Chapter 25: Gaiden 4 "Respect the Elders"

What's in a Name?

He had seen her around the estate for some time now; her long green hair, her faded purple eyes and the book that never left her hand. By Ryusuke's deduction, she was definitely his age but, perhaps, a few months younger - if her large eyes were any indication of someone less than five years of age. But as much as Ryusuke could know from simply observing, he did not know her name.

That annoyed him. He knew everyone in the estate besides this green-haired bookworm, and that really annoyed him. Not that anyone would know about his annoyance, however, because Ryusuke was simply too good at hiding it - no matter how much not knowing this girl's name irked him.

But it wasn't that he liked this girl in any way, he told himself. Though, he would admit to having a fascination about her namelessness, and that he would like to get to know her a little better, possibly become friends (that being the first friendship he's ever had); this was, by no means, a signal of love. It was purely for informational purposes… wasn't it?

Ryusuke shook his head; maybe he had too much going on his mind for a regular five-year-old kid but, considering the life he had to live each day, he wouldn't count himself as any regular 'five-year-old'. Because, he was sure, not many five-year-olds could turn into a 'dragon' when hugged or weak and they certainly didn't know how to erase memories.

As Ryusuke turned a corned, concluding mentally that he was far from being an average five year old, he suddenly ran into someone.

"S-sorry…" he apologized, helping the person he knocked down up from the floor.

To be honest, he should've seen it coming - following the general rules of Shoujo manga, it was quite obvious who he ran into - but the fact was, he didn't see it coming. He had noticed the moment he retrieved the book that had dropped from the floor. He turned his gaze from it, only to meet with the faded purple eyes he had come to know so well.

The green haired girl bowed her head slightly as she took her book from his frozen hands. "Thank you…" she muttered before walking passed him and off in the next direction.

"W-wait I…" Ryusuke began, but it was too late - just like his chance of learning her name, she was gone.

Every day following their little encounter, he had begun to see her more frequently around the estate, still clutching her symbolic book against her chest. Ryusuke briefly wondered, in joking terms of course (because he was no where close to being an idiot), if he would still recognize her without that book clutched tightly in her hand.

Soon, the two had run into each other so frequently that, at the sight of him, the girl would wave slightly and Ryusuke, of course, would do the same. But no amount of shy waves could get passed the fact that Ryusuke still didn't know this girl's name.

Then one day, Ryusuke was blessed. He walked down the hallway towards his room when he heard it. A group of elders were talking just down the hall, in the room on the right, just before his. He ran quickly to the wall alongside the door and listened closely.

"There are only two that know about it, right?"

"Yes, Ryusuke-san, the dragon, and Akane-san the-"

Ryusuke's eyes widened at the new information given to him. Though, there was no way of knowing this to be truth at the moment, there was one way to find out. He ran out into the side-garden and straight towards a large, shady tree that, he knew, was the green haired girl's reading sanctuary.

"Hey…" Ryusuke began.

The girl looked up. "Oh… it's you."

"Y-yeah…" he nodded, panting from running so hard.

"You can sit, if you're so tired." The girl offered as Ryusuke complied.

"Thanks…" he panted, "A… Akane-san…"

She shot him a glare.

"I heard some of the elders talking…" he explained, "Is that your name, Akane-san?"

She nodded slowly, silently closing her book and placing it on the ground.

"Ahh, I'm Ryusuke."

"Pleased to meet you Ryusuke-san…" she nodded, slowly reaching for her book, about to leave. Her mother had warned her about getting close to boys because…

"Oh, don't worry…!" Ryusuke began, seemingly reading her thoughts. "I'm in the zodiac as well. I'm the dragon."

Akane's usual expressionless eyes showed a slight hint of interest as she sat herself back down alongside Ryusuke. Still reading her thoughts, Ryusuke answered, "I already know your animal, don't worry…"

The faint interest in her eyes disappeared as quickly as it had come at the mention of her animal. "Well…" she sighed, "Go ahead and start…"

Ryusuke tilted his head, "Umm… start, what?"

"I'm just going to let you know that I am never going to act like my predecessor, no matter what anyone says or thinks. No one can tell me what to do or how to act, not even my blood relatives."

There was silence for a moment as both Akane and Ryusuke waited for the other to say something. Ryusuke boldly decided to go first.

"Alright…" he nodded.

"A-alright what…?"

"I'm not going to tell you to act like your predecessor. I'm not going to tell you how to act or what to do. The thought hadn't really crossed my mind. I only ran over here because I… wanted… to…"

For the briefest of moments, Ryusuke was lost in Akane's expectant purple eyes, which were no longer characterized by boredom or uncaring, but genuine interest and hope.

"…k-know your name…" he continued, snapping out of his sudden loss of character. It wasn't like him to suddenly trail off during a sentence. Hell, it wasn't even like him to loose his train of thought in the first place.

"I wanted to know your name…"

"O-oh…" Akane nodded, somewhat embarrassed at both the fact that she blew up in his face and the fact that someone had taken an interest in her for the first time.

"Well, now you know it." she shrugged, "It's not much of a name… I mean-"

"I like it." Ryusuke told her, cutting in on her sentence as she turned to face him quickly. He smiled gently at her. "It's… a very nice name."

"Th-thanks…" she muttered. "Ryusuke's a cool name too. Ahh, but it'll be too easy to guess your animal in the zodiac with a name like that."

"Well, my grandparents were the ones with the idea to name me like this."

"Your grandparents…?"

"Hatsuharu and Isuzu Sohma…" Ryusuke answered.

Akane's Imouto (younger sister)

"D-did you see that? That girl just turned into a dog!"

"W-what the heck…? She's some kind of freak!"

Izuna's voice was gone. A moment ago, she was playing soccer in the park with Kyonosuke; but that stupid boy from the next field over tripped and fell on her.

"Where are you Kyon…?" he mind screamed. "Kyon…!"

"Izuna-chan…!"

Her small dog's head looked up and around. Where as he…? Suddenly, there! Her saviour arrived with his arms outstretched in front of her.

"Hey, leave her alone or else!" Kyonosuke's young four-year-old voice called.

"Or else, what…?" one of the boys from the group that had now assembled sneered.

Kyonosuke faltered, "O-or else…"

"Or else, you'll have to deal with us…" another voice called out, this time - a girl.

"That's right…" a third voice added - a boy. "Akane, bring Izuna-chan and Kyon back to the estate."

"Understood, Ryusuke…" Eight-year-old Akane turned to the frozen Kyonosuke and rubbed him on the head. "That was very brave…" she told him. "C'mon, let's go back to the estate."

Kyonosuke bent down and lifted Izuna's small dog form into his arms. "Will Izuna-chan be alright?" he asked as they started on their way to the estate.

"She'll be fine." Akane assured him as she gently took Izuna from his arms.

"Suke-nii didn't have to come to the rescue…" Kyonosuke pouted. "I had it under control."

Akane nodded. "Ryusuke has a special power that will make everyone forget that they saw Izuna-chan. That's why he had to come."

"Yeah… but now he'll probably yell at me when he gets back." Kyonosuke sighed, "He hasn't been the same since Oji-san and Oba-chan died."

"Yeah…" Akane said distantly. "I know what you mean…"

When they arrived at the estate, Akane brought the dog-turned Izuna into her room just before Izuna changed back into a human.

Akane handed her the clothes that Kyonosuke had gathered for her. "Here Izuna-chan…"

"Th-thank you… umm…"

"Akane," she answered, "I'm Akane."

Izuna nodded, "Got it! Thank you Akane-sensei!"

"H-huh…? Sensei…? I'm not your sensei."

"Yes you are!" Izuna looked up at Akane with eyes full of innocence. "You have to teach me to be brave and smart like you! You're my sensei!"

Her smile melted Akane's heart as she gave the dog a tired smile. "Alright, I'm your sensei…" she rubbed her head, "…Izu-chana."

Akane's Otouto (younger brother)

She had seen him walking around the estate plenty of times; his dark-brown hair, his reddish-looking eyes, and that fake-looking smile he always had plastered on. But, much unlike Ryusuke's dilemma when they were younger, Akane knew this boy's name.

Maybe she listened better than Ryusuke did. Or, maybe it was because that eight-year-old rabbit was just too loud for her own good. But either way, Akane thought she knew this boy fairly well.

So, on the day that she saw him sitting alone without his signature fake-smile, she was slightly confused. That smile had always gotten to her; it just screamed "I don't really feel happy" but that boy put it on, nonetheless - and everyone believed him. But, Akane would not be fooled.

She knew. Well, she assumed that she knew, but was pretty sure she was right. Deep down, that boy was lonely. She hadn't ever seen him talk to anyone besides Michiko; and even that didn't happen very often.

She approached the boy with a look of concern. He was staring intently at the ground, not moving an inch, almost as if he was frozen.

"Hey…" Akane called softly.

The boy lifted his head up at her. "Oh, good afternoon…"

"Akane…"

"Akane Onee-san…"

"Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"N-no, go right ahead."

Akane complied, resting her head on the wall behind them. "You're Kaoru… aren't you?"

"Y-yeah…" he turned to face her. "I-I've seen you before, walking with Ryusuke-nii. You're part of the zodiac, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. And, I've heard, that you are too."

Kaoru smiled, just like Akane predicted, his usual fake-smile. "Well, you heard right, Akane Onee-san."

"Mhmm…" she nodded, resting her head against he wall again. "I also heard another thing about you. Pardon my intrusion, but Michiko-chan told me. You…" her voice got softer, "You were the caretaker for Tohru Oba-chan and Kyo Oji-san weren't you?"

Kaoru's smile faded. "Y-yeah… I was…"

"I'm sorry…"

Kaoru shook his head, "I-it's quite alright… These kinds of things happen all the time…"

"Ahh, you have point there." Akane nodded, "But, I'll tell you a secret on how to get passed it when these things do happen."

Kaoru looked intrigued as Akane told him, her face devoid of emotion - but the power of her words, speaking for her. "All you need to do is smile and move on…"

"H-huh…?"

"Can you do that for me, Kao-chan?"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow as she continued. "Because… y'know, Kao is the Japanese word for Face…" A slight smile played on her, usually, expressionless face. "And, I'd very much like to see a happy Kao-chan…"

Kaoru wasn't sure. He went back to staring at the ground as Akane went on. "Oh, you know… I think Tohru Oba-chan and Kyo Oji-san might just want to see a happy Kao-chan too."

Kaoru looked straight at her, still, emotionless face.

"So… can you do that for them, Kao-chan?"

Slowly, a smile grew on Kaoru's face. It was genuine, sincere, and the first Akane had ever seen him do. She was almost tempted to smile herself. Almost, but she wasn't going to.

Kaoru bowed his head, "Thank you, Akane nee-chan…"

Akane stood and messed up his hair with her hand before walking off. "Anytime, Kao-chan…"

"Hmph, who knew you, could be nice to people by yourself?" Ryusuke scoffed as Akane walked passed him in the hallway.

She walked straight to Ryusuke. "Hey Ryusuke…"

"Yes, Akane…?"

The small smile the twelve-year-old girl had been concealing finally made its way onto her face as she poked Ryusuke in the chest.

"Shut up…"

Ryusuke smiled at her. "As you wish…"

A/N's: I had to write this chapter without mentioning Akane's animal, which was kinda tough. Anyway, Ryusuke and Akane's relationship with each other is probably my favourite. They have so much respect for each other and Akane won't do what anyone tells her, except for Ryusuke because he doesn't place any expectations on her. Their relationship is loosely based on Lelouch and C.C. from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. (Sorry to any Kallen X Lelouch fans or Shirley X Lelouch fans, but I ship C.C. X Lulu all the way!) I even based Akane off of C.C. (the green hair and a little of the personality, though Akane's no pizza addict). And Ryusuke is a mixture of the previous dragon, Hatori, and Lelouch (and one of my friends' personalities).I'm not sure where the next Gaiden chapter will bring us but, do look forward to the next present-day chapter because the climax is getting closer and closer. In any case, please review and continue reading!