Everyone Needs Someone
More then a few people slowed down or moved closer to look at the person sitting along on the park bench, his back straight with his head tipped up slightly to the sky as though to soak up the sun's rays. A very pretty face at that admired by girls and guys even after they realized that though it was a pretty face it was a boy's face. Dressed in light purple slacks and a short sleeved creamy white shirt with a Mandarin collar he was a striking sight and he knew it. Unlike most though he didn't care to attract attention and hated being reminded of the fact that he had pretty looks. A few girls wandered over to flirt with him but though he was polite and nice it was obvious he didn't want company and they soon left him alone. His eyes closed, shielding his beautiful purple eyes from the sun he came to a start when he felt something warm and moving on his left leg. Opening his eyes Yuki looked down to stare into the liquid brown eyes of a collie. Reaching out a hand Yuki let the dog smell him before petting the dog while Yuki looked around for the dog's owner but seeing no one looking like they were coming over or looking for a dog. Seeing that their was a leash attached to the collar Yuki assumed that the dog had got away from whoever was walking it. Leaning over Yuki grabbed it's collar and looked at the tags attached to it. Apparently the dog's name was Lassie and as the address was in English Yuki doubted he'd be able to return the dog. Taking the leash Yuki stood up and was about to walk the dog around on the slight chance that his owner would appear when he heard someone calling out the name Lassie. The dog responding to the name it started running down the path with Yuki hanging on as he stumbled along. Catching sight of a girl in jeans and a red t-shirt running towards them Yuki let go of the leash and the dog went running at the girl who dropped to her knees and opened her arms to receive her dog who happily bounded into them.
Touched by the sight Yuki turned to head back to the bench thinking that the dog was lucky to have an owner who obviously loved it so much. His hands in his pockets Yuki turned around only to hear the same voice as before call out for the boy in the Chinese shirt to wait up. Blinking in surprise Yuki stopped and turned around as he nearly crashed into the girl with the dog who came to a screeching halt inches from him. "Yes?" Yuki said politely as he looked down and into the girl's eyes. She was just a little past his chin in height with black hair as short as Kyo's and bright blue eyes that reminded Yuki of the sea. She was very pretty in an elfish sort of way Yuki supposed.
"I just wanted to thank you for helping Lassie find me." The girl said in Japanese though she stumbled on it a bit as it wasn't her first language. "I'm Hope." She added holding out her hand to Yuki and thought he was the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen. He could never be called handsome or one of the other terms guys would prefer but he was very good looking and making her forget all the Japanese she'd been trying so hard to learn.
Taking her small and decidedly delicate hand in his own Yuki shook her hand. "Yuki Sohma." Yuki said with a nod of his head thinking that her name suited her. She looked like a hope. "I'm glad I was able to help Lassie find you." Yuki added letting go of her hand intending to leave her.
"Sohma..I know that name!" Hope said then chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to remember where she'd heard that name, positive that she knew it from somewhere. "Oh yes now I remember. My dad knows a Shigure Sohma, we're going to visit him this weekend. Is he any relation to you?"
"Yes actually, my cousin." Yuki said in surprise not recalling Shigure mentioning any visitors this week, especially a girl. "I live with him along with another cousin and Tohru. I wasn't aware that we were having company, Tohru will be thrilled."
"Really? That's so great maybe I'll see you on Saturday then." Hope said as she clapped her hands together in delight. "My dad is a writer too so that's how he met your cousin. My dad said that your cousin is the only one he knows that can compete with him when it comes to driving their editors crazy."
"Yes Shigure is quit ruthless when it comes to driving his editor to the brisk of insanity." Yuki said with a wider smile on his pale face. "I will likely be around on Saturday, I look forward to seeing you and your family."
"Oh it's only dad and me." Hope said with a shake of her head as she walked beside him when he'd intended to walk away from her. "My mom left me when she found out that I'd become deaf, it was the last straw with her since her marriage to dad was already falling apart to begin with." Seeing his confused look since they were talking without her being in a position to read his lips Hope explained. "I was completely deaf up until a year ago when they did some surgery so that I can hear nearly perfect in my left ear and a bit in the right. I was born able to hear but I got really sick when I was six and nearly died but pulled through minus my hearing." Hope explained with a sigh remembering what it had been like to suddenly be transported into a world without the sounds she'd taken for granted for so long. "My mom's a musician and she had big plans for me..hard to be a musician when you can't hear the music." Hope said with a smirk though there was a tinge of sadness to it..
Stunned Yuki stared at her thinking that she had a really positive attitude considering that she had reasons not to. It sounded like she more then anyone could understand the cursed members of his family. A few of them had parents who had stuck by them but the majority had distanced themselves or tried out of obligation. "I know how you feel." Yuki blurted out then wished he could take it back. As their was no going back he figured he might as well finish it. "I was really sickly when I was born and had to spend a lot of my time indoors in bed while everyone else could go out and play..be normal." Yuki said though the Sohma definite of normal wasn't normal at all. "I have an older brother and he never wanted to stay indoors to play with me and my parents..my mother blamed my father for my condition since it runs in our family and my parents were always so cold and cool around each other and me. When I was fifteen I went to live with Shigure, I was better then though I still get sick occasionally. My parents are still together..but they'd likely be happier if they weren't."
"What about your brother, why didn't you go to live with him or do you still not get along? It must have hurt a lot that he could do all the things you couldn't and that he didn't want to stay inside with you. I remember getting angry at my friends for talking about movies or bands because I couldn't join in." Hope said as she reached out and took his hand, squeezing it lightly. "It's hard to always be on the outside of the crowd."
"Yeah, it is." Yuki said, surprised to realize she really did know despite her brightness. "And as for Ayame..well we're very different people. He's very dramatic and outgoing, always making noise and trouble. When Shigure offered to take me in I jumped at the chance to leave the family compound and Akito."
"Who's Akito?" Hope asked as she started to swing their hands slightly as they walked, Lassie behaving at a trot at her side. He was so pretty but the look on his face was so sad that it gave him an almost haunting quality. "You say his name with such..dislike."
"He's my cousin..he likes to make everyone connected with the family miserable and because he's the head of the family he usually gets away with it." Yuki said with bitterness, all the hatred coming through like a dam inside him had finally broken free. "I hate Akito more then anyone else. He's cruel and can't stand to see anyone happy. He drives away the people who love us and punishes us if we do anything he doesn't like. When I was younger I was his favorite toy to play with and torment. Because I was so weak he'd pick on me and beat me up, teaching me a lesson he'd say. He always told me that I was freak and that no one would ever love me because I was a freak of nature, a rat that no one would want. And I believed him for so long since no one ever stopped Akito when they could have, they could have said something to defend a child. My own brother and parents knew what he was doing but they didn't do a thing, not a damn thing to stop it. Sometimes I'd just get so angry I wanted to kill him with my bare hands." Yuki said feeling a sense of relief and a lightness he'd never felt before. Looking over at Hope he felt like someone had sucker punched him when he saw the tears running down her cheeks. "Hope..I'm sorry..I didn't mean to..I didn't mean to say any of that..I-" Yuki started but was stopped when she shook her head at him.
"You poor guy." Hope said as she turned and hugged his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "You were just a little boy and the people that were suppose to protect you just stood there and let it happen. If I had been there I would have shown that bastard a thing or two or at least I would have tried. If not I would have called up my cousins and gotten them to kick the jerk's ass for me. I have a cousin who's a blackbelt!"
"Well it was fine once I moved out of the compound, then I only had to see Akito at family occasions and then we're surrounded by people so the most he can do is talk." Yuki said, surprised but touched by her show of empathy and wanting to assure her that it wasn't as bad as he'd described it even though it had been. "Shigure is actually my brother's best friend but he's tougher..more in touch with reality. Kyo is annoying but he's gotten better since Tohru came to live with us three years ago. Tohru has that effect on people, she makes them want to be worthy to call her your friend."
"You love her a lot don't you?" Hope said catching the change in his voice as he talked about her. "Is she your girlfriend? How did you meet her?"
"She's Kyo's girlfriend and I do love her I guess but more as a sister or a cousin." Yuki said with a small smile. He'd once loved her as more then that but she'd picked Kyo and over time he'd accepted that and his love for her had mellowed into the love one would feel for a sibling or close friend. "She's our housekeeper as well since we're all terrible cooks and housekeepers. She was in my class in school three years ago and when her mother died she needed a place to stay for a while before she could move into her grandfather's house. When Shigure and I found her camping out in the woods near our house we offered her the position of housekeeper until she could go to live with her family. Soon after Kyo came to live with us after he came back from the mountains where he'd been living and it was the four of us until it was time for Tohru to move into her grandfather's house. Her cousins and their mother were also living with him and they treated Tohru badly so her grandfather told her if she wanted she could stay with us instead so she came back. She's been with us ever since and everyone thanks God daily for it. We live near our family's compound so most of our cousins have met her too and she just has this something about her that makes things seem brighter no matter how dark it may seem. What she lacks she makes up for with her ability to make others feel better and willingness to do what needs to be done or what's right no matter what the consequences are."
"She sounds like a wonderful person, I can't wait to meet her. I bet she's really smart and pretty too, huh?" Hope said already picturing this beautiful girl with the perfect looks and smarts surrounded by people making everyone happy.
"Actually not exactly." Yuki said with a chuckle as he thought of Tohru and how hard he'd had to work with Hatori and Hana to help Tohru with school. "She is pretty but not in a jaw dropping sort of way, she just..well you'll see what I mean when you meet her. As for smart she tried hard in school but she struggled with it too."
"Oh, now I know I'm going to like her even more." Hope said without shame. She couldn't stand people that were perfect in every way, she kept itching to check them over to see whether they were really flesh and blood people. "I bet you did well in school and had girls stalking you though."
"I did alright." Yuki said with a shrug though he'd been an honor student and in the top five of his class. "And as for the girls..well there were this group of girls that actually formed a..well a club dedicated to stalking me. They use to try and pick on Tohru because they didn't like seeing a girl with me. But Tohru has two friends named Arisa and Hana who took care of them whenever they tried to gang up on Tohru. Arisa use to be in a gang and is pretty tough enough to have guys afraid of her and Hana has this something about her..well she can seem very scary and dangerous if you don't know her. They're both devoted to Tohru though and they're rather like the three Musketeers I guess."
"They sound so wonderful." Hope said with a grin and realizing she was still walking with her head on his shoulder moved away to going back to holding hands which she liked a lot more then any other time she'd done it. "My dad and I are always moving around so the only way I can keep in contact with my friends is online."
"YUKI, hey Yuki wait up!" Came a voice from behind them and the three of them including Lassie turned around to see two people hurrying towards them. Well one of them was hurrying, the other was strolling behind with his hands in his pockets. The one running came to a stop then had to lean over to place his hands on his bright yellow shorts as he caught his breath before looking up at then looking like an exhausted Cupid with his blonde hair and blue eyes, not to mention the fact that his shirt was pink. "There you are, we've been looking all over for you. Haven't we, Kyo." Momiji added as he turned to look over at the orange haired boy who'd arrived, his reddish eyes rolling at Momiji.
"Where ya been, Rat. Do you realize we've been looking everywhere for you?" Kyo said as he crossed his arms across his black t-shirt. "You were suppose to be home an hour ago!"
"Since when are you my keeper, Cat." Yuki said with a dark look on his face.
"Hello, I don't think we've ever met before. I am Momiji Sohma and this is Kyo, we are cousins of Yuki's." Momiji said taking the hand Yuki had let go and kissing the back of her hand gallantly. "We're sorry to interrupt your walk but Tohru sent us to find Yuki since he's apparently forgotten what day it is."
"Hi, I'm Hope, it's nice to meet you, Momiji, Kyo." Hope said with a beaming smile thinking that looks most definitely ran in the family. Especially the pretty boy look if Yuki and Momiji were anything to go by. "I'm afraid it's my fault Yuki is late."
"I didn't forget." Yuki said through his teeth knowing exactly what day it was. Today was his brother's birthday and Tohru was having a party for Ayame that she was expecting him to go to. The thing was he had no wish to spend even two hours with his brother, especially his brother high on all the sugary treats Tohru was making or had been making when he'd left to go for a walk to get out of having to be there. "I guess I have to be going..I'll see you on Saturday." Yuki said as he moved over to stand beside his cousins. "Good bye, Hope."
"Good bye." Hope said with a nod as she returned Momiji's enthusiastic good bye too. Smiling wide she stayed where she was watching them walk away before turning around to head back home with Lassie happily walking beside her.