Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry I haven't updated, but I was on vacation and there wasn't a computer! (Well, not a good one anyway).
The next morning they were going to see Akito. At 5:00 AM Kyou showed up on their doorstep and told them to get up.
"Do you know what time it is?" Reina whined. "We're not going until 9:00."
Kyou sneered. "And you weren't going to train first? You're way to confident, brat."
She smiled. "Really…?" She jumped up in an attempt to pin her brother to the floor, but he lazily hopped aside.
"You're too slow. And there wasn't enough power. Haru's the same way. Where is he? You're both training this morning."
"Why are we training?" Haru walked in. "You want us to beat Akito to the ground?"
"You should train every morning anyway. Today just happens to be important."
"Important enough to drag me out of bed at five in the morning." Shigure showed up. "Kyou-kun, do you sleep at all?"
"Waking up early trains the mind." He said.
"Your mind needs a lot of training." Reina teased. Wrong thing to say this morning.
Kyou whacked her over the head. "Be serious."
"Ow…" She rubbed her head. "Great…my brother beats me up."
"Do we really have to do this?" Haru asked.
"Yes." Kyou said. "Come now." He grabbed them both by the wrists and dragged them outside. Then, for two hours, he drilled them on stance, speed, and the power of their punches and kicks.
"I'm never training with you again." Reina said as she nursed a cut on her arm she obtained when Kyou threw her onto a rock. "Never."
"But training with Kyou tests your strength." Haru said. "And it forces you to do your best work."
"Screw my best work. This really hurts."
"Suck it up." Kyou whacked her over the head again. "It's not that bad."
Reina mumbled on about sibling abuse and went inside to take a shower.
After she was out of hearing range, Shigure started talking to Haru.
"Haa-kun, this is serious. Be extremely respectful to Akito."
"I know Sensei." Haru said tiredly. "Respectful."
"And listen to what he says. Watch his moments. If he gets violent I'll be waiting right outside the door."
"Me too." Kyou said.
Haru stared at the two of them. "So what everyone is always saying is true huh? I mean, after Tori-nii's eye I was pretty sure…"
"Yes. So be careful." Shigure said, sounding like a worried mother.
"Okay."
"Good."
When the time came, Reina and Haru entered Akito's room silently, while Kyou and Shigure prowled the hallway.
Akito's back was turned, and the room was dim. Haru wondered what thoughts were going through Reina's head.
Akito turned to face them. "Ahh, my dear Reina-chan. How long has it been?"
"Not long enough." Reina snapped.
His eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh, really? You didn't miss me?" He smirked. "I missed you. All the fun times we had together were all I had. And now Hatsuharu gets to have all the fun."
What are they talking about?
"It wasn't fun, it was sexual harassment you pervert." Reina said evenly. "Now, why do you want us here?"
Glaring, Akito moved toward them with surprising speed. "I want you to leave Hatsuharu. I will not allow the two of you to be together!"
"Why not?" Haru asked. "Just because you're going to die doesn't mean you have the right to ruin the lives of others."
"And so the stupid ox speaks up." Akito spat. "You're wrong Haru. I can do whatever I want. I control this family!"
"You can't control me!" Reina yelled. Then things got physical.
Akito lunged for her, rage obvious in his face. "You think you can disobey me!"
Reina hopped out of the way, only to have Akito fall on top of her, pinning her to the ground. Haru leapt into action.
"Get off her you bastard!" He shouted, wrestling Akito off.
The door burst open, and Kyou came through with Shigure in tow. "Kyou-kun…don't do anything drastic…Don't kill anyone!"
Kyou jumped into the fray. "Fucking bastard!" He yelled at Akito. The four of them rolled around on the floor.
"I didn't need your help!" Reina said to Haru as she kicked Akito hard in the groin.
"The hell you did." Haru said. "You would have never gotten him off."
"Everyone stop!" Shigure shouted with authority. The three of them stopped at once, and Akito sat on the floor gasping.
"You're monsters. I always knew the cats would be monsters together, but I never thought the ox would cause me this trouble." He turned to Haru. "You think you know your little girlfriend so well. You think you understand how gruesome she is when the transformation occurs. But you've never seen it. You have no idea what the cat truly is!"
In a flash, he had grabbed both Reina and Kyou's wrists. "I'll show you!" He ripped off their bracelets.
The transformation began at once. They both cried out in pain.
"Akito, this is going too far!" Shigure shouted over the cries. "You don't know what will happen if they both change at once!"
"What do you mean?" Haru shouted, trying not to listen to the painful screeches.
"There's a reference to this sort of mutation in the old books. If there are two cats and they both change to their true form, they have powers of some sort!"
Swiftly, a disgusting smell engulfed the room.
"Ahh, they've changed." Akito said evilly. "Now, see them both for what they truly are!"
But what Haru saw didn't seem to matter to him. "Akito, don't you get it? I'm cursed too. I don't care if her curse is more grotesque. I still understand her. You don't understand us, do you?"
Akito was miffed. "You don't care? But it's disgusting! Look at them! Look at them!"
"Maybe you should look at yourself!" Haru said quietly. "Think about what you're doing to the people around you."
"Um…hate too interrupt the whole realization process, but look at the sky!" Shigure said.
The sky was a scary sight. Dark clouds had moved in from nowhere, and lightning was already dancing across the sky.
"Kyou, Reina, are you doing this?" Shigure asked.
They stared at him blankly. "We don't know. And I don't care." Reina said. "Akito did this, so now let him see the consequences!"
(A/N: I was soo tempted to stop here, but I haven't updated in a long time so I'll make a super long chapter)
A fierce wind tore through the room, destroying the paper doors. The sky was black now.
"Now really…stop this!" Shigure shouted. "Akito, give them the beads! Hurry!"
But Akito was paralyzed with fear. Haru was the one that grabbed the beads and handed them to Kyou and Reina. They changed back instantly, and the wind stopped.
Haru put his arms around Reina. "Are you okay?" he whispered.
"Yeah…" she replied. "It only hurts for a minute."
Kyou was sitting in the corner rubbing his head. "Oww…Akito you bastard." He growled at him.
Akito had backed up against a wall. Seeing him, cowering like a baby, turned Haru black out of anger.
"See all the trouble you've caused?" He yelled, standing over him. "What now? Are you still going to tell us we can't be together? Well!"
"N-no." Akito stuttered. "I-I see now. You two…you two will be good for each other…"
"Anything else you'd like to say? Maybe apologize for a few things?"
"Yes! I'm sorry. I'm sorry I called you stupid. I'm sorry I made the two of you transform…I just never realized…."
"Never realized what? That other people have emotions? That other people can be happy even when you're not? You make me sick."
Shigure put his hand on Haru's shoulder. "Haru, that's enough now. Why don't we leave Akito alone with Haa-san." Hatori had appeared out of nowhere.
"What?" Haru turned white again. "Oh, right. Come on Reina. Let's go home."
She stood up and walked over to him. "Okay. Kyou, come on." She called over.
Her brother stood up slowly. "Doesn't transforming give you a headache?" He asked, still rubbing his head. Apparently headaches make Kyou very docile.
"I've got your DNA." She said in response. "What do you think?"
"Let's get some aspirin for you two then. Away from here." Haru said.
"Yeah. Let's go home."
No, the story is NOT over yet. Don't worry.