He brought down the bamboo stick with such force that it made a thunderous sound as it hit the bamboo that his opponent was wielding. Sweat dripped from his skin as the muscles in his arms tightened and relaxed with every swing. A sharp pain shot through his ankle as his opponent brought her stick of bamboo underneath him and made him fall onto the mats below. Within a split second, his opponent was towering over him with her bamboo stick inches from his nose.

"I win again Kyo." She said as she offered her hand to kelp the orange-haired youth up. He scoffed at her.

"Whatever Nana." Kyo got up and slammed the kendo stick to the ground. "Damn it! Why can't I get any better at this?!" Nana laughed lightly at Kyo's tantrum. It was rather amusing to watch one of the cutest guys in school who just so happened to be a bad ass martial artist throw a fit. It was just to funny. "And what the hell are you laughing at?!"

"Sorry Kyo." Nana said between her giggles. "But if you keep up like that, then you'll never get any better. You just need more practice." Again, Kyo scoffed at the girl. "Well, that's it for practice anyways, so maybe we can train more tomorrow. I'm going to go hit the showers." Nana walked away towards the girls' locker room, pulling her hair out of the loose ponytail the whole way there. Her dark brown hair reached the middle of her back. It was just as long as Tohru's hair. Kyo's lips twitched upwards into a sort of half smile.

It had been a week since Kyo had started the kendo club and began training with Nana, and all that time, he was thinking of Tohru. Nana reminded him of Tohru. His Tohru. For a split second he felt a little guilty. Nana was really nice, but Kyo was just using her. When he was around her, he was able to think of Tohru without the pain that usually followed. It was because that even though Nana reminded the Sohma boy of his love, she still wasn't Tohru, and that made it a bit bearable. It didn't make sense to him, but he didn't have to look at Tohru and feel that pain of his memories resurfacing when he was with Nana. What he was doing was unfair to the Higurashi girl, but he really couldn't help it. It was that selfish impulse that all humans had. Still, it was wrong to use her.

Kyo put his kendo stick back in the storage closet and headed towards the boys' locker room to get a quick shower and change back into his school uniform. As he was coming out, he saw Nana packing up the rest of her things into her bag. She was already back in her uniform, and her hair was dried and back into a ponytail. Kyo could see the cord to her hair dryer sticking out of her back pack.

Nana picked up her bag and slung it onto her back and headed out the door. She felt as if someone was staring, but she didn't want to look stupid by glancing over her shoulder at Kyo. I mean, wouldn't that just look desperate? It would be like giving one last longing look to a lover before departing. Unfortunately, Kyo wasn't her lover, so she wasn't about to look back at him like he was. No, Nana just walked home.

It was sunset as Nana walked down the streets to her small home. Upon arrival, she saw a sleek black car in the driveway. A groan escaped her lips. Her father decided to pay a visit. As Nana approached the door, she could hear the muffled yells of her parents and she noticed that the front door was ajar.

"I just came to see her! I have a right! She is my daughter as well!" came the foreign accent of her father.

Jason Bowers was an American photographer who had came to Japan for his studies and to take wonderful pictures of the surrounding area. He ended up taking a picture of a woman who had walked right in front of an old shrine that Jason was trying to take a picture of. At first, he was pissed as hell that someone ruined his perfect shot, but when the film was developed, his perspective changed. The woman had jet black hair that fell past her chin. Her delicate hand was reaching up to brush some of the black curtain behind her ear. Her pale skin was like porcelain, and her oriental eyes sparkled in the sun light. Jason had tried to find her again, but the woman was so elusive! He finally found her outside a quaint café with some of her friends. He approached her and asked her to be his model, and he was turned down. Being a man with an important mission, Jason Bowers did not give up very easily. He constantly asked the woman to be his model for a whole week before she said yes.

"And what is such a beautiful woman such as yourself called?" he asked.

"I am Emiko Higurashi." She said in a haughty tone. "And I'll have you know that I'm only doing this because you were so damn persistent!"

"Such a dirty mouth on such a beautiful woman!" Jason teased, and Emiko had scoffed at his remarks.

Throughout the time that the two spent together taking pictures, Emiko tried to resist him, but Jason's foreign charm had captured her interest. The two grew fond of each other and soon the two claimed that they were in love. Emiko was so smitten with Jason, and she was sure he felt the same way. A month later, Emiko had become pregnant. It seems that Jason wasn't as in love as he claimed. He left for the States, leaving Emiko alone to care for the child for sixteen years.

"Biologically, Jason, yes you are." Emiko snapped back at the American man who stole her heart. "But you were never here for Nana! You never came back! I don't want her to have anything to do with you!"

Nana walked into her house to see that her parents were both standing in the front room snapping at each other. Her father's back was to her, and as soon as she saw Nana, Emiko Higurashi's face softened.

"Nana?" she said cautiously. "How much did you hear?" Nana didn't reply. She let her bag slump to the floor, and she went to get Kira's mp3 and left. Nana walked down to the old playground that was across the street from the Sohma main house. The place was empty. Of course it would be. It was almost six o'clock. Nana sat at one of the empty swings and let her feet kick the ground gently so that she was swaying back and forth. She put the head phones of the mp3 into her ears and played the music.

Akehanashita mado ni mawaru ranbu no DEEP SKY

AH aoide...

The song seemed to ease the tears to fall from her eyes. Nana sat there silently as the tears fell down her cheeks.