A/N: I am like, at war with myself over this. One part of me is going, "YEAH! FINISH IT! WHO CARES IF IT'S RUSHED, I JUST WANNA KILL 'EM OFF!" And then my other head says, "Oh, no, Malicious. You shouldn't do that. Put yourself in their shoes, how would you feel if the author just wanted to kill you off so that she could get on to the sequel she's so stoked about?" And then I say, "You're right, other head." And then I give it a cookie.
Yes, I'm insane. You don't have to say it.
Hi! It's me, Tohru Honda! Ayame-nii recently came by for a visit. I don't think anyone knew what to expect!
"Hello, everyone!"
At the mere voice, Ayu nearly jumped out of her skin, and she dropped the metal teapot back onto the stove with a loud 'clang.' The metallic sound echoed in the ears of everyone in the kitchen, which would be Ayu and Tohru, and Ayu gritted her teeth, eyes shut tight as she urged the aftereffect of ringing to stop.
"The power of sound," She hissed in a failed attempt at joking.
"Come now, what's all the commotion about in here, my ladies?" Ayame asked cheerfully, leaning against the doorframe.
"You scared the hell out of me." Ayu growled humorlessly.
"Ah, of course, but why would such a terrible place be located in such a beautiful flower as yourself?" Ayame implored poetically.
"Shut up already!" Ayu ordered.
"Besides, it's not you that I'm here for anyway." Ayame told her, and flitted out the door and down the hallway.
"Wait for it…" Ayu muttered.
(1) "YYYUUUKKKIII-OTOUTO!"
"Nii-san, why are you here?"
"How could you ask such a thing? How would I ever forget my Otouto-chan's day of birth, which would bring him closer to becoming an adult such as the brilliant one he sees before him?"
"Please, Nii-san, don't be conceited. You really don't have to do anything for—"
"OF COURSE I DO! How could I possibly let this event go unremembered?" (I looked it up! It's a word!)
"I'm not saying that you don't have to remember it, but please don't make a big deal over it."
"Oh, please, if you would merely listen to the ideas that I have created for this special event, I would be most pleased."
"Fine."
Ayu turned back to the stove, and instead picked up the China teapot, so that if she were to be startled again there wouldn't be as loud of a sound. As luck would have it, a loud shout from the doorway startled her once again, and the poor teapot fell back onto the stove with another, not as earsplitting, clang.
"Are you gonna make lunch or what?" Ichigo demanded. "I'm frickin starving, over here!"
"I - !
"Chi - !
"Go - !"
Ayu cackled evilly as Kyoumi barreled out of nowhere, catching Ichigo in a bone-crushing embrace, only loosening her grip when Ichigo began to take on the appearance of someone choking. She grinned up at him happily.
"Let's go on a date, Ichigo-kun!"
"Hell no!"
"But…I have something I wanted to tell you."
"I said no, damn it, now leave me alone!" Ichigo hissed.
Kyoumi frowned adorably, and then grabbed Ichigo by the collar. "ICHIGO-KUN, YOU WANT TO GO ON A DATE WITH ME, RIGHT? YOU'RE JUST BEING SHY BECAUSE TOHRU-CHAN AND AYU-CHAN ARE WATCHIIIIIIING!" She shouted, throwing punches faster than he could dodge them.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Ichigo shouted back in defeat.
-Interlude-
Malicious sobbed uncontrollably. "How…why…who…what…when…where?"
"Uh…?" Ori stared at her in a rather freaked out state of confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Why would you do that to your beautiful, long, hair?"
Ori frowned, running her fingers through her now short hair. "You're the one that made me do it, remember?"
"Please don't try to console me!" Malicious sobbed. "I can't believe you would ever do such a thing!"
"DAMN IT, MALICIOUS!" Ori shouted, and tore the notebook out of the other girl's hands, and flipped to the page where Ori cut her hair. "See? You wrote it RIGHT HERE!"
"I'm suing you for forgery." Malicious stated bluntly.
-That afternoon-
"Ichigo-kun!" Kyoumi squealed, waving wildly at the cinnamon-haired teenager that approached her.
"So what do you want to drag me along to?" Ichigo muttered, it was more like a statement.
"Oh, nowhere."
"WHAT?" Ichigo demanded. Kyoumi laughed shortly.
"You'll see soon enough," she promised.
-
"Kyoumi," Ichigo muttered disapprovingly. "I was banned from the Sohma estate."
They stood outside of the gates leading into the Inside territory, Ichigo with an unsure expression and Kyoumi with her usual cheerful state. She only laughed when Ichigo said this, and motioned to the wall that continued on around the estate.
"I never said we were casually going in, silly!"
"We're sneaking into the Sohma estate…as a date?" Ichigo asked in disbelief.
"Ichigo-kun, you're no fun!" Kyoumi whined. "When you say we're sneaking in it sounds like a bad thing!"
"THAT IS A BAD THING!"
"I just wanted to get somewhere without causing a riot…" She murmured thoughtfully. "But I guess if it doesn't matter to you, we could do something else."
"I'll sneak in." Ichigo sighed in defeat.
"Ichigo-kun still can't say no to me!" Kyoumi squealed.
-Inside the Estate-
"It's a…park."
Kyoumi shook her head. "I needed someplace loud so that we wouldn't be overheard."
"What's there to overhear?" Ichigo asked skeptically.
Kyoumi sighed and sat down on a nearby bench, crossing her legs as she did so. The main play set and things of that nature where a good couple of yards away, and the only people around were children and the occasional parent.
"Ichigo-kun, do you believe in fate?" Kyoumi asked quietly. Ichigo stared at her, bewildered by the sudden change in personality.
"No."
Kyoumi sighed again. "Ichigo means strawberry, or if you break it into 'ichi' and 'go', one five." She inhaled deeply. "The wolf is a tributary of the dog, the owl of the rooster, and the fox was supposed to be an animal within itself. The zodiac is based on a numerical system, if you remember. Tell me, Ichigo-kun, what is our cursed date?"
"January eighth, this time around." He replied simply. "It changes with year."
"Exactly." Kyoumi agreed. "Which outsider is eighteen this year?"
"Etsu-kun and Sora-nii." Ichigo stated, wondering if there was really any point to this.
"January eighth, looking at it as a number, which would be one eight." Kyoumi explained. "All of us are very close to (2) Tsu-chan. We may not have grown up with her, like Sora-nii did, but we are all very close to her. The wolf acts as our god."
"So?"
"So, as the god grows older, the month and day changes. When Tsu-chan is thirty-two, the date of the Outsider becomes February first. The animal you are cursed with runs by family tributary, leaving only the fox when a Zodiac-cursed dog or rooster isn't found.
"Every generation, an animal is born cursed with a zodiac animal that isn't supposed to be there. Every generation, there is two of something. Usually the god of that time period decides to kill off one of the 'clones', or hide them away. They don't like people knowing that there are two, as strange as that sounds." Kyoumi hesitated. "Akito-san decided to kill either you or me. But, Tsu-chan argued against it, she wouldn't have it. And at that time, I wasn't speaking to you, Ichigo-kun. Akito-san hid me away."
He merely stared at her, too astonished by her news to speak.
"When I got out of the cat's room, I was so happy. I didn't care if you'd killed anyone, I wanted to find someone who knew what it was like to be the fox, even if they weren't one of the (3) Abandoned Ones.
"We all have the birth date of the year of the outsider. Tsu-chan and Sora-nii have the same birthday, and you and I have the same birthday. It's fate."
"What does this have to do with my name?" Ichigo asked finally.
"Everything." Kyoumi replied. "You can use your name alone and our numerical system to 'tell the future', if you must. Tsu-chan hasn't been well lately. Okaa-san had me leave some things for Natsumi-san, but apparently only Tsu-chan was home, because the car was gone. I heard her screaming…it was awful to hear. Tsu-chan hasn't been wearing her locket…the one that keeps her from transforming."
"Yeah, and?"
"It means that Tsu-can…her curse is gone."
Ichigo's eyes widened in astonishment, and he blinked a few times before replying. "If Kami-nee lost her curse…what does that leave us with? The only person who could have set her free would be Akito-san."
"Exactly." Kyoumi whispered. "Tsu-chan and Akito-san are close because they're both gods of something. Akito san was never happy that there was another god. He likes to think that he's the only one, and is special for it. He took away her curse because he was jealous of Tsu-chan. Our Outsiders love Tsu-chan, while Akito-san is treated with reverence and dark feelings from the normal zodiac. Of course he was jealous.
"But one-five, that's going to be the new date of the first Outsider next generation."
"If Akito-san is relieving curses from the zodiac, then he'll eventually set everyone free and there won't be any new zodiac." Ichigo told her, frowning.
Kyoumi nodded slowly. "Yes, there will be, no matter what. If a new god is born into the Sohma family, a new zodiac will be born, as well.
"But Tsu-chan doesn't know she's a god." Kyoumi added. "They decided to keep it from her. Tsu-chan won't understand why Akito-san relieved her curse, not at all. But we're forbidden to tell her anything.
"If anything, I feel bad for Sora-nii. Tsu-chan went to see Akito one day because she was afraid her curse had been relieved, which it was, and he tormented her into lying about Sora, saying she hated him. Tsu-chan loves Akito-san, and she also loves Sora-nii, so she lied to keep him safe. Sora-nii is starting to fall in love with Tsu-chan, too. Demo, Tsu-chan doesn't have much time left. One five is coming soon. Right now it's December."
"So that means…" Ichigo started, voice trailing off. Kyoumi nodded sadly.
"Tsu-chan is going to have to die."
"That's insane!" Ichigo cursed in protest. "Kami-nee shouldn't have to die just because of the turn of a new zodiac! That's insane, completely insane."
"That's the sacrifice that has to be made when you're a god." Kyoumi stated sadly. "But Tsu-chan doesn't know she's a god, so she won't understand it, like I said before. There'd be no point in telling her, because it's already almost too late. Soon, our curses will be relieved, two new gods will be born, and a new zodiac will be created.
"It's just the melancholy cycle of this cursed life. We always say we want to leave, we want to get out, but leaving will be very sad. Especially for Tsu-chan. She loved our curse with all of her heart, she didn't even call it a curse. She was happy to be the wolf, happy to be Akito's pet. Leaving must have been very painful for her." Kyoumi stood up, clasping her hands behind her back, and started to walk away in the opposite direction.
"How do you know all of this?" Ichigo called after her.
Kyoumi stopped and turned around, smiling mysteriously. "Like I told you, One Five-kun. It's fate."
And with that, she turned back around and left Ichigo standing alone in the Sohma estate, where he was forbidden from returning to.
"Fate should go kill itself." He hissed, and ran after Kyoumi.
A/N: (1) – "Otouto" means "younger brother", so Yuki-otouto would be "younger brother Yuki."
(2) – Etsu. This also has a bit of a hidden meaning to it, considering that Tsu means 'steal'. God and steal have a somewhat connection, considering that, as god, her life would be 'stolen' if a 'sacrifice' is needed. ( This sounds so nerdy on my part. :P )
(3) – The Abandoned Ones would be the second animal that is killed or hidden away each generation.
And I am happy because this chapter got up to over 2,000 words. I wish I had the tolerance to write chapters as long as the first one, which was three-thousand-and-something.
On a side note, "Kami-nee" would be "Big sister god." It's a bit of a pun.
Yeah, writing this chapter cleared up a lot of things even for me. Now I'm sad to be ending it, considering that there is one chapter left. Maybe two, considering what goes down in the next one.
And believe it or not, the whole thing with Ichigo's name being able to be ichi, go, and what it had to do with the new zodiac andall of that wasn't planned. Seriously. I just thought of it tonight when I realized that Ichigo could also be one five.