in two weeks," Minami informed her. Two weeks… that wasn't even close to having enough time to prepare her against the onslaught of feelings that would come. In two weeks, it would also be her birthday. Did I mention that fate was a cruel, cruel, cruel little bitch?
Yuki Kurosaki was a good servant. He had always done what Lord Hiashi had asked of him. He had taken care of Neji just as his master had asked him to do. Neji was always calm and kind. His attitude was almost cold, as if he didn't care for anything in this world. Yuki had always thought that was odd.
Except that Yuki had never been around for the last two years when Neji began school. Usually he was on vacation with his wife, visiting his grandmother. This year though his grandmother had come to visit him. So he could work in the mornings for three hours and spend the rest of the time with his family. Lord Hiashi hadn't mind at all. When Yuki awoke in the morning, he had no idea what was waiting for him. He went about his normal routine. He got Neji's breakfast ready and brought it to the young man's room.
When he entered the young man's room clothes were being thrown in every direction. Neji was standing in his boxers muttering to himself. (A/N: I like Neji emotionally flustered.) His cheeks were red and his gorgeous long hair was a mess. Yuki could tell that the young man had run his hands through his hair many times.
"Neji-san, here is your breakfast," Yuki said.
When Neji turned around to look at the servant his eyes were full of anger. It made Yuki shiver to be receiving such a look for the normally cold boy. Neji looked at the tray and dismissed it.
"I don't want any breakfast today," Neji sneered.
"But Lord Hiashi insists," Yuki argued.
"GET OUT AND TAKE THE DAMN TRAY WITH YOU!" Neji yelled.
Yuki's eyes went wide and he scrambled to get out. What was the problem? Something was truly bothering the young boy because Yuki could hear the pain in the boys voice and he could see the excruciating pain the boy was feeling in his eyes. What was it that had the young man acting so odd? His normally blank eyes were twisted and his smooth pale beautiful face
"Kurosaki-san? What is the matter?" Lord Hiashi asked.
Yuki turned around and shivered. It was uncanny to him how all the Hyuga's had the same eyes that he felt could look into your soul and automatically know what you're about and who you are.
"Neji-san doesn't want to eat," Yuki explained. "He has to eat! It's his first day of school."
"School starts today?" Lord Hiashi groaned.
"Yes," Yuki sighed.
Lord Hiashi grabbed a calendar from a table and threw it on the floor. He knew what was wrong with Neji. It had to do with the date. He was always like this when this day rolled around. It was September 10. Usually he was already in school when the day rolled around but the reaction was always the same. Neji would be emotionally unstable. It was HER birthday that caused the poor Hyuga prodigy all this pain.
Konoha Leaf High was the only training school for ninjas in all of the Leaf Village. It was gorgeous on the outside. A tall mansion that was the outline of a square. In the middle of the square was a courtyard where all the students ate lunch when the weather was nice. The courtyard in front of the school had the brightest green grass Kyoko has ever seen. She felt a sense of déjà vu take her over. She had always loved this school. She had wanted to be a ninja since forever.
She sighed as she remembered that her greeting wouldn't be as sweet as it had been in the past. She had to accept that things had changed and nothing was going to be the same. She just had to be prepared for everything that would be thrown at her.
"Why does school always have to be in session during my birthday?" Kyoko muttered. She sighed, adjusted her messenger bag to the side, and took a step forward. There was no use in fighting it. She had to be here.
"KYO-CHAN! Is that you?" a loud voice screamed. "YOU'RE BACK!!"
A bouncy perky blonde blur ran towards Kyoko and squeezed her tightly. She smirked as she remembered that this was Naruto, he would always be happy to see her. She was glad that he had not changed. He grabbed her and dragged her back towards the group of friends that she had hung out with while she had been in Japan. There was Kiba, Hinata, Chouji, Sasuke, and Gaara. The group of soon-to-be ninjas was hot.
"Hey Naru-kun," she greeted back to the blonde. She nodded to everyone else. Giving Hinata a big hug. She turned around and saw Gaara staring at her. She smirked and said, "hey Gaa-chan."
He scowled and shook his head. He raised his hand to wave at her but she bombarded him with a hug. He hugged her back but shook his head with laughter. They had always been so close while she was in Japan. She had missed having friends.
Sasuke stood and waved good-bye to everyone, even telling Kyoko that it was good to have her back. He also wished her a happy birthday and that they would all have to celebrate it at another time.
"Where's he off to?" Kyoko wondered as Sasuke left.
"He's off to greet his real friends," Gaara muttered.
"We are his real friends!" Naruto whined.
"Yeah? So your dad and his mom still going on strong huh?" Kyoko asked. She sighed and put her head on Gaara's shoulder, he continued doing whatever he was doing.
"They got married last year!" Naruto bragged.
"No shit?" Kyoko asked.
"No shit," Kiba answered laughing at her surprise. Kiba had always enjoyed the fact that Kyoko wasn't aware of what she said or how she said things, she simply said them and that was that.
"So who are his real friends?" Kyoko asked.
"The 'in' crowd. Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Ino, Shino, Lucy, and TenTen. TenTen's new but you remember the rest of them don't cha Kyo-chan?" Kiba snickered.
Kyoko looked to where Sasuke was greeting all his other friends. She gulped as she saw Neji. He still looked…delicious. As Naruto had once put it, he looked like sex rolled in sin on a stick. His eyes were still as cold as she remembered. And he still made her mouth water. His long brown hair made her shiver at the memories of touching that hair and of where that hair had touched her. She blushed and bent her head down.
"Yeah, I remember them…"
Kyoko hated being late. It was a thing she had. It was always about being on time or early. This time because mom had forgotten lunch and she had to run out and get a bento box, she was going to be late. To make matters worse, she had just run into someone. A very muscled, good smelling someone. Shit, she thought as she saw who it was.
The boy was Neji Hyuga. He was part of the 'in' crowd at school. She was in a shit load of trouble if he decided to pick on her. She was just getting everything in her life on track. Nothing was perfect. Nothing ever was but she was fine with that.
"Hey, are you okay?" the sex god asked.
Wow, even his voice is hot. I wonder what his lips would feel like…wait! What?
"Sorry did you say something?" Kyoko asked.
"Yeah…I… what's your name?" Neji sighed.
"Oh, right….why would you know who I am?" Kyoko muttered. "I'm Kyoko." She stuck her hand out and introduced herself. For ten years of her life she had been stuck with foster parents and they had all taught her that the only way to be liked or wanted was to be polite. So, she always introduced herself in a polite way.
"Kyoko, huh? So why wouldn't I know you?" he chuckled.
She tilted her head to the side and looked at him. She had never seen him smile. It was, to say the least, breathtaking. She felt her heart stutter and fall a little, for this boy and she knew that was bad. She turned around and began to walk away. He grabbed her hand to stop her and shook it.
"Nice to meet you Kyoko, girl who I'm not suppose to know," he teased.
"Let go please," she requested.
He looked down at their intertwining hands and realized that for the first time in his life he found someone who interested him in an instant. It was that first subtle attraction that everyone had always told him about. He felt it with this girl and he wasn't letting go so easily.
"No," he laughed. He dragged her up some stairs and to the rooftop. They spent the rest of the day on the rooftop talking. The laughed and found that had everything in common. The one subject that both had avoided was family because one was from a broken home and the other had a destiny to fulfill that he didn't want anything to do with
It was the first instance for both of them where they had fallen in love. It was a true first for both Neji and Kyoko.
Sasuke was staring at his best friend and he knew that something was wrong with the Hyuga prodigy. He could tell by the way his eyes looked tried, almost, as if he hadn't slept at night. Sasuke shook his head, wondering what the white-eyed boy had to worry about. Then it dawned on his when he remembered exactly whose birthday it was today. Ah, so he still thinks about her? Wonder what he'll do when he finds out she's back, Sasuke chuckled as he pictured Neji fainting at the sight of Kyoko.
"What's with the scowl Hyuga?" Sasuke asked. Neji turned his head around and glared at his friend. He rolled his eyes and continued to wait for the last of their group, Shino.
"I said the same thing," TenTen nodded. Happy to see that someone else saw that something was wrong with the boy she loved so much. She wrapped one arm around one of his arms and sighed.
"Nothing is wrong," Neji scowled.
"Isn't that Miss Kyoko Honda," a voice whispered. Sasuke jumped up into the air and screamed. Shino had taken a fancy to scaring the Uchiha without announcing his presence. Little did Shino know that it had nothing to do with what Sasuke thought of Shino but what he felt forShino.
"Shit Shino! Warn someone when you're there!" Sasuke complained. Sasuke couldn't see it but the bug-obsessed boy was smiling with his eyes.
"Sorry Uchiha," Shino murmured.
The two were bickering in the background, while the rest of the group tried to get them to get along. Ino who was Shino's girlfriend was holding on to his arm and snuggling up to him. Sasuke only got more irritated by that, so he just stopped talking. The most interesting thing that was happening though was Neji's reaction. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He knew that he should turn away, that as perceptive as she was, she would eventually feel him looking at her.
How long had it been since he had seen her? How long had it been since he smelled her beautiful long blue hair? It had felt like forever to him. She was the one girl who drove him insane. She had everything he had ever wanted in a girl but he hadn't been enough for her. As he remembered the bad, he clenched his fist and shook his head. What am I doing? Thinking about her the way I am…I have TenTen, he thought angrily to himself. Yet he couldn't turn away. He stared at the way Naruto made her laugh and he noticed that she still laughed the same way. She would throw her head back, put one hand on your shoulder, and laugh a sultry seductive laugh that always went to Neji's groin. Her laughter still did that to him. She was making him nuts!
TenTen hadn't missed any of this. She saw the way Neji's face went from elated to angry without ever taking his eyes off this girl. Who was she to him? TenTen didn't like this girl because she was making Neji more emotional than TenTen had ever witnessed in her life. It irked her that this girl could get a rise out of her boyfriend, when Neji always seemed to get bored with her.
Neji could feel TenTen's gaze on him. He knew that she was picking up some kind of vibe from him and his reaction to Kyoko. He knew all of this and he still couldn't tear his eyes away from her. He watched her say good-bye to everyone, lingering while saying good-bye to Naruto and Gaara. Neji knew he should stay away and keep quiet. However, here she was…right in front of him. No one could stop him because he wasn't in control anymore. He couldn't control himself. He tried to turn away. His head wouldn't move and his eyes wouldn't blink at all. So he did something stupid….he did the first thing he thought of…
"Kyoko!!" a voice screamed out.
She had heard that voice in her dreams and in her nightmares. He had haunted her forever and it seemed that fate wouldn't have it any other way. She froze in her tracks. She had been so close to getting inside the school. She could have made it. However, he had called her out. Her eyes filled with tears. Why can't he leave me alone? Kyoko sighed.
"Kyoko!!" he screamed again.
She finally turned around. What she should have done was tell him off. Kyoko hated attention and she could just feel everyone's eyes on her and Neji because he wanted to be a big mouth and yell. That's what she should have done but instead she locked eyes with him and she fell. She fell for him just like she had in the past and nothing could stop her stupid heart from beating rapidly as she saw him again after two years.
It was his eyes that made her feel like drowning because there was pain in his eyes. There was happiness, sorrow, lust, and anger in his eyes. Those beautiful eyes that never wanted to let her go. He had shown her a different expression from the one he had shown to so many other people. She saw his real smile, she heard his laughter, and she had felt his true anger. She knew him but he…he was different now, she suspected. That broke her heart a little as well.
The courtyard was filled with silence as they all watched the two. They had never seen such emotion from the Hyuga. It seemed that the occasion for emotion for him only happened when she was around. Everyone could see both teens holding his or her breath. Each one was sizing each other up, waiting for the other to take another step or make a move.
Kyoko moved first. She had always made the first move. She always pushed Neji. It irked him that she could do that. She shook her head at him and turned around. She had dismissed him. He had to catch her before she entered the school.
"So…your back huh?" Neji asked as he walked towards her. Kyoko laughed and shook her head once again. She nodded to everyone who was around Neji but stopped once she noticed the new girl. The new girl who was holding Neji's hand and he didn't even seem to notice that she was.
Kyoko looked herself up and down and said, "So it would seem…"
"Good luck in hell," he chuckled and began to walk away. TenTen seemed satisfied with the way Neji had just dismissed this girl. She squeezed his hand tighter.
"Tsuki…" Kyoko whispered. He wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't waiting for her to respond. But he had heard her call him by the pet name she had given him so long ago. He felt his heart weaken and he looked at her. She was still the same. She had the sad look in her eyes and her long blue hair curled at the tips. She was his Hoshi, his star and he would always be her Tsuki, her moon. That's what they had told each other.
Time changes people though. They had gone out for a year after they had been friends for a year. The only reason they tried going out was because they had slept together when they both turned fourteen. It was a passionate, awkward, and wonderful moment for the two of them. That was the night that they had given each other their pet names.
She shook herself out of her own memories. She was an idiot for remembering those memories now, when another girl was holding his hand.
"You should already know I was in hell long before this," Kyoko muttered. She walked passed the crowd and into the school. She couldn't believe him! Threatening her and treating her as if she was dirt. God, she hated him. She wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and…sigh…kiss him.
She shook her head and headed for the office in order to get her schedule. She saw that Kurenai was now the secretary of the school. They talked about their lives as if they were old ladies gossiping. She had always loved Kurenai for making her feel so comfortable. Kurenai informed her of Asuma's death and Kyoko saw the sadness that haunted the brunette's eyes. The baby was doing wonderfully and Kakashi was helping raise the child as if it were his. Kurenai was trying her best to move on and live her life.
Since Kyoko didn't want to eat in the cafeteria, she made plans to eat lunch with Kurenai. It all seemed to be going okay. Except when it came to Neji it seemed that nothing would go right when it came to that boy. She glanced at the clock and realized that she had missed 45 minutes of homeroom and there was no point in going for only 15 minutes in her opinion there was no point. She would go to the rooftop and grab a smoke. She would apologize to whatever teacher she was stuck with in homeroom with.
She stood by the ledge and lit up a cigarette, a habit she had picked up a month before she had left Japan. It was her coping method. Because a month before she was supposed to leave, he broke up with her and she broke. She broke and picked a cigarette.
"You should stop that," a voice chuckled.
"Ruka…you know me better," Kyoko laughed.
"I'm your sensei!" Iruka scolded.
"Couldn't get me to call you that when you were my foster parent for two years, what makes you think I'm gonna do it now?" Kyoko joked.
They stared at each other in silence and both looked towards the sky. Iruka had always been close to Kyoko ever since she had shown up on his doorstep with a bruised eye and a social worker by her side. She was always a tough kid but once he knew her, he found her soft spots and Naruto his other adopted child loved her from the very start. They became instant friends. A smile always showed up in his lips when he thought of how Naruto and Kyoko use to get into trouble.
She had been wonderful and when her mother finally found her. She was elated, they both were. Everyone had told Kyoko that her mother hadn't left her, it was her father that had taken her from her mother and left her at a church. She had always said that she hated him for it. When her mother had come for her, it was the first time that Iruka had seen the young girl cry. He was her last foster parent. After that when she was 10 she started living with her mother.
Iruka remembered when her mother died. Kyoko hadn't shown up for school for a week, when he found her she was crying clutching her mother's will. It had turned out that her mother had left her in custody of her father. Her father who wanted her to move to America with him. She had been devastated. It had hurt him so much to find her like that.
However, he suspected that what had hurt her most was Neji Hyuga's reaction to her leaving. They had been dating for a year and he had broken things off with her in a fit of anger.
"Have you seen him?" Iruka asked. There was no need to ask what 'him' Iruka was referring to because they both knew it was Neji. I can't think about him without hurting, she thought to herself. I see him and my heart stops.
"No," she whispered. She had seen him of course but she hated to remember what he had told her. He was back to the cold Neji she hated.
"Maybe you two could work it out!" Iruka shouted. "Talk to–"
"No!" she interrupted. "So how are you and Anko?"
She noticed the blush that crept across his cheeks and smiled. Anko and Iruka had thrown her through a loop when they started dating but they were cute together.
"We're good," Iruka blushed.
"I saw Kurenai," Kyoko sighed. She looked over the edge of the building and sighed at the sky. "She says Kakashi is amazing with the baby."
"Kyoko…" Iruka murmured. She had heard him use that tone way too many times. It was always when he wanted to talk to her about her mother when he softened his voice to a whisper when he wanted to mention her mother almost as if talking louder than that would break Kyoko.
Kyoko groaned and put her cigarette out. She DID NOT want to talk about her mother.
"It's too late for all that Iruka," she growled. The door to rooftop opened up and Neji walked in with TenTen on his arm. Just what I fucking needed. The two walked to the edge of the building and faced each other and Kyoko just closed her eyes. Kyoko walked away from Iruka and decided that she needed a break from her break. But Iruka could never let it go could he?
"She wanted you to have the best!" he shouted.
Kyoko felt her heart rip in two and she clutched one hand to the doorknob and the other to her heart. She knew that both TenTen and Neji were listening and watching. Neji saw how sad and broken Kyoko looked and remembered that he had never seen her like that.
"She loved you so much," Iruka reasoned.
"Don't ! Just don't Iruka-sensei. It's too late. Everything's done and over with," she whimpered. She opened the door and ran down the stairs. She hit the bottom staircase, fell to her knees, and began to cry.
Neji watched her run and he went on impulse. Every time he was around Kyoko, he went on impulse. He hated her for it but he followed her anyways because he still cared and he was still worried. TenTen was surprised to see how easily Neji showed emotion over this girl. It made her skin crawl at the thought of the two of them being together. Iruka was shocked to his core to hear Kyoko call him sensei. He knew that she only called him that when she was mad at him.
As Neji walked down the steps, he heard her soft cries. He knew that it was Kyoko because he had heard her crying before.
"Déjà vu," Neji murmured. He saw Kyoko. He knew she was crying by the way her back was shaking and he heard the few sobs that had escaped from her lips. Her back was turned towards him, so she had no idea that he was there. He saw her look up to the ceiling and he knew that there were tears streaking down her face.
"Why did you leave me? Why mom? Of all the people…you left me with him! We were happy. I was happy! God, I was happy! I had a life here. I had friends and I had…then he makes me leave. Damn it! I didn't want to go! Why is this so hard? Why is it so hard to see him?" she screamed.
Silence rang in the stairwell. Neji felt himself remembering the day she told him she was leaving. He had been so angry and awful words had been exchanged that day, mostly from him.
Neji Hyuga loved Kyoko Ashiya. He had loved her the minute they had first met. He wanted to stay with her forever. Those were the only thoughts that had been running through his head since he took her to the rooftop one day.
Of course, they had been friends for a year and then Neji couldn't take it anymore and he asked her out. She had said yes and it had been the happiest moment of his life.
So naturally as she was standing here telling him that she was leaving to America because her father was making her. Making her move? No one can make her do nothing! Neji thought desperately.
He was thinking to himself and he felt the barriers go up. He felt the cold seep into his heart and cut himself off from all of his emotions. He was turning into the cold bastard everyone else knew him to be. He knew that if he let the coldness take him he would only hurt Kyoko but he didn't care. He fell into the dark cold and let himself be taken by it.
"So that's it? You're leaving?" Neji hissed.
Kyoko shuddered at the coldness she heard in his voice. She knew what he was doing because she had done the same thing so many times before. It was a defense mechanism and she had to remember that, only right now she couldn't. All she could hear and know was that he was hurting her with his coldness.
"Neji…" Kyoko whispered. She heard the desperation in her voice and at any other time it would have felt disgusting but she didn't care. She wanted to be with Neji. That's all she cared about but she knew he didn't see that.
"We're done. You are not worth my time any more," Neji said. His voice was as cold as ice. She felt her blood freeze at the tone and knew that once he walked away from her, she would shatter into a million pieces. As she saw him walk away, she felt the cracks begin to form on her heart. She felt her legs tremble and her eyes began to water. No! No! Don't leave me, she thought desperately.
"Tsuki! If you walk away…if you leave me here there is no chance for us to fix this!" Kyoko pleaded. She waited for him to turn around and face her. The seconds ticked by and she felt her heart stop and any second now she knew she would feel like dying. Because death had to be better than the feeling she had in her body right now, this feeling would surely kill her.
"There was never a 'this' to begin with," Neji said with his icy tone. It scared Kyoko to hear it. She gasped and fell to the floor, she felt the bruises begin to form on her knees but she ignored them. She watched the love of her life walk away and never look back. Not once did he look back. She was for the first time in a long time, truly alone. No mother. No love. No anything. She felt empty and had no idea what to do or how to put herself back together again.
Kyoko took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. She turned around and saw Neji standing there. It was like something out of her memories. He still astounded her. She felt like she was drowning in his white eyes.
"Déjà vu huh?" Kyoko laughed. She walked past him and just as she was about to get away to breathe the air that wasn't surrounded by him, he grabbed her. She felt her bones melt. It was too much.
"Can we…?" Neji asked in a whisper. She was shaking her head before he could finish. He wanted to talk and ask questions, something she didn't want to do.
"No we can't," she said. Her tone was cold and final. A tone that he had used on her many times before.
She walked up the stairs and tried to clear her mind. Everything was just too hard. She felt her chest closing up when she finally found her class and sitting next to an empty seat was Gaara. Thank god. She ran to sit down next to him. She sighed as she sat down and slumped in her chair.
"Problems?" Gaara asked.
"What else is life about?" Kyoko laughed.
"The boy?" Gaara questioned.
They didn't need to clarify which boy. Gaara had always fallen into and easy pattern with Kyoko because they had a lot in common. Both their fathers were in charge of large crime organizations and they had bonded over that. They would go to each other's houses and lay down on each others bed just listening to music or talking. They had shared all their issues together. He knew about Neji and she knew that Gaara loved Naruto.
"Yeah, the boy," she sighed.
"You should forget about him," Gaara reasoned.
"Aw, gee thanks cause you know in all the freaking ideas in the world, I hadn't thought of that one," she said sarcastically.
"Sweet as ever," Gaara laughed.
"Did you think I would change?" Kyoko asked.
"Never," Gaara laughed.
"Have you told him?" Kyoko asked. She smiled at the blush that she saw appear on the redhead's cheeks. Still in love with Naruto, huh?
"Shut up," Gaara muttered.
"Now why would I do that?" Kyoko laughed.
"You know what?" Gaara threatened but he never finished his threat because his words fell silent as he looked towards the door. His eyes went wide and he looked both angry and sorry.
"What are you…?" Kyoko asked but she saw. She saw Neji walk in with TenTen on his arm. She felt her heart splinter into a million different pieces. It was and odd feeling to her. She knew she loved him but after two years the pain was still all too familiar to her. TenTen was laughing at something that Lee said and Neji was just looking around the room.
"Could this day be any worse?" Kyoko mumbled.
At the moment she said that their teacher, Kakashi walked in. he looked like he was smiling but it was hard to tell since he was always wearing a mask that covered his mouth but his eyes always gave it away. And right now his eyes looked like the smile on a smiley face. Scary.
"New student! New student! We have a new student…" Kakashi sang. Kyoko rolled her eyes. She was no getting up to introduce herself to all these people who already knew her.
"Can it Kakashi. I'm not new, I'm returning," Kyoko reasoned.
"Tradition!" Kakashi yelled.
Kyoko knew she wasn't getting out of this too easily so she walked to the front of the class and stood next to Kakashi. Everyone else called him Kakashi-sensei; it was only Kyoko who dropped the formalities with all the teachers because at some point while she had been in foster care, many of them had been her foster parents. She wasn't calling anyone sensei when she knew the color of their underwear.
"Tell us something about yourself," Kakashi demanded. Kyoko smirked and knew the perfect way to get back at Kakashi.
"Well this one time I caught Kakashi and–" Kyoko laughed as Kakashi covered her mouth with his hand. He pulled her to his chest and muttered something about why he put up with teenagers for a living. She smiled up at him and he let her go. She was about to walk away when he grabbed her arm.
"Then sing," Kakashi reasoned.
"S-sing?" Kyoko stuttered.
"Yes, sing," Kakashi laughed.
The whole room was quiet. Everyone remembered what Kyoko's voice sounded like. It was as if an angel had touched her voice. Neji had loved her voice when she sang. Her singing had been what he had noticed about her first. He knew that if he heard her voice, he would fall. Not that I haven't already fallen for her, he thought angrily to himself.
Kyoko hadn't sung anything since leaving Japan. She looked up and caught sight of something that made her stomach go into knots. There was TenTen holding Neji's hand. She knew in that instant what song would be perfect to torture the Hyuga with. She would sing "I will always love you" and she would make him squirm, after all it was their song.
"I'll sing," Kyoko said. Kakashi clapped his hands and everyone held their breath.
If I
Should stay
I would only be in your way
So I'll go
But I know
I'll think of you every step of
the way
Neji had heard the voice so many times. He would finally get to see the face and he couldn't have been happier. So when he turned the corner to catch the end of the singer's song, he saw her. Kyoko Ashiya.
And I...
Will always
Love you, oohh
Will always
Love you
You
My darling you
Mmm-mm
Kyoko was laying on Neji's lap, when suddenly it began to rain. They both shot up and ran under a tree. They were laughing until Neji pushed her against the tree and kissed her.
Bittersweet
Memories
That is all I'm taking with me
So good-bye
Please don't cry
We both know I'm not what you
You need
Neji watched Kyoko as she slept. They had just made love and she was sleeping very peacefully on his bed. He smiled and kissed her on her forehead. He knew that he would never let her go.
And I...
Will always love you
I...
Will always love you
You, ooh
Kyoko ran up to Neji in the middle of a crowded cafeteria, she grabbed him by his shirt, and kissed him. It was a long minute before she let go.
"Now you're it," she whispered against his lips.
I hope
life treats you kind
And I hope
you have all you've dreamed of
And I wish you joy
and happiness
But above all this
I wish you love
The knock on the door stopped Kyoko from staring at Neji. She had felt flash after flash of special memories and it made her eyes water. It was a good thing that someone had knocked on the door.
"Kyoko, I need to speak with you," Iruka said.
"Sure thing, Ruka. Ha ha, brings back memories," Kyoko laughed. "Huh, Gaa-chan?"
"Sure does," Gaara laughed. He shook his head and knew that she had said his name on purpose. Neji had never liked the close relationship Kyoko and him had had but Gaara knew that it was just jealousy. Kyoko was pushing his buttons.
"Not always good ones either," Kyoko joked.
She walked out of the classroom and didn't like the fact that Iruka looked nervous. If Iruka was nervous that meant that whatever he was about to talk about was something she didn't want to talk about. Neji was out of the door with her and he grabbed her arm. She felt the heat of his touch spread throughout her body. She tried to stay calm by rolling her eyes.
"Talk Iruka," Kyoko demanded.
"What about him?" Iruka asked while looking at Neji. Kyoko didn't even look at Neji. She knew his eyes were trained on hers and that he wasn't going to budge. She had pushed him and she didn't care.
"Forget him and talk," Kyoko answered.
"It's about your mother's life insurance…the company wants to give you the money…" Iruka said nervously
Kyoko's mom had "killed" herself. She had gotten a friend of hers to induce her with enough drugs to kill her and enough so that there would be no chance of reversal. The company had not wanted to pay and Kyoko didn't care. Her mom had died. Her mom had died with the help of a friend. A friend who no one knew.
"No," she whispered.
"She wanted you to be well off. She wanted you to have that money so you could–" Iruka said.
"No. I don't want that dirty money. I already have to deal with my father's dirty money. Enough is enough," Kyoko hissed.
"Please," Iruka begged but Kyoko just shook her head.
First day of school is always an emotional tirade, Neji and Kyoko both thought.
Kyoko watched Iruka walk away and she shook Neji off. She walked into the classroom and Neji tried to grab her again. She pushed him away hard enough for him to land on his ass. Everyone in the class is staring at them now. Everyone remembers their relationship.
"Hoshi…" Neji whispered.
"Don't you dare call me that! Who do you think you are? You walked away remember? Because I sure as hell do remember that day. So let me tell you something Hyuga, I don't give a shit. You stopped caring a long fucking time ago! You broke me remember? So I got all the little pieces you broke and I put them back together again! You don't get to come back and break me again," she yelled.
The classroom was quiet and all you heard were footsteps approaching the front of the class. Gaara handed Kyoko her bag and they both walked out of their class. He knew that she wouldn't be able to handle more time alone with the Hyuga so they left.
This is going to be so hard, they all thought.