Chapter 19: Gaiden 2 - "Windows of Opportunity"

The Beginning

"Michiko, go play outside…"

"Fine, fine… I got it." the six year old sighed, walking out towards the garden. She looked around and nodded confidently. "Well, what to do, what to do?" She thought for a moment. "Oh, I know, I…" trailing off, she realized. "I… totally forgot my ball inside."

As she made her way back down the hallway, towards her room, someone walking in the opposite direction called out to her.

"Ahh, Mii-chan…"

Michiko turned and her eyes lit up. "Hey Kao-nii," she waved, "what's up?"

"I'm just on my way to the 'you-know-who's'." The eight year old Kaoru winked at her.

"Totally awesome…!" Michiko smiled, "I'm not allowed to stay inside for now, but tell them I'll come in later."

"Will do…" Kaoru nodded, "Oh, and Tohru Oba-chan said she had a new story for you."

Michiko's eyes glistened, "Seriously…? Like, are you seriously, serious?"

Kaoru laughed, "Yeah, something about a trip to a haunted house with Kyo Oji-san and Yuki Oji-san."

"Ehh…? It's another love-triangle story?" Michiko squealed, "I totally, like, loooooove those!"

"Yeah, and you know what that means."

"Like, of course I do!" Michiko giggled, "Kyo Oji-sama is soooo not going to like it!"

"I'm sure Yuki Oji-san wouldn't like it either, if he were still here, that is."

"Yeah, but… Yuki Oji-sama would probably say he did like it, just so he wouldn't agree with Kyo Oji-sama, right?"

"Quite the childish bunch of elders, now aren't they?"

"But, it was, like, waayyyy more fun when Yuki Oji-sama and Machi Oba-chan were still with us. He and Kyo Oji-sama would always argue while Tohru Oba-sama tried to tell the story. And Machi Oba-chan would just laugh at the fact that she wasn't there."

Kaoru nodded, "At least we still have Tohru Oba-chan and Kyo Oji-san with us, right?"

"Totally…!" Michiko beamed. She paused and looked up at the clock on the wall. "Ahh, I can't stay inside very long, or I'll get caught! Tell Tohru Oba-sama that I'll come by later, kay?"

"Leave it to me Mii-chan," Kaoru waved as he continued on walking.

Michiko nodded and waved back for a moment. "Alright… Now, I'd better get my ball before I'm yelled at again."

She dashed to her room, barely slipping by her dad, and retrieved the ball as if it were some long lost artefact and she, a famous archaeologist that, after years of searching, finally found it and would receive praise and…

Michiko paused, anymore of this inner-monologue and she would be caught in no time. She suddenly heard a sound coming from the opposite side of the door to her room; her mom had come.

"Not good…" she muttered as she glanced around the room nervously.

Then, she spotted it; her getaway, escape pod, one-way-ticket to freedom: the open window. Secretly thanking whoever decided to make their house one storey high, she leaped out of the window, curling herself into ball form and rolling on the ground to her safety.

She stood and dusted the dirt on her shorts with one hand, the other, clutching her so-called 'artefact'.

"Totally, mega-awesome…" she beamed, throwing the ball in the air and catching it again as she walked around the garden. "Go me… Go me… Go me…" she cheered.

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew by, knocking her ball off course and sending it bouncing in another direction.

Michiko ran after it. "H-hey… Wait, hold on!" She paused.

CRASH

"Aww man…"

The ball had bounced into an open window and a rather uncomforting sound had resonated through the garden. Michiko ran straight up to the window and tiptoed to peer inside.

She saw what she expected: a broken vase. Hanging her head she sighed, "I'm, like, dead… soooo dead…" she muttered.

"O-Ow… what the heck was that?"

"Ehh…?" Michiko looked back into the window and noticed a boy walking over to where her ball had landed.

"W-where'd this come from?" the boy wondered, picking it up.

"U-uhh… Like, excuse me!" Michiko called.

The boy turned quickly, not knowing where the voice had come from. "Y-yes…?"

"I'm over here… by the window!" she went on, "T-that's my ball. I'm, like, soooo mega-sorry! The ball got away from me and…"

"Hold on one second…" the boy told her, closing the window.

Michiko stepped back and made a face. "At least give me my ball back, geez…" she sighed.

Off to the side of the house, Michiko heard a door open and close, followed by slow footsteps coming towards her.

She turned and saw the boy from earlier, holding her ball and approaching her. When he was close enough, he handed her the ball.

"I know you." He told her, "You always play outside here."

"Yeah, my house is just down there." Michiko pointed off. "But, I've never seen you around."

She got a good look at the boy. He was taller than her and looked to be either her age or younger, if his large dark-grey eyes were any indication. He had short black hair and was wearing one of the kimonos that Michiko had only seen on some of the elders.

"I usually stay inside." The boy shrugged, "That's why I've seen you here but… maybe I should close my window from now on."

Michiko shook her head, "Nah that totally won't do, you'd miss all the fun. Why don't you just stay outside and play?" She bounce passed the ball to him, which he stumbled to catch.

Michiko smiled hesitantly, "Oh, maybe that's why you stay inside all the time."

"Sports aren't exactly my thing…" the boy muttered, already on the ground after many attempts to catch the ball.

Michiko ran over and offered her hand, "We'll work on that. I'm Michiko, by the way."

The boy took her hand and stood, "I'm Kamina Sohma, nice to meet you." He thought for a moment, "Oh and about that vase…"

He looked at Michiko, who was looking off in another direction. Suddenly, she waved, yelling. "Hiiii Sarutoubi Nii-saaaan…!"

A boy off in the distance, around ten years old, waved back. "See you later Michiko-chan!"

Michiko smiled and turned back to Kamina. "We can say that he did it."

Kamina laughed, "Good plan, good plan…"

Togetherness

Kamina ran straight to his room, locked the door behind him and sat in the corner, crying into his knees.

Aside from the fact that this was the first day in the last two years that he hadn't went outside to play with Michiko, he had a much better reason to be crying.

There was a soft knock on his door. "K-Kamina-kun… It's Izuna, open the door."

He gave no answer.

He heard Izuna whisper, "Please Kyon, just do it this one time.

"Fine, fine…" Kyonosuke agreed.

The door burst open and Kyonosuke stumbled into the room. Izuna ran passed him and straight to Kamina. She hugged him tightly and joined him in crying.

Kyonosuke approached the two, put a hand on each of their heads, and they complied by crying into his chest.

"It's alright… It's alright…" he muttered.

After awhile, Izuna pulled away first and nodded, "Th-thanks Kyon… You're the best." She put a hand on Kamina's shoulder. "K-Kamina-kun… I have to tell you something."

Kamina turned to his sister.

She tried to smile, "Mom and dad were going to tell you, but since they c-can't anymore…" she gulped, "I have to."

Kyonosuke looked away as Izuna slowly told her younger brother about the zodiac, the animals, the curse, and exactly who he was to the family.

He shook his head. "N-no… Izuna-nee-sama, I can't do that!"

"You have to…! It's who you are… Kamina-sama…"

"D-don't call me that!" Kamina looked to the floor.

Izuna smiled sympathetically, "Alright, how about Kami-chama?"

He looked up, only to be embraced by his sister once again. "C'mon, go out and play with Michiko-chan. She'll get angry with you if you don't, right?"

Kamina got up slowly and walked out of the room, trying his hardest to dry up his tears before Michiko saw him; since she would probably tease him for being a boy and crying.

"Kyon…" Izuna muttered.

Kyonosuke turned, only to see Izuna's face buried in his chest, giving it a thorough soaking. He put his arms around her, rubbing her head. "It's okay… It's okay… Your parents wouldn't want to see you crying…"

Meanwhile, Kamina had done all he could to seem as if he didn't just spend an hour crying, and approached Michiko.

"Oh, hey… there you are!" Michiko waved. "Where the heck were you Kamicchi?"

Kamina looked away, "I… I can't play with you anymore."

"W-what are you talking about?" Michiko tilted her head. "Oh, did they find out that I was the one who broke the vase or…"

"N-no, that's not it." Kamina muttered. "I-it's because of the zodiac."

Michiko's eyes widened; her mom had told her that no one should ever know about that, especially not a boy.

"W-what about it…?"

"You're the rabbit, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so what…?"

"I'm the… umm," he shuffled his feet.

"No way, are you in the zodiac too?" Michiko exclaimed, suddenly very excited. "Which animal are you, the dog? Nah, you don't act very dog-like. Oh-oh, how about the rooster? Hmm, I didn't learn too much about Kureno Oji-san from Tohru Oba-sama but…" She shook her head, "No, maybe not the rooster." She gasped, "M-maybe you're the cat!"

"The cat…?"

"No way Kamicchi, are you the cat? Are you wearing Kyo Oji-sama beads? Let me see, pleeeease let me see them!"

"H-how do you know so much about the zodiac?"

"I love learning about the zodiac, especially after Kao-nii introduced me to Tohru Oba-sama and Kyo Oji-sama!"

"I know that… Kyo Oji-san is the previous cat but… who's Tohru Oba-chan, his wife?"

Michiko was taken aback. "Y-you… you don't know who Tohru Oba-sama is?"

"Should I…?"

Michiko hit Kamina over the head.

"O-Ow Michiko-chan, that was mean!"

"H-how can you not know Tohru Oba-sama? She's the woman who broke the Sohma curse!"

"She… she broke the curse?"

"Ughh, you're so dense Kamicchi! Maybe you're just being dumb! Maybe you're the cow!" She paused, "Oh, no wait, that would totally be insulting Hatsuharu Oji-san." She clasped her hands together and looked to the sky, "My apologies, Hatsuharu Oji-san!"

"M-Michiko-chan you don't understand… I'm god!"

Michiko crossed her arms, "Someone thinks a little too highly of themselves."

Kamina sighed, "N-no Michiko-chan, I meant… I have the God spirit in the zodiac."

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense, since your name is Kamina…" Michiko nodded, "That means you're like…" She paused and suddenly stared at him with a slight look of hatred, an emotion he didn't think Michiko even possessed. "A… Akito Oji-san…" she muttered.

"W-who…?"

"You're like Akito Oji-san, no way!" She gave him a suspicious look, "Please don't tell me you're actually a girl…"

"W-what…?" Kamina exclaimed.

"Ahh wait… No, you're definitely a boy. Otherwise, my statement wouldn't have made you blush so much." She sighed, "Ahh, that's a relief."

"W-who's Akito?"

Michiko rolled her eyes, "Y'know, for the God spirit, you sure don't know a lot about the clan you're leading." She grabbed hold of his hand, "I'll just have to teach you! Oh, I'll even introduce you to Tohru Oba-sama and Kyo Oji-sama!"

"W-wait Michiko-chan, it's like you don't even mind that I'm the God spirit."

Michiko stood, for once, completely silent and still. Her back faced Kamina as she muttered, "D-don't let that get to you… okay? Promise me you won't let being the God spirit get to you."

"O-of course I won't." Kamina protested, "I don't even want to be the God spirit!"

Michiko turned to him and gave him a bright smile. "Good, that's all I wanted to hear!"

A/N's: Well, there was our second Gaiden chapter! I hope people enjoy these. I might include some parts of their back-stories in the "present time" story too, just so Tohru can learn about them as well. Anyway, next chapter will be a normal one again. And, the next Gaiden chapter will be about Kyonosuke and Izuna, and mildly about Ryusuke too. I hope people are still following this, since I got more reviews when I didn't update as opposed to when I did. Please send in some reviews and continue enjoying my story! (^_^)