She was alone

She was alone. There was no other way to even begin to describe her perfect, undisturbed, solitude. Ever since the curse was broken, she felt even more apart. She sat silently in the corner of the closet, waiting for Sensei to reappear and save her from the torture.

It was lunchtime. One of the girls in the room decided to bring back an old game – ostracize Kisa Sohma. They had thrown her in the closet once Sensei had left to eat lunch in the teacher's lounge.

Kisa's friends could not protect her. They had made Herculean efforts, struggling against the other girls, but to no use. Kisa's friends had given up.

"Loser!"

"Freak!"

"I'm so glad she's not my friend!"

Kisa tried to think of other things, but she was running out of hope.

It's terrible, she thought, when even your best friends have given up on seeing you smile. Or at least have given up on taking you out of a closet. I guess they don't realize they've left me alone with the worst person they could – myself.

Memories of the night before flashed through her mind. Her mother had thought she was sleeping.

"Hatori-san, now that Kisa is freed, she should gain more confidence, right? She'll be able to speak in class, right?" Kisa's mom had begged for reassurance.

"Please calm down. Of course she will. We can only hope and love her. Please stop worrying." Hatori had said.

Their whispers had reached Kisa's ears. She was in her room, pretending to sleep. It seemed that the gods had decided for her to stay awake, so hear her mother's desperate pleas.

Think, think, think of something else! Kisa commanded herself.

She thought of Onee-chan, of Hiro-chan, of days where she bought ice cream on the way home. She thought of Hinata-chan and how she had spoke her first word, "Hiro!" and then later, "Ai!" Soon she said "Boku, Oka-san, Oto-san" and a few others. But her first sentence had been great "Boku ai Hiro!" I love Hiro, Kisa thought. What a wonderful thing to say.

Kisa was pulled from her thoughts by a crashing noise. There was a bit of lights from under the door, and then the light flooded her.

"Are you alright?" Hiro asked. "You must have been in here long."

Kisa blinked, confused. Had it really been hours? Had no one told Sensei? Had she really been stuck until after school? She might have had to stay overnight if not for…

"Yes, Hiro. I'm okay." Kisa smiled. Someone had cared enough to check on her.

"Oba-san asked me to walk you to that stupid woman's house today. They're gone, Kisa, but Momiji-nii said they might visit soon. Wouldn't it be nice to see everyone again?" Hiro asked, his attempt to distract her from her day, all too obvious.

"Yes! That would be great!" Kisa beamed. She didn't care if Hiro was obvious in his distractions. It was Hiro. Someone cared. Kisa's thoughts finally had cheer. Someone cares about me.


Kisa walked hand in hand with Hiro. She still felt apart though, as thought the curse, a forced bond, had been reassurance, visible proof, that she was connected to him.

"How is Hinata-chan?" Kisa inquired. The conversation about the Sohma's latest superstar was never forced.

"Good. She can say Kisa now, too. I think you'll be her favorite cousin. It'll be great. We can watch her grow up…and now that she's older, she's beginning to know the difference between good and evil. I feel afraid to teach her those things though. I feel like it shouldn't be me to tell her. Not when good and evil were both in me." Hiro said, sadly. Now matter how hard Kisa tried, Hiro was still scared. So, so scared that she would have something wrong with her. Something like the curse.

He needs my reassurance…Kisa thought. It felt strange, reassuring someone else. Promising to someone else that everything would be okay, when all along, Kisa had needed that for herself…

"Hiro-chan, Hinata-chan will be fine. I'm sure with you she'll grow up like Onee-chan, trusting all and being loving." Kisa said, unsure if that was the right thing to say.

"Stupid woman…" Hiro said.

Kisa looked up, to see that they had reached Shigure's old house. She heard footsteps coming closer, and then a crash. Kisa looked around, to see Tohru at her feet.

"Kisa-san! I fell…"