Prologue – Day and Night

"Wait until it is night before saying it has been a fine day." --French Proverb

The room was dark, and heavy with heat. Thick, stifling air encircled the confined area like an invisible fog, waiting, hungry, pacing the edges of light and shadow and unfathomable emotion with the menacing air of a dark hunter. There was substance to it, a tangible presence.

Of irritation.

Of annoyance.

Of barely contained rage.

There is, after all, a difference between heat and warmth.

Sohma Shigure knelt dutifully before his God, and waited in the suffocating cloud of emotions crowding the dark room. The smallest smile danced around the corners of his mouth.

His God, on the other hand, was less than amused. The voice that came from her divine lips was harsh, accusing.

And full of a pain that only a handful of people would be able to identify.

Unfortunately for Sohma Akito, Shigure was one of them.

"Why didn't you come?" the God spat, venom to anyone but Shigure, who saw the sullenness in the girl's rage. "Why weren't you here?"

What the God was referring to, of course, was the incident at the dinner the previous night, in which Sohma Yuki had spoken to the God of faults and blame, and forgiven her for everything.

Forgiveness! To Akito! Yuki's rebellion had rattled the God to her core, and not having the supposedly most loyal of her jyuunishi with her immediately afterwards was simply salt in the wounds. Sohma Shigure, she had decided through the hurt, had far too much irreverence for the God's liking, and his decadence was causing her pain.

Akito did not like pain.

Thus Akito did not like Shigure.

Thus Shigure was getting an earful as the God flung her own pain – ineffectually – at her precious, indifferent inu, who watched on with blank grey eyes.

"Why didn't you come?" Akito repeated. "I was waiting and you didn't come!"

The inevitable sound of breaking china muffled its way through the gloom as Akito slammed a nearby vase of flowers to the ground. Water and petals spilled over the floor but Akito didn't care; her dark eyes were wide with rage and madness and pain, and staring shakily at the unfazed man before her.

"Why didn't you come...?"

The soft whisper barely made it to the Dog's keen ears, and the desperation he found in it served only to amuse him.

Shigure closed his eyes serenely.

"I felt sure Kureno would be here to aid you," he replied mildly, on the very edge of civility as an old bitterness fought to be heard.

His cold grey gaze flicked up to meet Akito's, and she found it there instead.

And it enraged her.

Her heart overflowed with anger once again, and she raised her trembling fist high into the air, shook it as she glared madly at the ridiculously calm man before her.

Impossibly calm.

Mockingly calm.

Painfully calm.

But through her rage, the last went unnoticed.

Her fist came down, and her eyes clenched tightly shut as she fought within herself.

"Get out," she hissed, "get out! I don't want you here anymore you sicken me! Get out! GET OUT!!"

And Shigure got out.

And Shigure walked, hands lost in the large sleeves of his haori comfortably, through the Main House, inclining his head politely to those he passed.

And Shigure passed Kureno going the opposite way down the corridor.

And Shigure stepped through the gates out of the Main House.

And Shigure looked up.

And Shigure smiled at the thick glaring sea of white he found up there, smiled a wry smile that twisted his handsome face into something quite horrible.

And quite sad.

"And it was going to be such a nice day, too."

And Shigure smiled some more.

And Shigure went back into the Main House.

:: sonryz ::
Here we go, my second mini series. All aboard the GureHari angst rollercoaster ride!

...Or not.

I mean, that's the idea, but...

Let's just see how this pans out.