I don't own Haru-chan or 'I Can See Clearly Now' I only have Sasaki to call my own from my poor-excuse of a brain
-Chapter 2: I Pick Up A Hobby Or Two-
You're worthless! Your own mother didn't want you. How could you think you're anything more than the dirt I step on? She must have really hated you if she gave you up like that.
A cold, dark, damp room.
Tears. Laughter.
Blood.
My eyes flashed open, springing upright. A thin sheen of sweat was covering my skin. Sunlight peeked through the thin openings in the drapes. A sprinkling of light in the midst of the darkness. I gulped, wiping away the sweat with the back of my hand. I wanted to hide back in the darkness again. But my body refused to sleep. I was up, awake, and alert. When was the last time I had truly been alert? I slowly stood up, uneasy on my own feet. I looked at the letter on my desk. It seemed to urge me up. And up I went.
After having a small panic attack figuring out how to work out the cleaning machine to wash myself, I dried off with a towel, wrapping it around my wait. Feeling hungry, I slipped down the staircase with still-wet feet.
Getting lost in the small house, I walked into another room by mistake. The walls were a light green color. There was a low table, a black rectangle, a empty shelf, and two other things: an oddly shaped bag and small... instrument? Did this body know this stuff? What was it, anyway? I picked it up, and turned it around. It was a very beautiful instrument. The wood was smooth and varnished, shining in the sunlight. Probably the most expensive thing I'd ever held in my life. I remember seeing a few in stores as we passed by them on the streets. I brushed my hand across the strings. It let out a slight thrumm. It was aching to be played. I put it down.
My eyes landed on the weirdly-shaped bag. I sat down next to it, placing my pale hands delicately on the tough material of the bag. It was black, with large patches of green on the sides. I felt for an opening, and saw a zipper. Tugging on it, I yanked the zipper open, bracing for whatever surprise was inside. I crawled away quickly, not seeing the contents. After a few moments, sure that there wasn't anything alive in it, I peered into the bag.
No dead bodies? Check. No creepy animals? Check. Instead there's a white uniform of sorts, a helmet, pants, a pair of sneakers, and a sword? Check, check and check.
I pulled out the blade with my left hand, feeling it fall smoothly into my grip. Like greeting an old friend. My legs shifted around a bit, as if my body was telling me it wanted to use these items, but I willed it to put the sword back down and close up the bag. I rolled it to a corner of the room where it stood upright, and took the ukulele with me.
Making my way into the right room with the cold closet, I opened it again. I sighed as the cool wind hit my face. My eyes fluttered closed. I stood there like that, ukulele gripped tightly in my other hand. When the ringing from the closet began out of nowhere, I jumped back a bit, but crept towards the thing again. As the ringing continued, I recognized a food from my past life. I clutched the red fruit tightly and closed the door to the large white closet. The ringing stopped.
I stuffed the bright red apple into my mouth and began heading back up the stairs, more comfortable in this new environment. As I entered the bedroom, I sighed, dropping the damp towel on the floor and opening the closet. My eyes glazed over, not really staring at the clothes hanging on the rack. I tilted my head, feeling the slightly wet hair brush my shoulders. I stayed that way for a few minutes. Staring, but not seeing. Thoughts far away.
What broke me out of the ruse was noises from downstairs. The noise of a door opening, something jingling. I ran, still naked, to the edge of the stair's balcony, seeing a figure open the door and enter. Oh crap. This was someone else's place! I quickly stumbled backwards, slamming the door shut. I fell onto my behind, scrambling backwards. Why did I get sent here? Not someplace else? That stuff must belong to whoever lives here! It makes sense. The fridge is stocked and the place is clean. I grabbed the towel and clutched it close to me. The smell of water seemed to flood my nostrils and my head began throbbing. I clutched my chest, where a pain had blossomed from my chest.
-Haruhi's POV-
It was that time again for the monthly cleaning of the old man's house. I fitted the key into the lock, turned it, and stepped into the house. Closing it behind me, I jumped. A slamming sound came from the upstairs. That's weird. No one had been living in this house for 2 years… Was it a robbery? Staying calm, I grabbed the broom from the kitchen and cautiously made my way up the stairs.
"Hello?" I called out.
"Anyone there?" No response.
"Ah!" I cried out, slipping a bit on the wet floor. Regaining my balance, I saw that the droplets led to the bedroom. And the door was closed. When I came in here last month, I made sure to leave all the doors open so the place received the ventilation it needed. Someone was definitely here. Slowly, I turned the knob of the door open. It creaked, and what I saw inside wasn't what I had expected at all.
A boy. No, a girl? Was slumped into a corner of the bedroom, their head lolled into their chest. Only a towel was covering them. The person shook, wheezing. Like they were struggling for air. I dropped the broom and crouched next to them.
"Hey, are you okay?" I tried shaking them a little bit. My hand came away with a thin layer of sweat. I looked around for something to do. Not seeing much else, I rolled up both sleeves and slowly brought them over to the bed. Their hand was grasping the towel so tightly that their knuckles were white and it stayed in their grasp as I pulled them over to the bed.
After laying them down, I quickly turned to get a damp cloth from the bathroom. Who was this person?
-Sasaki's POV-
My eyes fluttered open. I felt a cool, damp cloth on my forehead. I saw I had been laid down on the bed. I looked at my hand and willed it to unclasp the towel.
"Oh good, you're awake." My head whipped towards the voice in the doorway, eyes wide. This was the person who lived here. They seemed to be around my eyes, with big brown eyes and long, chocolate-colored hair. I sat up and crawled backwards, my bare back touching the cool bedroom wall.
"Please don't be afraid!" She cried, trying to sit down next to me.
"Oh, uhm…" she started. I saw where her eyes were trailing. The towel had almost completely fallen away, exposing everything but my private parts. She could see the silver scars that ran across my chest and hips. She gasped, seeing the thin lines. I gathered up the towel quickly, trying to hide as much as possible.
"Who are you?" she asked bluntly. I didn't want to open my mouth. Seeing as I wasn't going to respond, she tried a different question.
"What's your name?" she asked more softly. There was a look of concern in her eyes, brows furrowed. I opened my mouth and paused.
I closed it again and shook my head.
"Can you at least speak?" she implored. I nodded my head slowly.
"Well, now that you're awake, maybe you can come put on some clothes. I'll be downstairs. Then we talk about how you're here." She got up off her knees and closed the door behind her. I watched the door for a few more seconds, hearing her footsteps recede. I stood up slowly, all the while eyeing the door. Grabbing a gray shirt and sweatpants, I made my way down the stairs. I heard the girl rummaging around and stepped silently in that direction. She brought out a bag of chips from a cabinet I hadn't looked in before and turned to see me sitting down at the table in the center of the room. She gave me a soft smile and sat down across in the other chair. Her brown eyes bored into mine.
"I don't want to intrude, but I was just curious about how you got here. See, I've been taking care of this house for a few months now, ever since the previous owner passed away and no one wanted to buy it. No one was living here." I didn't look up from my lap.
"How did you get here?" I shook my head feeling my hair falling into my face.
"Do you have a name?" Another short nod. My eyes began sliding over to where her arms were.
"Do you not want to talk about it?" My body went still. You could barely make out the rise and fall of my chest. I felt like I could smell burning skin and wet stone. I looked up at the girl, staring directly into her eyes.
"I don't." Her eyes widened a bit, seeing my face. I don't know what she saw, but it got her to look away. I also began to stare down at the table again, following the patterns in the smooth wood. We sat there, an uncomfortable silence looming around us.
After a while, she said, "I'm not going to ask. We all have things we rather not share." The wood began to swirl around, making patterns across the table. She sat there for another moment, as if waiting for a response. When she didn't get any, she got up and made her way towards the entrance.
"By the way, my name is Haruhi. If you need anything, I'm right next door. Welcome to the neighborhood." And closed the door behind her. I felt my eyes adjust as the flowing of the wood stopped, and looked up. She had left the bowl of chips on the table. I took it upstairs with me, unable to pass up the chance for free food.
As I climbed back into the bed, I thought about the girl. I think she said her name was Haruhi? She seemed kind. Too kind for her own good. Someone could take advantage of her. Because that is all people did. I brought my legs to my chest and began munching on the chips, not really paying attention to the flavor or how quickly it disappeared. People were evil, selfish, and cruel. And that's all they ever were. She would probably use me too, even with how nice she was. I hated it.
Well I'd say this is a pretty good start. Uhhh I think I'm gonna go to sleep now.
Starts the next chapter*