Author's Note: I just burnt my late-night rice. I think the water to rice ratio was off or something. I've never burned rice before. I feel pretty inadequate right now.

Anyway, here's another chapter. I like posting old stories because then I don't feel pressure to write faster.

Enjoy!

Chapter 6 (This Time Imperfect)

Kita woke up the next morning and couldn't for the life of her figure out where she was. She turned off her irritating, buzzing alarm clock without opening her eyes and tried to decipher her location by pure feeling; she was too sleepy to actually look around. She wasn't on the futon in Hatori's guest room, nor the comfort of her own bed although this one was very comfortable. It was bigger than the bed she had at home and the sheets were made of the most creamy soft material.

Then it occurred to her that she was in her new room. She snapped her eyes open. She was in the main house, in her new designated room, adjacent to Akito's by a seemingly thin wall. And today is her first day back to school since all this has happened. She groaned. Yesterday was Monday and she and her friends had taken the day off for the funeral but now she had no excuse but to go to school.

Kita threw back the sheets and swung her legs over the side of the bed, giving herself a moment to remember where the bathroom is. When her memory came back, she gathered her face wash and make-up from her nightstand drawer and indolently made her way across the hall.

The only make-up Kita wears is cover-up. It's the only make-up she has ever worn aside from the little extra on a special occasion. Ever since she was nine years old, she's been using all sorts of cover-up to hide her imperfections. When other girls were secretly slopping on pastel blue eyeshadow, Kita was trying to decide which foundation was a better match for her skin tone. Throughout the years, she has been improving her technique. She's gone through bottles of foundations, tons of cover sticks, and various powders until she found the right ones and the best method of application. She has gotten so good at it that she only owns one bottle of foundation, one cover stick, and one powder compact and she doesn't even have to use all three every day.

But don't think that Kita has anything abnormal to cover: pimples, redness, the occasional bruise, or, in this case, scratch, but never anything so horrible that no one should be allowed to see it. But she doesn't want anyone to see any of them so every morning she covers them up.

After thoroughly washing her face, Kita took out her cover stick and dabbed it along the scratch. It was getting less visible but it was still there in all its dubious glory. She grabbed the compact and swept powder over the cover-up to set it and make it last all day and then put a thin layer of powder over the rest of her face to cover up any uneven coloring.

There, she thought, looking in the mirror. I'm about as ready as I'll ever be to face today.

She walked back to her room and got dressed in her uniform which had been cleaned last night by one of the servants and was neatly hanging on the back of her door. As she dressed, she took a good look at her new room and decided that there wasn't anything worth changing about it. The walls were a pale blue-green color and the drapes were an indigo shade that kept the light out of her room well on sunny mornings. The bookshelf looked very personalized with Kita's pictures, CDs, books, and movies that lived harmoniously among the books that were already there and some abstract pieces of art. The tiger lilies added to the relaxing mood of the room. She wondered if they were there as sort of a funny addition, since she is the child of the former tiger. It really was a nice room, even if it was a temporary one, and Kita thought she would enjoy looking over the books that were there before she moved in when she gets home. Strange how it's already home even if it has yet to become home.

She filled her bag with her schoolbooks and left her new room, in no hurry.

She started walking down the hallway but stopped only a meter away from her door. Akito's room. Should she stop in and say hi? He was so nice to her last night and she was living with him after all. It seemed only right.

Kita knocked quietly on the door in case he was still asleep but there was no answer. She reached for the handle, figuring that if he really was asleep, it wouldn't matter if she checked in on him quickly. If he were awake, he would have said something so she wouldn't have to be afraid of walking in on him getting dressed or anything like that. Not that he would mind if she did.

She had barely started to apply force to the door handle when a voice from behind startled her.

"He's sleeping."

Kita jumped and whipped her head around. She was met with Kureno's imperturbable stare.

"Good morning, Kureno. Um, I just wanted to greet Akito but I guess..."

"I'll make sure he gets the message." Kureno interrupted.

"Thank you." Kita said, letting go of the handle.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Kureno asked. "I've been informed to keep your portions small but there are a few options in the room down the hall."

Small potions? Does Akito think I'm fat or something? Kita wondered. Kita had never thought of herself as being fat or skinny for that matter. She was healthy-looking with a slender shape that some may have described as a bit boyish because of her not-particularly-pronounced curves. Well, I guess I am in comparison to him, she thought, deciding not to let it get to her. He would probably think anyone is large since he is so thin. It doesn't really matter; he still likes her regardless.

"No thanks. I don't eat breakfast and I should probably get going anyway. I didn't realize how much further away this place is from the school." she said.

"Alright. Have a good day." he said, already taking off in another direction.

"You too." Kita shouted down the hall.

She walked outside into the cold January air and took a deep breath. Whatever happens today, I can't allow myself to break down, she thought. When I get back to the main house, I can be as broken-down and teary-eyed as long as I want with my door closed and no one around to hear me.

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Her body wearing down quickly, Kita fell back against the wall, allowing her knees to give out. She slid onto the floor like a ragdoll, her arms and legs immobilized in the volatile mixture of overexertion, malnourishment, and desolate emotions. Existence was too much to handle.

Her day was only about three quarters of the way through and she couldn't fathom how she would be able to live through that last quarter. She felt sick but she knew it was a psychosomatic sort of sickness. Her mental state was affecting her physical health. On top of that, she couldn't concentrate on what was being taught to her and she could barely hold her head up properly.

Currently, she was supposed to be in gym class but she couldn't bring herself to change for class, never mind the actual physical activity it would require. Instead she walked to an empty corridor and collapsed. The failing grade she'll receive for the day doesn't mean a thing. She's going to graduate in two months anyway.

All of this stress is too much. Kita thought back to last year when it was big news that some first year girl named Tohru Honda had lost her mom in a car accident, leaving her orphaned. She had come to school with a big smile and an obnoxiously perky attitude like she was all better. Bullshit. You can't just change your emotions like that. I may be a liar, thought Kita, but at least I don't try to pull a complete one-eighty in my behavior. I would like to meet this Tohru Honda one day so I could try to understand why she seems to have taken the Sohma family by storm.

Kita could feel the familiar choking feeling of tears starting but resisted. She remembered how her dad used to console her and tell her to cry but not too much because she could make herself ill. She should heed that advice.

"Kita? Is that you?"

She heard a male voice to her right but couldn't find the strength to lift her head off her shoulder and look. In the empty hallway, the boy's light footsteps were audible to Kita as he walked over to her other side so he could view her better.

She lifted her eyes up from the floor and saw Hatsuharu standing over her looking concerned.

"Kita. I haven't seen you in months. You don't look good." he said, sizing up the fallen girl on the floor.

"I look how I feel." she said, simply.

Haru was having a hard time believing the image before him. Kita always looked so happy with her friends and in crowds of strangers she would fade away, but he had never seen her look torn like she did now.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Apparently news doesn't travel fast in-between grades. Everyone in Kita's homeroom knew about her father but the story had yet to travel around the Sohma house. It will soon enough.

"My dad died Saturday night." she said, eyes dropping to the floor again.

Haru's gray eyes widened. How is it that no one has said anything?

"I'm so sorry." he said. "I wish I could have gotten the chance to meet him. I heard he was a really funny, generous guy."

Kita tried to nod but couldn't. "He was."

"Where are you living now? You aren't living on your own are you?" he asked. Living on her own seemed like the kind of thing Kita would do. She was always a bit of an independent, even though she loves company from people she cares about.

"No, I'm not. I'm living in the same place as you now."

"You're living at Sohma House!" he asked, dumbstruck.

"Yeah." she said, unenthusiastically.

"Where exactly?" he asked, trying to figure out why their paths haven't crossed.

"In the main house, next to Akito." she said, monotonously.

Haru calmed down at the mention of Akito. He had heard rumors about his infatuation with Kita when they were little kids but he didn't think anything of them. Maybe they weren't just rumors...

"Kita!" someone shouted down the hall. This time Kita was able to lift her head off her shoulder and look to see who it was, even though the voice was unmistakable. Raidon was running towards her dressed in his gym uniform.

"Kita, what happened?" he asked quietly, now aware that she had been talking to the white-haired boy in front of her.

"Rai, I fell and I can't get back up." To her own ears, she sounded like a gloomy drunk who turned up in an alley in the bad part of town.

"This is Haru by the way." she said, motioning to him. "He's a Sohma and a first year."

"Nice to meet you." Hatsuharu said, bowing respectfully. Raidon eyed him confused for a second and then timidly bowed as well.

"Nice to meet you too." he said, the words feeling strange. It was rare for Raidon to be meeting someone who was polite and civilized. Usually he met people who would take one look at him, scowl, and walk away. This Haru guy though actually reminded him of himself a bit with his ear piercings, dyed hair, and placid humor.

"I should get back to class. You can take over from here right?" Haru asked Raidon. He nodded and sat down on the floor next to Kita.

"I'll see you around Kita."

She tried to verbalize some sort of response but couldn't find the words before Hatsuharu disappeared from the hallway.

"Rai, you can go back to class. I don't want you to fail because of me." Kita said weakly.

Raidon put his arm around her in a friendly embrace.

"I dressed, I was there, I participated, I'm fine." he said. "However, I should probably go get Hoshi if we're going to ditch gym to hang out here. She'd slaughter us if she knew we were just wasting time sitting while she had to run and that you were all broken like this and she couldn't help fix it."

Kita cracked a smile. Hoshiko hated gym more than Raidon and Kita combined. She was probably cursing them right now.

"Okay. Go get her." Kita said, feeling a little better.

"Alright. Now don't get any crazy ideas like moving or anything like that." he said with a feigned commanding tone, pointing at her.

Kita's smile spread a little wider.

"I promise I won't do anything of the sort." she joked. It was nice to be reminded that she still had people who cared.

In spite of how well that part of the day went, it all went downhill from there. When Kita got back to the main house, she locked herself in her room and refused to come out for anything. The day had worn her down so badly all she could think about was lying in her bed for the next twelve hours. No dinner. No visits. No Akito. He was sick anyway.

He wouldn't want to see me if he's sick, Kita thought. I have nothing to leave this room for.