Sakura Cherry Blossom: I give Takari's Baybee permission to add this story to Tea and Biscuits for the Takari fan's Soul.

Title: Invisibility Curse

Author: Sakura Cherry Blossom

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A petite brunette sat in one of her most boring classes. Study Hall. She always finished her work before she left a class so, she very rarely had homework. That earned her the title of nerd. What's more she was shy. She never knew what to say to people or thought they wouldn't even want to hear about her boring life. Her only friend, Miyako, had moved to Kyoto the year before. That left her without any friends. Everyone teased her and she believed it when the popular girls called her ugly. Her mom tried to convince her that wasn't true, but to the sophomore, it was just her mom trying to cheer her up. She was somewhat athletic so, after being turned down by the cheerleading squad, she tried volleyball. She really liked it. It got her mind of off being alone all day. She was like an invisible mouse. No one noticed her except her older brother, Taichi, and her parents. She figured if she could just make it through the day that would be fine with her. Such is the life of Hikari Yagami.

On the other side of the room a blonde hared boy eyed her curiously. He envied her for not having homework. Of course if he disciplined himself he could probably achieve that goal. He'd rather clean his older brothers room. He was the star basketball player and the subject of every girls daydream. He got a workout just running from the crazed fangirls that followed him everywhere. It was annoying. He was trying to figure out his math problem, but his blue eyes kept drifting over to the brunette across the room. Something about her intrigued him. His friends all said that she was stuck up and that's why she never talked to anyone. Somehow he suspected differently. She seemed more lonely than stuck up. He wondered if she even had any friends. He never saw her with anyone. Before he could think about her anymore the bell rang.

"Hey Takeru, come on. We got practice." One of his teammates said as he left

the classroom.

Takeru Takashi was only half listening to what Ryo said. All day he hadn't been able to think about anyone else than the petite brunette with the soulful brown eyes he shared every class with. Thank goodness he had practice to get his mind off her.

Hikari took the last book from her locker and placed it in her backpack.

Practice had been long and she just wanted to get home and forget about the day.

She walked outside and headed towards the bus stop only to realize she'd forgotten her pass at home. She sighed and started for home. It was at least two miles away from school. She'd probably make it home in time for supper; that is if her dad was late getting home from work. She hated being invisible.

None of the girls on the volleyball team liked her. Better yet, no in the whole school liked her. She'd begged her mom countless times to home school her, but her mom wouldn't. She finally reached home. It was after dark and she knew she'd have to re-heat her dinner. Tomorrow was Friday and the start of Spring Break. She was looking forward to it. Any anti-social person would love a whole to week to just forget about the world. Besides, her brother would be gone the whole week for some college field trip or whatever.

Takeru walked towards his first period class, Creative Writing. He loved it and got good grades in the class. He wanted to become a writer someday so, it was a perfect match. He was just about to step into the class room when he heard a crash in the hall. He turned to see a certain brunette sitting on the floor with her books spread out everywhere. The most popular girl in the school was yelling at her for running into her. The brunette muttered an apology as she began to gather her books. Hikari reached out for her history book only to find someone else's hand already there. She looked up into a pair of deep blue eyes and froze. THE captain of the basketball team was standing right in front of her. She could have died. He handed her the book and she found it hard to make her hand work so she could take it from him.

"Thanks." Hikari said softly.

"Your welcome." Takeru replied. "You really should watch where you're going.

You could get hurt."

"I'll try and remember that." Hikari said standing up.

Takeru walked into class and Hikari followed. The rest of the morning she couldn't stop thinking about him. Since when did she start obsessing about boys like Miyako? As she left practice that afternoon she noticed it was raining.

She was supposed to get a ride form her brother, but of course he was late. She sat outside on the steps and watched the rain fall outside of the overhang. The rain always seemed to fit her mood better than any other kind of weather. She heard the door open behind her but didn't bother to turn around and see who it was. Instead she looked at her watch for the hundredth time.

"Waiting for someone or just enjoying the scenery?" A somewhat familiar voice said behind her.

Hikari turned to find the captain of the basketball team standing next to her.

"I'm waiting for my brother." She answered. "He should have been here an hour ago, but as usual he's late. Probably to hung up on his girlfriend to remember me."

Takeru couldn't help but notice the sad tone in her voice when she said the last sentence. "May I join you? I'm waiting for my brother too."

Hikari nodded that she didn't mind and he sat on the step next to her. They sat and watched the rain for a while. Suddenly Hikari's cell phone rang.

"Hello. Really? No that's o.k. I understand oniichan. I'll just walk home in the rain and hope the rain drops don't see me. Maybe if I catch pneumonia someone will miss me at school. Bye." Hikari hung up and shoved the phone in her bag before shouldering it. She was about to walk out from under the protective overhang when a hand on her shoulder stooped her.

"You shouldn't walk home in this. You'll probably get something worse than pneumonia." The blonde said to her.

Hikari didn't turn around. "So, it's not like anyone cares about me. I'm just some stupid stuck up nerd that this school would be more than glad to get rid of."

"I'd miss you." He said to her. She turned to look at him with a shocked look on her face.

"You're kidding right? Half the population of this school doesn't even see me and if they do they ignore me."

"I'm not kidding. I noticed you the first day you walked into this high school. In fact I even remember what you wore that first day."

Her eyes went wide. "Now I know you're joking. This is some kind of prank everyone is going to laugh at when they come back from break. I'm sorry, but I have to go." Hikari turned from him and started running down the street.

Takeru ran after her and caught up while she was waiting for a light. "Hikari."

He said getting her attention.

She whirled around confused as to who was calling for her. When she saw who it was she was amazed that he even knew her name. "You want to keep torturing me for some sick little game? I've got feelings you know." She retorted.

"You've got it all wrong." He told her. "You want people to notice you for who you are inside instead of what they see on the outside so, maybe you should try practicing what you preach."

Hikari sighed. She knew he was right. "All right. I'll listen."

"I remember the first day of high school being very different from other first days of school. I was going over my schedule with my friend Ken Ichijouji when you and this lavender hared girl walked past. The two of you were chatting about something and I remember you looked so happy. I asked Ken if he knew who you were and he said that your name was Hikari Yagami and your friends name was Miyako Inoue. He was really good friends with Miyako that's how he knew you.  For some reason I couldn't stop thinking about you all day and it didn't help that you were in most of my classes. You had on a white, long sleeved top with the sleeves cut like a princess would wear. You had light blue jeans on and clear sandals. You also had two rose clips in your hair on either side of your head. You looked so confident and in charge. Like you could take on the world. There was something like an inner spark that lit up the whole room when you entered. I remember your smile was contagious and your eyes sparkled with excitement. The middle of the year, Miyako left and I saw you slowly deteriorate. Almost like a turtle retreating into its shell. You hardly ever smiled and your eyes lost their sparkle. You didn't seem to care anymore how you looked and you engrossed your self in school work. Not that it's a bad thing. For some reason you started letting what others thought of you dictate how you thought of yourself. I thought that maybe this year would be different, but it wasn't. I always wanted to tell you how I felt, but I never got the chance. Now you know."

Hikari looked into his eyes. She didn't notice it had stopped raining. Tears started to form in her eyes when she realized he was right. She never realized how much she had missed Miyako until this year. In her own way Hikari was externalizing and internalizing her feelings. She retreated inside herself and didn't take the time to care how she looked when she left the house.

"You're right." she told him. "I guess I didn't realize how much I missed

Miyako until she was gone. Maybe if I had stopped my little pity party I might have noticed that at least one person noticed me." She forced a weak smile as he wiped her tears.

"Would it be all right if I walked you home?" Takeru asked her.

"Sure Takeru." She replied.

Now free from her invisibility curse, she talked freely with him all the way home. She had lost one friend only to gain another when she thought that no one cared. It didn't matter if she was smart, pretty, fun, or popular. She just needed to give herself permission to be her. She smiled at that thought. A genuine smile that came from her heart.

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