The girl sat silently, staring out at the pond. She saw and yet did not see the fish splashing in the water, many large koi with scales of white and red. Her mind was elsewhere; or rather what remained of it was elsewhere. In truth, to say her mind was elsewhere is rather ironic, since there was really nothing left for her to think about. To her knowledge, she had no past, no parents, and no belongings other than the clothes on her back, nothing to enforce her sense of identity, except…
The redhead stood gingerly, still mindful of the pain in her head, walked to the water's edge, and knelt down to take a look at herself. She studied her reflection intently against the shapes of koi swimming beneath the glassy surface. The face of a young woman stared back at her. She had a full head of red hair, long bangs nearly in her eyes, which were blue, a cute button nose, and finally, lips sticking out in a pout. And all of it positioned upon a round, rather chubby face.
"This is me," she thought, "This is what I look like, a girl." Then, the girl reached back and unbraided her hair, letting it down. She took another long look at herself in the pool before heading back inside, satisfied. Or rather, she was about to head in when Akane opened the door.
The girl had been sitting out there, staring at the pond, all alone, for a long time, and every so often Akane would look out at her, to see if she was still sitting there, and she was. Akane wanted to help her, talk to her, but what could she possibly say to a girl who had just lost her mind? "Nothing, that's what." she thought. Then, Akane realized that it hurt her to see her friend this way, so forlorn. It hurt her to know that there was nothing she could do to help her, other than what she had already done.
But, Akane seemed to overlook the significance of what she had done, dwelling instead on what she couldn't do. What she wanted to do. She wanted to somehow restore her friend's memory, make her whole again, as if by some miracle. But she knew that to do such a thing was beyond her. However, what Akane failed to realize was that, by offering the girl her hand in friendship, she was responsible for something quite profound, as that promise of friendship was now the only thing real to the girl, the only thing she knew.
Akane was surprised, shocked even, to see the redhead with her hair down. Somehow, the simple act of styling her hair a different way made her seem like a totally different person. So different, in fact, that Akane might not have even recognized her had she not been wearing those same clothes.
"You look… different." Akane said finally, still stunned at how beautiful she truly was, in spite of the shabby clothes.
"I think I look better this way." The girl replied, unassumingly.
"Yeah, sure," Akane said. "Now, come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"To the dining room," Akane replied.
Akane entered the dining room, sat on the floor next to the table. The redhead sat next to her. Sitting across from them already were Kasumi and Nabiki. Of course, soon as she entered the room, everyone stared at her hair, everyone except Akane.
"You… you changed your hair." Nabiki blurted out suddenly, stating the obvious.
"Do you like it?" the girl asked, almost shyly.
Nabiki said nothing, but Kasumi was quick to offer praise. "It's very pretty." She said. And Akane watched as the redhead blushed profusely at the compliment.
"Thank you." She said.
At last, Soun cleared his throat. His eyes fell directly on the girl as he spoke. "I've been thinking," He said, "and I've decided that it would be best if you stayed with us for a while, at least until you get back on your feet. After that display earlier, I simply cannot, in good conscience, let you leave without knowing you have a place to go to."
"Thank you very much, sir," She replied, astonished by his hospitality. She bowed.
"Your room has already been prepared. Kasumi will show you to it now."
"It's this way," Kasumi said, getting up and heading for the stairs. She led the girl to a room that was relatively plain, yet comfortably furnished. But, the appearance of the room didn't matter to her so much, as long as it had a comfortable bed. Then, as the girl was getting herself settled in, at the moment, testing the firmness of the mattress, Kasumi asked, "Would you like to take a bath, now?"
"Um, no thanks," The girl replied, respectfully.
Kasumi frowned, said, "But there's blood on your shirt."
Suddenly, the girl let out a small squeak. Kasumi assumed her reaction was triggered by the mere mention of the word blood. She watched as her guest wavered slightly, her face turning sickly pale. Kasumi had just enough time to catch her before she fell on the floor, falling instead into Kasumi's arms.
"Poor thing," she thought, as she put the girl to bed. There would be time for her to take a bath later. However, Kasumi retrieved the girl's shirt, not wanting her blood to stain the bed. She coaxed her into a sitting position, lifting the garment up over her head. Then she tucked her in, taking the bloodstained shirt with her. And who should she find huddling outside but Akane and Nabiki.
"What are you two doing out here?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing," Nabiki replied. "I just wanted to welcome our newest housemate." Kasumi saw Akane give an involuntary roll of the eyes, hearing her sister say that. She knew as well as anyone that there was always an ulterior motive to anything Nabiki did, and knowing that, Kasumi could not help feeling disappointed in her. Then her eyes turned to Akane, and she saw her little sister blush suddenly, as if embarrassed by something.
In fact, Akane was embarrassed, having remembered she forgot to tell the girl her name, even after she offered to be her friend. And she blushed because she was too embarrassed, too ashamed, to admit such a thing to Kasumi.
Finally, Akane asked, "How's she doing?"
"Other than for the memory loss, she seems to be just fine."
Kasumi thought Akane might want to go in and see her. "I'd let her rest for now, Akane." She said gently. And she left them, heading back downstairs to wash the girl's shirt.
Akane and Nabiki, alone at last, opened the door gently, tippy toed inside. At first, they, Akane, in particular, were appalled by the girl's state of undress, blankets already cast aside, as she lay sprawled upon the bed. Then, upon closer inspection, they saw tears in her eyes, and how her right arm trembled, her right fist clenched. Akane was saddened to see upon her face an expression of the most intense pain.
"Is she dreaming?" Nabiki asked.
"I don't know," was all Akane could say, suddenly feeling tears of her own.
The girl felt the tears run down her face, their sting in her eyes. She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing a kimono, a kimono embroidered with many flowers, pink flowers, five-petaled flowers. Suddenly, she became aware of the tightness in her right hand, realized that hand clutched something, a piece of jewelry, a piece of jewelry in the form of flower, the very same flower that was embroidered on her kimono. She looked down again, far down, upon the surface of a vast lake. She jumped, feeling suddenly weightless, yet falling like a stone to the depths below. And finally, she drowned. Then she woke up.
