"Okay everyone, tea's served!" Tohru said brightly, placing each individual cup down on the table gently to prevent it from spilling. The boys around the table murmured their thanks, apart from Momiji who practically sang his appreciation. After school, Hatsuharu and Momiji had invited themselves around the house for dinner. "Oh, won't your parents mind?" Tohru had asked. "What if they were making a meal for you and you don't turn up?"
Hatsuharu had just shrugged. "My mom doesn't cook so well."
Momiji just said, "My dad usually just gets takeout. Having a proper meal would be nice for a change!" Tohru honestly didn't know how Momiji was so small, if all he ate was takeaways. And neither Yuki or Kyo had objected particularly strongly (well, Kyo had, but that was just part of his personality, she supposed) so here they were.
She walked back through to the kitchen to take her own cup and smiled at Tamiko. The Mimicker had propped herself up on one of the tops and was stirring her tea absent-mindedly, her eyes focused on the swirling mass of green in the cup. "Tamiko, we're finished now. You can come sit down now." Tohru said.
"Mmm?" Tamiko looked up and her eyes slowly came back into focus. She'd been miles away. "Oh, okay, thanks Tohru. Sure you don't need any more help?"
"I'm sure." Tohru said happily. "The dinner doesn't need to be put in for a while yet, so we can sit and talk."
Tamiko nodded and hopped off from the top, taking her cup and folding both hands around it carefully, like she was trying to steal the warmth it gave her. It hadn't been a cold day, but Akito's visit had given her the shivers. Now he knew she was here, what would he do? Would he summon her? She hoped to God he didn't. She couldn't face being in that room with that person again. But if he threatened any of the Sohma children's wellbeing she would almost certainly have something to shout about. She tapped her fingernails against the china thoughtfully, making a gentle tap-tap-tap noise, before following Tohru back into the dining room. She found the only two spaces left were between Hatsuharu and Kyo, so she knelt down beside Hatsuharu and took a quiet sip of her tea before setting it down a little rougher than Tohru had.
"So, how was your first day at our school, Tamiko?" Tohru asked, sitting next to Kyo and turning to look at the only other female in the group.
"Oh, it was okay. I didn't realise how thick I'd been in high school before though. Some of the stuff boggled my mind, I'm not afraid to admit. Especially Math. I forgot how much I hated that subject. I used to bunk off those lessons with 'Gure."
"Way to go for setting a good example." Kyo muttered sarcastically.
"Hey, what can I say, Shigure corrupted me." Tamiko answered with a grin. "And I was convinced I'd be picked up by a publisher's as a novelist, so I thought Math didn't have much say in the equation."
"You wanted to be a novelist?" Yuki asked. When Tamiko nodded, albeit a little sadly, Yuki added, "Well, how did you not get picked up and someone like our cousin did?"
"I wasn't soppy enough. I didn't write love stories with happy endings. Shigure just wrote whatever his perverted mind vomited out. And oddly enough, it was stuff people wanted to read." She smiled. "Saying that, I did have copies of most of his books. He may have written under a pen name, but I know Shigure's writing style when I see it."
"Well you would've sold stories too. You told good enough ones to us." Hatsuharu pointed out, picking up his tea and taking a gulp of it.
"Oh, that reminds me! I was curious, if you don't mind me asking, I know Tamiko had been around your family for a while, but how do you all know her individually?" Tohru asked with interest, her eyes darting around the table.
Yuki and Kyo both turned and looked blankly at the girl in question, taking in her newly put on serene expression and the uniform she wore. Her clothes choice had been something that had astounded the entire school, although most of them thought she was a boy. She had had a bit of a picking on by some students who had found out about her being a girl because of her short hair, but both Tamiko and Black Haru had been able to deal with them quite well.
Yeah, Black Haru had broken through during a particular spat at lunchtime between Tamiko and a group of boys. They'd been taunting her and one had even grabbed onto her wrist and tried to pull her towards them. Tamiko had dug her heels in and shouted abuse at him that was ignored, and Hatsuharu hadn't been able to stop himself. By the time he'd turned back to White two of the boys had ran off and one was up against the wall with Hatsuharu's hands curled around his throat. Neither Yuki or Kyo understood why Hatsuharu was so protective of her- it wasn't as though she couldn't handle it herself- but at least the boys had been dealt with. They both knew that Tamiko could have potentially gotten rid of them by herself, and they had a feeling she'd been holding back to let Hatsuharu have his chance. It was odd, they all thought as she glanced at the pair; Hatsuharu really did seem to be more talkative than usual; usually he would only speak when spoken to and wouldn't really cut into a conversation that hadn't been aimed at him. He seemed a lot more relaxed too. And Tamiko seemed joined to his hip; it was quite strange for the other boys to behold. What had gone on during their walk, Yuki thought to himself. Obviously something had happened apart from Akito's arrival that had brought the two closer. He didn't want to ask, though. Surely they weren't...no, they didn't seem like that, they just seemed like good friends to him.
Ah, that was it. They'd become friends. Hatsuharu got very clingy once someone accepted his friendship. He then noticed everyone was looking at him to begin his story, so he cleared his throat.
"I have known Miss Tamiko since I was a child. She came to my house with Shigure and Hatori to see Nii-san, but ended up taking me out for lunch once she found out I was going to Akito that day." He smiled at the memory. "She used to stick up for me a lot when I got picked on by the others, especially the adults and Kyo." Yuki shot his rival a fierce glance as he said it. "When my older brother rejected me, she scolded him and gave me as much attention as she could. She always seemed to have time for everyone. She would take me out of the compound on occasion and shielded me from most of Akito's anger." Yuki smiled at her. "And for that I thank you, Tamiko."
"My pleasure." Tamiko bowed her head slightly in respect. "You were always such a shy, quiet little boy. I am so pleased you've turned out the way you have. You've become very strong, even if you don't see it yourself. You've surprised me, and that's always a good thing in my book." She turned to Tohru. "Did I mention that I was the one who taught Yuki how to fight like he does?"
Tohru's eyes widened, as did Kyo's. "Really?! I thought that was just natural talent!"
"Oh don't get me wrong, Yuki has the raw talent of a champion fighter, but I just tweaked it a little, made it look more elegant and flawless. I just turned him from a lion to a jaguar. I made him just that little bit more agile." Tamiko grinned over at Yuki. "By the way you kick Kyo's ass I can tell you get a hell of a lotta practise too."
"So you had Tamiko as a teacher!! You damn rat, that's where you get it from! Tamiko's practically a black-belt!" Kyo stormed.
"Kyo, I said he had raw talent."
"I don't care!"
Yuki just sighed at him. "If you want to believe that Tamiko managed to teach me all she knew then keep believing it, stupid Cat. You're just jealous I got more attention than you did."
"That's not true!"
"So, um...how do you know Tamiko, Kyo?" Tohru asked, trying to avert the conversation away from a potential confrontation.
He scoffed. "I wish I didn't know her, wearing the boy's uniform. She's almost as bad as Momiji." Kyo complained harshly under his breath. This earned him a whack from Yuki and a wail from Momiji.
"Don't be rude, she was the only one save Kazuma who truly stood by you. She deserves more than to be insulted about what she prefers to wear." Yuki hissed.
"Is that true?" Tohru said eagerly, turning to Tamiko for an explanation.
She nodded, making her earrings jangle. "Mmhmm, I sure did. Although little Ume here doesn't like to admit it, he enjoyed my company. I helped out a few times a week at Kazuma's dojo, so I saw Kyo quite often. I played with him because none of the other kids would, out of fear. I knew what it was like to be unwanted, so I made him wanted. I'd take him outside the main house, let him explore a few places... he was scared of a shopping centre when I first took him. He didn't like the number of people swarming around. It was kinda cute actually."
"Shut up, it was not!!" Kyo yelled defiantly. "You didn't help out, you kept putting me off my training! You disrupted my concentration and you kept blabbing on and telling me stupid stories!"
At those words, Hatsuharu put his cup down, wrapped his arms around Tamiko's neck and growled in the darkest tone imaginable, "Her stories were not stupid."
The group blinked at his sudden involvement in the conversation, and his sudden protectiveness of Tamiko. To Tohru's relief, Tamiko had been prepared and didn't transform. If both of them had turned into cows there would have been big trouble. "Haru, it's alright." She said smoothly, prising herself away from the younger boy. "Don't turn Black on us just because Kyo said my stories were stupid."
"They were not stupid." Hatsuharu repeated in the same acid tones, glaring at Kyo.
"I know better than to be provoked by such a weak insult, Haru. You should know that." Tamiko patted his shoulder gently before turning back to Kyo, her eyes flashing. "If you thought I was so useless then why did you always beg Kazuma to go with me?"
Kyo's face filled with colour. "I did not beg! I...asked." He knew that was a down and out lie. He could remember one time like it was yesterday...
"Kazuma, please! Can I go with Miss Kasai, can I, can I, can I?" He asked, his eyes large and excited.
Kazuma, his silver hair bound up in a ponytail, smiled serenely and shook his head slowly at the boy of six before him. "Well, she has some errands to run, Kyo. Maybe she would find it easier if you didn't go with her just this once."
"No! I want to go!" Kyo wailed.
Tamiko stood up from her seat and walked towards the door. "Sorry little Ume. I won't be long, I promise. I'll be back before you know it."
"But Tamii!" Kyo rushed out after her. She was in the middle of sliding the door to the dojo open and picking up her shoes. Her back was turned to him, so he took a running jump and landed on her back, wrapping his small arms around her neck. Tamiko let out a slight 'oof' of alarm and doubled over to keep him balanced. "You promised! You promised you would take me out today!"
"I know I did Kyo, I'm sorry. I need to finish these errands and I'll be back, promise."
"No, I wanna come with you!" Kyo had wailed, clutching to her tighter like an infant primate.
"Fine, fine!" Tamiko laughed lightly, hoisting him up higher as she straightened up. "You can come, just let me get my shoes on first!"
He let out a small smile as he remembered, and felt the familiar warm feeling he got when he was around her. She was like his safety barrier, something that was unmoving and safe. That had been squandered a little when she'd left, but it was slowly building back up now she was back. He then shook himself and focused back onto Tamiko.
"As for the stupid stories, I remember the one I told you about the Princess and the Wash-boy. I told Haru that too, didn't I? And Yuki." She smiled gently. "You especially loved that one, Haru."
"I did?" Hatsuharu stared down at her as she mentioned him.
"Of course you did! Remember the moral? 'Love is found in the most unlikely places'. I think it's the most beautiful moral ever. Because it's so true, it is found in the most unlikely of places. And you can't hurry Love nor escape it. It'll come to you in time." She watched Kyo as she said those words, turning him an even darker shade of crimson. "My other favourite is 'Everything has potential. Everyone and everything can, and will, live'. Which is why I think that holding any grudges or bad-feeling is pointless, because you need to get on with it whether you like it or not."
She avoided most of their gazes when the words were out of her mouth, because she knew what they were thinking. She nursed the largest grudge on Akito. She had no right to say it was a bad thing if she thought it. But she was no saint; it was bad even if she did it or not.
"Wow, so you were a storyteller? I thought that only happens in small close-knit tribes." Tohru said brightly, cutting through the atmosphere created like a knife.
Tamiko looked thoughtful. "Well, I once considered the Sohma family to be a tribe, seeing as like you said, it's very close and connected. But instead of some haggard old woman who sits in the corner and throws cats around, no pun intended there Kyo, they have me!" she chuckled and picked up her cup again, taking another swift drag of the now cooling tea.
Tohru looked up at a sudden pinging noise coming from the kitchen. "Oops, it looks like dinner's served! Hold on just a second."
The others nodded and watched as she rose to her feet and bustled happily to the room the ping originated from.
Dinner was a considerably quiet occasion, as evidently they were all mulling over what had been revealed by each other. Once the plates were cleared away (with both Tamiko and, to her amusement, Kyo's help) they sat back down at the table and more tea was poured for them by an all too happy Tohru. With their stomachs full and with happier moods, Tohru paused before asking her next question. "Why don't you age, Tamiko?"
All look of happiness and ease vanished from Tamiko's face at Tohru's question. She fell silent. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Tohru apologised quickly. Everyone's eyes were on Tamiko now. The boys had never heard the reason why she couldn't age, they had just accepted the fact that she couldn't. But here she was, being offered the question. Would she take it?
"It's okay Tohru. You were curious. And I'm sure so are the others here. There's no need not to tell you, I've just never been asked by anyone." She lowered her head and closed her eyes, as though trying to remember a vivid memory. "I was cursed. Well, my family was cursed. The Kasai and the Sohma families were once important and well off families, as the Sohmas still are, and both were deadly enemies. In an attempt at some kind of final decision between the families, they had a battle. The family that lost had to give up their best child as a servant to the rival family. The Kasai family lost. I wasn't born then, but it was my direct ancestor who was chosen." She shrugged lightly before continuing, "Anyway, it happened like any normal family feud. The fighting stopped, the Sohmas took the Kasai child and everything should have been brilliant. But it wasn't. It was at the same time as the Sohma ancestors were cursed. When they were possessed by the twelve spirits, my mother was cursed to serve them and remain forever young. She remained the age she was when she was cursed, which was around the 30 marker. But what seemed to happen was when she had me, the non-aging passed onto me and left her. So she was content to die in peace and left me on my own. I grew up pretty much like a normal kid, except when I reached 18 I just stopped aging." She picked up her cup and twirled the remainder of the tea inside it thoughtfully. "That was about 40 years ago now, when Akita was still the head of the Sohma family. I've seen many Sohmas come and go, many of the spirits pass onto other bodies, and yet here I sit, forever 18. And believe me, it is not as good as it sounds. Once the curse has lifted upon the Sohmas, so too does my curse. I will no longer be bound to them and I will also begin to age."
She lowered her head at this point and set her cup down without drinking from it. "It could also mean that the many years my ancestors have bourne will count, and that means that I could quite possibly turn to dust once the Sohma curse has been lifted or broken. I could die."
A silence followed her announcement. Hatsuharu replied to her story by wrapping his arms around her comfortingly and hugging her against him. This time, she didn't fight him off and leaned her head back against his shoulder, an action that made Hatsuharu uncharacteristically blush. As though she'd sensed his awkwardness, she immediately moved away from him and pushed him aside playfully. "Get the hell off, you sentimental ass. It's not that bad." She said affectionately.
Haru offered her a small smile, and she guessed it was one of gratitude.
"So...you were cursed too?" Tohru said with wide eyes, clearly drawn into Tamiko's tale now.
She nodded. "Yes. And I'm sure that if I could, I could break the curse upon the Sohmas." She looked around at them all, watching their reactions. All of them seemed to freeze and stare at her. "But I don't know whether I would, for my own selfish sake." She shrugged. "I've lived like this for years, I'm scared of what could happen. Even I'm scared of death and what happens after it."
"You won't die." The voice made her look up. Hatsuharu stared her down with such firm calmness she found herself believing it. "You won't. I believe you won't."
"Haru, believing it won't make it happen." Kyo sad, resting his hand in his hand as he gazed at the two of them.
Hatsuharu shrugged, and leaned back on his palms. "I know it won't. But it's better than living in the dark and always thinking like a pessimist."
He was saying this for her benefit, Tamiko could tell that. She tipped him a quirky smile. "You're right." When she glanced at the clock, she grimaced. "And it is getting really late. You and Momiji should head off home."
"Ah." His eyes had obviously found the time too. "Crap. I was having fun here." He sighed. "Alright, come on Momiji, time to go."
"Aww, but we were just getting to the good parts!" Momiji whined. "Can't we stay a little longer."
Tamiko shook her head, her motherly side taking over. "You can't 'mige, it's dark outside. Your parents will kill you if you're out past this hour."
"What if we got an adult escort to take us home?" Hatsuharu asked, inclining his look towards her.
"I hope you mean in the 'walk you home sense' and not the other one." Tamiko said curtly, standing up from the table. "Okay then, I'll walk you two home. Come on."
Tohru started as both boys moved from the table and went obediently to her side like puppy dogs. "But, it's the main house! Are you allowed, I mean, I heard that Akito forbade you to go inside!"
By this time the trio had moved down into the hallway and Momiji was in the process of pulling the door open. Tamiko turned to look at her, the dim light there was remaining illuminating her face shape, and the scars along with it. "Tohru, when do I ever go by any rules?" she said tauntingly, a small smirk on her face as she said it. And before she could reply to her, the three were out of the door and it was slid to.