Author: Hae-jung Lee
Rating: PG-13 
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, sadly. This is my first fan fiction, well, first written piece actually, so I hope you will find this story enjoyable :)

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CHAPTER 3

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"Kyo kun!!" Yuki yelled as he and Tooru stumbled their way in the woods, dragging their feet in the muddy soil as the harsh rain poured hard against their bodies.

"Do you really think he could have gone this far?" Tooru asked worriedly, shaking through her rain coat.

Yuki could only shrug and hope that Kyo wasn't in any sort of harm or danger. Although he was greatly alarmed, he could not show his panic in front of her or else they both would perish. His hands were trembling slightly as he was holding his flash light against the darkness. He thought of how foolish Kyo was to come out here in the woods when it was raining so hard. But, of course it wasn't raining in the first place, he thought stupidly to himself.

"Souma san!!" Tooru yelled again, stopping to hear any form of life. She glanced over at Yuki who had a look of determination imprinted on his soaked face. He was worried about Kyo, too...it suddenly made her happy that there could be hope between the two of them.

"Ahh!!!' Tooru exclaimed as she tripped over a log and felt herself falling. "Oof!"

"Tooru chan! Are you all right?" Yuki came rushing to her side until he saw the 'log' lying across from her. "Kyo kun..."

He slowly kneeled beside him and brushed a bit of wet soil from his pale, slender face. His eyes sagged as though he was drained of all life, his lips chapped and a bruise was evident from the hit he took from him earlier. Yuki placed his trembling hand over his forehead and looked up at Tooru in panic.

"We have to get him out of here," was all he said before Tooru got on her feet and offered to help lift up Kyo.

Yuki shook his head at her with an apologetic look before lifting up the drenched body, which was surprisingly heavy. He lifted him up to his shoulder, staggering a bit before he could balance on his feet. Tooru walked beside him, glancing at Kyo now and again until she finally held his slackened hand. His hands were so cold...too cold, actually.

"Let's hurry."

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A young boy of bright orange hair was leaning against a hard tree, gathering his small legs into his small frame and propping his narrow chin upon them. He held no expression at all, a blank stare into nothingness. All he felt was darkness...an unwelcoming darkness enveloping him in its cold, cruel embrace. He could feel it...he could feel those heartless eyes on him, always staring at him. Always. He could feel their disgust towards him...he didn't understand why. He could not understand....he would never understand.

"Look at that fool of a child!" He heard a female voice call out. "Sniffling, annoying child. He'll be nothing but bring bad luck to us all. Child of sin and deceit!"

"His father must be turning over in his grave if he saw such a sight." Spoke another voice.

"He's not even his real father, remember? His whore of a mother made that certain."

He could only watch them as they sneered at his whimpering body. Confused at why they held so much hate for him...wondering desperately on what he had done wrong. Couldn't they see that he was grieving? Couldn't they see how much he hurt?

"Don't give in to his puppy looks. He has the way of his mother...sneaky little wretch. Come here, boy!" Exclaimed a portly woman whom was the first to speak. He walked up to her obediently, yet afraid more than anything.

"Look at him. See how much he looks like his mother?" She continued, "Don't look down, child. Look up."

He still kept his head down, afraid to show his tears...afraid to show how much he loathed them.

"Are you disobeying me you little brat?!" She yanked up his chin roughly and smacked him hard across the face. The others were giggling when they saw blood trickle down his nose.

He closed his eyes, trying to hold back tears. Mama, he cried softly to himself, mama...why did you leave me?

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"Do you think he will be all right?" Tooru asked Yuki anxiously as they hovered over his sleeping form.

"He's a strong man, I'm pretty sure he's fighting it off well." He stood up quickly and gathered another set of blankets and placed them over Kyo in order to settle his shivering body. "Why don't you go to sleep Tooru? It's almost six and I'm pretty sure you're tired from this whole ordeal."

She shook her head gravely and Yuki found that he could not argue with her when she looked so set and willing. They both leaned against the wall, staring at Kyo as he breathed softly in his sleep although a pained expression was etched on to his face. Tooru furrowed a slender brow and slid her way beside him. She brushed a few strands of hair from his sweating forehead and gently brushed her fingers through his drying hair.

"Mama..."

Tooru stopped as she heard those gasping words. She turned to Yuki who was looking at her in wide-eyed astonishment. He quickly lowered his eyes and leaned back onto the wall; his face growing pale and his expression unreadable.

"Did he love his mother dearly?" Tooru asked, peering into Yuki's emotionless eyes.

He sighed, suddenly growing tired and nodded. "It's a long story..."

She crawled over to Yuki, sitting beside him and slowly reached for his hand. She held it firmly as she leaned back and stared at the man who was so full of energy and anger before...and who was now lying before them, weak and vulnerable.

"His father was a Souma," Yuki began, breaking the silence, "he married a woman against our family's wishes and they lived happily together for awhile, I suppose. I never knew his father but by what I have heard was that he was a drunkard...never paying heed to the family business and drank his life away. Of course, the family blamed Ayaka san for it...saying that she was a bad influence and would bring bad luck to the family's good name. By what I had seen, Ayaka was a kind hearted woman...never paying attention to the comments being thrown at her and went about her business. I don't know why our family opposed her so much...perhaps they were hoping he would marry someone of a higher status in society, I don't know..."

Yuki shut his eyes for a moment, remembering Ayaka san smiling down at him while holding Kyo's hand. She would always stop in front of him and crouch down to his height to greet him...in order for him to not feel inferior he realized later on in life. She would give him a gentle pat on his chubby cheeks and murmur of how a sweet boy he was. Kyo would imitate his mother shyly and walked away with her with a friendly wave of good bye. It was one of the first affectionate encounters Yuki had experienced as a child.

"Kyo's dad passed away suddenly, I think by driving while intoxicated. Again, the Souma's blamed Ayaka san for his death and within months after his passing, it was evident that she was pregnant. The Souma's refused to see it as a new hope that another generation has been set forth and to move on that his spirit would live on through his son. Ah, but our family is so stubborn, really. They felt that this child would be tainted by her blood." He sighed, looking sadly at Kyo before continuing, "when Kyo was born...Ayaka san grew ill...and as the years drew on it was obvious that Kyo's father wasn't...his father. Ayaka san never denied it or agreed to it, but instead continued to live life happily with her son. Soon, Ayaka san grew too ill and was sent to bed rest...it was there that she confessed that she had an affair with a man while she was still married and admitted that Kyo was not her husband's son."

He refused to look at Tooru's face but instead stared into the palms of his hands, "I know for a fact that she was not a bad woman...I know that if she had an affair that it was out of love and not out of lust....when my own mother told me of the story I refused to believe that a woman who showed such kindness towards me could be a..." his voice trailed off for a second, as though ashamed to speak the word in front of Kyo even though he was in a deep sleep. " Well, whatever you would call it...She passed away shortly afterwards with no one by her side except for Kyo. I can't imagine the pain of watching your own mother die in front of your eyes. Although he was young, I am pretty sure the memory haunts him even today..."

He finally glanced over at Tooru who was looking intently at the red headed man. "I don't know..." Tooru said at last, tears trailing down her cheeks, "what I would have done if I were in his position. He must have held so much anger towards the others....he probably blamed himself for his parent's deaths. I can see now why he feels the way he does. He never had anyone to comfort him during those difficult obstacles that accompany you during life. He never had a shoulder to lean on...he had only himself. And what use is there to having yourself when you're already in low spirits?"

Yuki nodded, guilt seeping through his heart and he could not shake away that feeling. "You should go to bed, Tooru. I'll look after him."

Tooru nodded, much to his liking. He gave her knee a quick pat before she headed off to her room. He than turned his attention to Kyo, who hadn't budged at all during his slumber.

"I'm sorry." He quietly sat beside his kin, holding his hand in his, "I can only imagine the pain you must have felt back then. Yet, I was so angry, Kyo...so angry at you. You let their lies and beliefs come true and you became what they had envisioned you to be...how stupid...you were so stupid, back then. You should have realized by now that you were not the only one hurting..."

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Swinging back and forth on the tiny swing set, Kyo felt at ease for once. He sighed involuntarily and continued to push his way up into the air, so high that his very spirit would soar with the flying birds above. He could take his mother with him and they both would sail through the milky clouds, finally free.

"Hello."

Kyo jerked his body ungracefully and nearly fell from his swing when he heard a voice, although softly spoken. He halted as he bore his feet onto the ground before looking into the large, violet eyes that was looking at him in sheer curiosity. He grew weary for he recognized her as a Souma, but nodded in greeting. She was about his age with round, rosy cheeks and glittering, penetrating orbs. She had long purple-gray hair that went down her back that stirred in the air that held no breeze. She was beautiful, he thought. Almost as beautiful as mama.

"What's your name?" She asked him, refusing to look away from his reddish brown eyes.

"Souma Kyo."

"Nice to meet you, Kyo chan."

They both smiled widely as they both got out from the swings and sat underneath a tree, the sun spewing its light over its leaves. She looked like an angel, Kyo thought vaguely to himself as he continued to look at her angelic face over and over again.

"Is there something on my face?" She asked at last, wiping anything off that might have been distracting.

"Um...yeah..." Kyo lied as he brushed off an invisible patch of dirt from her forhehead.

"Thank you! Would you like to be my friend, Kyo chan?" She asked eagerly. "Would you like to play with me? We can play at my house, if you want. I have lotsa games in there."

The thought was tempting to him and he nodded his head anxiously, "why don't we play under the tree? I like playing outside."

"Okay, I'll be right back. You stay put, okay?"

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Kyo opened his eyes, moaning softly before his eyes could adjust to the brightly lit room. Once he could focus clearly, he found himself staring directly at the ceiling. The fan was off and there was a silence in the room that was almost deafening. He slowly faced his left, which he found incredibly exhausting and found a door that was slightly opened. It took a few moments to realize that it was the guest room in Shigure's house and that he was laying upon a futon with a mountain of blankets suffocating his warm body. The room was medium in size with a large window towering over across from him. Beyond his room he saw the sun shining above as the trees dripped with clear water.

Memories came flooding back to him of the day before. The argument between he and Yuki...that was caused by his own stupid self. The walk into the garden and the long, tiring walk into the woods. He had walked too far, his mind already troubled through so many memories. He struggled against his will to continue but sank onto the floor in his own despair. The dreams...the girl...

He closed his eyes for a moment and sluggishly turned to his right....where he felt a presence that he knew shouldn't be there. He quickly opened his eyes and found a face very close to his and it took only seconds to realize that it belonged to Yuki. It took him a few minutes to not scream out in terror and to relax at his sleeping form. Why the hell was he doing here? Maybe he was waiting for him to wake up so that he could attack him out of revenge for the night before. Groaning at the thought of fighting in his weakened state made him wonder if all those years of training was for nothing. He clinched his fists somewhat when he noticed that his hand was intertwined with that of another. Gasping loudly in shock, he saw that Yuki was holding his hand, although slackened somewhat by slumber.

He gulped and laid his head back as though he didn't witness anything at all. Already seeing Yuki shift in his sleep, he decided it would be best if would close his eyes and pretend that he was asleep to spare Yuki the embarrassment.

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I sort of rushed on this chapter since it is very late and I have been spending New Years with my wacky family. I hope this isn't a short chapter for you, "someone", and if it is, than I'll make sure to make the next chapter a lot longer. I will most likely complete the next chapter by tomorrow since it is Sunday and I would like to enjoy my Sunday by writing...because I have to start school on Monday - -; Oh yeah, Happy New Year everyone :)

Hae-jang Lee