I'm sorry

"Kurapika, you're up next!" our teacher called out. This was our combat teacher. All children of the village trained outside almost every day in the traditional fighting style of the Kuruta Clan. It was custom for us to learn how to defend ourselves and learn how to fight from a very young age. Out of all my classmates I was the best at this. I was good at a lot of different things. Pairo would tell me it was because I did not like being second to anyone. I suppose there was a little bit of truth in that statement.

"Kurani, step forward please." She did not want to come out. My friend knew she was going to be defeated but, alas, she had no other choice. Sighing, she came forward and raised her fists near her face in perfect defense stance. Kurani was cautions so she was not going to make the first move.

"If you hurt me I might have to cancel the wedding." She whispered and I smiled.

This whole marriage affaire now became a joke between the two of us. At first we found it rather unpleasant and bothersome that people, especially our mothers, would continue to make such comments, but after a while we decided to start ourselves to joke around with that idea in hopes that it would all stop. We found it amusing after a while.

"Don't worry, I could never hurt —" the words stopped midsentence when I felt Kurani's knee collided hard with my stomach. A kick; she was fast and I had barely noticed that she was already in front of me and attacking.

And with that we began.

She punched, I dodged.

I kicked her left side, she stumbled.

She ran towards me. Punch, dodge, another punch, foot work, kick, avoid, fist in the face. Hit.

She took a couple of steps back. I got her right eyes. We went about it again.

She charged. Punch, arm block, elbow to the ribs, impact, twirl and kick to the face, duck, knee to the cheek.

This time I was the one losing my balance. Kurani was not going to let me win that easily. The right side of my face tingled after that blow.

We circled each other and she attacked. I was determined not to let her get me again. Instead of the frontal hit I was expecting, she surprised me and slid on the ground on her left leg and hit my ankles with her right foot.

I fell backwards and she quickly kneeled over me, a punch directed to my face. I grabbed her wrist before she could charge against me.

"Guess you're not unbeatable." Kurani whispered, my pride a little damaged.

"Alright! That's enough." Our teacher said, clapping his hands to catch our attention. Being the obedient little girl she was, Kurani was getting back on her feet.

No, that was not enough. I could still beat her. I was not going to lose to someone weaker than me.

I grabbed her other wrist and slammed her on the ground next to me, swapping places so that now I was on my knees looking down at her.

"Kurapika!" Kurani gasped. I was making a statement there; I could beat her anytime I wanted.

I think she glared at me after that. I was not sure, I really was not paying much attention to her feelings.

We began wrestling, rolling on the ground waiting for each other to surrender. We punched, we kicked, we jerked at each other's clothes, no one had any intention of giving up. Our teacher tried to break us up but in vain.

I found myself with my back against the ground again, Kurani had a strong grip on my shoulders and made it hard for me to move at all.

"Won't you admit defeat at least once?!" My friend breathlessly asked me, her straight and long strawberry hair falling over her shoulder and touching my sore cheek. I could see that the punch I gave her earlier was making her eye swell.

"Thing is, Rana," I grabbed Kurani from her shirt and lowered her close to my face, quickly placed both my feet on her hipbones and pushed hard. If I hadn't been holding her she would have flown right onto our teacher, instead I kept a solid grip and she went flying over my head and slammed her back on the ground right above my head. I quickly rolled over on my shoulder, grabbed her by the arm and turned her over so that she was facing the ground, I placed my knee between her shoulder blades to keep her in place. I then grabbed her arm and twisted it to the back. There was no way she could move.

"I can beat you whenever I want." A triumphant and smug grin shone on my face. Yes, no one could beat me. I was proud of that, but I was being too stupid to realize that I was hurting my friend, emotionally and physically. When you are young you sometimes don't realize what your actions can do to a person.

"Stop it, Kurapika! Stop it!" I had no idea for how long she was urging me to let her go. I immediately freed her and stood up.

What an idiot I was.

I offered a hand to help her up, which she refused. A painful moan escaped her lips, she kept her back at me as she walked away. I touched her shoulder to make her turn towards me, but was greeted by a nasty glare. She one of on the Kuruta who did not have the gift of red eyes, probably due to the fact her father was from outside, but I was sure they would be in flames right now if she was pureblood.

"Leave me alone!" Kurani returned to her seat. She did not look at me for the rest of the day. I did not completely understand why she was so angry at me. Yes, I did not end the training when I was told to. Was she really that upset about it? She was a sore loser. No, I was the sore loser.

After training ended I followed her. The river was her lonely place, she enjoyed going there. She once told me that the sounds of the water made all her worries go away.

"Rana, wait!" I called after her. My friend did not reply, she quickened her pace and turned left, disappearing behind trees. I continued to tail her.

"C'mon, Rana. Why are you so… mad…?" when I looked behind the trees, she wasn't there anymore. As if vanished. Again, she was very fast, but I never knew she could run that fast.

"She's mad, huh?" I turned around to find Pairo standing right behind me. I sighed.

"Yes, I think I overdid it at the end."

"I think so. You are a sore loser."

"Pairo…" I complained. He shrugged.

"You should apologize. "

"I know." I was about to leave but Pairo stopped me.

"I would bring her some of these." He said holding up a leaf. Pairo always knew how to get me out of a tight spot. He was the best.

After collecting some leaves I went to search for Kurani. It was not long until I found her sitting next to the river. She always found refuge in the same place. I walked up to her, she was giving me her back.

"Rana… I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

"About… before. I should have stopped when I was told to." I sighed. We remained quiet for a while.

"It's okay." Was all she had to say. "I hate how you always want to be better than others. I wish you weren't so stubborn."

Again, I sighed and glanced to the side, a little ashamed. That was how I was. I could not change what she did not like, but I could attempt at being better. I walked up to where she was sitting and swung the leaves in front of her face. She stared at them.

"What's this?"

"They're leaves. I found a couple for you." I smiled. Kurani stood up and gave me an unreadable look and I could not tell if she was upset or not. Her right eye was entirely purple after the punch I gave her earlier. She continued to stare at me, speechless, until she burst out laughing. I was confused.

"What?"

Kurani did not answer and continued to laugh. Had I done something funny?

"I'm sorry, but your face… " I touched it and sucked air through my teeth in pain. My cheek was swollen, just like her right eye.

"You should look at yours!"

We both laughed. Children's laughter that I had not heard in a long time. Juvenile and honest. That's how we were.

Oh, to go back there…

But then Kurani began to cry. She still had her smile on. Where those happy tears? I couldn't say.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't stop!" she brought one hand to her cheek to dry them from her tears. I handed her the leaves in an attempt to calm her down."You're such an idiot… I can't stay mad at you even if I want to."

I pouted my lower lip. "Thanks… but stop crying now, okay?"

"I can't stop. I'm sorry." She repeated, her words choked between smiles and tears.

"I'm sorry." I was not mad.

"I'm sorry…" her voice was softer, hazier.

"I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry!" a young woman talking on the phone crossed my path and bumped into me. She immediately regained her fast pace and disappeared from my sight.

Blankly, I gazed at the sky.

I experienced another one of those odd memory trances. As much as I could not understand why they were coming back to me, I was not bothered by them at all.

I aimlessly continued to walk down the street, passing what seemed to be an old ice cream shop, waiting for my mind to elaborate a theory as to why I was reminiscing the past so much.

Truthfully, I did not care for an answer.

Notes:

New chapter! It was fun to write so I hope you liked it. Please tell me what you think :)

I would like to thank randomfangirl for the review since I couldn't thank you personally :)

Next Chapter: Promise