Road Blocks
It took a long time, but after much help from the rats, they were finally able to pull Linda out of the dirt pile and take her back to the house. Tohru helped Kylie clean her up while Hatori checked for any serious damage.
"Nothing appears to be broken and her breathing has finally returned to normal. I think she'll make a full recovery by tomorrow," Hatori declared wearily. "We'll know for sure once she wakes up."
"Linda…" Kylie said softly.
"Well, obviously there's nothing more we can do except wait until she regains consciousness," Shigure said placing his hands on Kylie's shoulders. "In the mean time, let's get you cleaned up. You look like you were buried along with her with all the dirt you have on you."
Kylie nodded and allowed herself to be lead out of the room. Hatori sat down next to Linda and began to wipe her forehead with the wet cloth lying next to her bed. It wasn't until about 8:00 that Linda finally woke up. She glanced around once her eyes came into focus and saw that Hatori had fallen asleep with his head on her bed. "He doesn't look hurt. I guess it worked," Linda thought with a smile on her face.
She figured that Hatori must have been exhausted because he didn't even stir. She gently reached out and brushed away the bangs hanging over his eyes. He looked so beautiful in his peaceful slumber.
"I'm not feeling any real pain and I'm still at Shigure's so I must have been caught in some sort of air pocket. Does that mean that I got my luck back?" Linda thought frightened. She tried to sit up but a sharp pain shot through her body and she fell back to her pillow waking Hatori up.
Hatori sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before looking down at her. "I see you're finally awake. You had us worried for a while. How are you feeling?"
"I'm a little sore but other than that I'm fine," Linda replied with a small smile. "How did things go with Akito?"
"Well we weren't injured if that's what you're worrying about. Your luck kept us safe for that much, though I can't understand why you would do that," Hatori scolded.
"I didn't want to see you get hurt like you did with Kana," Linda explained softly.
"Whether I get hurt or not are based on my decisions. Do you honestly think I want you getting hurt in my place?" Hatori asked her.
"Well, no…" Linda said looking down at her bed covers. "But at the moment, I didn't care what happened to me. I just wanted you to be safe." Her hands clutched the bed covers as she spoke. "I didn't want someone else to get hurt because they didn't get my luck. I didn't want to see it again."
"What do you mean?" Hatori asked her.
"What? Oh it's nothing," Linda replied quickly turning away and closing her eyes.
"Is it about James?" Hatori guessed remembering what Kylie told him before.
Linda's eyes shot open, surprised that he knew the name. "Yeah…how did you know?"
"Kylie told me what she knew about it after your experience with those boys," Hatori explained taking hold of her hand. "I want to hear what happened from you though."
Linda closed her eyes for a second thinking about his request before she looked at him with sad eyes. "Alright…I'll tell you." She took a deep breath and thought about where to start. "I was in fourth grade when I met James. He was such a nice kid and was almost like a class pet but we played together on the playground all the time. Then for about a week he quit talking to me and everyone else, which made me worried so when I saw him disappear around a corner I followed him to make sure he was all right."
*Flashback*
"Well, well, if it isn't little baby James," the leader of a group of bullies said leering down at the small boy. "I think you owe us some money."
"I don't have any on me," James said trembling. "My dad hasn't been able to give me my allowance yet."
"So I take it you didn't get the other stuff either did you?" the leader continued.
"No…my dad won't let me get close to it. I can't get it," James answered frantically.
"So the due date has come and gone and you haven't been able to give us the money or the cigarettes from your daddy's store. Pathetic. We're going to have to show you why you should always pay back what you requested," the leader told him snapping his fingers to signal to his buddies what to do. Linda saw the three boys advance on the frightened James and took a deep breath before shouting at them to stop and running to stand in front of him.
"This isn't any of your business girly," the leader growled. "Butt out."
"No," Linda said defiantly. "He's my friend and I'm not about to let you get away with hurting him."
They all laughed. "Linda, don't…" James whispered.
"Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend James. I wonder if you'll make sure you get the stuff if she's the one who'll get hurt instead of you," the leader snickered as an evil grin spread across his face.
"It'll take a lot more than that to scare me," Linda declared holding her position. She glared up at the group defiantly and braced herself for anything that might happen.
"Hey you kids," a teacher said coming around the corner. "You all know you're not supposed to play around here. Now get out of here before I notify the principal."
*Pause Flashback*
"So it ended right there? I thought Kylie said you were placed in the hospital after your little encounter," Hatori said cutting through her dialogue.
"She was right. This was only the start of it. This happened at school so there wasn't much they could do about it, what Kylie remembered was what happened afterwards," Linda explained as a single tear escaped her eyes.
*Continue Flashback*
Linda was out taking a walk unbeknownst to her family. She had snuck out in order to get away from the stifling atmosphere for a while. She made her way to the bridge and leaned against the edge staring down at the river rushing beneath her. It had rained recently so the usually calm water was in rapids.
As she stared at the water taking in the water's scent she noticed four small shadows down below underneath the bridge. Three of the shadows were rather large and the fourth was small and looked familiar. Then she realized that the forms below were that of James and the bullies she had seen before. She started to run and found a way to reach them below before picking up a rock to use against them. As soon as she reached the bottom she saw the leader hold up a large stick looking thing so she threw the rock at his wrist making him drop it.
"Ow! What the—" The guy looked around and his eyes narrowed when he saw Linda. "You again. You won't get away this time." Two of the guys started forward in order to grab her.
James ran forward and grabbed Linda's arm before dragging her away from them. "You idiot, I told you not to get involved," he shouted.
"I was just trying to help," Linda replied sadly. "You shouldn't have to go through this alone. I want to help you," she continued giving him her luck.
"I don't need your help already," he shouted back and Linda felt something heavy hit her in the chest as he shouted. Just then she tripped and fell face first into the dirt as a rock flew through the air and hit James in the head and he tumbled head first into the roaring river. "JAMES," Linda shouted as she watched him fall in unable to do anything about it.
*END FLASHBACK*
"They never found James's body," Linda finished hoarsely. Hatori stared at her in disbelief. He never would have imagined she would have had to endure something so terrible.
"I woke up in the hospital a few days later, having been beaten by those bullies. I didn't find out that James never made it until Kylie told me," Linda explained fighting back the tears that were trying to escape.
"I assume that explains the reason behind your fear of standing up for yourself," Hatori guessed wiping away the few tears that had escaped. "I'm glad you told me though, I feel better knowing your reasons for your promises."
"Thanks…don't tell Kylie though. I still haven't explained everything that happened that night. She only really knows about who James was and that I was found under a bridge. I want to tell her but I need to do it on my own time."
"I promise I won't tell another soul," Hatori promised. "Now I think it's time for you to get some sleep."
"I've been sleeping all day," Linda protested.
"That may be, but that doesn't mean it's healthy for you to stay up late."
"I guess you're right. Okay I'll get some more sleep…but I won't have to stay in bed tomorrow will I?" Linda asked with a frown.
Hatori chuckled and placed a hand on her cheek. "We'll see."
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"You're awfully glum tonight," Shigure commented softly to the despondent girl lying next to him. "Is there something wrong? Surely you're not still worried about Linda."
"I can't help it," Kylie said softly. "I am relieved that she's okay, but I came that close to losing her."
"Yes, and now you know how she must have felt after your stunt in December."
Kylie felt her cheeks burning in the dark. "Yeah…"
"I'd say she must have felt somewhat worse because she didn't know you had done that until after she saw you half drowned," Shigure added. "Don't take it too hard, she cares about you and doesn't want you to worry." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a tight hug. "She'll be just fine; Hatori will make sure of that."
Kylie closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. "I just I could have helped in some way."
"And get injured yourself? Then I would have been unhappy," Shigure said with a small laugh as he ruffled her hair.
"How is Akito-san?" Kylie asked suddenly.
Shigure took a moment to answer, "I'm not sure to be honest. When we left him he was in a state of shock. See we explained your curse to him and asked for permission to marry you," he explained slowly.
"Was he… angry?" Kylie asked hesitantly.
"Honestly, not as angry as I had anticipated," Shigure answered thoughtfully.
She couldn't keep the fear from her voice. "Are we going to have to leave?"
"After all we've been through do you really think we would just let the two of you leave?" Shigure asked giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Hatori and I are determined to keep you here."
"But if Akito-san says 'no'…" Kylie began but Shigure placed a finger to her lips.
"You just let me worry about that, alright? Don't worry yourself over it." Kylie wanted to protest further Shigure kissed her tenderly and she found herself once again succumbing to him. And here she thought she was getting better at being assertive with him.
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The next morning Kylie went up to see how Linda was doing and found that Linda was sprawled across her bed like always and Hatori was asleep next to the bed. Apparently Hatori had fallen asleep watching over her during the night.
"Well, it looks like the two of them are doing wonderfully," Shigure said coming up from behind her.
Kylie smiled and nodded. "Yeah." She continued staring at her cousin and Shigure noticed the look on her face.
"What are you thinking?"
"Shigure… I want to see Akito again."
"Why would you want something like that?" Shigure asked surprised.
"I think that if we see him one last time we'll be able to put an end to all of this," Kylie explained.
"I can't stop you if that's really what you want can I," Shigure murmured with a shake of his head. "Very well, I'll get you a meeting with Akito."
"Thank you," Kylie said gratefully.
"However, there is one condition," Shigure said holding up his hand.
"What's that?" Kylie asked.
"You are not to go in there by yourself," Shigure commanded seriously.
"No worries, I'll have Linda with me," Kylie reassured.
"Somehow that doesn't really fill me with confidence," Shigure replied sweat dropping.
A few seconds later Linda stirred and sat up rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Huh, Kylie, Shigure what are you guys doing in here?" she asked sleepily.
Kylie went over and gave her cousin a hug. "We live here, silly. It's nice to see you awake."
"Thanks… and sorry," Linda apologized. "I know I said I wouldn't put myself in danger."
"Baka, you're okay. That's all that matters."
"Right, so what's for breakfast? I'm starving," Linda asked with a grin. Their conversation woke Hatori up and before Kylie could answer he told them that she wasn't to leave the room until he was satisfied she was alright. "Fine, could you make me some breakfast anyway?" she called to her cousin as Hatori made her and Shigure leave.
"Sure thing," Kylie called back. After a few minutes, the smell of breakfast began to waft through the house.
"Ah, to think, I can look forward to wonderful meals like this every morning from now on," Shigure sighed whimsically.
"Are you sure you wouldn't get tired of me?" Kylie asked jokingly.
"Let me think….no," Shigure said grabbing onto Kylie from behind. "I doubt I'll ever get tired of having such a gorgeous woman in my house."
Kylie laughed. "If you don't let go I won't be able to serve breakfast."
"Fun first, work later, my dear."
"I think you have that backwards."
"Hey are you guys done in there I'm hungry," Linda said from outside. "I'm ready for breakfast and I really don't want it burnt."
"Very well, I'll let you get back to cooking so Linda doesn't get mad at me," Shigure said letting her go. "We'll continue this later though….okay."
"If you insist," Kylie said with a smile and a shrug and continued making breakfast.
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"See Akito again?" Linda asked once breakfast was served. "Sure, why not?"
"Are you sure about this? You did just recover from another injury," Hatori reminded her.
"Yeah I know. It'll be fine though, I've got a feeling that we'll be lucky this time around," Linda replied with a large grin.
The next few days were very happy ones. The school year was winding down and coming to a close while the four were planning for the next visit with Akito. One fine morning, Kylie's phone rang. "Hello? Aunt Marge?" Linda, who was sitting on the opposite side of their bedroom, glanced up curiously. "Yeah, Linda's here with me. Speaker phone? If you say so." Kylie pressed a button and a sultry voice rang out through the room.
"It's a good thing I got a hold of you both. The whole family has been worried sick. We haven't heard from you in months. Thought you both got hit by a car, train or something."
"We're fine Aunt Marge," Linda groaned. "We really don't have to check in everyday…besides we've been really busy this semester so we really haven't had a chance to."
"Don't you give me that, I know how the two of you think….and when did you start talking with such a sarcastic tone?" Aunt Marge said brusquely.
"I've been like this my whole life…I've just been too scared to speak what I thought until now," Linda replied rolling her eyes.
"Well I assume you two have gotten good grades throughout the year," she continued a little angrier than usual.
"Yep…in fact we worked hard enough to earn a few scholarships so we decided to stay longer," Kylie put in happily.
"WHAT? When were you going to tell us this decision? You were just going to stay there and hope we thought you were dead weren't you?" Marge accused.
Linda got this fake shocked look on her face, "Aunt Marge what would make you think we'd ever do something like that?"
"Well I have news for the two of you," Aunt Marge said very business like. "You two will probably want to come home after what I have to say."
"And what would that be?" Linda asked not really caring all that much.
"I've been studying our family's history and I think I've figured out how to break the curse over your heads. But you'll have to come home in order for it to happen."
Kylie's eyes widened as she heard the news and Linda dropped the pencil she was holding as well as her jaw. "W-what did you say? You can really stop the curse?" Linda asked utterly shocked.
"Yes, but you'll only be able to get rid of it if you come home to America," Marge replied triumphantly.
Linda looked up at Kylie with a mixture of joy and hope in her eyes. "I think we'll need to discus this among ourselves before we make a decision Aunt Marge. We'll call you back when we have an answer."
Outside their door, three males were lurking about, listening in. "Honestly, have you three any dignity whatsoever?" Hatori asked coming up from behind them. "Now get away from there."
Shigure turned around and he had chibi tears running down his face, "Oh Hatori it's awful, Linda and Kylie are going home."
"What are you babbling about?" Hatori asked raising an eyebrow.
"We just heard their Aunt calling them and saying that she had found a way for them to break the curse," Yuki explained as Shigure was too distraught to continue.
"That's a good thing isn't it?" Hatori asked confused.
"The catch is they have to go home in order to break it," Kyo continued disdainfully.
"I don't think there is anything to worry about. They would probably ignore it for our sake than take it and leave us alone," Hatori explained rolling his eyes in disbelief.
"Can you believe it Linda?" Kylie's voice came from beyond the door and the three once more had there ears pressed against the door while Hatori put a hand to his forehead in exasperation.
"Yeah, man to be rid of the curse… I never would have imagined," Linda answered.
"It would be nice," Kylie admitted. "I mean, I'm sick of getting bruises."
"I hear ya…and if we got rid of it we wouldn't make the others worry so much either," Linda mumbles scratching her chin. "I guess it would be nice to see the family again as well." At this Hatori looked up quickly starting to get worried that they would decide to go home.
"Yeah…it has been awhile since we last saw them after all," Kylie agreed.
A cloud of gloom seemed to settle over the four. They moved away from the door and down to the living room. "Oh fate, thou art cruel," Shigure exclaimed dramatically.
"It does seem rather hopeless when they start talking like that," Yuki said sadly.
"I can't understand why they'd want to leave when they're engaged," Kyo said angrily.
"They want to get rid of their curse. I think it's a pretty good reason for them," Hatori said leaning against the wall and looking at the ceiling.
"As much as I'm against the idea, we should let them know that we'll support any decision they will make," Shigure sighed.
"Let's give them time to think," Hatori said.
"What's to think about? Why wouldn't they want to get rid of their curse?" Kyo said begrudgingly.
"In any case, it's their choice to make. Who are we to stand in their way?" Yuki said wisely.
They sat there for several minutes in silence until Shigure got up and said that he was going to get the two down there. As he left the other three started to get a bad case of the butterflies. "Kylie, Linda could you come down here for a moment, there is something really important we need to discuss with you," Shigure called through the door.
Linda opened the door and looked at him curiously. "What's up?"
"Just come downstairs please?" he asked again very seriously. Kylie and Linda were surprised by the seriousness in his voice so they followed him without question.
He led them to the sitting room where Hatori, Yuki, and Kyo were waiting. Shigure asked them to sit down. They did so, sitting down on the couch while the four men remained standing. "Now, we would like to talk to you about a very serious matter," Shigure began.
"Okay," they both said together and waited.
Shigure took a deep breath. "Kylie, before you go would you please sleep with me?"
At Shigure's announcement Linda's jaw dropped, Hatori shook his head and both Yuki and Kyo clobbered Shigure. "You disgust me," Yuki muttered.
"Why can't you ever shut up," Kyo shouted.
"Um…what's all this talk about us leaving," Linda asked somewhat confused about Shigure's comment.
"I'm a little confused myself," Kylie said feeling rather awkward.
"We apologize," Yuki told them. "We overheard you the conversation about finding a way to break your curse."
"And we want you both to know that you're free to stay or go as you please," Hatori finished.
Kylie giggled, and then out right laughed. Linda was laughing as well. "Man you guys are so easily worked up."
The others stared at them confused now. "Well aren't you guys going home to break that curse?" Kyo asked agitated.
"We were thinking about it…and yeah it would be great to get rid of it and all…but if it means going home and possibly not seeing Japan again then I'd rather keep the curse and stay here," Linda explained with a laugh.
"What about seeing your family again?" Yuki asked them.
"We won't lie, we sort of miss them. But we've really grown attached to this place. We'd get too homesick if we left now," Kylie said smiling.
"Yeah besides going home would mean we'd be underneath the hated eyes of all those relatives….not to mention the prospect of some of them trying to use us before we ditch the curse and others who'll try to convince us not to get rid of them," Linda said with a wave of her hand.
"Plus, with any luck, we're getting married…why would we want to leave with that wonderful event coming up?" Kylie added with a smile.
"I keep telling you not to jinx it you idiot," Linda exclaimed smacking her upside the head.
The four males couldn't hide the utter relief on their faces at their words. "Um, is something going on?" Tohru asked poking her head in. "If I'm interrupting I can come back later."
"No, everything is fine," Yuki told her with a relieved smile.
"We had a misunderstanding but it was all settled," Shigure continued rubbing his sore head, while Kylie followed suit. Tohru looked around the room confused but came in all the same with lunch in her hands.
Later that day, Linda and Kylie called their aunt back and told her to inform the family that they weren't coming back. "We've decided we like it here and we think we'll get by just fine with our curse," Kylie told her happily.
"So if you want to see us that badly come on over here yourself," Linda said before moving to hang up.
"Oh my dear…we're already here," Marge chuckled a little.
"Wha…?" Linda and Kylie both stuttered. They heard the phone click as their Aunt hung up, and moments later there was a knock at the door. Linda and Kylie exchanged worried glances.
Downstairs, Tohru answered the door to find two older looking women standing there. One looked to be a tall portly woman and had a rather pleased look on her face and the other looked to be an older looking version of Kylie, and appeared to be down right livid. "Um…can I help you?" Tohru asked nervously.
"Yes," the older Kylie stated. "I'm Kylie's mother."
"And I'm Linda's Aunt," the portly woman added.
"We're here to take the two of them home to America," they said together. "Where they belong."
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CM: Bwahahahaha..... I love cliffhangers. Will they be able to stay, or will their relatives manage to drag them home? Will Shigure never manage to consumate his love with Kylie? Will Hatori have another love torn from him? Stay tuned! :D
