A/N- As promised, a chapter! Apparently, I'm not allowed to take breaks on this story. Every time I do, I don't update for weeks and weeks. But here you are. A new chapter. This chapter is mostly about Kim. Sorry if you were hoping for more about Shigure and Emiko. That's the next chapter.

I updated my profile today. If you didn't know, I do request fics. I will do oneshots, and complete them within two weeks of receiving the request. If it's a chapter story, that'll have to wait until I've finished one of the stories I'm doing currently. The request format is on my profile if you have one.

Disclaimer- Blah, blah, blah, blah, don't own, blah. We get it.

And now, without further ado, the new chapter!

Chapter 13-

Emiko's POV-

Emiko and Kimberly walked up the path, toting their luggage along with them.

"Hey, Koko?" Kimberly said hesitantly, glancing at her.

~Koko? She only calls me Koko when she's nervous about something. And she hasn't called me Koko since her dad died… What's she scared of?~ she thought worriedly, brows furrowing.

She cleared her face, calling her by the matching childhood nickname that Kim's father had created, "Yeah, Lyly?"

Shockingly, Kimberly didn't glare at Emiko for calling her that. Instead, she stopped walking, and turned worried eyes on her, "What… what if they… never mind." She kept walking.

~Kim's worried they won't like her? I didn't know she still worried about that. Sure, she was really self-conscious when she was younger, but now she always seems really tough, like she's not scared of anything.~

Emiko grabbed Kim's arm, pulling her to a stop, "They'll love you, Lyly. Don't worry about it."

Kim smiled faintly, relief spreading through her eyes, "Don't call me that, Bitch."

Emiko laughed, "For now."

They both started walking again, the lights of the house shining through the dusky light among the trees. Emiko felt a huge grin spread over her face, ~I get to see Gure. God, have I missed him.~

"Bitch, slow down!" Kim laughed. Emiko glanced back to see her cousin ten feet behind her.

Emiko giggled, stopping and waiting for Kim, "Sorry. I'm just excited."

Kim laughed harder, "Apparently. But that doesn't mean you have to abandon me. I don't know how to get to the house, you know."

Once Kim caught up, she and Emiko continued walking while Emiko finished telling her about the people she knew that were going with them. They were almost to the house when she finished.

Kim glanced at her, "They sound nice. You really love this Gure, don't you?"

Emiko felt a heavy blush cover her face, "L-Love? I-I-I don't l-l-love him!"

~Is that what this is? Love? It's different then any other love I've ever felt… but isn't it supposed to be?~

Kim rolled her eyes, "Okay, sure. You don't love him. I believe you."

Emiko glared half-heartedly, "Good. You should believe me."

Kimberly's POV-

They walked the rest of the way down the path in silence. ~Who lives this far into the damn woods, anyway? It's ridiculous. Why would anyone want to live this far away from town? This is very different from home.~

They rounded a corner, finally seeing the house. Emiko grinned, and sped up slightly, quickly covering the final steps to the door and knocking.

Kim glanced away with envy, ~I wish that was still me. Excited to see my boyfriend, excited to be coming home, my real home. His arms, wherever he was. That was home… but now… it's not. Act happy, Kim. Don't ruin this for her…~

Kim mounted the steps just as the Emiko's boyfriend opened the door, matching grin on his face. Kimberly smiled, covering her envy with it.

"Miko…" he sighed out, a relaxed look crossing his face, as if seeing her was a drug, and every day without it pained him.

"Gure…" Emiko said, the same look crossing her face. Kim felt her heart squeeze.

"Hey, Bitch, I'm going to go look around, okay?" Kim said, not looking at her.

"Um… that's okay, I think. Right, Gure?" Emiko replied hesitantly.

"It's fine. Are you sure you don't want to come inside, Kimberly?" Emiko's boyfriend asked, confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Kim said as she put her things on the porch, still not looking at them, "I'll bring these inside later."

As Kim stepped off the porch, she heard Emiko say hesitantly, "O… kay."

She walked toward one of the other paths in the clearing, hearing the door shut as Emiko and Shigure went inside. She walked down the path until it too opened into a clearing. This clearing had only a bench sitting in it, along with a tall oak tree.

She walked slowly to the bench and sat down, arms crossed, clutching her sides, as if trying to stop herself from falling apart, ~Maybe I shouldn't have come. It's too early for this. I can't deal with watching Koko and Shigure's faces light up like that. It hurts… I don't want it to hurt, but it does. I want so badly to be over him, but… god, I loved him…~

"Are you okay?" an unfamiliar male voice called from behind her. Kim turned around, seeing a man about Shigure's age standing at the entrance to the clearing. He had black hair that hung over his right eye. He was pale, and tall, with what would have seemed like no expression if Kim hadn't been so good at reading people's faces. His warm brown eyes held a faint trace of worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kim said, forcing a smirk onto her face, "Why wouldn't I be?"

The man started walking toward her, one eyebrow raised, "If you're fine, why are you crying?"

She reached up with a shocked hand to discover that the man was right; there were tears running down her face. As she stared in betrayal at the tears on her fingertips, the man sat down next to her on the bench.

"I'm assuming you're Emiko's cousin Kimberly," he said.

Kim looked at him, "Yeah. You have the advantage of me, though."

The look in the guy's eyes changed to faint amusement, although the rest of his face didn't, "I'm Hatori."

She glanced away, "Oh. So you're going with us?"

"Yes," he replied.

They sat there for a few minutes before Hatori spoke again, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kim opened her mouth to tell him that, no she didn't, "I was dating this guy. I met him in my freshman year at college, and we started out as friends. Even though we didn't have any classes together after that one course, we still talked, texted, hung out, the works. And over summer break that year, we were constantly emailing. When we got back, he asked me on a date. We went on a couple of dates before he asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes. We dated for nearly a year before I felt like something was changing. He was changing, our relationship was changing, and I hated it. I hated it because I loved him, and the affection from his side was disappearing."

Hatori nodded, "Go on."

"I didn't bring it up. I was scared that if I brought it up, he would notice, and he'd break up with me. I was scared to death of losing him. So I said nothing," Kim felt the tears start up again, "Last month, my best friend told all of us that she was getting married to this boy she knew back home. Not many people knew she was dating him, my boyfriend being on of them. The next day, he told me the truth. He had been using me the whole time to get closer to my best friend, so that 'When we inevitably broke up, she would already know and like him, and he could ask her out.' I felt like I was dying. He had never loved me, and I gave him the one thing I'd always kept from people. I'd given him my heart, my love, and he'd thrown it away, as if it was nothing but trash."

Kim buried her face in her hands, "I loved that asshole, and I still do. I know what he did, and I know that he never loved me, but every time I see him, all I can hear is my heart pounding in my ears, and I just want him to hold me, tell me it was all just a lie, that he never meant it, that he loves me. I decided I needed to get away from him, go somewhere I'd never taken him. So I come here, hoping to escape from him, and my feelings, and discover that Emiko has a boyfriend. And every time she talks about him, or sees him, the expressions I used to make cross her face, and I feel my heart break even more, and it hurts so badly. I came here to escape my feelings, escape the hurt, but every moment here just hurts even more."

Hatori looked her in the eyes, "I'm not going to say that it'll be fast, or painless, but it will get better. Eventually, you'll be able to see other people in love, and it won't hurt. You won't be jealous anymore. You'll be able to look at people like Emiko and Shigure, and you'll be able to be happy for them. It won't be an act."

Kim stared at him, a faint smile playing with her lips, "I'm assuming something similar has happened to you."

A look of old pain shone from his eyes, "It was a long time ago."

She wiped the tears from her eyes, standing, "We should probably get back to the house. Emiko is going to be worried about me."

"Yeah," Hatori said, standing.

Kim started walking back, side by side with Hatori.

~Why did I tell him all of that? It has nothing to do with him. The only other person I've told is my mother. Why do I feel so much better now that he knows? Why do I feel so much safer now that he's near…?~

Hatori's POV-

He walked down the path next to Emiko's cousin.

~Why did I ask? I don't know her, and I don't want to get to know her. I don't want to get close to anyone. So why was I so worried about her when Shigure and Emiko walked in and said she'd seemed weird and had gone for a walk? Why was I so scared when I saw her crying? Why was I so angry that her ex-boyfriend made her cry…?~

They entered the clearing with Shigure's house, and they both walked up to the porch.

He saw her settle her features into a faintly smirk-like smile, and open the door, pulling her bag in behind her. Hatori didn't think she was attractive. He didn't like her red hair, or her piercings. He didn't like her faint smile, or the fact that she was the same height as him. But he knew one thing. She was beautiful. Her feelings, her strength, her convictions. All of these things made her beautiful in his eyes.

It was a strange feeling for him.