Ah...the chapter a certain Miss EmiShae has been waiting for. Squee! xD
stabbythings: Thank you so much! Some people have said they don't like it because it's so similar to the anime/manga. So hearing that you like it because of its similiarity is just...awesome! :D Thank you!
D.W: Wow! Thanks for all the quotes! And don't worry about reviewing; it's okay! I mean, we all do have lives outside of this site! *cough* No I don't. *cough* Hmm, what? I didn't say anything. *sweatdrop* Anywhoo, thanks again! Those quotes are definitely giving me some inspiration ^.^
A'ight, Emi. This chapter's for you. ;D Enjoy!
-XXVIII. Wishes, Races, and New Faces-
"Hey, check it out," a girl said. "That guy over there is unbelievably hot."
The two girls looked at the guy, who was looking at a large map up on a display on the sidewalk.
He was tall and slender, but muscular. He had white hair, but a black hairline was clearly visible underneath. He wore black gloves, blue jeans with black chaps over them, a black turtleneck, a white trenchcoat (fur lining around the neck), and black gloves. There were three necklaces around his neck, each of different length, and he had two silver stud earrings in each ear.
In short: He was cool. In a hot sort of way.
"You're right!" the second girl said. "I wonder what he's got going on? It looks like he's on his way to a rave or something."
"A total club kid."
"Let's go talk to him! A cool guy like that? I bet we could have some fun!"
Suddenly, the guy put riding goggles on, tugged down on his gloves, and swung his leg over to sit on a bike.
No, not a motorcycle. A bicycle. With a little bell on the handle.
The two girls stood silent, watching him go, and thinking that maybe he wasn't all that he appeared to be.
1_1_1_1_1
Winter break was over, and it was time to go back to school. It always amazed me how fast the time flew! We were already going into our third term of the school year.
Of course, there were things to do besides schoolwork.
Miki and I went into town one morning to get some groceries, and Kyo and Yuki agreed to come with us. Sachiko voted to stay home and get some housework done.
I commented to Miki on the way to the store that it seemed like Sachiko was feeling kind of low.
Miki reminded me that that was just her way, like Kyo's way was being angry.
"It's just that she never comes with us to go shopping or anything," I whispered (although Yuki and Kyo wouldn't have heard; they were arguing again). "Do you think she's okay?"
"Look," Miki said. "We're best friends. If something was wrong, she'd tell us. Don't worry so much," she said with a small smile.
I exhaled and smiled a little back. "Okay."
Miki and I went in the grocery store, leaving Kyo and Yuki outside by themselves.
3_3_3_3_3
"Wipe that smug little smirk off your face," Kyo threatened, "before I come over there and do it for you! Yeah, you'll be sorry then, won't you? And I'll make you say it!"
"I'm sorry," Yuki said calmly.
"Shut up! You're a real wise guy, you know that? !"
"At least I'm not the noisy idiot who's causing a scene in front of the store," Yuki said.
"Oh, you've done it now, girly-boy! We're taking this outside!"
Yuki sighed and rolled his eyes. "We're already outside, you stupid cat."
3_3_3_3_3
I tried to stifle my laughter as I listened to Kyo and Yuki arguing outside.
Miki sighed and shook her head. "I swear, wishing does them no good."
She was referring to the wish the three of us had made on New Year's. We had wished that Kyo and Yuki would get along better this coming year. But it didn't seem to be working out very well.
"Sorry we took so long," I said as we walked out.
"That's alright," Yuki said, smiling as he ignored Kyo's glare. "Find everything you needed?"
"Uh-huh," Miki said, glancing at Kyo, who looked ready to jump over and rip Yuki's head off (as usual).
In, fact, I thought as Yuki and Kyo argued again on the way home (though, this time, their arms were laden with groceries; they may have hated each other, but they still knew a thing or two about common courtesy to us girls), it seems they're getting along even worse than usual.
"Do you gotta walk so close to me? !" Kyo snapped. "I'm already pissed off enough, having to be out here with you!"
"So why did you come?" Yuki shot back.
I could've sworn that I saw Kyo glance at me, but I told myself I was seeing things.
Guess our wish didn't do much good, I thought.
"You know, you are starting to get on my nerves," Yuki said, glaring at Kyo.
"Oh, yeah?" Kyo set down the bags he was holding and raised his fists. "So why don't you try to do something about it, girly-boy-"
Yuki had grabbed some leeks out of a shopping bag, and jammed them in Kyo's mouth.
Kyo froze, and then fell over, muttering, "Leeks...!"
"Kyo!"
Miki gave me a questioning look.
I glanced away.
She smiled.
"There. That should keep him quiet for a little while." Yuki coughed a little.
Miki gave him a concerned look, but he didn't seem to notice.
I exhaled, my breath forming a little cloud around my mouth, and looked down at Kyo.
Miki looked at him as well, all three of us standing in silence for a moment.
Mik shrugged, then started off walking again. "I'm not carrying 'im."
;;;;;
All was pretty uneventful until that evening. Miki, Sachiko, Yuki, and I were sitting in the living room, pretending to pay attention to the TV. Kyo was sitting outside the door on the porch.
I decided to get up and see what he was doing. I'd never really liked watching TV anyway. Except with my mom.
Kyo glanced up at me as I sat down next to him. I tried to ignore the fact that he was wearing a loose tank top instead of his usual T-shirt. Easier said than done.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said. "Just trying to get the taste of those damn leeks out of my mouth."
I laughed a little. "Seems like it's your only weakness, huh?"
I couldn't read his expression, and I didn't get a chance to ask about it.
"Hey!" Shigure called. He slid open the door to the living room, a towel on his head. "I'm out of the tub. Who's in next? Yuki?"
Yuki sighed. "I think I'll skip it today."
Shigure cried out in disgust. "How can you stand to be so dirty? !"
"Just once, I'd like to knock him through the roof," Yuki muttered.
I tuned out the rest of the conversation, pulled my knees up to my chest, and looked out at the dark forest in front of the house.
"So why'd you come out here anyway?" Kyo asked after a few moments of silence.
"Oh, I- Uh... I just...you know, you're always off by yourself and..."
"It's cold out here. You should go inside."
I glanced at him.
He glanced at me.
We both looked away.
"Says the one in the tank top," I said. I tugged down on my sweatshirt sleeves, and I thought I heard him laugh once softly. But I could've been mistaken.
"I'm not a very sociable person either."
He looked at me.
"I used to coop myself up in my room for days at a time, only coming out for food. I guess that's the thing that I most wanted to change about myself. Because that was time I could've spent with my mom. I don't coop myself up in my room much anymore. Maybe that's because I'm living with my friends now. It's a different situation."
I exhaled. "I have the gift of empathy, Kyo. I can sense what other people are feeling. When they're upset, things like that. But lately...I've been confused. The most I can get from you, for example, is that something's on your mind."
I tilted my head, so the side of it was on my knees and I was looking at him. "My point is, that, when I had something on my mind, I had a tendency to bottle it up. Sometimes I still do. I feel that you have the same habit. I guess what I'm saying is...if you ever want to talk...about anything..."
He looked at me, surprised, then looked away.
We were silent for a few moments.
"Kiku?"
I looked at him.
"Thanks."
3_3_3_3_3
[Meanwhile, inside the house]
"What's wrong?" Miki asked Yuki. "Are you feeling okay?"
"No," Yuki said. "I think I might be coming down with a cold."
Miki gasped, not caring that the others (besides Sachiko) might think it uncharacteristic of her. "A cold? !" She rushed closer to him and put her hand on his forehead.
Sachiko was almost positive she saw a hint of pink on Yuki's cheeks.
"You do have a fever," Miki said.
"Well, it's best to treat these things early," Shigure said, rifling through the medicine cabinet for cold medicine. "Take some medicine, get some rest, all that. I think I have just the thing here..."
"Maybe you should stay home from school tomorrow," Sachiko said.
"No, I'm alright. It won't have to come to that," Yuki said.
"Are you sure?" Sachiko asked. "We are supposed to do our endurance run tomorrow. I'd skip that for anything."
"Oh, so they still have those?" Shigure asked. "It seems almost cruel, making you kids run around in the cold."
"It is cruel," Sachiko muttered, already dreading having to get up for school the next morning. "It's torture."
3_3_3_3_3
"We are supposed to do our endurance run tomorrow. I'd skip that for anything," I heard Sachiko say.
"Oh, yeah," I said. "That is tomorrow."
Kyo jumped up and threw open the door. "An endurance run, huh?" he asked.
Didn't I just say that? I wondered.
Kyo chuckled. "A set distance...a certain time to beat. In other words, it's a race!"
"Getting awful excited, isn't he?" Sachiko mumured to me.
I shrugged.
"Alright, rat boy! Tomorrow, we're going to find out who's the fastest!"
"Kyo," Miki said. "Yuki's starting to come down with a cold."
"A cold? !" I asked worriedly.
"Kiks!" Sachiko said, grabbing my arm before I could see if Yuki had a fever. "We already went through this."
"Oh," I said, sitting back down and blushing a little.
I glanced at Kyo, and he looked away when I did. I blushed again, trying to will it away.
"So you better give him some medicine and put him to bed," Kyo said to Miki. "He's not getting out of this one." Then he went off hollering about how the race was on, and how he was going to win.
The three of us shook our heads.
Yuki coughed.
"Here, take one of these," Shigure said, handing Yuki a pill box. "All joking aside, remember, if you strain your body too much, you'll transform. Don't overdo it."
"I know," Yuki replied.
Something told me Shigure had warned him about this many times before.
;;;;;
"This is not a good idea," I heard Miki say as I walked into her room, toweling off my hair after getting out of the bath.
"What isn't?" I asked, sitting on her bed with Sachiko.
"Letting Yuki go to school tomorrow."
"Oh, yeah," I said.
"I think we'd all feel much better if he stayed home," Sachiko said.
"He'd get some peace and quiet from Orange-top at least," Miki said, glaring at the closed door as if she were daring Kyo to walk by just then.
"You seem awfully worried about Yuki," Sachiko commented.
"A cold can get serious," Miki said.
"Especially since he has asthma," I said.
"Oh, yeah," they said together.
Seriously, I thought, was I the only one that remembered that?
"Remember what used to happen to me when I got a cold?" Miki asked. As I've said, she had asthma, too.
We all shuddered, then laughed.
A few minutes after that, Sachiko and I went off to bed.
I had another run-in with Kyo in the hall as he was going into his room (which was one to the right of mine, if you're facing into my room).
He looked at me for a moment, then exhaled and looked at the floor. "I meant what I said."
I looked at him.
"Earlier, I mean. Thanks...for what you said. I can be...anti-social, I guess. Never thought someone in this house would get that."
I smiled a little and nodded.
He rushed into his room, almost as if he were running from something.
I laughed quietly, then went into my room.
Sure hope tomorrow goes alright, I thought, what with Yuki being sick and Kyo so intent on winning this so-called "race." Well, what could possibly happen?
;;;;;
The next day, our entire grade and the grade below ours (a.k.a., Sachiko's grade) were out for the endurance run.
"Why can't they do this stupid thing when it's warmer out?" Sachiko wondered, annoyed, as she zipped up her track jacket.
"Because it would make sense," I said, rubbing my arms with my hands.
Miki didn't comment, but walked over to where Yuki was tying his shoes. "Yuki, how are you feeling today?" she asked him.
He smiled at her reassuringly, then at the two of us. "Don't worry," he said. "I think I'll be able to manage." He got up and stood next to us. "Besides, if I don't do this, that stupid cat will never let me hear the end of it."
Kyo was crouched on the pavement near us, practically hissing at Yuki.
"Wow, Orange-top's in full cat-mode today," Miki whispered.
"Oh, you noticed?" Sachiko asked sarcastically.
We all looked up at the sound of the whistle.
"Alright!" our teacher called. "Girls, you're up first! Please make your way to the starting line at the gate."
"Well, gotta run," Miki said as we started to walk away.
"Good luck!" Yuki called after us.
We all turned and waved.
"Saki, don't pull out of this with a 'bum ankle', okay?" I asked.
"When have I ever done that?" she asked, as if she were hurt that I would accuse her of such a thing.
"Last year," I said. "And the year before that, and the-"
"Okay. I know what you're going to say. 'Running with friends makes it go faster.'"
"It's true," Miki said.
"On your marks! Get set!"
It's not a race, I kept reminding myself. Geez, you're starting to sound like Kyo.
That thought startled me. So much so, that I didn't start when the gun went off. Miki and Sachiko had to literally tug me away from the starting line to get me going.
"You okay?" Miki asked.
"Fine," I said. "Couldn't be better!"
They looked like they didn't believe me.
Nothing fools them, I thought.
After that, the three of us kept a steady pace, not caring how many other girls passed us.
"I think the boys are starting about now," I said as we came to a bridge.
"I hope Yuki's alright, like he said," Miki said.
"Don't worry," Sachiko said. "Everything's going to be-" She stopped and looked down a grassy hillside to our left.
We stopped, too.
"What is it?" I asked.
"There's...someone down there..." She ran off down the hill.
We shrugged and followed her.
A head of white hair came into view. An old man? I wondered.
"Excuse me," Sachiko said when we got closer.
When he looked up, I saw that he wasn't an old man. He was probably around our age!
"We're sorry, but we saw you from up there, and thought that maybe you needed help. Not that you look like you need help! I-"
Is Saki...babbling? I wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Have you ever heard of a place called Sohma House?"
We looked at each other, then at the guy.
I wonder, I thought. His hair is unusual... White with a black hairline... Maybe-
"So, by any chance, are you a Sohma?" I asked.
"That's right," he said. "So you know it then?"
"Oh, yes," Sachiko said.
Before she could say more, the guy looked up. He crawled back up to the road, then looked in the direction we had come from. "He's coming."
We looked at each other and followed him.
He took a rope out of his coat pocket, tied one end to the guard rail, and strung it across the road.
"Um...what are you doing?" Sachiko asked.
He didn't answer, just crouched on the grass, rope in hand.
This guy seems a little...out there, I thought. Yeah, speak for yourself, Kiks.
We heard the sound of quick feet hitting the pavement a moment later. There are only two people I know who can run that fast, I thought.
Sure enough, Yuki and Kyo were getting closer. Just as Kyo was about to run by, the guy tugged on the rope, tightening it, and tripping Kyo. Kyo fell flat on his face on the asphalt.
"Got him," the guy said.
Miki stood, staring at the Kyo, her eyes wide.
"Ah! Kyo!" I rushed over to see if he was still conscious.
Sachiko, surprisingly enough, laughed. "Another one bites the dust!" she cried, laughing harder.
The guy smiled at her reaction, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
I knelt down next to Kyo. I couldn't try to lift him; I was afraid he'd transform. I put my hand on his back and started shaking him gently. "Kyo?"
He didn't move.
"Kyo, are you alright?"
Suddenly he shot up. "What was that? !" he shouted. "Dammit! I was winning and everything!"
"Well, if I hadn't tripped you, you wouldn't have stopped, now would you?" the guy asked.
"Haru?" Kyo asked in disbelief.
"By the way," the guy (Haru, I assumed) said to no one in particular, "what I just did was very dangerous. And if that had been anyone other then Kyo, he probably would've been hurt pretty badly. So don't try this at home."
Sachiko started laughing again.
"Don't try it here!" Kyo yelled. "Who are you even talking to? !"
"So now it's Haru," Yuki said quietly. "They just keep showing up, don't they?" He turned to Haru. "Shouldn't you be in school?" he asked as Haru stood up.
"Yeah..." Haru started. "Well, I left on Sunday with the intention of coming here, but I was swept away into the heart of a dark urban wilderness, and it took my three days to find my way out."
Yuki sighed. "Why don't you just say you got lost?"
"Seems very proud of himself," I said sarcastically.
"His sense of direction's as crappy as ever," Kyo said, rubbing his forehead.
I stepped in front of him, and, before he could stop me, lifted his bangs off his forehead. "You're not bleeding," I said.
He started and turned away. "Yeah...well, I could've told you that."
I smiled.
"Well, if you're gonna get lost, that's a pretty impressive way to do it," Sachiko said, standing as well.
Miki and I looked at each other, the same question written on our faces. What's up with Saki? It reminded me of when Sachiko and I had been wondering what was wrong with Miki...when she was around Yuki.
Geez, is this really going to happen like this? I wondered. This is crazy. And it seems all too coincidental.
Then again, nothing in our lives has been exactly...normal lately.
I looked down the road, and noticed more students coming. "Um...do you think we should move somewhere off the road?" I asked.
"That might be wise," Yuki said. "Oh, ladies, this is Hatsuharu," he said, gesturing to Haru.
Oh, so Haru's a nickname, I thought.
"He's in your grade, Miss Fujioka." Yuki faced Haru. "Haru, these are the ladies that have been staying with us. Miss Miki Miyamoto, Miss Kiku Oshiro, and Miss Sachiko Fujioka."
"Well, ladies," Hatsuharu said, bowing, "it is a great pleasure to meet all of you."
"Oh, no, the pleasure is all ours!" Sachiko said as we bowed back.
She sounds...flustered, I thought, wondering when the last time I had heard her sound flustered was. I couldn't think of any time before when I'd heard her sound flustered.
Then I evaluated Hatsuharu. He's very polite, I thought, despite the appearance his clothing gives him. What with the boots and the gloves and the trenchcoat and all, you'd think he was with the Yakuza or something. Okay, so maybe nothing that bad, but you'd think he was into some shady dealings. Or raves or parties or something.
He seems a lot more grown-up than you'd expect from someone in middle school. Of course, I could say the same about Saki, too.
Speaking of Saki, are those stars I see in her eyes?
