Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the world?
Mirror, mirror, am I the prettiest in the world?
Just for today, tell me that I'm the most beautiful

OOO

I have two grandkids, they're twins; a little girl and a boy. Hyunah is four and twenty minutes, her brother Yun is four and nineteen minutes. I'm not the most open person nor am I easy to deal with, but I have unconditional and irrevocable love for them and my entire family. I've never told my wife I love her, I've never told my children either for that matter, because I've always found that actions run deeper than words. For instance, I know Sakura enjoys eating Nutella with vanilla and snicker bars, so every weekend I buy some and make it for her. My first born is a vegetarian, she's also a huge animal rights advocate, which is why I am have three dogs and two cats. Honestly, she goes out and finds these stray animals and brings them home, it's a complete nightmare. She's been doing this for over fifteen years and has no plans to stop anytime soon. Even though it's very troublesome (curse you Shikamaru), I respect that and make it a point to take her to a nice, vegan restaurant whenever she comes to visit.

Today after we clean the house, I think I will take Sakura out to the park. I know she enjoys being outside than indoors, because she's always been the tree-hugger of the family. My son takes after her and has recently added solar panels on our roof so that we have clean, efficient energy that doesn't harm the environment. I have yet to learn how to use those things. But anyways, Sakura likes to take pictures of things. Anything, really. It doesn't even have to be pretty, it could be the ugliest thing in the world, and she'll still take out her Nikon and snap a picture. She tells me she enjoys being surrounded by beautiful things and hangs tons and tons of her photos around the house. But I tell her, and I'll always tell her; she'll always be beautiful to me.

Despite living not even a block away from the school, I like to get there early so I can beat the rush of students that always manage to arrive late. As I wait by the stop light for the signal to turn white, I feel someone walk up next to me. I turn my head and almost jump out of my skin. Sakura is standing next to me, slouched of course, with headphones on and looking straight ahead. Her face is blank and eyes unusually bright. Her hair is tied into tiny pig tails and this time she's wearing dangling earrings with burgers on them. I don't know how long I've been staring at her, but I don't think she seems to care because she hasn't noticed me yet.

I quickly look away and try to decide whether I should greet her or not. I don't want to seem like an asshole, but at the same time I don't want to give her a reason to talk to me. Then again, she doesn't talk to anyone so I guess there's not real harm in saying good morning. I stand a little closer to her, and cough into my hand. She doesn't hear me so I cough a little louder. Nope, still doesn't hear me. I get a little annoyed at this, but then I remember she has headphones on. At this point I don't know what to do, so I stand there like an idiot trying to decide my next move, but the street light does it for me.

She's suddenly gliding her way across the street and I realize she's wearing heelys. She's already on the other side of the street and heading straight for the entrance gate. For some reason, I really wanted her grab her attention, and now that I don't have it; I feel like a cat dropped in freezing water. I'm now moody and aggravated, not that it's any different from how I usually am, but it feels way more intense this time. And it's all thanks to her!

I stop by the school cafe to get myself a scalding cup of coffee to calm myself and give me that jolt of energy I'll need to survive the day. To get to statistics class I have to walk past the 'lover's garden,' which is basically the terrace with a shit ton of flowers and where all the couples of the school make out until a teacher catches them. Once in a while I'll see kids, at seven in the morning, raping each other's mouth as I make my way up the stairs. By then I'm ready to puke my brains out and my day kind of gets ruined at that point. However, this morning is a little different. Instead seeing a couple, I see pink hair and a kuromi backpack.

Her back is to be and she isn't moving at all. I step into the garden, careful not to let her hear my footsteps, and stop when I'm about a foot away. Her slouching is a bit more prominent, like she's trying to bend down. I think she's looking at something on the floor, but this time I don't think it's because it looks interesting. It's so eerily quite, her music is turned off and not even those stupid birds are tweeting right now. I don't know what's wrong or what's happening, and to be honest, it's kind of freaking me out.

At this point I don't know how much longer I can take, so I speak out first.

"Hey Sakura, you okay?"

She shrugs and now I can see something is wrong.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

There's genuine concern in my voice and I'm slightly surprised at that. She must have taken notice too because she peeks at me over her shoulder. I can see her eye through her bangs, but she isn't really looking at me. She seems distant, lost in her own musing.

"Why would anyone do this?"

Her voice sends chills down my back, and not in a good way. It's hollow, and so full of sadness I could practically feel the pain. My heart felt like it was beating slower, like something cold was gripping my heart to the point where it could stop any minute. The air around me suddenly became thicker, and I was more aware of how close we were than ever before.

She turns around and slowly, ever so slowly, crouches down and cradles her legs. I move to her side and get down as well, then my eyes land on it. The very thing that was creating the great depression around us. It was a kitten, a dead kitten. It couldn't have been older than a few days, but it's torso was flattened, like someone ran it over with a bike. I didn't know what to say, I felt bad or course, but I was very limited to the act of comfort. Suddenly I wished Naruto was here so say a few words, he always knew how to cheer people up, even when they were especially down.

I turn to Sakura and see she's so intently focused on the dead kitten that her ears start to turn red. She hasn't blinked in over two minutes and I'm beginning to worry about her. I set my drink down and take off my ear muffs. I don't know where this sudden rush of courage came from, but I lean in and put them on her. She doesn't flinch or jolt, but keeps on looking at the animal. I lean back and grab my drink again. Mornings in spring are always cold, despite how hot it gets later, so that last thing I'd want her to do is get sick in the middle of class.

"Thank you." I hear her say softly.

"I think we should get to class now."

I try and persuade her to leave, but she's fully intent on staying right where we are.

"I can't leave it here."

"Yes you can."

She looks at me with those eyes and I try not to reel back from how angry they look. Her face hasn't changed at all, it's still set in that stoic and depleted expression, but not her eyes. They're become even righter, scarier. I feel like my insides are burning, this intense heat that just suddenly came out of nowhere is consuming me as I stare back at her. Something is choking me, I can't breathe at all. The air is being squeezed right out of my lungs, I think I'm suffocating. My fingers start to turn blue and my skin is blistering from this blistering fever. But I can't look away, and even though my brain is telling me to look anywhere but her eyes, I can't move. It's as if she's got me in a trance, a death spell.

"No, I can't."

Out of nowhere, I place my shaking hand on top of hers and the burning stops. I feel sweat slide down the side of my face and I can finally breathe again. She's looking at my hand now and a wave of fresh air washes over me, cooling down my sweltered body. My lungs are on fire from lack of oxygen, they're screaming at me to suck in as much air possible. I don't know what the hell just happened, but what I do know is that I never want to be caught in that haze ever again. And the worst part was that I wasn't in pain, in fact, it was the most blissful feeling in the world. I felt so good despite burning from the inside out. My body and brain just became two separate things, while one part told me to run, another commanded me to stay and enjoy this feeling until I died.

Oh shit, I was dying wasn't I? I could have died right here, right now and no one would have known. I look back at Sakura and see she's not looking at my hand anymore, it's returned to the kitten. Instead of being angry for. . .whatever the hell she did to me, I pity her instead. I just can't bring myself to be mad at her. There was this aura of heartbreak and innocence around her that I didn't know what to do. I realized I haven't let go of her hand, but she hasn't said anything about it so I keep holding on.

I squeeze her, which is the closest thing to my condolences she's ever going to get. I'm not good with people and I don't know how to properly act around others, so I just go with what seems best. She looks up at me again, a little hesitantly this time. Her eyes are full of grief, but also remorse. She's trying to tell me she's sorry for what she's done, and somehow I end up feeling guilty, as though I was the one who did something wrong.

I shake my head, "It's whatever, I was being a little insensitive."

"You can leave if you want, I wouldn't want you to be late for class."

A huff escapes me, "Class doesn't start for another fifty minutes. I think I'll be okay."

"Then why did you want me to leave with you?"

I answer without thinking, or any knowledge as to where it came from, "Because I don't want to see you looking so pathetic and sad."

She shrugs, "I've always looked this way."

"Now that's just depressing." I take my hand back and rise to my feet, expecting her to do that same, but she's stubborn and refuses to budge. I sigh and take a long sip of my coffee. This was certainly going to be a long day.

"All life is precious, no matter how big or small it is. It is the beauty of life that makes Earth glow and the other planets envious, because they lack what this world has."

I raise a brow bone, "And what would that be?"

She reaches out and touches the kitten's eyelid, "Love."

I stop drinking midday and lower my cup. Her words weren't supposed to have this much of an impact on me, but they do. Her words weren't supposed to bring back memories of a lost childhood where my mother was still alive and my father wasn't such a totally prick, but they do. I feel the weight of something deep and forbidding growing inside me. It feels like the entire world is looking down at me, and it makes me want to lash out at something. But not her, never her, because even if I don't know who she is, I feel like she doesn't truly belong here.

This school is a giant prison, the teachers are the armed guards, the students are the inmates. She is the innocent victim, put in here either by mistake or against her will. As I watch her continue petting the kitten, I feel myself earn for that kind of affection. It is something I have been deprived up for such a long time. I don't know what's come over me, but I set all my belongings down and open my backpack, taking out several pieces of napkins. Moving to the side of the kitten, I wrap my hands in the napkins and pick up the animal.

Her eyes follow my every movement, curiosity etched onto her face.

"The agriculture department is always open around this time, we can gab a box and put it inside. We can bury it if you want."

She nods and stands up. Suddenly, I feel a rush of pure happiness and joy flow through me and it takes me a moment to control myself before I start gagging; it was both disturbing and euphoric. Before I can say anything about it, she's moving forward and out of the garden, expecting me to follow. I almost call out to her, but she's already heading towards the school farm.

When we get there, there isn't anyone around and it's just as quite here as it was in the garden. Her steps are light and almost weightless as she glides to the door. Checking to make sure no one is looking, she opens the padlock, and goes inside. I lean sideways to get a look inside, but her hand pops out an beckons me inside. I double check one more time to make sure there isn't anyone around and join her in the barn.

It feels humid in here and really, really damp, but I think that might be because of the cows. A couple sheep look up and call at us, but go back to eating their food as we pass by them. Sakura scurries to the supplies in the back and digs through the mess like a tiny, little mouse. She disappears for a second, underneath all the pile of rubbish, and bursts through the mountain of hay not a moment later. There's a box in her hand, it's white and medium sized; a perfect fit for this kitten.

She opens the box and I put it inside. After she shuts the lid, I quickly discard of the napkins and turn back to her. She's staring at the box like it's the most horrendous thing in the world. I look at her a little more closely almost jump back in horror. I'm probably just imagining things and overacting, but it looks like her eyes are sinking into the back of her head. The puffiness underneath her eyes swell up a little, and her dark circles are getting darker. I stand there rather awkwardly, my body leaning back, and watch her unfold right before my eyes.

But just as quickly as it starts, everything suddenly stops. Her eyes are back to normal and she's looking up at me like nothing out of the ordinary just happened. I open my mouth several times to say something, but nothing comes out. I'm at a total loss for words, nothing can describe what just happened. This is probably the icing on the cake, and it's not even eight yet. I think I might need some more coffee.

"Where can we bury it?"

"I-I, uh. . . what?"

She cocks her head to the side, and looks at with this blank expression. It makes me like I'm some kind of idiot.

"Where. Can. We. Bury. The. Kitten."

I growl and almost lash out at her for talking to me like an three year old, but I bite my tongue and sigh instead.

"We can go to the back, no one's going to notice."

I grab a shovel and we both head to behind the barn house. She picks a nice spot near the giant pond that no one goes to and sits on one of the boulders. I start to dig, and even though I'm getting dirt all over my new shoes, I can't bring it in myself to complain at all. After a few minutes of silence, minus my grunting, the hole is done and deep enough for the box to fit. I look up and jump a little; she's looking right at me. I really wish she would show some emotion, hell, even I've been known to smile every now and then.

"Wanna say a few words before we say goodbye?"

She jumps down from her spot and looks at the box in her hand.

"His name was Max and his eyes were blue."

"How do you know?"

"I don't, I just made it up."

"Okay. . ."

"He also does not like the sound of thunder, or the taste of beef."

I cough into my hand as a way to cover up my laugh.

"And may I ask why Max does not like the taste of beef?"

"Because he's a vegetarian."

At this point there is no reason for me to hide my amusement. The corners of my lips curl and I watch as she takes out a pink sharpie and writes some things onto the makeshift casket. Her handwriting is neat and she writes in cursive. The kanji are meticulous, like a seasoned pro. I'm just a little envious, my kanji has always been terrible and I don't even remember half the ones I learn. Then out of nowhere, she starts writing something down in circles and lines on the very bottom of the box. It looks alien, not that I'm surprised or anything, she is a little weird after all.

"What's that?"

"A sharpie."

Don't get mad, Don't. Get. Mad.

"I mean the writing on the bottom."

"It's hangul."

"What's hangul?"

"The native alphabet of the Korean language."

Oh, that's right, she used to live in Korea.

"What's it say?"

"Even if the sky falls, there is always a hole for you to escape."

I think that over for a second and have no idea what that means, "What?"

"There is always hope."

She gently places the box into the ground and steps aside. I push the dirt pile into the ground, covering everything, and pat the earth a couple times. We stand there for a second, praying for the soul of the deceased kitten to safely make it's way into heaven. There are blue and yellow lilies in the pond, and she carefully takes them and places them on top of the grave. I feel like I should be doing something too, but I dug a grave, I think that should be enough. Hopefully.

"Thank you."

I rub the bridge of my nose.

"It's nothing."

"No, it's everything."

Her eyes are on me again, but they look softer. It feels like something's caressing my insides, and it's a little strange. I feel detached from my body, like my soul's drifting off somewhere else. I'm pretty sure this is the closest thing to nirvana I'm ever going to get, because I'm so out of this world right now. The ground feels like it's spinning, and I have this desperate urge to spin with it, because for some odd reason; it'll make me very happy. I don't think I can take this anymore, all these random emotions suddenly making me feel things I never felt before; it's way too much for me to handle.

Rays of light begin to peek out from behind the grey clouds and shine in the background. It looks like one of those crappy romance novels I catch my teacher reading sometimes, but it sure does fit the mood. I've never noticed it before, but her eyes are so big. It's a shame she's always got this bored, sleepy look going on because I'm sure she'd be more approachable if she actually opened up her eyes all the way. But right now, I can't think about anything else except how fucking beautiful she looks.

"Excuse me?"

Shit, I said that out loud didn't I?

"Yep."

Someone please kill me.

"I think you should stop talking."

I shut my mouth so tightly, my teeth are practically squishing each other. I turn my head to the side, because I don't think I can handle these intense emotions I get whenever she looks at me. Right now, all I want to do is get myself another cup of steaming coffee, clean my shoes, and get to class. I'm pretty sure by now people are starting to pour in.

"Shall we go to class?"

I nod and turn to walk away. Sakura is at my side once again, and this sudden elation I feel isn't coming from her either.

The kitten thing did happen to me, it was very sad. I was walking to Anaheim comic con when we passed by a hotel and we saw a dead kitten outside with it's torso flattened. It was very traumatic.

Next chapter will be longer, I promise. It'll also be really in depth.

If you see any mistakes, please kindly let me know and I will gladly fix it.