Sorry it took me so long to update! Here's the next installment!
Chapter four
Kyo, running as fast as he could, attempted to overtake the car that was speeding away from his school. As if Hatori or Akito knew that they were being followed, the car picked up speed and left Kyo in the dust. Falling to his knees, Kyo stared at the ground in shock and anger.
No… Mishke…
"Mishke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kyo shouted with all his might at the sky. Pounding the ground with his fists, he beat the hard earth until his knuckles were sore and bleeding and he was gasping for breath.
"Kyo-Kun? What are you doing here? Are you skipping class?" Kyo looked up at the voice of a fellow Zodiac member; Kagura stood in front of him, leaning down. In Kagura's eyes, he saw those of Mishke, and began beating the ground once more. With a firm (or, in Kagura's case, brutal) grip, Kagura stopped Kyo from pounding the ground.
"What did the earth do to you? What's wrong?" She asked. Kyo shook away her hand.
"Leave me alone, Kagura! You don't know anything!" Kyo shouted before whirling away to run in the direction of the main house.
"Kyo-kun! Don't you dare run away!" Kagura grabbed the collar of Kyo's shirt and yanked him back. In front of a convenience store, Kagura proceeded to beat Kyo senseless. "Tell… me… what's… wrong!!" she emphasized each word with a punch.
"Kyo-kun! Kagura-san!" Tohru came running, and Yuki followed behind. "Kyo-kun, all you alright?" Kyo sat up, weakened from his beating and from running after Akito. When he saw Yuki, a rage built up in his chest. It burst when Yuki said: "Where did Akito take Mishke?" Kyo grabbed Yuki's collar.
"Where the hell do you think he took Mishke? What did you tell her?! She didn't come back inside after talking to you! It's your fault! Everything is"
"The rats fault. I know." Yuki finished Kyo's sentence. "I told her the same thing you told me, years ago. If she's to live in the Zodiac, she might as well become used to what the cat experiences."
"But, Yuki-kun… you're being judgmental, like Hatsuharu-san was when he hated you." Tohru spoke up. "You assume that you should hate each other because the original zodiac creatures hated each other. But that's not true. Before you learned that Mishke-san was a cat, you liked her. Don't put too much in store with the legend." When Tohru put it that way, Yuki knew she was right. Burying his face in his hands, he murmured quietly to himself: "How could I do the same thing as Kyo, or Hatsuharu…?"
"Who's Mishke-san?" Kagura asked.
"Kyo-kun's twin sister. She had been raised in Kyoto, but her father brought her back to Tokyo." Tohru answered. Kyo lay back on the ground, staring at the sky.
"What should we do now? Should we go to the main house now, or wait?" Kyo asked, more to himself rather than the others. But they all answered unanimously: "Let's go to the main house!"
Meanwhile, on the way to the Sohma estate:
"So, this is the girl the man told me about…" Akito examined Mishke critically. "My, she is ugly. Then again, all women are ugly in my opinion, so to others, she may be lovely…" Akito was about to stroke Mishke's cheek, but Mishke pulled away. Akito scowled and grabbed at a handful of hair. Ignoring Mishke's cries, she yanked her head back and stared into Mishke's eyes.
"Who do you think you are, fighting against the head of the family? You're receiving more attention then the cat deserves, even if you're a partial one. Learn respect." Akito let go of Mishke's hair and stared out the window. Mishke sat up and massaged her scalp.
"If the head of the family is a whiny brat, I don't see why I should show him respect," Mishke whispered under her breath. If Akito heard he didn't show it, for they had just arrived at the Sohma estate. Parking the car, Hatori opened the door for Akito, who strode out towards a dark, empty room. All the fibers in Mishke's body froze when she saw who was standing inside the dark room. But she refused to let her stepfather see how fearful she was. Holding her head high, Mishke climbed out of the car and faced her stepfather, but didn't look in his eyes. He grinned horribly and lightly pushed on Mishke's shoulder. Unable to stand on her left foot, Mishke fell back onto the ground. She back tears of rage as Akito and her stepfather laughed down at her.
"That's all one can expect from a partial cat. Even Kyo wouldn't cry in pain if he hurt his ankle," Akito said between bouts of laughter. Mishke stood up. For a second she wobbled, but regained her balance. Facing Akito, she said:
"For one thing, I'm not Kyo. And secondly, I'm not crying in pain; these tears are tears of rage. If you weren't weak looking, I wouldn't hesitate to hit you." Akito immediately stopped laughing, and Mishke's stepfather slapped her.
"How dare you talk to the head of the family like that!" he yelled down at Mishke, who was on the ground once more. Mishke looked up at her stepfather fearlessly. She would no longer fear him; the only reason she had dealt with his abuse was because of the worry of having her secret revealed. But she was no longer alone; she had Kyo, and there were other members of the Zodiac as well.
"The only thing we have similar is our last name. I will not listen to Akito, or you, any longer. I am not bound by the curse; those who are bound to are so because of the way they grew up. Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, the only reason they fear you is because they were raised to. Why should I fear a brat that takes out his anger on those around him?" Akito burst. He fell on Mishke, slapping, punching, and doing all he could to hurt or kill Mishke. But he forgot about what separated her from the rest of the Zodiac. When he came in too close, Mishke threw her arms around Akito, and there was a puff of smoke. When the clouds cleared, Akito saw a flash of fur hobbling up a flight of stairs. He began to run after it, but Hatori, who had been silent till then, held him back.
"No, Akito, you must calm down! That's not why you brought her here; you wanted to talk to her and Kyo about something. Kyo will be here soon, and then you can talk." Akito snarled and swiped at Hatori, causing him to let go. Akito then sprinted up the stairs after Mishke.
Mishke was cornered. The only escape was through a window, but she had already turned back to a human, and didn't want to hump from the second story with her bad leg. There was nowhere to hide, and Mishke turned towards the door to face Akito. Akito was full of anger and rage, that much was obvious. Mishke backed up until she reached the window, with Akito coming closer and closer with each step. Soon, Akito's face was inches from Mishke's. Mishke stared back, eyes flashing. There was silence until Akito spoke.
"You are not needed. There is already a cat; another is not needed. I suppose my predecessor didn't want to kill an infant, but look at the trouble it caused. But I'll say it once more: you are not needed."
"Whether I am needed or not is beside the point. I am here, whether you like it or not. If I feared you, would you hate me? Or would you still see me as dirt beneath your feet?" Akito's eyes narrowed. Before Hatori could reach Akito, he had pushed Mishke through the window.
Kyo saw Mishke fall. Coming in through the secret entrance, he was about to run across to the main house when he saw the car Akito had pulled out of the school parked in front of a small, isolated building. Tohru, who had just crawled through, pointed to a window at the top.
"Kyo-kun, look up there!" Mishke was leaning against the window, and Akito was slowly approaching. The glass must have been knocked out, for it lay scattered about on the ground. Then Mishke fell. She fell with Akito watching, and landed with a sickening thud. Kyo ran to her, not hearing Tohru crying, wiping away his own hot tears. When he approached Mishke, her eyes were closed, and she was bleeding. Gathering her in his arms, Kyo looked up at Akito, who was staring down at them through the window. Kyo shook Mishke softly.
"Mishke? Mishke? Are you" there wasn't a reply, not even a slight moan. Kyo shook her again, harder. "Mishke! MISHKE!!! WAKE UP!"
End of chapter four
