Okay, WOW. Do I stink at this new routine or what? T.T I'm very sorry, everyone! To make up for it, here's a new chapter! Oh, and replies:
indescribable music: Aw, thank you! :D It's one of my favorites too ^.^ Mostly because of Kyo, Haru, and Momiji, butyeah XD Thank you, thank you so much!
Maddie: Yeah, that was one of my first thoughts when I watched this episode for the first time. Glad I could surprise you! Heheh :) Ha! It doesn't make you weird! I have a couple friends who usually end up liking the bad guys! Light from Death Note, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII... Yeah, it's not weird! xD Thank you so much! ^.^
LiveMyLife: OF COURSE I MISSED YOUUU! xD Omigosh XD I burst out laughing at your "Psycho Therapist" joke XD Clever! Very clever...! hahahaha AH I love your song choices! I looove Mayday Parade! Don't have much of their music, but I'm looking into getting more! ^.^ Love Yellowcard, too! haha ZOMG SKILLET FTW! xD Ooh, good question! Well, in this part of the story, Haru just goes Black because of Takei, but, yes, you're right, later on, he goes Black because Rin (the Horse) broke up with him. I can't give away too much, but that WILL be coming up in the future. *evil hands* hahaha I haven't really seen much of Rin yet, so I have to get more of a feel for her character. So far, I don't like her xP hahaha Thank you so much! ^.^
Heartfire: Thank you so much! Heh, yes... I do have a habit of writing long stories and/or chapters ^.^; Glad you like it, though! :D
Okay, hope you enjoy this chapter, everyone! And remember... Big Brother is watching you O.o
-XXXVI. Big Brother-
"So, it's almost May," Miki said to Yuki. "Some of these should be ready to pick soon, right?"
"Uh-huh," Yuki said, looking at the garden. "I'd say...the carrots, the turnips...and the leeks."
"Orange-top will be so pleased," she said.
They laughed a little.
"Oh, and the strawberries," Yuki said, smiling.
"The strawberries are almost ready?" Miki asked excitedly. "I can't wait!"
"Yes," Yuki said. "They should be delicious."
Miki suddenly sneezed, pulling down her mask to sniffle.
"Are you okay?" Yuki asked.
"I'm fine," she said, smiling reassuringly. "I guess it's just a little chillier out here than I expected." She adjusted her mask back over her mouth.
"In that case," he said, "we're almost done here. Why don't you go back to the house?"
"Are you sure?" Miki asked.
Yuki's stomach growled. He looked at her, a little embarrassed. "Well, I'm hungry, too..."
She laughed, and he smiled. "Okay, when you put it like that." She stood. "I'll go back and we'll figure out something to eat."
It was only a few days after Akito had shown up at the school, but, already, Yuki seemed to be in a much more cheerful mood. Miki was glad about that. She didn't like seeing her friends upset. Except maybe for Kyo, but especially not Yuki.
Now then, she thought as she walked back to the house. What should we make for...lunch?
She stopped when she saw clothes and a pair of shoes on the ground. It was sort of like a long, fancy robe, but one that a guy would probably wear.
She knelt down and picked the robe up. She started. "Could this be someone...from the Zodiac? !" she asked herself, startled.
Her eyes widened as she saw something slink out from under a bush. She gasped and screamed.
Her scream echoed through the forest, and Yuki heard it, as well as all the rats in the neighboring trees.
Yuki ran to her. "Miss Miyamoto?"
She was kneeling on the ground still, shaking and shuddering. She looked at him. "There's..."
"What? !" he asked.
"There's...something under my clothes!"
He growled, ready to attack whatever it was.
Just then, a silver snake came slithering out of the back of Miki's dress.
Their jaws dropped, but Yuki seemed more angry than scared.
1_1_1_1_1
"Ah..." Kyo groaned. "Dammit, I'm hungry."
"We have to wait for Miki," I said. "She and Yuki are bringing back some things."
"Try being patient for once," Shigure said. "You can snack on these to tide you over."
Kyo glared at the bowl Shigure was holding. "Are you crazy? ! You know damn well I hate miso!" he yelled, smacking it out of Shigure's hand.
"You know, you really shouldn't waste food like that," Shigure said solemnly. "Terrible..."
Kyo growled at him.
We heard the front door open, and all turned.
"Ah, you see?" Shigure said. "Here they are...now?"
Yuki was holding a silver snake in his gloved hand, and put it right in Shigure's face.
Sachiko and I took a couple steps back. We weren't huge fans of snakes.
"You want lunch?" Yuki said darkly. "Here, skin this and eat it," he demanded.
Shigure looked closer. "Uh...is that...Aya?"
Kyo's eyes widened, and he backed into the kitchen with us. Somehow, I got the feeling that he wasn't afraid of the snake per se, but something about the snake... Could it be a member of the Zodiac?
"It is! But what is he doing here?" Shigure asked.
"Never mind!" Yuki snapped. "Just skin this thing and eat it!"
I could practically hear the Psycho theme playing from some unknown place in the room. Possibly from Yuki's head.
"Hold on... I think you need to calm down, Yuki," Shigure said.
Shigure took the snake and put him in another room on a pillow, as well as the clothes Miki had said she'd found in the forest.
"There. We'll let him sleep for a little while," Shigure said. "That was Ayame Sohma," he said to us. "And, as I'm sure you noticed, he's the snake."
"Oh," we said.
So he was a member of the Zodiac. But why had Kyo looked so afraid of him earlier?
"Snakes naturally hibernate in the winter. I imagine that's part of the reason Aya has always been sensitive to the cold."
Shigure really likes nicknames for his friends, I noticed. Hatori is Hari, Ayame is Aya... (Look who's talking, friend of Sachiko a.k.a. Saki.)
"If he's not careful, it can cause him to transform like this," Shigure continued. "Aya, Hatori, and I grew up together," he said, grinning. "We were in the same classes through grade school, middle school, and high school! We were inseperable. So much so, people called us 'The Three Musketeers'."
"More like 'The Three Idiots' if you ask me," Kyo murmured.
I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile. That seemed like a more accurate description, especially where Shigure was involved.
"How did Hatori put up with you for so long?" Yuki muttered.
We tried to stifle our laughter.
Shigure grinned at Yuki. "Soo... What did Aya do to upset you so much, Yuki?"
Miki sighed.
"I won't even say it, it's so disgusting," Yuki said.
"Come now, it wasn't so bad!" a voice said. "You could show a little more forgiveness to your own brother."
Whaa? ...Brother? I wondered.
We all looked up when we heard a poof.
"Did he say 'brother'?" Miki asked.
"Allow me to explain what happened."
I assumed it was Ayame, since he was the only other one in the house.
"I was on my way here, when a sudden chill in the air caused me to transform. In my search for heat, I sensed a warm body drawing near, and naturally, I clung to it! I suppose you could say it was...instinct."
The door slid open, and that was when we first laid eyes on Ayame. We were stunned. (Not necessarily in a good way.) He looked just like an older version of Yuki. Except his eyes were gold, and his hair was lighter and much longer. Oh, and his voice and tone gave the impression that he loved to talk about himself. He was wearing something that looked oddly like a slip. Then I saw there was a red sort of over-coat. It looked kind of...regal.
"Greetings, everyone!" he said. "And how are you, little brother?"
Yuki jumped up. "If we all followed our instincts, I would've snapped you in two when I had the chance!"
"What's the big deal?" Kyo asked. "What exactly did he do to you, Miki?"
Miki just stuttered out something we couldn't understand. No help from her, it seemed.
"Oh, Lucky Kyo, I heard you were staying here," Ayame said.
Kyo growled at him. "I told you not to call me that!"
"Lucky Kyo, you haven't changed a bit."
"I said stop!"
"It's been too long, Shigure," Ayame said, ignoring Kyo.
"Yes, since New Years'," Shigure replied.
"You haven't forgotten about me while we were apart, have you?" Ayame asked, his voice soft.
"Not a day has gone by that you haven't been on my mind, Aya," Shigure replied, mirroring Ayame's tone.
Then they gave each other a thumbs-up. "Yes!" they said together.
"I knew it," Sachiko hissed. "They're gay."
We tried to contain our laughter.
"I don't think so, Saki," I whispered.
I'm already getting the feeling Ayame's personality is very different from Yuki's, I thought.
Yuki leaned against the wall, his head in his hand.
Kyo just glared at Ayame.
"By the way, these are the young girls who have come to stay with us," Shigure said. "Sachiko Fujioka, Kiku Oshiro, and Miki Miyamoto. You came to see them, right?"
"Oh, yes that's right!"
We sat up a little straighter.
Ayame bowed to us. "I'm sorry about earlier, dear Miki," he said.
Now Yuki was glaring at him.
"I am Yuki's older brother, Ayame."
"Pleased to meet you," I said, and Miki and Sachiko nodded.
"So you really do exist..." Ayame mused. "The princesses I've...heard so much about."
What? I wondered.
"Three blooming flowers trapped in a house of stinking men! Are they treating you well, princesses?"
"You make it sound like they've been kidnapped," Shigure said.
"Brother," Yuki said angrily. "You're being rude. Stop making fun of them."
"Making fun?" Ayame asked, sounding like he was hurt by this accusation. "Honestly. I mean these fine young ladies nothing but the highest respect." He sat down next to Shigure. "So, princesses, why don't you make us some tea?" He tapped the table. "And lunch would be nice."
We looked at each other, eyebrows raised.
"That's not respect!" Yuki and Kyo yelled.
"Of course, you're right," Ayame said. "What was I thinking? Let me try again." He stood and faced us. "Come, ladies! We're going out to eat!"
He grabbed one of Miki's hands and one of mine, and took Sachiko's in the same hand as mine.
"Um...I don't know..." Sachiko said.
"Don't worry! It's my treat!" He laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.
And we couldn't do anything but be dragged along by him and pray that we'd find some way out of this.
3_3_3_3_3
Yuki and Kyo glared at Shigure as the door shut.
"Now, there's no use getting angry at me..."
3_3_3_3_3
"Very good," Ayame said as he sat us down in the restaurant.
We were sitting on stools in front of a bar. But not like an alcoholic bar. Just...a bar. Maybe a sushi bar, I dunno.
"Feel free to order anything you like. Although I'd highly recommend the potsticker plate," Ayame said.
We looked at each other nervously as Ayame twisted his long hair into a braid. And I mean, it was long hair. It went well past his waist.
But what about Kyo and Yuki and Shigure? I wondered. There's no way they can-
"Don't worry about Yuki and the others," he said. "They're big boys. I do think they can manage lunch on their own."
Okay, so it wasn't the biggest thing I was worrying about, I thought, but thanks.
"Still," Miki, the only one brave enough to sit next to Ayame, said. "I'm not sure we should've come..."
He reached over and placed his hand on her cheek. "Well, I hope you won't deny me the pleasure of treating you all to lunch."
She looked incredibly uncomfortable. "No, I, uh..." she said, leaning back. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful." She swallowed and narrowed her eyes at him. "And if you touch me again, I'll-"
"Good, then it's settled," he said, cutting Miki off. "Waiter! Four potsticker plates!"
"Coming right up."
I think we're being swept away! I thought. That and Ayame is this far away from incurring the wrath of Miki (something you don't want to do, FYI).
"I have to say," I said. "It's been one surprise after another, meeting you today."
"Yeah, Yuki's never mentioned you before," Sachiko said, "let alone that you're part of the Zodiac."
Ayame smiled a little. "I suppose that shouldn't come as news to me."
The smile on Ayame's face was a little sad, and I sensed a lot of history hiding in that statement.
"As you know, Yuki and I don't get along very well. Or rather, I should say we've never really been very close."
Here it comes, I thought.
"You see, we're ten years apart. And when Yuki was born, he got sick fairly easily, so he was kept separated much of the time."
"Separated?" Sachiko wondered quietly.
"I, on the other hand, grew up doing whatever I liked. Because of our separation, I was only vaguely aware I even had a brother. By the time I realized it, a deep gap had formed between us that we've never been able to bridge. That is our story."
We all looked at Ayame in silence.
"I was told that...Yuki saw Akito the other day at school. You three met him too, I think? How do I put this...? I've never had much ineraction with him myself, but, for Yuki, Akito is a source of great fear. Even now, at his age, I'm not sure that fear has subsided."
That explains a little bit of why he was so afraid when he saw Akito, I thought. Wonder if Ayame knows I'm the girl who pushed him?
"And so...while I did want to meet you all today, more than that, I wanted to make sure Yuki was alright. I'm glad to see he's doing well, but I was hoping I'd have a chance to play the big brother."
"Do you still hope that?" I asked. Maybe he's trying to close the gap, I thought.
"It's odd in a way. The more the years go by, the more I come to understand things I didn't understand when I was a child. I think, 'When that happened, I should've done this,' or 'When that happened, I should've said this.' That sort of thing. Only now have I begun to realize all the ways I could have been a better brother then. And I confess I feel a certain amount of regret that things are the way they are. I wish I could go back and correct the mistakes I made as a child. But I suppose every adult wishes that to some degree."
I suddenly had a thought. "You know, my mom..."
They all looked at me.
"My mom told me one time... When she first became a parent, she finally understood how it felt to be an adult."
"I remember you telling us about that," Sachiko said. "And she said that, as important as that was, she said never wanted to forget. She always wanted to remember how it felt to be a child."
"I remember, too," Miki said. "Like the first time you turned a flip on the monkey bars. Or the first time something upset you. She said, if you can remember those feelings, then, when you become an adult and have children of your own, you'll be able to understand each other much better."
Ayame looked at us.
"And, even when you don't agree," I said, "you can still meet half-way."
"Besides," I remembered her saying, "it's just more fun to think that way, you know?"
We looked at Ayame.
"Oh, sorry," Miki said. "We're supposed to be talking about you and Yuki."
"Guess we got a little sidetracked there," Sachiko said.
"I know I had a point in bringing that up..." I looked at Ayame. "Maybe you and Yuki can try to meet each other half-way."
Ayame stared at me.
"Here you go!"
We turned to our food.
"I guess that doesn't make any sense," I said.
"No, it does," Ayame said. "Some people say the greatest things, don't they?"
"Oh, yeah," I said. "Mom was the greatest!"
"True that!" Miki and Sachiko said.
"Um... Actually, I was talking about you three, but either way..." He poked at a potsticker with his chopsticks. "I think...I understand now. Why it is my brother's doing so well lately."
We looked at him, then looked back at our food.
"Listen...as far as Yuki goes...I promise I'll keep trying. And you...you girls...especially you, Miki...I hope you'll continue to be there for him when I can't."
We looked at Ayame. I studied the look on his face. It had changed again. What was it? Was it resolution? Maybe determination?
[Back at the house]
"Oh, ladies!" Yuki said as we walked back into the house. "Are you all okay?"
"Yep," Miki said.
"Just fine," Sachiko said.
"Did everyone get something to eat?" I asked, hoping that he didn't notice that I was holding my jacket shut in a rather odd, unnatural manner.
"Never mind about that," Yuki said quickly. "Did my brother give you any trouble?"
"No, not at all," Miki said. "He bought us potsticker plates."
"Um...Yuki?" I asked.
He looked at me.
"I was wondering... Well, do you really not like your brother? I mean, I know it's not really any of my business. I was just curious."
Yuki smiled a little. "I wouldn't say I...dislike him. He's just a little too much for me sometimes."
"Well, if that's all, we can overcome it!"
Yuki glared at where the voice had come from. Namely, from inside my jacket.
I laughed nervously.
"I will do all in my power to meet you half-way...my brother!" Ayame slithered out of the front of my jacket.
Yuki stared at him in utter shock.
I heard a thud, and looked to see Kyo on the ground next to the stairs. Was he listening in? I wondered. Oh, and then...he saw Ayame... Yeah... I blushed.
"Uh...you see..." Sachiko stuttered. "It got really cold on the way home from the restaurant, and he transformed!"
"And then he said that if snakes get too cold, they can die," Miki said matter-of-factly.
Yuki bent his head forward and sighed.
Ayame wrapped up around my head and I shivered. "Well, I am a snake," he said.
Yuki's eyes opened wide and he glared at Ayame. He grabbed him. "You may be a snake, but you're no brother of mine!"
Ayame laughed as Yuki swung him around the house. "Ah, ha ha ha ha! You can't change the truth, Yuki!"
"Ah, welcome back," Shigure said as he walked in, ignoring the fact that Yuki was beating up Ayame. He seemed to ignore most things like this. But maybe that was just how he operated.
But, Yuki, I thought. If you could've seen the look on his face at the restaurant...you'd know that Ayame truly cares about you. Maybe someday...
"Shigure...have you picked out a place for me to sleep tonight?"
"Oh, you're staying over?"