A/N: Yay! I finally updated this fic! Not many people read it though. *cries* I like it! Well... I also wrote it... ^_^;; Don't give up on me because of all me slow updating on all of my fics! Thankies! Now go R+R!!! *grins*

Perfect Stranger: Stardustangel

Chapter 4: Starting on a voyage to the past

Stepping into the spacious school yard Akisa tilted her head to view the sky. Sakura petals fluttered through the air and the sight insisted her mind to take a voyage down memory lane, a place best locked up for the past was not pretty. The pale girl knew that Yuki was still following her every movement even as she turned around to ask him a stabbing question.

"So.you've replaced me."

Taken back by shock and stunned by the abruptness of the question Yuki's mind raced to explain himself.

"Replaced?" A timid chuckle emanated from his mouth, "Nobody can possibly replace you.you're.special." a wistful smile then appeared. "Special."

"As I've said, no one can possibly replace you; you'll always have a claim on my soul and a special place in my heart." A slightly incredulous laugh this time, "Is it possible to love two people equally yet differently? To love them both so much that you can't possibly choose one over another? Yet to think back that you can never deserve all that love in the first place?"

"I'm sorry Yuki. I'm sorry, I thought it might have been best that I never came back, but I so wanted to see you again. I'm selfish aren't I?"

Timidly Akisa wrapped her arms around her and bowed her head.

Yuki was stunned once again at her behavior, so uncharacteristic from her usual self confident nature. Worried, the youth walked towards the withdrawn figure and instinctively wrapped his arms around her to hold her tight. It was then that a vision from the past decided to relieve itself.

~.~.~.~.~.~FLASHBACK~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Yuki, you're going to have a new playmate today. I hope you get along well with her for it's very important that you do. She is a very important part of the Souma family and I hope you treat her like the unique person she is." A six year old Yuki looked at his mother apprehensively, a new playmate? All the other people he had met didn't like him very much, his own aniki spent more time outside the grounds than in.

Before he could form a strong opinion of being thrusted into spending yet more time with another unknown playmate, his mother took his hand firmly and led him across the family grounds into a private looking backyard filled with sakura trees in full bloom.

"Akisa-san?" His mother called quietly as if she was talking to a scared animal.

"Akisa-san?"

They went around the corner when the woman got no answer to her calls. There Yuki's eyes landed on another creature that looked around his age, she was elegantly dressed in a kimono that covered even her feet and her long raven locks were held in place by ribbons. In her small hands she cradled a single blossom gently.

"Akisa-san? Oh there you are! How are you feeling? You should have answered when you heard me calling. Oh, never mind that, look! I brought you a playmate!"

Midnight eyes differed their attention from the swaying blossoms and focused on Yuki's small form. Her porcelain face seemed too small for her eyes.

"Playmate?" The word was said in a small voice but it held an unusual quality to it.

"Yes, this is Yuki." The petite girl only gazed wordlessly as the introductions were made.

"Yuki, this is Akisa-san, now I'll leave for you children to get acquainted with on another" the woman then turned her back and left soundlessly without looking back once.

Once the woman left, Akisa diverted her eyes to view on the blossom in her hand. Tears hit the petals but the girl was still.

Yuki stood there feeling awkward and useless. He didn't know how to help the girl who cried silently by herself, not trying to seek comfort. 'She is like me' he thought, 'alone in this world, I don't know what happened but I can still feel her wordless sorrow. We are flesh vessels with broken souls, lonely without contact. I've already learned that as a Souma, I am destined to be forever alone, contact with others I cannot afford. Cursed forever, forever cursed. I wonder what her sorrow is, I wonder if there's hope."

With that thought, he boldly went up to the silently grieving girl and wrapped his arms around her, not caring if he turned into a horrid animal or not. Their loneliness was the same so it did not matter; he just wanted to comfort another that felt the same pain. But to his great surprise, he didn't change forms. Yuki was still Yuki and the crying girl stopped her tears and smiled faintly at the contact.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~END OF FLASHBACK~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Yuki-chan? You're not mad?"

"No Akisa, I'll never forget you, or replace you."

A small smile now graced her pale face and her eyes glitters with relief.

"You've probably hear about Honda-san from the main house, right?" A nod was used to confirm this statement.

"You're right, I do have an attachment to her, and I love her.although I don't have the courage to tell her that." He stopped at this point to organize his thoughts. "But, I love you too, you know that, we've spent so many years together, and then you were suddenly wretched away from me." Yuki tightened his grip on her at that thought unconsciously. "I thought that I would die, I crawled back into my shell, and your brother," a shudder ran through his lean frame, "did everything in his power to make me miserable." Another shudder wracked his body.

"It's okay" she said quietly and leaned slightly into his vice-like embrace, "It's okay." she said as if to confirm it verbally to herself that everything is fine. "We have all day to go through the memories one by one, no need to rush it all now"

A/N: A decent lengthed chapter done! ^_^ R+R, I would love to hear your comments.