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Disclaimer: I do not own anything but probably a few dollars. Super broke is what I am! Yay, super broke!

Chapter 4: Back to the Beginning

Kai tried his best to push himself through the harsh winds and fierce rain that Sunday evening. He and his 2-year-old Great Dane, Rusco, had to do more grocery shopping for his lazy older brother, Tala Hiwatari, whom graduated high school a year ago and attends a local college, because he decided to invite his fat college buddies for a "light" weekend lunch at their house. As Kai tried his best to keep his bags dry from the storm, he noticed a female figure sitting at a bus stop across the street.

Who the hell would be out in this weather at this time of night for no reason? Kai thought to himself. He peered closer and noticed pink-hair flying moistly in the wind. On the side of her he spotted a suitcase and a small orange cat that was trying to keep dry. She was also muttering to herself bitterly. Where the devil is she going at this hour? Buses don't even run this late! Geez, Rei's dating some psycho…

Mariah then got up from her seat, placed her coat over her kitten, and began to walk across the street.

Shit, she sees me Kai curse as he tried his best to recompose himself.

"You have finally took stalking to the extreme level, 'Riah," Kai smirked at her. Instead of feeling a cold wet slap across his face, he noticed that Mariah stopped in the middle of the street and stared blankly at the muddy water forming under her feet.

As Kai continued to stare in puzzlement (AN: That's a word…?) at the pink-haired neko-jin, an eighteen-wheeler truck was speeding down the wet pavement. Mariah stayed in her spot as if nothing was happening.

"Mariah, get your ass out the street!" Kai shouted. No response came to him. "A truck! A big-ass truck! Mariah! I don't really want you to go and get hit by a truck! I said a bus anyways!" Kai continued to yell. She still did not budge from her position. The truck began to edge close enough for its headlights to reflect light onto the scene. The driver then began to blare his horn to get her out the way, but Mariah still refused to move.

"Dammit, woman!" Kai quickly placed his groceries and Rusco under a local restaurant umbrella and ran to the streets. Just before the truck ran them both over, Kai knocked Mariah out of the way and they landed in a mud puddle at the edge of the street. The truck then past by them at ungodly speed. "Mariah!" Kai lifted Mariah up into a sitting position on the sidewalk, gripped her shoulders and began to shake her. "Mariah!"

"Wha…" Mariah snapped out of her trance and gazed hazily at her rescuer. When her eyes refocused in the dark and rain, she stared into dark red eyes and blue triangles. "Kai…?"

"What the hell were you thinking walking out in front of a truck, huh!" Kai scolded as he continued to shake her. "Were you trying to comment suicide or something! What would your parents or Rei think when they find out you tried to kill yourself, huh!" As he finished his speech, Mariah remembered what just happened in her within the 15-hour period. She then broke into tears and embraced the blue-haired teen. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and continued to cry into his already wet clothes until she drifted off into sleep.

"Err…" Kai sweat dropped as he witnessed Mariah's actions. He looked at the bench and saw an orange cat meowing and hissing at Kai trying its best to protect its owner from harm in the safety of her coat. "Women…" Kai snorted as he carried the neko-jin bridal style. He whistled and commanded his dog to bring his groceries over here. He took the bags out of Rusco's mouth and attached Mariah's roller suitcase to his collar. He watched as the cat began to try to attack and protect Mariah. Kai grabbed it by its neck and put it close to his face.

"You know good and well that you're as threatening as a teddy bear," Kai smirked. He soon regretted it as the cat cut him on his nose and he almost dropped Mariah back into the water. He stuffed the furball into his coat pocket and he began to walk home.

Hours have past when Mariah finally woke up after crying herself to sleep in the rain. She checked her surroundings and found out that she wasn't outside but in someone's bedroom.

Like I want to find out I'm in a place like this again Mariah thought bitterly as she got out of the covers. The room she was in seemed like a boys room due to the posters, clothes, and other men necessities were scattered everywhere. Books and papers cover a desk meaning he does his work and a body bench meaning he works out. Soon a large dog walks into the room and leaps into the bed with Mariah. Mariah yells, falls out the bed, and backs towards the door that the dog entered from. She continued to back up into she ran into something somewhat soft. She turned around and finds Kai standing right behind her.

"I see you're up," Kai says monotonously. "Here, it may not be the best fitting clothes." He handed her an old green t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Mariah took the clothes and stared at Kai in bewilderment.

"Why are you doing this?" Mariah asks suspiciously. "I thought you would be glad to see me killed."

"I kid, girl. I kid." Kai smirked. "Breakfast will be ready in a minute. Hope you like oatmeal and sausages because that's all we have. Oh, and," Kai lifted his pants leg and revealed that her act, Meiko, has insert his claws and teeth into the blue-haired teen's calf muscle, "would you mind getting him off me? He's been attacking me since last night."

Mariah looked at Kai's face and saw many scratches and scars tearing across his face. "Sorry about that," she apologized as she tried to pry the cat off his leg. Kai cringed a little bit as each claw and tooth was removed from his skin. As soon as the cat was completely off of him, blood began to ooze slowly out of the wounds. "I'm very sorry."

"If it wasn't yours I would have stepped on it or gave it to Rusco."

"Rusco?" Then the large dog leapt from the bed and walked to Kai. Mariah gave a light shriek as she backed into the doorframe. Meiko hissed at the dog as Rusco growled furiously at it back. Kai held the Great Dane back and directed it down the stairs.

"Rusco. I'll see you in a few minutes. We'll talk later." With that, he and Rusco left the Mariah alone to change from her wet clothes. Minutes later, she went down the stairs fully changed and followed the smell of cooked sausages. When she found the kitchen, a tall and thin redhead rushed past trying his best to put on his suit jacket and tie.

"See you tonight, Bro," the man called out as he ran to the door and closed it.

"That must be your brother?" Mariah asks as she enters the kitchen and spots Kai putting food onto two plates. He looks up and give a small smirk at the girl. He snorts at her and thinking on how the way Kai acts it probably meant 'yes'. she looks around and finds out that only he and his massive dog was in the kitchen. "Where is everyone else?"

"Everyone else like who?" Kai asks as he places a bowl of oatmeal and a napkin of sausages in front of her. He then took a seat across the round table from her.

"Mother… father… grandfather… some kind of adult…" Mariah counted on her fingers.

"Father's dead, grandfather's in Russia, mother's in rehab, and every other family members is either dead or not deciding to come into contact with anyone else," Kai stated smoothly as he poured himself a cup of orange juice. He poured another cup of juice for her and slid it across the table towards her.

"I-I didn't know… I'm sorry," Mariah stuttered as she looked down at her oatmeal in shame. "I shouldn't even talk about parents anyways…" She began to grip onto her cup with rage as she remember what happened to her last night.

"You wanna talk about it?" Kai asks.

"No… maybe later…" Mariah took a couple of gulps of her orange juice before picking her head back up to ask, "Can I eat my oatmeal someplace else?"

"You can sleep in the guest room tonight. I put your stuff in there this morning because you were too heavy to carried all the way at the end of the hall. You can stay as long as you can, but don't become a bum like my brother. And don't spill anything alright. I don't feel like going to school today and you don't seem that well prepared for going to school. So you can come to me whenever you feel like explaining yourself about last night."

"Thank you," Mariah said as she carried her bowl with her up to her new room. As Kai heard the door close, Rusco snatched the abandoned sausages off the table.

"You idiot dog! That was mine!" Kai scolded as the dog ran off with the breakfast meat.

Later that night, Mariah was very hesitant about telling Kai about what happened. She really wasn't suppose to be friends with the bastard. They were suppose to be mortal enemies. Why all of a sudden he is so concerned about her well being? He probably just wants to laugh at you for doing all of those stupid things anyways. No. he's not that big of an asshole. Slowly but surely, she knocked on his door and waited for him to come to it. He opened the door and let her enter. She slowly walked in and they began their conversation.

Good God that took forever! I'm so tired about all this thinking nonsense to try to get this story off the ground that I forgot to update my stupid JROTC website. Now Colonel's gonna kill me… oh well. Please review! Have a nice day!