Wool and Leather

Wool and Leather

It had started about a month ago, the teasing. At first it was small things, like the hiding of his pencils, and notebooks. Then it turned to bullying in the courtyard after school, being pushed down into the dirt and kicked endlessly. Hiro Sohma slowly eased himself upright, wincing as his scraped knees brushed against the dirt. He sighed, brushing the dust and grime off his shirt, gathering the remains of his school bag. He stuffed his books and notepads back into his torn bag, sighing to himself again. He wandered down the street towards his house, limping slightly.
“ Hiro! What happened to you?!” His mother shouted as he opened the door slowly.
“ I was climbing...And I fell.” He lied, feeling somewhat ashamed.
“ Come here, let's get you cleaned up.” He dropped his bag and followed his mother into the bathroom. He winced as she bandaged his wounds and cleaned them carefully. “ All better now.” She said, with a cheerful smile. “ You should be more careful.” She patted him upon the head and hurried back to the kitchen. “ Dinner will be ready soon!” He stood and silently made his way up to his room, slamming the door behind him. He felt so weak and insignificant. He had really tried to fit in with the other boys. All they did was bully him because he was smaller than them. Now he knew how Kisa had felt. Scared and alone.

The next day as he was preparing to head home, he looked over his shoulder, hoping he could escape without the older boys noticing. He crept out of the classroom and ran down the halls as fast as he could. He came to a halt a fair distance from the school, panting for breath. He smiled to himself, still clutching his bag tightly.
“ So, you thought you could get away today?” Hiro started and looked up to see two boys about twice his size towering over him.
“ That was a pretty bold move.” The other said, his sleek black hair gleaming in the sun. Before Hiro had time to run, a fist collided with his face and he was on the ground. He could feel shoes colliding with his head and chest, knocking the wind out of him.
“ What the hell are you doing?” Suddenly the beatings stopped, and Hiro chanced a glance up. The two boys were both being held up by the backs of their uniforms, struggling to get down to the ground. The two boys were thrown forward, landing hard on their knees. “ The next time you lay a hand on my cousin, I'll tear you both apart.” Hiro could hear the boys screaming and running back down the street. He caught a glimpse of hair white as snow before he collapsed and lost consciousness.

Hiro slowly opened his eyes, staring up into stern black eyes. He gave a start and sat upright, looking around the room. His older cousin, Hatsuharu Sohma was seated beside the bed, staring him down with that lethargic gaze.
“ Haru?” Hiro said quietly glancing at him, realizing that he was in his cousin's room.
“ Are you alright?” Haru asked, raising a brow.
“ Like I needed your help.” Hiro said, frowning at him and sliding out of the bed. He stood and attempted to stagger towards the door. He felt his knees buckle and he fell forward towards the floor. He felt an arm gently grasp him around the waist and pull him upward.
“ Shall I call Hatori?” Haru asked as Hiro gripped the sleeves of his white leather jacket, trying to stabilize himself.
“ No! I said I don't need your help!” Hiro attempted to push Haru off him, but ended up falling against his chest, completely exhausted.
“ Don't be so stubborn. You're just like Kyo.” Haru said calmly, running a gloved hand through his hair. “ You could of said something, you know.”
“ I can take care of myself.” Hiro growled, hoisting himself back up onto the bed. Without a word, Haru reached out and rolled up the bottom of Hiro's pants, revealing the re-opened wound upon his knee..
“ Hold still.” Haru reached into a drawer on the nightstand beside his bed and pulled out a large package of bandaids. Hiro winced as Haru bandaged his knee, pressing upon it gently. Haru helped him to his feet, and took a step back, staring down at him with a weary expression upon his face.
“ Would you like me to walk you home?” Haru asked quietly, holding out Hiro's bag to him.
“ No!” Hiro snatched the bag from Haru's hand and stomped out of the room, leaving Haru staring in a daze at the door.

The next day in class, Haru stared out the window for the remainder of the period. His favorite pass time was to stare up at the clouds, finding odd shapes within them.
“ Haru!” He slowly turned to see Kyo towering above him, glaring down at him angrily. “ We've been calling you for the past five minutes!”
“ I'm sorry.” Haru said, standing and drifting behind Kyo, following him towards where Tohru and Momiji were sitting, opening their lunch boxes. Haru sat beside Momiji with a sigh, staring into space.
“ Haru?” He felt Momiji nudge him in the shoulder. “ Stop spacing out.”
“ Sorry.” Haru sighed once more, folding his arms across his chest.
“ Is something bothering you, Hatsuharu-san?” Tohru asked quietly, taking a sip from her juice carton.
“ I'm just worried about Hiro.” Haru said calmly, staring down at the table.
“ What's wrong with him?!” Momiji asked, suddenly jumping up and looking concerned.
“ I caught a few boys beating him up yesterday. I scared them off, but I'm not sure for how long.” Haru frowned, still somewhat dazed.
“ It's good that you stopped them.” Tohru said, letting out a sigh of relief.
“ He was probably asking for it.” Kyo scoffed, taking a large bite out of his sandwich.
“ Kyo! Don't say that!” Momiji cried, frowning at him. Kyo shrugged and continued eating.
“ Well, hopefully it wont happen again.” Tohru said with a nod. Haru smiled and nodded too, returning to his seat to gaze out the window. He had spent the rest of the day either spacing out or fiddling with the many necklaces around his neck, enjoying their quiet jingling as the metals bounced off one another. Haru pushed his way through the mass of students as he hurried to the gates, wanting to get home as soon as possible. As he looked up, he caught glimpse of caramel colored hair.
“ Hiro?” Haru tapped Hiro on the shoulder gentle, as he seemed to be gazing off into the distance. Hiro jumped and glared up at him. “ What are you doing here?”
“ What are YOU doing here?” He mimicked, frowning up at him. Haru gave a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. He had been putting up with Kyo's antics all day, and he wasn't sure he could handle Hiro's.
“ Alright then.” Haru turned on his heel, heading down the street. He could hear Hiro trailing behind him. He could almost feel the boys gaze burning a hole in his back.
“ Why do you wear that thing?” He heard Hiro scoff from behind him.
“ What thing?” Haru asked quietly, turning and eying the lamb beside him.
“ This thing.” Hiro tugged at the sleeve of his favorite white jacket, staring sternly up at him.
“ I like it.” Haru said, starting down the street once more.
“ It makes you look like a thug.” Hiro said, jogging to keep up with him.
“ Maybe that's the point.” Haru chuckled, glancing back at Hiro, who stuck his tongue out in disapproval.
“ Um...About yesterday.” Hiro came to a halt, staring down at the ground.
“ Yes?” Haru turned and stood beside him.
“ Well...Um...That is...You helped...And I...” Hiro stammered, his face going bright red.
“ You don't need to thank me.” Haru patted him upon the head gently.
“ Who said I was?!” Hiro batted his hand away and scowled up at him. “ Like I needed your stupid help!” And with that, he turned and ran at full speed up the road and out of sight, leaving Haru very confused and irritated, wondering why the boy had even bothered waiting for him in the first place.

The following morning Haru awoke late, seeing as it was Saturday. He had been dragged out by a very giddy bunny, and dragged into all sorts of shops. He wasn't fully awake, and he had forgotten the reason why Momiji had wanted to bring him shopping in the first place. As he came to full awareness, he glared down at Momiji, who was waving two frilly looking shirts in his face.
“ Which should I buy? The blue or the pink?!” Momiji bounced up and down, beaming up at him. Haru shrugged, and Momiji gave a quiet pout. “ You wanna try one on?!”
“ No thank you.” Haru said, ready to leave.
“ I'll just get both!” Momiji said, grinning. Haru stood outside the shop, weighed down by the other bags filled with things Momiji had purchased.
“ Thanks, Haru.” Momiji emerged from the store, carrying to large bags. “ Daddy didn't want me coming alone.”
“ I see.” Haru yawned, hoisting the bags over his shoulder.
“ How was your walk with Hiro?” Momiji asked as they headed out of the mall.
“ Fine. I think he hates me.” Haru said with a chuckle.
“ I don't think so. If he hated you, why would he wait for you after school?” Momiji asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand as they walked down the sidewalk.
“ I don't know.” Haru sighed, staring up at the clouds.
“ You know, his school lets out three hours before ours does.” Momiji said with a thoughtful look. “ That means he was waiting for three whole hours for you!”
“ Really?” Haru frowned. This new information made things even more confusing than before. Why would Hiro wait for three hours, then yell at him like that? What a strange kid, he thought to himself with a chuckle.