A/N (PLEASE READ!!)— Okay, I know you guys are getting sick of reading the same dream she's having over and over, but please read right through it every time! I add important clues to it each time, so please read right through it even if it seems to be the same. Thank you!
Chapter nine: Hurts of the Truth
"I'll ask him out tomorrow," Akimi said, gently pulling away from Tsukiko and her embrace.
"Itsu?" Tsukiko asked with a raised eyebrow.
Akimi smiled sheepishly, "Maybe tonight, after school. That gives him tonight and tomorrow to give me an answer, ne? He can come and tell me his answer Monday."
Tsukiko smiled and nodded, trying to push the odd pang she was feeling over this. Get a grip! She yelled at herself. Friends! You like him as a friend!
XxXxXxX
The amber eyed girl sighed heavily as she peered out of her bedroom window. It was still fairly early in the morning, just about the time she usually ate breakfast on a Sunday. She sat on her bed atop the blankets in soft pink and green cotton pajamas, peering out the window beside her. The sky was a depressingly grey colour filled with thick heavy clouds. A cold rain was pouring down diagonally like there was no tomorrow, as if it was never wanting to end.
Kero flew up beside her. He was still angry at her for leaving the previous morning without him. When he had woken up, near noon, and had realized her absence, he had presumed the worse and flew at top speeds towards the school in a panic. But when he had gotten to his destination, and began flying around not caring if anyone saw him, he was enraged to find that the girl was perfectly fine. In fact, she was sitting under a tree, laughing happily with her friends. Kero had given her a serious scolding, ignoring her questions about why he was asleep or what was the magic she'd felt.
He hadn't wanted to tell her what had happened. No, it was more so he wouldn't tell her, due to his promise. While he was asleep, his Mistress, who was, after years of practicing magic, now a dreamseer, came to Kero in his dream the prior night. How he missed talking to her, as they talked for hours it felt like. But then, of course, he had to tell her about the two meeting and everything else; like them finding certain things out and his suspicions about them trying to look into things. This caused her to frown, and he couldn't stop her sorrowful words from repeating through his mind;
"So it is happening. . .and we couldn't stop it. . ."
"What's the matter now?" Kero asked, trying to calm down his frustration with her.
"It's raining," Tsukiko replied. She usually loved the rain, and when she was little she'd run outside and play in it, ignoring her mothers pleas for her to put on a coat. And oddly enough, she rarely got sick from doing such things. But today, the rain just made her feel depressed. It was cold, and dark. . .
She lifted herself out of bed to get ready for the day. Her bare feet cringed when they felt the icy wooden floor beneath them. Tsukiko stumbled over to her dresser and quickly pulled out some warm clothes; an olive green track pants and sweater set with a nice, nurtural brown t-shirt to go underneath the zip-up sweater. Lastly, she threw her mid-back length brown hair into a basic pony-tail and slipped on a fuzzy pair of soft pink slippers.
"I'll bring you up something to eat in a bit," Tsukiko smiled towards Kero, who was sitting on her bed, and then couldn't help but give a small sniffle.
Kero cocked his head to the side in a confused manner, "Are you feeling alright, Kid?"
Tsukiko nodded and grabbed a tissue from her close by desk and blew her nose. "Just a cold. Nothing big."
She opened the door, stumbling down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mother, who was doing undone dishes from the previous night, was also dressed comfortably.
"Ohayou, Tsuki-san." The woman smiled brightly.
"Ohayou, okaa-san." Tsukiko returned the smile.
The woman frowned slightly as she dried her hands off with a close by tea towel. "You feeling alright, sweetie? You have a bit of colour in your face."
"Don't worry, I'm just coming down with a small cold," Tsukiko replied as she walked over to a cupboard and grabbed her favorite brand of cereal from it. She also got a spoon, a bowl and the carton of milk, then walked over to the kitchen table and set them all down. After pouring the milk into the cereal bowl, she got herself a banana and sliced it into the cereal.
Once she was actually sitting at the table, she turned back to her mother and smiled warmly. "Do you have any plans for today then?"
"Well, since your father is off today, I thought we could clean the house thoroughly, since it isn't a very nice day to go out and wander around town. And I was hoping you could help us, once he wakes up of course."
"Sure!" The girl smiled and continued to eat. Not long after she was done breakfast, her father woke up and the cleaning began. No one brought up the events from the other night and Tsukiko's odd questions. Today, it was the Nanami family, cleaning the house all together and finding ways to have fun along the way.
XxXxXxX
"Done," the woman sighed heavily as she leaned a mop against the wall and watched her husband close a box full of old junk. The man quickly scribbled the date and the word 'junk' on the top of the box.
A girl ran down the stairs, pulling a large black garbage bag along with her. She smiled at her two parents and used the back of her gloved hand to push back the few strains of hair that had swept in front of her eyes. She tugged the bright pink gloves off her hands and stuffed them into the bag, and then tied off the bag with a final pat.
"The upstairs is done," Tsukiko reported happily. "The floors just need to be mopped."
The woman smiled over at the girl and nodded, "We're all done down here too. Go wash your hands and we'll get dinner ready before we continue, ne?"
Tsukiko nodded and left the garbage bag by the two others before she turned around and began heading back towards the stairs. She had her foot on the first step to go wash her hands when her father's voice stopped her in her tracks
"Tsuki-san, if you're going upstairs do you mind taking this box up to the attic?" He lifted the box and walked over to Tsukiko, who was still on the first step. He handed her the box, smiled and thanked her before turning back to help his wife in the kitchen.
Tsukiko took the box and smiled, hiding her confusion. In all her life, she couldn't remember being allowed to go up to their attic. She remembered once, when she was about six years old, and she had tried to follow her mother up into the mysterious room but when she got onto the ladder, her mother quickly reappeared and shooed her away. Her mother had told her there was no reason why she had to go up there, and laughed it off by adding that there were huge bugs up there. Of course, even at that young of an age, Tsukiko had suspected there was another reason but she didn't argue nor did she ever try and go back up.
Once upstairs, she gently tugged on a small rope that appeared to be attached to the ceiling. With one tug, a ladder came crashing down causing Tsukiko to jump back so it wouldn't hit her. She juggled the box onto her hip so she could hold it with one hand and used the other hand to help her climb the ladder. For some reason, when she took her first step a shiver ran down her spine. Don't go up there! A voice screamed at her. Don't! Stop! STOP!
She had to squint and allow her eyes to adjust to the pitch darkness of the room. She looked around for a light of any sort, and gave a small groan when she realized there wasn't one anywhere to be found. Looking around, all you could see was clutter. Stacks of boxes and old furniture was scattered all over the place, making it difficult to move around and look for an empty spot for the box in Tsukiko's arms.
She sighed and held the box tighter and began looking for any spot where she could drop the box, tripping over almost everything while she walked around. Finally, she gave a pleased smile when she came across a small piece of empty floor between a green storage box and an old bureau.
She literally dropped the box, coughing as the dust from the floor raised and made a small cloud that surrounded her. She closed her eyes and waved her one hand to try and clear the air. When she opened her eyes again, once the dust calmed down, she found herself looking down at the green box resting beside the one she had just brought up. There was no writing on the top of the plastic lid, making Tsukiko tilt her head curiously. Her parents were very organized, and wrote labels on everything. She kneeled down and reached her hands out to open the lid.
Don't! A voice warned her as her heart pounded furiously in her chest. You have no right! It doesn't belong to you! Don't!
Tsukiko ignored the screaming voice and opened the lid anyways. She smiled happily at its contents and began rooting through it. The box was filled with old baby things that once belonged to her; receiving blankets, old clothes, toys. . .
And a soft pink scrapbook labeled 'Tsukiko's first year'.
Tsukiko smiled, ignoring the warning not to look any further, and gently lifted the book out from the safety of the box and set it on her lap. She opened its cover to the fist page and grinned. A baby, maybe four or five months old, in three pictures with her parents laid out on the page. They seemed to be at a kiddie pool, as the baby was dressed in a pink and yellow frilly one-piece bathing suit. The baby wore a matching hat as she smiled a toothless grin at the camera in each picture. The baby, Tsukiko noticed, had large amber eyes glistening with mischief and somewhat curly brown hair that poked itself out in tufts from under the hat.
She turned the page and found herself looking at the same baby, same age, sitting in a highchair with little bits of food sticking all over her face. She smiled her toothless grin again, looking very pleased with herself. A caption was under it, reading 'Tsukikos first bowl of rice—what a mess!'
Tsukiko chuckled slightly and turned the page again. This time, the baby was a bit older; maybe six months old. She was sitting in a baby swing in a park, the caption reading 'Day at Penguin Park'.
Slowly, the girl's smile sank. She frowned as she continued to flip through the plastic covered pages, and frowned even more the further and further she looked in the book. In all the photo's, the infant was at least four months, up to twelve months. There was none from before then. . .
Thoughts swirled in Tsukiko's mind as she slammed the book close and dove back into the storage container, looking for any other photos of the happy baby. There were none. A cold sweat broke out over her body for no reason and her body began to tremble. Her fingers dug into the books cardboard cover.
"Oh, look, she opened her eyes! Isn't she cute,?" A woman's gentle voice cooed. Her arms reached out and lifted something, a baby, cradling it in her arms. You could see her entire face for the first time. She had brilliant, gleaming emerald eyes and beautiful honey-brown coloured hair that cupped her face gracefully.
"She's beautiful," a man's deep and husky voice spoke. "Just like you."
The woman seemed to ignore this and kept cooing at the baby wrapped in soft pink blankets in her arms. "She has your eyes."
The man smiled; like the woman, you could see his face clearly. He had deep, intense amber eyes and messy chocolate coloured hair. As he looked at the woman and baby, his face grew soft and gentle. His lips moved as he spoke. "Yes, but everything else is you."
"Not true," the woman continued softly. Whether she was focusing her attention to the man or the baby more was unknown. "Both have your unruly chestnut hair. . ."
Tsukiko was walking down the stairs in almost a trance. She clutched the photo book in her hands tightly, leaving small indents from her fingers in the cover. So many questions swirled in her mind as she approached the two people in the kitchen happily preparing dinner together.
The mysterious beautiful woman's voice floated back into her mind without permission. The young infants childish giggles and the woman's joyous laughter taunted her ears.
"There we go, my beautiful Tsukiko. . ."
"Tsuki-san, sweetie? Is everything alright?" Her mother's concerned voice snapped Tsukiko back into reality.
Tsukiko's eyebrows hitched together confusingly as she gripped the book tighter and held it out towards the woman. "I. . .I found this while I was upstairs."
The woman continued to smile as she took the book from the girl, but her smile quickly fell. Her face turned ghostly pale as she read the lacy pink letters on the cover. She opened the book to the first page, her whole body shaking violently.
"A-anata," her voice cracked as she called out to her husband.
Her husband, who was stirring a pot on the stove, looked over his shoulder at the two. He turned down the heat of the burner before walking over beside his wife. His hazel eyes dropped down at the open book in the woman's hands. Hesitantly, he took the book and frowned, quickly paling as well.
"Where did you say you found this?" He asked seriously.
Tsukiko knew that she should have felt horrible for being so nosey and guilty for going through something she knew didn't belong to her, but she wasn't. She didn't feel sorry at all, and ignored his question all together. "What is it?"
"It's. . .it's a photo album," her father tried to smile but quickly failed once seeing the doubtful look lurking in the girls intense amber eyes.
"How come I'm so old in all these pictures?" She asked with almost no emotion in her voice. "Where's the pictures from when I was born?"
"We have them in a different book," the man reassured her.
Tsukiko shook her head slowly, never taking her eyes off the two people in front of her. The doubt grew as she somehow caught the lie. "No, you don't. That book says 'Tsukiko's First Year', meaning my youngest pictures are in there. So why am I older than four months in every photo? Where are my birth pictures?"
The two adults gave a longing gaze at each other, as if asking each other what to do. The man's face read determination while the woman's said she was broken. Finally, the man sighed and closed his eyes, nodding solemnly to his wife.
The woman blinked back the few tears in her eyes and approached her daughter. She kneeled in front of Tsukiko as if she were a small child and took her hands into her own.
"Tsuki-san," she began slowly, holding a firm grip on the girl's hands. "I. . .I can't have children. My body won't let me."
Tsukiko also began to tremble and tried to pull away from the woman's grasp, but couldn't. "Na-nani? What does that mean? I'm not. . .not. . ."
"We love you so much," her mother said softly, reassuring her. "But—"
"But I'm not your daughter," Tsukiko felt on the verge of tears. How dare they keep this from her?
"No," her father said firmly, stepping in and resting a hand on his wife's shoulder. "You are our daughter. You're ours."
"I. . .I'm adopted then?" Tsukiko's small voice was scarcely a whisper by now.
The two adults gave another glance at each other, mentally asking each other for the right answer. Finally, the man cleared his throat.
"Iie," he said carefully. "Not exactly. . ."
"We found you," her mother picked up from where he left off. "You—"
"What does that mean!?" Tsukiko cut her off as her voice shook angrily. She had never raised her voice at her parents, but she couldn't help herself. She pulled away from her mothers grasp roughly and balled her fists up at her sides as they shook with rage. "How do you just find a baby!?"
"You were on our doorstep one morning," the woman continued to explain gently. "We know we should've taken you to the orphanage, but we couldn't bring ourselves to do that. Finding you was like having all of our prayers answered. All we wanted was a baby. . .and you were perfect. So we claimed you as our own."
"Claimed?" Tsukiko spat furiously.
"No, not like that," the woman said quickly. "You know what I mean. Took you in, raised you as if you were truly ours."
"Which you are, Tsuki-san. You're ours," the man added.
"And you never thought to tell me this? Any of this?" Tsukiko looked accusingly at one parent to the next, ignoring their apologetic faces. "Well!?"
"Would it have made any difference?" The man asked gently. "You're our daughter, and we love you so much."
"We were going to tell you," the woman said quickly before Tsukiko could lash her fury out on the man standing behind her. "We were going to wait until you were eighteen though. We thought that you'd take it better if you were older, and be able to understand."
"Does it look like I'm taking it well? DOES IT!?" Tsukiko screamed in a demanding way. Tears of anger and confusion quickly brimmed her eyes and she didn't dare try to hide them. Without waiting for an answer, she stormed out of the kitchen and headed into the entrance hall. The two parents followed quickly behind her.
"What are you doing?"
Tsukiko ignored the concerned man and slipped on the first pair of shoes she saw that belonged to her. She opened the door and ran out into the cold hard rain, forgetting to grab a coat.
"Tsuki-san! Come back!" The woman screamed hysterically. "You'll get sick! Tsuki-san! TSUKI-SAN!"
The man gently rested his hand on his wife's shoulder reassuringly. His eyes looked sad, as if he had been slapped in the face. "Let her go."
"Are you crazy!?" The woman screamed. "It's pouring out! She's going to get sick!"
"Let her go," the man repeated sadly. "That girl needs time to think and sort it out on her own. You know that as well as I do."
He looked sadly out at the open door as his daughter ran down the street in the pouring rain and disappeared from view. Like a ghost from his long forgotten past.
XxXxXxX
The amber eyed girl ran down the street, not caring about the heavy down pour making her completely drenched. The cold rain clashed with the hot tears built from frustration running down the girl's cheeks, making an odd burning sensation grow on her skin. She ignored it, and continued to run.
Tsukiko ran for what seemed like an eternity, letting the bone chilling rain wash over her and hide her endless stream of tears. Finally, she slowed down to a walk, but didn't stop. Her breath was harsh and raspy as she tried desperately to bring fresh oxygen into her lungs. Her eyesight was still blurred with tears but she had calmed down enough to somewhat see her surroundings. Apparently, she hadn't run as much as she thought because when she looked around she realized she was right beside Penguin Park. Without thinking twice about it, she walked over into the park and towards the outskirts of the tiny forest behind it. She glanced around, ignoring the ghostly presences she felt all around, and leaned her back against a tree trunk then slid down it so she was sitting down.
Tsukiko ignored the feeling of her clothes soaking up the thick mud beneath her as well as the large droplets originating from the above tree's leaves falling atop of her and pulled her knees up to her chest to cradle herself. She crossed her arms on top of her knees and buried her head into the comfort of her arms. The tears became larger and ran down her face much more rapidly than before. No matter how hard she tried, the tears refused to stop flowing.
It wasn't even the fact that she was angry for being adopted, or not really their child or whatever you wanted to call it. After all, Tsukiko was the one who had said nothing was wrong with being adopted so long as you had at least one person in the world that loves you. It was more so she was angry at the fact her parents hadn't told her, and weren't going to until she was a few years older. Didn't she have the right to know?
These thoughts and more swirled in her mind mixed with anger and confusion; mostly confusion. Everything was changing too quickly, too frequently. And yet, it explained so much. Tsukiko looked nothing like her parents, with her deep brown eyes and matching hair. Nor did she act like them, even when they were her age which her grandparents would point out at times. Maybe they didn't know she was adopted either? While her mother was quiet and kept more to herself and her father was polite and fairly proper, Tsukiko was always curious and stubborn; headstrong, her grandmother had once summed her up with, along with being free-spirted.
Suddenly the heavy raindrops falling from the tree onto the girl stopped, and the distinct sound of the drops falling onto a tight material above her filled her ears instead. She felt the warm gaze of someone close by. Tsukiko took a chance to cast her red and swollen eyes to be met with large, concerned jade ovals. The face was blurry and for some reason no name could come into her mind.
"What are you doing out here?" The jade-eyed boy asked with concern. "You're going to get sick!"
"How did. . ?"
Akatsuki looked away and clutched the umbrella's handle in his hand tighter. "I don't know. . .I felt your aura while I was coming home from the store," he hinted down at the bag in his hand with the umbrella, "so I followed it here."
The boy crouched down in front of Tsukiko when he realized her tears. He kept the umbrella's protection from the harsh rain over them both as he spoke softer, "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Iwakura-kun," Tsukiko spoke softly. The name belonging to the face in front of her finally came to mind. "It's. . .it's not bad being adopted, ne? I mean. . .you still have parents who love you, ne?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm just like you. . ." she said quietly, her eyes clouding over. She dug her face back into her arms and repeated it to herself in a mumble.
Akatsuki looked around cautiously at the forest behind her. He could feel and see the hundreds of spirts that haunted these woods, and almost all of them were glancing over at the odd pair. Most were genuinely concerned, but others such as murderers and rapists were not looking at them so. They were looking at them for different reasons, their own reasons. His green eyes narrowed on one well dressed man in particular who looked at the girl with lust filled eyes. The man, Akatsuki could somehow feel, was a dead rapist that killed many of his victims in the Penguin Park's woods and was probably bound to these woods in particular because of that very reason. It was these types of ghosts that worried Akatsuki the most, even though he knew they were dead and could do no harm.
He turned back to Tsukiko, "Come on, you have to go home. You're going to get yourself sick."
"Iie!" Tsukiko suddenly jumped up and backed away from him, pressing herself against a close by tree that was a bit farther into the woods than before. "I can't go back. Not right now. . . please."
Akatsuki opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. Her eyes were pleading with him, begging him not to make her. His eyes shifted over towards the male spirit he had been watching before; he had taken a few steps closer to them, to Tsukiko, since the last time he saw him. It was probably her magical capabilities that were pulling him so close to her.
Akatsuki sighed and stood up, walking towards the trembling girl. He made sure the umbrella was back over her and spoke softly again, "Well you can't stay out here. My place is just across the street. We can go there until you feel better. And then, if you feel up to it, you can tell me what you're running from."
Tsukiko hesitated as he held out his hand to her, but took it and held it tightly. Her fingers were numb and feeling was coming back to her as she pressed her fingers into the warmth of Akatsuki's hand. She squeezed it, hoping to warm her hand even more. He must have noticed this because he squeezed back onto her hand as well, and didn't loosen the grip.
Akatsuki led her to his apartment, which was literally across the street from the park. He let go of the girl's hand momentarily to unlock the door and gently pulled her inside with him. He set the bag of groceries down on the floor and closed the umbrella, placing it neatly into the vase beside the door.
"Now," he turned to Tsukiko and spoke gently to her, "What's all this about you being like me? Why are you so upset?"
Chocolate bangs swept across her clouded eyes, covering half of her face as she grazed her eyes onto the floor under her. "I'm. . .like you. No one wanted me. My parents abandoned me. . ."
"Nan. . ?"
"Mother and Father aren't my parents. My parents. . .they didn't want me."
Akatsuki watched as her body began to shake as more tears were shed. He couldn't help but clench his fist and grit his teeth. He unraveled his hands and shot them forwards towards Tsukiko, and firmly grasped her by the shoulders then gave her a small shake. The girl's eyes darted up, tears still rimming her eyes as she looked into his flame lit eyes.
"Iie," he said firmly. "You're wrong. We're nothing alike!"
"Demo—"
"You have two parents who love you! Two parents who accepted you into their home and lives; their family! You are their daughter, and they love you Nanami-san. That's the only way they look at you, is as their daughter. Nothing less. So don't. . .we're nothing alike."
"Demo. . .you have. . .your parents. . ."
Akatsuki looked away from her and let his arms swing back to his side, clenching his shaking fists once again. He could feel his whole body shaking and burning with rage. "My parents," he spat, "do you even see my parents here?"
Tsukiko opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it. She gave a look around; they were the only two people in the large apartment. And now that she actually gave it thought, no one had greeted them when they walked in. She turned back to Akatsuki who was still not looking at her.
"Those two probably want me less than my actual parents wanted me. The only reason why they adopted me was for political reasons; all their friends had kids, so why not them too?"
"Iwakura-kun, I'm sure that's—"
"Just hear me out, okay?" He shifted his eyes back to the girl only to see her nod in reply, then led his gaze back to the ground. "When you turn thirteen in an orphanage, they say you become hopeless, that you won't get adopted. No one want's to put up with a problem teenager. But those two adopted me when I was in my thirteenth year," he scoffed for a second then continued bitterly. "My mother didn't want to go through childbirth or a screaming baby, and my father didn't actually want to raise a child. Both are major workaholic's, so they were never home and wanted a kid that could take care of themselves. Since I was the oldest in the orphanage, they choose me."
He looked up to Tsukiko's sad eyes and tried to force a small comforting smile. He took both of her hands into his and gently caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. She was still shaking greatly, and it was then he realized she needed to change since she was still in soaking wet clothes, but he had to finish explaining all this to her first.
"So you see," he said gently, "we are nothing alike in that aspect. You have two parents who adore you, and the only way they look at you is as their daughter. Not some unwanted child, but their daughter. You're not unwanted at all."
His smile faltered as he brought one hand up to her forehead and pressed the back of his hand onto her skin. He frowned slightly, "You have a bit of a fever."
Tsukiko pulled away slightly and forced a small smile as well as she waved her hand lazily through the air. "Don't worry about it, I don't stay sick for long. It was probably just because of the cold I had."
"You went out in the rain with a cold!?" Akatsuki shouted angrily.
"Don't yell. . ." she pleaded with him.
Akatsuki sighed and roughly wove his fingers through his hair. He looked around quickly and spotted a basket in the hall with clean laundry he had washed earlier. He walked over to it and pulled out a pair of clothes and a thick towel, then walked back to Tsukiko. He gently placed the towel around her trembling body and handed her the clothes.
"You can change into these. They belong to my mother, so they may be a bit big but at least it's something dry. You can stay here until you feel like you can go home, but don't hide out for too long. Maybe only tonight. I'm not trying to kick you out, but they'll be worrying about you with this storm and all."
Tsukiko nodded and gratefully took the clothes from him. They felt warm in her palms. "If you don't like them," Tsukiko started boldly. "Why do you call them 'Mother' and 'Father'?"
Akatsuki seemed to ignore her and pointed to the hall behind him where the basket was, "You can change in the bathroom. It's just down that hall, second door to your right."
Tsukiko didn't press on and walked around him, disappearing down the hall and into the bathroom.
Akatsuki looked down at the ground and clenched his teeth together as he remembered the day the Iwakura couple had picked him up.
"And as long as you stay at my house, you will call us Mother and Father. I don't want my son to be disrespectful by calling us otherwise, understood?"
"Hai, Iwa—"
SMACK! The young jade eyed boy whimpered when the woman's hand ran across his face sharply. He clutched his cheek, determined not to cry. If one thing the orphanage had taught him, it was never to show his true feelings. The man beside the woman, her husband, did nothing to defend the boy.
The boy cleared his throat, "Hai, Mother."
XxXxXxX
Tsukiko opened the door from the bathroom and poked her head out into the hall. Her hair was still a damp, since she had only towel-dried it which didn't do much good, but the dry clothes had sent a warm tingling sensation throughout her body as soon as she had slipped them on. She wore a midnight blue silk pajama's set, with a long sleeved button down shirt and long matching bottoms that she had to roll up so she wouldn't trip. The shirt was a bit big as well, as she had to find a safety pin in the medicine cabinet to create an extra button so her cleavage didn't show.
Tsukiko walked out into the hall nervously. "Iwakura-kun?" She looked at the four other doors in the hall, waiting for a response.
"Go into the livingroom and make yourself at home," his soft voice called out to her from behind the closed door at the end of the hall. "I'll be out in a minute."
Tsukiko nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see her, and found her way into the large livingroom. Once there, she hesitated to actually sit down as everything looked incredibly expensive. The couch was genuine tan leather and the coffee table had a glass top with a crystal candy bowl sitting in the centre. On each side tables on either side of the couch were antique vases and exquisite lamps.
She carefully sat on the edge of the couch, keeping her legs close together nervously and folded her hands into her lap. She looked around at the photos on the walls and realized something that made her frown slightly. Every photo were of people beside Akatsuki. All the photo's, except for one. A family portrait exactly across the room from her above a large television set, of which the amber eyed boy was not smiling.
Tsukiko pushed herself off the comfort of the couch and walked across the room to the portrait. The boy wasn't smiling, neither with his lips or his eyes that she was so use to seeing shine happily. He looked empty, lonely and cold; not the boy she knew now. A shiver ran down her spine; it was just like when she had first met him.
The woman standing behind him had cold grey eyes as her fingers looked as though they were clinging and digging into the boy's shoulders like claws. Her smile was cold and could cut through glass. The man standing beside her wasn't smiling either, but he looked as though he couldn't care less what his wife was doing to the boy in front of them. The young Akatsuki looked hurt and broken, as though he had given up a hopeless battle.
"Not a happy picture, huh?"
Tsukiko jumped when the boy's voice rang through her ears. She hadn't heard him come in. She blushed slightly, feeling as though she was caught doing something she shouldn't have and turned to face him. He was standing by the couch, looking over at her with a small smile. She pushed down the blush, her eyes widening when she gave a good look at him. He was only wearing a pair of flannel pajama bottoms. She couldn't help it, it looked as though she was staring and looking him over but that wasn't it at all. Sure he was well toned, but she wasn't looking at him like that. She was looking at the right side of his lower abdomen, where the material of his pants met skin.
As if in a trance, Tsukiko walked over to him and kneeled before him. Her finger reached up to where the top of his pants were, on the spot she was been staring at, and tugged down at them slightly so that more skin showed.
"H-hey. . .what are you. . ?"
Tsukiko ignored him and continued to stare in awe. There, on his skin, was something like a tattoo that resembled hers, but with an ancient looking sun instead of her crescent moon. It was lightly coloured with orange in the centre and yellow-gold for the rays. It bubbled out a bit, much like hers, and looked as though it had been burned into his skin. She used her other hand to lightly run over it, ignoring the shiver she got in return from him. Her eyes remained glued on the tattoo.
"What are you doing?" Akatsuki asked again nervously.
His words reached her ears this time, and as Tsukiko realized what she was doing her fingers let go of the elastic on his pants and she jumped up. She was beet red and she tried not to meet his eyes. "G-gomen nasai," she said quietly. "Demo. . .that mark you have. Where. . .how did you get it?"
Akatsuki looked down at the mark then back at her. He was hoping the pants would cover all of the odd mark, but apparently it didn't. He rubbed the back of his head nervously and looked back down at her. She had finally looked up at him, her eyed begging for an answer for some reason.
"It's sort of a long story," he admitted. "Why do you want to know?"
Tsukiko blushed a bit, but kept her eyes focused on Akatsuki. "I have a similar mark."
Akatsuki frowned, and ran his hand through his tussle of hair again. "It was the day Li-san found me," he began. "He was trying to convince me he worked with my father and that he was asked to pick me up today. Too bad he didn't know that my father would never do that. Anyways, when I refused he threatened me so I tried to fight him."
"Fight him?" Tsukiko asked in disbelief. "How. . ?"
Akatsuki grinned a bit, "I already knew I was different. I already knew about my powers somewhat, and had already experimented with them. Let's just say in the orphanage you have a lot of free time on your hands to find this sort of stuff out."
"Oh. . ."
"But when he tried a counter attack, it seemed as though something protected me," Akatsuki continued with a glazed look in his eyes. "And when he touched me, I burned him. It was. . .odd. Then when he left, something burned my skin and I got this," he pointed down to the mark. "I may be crazy, but it's the same shape a memento I had that I kept on my keys. I was wearing a sweater, and my keys were in the front pocket. This mark is in the same place that charm was in."
"Charm? What was the memento?" Tsukiko's heart began to race for no apparent reason. How did she already know the answer?
He blushed again slightly, "It. . .it was this charm thing the people of the orphanage found on me, when they found me. It was this sun charm thing with a gold star in the centre, and they figured my actual parents left it with me. So I kept it. . ."
Tsukiko nodded, a small smile wanting to spread across her lips. Even though Akatsuki often spoke as if he despised his real parents, there was a part of him Tsukiko knew of that really wished to somehow keep in touch with them, as any child would want.
She frowned and glanced back down at the mark, "There is no star, though."
"I know," Akatsuki said slowly. "It disappeared when it burned into my skin. Yue-san found me that night, after I told my parents about the strange man I met. He tried to explain it to me but couldn't very well."
"No, Kero-chan couldn't explain it to me either. He tried, but all he could really say was that it was probably my magic's way of trying to protect me."
"What about you?" Akatsuki asked. "When did you. . .how did you get yours?"
Tsukiko blushed and looked away. "Anou. . .same way, b-but it's. . .anou. . .I can't really show you. Because. . .I-I wore it as a necklace. . .and. . ."
Akatsuki caught on and blushed as well. He looked away and shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I'll go make some tea then. . .it'll make you feel better."
"You don't need to, really."
"Don't worry about it, it'll help. Green or regular?"
Tsukiko tried to look back up, but found he was looking away as well. Her blush remained on her face, "Green, please."
He nodded and walked off towards the kitchen. Tsukiko watched him disappear behind a wall to where the kitchen was and sighed, letting her fingers lightly rest on top of her chest, where her own tattoo laid.
None of this was making any sense to her. And it was just getting more and more confusing as each moment passed by her.
XxXxXxX
Akatsuki sat on the couch with his cup of tea with a sigh and beckoned Tsukiko to join him. She hesitated, looking down at her own hot cup of sencha tea and back at the leather couch, but sat down close beside him. She felt his strong arm lazily rest across her shoulders, but didn't pull her closer. Surprisingly enough, she didn't blush at all. She couldn't explain it; it didn't feel unnatural, sort to say, but it didn't feel right either. How was that possible?
Tsukiko began thinking about what Akatsuki had told her before, about not being similar to him because she had parents who loved her. And now that thought about it, she smiled. It was true, those two really were her parents and they always would be, and she would always be their daughter. She wouldn't have it any other way, would she? They may have found her, but she was theirs now. And she was grateful for them finding her and excepting her as no less than their child.
"Iwakura-kun," Tsukiko felt her eyelids becoming heavy. It was late now, and even though it was still storming outside she could at least tell that the sky was grey with night and not just with the rough clouds anymore. "What was it like. . .growing up in an orphanage?"
Akatsuki looked down at her tired body. He hadn't expected that sort of question to escape her lips, but he intended to answer it fully. "It sucked, probably worse than the other kids there. No one wanted to hang around with me and everyone found one way or another to make fun of me. I was considered odd and weird, but no one gave me a chance. It was the same way when I finally got a home and started school in Kyoto, no one wanted anything to do with me. That's why I found my powers so easily. . .because I spent a lot of time alone in my room. By the time I was six, I started to control fire if I held onto that charm. Yue-san explained to me that that charm was suppose to turn into a staff or something, but since it burned into my skin it showed that I was powerful enough not to have to use it. I guess it was the same when I was little, and I just had to hold it."
Tsukiko smiled a bit, and closed her eyes. She didn't want to let sleep overtake her, but she couldn't help it."Do you regret coming to Tomoeda?"
Akatsuki returned the smile and leaned his head down, lightly kissing the top of her head. She smelt of fresh strawberries with a hint of some flower. "Never."
Tsukiko opened her eyes and looked up at him upon feeling his lips on top of her head. He looked down at her with his large green eyes, making her smile. Something was screaming at her, but she couldn't help it. Again, this felt natural and unnatural at the same time.
"You know," she said without thinking about it. She didn't want to do anything she would regret. "Akimi-chan likes you."
Akatsuki kept a straight look, his smile sinking a tad, but he nodded. "I know, she told me last night."
"And. . ?" Tsukiko asked, hoping sincerely for the best. Her friend had never felt love before, and she desperately wanted her to learn about it even with the odd feeling Tsukiko was getting.
"I told I couldn't. . .I don't like her that way."
Tsukiko wanted to say something else, but her eyelids were falling again and sleep was taking over her body. She snuggled back up against him, and felt him take her cup before it dropped. Her lips parted a bit, just enough for her speech to be audible. "She's. . .a nice girl, you know. . ."
"I know," she heard his distant voice say. "But she's not the one I want to go out with. She's a nice girl, but I can only see her as a friend."
Tsukiko didn't hear anything after that, as she let sleep completely take over her body. She slid off into the unknown world of sleep, not feeling the boy lay her gently on the couch and provide her with a large blanket to keep her warm.
The boy slid a hand on top of her forehead, and smiled; her fever was gone. He continued to smile to himself as he turned off the lights and went into his bedroom, letting the soothing sound of the rain pounding on his window to let him, too, into the world of sleep.
XxXxXxX
"Oh, look, she opened her eyes! Isn't she cute, Syaoran?" The gentle woman's cooing voice said. Her big green eyes rested on the baby as she picked her up out of the small cradle and into her arms .
"She's beautiful," The man, Li Syaoran, said. "Just like you."
The woman seemed to ignore this and kept cooing at the baby wrapped in soft pink blankets in her arms. "She has your eyes."
The man smiled."Yes, but everything else is you."
"Not true," the woman continued softly. She was focusing on her baby more than her husband it was plain to see. "Both have your unruly chestnut hair."
"Is awake yet?" The man asked.
"Iie, he's still sound asleep." The woman sighed and continued cooing softly to the swaddled baby in her arms. "This one loves sleeping, but not during the day. She's stubborn," she smirked. "Just like her father."
Syaoran reached for the baby in the woman's arms, and lightly touched her cheek . His lips turned into an amused smile as the baby smiled back up at him.
"She's got you wrapped around her little finger already, ne?" The woman smirked.
His smile grew as he joined the woman in cooing to the baby. "They both do."
Suddenly, the woman was screaming. Everything went black as a terrifying, cold laugh filled the room. The woman continued to scream as there was a thud; something had fallen to the ground.
"Syaoran!" She screamed the name of her husband asthe horrifying laughter grew"SYAORAN!"
Tsukiko jolted up on the couch, gasping for breath yet again. Cold sweat poured out over her as she reached for her head. It was that screaming again. . .that screaming of the terrified woman. Where had she seen that woman before? She was sure she recognized her. And that laughter. . . why did she know that laughter?
She laid back down, wanting nothing more than to fall back asleep. She fluffed the cushion behind her and pulled the blanket Akatsuki had laid on her up to her chin, wrapping herself in its warmth, more so for comfort. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, asking sleep to return to her. She was between the worlds of sleeping and waking when a blood curdling scream filled her ears and sent her eyes flying open.
"NO!" The voice screamed. "STOP! NO!"
Tsukiko threw off the covers and stumbled through the dark house, trying to make her way to the scream's owner. She followed it to the end of the hall where Akatsuki's room was, and walked into the room stopping only a few paces in.
Akatsuki was clearly still asleep, but he was thrashing about like he was on fire. Panicked, she ran over to the side of his bed. He was crying; tears ran down his cheeks even though his eyes remained shut tight. He continued to scream out hysterically and thrash around, once almost hitting Tsukiko.
Tsukiko leaned over and grabbed him by the shoulders, hard, and began shaking him like a rag doll to wake him up. She began calling out his name, trying desperately to wake him. He gave one final scream before his eyes flew open and his body jolted upwards. His hands latched onto the girl's upper arms, tears still running down his face. His body shook as his fingers dug into her arm and he looked up at the girls face.
Tsukiko looked down at him with concern, trying to search his face for some sort of answer. "Iwakura-kun?"
He looked around nervously, and roughly let go of the girl. His shaking hands reached for his head and gripped his hair, as he pulled his head down and let the tears flow. "I couldn't stop it again. . .the screaming. . .stop the screaming. Help her, Kami, help her. . ."
Tsukiko looked down at him confused, not knowing what he saw. She opened her mouth to ask, but closed it. Instead, she reached her hand out and touched the top of his head, making him jump slightly. He looked back up at her, his face stained with tears. She ran her hand down along his face and rested it on his cheek, cradling his face. She used her thumb to wipe his tears away, trying to comfort him.
"I couldn't. . .the screaming. . ." he repeated almost inaudible. "The woman. . .she won't stop screaming. And there's. . .there's laughter. . .the babies. . ."
Tsukiko pulled him close to her and wrapped her arms around him; he did the same to her. He gripped onto the back of her silk shirt in a white knuckled grasp. His tears stained her shoulder as his body continued to shake while he cried. The girl rubbed the back of his head soothingly, trying to do all she could to clam him down.
"Stop it. . .please, stop all of it. . .save them. . ." he repeated into her shoulder between sobs. "Please. . ."
Tsukiko began rocking him back and forth, whispering soothing words into his ear and continued to run her hands through his hair. After a bit, his body stopped shaking and the tears stopped flowing as he fell asleep in her embrace.
Tsukiko laid him back down gently and pulled the blankets back up onto him. Tears still clung to his eyelashes, as he mumbled the same pleading words in his sleep. She wouldn't ask him what the dream was about, but it had clearly upset him. She felt the shivers run down her spine as he explained his dream with those few words, but she hadn't linked the shivers to reasons; the screaming woman, the laughter, the babies. . .
She had long forgotten the name she heard earlier that night.
XxXxXxX
Okay, first of all. . .don't kill me!! Hehe. . . let's just say that these two are REALLY dense XD. They must get it from their parents, ne? I mean, remember how dense Sakura and Syaoran were when they liked each other? It's that gene coming out in them; too dense to realize they're related.
— IMPORTANT MESSAGE — Gomen nasai. . .I know it's a few days late but I got stuck at some parts for how to lead into certain things. I think I am going to go a different route with this though. Since it's coming to the end of May, I only have a few weeks left of school and they're loading up with work like you would not believe to prepare for exams in June. So I think what I'm going to do is stop putting up a date for when the chapters will be out, and I'll just post them whenever I can until exams are over. Once summer comes, I'll have them come out on a regular basis.
Sorry for this, but school comes first no matter how much I love writing. Thanks for understanding.
And please remember with the next chapters to read all the way through Tsukiko's dreams because I do add things to them. They are the same dream she's seeing, but there's always more to it each time, or something changed in it. Thanks!
— Rai