Not gonna lie, I almost forgot that I needed to upload today, oops, but I made it~
Disclaimer: I only own Suzu
As Suzu was coming down the stairs, she could see Kyo and Shigure by the bottom of the stairs. Shigure had an easy smile on his face while Kyo looked annoyed.
"Kyo?" Suzu asked, confused as to where Shigure was taking him. It wasn't as if Akito would want the cat spirit's company.
"Ah, Suzu, I was just about to come up," Shigure greeted, his smile growing slightly.
Suzu raised a brow as she paused on the bottom step and crossed her arms. "Why?"
"It seems Akito has requested you and Kyo's presence today."
She couldn't help the snort of amusement in response to Shigure's explanation. Not only did Akito want Kyo, but they wanted Suzu as well. That was hilarious. She looked towards Kyo for confirmation, and he gave her a subtle head nod. She didn't want to see Akito, but she did need to talk to Hatori and Shigure. "Sure."
Kyo and Shigure both seemed surprised as she pushed past them and shoved on some shoes. She didn't wait for them as she began to make her way towards the other house. Suzu knew the way, though she didn't go there often.
"I'll be with Hatori," she called back, earning a nod from Shigure before she entered the house.
On her way she passed by Yuki who looked ready to stop her and ask questions, but Suzu simply brushed past him with a simple wave. She figured Hatori would be in one of the outer rooms since he still smoked, a stupid habit she wished he'd drop.
Rounding a corner she could see the other zodiac members. Haru was sitting with Kisa napping in his lap and Hiro resting on his shoulder. Momiji was there as well, and he was the one to notice Suzu, who'd paused at the sight.
"Su-chan? What are you doing here?"
Suzu awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck as she earned looks from both Momiji and Haru. "Ah, well, Akito sent for Kyo and I."
Haru raised a curious brow. "And you came?"
She shrugged. "I needed to talk to Hatori…about the thing we discussed."
Momiji looked between Haru and Suzu in confusion, but then jumped up. "I'll take you to him."
Before she could say otherwise, Momiji was walking off. Suzu reluctantly followed after him, staying a few paces behind the blonde.
When they reached the door, Momiji gave her a reassuring smile, but she could see the underlying fear. He was afraid of her, always afraid, and it always ruined her.
She tore her gaze away and slid the door open. Suzu didn't give her thanks as she stepped and separated herself from the rabbit. Hatori was giving her a quizzical expression, and he closed the book he'd been perusing.
"I didn't think you'd come."
Suzu shrugged and took the seat across from him. "I thought I'd let you know that I'll move back."
Just like she'd predicted, he looked a bit smug but mostly pleased. "Wonderful, will you be transferring to the school as well?"
"Let's not get crazy here, Hatori-san."
He chuckled causing Suzu to smirk in return, though her expression dropped as the door slid open to reveal Shigure. "Oh, and what's going on in here?"
Hatori rested his book on the chair's arm. "Suzu has decided to move back."
"Well, you did say she would," Shigure jested, earning an eye roll from Suzu and a shrug from Hatori. Shigure rested himself on the empty chair arm by Hatori's side. "I'm sure Tohru will be thrilled."
Suzu only hummed in reply before standing from her seat. "Great, now that that's taken care of, I'm heading back."
Shigure raised a brow, smile still on his face. "Not visiting Akito?"
Suzu could tell he didn't care either way, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "Maybe when they're not being so childish," she spun, sliding the door open as she did, and let out a condescending laugh, "Oh, wait, that'll never happen." She stepped out and slide the door shut.
Peering to the side, she could see Yuki standing not too far off. "Suzu-"
"It's not nice to eavesdrop, Yuki," she interrupted and took off, though he was soon right by her side.
"Are you really moving back?"
Suzu shrugged nonchalantly as they walked back towards the entrance. "If that's what you heard, then it's probably true."
"Suzu!" Yuki said in a warning tone and grabbed onto her arm. She subdued a wince and turned to shoot him a glare. "If you do anything to hurt Honda-san-"
She tore her arm from his grasp. "That's just rich considering there's a kid a few rooms over with a god-complex that's actively trying to hurt her," she retorted harshly, her voice not at all as loud as one would expect. "But, oh, that's right, you can't say any of this to them," she said with a sharp laugh, earning a glare from Yuki. "If anything, you should be asking me for help."
"Help?"
Suzu stood tall, arms outstretched beside her. "How do you think I came to stay at such a nice place? Surely it wasn't out of the kindness of Akito's heart."
Yuki furrowed his brows. "You have leverage," he whispered, a look of realization on his face. "What is it?"
Suzu shot him a sly smirk and let her arms fall, one coming to rest on her hip. "I'm afraid there's no merit in telling you." More like, she'd surely be killed if she told Akito's favorite toy.
"You're a lot more cunning than I thought," Yuki told her with a disapproving look.
Suzu shrugged off the insult, smirk not even faltering. "You've gotta be if you wanna survive, even more so if you wanna win."
"Win?" Yuki asked while crossing his arms.
Suzu simply waved away his question and then began taking off again. "Pleasure talking to you, Yuki~."
Suzu was still pretty angry at Yuki, like, the nerve of that guy!
She'd paced…a lot, and when she wasn't pacing she was reorganizing things: clothes, books, knick-knacks, everything. By the time night rolled around she was exhausted, her body ached more than usual, and she hadn't eaten dinner…or anything really.
Running a hand threw her hair was even a struggle.
She felt sick in every sense of the word.
Suzu shouldn't have gotten angry at Yuki, she shouldn't have said those things. She shouldn't have pushed herself. She shouldn't have forgone eating.
She was just a terrible mess.
Exiting her room with the intent of going to the bathroom, she could just see Tohru going downstairs. She paid it no mind as she walked across the hall.
Once bathroom business was done, she decided to eat a little something. Suzu knew she shouldn't eat right before bed, but she decided to risk it.
Walking through the living room, she turned to look outside and paused. Akito was hanging off of Kureno with Tohru across from them in her pajamas. Akito was walking closer, and Suzu was sliding open the door.
It was raining and cold, her feet were bare, but she couldn't feel any of it as she yelled that devil's name. "Akito!"
They shot her a disgusted look, and then ignored her to whisper one more thing in Tohru's ear.
Suzu was there in an instant, and she pushed Akito away.
Kureno caught them with ease but looked worried over the situation, and Akito let out a screech. "Don't touch me, you sick beast!"
"Then stay away from her," Suzu pushed back just as forcefully, not backing down to the god.
To Suzu's surprise Akito laughed. "Sure, protect that disgusting girl, but remember," Akito flashed a crazy grin, "you won't be around for long."
Suzu watched the two walk off, glare still on her face until they were out of sight. Then she spun to Tohru, feeling woozy at the quick action.
Tohru seemed to deflate, falling to the ground in a daze, and Suzu followed her down, lifting her head to inspect her scratched cheek. It wasn't too bad; Hatori would have no problem patching her up.
Hatori, right.
Suzu pushed herself up, vision blackening as she did.
She needed to get Hatori and Shigure; they could help Tohru. Tohru needed them.
Suzu tried to move but everything ached; she was panting heavily, vision fading.
Frustration welled up inside her as she held her head in her hands.
This couldn't be happening.
She needed to….
Tohru needed help….
Help….
"Suzu!"
Waking up was a terrible experience, and not just because Suzu had just broken her fever. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Haru watching her with a disapproving frown.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Done what? Suzu couldn't really remember what had happened. She closed her eyes again with a sigh. Yuki had been annoying, she overworked herself, and then….
Akito.
Suzu shifted onto her back and pushed her hair out of her face. "Honda Tohru's alright?" Haru hummed in confirmation, and peering over at him, she could see he was angry. She looked away with a roll of her eyes. "Don't get all huffy. What was I supposed to do?"
"Momiji was getting the adults. There was no reason to put your health at risk."
Suzu pushed herself into a sitting position, knocking away Haru's hands that tried to help. "I can go against Akito-"
"Right, and you're going to protect us," Haru cut in sarcastically as he sat back down, earning a glare from Suzu.
"Um," a voice Suzu could easily place as Tohru's cut in.
Suzu began to push Haru away from her. "Come in, Honda Tohru. Haru was just leaving." She ignored his huff, focusing only on Tohru. "I'm sure no one's answered your questions."
Tohru nervously walked further into the room. "Oh, uh, right. They said I should wait for you to explain it."
Suzu hummed in understanding and then waited for Haru to leave, which he eventually did with a resigned sigh. She pulled her legs closer to herself and crossed them in front of her under the multiple blankets, and then she gestured for Tohru to take a seat across from her.
"H-How are you feeling?"
She seemed nervous, and Suzu tilted her head slightly. "I'm fine. Are you alright?"
Tohru seemed surprised by the question, and then Suzu remembered she was the type to always care for others before herself. Suzu hadn't even realized that they had that in common. "I'm…okay."
Suzu raised a brow. Tohru wasn't being completely honest, no surprise there. "Honda Tohru, may I ask something of you?"
"I'll do whatever I can, Suzu-san," Tohru replied with much more confidence than before.
Suzu took a moment, staring down the other as she thought of how to phrase her request. There was no best way until Tohru knew the details of Suzu's curse. With a sigh she pushed aside her question for a moment. "You saw me, correct, my other form."
Tohru seemed shocked by the change in conversation but answered after a few seconds. "You turned into a fox, but I've never heard about a fox in the zodiac story."
"The zodiac curse involves all the animals and god celebrating forever, you know this right?" Tohru gave a nod so Suzu continued, "Well, the fox was a trickster, no surprise there. They played pranks on the other animals, the rabbit most of the time, but these pranks weren't as funny as the fox thought. The other animals hated the fox, and if they didn't hate them, they were afraid of them."
A look of understanding came upon her face. "That's why you said they hated you…when we first met?"
"Ding ding ding," she jested, setting her elbows on her thighs and then resting on her right palm. "The zodiac animals and the cat have a special place with God because they were invited to the celebration. That's one of the reasons they can't go against Akito. However, the fox is under a different curse in which it must watch the joy of the other animals and god until the celebration comes to a close."
Tohru's expression fell the further Suzu explained. "That's so sad."
Suzu shrugged as she watched the other's tearful appearance. "Well, no point in crying over it now." Tohru nodded hesitant and wiped at her eyes. Suzu gave her a moment before rounding back to her request. "Now that you know the story," or most of it, Suzu thought to herself before continuing, "I need to ask for your help."
"Help with what?"
Suzu leaned in close and beckoned Tohru to do the same before whispering, "I need you to help me break the zodiac curse.
Finally we know the main part of Suzu's curse; there's still more, but don't worry, we'll get there.
I didn't want to just add another animal to the original curse; so, I figured tacking on a new curse that intertwines with the original would be perfect. Do let me know what you think of the curse so far~
See ya next week!