Author: Sorry it took me so long to put this chapter up. But here it is! Poor Harumi's gonna get it even worse in this chapter. But not to fear...not everything will go down hill from here.

Chapter Two - From Bad to Worse

“Harumi! Wait up!” A girl her age called out. At her side ran several other kids Harumi’s age. They were all smiling and waving to Harumi. “Come on! We got to get to school on time!”

“Huh?!” Harumi was surprised at how nice they were being. She smiled warmly. “Okay, sure. Lets go!”

Harumi ran with the many kids towards school and never looked back. She felt happier than she had ever felt. No one had ever been so nice to her.

“Harumi! Harumi wake up!” Harumi arose from her bed. Her mother was calling her. “Your going to be late for school!”

“Oh no!” Harumi yelled at herself and hopped out of bed. “It was only a dream, but it seemed so real. I wish it was real.”

Harumi made her way into the school. Like everyday she entered her class and sat at her desk. But instead of drawing her attention to checking her homework before class began as she often did, her eyes caught glance of a poster at the back of the room.

LAST MINUTE SIGN-UP FOR TALENT SHOW!!! It read.

“Hmm, a talent show,” Harumi thought to herself. “Maybe I could sing. If I did that, and everyone liked my voice then maybe...I have to enter!”

“Sign here,” a brunette haired girl pointed without looking up from a book she was reading. Harumi placed her signature on the blank space of the paper. That afternoon she’d need to practice before the talent show started at six. Despite the loss of time to work on her voice, Harumi was confident she could impress the crowd with her voice. Her family and Tezuya had loved her singing when she sang for them at dinner one night. Besides, what did she have to lose.

After practicing for several hours at home Harumi said good-bye to her parents and ran to the school. Little did she know her father wasn’t going to allow any increase in Harumi’s social status for fear she may refuse the marriage proposal with Tezuya.

“I’m almost up!” Harumi shrieked to herself in excitement. Several kids standing near her looked at her as though she was a psycho. Harumi sighed sadly and turned away, her eyes now glued to the floor. What if no one likes me? What if they all think I sound terrible. NO! No, I can’t think that way! I have to imagine the best possible outcome.

“Harumi Nobu! Your up!” A voice called. Harumi made her way through the curtains and onto the stage where a bright light beamed down on her. Harumi took a hold of the microphone in front of her and smiled. She couldn’t see anyone’s face, but she hoped they were smiling as well. The music began playing and Harumi prepared to sing.

“Looking up at the sky I remember your smile,” Harumi sang. But for some reason the only words that came out of her mouth were off tune. What had happened to her voice? Harumi decided to continue her song. Maybe no one would notice. “My heart floats up to the clouds and into the stars above.”

“Boo!! You stink!” Someone called out.

“Get lessons ugly!” Cried another.

“Loser!” Yelled someone else.

Harumi stopped singing and tried looking out into the audience. She hadn’t been able to fool them, and now they were booing her off the stage. How embarrassing.

She ran off the stage with tears in her eyes. She had never been so humiliated in her life. And the worst part was that no one cared. Harumi kept running until she ran out of the school and headed for home. Lucky for her it was still light out so she made it home without stumbling.

“Harumi, what’s wrong?” Harumi’s mother asked her as Harumi entered the house in tears. “Was it the kids at school?”

“Oh mom,” Harumi ran to her mother and wept in her arms. “I never thought the kids at my school could be so cruel. They all hate me! They think I’m ugly!”

“Oh Harumi, I’m so sorry,” Her mother stroked her hair. “But you know what? Those kids will never be able to see what you truly look like.”

“What do you mean?” Harumi looked up at her mother. Her mother sighed and closed her eyes. She had promised her husband she would not tell Harumi the truth.

“Because, my dear, they don’t have the right eyes to see you,” Harumi’s mother lied. But the way she said it seemed so real to Harumi. It made Harumi smile. “They can’t see the true you. Only those who know you, like Tezuya, can see your true beauty.”

“Thanks mom for cheering me up,” Harumi hugged her mom then headed towards the front door. “Is that Tezuya?” Harumi questioned herself as she watched a figure through the window. She was about to run outside to meet him, but remembered what her father had told her. She must never meet Tezuya at the front of the house, but get him to greet Tezuya instead. He said it was as a precaution just incase the person who she thought might be Tezuya was a thief who would rob her.

“Your much to young, and though your fighting skill is great I still can’t risk losing you to anyone.” He had told her.

Harumi’s hand moved away from the door knob. She didn’t want to disappoint her father. But then again, she did want to see Tezuya badly. Besides, her father was away from the house running errands and Harumi had to tell Tezuya all that had happened at the talent show. So, without hesitation, Harumi’s hand once again touched the door knob and she raced outside to welcome Tezuya.

“Tezuya! Tezuya!” Harumi called out to him as she ran down the rode where he was walking up the path to her house.

“Huh?” Tezuya stopped where he stood with a confused look on his face. When Harumi reached him the confused look didn’t disappear, but strangely stayed. “Who, who are you?”

Harumi gasped in confusion and waved a hand in front of Tezuya. “What? Are you okay? It’s me, Harumi!”

“What are you talking about?” He asked with a frown. “I know who my Harumi is, and your no Harumi. Your ugliness doesn’t compare to the vast beauty of Harumi.”

Harumi stared dumbly at Tezuya. Had he just called her ugly? Didn’t he love her?

“You think I’m ugly?” Harumi asked as a tear fell down her cheek.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I said,” Tezuya huffed. “Now run along! I have no time for you!”

Harumi felt a cold icy wind blow in her face and at the pit of her stomach a terrible feeling of utter depression. She turned from Tezuya and headed back to her house in tears. She ran to her room where she slammed the door and fell upon her bed. It was official, she was ugly!

That evening Harumi packed her things into a bag and leaped out her window without a second thought. Unfortunately for her she was located at the second floor so she fell quite a ways before finally landing smack on her face. Still depressed as ever, and not caring at all about her terrible landing, Harumi continued her journey into the evening sky where she hoped to find, over the horizon, her new home. She’d find a proper fighting class to attend and make her parents proud of her since she couldn’t be beautiful for them. And now that she knew Tezuya thought she was ugly she had no reason to stay at home. She was on her own now, and she’d have to stick up for herself.

Harumi walked into a path located in the thick of the woods hoping that it would lead her to a city that provided a proper fighting class. It wasn’t to long down the road when Harumi began to hear voices. At first the voices were almost silent, but then they became loud and seemed very close. Harumi decided to ignore the voices and take a brake for a snack. The sun was almost gone and she’d need to set up camp somewhere. Suddenly, a person leaped out from the tree next to Harumi. A strange guy with white hair having black tips looked around, his brown eyes darting from left to right. His clothes seemed old and torn, but the guy appeared to be well fed and even strong.

“I see him over there!” Yelled a voice at a far end of the path. It’s owner still not visable.

“Oh great,” The guy whined and headed for the tree Harumi was sitting under. It seemed as though he was going to run into her when he prepared to leap into the tree. Then, without any thought, the guy hopped into the tree and then to another tree.

“He went that way!” One of the cops pointed and yelled.

Harumi watched as two cops ran in the direction of the boy. She watched as they disappeared into the distance and then resumed her snacking.

“That was strange,” Harumi told herself before taking a bite out of her sandwich. She reached into her bag to get a napkin to wipe the crumbs from her face. She felt something strange, almost like a piece of jewelry. She pulled it out and gasped at the object that lay in her hands. “Whoa, how did this get in my bag? It’s so beautiful.” The string was beaded in crimson and cream colored beads, and in the middle there was the most beautiful charm Harumi had ever seen. It looked like any old circular charm, but when you looked at it’s middle you could see a watery-like jewel that looked as though it contained a mini hurricane. Dozens of particles danced in the setting sunlight and moved around to form different designs. Harumi undid the necklace and placed it around her neck. With a smile she looked down on her new possession.

Suddenly a loud rustling was heard in the trees. But before Harumi could look up, a shadowy figure came down.