Here it is, for those of you who were waiting... ( crystallizedsiren... ) More of Akito is on the way! I still plan on them being close, or at least friends to some degree. Taren is going to play a part in Akito changing... Whoops ;P spoilers!

Chapter 37. Hatori's summons.

Life was doing great. Oh. Maybe I shouldn't start that way, it almost sounds as if something bad is going to happen. Life was... interesting, to say the least. I had never thought of having a brother before, but now I did. At least, technically. As far as I could tell I was slightly older than Kyo, so one day at school... I had some fun.

Taren: "Nii-chan, let's go eat lunch with everyone! Hurry up!"

I prodded Kyo, trying to irritate him a little.

Kyo: "Don't call me nii-chan!"

He shot back, falling for my bait. Once in a while lately things were like this with us, light teasing which neither of us took seriously. Sometimes I wondered if I pushed too far, but... Kyo never seemed to get mad. He'd just always do the same thing, get slightly embarrassed and lash out.

Taren: "Then... Otouto-kun?"

Kyo: "Wha...! No! Not THAT either!"

He yelled, blushing. Things began to seem normal again once I started speaking. I think that, once everyone in class saw that I was "fine," they too began to feel more comfortable talking to me. Kyo jumped up, storming out into the hall. I followed closely behind, trying to not overdo it with my laughter.

Kyo: "You suck."

He stated as we both climbed down the stairs to the main floor. All of us had switched from eating on the roof to instead eating outside in the yard. Mainly because Uo suddenly decided one day that she didn't much like the roof anymore. Meh, oh well. Either way, it was fun to be with everyone.

Hana: "Oh my, at first it was just one big child... But I really don't think I could handle two of them."

Kyo and Taren: "AH!"

We both yelled, Hana having popped up from nowhere like she always does. You'd think we would be used to it by now, but... Nope. It still got me every time.

Taren: "What is she talking about..."

I asked quietly as she walked off ahead of us.

Kyo: "Don't. Ask. Don't even. There's no way in hell that it'll happen."

What was he talking about, as well? Seems like I missed out on something at some point. That was life, I guess. Tohru had told me not too long ago that an Isuzu-san had stayed at our house for a bit, but that it was while I was still... "unresponsive." Turns out that Isuzu is the horse, so I missed an opportunity to meat another zodiac member. Speaking of which, I still needed to find Ayame and apologize for ruining his outfit from the play...

Shaking my head from the dark thoughts that instantly began to form, I kept walking with Kyo into the school grounds. Everyone seemed to be gathered there already, except for Yuki who had some sort of student council stuff again. Lunch was still fun though, we all had a good time as usual.

Once the school day was over, all four of us headed home together. By now it wasn't as quiet as it had been a couple months ago, everyone chattered at their own pace. It was... nice. Being able to listen and join in like I actually fit in, even if just a little more now. What was awaiting me that night I would never have really expected, though it was about due time for it to happen.

It began with a phone call from Hatori. He spoke of how Akito wasn't feeling well recently, and was asking for someone to be around. Specifically me, I guess. Strange, since last time I was by her we had a "falling out," if you could call it that.

Hatori: "Would you mind stopping by this weekend? You don't have to spend all your time with him, but... Any time you can spare would be nice."

Taren: "Of course I'll stop by. I honestly don't really like Akito, but... So far, I haven't found any reason to dislike him either. Sorry, I hope that didn't come out wrong."

Hatori: "It's fine. It certainly is true... To a lot of people within the family, Akito is feared. It's... nice to be able to hear someone say something like that. Oh, before I forget, you may want to bring something to keep you busy. Akito seems to be going in and out of sleep at odd times of the day."

So, plans for this weekend were set. In some ways, I was a little excited. When the others found out about it, they all stayed rather quiet. Reactions like that made me think... Was I missing something in Akito? Did he do something to everyone, and I just wasn't aware. Part of me wanted to be nice to Akito, but other times... I wondered if I could be hurting someone else because I wasn't aware of all the facts. Perhaps, in some way, Akito wasn't a very good person...

Taren: "Hey Kyo... is there something I should know about Akito? I mean, I know that I don't really understand a whole lot about this family and curse, but... Is he... a bad person? Is it... alright for me to be nice to him?"

I asked Kyo when we were going to bed later. For a moment he just leaned against his doorpost, thinking.

Kyo: "There are a lot of things that Akito has done... to many of us in the past. I definitely don't see him as a GOOD guy, but... I think, if you want to be, it's alright to be nice. Just... be careful. He can be violent, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

It was at times like this that I really noticed how open Kyo had become with me. It made me wonder if he trusted me that much, or if he was just trying to be close to someone who he could now call "brother." Either way, I would listen to his advice, I honestly trusted him more than Akito.