"Even though a beginning turns out rough, it is because we learn to stand stronger that we can face an end with a steady heart."
Asuka remained silent as Haruka explained the charred remains of her home. She listened as Haruka explained that her parents had just left her with an uncle as she moved around in foster care. It caused a frown to tug at Asuka's lips. She could relate to that, if only slightly. Her mother had left her with Uncle Fujiwara, the man who raised her along with Hayate, his own son. She had been lucky enough that the man had saw her as his own daughter and raised her to the best of his abilities. He trained her, loved her, and gave her a family. It was something she would forever be grateful for. If he hadn't been there, shown her what it was like to truly have a family, she might have gone insane. She might have been labeled as a Level E as well if that were the case. She smiled tenderly as she rolled her fingers across a burnt desk.
"I think it's the stress of raising a child that is different that causes our parents to leave us," Asuka stated nonchalantly. Her eyes had glazed over as she kept her gaze on the charred remains. It was almost saddening to see such beautiful works of art turned to cinders and ash. There was some truth to her words. Her own mother couldn't deal with the fact that Asuka wasn't human, let alone something entirely different to begin with. She could still see the fear in her mother's eyes from that day. That day that man had tried to kidnap her for his own selfish reasons. She sighed, running her hand along the ash and pulled it so that her hand was stained with the dark substance. "But thanks to Hayate and my Oto-san, I didn't fall. Oto-san really isn't my Oto-san, but I revere him as one. He raised me even though he is merely my uncle," she stated. She watched as pieces of ash floated about as they fell from the ceiling.
Asuka turned to watch as Haruka seemed to be in her own thoughts. Being unwanted, or the very feeling of it wasn't something anyone should experience. Especially when they were mere mortals. With such little time on their hands, they could only live as quickly as they could, and as a result, it caused most children to grow up to quickly. And she could see it written clear as day on Haruka's body language. The girl truly had nothing to hold onto. Parents who seemed to not want her and a home that had been destroyed. What was left for a life such as this? Loneliness, emptiness? Were these feelings going to be ones that Asuka would eventually feel? She would see her father and her brother grow old. She'll see them die and pass in the wind as if they never existed to begin with. She didn't want that. She didn't want to witness their deaths and be the only one of the Fujiwara's left. Hayate was the only son of her uncle, and she was just a being floating between. She couldn't..., she shook those thoughts from her mind.
It wasn't something that she should be thinking of. If the time ever came, she'd ask to welcome death in it's cold embrace. There was nothing here for her besides her family. And once they were gone, what would she have? Snow? The School? It wasn't enough. She wanted more meaning, more purpose o this life than that. She wanted to feel as though her life meant something to someone or anything really. She finally understood somewhat the words that Haruka spoke in the infirmary. A desire of being needed by something or someone. What would that feel like? She remained lost in her own thoughts as Haruka seemed to do the same. She sighed as she finally pushed the thoughts away. There was no room in her heart nor mind for such thoughts. She had a purpose, and that was to protect. Protect what? The students and humans of the world. She had to protect them from the creatures that swallowed parts of her life. Even though that's what the hunters were for, she herself was also a hunter. It was a solemn oath that she made.
"You don't understand a world of the dark. I," she paused, placing a hand over her heart. She owed this girl something, an explanation of sorts. Haruka trusted her enough to still want to be her friend, perhaps Haruka could be another person to share her secret with. She would be the third. "I know I frightened you when I bit you Haruka, and I apologize for it. But, I am not a vampire, nor am I quite human. I...I don't know what I am really. I feel like I get caught in between a fantasy and a reality, and both are fighting for dominance. I am afraid of which one would win though," she stated, allowing her hand to fall to her side as she took in a deep breath. The faint scents that lingered about were nothing more than just that. Faint. She was trying to distract herself, afraid to stare at the red-head in front of her. She hadn't meant it the way it came out. Haruka probably understood a dark world more so than Asuka truly did, but she didn't understand it at the same time. Even in the darkest of places, life can grow anew and begin again. Where one thing ended, something was there to begin and live in it's place. Much like this house. Even though it was burnt to cinders and ash, the grass and flowers that were peeking through the broken floorboards were to attest to that.