Well. It happened. We disappeared. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be all of us, together,
like one big, street rat family .We would have each others backs and live as normally as possible. But then the
cops came and fucked up everything. They took everyone except for Syaoran and me. Who were left for three
weeks without our family. We had learned a great deal about each other in that time seeing as all we had was
each other. But then everything changed. I suppose your wondering what the hell im complaining about. Well,
let me go back about a week, and explain how exactly we pulled our disappearing act.
The bridge had once again become home. But we made due. We didn't have to worry about sleeping space,
most of the time, only one person was sleeping at a time anyways. And we stayed so close to each other that
personal space was no longer a concern. The animals were gone. Sometime during the course of our second
bridge stay, Animal Control came and got them. I got really sad and sometimes cried myself to sleep because I
didn't have Suppi sleeping on my head or Kero laying on my right leg, making it numb. Syaoran said it was for
the better because they were in a shelter where they would get fed and Kero would get that gunk in his eye
cleared out and that somebody nice would adopt them and they would never go hungry. That didn't make
anything better, it just meant that somebody else would have them to cuddle with and not me, who really needed
them. Syaoran and I got to talking one night and I made the mistake of asking how he got onto the streets. Well,
it wasn't really a mistake, he just got all emotional and came almost to crying point a few times. His story was a
sad one. My story wasn't even as sad as his. Syaoran had come from a somewhat wealthy family, he was kid
seven, with six identical twin sisters that were older than him. Well, they went off to college and when they did,
he became the center of his mothers rantings and occasional beatings. His father had died a while back, he was
murdered by his secretary who he was having an affair with. And when he chose his family over her, she flipped
and shot him then shot herself. When his mom found out, she went into this phase where everything Syaoran
did reminded her of him and she grew to hate him. She starting calling him by his fathers name and throwing
things at him, calling him a devil child. It got so bad that she forgot who he was and one morning she woke up
and got so scared that there was some kid in the house she ran out into the middle of the street, right into and
oncoming truck.
Syaoran was sent to live with his aunt and cousin, Mei Lin. But it was obvious that they didn't want him, so
he ran. He somehow wound up in the city where he met Eriol, who was living in a ditch off of route two and thus,
this whole vagabond organization of his was formed. Then I came in and well, you know the rest. We had been
living under the bridge for about two weeks now and were running low on food. So the two of us woke up early
one Thursday and went out, to grab a few things, about how much we normally snatch would feed us for about a
week, maybe two now since the animals weren't here. But that wasn't…wasn't the point. Goddammit, I hate
retelling things, I thing the Hoover dam just erupted through my eyes. Ugh. Anyways. We had been out for a
couple of hours and when we came back, it was probably a little after noon by the time we got near the bridge.
Syaoran had a hunch that something wasn't right, the tarp had moved positions from when we left. But it was
windy, so we shrugged it off. That was the worst mistake we ever made. Syaoran grabbed my hand and we
walked inside only to be welcomed by a resounding 'aww' from voices we didn't recognize. Looking up from our
feet, we saw the familiar and ever hated blue uniforms we had come to despise.
"Shit…" Syaoran mumbled, holding my hand tighter.
"Yea, that about sums it up. We've been looking for you, you know. You've been very bad." the one said with
the tone like he was talking to a child. I frowned.
"Do you have a speech impediment? Why the hell are you talking like that?" I spat, glaring at him angrily.
"Ohhh. Lil mouse has an attitude. I think we may have to fix that." he said with a sly grin. Syaoran growled and
his defensive mode kicked in, but soon wore away when they pulled out guns. That's not something anyone
wants to go up against. He stepped down and frowned. The two cops laughed and pointed them at us.
"Now…" they said; "You have two choices, you can either be good kids and follow us to the car, where we'll
have you put up for adoption and nobody gets hurt, or we can do it our way, where you two get shot and sent
to a hospital before being adopted, either way works for us." He grunted, unlocking the gun and cocking it so
that one false move would send us flying through the air impaled by bullets. We didn't say anything, so the
other cop, a chubby guy with a Hitler mustache and a goatee took it upon himself to cause a ruckus. He smiled
and that was all it took. I didn't know that there was another cop behind us, and he whapped me in the head with
a rather large rock, sending me to the ground, my vision blurring, I heard a gunshot and Syaoran yelping then
everything went black.
Adoption centers are all the same. You get food and shelter, some clothes and a bed, but nothing else. And this
place wasn't run by a beast of a woman with blue hair and a rump that threatened to kill you if you stood behind
her. No, this place was strict. There were censors on all of the windows and the only way you could get in or out
of the building was if they buzzed you through with a doorbell and security cameras. I think I have tried about
five times to get out of this hell hole, and every single time, I was caught and brought back by this peppy freak
who kept calling my outbursts ' a cry for attention' . Yea, well go with that. Let them think what they want, I
know the truth and that's about all that matters. However, I've stopped trying. There was no point in any of it.
Syaoran was gone. The only thing that kept me hanging on was probably dead, and if he wasn't, is probably in
the same position I am. I kept mostly to myself. I didn't talk to anybody but the shrink, who I was mandated to
see because they thought I was mental and the chef, who was supposed to sneak pills…something called
Riddelin… into my food, but didn't because she understood my dilemma. She was actually a cool person. I
would sometimes sneak down to the kitchen past curfew and talk to her. She gives me vanilla ice cream
sometimes and tells me about when she was a little girl. Her names Bridget. I think she's my only somewhat
friend here, but she's an adult and probably is just taking pity on me. The shrink, who says that I am
'emotionally unstable and suffering from trauma' is also my schoolteacher. He teaches me how to read and do
math. There's really no sense in it. However I do like reading. I pick up on things quick so I surprised him when I
started leafing through some of the psychology books he had. I didn't understand a lick of what they were
saying in those things, but I gave me something to do. He says that math is like a second nature to me. Actually
its just easy as hell. He says that because of my 'condition' I pick up on things quicker to cope with the pain.
Yea ok. We'll go with that for a while. Part of its true though. If I get distracted by the books or the numbers, I
don't think about everyone so often and wonder weather their alive and safe or dead somewhere. So I suppose
he was right. About this at least. And maybe about the emotionally unstable and traumatized thing too. Well
he's a shrink so I suppose he would know. Damn I'm messed up.
Today somebody is coming to visit with me. Apparently they create profiles of every person here and post
it in the newspaper. Then, potential adopters are found and they meet with the adoptee's a few times or however
many it takes to decide weather they want to adopt or not. I'm meeting this couple from upstate New York. I
guess the woman is unable to have kids, but they really want one. Only, they want someone older. Like my age.
Its odd because most people come in here looking for babies or toddlers. You see a few people my age get
adopted once in a while, but hardly ever someone older than me. So I've concluded that if you're an orphan, 16
is the age people stop caring about you. Everyone says I'm lucky that im being visited. The girls helped me get
all prettied up to make a good impression. So at about three o clock, (I learned to tell time too, and not by the
position of the sun…) I came downstairs wearing a light blue sweater and a black pair of pants. My hair was back
in a little ponytail. It was more like a nub because one of the first things I did when I got here was cut my hair to
just below my ears. It didn't look too bad actually and to be honest, I had forgotten how light my hair was when
clean. But I digress. The couple waiting for me was sitting in the other room. I walked in slowly and nodded to
them, sitting down opposite of them. The woman smiled widely and gripped her husbands hand.
"Oh she's precious" she whispered, thinking I couldn't hear her. But I did and I smirked a little, amused by the
compliment.
"Hi there!" she began, leaning forward, propping her elbows on her knees.
"Hi" I said politely. I figured that these people might just be my only ticket out of here, so I better make the best
of it.
"I'm Emily, and this is my husband Eric." she introduced, nodding to her husband, who smiled and nodded. The
two looked rather young, probably in their early thirties, and they looked upper crust. Like they never had to
worry about money. Good for them.
"I'm Sakura" I said with a light smile. Emily gasped.
"Ohhh! That is such a pretty name! Does it mean anything?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. She kind of scared
me.
"Um, yea. Its Japanese for Cherry Blossom." I said with a nod, getting more comfortable with the surroundings.
It was Eric's turn to make a fuss.
"Ah, right! Your from Japan, I read it on the profile. That's a beautiful name…Sakura." He complimented. I think I
blushed, I wasn't used to this may compliments, but hey, if they want to, be my guest, im not about to stop them.
I nodded and unfolded my hands, pushing the chair forwards a little.
"But your English is so perfect…how?" Emily asked curiously. I smiled and stared at my hands. But they had to
move, I needed to wipe my eyes.
"um…I had a good teacher. The one person I was with on the streets…Syaoran, he taught me." I said with more
fondness in my tone than I had intended. Emily smiled.
"Aw. You liked him then?" she asked, striking a very personal boundary, but I didn't care. I nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, I did. Very much." Both of them smiled and nodded.
"Well, maybe you'll see him again some day?" Eric put in, I shook my head.
"I don't know. Probably not." I sighed, wiping my eyes again. Emily slouched a little bit and took my hand.
"Don't say that. it's a small world. It may happen. Now then. I read on your profile…you were emotionally
traumatized. I really don't want to go into things that make you uncomfortable, but may I ask what happened?"
she questioned. Well at least she was polite about it.
"um. My mom and I came over here when my father passed away. But The ship kind of blew up and she died." I
said, keeping it short. The couple gasped and began their two minutes of 'ohmigod's and 'that's so terrible!' I
shrugged.
"Yea… But what's past is past. Life goes on you know? Que sera sera. Whatever happens happens. No use
dwelling on the past." I said, surprising myself with that burst of confidence. Emily's eyes grew wide and she
smiled.
"Wow. How mature of you!" she gaped. I shrugged again. Eric checked his watch and sighed.
"Well. Unfortunately our time is almost up. So I suppose we should say good bye for now" he said, standing up,
and helping his wife up.
"Ohhh. It was very good to meet You Sakura. Well see you soon." she said, pulling me into a hug before leaving
with her husband. I smiled in spite of myself and followed after them.
Ohhh kay. That's chapter 8! Huzzah! That was a major chapter. And OHMYFUUKINGAWD. This amazed me
a bit…I didn't have any major fluff as a goodbye thing!! Wow. Anyways. This is NOT the last chapter. If It
was I think people would kill me. No, there's plenty more to come. So stick around and review please!! I do
so love them!
Chapter 9 up soon Until next time
Ja!
Kirra