Tears of Blood

Author's Note: I don't have much of one. Enjoy!


Chapter One: The Masquerade

Yuki stood near the entrance of the Sohma mansion to watch all the new arrivals slowly trickle in to join the growing crowd in the courtyard. Kyo was yelling at Shigure for something. Haru had disappeared, probably gone to visit Rin.

The Yonins slowly began to show as well. There was Kinu and her son Sanami, the little head of the Yonin family. He held the hand of a little girl he'd never met before but Kinu had introduced her as Aislinn. Her hair was the color of plums and her eyes were a familiar ice blue-green. She wore pink and red kimono that matched the blue and silver one that Sanami wore. He wasn't sure if she was Kinu's daughter or not but there was certainly something familiar about her.

Kagura was probably still at home with Rin finishing her costume. Maybe he'd go tell her that her "beloved Kyo" was here. That would be entertainment enough. He was seriously contemplating the idea when another car pulled up. He could see Ayame in the passenger seat but he didn't recognize the young woman who was driving.

Ayame flowed out of his seat wearing what looked like a variation between his hunter's costume and Haru's gentleman Death costume. It took him a moment to realize that his brother was a vampire. Yuki almost laughed.

For someone as creative as his brother, he was surprised Ayame hadn't shown up dressed as a peacock. Of course, he might have tried and Natalie and talked him out of it. He briefly wondered what other absurdities Ayame had thought of for costumes before he turned back to the conversation he was having with Shigure.

Natalie sat leaning her head against the steering wheel. She was barely breathing. Why did she have to let Ayame convince her to come back? Tears burned at the back of her eyes and she couldn't stop the flow of memories that flashed against her mind's eye.

Natalie sat silently outside of Akito's door as she waited for Hatori to come out and tell her that it was alright for her to come in. She'd already readjusted the sleeves of her sweater twice, braided and unbraided her hair, and currently memorizing how many swirls were in the ten wood planks around her.

Hatori opened the door quietly but after the long silence the sudden sound made Natalie jump. The look on Hatori's face was grim but he nodded that she could go in. She tried to read the look in Hatori's eyes but he motioned her through before she could see anything.

Akito was leaning partially out of his window and hadn't seemed to notice she was there yet. Natalie knelt a few feet away from him, waiting for him to acknowledge that she was there. She waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to speak but when he did she regretted coming at all. "Hatori has… informed me as to why you've come to see me Nate." She cringed at the pet name.

"What do you see in that… Cat?" His tone was one of polite disinterest but the underlying disgust was obvious. Natalie briefly wondered what Hatori had actually told him when Akito grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked it upwards so that she was forced to meet his angry gaze. "WELL? ANSWER ME!" He demanded, tightening his grip on her silken mane. Natalie winced as tears burned the back of her eyes. She'd heard about the stories of Akito's temper and the things he'd done but she hadn't expected such raw anger and hatred so suddenly.

The pain in her scalp made it hard for her to think but she knew somehow in the back of her mind that if Akito wasn't satisfied then something worse would happen. The way he twisted his fistful of her hair she knew that he was getting impatient while he was waiting for her answer. "Well," She began, blinking back the tears in her eyes. "Kyo may seem really loud and obnoxious but underneath his brash exterior he's really gentle and loving… He just wants to be loved really. I think-" "Gentle?" Akito's voice interrupted her. She cast her gaze to the ground and listened. His grip on her hair ceased and she felt the locks fall back into place.

The silence stretched until Natalie thought she would be dismissed. She risked a glance up at Akito and caught his fist in the left side of her face. The strength of it sent her careening into the ground. Her head knocked hard against the solid wood floor with a resounding crack. Black spots swam in her vision as she struggled to right herself. A hand on her shoulder pushed her to lie on her back and the dizzying nausea left her feeling weaker than she'd first thought.

She had the sensation of clothes being removed but she was straining to keep the spots from returning to her vision as she drifted between conscious unconsciousness. A thin hand brushed at the hair by her ear followed by a soft voice, "What's the matter Nate?" Akito crooned, his voice full of sickeningly sweet concern. "Not gentle enough for you?!?" He demanded.

The initial entry bowed Natalie's back with pain and ripped a scream from somewhere deep inside her and every movement after that made the pain build until every sound from her lips was a whimper of pain.

Natalie vaguely realized in the back of her mind that instead of embracing shock, her mind was detaching itself from the situation. It wasn't like it was happening to her anymore. It was like a nightmare. The kind you can't wake up from until it's over or someone wakes you up.

"Akito!" Shigure's voice sounded like it was millions of miles away. Footsteps pounded against the floor as Shigure and Hatori rushed Akito but Natalie felt like she had cotton in her ears. She was seeing it but it was like she wasn't really there. She did feel Akito ripped away from her and she heard him cursing as a long red coat was wrapped around her. She felt herself being lifted and the sensation sent her off balance. Pain shot from between her legs at the motion and she almost cried out.

A curtain of silver silk drifted across her shoulder and the familiar scent of roses and something else, fainter and unnamed, filled her nose. Ayame. That knowledge relaxed the tense muscles in her body and let her melt against the tall man that was carrying her away.

Natalie closed her eyes. She could still hear Akito screaming but the sound was growing farther away. Cold nipped at her thighs and she shifted away from it but the pain raced through her body again, tensing her muscles. Suddenly, all movement stopped. She opened her eyes to see that she was sitting in the back of what looked like Hatori's car. She glanced up to see herself cradled in Ayame's lap. His attention wasn't on hers, but on something outside the window. She let her head fall back to catch a glimpse of Hatori and Shigure moving somberly towards the car.

Spots swam across her vision and the familiar nausea tightened the muscles in her stomach in an attempt to keep the contents down. The last thing she saw before she slipped into unconsciousness was a dark shape at the upper window. A dark smile curved his lips. Akito…

Natalie lifted her head from against the steering wheel to glance up at the window from her memories. She had expected to see Akito standing there smiling down at her like the last time she'd been here but there was nothing except darkness. The symbolism was lost on her as Ayame appeared at the driver's side of the car.

A smile curved his pale lips as he held out his hand to her, "Come now my love. We wouldn't want to adorn you like a fallen angel and not give our families the chance to bath in the glow of your beauty now would we?" Natalie had to think about it for a second to figure out what the Snake was really asking before she tilted her head to the side, feigning innocence. "I don't have a problem with that."

The Snake gave her a reprimanding smile before offering her his hand again. This time she took it with a sigh of defeat.

The 18 year-old stayed close to Ayame's side as they walked across the grass towards Hatori and Shigure who were talking amongst themselves. Shigure was laughing about something that obviously annoyed Hatori. Ice blue-green eyes shifted constantly as Natalie shifted her gaze from one person to another as she searched from person to person in hopes of finding one person and avoiding another.

Her attention focused on Shigure as his voice dropped a few keys while a false cheer lilted his voice. "You're acting like a trapped bird my little Pegasus." Natalie's gaze met Shigure's and he didn't need to ask what his and his two friends' minds. Are you alright?

Her gaze drifted as she answered their question with a silent nod. A tuft of orange hair appeared out of the middle of the crowd and a squeal ripped from her throat before she threw herself towards it. "Kyo-Cat!" Natalie squealed as she attached herself to the unsuspecting Cat's back. After a few moments of ferocious hugging, Natalie slid off his back and smiled at him. "Did you miss me Kyo-Cat?"

Kyo stared at the raven haired girl in front of him and questioned his sanity. "What are you doing here Ali? You swore you'd never come back!" Natalie shrugged. "Ayame dragged me." Kyo nodded as he let his gaze sweep her entire length from the crown of her raven head to the feet he couldn't see beneath her gown.

It was obviously one of Ayame's creations. The entire thing was pure white silk. The top half, was a tight corset that came to her hips with white beads sown intricately into the silk while the skirt half was ruffled and had tiny clear beads sown into in to make it seem like raindrops were glittering off the silk. The white mask she wore was just as intricately beaded but it brought out the depth of her blue-green eyes.

Suddenly Natalie shoved him. The look on her face was angry but he'd know Natalie long enough to be able to see the hurt in her eyes. "Hey! What gives?!" He demanded with a look between a frown and a grin. "I haven't seen you in almost two years." Natalie said as if that explained everything. It did. After the incident with Akito, Kyo had been sneaking out to the Yonin Mansion to see Natalie but that stopped about two years ago. It was all due to the light that had come into his life and left just as quickly…

Yuki stood leaning nonchalantly against the front door as he watched the gathering crowd mingle outside to enjoy the crisp fresh air before nightfall and the party began. He was only vaguely aware that Ayame had arrived until his eyes fell on the one at his side.

Obviously Ayame had let Mine get a hold of her but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The dress that they had more than likely had to force the girl to wear showed off her body to perfection. Her ice blue-green eyes stood out even more than usual in her pale complexion due to the heavy dark brown eye shadow and skillfully applied eyeliner.

Yuki let his gaze drift as he took a deep breath and let it out before he let his gaze return to the dark haired beauty. There was more than one reason he'd envied Kyo all this time. He watched as Natalie suddenly bolted from Ayame's side to tackle an unsuspecting orange-haired young man in a bat demon costume.

The Sohma Rat turned to look into the mansion as Kagura walked towards him. He gave her an innocent smile as he waved. "Oh Kagura, I found Kyo." Her entire face lit up as she ran to the door to see the unsuspecting Cat that he was pointing to.

A smile curved his lips as he watched Natalie back slowly away from the "couple" as Kagura crushed Kyo into the dirt yelling how much she loved him. For a moment he almost felt bad. Almost.

His thoughts were interrupted as Natalie turned that burning gaze in his direction. He suddenly knew how birds must feel when trapped in the gaze of a snake. No pun intended of course. She held his gaze as she smiled that smile that meant everything and nothing while she walked towards him.

"You know Sohma-kun… That wasn't very nice." Oops! Caught. Yuki felt heat crawl up his neck until a very unflattering blush tinted his cheeks. No way to lie now when his body betrayed him like that. "J-Just Yuki Miss Yonin. If you don't mind." She smiled very gently at him. The action unknowingly made him relax. "Alright. Just Natalie then. Or Ali. Everyone seems pretty fond of that." He nodded and smiled in return. "Yuki… Have you perchance seen Yoshi? Kyo's here so that usually means Yoshi is somewhere close by." Yuki's face blanked as he tried to think. "Oh. Um, let's see. The last time I saw him, he and Kyo were trying to track down that little Aislinn."

Instead of easing her mind like he'd hoped to, her forehead creased with worry. "Hm. I wonder where she's gone." "I think she's down in the crowd with Kinu and Sanami." He offered. Natalie smiled thankfully at him before running down the steps to search the crowd for the little head of the Yonin family and his mother. Yuki smiled wistfully to himself. Sometimes life just wasn't fair.

The thought made him almost laugh out loud. It was almost absurd. Here there were two families with the Zodiac curse, and he was worried about the fairness of life! He shook his head laughing quietly to himself and he moved down the steps to go stand with him older cousins. Absolutely absurd.

Natalie leaned thoughtfully against Ayame's back to keep herself upright as she scanned the crowd. Sure, trading hilarious sexual banter with Ayame and Shigure to annoy the hell out of Hatori was well… hilarious.. but after a few hours, you tend to look for something new. She was hoping to spot the Sohma Bunny, Momiji, but so far she'd been unsuccessful.

Yoshi and Kyo had decided to go out to the backyard for the last few hours of the party to spar. Quite frankly Natalie was surprised they still had the energy. They'd each been in several fights already. She'd been forced to drag Yuki with her to help break up three fights between Kyo and Haru and had to break up a fist fight between Yuki and Yoshi, and at least three arguments between Yoshi and the younger male members of the Sohma family. Namely Haru and Hiro.

Remembering her own fight with her Sohma counterpart made her smile fondly. Her and Rin had been getting into fights since they were kids and had been fighting over who Haru liked most. Stupid things like that had developed an intense rivalry between the two Horses. But while Natalie could care less if the unspoken feud continued, Rin continuously found other things to stir up bad feelings.

This time, she'd tried to say bad things about Natalie's parents. Her parents had gotten divorced when she was 11 but it was her father that she was closest to. She hardly ever talked to her mother anymore. But when Rin started saying how her Dad only stayed with her out of pity… That's when fists started flying. Yuki and Haru had had to stop that one before it escalated too far.

Come to think of it… She hadn't seen Haru or Rin for quite a while. Wonder where… A sudden chill ran down Natalie's spine and she shook her head to rid herself of the mental image. Eww! That was something she definitely didn't want to think about.

"Natalie?" The 18 year-old turned towards the feminine voice and smiled at the woman with her warm brown eyes and long dark blue locks. "Yes Kinu?" She asked with a smile. Kinu was the mother of the head of their family, 8 year old Sanami. She was also the one who taught all the Yonin children until they started middle school. "Aislinn ran to watch Kyo and Yoshi spar and we're getting ready to go home soon." Natalie nodded. "Alright. I'll go grab them." "Don't forget next weekend Ali." Shigure reminded with a smile. "We'll meet at my house and take the charter bus up to the springs." Natalie nodded and smiled at the ridiculous Dog.

Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame had pooled their resources to give Haru and Natalie an all expenses paid weekend to the hot springs. Momiji had thought it was a wonderful idea and invited anyone else who wanted to go that he would treat them and so arranged the charter bus.

Natalie thanked the three of them once again before she set out to find the two missing members of the Yonin family.

The two Cats were still going at it when Natalie found them. A little girl around 5 years old with waist length plum colored tresses and dark green blue eyes turned and smiled at her before yawning widely. "Hello Ari. Did you have a good day with Grandma Kinu?" The little girl jumped up into Natalie's arm, nodding happily as she did so. Her costume was a butterfly and it certainly was well made. Probably another of Ayame's creations.

The two stood watching the boys a little longer until Natalie realized that the little girl had fallen asleep in her arms. She called out to Yoshi and nodded towards the door. He informed her that he was going to stay the night at Shigure's and be home tomorrow.

After saying goodbye to both of the boys, she turned and disappeared into the darkness of the inner house. Natalie shifted the sleeping girl in her arms subconsciously. The walk from one side of the house was surprisingly long. If you looked at it, it didn't seem that long. "Mommy..?" Natalie stopped to check and see if Aislinn had woken up but no… She was still sound asleep.

Every muscle in Natalie's body tensed as a pair of arms wrapped themselves securely around her waist. "Several hours Nate and not even a simple hello?" The Sohma god made a small tsking sound with his tongue in her ear before pressing a soft kiss on her neck. "This dress is very becoming on you Nate. You've certainly grown up since I last saw you." Natalie's anger flared and she elbowed him in the ribs as hard as she could. Akito hissed in pain behind her and tightened his arms around her. "Now that wasn't very nice." He grimaced between grit teeth. "This is my house little Nate and in my house I do as I please." He jerked her against the line of his body to emphasize his words.

Natalie gave a little half nod. "So I've noticed." Akito laughed. The sound was bitter and cold and crawled down her spine. "I just wanted to give you a little gift." Natalie struggled to pull out of his arms but he held firm. God he still smelled like death. He must have been feeling much better to be able to hold her the way he was. Normally, he couldn't have held her. "Now Nate. That's not completely true. You took something of mine all those years ago and you've hid it from me all this time." He jerked her against his body and ran thin fingers over Aislinn's forehead.

Natalie stiffened and she tried one last time to pull away. This time he let her but he held her hand in his firmly. A cool piece of metal touched her skin and he wrapped her fingers around it with a sickeningly sweet smile. "I never wanted anything from you. What you gave me all those years ago will be the only thing that binds me to you again." She snapped as she pulled her hand away.

He laughed again. The sound felt like broken glass against her skin. "Don't worry Nate. I haven't come for you tonight. If I had I would have already done so and there would be no one to stop me." This time it was Natalie's turn to laugh. It was just as cold as his hand been. "I may have loved you once upon a time Akito." She smiled at him and it was as humorless as her words. "But now I look back on that and I think, what the HELL was I thinking?" She turned and walked away without looking back at him. Oh the temptation was there. But at that moment there was no force in the universe that could get her away from him fast enough.

Akito stared after her as she walked away. Who gave her the right to tell him, GOD himself, what he could and could not have? A smirk curved his lips as he began to plot. Oh he would have her. Whether she thought it would happen or not. "Oh you may not realize this little Nate, but while this family is cursed, you will be mine."

The ride home was quiet for Natalie. Aislinn was asleep in her car seat and the only other person in the car with her was her best friend Raine and she was as deep in her own thoughts as Natalie was.

The Yonin mansion was filled with the shuffling of drowsy individuals as everyone prepared to retire for the night. Natalie lay in her bed wearing only a huge black t-shirt and a pair of matching underwear. A thought lodged itself in her mind as she threw the covers off her legs. The raven haired girl padded silently across her room to the dress she'd lay across the back of the chair at her desk. She searched through the ruffled silk to the pocket Ayame had pointed out to her and wrapped her hand around the metal object Akito had shoved into her hand.

She hadn't looked at it once the rest of the night and now the curiosity burned like a torch that prevented her from sleeping peacefully. Natalie gazed down at the metal bit in her hand and clutched it angrily. Akito's meaning wasn't lost on her.

A bit is the metal piece on a horse's bridle that helps the rider direct which way they want the horse to move. The bit Akito had given her was the kind trainer's used on stubborn horses to break them. She threw the offending piece of metal across the room and watched it snap in half. Ha. Take that. Maybe she'd send the broken equipment back to him. Hm. It was definitely a thought.

Natalie crawled back under the covers of her blankets shaking very lightly. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd have nightmares tonight. Five years since she'd had to see him and she had a feeling that this definitely wasn't the last time. Oh fun. Oh joy.


Author's Note: Well. That's the end of that chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it. I know. You must think I'm awful for having Akito rape Natalie but it totally fits in with the story later on. Curious what Natalie "stole" from Akito? Previous readers- don't spoil it! New readers- … We shall see! Review and tell me what you think! I love you all. 3