Orenji Neko 13- New Years Solutions

*Minako's POV*

"Tohru-chan, don't forget to lock the doors. Are you sure you're okay with me leaving as well?"

"Yea. I'll be fine. You have your own New Years tradition that you can keep." I sigh.

"Okay. And don't leave your window open again tonight. There's supposed to be a burglar running around this area. Don't let in any strangers. I'll be back in the morning."

"Okay. Itterashai." I nod and leave the house. I head to my bridge and sit under it, where I had my makeshift tent before.

"Haha-ha!"

"Oka-san…"

"Gomen, gomen. You should've said something, Kashi-chan. It's dangerous to stay under this thing. Especially with the weather."

"No. I'm fine, Kyoko-san. I'm sorry you had to find this. I'll see you in the morning, at school, Tohru-chan."

"If you're okay with it then…see you."

"I've come a long way since that time, huh, Oka-san?"

*Kyo's POV*

"Y-you startled me! What on earth…?" She was crying…all alone. Oh. I hurry through the house and to the roof.

"Minako?" Not here. Did she go to that bridge? I head back to the dining room. "Where's Minako?"

"Kashi-chan left already. She went to her bridge, like every year."

"Where is it?"

"Um…up the road from the shelter…there's a lot of graffiti on the side of it…why?"

"Thanks." I hurry out of the house and run in that direction, I hope I can find it. Why didn't I realize before? All the times I've seen her sulking on her own, and I didn't even realize that she would pretend to be okay to keep from upsetting anyone. Damn it. Both of them are alike. Tohru and Minako. There! I find the bridge and slide down to the river bank. "Minako!"

*Minako's POV*
Kyo? I look over and stare at Kyo.

"Kyo-kun…what are you doing here?"

"What about you?"

"This is where I've always…" I shake my head. "It's none of your business."

"The hell it's my business!"

"Huh?" I stand up and Kyo collapses. "Kyo-kun?! Are you okay? This weather isn't good for running in…" I hurry over to him and drop to my knees, checking to see if he's okay.

"Yea, I'm fine. Hey…" He sits up and brushes my cheek. "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Go off and cry on your own?" I lift my chin.

"Who said I was crying? Some water dropped from the bridge and landed on my face is all. Baka Neko." I stand up and turn back to the bridge.

"You're really gonna stay here all night? When you have a bed at home?"

"This is my special place. You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." I sigh.

"This is the place…that I grew up. It's also where Kyoko-san found my tent for the first time. I remember she laughed like crazy when she saw that I was living in a tent…but immediately after she stopped laughing, she worried about me. I hadn't wanted to impose on anyone, so I stayed here after that. But…on my birthday, it was raining, and the river flooded. Kyoko-san and Tohru-chan came to visit me for my birthday and found that the river was flooded and I wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Kyoko-san took Tohru-chan to the Animal Shelter to wait for her while she dove into the river and searched for me. Instead of waking up in a hospital, I woke up in Kyoko-san's bed, sick. My tent was gone, so I couldn't come back here. That was when I moved in with Tohru-chan…but…I hadn't wanted to intrude on their New Year's celebrations, so I said that I would be visiting my family and came here. This was my retreat, when I wanted to be alone…when I was in a gang and I got beat up and didn't want to face Kyoko-san or Tohru-chan…it's where Uo-chan and I really became friends…Hana-chan too…this place is a sad place for me, but it's also a happy place…and Tohru-chan insisted that I not break my 'tradition' of coming here.

"I know that she was only going to sit under the Kotatsu and cry while looking at her picture of Kyoko-san, but I couldn't bring myself to stay. Because she's the kind of girl that would rather see others be happy than be truly happy herself."

"What about you? Are you happy? Being out here alone?"

"I…I…don't know. What about you? Isn't Kagura going to be upset about your absence tonight?"

"Kagura can go to hell for all I care." I turn around and stare at Kyo.

"You mean…you really don't like her?"

"Hell no. There's no way in hell I'd like Kagura. She's just pushy and won't take no for an answer."

"But…it would be better…for you to be with someone that you could actually embrace…"

"What's with you all of a sudden?" Crap. Go away, tears. Go away damn it! "Minako?" I shake my head and gasp when Kyo catches my chin. "You can cry if you want. It's not good to keep stuff like that in." I stare at him and touch my cheek. Tears are flowing freely…and I was trying not to cry.

"Sorry…"

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because…because…" I back up and hurry back to my spot under the bridge.

"Do you mind if I stay here? Unless you plan to go home with me?"

"Whatever…I don't care. But I'm not going home until morning."

"You sure it's okay to leave Tohru home alone with the rat?"

"What? Yuki-kun decided to ditch the banquet as well?"

"Heh, I wouldn't have been able to go to the banquet anyways, so it's not a loss for me. The rat wanted to get home and see Tohru. We ran into your freak of a friend Hanajima."

"And she said just the right thing to convince you two to go back? But…why did you come here?"

"You asked me earlier if I like you right." I stare at him. "I'm also terrified of you, I hate to admit."

"And why are you terrified of me?"

"You've got the shortest fuse I've ever seen, and a split personality I'd bet."

"Split personality? What makes you say that?"

"You're just not the type that I'd peg as being a third degree black belt or a former gang member, or the type to haul off and punch someone because they pissed you off."

"Really? And what would you 'peg' me as?"

"A Goth freak like Hanajima. No, a darker version of Tohru. The one that's always putting out an image to keep everyone around her happy. Though you frown more than Tohru does."

"That's not encouraging, you know. I'm nothing like Tohru. I envy her. She can so easily count her blessings and smile. She can see the bright side of everything, even when there's absolutely nothing good around. She's the glue that holds our group of friends together, me and Uo-chan, and Hana-chan…because she's kind and always puts everyone else before herself.

"She always defended me when I'd get picked on about my hair color, or when people would make rude comments about Hana-chan when she transferred to our school, and even when Uo-chan and I would get beat to a pulp by rival gangs…and all the while, she was getting picked on herself, because she's pretty ditzy. But that's just who she is."

"Sounds about like what she said about you."

"Huh?"

"Another thing she said…how did she say it? Oh, if you think of someone's good qualities in the Umeboshi of an Onigiri, it's as if their qualities are stuck to their back. People are like Onigiri. Everyone has an Umeboshi with a different shape and color and flavor. But because it's stuck to their back, they might not be able to see their Umeboshi. 'There's nothing special about me, I'm just plain white rice.' That's not true. There's an Umeboshi on your back."

"Why Onigiri?"

"She was making Onigiri for the festival and it just popped out of her mouth. She also said that maybe that's why people get jealous of others. Because we can clearly see another person's 'Umeboshi', but can't see our own."

"She has her intelligent moments. No. She's smart; she's just a tad on the crazy side."

"You have one. An Umeboshi."

"So you say."

"I'm not saying. It's the truth. You, for example. You're smart, and popular. Somehow, you always know how to keep things calm, when their completely out of hand. If you hadn't been around when Tohru left for her grandfather's house, it would have been after we saw her at school after that before we got the nerve to go after her. And even when you get pissed and beat the crap out of me, afterwards, you turn around and help me out. You attract people to you and make friends easily."

"That's not true. None of that's true."

"You calling me a liar?" I shake my head and notice the sky lightening.

"Looks like it's morning. The sun's coming up. You know what you're gonna wish for?"

"Yea." I smile.

"Good." The sun starts to come up and I lean back on my hands. I wish that my friends and family can get along better than ever this year.

"I'm gonna beat Yuki this year!" I laugh.

"Keep wishing. You can't even beat me."

"Let's go home. It's morning." I nod and get up.

"Oh. Hold on." I reach into my pocket and pull out a mini spray-paint can.

"What are you doing?"

"Let's see…adding to my mark."

"Mark?" I move aside a pile of stones and reveal a series of numbers on the wall, all painted in different colors, with an animal.

"All of the graffiti on this part of the wall, I did."

"I thought it was strange, all of these animals and numbers around. What does it mean?"

"The number is my age, plus the number of years since my parents died. The animal, and the color, I think are obvious." I shake up the can and start spraying the wall with this year's set. I'm 16, it's been ten years since they died, and it's the year of the rabbit now. I finish and stand up. "Done. Let's go home then." I put the stones back in their place and Kyo and I head to the house.