Snippet #1450447

It didn't make much sense to her, but Bella decided that it didn't have to. People had given up on her a long time ago. They'd turned a blind eye, pretended she wasn't suffering while they thrived. And it was odd that Haizen, someone who she wouldn't have bothered to even look at two days ago, wasn't following the flow. He was that stupid fish that was swimming against the current instead of with it; the one that knew the same suffering as the one he was trying to reach. And suddenly, him being that stupid fish didn't matter to her. He was helping her and she was fighting it. Why was she fighting it? Maybe because she'd grown up with the thought that nobody cared, and if they did it was because they wanted to take advantage of her. She had to stop fighting him. She had to let him in. Why was it so difficult to open the door?

She listened to his words carefully, trying to take them in without denying that he was right. Nobody deserved to suffer, to be alone. He was right. Bella felt her stomach churn as she sank deeper into the realization that he knew exactly what she was going through. Is it because he's the cat? she thought. Do they shun him because he's not considered one of the Zodiac? That hurt. It angered her that people treated him like that just because of his own curse. Why couldn't they embrace that he was in the same boat as them? He needed just as much support as everyone else did. He wasn't some monster. Right...?

"I'm fine," Bella murmured, swallowing down her embarasement. There was an unbelievable want to hug him then. So many emotions could be passed to him just by that. But she knew she couldn't. He'd change into a cat. That frustrated her more than anything. "I... I guess I'll go to the Sohma house.."

"Oh?"

She looked up and over Haizen's shoulder, stomach dropping.

"Hello, Bells," Leon said with a dark smile. "How are you doing?"