Akito spent the morning listening to the Sohma family's primary accountant while he reported the numbers for the last quarter. Her mind was just beginning to wander when her senior housemaid, Chie Sashimoto, brought her a tray of tea. "It's way too early to be listening to this man drone on and on about numbers", Akito thought to herself. Chie poured tea for the accountant and Shigure. Shigure, seated next to Akito, would pour it for Akito.
After what seemed like days, Akito had had enough.
"Just tell me where to sign and if we're running out of money." Akito snapped.
The accountant stopped mid-sentence.
"No, the family is doing very well overall. Would you please sign here."
He pointed to a line on the 51st page of his report. She initialed it and waved him out of the room after requesting he leave a copy of the report with her for review on her own time. With her health recently improving, she was beginning to take on the full responsibilites of being head of the family. Shigure sat beside her.
"What? You're telling me that Mr. Whatever-his-name's report wasn't going to be the highlight of the day? Because I felt it was a rather exciting hour and a half."
"You hush. I saw you nodding off not even 15 minutes in. You're going to have to sit in on these too, you know, so get used to it."
Shigure whined.
Some things had changed in the Sohma family estate. Some things, but not all. While the family no longer suffered from the curse that held them for most of their lives, some of the effects still lingered. They would no longer turn into their zodiac animals when hugged by a member of the opposite sex, and their lives had changed drastically once Akito had attempted to free them from the bonds holding them all tightly. Their relationships changed, and they were still close to eachother, even if not on the best of terms.
To be with others, to share something with others for so long and then simply have it vanish... the forced connections among them disappeared, but the emotional attachments to each other (for better or worse) remained. While a mere shadow of their former bond, they just couldn't seem to leave each other.
Chie, the house servant, entered the room again to remove the used cups. She handed over Akito and Shigure's schedule for the day. Her family, the Sashimotos, had served the Sohma family for as long as they could remember. While they were not seen as or treated as servants, the two families' relationship was difficult to explain to outsiders. To the Sashimoto, serving the Sohma family was a great honor. While doing menial jobs and labor, like groundskeeping or working in the kitchens, they also reaped the benefits of being closely associated with the Sohma. Their families were raised in and around Sohma property, and supported by the Sohma family. Not all the members of the Sashimoto family felt the same about the Sohma, and many of the younger family members set off to live their own lives away house of Sohma.
Chie finished cleaning up after the accountant's visit, and a young member of the Sashimoto family requested permission to enter the room to deliver the mail. Chie waved her young grand-nephew in and took the mail from him. She sorted out what needed to go where, and then paused as she saw a letter addressed to Akito. The letter was from Toronto, Ontario. Canada. It was from someone by the name of Thomas Sashimoto. After a moment of taking in the person's surname, she passed the letter to Akito. Akito rarely received mail directly addressed to her, and that made the situation all that much more extraordinary. Knowing it was not her place to pry, Chie left the room. Why would a Sashimoto not in service to the Sohma be trying to contact the head of the family?