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A WILTED FLOWER

Chapter 2 - Crashing into Fate

About six more years had passed by ever since the day that Kyo had left the orphanage. It was now November 15th and Kyo had recently just turned seventeen, reaching the stage right before manhood. He wasn't really living out the dream of a normal person exactly, but, nonetheless, he was content with the way things were. He wasn't anything quite as successful, like a lawyer, or a businessman, not even close. Instead, he had become a full time, infamous bandit. A Shadow Bandit, to be more exact.

The Shadow Bandits were those kinds of people that were usually found in the newspapers, or on the media, and they were always on the run. They moved around quite a lot, fearing that they'd be caught by someone of higher authority, but that hadn't happened just yet. The team was made up of six members; Hotori, the leader of the bandits, Ayame, Shigure, Momiji, Haru, and Kyo. Kyo had been the fourth proud member of the group, and he'd been with these bandits since age ten, and had worked very hard to become a respected member of their gang. They were pretty much his family, excluding the whole father mother thing, but they were all like siblings to him. They would fight and curse at each other on daily intervals, but mo matter what, they always looked out for one another, just like brothers did.

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Kyo lay on the dewy blades of grass outside, staring up at the clouds that moved gradually across the clear blue sky, bored out of his mind. That's when a shadow loomed over Kyo, darkening his view, and causing Kyo to turn his head up to see Haru standing above him.

"You're in my way,"

said Kyo tiredly while tilting his head to the left, trying to get Haru to move out of the way, but he didn't even make an effort to move an inch. All he did was stand there with the same sullen expression and stated,

"We need more food."

Kyo sighed and gave up on the peaceful view, sitting up, and pushing a hand through his feathery hair. He rolled his eyes and asked with annoyance, "So what do you want me to do about it?" Haru answered by throwing a small brown pouch in Kyo's direction, and Kyo caught the small pouch with one hand, shaking it lightly, hearing the light tinkle of coins crash against each other. He raised an eyebrow at Haru and asked sarcastically with a bored expression, "So let me guess, you want me to go buy some?" Haru crossed his arms over his chest and smirked, "Exactly." Kyo threw the little bag up and down in the palm of his hand, not in the mood of putting up a fight over this, after all he had been bored, so why not just do this one little errand? He shrugged and then got up from the ground, letting out a huge yawn before growling out, "Fine," before placing the money into his deep pockets, walking off into the city of Kyoto.

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And I thought the criminal life would be less... dull.

Kyo was dragging his feet out of the grocery store, holding packs and packs of ramen in the two plastic bags that he held sloppily in the crevice of his fingers. He yawned overtly while strolling casually around a street corner, thinking about what the gang was going to do tonight, it had to be more exciting than grocery shopping.

He was so lost in thought, thinking about what he was going to do tonight, that he didn't even notice when he collided right into a person that was rounding the same corner as him. He saw apples, oranges, and all kinds of fruit fly into the air all of the sudden, and he stumbled back an inch, looking down at the person he had just crashed right into. He saw that it was a thin pale girl with long, silky brown hair, that rested just below her shoulders, and she was grimacing in pain, while dusting herself off. Kyo didn't even move an inch while he watched her stand up carefully and stoop down a few times to pick up each and every fruit up from the pavement. When she finally finished placing all of the fruits into her plastic bags, she bit her lower lip and looked up at him earnestly,

"I'm so sorry for bumping into you! I should have been looking where I was going. I mean I guess I was so lost in thought or something, or I was probably looking down at the ground too much! I feel so stupid for not noticing you there, and I'm just terribly sorry...Oh gosh, I'm such a klutz...so sorry."

The girl was doing some definite babbling, and that's why Kyo had let an amusing grin slip onto his face, watching the girl rush on about how sorry she was. When she finally wrapped up her seemingly long and odd apology, she peered up at his face to see what he would say next. He gave her a strange look and then shrugged with an eye roll, waving it off and answering nonchalantly, "Whatever." Kyo brushed right past her and was about to walk away, but the sound of her voice made him turn back around,

"Wait a minute!"

He saw the girl racing up to him with the grocery bags bouncing up and down in her hands, rustling loudly. She stopped in front of him, her hand over her heart while she stared up at his hair for a long moment, making him begin to feel a bit uneasy,

"What the hell are you looking at?"

he asked rudely, starting to get somewhat flustered from her staring problem. She blushed and then whispered out unconsciously, "Your hair..."

"Excuse me?!"

Kyo yelled out incredulously, causing Tohru to snap out of her trance, making her blush to a dark crimson shade that was unknown to mankind, beginning another flow of apologies, "I'm so so sorry! I-I was just so amazed by your haircolor and and umm...it reminded me of someone else's hair that I used to know. Oh gosh, forget about this. I-I'm so sorry. So very sorry!" She bowed her head down curtiously and was about to run off in the opposite direction, but this time he was the one that stopped her. He pulled her by her frail wrist and she twisted back around so that she was face to face with him, her heart pounding in her chest. Her eyes melded within his and he searched them for a while, asking in a less harsh tone than before,

"What is... your name?"

Her eyes widened at this sudden question, and she stuttered out softly, "Tohru... Honda Tohru." He dropped her wrist immediately and could not believe his eyes. Was this a dream? It couldn't be. He felt a chill run through his body and he wasn't sure what to say next, but all he knew was that he couldn't let her know the truth about him. He had to face it, he wasn't the same innocent boy that she used to know. He was branded as a criminal now. The bad guy. There was no way that he could let her know that. No way.

He gulped and turned away from her, unable to look at her anymore. She was surprised at this action and then she asked him very quietly, "May I ask of your name?" Kyo shook his head very slowly and replied back in a rasping voice, "You... don't want to know my name. You don't want to know me... so let this be our last meeting." Once the words tumbled out from his mouth, he dashed off into the distance, racing away, just like the first time he had run away from the orphanage.

It seemed that this was the only solution to his problems. Running.

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The whole gang was sitting down on the floor, playing cards and drinking with satisfaction, until they heard the loud bang of the door strike loudly against the wooden walls, causing all of their heads to snap up in unison. Kyo stormed in, throwing the bags of noodles onto the floor.

"What's up with you?"

asked Shigure while taking a swig from the sake they had pilfered from a liquor store the night before. Kyo snapped back angrily, "None of your business!"

"Geez... talk about attitude!"

said Shigure in a mock hurt voice.

Momiji smiled brightly at Kyo and placed his cards down, bouncing over to Kyo, "Kyo-kun, what did you get for us? Candy?!" Kyo sighed and opened up the bag that was laying down on the floor, revealing the packs and packs of instant noodles. Momiji cheered with his fists pumped up in the air while he rummmaged through the noodles, nearly drooling, "I can't wait to eat these! I love beef!!" The yellow haired boy waved the package of beef noodles in the air, extremely ecstatic over the fact that there was now beef entering their lives. Hotori rolled his eyes at the boy's love for beef and set down a winning card, causing the rest of the gang to groan while slapping their cards onto the ground in failure. Hotori looked up at the rest of them with his intense eyes, "Allright people, now that we're all together, we've got a job to do tonight." Kyo stretched his arms over his head and muttered out, "Finally. I was so damn bored today."

And I need to get my mind off other things...

"So what's the next mission, captain Hotori?" asked Ayame, while saluting resolutely at him. Hotori just shook his head and said with a deadpan voice, "What did I say about not calling me captain Hotori?" "Sorry! It won't happen again, cap--I mean, Hotori-san!" Hotori continued on, "Well, we're going to do a bit of raiding tonight, because money is pretty much running low right now. Ayame, Shigure, and I saw this decent looking house out on the road today, and we're thinking that they've got to have some good money hiding around in there somewhere. So what do you guys say?" He looked around the room to see smiles spreading across their faces. Kyo shrugged and leaned against a wall, cooly answering, "I'm in." The rest nodded and agreed to this, all hungry for some action.

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The long hand and the short hand of the clock struck twelve together, signaling that a new day had just begun. Midnight dawned over the city and the whole gang was loitering around outside the modern house they were about to steal from, all dressed in black, gloves and everything. Haru nodded and signaled for Shigure to hide somewhere at the front of the house on lookout. Momiji and Kyo then carefully and quietly climbed up the side of the house in ease, almost like ninjas. Kyo slid the window open silently and pushed it open very slowly while Momiji crawled in like a shadow, not making a single noise. Kyo signaled down to Hotori that Momiji was in, and Hotori nodded back. Kyo slipped in right after Momiji, closing the window again, checking around the room that they had stepped into. The room was completely obscure, so Kyo blinked rapildy, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness to see that the bed was made, but there was no one in it, thankfully. Kyo opened up the polished drawers, rummaging through the clothing that were neatly folded inside. Nothing. He bent down and went on to the next drawer, finding a small bag, then he proceeded by opening it up to see wads of money popping out from the top. He smirked and placed it into his own black bag, creeping along to the next room. After checking out most of the house, Kyo ended up with a few valuable things that were safely tucked inside his bag. When he saw Momiji in the shadows, Kyo nodded at him and they both went back into the room that they had first entere. Momiji slipped out first, just as quietly as before and just as Kyo's hands were touching the cold panes of the window, he heard a small gasp that sounded almost like a hiccup come out from behind him. He didn't even look back to see who was there, he just jumped out of the window, scrambling all the way back to the car where the rest of them sped off into the distance, in a panicky rush.

Tohru raced up to the window where the man had just been perched upon, poking her head out the window to see the smoke of the car fumes vanish and diffuse into the air. She felt her whole body begin to shake when she surveyed her ransacked room. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and all her drawers were hanging open. She sat very still onto the edge of her bed, chewing on her lower lip, unsure of what to do next and what she was going to tell her "parents" when they got home. She looked back at the window, hoping for something good to happen, and that's when a shiny string on the edge of her window pane, caught her eye. She went over to the window and picked it up, holding the string against the moonlight, seeing clearly now that it was not a string, but a short strand of hair that had most likely flown off of that man. The strangest thing was... the strand was bright orange.

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Kyo leaned against the headrest of the passenger seat and exhaled out a long breath, muttering out, "That was too close..."

Ayame concentrated on the road, and stopped short in front of the cabin, gripping the wheel so hard that his pale knuckles were whiter than snow.

"Well, I'm sure whoever this person was, didn't see anything. I mean what was there to see anyway? Not like you turned around or something,"

said Haru with his arms folded across his chest. Shigure nodded in agreement and then he pointed greedily at their bags while they all stumbled out of the car, asking, "So, let's see the goodies already!"

Once they were all back inside the cabin, they flicked on the light switch and poured out the contents of both bags onto the floorboards with huge greedy grins plastered on their faces. Golden necklaces, coins, bills, bracelets, and diamond earrings slid out of the two bags. Momiji laughed out loud and dove his hands into the mountain of goods, scooping up the treasures into his small hands and throwing them into the air like confetti, while cheering out, "Yahoo!!! We're rich!" Everyone watched as the little boy nearly rolled around in the valuables, not showing their happiness quite as overtly as Momiji was, but they all had smiles on their faces.

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"Eh?!!!! You were robbed?!!!"

Uo slammed her hands flat down onto Tohru's desk, causing it to rumble, and Tohru to cringe backwards. Hana placed a hand, that was polished with black nail polish, onto Tohru's shoulder stating plainly,

"I will personally kill whoever has done this." Tohru laughed nervously at the both of them and reassured them,

"I-It's nothing big! I didn't get hurt or anything... um... we'll just get things replaced, not too much was taken. So please don't worry."

Uo huffed and sat down in her seat noisily, muttering out, "Dammit... I bet it was those damn Shadow Bandits..."

"Yes... we must find them and personally kill them."

"U-Um... please, no violence involved Hana-chan!" Tohru sighed and looked at her concerned best friends that were grumbling under their breaths about how this could possibly happen. Tohru turned to face the window, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

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After school Tohru waved goodbye to Uo and Hana, calling out over her shoulder, "Bye guys! I'll see you two tomorrow!" They both waved back joyously and then turned their backs to her, walking in different directions while Tohru walked off by herself. Tonight was the first night of her new job at this cleaning place she had recently been hired at, and she was going to work her hardest to earn back the money that was stolen from the house the other night.

Tohru entered the building and changed into her cotton blue uniform, tugging at her collar, and tying the white bandana tightly over her head, pumping her fists way up into the air, "Allright! I'm ready!" Tohru's lips were drawn together and her eyes had a sparkling glint of determination burning deep inside of the. The other two cleaning ladies admired this young girl's burning determination to work and smiled. Tohru tightened her fists together and proceeded with her first task, taking out the garbage. Tohru raced around the building, picking up garbage here and there, and then ran furiously back and forth with either a mop or a broom. She worked long, sweating hours of doing the same routine over and over in different rooms, and by midnight, her arms were sore, and her legs were screaming for rest, but she couldn't just yet, since she still had to journey her way back home. Tohru staggered out to the exit, waving as energetically as possible to her two helpers, "Bye! See you tomorrow!" The two women waved back and smiled at Tohru, calling out, "Bye Tohru. It was really a pleasure to have had you here, you were a wonderful help." Tohru smiled at them one last time before leaving the building, letting the cool breeze whip her hair across her face. She couldn't wait to get home, and take a quick hot shower, and then go to bed, she was dead tired. The street lights flickered above Tohru and she shivered a little, hoping that there would be no danger coming along the way. She was rubbing her hands together for warmth when she saw something that made her come to a stop while passing by the local park. It was the same boy with the golden orange hair that she had accidentally bumped into before earlier that morning, except now he was laying on the slides with his arms resting behind his head.

Tohru steeled herself up, and then walked right into the park, heading straight towards him, thinking to herself,

I have to find out... if it's him. I just have to!

She stood below the slide, looking up at him expectantly, and then she finally said, "Um... hey." Kyo's eyes flicked open and he looked down to see where the voice originated from. When he saw who the voice belonged to, he felt his heart stop beating and his throat get itchy, but the symptoms quickly vanished in a few seconds, and he muttered back in a tired voice,

"Hey..."

Tohru looked away a bit and then asked tentatively, "Is it allright if I sit here with you?" Kyo shrugged and hopped off of the slide, startling her. He stared at her with his piercing maroon eyes for a couple of seconds before grumbling out coldly, "Fine with me, I was just leaving anyway." Tohru could feel the hot tears filtering into her eyes as she cried out uncontrollably, "Kyo-kun!" Kyo stopped when he heard his own name coming out from her mouth, unable to take another step. He slowly turned around 180 degrees and saw her eyes glistening with wet tears, making him look down at the pavement in shame. Tohru stepped closer to him and whispered out strongly, "It is you, isn't it?"

Kyo shuddered and then whirled around, muttering out,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tohru sniffed and pulled her jacket tightly against her, determined to know the truth. She paused for a moment and then asked quietly, "So you're names not Kyo?" Kyo could feel his tongue lose all of its moisture and his throat start to burn when he realized that he had no clue of what to do or say next, so he decided to just stay silent, letting the cricket's chirps fill air. Tohru looked away from his back and then whispered out with a hurt tone, "Please... please answer me."

Kyo felt his fingernails dig deep into the palms of his hand and he turned back to face her again with a glare, wallowing out, "Why do you care so damn much about me anyway?! Not like I'm that freakin' important!" Tohru could feel a miniscule smile cross her lips as she inquired softly, "So it really is you..." Kyo made a face when he realized that he had just slipped. Tohru shook her head soflty and felt the tears spilling out from beneath her eyes as she croaked out, "I can't beleive that I'm actually seeing you again, it seems like it's an illusion, but it's not. It's really you..." She then looked up into his glowing eyes, admitting with sincerity touching her voice, "I missed you so much..." Kyo stared down at his scuffed up sneakers for a long time, wanting to say 'Me too,' but no words came forth. She didn't seem to be put down by his lack of words though, because her eyes had gained sudden new light that sparked beneath the surface of them as she asked excitedly, "So do you live around here?" Kyo frowned and looked away from her jubilant stare, hesitantly answering, "I guess you could say that." Tohru didn't get the hint of his awkward answer and pressed on, "So, what school do you go to?" His cinnamon eyes grew darker and he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, replying tersely, "I don't go to school." Tohru sucked in a breath and then answered back simply, "Oh...." She thought for a while, then continued to question him, trying to be as casual as possible, "Um....so what have you been doing lately?"

I've been stealing other people's belongings...I'm a friggin bandit! A thief! A damn criminal!

Kyo could feel all the emotions swarming around in his stomach, and he finally just let his anger fly out of him while he yelled out harshly at her, "Would you stop with the damn interrogation already?!!" Tohru gulped and grimaced, taking a step back from him, whispering out, "I'm sorry..." Kyo squeezed his eyes shut, regretting every last word that had just fumbled out from his tongue.

Dammit...

He placed a cold hand onto his burning forehead, taking a long deep breath as he told her quietly, "No, I'm sorry... you know what? I'm just gonna go now. Later." Tohru opened her mouth, but relinquished the thoughts of everything being the same between them again. She just shut her mouth and then cast her eyes downward, nodding morosely at him, and then she squeaked out a small, "Bye..."

Tohru took a deep breath of the freezing air, watching him walk away, hoping desperately that he would turn back to her and tell her how much he had missed her and how much he longed to talk to her again; but he didn't turn around. He just kept walking off in the other opposite direction, very gradually. She bit her lower lip and could almost feel it bleeding, but she ignored the pain in her lip because the aching in her heart hurt far worse than the physical pain. She let out a long exhale of foggy breath and then turned her heel, walking down a lonesome road by herself. After what seemed like a minute or so of walking, she froze in alarm when she heard pounding footsteps race up behind her, causing her to rapidly turn around and see Kyo skid to a short stop right next to her, a kinder look spilling over his usual callous features. She asked, unable to keep the confusion from tainting her voice,

"Is something wrong?"

Kyo shook his head with celerity and then stared down at the ground for a long while, as if deciding on what to do next. Things felt so awkward at that moment, but then an astounding warmth filled her body all of the sudden, surprising Tohru. She looked down and her eyes widened when she saw that he had gruffly grabbed her thin wrist into his rough, yet warming hands. His cheeks were tinged with a rosy color and he quickly turned around, pulling her along the empty and dark streets of Kyoto, grumbling out, "I don't want you to get hurt... it's dangerous out here at night you know!" Tohru still had that befuddled look on her face at first as she stumbled along the road behind him, but then she felt a genuine smile turning up her lips, and soon she wasn't able to wipe the silly grin off of her face while she let Kyo pull her along the long road, thinking to herself with hope restored in her mind,

This means... that maybe he does care about me…

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