Red versus White

“One two … three … One … two tree …. One two tree “ a disembodied female voice hummed to an inconsequential rhythm. It was an awkward beat, stuttered and forced into an unknown order that perhaps even its interpreter failed to be fully aware off. Despite its irregularity, the rhythm was fallowed religiously by a pair of pale fingers that took a delicate approach to dancing an elusive waltz to this particular beat. Though, to be honest, pirouettes seemed a bit out of hand for the would be finger puppet.

“Haruhi sama ?”

“- two three … one ..one two –“ the fingers carried on, tapping on their fingernails with slow and precise movements.
“Please miss.” The fingers froze, and an audible knot dislodged itself from the servants throat” Your mother-“

“One tw- ..”

“Your mother said…” she insisted, determined to deliver her message.

“I know.” The pale hand lay flat on the window still that served as a stage but a moment ago; banishing the minute long spell that was cast on its digit ballet, in the scares sunbeams that sporadically pierced the window of her room. “I am …aware …” the girl spoke softly before turning a hauntingly pale pair of blue eyes towards her servant.

“Y-you mustn’t be late, miss .” the woman stuttered in what her mistress assumed was fear. She tried a smile for reassurance, but in turn the maid seemed to get, if possible, even more nervous. She sighed, ignoring what was probably a superstitious fear and waved her away; and judging by the speed with which the woman stormed out of the room, this course of action was perhaps the most beneficial to them both.

“I mustn’t be late then, eh?” she whispered inaudibly to no one in particular while clicking her heals towards her bathroom.

One floor up and a bit to the left, the quiet and serene morning approach did not really stand all that well with her brothers’ routine.
“Oi, Akira! You have the pleasure of talking to the great me.” A cocking loud voice echoed through the large bedroom, while two busy servants rushed in getting their master ready “I’ll pick you up. “ he declared, vaguely glancing words the stack of shirts the maids where holding to display. His voice dimmed down for a moment, while his lips widened into a satisfied grin- at the other end something his friend must have said pleased him. “Right, that settles that then.” He added, pointing exasperatly at a powder blue shirt, and fully prepare in ending the conversation. “What? Who ? … Ahh ..” he murmured darkly “She said she chose a different route to school. “ a pair of dark brows came down “No. I have nothing against that. Look, I have to go. I’ll see you at school.” The phone snapped shot with a spiteful click before it found itself being flung towards a wall, while two scared servant rushed out the door.

“Shit.”

“Amaya! Breakfast is ready!” a female voice shouted across the living room, hoping silently that it was heard. Few moments later hard steps were heard down the corridor from above, followed by a door being slammed shut.

“She is late again.” A male voice stated with a drop of irritation in its tone.

“She works hard darling.” The woman whispered as she arranged a lunch box. She could feel the eye brow being raised at the statement but refrained from commenting further.

She knew her husband and his opinion about their daughter’s job. Being a makeup artist for one of the country’s famous actress had its advantages and its disadvantages, but Jonathan Lorn believed that these kind of jobs controlled one’s life.


When Jonathan was about to open his mouth and say his beliefs for a thousand time that week, a pair of feet ran down the stairs, stormed into the kitchen, grabbed the lunch box, kissed the giggling woman and waved the frustrated man then jumped out the door with a “Love you both” message.

“Oh my god oh my god!” the girl ran down the street, and cut so many gardens leaving laughing people behind her. Everyone from the residential park knew Amaya Lorn. She was the youngest makeup artist someone would have and all of them were proud of her skills in arranging any kind of face. From wrinkled to pimpled, spotted to scarred.

She always smiled despite her mood being down, she was a little kid in a grown up world. Her small figure and her curly long ginger hair almost had people compare her to a little porcelain doll. Those bright green eyes and the small few freckles from her face were perfect with her appearance. All in one she was the little ball of sunshine that everyone loved to have around.


By the time her foot touched the entrance of her school, the loud song ringed through the corridors that classes were about to start. Her reddish cheeks puffed and she sprinted to her first class, which fortunately for her was at the ground floor.

“Yosh! I’m in!” she called as she entered the room but this time luck was not on her side anymore and she found herself in front of an irritated teacher.

“Lorn, you have detention after school. Now go back to your seat.” Was the rough yet pleased tone of her teacher which made Amaya scrunch her face annoyingly.

Throughout history the greatest minds of each generation tried to theorize on the reason why, as a
society, people tend to ostracize the individuals that showed either a unique mind or unique characteristics. Some argued that, in order to survive, individuals that wouldn’t fit in the norm had to be singled out; any prominent difference in appearance being seen as a potential defect that could be passed on to the next generation. But while survival instincts can easily be explained in a curt and logical manner, there is something to be said for the rationalization humans had to subject themselves too in order to find a sound peace in their actions.

Happily, nowadays we reside in referring to these as simple superstitions that fueled at one point an innate desire to submit to a higher power. But even though we can now afford to look back at our darker times with the condescending smile of an older, wiser, version of ourselves, some remnants of those superstitions still can claim dominance over some of our … let’s say … less logical members.

Haruhi Domiouji learned this about humans at a very early age; too early perhaps to fully understand why the way she looked singled her out from everybody else. Over the years she found a name for her pale skin and white hair, and so did the people around her – but while the textbooks she read resided in naming her condition achromia, achromasia, or simply albinis, the rest of the world seemed to like more harsher terms: weird, strange, cursed, demon, just to name a few.

In a way it was amusing, recalling come of the stranger questions she received regarding her appearance more often than not managed put a smile on her face. In another, it was infuriating, the number of times the fear and resentment some people had based solely on an age old superstition made her stomach churn. And now? Now she was somewhere in-between. Stuck in an emotionless limbo in which finding the strength to care about the world around her felt like an almost inhuman task.

An inaudible yawn found itself hidden behind the back of a pale hand, while her feet fallowed one another down the long stairway.
“I’m leaving …” she murmured over her shoulder towards a silhouette that seemed keen on enjoying a cup of tea in the comfort of a very large armchair.

“Please try not to bring any more shame to our good name.” the silhouette hummed in its cup of tea.
“I will try my best, mother.” A slammed door quickly fallowed that statement.


A baseball cap, a pair of sunglasses and the sheer desire to be as inconspicuous as humanly possible were the weapons Haruhi Domiouji chose to battle the first day of her sophomore year with. If she could just go through these last two years in this brand new school without a hitch, then everything would somehow …perhaps… fall in its place … maybe. There was however one other strategy that the sixteen year old girl desperately wished to implement: avoid, by any means, Tsukasa Domiouji.

It wasn’t a spiteful approach of punishing her older brother; on the contrary. Growing up, Tsukasa was always the one person that looked after her. His loud knucklehead, fist drawn approach to people saved her more times than she could count. But in turn this also ended up labeling idiot as a trigger happy bully.

“Mah, it’s not like that wasn’t the case to begin with.” She scratched the back of her head thinking about it. To be honest, she couldn’t remember a time when Tsukasa was any different – and she had a hard time trying to figure out if this was mainly because of her or if her brother simply was born with an ‘idiot’ preset. A small frown tugged at her forehead just as she found herself facing the school gate. And in the distance standing on top of his limo there stood Tsukasa, roaming a pair of vigilant ember eyes over the passing students.

“Tsukasa … you really don’t get the whole ‘Stealth’ approach, do you?” Akira’s voice hummed in boredom, while the young man leaned against the car.

“Shut up. Like I’ll let her ignore me.”

“It’s not ignoring. She already said she just wants to avoid trouble and attention.”

“Are you implying that the great and powerful me could draw attention ?!” the last part of the statement was screamed toward the remaining three F4 members, while the few passing students stopped and stared at the sight.

“Um … no … not at all.”

One would be surprised how one so pure and innocent can in fact turn out to be a little devil. No matter how many times Amaya got away ‘unharmed’ she kept coming back like a boomerang, sucking all kind of bad situations. The small girl was a trouble maker, willingly or unwillingly she always found herself in front of the principal’s office.


And today was no different. Silently playing with her fingers while waiting patiently for the next incoming wave of critics and advices and who knows what would come out from her principals mouth, she just prayed in her head that this time the vile man behind the door she was leaning against would not dial those ten numbers that she knew too well.
After what felt like an eternity she was invited inside by the personal assistant of Mr. Kawana, who in return gave that sly smile of hers as if she felt satisfied with the punishment the poor girl might take.


“Mrs. Lorn.” The rough voice deep breathed as his massive body seated on the synthetic leather chair. “You were late again.” He looked up with puffy eyes, probably from too much sleeping, and locked them with the small girl in front of him.


“Give me the permission to explain myself this time Principal. I wasn’t even late! It was like what – 2 seconds- ” she started but stopped as soon as a hand rose in front of her face.


“You give the same excuse every time you find yourself in front of my desk Lorn.” He stated.


“But sir it’s true! But of course it’s my word against the word of your employees. You would never believe me!” she rose her voice a little bit just to make a difference that indeed she was not listened and always blamed for some things that other teenagers are doing them on a daily basis. It was not fair and it was discrimination. Just because she worked in LME she was always the one to get picked on. “Damn Domiouji!” she cursed and before she could realize she spoke her thought out loud,


Mr. Kawana stood up and pointed at the door, clearly showing the end of that conversation. “Three hours detention after school young lady and don’t try bringing your parents, it won’t change anything.”
Her eyes almost watered at the cruel way of showing that in this school whoever worshipped those people would as high as a kite.
Her feet lead her away out the office in a fast pace. She could feel the blood slowly boiling inside her.


“I will show Domiouji. Just wait and see.” She whispered to herself storming though the halls just as the bell rang the first break.

Haruhi froze. The idiot was already gathering a small crowd around his car. A part of her vaguely wondered what drew more attention to him –the loud voice, the fact that he was currently choking Akira while the rest of the f4 seemed to get a kick out of it, or perhaps it was all of the above toppled with the fame that he surrounded himself with. Tsukasa had always been this way; loud, determined, vehement, and angry. It drew people to him in a weird way, and he enjoyed every minute of it. Weather it was positive or negative, he relished in attention.

With a subtle hand gesture she drew the brim of her hat lower over her eyes and pulled the hood of her anorak over her head. “Like a shadow” she whispered to herself comically before she drew a sharp breath “I just have to make it to the building, then I can get to class.” Somehow, this all made sense to her. To everyone else this circular brand of logic would be astoundingly peculiar- but for a sixteen year old with an identity crisis avoiding her brother, who unfortunately was one of the most well-known and influential people in her school was completely plausible.

She made a bee line through the crowd, fixing her eyes to the ground and murmuring a low “Excuse me” every time she cut through the horde of fangirls that seemed keen on shying at the mere presence of her older brother. It didn’t occur to her however, that the very fact that she took so much care into concealing herself would make at least one levelheaded F4 member take note of the reluctant antisocial figure that mucked through the masses.

“Found you.” A pair of pink lips whispered melodically to themselves with a subtle smile.

He distanced himself indiscernibly away from his exuberate friend; a half opened book held just under his eyes being used as a would-be mask to aid in his escape. The young man wasn’t too please when hearing what Tsukasa’s little sister though would be a full proof plan for avoiding trouble for them. The idea that she would evade Tsukasa, and by association himself for the duration of school didn’t stand quite right with him; he didn’t really bother trying to figure out why it did though.

It didn’t take particularly long to escape the claustrophobic yard and make his way through the school doors. He paced himself- running was beneath his status, and made a clear point of ignoring the longing stares and deep breathed sighs that fallowed him throughout the hallway. There was neither a point in acknowledging their presence nor arriving to his destination while trying to catch his breath. No. The pray he was after was, happily, a creature of habit. “You always choose the high ground, Anakin.” He chuckled.

The door that led to the rooftop was surprisingly sturdy, Haruhi thought. She didn’t expect she would have to kick the ever living hell out of it to get it to budge open. But after five attempts, two of which either ended in a string of profanity and the rest in an inaudible cry of pain, the blasted thing came undone. She told herself that the pain in her left leg was somehow worth it as she set a pair of pale blue orbs over the schoolyard and implicitly her brother’s antics. ‘What a pillok …’ she smiled to herself while the boy gestured angrily from the hood of his limousine.

“Ha-ru-hi …” a gentle voice hummed behind her, making her flinch in panic before looking over her shoulder.

“… Rui …” she exhaled his name in relief “You almost …”

“Yes yes, heart attack.” He waved a dismissive hand “Let me recall your speech for this exact scenario: Oh it’s you Rui. You almost gave me a heart attack! You insensitive bastard! Don’t you care about my poor little heart? Oh woe is me …etc” he chuckled in his mimicry, much to his young friend’s annoyance.

“Asshole, I’m not THAT predictable.” She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Don’t pout ochibi san.” A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, before a gentle hand patted the shorter girl over her head. “For somebody so uncharacteristically unique, “ he said as he took a seat against the mesh fence that guarded the roofline “ you are quite foreseeable, that is all.” His book quickly came open; a pair of amber eyes began to diligently fallow the text. They sat in silence for what seemed like a few good minutes- she stood, unmoved from her previous spot- her fingers interlaced in the mesh fence- while her eyes roamed the courtyard, while he choose to sit beside her, enjoying the stillness , her company, and his book.


“He certainly is persistent, isn’t he?” he finally broke the silence without looking away from his paperback.

“Mm …” was given as agreement.

“He was hurt, you know.” He finally added a few seconds later, observing her reaction from the corner of his eye “He took it personally.”

“Tsukasa wa- … “ she trailed, trying to find her words “Tsukasa was always there for me.”

“Just him eh?” he chuckled sarcastically.

“You too, and Akira, and Shoujiro. All of you … you became the F4 because of him. And he became feared because of me.” There was no hint of emotion in her tone, but her eyes gradually became sadder. He sighed, closing his book with an audible slap.

“Mah, knowing Tsukasa … we would have gotten here eventually.”

“You wouldn’t. Especially not you, Hanazawa Rui.” Pale blue orbs held him so intensely, the boy found it hard to blink away from them “You, you were always gentler than all of us- The artist, the musician, and the talent.” She paused smiling sadly as the sun finally escaped the clouds “He felt the need to protect me. Because of me I think he forgot his own gentle nature. And because of me …” she turned her eyes towards him once again “ … he took away yours. It’s my turn to try and give it back”.

“Haruhi it’s not like –“ his words froze somewhere over his lips just as a gust of wind blew over them. In the light of the sun her pure white hair danced wildly over her pale skin and without even realizing it his eyes slowly widened at the sight. For a moment, blinded by the sun and wind, all he could see of her in the sunshine were a pair of incredulous blue eyes; for a moment she seemed lighter than air itself, for a moment she almost seemed otherworldly. He blinked slowly, it almost reminded him of ...

“An angel …” he whispered silently

Sound – the acoustic phenomenon that every living being does it willingly or unwillingly. From raging to chirping, walking to dashing and so on. The only difference between each one of us is that humans are doing it on purpose. Or at least some of them. It was like a screeching wheel on the ground, annoying every nerve of her body, making her hair stick up. She prayed to whoever may exist in the world that, for a split second, she could just sink into a black hole where all silence would be very much appreciated.

The dark charcoal almost sank into the thin piece of paper, ripping it slightly. Amaya cursed slowly under her breath, tearing and folding the paper irritated.

“If I didn’t know any better I would say that the little sheet of paper just slapped you hard…on the face.” A male voice was heard from behind, Amaya not even bothering turning around.

“Already in a bad mood?” the male chuckled but stopped as soon as those green eyes darken more towards him. He raised both hands in defense while his cheeks puffed and his eyebrows narrowed slightly.
Amaya kept on being silent. The feeling inside her intensified as her ears picked up a line where the name she despised the most was attached to the phrase. She flinched, the simple littlest act itself being noticed by the male beside her.


He wondered for the third time since he arrived what could have made his friend so silent when the life would flow from her in other days.

“Amaya, your silence makes me think you just want to dump me.” He stated in all his seriousness, trying, even just for a little bit to see a tug on those pink lips.

“It’s not that you idiot.” She shifted her head on the other hand, watching far away through the flurry room, but at no one in particularly. She explained everything to her friend, from the start and until the very moment the two met.

“I admit it was my fault but seriously, those people are like god here.” She raised her hands suddenly in the air. “I know we are not even one percent as popular as them but to make rules in this school. Even the principal worships them!” her reddish cheeks puffed and locked with fierce green eyes to her friend.


Toshiro was always there for her, advising, correcting and listening more than anything. He knew how to calm the fiery girl and how to make her understand the mistakes she did. The first time they met was at a convention. They were both hopeless manga freaks and the tiny passion for these books got them attached one to another.


This time, Toshiro realized the trouble she got herself into had to do with F4. So what advice would he give to someone who despised four people with all her heart?

“Get away from them.” He said in a grave tone. “I know them; I felt it actually on my skin a year ago. They are revengeful and they get pissed off fast. And let’s not forget the fact that even the principal is with them since their families are supporting this school.

“But-“

“Shhhht. Listen to me. I know it’s not right, I know it’s against your beliefs and I KNOW you wish I said differently.” He stopped her before he would lose the fight. It was the best advice he could give her.
On the other side Amaya was full of rage. She almost felt the need, the urge to just slap something in her friend’s face, and despise her feeling of betrayal; deep inside her she knew he was right. In a school where rules were made by four bullies the only way to get through is bend your head down and walk unnoticed.

“But you know very well I can’t let things go on like this. There are so many teenagers there with a life even worse than mine.” She desperately looked into his dark poles for a sign or doubt, but when she couldn’t find anything she surrendered.

“Don’t give me that face Amaya!” he wanted to suck that idea out of her head and just get back the time where they didn’t give a S**t about what was happening around them. “Have you ever thought that maybe they have a reason in doing all this?” he asked slowly.

“Except the fact that they love suffering people?” her tone was hard, almost spitting venom at her friend’s question. “No; I haven’t.”

“Just think about it Amaya. It’s not worth it.” Was all he said before he grabbed his bag and left his friend behind.


The red headed girl let out a long breath, grabbing her back pack and leaving the almost silent canteen with lean shoulders and a bad feeling inside her.

The roof was abandoned; it could give them comfort only for so long. Ever since she could remember she always chose the highest reachable spot to run away too; a vantage point from which she could observe the world without them even being aware of her presence. It gave her a misguided sense of security – and ever since then Rui had always known where to find her. Rooftops somehow became a mutual hiding place for both of them over the years, offering enough comfort that the hours simply slipped past them without notice
Sooner or later, however, the fairytale always had to come to an end, and descending from their rooftop refuge meant they each had to face their own version reality: He would return to the exclusive cafeteria entresol reserved especially for the f4 – with its couture furniture and lavished balcony that opened just above the general populations’ lunch tables. Whilst she’d have to face a new environment and new people on her own for the first time in her life.
Everyone has their own version of hell.


Everything was frozen. She remembered running down the stairs, screaming to Rui that she was late for language class – the clock on her phone only giving her less than two minutes to traverse and entire wing and get to room no. 42. However, the moment her feet hit the bottom step and her eyes landed on the crowds of people everything seemed to come to blinding halt. She vaguely remembered having enough presence about herself to quickly pull the hood of her jacket over her head, her last line of defense against the world, and to tug the brim of the baseball cap over her eyes. All of them … all of them were so colorful. She bit her bottom lip, willing herself to avoid looking at the sea of color that was erupting before her.

Haruhi didn’t quite remember when exactly she began noticing just how much more animated the people around her seemed in comparison; but the moment she began putting herself in contrast with the rest of the world she slowly realized that against what the world deemed normal she could very well have faded away into the background. In that moment a twisted ‘love-hate’ relationship between her and everything vibrant was born; a weird attraction that in the end only served to remind her of what she was in fact lacking. It was the reason why her room was decorated with whites and pastel blues, and why her bedside table also always housed on each side two very large vases with blood crimson roses.

Her phone screen flashed the small minute display over its casing; time was running out. She would have to run through these people, she silently concluded. She would have to run through these smiling, chattering, colorful people. A sharp breath of air was hastily drawn in, serving more as encouragement than anything else.

“I can do this.” She whispered, clenching her book bag tightly over her chest. And with eyes glued to the ground and the sound of her own heartbeat loudly pumping into her eardrums the pale little girl set off running.
In hindsight, keeping your eyes to the ground is never a good idea.

Her feet looked so fast, she wondered absentmindedly while the pale blue converse fallowed one another at a pace she didn’t think she could reach ignoring the random ‘excuse me’s ’ and ‘hey watch it’s’ that were interjected by the people that she blurred passed. She must have made it halfway across the west wing, and stupidly she even dared attribute herself with a small sense of accomplishment, before it happened.

The people who were whiteness to what happened that day would latter refer to the incident as the “angel and devil crash”. Nobody really got to see who in fact ran into whom. What was certain was that both participants were running down the hall, and neither of them seemed too keen on looking where they were going.

As for her part, all Haruhi remembered was a giant red … wall. ‘It came out of nowhere’ she would latter argue, and it was strong enough to send the smaller paler girl flying a few feet back; in that moment everything seemed to go flying out of its place – books, pens, cellphones and most unfortunately ... her cap.

The snowy haired girl found herself on her bottom, simply blinking dumbly in the aftermath, faced with the most intense shade of red she had ever seen. She also found herself staring, her pink lips slowly parting to mouth a word that refused to find volume. ‘Vibrant …’ she blinked in astonishment

“So … red. “ she finally whispered, looking at the ginger haired girl she just ran into. Words seemed to fair the snowy haired girl when trying to decisively describe this girl – never in her life had she ever seen so much vibrancy of color in a single person, and her pale sapphire blinked silently at the equally astonished girl.

“Hey, check it out! “ a whispered voice distracted her from her crimson trance

“Look at her hair! Why is it so white?” Her hand quickly reached to the side of her head while a pair of inhumanly pale blue orbs widened at the realization that her hood fell down.

“Dude, look at her skin …it’s clear as porcelain.”

“Man, it sure goes well with those eyes doesn’t it?”

“Is she human?”

“Must be nice to look like an angel.” A girl’s voice jealously pouted “But look, if you put them together they look like an angel and devil.”

“So cool.”

Throughout this Haruhi’s head sunk lower, and lower, and lower while her fists clenched over her knees until her knuckles turned white. Somehow, this time she was sure things would be different. That she wouldn’t have to be so self-conscious. That she wouldn’t need Tsukasa to fend off the whispers and ridicule.

“Somehow … it all turned to shit again.” She gritted her teeth in anger.

“I AM DEEPLY SORRY!” she bowed hastily to the redhead before grabbing her belonging and making a bee line through the crowd.

‘Somehow …’ her eyes blinked away the moisture while her teeth gritted angrily “Somehow …” her feet could barely keep up with her this time “Somehow I’ll show you … Tsukasa!”


A few minutes later she found herself breathing heavily in front of room 42. Hands shaking she grabbed the door handle and gripped gently. Now or never, she told herself haphazardly, and one last breath of courage later the door came open.

“E-excuse me. I –“ she stuttered an apology, while a room full of surprised looks roamed over her.

“Ah.” An man in his late 50’s smiled from the blackboard “You must be miss Do-“

“Haruhi!” she quickly interrupted much to the older man’s consternation “H-haruhi is fine, sir.” She stuttered, he smiled.

“Very well, Haruhi. Please take a seat. This is just the first class and I’m sure there are plenty more to arrive after you.” He added sheepishly before casting a heavy gave over the half empty classroom. A small bow was given in respect before she figured that lingering in the front of the entire classroom for too long would be pushing her luck; and with an unsure smile she took the last seat near the window row, sinking into her seat as much as he could – much to the fascination of everyone else.

It all ended as soon as it started. It almost felt like a dream, the only difference being the switch of time. A dream feels like hours while in reality it only takes few seconds.

The last moment she remembers was her feet brushing quickly through the sea of noisy teenagers when something hit her. And then everything broke as if a time scissor cut the film of life. She found herself starring at the most pale girl she ever saw in her entire life.


‘An angel?’ her brain questioned, unable to understand the notion of reason-ability in which it was found at that exact moment. Visually, she saw a girl completely colorless, on the ground in front of her. Scientifically, Amaya could not recall on the moment any explanation for the human. Religiously, the girl was an angel. And mythically she was a ghost.

If her body was not frozen she would have laughed at her brain for giving such absurdist ideas and contemplating over the matter in less than few seconds.

Because as soon as it started as fast ended. She blinked few times forcing herself to snap out of the trance she was put in before she turned around and looked the albino with her small almost closed eyes.

“Albino!” she screamed slapping her forehead. “That’s the word you idiot.” She talked with her inner self unable to notice the questioning looks and snickers towards her persona. Her lips pulled up in a smirk. “As if.”

She almost laughed at herself. It could never exist such unique person in her town. She knew albinos were rare, but was never able to see one in reality, even working with actors, getting a chance like this was impossible.


“I need some rest.” She told herself and checked her wrist watch. It took her less than a second to dash towards her next class, continuously cursing under her breath.

“Who will like to start with-“


“I’m very sorry I was late Mr. Makoto!” her red hair fell in waves as she bend over as deep as she could silently hoping from her heart that this time she would not get another detention or else she would have to spend the night here. Her heart pounded hard behind her ribs while her red ears couldn’t trace any kind of sound. Apparently everyone was silent which was quite unusual.


A sigh was finally heard in front of her, sign that the teacher was already getting irritated.

“It’s the first time this week and it wouldn’t be fair for you since another classmate of yours was late.” The teacher added opening his notes. “Go back to your sea Miss Lorn and let’s hope it won’t happen again.”

“Thank you sir!” her smile grew ten times bigger at the first good news this day. She turned around happily grabbing her back pack tight and making her way through the class until her…seat?


The same bright snow white hair was back in her line of sight and this time she knew it was not even close to a dream. Afraid to disturb the silent girl she took a different seat further in front while her hand scrunched her nose in dislike. As soon as everything was settled on her desk her brain began the journey of ideas of how to start a conversation with person she was currently occupying her seat.

The young Domyoji heir loved it here. Higher than the muck and grime he deemed everyone beneath his monetary status he would rain supreme; showering down a torrent of strength and ruthfulness on anyone who would oppose his will. This was his favorite spot in the world, he smirked to himself confidently while his amber eyes observed the rest of the cafeteria.

Rui sighed silently into his book. All of this had been the norm from the moment they were born.

Eighteen years ago, almost improbably, the most prolific families in the country had given birth to male heirs within the same year. These boys had been segregated from the rest of society from the moment they were born – spoon fed tales of great accomplishments their mere lives stood for, and indoctrinated with self-gratifying believes of what the world around them owed them all. It came too little to no surprise that the four children eventually formed a bond, the world they lived in allowing for very little socializing outside of scrutiny; but he always assumed, that just like himself, the rest of them would eventually grow out of the bubblegum dream in which the world would idly stand still as they would walk all over it. He never really was that big on hopes.

Now, eighteen years later, the futures’ most powerful men in the country are still idealized just the same. The only difference was now there was no one to control them.
The strawberry haired young man slightly nodded in approval as a waiter offered to refill his cup of green tea, frowning into his book as the rest of his friend decided on ordering drinks of a stronger variety.

“It’s eleven thirty in the morning.” He idly noted in a monotone voice, not even bothering to look up from his book.

“Are we stating facts now?” Shouijiro chuckled into his glass of scotch on the rocks.

“I have one” Akira interrupted “The sky is blue!” Rui rolled his eyes.

“Oh oh … Birds … get this … they fly!” they both erupted into a string of uncontrolled laughter.

“It’s evelen.thirty.in.the.morning.” he repeated slowly, careful as to maintain the same flat rhythm before looking up from his book and adding with a slight smile “And we are on school grounds.”

“Relax, Rui!” this time it was Tsukasas’ turn to pipe up “We rule this school. There is no teacher alive that would date to tell us off.”

Perhaps even more flamboyantly, the young blonde’s brown eyes rolled again. He didn’t remember quite right when in fact he began to notice this about Tsukasa, when he finally began to realize that the power had completely gone to his head. He remembered it bothered him, that he tried to talk into easing up, and finally, he remembered giving up. His sole consolation came from the fact that as a result him and Tsukasas’ little sister grew closer – not that he would ever admit to feeling particularly happy about that, mind you. He did, however, have to disagree with Haruhi on one point: this was not her fault. Tsukasa had always been prone to megalomania, his ego had always been catered too – the fact that Tsukasas’ violence came in handy in protecting his little sister was just an added bonus.

And now, here he was. The heir to the Domyoji empire – siting on a throne of fear and rage. A slight chuckle caught in the blondes throat; the irony of all of this being that neither of his friend were particularly bad people. Misguided? Yes; Easily influenced? Maybe. Immature? Definitely. But evil? No, Rui simply couldn’t see that in any of them. Especially not in Tsukasa. There were times when the young blondes mind would ponder on what Haruhi often would say regarding her older brother:

“Tsukasa lacks something, just like the rest of us do. Something we were denied as children and we try desperately to gain as adults.” She would say

“But while Shoujiro finds that in his girlfriend, and Akira discovers in the older women he dates, you, me , and Tsukasa have a hard time gaining.” His eyes fell heavily over the green liquid in his cup while his fingers grilled tightly over the handle. He could almost hear the silver haired girl whisper in his ear when she would continue: “That missing part of our soul …. Is love.” The young man frowned.

“However, though you and me are somewhere in limbo, in self-seclusion and relishing in the numbness, Tsukasa is still out there … fighting for it.” His teeth gritted slightly “He is just too stupid to realize that that’s what he is really fighting for.”

“One day, hopefully … we will all find our demon.”This part always confused him, why would she call love her demon? His frown darkened even further, earning a few worried stares from his friend and a gentle nudge from Domyoji himself.

“Hey, Rui … are you ok?” he asked “You look like you just discovered the meaning of life is a mayonnaise bottle.” The boy chuckled, but narrowed his eyes suspiciously when the blonde forced a smile.

“I’m fine.”

On the other side of the school however, a fidgeting Haruhi anxiously counted the seconds to the end of the class. She hadn’t been able to focus ever since the redhead took a seat right in front of her, and the fact that her hair somehow managed to find its way over to her desk wasn’t helping her concentration any. She ignored the whispers and stares, even smiled at a few wondering eyes , but her mind was too focused on the crimson in front of her to even begin to acknowledge the rest of the class.

“Well, I suppose that’s it.” The teacher announced, and the snowy haired girl flinched at the statement. “Dismissed.” He added while the rest of the class began rushing through the door, and with them so was the head of crimson.

“Wait!” she found herself shouting, unwillingly reaching and grabbing the other girls sleeve “Um … “ a pair of blue orbs fell to the floor, suddenly unsure of what to say next “About earlier, I wanted to say …. That is …” fuck, focus.

“I’m very sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

The moment that hand touched her wrist all her blood froze in place.

The hour that just passed could have been labeled as one of the hardest test in her entire life. If it wasn’t because of the girl’s appearance Amaya could easily forget about the small incident between them, but she didn’t. And worse, it would play inside her head over and over.

The feeling of anxiety grew inside as those thoughts were turning a route which would make her gag. She was ashamed and disgusted in the same time when realization hit her. Her brain was thinking like everyone else.

Something snapped inside her when the word “dismissed” reached her ears and knowing the girl would be behind, her hand quietly grabbed the back pack and went to run towards the exist when she was stopped.

“I’m very sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” The shorter girl apologized and Amaya thanked all godly spirits out there when those blue orbs were out of her sight.

What should she say? How should she say it to sound casual? She had not the smallest idea.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” She gave the most reassuring smile her face could ever pull hoping it would make the snowy haired girl feel much better than she felt. “I should have seen you and move.” Her hand scratched the nape between her shoulder and neck unsure of what to say next. Her eyes watched everything except the girl. And what was worse about it was that she felt awful.
‘Oh please get a hold of yourself’ she mentally slapped herself.


“Name’s Amaya. Or Mikan for friends.” She reached a shaking hand towards the wide blue eyes girl. Everything had a start after all, and why would this time be different. Her mind smiled at the warm feeling she suddenly felt flowing through. Maybe this time she would be able to actually help someone from those four devils of this school. If only the girl would accept her friendship.

A jubilant smile stretched a pair of pink lips while the girl happily shook the redheads hand. “I’m Haruhi. Or …” she paused - though initially keen on fallowing the girls preset form of introduction she found herself facing a slight impasse as realization hit her “I … never had nickname.” She admitted dejectedly to the other girl. “Um, but I like Mikan for you. I … don’t know why …” she paused before looking happily towards the fire headed girl “but it fist you perfectly!” she added with a brilliant smile.

Things however weren’t going so keenly for the students in the cafeteria however. For the past couple of minutes Tsukasa ears have been burning with misplaced whispers about a white angel hitting a redheaded devil in the hallway. At first he thought he was hearing things, and keen on finishing his lunch he decided to pay it little mind; but with each passing moment since then, it occurred to him that the entire cafeteria was buzzing with rumors about this ‘angel’.

“Did you see her ? maybe she was trying to exorcise the devil.” Tsukasas’ ear twitched at the whisper.

“Haha, that’s what my girlfriend said.” Another whisper added “She said she was too afraid to look at her, because her eyes were so cold they could look into your soul”

‘Nah, it couldn’t be.’ He frowned reassuringly- and for a second his three friends thanked the stars that Domyoji was perhaps too slow to process the information they were all hearing.

“Did you see her skin though.”

“Uh … it must be nice to not be human.”

‘No no … ‘ Tsukasa told himself with an encouraging smile ‘ There is no way they could be talking about her.’

“And the way she looked at the devil … all shy and defiant. She looked so innocent.” A boy’s voice added with a sigh. Tsukasas’ eye twitched.

‘No. no. no.’ he mentally reassured himself, smashing his palm against the table with each negation ‘No ‘ smack ‘no’ small ‘no! the idiot couldn’t have gotten herself in trouble already’

“O-oi Tsukasa calm- …” Shoujiro warned.

“Also did you see her hair ?! “ a feminine giggle erupted over Shoujiro’s failed attempt at intervening.
And it was Akira’s turn to sum up what the three of them were already thinking: “Well … shit.” Before either of them could say anything else, the young Domyoji heir was already flying over the rails of the little makeshift balcony and landing with the grace of a three legged cat right in the middle of the gossip crowd. Between the screams of horror and sighs of adulation from his fangirls the curly headed boy latched his fingers around the neck of the closest bystander and, before anyone could properly comprehend what was happening, smashed him flat against the wall.

“Well …there goes lunch.” Shoujiro chuckled, as the remaining three F4 members casually got up and fallowed their leader.

“You …” Tsukasa’s tone seemed to drop into subfreezing terrains, whilst his would be victim began shaking under his grip “How much do you value your life in this school?”

“D-domy- …” the young boy struggled to form a plea

“Because I can make your life hell if you lie to me.” The teenager added with a sadistic glimmer in his eyes.

“I would nev-“ he tried saying, but Tsukasa grip tightening around his neck proved tin being an effective means of shutting him up.

“I would pick my next words very carefully, if I were you.” He warned “Now … Where did you see this white headed girl?”

As a first impression Amaya thought the fragile girl’s attitude reflected her features –cold, silent, dejected by the human kind reactions to something or someone so highly different than the average normalcy, but it soon changed as that pure and bright smile covered the girl’s face.

It was indeed abnormal and nearly unbelievable that she found someone like Haruhi. Haruhi – even the name, analyzed by her brain could be compared to a murky pearl, which, if taken care of for some time would be a great priceless precious stone. And she wanted to take care of that. She wanted to show everyone that someone like Haruhi can be trusted and respected, and not pointed at and be laughed about. She would protect her from those hungry eyes that got power from one’s pain and tears. She would protect her from F4.


“Thanks! I’m sure we will find you a perfect nickname!” Amaya replied happily before turning around and contemplating whether to leave or spend some more time with the girl. “Um…” she tapped her chin for few seconds eyeing the girl. “You probably find it hard to pass unnoticed through school.” She faced the girl again. “Have you ever thought of using a wig?” she slowly asked, afraid of the girl’s reaction. “I mean you look amazing like this, but it would help you walk freely without having every finger pointed at and every eye looking after you…I don’t want to make you feel odd it was just an idea.” A pair of pink lips pulled up in a reassuring smile, silently hoping Haruhi won’t feel any offence from her.



--------------



“They talk about the incident since this morning.” A calm voice stated before a flicker was lit, lighting the long slim piece of nicotine. On the other side of the slightly dimmed room a pair of heels rattled on the wooden floor disturbing the stillness. The silhouette moved near the covered window, reaching a slim hand and moving a little bit the window blind.

“Indeed.” Was all the figure said before a pair of red lips converted into a mischievous smirk. “It would bring out the worst in our young Domiouji if he finds out.” The rattle came back as the silhouette moved in front of the other person, grabbing gently the cigarette and drawing a smoke from it, inhaling deeply as if its life depended on it.

“But wouldn’t that commence a war between us and them?” the sitting figure asked frowning deeply,, trying to figure out its partners plans.

“Not at all if we play it nice.” Both eyes turned on the hall. “Something tells me the little boy already found out.” A small chuckle was heard before both silhouettes disappeared.



-------------



A desperate Toshiro was running on the crowded school halls looking for a single bright red haired. Since the brake started all school was talking about an angel and a devil. The angel – he had no idea who it was, but he could not say the same thing about the devil. It was only one girl with a red hair as a devil’s and that was his friend.


“Mikan what the hell did you your self into this time.” He whispered while his eyes searched every single person in detail. If the F4 heard about this incident they would want to see for themselves. He wouldn’t care less about the ‘angel’ but his devil would not be touched by any of them. It took him all his power to run around the school grounds and yet he could not find the girl. By the time he was about to let the search go he spotted the F4 leader. The boy was currently scaring the hell out of another one.


“Now … Where did you see this white headed girl?” the leader of the F4 warned.


‘The white haired girl?’ two eye brows shot up in surprise. Why did Tsukasa sounded so pissed off? And since when did they have an albino in their school? Either way he let out a long relieved breath he didn’t even realized he was holding, suddenly feeling lighter. So Amaya was safe. He turn around slowly, trying not to gain any attention to his earlier stressed attitude and as soon as he was out of the guy’s sight he rushed towards his next class. Amaya would be safe until school finishes and they would meet up to go home together.

Desperation can be a powerful state to find yourself in, he though while he aimlessly flung yet another door open. He vaguely concluded it was almost debilitating in its entirety; nearly able to fully render his thought process to a virtual nil and allowing room for poor decision making in the process. He had been searching the corridors for the past ten minutes with no luck. Every classroom was either empty, or absent of a particular silver haired idiot who was somehow always at the root of every panic attack he ever had.

“God damn it, Haruhi.” He spat under his breath with enough venom to actually drown out the adoring pleas from his female audience. It had always been like this, ever since … He frowned, this wasn’t the time nor the place for remembering that. What he had to focus on now was finding that little brat and killing whoever knocked her out before things could escalate.

For her part however Haruhi was slowly beginning to relax around the redheaded girl enough to actually start noticing little details about her appearance: for example, while her hair was red it wasn’t a very common color of red; Haruhi jokily concluded that it resembled more that of a strawberry than a tomato. That topped with the most intense pair of green eyes the young Domyoji heiress had ever seen made up, perhaps, one of the most stunning people she had ever had the pleasure of encountering.

She smiled at the question, it wasn’t the first time it was asked of her and to be fair she didn’t have a definitive answer. On one hand her skin was too sensitive to be subjected to the temperature and humidity that came with wearing a wig; every attempt at wearing one to the day, more often than not, ending in a very painful rash around the roots of her hair. And then there was her brother; the boy had been so adamant about his little sister not hiding behind a lump of artificial hair that when he did manage to confiscate one from Haruhi he decided that the only good thing it was good for was as tinder for his fireplace. Haruhi shuddered at the thought of what he would actually do if he saw her wearing one in school.

“It’s sort of … complicated.” She smiled at the taller girl “My skin for one and … and idiot big brother for another.” was added hesitantly. She opened her mouth to clarify, but before she could actually voice her thoughts a loud angered scream bellowed through the hallway.

“Where the fuck is that fucking idiot ?!” the silver headed girl paled. ‘Shit.’ Was the quickest conclusion her brain settled on before casting a worried look towards the door. But just as her feet finally seemed to gathered enough courage to move towards the door a familiar figure stopped in the doorway. Bright sapphire eyes widened even larger while in the doorway Rui stood staring back with and equally surprised look on his face.

“R-ru-“ she stuttered but stopped when the boy rose a silent finger over his lips before mouthing ‘Don’t worry.’

“Oi! Tsukasa!” he hollered at the brim of his lungs, while Haruhi –if possible- palled even further “She’s not here!” he added as Haruhi released a breath she did not know she was holding.

“Thank you.” She whispered, receiving a curt nod and a wink in return before he closed the door behind him.

Before any word could escape the freckled girl throat, a series of events took place. First the loud angry shout coming from the school's hall belonging to no other than the person she despised on earth – Tsukasa Domiouji. Then it was the appearance of one of the F4 members as the door flung open. All this time Amaya reflected between grabbing the girl and running her lungs out while figuring a long lasting plan in order to hide her form those vile eyes or just stand and face the massive boy in front of her.

But it seems fate was not on good grounds today for, the moment the two strangers met, a silent conversation took place between them. Her mind could barely make out a possible reason to why those two exchanged a thank you and WHY the boy concealed the white haired girl from his leader.

After all these odd occurrences she remained still and eye fixed on the closed door in front of her. Her face must have changed at that time so many different aspects that, for someone inexperienced, reading that face would have been a mystery.


“You know the F4?” she asked. Her tone might have sounded accusing because the shorter girl backed off slightly. “I…I thought…you are in the same group?” her tone rose a note while her finger pointed towards the door shaking.


She knew she did not have any reason to act the way she was but not knowing exactly why, she felt a little bit betrayed. “Those people are the worst people I have ever met in my life. They bully people that are not even guilty.” She whispered. “They abuse their power in the worst way. People are scared of them and…and you know them?!” Her inner self begged for her to stop and think clear but due to her hatred towards the boys she could not. Instead she just rushed to escape that room which with each minute that passed it got smaller and smaller.


Amaya’s brain could not register why she acted like that, why she was such a drama queen instead of staying and talking like a normal teenager, asking for a justification from the girl.
Her anger grew as she paced through the halls suddenly feeling nauseous. She turned right and exited the school not feeling the need to attend her next class anymore. She almost ran far off towards the glass house where biology classes took place.

She opened the door and inhaled the fresh earthly air mixed with the strong fragrance of different types of flowers. It always calmed her down, probably at blame being the lavender sticks and large bushes of chamomile flowers. She felt free of the polluted world around her. It was the only place on the school grounds where she would often reflect on her behavior towards different people, coming to the conclusion that she was either right or wrong.


Despite her swift, fiery, free and strong attitude and appearance, she was a rightful sensitive girl. She might have looked tough around people, imposing and demanding respect, but in her loneliness she would cry until late at night whishing someone would come and tell her ‘You are not like this’.


Now, she just hoped she had Toshiro with her, but she felt weak to go off searching for him, so instead she chose to spend some time between the fresh greenery.

How long had she been staring at that door, replaying the ferocity with which it was slammed? How long had those words been rerunning through her mind while the rest of her body, somewhere along the line, forgot how to move ?
A vague recess bell had been scarcely registered some time ago; rushed pairs of feet trampled through the hallways, cheerful voices urging one another to hurry, and inevitably … silence; a deafening all-consuming silence that engulfed the hallways, the classroom and eventually her. She found herself quietly thanking her stars that somehow this class remained unoccupied, before she allowed herself to completely drown in her misery.

Haruhi never cried. This little fact had been the subject of debate and amusement among her little group ever since she could remember. In fact, if she were to be completely honest with herself, Haruhi never actually showed anger or sadness to the world; Rui noting that there was something so utterly lonesome about this particular character trait of hers that he could, at times, barely stand to be around her. He called it her ‘denial of support’ mode, one in which she would refuse to admit to any other state than a curt ‘I’m fine.’ coupled with a polite smile at anyone who would ask.

From her perspective however, the youngest Domyoji heir found that talking about or expressing her sadness was relatively pointless. She discovered from a fairly early age that whatever had happened to bring her to this point was either fixable or not. Weakness had never been accepted in the Domyoji household, so whenever she fell, hurt herself, or was hurt by others there was no one there to comfort and reassure her that everything would be alright; a hard lesson to learn when you are merely six and surrounded by strangers. So anger and sadness were hidden behind layers of self-control and denial, until eventually all that got to be projected to the outside world from these emotions was a quiet contemplative demeanor and a faraway look in her eyes.

Her fingers curled into fists, momentarily, before they were dropped limply at the sides of her body. A quiet sigh hovered briefly over a pair of pink lips before she blinked away the darkness. There was no point in blaming Tsukasa for this, this was a given. Her brother had this reputation for a reason – looking over that little fact so easily would only serve to prove how horrible she really was for putting him in this position in the first place. Another sigh, this time around for reassurance, reminded her that this little incident would be one of many – the sooner she would get used to it, the faster she would be able to move passed them

“This is just the beginning.” She told herself in a tone meant to sound encouraging, but it didn’t surprise her when even to her own ears it droned of defeat.

From the other side of the door, a tall honey haired young man frowned as he leaned on a faraway corner of the hallway. The moment he had opened the door, the look of pure terror on the gingers face told him things would not end well for his friend. And going against his better judgment, he decided to stick around for the aftermath. It goes without saying that he heard it all; it also goes without saying that he had to suppress a very fundamental part of himself when he heard that door slam.

A part of him wanted to fallow the ginger and perhaps ‘persuade’ her into a more civil way of behaving; His anger reaching a high enough peak to even determine an ounce of physical violence necessary for this character correctional procedure. But then there was this other part – the one that told him to walk into that small room and take that fragile broken girl into his arms and comfort her, even if she would protest, to just hold her until she would remember what it felt like to cry.

He sighed dejectedly at how improbable and out of character both of those plans were for him, and settled on waiting by the door and let the silver headed girl come out on her own accord. He didn’t fully get to enjoy that sentence before the doorknob giggled gently, the door opening to a surprised looking Haruhi that simply stared back at him dumbly.

“Oh … Rui. Hi.” She struggled to find an acceptable facial expression before settling on a polite neutral smile. He frowned. “Thanks for earlier.” She continued, walking towards him with that same dumb smile over his lips “But I guess it wasn’t necessary after all.” He frowned again. “Mah … what can ya do ?”

“Will you please stop?” He said suddenly, unfazed by the surprised pair of sapphire eyes that held him for a second. “That’s enough, Haruhi.”
“What are you-“

“Enough!” Up until this point Hanazawa Rui could not remember, for the life of him, when was the last time he actually heard the sound of his own shout; and, judging by the deer in the headlamp type of look Haruhi was giving him he could fasten a guess that neither did she. “That’s enough.” He continued, carefully adjusting his tone. “It was an interesting experiment …. But that’s enough already. He won’t give up. He’s stupid like that, he wants to protect you.” He faltered “We all do, Haruhi.”

“But … I didn’t mean to cause –“

“You never do Haruhi!” he snapped harshly, immediately regretting the look he brought in those pale blue eyes “You never understand … you never think … “ he said just as he inched close enough to close the gap between them “You never realized how important you are to m- … to all of us.” He whispered looking down at her sadly “ It’s enough … all of this. It’s time you came back to the F4.“

She could not recall for how long exactly had she been starring at the small lily’s but when the glass door open with a soft screech her body jumped startled bringing her back to reality.

Her heart pounded fast in her chest when a chestnut colored mop of hair came into view.


“Mikan?” Toshiro asked quite surprised to see his best friend between the freshly green trees and bushes. “What are you doing here?” he asked with a suspicious look eyeing the girl closely.


“Oh nothing!” she brushed him off with a bright smile on her face. “Just researched something about” she paused a little bit while her bright green eyes glanced at the lily. “Flowers…for a project we have in…um…geography.” Another smile came before her slim fingers tighten around the bag. “I gotta go now, see you after school Toshi!” was all she said before she just flew out to escape the face that clearly said ‘spit everything out ‘cause I ain’t buying your crap’.


The eye brow raised went up even further if it was possible followed by a sound of a slap. “What did you get yourself into, girl.” Toshiro said shaking his head.


He knew all too well that eventually his friend would tell him, so, for the time being he just brushed the bad feeling off moving forward to his seat in order to re-study for his botany test.



===========================



On the other side of the school a very tired Amaya could barely drag her feet as she sprinted with all the power she had towards the main entrance of the school. She would sometimes cast a glance behind her for her friend to see if he would follow her. By the time she was sure he was nowhere to be seen she decreased her speed just enough to force her muscle to tighten shooting pain through her whole leg. Her feet stumbled between them and send her body flying on the cold pavement, hitting her elbow and shoulder hard on the sandy surface.


“Ouch!” she cursed under her breath grabbing her shoulder tight. ‘This day could not possibly get worse.’ By the time the last word resounded inside her mind a loud roar came from above and cold drops of water hit her velvet fiery scalp. With a role of her eyes she managed to gather all her energy and stand.


“Why do you hate me?” she called towards the dark sky.

If possible the droplets of water came speeding more than before and even bigger as if the sky replied back. The day became darker, sign a thunderstorm would hit the town.

Amaya turn around swiftly to get to shelter when her head hit something hard, the impact sending pain through her hand.



“What the…?!” she called slowly looking up with a deep frown. “A-Akira?!” her eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sight.

‘The sky is falling…’ she absentmindedly concluded, casting her eyes towards the down-pouring heavens while her chin rested in her hand. The three hours since her talk with the amber haired boy had passed seemingly uneventful; truth be told she stopped processing the outside world since then; if anything noteworthy really did come about she could not honestly attest to it. She resided in her thoughts, autonomously moving from one class to another while her mind tried to rationalize the proposal.
‘It was an interesting experiment. But that’s enough already!’ the man’s words echoed harshly through her mind, and unknowingly the showy haired girl frowned at the sky. The thought that all of her effort would so easily be cast aside as just another failed experiment angered her; this was not just any other game. ‘How could he not see it ?’ her frowned darkened ‘If I can’t do this, then what right do I have to try anything else on my own?’

“Haruhi …?” a voice shook her out of her thoughts.

“Y-yes?”

“Ah, there you are.” The woman smiled understandingly towards the bewildered girl. “We thought you lost you there for a second.” The teacher chuckled lightly while the girl blushed to the tip of her ears ,much to the amusement of the rest of the class. “Do try to keep your mind focused on the class. Unless … that frown was for the homework I just gave.” She added with a faint hint of sarcasm.
“No m’am. I mean yes m’am.” Haruhi stuttered apologetically “I mean … I’m sorry.” She murmured silently, looking down at the opened book before cursing under her breath “Stupid Rui.”



Down the hall and two floors up, in an open balcony the man in question sneezed violently in his phone.
“I’m sorry.” He finally said quietly sniffing into his phone.

“You ok? You must have the immune system of a baby duck if you get the sniffles at the first sign of rain” the other man said, though half-jokingly.

“Funny.” The blond frowned, leaning lazily over the railing while idly paying attention to the courtyard beneath him.
“So …” the voice in his phone finally said, snapping the man back to his senses.

“So.”

“You were saying telling me about the snowflake.”

“Ah.” The man sighed darkly, while a heavy hand messily rubbed the back of his spiky blond hair “I don’t think telling her that helped.” He admitted quietly. “She looked … defeated.”

“You accused her of not thinking.” The voice started “But truth be told … did you ?” he asked bluntly, while Rui winced guiltily, frowning himself grateful that this conversation was not being carried out in person. “You knew what this meant to her, and yet you let your selfish need to have her by your side rule that brainless mouth of yours.”

“Ah.” The man admitted miserably.

“Did you try calling her?” the voice asked again after a few seconds of silence.

“No. But I’m having a hard time not going after that ginger haired idiot though.” Rui added darkly.

“Rui. That’s not like you.”

“Fuck what’s not like me!” the usually calm man spat angrily for the second time that day “You should have seen her when that little redheaded moron screamed at her.” He paused, collecting his thoughts while his hand irately rubbed his eyes “She looked so …. Empty.”

“I think we all realized, sans Tsukasa that it’s not our place to protect her anymore. The sooner you make peace with that, the better off you’ll be .”

“Yeah but.” Rui tried interjecting, but the man cut him short.

“Make peace with it, Rui.”

“Yeah.”

“Look. I have to go. I’m stuck in this corner and the rain is going to ruin my new snakeskin shoes. I’ll see you later.” The voice chuckled
before adding “Bye.”

“Abayo.”



On the other side of the school a phone sharply flipped closed before its owner felt a sharp thud hitting his back.

“Akira!” a ball of red gasped at him, while the man frowned slightly at the splashed the little girl delivered to his shoes.

“The one and only …” he murmured, still looking at his shoes “God damn it!”

“Oh my god!” Amaya brought a hand to her mouth as her eyes followed the same line of sight as the brown haired boy. ‘Don’t say sorry, DON’T DARE SAY SORRY!’ her inner self screamed angry at her.

“I didn’t mean to dirty your shoes Akira!” she took a different approach; one that didn’t require the word ‘sorry’ in the sentence. “Even though I am absolutely sure you have the money to buy a new pair.” She smiled to the dumbfounded guy.

Honestly, the small girl had some nerve to speak in such manner to one of the most influential persons in their school. She could be caught in a war which could be easily lost from the first battle, but, as far as her person was concerned, it did not matter.

“Anyway, I have to go now. Have fun Akira!” she waved her hand as if they were best friends before she slowly walked carefully trough the puddles of muddy waters.




==========================



“Is she looking for the devil its self and its minions?” a silky voice asked irritated.

“Shina. Enough.” The other voice snapped frowning deeply at the scene. “We will have to interfere earlier than I thought.” A slim hand was wrapped around her waist. “The girl is a moron and she doesn’t quite realize the trouble she is getting in.”

“Why do you even help her?” The smaller girl asked, looking at her frowning sister. When the reply she was expecting didn’t come her eyes widen. “No way!” Shina almost cried at the realization. “Shizuka!”

A hand was slowly raised and the girl stopped any movement she was making at the moment.

“It’s time to visit a very old and dear friend of mine.” A sly smile appeared on the pink lips while another pair got thinner, sign the owner did not like the idea a slightly bit.




==========================




On the empty halls a very soaked red head was making her way towards the girl’s bathroom. The sound of a door being opened echoed through the halls disturbing the silence.

“Oh fuck, you look like a wet dog.” The girl spat at the reflection in the mirror. The sound of water flowing and the small splashes her hands did as she washed them drifted her back to childhood memories.

“Look at that! Carrot carrot, go away!” childs voices were echoing around the 7 year old girl.


“It’s a wig! Let’s see how it looks on me!” a little boy laughed reaching his hand and grabbing a lock of ginger hair. The pull was so hard that is brought tears in the small girls bright eyes, but she never once said a word or complained or fight back. She was treated as a foreigner and many times the Japanese kids would call her gaijin because even though she was half Japanese she never had the features of one. Amaya resembled her father who was a pure ginger British man.


The small little girl never told her parents about the bullies she took in school or how teachers were treating her.

“Che do it again child!” an old wrinkled woman snapped at the small little girl. The characters she was writing on the smooth paper were by far perfect according to the calligraphy rules, yet her teacher was never pleased, forcing the little 10 year old to repeat it over and over again.


“My mom told me that red haired people are devils children. I’m sorry but I can’t be your friend anymore.” Were sentences she would often hear from people with who she got along, until one of the kids parents would see her.


“Carrot! Carrot! I want to have this hair!” a group of girls were shouting while chasing Amaya through the side streets.

“Give me the scissors!” another one laughed as soon as their hands grabbed the small girl, holding the slim body in place.

“N-no…please…please…mommy will be upset with me…please!” tears were streaming down the dusty face as that childish voice quavered, pleading the four girls to leave her hair alone. Amaya’s ears heard that sound which would later make her flinch. Her eyes widen as she saw locks of bright velvet red falling down slowly on the ground.


She stood there looking at her wavy hair while drops of clear, salty water were dripping over them darkening the color just a slightly bit, while further away she could still hear those girls laughing and calling her carrot. Her body didn’t even got startled as a hand was placed on her shaking shoulder.

“Girl, girl…hey!”

Her body jumped an inch when she felt that hand on her shoulder shaking her hard from her day dreaming. Her head snapped to the janitor who looked pretty concerned.

“Are you ok sweety?” the middle aged woman smiled warm at the girl. “You gave me some job to do here.” She giggled looking down at the huge puddle of water Amaya was currently standing in.

“Oh my god! Ohmigod I am so sorry!” she woke up when she felt her shoes soaked and hurried to turn off the still runny faucet. “Let me help you misses…”

“Kanna.” The woman smiled again. “Don’t worry sweety, you have to go to class now, it’s been 10 minutes since the bell rang.”
“Oh no...” amaya slapped her forehead “This can’t possibly happen.”

A giggle came out from the woman before both of them departed with a wave.


It was the last hour before school finished and she mindedly hoped to be in it since throughout all the morning she barely went to 2 of them. On top of these all events she was also confined to two hours after school on this stormy day. Lightings flashed her face as she walked absentmindedly on the school halls, again.

Her feet stopped as a feeling of nausea went through her body suddenly. The memories she flashbacked and the face of a hurt silent white haired girl connected in one, realization hitting her like a pile of sharp rocks.

“Oh no.” she whispered bringing a hand to her mouth. In a moment she dashed outside the school and stopped at the main entrance, her eyes checking her watch. It would be another twenty minutes before everyone would leave school. She hoped her eyes would spot the girl before it was too late.

Rain, Rui thought, was perhaps the most miserable of companions. Leaned over the back of Tsukasas limo, begrudgingly waiting for his friends to gather while being drenched by the effervescent downpour the young Hanazawa heir frowned in his scarf at the silent autum shiver that snuck up his spine.

“Of all the damn days I could have drove myself to school.” He bitterly grumbled, while the sensation in his toes began to give away to a cold induced numbness. He never could handle the cold all that well, and despite his best efforts at maintaining a decent dignified demeanor, even the most stoic of the f4 members had to admit to himself that at this point he probably looked quite miserable.
For the past half an hour however, the usually warmth loving Rui had been diligently battling the cold waiting for the people for which he was slowly beginning to map out homicidal scenarios. He kindly turned down the Domyoji drivers offer to wait in the car for his friends, arguing that it would be impolite to intrude on another man’s property without his permission, while silently reminding himself that he had not sunk as low as to be pitied by a mere limo driver.

“God damn you Tsukasa.” He murmured darkly, ignoring the passing groups of infatuated school girls that strolled by. Fangirls, he snorted – you would think that after all the things the F4 had been accused off in the past that at least an ounce of sanity would tell these walking bags of hormones that they perhaps should show some fear when approaching people like him. But no, they never wavered and despite his better judgement he was slowly beginning to resent women that acted so haphazardly.

Speaking of fearless women, Rui frowned, why hadn’t Haruhi ever peaked his resentment scale despite the fact that at this point everything she did Rui found hard to comprehend. Had that snowflake truly managed to dig herself this deep under her skin? He felt his frown darken.

“You’ll get wrinkles like that.” A friendly voice chirped, snapping the young man out of his thoughts

“And then you would have even less luck in finding a girl to date you than you already have.” Another added.

“What took you guys so long?” the blonde quickly chose to pass over the remarks much to Shoujiro and Akiras amusement.

“Stuff.” Shoujiro smirked, while Rui rolled his eyes. Another one eh?

“Oh, really? Did this …stuff … have legs?” he asked with a questioning smirk.

“The longest and most perfect and ….” The boy wavered “I’m in love.” ‘Again.’ Rui mentally finished his friends sentence before rolling his eyes hard enough to admit the gesture was a bit too flamboyant for his taste.

“And you?” he asked turning to Akira.

“I … a fox dirtied my shoe.” The boy frowned looking down “Too bad she wasn’t ten years older.”

“You know …” Rui sighed exasperedly while a heavy hand rubbed the small of his nose “Your milf complex is getting out of hand.” The other boy simply shrugged.

“Meh, I like em ripe.” And almost on que, Hanazawa Rui discovered there was no limit to how obnoxiously one could roll his eyes.
By the school entrance however, a pale looking Haruhi cast a heavy gaze towards the sky. Any other day and her argument of walking by herself to school would have made much more sense, but even she had to admit that in this rain her conviction was slowly being tested.

A small sigh passed her lips while her hands tightly gripped the strap of her bookback over her shoulder; getting home would be a challenge, but at least she managed to avoid the idiot for an entire day, she smiled silently. However, irony is never lost in situations such as these, in fact one would argue that fate has a distinct sadistic side to itself, – and almost on cue, accompanied by the token bellow of a faraway lightning strike, evil incarnate whispered in her ear while latching on her shoulder.
“Found you.” The curly haired man said darkly; and on that day every single student in the school found out just how loud and angel can scream.




“Oi, dumbass!” the boy frowned, rubbing briskly at his ear “Why the fuck did you scream for ?”

“You … !” the white haired girl pointed accusingly, finding herself at a loss for words,

“Me.” The boy smirked “The one and only, the lord of all, the great and powerful –“

“FUCK YOU!” The boy was cut short by the enraged little girl, while a deafening silence settled on the people in the viscidity. Had the new girl just said that to the most dangerous man in school? The majority silently concluded that the most they could do right now for the little oddity was to throw a silent prayer towards whatever god would feel like listening, to show some mercy on her soul; because judging by the sudden darkening of coloration in the Domyoji heirs face she was not about to walk out of this alive.

“You, what did you say ?” the boy asked, while a dramatically comedic shadow overtook his eyes

“Don’t act tough with me you little shit !” she screamed back, earning herself a collective sound of gasps “You heard me, fuck you! You ruin everything.”

“Who are you calling a little shit, you little shit ?!” the boys voice suddenly fired over a few octaves while his fist clenched tightly by his side.

“The big shit in front of me, that’s who!” she hollered back, stepping forward daringly while gritting her teeth. If not anything else, the Domyoji siblings har their temper in common when pushed to the limit, and if his brain wasn’t currently fuelled with enough anger to genuinely wish he could actually allow himself to hit a girl, Tsukasa would have appreciated that. But then again, he never really was that big on epiphanies.

“That’s it!” he declared angrily, latching into the girls writs and pulling her towards him.

“Let me go you idiot!”

“Fuck off. I’ve had enough of you for today!” he bellowed, lifting the girl over his shoulder before she could struggle further.

“Put me down! Tsukasa ... you idiot!” she screamed, kicking the air and punching her brothers back.

“Fuck off, I say! You’re coming with me.” He screamed over his shoulder, stomping through the bewildered crowd.




Back at the limo, three pair of eyes widened silently at the approaching site before them. The crowds parted and gave away to what they could only hope was an apparition.

“Is that …?” Shoujiro finally broke the stunned silence.

“Yup.” Akira confirmed.

“Is he carrying ….” Rui trailed

“Yup.” Akira sighed.

“Well …. Fuck.” Shoujioro ended.

Amaya was currently sitting in her room tapping idly a dark, hard charcoal on her desk, leaving a small trail of powder from the movement. The white page in front of her had an unfinished sketch of a humming bird on a branch, while all over the bed were balls of wrinkled paper.


Outside her half covered window the sun was setting behind the dark clouds. A red and orange trail could be seen behind some of them as if the clouds turned into flames. It brought a warm feeling inside the girl as she placed the sketch on the side, moving towards her window. She brought both her hands under her chin and hummed a song as her bright green eyes searched the horizon.


It was a peaceful atmosphere outside, birds were barely singing, getting ready for the nights shelter probably. The cool breeze blew, almost forcing the leaves to move from their stillness, and once in a while you would see a human walking around the small streets. It was a view which made a troubled person fall into an intense peaceful state.

But not for Amaya. It only made her more anxious. The problem was the scene which was replaying over and over again in her mind. It wasn’t something she should be feeling uneasy about; after all she didn’t even meet the girl well to insist on the word friendship, as she probably felt at that moment. But the moment they two girls meet, Amaya felt a connection between them. It disturbed her when Tsukasa lifted the girl up and took her to his limo so since then she had been like this.

A gentle knock on the door made the girl aware of her surroundings.

“Yes?” she asked not taking her eyes from the scene in front of her.

“Sweety dinner is ready.” Her mother called from the door. She looked at her daughter worried. “Is everything ok?” her tone gave away the feeling she had making the red head turn around.


“Of course mom. I’m just a little bored.” She gave an assuring smile before moving on her bed. “I’ll be there in a minute.” Her mother nodded and closed the door slowly.
‘What the hell Amaya, stop being like this. It’s just someone like everyone else.’ Her mind scolded at her attitude. ‘But it’s not just someone. She is special.’ She replied back.

Clatter of forks on porcelain filled up the entire room, all three member of Lorn family being drowned in their own thoughts. Once in a while you could hear a ‘pass me the salt’ or ‘could you give me the salad’. There was no tension in the air, just a simple tranquil feeling around the table.

“The principal called me today.” Amaya’s father broke the silence. At that the girls shoulders tensioned slightly bit. Green eyes were glued to the plate, her mind not even trying to register the statement.

“Amaya…” the man trailed, wishing silently he wouldn’t have to bring up the subject.

“I heard you father.” She responded gravely. “I was late at the first lesson and when I tried to explain the teacher my de-“

“Enough.” He snapped. “I have had enough of your attitude. If you won’t revise your behavior I will feel forced to take you out of school.”

“You can’t do that!” Amaya snapped at her father. It was not fair. She was trying her best. “This is who I am dad! Deal with it.”
A slap echoed through the kitchen. “Jonathan!” her mother screamed at her husband. “Amaya…” she stopped when the girl flew off the kitchen. “Jonathan, this is not a way.” Was all she said running off after their daughter.

It was only few minutes after the incident when the woman came back. “She closed herself in the room. Jonathan…” she scratched a spot above her eyebrow. “She is doing all her best.”

The man just stood there with his fingers crossed under his chin. He did not replied from the first time and just stood there, probably reflecting upon his behavior. It took him several seconds before he could reply.

“I know. But I also know she can do more than this.” He sighed bringing a hand to his eyes.

“Talk with her tomorrow darling. Like two grown-ups.” She eyed the man before getting behind him, slowly massaging the tense muscles on his back.

Upstairs however, Amaya was lying on her bed, watching the small phosphorescent stars on the ceiling.

“The sooner you talk to me the better off you’ll be.” The curly haired young man angrily proclaimed towards the silent girl next to him; unsurprisingly he received no answer. With a deep sigh the boy frowned darkly and turned to his window. She had been silent for nearly a day now, and for all the kicking and screaming she did the day before, the moment they returned home his sister arbritrarely decided she had nothing more to address to him. Truth be told the silent treatment was beginning to weight down on his worries, Haruhi never employed this brand of punishment and to be quite frank he genuinely thought she was above it.

“Listen here you twerp, your little try failed. “ he grumbled darkly without looking away from the car window. “For all the buddy buddy closeness you two seem to share, Rui sure as fuck seemed quick to spilled his guts about the redhead.” He added, ignoring the slight shift in the corner of his eyes that came from her end of the seat. He smirked “Have something to say little one ?

“…”

“Thought so.” He smirked confidently and without even turning to face her he added “That bitch is as good as dead, Haruhi. Whether you agree to it or not, nobody picks on my sister.”

“And who are you to decide for me ?” the silent rage filled voice caught be boy by surprise, and unwillingly he found himself turning a wide pair of brown eyes towards his sister. “You always think you know better.” The girl added, gritting her teeth in anger “You always think you’re stronger. You … always think I’ll fail.”

“You did and you always will.” The stated sharply, hiding any concern towards the dull ache that one line seemed to give to his sister.
“You’re trusting, naïve, and flashy.” Haruhi frowned, Tsukasa rose a lazy hand in defense “I didn’t say it was your fault. It’s who you are, sis. You have a beautiful mind and way of being … but your way means you forget that the people around you aren’t as innocent as you. You’re a white sheep in a den of black wolves.” He spat darkly before adding with a sigh “Your skin is not yet tough enough to deal with people that like hurting others our off boredom, or amusement. Or the people that like finding flaws in others so they wouldn’t have to look too deep within themselves.” He paused, collecting his thoughts for a moment and looking for an ounce of understanding from Haruhi “Look. Like it or not you will never be that kind of person, and until you figure out how to fake a tough outer shell it’s up to your older brother to look after you.”

“Fuck you.” Was replied defeated earning a genuine smirk from the older boy.

“Hey, progress!”

A flutter of wings disturbed the silence that fell around the dusky room while the night was setting in deeper. Single droplets of rain still seemed to fall off the sky as the clouds unbind themselves from each other leaving behind a starry veil. It was long ago since the brooding face settled into a peaceful one, following the slow breathing rhythm her body had.

It was minutes after that the nightmare came, forcing the body to spasm according to the events playing inside her head.

“CUT IT! CUT IT NOW!!” screamed a devilish voice while a pair of scissors where cutting them way towards the flock of red hair. “I WANT IT! I WANT IT NOW!”
Blood was floating around her hands like small rivers as her skin became scarlet red. Two pair of red eyes where starring back with hates and disgust as the laughter rang in the air like a warning sound. The scene suddenly turned a different path and she currently found herself in the middle of a glade while around eight pairs of bright yellow eyes where following every movement. Her whimper couldn’t make the hunters to back off so she ran as fast as she could while the barks where heard closely behind.

“Don’t approach her, she is mine!” roughly, the voice barked before everything changed into a bright blue plain. Then a silhouette loomed out towards her. As it advanced, two bright blue eyes opened making the small girl fall on her knees and start shaking from all joints, sobbing softly in her palms. A hand reached out taking one of the girls’. As soon as the contact was made everything went blank.

Being left without air from the strange dream, Amaya woke up coughing, both of her hands pressed around her neck. Scared she grabbed her phone and dialed the only number she knew would answer at any hour.

“Toshiro!” she sobbed as soon as she heard a sleepy ‘yeah’ “I need you…” without any response she heard a click and the tone sound.

It haven’t passed five minutes since she phone and she could hear a car running down the street. She rose from the bed, slowly making her way out the door and into the hall way.

As soon as their eyes met Toshiro’s face turned from worried to gentle, opening his arms for the girl.

It was almost seven o’clock in the morning when the sun made a peak behind the trees, engulfing the two embraced bodies.

Toshiro knew his friend would not call him in the middle of the night for nothing, so he waited patiently; rubbing the girl’s back softly, rocking back and forth in an attempt of calming the girl.
“Are you better?” he started hoping he would not bring another wave of tears. When the head shook slowly he pulled the girl back, gently removing a wet lock of hair covering the puffy eyes. “You want to talk about it?” he softly asked and when Amaya refused he nodded and rose up, pulling her with him.
“How about a hot bath?” he proposed heading towards the bathroom, the girl following suite.

She was disturbingly quiet and this fact almost made the young boy cringe. If those nightmares where coming back, she must’ve been excessively hurt or, morally down.
“I am sorry.” Came the hoarse apologize.
“Stupid, I love you; I will help you in any way I can. That’s what friends are for.” He emphasized the word friends before giving a wink and closing the door slowly.


Reminding herself that today was Saturday she sank into the warm water and let her mind get cleared of all negative thoughts, promising that from today onward she would never let anything like this happen before. Monday she would find the girl, apologize and continue her life without thinking about the four little boys that was slowly ruining her life anymore.

Ch. II
CAGED BIRDS

Caged birds sing the most beautiful songs. Longing for the sky and the promise of freedom they mourn their clipped wings and pray that one day they might grow strong again - to roam the sky, to battle the wind beneath them, for that they sing. They pray, they beg, they bargain, but all the human hears is the beautiful song the tiny soul makes.

“It sings for me.”

The human imprisons the bird for its song; the bird sings its song for its freedom. The cycle never stops, the circle is unending.



Two days of utter isolation from the outside world made the pale skinned young girl believe, if only for a second, that she had some remnance of control over her life. Nobody bothered to open her cage, nobody bothered to check if the bird still sang. For two days she was left utterly at peace in her prison; and instead of mourning her freedom, this time around the bird stewed and festered in her anger. A plan threatened to form.

She emerged from her golden prison bright and early on Monday morning, far too early for her brother to intercept her plan, and far to careful for the servants to notice her absence. A bundled up scarf and a loose fitting hoodie were layered over her frail figure to serve as protection from the cold and the stares, and before the songbird knew it she was already staring at the sight school building – determined that for once she would stop somebody getting hurt because of her.





“What do you mean she left?” Akira’s tiered voice murmured through the speaker, and for a moment the young Domyoji could almost picture his friend rub lazily at his eyes in a wasted attempt at scaring away his sleep.

“Listen to me!” Tsukasa bellowed “It’s eight thirty and she was long gone by the time the maids went to check on her!” he was panicking, overreacting, and so out of his mind afraid that even the level headedness of his friend failed to ground him in place. He paced through the room, ignoring whatever Akira was saying through the speaker, roaming from one corner to another like a caged animal looking for his next pray.

“SIT THE FUCK DOWN ! I can hear you wearing a hole through the floor!” that certainly worked.

“I am down.” The young man pouted, falling angrily on the armchair beneath him, and looking spitefully towards the machine that held his friends voice.

“She is fine. She left without you before.”

“Never this early.” The boy retorted, almost childishly.

“Will you please give the possessive older brother routine a rest. And don’t wake up the rest of them over your little existential ‘my-sister-doesn’t-need-me’-crisis.”

“But!” he tried to interject.

“Both you and Rui, I swear it’s like you both want to push her away with your stupidity!”

“Rui?”

Silence.

“Oi, Akira, what did Rui do to her ?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t concern you. She old enough to take care of herself, Tsukasa. Accept that.” Akira said firmly.

“Oi ! Tell me!” the man demanded loudly.

“Fuck off Tsukasa. And let me sleep.” The sharp click of the tone and the defining silence that fallowed left the perplexed looking man with a sudden need to surprise his blood from boiling clear through his veins. Every once of control he had was silently quivering in his grasp- threatening to come undone at the seams. First his sister, and now Akira too; both insubordinate, both drifting out of his control. He frowned – something had to be done.

The loud alarm rang through the dimmed room showing an early hour of 6:45. Half lidded eyes forced their focus on the red glowing numbers shown on the device before fully opening themselves as panic made its way around her throat.

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” the shriek was heard through the whole house making the older woman chuckle gently and the man smirk.

In exactly ten minutes she was at the school gates huffing and puffing while trying to regain her breath. Her shaken body leaned against one of the school gates while a hand was brought to her chest.
“I will get expelled if I continue like this, sweet kami.” Still panting she made her way towards the stately building only to find no sight of activity. A question mark rose as her green eyes narrowed. They followed the school grounds, watching closely at the windows.

“It can’t be…” she hesitated for a minute before checking her watch wrist. It was almost 7 o’clock. “Noooooooooooooooooooooo!” the shout echoed around the school ground in attempt to wake up every living being from their serene sleep.
“Why why would someone be so cruel!” a pair of hands shot in the air while a couple of curses came out of her pink lips. Advancing, her eyes spotted the nearest bench and crashed on it before folding her arms in front of her chest. “Only one person would do that and when I will get my hands on-“she abruptly stopped the monologue feeling haunted by something. She turned and shifted her sight until her eyes dropped on a small figure few feet away.

“Hello?” she questioned. “Hey could you please tell me what time is it exactly?” pushing on, she rose from the bench, following the path towards the person. Her eyes became so small trying to figure out who that was. As the distance closed in, realization came as a hit.

“H-Haruhi?” she hinted, unsure of what to say more. On one had she was surprised to see the girl so early, but on the other it was understandable. She didn’t forget how people reacted when they first saw her. “Are you ok?” she piped up, giving a shy smile.

He had been standing by impassively while the curly haired idiot pranced around his living room for the past half an hour. The Domyoji heir had burst through his door at the crack of dawn dragging behind him his unwilling accomplices, foaming and ranting and pointing his fingers; he demanded answers, loyalty, and obedience. All of this while a half a sleep half awake Rui simply stood back and observed his friend unravel at the seams.

It occurred to him that he’d been doing this for quite a while now – standing back and letting Tsukasa take the rails and lead them into anything. Come hell or high water Rui was always by his side, disapproving but silently supporting out of a twisted sense of … what? Loyalty?

He sighed at a particular misuse of verb that his fearless leader seemed to angered to even take note and resided into passively listening to the foaming idiot have his nervous breakdown.

“-AND IF I FIND OUT WAT YOU SAID TO HER-“ wait, what now? This was interesting, Tsukasa was turning this on him? Maybe paying attention wouldn’t hurt.

“Oi oi, Tsukasa it’s not Rui’s fault she left home alone. “ Shoujiro tried to add but only seemed to spring the idiot on farther.

“Akira said !” the curly man screamed while Rui shared a silent look with the afford mentioned traitor. “He said you and me are at fault. Now I know what my apparent fault in this is Hanazawa. What is yours?!” Rui smiled, Tsukasa had a knack of misdirecting blame off himself, it was almost a skill, adding that “apparent” in there was such a subtle of a touch that even Rui had to applaud the cunning. “ANSWER ME!”

“Just shut up.” The blond murmured, sighing as he pushed himself of the white window heater that was supporting him up until now.

“What did you –“

“Look, Tsukasa, what happens between me and your sister is quite frankly none of your business.”

“Why you little –“ Tsukasa tried to add but was cut off by a raised hand.

“However … You have my word I only have her best interest at heart.” The man added in an almost bored tone much to the surprise of his curly haired best friend.

“And why is that I wonder Rui ?” the man said, frowning at the casual shrug he received from the blond before he answered:

“She’s not boring.”




“I don’t kindly to cold weather.” The bundle of layers answered behind a huff of steamed breath that escaped into the atmosphere. “I get cold easily …” she paused looking towards the redhead “But for that matter I get warm easily too.” She smiled behind her scarf.

“I actually was waiting for you.” She said, taking a few steps closer “I wanted to … clear the air, as it were. And before you run away and say you hate me, hear me out till the end.” She sighed heavily, almost willing herself to be just a tiny bit braver. She could do this, she could … trust.

“Tsukasa Domyoji is my big brother. I grew up with the rest. They’re family. “ she smiled “A weird overprotective, controlling family.” She paused.

“The way I am makes the curly idiot act out – he thinks he’s doing me a favor. He won’t listen to reason, so I’m hoping you will … You’ll probably get a red letter because of me, I wanted you to hear it from me first, but you have my word that even if you don’t want me too or trust me … I will support you with whatever you choose to do. I’d rather you run home and wait it out, but if you stay and fight I’ll fight with you. My brother means well, but he’s an overreacting dumbass.”