The metallic creek of the swing's chains were the only sound to keep him company in the otherwise silent and abandoned park.

That...and the cool autumn wind that caressed along his pallid cheeks, painting them a soft rouge.

He had come here many times before, when he had felt well enough to do so. And had even managed to meet a few of the children that lived near by and frequented this park. Dare he say, some of them had even become his friends.

The first he'd ever had.

Yet now, the park was empty.

Silent.

Abandoned.

Because none of those children returned here to play with him anymore.

Not anymore.

And...even if they had...Yuki knew that they would never notice him.

Not now.

Now...that they had forgotten him.

Had been forced...to forget.

Yuki understood that it was his fault. All his fault. He was a freak, after all. And he'd broken the Sohma cardinal rule.

'Don't get too close.'

And...he had.

It had been an accident, really. Even though it was his fault, he hadn't meant to. Yet during a game of tad, he'd bumped into one of the other little girls playing with him. And then...everything had changed. His whole world turned upside down and topsy-tervy.

And then...

...then...

They were all gone. All of them. Taken away from him, because of his mistake.

Looking to the sky...his large, dismal lavender gaze taking in the encroaching clouds shadowing his existence...Yuki began to wonder if this was really his fate.

To be alone.

And as if sensing this deep longing and sadness, Yuki felt the first traces of autumn rain. Cold. Wet. Damp. As if the sky itself were crying for him. A pathetic wrenched, cursed creature destined to be forever alone.

The cold, bitter, biting rain hitting his face reminded him of his place in this world. A cold, harsh reminder echoed with the even colder words his cousin had spoken to him only days ago...

"Akito, am I really that strange? Am I so strange that we have to hide it from everyone?"

"Hmph.. yes, you are that strange."

"A human that turns into a rat?"

"What do you think they would do if they knew?"

"Really, you're a freak."

"They wouldn't come near you. They'd HATE you."

Akito's words echoed in his ears.

And...his cousin had been right...

Yet as cold as he felt, swinging alone in the park, Yuki still found himself longing for something. Anything at all, to warm this bitter chill that had settled itself in his soul.

Maybe...if he wished hard enough...he would find what he was looking for. Someday. If he wanted it badly enough...it would come and find him... Right?

A purpose.

A reason.

A warm smile.

A kind expression or word.

...a friend...

Surely, these things weren't too much to ask for. Even for a freak like him.

As he continued to look longingly towards the sky for that one thing...a reason to hope...he heard it.

Off in the distance.

The sound...of a bell.