Blessings in Disguised
A warm bad and clean clothes. Those were the first two blessing I could think of the following morning as I gingerly sat up in bed listening to the sound of birds chirping, the sun was already pouring its early morning rays through the crack in the curtains. The smell of hot food waffling from the kitchen downstairs that was the third. I ran a stiff hand through my messy orange hair trying to rearrange my thoughts. So Akito was dead I knew that much, his illness had taken a turn for the worst the previous night and he had suffered heart failure in the early hours of the morning. I shook my head attempting to lessen the headache that was slowly forming somewhere behind my eyes. If Akito was dead what did that mean for the rest of the zodiac let alone the cat, was I free or was I just to make the most of the time he may have outside the dark cage till the new leader was appointed.
Being able to move around freely was the fourth blessing I counted as I moved from my room to the bathroom, the hot shower that followed was the fifth. I couldn't believe the amount of dirt that could accumulate on ones hair after just three months of not washing, as I watched the water on the floor of the shower turn from clear to a murky gray my thoughts once more turned to the events of the previous night. Walking out of the estate had been a strange experience in its self as I had watched people I did not recognize with their heads down all dressed in black. The only thing that had not changed since the day I had arrived to take my punishment was the fact that no one dared to look me directly in the eye, it was almost as if they worried that they would somehow insult the spirit of Akito by doing so. I almost found it funny how a person could be gone yet the fear that took over people's hearts had not died with him, almost funny was the underlining in my passing speculation as I myself was still very much afraid.
The sixth blessing of the day was finding my voice after not being allowed so much as a whisper in the last three months. "How is he Hatori-San?" A forever worrisome Tohru kept asking as Hatori patiently assured her that I was going to be fine for the thousandth time, fine as long as I didn't over exert myself too much and gave my broken wrist time to heal. "So what happens now?" I crocked impatient from the lack of information that was causing my insistent headache. "How long is it going to be till they force me back in the cage?" The answer came from a source I did not expect, in fact up to this very moment I didn't even realize his presence in the living room. "Nothing has yet been decided you stupid cat, I see your level of patience has not improved in the slightest." I glared at the so called prince as he leaned against the door frame leading to the kitchen, yet I did not find myself hating him with my usual flurry, after all he was the one that had broken me out of prison. Instead I turned to Hatori who was in the process of putting the last of the bandages over my wrist. "Kyo until the main house decides on the appropriate course of action nothing is for certain how ever since the main house at such time is in absolute state of chaos with the preparations for Akito's burial, no one has given any other matters much thought." I sighted in frustration, so that was it I was stuck in a state of limbo. Hatori got up and picked up his bag and turned to me giving me a stern look. "Now Kyo take care of yourself, I must be getting back to the main house now." Shigure who up till now had remained in very unusual silence stood up with a sombre look on his face. "I suppose I better be heading up to the main house myself no use prolonging what has to be done, Tohru would you like a ride to work?" Tohru gave me a final worried look. "Only if it isn't too much trouble to you and Hatori-San."
Sitting on the couch watching boring day time TV was surprisingly the seventh blessing, though the company was unexpected. I took casual glances to the bored looking rat sitting at the other end of the couch still puzzling over why he had not gone with the others. After about the hundredth glance our eyes met and I asked the question that had been bugging me ever since we were left alone in the house. "So how come you're not at the main house." Yuki looked somewhat uncomfortable. "I dint much want to be around Akito when he was alive and I much less want to be around him now that he is dead." It was hard to miss the still lingering hatred in Yuki's eyes when Akito's name was mentioned. "So in other words it's got nothing to do with you being here if that is what you are asking." Yuki added as an afterthought. I smirked slightly, "Who said I was asking you dam rat, stop making ridicules speculations." "A stupid question deserves a stupid answer stupid cat."
The eight blessing surprisingly came in the form of a sparring match with Yuki, something about the familiarity of the situation had put me somewhat at ease with my troubled thoughts and the opportunity to move around and stretch out my mussels after all the time in the cramped cage was the ninth blessing in its self. Being able to dodging punches, kicks and insults had given me the adrenaline rush I had been craving for longer then I remember. What I didn't expect was one fumbled move due to my broken wrist to land me in a position in never in a million years I expected to find myself in and that was precisely on the hard wooden floor on top of Yuki. My heart thudded harder in my chest then I have ever felt before as I found myself looking deeply in to the purple eyes of the equally stunned rat. I felt a bit like I was in a cliche of a bad romantic comedy and maybe it was that or the shock that didn't automatically register to my brain to remove my lips from his, what may have been the tenth blessing or for heaps a curse grater then the one of the zodiac its self was the fact that he didn't remove his either.