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WILTED FLOWER

Chapter 3 - Deep Secrets

"I'm sooooo hungry!!"

wailed Momiji, who was laying flat on his back, both hands raised over his head, and his eyes screwed tightly shut. Shigure laid down on the floorboards along with Momiji, and placed his palms over his grumbling stomach and said with a slightly whiney voice,

"Yea... my stomach has been complaining for hours!"

Hatori pushed up his wirey glasses and looked at the group that was strewn all across the floor in starvation, except for Ayame who was perched on a wooden stool, sporting his best lavender kimono. He then crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat with authority, inquiring with accusation,

"Well... who was the one that ate half the bags of ramen in one day?"

Everybody's eyes went straight to Momiji and he laughed loudly, while sitting up,

"Aww, you guys! I was hungry that day..."

They all sighed and Kyo muttered out under his breath,

"Nice going, idiot."

Momiji shot Kyo a pouty expression, but quickly recovered with his usual elated look, shouting out,

"Hey! We can always go and get some more ramen right now!"

Haru put down the magazine that he was reading, obviously now intrigued, and looked at Hatori, asking, "Yeah, how about it?"

Hatori crossed the room and opened up a dusty drawer, withdrawing a small velvet pouch. He then held the bag, open, flipping it over so that it was now upside down. They all watched to see what would come out, but nothing did, except for a few dust particles and lint mixed together. They looked back up at Hatori in confusion and he sighed out loud as he spoke as distinctly as possible,

"Apparently, we have no more money."

Kyo's cheeks burned when he realized that it was his fault that they were currently out of money so he croaked out,

"How about we just steal more then?"

Hatori looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully and then nodded with a small smile appearing on his thin lips, tersely agreeing,

"Good idea. Let's go."

The room burst out with cheers and claps, and then they all slipped into the appropriate black attire, ready for some action.

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The whole world was dark after midnight, and all six of the men dressed in black congregated in front of the tall house on 23rd street, surveying the empty streets with careful eyes. Then they continued to sneak around the house, surrounding all sides. Kyo and Momiji then crept into the ajar window, just like they had last time, and then, like mice, they scurried through each and every room taking all of the things that looked like they had some sort of value to them. Momiji left before Kyo did, while he rummaged through the drawers of a room, pulling out a golden necklace with a little locket shaped like a heart. He smirked and then stuffed it into his tight pockets, but his hand froze at the bottom of the pocket when he caught a glimpse of a child standing diagonal from him, hiding in a shadow with a teddy bear clutched in her hands.

Just run! Just run!

These thoughts chanted through his mind while he broke into a cold sweat. He tried to lift his shaking legs, but the small girl's huge brown eyes caused him to freeze in his place, feeling the guilt and fear explode all over his insides. She then whispered out with apprehension,

"Are you going hurt me, mister?"

Kyo's grip on the golden chain of the necklace tightened, and then he finally loosened his grip, letting the necklace fall into the pits of his deep pockets. His heart was thundering loudly in his chest, as he inched closer to the girl, watching as her eyes filled with wet tears. He said as soothingly as he possibly could,

"I'm not gonna hurt you..."

Pounds of worry seemed to immediately lift out from her eyes after his gentle words, and she then accosted him, not so scared anymore. Kyo gulped and then backed away, hitting against the drawer, rattling it loudly, when she got closer to him. He lowered his head, not wanting her to see his face, and then he gruffly said quickly,

"I...I have to go now. Don't say a word about this."

He then jumped out of the window in panic, with the girl watching him the whole time, a befuddled expression flooding her face. Kyo raced to the five figures that were standing by the car, and when they spotted Kyo running towards them, they all jumped into the car, with Kyo following close behind them. Kyo looked out one last time at the tall, dark house, and gulped when he swore he saw an outline of the little child's figure at the window. He shut his eyes tightly and listened to the blood pumping in his mind for a moment, and then opened his eyes again to see if she was still there, but he didn't have another chance to take another look at the window because Ayame was already racing away with his maniac speed.

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The next morning

"YUMM!!"

Momiji was happily slurping up a load of noodles into his mouth, letting the soup droplets splash all over the sides of his mouth, slowly dribbling down the edges of his chin. Everyone else just grinned and slurped along in unified content, all except for Kyo, who was brooding outside, up on the roof of the house, feeling extremely guilty. He sighed and bent his leg, feeling something uncomfortable in his pocket. He reached inside the depths of his pants pockets and pulled out a golden chain with a locket dangling at the end. He stared at it, entranced for a moment, before gathering it into his balled up fists, jumping off of the roof and heading to 23rd street. When he got there, he stared up at the tall white house, that looked so much brighter now in the daylight with the birds chirping a subtle song. He clutched the necklace in his left hand and then bravely marched up the steps to the house,loosening his grip on the necklace, and placing the chain over the knob of the door. He blew out a deep exhale and then backed away from the door, hoping that noone had spotted him as he raced away, back to the cabin.

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Everything feels like it's just piling on... all the houses that I've stolen from. I've felt nothing in the past... but after last night, I feel as if I've just woken up from a deep coma and into this parallel universe where I start to feel actual guilt for each and evey house that I've stolen from. Why? Why is this all happening now? What am I supposed to do?

Kyo sat up and stared down at the log roof for a while, his fists clenched tightly at his lap as he licked his dry lips, thinking,

I can't... tell them that I'm feeling guilty, they'll hate me, and they're all I've got. They're my... family. I'm just going to have to keep all these stupid feelings a secret, not like they mean anything right? The feeling will pass eventually.... I hope.

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Tohru sprinkled drops of water all over the flowers with the hose that was held snugly in her hands. She hummed a song as she waved the hose from side to side, making sure to spray each and every flower, doing her best not to leave any of them out. A tap was felt on her shoulder, interrupting her harmonic hums and she yelped, while accidentally turning around and spraying her companion. She let go of the hose and her hands flew to her mouth while her face turned red when she saw who she had just sprayed.

Kyo stood behind her with veins popping in his head and his hair was dripping with little droplets. He turned around and began to walk away but Tohru scrambled to her feet, running up to him,

"W-Wait! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there... I-It's just that you startled me and.. um.."

"Yea yea..."

Tohru lowered her head and asked shyly,

"Um... so what are you doing here?"

"Forget it. It's nothing."

Tohru fiddled with her thumbs and asked,

"Do you um... want to stay here or something?"

Kyo turned her way and then bit his lip hesitantly, uncertain of what kind of actions to take next. He walked past her and then sat down on the healthy green grass near the flowers and sniffed in the scent of the flowers that danced happily in the wind. He propped an elbow on his knee and his fire colored hair flicked through the wind wildly as he stared serenely at the flowers,

"I just...wanna sit here for a while if you don't mind."

Tohru shook her head with pink cheeks and stooped downward to pick up the hose that was down on the grass. She then continued to spray the flowers with water, watching Kyo out of the corner of her eye, smiling unconsciously.

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