A/N: So here it is! (Sorry it's a little late.) The real chapter 7. Chapter 8 is has turned into a completely different creature. Many I wrote 8 thousand words of it, but then it turned around and said it needed a new name and wanted to be funnier. So now I'm working on that. But this chapter is a little over 8.5k words so it's the biggest chapter to date. I don't have school the next two days so I plan on wrestling chapter 8 into submission. That being said, while 9 is outlined, I'm not sure if I will have it finished by next Wed. I do know 9 will be the final chapter for sure. I'm really hoping as i finish 8, 9 just happens.
One thing to keep in mind is this chapter is like 90% dream and metaphor and the dreams are not going to have clearly marked starting places. But it's been like that the whole story so hopefully all y'all used to it by now. Oh did I mention foreshadowing. This chapter foreshadows the rest of the story and alludes to previous chapters.
As for warnings, this chapter has relatively little to warn you about. I guess there's violence to dream animals. No actual animals were hurt in the making of this chapter. :D
Disclaimer: Really don't own this manga or anime. At all.
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith
Dreams had, for the most part, become something Rumi could shape. Sometimes Toshinari would sculpt the dreamscape around her, but she did not have to allow it. So while most nights she dreams with him, sometimes she would explore the darkness of the night alone.
But occasionally her dreams would become im-malleable and stiff to her influence. She would find herself a merely a passenger subject to whim of the world around her.
And so she found herself in field of sunflowers with their faces all turned up and their petals sipping at the sun. For awhile she was content to sit amongst them, but then she grew bored and searched around her. Searching for something else to amuse her.
That's when she caught sight of Toshinari cutting through the field clearly intent on getting somewhere. Of course, even as she got up to follow him, she knew it wasn't actually him. He didn't feel like the boy who changed some much of what she'd come to know.
But she followed the specter of her love just the same; Toshinari, facsimile or not, would surely take her somewhere interesting.
The sunflowers abruptly gave way to a forest deep and dark. Toshinari hardly slowed upon entering and so neither did Rumi. The further into the forest they went the less sunlight was able to reach them. The path before her rapidly became one of growing darkness.
"Rumi-san, you must stop and turn around. Even now the shadows here are taking root and nesting in your soul."
Rumi turned briefly to see a sparrow flying beside her. Something about the bird's voice was familiar, but she could not place it and quickly returned her attention to the boy she was following. Luckily, he was still just in sight. Determined to catch up she started walking faster.
Beside her she could hear the sparrow as its wings started beating quicker as it kept pace with her.
"But I want to see where Toshi-kun is going," she told the bird. "And I feel fine, Suzume-san. I just want to see more than sunflowers and warmth and open spaces. It's not like I can't come back."
And with those words she shooed the bird away. The pace she was making through the woods was obviously an awkward one for a bird. Rumi didn't need the sparrow to trouble herself.
Rumi would be fine.
"Rumi-chan are you alright?"
Rumi pried open her eyes to stare blearily up at Tomoka from where her head was pillowed in her arms. She could see that her classmates were eating lunch. Which meant she'd slept through history and math. "Tired."
Tomoka frowned and turned her chair around and sat facing Rumi. Rumi had been so glad that their final year started with Tomoka sitting in front of her again. "You've been tired all week. Are you having trouble sleeping?"
"No." It was the opposite really. She was having trouble not sleeping. "I've been so sleepy all the time. The only thing I want to do is sleep. Or eat," she admitted sheepishly as her stomach took the opportunity to roar. Suddenly she had enough energy to get her bento out.
Then she practically inhaled it. "Wh-whoa Rumi-chan. You must have been hungry." Tomoka had just managed to open her lunch. Rumi blushed feeling embarrassed, but slightly more energetic for the food. Amazingly she still felt hungry. Even though her mom had made her an extra large bento.
Just as she resigned herself to watching Tomoka eat her lunch, Toshinari actually walked over and gave her his bento. Which was strange as they didn't interact much at school. Not in such a public way.
Also he wasn't one for sympathy.
"For me?" She asked tentatively. Although really if he took it back now she'd probably just kill him. But he just nodded and returned to the boys he ate lunch with. They were all gaping at him. Not that he let that bother him.
Shrugging mentally she tucked into her second lunch with gusto. It took hardly any time to finish that one off as well, but at least she actually felt somewhat full.
"Rumi-chan was hungry."
Rumi blinked. She'd forgotten Tomoka was even there. She grinned at her friend even as she felt a blush dust her cheeks. "Yeah, I guess I was."
"Were what?" Yuu asked as she joined them. She'd gone to the cafeteria for hot lunch.
"Hungry," Tomoka informed her quickly. "She just ate hers and Seki-kun's lunch in like three seconds."
Yuu's eyes widened in confusion. "Why was she eating Seki-san's lunch?"
Tomoka shrugged. "He just gave it to her."
Yuu regarded Rumi with a suspicion that she hadn't for over a year. "Rumi-chan, why did Seki-san give you his lunch?"
"I don't know, Yuu-chan. Maybe he could tell I was hungry?" She honestly didn't know. The whole mental connection thing only helped so much.
Yuu's eyes just narrowed further. "But why would he care?"
That was a good question. He really wasn't very considerate most of the time. It would have been more in character for him to laugh at her for not having enough food. "Seki-kun can be nice," she said unable to keep the doubt from her words.
She hardly ever used the word nice in relation to her mate. It wasn't that he couldn't be kind, but by far and large he chose not to be. It wasn't just because he was a demon. He was decidedly more cruel than the rest of his family.
Yuu just shook her head in disbelief. "Sure he can, but why is he bothering?"
Rumi wasn't sure how to answer that question. But unfortunately (or fortunately) she was already feeling tired again. She barely had enough time to clear her desk before she was once again drifting off. Falling asleep was bliss. Whatever Tomoka and Yuu were trying to say to her could wait.
She ended up sleeping through the rest of school.
Tomoka had been kind enough to wake her as their classmates were packing up their bags.
She mumbled her thanks as she slowly gathered her things together.
"Rumi-chan, I don't think this is normal. I think you should see a doctor or something."
"I guess," she agreed hesitantly. It wasn't that she thought it was good that she was sleeping through class, but involving doctors always seemed to involve a hassle of some sort. She better make sure it wasn't something caused by her recent transformation before seeking medical advice.
"I'm serious Rumi-chan. We're third years now. We have to set a good example for the rest of the school. And we have to study hard for the college entrance exams."
Rumi could hardly believe she was already in her third year of high school. When she was younger she had never imagined she would have spent the first week just sleeping. "Tomoka-chan is right. Don't worry I'll get this checked out."
By whoever most able to inform her.
Tomoka's shoulders loosened. "Good. I'll walk you home today, though. To make sure you don't end up taking a nap on the sidewalk."
But they were not halfway to her house when they were intercepted by Toshinari.
"Er, Seki-kun. I didn't know you lived this way." Tomoka didn't exactly sound hostile, but there was a slight edge to her voice. She mostly just sounded curious though. She had never really joined Yuu in her full-blown paranoia.
Toshinari shrugged.
"He's here to take me the rest of the way," Rumi told her friend as she patted her should lightly. "That way you can just go straight home."
"But, why? Why is he," Tomoka adjusted her glasses as her voice trailed off.
"Toshi-kun is my boyfriend."
Tomoka started hopping around making victorious squeals. "I knew it! I absolutely knew it!"
Rumi just stared her a little dumbfounded. "You did?"
Tomoka winked at her. "Of course! I was just waiting for you to tell me."
Rumi blushed suddenly feeling very awkward. "I thought you might not approve because of all the weird stuff that happened our first year."
Tomoka waved off her concern. "Nah. I'm not Yuu-chan. And besides it's kind of really obvious. Seki-kun is all you ever talk about."
Rumi winced at how transparent she had been, but still managed to smile at her friend. "So you're not too mad about me keeping it a secret."
Tomoka just bumped her should lightly. "It wasn't a secret. And first year was weird. I get it. It's funny though. I wouldn't have pegged you for having a boyfriend in high school, with it being against school policy and all."
Rumi shot an amused glance at Toshinari who was looking thoroughly entertained by Tomka's antics. "Well, it just kind of happened." It wasn't something that she could have planned.
Tomoka seemed to double take at Toshinari like she'd forgotten he was there. Then she narrowed her eyes at him. "You better be treating Rumi-chan alright. I may not be the scariest person in the world, but I know scarier people. So if you don't want to meet them, I would suggest you watch yourself."
His eyebrows shot up, but he nodded agreeably enough to placate Tomoka.
The girl turned backed to Rumi. "I'll leave you to him, but we're going to talk about all this later. You have a whole year to fill me in on."
She and Toshinari watched bemused as Tomoka walked away with a distinct swagger.
He then offered to carry her on his back which she quickly agreed to.
She was asleep before he had gone even three steps.
She was in that forest again. Chasing after Toshinari. She could hear her mother calling for her, but she would not let her voice draw her back to where the sunlight pooled and the shadows had nowhere to hide.
"Rumi-chan."
This time when Rumi opened her eyes she found Katsumi leaning over her. She was laying in Toshinari's lap and they were all sitting on the couch in their living room. "Hi Katsumi-san. Sorry I didn't greet you properly earlier." She managed to get so she was propped up against Toshinari's chest. His heart sounded slow and sure beneath her ear.
Jun was peeking at her from the other side of where Katsumi was sitting.
"Rumi-chan, have you been tired like this for long?"
She half shrugged. A full shrug was too much effort. "I guess since school started."
"Rumi-chan you seem to be drawing in a great deal of extra energy to your person. Demons really only do that for one of two reasons. Either you're mortally wounded," Rumi felt her eyes pop open, "Or you're pregnant."
"But that's-," entirely possible. "I'm not-," ready. "Are you sure?"
Katsumi shrugged. "Well, I could be wrong, but that also explain why you were extra hungry today at lunch."
"But I've been like freakishly tired. I think I'm sleeping like twenty hours a day. I probably am dying. I don't think being pregnant makes you that tired."
"Everyone's different Rumi-chan. In addition to the hormonal and physiological changes you're going through, demons also take a much longer time to gather."
"Longer time to what?"
"To gather. As in to gather soul of the unborn child to the cells that will become its body. Upon leaving this world every creature becomes a spirit. Eventually our spirits are drawn to another realm where they are distilled back to their most basic essence. This essence or energy is eventually drawn back into our realm to forming bodies. Most spirits are unsuitable for becoming demons and so it takes longer for this gathering to occur. Thus you expending a lot of energy."
Rumi looked down at her stomach fearfully. "But I don't look pregnant."
"It takes less than two months for a baby to have a heart beat which the point where it starts gathering up a soul. For humans this takes hardly any time at all. In demons this can take months. The physical part of the pregnancy doesn't move forward until there is a soul though."
"So I guess I should check and see if I'm pregnant. I mean I could still be dying, right?" Dying might be easier in all honesty.
Katsumi just raised one of her eyebrows real high. "Rumi-chan don't sound too excited about the possibility of bringing my first grandchild into the world."
Rumi groaned and buried her face into Toshinari's shirt. She could feel him laughing. "Aren't you supposed to be mad Katsumi-san. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be mad."
Her parents were definitely going to be mad.
"Demons rarely conceive. Kenta and I tried for years before we had Toshinari. That's why I hadn't cautioned you to be more careful in your extracurricular activities."
Jun leaned over her mother's lap. "Onee-chan is going to have a baby. So I'm going to be an aunt."
Rumi managed to smile weakly at the little girl. "Probably. Is that okay with you?"
"Yes. I promise to be the bestest aunt ever."
"That's great," Rumi said as cheerfully as she could. Already sleep was pulling against her eyelids. Darkness was pressing against her vision. As sleep wrapped softly around her she heard the voices of Toshinari's family grow more distant.
"Mama, should wake up."
Rumi opened her eyes and found herself lying in a bed with unfamiliar bedding. Also the soft blue was nice. She should look into acquiring sheets this color.
She knew the little girl with her hair and Toshinari's eyes was part of some dream she was having as she slept against Toshinari's side. The girl was small, but not a baby. She was probably three or four years old. She was perched on Rumi's stomach with one of her tiny hands poised above her face clearly ready to poke her again. "Mama's awake Sweetheart. Where's your father?" The words felt oddly neutral. They weren't embarrassing to say, but nor were they natural feeling on her tongue.
The girl giggled. "He's makin' a castle! With da dishes!"
Suddenly, she felt irritation and reluctant curiosity flood her. He was probably using the nice dishes too. He could be so careless!
She quickly managed to find a bathrobe to pull over her immodest silk slip. Apparently, future her wore nicer pajamas to bed.
When she arrived in the kitchen she found Toshinari doing exactly what her daughter had said. He had constructed a palace with what was probably their nicest dishes. And a another little white haired girl seemed to be cheering him on. Rumi didn't care that he could manipulate reality. It was the principle of the matter. He was still setting a bad example and their daughters who could not use their powers near as well as him.
"Toshi-kun."
Surprisingly, he actually seemed to start. This truly was a dream because he never seemed all that affected by her disapproval. Although that wasn't strictly true. Of late he seemed disinclined to doing things he knew would upset her casually. He still did them, but it always seemed more deliberate.
"Rumi, me and Tsuba-chan were just-"
"Don't drag Tsuba-chan into this. My mother gave me that set of dishes." The burn of irritation on her lips felt familiar and somehow she knew that the girls name was shortened. And somehow she knew the plates were a gift.
The girl that had retrieved her giggled along with her (twin?) sister. "Uh-oh, Papa in trouble."
Toshinari shot the girl a betrayed look. "Not you too, Suzu-chan. I really need your support if we're to have any fun with your mother around."
Suzu smartly shook her head. So did her sister Tsuba.
She smirked. Finally it looked like she had some backup when dealing with Toshinari and his antics. That she had to make the backup was another issue entirely.
He sighed and snapped his fingers presumably returning the dishes to where they belonged. "Geez, Rumi, they're as silly as you. Pretending that they don't want to do anything fun. I finally got you to loosen up and then they come around and you want to set a 'good' example. You're like the most confused person ever."
Rumi rolled her eyes, but she did agree with him to a point. And she was very confused. Despite her instinctive denial, it was very likely that she was pregnant. Embarrassingly she hadn't been thinking about birth control. Initially, there had just been too much going on, but then she'd just forgotten about it.
It was depressingly irresponsible. She wanted it to be Toshinari's fault, but it's not like she'd been unwilling. A more accurate description would be enthusiastic.
She still smiled when the two little girls glomped onto his legs and demanded that he play hide-and-seek with them. They were pretty cute. Too bad there was more to having kids than them being cute.
The thought of being a mother twisted at her heart painfully. She wasn't ready for that. She didn't think Toshinari was either. And her parents were going to be so disappointed. She hated it when they looked at her and she could see how they were wishing she had done better.
And after the grief she'd put them through first year, it didn't seem fair to spring this on them. They'd really only barely stopped looking at her as if she would come to them with some new horrible life development.
"Mama want pway wif us?" Suzu (or it may have been Tsuba) questioned her green eyes alight as she tugged at Rumi's robe.
The girl's cheer was infectious and Rumi found herself running around the apartment trying to find a hiding spot suitable for an adult. While Toshinari, unsurprisingly, proved to be an equally adept seeker and hider the girls were too giggly for either position. Rumi was handicapped by her unfamiliarity with the surroundings.
She still had a lot of fun.
"Rumi-chan! Are you up? You have to leave for school in five minutes!"
Her mother voice jolted her out of her dream. Toshinari must have brought her back to her house. She couldn't convince really any part of her body that she needed to move fast so she was already late by the time she got down the stairs. Her father just getting ready to leave.
He frowned at her. "Rumi-san, you're late for school."
"I was really tired," she said on huge yawn as she stumbled to the kitchen table.
His frown deepened, but her mom all but pushed him out the door. "I'll take care of this Katashi. You don't need to be late as well."
Rumi sighed at her parents only semi-whispered conversation, but she focused on eating her breakfast. When she was eating it was much easier to not be asleep.
"Rumi-chan I scheduled a doctors appointment for you. I'm going to pick you up after school."
Rumi shook her head as empathetically as she could. "Okaa-san I'm fine."
Yokoi Shiori just rolled her eyes at her daughter's stubbornness. "If you were fine, you wouldn't be sleeping every hour of the day. I can't imagine you're doing much better in class."
After eating nearly three servings, her mom drove her to school.
No one really noticed her late arrival because the teacher had let everyone have a free period. As she sat down Tomoka practically materialized at her side. "Rumi-chan! I was worried. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just slept in." When Tomoka's frown turned even more concerned she added, "I'm going to see a doctor after school."
The girl smiled with relief easily visible on her face. "Good. I don't think it's good to be so tired all the time." Then her eyes took on a mischievous glint. "So how was it with Seki-kun yesterday?"
Toshinari was on the other side of the room juggling an absurd amount of paperclips.
Rumi shrugged. "We just went to his house. His mother wanted to talk to me."
Tomoka's eyes widened. "Eh, his mother? You two are pretty serious then?"
But sleep had already reclaimed Rumi.
"Rumi-san, you need to see this darkness for what it is." The sparrow was at her shoulder whispering into her ear a branch or colorful berries clutched in its feet.
"Suzume-san, I'm a little busy at the moment," Toshinari was moving at a faster pace and she was almost jogging to keep up with him. Yet again the sparrows voice rang familiar to her ears, but she still could not place it.
"Please, eat these berries. They will banish the shadows from your eyes so you can see the path home."
Impatiently Rumi snatched the berries from the bird's claws and popped a few into her mouth, but their cloying sweetness swamped her senses and caused the world to spin around her. She collapsed and the sparrow hopped to her face as it rested against a fern. The trees of the forests listing drunkenly from side to side. The sparrow's feathers seemed to burn with the light of a summer sun. The light dug at Rumi's eyes. "It hurts."
"Not for long, Rumi-san. Let me help you. You've wandered so far off the path." The sparrow had another berry in its beak, but Rumi backhanded the bird and its poison away.
"No, I'm fine. I'm fine here." She staggered to her feet and suddenly Toshinari was beside her. His hand firm around hers as he pulled her in the direction they had been going.
Rumi paid no heed to the sparrows cries as they followed her deep into the forest.
It was the chill of Yuu's glare that woke her during their lunch period.
Tomoka was absent, probably to get a hot lunch, and Toshinari was also gone from the room.
"I saw you and Seki-san yesterday. You looked pretty cozy on his back."
Rumi swallowed nervously. "Well, he, uh-" Why had she never asked Toshinari what Yuu was. She wished she knew as an aura of anger pooled around them. "Is something the matter Yuu-chan?"
"Just that I now have reason to suspect that your psychiatrist's mental breakdown was by no means coincidental. I'm not sure how you couldn't have been involved, but Rumi-chan, you weren't, were you? Please tell me you weren't."
Rumi shrugged. "I could tell you that Yuu-chan if it's what you need to hear."
Yuu flinched from her bored tone. "Rumi-chan how could you just- You were so nice."
Rumi giggled at the thought. "What do you mean Yuu-chan? I'm still nice." Just maybe not all the time. Just maybe not for everyone. Just maybe not very much. "It's not very nice to say things like that about friends."
And Yuu was her friend. Or at least she had been.
"Nice people don't do that and just act like it's okay. Letting Seki-san hurt that woman; that's not right."
Rumi pressed her lips together. "I didn't let him do anything, Yuu-chan."
"So you- you tried to stop him?" Yuu asked sounding disgustingly hopeful. "Because there may still be-"
Rumi raised her hand in stop gesture. "I didn't try to stop him either." Even now, so many months later it was hard for Rumi to know exactly much she herself was to blame for how events had played out. Sure Toshinari's overall tendency towards sadism didn't help matters, but she hadn't even tried to get away from him.
(Not even a little bit.)
She watched as Toshinari came back from where he'd been. Which had apparently been the bread stand. He had her favorite melon flavored bread. (If it made him more considerate, being pregnant wasn't so bad.)
Yuu stiffened as she felt his glare fall on her, but she held her ground.
"This is all your fault Seki-san. Everyone knew no good would come of your family moving here."
Rumi winced as she remembered how Jun had had no one to play with. Was that how it had been for the boy standing next to her? He clearly didn't need the company of his peers now, but had it always been so?
Was that how it would be for her child and any others she may have in the future?
"I told the Elders what I saw yesterday. The Other Council requested the aid of a special unit stationed in Tokyo. They're going to find out what you did to Rumi-chan. They're going to find out everything." Yuu's molten glared softened as she turned to Rumi. "I really hope it's not too late for you Rumi-chan."
And then she turned and sat Maeda and few others Rumi had decided were from the other community.
Rumi sighed and dragged out her bento. Already she felt bogged down, but her stomach would not be denied. Even though the thought of some sort of investigation made her feel a little sick.
Her activities had been easy enough to hide from the police, but this unit from Tokyo. They wouldn't dismiss dreams off hand. (They might be able to figure out what she'd done to Taiku.)
"Rumi-chan, are you alright?"
Rumi just shook her head. Tomoka had just returned with a bowl of curry rice.
"Is this about, Yuu-chan? Arai-chan said she was over here and that the atmosphere looked tense." Rumi looked up in time to see Tomoka sneaking a glance at the melon bread Toshinari had still in front of him. "Nice Seki-kun. You definitely get brownie points for buying Rumi-chan her favorite bread."
Rumi just nodded a little sadly. She had enjoyed having Yuu as a friend, but that just didn't look like it was going to be possible anymore. "She saw Toshi-kun and I yesterday after you left."
Tomoka just shook her head as she took a quick bite of her lunch. "I never really got what she had against Seki-kun. No offense," she said absently to said boy as she took another bit of food. "She always acted like he was some sort of demon. Who ever heard of a demon who just goofed around all day?" She asked them waving her chop sticks for emphasis. "Again no offense," she was quick to reassure him.
But Toshinari just shrugged. She could tell he was still worried about what Yuu had said.
(Although, in another circumstance Tomoka's unknowing accuracy would have been amusing.)
Tomoka started rambling about how there was nothing wrong with not wanting to pay attention during class and that if she wasn't so afraid of disappointing her mother and didn't want to be a doctor and on and on she went. Rumi finished up her lunch and the melon bread Toshinari had bought her and half of his lunch.
"Seriously, Rumi-chan, where are you putting all that food?"
Rumi exchanged a quick glance with her mate, but he just shrugged. He'd never had a problem with Tomoka. Unlike Sakurako who he insisted had a girl crush on her. (Which was ridiculous.) "Tomoka-chan, I might be," she leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Pregnant."
"WHAT!?" she screamed at a decibel level that had everyone in the classroom looking at their direction intently. Toshinari was able to discourage continued interest with a thick and cutting glare, but the table Yuu was at kept sneaking glances their way.
Only looking slightly chastened Tomoka practically through herself over the desk separating them. "But that means," her voice a fierce hiss, "That you had sex."
Rumi blinked. "Er, yes?"
"Rumi-chan, you had sex."
Rumi shrugged and looked at Toshinari questioningly. Was it so weird for her to have had sex? The way he was grinning at her would lead her to think the answer was no. "Yeah, I guess, but that's not really-"
"That's against the rules. You always follow the rules."
"I try to, but sometimes I-"
"I didn't even think you knew about sex."
Rumi just leaned back in her chair. She was starting to think she was unnecessary for this conversation. Toshinari looked on the verge of laughter.
"I'm not that surprised that Seki-kun would, but I totally wasn't expecting that from you Rumi-chan."
"You don't say." Rumi didn't even trying to hide her sarcasm.
But Tomoka nodded anyway. "I guess that's why you've been so hungry and tired. What did your parents say?" Tomoka for the first time sounded troubled.
Rumi just shrugged. "I'll let you know when I find out."
With the way her luck had been going, she wouldn't have long to wait.
Somehow she managed not to fall asleep for the rest of the day, but that only lasted until her mom picked her up.
The trees blur in her vision as she races through the forest. Just at the edge of vision she can see Toshinari as he leads them onward into the heart of the forest. The sparrow is a bright blur that darts in and out of her vision.
"Go away, Suzume-san. I care not for the bright places."
But the sparrow refused to leave her. "Rumi-san, I will get help. We will lift you to a safe place where the darkness does not reach."
Rumi stops and glares at the bird flying around her. "I don't wish to go with you. How will I ever get back here."
"It is deeply wrong to want to be here where the sun cannot reach. Where it is cool evening at all times of the day."
Rumi snatches the sparrow out of the air. She can't afford to let it call on help. "Suzume-san, I cannot allow you to call your brothers and sisters of the sky." And so she rips out its tongue.
The bird thrashes and makes weak sounding noises of distress at the back of its throat.
"Now the eyes Mama. Do the eyes."
She turns to find the girl she seen in her other dream. Suzu. Somehow she knows it is the one she called Suzu. "You think I should?" Was this a normal thing to ask one's child?
(She did not think it was.)
But the girl just clapped her hands together. "Mm-hmm. It's what Papa does."
"He does." The bird's struggles were growing weaker if not less desperate.
"'Sides it's lookin' dat gets 'em in trouble," Tsuba the other girl said as she appeared from behind a nearby tree. The two girls giggled together.
Rumi bent over and found short but sharp stick. Her mouth turned up cruelly. "You hear that Suzume-san? You should have turned your eyes away."
Its eyes burst like berries underfoot.
"Rumi-chan, we're here."
Rumi just nodded as she followed her mother to the front of the hospital.
Her stomach was turning slowly in a most unpleasant manner. She wasn't sure if it was because of the morning sickness, her ever present hunger or nerves.
The waiting room was practically empty. There was an elderly couple, a harried looking obese man and a woman with two small children and a baby. Rumi supposed it was fitting that the last looked as tired as she felt.
She really wasn't ready to be a mom.
"Yokoi-san?"
She and her mom looked up to see a nurse calling them over. Then she led them to small room.
Looking to Rumi she asked, "Rumi-san has not been feeling very well?"
Rumi just shook her head no.
"Well, hopefully we can find out why. I'm going to check your heart and breathing. I also will be needing a urine sample. Depending on the results from that I may need to draw some blood. But before I do any of that I'm going to ask you some questions. I need you to be completely honest even if the questions seems strange or unimportant."
"Hai." Rumi didn't even bother to hide her reluctance. Her mom from the chair next to her squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"How many hours a day are you sleeping?"
Rumi shrugged. "Most?" Her mother's grip tightened.
"Is it restful sleep?"
"Yes."
"Have you recently changed your diet?"
"Well, I'm eating more," she admitted. "Nothing too different though."
The nurse paused and frowned at the list she was reading from. She then flipped to a new page even though she only got a few questions on the previous one. "Have you been sexually active in the last three months?"
Rumi winced as her mom's grip went from tight to bone twistingly painful. "Um, yes?" she answered even as tears started to prick at her eyes. Her mom sure had strong hands.
"What forms of birth control have you been using?"
In a desperate act of self-preservation Rumi yanked her hand free. "N-none." She swallowed heavily as she watched her mother's hands clench into fists so hard the knuckles creaked. (Thank goodness she'd gotten her hand free.) She dared not look up at her face.
"When was you're last period?"
"Uh, Fe-February. Or maybe January, I think." She winced. She really had been stupid. It was mid-April. How had she not noticed.
The nurse set her clipboard aside. "Rumi-san, I think that's enough questions. Please sit down up here. I'm going to listen to your heart and check your breathing." Which she did in silence. And after making Rumi pee into a tiny cup, she left the room.
Finally, Rumi gathered enough courage to look at her mother's face which was an action she immediately regretted. Yokoi Shiori was rarely angry, but when she let her temper loose she sent foe and friend alike running. Rumi had never seen her mother so angry.
"Rumi-chan how could you do this?"
Rumi allowed her gaze to fall to her toes. "I didn't mean to. I mean I- I might not be-I might not actually-"
"That it is even a possibility is shameful. Your father and I have raised you better than this. Do you know what this means? You'll be kicked out of school. People will look down on you and us."
Rumi wrapped her arms around herself. Suddenly the room felt freezing. She felt small and stupid. And lost. "It's not like I was ever as good as Daiki-kun anyway."
Her mother didn't even deny it. "We still expected better than this. What can you hope to accomplish now? You can hardly focus on class now. I don't think being a mother will help."
Rumi squeezed her eyes closed and tried to ignore how damp they felt or how tight her throat was. She hated disappointing her parents and she was scared of being a parent well before she was ready. She was scared that her mom was angry and would abandon her. "I don't know," she whispered.
Her mom sighed. "Rumi-chan if you're- Being a parent isn't a small thing. Once you're a parent, you don't get to be a child anymore. You have to take responsibility for your actions and accept the consequences of them. It's not about you anymore."
Rumi nodded miserably. She couldn't even respond to her mom. She just cried as sobs started wracking her body. She heard her mom get up and felt her pull Rumi into a surprising gentle embrace. Her mom's scent of lavender surrounded her. Ever since she was born her mom had been there for her.
Now she needed that more than anything.
"Shush Rumi-chan. I am mad. I am disappointed. But you are my daughter, and you are not alone."
Rumi hugged her mom back fiercely her heart burning with an overwhelming feeling of relief. "Thank you, Okaa-san. Arigato."
About four hours later and the nurse returning to draw some blood they were moved to a different room where they were met by a Dr Kimura.
"Well, Rumi-san is definitely pregnant. She is eleven weeks in. I had the nurse move you to this room so we could do an ultra-sound."
Her mom nodded stiffly. Rumi had to change into a hospital gown and then Kimura rubbed some cold gel over her stomach. She turned on a nearby screen and put a short rounded stick to her belly. A frantic beat filled the room.
"That's your baby's heartbeat." As she said this the screen filled with a bunch of grey with a black center and with a little clump of grey. Kimura pointed to the tiny clump. "And that's you're baby or babies I should say. You notice the heart beat has two different rhythms. It appears you're having twins. See right here." Kimura pointed to something, but Rumi couldn't really see it. She could hardly hear. Twins? One unexpected child had been more than enough. "You can just make out the other one."
A glance at her mom revealed her face had lost most of its hard edge and her eyes had become glossy. "Are they okay?" her mom eventually asked as the thundering of the two little hearts settled around them.
Kimura nodded. "Their hearts are beating strongly. They are a little smaller than I would have thought, but every child grows a little differently."
After that Kimura printed out a picture for them to take home. She prescribed vitamins and gave Rumi a nutrition plan.
It was nearly ten o clock by the time they got home.
Both her father and Daiki were waiting up for them at the kitchen table.
"So?" her father asked clearly prepared for bad news. Daiki just looked apprehensive.
Her mom put a supportive arm around her shoulder. "Our daughter is pregnant."
Her brother paled dramatically, but her father just went still. "Is that so?"
She nodded. Actually scared of her father for the first time ever.
"Rumi-san has let some boy touch her. Let him dishonor her and our family."
She whimpered. her father's eyes were cold as he walked towards her. Daiki had got to his feet and he looked on the verge trying to hold him back. "Otou-san I-"
"Do we mean so little to you? Do the sacrifices we make for you mean nothing?"
Rumi just shook her head. She loved her family and she appreciated everything they did for her.
She flinched as he raised his hand but he lifted it to her cheek. He sighed. "I have never hit you and I don't plan to start now. Right now I am terribly angry at you. And more than that I'm scared for you. But I will come to terms with both those feelings because you are my daughter. I don't get to choose whether I love you. And I don't get to choose whether I take care of you."
Tentatively she wrapped a hand around his wrist. She had always been reassured by the fact that her father's hands were larger than hers. That he was steady and sure. That he always knew what to do. "I don't want you to be angry." She wanted to say she was sorry, but she wasn't. She couldn't be. While she may not be enjoying the results of her actions she did not regret them. And she did not want to lie to her father.
He lowered his hand away from her grasp only to clench it into a fist. "Who is the father?"
"Toshi-kun." There was no point in lying really, but she realized from the blank looks she was receiving that the familiar address was obscuring his identity. "Seki Toshinari."
Her mother stiffened beside her. Her father clenched his teeth. Her brother actually growled.
Her father leveled an even glare in her direction. "He was the boy from the investigation."
She just nodded. There was no point in lying about that either.
"They thought he was hurting you. Rumi-san has he hurt you?"
Rumi forced herself to hold his gaze. She wanted to say no, but that would be a lie and she didn't want to lie. Her father had always protected her and she didn't feel comfortable lying about such a thing when he was asking her so directly. Toshinari had hurt her. He was thoughtless and callous. He could be cruel, but she knew he would never be as bad as he had been before they completed their bond. That she would never again have anything to really fear from him. She was surprised to realize she already forgiven him for the events of her first year. After all she had discovered she could be just as cruel. Just as mean.
Katsumi had told her that demons didn't just bond with the first human to notice them. Not usually. There were other factors. She said it was rare for demons to find their mate so young. Almost unheard of.
Eventually she said. "Toshinari loves me; the police were just confused about the situation." That at least was true. Toshinari did love her. And she loved him in return. She'd accepted all the parts of him even the one's that weren't particularly acceptable.
"But how did this even happen?" Daiki demanded.
She shot him an incredulous stare. "Surely Daiki-kun knows where babies come from?"
Before her brother could sputter out a reply her father started laughing. Laughing hard. Laughing so hard he was leaning against the back of a chair clutching at his sides. Yokoi Katashi rarely even chuckled.
"Katashi-" her mom said softly as she carefully made her way to her husband. "Dear are you-"
"Our naive little Rumi-san just sassed Daiki-kun about where babies come from," he managed to say breathlessly.
For some reason this caused her mother to fall into a fit of giggles.
Rumi felt a nervous laugh creep up on her. She'd broken her parents. She watched numbly as they collapsed together on the floor. "Ano," she looked to her older brother helplessly.
But even he was chuckling a little.
"What?!" Oh goodness, she'd driven her family crazy and it hadn't even been intentional.
He shrugged. "Well, I'm eight years older than you. I think we all just thought I would be the one providing the first grandchild. And that you with your personality wouldn't know much about sex for many, many years."
Rumi sighed as she watch her brother join her parents. She supposed it was better to laugh than to cry. And she knew it was better to have them than to not have them.
(She was truly grateful to have them.)
She just wished their acceptance didn't feel so fragile.
There were a great many things that she hoped to never have to tell them. That she wasn't sure she would have the luxury of keeping hidden indefinitely.
They could accept a Rumi that made mistakes.
(But could they accept the things she'd done on purpose?)
***
In the heart of the forest are old trees that sing of stories long forgotten. The dark has a soft quality to it and strange and fantastic things glow dimly. It is not the easy beauty of the meadow, but one that cuts and stings and aches in the secret places of the heart.
And it is quiet.
And it was in this stillness that she walked hand in hand with Toshinari. The quiet between them comfortable and soft.
Then a flock of swallows descended upon the clearing they were in like fallings stars cutting through the dark of the night. The birds they took no mind of them. Except for one.
It hopped over to Rumi trailing good fortune like dust in its wake.
"Yokoi-san, how did you come to be here? It is not safe to wander so far from where the sun's reach."
"Tsubame-san, know that I am fine and be on your way." She could feel the sparrows blood tacky between her finger tips as she rubbed them together.
But the little swallow would not be deterred. "But there is blood on your hands. Have they been torn by a thorn in this dark? Or a dangerous beast?"
Rumi frowned at the bird's persistence. "Tsubame-san, concern yourself not with the blood on my hands."
But still the little swallow would not be deterred. It came closer. "Yokoi-chan, this is not your blood. Whose blood paints the skin of your hands?"
Abruptly fed up Rumi ripped a long strand from a spider's web and twisted it around the swallow's beak. "Speak no more Tsubame-san."
"Mama can I pway wif da birdee?" Tsuba was their with her sister. They both looked up at her beseechingly. Toshinari was holding additional spider's silk in his open palm.
She took the spider silk and tied it to the swallow.
And the two girls with her hair and Toshinari's eyes killed it.
They took its eyes first.
The following day her parents made her stay home from school and she didn't bother arguing. She could sleep just as easily at home as she could at school and would be much more comfortable.
They also called Katsumi and arranged for Toshinari and his family to eat dinner with them that evening. The whole arrangement made her nervous, but she would finally be able to meet Toshinari's elusive father.
Fortunately the only time she was conscious enough to worry was lunch and that only lasted long enough for her to eat three large bowls of udon.
When the Seki family arrived she was only half awake so she drifted lazy between just listening to familiar voices rumbling around her and following Toshinari as he was confronted by the members of her family.
Her dad was the first to pull him aside and Toshinari actually seemed to fear him. This fact made her most gleeful. But that didn't stop her from standing beside him. Her father couldn't see of course, but her support seemed to make him feel a little better.
Yokoi Katashi fixed him with a stern glare. "Did you know, I used to think I loved both my children equally?"
Toshinari just shrugged confusion clearly painted across his face. Even if he could have spoken, he clearly had no idea what to say. Her father's words felt like needles embedded in her heart. Had she truly disappointed him that much?
Her father just chuckled, but it held no mirth. "If someone had asked me, I would have guessed I loved Daiki-kun more." At his soft admission it felt like the needles twisted. "I'm certainly prouder of him. He is more obedient; although I used to think Rumi-san was not too far behind him. He is responsible and well respected. But," her father stopped to run a hand through his hair. She realized that it was thinner than it had been when she was younger. Her father was aging and she was probably helping him do so even faster. "But I found out not too long ago that it is my precious daughter that I treasure the most. Can you imagine my horror when I found out that she was pregnant? That she'd let you, some stupid boy, touch her? Tell me why I shouldn't kill you because I've managed to come up with quite a few ideas in the last twenty four hours. She said you're some kind of mute, but I still expect you to answer me."
Toshinari froze for a second before he reached up set the tips of his fingers on her father's forehead while maintaining eye contact. And then he let her father feel what he did. His love, his joy, a fierce protectiveness she hadn't even known to look for. She could feel how hard it was for him to do this. It took skill and Rumi knew she might never be able to do so. He told her father the only way he could by showing him a glimpse of his heart unfiltered and as clear as he could make it.
Her father stepped back. "What are you?"
Toshinari carefully wrote out the word demon in the air before him. He super heated the molecules so her father could see.
"Then those dreams Rumi-san was having... That was you?" Far from looking afraid at this development her father looked beyond furious.
My kind does not know remorse. But your daughter has nothing to fear of me now.
Her father frowned at the words as the sparked and then faded from his vision.
Then he sighed. "She's like you now, isn't she?"
Toshinari just nodded.
"And she- That woman Taiku wasn't trying to drive her insane, was she?"
Toshinari shook his head no.
"Why did she do that? Rumi-san was never cruel before."
After taking a deep breath, she forced her dream self to become visible to her father. "Otou-san," she said softly as she walked up to him.
He didn't even blink at her sudden appearance. "Were you always this way? Was it just hidden? A dark secret we hadn't thought to ask about?"
Rumi shrugged. "Maybe Otou-san. I can't say I regret it."
"If Taiku hadn't been trying to send you away, if we hadn't hired her-"
"I wouldn't have done anything to her. I'm not looking for people to hurt. Didn't you know Otou-san, you have to look at a demon before they can see you properly."
Katashi looked at her a long moment. "My daughter doesn't have to be so creative in coming up with ways to terrify me. The fact that I have to let her out of my sight is more than enough." She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand to silence her. "Go back to your body. Surely you rest better that way. I have a few more things to say to this boy and you've heard enough."
And so she returned to where her body was dozing. Jun was cuddled up to her while she watched a cartoon on the TV. She could hear her mom and Katsumi laughing in the kitchen.
Her brother was sitting beside her on the couch scowling in the direction her father taken Toshinari.
He jumped to his feet and dragged Toshinari out the front door when they returned.
She didn't even bother to follow them. Her mate wasn't even half as nervous as he had been with her father. An hour later as dinner was about ready they stumbled back into the house with matching black eyes and grins.
Boys were so stupid.
At dinner, her mom took to telling her boyfriend just how he was going to need to take care of her. Most of them were practical. Many were passive aggressive threats. And a few were a little racy, though indirectly said in acknowledgement of Jun's seven year old ears.
So in the end her family was able to welcome Toshinari's. Her father even seemed to be willing to accept the fact she was no longer human which gave her hope for the rest of her family.
That night when she dreamed she dreamed with Toshinari.
He looked around at the tall trees and deep shadows around him. "This place again?"
She opened her mouth to respond when the two pinpricks of light started weaving their way through the trees towards them. As they came closer she saw them to be the sparrow and swallow from her previous dreams.
"You tried to silence us, but they have ears for listening now!" the sparrow sand as it circled her its eyes empty sockets. Its feathers no longer bright, but like the dying embers of a fire.
"And they will see you're indiscretions," the swallow told her triumphantly with the spider silk cut to allow its song free. The strands wrapped around its wings, but it flew despite the difficulty they caused. The strands were like shadow and its feather were also dim.
There words rang in her heart ominous and a chill that spread through her veins. She plucked them from the air and crushed them, but even as the innards oozed over her fingers their voices still rang out as their spirits burned brighter and brighter. Like a beacon.
Toshinari plucked them from the air clearly intent on destroying them more permanently, but she stayed his hand. Killing a spirit was different than killing a body.
Gently she took the sparrow from him and brought it to her heart.
"Suzume-san I will hide your song here where they will not think to look." And then she pressed the spark of light into her heart where burned, but was silent. And then she did the same with the swallow.
Toshinari put his ear to her chest to see if their song could be heard.
"What does it sound like?" she asked.
He regarded her solemnly. "Thunder, Rumi. Your heart sounds like thunder and," hesitated before his face became confused, "Laughter. Under the roar of thunder your heart is singing with joy."
And the blood disappeared off her hands.
And there you go! this story wasn't going to have teen pregnancy in it, but then suddenly it did. And also after writing more about Rumi's parents I think they are incredibly supportive and perhaps little more messed up than I'd originally realized. But that will be explored more in chapters 8 and 9.
And if you were wondering shit's about to get real (in a figurative sense). Chapter 8 will contain an action sequence, a like drama, quite a bit more horror and nice helping of comedy.
Also if if you were concerned I'm not quite sure when the soul actually starts, but for plot purposes I developed a rule for this world. So no offense intended if that bothers any of you out there. (But if the rest of the story doesn't bother you, I figure we're fine.)
And I'm out.