Thanks for all those who read and to those who reviewed; you feedback is greatly appreciated! There are only two chapters left (sadness!), and after those, I'll try my best to address some of the interesting points some of the reviewers have intelligently brought up. However, just a little fyi, I started this having seen the whole anime and being rather familiar with the manga up to around chapter 105ish. At this point, though, I am familiar with the whole, completed manga and know how the whole story ends (I will address this ending more thoroughly once my own story is finished).

Anyway, you knew it was coming - the very last session with Akito! Admittedly, she has easily become one of my favorite if not my absolute favorite character in Fruits Basket. To think, I began not liking her - I guess having the chance to really explore her character has made me grow attached to her for all her complexities. Please note, Kazuki decides to skip several sessions between his last session with Akito and this one because he finds them to be repetitive of other sessions he's had with her. In addition, I purposefully wrote this session short and am glad about how it turned out. Following this is the first part of the 5th Interlude, which will segue into the final chapter. With that said, enjoy and thanks again!!!

Patient – Sohma Akito; Session #225

My session with Shigure had left me exceptionally confused. In some ways, subconsciously at least, I felt as if he was right, just as Akito had been; all my actions the last two years had merely been about my own desire to assert my own self-worth and even superiority. Yet, at the same time, I was certain that Shigure was simply trying to manipulate me, to interfere in my work. After all, I was right about my family's unfortunate predicament and all the varying psychiatric problems that appeared to be associated with it; eight years of schooling at Oxford and Harvard had taught me that. Not to mention, I had never trusted Shigure, so why should I begin to now? There had always seemed to me that there was something dark looming beneath Shigure's surface – surely I would not deny my psychiatric instincts now based on a few of my own personal insecurities? Obviously, I concluded, he was not mentally stable (proof enough of this was that he was in love with our psychotically imbalanced cousin and slept with our aunt, Akito's loathsome mother, as a method of jealous revenge). In fact, I reasoned that it could very well be possible that Shigure and Akito were working together all along, coldly plotting ways to sabotage my efforts to enlighten the rest of our relatives, freeing each of them once and for all from the Sohma family "curse." Admittedly, reflecting back, I guess this rationality does reek a bit of paranoia, but certainly such a tinge was necessary given my circumstances. Still, Shigure's last comment stuck with me. From deep within me I believed in its sincerity and would not be convinced otherwise. It was one of the kindest things anyone had ever said to me. However, this posed a particular problem, for I couldn't logically deduce how my newly discovered rival could have possibly been responsible for the words.

Akito entered my office at three thirty. It looked as if she floated to the couch, where she sprawled out, her clothes loosely falling off her. Ever since Akito's 219th session, our meetings had been relatively normal (well, normal for Akito, anyhow). It had come to a surprise to me, at first, for she had stayed away for almost a week and a half. Then, one Thursday morning she came waltzing back in and plopped down as if nothing of consequence had ever transpired between us; it looked as if to her I was again completely harmless, never at any time a threat to her supposed divinity. On the one hand, I was grateful for this, for it meant we could begin to focus again on some of Akito's many psychiatric issues. On the other hand, though, I found her dismissal of my ability to challenge her frustrating, for it meant she still saw herself as an unchallengeable god. However, I'm sure AKito didn't give much heed as to how I felt.

"I hate the snow," she began, not even bothering to give me so much as a hello while she sneered out the window at the snow-covered estate, the snow still falling.

As she let out a few raspy coughs, I instinctively drew up her file from the clutter on my desk and, with pencil in hand, asked. "Why is that, Akito?"

"Because..." she slowly replied, trailing her finger up and down the collar of her kimono. "It's melts."

"And that bothers you?" Akito simply shrugged, turning her head from me. She curled up on the couch, as if ready to take a nap. "Well, I don't mind the snow," I went on. "It makes everything look clean and new again, if even for a short while."

"Exactly."

"That's what bothers you, then?"

"Yes," Akito answered. "It's a lie. It can never be real."

"I don't know if I would put it just that way – "

"Of course you wouldn't," she sneered, raising her head a bit to give an abrupt cackle. "But you are a fool, Kazuki. Don't you see? Nothing can be made pure again once it has been sullied. And I – I can see through the snow. It does not fool me. I will be happy to see when your snow at last melts and reveals to all what pathetic thing lies beneath. Just like plucking beads off a bracelet..."

Concluding wearily, she laid her head back down and nodded off to sleep.

New Years was quite a big to do at the Sohma family residence. It was, perhaps, the only thing we celebrated during the year. Since returning home from the west, I had been to just one of these banquets, having missed the one two years prior by returning home a few days after the first of January. From what I gathered though, they were all pretty much the same: the family came together at the main house, one of our cursed family members performed a dance, depending on the upcoming zodiac year, and then the twelve jyunnishi and the Sohma god would retire to their own private banquet, which we were lead to believe was much more elaborate and spectacular than ours. To my mother's dismay, I wore a suit to the event that year, which she found to be disrespectful of the traditional ways. So, as I was quite eager to please her the second time around, given the strain I saw in our relationship (I'm not too sure if she recognized it as I did), I decided to throw on a kimono for the occasion. To be frank, I had a bit of trouble putting on the garment, as it had been so long since I had worn one. What's more, I found it terribly uncomfortable and hard to move in; how I longed for the ease and practicality of my pants. Yet, I soon put this aside upon seeing my mother's beaming face looking at me dressed in such "appropriate" attire for the important day. It was satisfying to see that I was, in this case at least, not disappointing her.

We arrived somewhat later, it seemed, than most of the family, although other relatives trickled in later, most notably being Shigure, Yuki, and Kyou, all of whom had to travel a reasonable distance to return to the Sohma estate. I mingled a bit with my cousins, aunts, and uncles, finding I was in no mood to really speak to anyone. Interestingly, I found that none of them had much interest to talk to me either, initiating conversation based solely on their curiosity regarding my meetings with the members of the jyuunishi. What's more, I was constantly on edge about slipping up on my pronouns whenever I referred to Akito, for while the adults knew that Akito was a woman, my younger cousins had absolutely no idea of her true gender. However, every time I said "he" instead of "she," I felt a bitter taste in my mouth; I could not understand why I was lying for her, as the whole thing seemed incredibly ridiculous to me.

I had the opportunity to speak to my cousin Rin, who refused to submit to Akito's orders that she must come and see me for therapy. It was refreshing to at last talk to a member of the jyuunishi who saw Akito for what she truly was (or, in the case, who he truly was), but I also found it unsettling that Rin was only willing to carry on a rather shallow conversation with me. It appeared that she was on her guard, not trusting me entirely and quite worried that I would begin to analyze her, given my psychiatric background and the traumatic experiences she had already endured. Thus, our discussion was brief and she was quick to leave me to join Haru instead.

To my unhappiness, it did not take me long to spot Kureno at the gathering, standing quietly in a corner but relatively close to Akito. I shuddered at seeing him. Admittedly, I had taken great strides to avoid him ever since I learned about his and Akito's transgression. Now, with him in such close proximity, I made sure to make an especial effort not to bump into him. However, in my desperate endeavor to steer clear of Kureno, I had unfortunately forgotten to prevent a far worse confrontation with my Aunt Ren.

As soon as I bumped into her, I could feel all the life drain from in me. I just stood there in front of her like a dumbfounded child. She greeted me kindly enough, although this did very little to ease my dread at seeing her so unexpectedly, nor was I fooled to think her any less than a selfish and manipulative woman. "Good evening, Kazuki. Happy New Year." I had no words for her, so I just nodded stupidly. I could feel my face contort as all I could think of was her – my aunt – with my cousin Shigure; this image was all together horrific, and I was quite certain that I would not be having anything else to eat for the rest of the evening.

She eyed me with some disdain – the same disdain most of my family harbored for my illegitimacy – but continued; "So you've been making some progress with Akito? She really is such a troubled child."

"I, uh...I can't talk about that, Aunt Ren," I managed to stammer, rapidly darting my eyes around in search of an ally, but realizing very quickly that I did not have many amongst my relatives.

"No?"

"Patient confidentiality," I quickly chocked out. For a moment, from the way she glimpsed at me, I was certain that she was aware of all I knew about her. My cheeks grew hot at the thought.

"Well," she then gave me a twisted smile, "I hope that you've been helping her..." It was this that I realized something that I had not before; in working against Akito, for lack of a better word, I was, in turn, working with my terrible Aunt Ren. After all, I didn't need a doctorate to realize that my aunt absolutely despised her daughter and would like nothing more to knock her off her pedestal. I felt my insides cringe just thinking that I was in some way aiding her, my least favorite aunt of all and perhaps the cruelest person I ever had the unhappiness of knowing.

Growing desperate, I was immediately thankful to finally spot my mother with Ayame, having already taken their seats. My mouth dry, I eagerly said, "I'm sorry Aunt Ren, but if you could excuse me, my mother is waiting for me." Her brows twitched contemptuously at the mere mention of my mother, for she never did like her, but I cared little for this and left her without even waiting for her to give me a response.

I walked as fast as I could in my kimono, which wasn't very fast at all, but despite this, it did not take me long to reach Ayame and my mother, Momiji also sitting with them. Exhausted from the mere minute conversation I had with Aunt Ren, I knelt down at the table and slumped lazily. "Why, dear Kazuki," Ayame greeted me enthusiastically, "don't you look absolutely adorable!"

"Yeah, yeah..." I muttered.

"Now, now," Ayame waved a finger, "No need to be so sulky. So you had a dismal year? It happens to the best of us. But a fresh one is just around the corner!"

"Ayame's right," Momiji agreed. "I'm sure things might be better for you." The teenage boy winced as he concluded, looking very doubtful.

"I am certain they will!" my mother's sing-song voice chimed in. "I saw it in my dreams last night. A hippopotamus named Ataru told me so himself. Great things are coming your way, Kazuki, my shining one! The curse is waiting for you, after all."

Ayame laughed and offered an elaborate hand gesture. "See, Kazuki – it's destiny!"

I, however, had a very sour temperament and did not care to hear any more about how I could save our stupid family. It did not take me long to conclude that I had accomplished absolutely nothing in terms of the betterment of my family over the last year. If anything, I had probably succeeded in making things worse. The idea that I had simply wasted a year away at once made me depressed, and the thought that in all likelihood my family was ultimately doomed did little to improve my disposition. And yet, I knew what the upcoming year had in store for me; the same old thing. However, I just couldn't give up trying, for the hope was still there, and I simply wouldn't turn my back on it. With this, I bitterly realized that Akito had effectively been crushing me little by little all along.

Noticing I still remained ill humored, Ayame frowned a bit before an idea struck him, and he lit up, eyes glittering with excitement. "I know just the thing you need, Kazuki!" He smiled mischievously. "Sake, of course, and lot's of it! It'll certainly cheer you right up!" Pouring me some with a giggle (I'm pretty confident that at this point Ayame himself had already consumed quite a bit of sake himself), he shoved it eagerly toward me.

Now, if I was of sound mind, as I generally am, I would have rejected such a suggestion, for I was not one for drink and knew, rationally speaking, that alcohol consumption was not the answer to one's problems. However, at that moment, I was a depressed, broken man that wanted nothing more than to feel genuinely happy again without a single care or responsibility in the world. So, with only a second's hesitation, I took the glass from Ayame and drank the whole thing down in but two gulps. Ayame gave a small cheer and happily poured me another glass which I gladly took.

In the meanwhile, my mother too had her own helping of sake while continuing to speak in incoherent riddles about her dreams. At the same time, Momiji furrowed his eyebrows and commented, "Don't you think you might be having too much...?" Although his remark could have been directed at any of us, his worried gaze remained on me as I finished my second glass.

"Don't be silly, Momiji –" Ayame began, but interrupted himself, exclaiming, "Ah, it's my dear little brother Yuki!" He sprung to his feet as soon as he spotted his younger brother. Then, he stumbled a bit as he left us to greet Yuki on the opposite side of the room, Yuki appearing less than pleased to have a rather buzzed Ayame suddenly clinging to him.

As for myself, I took a minute to look around the room at all of my family gathered to celebrate the beginning of a new year, one that they hoped would bring them even happier times. Yet, when my eyes fell on Kyou, Kagura sitting on his one side and Kazuma on his other, I abruptly felt a violent disgust for them all. I could not believe they could all sit their rejoicing about a year that would find one of their own kin imprisoned for the rest of his life. It made me sick inside. What pleasure could they possibly expect to find if they were determined to live their lives filled with such hate and misery? Why were we putting on such a festive façade to cover our ugliness? My gaze then moved to a semi-bored Akito at the front of the room, who appeared, as always, to be at the center of everything. Impulsively, I grabbed the sake bottle and carelessly poured myself my third glass, the contents overflowing at the top and dripping on my right hand and lap. I drank this glass anxiously and poured myself another.

It was from that very instant that I, too, began to hate snow.