Hatori left. I crawled up on my couch, thinking. Would he manage to persuade Akito that I could be trusted? Who was this Akito anyway? Why was Hatori so scared of him? He seemed pretty powerful … Akito, the head of the Soma family … Was he also a member of the zodiacs, like Hatori?
At this point I remembered the story about the animals … Invited by god to a feast. A terrible notion came over me. Could it be … Akito, the personification of the god?
"Don't be silly!", I shrugged off the bad feeling. "You're just getting paranoid because you don't want to lose Hatori!", I told myself. And yet … the man, I had seen looking out of the window, at my first visit to the Soma main house … Could it be?
The day seemed to last an eternity. I stayed at home, wondering about the curse of the Soma family and if Hatori would really have to erase my memories. It was evening, when the bell of my apartment rang.
"Hatori!" I had to force myself not to hug him, as I saw him, standing in front of me. He looked tired, but he was smiling. "Kari-chan." I gestured him to come in.
"Is everything okay?", I managed to ask. "I'm fine", Hatori nodded, as he sat down at the kitchen table. "I talked to Akito", he told me. "I explained everything and he seemed to understand … he said that, as long as I think we can trust you, it is okay for you to know about the curse, at least for now." For some reason, Hatori didn't look too happy though.
I grabbed his hand. "But this great!", I said. "We can be together! And we don't have to hide or anything." "True", Hatori nodded. "But you don't know Akito." His face darkened. "He did not allow me to stay with you for nothing … I am sure he had his motives …" He didn't say more but judging by the look on his face, it didn't mean anything good.
I smiled, bringing my face closer to his. "Well, right now, I am just happy, that you don't have to erase my memory", I said. Hatori gently touched my chin. "I am still not sure, if you really know, what you are getting yourself into …", he replied. I kissed him sweetly on the lips. "I know that I want to be together with you", I smiled. Hatori just looked at me. "Then this is the point of no return …"
That night I couldn't sleep. So I lay on my bed and watched Hatori, thinking about what had happened today. Again, Hatori hadn't told me anything about the curse, even though I had asked him. "The less you know, the better", he had said. "For your own good." It seemed to bother him, so I stopped asking. I was with Hatori, that was the only thing that mattered. As long as I could be with him, nothing else mattered …