I looked to the girl whose wrist I was holding onto. Haruka's face was tingeing red as she tried to look anywhere but at me. It made her seem childish and adorable. Like Kil when he's happy about something I say. A little smirk played on my lips as I used more strength to pull her up onto the branch.
She swung her legs as she sat there, silent. I stood looking down at her, arms folded.
It wasn't long before her mood bounced back and she sprung to her feet, smiling at me with a face full of scratches and smeared blood under her nose.
"Thanks for the save Illu!" She wiped at the blood and before I could even say anything she bounded to the next tree, sure footed as a monkey.
GOD! I had blood on my face and talked to him! What does he think of me? That was so not cool! Please let me get amnesia and forget all about this episode by tomorrow! …No! If I do that then I'll never remember meeting that cute little brother of his. And if I ever run into Illumi again he'll think I'm even more of a freak.
UGH! Life you suck as much as gravity. Now please let me get out of here without another tree hugging episode.
It was near the outer wall of the Zoldyck lands that I heard Mike again. He was farther in, having lost my trail and never recovering it. I looked back, saddened that I couldn't have ridden him today. But, as long as I came back there was always another chance.
I launched myself to the top of the solid stone wall (what was with this family and goddamn stones?) and looked over the landscape. Trees were the dominant feature, but the higher you looked the more jutting rock peaks and shrubs you could see. And right near the top was the Zoldyck residence, dark as any silhouette in the predawn light.
I lifted my hand in a wave, though Illumi was probably the only one close enough to see it and jumped off the wall in a backwards dive. This part was always stupidly fun. I twisted my body and bent my knees as I landed to absorb the shock, tucking into myself and executing another shoulder roll. This one was less painful.
I came to my feet and was running again. The rising sun meant it was almost six, I had an hour to get home.
I sat atop the wall, watching with hooded eyes as Haruka looked towards the east before bolting full speed down the road and towards the town. It would be a forty-seven minute run if she managed to keep this pace. Was there really something that important that she needed to run more after running all night? It hadn't exactly been a leisurely walk when I took her to meet my family, but she had kept up with deceptive ease. She would have been running before that too, having gotten here before midnight. And now even more running. The only ones who I had known who could do something like this before was my family. But we were trained. I frowned. This girl didn't seem to be like other ordinary folks. But I doubted she was in the same line of work as us.
She was too honest. Too open.
As Haruka disappeared from my sight I slowly got to my feet and followed at a farther distance. Not much chance of losing her now… unless she fell off the road. Maybe I should keep a closer distance… she seems… clutzy.
EXACTLY FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES LATER…
I doubled over to catch my breath, more exhausted from running then I thought I would be. Too much exercise isn't good for ya you know. And taking another nap sounded really good right now. Too bad it would be pointless. I could already hear as the kids were shuffling about and getting ready. I took another breath, hoping I wouldn't sound too winded, and opened the door.
A chorus of greetings met my ears as I peeled off my boots. Looks like everyone's up on time for once, that's a relief.
"Morning all!" I shouted as I bounced up the steps two at a time to the second floor. I tossed the boots into the tiny closet of my room and changed out of my sweat-smelling and dirt covered outfit and into a clean pair of jeans and a blue hoodie. That would need serious washing, today. I grabbed the hair brush I always kept on my bed and pulled it through my hair.
"Mother F!" I nearly shouted loudly as I yanked the brush through a knot and came away with a ton of pulled strands. I had completely forgotten about what happened during my first tree falling experience. Did I have time to wash it out? I chewed my lip and looked at the little digital clock hanging from a nail in the wall.
6:58AM
YES! Just enough time since everyone was up. I rushed to the bathroom, turned on the sink tap and scrub liked mad. I even poured some soap into the mess for good measure.
"Haruka! Come down here!"
"Coming!" I called while hastily wrapping a towel around my dripping, and now apple blossom smelling, hair. I reached the bottom step just as Amy and Manny came barreling down the hall. "Whoa!" I lifted up my arms as the two seven year olds ran past on either side of me. They were laughing. I looked after them as they turned the corner. Amy had short blonde hair that curled and Manny was a little boy with the softest red locks I had found. He was also freckled of face.
I walked towards the kitchen to find the rest of the gang gathered around the kitchen table, which was loaded with plates of pancakes and French toast, bottles of syrup and margarine, even a bowl of icing sugar was out (though half of its contents seemed to have miraculously found its way onto a certain someone's plate).
"Natsu…" I said in a falsely threatening voice. The little nine year old, green haired boy looked up with a mouthful of sugar coated pancake. He saw me step closer with a grin on my face and immediately gulped down the food.
"Obaa-chan said I could!" He insisted, while Obaa-san (Mimi) stood clucking her tongue at the stove and flipping a new batch of pancakes.
"No siree, I did not Natsu-kun. I told 'em full well too much sugar is bad for you."
"Obaa-chan!" Natsu whined. He quickly got off his chair and tried to run, but I caught him around the waist and tickled his side.
"Ha-ha! This is your punishment Natsu." He laughed and tried to squirm away. I kept tickling him for another few minutes before letting him go. "Brush your teeth extra well after this, now finish up or you'll be late." He nodded eagerly and returned to his plate.
I looked at the table and saw the other three kids stuffing down plate after plate of breakfast. Dania was the oldest at thirteen. She was pink haired and too thin for my liking, but she was much healthier than when she came here a couple months back. She seemed happier now too.
Next to her sat Seiji, a boy of ten. He's been with us for a few years. He's gotten so big! I went over and hugged him across the shoulders.
"Morning onee-san!" He said enthusiastically before gulping down half his glass of milk. I ruffled his dark blue hair before letting him get back to breakfast. In a couple more years he probably wouldn't let me do that anymore.
The last kid at the table was actually Seiji's little sister, she was only four and the youngest kid we had at the moment. I saw her struggling with her knife.
"Want me to help Miki-chan?" I asked the little pink haired pigtailed girl. She nodded and I gently took her fork and knife and cut the single piece of pancake she had on her plate.
"Thank-you." She mumbled. I smiled and moved on to greet Mimi.
"Good morning Haruka. Had quite a night I see." I kissed Mimi's cheek and took over cooking the final batch of pancakes.
"It wasn't really much." I tried to shrug it off, but I'm sure I wasn't fooling her. Mimi had been running this house and taking care of dozens of kids before I even came along. She had taken me in when I was six years old and raised me till I was able to make it on my own. But I still came back and helped her anyway I could.
I would be able to help her a lot more if she would accept my offer to buy her a bigger house and everything she needed to care for these kids, but she always told me to keep the money for when I needed it.
I was a Hunter! Mimi didn't seem to understand that I never needed to worry about money again. That I had plenty to give to her and these kids and still live a nice life. But noooo. Mimi kept giving it back. She was a stubborn old coot but loveable all the same.
At least I had finally talked her into letting me pay for the kids' schooling. The fees were a big chunk of Mimi's monthly budget, but with me taking care of it for all six kids it was a lot of stress off her shoulders.
"Amy! Manny! It's time to leave! Are you ready?" Mimi called up the stairs and seconds later the two seven year olds came bounding down, backpacks in hand. "Natsu, go wash up quickly. Dania and Seiji too. It's time for school for the lot of you." Mimi clapped her hands and the kids bustled about.
I helped Miki off her chair and took her hand. The kitchen would need to wait until I got her ready and walked her to preschool. It was easier for Mimi to take all the older kids while I took care of Miki. Next year, she would be in the same building as everyone else and Mimi wouldn't need my help as much.
I sighed thinking about it. I guess I could always buy a place nearby. But having one of the small bedrooms was a lot more convenient in the middle of the night when Mimi needed to get her rest and I was there to care for the kids.
"Onee-san?" Miki tugged on my hand and I realized we were already at the stairs.
"Yes Miki-chan?"
"Will like the big school?" She asked, sticking her thumb in her mouth afterwards. I crouched down to her level and pulled gently on one of her pigtails.
"Of course you will. You'll be with your nii-san and everyone else. Miki will have lots of fun in the big school!" She continued to stare at me with her big violet eyes, thinking if I was lying to make her feel better. I smiled and took her free hand. "Let's get you dressed and we'll go off. What do you think you'll be doing today Miki-chan?" We went upstairs and I helped her get dressed and brush her teeth while everyone else filed out the door with Mimi and went off to their school.
I watched as Haruka came out the door of the small two-story building grasping the hand of a thumb sucking little girl. Was that her sister? Her daughter? I pondered. No, that didn't seem right. The child seemed too old to be hers, unless she had her when she was very young. Then what about the rest of the children I had seen filing out earlier?
They couldn't all be her family. There was no commonality between them. Though the little girl seemed to have similar eyes to one of the boys who had come out…
An orphanage perhaps? Not a very big one.
Haruka led the child away and I stayed seated on my branch in the tree, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles with my hands behind my head. Silently watching. This girl was a mystery.
Once the two were out of sight my curiosity became an insistent itch that I needed to scratch. What could it hurt? I jumped down and made my way towards the silent house. I turned the knob, not surprised to find the door unlocked. I could look around and still be gone before Haruka came back. I was sure I could. She would never know I was here.
She would never have to know I was here…
XXX
A/N: Hi again! This is chapter 4 – in the same day *fist pump* Boo-ya! Who's epically awesome?!
Haruka: Illumi.
A/N: *sticks out tongue* Jerk.
Haruka: You asked. *shrug*
A/N: You didn't have to answer. So who all likes the story and little bit of background I gave on Haruka? Does it fit with her personality? Or, while reading, were you going WTF? Let me know in a review or a pm. Hopefully more chapters still to come!
Oh, and in case anyone has been wondering as to why I have named my titles the way I have it's because each chapter is a new meeting…
Chapter 1: Haruka meets Illumi and Killua
Chapter 2: Haruka meets the rest of the Zoldycks
Chapter 3: Haruka meets a tree *snickers*
Chapter 4: (Technically the readers) meet Mimi and the rest.
Chapter 5: … Hehehe… no spoilers for you XP