Such a Long Time

[Haruno Sakura]

Sighing silently, Sakura brushed her the pink locks of hair out of her eyes. She was late. Really, really late. You see, Sakura enjoyed sleeping. After all, she pulled all-nighters a lot. Well, it just so happened that Sakura had pulled an all-nighter just last night; and because she was so tired at the time, she had forgotten to set her alarm clock. Then again, she wouldn't have set it if she was fully awake, anyways. The rosette haired girl had always hated those annoying things. To her they were just objects to be thrown at the wall; not something to wake herself up with. This was one of the reasons why she was in detention so much. None of the teachers cared that she got good grades, but sleeping in class was a definite no-no.

Stifling a groan, Sakura massaged her temple as she walked down the hallway toward the rooftops. She was already late for her classes, why not just skip this one and just wait it out until lunch. After lunch she'd face the consequences for skipping class later. But right now, Sakura really needed some food and she wouldn't get any food until lunch. You see, the young girl had forgotten to eat before racing out of her room. Really, would you try to eat when you were late to class? No! If you answered yes, then you are obviously someone who either really cares too much about food or you skip class on a daily basis. Either way, Sakura looked down upon both of those things.

Deciding that she had nowhere else to go but up, Sakura stopped in front of the door that lead to the rooftops. Usually it was locked but this time it was opened. Sakura inspected the lock with slight curiosity. A nagging thought told her that she wasn't the only one to think that was skipping class. Carelessly brushing the thought off as a form of paranoia, Sakura stopped observing the lock as if it were going to jump up and attack her and began heading up the stairs. As she climbed up long and narrow steps that lead to the rooftops, Sakura found her mind going back to the opened lock.

At first, she had attempted to brush off the thought like she had before, but it just kept coming back to her. Not wanting to fight away the thought anymore, Sakura let it be, not caring that the feeling of somebody other than herself being on the rooftops was growing stronger. What if someone found her there? She didn't want to face the consequences right now, but after lunch. Then, she'd be able to face the consequences she had made for herself with a full a stomach instead of an empty one.

Stumbling slightly, Sakura held onto the the railing and found her footing before she fell. Sighing in relief, Sakura leaned against the railing and turned her head slightly to look down the steps. Shuddering at the thought of actually falling down them, Sakura held onto the railing tightly before once again climbing the stairs. She had never been too fond of the stairs. In fact, she liked elevators much better. Finally reaching the top of stairs, Sakura smiled to herself and opened the door.

Stepping onto the rooftop, Sakura felt a cool breeze pass by. The breeze had lifted her hair and put it in her eyes, thus blocking her view. Frowning in annoyance, she easily brushed the hair back with the back of her hand.

[Mirai Ira]

Ira never had a problem with waking up on time; rather she had a problem with keeping track of it. There were more instances than she could count where she had settled into an album or some manga on her own and forgotten about any other appointments she had during the day. Today was just another event to add to the long list of events where her ability to tune out the rest of the world proved to be all too effective.

The freshman had woken up that day earlier than usual from a night of sleep, intruded by nightmares. It took little time to shower, throw on her usual ragged pair of jeans, a shirt, and hooded sweater. The bike ride to school took even less time. She arrived at school while the birds were just starting to chirp and entered the halls the same time the earliest janitor did. Her homeroom wasn’t open yet, so Ira decided to roam the school and see if there was another place she could sit and rest in peace.

While on the top floor, Ira found a door labeled “ROOF” and thought it was her best bet at quiet for the longest period of time. The lock was older than the ones on most of the classrooms, and could be picked in even less time. The things Ira learned while sneaking in and out of her foster homes included lock picking, so the school top became unrestricted grounds for her within a minute.

The slight guilt Ira felt towards picking the lock and breaking a school rule occupied enough of her mind to keep the girl from locking or even fully closing the door behind her. Six hours of useless sleep didn’t help keep her thoughts in line either.

She ascended the small flight of stairs and pushed the heavy door open. Feeling the light wind that gushed into the stairway refreshed her slightly as she stood in the open door frame. A slight breeze was constant up on the rooftops, and Ira, enjoying the sensation on her cheeks, took off her sweater to feel it on her arms too.

The combination of morning sun and the breeze was wonderful, so Ira lay down next to the door with her backpack and sweatshirt used as a pillow. The thought of getting caught didn’t cross her mind as she pulled an Ipod out of her pocket, plugged her headphones into it, and put the volume at 50%. The thought of missing her first period didn’t cross her mind as a whole album played through. No real thoughts were going through her head actually, seeing as she had fallen asleep shortly after the second band in her play list, The Academy Is, started going.

So Ira was asleep. The morning chatter of sleepy students was brought to her ears by the cool breeze, but that common buzz wasn't what woke Ira up.

===
OOC: Sorry, but I'm going to change my post so that Hiro's incident occurs before Sakura's.

[gotmilk]

"Ano...ano....ano......"

The wind brushed past her, catching her school skirt and pushing her lightly. The slight movement earned a small, frightened squeak from the petite girl as she pressed herself against the wall closely. Her eyes shut, tears gathering and threatening to fall in the corner. She shut her eyes tighter and tighter until the anxiety exploded from inside her.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!"

Hiro's voice echoed throughout the campus and through the trees surrounding their buildings. Some birds even flew off statues and branches from the disturbance. People taking a walk around their blocks stopped in confusion and dogs perked their ears, listening intently for a distant cry.

As the air became quiet, her knees shook. Currently, Hiro was standing outside a school building on the tallest ledge. She had been standing for almost a half hour, rapping on locked windows and knocking on walls of empty classrooms whose students and staff members had already left to scrape up what time they have for lunch.

The material of the building on the outside was not soft and neither was it any more comfortable to even lean on in the first place. The rugged edges were cutting deep into her already bandaged hand as she gripped it tighter with every wind blowing past.

Well, isn't this nice?

Hiro's eyes were laced with frightened tears, some slipping out when she flinched and winced from the pain in her hand. She let out a quiet cry, "How did I even get trapped in here in the first place-?!"

Oh yes.

It was a very embarassing and a very sore topic that she did NOT like to talk about regarding her bandaged left hand. She was not a very popular girl, but Hiro had some of the most protective and paranoid friends as person could possibly have. They were people that would fight anybody that may have accidentally stepped on her foot or bumped her in the hallway. Imagine what their reactions would be when they came to school finding her hand covered with bandaids and wrapped unnecessarily tight with a medical clothe (courtesy of her brother).
And due to their impulsive actions and accusing skills, Hiro could NOT bare to have them appoint blame to people who may have bullied her in the past and practically kill them. Yet, at the same time, she also did not wish to explain what had exactly happened to her, since the tale is a fairly stupid and insignificant ordeal.

The only way was to avoid her friends for the day.

And from that, she resulted in hurrying out the nearest exit when she heard her friends' voices and footsteps approaching her classroom.

So here she is now, trapped and locked outside on the highest ledge gripping the walls for dear life. Could it possible be any worse now?

Hiro's stomach grumbled angrily.

Oh yes. She cried silently in her mind and smiled pitifully at herself.

The sound of footsteps and a door opening above her interrupted her thoughts. The purple haired girl looked up with wide eyes. "Eh?" She breathed out in confusion. Why would someone be on the roof top at this time?

"H-Hey..." she called quietly, suddenly losing her voice when the wind started to drown her out along with the noisy bustle of students chatting below her. Adrenaline pumping from her fear of heights, Hiro let out one more yell.

"I'M HUNGRY~!!"

[Mirai Ira]

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!" was the shout the came from over the edge of the roof.

Ira woke with a start from hearing a voice in such close proximity to her, while she was supposed to be isolated on the rooftops. She sat up and removed the headphones that were playing “Still Dreaming” from her well-accessorized ears. The song was somewhere near the middle of Ira’s playlist and the sun with high in the sky, which told the girl more than just a couple hours had passed since she found the comfortable spot in the early morning. She assumed it was sometime close to lunch, and she groaned at the thought of all the class work she should have to make up that night.

The nagging thought was put aside when the voice that had awakened Ira came back.

"I'M HUNGRY~!!"

“What the heck?” Ira thought to herself, as she could have sworn the familiar voice was coming from right over the edge of the roof.

The freshman stood up stiffly and stretched herself out before going to investigate the source of the sound. Nothing was visible when she hung over the railing to see if anyone was down below. Ira was about to turn around to retrieve her things when a breeze blew by, and carried a streak of highly uncommon purple hair into her sights.

“Stupid moron” was the only thought running through Ira’s mind as she rushed down the lone flight of stairs and into the empty classroom adjacent to it. She had completely forgotten her things when she left. All she cared about was getting her stupid friend off the side of the building.

The breeze whooshed into the room when she slammed the windows open and stuck her head out. Directly to the left of her were Hiro’s shaking knees, so Ira grabbed hold of her shirt collar and violently yanked the smaller girl in without a word of warning.

Ira hit her head on nearby desk when both girls fell down, and glared angrily at the small, crumpled pile of girl next to her.

“Explain, stupid moron,” Ira hissed. She didn’t know why the only person she considered a friend of all of Konohagakura was standing on a ledge outside of a third story window, and the only explanations coming to mind at that moment were bullying or suicide. Neither one made Ira happy, so she left the reasoning up to Hiro.

[gotmilk]

Hiro almost threw up her heart when a forceful hand grabbed the back of her uniform collar and yanked her. It felt as though she were falling backwards towards the ground, but the hand was able to swiftly pull her back through the open window. Her body landed on the hard classroom floor with a thud because of the force from her weight. Hiro's upper torso landed hard on her hand while her arm was bent in an odd angle.

"Itaitaitaitaitaitaitaitai...!" She uttered quietly in pain, pushing herself off the ground. It actually didn't sting too bad if she didn't move so she was grateful. Almost anything would've been better than being stuck outside the school building. Still...that was embarassing. When she finally had courage to look up to her savior, also hoping it wasn't a teacher, Hiro let out a sigh of relief that it was someone she recognized.

"Ira-san!" The purple haired girl exclaimed happily, some stray tears still lingering on the corner of her eyes. It wasn't until a split second later that she noticed how angry her dark haired friend was looking at the moment.

"Explain, stupid moron." She said in a completely angry and frustrated tone that made the petite girl flinch a little.

Hiro looked down at her hands and fiddled around with the hem off her school uniform skirt, an obvious blush of embrassment burning her face. "Ano...well, i-it's a very very long and painful story."

Biting her lip hard, she raised her head and looked into Ira's eyes with some difficulty and awkwardness. "Erm, I stupidly hurt myself yesterday. And I didn't want people making a large deal out of it, so I tried avoiding everyone today. But when I wanted to hide somewhere, there was nowhere to go so I kind of...opened the window and hid outside of it?" She rubbed the back of her head and chuckled sheepishly.

"B-But, somebody didn't know I was out there so they locked the window and I couldn't get in." Hiro lowered her hands to wipe some tears out of her eyes and gave Ira an apologetic smile. "It seems I made an even bigger mess out of a stupid reason. I'm sorry to have worried you, Ira-san." The girl suddenly bowed her head quickly several times in a feverish manner.

"Thank you for saving me!!!"

[Mirai Ira]

The recognition in Hiro’s eyes went from excitement to fear in less time than it took her to flinch, and Ira knew why. That timid look of fear was the same one that appeared on many people’s faces when they were faced with her furious glare. When she saw it on her friend’s face though, a bit of the anger in her converted to compassion, but there was still not nearly enough for Ira to relent just yet.

"Ano...well, i-it's a very very long and painful story," Hiro began uncomfortably while fiddling with her school skirt. Then, she raised her face so that Ira could see the bright shade of red it had turned, and the lip that looked like Hiro was about to bite off. "Erm, I stupidly hurt myself yesterday. And I didn't want people making a large deal out of it, so I tried avoiding everyone today. But when I wanted to hide somewhere, there was nowhere to go so I kind of...opened the window and hid outside of it?"

The vein Ira had been trying to suppress finally rose out of her temple and pulsed violently. She shook her head at Hiro’s story in frustration and in the effort to hide another obvious sign of her anger so that the petite girl would continue.

B-But, somebody didn't know I was out there so they locked the window and I couldn't get in." Hiro lowered her hands to wipe some tears out of her eyes and gave Ira an apologetic smile. "It seems I made an even bigger mess out of a stupid reason. I'm sorry to have worried you, Ira-san.

The other girl would have jumped in at that moment to say just how stupid her friend had been, but stopped when Hiro began bowing her head again and again.

“Thank you for saving me!!!”

“Don’t thank me. Just blame yourself,” Ira stated flatly as the annoyance in her continued to burn hotly. They were silent for a few minutes as Ira shook her head. The bang she had against the desk had hurt, which added to her less than perfect mood. “You have to be more thoughtful of your actions, otherwise, you’ll end up getting hurt. It’s not like getting more hurt would make anyone happy, you idiot.” Ira sighed and rubbed her aching head while thinking over what Hiro had said. She eventually got up, dusted herself off, and offered a hand to her smaller friend. “So how did you hurt yourself?” she asked as she pulled Hiro up.

[gotmilk]

[[It's a little long, I think. And feels like it's dragging. There's no fancy words in it, it's mainly plot. Bare/Bear with me. XD Bears are cool.]]

“So how did you hurt yourself?”

The dreaded question.

The short girl’s mouth twitched into a nervous and anxious smile as she placed both her hands on her cheeks in a failed attempt to hide her embarrassed blush. The atmosphere became tense as silent fell onto them while Hiro contemplated on how to explain her story in the most logical sense that would not make her seem like a complete idiot.

Her options were: a) Tell Ira in normal truth. B) Tell the truth but skip some details. C) Don’t say anything.

Sighing in her mind, she concluded that no option would lead to a regular and non idiotic outcome. Besides, she owed it to her for saving her, didn’t she?

“A-Ano,” Hiro’s smile was still evident as her hands fiddled with everything it landed on uncertainly. Even she was beginning to be annoyed, but it was an unbreakable habit for her and was about to blast in full power. “It actually started last night, while Heiji-nii was still cooking dinner…”

The door of their apartment suddenly burst open, revealing a flustered but excited Hiro struggling to carry a medium sized box through the doorway. Her eyes were fixed on full concentration of getting through successfully without injuring anything and when she succeeded, a happy grin spread across her face.

“Nii-san!” She called, knowing her brother was in the kitchen out of instinct. “Look! Look! I borrowed the Wii from one of the neighbors! I’m going to test it, okay?”

A call of approval came faintly over the sound of the roaring stove as Hiro began to open the box anyways. After some head scratching and long sighs, the game station was finally set up and ready to be played. Eagerly, Hiro latched on a Wii remote and turned it on, her eyes shining when the screen menu appeared on the screen.

“Wah~!” She smiled in awe. “It’s really cool!”

And so began the hours of playing her favorite sport at the moment: Wii tennis.

Later in the evening, Heiji stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room wiping his hands on his apron to see where all the grunting sounds came from. His face broke out into a grin as he suppressed the urge to laugh while watching Hiro swing passionately at the T.V. screen.

“So cute~” Heiji merely smiled and crossed his arms while Hiro remained fully determined to win, her lips pursed tightly and her eyebrows furrowed as a sweat drop appeared at the side of her face.

He bent down and smirked as though he knew the greatest secret. “Hey, there’s a trick to the game, you know?”

“Eh?” Hiro stopped midway and her attention was immediately on her older brother. She watched as he made his way over to the couch and sat down, casually spread out.

“Okay, here’s what you do, the trick is all in the wrist. Now, go get in your little stance.” Nodding, she faced the T.V screen once again and prepared herself. Heiji instructed from behind. “Once the ball comes, just flick your wrist slightly. Don’t bother straining yourself swinging your arms like an ape. It won’t do much good.”

Her eyebrows furrowed and she peered at Heiji with uncertainty but geared up to do what she was told anyways. The match started and a ball was served towards her, Hiro’s confidence began to rise a little bit from being given her brother’s advice.

Just before the first serve reached her though, Heiji was kind enough to lean over and suddenly poke his sister from both sides of her ribs which caused her to let out a surprised squeak and launch the remote from across the room. The device impaled itself into the screen of the T.V and created a loud “THUNK” noise.

Both the Yukime siblings froze and silence overtook them. At the same time, however, both broke the tension with different reactions.

Heiji proceeded to scream like a woman and run to the damaged screen crying “MY BABY~!!” while Hiro started her infamous apology of bowing multiple times quickly in a row.

“Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!”

“She was so young…!”

The ruckus eventually quieted down as Hiro pretty much almost fainted from having blood rush to her head and back down again repeatedly and Heiji remained glued to his television, hugging it and quadruple checking to make sure it survived with only a scratch.

The timid girl proceeded to stare dazedly at the tile floor of the classroom until she realized she still hadn’t told Ira. A flustered grin etched itself on her face. “Ah, yes. Later on, Nii accidentally stepped on my hand.”

Heiji’s eyes were glued to his precious T.V and it was impossible for him to tear it away long enough to notice a dizzy Hiro lying on the living room floor until he heard a quiet, “You’re heavy, Nii…”

[Mirai Ira]

Ira listed quietly to Hiro’s entire story, waiting almost patiently for the information she wanted to come. When the smaller girl stopped, Ira decided to wait just a bit more before she would get mad, and it was a good decision.

“Ah, yes. Later on, Nii accidentally stepped on my hand,” Hiro added with a grin.

The other freshman’s jaw hit the floor and her small eyes widened as far as they could go. The story was almost too ridiculous to believe, but Ira knew it was true because it was proven fact that if anyone could get themselves into such a silly mess, it would be Hiro.

“Are you kidding me?” Ira blurted out half hysterically. “I was worried someone had bullied you and made you afraid to stay inside the building!” She sighed with some relief and added, “Well, whatever. I don’t know why you couldn’t have told the story to your other friends if you were so afraid of them getting worked up. You’re stupid plan here, “ she said nodding towards the window, “is more likely to work them up.”

It definitely scared me…

Hiro offered almost a dozen more apologies, and Ira was waving them off when a loud gurgle came from her friend.

“I guess it is lunch time,” the dark haired girl chuckled. “Come on, we’ll get something at the cafeteria.”

Ira herself was quite hungry, since she hadn’t actually eaten anything that entire day, but only noticed her own hunger when she was reminded of Hiro’s. The two girls left the empty room, Hiro waited for Ira to pick up her things from the roof, and they left to go find food together.

[gotmilk]

“Are you kidding me? I was worried someone had bullied you and made you afraid to stay inside the building!” Ira exclaimed before sighing, making Hiro smile sheepishly.

“That was the exact reaction I wanted to avoid…!” She thought with an embarrassed look, poking out her tongue in mortification.

“Well, whatever. I don’t know why you couldn’t have told the story to your other friends if you were so afraid of them getting worked up. Your stupid plan here is more likely to work them up.”

“Ah, that’s because…” Hiro smiled widely, returning to her normal ditzy state. “It would have been too much trouble to explain it all to everyone~!” she added quietly.

When her stomach grumbled from standing out the window for so long, Ira somewhat laughed at her. “I guess it is lunch time. Come on, we’ll get something at the cafeteria.”

The more timid girl nodded hastily; excited to finally be able to lay her hands (hand actually) on something edible. She herself was also glad that the incident was going to blow off sooner or later, considering Ira’s reaction. Both the girls returned to the roof where Ira had been peacefully resting only a few minutes before. She patiently waited for Ira to quickly gather her things, since it was the least she could do for worrying her like that, before leaving for the cafeteria.

Luckily enough, there was enough time before the next class began to eat and late enough in the lunch period for the food line to be short. Hiro hurried to the line and happily grabbed a tray. A sudden jolt in her un-bandaged wrist forced slight tears to the corner of her eyes and a squeak flying out of her mouth. She had forgotten that while she was being pulled back into the building, Hiro had landed on her arm with all her weight.

Clasping a hand around her mouth to stop painful mew from leaking, the purple haired teenager turned back to Ira and forced a smile through pained tears. “I-I-I-It’s nothing Ira-san-!” She reassured quickly. “It doesn’t hurt at-!”

Another jolt of pain silenced her. “…all…” Hiro started to laugh hysterically to cover the pain. She had always been very sensitive to things, emotionally and physically. The bruise forming on her wrist would be considered nothing to someone athletic, but to her, it was like being close to death. She speedily bought her lunch and sat down in a flash to reduce the time she had to put up with the bruise. On the other hand, her food was beginning to fill her up with its scent; she had almost drooled when she sat down.

“Itadikimasu~!”

[Mirai Ira]

“That was the exact reaction I wanted to avoid…!” Hiro said, shocked to find that the situation she was trying to avoid was the one she ended up with.

It turned out that the only reason Hiro hid outside the building was because she could be bothered to explain how she had hurt her hand to each person, which in hindsight would have been expected from the young girl. As Ira walked at a comfortable pace towards the cafeteria, she frowned at her friend’s logic, but also smiled. The purple haired girl was just too silly for her sometimes.

Half of lunch was already gone, and the faster eaters in the cafeteria were just sitting with empty trays of food in front of them, chattering aimlessly among themselves. Hiro hurried to the short line in front of the lunch-lady and picked up a tray. Ira followed behind her, slightly unwilling to waste the kind of money that was expected for the food sold at school. As she warily eyed the food set up in front of her, she heard a familiar squeak and looked up to see Hiro, with tears pooling in the corners of her pained eyes.

“Wha-,” Ira started, but was halted by the smaller girl’s words.

“I-I-I-It’s nothing Ira-san-!” [b/]She stuttered through a forced smile. “It doesn’t hurt at-!”

Hiro cringed and began laughing hysterically. The confused raven just put her hands up as a sign of peace, and watched as the other freshman zipped through the line and to an empty table. Ira, too worried about Hiro’s sanity, left the line to follow her friend without buying any food, and sat down at the same table as Hiro.

“What in the name of Avalon?” Ira asked herself. Her brow was deeply furrowed (not that that was obvious beneath her shaggy bangs) and she was keenly observing the other girl for any clue about her cry earlier. She mentally checked all the possibilities. A bug bit her. Her brain imploded. She got a cramp. She hit the hand she had hurt before.

“That’s it,” Ira exclaimed at the same moment Hiro said, “Itadikimasu~.” She grabbed Hiro’s bandaged wrist, closely inspected it and then Hiro’s face for any sign of pain. The way it was tightly wrapped made it so that Ira’s grab hurt as much as if it were in regular condition, and there was no reaction other than confusion from the other girl. Ira didn’t understand. The only thing that should hurt so much was Hiro’s wrist, and if that wasn’t the cause, what was? She glared at Hiro’s face and thought, without relinquishing the wrist.

A headache was forming from all the stress that had been visiting Ira that day, and then the revelation struck her like a searing bolt of lightning. She grabbed Hiro’s other wrist and waited for a reaction. One of the other reasons her own head hurt was because of the hit it took to a desk earlier, and if her less-than-safe way of removing Hiro from the side of the building could hurt her, it could most definitely hurt Hiro.

[gotmilk]

“What in the name of Avalon?” The other teen murmured quietly to herself, low enough so that Hiro wasn’t able to catch it.

It came so suddenly, she didn’t have time to react.

Ira had suddenly grabbed the stepped on wrist and brought it close to her face to scrutinize. There was a sting in her wrist from this action, but it was too short and not intense enough for Hiro to respond, only wince a bit.

“Ira-san?” Hiro asked, slightly confused at her friend’s unexpected and abrupt action. When there seemed to be nothing wrong, the dark haired teen’s eyes narrowed a bit in realization and she made a grab for her other wrist. “Ira-san, what’s wro-?”

Hiro merely sat silently with an empty smile, no wince or cry, or any sign of pain evident on her face for almost three seconds. She, instead, froze in her spot when Ira had suddenly grabbed her recently bruised wrist and squeezed it HARD unintentionally (at least, that's what it looked like).

When reality came back and slapped her straight across the face, Hiro's life flashed across her eyes and she let out a louder than humanly possible cry.

"AAAAAH~!! OKAYITHURTSNOW!!"

She waved her bandaged hand at Ira's grip, as though she were trying to cool away a painful hot steam and started to laugh hysterically. “Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! It hurts!” Squeezing her eyes shut, Hiro slapped at her friend’s gripping hands lightly in fear of hurting herself if she had tried to hit too hard.

“Ira-sanitreallyhurts!” Hiro hissed quickly in one breath, actually being on the verge of tears. The tenderness of the recently injured wrist was sensitive enough to be pained by a mere touch. A wrist hold from Ira was too much.

Though it was more physically painful than anything, the purple haired teen sucked in a quick breath and yanked her hand back hard enough to slip out of Ira’s grip. She fell backwards onto the hard cafeteria floor and held her hand gently. Once again, Hiro had fallen and by now it was probably enough to possibly cause brain damage. There were stares coming from other students in the room, but she couldn’t care less at the moment.

The sting in her wrist started to fade after her violent yank and it became numb. Hiro lied flat on the ground facing up, holding her wrist with a relieved smile. “Yay.” She murmured quietly.

[Mirai Ira]

"AAAAAH~!! OKAYITHURTSNOW!!"

Hiro’s scream pierced Ira’s sensitive ears and nearly split her head in two, which was something like the reaction she was looking for. The only thing was that she hadn’t expected Hiro to be hurting that much. The other girl’s scream sent Ira, and the rest of the cafeteria into a state of shock.

“Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! It hurts!”

Hiro was laughing hysterically once again, as if she didn’t know how to respond to pain, and waved her free hand violently at the newly bruised one. The action had no effect, so Hiro instead tried slapping Ira’s hand away.

“Ira-sanitreallyhurts!”

Ira’s brain couldn’t process all these things fast enough for her to realize that she was the source of Hiro’s pain. The surprise at finding out that her assumption was actually correct, and the shock of the violet-haired girl’s blood curdling yell all but froze her brain. Had Hiro responded in a more subtle fashion, Ira would have responded much faster, but at that point, Ira could only stand and grip Hiro’s wrist in bewilderment.

Finally, the smaller girl did something that would help with the pain, and yanked her wrist free of Ira’s small hand. This led to Hiro falling backward and landing on the cafeteria floor, or course, and all the other students were now watching the rather humorous scene in front of them.

Ira was appalled into an even higher state of shock at Hiro’s actions, but this time, she was brought back to reality, and quickly noted her injured friend was on the floor.

”Great, now she’s got two injured wrists, and no way to do anything,” Ira thought sarcastically as she rushed around the table to get to Hiro.

The smaller girl was sprawled on the ground awkwardly as she held her wrist up with a dopey smile. Her eyes were glazed over from the pain and simultaneous relief, and she looked like she was about to pass out.

“Crap,” Ira hissed angrily as she mentally cursed herself for her rash decision to find out if Hiro’s wrist was hurt. She pulled Hiro up into a sitting position by her armpits, and leaned her against the table seat. The kunouchi then ran to the drink dispensers of the cafeteria, and filled a cup with ice. She walked briskly back to their table, ignoring the now whispering idiots around her that couldn’t be bothered to help or go get the school nurse, and held the cup up to Hiro’s face.

When it seemed that Hiro couldn’t hold the cup properly because of the pain in her wrists and her own confusion, Ira mentally stabbed herself again. It looked like Hiro’s injuries were a bit much for her, so the other girl, without stopping to think, tried to pick her up. The intention was to carry her to the nurse’s office, but because Hiro was only slightly smaller than Ira, and because most of Ira’s strength was in her legs instead of arms and back, Hiro only stayed in the bridal position for about two seconds before the two plopped down on the ground.

Ira tried to act as a cushion for her friend, whom she had already caused enough pain for that day, and was practically crushed in her efforts. All the air was pushed out of her lungs in a big “oof” as the comedy duo presented an even more entertaining show for their spectators.

“Sorry about that,” Ira mumbled with the remaining breath she had left, and tried to get up.

When she did, a sharp pain in her left ankle sent her toppling back to the ground. ”Crap! I sprained my ankle too? Not the best day for either of us, huh? Well, I have to get this kid to the nurse still, so I’ll just ignore it until we get there.”

Ira staggered up slowly, and stood a moment to make sure she wouldn’t fall again, and stared down at Hiro, who was still in a jumbled heap on the ground. Figuring her friend’s wrists were too pained, she grabbed Hiro and started dragging her by the ankles towards the infirmary, which was, luckily enough, located on the same floor.

Or course everyone else was too shocked by the spectacle to help the little raven drag the violet-haired girl to the nurse, and just gawked after them (those jerks).

Ira was too concentrated on making sure Hiro got to the nurse and not collapsing from the jolts of pain running up her leg with each step she took to make sure the violet-haired girl didn’t hit the doorway of the infirmary doorway. It was much narrower than the cafeteria entrance, which was built for a flood of students to flow through, so maneuvering was slightly difficult.

When they were both finally through the door, and the nurse asked, “What on earth happened to you two?” Ira just fell on her back and pointed at Hiro, who might have had a newly forming bump somewhere.

[gotmilk]

“Heh, heh, heh…” A quiet and unnecessary giggle escaped Hiro’s lips. Looking weird and sounding stupid was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

Her brown eyes slit open just slightly, adjusting to the light of the room. The brightness of the lights only accentuated the whiteness of the walls and vice versa. Gingerly, Hiro sat up before wincing slightly, suddenly getting a painful reminder that her wrists and hands were very much ‘screwed up’. How she had gotten into such a complicated and rather troublesome mess, she could only blame her idiocy.

Scanning her area, she concluded that the room was the nurse’s office, made obvious by its therapeutic smells and odd tidiness. Since she had been a clumsy child that often passed out from constant injuries, scrutinizing and processing where she was had become a natural instinct for Hiro.

“Natural selection.” Her elder brother had always concluded when she shared this little tidbit of information with him. But she had never truly understood how that dead Englishman had anything to do with it. Speaking of which…

“IRA-SAN?!” the timid girl gasped, mentally slapping herself awake with the acknowledgment of her currently misplaced friend. Her head twisted to both sides in desperate search for Ira until her eyes rested on the latent figure close by.

Hiro let herself relax and sighed in relief. It seems that the nurse had patched her up quiet nicely while they were knocked out. Ira looked cleaned up and Hiro’s bandages were rewrapped neatly with new bonds. A grateful smile lit up her face as she tried to remember what time of day it was. The last thing she remembered clear enough was being heaved around on her back at the close end of lunch.

Tugging on her school shirt slightly to get a peek of her back, a giggle almost escaped her when there were some dirt marks on her back from being dragged like a rag doll. Instead of being annoyed with her dirtied uniform, she found it rather amusing. It was her own fault, of course, that everything had happened so far.

The timid girl glanced at the clock hanging above the doorway; it read 4:00. Their school had been over for two hours now and the two girls have been sleeping peacefully in the office. Still feeling a bit guilty, Hiro shook the dark haired teen awake with her elbow gently.

“Ira-san…Ira-san,” she whispered, though the objective was to wake her. “Ira-san, I think we should go home now.” Hiro glanced at her bandaged wrists and Ira’s injured leg before smiling anxiously, a sweat drop appearing on her forehead.

How do we get home…?

She often walked home and was well aware that Ira rode her bicycle. But with their crippled state, a long bike ride with a backpack and twisted ankle didn’t seem like a very keen idea.

‘Walking for a half hour carrying a book bag with sprained wrists doesn’t sound too great either.’ The girl laughed to herself awkwardly.

Figuring it was the least she could do, Hiro gathered hers and Ira’s things into their bags from the cafeteria and started looking for bus change. It would be about a dollar a person wouldn’t it? Her lips pierced in concentration to ignore the slight pain in her wrists.

“You finally woke?”

She faced the doorway where the voice sounded from to see the nurse, looking kindly relieved instead of irritated. Hiro nodded and held a thumb up. “All better! Thank you for taking care of us. We didn’t mean to trouble you!” she bowed with a smile.

“I don’t even want to know how you two girls could’ve possibly hurt yourselves like this,” the nurse sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “But it won’t be troubling me unless you have to return for more treatment because you two aren’t taking care of yourselves properly. So rest, okay?”

After Hiro promised the nurse, asked for a bus schedule, and bowed once more in respect, she carefully secured hers and the dark teen’s bags around her body since the nurse left a pair of unwelcoming crutches for Ira.

[[short. But full of plot! Less for more! XD]]

[Mirai Ira]

“…aren’t taking care of yourselves properly. So rest, okay?” was the ending bit of conversation that Ira caught as she woke from her exhaustion-induced nap. The girl was confused at the sound of voices and the brightness of the room around her, for neither were usual factors in her own home, but she understood immediately when she moved the sheets aside and saw that her ankle was wrapped tightly in bandages.

”Right, I’m here because Hiro and I are morons,” Ira thought, almost amused. She took note of the time and almost cursed out loud at how long she had been sleeping. “Why am I such a bum?”

Her words brought the attention off the purple haired girl, who had considerately found both their backpacks. Now both of her wrists were wrapped up as tightly as Ira’s leg, and her shirt was covered in streaks of dirt and dust from the third-world hallways of Konoha High. She was also holding out a pair of small crutches for Ira, which was when the girl still sitting in bed realized that she was in trouble. She wasn’t going to be able to bike home!

This time she really did swear, which surprised the innocent Hiro, who Ira realized at that moment wouldn’t be able to walk home by herself like she usually did.

“Hey, you have any money?” Ira asked doubtfully. She herself always carried at least five dollars on her person in case of emergency cases like this or for snacks, which was more than enough for a bus ride or two from to school to a stop near her apartment. The trouble was that Hiro’s home was the opposite direction, and she might not have enough to ride with her to her home, then go back to her apartment if she had to pay for the both of them.

When Hiro revealed a handful of change that amounted to about two dollars, the raven breathed a sight of relief.

“Okay, then I’m going to make sure you get home without hurting yourself, then go to my own home,” Ira announced without caring what Hiro had to say. It was probable that her friend would refuse if Ira didn’t make herself sound resolute enough, but if she did go home alone, Ira would only worry that she got herself killed in some stupid accident.

With a nod of thanks to her friend, Ira took the backpack that she had been carrying, and tried her hand at crutches for the first time. ”This isn’t so bad,” she noted to herself as the two crossed the infirmary to the door. She thought to soon, because when she reached the doorway, she forgot that her frame with crutches was much wider than her usual one, and the aluminum rods caught against the doorframe on both sides. SMACK. The sound Ira’s face made against the floor was quite loud, and reverberated through the empty halls.

“I’m good,” the pale girl muttered quickly before Hiro could try to help her. Her usually pigment-less face was now burning red, and Ira clumped away as fast as she could on her new aluminum limbs even though there was no one there other than Hiro and the nurse (though the presence of just a mouse would have been enough to embarrass her).

They made their way to the bus stop in front of the school without any more mishaps, and waited patiently for the next one to arrive. The two girls were nearly dozing again by the time the next bus came, but hurried on board along with two strangers who had joined them in wait of the bus.

“Pay yer fee,” the driver said, jerking his head towards the deposit box next to the door, which had a little sign taped precariously on, and said each ride was one dollar.

The girls deposited their money, and sat down to wait for Hiro’s stop. The sleep that was almost on them earlier crept back slowly, and the two injured students were fast asleep in the back of the bus within ten minutes of the ride.

====

They were rudely awakened an hour later at the last stop the bus would take for the day by the grumpy driver from before, and were rushed out of the vehicle.

“Wait, where are we?” Ira asked in a panic as neither her nor Hrio recognized their surroundings. It seemed they were at the village gates, which should have been impossible, because that was thirty miles away from the school, which was smack in the center of everything, and Ira herself had never been there save for the one time she entered through the gates on another bus when she moved to Konohagakure.

“Village outskirts, kid,” the man replied in an annoyed tone. “I’d no idea where you two were goin’ anyway, so I didn’t bother wakin’ ya.”

“BASTARD,” Ira’s brain screamed. Her Ipod read the time as six, and only the sun’s rays were still visible over the tops of buildings.

“Can’t you take us back a few stops?” the girl pleaded.

The old goat looked the two school girls over, and seemed to think it over as a lecherous thought went through his mind, but still shook his head. “I ain’t gettin’ paid to drive some random kids around after my shift is over, so you just sit here and wait for the next bus…but I’d get comfy if I were you, ‘cause he ain’t scheduled to come for an hour to this pathetic stop.” As he gave this information, he was backing up into his bus, and when he finished, the two grimy doors slammed shut, and he drove away slowly.

“Sayonara bus,” Ira said, being funny with one of the groups on her playlist. Then she turned to Hiro and said, “What do you want to do now? We can wait here or…..”

At that moment, something gleamed from the corner of her eye, and she got one of the dumbest ideas she would ever have. What she saw was a red, two-person bike. Hiro, who had two working ankles could pedal, and Ira, who had two uninjured wrists could manuver.

Ira pointed at the bike and added, “Or we could use that to get to a busier bus stop.”



[[The "Sayonara Bus" thing is a song title from the duo Yuzu]]

[gotmilk]

“Hey, you have any money?” Ira asked after she had awakened. She seemed to have noticed both their troubles on how the two students were going to get home safely. Normally, the more timid girl would whip out a cell phone like a normal teenager would and just call her brother for a ride. But then again, the Yukime siblings were never really that normal. Hiro lacked a cell phone because of cost and how she believed they were terribly horrific to nature. Whereas Heiji didn’t drive nor own a car anymore because they lived in such a close neighborhood-why take time learning when you could walk?

Hiro dug into her uniform pockets and counted the change to be about two and a half dollars, plus her savings she keeps in her school wallet would make about 15. Ira breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, then I’m going to make sure you get home without hurting yourself, then go to my own home,” Ira declared, shooting her a look to show she meant it.

“EH?!” Hiro’s face flustered in embarrassment and since her hands weren’t quite working as well as they should, she also shook her head profusely. “There’s no need-! Really, Ira-san-I could take care of myself! I’m sure the bus stop is fairly close to the apartment anyways! And…and…!” She searched her mind for an answer before stepping next to Ira and biting her lip. “I’m…taller than you…!(A little!)” she squeaked out, comparing their head heights which slightly wasn’t fair considering Ira was limping.

After a series of difficulties on getting to the actual bus stop, the pair of friends finally made it in one piece, Ira on crutches and Hiro with useless hands. Since it was late and, luckily, a warm summer evening, they could feel themselves being lost to their sleepiness by the time the bus arrived. They had quickly paid the bus fee of one dollar and settled themselves as comfortable as they could in the public transportation. Through the silence and rocking movements of the bus with the happenings that have been going on, both Hiro and Ira had quickly and unfortunately fallen asleep.

The purple haired girl’s eyes peeled open slightly when she felt the rocking motion had stopped and the greasy bus driver had been heading their way to shoo them out.

Ira woke up fully and noticed something wrong. “Wait, where are we?” The girls looked around and weren’t able to recognize their surroundings other than ‘getting dark’. The village gates were visible which should be some comfort since at least they knew where it is from their homes; a good infinite miles away.

“Village outskirts, kid. I’d no idea where you two were goin’ anyway, so I didn’t bother wakin’ ya.” The man replied gruffly, obviously affected by lack of sleep and driving around odd populace all day.

“Village…outskirts…?” Hiro chuckled as though it were a joke before reality overtook them. Ira visibly went frigid and was no doubt cursing the man to the deepest black hole of Hell while Hiro collapsed on her hands knees to the ground.

“NO-!!” The small girl cried dramatically.

Ira peered at her Ipod before turning back to the bus driver with a pleading look. “Can’t you take us back a few stops?” Hiro desperately tried making eye contact as well to convince him.

The greasy man merely shook his head and refused them. “I ain’t gettin’ paid to drive some random kids around after my shift is over, so you just sit here and wait for the next bus…but I’d get comfy if I were you,” The bus driver backed up into the vehicle. “‘cause he ain’t scheduled to come for an hour to this pathetic stop.” The doors closed and their hopes of getting home drove away at 25 miles an hour.

“Sayonara bus,” Ira turned to Hiro, “What do you want to do now? We can wait here or…”

Her friend’s words drifted off as something reflecting sunlight caught their eyes from the corner. A bike with conveniently two seats lied not far from them, beaten but not broken. At that moment, the two girls looked at each other and both had the same idea.

“Or we could use that to get to a busier bus stop.”

“Yes, that could work.”

The two friends waddled over to the bike and, after making sure it was in stable condition, positioned themselves as comfortably as possible. Hiro allowed Ira to be seated in the front seat with her working arms and that could direct them. Since her legs were still intact, she would naturally be the one paddling.

The dirt path was less than smooth, but safer than riding on the streets where cars could pass occasionally. There were some small shops along the way and it seemed devoid of people at this time. “The lights are pretty.” Hiro chimed in, trying to lighten the mood. The shops were dim, but enough to light the path. “And don’t worry about me, Ira-san. I’ve been working at different jobs so my body is really strong now. Leave it all to me!” She smiled confidently and held up a fist. She wasn’t particularly strong, but all her part time jobs were good for stamina; and that was her specialty.

Finding the bicycle had brought her mood up greatly since it seemed like they were going at a good pace and covering a lot of track. The adventure was greatly needed to get away from the regular ‘school, work, work, homework, sleep’ anyways. Since paddling was a no brainer, Hiro’s eyes were free to wander and she spotted many large, eye catching posters with various bands on them.

“Ira-san,” the awed girl bumped her friend on the back with her forehead, “Look.” She nodded her head in the direction of the many advertisements taped to walls and lamp posts.

“It looks like they’re having a music concert tonight and admission is cheap!”

She knew her brother would wonder where she was, but they were going to be out late anyways. Hiro’s eyes shined with childish excitement and she was grinning widely, feeling happy enough to just look at the posters. “It looks like Miyavi-san will be there; Moi dix Mois too!” Most people would be surprised to hear the style of music she was interested in since her interests were rather secretive although she was not. Hiro’s favorite music groups were often described as ‘shady’ and ‘not Hiro-like’.

“What do you say, Ira-san?” she asked, hoping that she would find some of her favorite bands attending as well. “It looks like fun~!” the teen sighed absentmindedly. Perhaps it wouldn’t be sold out yet.