Fright:
A Furuba Novella
Prologue
By: Lily (aka. Lily no Anrui)
Synopsis: The Sohmas become acquainted with the Taito family. The Taitos are the ones who cursed them so long ago. Hidden truths are discovered, histories uncovered, and a seedy underbelly that no one knew existed.
Warning: This story contains a bunch of OC's. The majority of pairs are heterosexual, but there are yaoi references present also. Don't forget about Akito being a bastardized sadist.
Comments and constructive criticism are welcome; flames will be cheerfully ignored.
Moonlight streamed down from the heavens in gentle waves to fall on a tatami floor, painting a beautifully macabre picture with the figure lying upon it. The body lay face-down on the ground with its harshly abused back exposed to the calm light. Blood ran in rivulets on the rounded planes of a feminine body, finding their way to the expensive fabric of the yukata the girl wore. The yukata itself was what appeared to be a dusty red with delicate sakura blossoms frozen in motion on its surface. Rimmed in black, the robe hid the blood well. Long dark hair splayed about in a disordered fashion, obscuring the face from any view at all.
"Get up," an indifferent voice ordered. "You look terrible; fix yourself."
With a fine tremble in her shoulders, the girl rose and with shaking fingers, retied the yukata onto her deceptively thin frame.
"I've called Hatori-he should be here in a moment," Akito spat out, before stalking over to the slightly raised dais set at the end of the receiving room. As if on cue, there was a polite knock at the door, and the screen slid back to reveal the doctor, looking completely unruffled even at the absurdly late hour.
"You wanted to see me, Akito?" Hatori asked, his voice giving away nothing as he knelt on the tatami floor. However, his eyes flicked repeatedly to the still and silent girl bathed in moonlight.
"Yes," Akito said, that one word sounding like a curse, "Tend to her." The last phrase was snapped out, Akito's unstable nature getting the better of him. He flung an arm out in the general direction that the girl sat in with her head bowed. Hatori nodded succinctly and moved swiftly to the injured girl with his medical bag. With a gently hand, he touched the girl's shoulder. The small gesture of comfort did not go unnoticed, and the girl smiled, just a tiny bit, her teeth glinting impossibly white in the moonlight. "I'm going to need you to undo your robe," Hatori said gently. Wordlessly, the girl nodded and undid the yukata once again to reveal her blood-soaked back to the cool spring air. She caught the doctor's nearly silent gasp of shock, and the widening of his eyes was a telltale mark in the darkness.
Then Hatori's professionalism overcame him and he went to get a bowl filled with water and a rag. The doctor wiped off the strange crimson paint, revealing her pale skin and the crude gashes torn into it by a whip. He noticed the weapon off in a corner and was amazed that Akito would have the audacity to do this to someone and not even bother to hide it. Hatori wiped iodine over the cuts as a disinfectant, and applied an herbal salve to help it heal without scarring. Then the doctor wound a bandage around her upper body, that being the only way to cover it all, and winced when he felt her indrawn hiss of air as the bandage wound around bruised ribs.
Finally the doctor was done, having completed his task and moved back, beginning to clean up. The girl stood up fluidly, moving with an inherent grace present even in the throes of pain, and drew her yukata closed as she straightened. Her long hair slid back to reveal a delicately beautiful face with dark eyes, high cheekbones, a dainty nose, and full lips which were curved in a small smile full of apprehension, gratefulness, and even self- loathing.
"Doomo arigatou, Hatori-san," (1) she said, the edges of her red yukata brushing against his knees as she walked past him.
"Do itashimashite, Riri-san,"(2) Hatori replied, his voice merely a ripple on the water.
Riri was half-way across the floor, heading to the bedroom when Akito's voice came like a slap in the face. "Remember what I said earlier." The girl stopped, hands clenching at her sides as anger boiled up underneath the surface of her skin. Shaking with rage, she knelt down again until she was on all fours. "That's a good girl; crawl."
On her hands and knees, hair trailing on the ground, she did the only thing she could. The girl, Riri, crawled across the room with subconscious grace, halting when she reached the shoji screen leading to the bedroom. With her head held down, she snapped out, "Satisfied?"
Akito looked pleased at her subtle rebellion, and sounded smug when he answered her. "Quite." The girl slipped inside the room and slid the door closed. Tears pressed against her eyelids, but she swallowed them back down, let them rain down on the inside. She was tired of playing with Akito. So tired. Only her second night back in town and already he was up to his old tricks. She felt battered, mentally and physically, and wanted nothing more than to sink into oblivion.
Without hesitation, Riri crawled onto the carefully made futon and did just that, already anticipating the rude awakening. Only until tomorrow night, she repeated the mantra in her head. Only until tomorrow night.
TBC...
Not much explaining going on in this part, but wait for the next one. It will get better, and my motives will become clearer.
(1) Thank you very much, Mr. Hatori.
(2) You're welcome, Ms. Riri.
Synopsis: The Sohmas become acquainted with the Taito family. The Taitos are the ones who cursed them so long ago. Hidden truths are discovered, histories uncovered, and a seedy underbelly that no one knew existed.
Warning: This story contains a bunch of OC's. The majority of pairs are heterosexual, but there are yaoi references present also. Don't forget about Akito being a bastardized sadist.
Comments and constructive criticism are welcome; flames will be cheerfully ignored.
Moonlight streamed down from the heavens in gentle waves to fall on a tatami floor, painting a beautifully macabre picture with the figure lying upon it. The body lay face-down on the ground with its harshly abused back exposed to the calm light. Blood ran in rivulets on the rounded planes of a feminine body, finding their way to the expensive fabric of the yukata the girl wore. The yukata itself was what appeared to be a dusty red with delicate sakura blossoms frozen in motion on its surface. Rimmed in black, the robe hid the blood well. Long dark hair splayed about in a disordered fashion, obscuring the face from any view at all.
"Get up," an indifferent voice ordered. "You look terrible; fix yourself."
With a fine tremble in her shoulders, the girl rose and with shaking fingers, retied the yukata onto her deceptively thin frame.
"I've called Hatori-he should be here in a moment," Akito spat out, before stalking over to the slightly raised dais set at the end of the receiving room. As if on cue, there was a polite knock at the door, and the screen slid back to reveal the doctor, looking completely unruffled even at the absurdly late hour.
"You wanted to see me, Akito?" Hatori asked, his voice giving away nothing as he knelt on the tatami floor. However, his eyes flicked repeatedly to the still and silent girl bathed in moonlight.
"Yes," Akito said, that one word sounding like a curse, "Tend to her." The last phrase was snapped out, Akito's unstable nature getting the better of him. He flung an arm out in the general direction that the girl sat in with her head bowed. Hatori nodded succinctly and moved swiftly to the injured girl with his medical bag. With a gently hand, he touched the girl's shoulder. The small gesture of comfort did not go unnoticed, and the girl smiled, just a tiny bit, her teeth glinting impossibly white in the moonlight. "I'm going to need you to undo your robe," Hatori said gently. Wordlessly, the girl nodded and undid the yukata once again to reveal her blood-soaked back to the cool spring air. She caught the doctor's nearly silent gasp of shock, and the widening of his eyes was a telltale mark in the darkness.
Then Hatori's professionalism overcame him and he went to get a bowl filled with water and a rag. The doctor wiped off the strange crimson paint, revealing her pale skin and the crude gashes torn into it by a whip. He noticed the weapon off in a corner and was amazed that Akito would have the audacity to do this to someone and not even bother to hide it. Hatori wiped iodine over the cuts as a disinfectant, and applied an herbal salve to help it heal without scarring. Then the doctor wound a bandage around her upper body, that being the only way to cover it all, and winced when he felt her indrawn hiss of air as the bandage wound around bruised ribs.
Finally the doctor was done, having completed his task and moved back, beginning to clean up. The girl stood up fluidly, moving with an inherent grace present even in the throes of pain, and drew her yukata closed as she straightened. Her long hair slid back to reveal a delicately beautiful face with dark eyes, high cheekbones, a dainty nose, and full lips which were curved in a small smile full of apprehension, gratefulness, and even self- loathing.
"Doomo arigatou, Hatori-san," (1) she said, the edges of her red yukata brushing against his knees as she walked past him.
"Do itashimashite, Riri-san,"(2) Hatori replied, his voice merely a ripple on the water.
Riri was half-way across the floor, heading to the bedroom when Akito's voice came like a slap in the face. "Remember what I said earlier." The girl stopped, hands clenching at her sides as anger boiled up underneath the surface of her skin. Shaking with rage, she knelt down again until she was on all fours. "That's a good girl; crawl."
On her hands and knees, hair trailing on the ground, she did the only thing she could. The girl, Riri, crawled across the room with subconscious grace, halting when she reached the shoji screen leading to the bedroom. With her head held down, she snapped out, "Satisfied?"
Akito looked pleased at her subtle rebellion, and sounded smug when he answered her. "Quite." The girl slipped inside the room and slid the door closed. Tears pressed against her eyelids, but she swallowed them back down, let them rain down on the inside. She was tired of playing with Akito. So tired. Only her second night back in town and already he was up to his old tricks. She felt battered, mentally and physically, and wanted nothing more than to sink into oblivion.
Without hesitation, Riri crawled onto the carefully made futon and did just that, already anticipating the rude awakening. Only until tomorrow night, she repeated the mantra in her head. Only until tomorrow night.
TBC...
Not much explaining going on in this part, but wait for the next one. It will get better, and my motives will become clearer.
(1) Thank you very much, Mr. Hatori.
(2) You're welcome, Ms. Riri.