Seeing the Sun

Chapter 4

A/N: I can't help but notice, but people seem to be liking this story... Well, thanks guys!

"Hey, Jo?"

Said girl turns looks up, into the deep blue eyes of Meg. She raises an eyebrow, shooting the girl a questioning look. It's after school, but Jo took the time to stand just out of campus to smoke. Why? It would bother teachers.

"Are you okay?" asks Meg.

Jo looks almost confused at this. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Meg sighs, pointing to her leg. "Motorcycle accident ring a bell?"

"Oh, that." Jo glances at the spot that she knows she got cut on. "I heal fast, so I'm good. Now, is that all?" She puts out the cigarette and throws it into the school grounds, like she did with her two other ones.

"Well... You looked kind of out of it today."

Jo chuckles. "You worry way too much, Meg. I'm fine." She gets on her bike, about to go before she turns her red gaze towards the other girl, smirking. "Wanna ride?"

To this day, Meg doesn't know what possessed her to say yes.

Jo can't help but laugh a little as Meg screams, clinging onto the silver-haired girl's muscled stomach for dear life. She can barely hear her over the roar of the engine, but it's still funny. And the clinging part isn't too bad. Clinging is welcome, she thinks as she looks into the rear-view mirror with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Very welcome, she adds in her head as she looks at Meg's face

They finally reach Meg's place, and Jo finds herself feeling a bit guilty at seeing Meg's face. Instead of apologizing, though (that would be against everything the girl knew), she says:

"Hey, you never told me to slow down."

Meg actually snickers a little at that, and Jo smirks. Then the red-head looks at her, seeing her smile before it fades away. (A/N: You know, if I didn't like my reviewers so much, I would be asleep by now. Be thankful. XD)

"Hey, you wanna come in?" asks Meg. Jo seems to think a little before following her.

Inside of Meg's apartment, Jo seems... extremely out of place. Despite that though, she sits on Meg's white couch, making herself comfortable as she looks around. "You live alone?"

"Yeah," answers Meg. Jo looks at her, curious.

"No parents? You just got the house on your own?"

For whatever reason, Jo's questions seem to break Meg. Tears roll down her face as she sits next to Jo, who looks at her, shocked. She rarely has to do with someone crying, and if she does then she's the one who made them cry, or she's about to kill them and it doesn't matter. But technically, Meg's neither of those.

"My parents abandoned me when I was born," she admits. "I never knew them."

"Hey, don't go and make the situation all... psychological," says Jo, awkwardly putting an arm around Meg, half-embracing her. Obviously, she's not all that skilled with this sort of thing. "I'm an orphan, too. But I already knew my parents..."

"What happened?"

Meg doesn't see it, but Jo's eyes harden as dark, bitter hatred rises in them, giving her a glare more heated than the flames of hell. "They just left. I wasn't put in an orphanage or anything," she lies, though the other girl has no way of knowing. She managed to control her voice. "And sometimes it's better not to know what could have been, alright? 'Cause then it might just hurt you more."

Meg bites her lip. At least she was put in an orphanage. Jo's parents just left her on the streets.

"But hey, I'm not alone anymore," adds Jo. "I found some people, out on the street. Abandoned, like me. My sisters, now. We're related, but only by law."

"That's good."

Jo gets up, sighing. "Speaking of my sister's, one of them will kill me if I'm late. I'm gonna go now. That will stop all this... emotional junk from making me soft, or something. Bye." With that, Jo walks out, getting on her bike. As it roars down the street, Meg smiles.

Jo really wasn't so bad.

"You're late."

Jo is pretending to look through the folder, anger slowly rising in her eyes as Sei starts berating her. She finishes and throws the folder down, irritated. "I drove a friend home," she snaps. Sei's eyes widen slightly. Jo was never one to really make friends.

"Even so-"

Jo puts on her gear, on D'jango before Sei can open her mouth again. As she speed down the streets, she prays that Sei won't bother her now that she's on her mission. This time the target's in a car. As she approaches it, eight holes open up on the front of her motorcycle. Bullets rain down on the vehicle, and she can hear it come to a screeching halt.

She jumps off, her bike automatically stopping as it feels her leave. Several men come out of the van, all pointing guns at her. Jo takes out one of her pistols, smirking behind the dark fabric of her mask. She has nothing to worry about, though, because the car will-

There's an explosion, and the guards are knocked down. She runs towards the target, punching him down and stepping on his head as the cool metal of the barrel of a gun presses against his skull. She smirks at his guards, who are all unsure of what to do. She takes out her other gun, shooting each one faster than they can react. Then, she looks at the target.

"It's over for you."

The second she pulls the trigger, she hears another bike approaching. She curses as she hears a siren. Running to D'jango, she takes off her hood, opening the small compartment in her motorcycle and stuffing her guns, mask and gloves there. Then she hides the built in guns as she drives away fast before slowing down, just in case. She can't afford to be arrested again.

"Hey, you," calls a voice. Jo turns to meet violet eyes. "Takane Katus, from the police department. There seems to have been some kind of activity around here, as well as a fight. Have you seen anything strange around?"

"No," replies Jo. In a way, she isn't lying. Fights aren't strange. Not for her. "Must be a turf war or something." She turns around, about to leave.

"Wait, aren't you that criminal we took in a while ago?"

"My sentence ended," says the gunslinger, looking at the officer. "I'm free now. So I'll be leaving."

She speed off, and Takane watches her leave, suspicion in her eyes. Something's off with her, she thinks. You best watch out, girl. I'll be keeping an eye on you.

Jo walks into the apartment, putting away her equipment. She merely nods at Sei, telling her that the job is done, before going downstairs. She remembers her talk with Meg, the lies she'd told.

"They just left."

That would've been better. Much better. She remembers the bright light she saw as she heard the people's screams. She never did like light all that much. Some called her photophobic but she just hated it. Light was harsh, unforgiving and almost unrelenting. Darkness was comforting, a nice gentle break. A much-needed, hard-earned break.

That night, Jo slept.

But it wasn't peacefully.