Love Secrets: Chapter 7

Kyo woke, slightly breathless. Sitting up from the dusty floor mats, he rubbed his face and yawned. His dream had been so real. He had felt the sun on his face, he had heard the laughter and had felt the vibrations on the ground from pounding footsteps running towards him. Looking down at his hands dangling from the elbows that were resting on his knees he sighed, and for the billionth time since being imprisoned he thought about her.

Closing his eyes he tried to imagine her face, her hair, and the way she would smile just for him. He was interrupted, though, by the clanging of a door being opened and closed. One of the servants had left his breakfast plate on the low table by the door, that hidden door that he could never find the latch for, no matter how hard he tried. He walked slowly towards the food and picked at it lamely. He wasn't hungry. He pushed it away, thinking to save it for lunch, since he only got two meals a day. He felt his temper flare as he thought about this confined place he lived in. He calmly pushed it down and instead walked towards the center of the practically empty room and began his katas. Breathe in… breathe out… breathe in... breathe out...

Suddenly a flutter of paper caught his attention as it fluttered towards the floor below the barred window. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He bent and picked it up, his beige yukata brushing the floor as he did. His eyes widened when he realized it wasn't just a scrap of paper that flew in by the wind, but it was a note. His name was written on the outside, a handwriting that he didn't recognize. Opening it he found only three sentences with a signed name.

Find a place to hide letters or notes and do it fast. Drop your responses in the bushes right below the third bar on the right I'll pick it up whenever I can. She still loves you; we only want your happiness.

Rin

He shook his head, dropping the note. He had to be hallucinating. This was crazy; Rin wouldn't do this… would she? She had written 'we only want your happiness'. That didn't sound like her at all… Wait would these notes be sent to… Tohru? If they were… what would he say or write?

Decision made, he rushed towards the table in the corner where a few loose leafs of papers sat and a piece of charcoal, too. He wrote and realized his hand was shaking. Taking a deep breath he started again. When he finished, he stuck his hand out and let it flutter along the wooded wall, until it remained hidden beneath the bushes. He sat down and thought.

What if it wasn't Rin? What if it was Akito, wanting to find some kind of fault with him… just to torture him. Panic set in and he began to breathe in and out shallowly. He realized, though, that he was being selfish… of course he would take any risk just to be sure that she was alright. He walked over to the plate of food and began to eat, letting a small smile stretch on his face.

Tohru collapsed onto her bed and let out a small moan. Walking around the mall may seem fun when you're distracted, but once you focus on your sore feet and back it's a whole different story. Rin let out a small chuckle and set down her bags too and laid down on the large bed beside the brunette.

"Well, that was tiring," she said.

They both giggled and Rin sat up to reach over to grab a hairbrush. Tohru took the cue and sat up too, letting the older girl comb through her smooth locks. She leaned her face into her hands and closed her eyes. "I don't think there's anything more relaxing than having your hair brushed," she mumbled.

"I don't know," Rin said with a shrug, beginning to make a tight braid, "I think I could… name a few."

Tohru laughed and lightly slapped her knee in reprimand, "Ha ha ha, and how's Haru these days?"

Rin stuck out her tongue and finished the braid, twirling the rubber band around the ends of Tohru's hair. Giving the hairbrush to her companion, she turned around and let her brush through her black raven hair.

"So what did you want to give me? You had me a little anxious when you told me to sit in the car when we went to Haru's," she said as she parted her hair into three to begin the braid.

Rin sighed and didn't answer for a moment. Tohru was halfway done when she spoke, "Well, remember how I asked you if you could see Kyo again, would you? I kinda found a way…" Tohru froze, her finger stopping the movement of twirling the rubber band around the older girls' thick hair.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"I mean this," she said simply pulling out a yellow slip of paper. She reached over and grabbed her hair ends from the others hands and finished tying her hair. Tohru sat back on her heels and turned the paper around, finding her name printed in somewhat shaky handwriting. She looked up and Rin gave her a small smile, urging her to open it. She did and read.

Tohru,

I love you. Please know that. I hope everything is okay with you. Rin introduced an idea, I had no idea about. Thank her. I wish I could still be with you, but for now this is all we have. Don't be sad. I don't like tears, I like it when you smile and when you laugh. Don't give up. We'll find a way out of this, I know we will. Until then, please take care.

I love you,

Kyo

Tears began to leak and she pulled the paper away, afraid to soil it. It couldn't possibly be this easy, but yet here she was reading his words. He had changed. But he was still Kyo. She folded it neatly and placed it in between the pages of her novel on her bedside calmly. "Rin?"

"Yes?"

Flinging herself towards the girl she managed to sob a small 'Thank you'.

Akito curled her fingers around her simple kimono and tugged at her hair absently, pulling them out of her face. As she looked over her gardens, she wondered, briefly, with a scoff, how the monster was. Ugh, she thought, that stupid thing… now it is suffering. A light knock at the door made her raise her head and she saw Kureno bow politely, softly announcing that Sohma Shigure, year of the Dog, was here. She thanked him coolly and asked him to bring him in.

"Yes Akito," she smiled.

"Akito," she heard, his voice smooth revealing nothing he might be thinking.

"Shigure, what business do you have, visiting me?"

"Akito, you wound me. I wished only to pay you a social visit,"

She scoffed and narrowed her eyes, "Really? And how is Hatori?"

"Hatori is well, thank you for asking," he said slyly.

"You bore me, Shigure; I have no time for your games,"

He peeked at her from beneath his shaggy hair, and sat down beside her, "Really?" he asked sensually.

She felt a chill go down her spine, "Shigure this changes nothing,"

"I'm not asking for that," he said softly. She closed her eyes and let him take over. She was too tired, but followed him, and once it was over and she was in a state of drowsiness he got up and left and she was left to wander in her own thoughts.

A/N: Okay so what do you guys think? I hated this chapter... I had to rewrite it a lot, but then just went back to what I originally wrote. I thought about including Akito for the first time since chapter... 4? Was it to much with Shigure? They were (and still are lovers) so I thought it appropriate.

One more thing, just remember no one knows Akito is a woman except Hatori, Kureno, Shigure, and Ren. Just a note.

Okay well thank you and please REVIEW, you have no idea how I squel when I realized I got a review! 6_~

-Indie