After I moved in to Kazuma's house, I would stay in my room except at night, when he came to get me for martial arts lessons. I learned karate, and by age nine, I was a black belt. I spent more time learning karate, but whenever Dad went out with the boy who wanted to kill me, and another boy I had never seen before, I would practice Tae- kwon- doe, and quickly mastered that too. I was getting to the point where I could beat Dad, but of course it was kept a secret. After I was able to beat him, Dad said that he didn't feel like I had anything else to learn in martial arts. The only time he ever came up to my room was to tell me he was leaving and for how long and to give me something to eat. Occasionally though, Dad would come up to talk to me.
Since I had been told I had to be home- schooled, Dad bought me a computer and a bunch of software that would help me excel. He bought me a large bookcase and enough books to put on it and then some.
One night, when I was twelve, Dad had left with the two boys. I decided to go for a walk in the garden. He had specifically told me that he was going to be gone for three and a half hours, and that I was to be in my room in three.
Since it was a beautiful night, I was by the pond in the garden. I was entranced in the beauty of the flowers and other plants that I didn't realize that someone was watching me from behind an oak tree. I started to sing a song that came naturally to me, you know, the kind that just comes out as you make up a tune.
"No one told me,
What it's like,
To be alone
No one showed me,
How to act,
In the real world"I sang softly
Someone else started to sing the rest of the lyrics in a low voice:
"So tell me,
What it's like,
To be alone
So show me,
How to act,
In the real world"
"But once you do,
Tell me,
What it's like,
To be with someone
Once you show me,
Tell me,
You always want to be
Together"
The stranger and I sang the chorus together, making a sweet little melody to the words of a raspy song. I turned my head to find the person who sang with me. "Hello? Is someone there?" I asked.
A boy with white hair and black roots came out of the shadow. He looked like he was a year younger than me, and was wearing a karate outfit, "Hello. Someone is here." He said, coming towards me. I looked at him afraid that he was going to hurt me, "Don't worry Orangey, I'm not here to harm you. I just want to know where Kazuma is."
I sighed with relief, "He already left. I'm Shisoshoyo Sohma, who are you?"
"Dang it! I'm Hatsuharu Sohma. Since you are all ready out here, would you like to be friends with me?" He asked.
"Yes! That would be wonderful Hatsuharu- Kun." I said excitedly. I finally had someone else I could talk to! Sure, Dad was nice to talk to, but sometimes it gets lonely talking to just him.
He came over to me and took something out of his pocket, "I want you to have this necklace as a token of our friendship." He said, putting it around my neck, "I hope we can always be friends. By the way, you can call me Haru.
"Me too." I said, hugging him. He gasped, "Oh yeah! I forgot to say that I'm a part of the zodiac too. I'm the cat."
Haru sighed in relief, "But there is already a cat in the zodiac." He said, confused.
"I'm a cat though." I said, wanting to prove it to him.
Shi, why do you always follow me?
I don't want to lose you Kyou. A thought just all of a sudden came to me, "Haru- san, do you know a Kyou Sohma that looks just like me but a boy?" I asked.
"Yeah, why? He's the one who's the cat."
"I vaguely remember having a brother named Kyou. I think we were maybe twins, but don't tell anyone." I said, putting a finger to my lips.
"Ok-"
"I'm sorry Haru-san, but I really have to go. I should have been in my room by now." I said, glancing at my watch, "It was nice to meet you. Bye."
After my encounter with Hatsuharu, I was happier than normal, I behaved better, and I believed that being happy was an option. Dad had no idea that I had met anyone that fortunate night, and I had no intention of telling him. Then one day, when I thought that I could be no happier, something else happened when I was fourteen.
One day, Dad had to go to a Karate convention. Before he left, he came up to my room, "Shi." He said, "I have to go to a convention until tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to leave you here alone, but you must be careful when you go downstairs, because Kyou, that's the name of the orange haired boy, will try to hurt you. I will be back as soon as I can. I love you Shi. Oh yes, don't break anything while I'm gone." He said, smiling.
"Yes, Dad." I said. As soon as I saw Dad leave the house and was a good mile away, I decided to go downstairs and find this boy to give him a piece of my mind.
I walked down the stairs, but didn't see anyone, "Now where could this Kyou-Kun be?" I asked out loud.
"You mean the one right behind you?" Someone asked, scaring me so much that I fell down the rest of the stairs. "Are you okay?" Kyou said, rushing down the stairs toward me.
"Ow! I'm fine, just a couple of bruises and scratches, but nothing serious." I rubbed the back of my head. Kyou helped me up. Once I was up, I got into the defensive position in karate.
"Why do you want to kill me?" I asked.
Kyou also got into the defensive position, "Me? Shishou said that it was you who wanted to kill me." He said, obviously getting angry. I noticed that he had a bracelet just like mine on his left wrist. I came out of my position.
"Dad told me that you wanted to kill me. Are we talking about the same person here?" I asked.
"If you mean Kazuma, then yes." Kyou also got out of his defensive position, "I'm-"
"You're Kyou Sohma, yes, I know. I'm-"
"Shi Sohma? Then that means that you're my cousin?" Kyou asked.
"That would be me. I'm not your cousin though. I'm your sister." I
said, trying to jog his memory, "Remember the little girl who would always follow you around? That was I."
Kyou looked at me like I had something on my face. "My sister? That means that we were never apart?" He asked. I nodded and gave him a hug.
From then on, we kept the fact that we knew one another a complete secret. Little did we know that one day our secret would get us separated.
