I know I haven't updated in ... well... a long time, there's just been no time, but I think I'll try to start up with this story again. Give it another go... so... I hope you guys will stay tuned with the story :D THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS TOO:)
The story about a girl who taught a boy a little something called hope...
C R O S S
Chapter S E V E N
Trust
"You won't tell anyone about this will you?"
"Eh! Of course not! I promise!"
"You don't have to promise it so enthusiastically."
"Sorry! But I do promise!"
"I trust you."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There he was again, standing in front of the entrance of the church, picking up his fallen nerves so that he could push those double doors open. His hand touched the handle of the door, when it suddenly flew open, causing Kyo to jump back a few feet, screaming out,
"HOLY SH--!"
Tohru stumbled backwards as well, yelping out with a reddened face,
"K-Kyo-kun! I didn't see you there, I'm sorry!"
Kyo slowly regained his composure and wiped at his sleeves, blushing while exclaiming with exasperation, angry that he had lost his cool,
"Where the heck are you going anyway, it's nearly midnight!"
"Oh! I just came out to go water the plants out in the garden because I haven't gotten to it all day!"
Kyo pursed his lips together and grumbled out,
"I didn't need a whole explanation."
Tohru bowed her head slightly and apologized very quickly,
"S-sorry!"
Kyo placed a hand over his face,
"I mean... I didn't mean to sound so harsh just not... uh..."
Suddenly her eyes became wide and vulnerable as she looked up at him, murmuring,
"Um... I thought you were leaving..."
Kyo's hand fell from his face as he looked straight into her eyes, his heart flipping while he coughed behind his hand. Her face suddenly paled as she squeaked out,
"N-not that I wanted you to leave! I'm glad that you're here and all! And, and I'm glad that you're staying! I mean, are you staying?"
Her eyes were practically in a swirl as she rambled on, and te sweat felt like it was streaming down her face like a waterfall. Kyo leaned his head back, averting his eyes away from hers and muttered out,
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about... that."
A worried crease formed on her forehead as Tohru nodded and led him to the garden where they sat down on the grass together, side by side, her silver cross shining brightly under the pale, lucid moonlight. He spread his legs out in front of him and took a deep breath, reluctant with his words. Tohru glanced sideways and prodded him on very gently,
"Um... so what do you need to talk about?"
Kyo exhaled sharply,
"...I wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting lately... if I've been colder towards you or whatever... or if I... hurt your feelings in any way."
Tohru's heart beat soundly in her chest and she toyed with the silver chain around her neck, blushing,
"Oh no, it's alright... you were helping out a friend...and you weren't being cold at all!"
She looked down, and then back at him, fumbling with the chain again, getting nervous as she asked quietly,
"Are you still leaving?"
"...I'm not."
Tohru's face went from a diffident frown to a gleaming grin as she faced him completely, clasping her hands together, happily,
"Oh! That's such good news!"
Her eyes then shred with concern,
"But what about Leon? Where'd he go?"
Kyo pushed his head back so that his view was of the starless sky,
"I honestly don't know... I wonder if he's headed towards America right now..."
"How come... you didn't go with him?"
Kyo turned his head in her direction and shrugged,
"He left without me knowing, so I never had the chance to go along with him... I guess he didn't want to drag me into... his troubles."
Her eyebrows drew together as she asked with worry,
"Will he be okay? Is he in big trouble?"
He sighed and looked at her perplexed expression, gazing ahead into space,
Why can't I just release the turmoil that's slowly building up inside of me for once? I always bottle everything up... and put this suffocating facade on me so that no one can see the real me, but I'm tired of pretending... I'm tired of hiding, and now's my perfect chance to come out from behind these chains of secrets and taste the freedom. Now's my chance...
But...
One question still sticks in my head...
Will she like what she sees after I let this mask break from my gruesome face?
There's only one way to find out...
"Tohru..."
He looked away and continued with a moment of hesitation,
"Leon and I used to be part of a...a..."
Kyo frowned and finished lamely,
"Gang."
Her eyebrows knit together in confusion as she repeated distinctly,
"A...gang?"
Another quick pass of shame tingled throughout his body as he nodded dolefully, waiting for her reply. Her voice got softer as she inquired gently,
"How did it happen?"
Kyo stared up at the sky, memories leaking in his head as if it were just yesterday it had happened...
A few years back...
"Kyo, is it?"
A small boy of about five years old wore a sullen face and bright burning hair as he slowly looked up at the woman's kind oval face. She was looking down at him with these small dark brown eyes that were filled with genuine kindness and tenderness all mixed in together. The boy bit his lower lip and looked away, not saying a word as the woman continued with a soothing voice,
"It's okay if you're scared to be here...everyone else is too."
The boy shot back with defiance,
"No they're not. They're all playing with each other... and I'm the only one that they don't like to play with because I'm new."
The woman smiled tenderly and touched the child's soft face, causing him to flinch backwards as she quietly expressed,
"C'mon Kyo's let's go out into the yard. No one hates you... they're just scared. Trust me..."
She held out her hand and smiled, and Kyo looked down at it with a look of longing before hesitantly taking her hand, following after her in a slow and embarrassed pace. He hid behind her as she introduced him to the kids, shooting him one more smile before heading back into the orphanage, leaving Kyo standing in the middle of the yard with all the kids looking at him. One boy ran up to him and marveled at his hair,
"Wow! I really like your hair! My name is Haku!"
Kyo blinked back in surprise and looked around at all the round little faces that stared back at him with amazement, as if he were a huge piece of chocolate. He smiled tentatively and sheepishly tagged along with the other kids as they explained the rules to the game that they had been playing before. Kyo grinned as he listened carefully, completely relieved to have made friends so fast.
Years slipped by and Kyo had stayed at the orphanage for those years, having no intention of leaving the place. Kids came and went, but one girl caught his eye in particular. She was a five year old who had her golden brown hair pulled back into two small pigtails, and her frail body was loosely covered in blue overalls and a stained white t-shirt.
He had met her for the first time when he was training in the yard, practicing his kicks and punches after reading up on a book about martial arts. He remembered hearing silent sobbing from a distance and when he turned, he spotted a young girl crying by herself under a tree, sobbing silently into the palms of her hands. He looked over towards the tree, and looked at the small child, frowning as he strided over to her, plopping down beside her, asking a bit obnoxiously,
"Why are you crying?"
A loud sniffle protruded from her nose and she looked up with wet eyes, seeing the older boy staring down at her with menacing crimson eyes. She promptly put her head back down, taking in a shaky breath while her eyes filled with a fresh batch of tears. Kyo leaned back against the tree comfortably and said apathetically,
"I'm not gonna hurt you or anything, so you don't have to be such a scaredy-cat."
She wiped at her eyes and cried out defensively,
"I'm not a scaredy-cat!"
"Then why are you crying?"
She pouted and crossed her legs, while looking straight ahead, unable to answer that question as she shyly looked away. Kyo sighed and looked at her shaking hands, feeling his heart go out to her, since he had felt the very same way when he had first arrived in this place at the beginning. He understood.
"Is it because you're new here and you're scared that you won't make any friends and that you won't be able to make it on your own?
She peered over at him, astounded that he had pinpointed her exact fears, asking with awe while wiping at her eyes again,
"H-How did you know?"
Kyo pointed at his head and grinned,
"Let's just say that I'm sort of a mind reader."
"Really!"
"No, you idiot,"
Kyo smirked and poked her lightly in the shoulder, asking,
"So what's your name?"
A small smile broke onto her lips as she announced brightly,
"My name is Yumi! What about you?"
"Kyo."
Kyo leaned forward, stretching out his calves as he glanced in her direction, asking with a lopsided grin,
"You want to learn some cool martial art moves?"
She scrambled up from her spot beneath the tree and clapped her hands together eagerly,
"Okay!"
Ever since that day, Yumi had always stuck to Kyo like glue, just like a little sister would. She was now seven, and he was twelve. Things went smoothly from that point on, until the nightmare began.
Everyone was out in the yard after lunchtime, playing their usual mindless games together, then a girl that was around twelve years old approached Kyo, her name was Kagura, and she had a coy smile curled up on her lips as she treaded over to him, her soft brown curls framing her petite face. Kyo saw her coming and smiled tightly in her direction, ready to walk away, but she stood before him, a deep blush staining her cheeks as she bashfully said,
"Kyon-chaann... I need to tell you something."
Naturally, this caused attention from the others, and they all began to crowd around like rodents to the sight of a hunk of cheese. Kyo's eyes darted around and he asked with a small frown forming on the edge of his lips,
"...What?"
She stepped closer to him, and his frown dug deeper as she was now only inches away, she smiled and declared her confession loudly,
"I like you!"
Kyo's eyes grew wide, and his heart dropped downward as he shrank backwards a little, muttering out,
"I don't like you..."
Her eyes drooped and at first she was filled with sadness, but then she only grew more violent with each second, she advanced closer to him and yelled out,
"How can you say that! You are so cruel!"
She wailed out with anger and pounced on him, and he tried to escape, but it was too late, she had already jumped on top of him, causing a huge cloud of orange tinted smoke to fill the air. Kagura jumped back with a gasp and fell into the crowd of gaping kids. Yumi shakily walked over to the clearing smoke, trembling as she stared downwards with astonishment. The smoke cleared and Kyo was gone; there was only an orange cat that lay on the grass, clothes strewn all around it. The whole place started screaming, and the cat scampered away, but a kid grabbed it by its tail, crying out,
"Where'd you take Kyo!"
The cat glared at the kid, and snapped back,
"Leave me alone!"
"It talks!"
Kyo opened up his mouth and took a huge bite at the boy's hand, causing a huge yelp to come out from the chubby little boy as he dropped the cat to the grass, howling out in pain while clutching his bleeding hand. Everyone started screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs, eliciting attention from the matron who came running out with alarm in her eyes, frantically trying to gather information from the kids.
Yumi left the pack of hysterical children and chased after the cat that had run into the bushes. She rustled through the bushes and finally spotted the cat sitting and shivering alone by the bushes.
"Nee-san?" (Older brother)
The cat sprang upwards and was about to hightail it, but Yumi scooped the cat up into her arms,
"W-Wait!"
"Let go of me!"
Yumi hugged the cat closer to her body and left a silence hanging in the air. Kyo felt her warmth and finally asked,
"Aren't you scared?"
"...You're my big brother... so that's all that matter right?"
She let go of the orange cat and smiled at him, comforting his heavy heart.
"You don't hate me?"
My parents hated me for my curse. They abandoned me... because they were scared and ashamed. I hated myself for that.
"I could never hate my big brother."
-------------------------------------------
The next morning swept by slowly and whispers swirled around inside the orphanage as Kyo walked into the main room where the kids were huddled together in one corner, stealing glances at Kyo who was standing alone. The sun was still peeking out from the clouds, it was early morning and Yumi was still asleep in her room. Kyo walked slowly over to the shushed huddle,
"Hey..."
The kids glanced at one another, and one finally piped up,
"Get away! We might catch what you have!"
The rest of the group backed away from Kyo as he sadly watched them, feeling the tears threatening to come out, but he held them back, he had to be a man.
"Get away! Don't come closer!"
Tears stung.
The shouts of fear and hate erupted from the children and Kyo turned away, running out of the orphanage, almost running right into the matron. She stopped him by the shoulders,
"Kyo! What's the matter?"
Kyo pushed her away forcefully yelling out,
"Don't act like you don't know!"
Tears of frustration and anger were on the brink of falling, but he blinked them away and ran away.
I'm sorry Yumi...but everyone knows my secret now. I can't stay.
---------------------------------------------------------
It was hitting nighttime almost, the sky was darkening and Kyo's legs were tired as he shuffled along the streets by himself, feeling cold and alone. A lump formed in his throat when he remembered Yumi's face.
"Yumi! You're not supposed to tell me what you wished for! Now it'll never come true!"
"Oh no! Now you won't be my big brother...?"
"Idiot. Of course I'm still your big brother. Don't be stupid Yumi-chan."
Kyo thought to himself morosely,
She was always the one that was there for me...
We don't share the same blood... but she was the only family that I ever had. Loved. What am I thinking? Letting a bunch of loser kids rule my life and take away the only person that ever really cared about me and looked up to me? I'm such an idiot...
Kyo shook his head and looked down the clear street, ready to head back. He had to face his fears head on.
---------------------------------------------------------
The orphanage was bright orange when a horrified Kyo reached there. He could smell the smoke from a mile away as he raced to where the firemen, the puffy smoke, and the loud sirens resided. He stormed up to a fireman with eyes swirled with a mixture of rage, confusion, and alarm, shouting out in a hysterical tone,
"What the hell happened! What's going on!"
The fireman turned to see the twelve year old boy with eyes consumed with fire and placed heavy hands on the boy's shoulder's, stating as firmly and calmly as possible,
"I-I'm sorry... we're doi--"
Kyo cut off the man's sentence, screaming and yelling out with a high pitched voice,
"Is everyone okay? Is... is... Where's Yumi? Where's Yumi!"
His pride had broken already as the tears streamed endlessly down his burning face. The man's grip on his shoulders tightened as he tried to soothe his fears,
"Please... please calm down. We saved as many people as we could..."
He gave a pointed look to the ashy children that were standing by the burning orphanage, crying their eyes out. Kyo's fists tightened along with his chest as he hoped with all his heart that Yumi was part of that small group of children that were sobbing. He trembled as he walked over to them, each child looking up as he advanced closer to them. Kyo searched the group, but she was nowhere to be found. He looked again, but she wasn't there...
Kyo scowled at the rest of them and they shook with fear as he grabbed one kid by the collar,
"Where the hell is Yumi! Tell me now you worthless piece of shit!"
His breathing was heavy and his blood was pumping as he shook the poor kid who cried out,
"I-I don't know! I really don't know!"
Kyo's lips were quivering as he shoved the kid to the ground and fell to his knees, tears soaking the dirt that he clutched with his fingernails. He pounded on the crumbling dirt with his fists and yelled out over and over,
"No! No! This isn't happening!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Kid, move out of the way."
Kyo was standing like a stone in the middle of the sidewalk and the moon was glowing darkly as he glared at the group of guys that loomed over him with smirks and leather jackets. Kyo stood there, not moving, and pushed past them, until one of them grabbed him by the collar,
"Who do you think you are, punk? You think you're the king of the world or something? You know we could kill you in two seconds."
The older man with the sagging cheeks and brushed back hair held up Kyo by the collar of his shirt, but Kyo didn't struggle, nor did he grimace, he only kept a listless expression on his face, completely motionless as he said with a low and firm voice,
"Kill me then. Just kill me."
The man's eyes widened slightly as he took out a knife, holding it close to Kyo's neck, but he didn't even flinch, he only closed his eyes, waiting for the angel of death to take him into its bloody hands. The cold blade touched his neck, and the pressure increased, but then stopped. Kyo's eyes opened up and he was lowered back to the ground, the man putting the knife back into his pocket,
"You got guts kid. What do you think about coming along with us?"
Kyo looked around and saw all of the nodding faces as Kyo brushed himself off,
"I want to be alone."
"You seem pretty lonely out here kid. Why not just come with us? Where else have you got to go, kid?"
Kyo looked around at their faces again, and saw the loneliness that swam in their eyes, and felt no fear as he scanned their faces again. What did he have to fear? He wasn't afraid of death, and he had no place else to go, so he feebly nodded his head and followed the members, ready to take on the world.
--------------------------------------------
"I lead a bad life after that... but I didn't feel alone anymore, but... that doesn't make up for the wrongs I've committed."
"Kyo..."
A tear fell from the corner of her eye as she placed her hand over his, a rosy glow cast upon their faces as she stared up at him,
"It doesn't matter what you did in your past anymore, because God has forgiven you. You're a changed man... and... that's the only thing that matters right now. You've been through so much too...! You shouldn't blame yourself."
Kyo's chest tightened,
"And you're not even a little bit scared about my... my... curse?"
Tohru shook her head,
"Why should it matter? It doesn't change who you are."
A smile brightened her face as she murmured out,
"And... I'm so glad that you've let me in."
It's final.
The mask has been broken and she can see my clearly now...
The best part is...
she accepts me even after seeing all my flaws.
I don't think I've ever felt this happy in a long time...
"Kyo?"
"Hnh?"
He looked over to his side and saw her removing the chain from her neck, dangling the cross in front of her as she smiled soflty into the night, taking his hand and dropping the necklace into the palm of his hand,
"Take it."
Kyo frowned and looked down at it, and then back at her, clearly puzzled,
"What?"
"It's my cross that my mom gave me, and I want you to have it."
Kyo was at a loss of words as he stared down at the silver emblem of hope that gleamed in the middle of his hand, glimmering wonderously in the pouring moonlight. He then closed his hand tightly, and looked at her with burning red eyes as he firmly promised to her,
"I promise I'll treasure it!"
She grinned at him,
"I hope it helps you."
Kyo slowly grinned back at her and nodded slowly as he got up from the grass, helping her up as well,
"It's getting late."
Tohru nodded and she combed out her hair with her fingers,
"Yeah, we should get some sleep."
They walked to the front doors together and Tohru touched the knob of the door, pushing it open, then turning back, whispering out into the soft night air,
"Good night."
"Wait."
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him; she could feel the heat of his stomach touching hers, as her heart skipped effortlessly in her tremoring chest. Their eyes locked with each others as he searched them deeply, whispering out hoarsely,
"You won't tell anyone about this will you?"
Her eyes glittered as they widened,
"Eh! Of course not! I promise!"
She placed her hand over her heart, staring frankly into his eyes for a long moment before he pulled away from her, letting a cold air rush in between them, smirking,
"You don't have to promise it so enthusiastically."
"Sorry! But I do promise!"
Kyo smiled and lifted his hand up in a wave,
"I trust you."
After that day, I wore that cross around my neck as if had become a part of me.
There was also this bond that I could feel forming between me and God, a bond that I had never known or felt before... and I have to say...
It felt...
Good.
PLEASE REVIEW. :P THANKS.