The Other Side of the Mirror.
Chapter 1-Beginnings and Cages.
-"The cat is cursed. Always has been. That was why she died. Don't you understand?" Kyoko heard her father say to the tall man in the kimono who stood beside her, his hand tangled in her hair as he placidly faced her father.
She was quiet now. There was nothing else for her to say to her father. She had tried telling him it wasn't her fault. But he didn't listen. He never listened. That was why she pushed him. She would have done something else…what, she didn't know. But that man called Kazuma had come and held her back and now he was holding her hand while he talked to her father.
"She's only a child. How could she have anything to do with her mother's death?" Kazuma Sohma asked, his voice placid, yet his eyes were burning with a dark fire that the bitter man failed to notice in his grief.
"The strain of having that monster killed her. All that she had to deal with…it killed her." The man said, his voice harsh as he glared at the cursed child the gods had chosen to punish him with.
"So would it bother you if I asked for her to come and live with me then?" Kazuma asked, his patience ebbing with the man in front of him. He understood pain and grief. Understood that it made people say things that they would have normally kept quiet and hidden. But he also knew that it wasn't fair to subject an innocent child to pointless, hurtful tirades that would do nothing but wound the child.
The sooner he got his answer, the sooner he could both heal the child and soothe the guilt he felt over another, long committed sin against another innocent person.
Kyoko's father's lips thinned out as he looked down at the girl who was staring at him with bristling eyes and shuddered.
"Take the damned thing. Enjoy it while it destroys your life as well." He hissed before turning on his heel and stalking away.
Kazuma sighed and watched him until he turned a corner and disappeared. It was only then that he looked down at his new charge.
He had done it to give her time to compose herself, since he could feel her holding back the tears as her father had insulted her. Even though she was nothing but a little girl, she would still have some kind of pride.
Once he was sure that she was calm, or as calm as she could be, he knelt down and looked into her eyes, which despite their odd orange colour, were very pretty. It made him think again how despite the curse, they were all extremely beautiful individuals. It was as if life was making up for hurting them by allowing that small comfort,
"So it is true?" she asked, her voice small and harsh in the quiet garden. "I'm going to live with you now?"
Kazuma smiled and stroked her hair, once again silently wishing that the curse wouldn't prevent the most positive way of comforting the child.
"Yes. I run a martial arts dojo, even though I may not look like it. I can also teach you, if you want to learn. Would you life that?"
The girl watched him warily for a few moments, as if expecting another cruel trick to be sprung upon her. Kazuma waited patiently, knowing it was only natural that she would be so leery about the sudden kindness in her life. After all, with her curse, she was probably used more to hate, anger and disdain than anything else.
"Yes. I would." She finally answered, her voice wavering as she spoke. Kazuma smiled and stood up.
"Come on." He held out his hand. Kyoko looked up at him with an unreadable expression before only grasping the tips of his fingers. Kazuma began to walk, all the while wondering as to what other kinds of abuse the child had been exposed to, apart from the usual ones. As they walked, he hoped that in time, he would be able to help heal most, if not all of the wounds that already had deeply marked the child.
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Another banquet, another new year and still, nothing had changed. Yuki thought as he obediently sat next to Akito, who was coolly watching the rest of the juunishi as they had their banquet.
The others paid no attention to him. In fact, they were doing their best to stay out of the line of sight of their god and their gods' chosen toy. The only one that was somewhat paying attention to him was Hatsuharu, and only then it was with small glances, since he knew how jealous their god was.
Yuki didn't want to be there. Didn't want to face the sidelong looks the other juunishi were giving him. Didn't want to hear what they said about him behind closed doors. He knew that he was a tool. His mother had told him as much. She didn't care that Akito was locking him up, separating him from other people, hurting him. She only cared about the prestige that trading her son had brought her.
He blinked as he watched the two juunishi stand up. The atmosphere was still and he let out a soft sigh. Once the dance was over, he would be able to at least go outside. It was a small comfort, but it was one he would gladly take. He had learned long enough to not ever overlook small things in his life.
"I want to go away from here." He thought as he hugged his knees tighter. He sighed and watched the new zodiac dance with the old one and wondered whether he would be able to endure yet another year in his gilded cage. He would have to. There was no hope for him of ever being free from anything in the Sohma circle.
The dance ended and the others scattered as unobtrusively, and as quickly as possible. No one wanted to be in the presence of the head any longer than they had to. Even though the head was coldly nice to them, they were learning to be wary of the moods that gripped their god.
Yuki made sure to bow to Akito before also leaving the banquet. He stuck to areas that wouldn't have many of the other family around and quietly snuck outside to the snow covered courtyard.
He took a deep breath and felt his emotions calm as he stood in the soothing cold. It was nice and comfortable, the temperature not bad enough for him yet. He wished he could stay out there for as long as possible, but he knew that wouldn't be possible. He would have to go back. He always had to go back.
He shook his head and walked towards the now frozen pond to stare at the patterns that the lights made on the ice. He had come up to the edge of the pond when he spotted a small figure that was wearing a long dark coat that contrasted with the orange hair lying in a long tangle over it.
He must have made a sound, because the person turned around and looked at him with thickly lashed, wide orange eyes.
They stared at each other for a few moments before Yuki timidly spoke to the person.
"Hello. A-a-re you a Sohma too?" He asked, coming closer.
"Yes. I'm Kyoko Sohma. Who are you?" Yuki's eyes widened at the words, which were spoken neutrally.
"I'm Yuki Sohma. Pleased to meet you." Yuki introduced himself and bowed. Kyoko watched him warily before she too, bowed.
They stood in silence once again before Kyoko spoke.
"Are you one of the cursed?" she asked him, her voice full of curiosity.
"Yes. I am the rat." Yuki admitted, feeling uneasy as to why Kyoko's eyes widened at that answer. Was she going to try and touch him to see if it was true?
Kyoko stepped forward and reached out to him with her right hand, making Yuki's eyes widen when he saw the familiar red and white bracelet that all the cats of the family wore.
So this was the cat. The on Akito spoke about in such tones of disgust and hatred.
But why? He asked himself as her hand finally connected with his chest. For a brief moment, he wondered if she would push him away. After all, the cat and the rat were supposed to hate each other because of the banquet. But all she did was pull him close in a hug, just like Akito had done at their first moment.
Except this time, the contact and the feeling of warmth that sprung up from it was brief. Too brief.
"Get away from that monster!" Akito shrieked in rage. Yuki looked up in surprise and had only time to blink before he was pulled away and the cat hurled to the ground.
She let out a high cry and another adult showed up, a tall man with long hair tied back who immediately ran towards Kyoko, who was now cradling her left arm against her body.
"Keep that monster away, Kazuma! She's not to go near Yuki. EVER!" Akito shriked at the man as she pulled Yuki roughly into the direction of the house. Kazuma only glared at Akito coldly before picking up a softly crying Kyoko and taking her to another part of the house.
"Did she do anything else to you, Yuki?" Akito crooned as she pushed his hair away from his face. Yuki only shook his head, too afraid of saying anything else lest he unleash more of her temper on him.
"Good. Promise me, Yuki that you won't ever go near that filthy little brat. I don't ever want for you to be soiled by her, my precious Yuki."
Yuki nodded and endured another embrace from Akito.
"Good boy. Now let's go inside."
Yuki silently obeyed. After all, there was no way for him to leave.