So this is my first attempt writing a piece about girls. Hey, I need the experience plus I liked the idea of two strong, stubborn, and to a certain extent, angry personalities meeting and wondering where they go.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Furuba.

Enjoy!

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"You. Girl with the long hair. Watch it."

I turned to the arrogant voice calling my name. The streets were too dark, the lamps too bright, her voice too loud and everything else too quiet. Leaning against one of the lampposts was a tall blonde, near six feet, her hair obscuring part of her face. She had hard eyes, hard as marbles but seemed like the kind of person who'd be loyal down to the grit.

"What do you want?" I snapped, irritated that I'd been seen. No one was supposed to know about my escape; what if she somehow knew about me and reported me to the main house?

"I know for a fact you're in gang territory. So I'd watch out and find another road."

I snorted. "I can take care of myself, you know. I don't need your pointless warnings."

She smirked and shifted her weight to the opposite foot. "Oh really? Show me your best stuff, then. I'll tell you if you can handle the heat in this part of town. I doubt it, seeing as your staggering and clutching your stomach."

I straightened proudly, ignoring the pain gnawing at my gut and forcing a straight face. With as ferocious a yell as I could muster I charged and swung at her face. In a second she'd caught my fist and twisted my arm around my back. "Way too slow," she chuckled. "And how's yelling going to stop a bullet ripping through your heart? "

I jerked my head sharply around and glared at her. "Let go of my arm right now or my heel's going straight into your stomach."

"And you'll topple like a house of cards. Where'd you come from, anyway? You broke out of the hospital, didn't you?"

I sneered at her defiantly. "It's none of your business. Now get out of my way and let me continue."

"You're not going down that street. Believe me, I know these parts. Saw a girl shoot the nose off another girl, once. Marred her pretty little face. They like to do that, you know, shoot and punch and cut to hurt. Most times a girl's greatest asset is their beauty and they'll destroy it any way possible. Or they'll beat the shit out of you and leave you for dead. They're rough girls with nothing better to do than to make other people's lives hell. Besides," she released my arm and shoved me away, "they'd make you a prime target. If there's one thing a gang member can't stand, it's a pretty face."

"And when did you become such an expert on the subject? Get your doctrine in delinquency?" I retaliated.

"I debuted fifth grade. I was a gang member once. Don't join, one, ever, cuz you'll never get out."

"Whatever. I don't have time for this. I need to get home."

"You're not headed for home." I whirled around to face her, angry that not only that she was delaying my travel, but that she had the uncanny ability to perceive every one of my thoughts. What was she, a fucking psychic?

"It doesn't matter where I'm going, and I'm warning you to stay out of my business."

Sudden shouts sliced through the night air and tense conversation. Territorial shouts. I could feel the girls crowding around like a pack of dogs, invisible to the eye but their presence obscenely obvious. Fear clenched at my insides and I doubled over again.

"Come on," she whispered. "We're going, and you're coming with me no matter what."

"No chance in hell," I sneered.

Easy as if I were a rag doll, she hoisted me onto one of her shoulders and took off at a run. I hollered, shrieked, and kicked furiously at her but nothing broke her sprint. She carted me past various alleyways and side streets while evading the hordes of petulant Yankee thugs.

After a short while she halted in front of an apartment complex and dropped me. "Home sweet home," she laughed. "We're here. Now come in before I tie you up, lock the doors and barricade the windows."

I slowly rose to my feet. "Where'd you get so arrogant?"

"I'm not arrogant, I'm streetwise."

The interior of her apartment was small but had a strange coziness to it I would never have expected. A TV set blared from the adjacent room and laughter followed.

"My dad," the blonde muttered more to herself than me. "He's been clean for a while now, but I still have to comb through the fridge and make sure there's no booze. How old are you? Do you drink? There's no booze here, I'm afraid."

"18, and no. Why did you take me here? I didn't ask to be saved."

She shrugged absentmindedly. "I couldn't leave you there, not after the number of girls I've seen get killed on the street. My name's Arisa Uotani, but you can just call me Uo."

"Isuzu Sohma," I replied, gingerly reaching out and shaking the hand she offered me. "Everyone calls me 'Rin' though."

"Hm. Cute name. You're staying the night, so you can have my bed. I'll sleep on the trundle." She opened the door to her room, reached underneath her bed and yanked a trundle bed from underneath. "You'll need clothes, too. I've got a nightgown, you don't really look like the pajama type." She tossed a white cotton nightgown out of her closet which I caught. The material was soft and cool to the touch. I remember having one similar to this as a little girl.

"I'm getting dressed for bed. Would you leave?" I asked her.

"I won't leave, but I will turn around and shut my eyes." She followed through with these actions and clamped her hands over her eyes. I unzipped my dress and half-slid it down my body when an acute nausea struck me. I fell to my knees and grasped the end of the trundle, desperate to hold back the bile creeping up my throat.

Uo heard the thud and whipped around. "Oh no, you're gonna puke! Hold on I'll get a bucket!" I held the disgusting fluid in my throat until, seconds later, a plastic blue bucket was in front of my face and I donated the contents of my stomach into the container.

"Ugh…" I spluttered, feeling both disgusting and ashamed. Here I was, in the house of a stranger and not ten minutes within getting into her house I was kneeling on her floor and vomiting. Worse still, I was half-naked. Not knowing what else to do, I glared at her and pulled my dress up to cover my breasts then sank back down into a child's position on the floor.

She ignored my glare as she had ignored everything else I'd shouted or snapped at her. "I'll help you get dressed. I promise I won't look." I seethed inside yet was too weak to fight any attempts at helping me in my current state. Why would she look, anyway? Surrendering to her requests, I went limp and let her pull my dress off of me and slip the nightgown on. Though I'll never admit to her I was grateful for her assistance, seeing as I couldn't even dress myself without throwing up.

Another wave of sickness came over me and I positioned myself over the bucket again. Everything was gone from my stomach and only a little bile remained. She handed me a dishrag to wipe my mouth with as she rubbed circles on my back. Her comforting gesture didn't go unappreciated. "I hate eating," I muttered. "Half the time it doesn't stay down. And I'd never, ever eat in front of you, so don't even try to get me to eat." What was I saying? I was too exhausted to even be remotely concerned with the words coming out of my mouth.

"It's okay," Uo muttered, even though she couldn't be sure of that. "You'll be fine. Do you want some medicine? What's wrong?"

"None of your business!" I growled, desperate for her to go away. I was waiting for her to hate me, reject me, and throw me out. I wasn't used to kindness.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

I looked at her incredulously. "You don't give up, do you? Stomach ulcers. And I've got my own pills. Get me water."

"Yes ma'am," she replied sarcastically as she fetched a glass. I gulped down the pills and by placebo effect felt instantly better. I laid down gently on the trundle and pulled the comforter over me. It wasn't until I yawned that I realized how fatigued I was. Though I hated sleeping in front of people and sleeping in strange houses, I had no choice. "I going to sleep," I stated obviously.

"Not until you move onto my bed. It's much more comfortable."

"I'd rather sleep on the trundle. I hate being a guest, and I especially don't want to feel like I belong here."

"Stubborn, aren't we? Whatever." She hopped into the bed above the trundle. "Good night."

"Hmph," I replied, frowning in the dark.

"You're so damn cold," she muttered as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Your heart will freeze if you don't let people in every once in a while." Soon her words faded into light snores that carried me off to one of the most pleasant sleeps in my life.

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Please tell me what you thought. They're both still strong personalities, but Uo's the softer one. I guess hanging around Tohru's lightened her up and given her more of a "friend" vibe. But if Rin had run into Tohru her reaction would have been very different: much more panicked, I guess. I'm unsure at this point whether or not to keep it friendship or make it shoujo-ai. It's definitely not becoming a yuri fic, I know that. Please let me know in a review!