A/N: Okay, I realise that I haven't updated as frequently, but I'm hoping that I can update at least once a week. I'm not sure how many chapters I'm going to write, but hopefully not more than, say 10. I don't really want to draw it out extensively.
Thank you notes are at the bottom of the page.
I have lost
Beauties and feelings, such as would have been
Most sweet
-S.T. Coleridge
Kaoru
The grey light of the overcast sky played over the water as the reflection changed with each heaving movement. The tide bringing in the soft lapping of the water closer to her, its constant movement echoed in the overlapping time of reality. "I'm just not good enough, am I?" She had left the question, and Misao, behind her as she had slowly walked away. She had thought that the lake could no longer give her comfort; all there was in the world was anger and pain. The peace and tranquillity that the girl and the lake once shared was gone, shattered by the shallowness of life. She had given up her emotions; they had only betrayed her in the past. So she had shut them away and closed her heart to feeling. The quietness of the dock emphasised the sound of the water lapping against the posts beneath her.
Kaoru walked up to where Meguimi, Tomoe and Misao sat at their usual table surrounded by their other friends. As she got closer she saw Tomoe whisper into Meguimi's ear and Misao looked away. The two remaining pairs of eyes were looking at her with two very different glares as she approached the table. As Kaoru sat down she suddenly felt very cold.
"Hi guys, what's up?" She asked brightly trying to cover up her uneasiness.
"Did you see that old beat up car out the front today? So rustic." She tried to fill in the awkward silence with a comment that left an acidic bitterness in her mouth.
"We don't joke about things like that, maybe that was all that they could afford. How could you be so uncaring?" Tomoe announced in a cool voice.
"Love the sweater though." Tomoe then said flippantly, motioning towards the attire the girl was wearing. Her face fell ashen at what Tomoe had said and she turned to look pleadingly at the stone faced Misao. Meguimi was sitting next to Tomoe and had stared at her hands during the entire exchange.
"That's enough Tomoe." Meguimi had said quietly while looking up into Kaoru's eyes, pleading for forgiveness.
"What's it to you?" Tomoe responded, glaring at Meguimi. The sleeves of Kaoru's jacket disappeared as she clenched her fists.
"I'm going to the library." Misao said quietly as she removed her gear from the table and stood up. Meguimi frowned at the retreating figure's back but suddenly blushed as the two most popular guys walked up towards them.
"Akira! Sano! Sit here..." Tomoe coyly said to them, then looked at Kaoru shooting daggers at her through her eyes.
"She's just leaving."
The summer holidays could not have come soon enough. Tomoe treated her with cold contempt, eyes turning venomous whenever Kaoru was around. What had changed? Was she not good enough to be their friend anymore? What about Misao? She had suddenly become a library recluse. Any time a confrontation appeared she would pack up her bag quietly and disappear.
A cold wind rushed past as she sat on the dock, jolting her from her reverie. The girl pulled her jacket closer around herself as if to give comfort only realising that the wind was attempting to do the same. Her hands had scrunched into fists at the passing memory, but anger, she had learnt, solved nothing. She moved across the creaky boards of the dock towards the mountains on the opposite side of the lake. Misao, Tomoe and Meguimi were positioned in different places on the dock, each lost deep in thought.
She looked past Tomoe to find a small boat. Upturned and left until it was used again sometime in the future yet chained to the present. Like her current situation, although, it seemed, that she was chained to her past, not her present.
The mountains in the distance formed dark peaks and grey behind them intensified their darkness. It was only the absence of the dock that held her back. The dock had been through so much but had stood against time to be as it was today. Although not without consequences, the comfort she sought from it was slowing waning. The lake echoed the girl's sigh as she leant against one of the posts and slowly slid down the length of it to land softly on the cold wooden boards.
Why couldn't I have seen it earlier? What was it that I could have possibly missed?
The girl's long dark hair shook as she tried to clear her head of the past memories. She wanted to be herself, was not that enough? Kaoru looked down at her now crumpled sleeves. Her hands always seemed to give her away.
Thanks to:
Feral Panda Chick - Yeah, I don't think that all the girls get much attention either, although I have made them totally out of character... I'm not sure if it's working though.
gabyhyatt - I understand your sentiments, but I chose Kaoru because I don't think she gets all that much attention as her own character. She's usually shown as a sidekick and hardly gets any fighting scenes.
Everybody else - Thanks for reading my story, even if you haven't reviewed!
On a side note and a bit of blatant self promotion, check out Adverse Situations, which is another fanfic I've started.
THANKS HEAPS! And review please! Hit the blue button... the one in the corner... Even if it's only a few words or complete critique of my work, it would be much appreciated.
