Alright, 'tis chapter ten! I am on an updating frenzy. I am so proud of myself.
Anyway, I have been having a lot of people ask me about the songs, so I am going to list them.
Rei- "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap
Minako- "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton
Makoto- "Slipped Away" by Avril Lavinge
These are the ones for Ami and Hotaru
Ami- "Room of Angel" by Akira Yamaoka
Hotaru- "Socio" by Stone Sour
Thank you to Jinx Chaos, :D, Ancient Death, Broken Gem, Rei Minamino, KaiPhoenix, Spirit of the Dead, Sailor Taurus Angel, Kuroihitomi, zodiac dragonHatori, and PhoenixIllusion. Your reviews are what keep me going and what make me update so fast! Love to all of you!
Raiden: Love... Ew.
Silence: Ew, yourself. Be nice.
Raiden: Fine.
Silence: Alright, well I shall do the disclaimer this time. Neither I nor Raiden own Fruits Basket or Sailor Moon. The only thing we own is this plot. If anyone copies it, we shall be pissed.
Raiden: And I will chop off your hands!
We Who are Cursed
Chapter Ten: You Cannot Stop Me
Rei walked the streets a few days later, pulling her light jacket around her form. It was starting to get chilly outside, fall quickly fading into a weak winter. It was a Sunday, so school wasn't in. She hadn't found herself going the past days, but she didn't really care.
Ever since Hotaru and herself were abandoned by their parent's, Rei had planned to not go to college. Aya would support their funds and everything, so she just needed to stay by Hotaru. That was her duty.
It is your fault. It is your duty to stay behind to make them happy.
Rei had her head turned down as she walked, not really paying attention to where she was going. Her shoes hit the ground softly as her feet nimbly moved along the Earth, the wind blowing her black locks around her face.
Looking up, she noticed a familiar sight. It was the Sohma home. The house was near her own, but she hadn't expected to find herself here. Why exactly did she come?
"Rei-san?"
Turning around, she saw Yuki standing, his face in confusion.
"I apologize, Sohma-kun."
"Oh, no!" He smiled warmly. "Do not apologize, Rei-san. I was just surprised to see you."
There was a silence, but it was short lived.
"Tohru has wanted to talk to you." Yuki nodded his head in the direction of the door. "You should go see her."
Rei gave the boy a short nod and made her way inside, looking around the familiar living room. She went to the stairs, her hand grazing the wall beside it. Her mind was so confused. Why had she come to the Sohma home?
She raised a hand and knocked on Tohru's wooden door, her knuckles lightly hitting the oak twice. The door swung open, a beaming Tohru on the other side.
"Rei-san! It is so good to see you!"
"You as well, Tohru-san."
The brunette opened her door wider, revealing her spotless room. "Come in, Rei-san!"
Tohru bounded on her bed as Rei walked in slowly, standing in the middle of the room. It was very clean for the most part, only a pair of stranded shoes lay beside her bed post.
"Yuki-san said you wanted to speak with me." Rei picked at the ends of her hair, her eyes fixed on Hotaru.
"Oh, yes! I have something I want to ask you about." She waited to see if Rei would answer, but she didn't, so she continued. "It is about the curse."
As the word 'curse' fell from her lips, she saw Rei wince, as if the word was a taboo on living. It made her ache inside to know that she was going through the same thing the Sohma's just conquered.
"I think there is a way to break the curse."
Rei stopped playing with her sleeve, her fingers seeming to have frozen. Inside she felt her heart stop, eyes growing wide. What exactly had Tohru said?
"W-what?"
"I think there is a way to free you from the curse!" Tohru jumped off her bed and walked up to Rei. "Somehow the Sohma curse broke and it was said to be an 'unbreakable' bond…"
"Tohru," Rei began, turning her head down. "The difference between our curse and the Sohma curse is that ours was meant to be a curse. The Sohma curse was supposed to be a wonderful pact between the animals and God. The curse of the Zodiac was broken because the bond weakened; the animals didn't want to be with God anymore…"
"Well, since the animals broke their bond with 'God', making the Zodiac God also not essentially exist like the animals, maybe your curse has weakened, too. Since, you know, the Zodiac God was the one to curse you."
It was strange seeing someone she had just met really care about her sad existence. Her own family didn't care, so why should Tohru? But still, what she was saying kind of made sense…
"Will you come with me to the main house? I have wanted to talk to Hatori-san about this for a few days…" She looked at Rei with puppy-dog eyes, her bottom lip curling under.
Unable to refuse, Rei simply nodded, her mind doing complete circles.
"Good!" Tohru began to skip out of the door. "Besides, Hatori-san has been asking about you!"
"Hotaru…" Makoto mumbled as she passed her in the living room, collapsing on the couch in exhaustion. "Long time no see."
Hotaru sat on the loveseat, her legging covered legs dangling off of the side. She had always been considered short, much like her sister.
"Hello, Mako-chan… how are you feeling today?"
The brunette smiled to herself, her expression not going unnoticed by the youngest Taisen.
"To be honest… great."
This perked Hotaru's attention. Makoto had used this phrase for the past four days, each time her voice a little happier.
"I am happy for you, Mako-chan…" Hotaru gave her a weak smile, her amethyst eyes showing much happiness. "It seems as if all is going well."
They watched as clouds passed the sun, the light sometimes pouring through the window and others not. The wind brushed through the tree limbs, making the dead leaves fall from their branches.
"Yes… maybe things are going good for once…" Makoto stated, rubbing her head. "How is Rei doing? I don't see much of her."
"Well, she disappeared for a few days… nobody knows where too." Hotaru huffed. "She doesn't want to talk about it."
"I asked her. All she said was that she had a vision and had to do something about it." Bringing up this phrase made her remember her parent's, but she pushed her feelings aside. "She has that cut on her head, too."
"I have been thinking…"
Makoto sat up, turning to look at Hotaru.
"Have you noticed that things are not the usual here lately?"
"Like what?"
Hotaru rubbed her eyes absentmindedly. "Well, you are feeling better and I don't see 'them' as often…"
Makoto let out a long 'oh' and fell back onto her back, resting her head on the couch arm rest. "Yeah. Kind of weird."
"Very weird, indeed…"
Rei and Tohru arrived at the main house a while later after a silent walk, neither of them having much to talk about. Too much was already said, and likewise, left nothing to say.
The Sohma estate was very beautiful, houses sitting inside a walled and gated area, vines crawling up the brick. The sidewalk throughout the place was made of stone, lined with flowers.
They reached a house in the middle, people moving around the outside of its walls, whispering and nodding in their direction. It made Rei very uncomfortable, but she was willing to follow Tohru, hoping that maybe Hatori would know a way.
Tohru knocked on the front door, almost for it to immediately thrown open and for her small body to be mauled by a blonde boy. Rei watched as Tohru squirmed underneath him, her face probably turning blue from the lack of oxygen.
"Tohru! It is so good to see you!"
"It," She choked out. "It is good to see you too, Momiji…"
The boy, whom was obviously called Momiji, turned his gaze to Rei, his eyes widening.
"Hotaru-san?"
Hearing her sister's name made her jump a little in surprise, not expecting it in the least. When had he met Hotaru?
"No, that is my sister. I am Taisen Rei."
He tilted his head, eyes full of confusion. "Are you the one who called for her at the park?"
Then it hit her. He was the boy on the swing.
"Oh, yes."
"You saved Tohru, right?"
She exhaled loudly. This boy was full of questions. He seemed cheerful enough, and in a way, reminded her on Minako. Speaking of her cousin, she hadn't seen her in awhile.
"I did, yes."
Thankfully before Momiji could ask another question, Hatori appeared from the front door. His eyes lingered on Rei for a moment, and then their eyes met, both of them staring deep into the other. After a few moments Hatori just smiled, opening the front door more.
"Please come inside."
"I like this one, Haru."
"Yeah, I do too."
The happy duo walked through the mall cheerfully, the blonde haired girl donning a smile. To everyone on the outside, it would look as if a couple was taking a shopping trip. But to them, it was two lonely souls finding serenity.
"I like these earrings…" Minako pointed to a set of diamond studs in the display case. "Too bad I don't have my ears pierced."
"Well, why don't you get them pierced?"
Minako pushed her gaze away from the glass box and sighed. "Because I was never old enough to do it without a parent and as I got older I just kind of forgot…"
Hatsuharu smiled and patted her on the head, making her eyes look into his.
"Let's go get them pierced then."
Minako's jaw about hit the floor. She always wanted them to be pierced, but dealing with the pain was another matter.
"W-what?!"
Haru grabbed her hand, pulling her to the booth in the back of the store where they did ear piercing. "Come on! You want earring's right?"
The blonde nodded slowly as she reluctantly followed Haru, who seemed determined to get her ears pierced one way or another.
After talking to the woman in charge, Minako found herself sitting in a chair, her hands fiddling with the end of her skirt. She had dressed cute to impress Haru today, and now regretted wearing a skirt. After all, they weren't that comfortable.
"You wanted the diamonds correct?" The woman asked, her voice cracking and squeaky.
"Yes…"
The woman pulled this odd looking thing out of the drawer and put the earrings in, grabbing a marker and putting a dot on each of her lobes. After agreeing with there location, she gulped loudly, her eyes glued to the ceiling.
"Ready?"
After a terse nod, Haru grabbed her hands, making her feel more relaxed. He massaged her palms with his thumbs, her body feeling as if she was on a cloud.
"All done."
Her eyes flashed open, looking to see a smile on Haru's face.
It was all over?
"No way." She looked at her ears in the mirror. "I didn't even feel it!"
Haru watched as Minako beamed in the mirror, looking at her new earrings. For some reason he couldn't help but smile, her happiness making himself content.
"I can't wait to show Makoto! She will be so jealous!"
She put her hands down and turned to Haru, her eyes shining. Without thinking, she leapt onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much for making me do that!"
For a moment the world seemed to stop, time not growing a second older. But, it resumed soon, with Haru wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Your welcome."
For the first time in a long time, he thanked the Gods that the Sohma curse was broken.
Rei and Tohru walked inside Hatori's home, Momiji following close behind them as they went to the living area. Each of them sat around the table as Hatori brought in tea, waiting for him to take a seat before they continued the conversation.
"So, what brings you two here?"
Tohru took a sip of her tea and then placed it back on the table, her brown hair hanging over her shoulders.
"Well, I have something to ask you about."
Momiji hadn't even tasted the tea yet, only kept looking between Rei, Tohru, and Hatori.
"Do you know how to break the Taisen curse?" Tohru ignored the incredulous look she received. "Considering the bond between the Sohma curse and the Taisen curse, and the Sohma curse was somehow broken, shouldn't this one be able to be too?"
Rei looked at Hatori, whose face looked perplexed. She had never realized before how handsome Hatori was, despite the fact that he was considerably older than her.
"Well, I have heard of something…" Was all he had to say before they all got anxious, despite Momiji, whom was still clueless as to what the Taisen curse was.
End of Chapter Ten
Next time is Ami's special chapter!