The Taming of Gods
An Akito X OC fanfiction story. Please leave a review.
Musical inspiration:
Chapter 9
"Hurry up! We're going to be late!" A young, blonde boy impatiently tugged on Hatsuharu's hand, dragging him down the school hallway.
'She's not going anywhere. You can slow down Momiji.' Haru said lazily, taking his time to stroll down the corridor.
'But I haven't been able to meet Kyo and Yuki's friend at all! She's been here for over two months and I've only caught glimpses of her in between classes!' He wailed.
'That's because you only got back from Germany this week.' Haru rolled his eyes at his younger cousin's dramatics. Though he was now 17, Momiji never failed to act like the 6 year old he was at heart.
'There she is!' Letting go of his hand, Momiji darted through the crowd of students hurrying to get home and jumped Meda behind a tree.
'Aah!' She yelped, startled by the sudden whirl of blonde hair and chocolate eyes that whisked her behind a nearby plum blossom tree.
'Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I'm Momiji Sohma. I've just been so excited to meet you!' An adorable little kid with dimples and the most endearingly round eyes she'd ever seen, stood before her, looking at her as if she were some rare treasure.
'Awww. It's ok, sweetheart.' She started to coo, before realising what he'd just introduced himself as. 'Wait did you say Sohma? You're not like Yuki and Kyo by any chance are you?'
'You mean a member of the zodiac? Yep! I'm the rabbit! I'm so glad that you know about our curse cos then it means that I can do this!' Without warning, he threw his arms around her waist and gave her a tight hug.
POOF!
With a puff of smoke, the adorable young kid in her arms was gone, replaced by a baby rabbit. Meda immediately picked it up and cuddled it closer, enjoying the feel of its fresh, soft fur tickling her chin.
'It's very nice to meet you Momiji.' She giggled.
'Meda! There you are. I was talking to you and I turn around and you've disappeared!' Kyo yelled annoyedly. He joined her behind the tree, followed closely behind by Haru and Yuki/
'Sorry Kyo. I was just getting acquainted with what seems to be the youngest member of the zodiac- well from those I've met so far, anyway.' She was unfazed by his anger, which quickly faded when he spotted the creature snuggled up in her arms.
'Is that Momiji?' Yuki asked in an awed tone.
'Yeah! This kid is so cute! You should have totally introduced us earlier.'
'He was in Germany due to some family issues. He just came back this week. Are you sure that's Momiji?' Haru asked, in a similarly disbelieving tone.
'Guys come on. Surely you recognise your own cousin's zodiac form. He's such an adorable little child- totally fit to be the rabbit. How old is he anyway? 10?' She continued cooing over the adorable ball of fur in her arms so it took her a minute to notice the look of shock on the Sohmas' faces.
'Meda…Momiji's 17…' Haru finally said, cracking up with laughter at her shell-shocked expression.
'You're joking. But he looks so young and his zodiac form is a baby bunny so surely he can't be as old as all that.' She argued.
'Yeah, that's what I don't get too. What's wrong with Momiji's zodiac form? Why has he regressed to an infantile state?' Yuki wondered quietly.
'You don't think it has something to do with the curse weakening, do you?' Kyo gasped, a sudden spark of hope lighting up in his eyes. Meda set the rabbit down to listen more closely to the conversation.
'What do you mean?'
'Well Hatori has this theory that as the curse grows weaker, our Zodiac forms get younger and occur less frequently as a result. That's why Hatori takes the form of a sea horse instead of a dragon like the story dictates. Sea horse or tatsuno-otoshigo" literally means "baby dragon", hence his zodiac form.' Yuki explained patiently.
'What?' Meda said, her mind running at a hundred miles an hour. If the curse was getting weaker, that meant that something she was doing with Akito was working. There was hope for them yet! But what was it? She racked her brain to think of which part of Akito's regime had changed recently for it to have had such an immediate effect on more distant members of the zodiac like Momiji. All her spells and healing efforts, though vastly improving Akito's health and temper had had no effect on the Jyuunishi bond. They were not designed to uphold that purpose. 'Then what was it?' She thought, frowning a little. The only thing she could think of was that she had kissed Akito. 'That can't be it, can it?' She thought with shock. Was it possible that she had touched his soul to such an extent that it was beginning to heal? Beginning to lift the curse? Meda felt a sudden sense of intense elation. She'd done it! She'd finally figured out the key to breaking the curse and it had been so simple all along. Her heart warmed at the idea of Akito and all her beloved Jyuunishi friends finally being freed of the curse.
Meda was vaguely aware of Yuki talking to her and, mentally kicking herself for having spaced out, she tuned back in to the conversation.
'Of course! I'm so sorry. You don't know who Hatori is. He's another member of the Zodiac- the Dragon.' Yuki explained apologetically.
She'd completely forgotten about the fact that she had not yet told Shigure or any of the others that she worked for Akito and visited the Sohma honke regularly. She'd conveniently spaced out just as Yuki'd been talking about Hatori so she hadn't given anything away. Pretending as though all this was news to her, she merely nodded as the others scratched their head in confusion and tried to work out what was going on.
POOF!
Momiji turned back to normal, putting an end to the discussion as the boys all scrambled to cover him up and Meda turned away blushing.
When they returned home, Yuki told Shigure about what had happened to Momiji, resuming their earlier discussion.
'I agree with you. I think it's because the curse is weakening too, but Yuki, don't get your hopes too high. It's been weakening over the years: Kureno's been free for about 12 years now- he was the same age as you when his curse broke. Hatori's been changing into the sea dragon ever since I could remember. Maybe it's just yet another one.' Shigure said gently, showing an uncharacteristic maturity for once.
'But it still means that the curse is weakening doesn't it? Maybe it will break soon.' There was desperation in Kyo's voice which Meda hadn't heard before and it really drove home how suffocating the situation was to him.
'Why do you let it affect you so much, Kyo?' She wondered aloud, gently holding him to stop his shaking.
'I- I- Ah!' Kyo stormed off to his usual perch on the roof.
'I hate this! I hate Akito and I hate this stupid curse! She deserves to know. After everything she's done for me, for all of us, it's her right to know the truth… That I'm a monster.' Tears pricked at his eyes as he stared out into the expanse of trees and buildings stretching out as far as he could see. Was this all he was destined for? To be beaten, spat at and insulted for being a monster, to be abhorred and isolated in a cage for the rest of his life? His life after graduation was a huge black void in his mind. A seemingly endless horizon locked in a small room of a house, with a small, four-barred window being the only source of light in the cage. It wasn't fair!
'Kyo! Kyo! I'm sorry if I pried. Please come down. Dinner's ready.' Meda's lilting voice floated up to him, instantly beginning to comfort his agitated mind. As long as she was by his side, with Shigure and even the damn rat's support, he feared his future just a little bit less.
