For about a week, Gaara and I went through our normal routine. Have breakfast with Yashamaru (who was still sore about my calling him Yasha), me sleeping while he was at school, making cookies, me picking him up, us hanging out for a while, having dinner, staying awake all night trying to think of things to do so I wouldn't pass out on the poor kid, and start the cycle again in the morning. It was becoming normal, and thankfully I was settling into it quite easily. Some people might have been irritable from the lack of sleep - well, okay, I was irritable around everyone but Gaara, and sometimes even him. But hey, do you blame me? After seeing the way everyone was treating Gaara, I was beginning to hate everybody who wasn't me or him. But otherwise, I was totally normal. Kept all of my personality, every other health part of me was intact (make no comments about my twisted mind), and I was actually having fun. Apparently nobody else had had fun with this job before, just like ignoring Gaara, so I was glad I could be different.
One night, around eight-forty-five (mwahaha, specifics), I had begun to get bored, watching Gaara watch TV, swinging my leg off the couch. The only getting four hours of sleep a day was kinda catching up with me now, and I was determined not to let it get the best of me. I had never been this determined before, and I was trying to think of ways to keep us having fun together. We'd already worn out all the board games, where Gaara usually kicked my ass with no mercy (I found it both odd and funny that someone ten years younger than I was could reach the Candy Castle before I could), and one of his shows was on now. As he'd told me, there was a marathon of Hitori-kun on tonight, until nine.
Another glance at the clock revealed it to be eight-fifty. How the night was passing slowly this time. We still had roughly eleven hours before Yashamaru got here... before I could sleep. He seemed content with watching this, but once the marathon was over we'd have to find something to do, which could be a real pain in this house. Yashamaru only kept board games here, nothing else for entertainment really. The TV, board games, and the kitchen, and that was it. Well, Gaara had some toys in his room, but I'd never been in there and had no idea what it was like.
I was suddenly struck with something. I still hadn't gotten my stuff from my aunt's house yet. Wasn't I supposed to do that a while ago? I didn't have any of my things, and I was damn lucky most of Yashamaru's gender-neutral clothes fit me... but he didn't need to know that I'd been raiding his androgynous closet after baths.
I picked up my cell phone, which was the only thing I had, from the table, my thumb hovering over my aunt's speed-dial. "Hey Gaara?" I called, noticing his show was on commercial.
He looked back at me, and smiled. "What is it, Kame-chan?"
"I need to get some things from my aunt's house. You wouldn't mind coming along, would you? I can't leave you alone."
"Of course not!" At this point he jumped up on the couch and snuggled up against me, pressing his back against my stomach. "I don't like being alone anyway. The house is scary when nobody's in it, and I hear noises." He shifted his position and giggled. "You're soft, Kame-chan."
I rolled my eyes, just barely resisting the urge to flick him on the ear again. "Don't remind me." I pressed down on the button. "I'm going to be talking to my aunt for a minute, so please don't talk, okay?"
"Okay." He rested his head against my breastbone, his hair tickling my skin.
I put the phone to my ear and waited. I hummed a little as I did, yawning.
At last my aunt, Hana, answered the phone. "Kame-chan! Where have you been?"
"Sorry, I've been too busy to call, Hana-oba-san (1). But guess what, I found a job."
"Oh, really? What are you doing now?"
"I'm a babysitter."
She snorted. "Well, I never would have pegged you for being that type."
"It was kinda the only job that Kazekage-sama could find for me, so I wasn't picky."
"I see. How are things working out? You haven't killed the kid, have you?"
"Pfft." I rolled my eyes again. "Come on, give me some credit. I'm not that mean."
"..."
"Okay, I can be that mean. But no, kid's still alive and kickin', keeping me busy. It's actually really fun."
"Where are you living?"
"Ah, I get to live in the house because his uncle works most of the day and I have to take care of him for a while."
"Well, it's good to hear that you're not on the streets somewhere."
"I know, right? Well, I have to come pick up the rest of my stuff. Is it okay if I come tonight? In about ten minutes?"
"Hey, sure. Don't leave the kid alone though. Children are masters of getting into things when adults aren't around... and sometimes when we are."
"I was actually going to bring him with me. He doesn't like being in the house alone anyways."
"Great. I'll see you in ten minutes, then."
"Right. Bye, oba-san."
"Bye."
I shut my phone and slipped it into my shirt, so it was resting inside my bra. Probably wasn't the best move, since I kinda hit Gaara in the head when that happened. "Whoops! Sorry, Gaara - I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"Huh?" He turned to look at me, tilting his head. "I didn't feel anything."
"Oh... okay, then." I settled back into my position on the couch to watch the end of the show with him.
Once the last episode of Hitori-kun was totally over (I'm talking Gaara wouldn't move until the ending song had hit the last note), we headed out of the house. I locked the door as a precaution, since it was pretty late. Like I'd said to Yashamaru, you never knew what kind of weirdos were out there.
We walked to my aunt's house, hands clasped together and swinging our arms like we had the first day. Gaara was kicking happily at the pebbles in the street, and I was just looking around. There were some people out, and they all looked at Gaara with this hateful expression. You know what I did? Gave them a "back-the-hell-off-before-your-ass-gets-kicked-Kame-style" glare, which scared most of them into looking the opposite way.
Finally we reached Hana's house. I knocked on the door, momentarily letting go of Gaara's hand. "Hana-oba-san, it's me!"
"Door's open," she called. "Come right in."
I took Gaara's hand again and tugged on it. "C'mon."
I pushed the door open and walked inside, closing it after me. "Oba-san, is my stuff still in the guest room?"
"Yeah, haven't moved it." She was doing something with her TV, holding a half-empty (or half-full) glass in her other hand. "Sands above, you'd think the cable wouldn't go out so easily when all that's touching it is dust particles. Damn sandstorms."
She turned around, shaking her blonde hair (same as my mother's) out, and smiled at me.
For a second, I allowed myself to childishly believe something about her. I let myself think that she was one of the good ones, somebody who didn't hate or fear Gaara. That she would like him as much as I did, that she wouldn't give us the same looks the people on the street did. That she wouldn't show the utter repulsion that Takamine had shown us.
For a brief moment, I believed that, because she was a part of my family, she couldn't possibly hate Gaara. Who among the world has ever thought a member of their own family, no matter how much of a temper they had, was capable of hating another human being? Who has ever, for a split second, believed such an awful thing about their own flesh and blood, a clan they were so closely tied to from birth? I didn't believe it. In that small stretch of time, I did not believe that my aunt was like everyone else.
I was wrong.
When Hana's eyes lowered to meet Gaara's face, they widened and her hand slipped. The cup she'd been holding crashed to the ground, smashing into an infinite number of hazardous glass. She stumbled back, and I saw it evident in her eyes, the one thing I had hoped not for: the fear. Her shaking hand rose and a finger pointed directly at Gaara. "K-Kame! Get that thing out of my house!"
It was like my mind broke in two. Something snapped through it, sending the delicates wires and connections flying, blowing away. A jab was sent to the left side of my chest as well, where I had been told my heart made its home. I barely ignored the instinct to rush my hand up and clutch my shirt fabric where a torrent of pain was ripping through. Instead my other hand tightened around Gaara's much smaller one, and I pulled him toward me as if for protection. What I could do to protect him, I had no idea. "I don't know what you're talking about," I commented, suddenly realizing how cold my voice was. It didn't sound like me at all. "Oh, I haven't introduced you, have I?" I put a hand on top of Gaara's spiky hair. "Oba-san, this is Gaara, the boy I've been hired to babysit. Gaara-kun, this is my oba-san, Hana Chi."
Gaara looked back and forth from me to my aunt. Like he wasn't quite sure whose side to take - the one who was probably right, that everyone including her hated him, or the one who was against all odds, that he had a place no matter where it was. At last, after a few seconds of deliberating, he bowed his head slowly. "I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Chi-san."
"This is what you're babysitting? You didn't tell me you'd signed a blood contract with the demons." Hana took another step back. "Get that monster out of here this instant or so help me, Kame, I'll..."
"You'll what? As long as I'm not living under your roof, I don't have to do as you say. And if you keep calling my charge names, you'll need babysitting."
Gaara whined slightly, tugging on my shirt with his other hand. "K-Kame-chan, you're scaring me..."
"You don't think that thing's a monster? Haven't you seen what he can do?" Hana glared at Gaara, who shrunk back a little. "Go on, demon. Call
forth your sand and destroy something. She'll run away too, once she sees."
I gritted my teeth. "Shut. Up. And leave him alone. As soon as I get my things, we'll both be out of this hellhole you call a home."
Gaara rested his forehead on my hip for a second. "Y-You wouldn't run away from me too, would you, Kame-chan?"
"Fine!" Hana picked up a bowl from the table and raised it above her head. "If you're not going to show her, I will!"
It happened so fast. Hana hurled the bowl at us, aimed toward Gaara's face. His eyes widened, but he didn't move. I didn't move either, but that was only because I was frozen with fear. How could someone do something like that? He was six! All because she thought he was a demon?
And then, all of a sudden, it was like slow motion. A cloud of sand burst up from nowhere, rushing in front of Gaara and myself. I just stood there, stock-still, my mouth gaping open in shock. The coldness had faded from me, and left just the terror.
I heard the bowl collide with the wall of sand, and the pieces fell to the floor. The sand receded, dropping to the floor around us, and Gaara's petite hand was no longer in my grasp. My breath was heavy, and I just stared, not focusing on anything in particular. Simply trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Gaara had collapsed, on his hands and knees now. It didn't sound like he was crying, but that didn't mean he wasn't. One hand was against his head, and he was breathing hard too. "I-I'm sorry, Kame-chan," he practically shouted, moving the hand to cover his mouth. "Please don't leave me like everyone else!"
"It's too late!" Hana yelled at him. "She's already seen! She's afraid now too!"
I dropped down beside Gaara, bringing him to my eye level and checking him for any injuries, though I doubted he had any, since I didn't see the bowl hit him. I was still scared half to death though, and my hands were shaking so badly I barely kept a grip on his shoulders.
I twisted around to stare at my aunt in horror. The only thing I could come up with to say sounded incredibly stupid: "O-Oba-san!" My voice had changed again, and was now more like a frightened child's, and that was how I felt, all full of anguished confusion and disbelief. "What the hell was that? You could have hurt him!"
I brought Gaara into a tight hug, wanting to never let go of him. How, how could people be so cruel to someone so young, to someone who didn't deserve it? How was this world filled with so many evil people? Why didn't the good ones do anything to stop them? Tears came to my eyes, but I pushed them away, swallowing them down with the last trace of my fear from this ordeal. All I could feel now was anger, fury, and suddenly I realized what emotions, what feelings, pushed somebody to murder another person.
I stood up, pulling Gaara's fragile little body against mine. "Gaara," I said softly, taking relief in the sensation of his silky hair against my fingers. "I want you to go wait outside. Don't talk to anybody you don't know, and don't leave. I'll be out in a few minutes."
He nodded, all but running out of the house.
I gave my aunt a callous glare, feeling nothing but disdain towards her any longer, and walked past her into the hallway.
I gathered my things emotionlessly and walked straight out of Hana's without another word. I didn't care about her anymore, and I was never going to talk to her again if I could help it.
I found Gaara sitting outside against the doorframe, hugging his knees to his chest, arms draped over them, and his face buried in his arms. I heard him sobbing and sniffling, and I wondered how my heart could break when it had never quite been whole in the first place.
I placed my bag and purse down beside the door, kneeling down to Gaara's height now. I carefully wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer to me. I put my face in his hair, feeling the softness of his shawl against my fingers as I held him. I didn't need to talk; I just needed to hold him. I still didn't ever want to let go of him, but I knew I had to. Right now, though, I could just be with him like this, comfort him as best I knew how.
"I'm s-sorry, Kame-chan," I heard him whisper, his tiny hands reaching up around me, just looking for something to hold, someone who cared to cling to. "Y-You don't have to pretend to like me anymore. You don't have to stay."
"Who said I had to?" I stood up, taking him with me. His feet dangled, but after a moment of fumbling his legs found their way around my waist, digging into my back. "I want to." I held him as tight as I possibly could, burying my face into his shoulder as he did the same to mine. "I'm not afraid of you. I never could be, no matter what you did. If I ever felt fear toward you..." I rubbed his back with the hand wasn't using to hold him to me. "It would be because I was afraid of losing you. And I don't hate you. Never. I could never hate you, ever. You know who I hate?"
He whimpered, sniffling, and I could feel his tears soaking into my bare shoulder, exposed by my tank top. He was squeezing me as tightly as he could too. "W-Who?"
"The people who hate you." I bent down, tapping him to lightly let him place his feet back on the ground. I brushed his hair back, and a sharp pain tore through my heart again at seeing his tears. "Those are the people I hate. If they can't look past stupid rumors and see who you really are, then they don't matter. If they spent time with you, learned what you were really like, I know they'd love you." I put my hand palm-down on his cheek, relishing the coolness of his skin against mine. "I know I do."
He took some deep breaths, trying to become coherent enough to speak to me. He ran a hand over his eyes, though it didn't do much to wipe away the tears that were already falling and more coming. "D-Do you really love me, Kame-chan? Do you mean it?"
I put my bag on my back, and took a handkerchief out of my jeans pocket. I knelt down and brushed it over his cheeks, soaking up the tears. "Well, I'm not really sure, Gaara." I pressed the cloth into his hand, and then picked him up again, beginning to walk. "I've never... truly loved anyone before. I think that's what I feel, but... like we said earlier, we're going to have to figure it out together."
"Together." His arms wrapped around my neck, and the feeling of his smooth cheek against my breast, where he could listen to my heartbeat, was comforting to me... having someone who trusted me, who was fond enough of me to lay so close on me. Hopefully listening to my heart was comforting to him too. "Yeah... together. I think we can do that."
I hiked him up, but didn't disturb his ear against my heart. "I think so too."
I heard him yawn loudly, and I giggled under my breath. In the week I'd been with him, I hadn't ever known him to yawn or be sleepy at all; he was always energetic. It seemed like this had just worn him out. "Can we go home now, Kame-chan? I'm tired."
"Yeah." I leaned down and kissed the top of his head. This was so out of character for me, but when I was around him... it felt like this was who I really was supposed to be. Like I wasn't supposed to be this tough, pessimistic girl who was always thinking the worst of everyone else. Like I was supposed to be kind and caring, thinking the best until I was proven otherwise. I felt, for once, like... I belonged here. It just felt right. "We'll take it easy. I can't let you fall asleep, but we'll take it easy."
"Thanks, Kame-chan. I'm... I'm sorry about your aunt."
"It's okay. If she doesn't like you, she doesn't like me. And I don't like people who don't like me."
"Thanks. And... Kame-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"I hope I'm your best friend, 'cause you're my best friend."
I smiled. "Oh? I'm even better than Yasha?"
"Well... you're not really better than Yashamaru. I mean... he's family. So he kinda has to be my friend." He pressed his hand into my back, and I was pleased to find that I could feel him close his eyes against my chest. "But you're still my best friend. You know why?"
I jostled him a little bit, just to make sure he stayed awake. "Why?"
He yawned again, his arms loosening a little around me. "'Cause you're my only friend."
(1) - "Oba-san" is "aunt"
OMG so who cried reading this? Almost cried writing it... I think it's the saddest one so far. It started out a bit slow too, but I think we got to see a little bit of Kame developing more in this. Gaara a step closer to breaking, maybe.
So I think I'm going to change one of the categories from humor to hurt/comfort. What you guys think?
And WHAT am I doing here? Pulling chapters out my ass? XD I got bored, OK... even making a video, I got bored with that and came back to this... |D I'm hopeless...
Reviews is love! If you read, PLEASE REVIEW CUZ I APPRECIATE IT MUCHLY. *likes making up words*
Thanks for reading, hope you liked! ^^
