TRIALS
The holiday came and went with each member having a personal conversation with Akito. Shigure explained that the two girls also knew their secret and wasn't surprised to hear that before he would allow them to stay any longer he needed to see them in person. Yuki had an interesting conversation with his parents and Kyo was once again reminded of the deal he made with Akito. As the final day came to an end Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure left the Sohma home and made their wake back to their house. They walked through the front door half expecting to find the three of them hurt and the house in disarray but instead the three of them were playing a nice game of rich man poor man while Linda had her leg stretched out across the floor.
"Welcome back guys, did you have fun the last three days?" Linda asked glancing up when they entered the room.
Kyo glared angrily at her while Yuki forced a smile. "It was… interesting to say the least."
"Well, just like we promised, we have a nice meal ready for you if you're hungry," Kylie said with a smile. She dashed into the kitchen and came back out with a tray. "Look! Tohru and I have been learning how to make sushi!"
This did cheer Kyo up just a bit. "What kind of sushi?" He asked slowly.
"Well, lots of kinds," Tohru said. "There's salmon, veggies, tuna…" she said listing them off.
"I'm sorry, my cousin is a sushi freak," Linda said shaking her head.
"What, no sign this time?" Shigure asked amused.
"Didn't need to this time," Linda replied looking through her cards.
Kyo picked out several different types of sushi before he sat down to eat, and Yuki decided on the veggie ones only. They offered some to Linda who refused saying she didn't like sushi and then slammed one of her cards on the table making her the winner of the hand.
"Sorry, Kylie, you're the poor man this time around," Linda said with a smile.
"Come on, Lin," Kylie said in a voice bordering on a whine. "You know I don't have any luck with games like this."
"You don't have any luck period," Linda pointed out with a grin.
"I wouldn't say that," Shigure said with a grin as if laughing at a private joke.
Kylie turned pink but tried not to let it bother her. "Just remember, I beat you at twenty-one."
"That's true…but there's no skill involved with that game," Linda replied scratching her chin.
"What about that game of spoons?" Kylie asked suddenly.
"That's just sneaking the spoons out without anyone knowing," Linda shot back. "You must have gotten all the practice from sneaking deserts off my plate all those years."
"Oh, desert sounds really good right now, maybe I should make some," Tohru commented. The three boys started to laugh and the three girls all looked up curiously.
"Did we say something funny?" Kylie asked them.
"No, not at all," Yuki assured them. "It's just good to be home."
"Yeah, hey Lin, you better start walking pretty soon. It's getting dull training by myself and Kylie's not much of a challenge," Kyo said.
"I'm a pacifist," Kylie said in her defense.
"Don't you worry, Kyo, I've been stretching out my ankle every day to help it heal faster. I'll be up and about in no time and then we can have that sparing match," Linda replied with a grin.
"Oh that reminds me, I told Akito about the two of you and how you now know about our curse," Shigure cut in making the mood do a 180. "He's going to allow you to stay until her sees you in person. After that he'll decided whether you can stay here longer. The only thing is he's going to see you one at a time." Yuki and Kyo looked at the floor with a mixture of fear and anger on their faces.
"No problem, we just have to meet with guy, right? In that case why don't we get it over with now?" Linda asked looking between the three.
Shigure's face turned serious. "This isn't a matter to be taken lightly. The reason why you've never met Akito before is because he's not allowed to leave the Sohma house too often. He has very poor health. The reason for that is… well, I suppose you could say he carries the foundation of the curse on his shoulders."
"That's terrible," Kylie said sadly.
Shigure nodded. "I'd rather not have the two of you come into any sort of contact with him. But since he is the head of the house, and because he requested it, it must be done."
"We understand," Kylie said acceptingly.
Shigure smiled at her sadly. He wondered… would she be able to look upon it with the same optimism once she met him?
"So, when is this scheduled meeting?" Linda asked feeling a little apprehensive.
"Well he said he would like to meet with Kylie tomorrow afternoon," Shigure replied despondently. "Linda was going to be the day after that but Hatori managed to convince Akito to hold it off until your ankle had healed."
"Sounds good," Linda said, relieved that her meeting was postponed yet at the same time worried about Kylie.
Kylie herself appeared slightly apprehensive but did her best to hide it. "I'm sure it'll all turn out okay in the end," she announced positively.
Everyone TRIED to believe her.
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The next day was school and Linda and Kylie accepted a ride from Shigure to make sure they made it on time. The day went without too many problems and Linda enjoyed not having to do anything in PE, though she still got hit in the head once or twice. By the time afternoon came around Linda's feeling of apprehension was hitting an all time high. Shigure came and picked up Kylie from school before heading off to the Sohma house leaving Linda to walk home alone.
"Are you ready for this Kylie?" Shigure asked worried.
"Yeah," Kylie said with a nod.
She wouldn't lie, she was nervous. Scared even. She saw how everyone reacted whenever Akito's name was brought up. That fact alone set her nerves on edge. But at the same time, she could not help but relate with Akito. And after all, everything had a silver lining, right? Akito had to have one too somewhere. When they arrived at the Sohma house, Shigure escorted her to a spacious room. Kylie saw a figure sitting by the window, staring out at the clear blue sky. That must be Akito, she thought. Shigure led her to the center of the room and thy both knelt onto the floor.
Akito gave no indication that he realized the two of them had entered until he said out loud in a low voice, "So…. you've come. I'm glad. I've been wanting to meet you for some time after hearing so much about you." He turned to look at them and Kylie saw that he, like the rest of the Sohma family members she had met thus far, had a very beautiful face. "So you now know the secret of the Sohma family," he said softly almost dangerously. "What do you think about our freakish nature?"
"I don't think it's freakish, Akito-sama" Kylie said softly bowing her head in respect. "Sure, you may be different but, you're still human."
Akito turned his attention to Shigure for a moment. "Shigure, I need you to go get Hatori. Now," he ordered leaving no room for debate. Shigure glanced over at Kylie before he got up and left hoping that his feeling of foreboding was wrong. The moment Shigure was gone Akito stood and approached her slowly. "You believe we're still human, even with the animal transformations? What gives you the right to say who's human and who's not?" he shouted hand streaking across her face.
Kylie ignored the stinging in her cheek as she looked up at him. "Does it hurt?" she whispered.
"What's that?" Akito asked angrily.
"It must hurt," Kylie continued. "Having to bear all that responsibility all by yourself. You feel alone, like the world has turned its back on you. It makes you angry, and sad and confused."
"Shut up. Just shut up," Akito shouted slapping her again this time hard enough to send her reeling.
Kylie slowly pushed herself back up and looked at him once more. "You don't have to be alone, Akito-sama. It's okay to share your pain with others. Because no one likes to be alone."
"What would you know about it!?" Akito yelled at her. "You know nothing! You think you can do anything? You can't!"
Kylie didn't let his rant deter her. "I know I might not be able to do much but, I want to help. Even if I get hurt, or killed, I want to help. Shigure, the other Sohmas, and you too, Akito. Because believe or not, I know what it's like to live under a shadow."
At this Akito's eyes became manic and he hit Kylie until she was slammed up against the wall, shouting all the while about her knowing nothing and not being able to break the curse. He went to do even more damage but was stopped as Shigure and Hatori both burst in at that moment and held him back.
"That's enough," Shigure said firmly, holding fast to the wrist of the fist he was about to strike Kylie with. "No more."
Akito glared at Shigure, still holding on to Kylie's hair with his other hand. "You're in love with this woman, aren't you?" He accused. "You want her, don't you? Don't you?!"
"Yes," Shigure said simply. His answer shocked Akito so much that he let her go and Hatori held onto him while Shigure knelt down beside Kylie finding her unconscious. "I still would like her to stay with me," Shigure added solemnly.
"She can stay, but only if you can carry her out of here in your own arms," Akito challenged viciously.
Shigure wordlessly placed an arm under the midsection of her back and the other in the crevice of her knees and picked her up off the floor, hugging her against him, his face nuzzling the top of her head. "I'm sorry," he whispered apologies that she was oblivious to in her unconscious state before walking out of the room with her.
Akito was shocked beyond words. "Stop…" he sputtered fighting against Hatori's grip. "Stop right there!"
"A deal's a deal, Akito," Hatori told him, not letting him go.
"There's no way he could do that unless she was a member of the zodiac. She must be a witch….she's a witch!" Akito screamed as he watched Shigure walk out of the room Kylie held tightly in his arms.
He carried her away, Akito's screams fading away with every step he took. He carried her to the small medical room next to Hatori's office and lay her down on one of the beds. He went and got a cloth, soaking it in cold water before going back over to her and doing what he could for her wounds. She had received a cut above her left temple and her face was badly bruised. So this is what Hatori felt when he had brought Kana, Shigure thought dolefully as he cleaned the blood off her face and tried to sooth the swelling that was already arising.
The door opened and Hatori walked in. "I've given him some medicine," he said in his usual business like tone, though there was a hint of relief lining his voice. "He's asleep now and should be for awhile."
Shigure nodded his understanding and went back to taking care of Kylie's injuries. "I understand now why you were so devastated when you brought Kana to see him," he muttered keeping his eyes on Kylie. "I'm glad we got in there when we did, I can't bear to think of what would have happened had we not."
"It wasn't as bad as this," Hatori explained. "I was the one who was injured, she just blamed herself for it afterwards."
Shigure stroked his fingers through the long dark hair that had been subject to abuse only minutes before. "I should have protected her," Shigure murmured.
"You fool," Hatori muttered. "You saved her. And you still have her. Just be glad she's still here. After the display she put up I doubt she'd give up living with you because of Akito," he told him with a hint of a smile on his face.
Shigure was about to answer back when Kylie stirred and her eyes fluttered open. "How did it go? Can I still stay with you?" she asked staring up at Shigure.
Shigure stared at her for a moment before letting out of soft chuckle in relief. "If that is what you wish, then yes."
Hatori moved to her other side, looking her over and checking for any abnormalities. After giving her practically a full check up, he assessed that she would be fine but it would be better if she stayed in bed for the rest of the day.
Shigure must have gotten his sense of humor back because he grinned in a perverse manner. "I can keep her in bed."
"It would be better if she went to her own bed and rested," Hatori interjected.
"I suppose your right, but that wouldn't be much fun," Shigure replied with a smirk.
"Just take her home and let her cousin take care of her," Hatori continued.
"Aw, and here I was hoping to play doctor when we got home," Shigure said with an overly exaggerated sigh of disappointment.
"Shigure," Kylie groaned playfully.
"Just get home, I'm sure Linda is worried about what happened here," Hatori told them. "And tell her if she feels up to it she can start coming back to work. I doubt I could keep her from it for too long anyway."
"Of course I will," Shigure promised. He took Kylie by the hand, lacing his fingers with hers, and led her out of the room and off of the Sohma property.
"I'm sorry if I caused any trouble," Kylie apologized.
"No, you didn't," Shigure assured her. He pulled her closer and stroked her head with his free hand. "I just wish I had gotten there sooner. I might have been able to stop this from happening."
"It's not your fault," Kylie told him with a comforting smile. "I'm just glad that I get to stay with you and the others. I prefer a beating over losing my memory any day."
"You're so adorable," Shigure squealed giving her a huge hug. "Seriously though please don't get yourself beaten up again. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you for good."
Kylie smiled and hugged him back. They stayed like that for a while before saying, "You know, after I let go you're probably going to change into a dog."
"Hmm, that would be a problem wouldn't it?" Shigure said with a sly smile before wrapping an arm tightly around her waist pulling her against him. "I guess I'll have to keep you close until we get home."
Kylie resisted the urge to laugh. "I think I can live with that."
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Linda was fast asleep when Kylie and Shigure got home, her head resting on the floor with her foot propped up on a pillow. "I guess Hatori was right about her being worried," Shigure whispered. "It looks like she stayed up all this time just waiting for you to return."
"I'm actually kind of glad she's asleep," Kylie told him honestly. "I don't want her seeing me like this. Hopefully by tomorrow it'll be better."
"Yes, and if I recall, Hatori said you should get plenty of rest yourself," Shigure said. "Just remember, my bed has plenty of room if you ever get lonely."
Kylie playfully poked him in the arm. "You perv."
"Well, get to bed then, you want to make sure you get as much rest as possible," Shigure said smiling. Then Kylie took the blanket lying on the floor and draped it over Linda before she went to bed.
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CM: Yay! Kylie survived Akito's wrath! Next time, the Sohma's get another unexpected visitor. Stay tuned!
