sekkoon

CHAPTER 5

Tohru

Where can I go where no one will ever leave? Where can I go where I'll never, ever be alone again?

"Tohru? Tohru, are you okay?" my friend, Arisa Uotani, or Uo-chan, asked.

"Hmm? Why do you ask?" I asked, surprised.

"You've been zoning out for a long time there." she said.

"Oh...oh, I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you." I said, apologetically.

"No biggie. Hanajima and I just thought we should talk about where we should meet on Saturday." Uo-chan, said.

Saturday. The second year anniversary of Mom's death.

"Yes. We wouldn't want to miss a moment of time with Kyoko-san." Hana-chan said, refering to mom. Uo hit Kyo-kun on the head.

"Uotani! Why you..." Kyo-kun growled.

"Shut up, Kyon. Are you and Prince Charming coming with us on Saturday?" Uo-chan, asked.

"Mom would be so happy if you and Yuki-kun came, Kyo-kun!" I exclaimed. Kyo-kun stared at his feet.

"I don't think she'd care." he mumbled.

"Of course she'd care!" I protested. "Oh, but if you don't want to go, I understand!"

"I didn't say that!" Kyo-kun snapped.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled. Uo-chan and Hana-chan were glaring at Kyo-kun.

"Apologize to Tohru!" Uo ordered.

"Yes, you have no right to be so rude!" Hana-chan added.

"How was I rude?" Kyo-kun demanded. "I don't have time for this, anyway! I have somewhere to be!" And with that, Kyo-kun stomped off, leaving me feeling, for some reason, sad.

Ali

"So, Ali-san, what do you like to write about?" Kaori-san asked me, over cups of tea.

"The truth." I answered, briefly. Kaori-san laughed.

"That's a pretty hard subject!" she said.

"But isn't that my job as a reporter?" I asked. "To tell people the truth?" Kaori-san took a long sip of tea.

"It's part of it. But being a reporter, a writer, is more than that. " she said.

"What more is there?" I asked. Kaori-san smiled.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret." she said, mysteriously. So she made me sit down and write about myself.

My name is Alice Longbottom, the second. I am the daughter of Neville and Millicent Longbottom.

I paused, and bit my pen.

My father works with plants.

I couldn't say he taught Herbology at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

My mother helps him, occasionally. I have an older brother, Frank. I haven't heard from him in over a year. I also have a little sister, named Ella. She's twelve years old, and sweet as can be.

I couldn't think of anything else to write about, so I handed my extremly boring, short, paper to Kaori-san. She read it quickly, and then looked at me.

"Is this the story of your life, or your family?" she asked.

"My life doesn't have a story." I said, quietly. Kaori-san looked at me for a while.

"You may not see it. But I think, underneath everyone else's stories, deep inside you, your story is there, Ali." She smiled at me, and pushed the paper in my direction.

"Work on this." she said, kindly. "I don't care how long you take. But I want to hear the story of Ali Longbottom."

No, you don't, I thought. That's one story that never needs to be told.