| Useful | Momiji Sohma |

2 | Truly Free

Hikari started to think she was going to develop and ulcer because of how hard Tohru was working. On some days Hikari could find herself working just as hard, maybe harder, but that was different. Hikari was Hikari, Tohru wasn't. 

No matter how much she pleaded, Tohru wouldn't listen to any of Hikari's warnings of how she was going to overwork herself, so Hikari just hoped they had the funds to afford medicine right now. 

------

Hikari found her clutching her head in her hands as Shigure laughed at the pairs shared tent. She wasn't expecting neither him or Yuki to walk in on them in such a vulnerable state, and she cursed herself for that seeing as though they lived so close.

That's how she found both Tohru and herself even farther into the world of the Sohma family that night. 

Hikari silently glared at Shigure's non stop giggle session from her side of the table in his living room. He just kept mumbling and laughing about how her and Tohru shared a tent in the woods as if the situation wasn't obvious enough for people with eyes. 

When Tohru started to explain their situation, she cringed.

"I- I know this is your property, but please just let us stay until my grandpa's renovations are done!" She pleaded as she bowed.

Hikari decided she would rather fall off that ledge from earlier than plead in front of someone like Shigure.

"And what about you, Ms.Hayami, was it?" Said annoyance teased "Why should I be so graci-"

"Because my dad would probably kill me if he saw my face ever again." She deadpanned. "Oh, and because me and her are like a packaged deal." Hikari pointed her thumb towards Tohru's still pleading figure.

"Fine, fine, but the soil is soft near where you guys were..." He teased once again.

"And?" Hikari retorted, annoyance present in her voice.

"There will probably be a landslide soon..." Shigure grinned.

That was when Tohru made some sort of declaration of strength and willpower before almost passing out. Hikari was at her side almost immediately. 

"Tohru! Are you alright?" The umber haired girl asked her friend.

"Oh, what did I tell you, part of the cliff just crumbled." Shigure pondered before Tohru could respond. 

"And how would you know that?" Hikari muttered as she pressed her hand to Tohru's forehead. She flinched when she felt rising warmth.

"You do know the exact location, don't you?" Yuki questioned. 

"Wouldn't it be funny if it was near our tent, Hikari?" Tohru joked, an aura of aloofness surrounding her humour. 

"Hilarious." 

-----

Turns out it wasn't as funny as Tohru thought it would be, especially not when she and Hikari were the ones that had to dig up her moms picture in a moment of panic. 

Hikari cursed herself. She should have knows terrain like this wouldn't work to live in, and in a small tent no less. Her job was to protect Tohru, and here she was helping her dig through piles of dirt with a neighboring fever on the rise. At least that was until Yuki stepped in to stop the two of them.

"What do I do..." Tohru began, Yuki's hand on her shoulder. "I have to get her out, she can't breathe in there..." 

Hikari swallowed a lump in her throat. She didn't have anything worth digging through this much dirt for. But Tohru did, and that's all that mattered. If looks could kill, the glare Hikari was giving to the mound of dirt would have obliterated it. 

"Let's just come back when the sun rises." Shigure offered. "I imagine your mother wouldn't like you to get hurt."

-----

Hikari kneeled beside Tohru's laying figure. Hyper aware of her surroundings. Tohru's fever was in full swing now, an Hikari felt a sense of guilt of letting it get this bad. She was too absorbed in guilt and worry to hear Tohru further explain her their situation to Shigure, that was until she passed out. 

"Ms.Hayami, I can't say I'm not surprised..." Yuki made eye contact from across the room. "She's always so cheerful at school, it's kind of impressive." 

Hikari chuckled a bit at that.

"Yeah, that's just who she is." She pondered. "A carefree soul at heart, just waiting for the chance to be truly free." 

Yuki hummed in response before going to converse with Shigure. Something about getting Tohru's stuff from underneath the dirt. Worst came to worst, Hikari would just go andfish through all that rubble herself in the morning, but right now she had to be with Tohru. But at one point, Hikari too, found herself dozing off into sleep, still in her kneeling position.

-----

Hikari was back in her fathers mansion, the main hall to be specific. Her hand was being gripped to the point where it hurt. She looked around and immediately recognized what was going on. She was 9 years old again, and was walking up to her mothers casket, her father by her side. 

"Daddy, my hand hurts..." Hikari flinched when he gripped her hand harder.

"You are useless Hikari, don't forget that's why we are here in the first place." Her father snarled.

Her father was tall, rather intimidating, with emerald eyes and blonde hair. Many thought he beautiful, but to Hikari, he was just terrifying. Nothing more, nothing less, especially when he touched her, and after her mother... passed.

When it was their turn to view the open casket, Hikari barely mustered up enough strength to pear into it. However, she wasn't greeted with her mothers face... But with Tohru's.

"Useless." Kyoko Honda muttered from the casket. 

Those words were enough to break Hikari out of her nightmare.

Hikari's eyes shot open immediately, and she struggled to catch her breath. Her instinct was to look around for Tohru, and her breathing slowed when she saw Yuki handing their things to her. 

-----

Hikari couldn't believe what she was hearing. In turn for cooking and cleaning, her and Tohru could stay with Yuki and Shigure Sohma.

"Welcome to the Sohma household!" Shigure giggled after Tohru confirmed that she enjoyed housework. 

As Hikari weighed the options, she realized that these... Interesting people were really their only options right now. They seemed nice enough, and didn't appear to be the type to try something. Well neither did her dad, but she knew how that went.

"B-but it would cause you guys so much trouble!" Tohru protested, while Hikari had already began moving their things upstairs. 

"It really won't, I promise." Yuki assured, and Tohru gave in.

----- 

Hikari set the bracelet her mother gave her back into her bag of things. Shigure was currently going over what needed to happen in the room her and Tohru were going to be staying in. 

Then all of a sudden something came crashing through the roof, and a piece of wood from the ceiling hit Hikari on the head.

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ooo its the ginger man scawy

byeyey