Long time ago I was asked if I could write a Shinji x OC story by XxSaphirezxX. Now and after almost a year I finally got myself up to write it.
Post-canon story.
Warning: this story contains OC (Original Character)
Disclaimer: I don't own Hiiro no Kakera. I own the title and the plot of this story. Also I don't own the cover image; I found it on the Internet so the credit goes to the original artist! This is non-profit story and I'm not making any money from it.
I was sure
Shinji's P.O.V.
The day was starting and looked really promising; clear sky, without a trace of clouds, bright hot sun was raising and the weather was still warm from the summer. Yet I could detect a hint of moisture in the air and I smiled to myself, watching the petals of the flowers and the grass being a bit wet due to the yesterday's rain.
I checked the time and hurried to change course. Today was the first day of school and I didn't want to be late. I was a little bit excited; another year was starting and I couldn't wait to see my friends. However, I knew that things wouldn't be exactly like the last time. Sure, Tamaki was back to Kifu village, but Yuuichi-senpai and Mahiro-senpai graduated last year. So this time it would be only me, Takuma and Tamaki at the roof.
The thought alone was making me a bit nervous, since it wasn't a secret anymore that our red-head was in love with Tamayori's hime descendant, but it wasn't a secret that she was returning his feelings as well. So now Takuma and Tamaki were dating. I was counting on Ryuo to join us since he did it many times after accepting his role as a guardian, so I wouldn't feel like the third wheel with our lovebirds.
Another reason of being excited for the upcoming year was simple; with Onikirimaru away from the human world and all the guardians released from the chains of destiny, we were all free to live our lives without worries and problems.
No troubles with…
"No! Leave me! Please, someone help!"
A cry cut my train of thoughts and proved me wrong; what did I just say about troubles? I rushed in the direction of the voice. There was a girl on the ground but what made my blood boiled in anger was the two men above her.
At the beginning my mind made the worst scenario ever but running closer, things weren't that bad. The guys looked a bit older than I was –and I had the feeling that I saw them somewhere at school before- and they were messing with her, tossing a school bag – no doubt her bag- to one another, laughing.
The view wasn't referring to something too bad, if the girl wasn't ready to cry.
"Give it back!" she shouted, both angry and scared.
She tried to jump to catch it but missed and landing again on the ground, she tripped and fell on her knees again.
"C'mon, you can do better that that," one of the guys hissed and with the other one, laughed at her.
"Give my bag, please," the girl begged.
That was it! I saw enough and I wouldn't let those jerks humiliate her more.
"Stop it!" I shouted from afar. Getting closer, I reached the girl and stood in front of her. "Stop now!"
They looked at me with surprise at first, and with contempt after.
"Are you kidding us?" one of them asked.
But I wasn't kidding at all. "The fun is over now. Give her bag back and I'll pretend that nothing happened."
But the only thing I received was ironic laughing.
"Look, kiddo, if you don't want to run back to your mommy crying, then stay out of it."
I gritted my teeth; apparently they thought I was someone weak, but it would be them who would run away crying after I was done with them. One of them cracked his fingers and rushed at me, lifting his fist.
"Time to learn your lesson!" he said and the same time the girl behind me squealed.
We were near school, yet still on the main path of the forest but my body acted without asking my mind first.
"BACK!" I shouted, stable.
Putting my words into action, an invisible force pushed him backward, throwing him with his back to the ground. I smirked –time to get a taste of his own medicine.
"Taro!" the other guy yelled as his friend tried to realize what hit him. "You bastard!" he sneered and both of them got ready to attack me.
Two against one. It wasn't a fair battle so I decided to not use my powers again –I was capable to handle them on my own. It took me a couple of minutes before they run away like scared dogs, with their tails between their legs. Dusting my hands off, I smirked, satisfied with myself. I wasn't a guardian for nothing. I might have a long time to fight but I still remembered how.
I turned to the girl, who was still on the ground, trebling and knelt near her. "Are you ok?"
"What do you want?" she nearly screamed.
I bit my lips; perhaps I overdid it with those morons and made her think that I was the same as they were. "It's ok, they won't bother you anymore," I comforted her softly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
This time she lifted her head, reviled, looking at me with curiosity. I helped her to stand up to her feet.
"Thank you," she muttered, taking a closer look at me.
I did the same; she was only a couple of inches shorter than me with brown hair till her shoulders, half caught in two pigtails. Her eyes, however, were strange; the right one was light blue, but the left one was also light but closer to the green tone –one green eye and one blue. Well, that was something you didn't see every day.
A bell rang at the back of my head but I couldn't understand why. For one thing I was sure; I never saw her before. With those eyes, I would remember her for sure. But not only that, she was very pretty and cute. Her eyes might be different and strange but they were unique, and her body was nice, having already a more feminine form. I saw a light pink spreading all over her face and I realized that the way I was looking at her wasn't really polite.
"I'm In-Kotokura Shinji," I introduced myself.
There were some time since I learned my true identity, yet I still needed more till I wouldn't mess it up every time I had to introduce myself. It wasn't that I didn't want to accept it –it was simply a matter of use.
"I'm Kato Yori," she said with a sheepish smile.
Yori was wearing the girl's uniform to our school with the same logo on it –the same uniform Tamaki was wearing. I pointed to her outfit with my eyes.
"First time to Kifu village?"
Yori looked down at herself for a second. "Yes," she replied, "first time I changed schools. I was on my way till those guys-" she cut her sentence with a shadow passing through her eyes. "Guess a stranger like me wasn't really welcome," she added, lowering her face.
I smiled with sympathy, while mentally my smile was biter. I knew what it meant to be different; being rejected because of something you had or not had. So I didn't need to be a genius to understand how she felt. Plus, Yory was a girl, a newcomer and with a unique feature –she was a way too easy target for bullying. I felt a bit bad, seeing her so sad. Clearly she wanted to have a better start, but who wouldn't?
"Forget about those jerks," I stated, smiling more –Yori lifted her unique eyes to meet mine. "Call it a misfortune trip. I'm the first you officially met and tell you what, you are most welcome to our village and to our school."
I thought that I sounded over excited and for a moment I feared that Yori would take it the wrong way, believing I was faking it. I got ready to add something, but seeing how big her smile was and how her eyes sparkled, I didn't give it a second thought.
We left in an awkward silence, just looking each other, when I remembered something.
"I think we must hurry, otherwise we will both late at the first day of school," I said, eyes on my watch.
Yori nodded, looking for her bag, but I was on it already, lifting it off the ground. Realizing my intentions, she blushed a little.
"No… you don't have to…" she started, but I stopped her softly.
"Come, we will be late," I smiled, pointing the way and, carrying both my and her bag, I started in the school's direction.
Yori ran after me. "You don't have to carry my bag too, you know."
"It's not a problem," I said with a shrug. "Besides those jerks were messing on you, with your bag so this time I'll make sure it doesn't fall into wrong hands again."
Yori looked at me, a bit surprised. Truth to be told, I was surprised with myself as well, hearing what I was adding. "And I will protect you again if anyone dares to pick on you."
I have no idea what made me say that, but for one more thing I was sure; I didn't want to take it back.
"Thank you for being so kind to me," Yori flashed me a smile.
I felt my cheeks heat up and my palms sweated a bit. And on top of that, my heart kicked at my chest and… I shook my head, trying to get my self-control back.
Since we were already close to school, it didn't take us long to get there and we were in front of the main gate in no time.
"Wow," Yori exclaimed, staring up and down at the whole building. "Looks great and cozier than my previous one."
"And I'm sure more people will welcome you," I said.
Yori turned to face me, standing in front of me. "Thank you for everything you did for me, Shinji-kum. It was nice to meet you."
"You're welcome, Yori. It was nice to meet you too," I smiled. "The headmaster's office is on the first floor at the right end –it's easy to find it."
Yori, to me, looked like she wanted to say something but kept deciding against it. Seeing her, I vaguely remembered Kotokura-san and I bit my tongue. Learning my true last name, I also learn that Mitsuru and I were twins. I was in a great shock, especially since I had an idea about Mitsuru's feelings and-
I shook my head to snap those thoughts away. It was pointless to remember them, anyway. We were twins and anything beyond a brotherly relationship was forbidden, not only by the rules of society, but from nature as well.
Not wanting to press her or something, I waited. At the end, Yori smiled and, tilting on the tips of her toes, she brought her face closer to mine. Before I managed to realize what she had in mind, or even blink, she placed a soft kiss on my left cheek.
I froze, blushing deeply. Yori pulled back, taking her bag. "See you around, Shinji-kum," she muttered and, avoiding looking at me, she ran inside.
I followed her with my eyes as she was getting away. At the last corner she looked above her shoulder, offering me a last smile and flushed face, before she disappeared. I left there –hand above my cheek, still feeling the touch of her soft lips. My heartbeat rose, bringing the images of her last glance and I had to force myself to breathe. Shaking my head to clear up my thoughts, I made my way to my class, almost mechanically. I was still thinking of Yori and I was sure about two things; first I had the feeling that I would see her again, and second –I made a cocky smile- I made a nice start of the year.
The door opened and the teacher came in. We all stood up and bowed.
"Good morning, class," the professor greeted and bowed as well. "Before we start I want to introduce you a new student, Kato Yori. Come in, Yori. Her family just moved to Kifu village and…"
The professor kept talking, making a small speech but I barely heard him; all of my attention was turned on the girl with the lovely eyes that smiled a bit awkward to the rest of the class. The teacher pointed to the empty deck in front of me. "You can sit there."
Yori marched closer looking at me. "Hi, I'm Yori, nice to meet you," she said and winked with a giggle, taking her seat.
I made a soft chuckle. "Nice to meet you again, Yori."
She offered me a warm smile that reached her eyes before she turned to pay attention. I did the same, being sure about one last thing; and it wasn't something my mind or my logic were saying, but something that my strong heartbeat was whispering.
Side notes: YORI (より): Japanese unisex name meaning "servant to the public."
Author note: Yori is an Original Character created by me. Do not take her or use her without my permission.
Credits to XxSaphirezxX for the suggestion and my special thanks to my beta-reader EndlessNight025!
I hope you enjoy my story. If yes, drop a review telling me your thoughts ^_^ If not, well... review anyway.