i am truly sorry for the whole non updating factor, but i got all caught up in school and the sudden case of writer's block, so please forgive me and continue to enjoy the following chapters. I'll still try to finish my other story Complete, for those of you that still read that, but I'm also currently on writers block with that story too OO sooo.... just please enjoy this chapter for now. I know its a bit short... but bear with me here ;D

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS EVERYONE 3 3

WILTED FLOWER

Chapter 5 - Vindicated

"Catch it! Catch it!"

The round red ball soared through the air and landed right into Kyo's open arms. The kids at the orphanage erupted with screams and cheers as they began to jump up and down, crowding Kyo's body. Kyo cracked a childish grin and he pumped his fist up in the air, shouting,

"Hell yeah! Team Red kicks so much ass!"

Tohru was sitting at the benches with a small smile playing on her lips as she watched Kyo and the other kids playing kick ball together. Currently the team Kyo had been on had won. Tohru watched as Kyo seperated from the screaming children and strided over to Tohru, a smirk gliding over his lips. He plopped down next to her, his smirk tiding over into a big grin as he asked with mock conceit,

"So did you see my grand catch?"

Tohru giggled and nodded with genuine excitement,

"Yes, and it was amazing!"

Kyo rolled his eyes and smirked again while watching the kids get into another round of kickball without him this time. Tohru looked down at her lap and then glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, a deep blush dawning over her milky white skin,

"Um... I was surprised that you came out here today, and I'm just... glad."

Kyo felt his face flush red and he scratched the back of his head nervously, answering back with his usual gruffness,

"I was just... uh... bored! Nothing special."

Tohru nodded again with a smile and then looked at her watch, her eyes widening with dissappoinment and panic all at once. She shot up from the bench and Kyo mirrored her move as he asked with alarm,

"What's wrong?"

Tohru looked over at him with panicked brown eyes and then she quickly gave him a small wave while brushing off the seat of her pale pink skirt,

"Um, I have to go! I was supposed to be home a while ago and I lost track of time and everything. I'm sorry! Bye!"

Before Kyo could lift his hand back up in return or offer to walk her home, she had already raced off at top speed. Kyo shrugged off her strange behavior and began to slowly walk back to the cabin, he sighed when he realized that everyday he was beginning to dread going back. He hated the way that they were able to just steal without feeling a tinge of guilt piercing their very souls, and how they were just so carefree about everything. It was really beginning to piss him off. These past few days had been pretty much torture for him, he had felt awkward and different with the people that he thought were like family to him, what had changed?

Everything.

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Once Kyo entered the room, tension filled his lungs when he heard the five of them all talking excitedly about something. When they spotted Kyo, they all lifted their heads in unison. Momiji immediately spilled the main details of what they were talking about,

"Hey Kyo!! Guess what? We're planning on getting a TV!"

Kyo raised an eyebrow at them and then plunked down onto a spot of the dusty floorboards asking dubiously,

"Getting one? Or stealing one?"

Haru rolled his eyes and placed his hands behind his head nonchalantly,

"Obviously stealin' it. Geez, what's up your butt?"

Kyo gulped with his teeth clenched tightly together and he averted his eyes away from the group, answering solemnly,

"Shut up. I was just making sure."

Hatori shrugged on a new leather jacket that Kyo had never seen before, tossing the car keys at Ayame who snatched it out of the air. Hatori then opened up the door, commanding,

"Let's go then."

They all headed out of the door, one by one, Kyo being the last one to go out. He hesitated at the door, but then when he looked into Hatori's familiar eyes he gulped and then hurried out of the door with his head held down in shame.

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It's all because of her...she changed me.

Kyo stared into the glowing flowers that gleamed in the shimmering sun as he waited impatiently for Tohru to arrive. When he finally heard soft foosteps approaching, he whipped his head around and saw her familiar figure standing a few feet behind him. He froze and nearly forgot what he had originally came there to do, but after a few moments of staring into her eyes, he remembered it clearly again. His hands shook with fear as he stepped closer to her,

"Good morning Kyo-kun! You're here very early tod--"

Kyo cut her off rudely and brashly interrupted, "Look, I have something to say to you."

Tohru's eyes filled with curiosity as she asked innocently,

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

Why does she have to make this so damn hard?

Kyo cleared his throat and advanced closer, but then stopped to turn his back to her, unable to stare into her huge brown eyes any longer, they were too pure to be tainted with pain.

"I...don't want to speak to you anymore."

Tohru wasn't sure she heard right when the words tumbled rapidly out of his tight lips. She softly asked with a furrowed brow to clarify things,

"Wh-what?"

He turned around, his eyes burning now with false fury and genuine pain,

"I said... I don't want to speak to you ever again! I'm... I'm tired of pretending to be your friend. I only spoke to you because.. because... I felt...."

His voice dwindled downward to a cowardly whispter as he finished his sentence,

"Sorry for you..."

Wet tears filled her hurt eyes and he felt his heart knot up inside his body as she stuttered out with a throaty whisper,

"You don't mean that Kyo..."

Her purity and kindness made him burn with anger as he yelled out so loudly that he swore he could feel the earth shake beneath him,

"SHUT UP! Let's just pretend that we never met, got it?!"

"You don't mean it... You don't..."

"I SAID SHUT UP!!"

Her hands shook as she wiped a solitary tear from her widened eyes and she finally asked with a d thick and shaking voice,

"Why are you being like this? Why are you acting this way?"

Kyo simply ignored her questions and brushed past her coldly, ignoring her pain and her tears. Before he knew it, he had broken into a fast run and the scenery around him transformed into a blur as he felt the moisture hit his cheeks, and it wasn't water. It was tears.

You did the right thing. Now the guilt should melt away... I shoule be free now.

Vindicated.

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