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Chapter 3

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Age 6

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I woke with a start.

I was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath and stumbling for the door and trying not to trip over my feet and running and heart pounding and throwing open Kyōko's door and—

She's okay.

Thank god.

I slumped against the doorway in relief, cool wood against my forehead. I was light headed from lack of breath, and my ribs ached from my heart pounding against them so hard. Still there. I slammed my forehead against the lumber, sweaty palms slipping my grip. Still there. I slammed my forehead against the doorway again, harder this time, trying to bash the nightmare away, images of shadows and twisted bodies staying and becoming more and more prominent the harder I tried.

Go away. Leave me alone. I don't have time for this. Stop it. Go away. Go away! Go away! Leave me alone! Leave me the fuck alone!

"Onēchan?" I jumped, head snapping towards the drowsy voice. Kyōko rubbed at her eyes, right arm wrapped around a pink cat plushie's neck. She yawned, tears appearing at the corners of her honey colored eyes.

I took a deep breath in hopes it would calm the turmoil in my chest and head. It was just a dream. But it wasn't. It'll never be a dream. "Sorry, did I wake you, Kyōko?" Of course I did. It was always me. Always me…

"Mm-mm." She softly shook her head, caramel strands brushing her shoulders. "Are you okay, Onēchan? Did you have a nightmare? Can you sleep?" She blinked, as if realizing something. "Are you nervous about school?"

Ack. School. What a wonderful distraction.

"Yes." I lied, Kyōko's voice banishing the darkness clouding the edges of my existence. "I'm sorry I woke you up Kyōko. Your Onēchan is a clumsy person." I forced a chuckle, rubbing the back of my head. I didn't need to traumatize the girl, I've done that enough as it is.

But… I didn't want to leave. Not with Kyōko… Kyōko making me feel human like this.

Ha ha. I don't deserve Sasagawa Kyōko… At all.

And yet...

She noticed my hesitance, honey colored eyes watching me loiter at the door to her bedroom.

The girl scooted over, patting the newly created space next to her. "Do you want to sleep with me, Onēchan?"

Yes. A hundred times 'yes.'

I didn't want to say 'no.'

"Okay." I breathed, shuffling towards her and finding it hard to seem as if I wasn't hurrying. I laid down, our eyes level, pink cat plushie between us. I took her hand, lacing our fingers together, relaxing at the physical contact. The warmth calmed me enough to make me sleepy again. "Ne, Onēchan?"

"Mm?" I grunted, looking up from our intertwined hands.

Kyōko's eyes were large and innocent. "Make lots of friends okay?"

"Okay." I mumbled, breathless.

"Promise?" She whispered, eyes widening.

I tried not to sigh. "Promise." I murmured, and she gave me such a dazzling smile it evaporated my annoyance. Ha ha...She's got me wrapped around her little finger...

She squeezed my hand. "Good night."

"Night."

Sasagawa Kyōko was not Monday Hightower.

But she was still my little sister.


Kindergarten is a pain in the ass.

Having crawled into a boxing ring as soon as I was able, I found sitting down in a chair to be spiritually restraining. I fidgeted and squirmed until Suzuki-sensei had to pull me out of the class and make me stand in the hallway. At least this way, I got to do some warm-up exercises to entertain myself, but she pulled me in with false promises of good behavior before I broke them and was in the hall again. So, this routine continued until lunch time.

Where I didn't waste any time running into the playground.

I tried to make friends, but every kid I approached grew scared of my enthusiasm and mature nature.

Psh. Who needs friends anyway?

Me. If I didn't want to worry Kyōko.

Damn it all.

Anyways, I was left to walk to a lonely pine tree not too far away from the squealing children, not dejected. I blinked in surprise upon spotting a lone figure sitting in the shade, and I grew animated at the prospect of bringing home a friend to introduce to my little sister.

This was my last chance, in a way.

I did promise to make friends after all...

"Hello there..." Gray eyes snapped open at the sound of my voice, and the wariness in those irises made me pause.

Holy shit, I've never seen such fearsome eyes in a six year old body before. It kind of felt like I was approaching a wild animal…

"Go away. I'll bite you to death." He growled out the words, but the highness of the pitch did nothing to scare me. If anything, it just made me gush on the inside. Oh my god~, there's no way a kid with a voice like that is dangerous.

Nope. No way.

It merely gave me more incentive to talk to him.

I knelt and hoped I gave off a peaceful aura, mind working on simple words. Introductions were a must, and he would probably me more inclined to relax if he thought I wasn't a threat.

I was. But he didn't need to know that.

"My name's Sasagawa Ryōhei, what's yours?" I extended my hand slowly, not wanting to startle him in expecting a handshake.

I mean, I didn't want him thinking I was gonna punch him or anything.

Possibly taking my movement as an aggressive action, the young boy pounced at me, teeth sinking into my left wrist, right through the bandages and into flesh. I yelped more in surprise than pain, my body moving instinctively, right fist slamming into his cheekbone.

The boy let go, falling on the grass with wide eyes and a red mark appearing on his left cheek. He looked absolutely stupefied, small hand slowly lifting to the injured flesh. He blinked a few times before raising his head and looking me in the eyes. Shock and astonishment was clear on his face, right before they died and were replaced by rage.

He pounced at me again, little fists hitting me haphazardly. There was a precision to his movements that gave away his training, but lack of emotional control had him attacking sloppily. After his first hit, Oh my god, he just hit a girl, I grew annoyed and angry enough to scuffle with the little demon, our tumbling resulting in us rolling towards the playground and summoning our teacher to untangle us from each other.

"Hibari-kun! Sasagawa-chan!" I struggled against the damn woman, arms reaching to pull at the brat's hair. "Calm! Down!" A rough shake had me inhale in surprise, thoughts spinning. I blinked to clear my vision, a snarling little gray eyed shit the first thing I settled on.

Surprisingly, he had yet to utter curse words despite the colorful vocabulary I had shot at him, and the way he continued to glare at me was cute, if you got over the fact he would be a great terror in the future.

"Kamisama! Sasagawa-chan, what happened to your wrist?" Suzuki-sensei's hold on me lessened, and she shifted her attention to said wrist, the wound throbbing the moment I remembered it.

The little fucker!

In all honesty, I didn't want to tell on the little boy, and I didn't have to. His snarl revealed blood on his teeth and lower lip, and Suzuki-sensei quickly pounced on the five year old. "Hibari-kun, apologize!"

I blinked, waiting for his reaction. He glared, crossed his arms, and turned his head away stubbornly, gifting us with the bruise on his cheek.

Wow, what a punch to leave that.

"Hibari-kun!" Obviously, the boy wasn't going to apologize, and now that my anger had almost disappeared, I was left with a feeling that should have surprised me. Respect.

This Hibari-boy did not seem to be a stranger to pain. The fact that he had not started bawling when I hit him was testament to that.

Even better: he had fought back. The fact that he had hit a girl, even if sex was little matter to children (Japan was a sexist country and the division was taken in at an early age), created a feeling of respect in me. Especially when he didn't hold back. Not to mention that almost unmistakable look of awe he shot at me earlier. That was a nice feeling.

But he had looked surprised when I hit him.

Why?

If he was used to being hit... why did he looked surprised when I did it...?

Suzuki-sensei sighed in defeat and decided that getting me medical attention was more important at the moment. The dreaded parent meeting actually happened in the waiting room, right after the nurse gave me unneeded condolences of scarring being inevitable.

Which didn't really bother me. Scars were entertaining stories to tell.

"Sasagawa-chan?" I looked up, the nurse skirting away in silent dismissal. A beautiful woman with long dark hair braided over her shoulder and gray eyes a shade lighter than Hibari's—Oh, it's Hibari's mother. And she was beautiful to boot? Of course...

It was really no surprise, her beauty that is, but what was a surprise to see was Hibari enthusiastically holding her hand. And only slightly hiding behind the skirt of her pale blue dress.

Huh. Hibari-boy's a mother's boy. Who knew?

Now, I really, really, wanted to get closer to the kid.

He was making it harder and harder, not to.

The woman bowed as soon as she caught my attention, right hand placed respectfully on her thigh. "I'm truly sorry for everything Kyōya has done. He was just excited about making a new friend."

New friend? Her choice of words were interesting, but it still created an opening.

"Does that mean I can play with Kyōya-kun at his house?" I asked, causing the woman to straighten in surprise. Hibari twitched at the use of his first name, and I tried not to grin at his reaction. His mother blinked, cupid bow lips parting in shock. "Oh…" She whispered, before smiling slightly.

Holy mother of god, that smile—!

Kyōko had some serious competition.

"Of course you can. Right, Kyōya?" She smiled at her son, and the boy looked away with a blush on his face.

Oh my god, now I need the boy to say 'yes.'

He slowly lifted his head, the flush disappearing as soon as our eyes meet. Say yes! Say yes! Say yes! He narrowed his eyes dangerously at me, eyebrows pulling into a frown, "No." He said, an almost pout on his face.

"Kyō—!" His mother hissed sharply, tugging on his a hand a little.

I ignored him, successfully cutting off his mother. "Awesome! Then can I come over after school?"

Or now. Since I wouldn't he heading back anyways.

"Ryōhei!" I straightened, head snapping towards the emergency room entrance. A man with caramel colored hair and honey colored eyes jogged into the tiled waiting room, fingers pulling on a dark blue dress shirt across his bare chest. "Are you okay?"

"Otōsan!" I exclaimed, running and jumping into his arms. I ignored his surprised huff and immediately gave him a detailed report of the goings-on. "Look, look, I have stitches! The nurse said it'll scar!"

He laughed, throwing me in the air and catching me again before placing me on his shoulders. "You're still as lively as ever. You must be fine. Where's your mother?"

"Probably looking for someone to look after Kyōko." I answered, placing my hands on top of his mess of hair. My fingers ran along the soft strands around his ears and forehead, my legs swinging in glee.

"Sasagawa-san?" Hibari's mother came forward again, an apologetic look on her face. I wiggled to be let down, and Otōsan complied. "My name is Leilei Suzume. I'm Kyōya's mother. I really am sorry for—"

"Ne, Otōsan!" I interrupted, a little annoyed at her unneeded repetitive apologies.

I understood it as a cultural must, but there was only so much a foreign girl could take.

I ran up to Hibari Kyōya and took his hand, tightening my grip when the little shit snarled and tried to pull away. "This is my new friend, Kyōya-kun!"

His mother smiled and congratulated her son with loving caresses and 'I'm proud of you's. The boy blushed and mumbled his pleasures, his struggle against me lessening and becoming almost compliant. Wow. He must be really bad at making friends...

Which didn't surprise me. At all.

Otōsan blinked in confusion, then grinned in understanding. "Do you think you can convince Okāsan?" I whispered, and the man laughed, ruffling my hair and ruining my high ponytail.

"I'll talk to her." I was glad. It felt good to have someone on my side.

In more ways than one.

He straightened before turning and bowing respectfully. "Leilei-san, please take care of my daughter."

The woman blinked, then began waving her hands in a flustered way, "No, Sasagawa-san, I should be the one—"

"It's honestly fine," He interrupted with a smile, the action so blinding that the woman seemed to give up in protest.

"If you say so, Sasagawa-san." She mumbled, pouting mildly and looking too cute to be real.

Otōsan merely grinned. "You can call me Akio, Leilei-san," He said, before kneeling to look at Hibari in the eye. "Please take care of Ryōhei, Kyōya-kun." Otōsan said, and somehow I got the impression he wasn't really asking him to take care of me. More like— "Please bring her home before dark."

—warning him...?

"Let's go, Kyōya-kun, Hibari-san." I said, still curious but knowing I wouldn't get anything the longer I stared. I tugged at the boy's hand, causing him to frown.

"Behave, Ryōhei," Otōsan said lowly, and I knew he was serious.

I mean, I might be a little mischievous but my intentions were good!

I swear!

"Of course, Otōsan!" I blinked at him cutely, knowing the action would make him smile.

It did.

"Please take care of my daughter, Leilei-san," He bowed, and the action made Hibari's mother stutter and wave her hands. "I'll talk to my wife about this." He said this with a wicked smile I knew I had picked up from him.

"Sasagawa-chan?"

"You can call me Ryōhei." I responded.

"Then, Ryōhei-chan," She corrected, "will you be staying for dinner?"

Kyōya made such a displeased face, that I couldn't say 'no.' "Can I?"

She smiled again, and I nearly blushed at it's brilliance. "Of course."

"Then I will." I grinned.

Ah, Kyōya's face was priceless.


Thanks to:

Teafully (words can not express my gratitude towards you), Thao Sama (thank you very much~), xXDutchDuckieXx (thank you. Sunday is actually an OC), Dustflame (thanks for the attention), Not-Gonna-Update (wow, you made it just in time to appear here!)


Well, I'm not satisfied with this chapter. No matter how Teafully-senpai says it's good.

I could have done better...

Please review!

—prince