The air was damp and heavy, making it hard for Cho Mei to breathe even in the best of circumstances. However, rushing down five sets of stairs from the rooftop to escape the coming rain was hardly the best of circumstances. The first raindrop had yet to fall but there was thunder in the distance. Besides that, she had that feeling that always came with the rain...feeling alone. As she dashed down the steep stairway, she misjudged the distance to the next step and fell forward...directly into her father's arms. "Mei!" he exclaimed, helping her upright. "I was just coming to get you. Are you alright?" She nodded and he pushed a few strands of stray black hair from her eyes. "The color is coming out," he noted. "Are you going to dye it again?"
"I have to." She replied slowly and offered no explanation. She didn't have to. She couldn't let anyone see the red, ever.
"I wish you wouldn't." She frowned. He always said that but he didn't have to worry about the same thing.
"I'm going to, Hakkai," she said plainly and his smile faded. He hated the fact that she couldn't call him, "dad" or "father", or rather that she wouldn't. There was no blood relation between them. In fact, he didn't even hold legal guardianship over her after all this time. He'd never even tried to get it. The only reason she'd taken his last name was because she'd forgotten hers. Mei had forgotten most of her past.
When Hakkai and the other three had found her ten years ago, she was sitting in a pool of her own family's blood, holding a knife in her hand and crying. She didn't remember but she knew what she must have done. At the time, she was six and already a killer. Hakkai took her in because Sanzo-sama wanted nothing to do with her and Gojyo didn't want to have a kid around. She hadn't seen them in years.
She lowered her eyes and pushed past him. "Mei..." She paused. "Are you coming tomorrow?"
"Yes." No matter how much she didn't want to spend time with him, she wanted to see Gojyo again. The ride in the jeep was going to be a long one. Hakkai had told her about two hours.
"Is 9 a good time to leave?" He always asked, though she never believed he'd change plans if ever there were a conflict. She felt it was always best just to agree and avoid a conflict.
"Perfect."
"Do you want me to wake you up?"
"No. I'll get myself up."
Silence.
"Have you had dinner yet, Mei? We could go out for dinner tonight."
"No. That's alright. I'm not hungry. I'm just tired. I think I'll get some sleep."
"I'll see you tomorrow, then?"
"Tomorrow," she replied and hurried the rest of the way down the stairs.
Hakkai looked after her, the familiar smile far from his face. Why couldn't he connect with her? What was he doing wrong? At least they'd had a conversation that day, which was more than could be said for most days. Most of the time, he was lucky to get a cold stare over dinner. She hated him, though she was as polite and superficially kind as possible. All he wanted to know...was why?