Smile, it Confuses People
The best piece of advice Haru ever gave Rin.
–
She couldn't remember how it had happened exactly, but the memory of what had happened was still clear, all these years later.
Rin had been running, far and fast. She made it halfway to the dojo before she collapsed.
Breathing hard she hadn't even bothered to try getting up; it hurt too much. So instead she'd laid there, for how long she wasn't sure, her face pressed against the warm concrete of the pavement until she felt rather than saw a shadow fall across her prone body.
She shifted slightly and found her self looking up into the steady grey eyes of a boy, perhaps a few years younger than herself. That was the first time she met Hatsuharu Sohma.
'Why are you lying there?' he asked with the pure innocence of the child he was.
She glared up at him and said nothing; she hadn't missed the two-toned hair and what it meant.
When she didn't reply, he gave a lazy, crooked sort of smile and sat down beside her, occupying himself by drawing in the dirt by the path with a stick.
'You know, I met this lady the other day. Kyo knows her. She told me something, do you want to know what it was?' when Rin didn't reply he continued unperturbed, 'Smile, it confuses people.'
Rin frowned, 'That's just stupid,'
Haru fixed her with steady gaze, 'People say that about me too,'
Despite his quiet tone Rin didn't miss the tinge of anger that laced it. Gathering herself she rolled over onto her back. Slowly the pain was beginning to fade.
'I don't think you're stupid,' she said, watching the clouds float by overhead. She felt, rather than saw Haru shift closer to her and then lan back to lie beside her.
'Do you really think that?' he asked her.
Rin turned her head to face him, 'I do,' she assured him, 'I think the people who call you stupid are the real stupid ones,'
Haru turned his head too and their faces were just inches away. He smiled and cautiously Rin returned it.
'My name's Haru,'
'I'm Rin.'