Curse of Each Season
Spring
That day and a half passed remarkably quick, with very little interaction between Ritsu and Teto's family.
And after the time was up, Ritsu left in the morning, without a goodbye. He didn't feel the need to announce that he was leaving, so, being a very stubborn and opinionated person, he didn't.
Three weeks passed, and the snow melted into spring, but patches still littered the ground in some places. It was the day that Ritsu's fate would be decided- either he returned to the Kasane house and would live a little longer, or he would be killed, twice.
Teto lay face up on the front porch, looking at the sky that was partly shrouded by the overhanging roof of the house. The weather was already warm, but spring had just begun. Shading her eyes with her arm, she squinted into the clear sky. If Ritsu didn't return, she had permission to kill him, but she didn't want to. She just wanted to see him again. And if she tracked him down, she would want to spend time with him, not murder him.
She rolled onto her side so that she faced the road. Buds sprouted from the trees. Things were just becoming green. The weather gave life to all of the plants and animals. Teto liked spring very much.
And of course, because of Teto's curse, she acted with the season.
It was much different than winter, when she could barely get out of bed without assistance. In spring she got up early, all by herself, and was full of life. She had constant mood swings though, usually in coordination with the weather. When it rained, she sulked away to wallow in her own gloom. When the sky was clear and the sun was bright, she was cheerful and easily excited. It seemed that she was more and more affected by the season as her curse progressed. If the curse went unbroken, then by winter, she would die from the cold.
Regardless of the nice weather, Teto was feeling nervous. She tried to focus on something happy, but every one of her thoughts lead back to Ritsu. She couldn't stop thinking about him. It was around noon, and Teto was having more doubts about his return.
Teto shifted into a sitting position.
"Teto-chan~! Do you want some sweets?" Momo stepped through the open door of the house and plopped down next to Teto with a box of chocolates in her hand. Yukiko eagerly waddled over and purred, turning in circles excitedly.
"Oh, yes please." Teto accepted a piece of the candy.
Every spring and summer, Teto's village received shipments of supplies that they couldn't get themselves. And of course, they received other, less necessary items as well, like candy, books, and other entertaining items.
Teto swallowed, and suddenly her mouth felt dry. She wandered inside to get a drink of water. When she returned, Momo and Yukiko were gone. Momo probably went to clean something, being the busybody that she was.
Teto sighed and sat back down, dangling her feet over the edge of the porch. A spring breeze blew warm air on her neck. She hesitantly reached up and tugged the ties out of her hair. It fell to her shoulders in smooth, curly waves.
Smiling slightly, she leaned back. She felt so lazy. The sun warmed her pale skin. She closed her eyes. Teto's mind began to drift as she sunned herself like a cat. Soon enough, her thoughts came back to Ritsu, and how he was when he first met him. He was sunning himself on a rock, with his red hair fanning out in the breeze. He looked so feline and feminine. Ritsu had appeared to be a cool and calm person, but he was much more eccentric than his appearance let on.
She chuckled to herself. She really couldn't stop thinking about him.
She sat there for a few more minutes, in the sun, with nobody around. Mako was probably with Ted somewhere, sparring. And Momo was with Yukiko, somewhere else. For a moment, Teto felt lonely.
And then she heard someone calling her name.
"Teto!"
She opened her eyes and winced, blinking in the harsh sunlight.
"Teeetooo~!"
She shielded her eyes with her hand, eagerly searching for the source of the voice. The first thing she saw was his flaming red hair.
"Yo, Tetokins!"
There was Ritsu Namine, waving to her from twenty feet away with a huge grin spread across his face.
Teto gasped with delight and leaped from the porch. Smiling from ear to ear, Teto ran up to her friend and jumped on him, sending him toppling backwards onto the ground.
"Ritsu!"
"Ah, Teto! I can't breathe! Hey!" He called out in protest but didn't make a more to push her away as she smothered and hugged him tightly.
"Oh, so you're this Teto girl who I keep hearing about?"
A new voice sounded from Teto's left. She turned her head to see a very tall girl with short black pigtails and two different colored eyes staring back.
"Who're you?" She stared at the figure above her with suspicion.
Ritsu sat up and casually draped one of his arms over Teto's shoulder. He motioned to the tall figure. "This is Ruko Yokune, a distant relative of a fortune teller who visited this village like, a hundred years ago or somethin' like that. Do ya remember my fourth theory, Tetokins? 'Someone skilled at witchcraft cursed the Kasane Family'? Yup, we're gonna test it out! Of course, I can't be sure if she's actually the descendant or whatever, of if we've got the right fortune teller, but we can't be sure if we don't try, right?" He let out a loud laugh and grinned brightly.
Teto pulled away from him and stood up, brushing herself off. Ritsu stood up as well.
Ruko held out a hand to Teto, who reluctantly shook it.
"I don't mean to intrude, I apologize for appearing so suddenly with Ritsu, here," Ruko smiled gently as she apologized. She was much more polite than Ritsu had been during their first meeting.
"Eh, oh, it's fine." Teto waved a hand in the air.
"Aha, Teto~ your hair looks funny when it's down!" Ritsu joked, bouncing one of her curls.
"Wha- don't touch my hair."
"Fuhuhuu~ but it's all fluffy and swirly!"
"It's not!"
"It is~! And when it's up it looks like you're got two drills stuck to your head! Haha!"
"Why you-"
"RITSU!" Suddenly the red haired crossdresser was tackled again, this time from the behind, by Mako, but he managed to stay standing. "Hey, hey! I knew you'd come back, you silly boy!"
"I'm a woman!" He whined back at her.
"It's nice to see you again, Ritsu." Ted stepped up next to him, smiling politely.
Ritsu gave Ted a big smile, and then turned back to Teto. "Tetokins, where's Momo-chan?"
"Eh, probably off with Yukiko somewhere."
Mako continued to cling to Ritsu from behind. "Hey, do you stuff your bra?"
"I'M A WOMAN, REMEMBER?" He yelled at her while trying to push her off of his back.
"Fuhuhuu! But I know you do, I saw you naked when I had to change your bandages!"
"Hey, th-that's personal!" His cheeks reddened a bit. "Oh, and this is Ruko. She might be able to help break Teto's curse." He motioned to the tall girl who stood by his side.
Mako and Ted quickly introduced themselves.
"Everyone, is Ritsu-sama back?" Momo called as she stepped out of the house, with Yukiko running in circles around her feet. "Why don't you all come inside? I've got snacks and tea!"
Hah, I feel like it's been a while. Has it? I don't know, I'm terrible at keeping track of time. Although, I do usually remember when it's time for lunch. Mmm… lunch…
But lunch is unrelated. There's more important things to discuss, yupyup! Like how lately I've been feeling like Ritsu-chan doesn't have enough stories where he's the main character. I mean, go look in the Vocaloid category and make it so it only shows the stories that have Ritsu listed as one of the main characters. At the time that I am writing this, there are seventeen stories listed there. ONLY SEVENTEEN. And most of them are by Akita Daichu. Not that that's a bad thing, her writing is wonderful~
BUT ANYWAYS. So yep, I think Ritsu needs more love. He's a crossdressing, twenty-five ton android with flaming red hair, a tiny top hat, and a temper. I mean, what's not to love?
Oh geez, I just did the sorting thing again with Iroha as the main character. She only has two stories. Mizki has none. ARFGH THIS IS NOT JUSTICE.
…FFF- LEN HAS 1,288 STORIES. That's like, three times the amount Miku has (439 stories) and makes up more than a third of the Vocaloid stories on this website. DANG YOU, YOU BANANA OBSESSED, ROAD ROLLING, YELLOW HAIRED SHOTA! Stealing all the fame! SHAME ON YOU. And I didn't even count all of his smutty, M rated stories! My goodness!
And, this is far too long of an author's note. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Ruko made an appearance, but I really hoped you noticed it anyways. I'm gonna go watch some anime now. Review, and do something wonderful! ~Meimei