The first in my series.
Title: No Tomorrow
Author: R. Tom Mato
Email:
Rating: ...eh...PG for a bit of violence, I think. Pretty sure there's no swearing.
Summary: A little drabble about Kazuma's grandfather, from the eyes of the rat.
Notes: As I don't know much about Kazuma's grandfather, I'm trying to keep it as vague as possible without being totally crappy. They say he was allowed to marry and have children, but I don't really believe that. Sure, I doubt the other 'gods' before Akito were as...well....obsessed and a little psychotic, but this is the cat we're talking about. So this is how it goes in my head.
Note2: Also, the song the title comes from is 'Mad World' by Gary Jules.
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I was very little when I first saw the cat. I don't think I was even six years old. The head of the Sohma clan called to us one night, very early in the morning. I was woken and carried still half-asleep to see what was going on. My hazy state of mind was cleared in an instant when I realized where we were going.
The head of the clan had a room in his house that he used for our New Year's banquet celebrations. I had always liked the banquet and the boar was already helping me learn the dance for next year since it would be my first time. We went to this room, but it wasn't the happy, warm place I remembered. Only a few candles lined the walls, causing frightening shadows to creep along the floor and hide in corners.
He stood in the center of the room and there was someone at his feet, crouched over so I couldn't see their face.
"Good, good," he greeted us, a frightening grin on his face. "You're all here. Take a seat and we'll get to the matter at hand."
I was wedged in between the horse and the ram on a soft cushion, one of many scattered around the room. The other zodiac were all around me, but I could tell from the expressions on their faces that this was not going to be a time of celebration.
"Thank you all," the head exclaimed. "For answering to my summons so promptly. I wish I didn't have to wake you from your peaceful slumber, but this is a very important matter."
He lifted a foot and violently kicked the person on the floor in the side. I gasped, but I was the only one. I later understood that they were used to this side of our leader. The person was a man, around the tiger's age of about twenty or so. He had orange hair that was pulled back in a short ponytail, but most of it was coming out and the strands fell across his face.
The head looked over at my gasp, and his grin turned into a soft smile. "My sweet, little rat. You don't know who this is, do you?" he asked, tsking softly. "You've heard the stories, I'm sure. Well, now it is time that you've met your true enemy. Meet the cat."
In a sudden move, he reached down and grabbed the young man by his hair and yanked his head up. Red eyes blazed as they met mine and I flinched back.
The head laughed. "Don't worry, my precious rat," he assured me. "The cat will never be able to harm you. It's the curse of the cat to always lose to you."
Those glaring red eyes only narrowed even further and his upper lip pulled back to reveal gleaming white teeth. No one said anything, but as I looked around I noticed that they were all glaring at the cat as well.
"Now," the head announced, a frown on his face. "Let me tell you why I've had to dirty us all with the presence of this monster! A few days ago, the cat disappeared without informing anyone. Its keepers noticed it gone yesterday and told me immediately. Of course, for our safety, I sent out groups to find and reclaim it.
"However, three days seems to be enough for it to go against all the rules of those who are the cat," he growled, expression growing angrier by the second. "It had been having a relationship in secret with a girl from out there! It married her two days ago, thinking it could escape us. It even had the nerve to lay with her and now it probably carries its child!"
I blinked, not quite understanding what he was saying. A few of the zodiac around me winced and shut their eyes or looked away. Was what the cat had done really that bad? Turning back to the cat, I saw tears in his eyes.
"I had been merciful to let it leave its cage when I was younger," the head continued. "I had shown pity, and this is how it repays me!"
With an angry yell, he yanked the cat's hair and threw him to the floor. His head smacked the wood with a terrifying thud and I Ieaned against the horse fearfully.
"No more mercy," the head vowed, his voice ragged. "No more pity. It will be locked away again and this time it will never be allowed out. The woman will be kept at the main house until we can determine whether she's pregnant or not. If she is, we will take care of her and her child. Innocents will not be harmed because of the monster's foolishness."
By now I was crying silently. The head had never taken much interest in me, but he had always been so nice and polite when I was with him. To see the warm smiling face I was used to twisted into such a horrifying mask was almost too painful to bear.
"Ah, don't cry, little rat," he said, looking over once he heard my sobs. "The cat was very bad and now it must be punished, don't you agree? Why do you feel pity for such a monster?"
My eyes went to the cat again, lying where he'd been thrown. His eyes were open and he was looking at me again. In the candles's light his eyes were shiny with tears.
"He...he looks so sad." I whispered.
The head just smiled before reaching down and yanking the cat up by the hair and dragging him over to me. The cat scrambled to move his hands and feet, teeth bared again but this time in pain. Once he was close enough, the head shoved the cat's face in front of mine.
"Look at him!" he yelled, and it took me a moment before realizing that he was talking to the cat. "You do not deserve such sympathy!"
Again, he threw the cat across the floor as hard as he could and I held back my sobs. Everyone was looking at me now and I quickly turned my gaze to the floor. The room was completely silent except for the head's harsh breathing. I don't know how long we all sat there, unmoving, before he were spoken to again.
"Please, everyone take this lesson to your hearts," he advised us, his voice just as gentle as I was used to. "And from this day on, the cat will not be spoken of. There will be no mention of it even in passing while it lives. You may go back to your homes now."
Respectful 'good night's were given and the ram lifted me into her arms. I stared over her shoulder at the fallen form of the cat and the man who I used to love with all my heart. The dog stood with him, one hand on his shoulder as a coughing fit took over. He was always so sick. As I was carried from the room and taken back to my bed, I felt as though all hope had left the world I lived in.
End