Hey everyone! First off, I want to thank in advance all the people who are reviewing. It really makes my day to receive reviews, and to know that so many people are actually reading this story.
As I've stated before, updates will be at least once a week, as school is very trying at the moment. Thank you for your patience.
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Now, go to the top of the screen, and look at the URL.
Does it have FANFICTION in it?
Yes?
Then let's assume that everything I post is fanfiction
Enjoy!
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Koujo looked in the mirror, and straightened his collar.
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He'd attended too many funerals in the past seven years; worn to much black, than he'd ever wanted to. Now, another friend was returning to the earth.
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Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
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There was a knock on his door, and Koujo shrugged on his black coat over his jacket. It was cold outside, with a biting wind. He looked at the door.
"Come in."
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The door opened slightly, and Ren poked her head in, hair falling in front of her face in tangles. Koujo beckoned her in, and patted the chair. Ren hoisted herself up, and faced him, eyes wide.
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"Samchon?"
Koujo crouched down to her level, and looked her in the eyes, encouraging her to continue.
"Will you help me do my hair? The others…are busy."
Koujo frowned, wondering why Ruka or at least Maya hadn't offered to help. He looked back at Ren, who was wringing her hands nervously. Koujo smiled at her.
"Do you have a comb?"
Ren nodded, and dropped off the seat, running into the bathroom, no doubt to steal a comb from one of the exchange students. She came back a few seconds later, carrying her mother's comb.
"This was the only one I could find."
Koujo shrugged.
"It'll do. Sit on the chair, please."
She did so, and Koujo began to run the comb through her dark brown hair, careful not to pull hard. He suddenly remembered doing this for Cho, when she was little, and his heart twinged.
'Cho and Rose won't even get to say goodbye. If Panther ever decides to return them, I'll bring them to her grave.'
After the knots were gone, he started to braid it down the back of her head. Madoka had taught him to braid properly, when Cho first came. She'd been shocked that he didn't know how to weave things together, and had immediately sat him down and showed him.
He'd used to do Tori's hair as well, when she'd broken her arm after a fight with some men in an alley. Her attackers had come out far worse.
Finishing the braid, he tied it up, and then brushed off the stray bits of hair from her back. Ren, however didn't move, and continued to sit there, legs hanging off the floor.
"Ren?"
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Ren ducked her head shyly, making the braid fall over her left shoulder.
"Will you…will you stay with me today? I don't want to be left alone."
Koujo frowned, confused.
"Why me?"
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Ren blushed.
"You make me feel safe." She muttered, not meeting his eyes. Koujo knelt down, and tilted her chin, so that she was looking him in the eyes.
"Always."
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Ren gave a watery smile, and hopped off the chair, grabbing Koujo's hand and dragging him out of his room.
"We should probably go now." She stated.
Koujo blinked, and followed Ren down the hallway.
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'She's grown up far too fast already.'
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The rain was falling in a steady drizzle; enough to make people uncomfortable, but not enough to warrant an umbrella. Ren stood silently, ignoring the sympathetic looks and the concerned gazes, and watched her mother's coffin be lowered in to the grave.
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She'd knew, deep down, that this day would come, but she never thought that it would come so soon. She'd thought that her mother would be able to see the play that she was starring in for her school, but that day would never come now.
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No welcoming hug, a glass of juice and a snack would greet her when she came home from school; her mother wouldn't come in to her room at night and whisper stories, or giggle after curfew about silly jokes.
She'd never hear her mother's crystalline laughter again; forever lost to sickness.
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Samchon stood behind her, with his hands on her shoulders. He'd stuck with his promise, and had stayed with her. Ruka was huddled with Maya and a few other students; offering support where she could.
Samchon was the closest thing she had to a father; even though he was away a lot; studying in England had often put a strain on him.
But, she knew now that he was staying; he'd finished his studies, and was returning to Japan for good. Ren knew that Cho would be happy, Maya and Ruka as well.
Ren knew she should be crying; knew she would be upset, but all she felt was empty.
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And that scared her more.
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She'd always thought that people cry at funerals, no matter what their relation to the dearly departed, but she was proving herself wrong, on every account. And she'd never, in living memory, seen Samchon cry at funerals either. He might try to suppress his emotions, and his shoulders would tense slightly, but he'd never cry.
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Instead of the 'over-whelming sense of grief and sorrow' that she'd read about in books, she felt hollow. She wondered if author's had actually lost someone close to them, or were just making assumptions.
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Samchon squeezed her shoulders lightly, and Ren dragged her attention back to the funeral, and realized everyone was staring at her. Ren swallowed, as the priest discreetly nodded at the pile of earth that sat on the side of the grave.
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She stepped forward to grab a handful of dirt, and paused at the edge of the grave, staring down at her mother's coffin.
It was a plain wooden one, and had a silver nameplate, with her mother's name engraved on it. Ren paused, and pulled out a water lily; one that looked identical to the one she'd left with her mother after she'd died. Carefully, she dropped it into the deep hole that had become her mother's final resting place.
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"Goodbye, Eomma." She whispered, tossing her handful of dirt into the grave, where it covered the nameplate. Another handful of dirt soon followed, and Ren looked up, to see Samchon mutter softly in Chinese, before turning towards her, and placing a hand on her shoulder.
Ren reached up, and grabbed his large hand in her small one. Although, now that she thought about it, Samchon's fingers were really slender and long.
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She walked back into the circle around the grave, and watch Ruka throw some dirt in, followed by the rest of the Outcasts, and a few of Hana's friends from school. Samchon's fingers flexed slightly as the undertaker started to shovel the dirt in quickly, and as the rain started to fall a little harder.
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Ren tugged on his hand and he bent down, so that she could whisper in his ear.
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"I want to go home."
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Samchon nodded, but whispered back.
"I have to visit a few friends here. Do you mind coming with me?"
Ren shook her head, and they started to walk away, heading towards the other graves that were standing there.
Ren saw Maya kneeling in between two graves, her hands on each of the gravestones. Ren frowned, but Samchon explained.
"Mamoru and Jia Taniyama. They're Maya's parents." Ren nodded, but Samchon kept talking.
"To the left,' he pulled her over to the graves, and Ren read
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Lucy Stone.
4th September 1990- 25th August 2007
"Always believe in yourself when others don't."
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Rosaline Wood.
12th July 1990- 25th August 2007
"There are far, far better things ahead than those we leave behind"
- C.S. Lewis
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Amaya Mori.
16th February 1988- 13th July 2009
"All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us."
- J.R.R. Tolkien
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Tori Li
30th July 1990- 22nd July 2010
"The ones who love us never really leave us."
- Sirius Black
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Ren frowned at the last one.
"Is that the Tori that Imo Ruka and Imo Madoka try not to talk about?"
Samchon nodded, and drew a slightly crumpled flower out of his pocket. Ren recognized it as a black orchid; they had a plant growing in the garden. He placed it on the grave, and murmured something softly in a strange hybrid of Korean and what had to be Chinese, before turning away. Ren frowned, but followed anyway.
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"Who was she?"
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Samchon paused, and he clenched his fists.
"She was my…girlfriend. She was murdered."
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Ren froze, and said no more, following her uncle, and now guardian, to the car, where Ruka was already waiting. Maya had finished just before them, and was leaning against the car, her tears mingling with the rain.
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Ren swiped at the rain that was coating her cheeks, and ignored the well-wishers and the sympathetic comments, climbing into the car next to Maya. Samchon started the car, and they drove away, Ren looking out of the window.
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"I love you, Eomma. I hope you find your way to heaven."
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Sadness central!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and WILL REVIEW (hint, hint ;)), it's really helpful for the mad author to write something when there are some guidelines to write with. I apologize for all the people who wanted fluff; it will come soon.
Maybe.
It all really depends on what kind of fluff you want, so review and tell me!
Cheers!
Tori.