Disclaimer: I own nothing...woe is me! I am merely a parasite, spawning off all of the good ideas coming from other guys. -_-'
Skellig:
3
Kaoru stared down at her plate. She didn't feel hungry at all. She was thinking about the noise from the garage, but to the casual observer, she seemed to be extremely interested in the different shades of green found on her peas.
Yahiko kicked her underneath the table, and Kaoru looked up at him. Yahiko was staring at her intently.
What's up? he mouthed to her.
Kami-sama, she didn't want to deal with him right now. She stuck out her tongue quickly, then turned her attention back to her plate. She heard him let out a disgusted breath, reaching over to get more rice.
"Kaoru," said her father. Kaoru forced herself to look up at him. "Why aren't you eating?"
The family's attention all turned towards her. Dislike mounted in Kaoru, though she hid it.
"Nothing. I just don't feel hungry right now."
Koshijiro Kamiya frowned at his eldest child. "You will eat. It's been a long day, and you're not going to eat at another time. Your Kaasan cooked this all for you."
"Ko-" Kaoru's mother started, but fell silent as he shook his head.
Kaoru did not dare let a growl of exhasperation escape her, instead, seizing her chopsticks and scooping a clump of rice into her mouth. She stared at them as she chewed. Koshijiro sighed, finding no other fault with her, and turned back to his meal, everyone else following suit.
~*~
"Kaoru?"
.......
"Busu!"
Kaoru knew Yahiko was trying to tempt her to speak. Though her temper flared at the nickname, she bit her tongue.
"Fine," Yahiko grumbled, and Kaoru heard his footsteps patter down the hall to his room.
Kaoru sighed, still flopped on her bed.
What do I do? That noise from the garage…It might not even be a person! Maybe an animal of some sort.
Kaoru sighed and stood up, going to her window. She stood to the side, at an angle where she could see part of the garage. Nothing was there.
What did I expect?Then some movement at the street attracted her eye, and Kaoru sunk down to the floor on her knees, peering through the window. It was a cat. Kaoru watched it for a few more moments, then was about to turn away, when another movement came.
What's going on? She thought, peering intently.
There was something in the tree across the street… It was an old court, her new neighborhood, and between the houses were trees and wild grass. It was more near to the wilderness.
Something white flashed through the thick foliage, and a second later, a girl dropped down from the tree. In the moonlight, the girl looked ghostly, like an angel. Kaoru couldn't see her too well, but she could see that the girl had long black hair tied into a loose ponytail. And she was wearing a white kimono, of all things! The girl fell to the ground in a crouch, like a predator, and she slowly stood up, holding her hands in front of her like a zombie. The girl walked past the sidewalk to the center of the street, putting one foot in front of the other as if she were on a trapeze, until she was a few feet away from the cat, which was crouched in front of her.
Kaoru watched intently. This was one of her neighbors?
The girl whispered something to the cat, which stared up at her, doing nothing. Then, suddenly, the girl reached forward and cuffed the cat across the head.
"Hey!" Kaoru cried out, angrily. But the sound wasn't heard through the window, and a second later, the girl whispered something more to the cat and held out her arms. The cat jumped into them, settling down, and the girl stood there for a while, head bent over the cat. Then she turned around and walked slowly back to her house, still one foot in front of the other, and disappeared inside.
~*~
The next day, Kaoru and Yahiko went to school for the first time in their new town.
The class was noisy and wild, completely different from Kaoru's former school. Kaoru sat in her desk, trying to pay attention to the lessons, but aware of the strange looks she got as being the "new kid". During lunch, she sat alone, watching the other children wistfully, when a tall girl approached her, who had been in her first and second period.
She had a habit of flipping her hair across her shoulder, Kaoru noticed, and was even wearing lipstick. Kaoru had never really cared for such things.
"What's your name?" the girl asked, her friends behind her.
"Kamiya Kaoru."
"I see. I'm Megumi Takani," she replied airily. "When did you move here?"
"About half a week ago."
"How come?"
Kaoru didn't answer.
"Excuse me?"
Kaoru sighed, looking at Megumi straight in the face.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to answer that question."
Megumi looked shocked for a second, then snorted, flipping her hair again.
"All right, if that's how you want it."
They walked away, but not before Kaoru caught Megumi looking back at her with an expression not quite as devious as it had been before.
~*~
The day passed, and Kaoru hadn't caught any glance of the strange girl she had seen last night. She had been hoping to see her…
Maybe she goes to a different school, Kaoru wondered, as she and Yahiko were being driven back on the school bus. They walked off the bus, and Kaoru glanced back at the tree across the street.
Behind the foliage, white cloth from a kimono was showing…
Kaoru walked off to the side, trying to get at an angle so she could see the girl better. The girl was leaning back against the trunk of the tree, sketching. The girl paused, then turned to face her.
Kaoru gulped. The girl's stare was intimidating, even though it seemed so blank…
"Kaoru!"
Kaoru blinked, turning around to see Yahiko walking up their driveway. "Hurry up!"
She wanted to yell a retort, but instead glanced back behind her. The girl was still watching her calmly. Kaoru watched her back for a few more seconds, then spun around and headed towards her house.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Author's Notes:
Ack, finally updated this. ^^' Sorry it took so long… Writer's block. Anyway, thanks a lot to the reviewers, but now I'm getting a little nervous. ^^' What if you all hate the book Skellig and you all tracked it down for nothing just because of my opinion? Heh, that'd be a riot… O_o''
Man, I get too many ideas. Already, I'm debating whether to do another RuroKen/Book crossover…Orororo...but that one would be considerably longer, as it's a trilogy. No, not Lord of the Rings. ^^' Eesh, well now that I've introduced another character, maybe I'll be able to go quicker, hopefully. Well, cyz!
