Hitoame by Niwakayuki

Rain

She looked up into the black skies. The ebony clouds and pounding thunder echoed through her mind and she wanted nothing but for it to stop. It was too much; it was as if it was blaming her for what had happened. The splattering rain onto her and making her wet didn't help matters much either. She was feeling low and nobody was there to cheer her up, nor will there be anybody to cheer her up that is.

Kagome sat on the ground staring into the puddle, since there was nothing else to do except to wait for help to come. The dripping rain from her soaked jacket splattered the puddle one by one, leaving the puddle in front of her restless. The thunder roared loudly above her, illuminating the ill-coloured clouds. It was impossible to think properly with the rain going on her constantly, but maybe it was better; she didn't want to think at all right now.

She waited and waited until the ambulance and cops came. The cars seemed to radiant, she thought childishly, as she stared at them with her tearful eyes. The men in the white came up to her slowly and offered a hand. Kagome shifted and held back; could she trust them? She didn't want to make another mistake in her life, not after what happened...

"We found her," reported a cop into a radio.

"--is there" the radio wasn't clear due to the high mountain range, "a--one---else? Sur--ors?"

"No, there doesn't appear to be other survivors except for the girl, about age 7 from what I can tell from appearances." This sentence hit Kagome like a brick was just thrown straight into her head.

She sat there and dazed as she realized she was never going to see her family again, never to talk to them, and never to share special moments with them ever.

She was an orphan now.

Who will go see her graduation? Who will congratulate her when she turned her sweet sixteen? What about boy problems? She won't have her mom to teach her about guys... She will never play with little Sota, who was just born. She'll miss her baby brother's tiny hands and feet, and the cute head with little patches of hair growing unevenly.

Tears bunched in front of her eyes and blurred her vision as she tried to hold them in, but with one squeeze of her eyes shut, they overflowed and dropped down her cheeks inevitably.

Kagome cried, but for the first time in her life, she cried for something other than herself. These weren't tears that she shed when she didn't get she wanted, or when she skinned her knee; no, these were tears of sadness and sorrow. She cried for everyone and everything, even the poor restless puddle that remained in front of her; even for the branch of grass that was continuously put down by the cruel rain.

"...the cruel cruel rain...."

Kagome hurried and stuffed down a toast as best she could, but choked a little because she didn't chew. She hurried and grabbed her backpack; why didn't she wake up earlier?

Better yet, she mused to herself, why did she make such an extravagant lunch? For she thought she had really outdone herself this time. In her small tin box in which she used to hold her lunch contained a clump of evened rice with small bits of roasted beef that she had prepared the day before. There was also some vinegary seaweed with some spicy tofu, which she personally preferred. To top it all off, she added some sushi and rice balls that she made herself, sprinkled with sesames.

Ordinarily at her old school, she would never devote her time to making such a frivolous lunch, but since it was her first day here, Kagome just couldn't resist showing off a little bit, because after all, she was a pretty mean cook, even without the help of any motherly assistance.

And so she hurried off to school, stumbling over the stairs as she went. She walked at a fast pace, hoping that she won't be late, in case she made a bad first impression on her new teacher. As she turned on a corner surrounded by oaks, she beginning to think about her new classmates.

"...hmmm," Kagome thought out loud, "I wonder what they'll be like? I'll hope I'll make some friends....I'm sure I could, but I need to smile....but what if they think I'm weird? Well..." and with this, she drifted off into her own thoughts without realizing that she was blocking the school gate, which wasn't very big or wide...

"Hey fatass, mind moving? Or are you a dumbass too?" said a boy with long white hair.

Kagome turned around immediately and was shocked that a boy she didn't know could be so rude to her.

"I...well..." stammered Kagome, blinking stupidly, having trouble to believe that her first day here was going to start like this. 'I'm not that fat, am I?' thought Kagome automatically. Is it my skirt? Shinko always told her she looked bad in them...

The boy pushed her aside and went on his way. "Dumbass," he muttered. As he went, a fang dropped out of his back pocket onto the ground.

What a rude person, thought Kagome. I mean, just because I was blocking the way didn't mean that you had to be a jerk to me like that! What happened to an 'excuse me' or something like that?

She sighed though. That boy was unbelievably cute, and now, she was going to think about him...all the time...his white hair gleamed so bright in the sunlight; it looked so smooth, and what about that figure huh? He must work out....so....

"DAMN!" she shrilled. She was going to have him stuck on her mind now, and probably for a long time too. She didn't need this! She planned to make new friends and work hard on her school work in the new school. She wanted to make student council and get awards! She wanted to get on the track team! She wanted a nice boyfriend who is thoughtful and kind! She wanted everything!

She laughed half heartedly. Still as ambitious as ever...

"...the grass is always greener on the other side..."

Kagome opened her eyes after thinking about all the things she wanted from life and realized that no one was around her. In fact, the whole front of the school was deserted.

She couldn't believe how totally unaware of the time she was, and hurried to the front doors. As she traced the path of the rude guy, she caught something shiny with her eyes. Being late already, Kagome picked it up quickly and stuffed it into her skirt pocket without even taking a look at it. Having done so, she ran towards the school.

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