The Ones Who Walk Away from Sohma House

Akito had always ignored me. Everyone said that the head of the family had hated the previous horse of the zodiac, and that I was always ignored because of that.

I think that might be true. We--my family and I--never got invited to the main house outside of the New Years holiday. And even during those annual banquets, Akito never even looked at me, let alone talked to me. When it was my year, Akito left the room in order not to see me dance.

So when I turned ten, we were very surprised when we received an invitation to the main house. And I was summoned to see Akito.

My father had a very long talk with me before we went: the time had come for me to be old enough to be responsible. Do not contradict Akito. My father thought I wasn't paying attention, so he slapped me before going on with the lecture. Do everything Akito tells me to do. Be polite at all times. I doubt if there was any way I could have disobeyed my father: Akito terrified me, and the prospect of speaking with the family head, perhaps all by myself, made me sick to my stomach.

We all dressed up to go to the house. I didn't like wearing a tie. It felt like it was choking me. I started to complain, but my father looked at me like he was going to hit me again, so I stopped talking.

The taxi dropped us off at the gates of the main house, and we slowly walked to the main building. I remember saying that it seemed like we were being watched, and my father said we probably were, because a lot of people lived "inside." I figured out that he was hoping that we'd get to move "inside", too. The houses did look a whole lot better than our "outside" one.

When we got to the main building there were a lot of people to show us around. My parents were told to stay in a waiting while I was brought to Akito's chambers.

The room was very big. Almost as big as the room for the zodiac banquets. The lady who showed me in told me to sit seiza on the floor, and then she left.

I didn't like being by myself in that huge room, sitting seiza. What seemed like several minutes later, my legs were falling asleep. I was about to get up and circulate the blood when I heard a panel slide open.

Akita sauntered in, bored. I felt myself withering in the clan leader's gaze. "So, you are the horse."

"Y-yes."

"You must not think much of the head of the family. Do you ever come for a visit?" Akito paused as if expecting me to object to his unjust accusation. "But I'll look past that disrespect for now. What do you know of the Sohma family, boy?"

I had promised not to contradict Akito. "I know that we're cursed. And that we... the family... is rich."

"What do you know of the nature of the curse?"

"I-I know that there are twelve people that are cursed--one each for each sign of the zodiac. I'm the horse, so there are eleven others. When our bodies are weak, or when we are touched in a certain way by the opposite sex, we transform."

"What else?"

"That's all I know."

"You know nothing else? Do you suppose that there are only twelve cursed members of the Sohma family?"

"Well, in the story, there's a cat that doesn't get to be part of the zodiac. But I've never heard of a cat curse."

"Then come with me. I will show it to you."

"Show... what?"

"The monster who looks like a man. The incarnation of the Sohma curse. The cat. Come and see."

I did not know what to do. I sat there as if stunned. Akito walked over to me and gently encircled my wrist. Not entirely by my own will, I stood up and followed.

It was a long walk. As we walked through the corridors of the house, the atmosphere itself seemed to change. The further we walked, the less alive everything seemed. There seemed to be less energy in the house itself, as if the rooms and corridors were long-forgotten and rarely used.

Ultimately, we came to an exit. Akito paused to put on a pair of geta that were there. Since my shoes were at the other end of the house, I took off my house shoes and socks and followed Akito barefooted.

Outside there was a wild and lush garden. In the middle, almost invisible as it was covered in vines, was a shed or hut. Akito gestured me over to one side, where I could see a barred window.

"This is the cat."

Both scared and curious, I looked inside. There was a man sitting on the floor, his head bowed down so I could not see his face. His long hair, a bright orange color, was clearly visible. He wore no clothes, only a string of beads on one wrist.

I looked around his room. There was no furniture except for a toilet in the floor. There was also a water spigot, the kind you would have in a garden, and a drain on the floor underneath.

"The cat can talk. Do you want to speak with it? Ask it anything you like."

Shocked at what I was seeing, I could not bring myself to speak at first. Finally I blurted out, "My name is Nagatsuki Sohma. What is yours?" and bowed.

The man slowly lifted up his head and looked toward me. His eyes seemed glazed and unfocused. "I... I don't have a name... I think."

Akito snorted derisively. "It doesn't need one. Call it 'monster.'"

That seemed rude, so I tried a different form of address. "Mr. Cat? Why do you live out here?"

He looked at me for a long time. For the tiniest moment, it looked like his eyes really focused on me. Finally, he bowed his head back down again. "I don't want to talk to anyone. Leave me alone."

Akito slowly walked away, turning around after a few seconds to see me still standing at the window, mouth gaping. "You heard the monster. Come on, I'll tell you about the cat."

Reluctantly, I followed th family head. "You see, it was the cat's rage and jealousy that cursed the family in the first place. For that reason, among others, the cat... the monster... is kept apart from everyone else."

"Others? There are other reasons?"

Akito nodded. "Yes. This particular monster may be the worst in the history of the Sohma clan."

Akito paused a long time. "The cat has always been different from the other cursed. The cat has always been hated and locked up. But this cat... This cat..." Akito's voice grew bitter. "This cat was a true monster. It was wily and seductive. It tried to turn the others in the zodiac against me. It tried to defy destiny. That... that... thing even murdered its own mother.

"Mur-murdered?" Something about that did not seem right to me. "But if he... it... is a murderer, why isn't... it... in jail?"

Akito's eyes told me that the clan head did not like being questioned. "No judge would ever send a child, however monstrous, to prison."

"So that's why you locked..."

"No. It is not being punished for its horrible offenses. It is locked up because it must be locked up. It represents the curse itself, the sin and the evil. If that thing were to get out, it would destroy the family. Power? Wealth? Reputation? Gone."

"And he can't ever come out?"

"Not until it is dead. I hear sympathy in your voice. It is ill-placed. If the family thrives because a monster, a demon, suffers, I call that a bargain."

Akito walked back to the house. "Follow me. I will grant an audience to your parents now."

I stood still in the garden, watching Akito walk away. I can't remember what I was thinking about, only that I could not move a muscle."

Entering the house, Akito took the geta off and walked down the corridor without looking back at me. Soon, the family head was out of my sight.

Something snapped in me. I ran in the opposite direction, towards the cat's house. Rushing up to the barred window, I shouted to him. "Hey! Mr. Cat! Let's... let's get out of here."

The man looked up to me again. This time he had a wry smile on his face. "You're disobeying god? Very bold of you, little horse."

"We don't have time! You need to get out!"

"I can't get out. There is only one door, and it is welded shut. And besides... I made a promise to stay."

I was surprised to find tears in my eyes. "But... but that's not fair."

The man continued to smile. "Do you think this is terrible? Then leave. This is your chance. Leave the Sohmas."

"I... I can't. I'm just..." Just a boy, I didn't want to say.

"You'll have help. Find my master. Kazuma. He's at the dojo. He'll help you."

By then I was really crying. There was no way this person could be a monster. "Please..."

"Go."

I ran through the garden, away from the house, as fast as I could. Somehow the path I was to follow seemed to open up for me. I found a hole in the wall and crawled through.

I had never seen a dojo before, but when I came to it, I knew somehow this was my destination. And the strong, kindly man, whose hair was turning white with age had to be the one I was looking for.

"M...Master Kazuma?"

There was a light of surprise in his eyes when I said those words. He beckoned me to follow him to his house. And then he asked me to tell him why I had come.

My story of what had happened was a jumble, but it was enough: he seemed to know what I was going to say before I even said it.

"It's not too late to go back, Nagatsuki."

"Eh?"

"Your parents might yell at you, but I doubt they would do much more than that... if you were to return right now."

I wavered for a moment. Then I remembered the sad eyes of the cat. "No. I'm not going back."

He smiled slightly. "Then you will go forward."

Soon afterwards, he took me to a railway station. He said he couldn't go, but his wife would travel with me. She seemed a little scary, but she was very nice to me.

The train journey took all night. I was barely awake when we got off, then into a taxi, and to my new home, where I met my new "mom."

She's not my real mom of course, but I call her that in public so that people will think she is. And she calls me by a fake name.

But when we're alone, she calls me "Nagatsuki." And she says I should call her "Tohru."

As the title indicates, the story is inspired by "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuin. It's actually been 90% complete for years--I was just never motivated to finish it before now.

I hope you enjoy.