They arrived at Kasamura by the bus, Akito had never saw so much green and she had been sticking her nose to the window during the entire trip from Inuyama to here. The prior days, they visited Osaka before taking another train to Inuyama. They also used Tohru's name this time too for the billet and it made Akito anxious again. Thank god, nobody noticed the trickery. They stayed two days there, wanting to visit the city before heading to their new house.
Even though they visited Osaka white castle, Akito had ran to visit Inuyama's. "The dungeon is way smaller." She noted with deception and Shigure laughed. "Well, this one is older. Plus, Osaka used to be the shogun city, of course Hideyoshi's castle is fancier." He laughed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. They walked around the castle as if they were having their honeymoon. There weren't a lot of people, so they didn't earn any glares full of judgement.
The next day, Shigure took her to see the Kiso river. Even if they didn't swim in, it reminded them the day they watched together boats go overseas. It reminded to Akito that she was free. "After that, let's go to Momotarou shrine!"
Shigure wondered where she got that new stamina, remembering how tired she was the day they arrived to Osaka. She was hopping up and down with impatience, also running and pointing everything. She had grown used to the city where she met him, but Inuyama was new and it was her new home, she wanted to know everything about it. As a tease, Shigure walked slowly on purpose to have her pulling him by the hand with her little strenght. It was so domestic and Shigure was in heaven. They walked under the Momotarou pink-peach color gate. Akito looked at the colored statues with great interest, tilting her head like a curious pup. This was a shrine made more for children than adults and it showed. They looked at the kids running around and the parents watching them. In this situation, Shigure couldn't help but to tease her again.
"You know, this shrine is for parents wishing to ask good health for their children" Akito nodded, not understanding what he was trying to imply. Shigure winked "You think people looking at us think you're bearing our baby?" He smirked at her high blushing "What are you saying…" she said, embarrassed before caressing her belly. They almost never talked about having a kid together. Sure, they both had thoughts about it, but saying it was…It was too soon and none of them were ready for this yet.
Now, it was time for themselves, only for them. They didn't want to share it with a third person. It was too stressful. They just wanted taking their time to breath and to enjoy. They were not ready.
That night for diner, Shigure took her in an Italian restaurant and she swore it was the best food she ever ate. "So good! Why you never took me here before?" she said after swallowing her pasta. He allowed himself to stole some of her spaghetti. In his head, the music from the Disney movie the lady and the tramp played and they cheered with their glasses of wine. She made the funniest expression when she sipped for the first time her Bordeaux.
"It tastes strange." She muttered, her hand on her mouth and he sneered. "It's good with the Bolognese though" she admitted and she took another glass. Before Shigure realized what was happening, she had almost drunk the bottle by herself and she was a laughing mess. Shigure was looking with amazement and curiosity the experience happening in from of him. They walked back to the hotel, her resting her body against his and whispering in his ear lewdly while she slid her hand in his shirt, caressing his chest and arousing him. However, when they had both fallen on the bed, she fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes, leaving Shigure with blue balls. He had to sooth himself in the shower.
The next day, just after eating their breakfast, they took the first bus that was taking them to their new home. Kasamura was just a municipality nestled against the mountain. Because of the small the population in the village, the bus was passing only two time the morning and the afternoon. At least, nobody will find them here. They jumped off the bus, dragging Shigure's suitcases and Akito's bags. They had bought clothes for her when they were at Osaka. It was charming but Shigure was now afraid that Akito would catch easily a cold during winter
He had picked the key of the house when he was still living in the estate. He had already made a spare key for Akito and gave hers when they arrived at Osaka. They opened the entry door and removed their shoes and then discovered their new home. They found in the living room boxes that Shigure had sent here before leaving the estate. In, there were his computer, books, lamps, supplies and clothes. Akito quickly walked away in quest for the blessed bedroom and what wasn't her surprise when instead of finding space on the floor for a futon like she always slept with, she had found a queen size bed.
She had sleep in hotels' beds the last days and she have been charmed. After all, the only time she used a bed before was to make love with Shigure in love hotel. Without any warning, she grabbed her man who was opening a box by the collar and kissed him. It took him by surprise and he had moaned in her mouth. At the end, they both ended naked and drenched in sweat and other fluids on the bed, Akito framing his face, kissing him endlessly and giggling. She was completely euphoric; it was as if she was still drunk.
"Hm, you think I can ask for a delivery here?" he asked against her mouth before straightening out of the bed, Akito stretched her arms and arched her back, reminding him of a cat. "Hm, anyway the kitchen is empty." She said "We will need to go out tomorrow to get foods" he told to himself and looked at Akito who was already walking out. "By the way, where is the bathroom?" she asked in the hallway with nothing but Shigure's shirt on her shoulders. With a teasing smile and a light in the eyes, she looked at him over her shoulder, inviting him for another round in the shower.
Living together was different from meeting each other during a few hours per week yet, they quickly and easily find one's feet in this new life. They agreed on rules, for example, Shigure was forbidden to smoke in other room than his office and Akito was the one in charge for the money, showing more experience than him. After all, right now, she was the one with the biggest account. Just with her money, they could stay here without working for years, but she was against that. "But it's only for now" she explained "I think the wiser is to keep the biggest amount of this money in case accident happens or if there are big expenses to do."
She was making drawing on white paper to explain her economic plan and Shigure was barely listening her, his attention was all on her serious face. She had one of her longest hair bangs behind her ear and she was so contentious. She had been formed to be the chief of an entire clan and now, all she had to manage was a family of two, he and she. Akito was in her element and Shigure was charmed.
However, all wasn't pink and like in a dream. First of all, their sleeping schedule was different. Shigure was working better at night to Akito's detriment and because she was a morning person, she always woke him up with her. "Shigure, let's eat together" she shook him awake by the shoulder and he pulled her down in the bed and wrapped his arms tightly around her body to prevent her to move so he could get a few minutes of sleep until she tapped on his shoulder endlessly until he let her go. After a month of living together, it became their morning routine.
"You stay here all the time here, so why don't you work during the day?!" complained Akito, chewing the rice they ordered the day before for breakfast. "Akito darling, you should know that writer inspiration come whenever it wants and that I can't go against it." He said in a teasing voice, feeling satisfied when she rolled her eyes.
If she was honest, Akito expected Shigure to be a kind of person going out a lot, however he spent most of his time in his office when he wasn't with her. In the latter case, she was bored and she wanted him to stay with her, but she knew he needed to write to get income. But she was like a cat and dying for attention. She often put her cheek on his shoulder when he was writing, hoping that it would be enough to get noticed, but Shigure was steadfast when he was working and after two weeks of doing this daily, she gave up.
"You should try to go out Akito, it's bad for you to stay inside." He told after their second month, picking pork with his chopsticks, another delivery food. Akito was starting to grow tired of that kind of food. What a pain that none of them knew how to cook. All she could do was washing the rice and cook it. The most basic dish and if Shigure was glad only with that, she was picky and unsatisfied with that.
She had decided to go out this morning, she was wearing new clothes that they had bought together when they went to the city for shopping. Akito said to herself that if Shigure wasn't able to keep her mind busy, she was going to do it by herself. Shigure had hugged her for one complete minute before letting her go. "Call a taxi to go home if you miss the last bus okay?" he called and Akito rolled her eyes "Shigure, if I wanted to live with somebody who act like my father, I would have eloped with Hatori." He had gasped in a fake horror, annoying her in purpose.
However, as if the world was mocking her, she just saw her bus leaving under her nose and even if she tried to run after it, it didn't stop. It has been months since she has been that enraged. Boiling, she walked back home when she heard somebody calling her. "Excuse me!" Said the woman, she looked like she was younger than Shigure but older than her and she was out of breath, did she run? "Are you Sohma-san?"
Akito paled, oh no, somebody had found her and they were going to bring her back to the estate. "I'm your neighbor, we haven't been presented yet!" she said with a sunshine smile and a regional accent. "Nice to meet you!" she said before bowing. Akito completely lost bowed her head as well, mimicking the person in front of her "Nice to meet you…" she repeated in a small voice, still under emotion.
"It's so rare when people come living here so when we heard that people moving in, all the village knew! You should come and meet them all, Sohma-san!" she said that in a kind voice but she couldn't help but take it as a reproach. However, that was true that since she and Shigure moved in, the only moment they go out was when getting foods. It was basic politeness to introduce at least to the neighborhood, they had been wrong. But in Akito's defense, she had never done it before, hell, she barely has been out in the world for almost twenty years of her life.
"Hum…yeah, we needed to get acclimated the place before…" she just said. "Oh! Right! Sorry if I've been rude, it wasn't my attention!" she laughed silly "So, you come from the city? Are you alone?" she asked without end and it made Akito uncomfortable. She really wasn't used to attention. Yet, it was a good occasion to know new horizon. She ran away with Shigure to start a new life, here was the chance.
"Yes…I came with my…" she blushed, was saying boyfriend a bit childish? And it wasn't well saw to live with a man if you were not married with… Akito blushed harder in spite of herself, frowning. The woman laughed "Haha! I see! I'm the same!" she showed her ring around her finger. "I came here with my husband three years ago! We had enough of the city and this village is where his family live! They're farmer!" she was so proud, talking about her family and Akito feel herself becoming sour at the mention of it. She had a thought about the people still living in the estate.
She wished she could talk as much as this woman about her cousins, what they loved in life, what were they purpose in their life, what kind of people they were, what they do during their free time, their hobbies, but she knew nothing, nothing. She just talked to them the time of one night, it wasn't enough. She had wasted too much time in that cave.
"You know, at first" continued the woman, not noticing that Akito's mind was wandering somewhere else "I was really scared that I had to help them! I just can't imagine myself working in the field, I am a woman of the city, I've lived all my life at Nagoya!" She laughed warmly, making a gesture of the hand, it reminded of Akito Mine's laugh. "But thank god, they said that I didn't have to, so instead I'm the one in charge of meals! They are so many, I feel like I am a lunch lady!"
Akito just hummed, not knowing that to reply and neither wanting to continue this one-sided talk. She didn't care about this woman. "And you Sohma-san, I guess cooking isn't hard for you, if you're making for only two people" Akito made a face and closed her eyes so the woman won't see how annoyed she was. "I don't know how to cook actually, we rely on delivery and already made foods." She answered casually before lifting one eyebrow by seeing the woman's shocked face. Her mouth was agape and Akito was sure that her eyes were ready to pluck out of orbit at any moment by seeing how wide they were.
"No way, Sohma-san! You can't rely forever on pre-made food! You have to learn!" she dared to scold Akito. It was during those moment they wished the entire world know she was a reincarnation of a god, maybe they would leave her alone. Ah, she just wanted to go home, but the idea of doing nothing until Shigure walked out of his office to be with her made her mentally groan, it was boring. She hated that she was dependent of somebody. Before it was Kureno, and now it's Shigure.
However, the woman decided against her leave "Sohma-san, you really must learn how to cook! Are you free right now? I can teach you!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining by the idea. Akito pondered, unsure. "I…" She turned her eyes toward the path giving to her house, thinking about her lover and the forever same delivery food, and then, she looked back at the woman. If she gave a try to stay with her and learning how to prepare food, it will bring her to more independence. Also, the idea of eating what and when wanted seduced her. Also, she felt like she could be useful, she could make a change in the new life she and Shigure have now. Making her choice, she nodded slowly "Okay."
"Ah! Awesome! I'm so glad Sohma-san! You know, almost everybody in the village are old people and I don't have many women of my age to talk with! Please, let's be friend!"
It was morning and Shigure rejoined Akito in the kitchen after he succeeded to emerge from bed. Thing he learnt after he had moved in with her was to say goodbye to lazy morning and staying in bed until late. But at least, he could sleep his nosedived between her two breasts when it wasn't plunged in her hair or neck. Often her nightdress was getting between him and his body pillow. Often during the night he let his hands slid in her clothes leaving her with few the morning. She never complained, he supposed it was because the weather was getting warmer and with their two bodies in the bed, she didn't feel cold at all.
The best with that was that they weren't chased by the time, if they wanted, they could stay in the bed all the day, if Akito allowed him. Nothing will bother them, not the love hotel time slot that they had to respect, not the servants of the mansion that he had to avoid. It was just the two of them in their own world.
To Shigure's surprise, even with this routine, he was feeling satisfied, it was exactly what he has been wishing for, just she and he, alone in their own little world. Or, it was how he thought, because Akito quickly showed how independent she could be. The first time he noticed it was when he saw her in the kitchen frying eggs and preparing vegetables. "Is Akito-san cooking?" he had put his chin on her shoulder, looking what she was doing. She had grunted and tried to pull him off. "Annoying, make yourself useful and go boil water for tea." she had blushed, he had sneered before kissing her cheek.
And with the time, she started to cook harder dishes. Sure, there were fails and they had to call for delivery, each time she was pouting but even she couldn't bring herself to eat such burnt foods. However, when she succeeded to do what she wanted and that it tasted good, Shigure was complimenting her without end, saying how lucky he was to have such a good little wife. "We're not married" she defended, pink on the cheeks, and he served himself again with a meaningful smile "Not yet."
But the fondest memories he had of her adventure in kitchen-land was when she was putting all her strength in. He would cherish her plates the most when he was seeing how hard she worked on it. The little cuts on her fingers, all wrapped by band-aids, the burnt from the water or oil. He remembered once rushing out of his office when he heard her scream in pain. She had opened the skin of her finger as she was peeling a potato. She had tears in the corner of her pretty eyes and the finger in her mouth. "Let me see…"
He had examined her finger before putting it under cold water. "Want me to help you?" he had asked gently and she had nodded, looking at him like a sad kitten with her wet eyes. They had spent the next hour peeling potatoes and carrots, Akito making complaining about the fact that he was able to cook but too lazy to do it. "It's because I prefer eating dish made with love by my cute future wife~"
"What a lazy-ass" she had spat to hide her joy and he snorted. Shigure could see how she was scanning the way he was moving the knife around to peel off the skin of the carrot and tried to mimic it uselessly. "How do you do it?" she finally asked, showing frustration through sigh of the nose. He chuckled "We used to have cooking class at school, though I'm not as good as Haa-san. I wasn't patient enough and I was always stopping the fire before it was cooked enough." He told, his voice showing a fond nostalgia.
Something in him ached when he thought about the fact that it was an resolved era and that he will never see again Hatori scolding him and Ayame when they were flirting blatantly, or the calm afternoon where the three of them would talk about anything. About redoing the world and the society, talking about curse, school, family, girls, passion and cigarettes. But it was meaningless to think about the old time, he turned his attention back on the girl staying by his side and smiled warmly at her curious look. He regretted nothing.
But to go back on that morning. It has been several months since they moved in. Shigure had almost finished his second book under his new penname and he had noticed a car parked in front of their house. He looked at it and hoped it wasn't a surprise visit from his new editor, he hasn't meet him yet and he wasn't sure if he was ready so soon in the day. Searching comfort, he wrapped his arms around his woman and rubbed his cheek against her shoulder "Mmn, Aki, there is a car in front of the house." He whined.
"I know, it's mine." She answered casually, taking a sip of her miso soup, tasting it before frowning and then giving a spoonful to Shigure. "Not bad, a little too strong on bonito." He said before shaking his head "Wait, what do you mean it's yours?!" he asked, coming back on the main subject. "Since when?" he was making gesture of the hand, surprised and confused. "Well, I got my license last week, so I thought I could afford one. It's useful and we are more independent." She was frowning her eyebrows, not understanding why Shigure was making such a deal out of it.
"Wait? You have a license?!" Akito stopped the fire and sighed "Yeah, what do you think I was doing every time when I was out?" she rolled her eyes and Shigure had to palm his face, muttering things to himself that Akito couldn't catch. "You told me you were out with the neighbor!" he finally said before shrugging, exasperated "That you're working to manage the hall town and the residents finance"
"That's my job, yes! But with the few people living in the neighborhood, once I've done everything, I have nothing left to do, and it happens quickly!" their voice that starting to get higher and now she was on the defensive. "Why are you so angry godamnit?!"
"Because you didn't tell me!" he answered, as exasperated as her. She opened her mouth and then closed it, unsure of what to say. "I…" She looked lost and she was visibly searching for words "I didn't think it was important." She just said and Shigure had to fight with himself to not make a sarcastic comment. "I mean, it's just a license and a car, since you don't go out often, I thought you wouldn't care!" she added quickly, as if it was a good explanation. "Akito do you hear yourself?" he said in a derisive chuckle, massaging his temples.
He took a deep breath "Of course it's important Akito, we're living together, the least you could do is telling me what you do during your days! And fuck! We are talking about a car!" he couldn't believe he was explaining to her something that simple, that obvious. "I mean damn, Akito, we're meant to share our everyday life! I don't ask you the moon, just to talk to me about that kind of thing!" She was now crossing her arms, an angry frown on her feature. It was bad, when she was starting to act that way, she didn't want to listen. Shigure decided it was better to stop talking before it would become a real mess.
There was a long silence, just a moment of quietness to calm themselves, to gather their thought and be able to talk about it without getting into another argument. She was the first to talk "I really didn't think it was important plus…You're unfair, you too, you don't tell me what you do during your free time."
"That's…" he shook his head "I'm not doing much when you're not here but reading when I don't write" he sighed. Akito had a sad frown and she brought her hand on his cheek, turning his face in her direction. "Oh, Shigure…"
"I'm okay you know" he smiled warmly, cupping her hand and leaning in the touch. "Since I was young, I've always be a loner…and well, it's hard to get close with people with the curse" he often told himself with derision that he was more of a wolf than a dog. She nodded and hugged him, he burst out a laugh, teasing her. "What's this, you're sad for me? Haw, you're such an adorable little girl~"
She grabbed the back of his shirt still. Starting a new life was easier for Akito who had lost nothing in comparison to him who had to say goodbye to his best friends, all the life he had built. Since she wasn't growing annoyed of his teases, he lifted her face, his fingers under her chin and studied her face, worry in the eyes. "Hey, Akito?"
She kissed him to tell him how much she thanked him and then, she whispered multiple 'I love you'.
It has happened in the middle in the night, Akito woke up in tears and screaming unintelligibly. "Akito, what's wrong?!" he took her by the shoulders and she continued to sob, screaming things that Shigure couldn't understand. He took her in his arms and cradled her. He understood a 'hurt' 'no there' 'can't feel' in her blubbering and he was wondering what she was talking about. Ugly tears were drenching her messed up hair and her body was spamming through the hardness of her sobs.
Shigure had caressed her back in circle while she was hiding her face in the crook of his shoulder. He had caressed her head without saying a word and waited until she calmed herself enough to try to talk with her. At the end, she cried until falling asleep and for the first time in months, she didn't woke him up the morning. Akito didn't move out of the bed even after he had woken up and she wasn't answering to any of his calls. However, the moment he tried to get out of the bed, she grabbed his arm and wrapped all her body and her might around it, preventing him to move away from her. It was an odd pattern.
The fact that she wasn't telling him anything worried him to the point he started to grow annoyed. However, he kept it for himself, not wanting to pin it all on her who was already feeling bad. He just wanted to understand why. "Akito, what's wrong?" he asked with an irritation that he failed to control. It made her snap and she shivered. Shigure frowned again, not understanding. Yet, he slowly pulled her on his laps.
He waited for her to stop shivering and then he allowed himself to leave her in the bed and go in the kitchen and to reheat left-over, today they will eat in bed. Maybe she will scold him about that later but for the moment, he didn't care. As he was taking salmon out of the fridge, he noticed Akito's recipe book open in the counter of the kitchen. He took a moment to ponder before putting the fish back in it place and flipping through the pages and then stopping when he found what he was looking for.
Akito was curled up in ball under the blanket, her arms wrapping her own body in comfort like she always did when she was feeling helpless, like she was right now. She was counting and feeling the bond between her and her cousins, the god and the animals, one, two, three, four, five…two were missing. It hurt and she was scared. Why, why it was happening. She came here to be happy, to be free from the curse and yet she was here crying in anguish. It was wrong, wrong. It shouldn't have happened, so why?
She felt Shigure coming back in the room and sitting in the bed. "Akito." He found her shoulder and shook it, she reluctantly removed the blanket and looked at him with tired eyes. He was holding a tray with their breakfast on it. She looked confused, her glare coming back and forth between him and the plates. "We gonna put crumbs in the bed…" she said in a small voice that she barely recognized as her owns.
"It's nice sometime to indulge ourselves, don't you think?" he tilted his head and he bumped his leg against her, silently asking for more space to sit on and he put the tray on his cross-legged thighs. He gently pulled a bowl full of okayu porridge. She was even more confused. "But…I'm not sick"
"Sadness is an illness of the mind." He answered, putting her longest bang of her hair behind her ear. The attention made her heart fluster and she removed the cover of the bowl and tasted the porridge. "It's not cooked enough" she said and she smiled for the first time since last night. Shigure chuckled "Well, I told you I'm not patient enough to cook" he put an egg roll in his mouth and Akito continued to eat the porridge. If she was honest, the rice they made for her at the mansion was better. However, the fact that he took time to cook for her even when he hated doing it made her feel like it was the best porridge she eaten in her whole life.
They stood in silent. Shigure decided that he won't inquire and let her tell by her owns will what happened last night and why she was suddenly feeling down. She threw a hesitant look at him before letting the spoon rest in the bowl. "It's broken."
"What?" Akito frowned and fisted her hands, it was hard. "Momiji…The rabbit bond…It's gone." Shigure's eyes widened. The curse was really breaking. Sure, he already had the feeling before. Shigure wasn't blind and he felt how the curse was weakening with time, but it was still a shock to see it happening in his very own eyes. He didn't care, with or without curse he already has what he desired since he was little. But he had a thought for his family…They deserve to be happy, to be normal.
But why was Akito so sad. Why was she still caring? They left them, she shouldn't care anymore, shouldn't she? However, by seeing her hurt face, Shigure's resentment disappeared. "It hurt?" she nodded, biting her lips. "Very much…" she sobbed. He put the tray and the plates away and she wrapped her arms around his neck and hide her face. It hurt, but it was bearable, it was different from the time it was Kureno's link. But a horrible image flashed in Akito's mind. What if Shigure leave her when his own curse will break. She planted her nails in his back.
"Ouch! Akito-chan, that hurt" he whined but Akito lift her face and looked at him right in the eyes. "You took me with you, you don't have the right to abandon me!" Shigure smirked, pleased by this sudden honesty. He let his hands slid under her buttock and lifted her higher so their noses were stuck. "You should know by time that it's not the curse that bind me to you Aki" he tilted his face so he could caress her cute little pink nose with his. "You know I don't care."
She frowned and pouted though, in her eyes there was amusement. "Damn yeah I know." He laughed and then kissed her hard. This salty smell of tears was still lingering in the room, however now the ambiance was warm. After they laid down back on the mattress, the two of them at each side of the bed and looking at each other with smile. Akito put her hand on his cheek and whispered just in his ear with a playing tone. "Just because you made the breakfast don't exempt you from doing the dishes."
"Haw."
"Oh my god, never I would have guessed that it was a pen name! Sohma-sensei, you should have told me!" said the editor, a young man with untidy hair, using a flustered face. Visibly, he didn't expect working with the great writer Shigure Sohma. "Yeah, but I'm using a pen name to be left alone, you see...back in Tokyo, people when always behind me." Shigure explained in a sigh and Akito rolled her eyes from the spot she was reading, what an actor. She hoped that that new editor won't be gullible. "Oh! I understand, a great author like you must have enough and want to live in a quiet place! That's why you moved here?" Akito winced, why life was unfair? Shigure smile grew wider.
"Ab-so-lu-te-ly! And it was really hard for me to find the inspiration in the wildness of the city!" The young editor nodded, believing every lie of the man. "I see!" answered. Then the editor looked hesitant before clearing his throat. "To be honest Sohma-sensei…I'm a huge fan of your books! I've read all of them!"
"Hee? Really? What a good surprise!" he said gleefully, it's exactly what Mitsuru had said when she met him for the first time. Oh, it was birthday before date~
Akito flipped a page of her book before throwing another glance at her man, he was as joyful as a child who got a new toy, she didn't remember seeing him like that. She could read in his mind how he was going to make that man suffer and she wondered what kind of plan he had in head. Akito will see with delight what kind of torture Shigure had already prepared.
The noise coming for the teapot signaled that the water was boiling and she put her book on the wooden floor. She was sure she probably looked like the perfect wife, preparing tea for her husband's guest. She pouted and blushed by the idea of them being married. Well, without a doubt it was going to happen in the near future.
She poured tea in cups and then brought it with appetizer on a tray and served the two men. Shigure watched with appreciation and asked her to stay with him. The editor thanked her and then he started to talk about the last book he wrote. Akito was amazed by how quick Shigure worked, but she shouldn't be surprised, after all he stood most of his time in his office when he wasn't with her or watching TV.
"This book has been a real success!" he said, clapping his hands "Actually, sensei you have been nominated for Tanizaki prize! The reception will happen in a month!" he was excited as if he was the one nominated. "Oh, really?" Shigure was more casual about the situation, just sipping his tea. He already won a prize when he written one of his first novel. Well, being rewarded for his work was nice, but he preferred that him and Akito would stay off radars.
"Yes! You have to be there sensei! And your wife too!" Akito choked with her tea then she coughed loudly. She should be used to it now, but it was still embarrassing coming from somebody else. Shigure on his part simply tapped his finger against his chin. He didn't mind that people called her 'his wife'. It was expected that people think they would be, they share the same family name and an unmarried woman living with a man together wasn't well-view, especially in a small village like that. They both decided to keep their relationship ambiguous for the people around. Akito whinged many times about how people were always asking her why she wasn't wearing her ring. People could be real quidnunc.
"Are you alright Madam?" the editor was death worried, face white and the lovebirds were almost sure he was going to do a dogeza. They hoped not, it's embarrassing. She cleared her throat and nodded without saying a word. The young man looked relieved. "Please, try to not kill my lover, she is my muse~" sing sang Shigure with a silly smile, Akito pinched his thigh under the table and he whined. "So-sorry, I won't do it anymore." The editor apologized.
"As for the reception, I don't know if it's going to be possible." Said Shigure slowly and they both looked at him with surprised expression. "Wh-" started quietly Akito before being interrupted by the screaming voice of the editor "Why Sensei?! It's an important reception, I can't let you be absent that day!"
Akito eyebrows went up. So that editor had some balls at the end. Shigure chuckled, he knew better. The man was young and it was probably the first time he had an author under his direction nominated for a prize and he didn't want to miss an occasion. "Like a say, I want to lay low for the moment." He made a subtle sign toward Akito who frowned. "But sensei…" the man voice was full of sadness and regret. He really wanted Shigure to come. Akito understood thatit t was such an opportunity. Also, she didn't want Shigure to miss important events because of her.
"It's okay Shigure, let's go." This time it was him who was surprised, with his eyebrows high, almost touching the birth of his hair. "You sure?"
"Yeah, it would be a waste to not go" and nobody know me.
The editor had cried and thanked Akito to the point she grown annoyed.
"Mmmm…Yes! Right here…!" she purred breathlessly, the back of her head resting on his shoulder before he pushed her hard on the table. She moaned, the hot skin of her body resting against the cold surface. She didn't even have the force to balance on her elbows on the table and was instead slumped on it, moaning in pleasure in the crook of her arm. Shigure was thrusting in her restlessly, each of his hands grabbing her waist. He was so forceful -it was how she liked it- that her knees were rubbing in against the carpet, provoking little burn but her mind was so lost in pleasure that she didn't even notice. Actually, it even unconsciously aroused her even more.
She felt like they had done it on every surface of the house; in the genkan, on the kitchen counter, on his desk in the office, the floor of their room, against the wall, the mirror of the bathroom, on the porch of the garden. Her car was the only survivor. The warmness in her belly was growing and her pants became more frequent and louder, she whimpered her orgasm noisily and Shigure slid his arms under her armpits to pull her back against his chest and to kiss her hard as he was also coming in her.
She smiled drunkenly at the unusual warm fluid spreading in her, feeling too dizzy to notice it. She closed her eyes and tried to caught her breath. Shigure was the first one to react. "Oh, fuck!" he screamed and suddenly removed dick, Akito whined in surprise. "Huh?"
She moved and faced him and it was a that moment reality caught her. She felt something liquid dropping out of her pussy and her face lost all the colors when Shigure removed the condom, a broke condom. "Oh fuck!" she screamed, repeating what he said earlier. "fuck! Fuck! Why you didn't stop in time?!"
"I didn't notice!" he defended himself, as panicked as her. He let the condom rest on the floor as he palmed his face. Akito was freaking out, they couldn't have a baby so soon, they won't be able to raise it well and the idea of being pregnant scared her, being responsible of a life, being a good mother, all of this, she didn't know how to. She was scared. "Shigure!" she called, begging him to find a solution. He had still his hand on his face, breathing deeply. "Shigure, I can't be a mother!" she called again, moving closer to him.
He removed his hand and hushed her, his eyes downed quickly on the sperm pouring out of her pussy and if he wasn't panicking, he would have probably jumped her a second time because of the daring sight. "It's okay, I'll call the clinic and check if they have after pills." Akito nodded uneasily and he kissed her forehead before standing up and taking the broken condom to throw it in the trash. He put his pants back and walked in their room where his phone was.
Akito stayed alone, naked on the carpet and taking her time to think. Okay, it was alright, it wasn't the first time it happened to her. Kureno and she had made the same mistake. Well, if she was honest, what happened just now was more an accident. Still, it was stressful. Akito let her hot forehead rest on the table, it was still a humid from her sweat when she has been slumping on it. She groaned, she was exhausted and she was feeling only now the burns on her knees and the hurt of her waist. Feel good for minutes and pain for the next three days. Always like that.
The door's ringing pulled her out of her mind and Akito like a startled cat jumped before quickly putting her panty and slid in her dress to be presentable as she rushed at the door. "Ah! Sohma-san, hello!"
"Ah…hello?" Akito blinked, confused by the person in front of her. She has saw this old woman only once when she had been working with her family finance plan. "Can I help you?" she asked, not knowing what kind of procedure she was meant to use in frong of an uninvited guest just after she had been fucked hard on the living room's table. "Haha, oh no! I just came here to give you cabbages and potatoes from the garden, to thank you for helping us! Right?" she asked, looking down to her grandson, or at least Akito thought so. The little boy nodded. By the sight of the child, Akito remembered that Shigure had come deep in her and that she might end pregnant if they didn't do something soon. She gulped and felt anxious again.
"Also, I heard that you just started to cook! I wanted to give you a grandma old recipe!" the woman giggled, making a gesture of the hand. "Ah…Right now is…" Akito looked back in the house, unsure if she should let them in. "Oh, you are busy?"
"No it's just…" Akito bit her lips and thought of the bad reputation they could have if she refuse that woman in. She opened the door wider "Please, come in." The woman and the child thanked her and removed their shoes in the genkan before taking the bags of vegetable in the kitchen. Akito was studying a cabbage when the kid pointed her red knees. "Grandma, why she has red knees? She hurt herself?"
Akito's error was to go still and blush when she and the woman looked at each other, like a deer in front of car light. At this moment, the woman knew. And Akito knew she knew. It was embarrassing and she wanted to die. Damned, carpet burns. The woman cleared her throat, visibly as embarrassed as Akito.
It was Shigure who save the situation by coming out of the room, perfectly dressed and putting his watch on his wrist. "Oh, hello, I didn't know we had guest." He put his handsome smile on his features, the one he uses to get what he wanted, like taking her in doggy style on carpet in the middle of the living room. She was going to kill him. Anyway, the smile worked because the woman had forgotten everything about Akito and she was now looking at Shigure with a hand on her cheek, pinkness of each edge of her face. "Oh, we were just bringing vegetables for Sohma-san to thank her for helping us, I also wanted to show her to how cook it." She said dreamingly.
"Oh, I see, it's really nice from you" he tilted his head charmingly before turning it in Akito's direction and pulling her apart "I succeeded to get an appointment at the clinic, were did you put the car's key?" Akito frowned "Don't tell me you're driving?! You don't have a license!"
"It's alright, you already saw me drive" he pouted "Anyway, you won't leave that poor old grandma and her grandson here, won't you?" Akito gritted her teeth, she hated when she couldn't argue back. Chuckling Shigure quickly smacked her lips and framed her face, his childish expression changing into a grave one "I sooner I go, the better, don't worry, I'll be careful." She wrapped her arms around her belly and bowed her head, humming.
She walked Shigure to the door and watched him go with her car. "Something happened? Why is your husband not staying?" asked the woman with disappointment in the voice. Akito ignored the thing about him being her husband "No, he had an appointment he couldn't miss."
"Ara, what a shame! He is quite the man, I wish my own husband would have been this handsome when he was younger ohohoh!" Akito held back the urge to roll her eyes and to spit a 'I don't give a fuck' and instead asked to show her the recipe she was talking about so she could leave sooner as possible.
The recipe consisted in a kind of potée-cooking and she hated admitting it, but the taste was marvelous. "It takes a long time to do, but it's worth it, plus, look, Sohma-san can keep it for days in the fridge." Said the grandma, a finger in the air. Akito thanked her as she was stocking the food. "...Sohma-san, can I be honest with you?"
Akito was now curious, but if that woman was asking it, maybe she was going to be rude. Well, this day was already spoilt well enough, it couldn't be worse "Go ahead." The woman chuckled anxiously and twisted her fingers. "You see, when I heard that you were married with a writer, I imagined a man of my age haha. I mean, it's already unexpected to see young people moving here, but a writer…"
She wanted to laugh because the situation was so hilarious. "And well, I had prejudices on it! So…I am really sorry about it." The woman bowed her head and now, it was Akito who was embarrassed. Why this woman felt the need to say that to her? She could have kept it all inside. This behavior reminded her of Kagura. At the thought of her family, her embarrassment disappeared for sadness. She succeeded to hide it since the woman said nothing about it.
"But now, tell me, how you two did meet~?" It had the effect of making her grief melt away for irritation. Why people where so nosy?
At the end, the woman and her grandson left after a complete hour of her trying to get information from Akito until she was satisfied. Old gossip women were to be scared. Shigure came back half of an hour after with the urgency pill and boxes under the arms.
"I've got the food." He said, showing two pizzas and a bucket of fried chicken. Lately, Akito found herself loving occidental dishes, especially pizza, pasta and cheese spread on it. The pizzas were lukewarm and Shigure decided to reheat them in the oven while Akito was pouring water to drink with the pill, reading the notice. She already knew how it worked, she had to take the first as soon as possible and then, take the second twelve hours after the first. She gulped it in one go.
Shigure came behind her and rested his palm on her waist. "Okay?" She hummed, nodding. She had been really scared at the moment, but with that woman coming here, it had eased her mind. She felt grateful now, like she did with Kureno.
They had eaten the pizza in a subdued atmosphere, watching the TV, her back resting lazily against his chest and him letting his fingers tip run mindlessly on the skin of her arm. "We shouldn't do it on the floor with this position anymore." Shigure turned his head in her direction, confused, his brain taking the information in slowly before understanding what she was talking about. "Hm, why not? Don't you like dogs?" he sneered and she bumped her elbow gently in his stomach and moved toward the table to get another slide of pizza.
"No, I've got carpet burn and it gotten noticed." She said before biting in the food, Shigure laughed louder. "Granny found out what kind of naughty girl you are?" Akito groaned and put down the slice on the table to nudge him in the ribs with her injured knee. He caught her by the heel before she could touch and then spread her legs so he could fit between. He took a leg in hand and studied the red skin before kissing it gently.
"I'm sorry, does it hurt?" his voice was so quiet, like wind in summer night, warm and pleasant. "A bit, but it's okay…" she said shily. Shigure smiled elegantly and let his lips caress her thigh, letting kisses all along her skin. Her steady breath became pants when he moved up her dress so he could have access to her belly. She let her back fall on the floor and his hands wander on her buttock. She purred in delight and put her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer to her body. He made a mark on her breast, just next to the one he made a few hours before.
He moved his lips up to hers and they kissed hard, caressing his lower lip with her teeth before he slid his tongue in her mouth, she could taste the tomato sauce from the pizza he had eaten. They moaned together, his hardness rubbing against her panty which was getting wetter and wetter. She bucked her hips in rhythm and wrapped her arms around his back. "Again at it? You're hopeless…" she tried to say with confidence when he was kissing her hot cheek.
"I'm a man in love, how could I resist when you show me your adorable knees?" he giggled and moved his head between her legs. She hissed when his thumb started to rub the wetness of her underwear, his teeth teasing the soft skin of the inside of her thigh. "Pervert"
"We are two." He sneered and removed the bothersome underwear. She closed her eyes and hid her face of the crook of her arm, enjoying Shigure's talented tongue playing with her cunt. He had already two fingers in, playing with the wall of hers inside. "Mmm…deeper." He executed, bending his fingers, eager to satisfy his lady and teased her clit with the tip of his tongue, for her greatest pleasure. It wasn't long for her before reaching her climax, the back arching and her tip-toes curling.
He had kissed her belly "Hey, Aki" he called, rubbing in circle on her waist. "You know I was thinking…Since you took the pill…Maybe we could do it raw?" She opened her eyes and closed her legs immediately. "Shigure." She warned.
"I mean, it's safe right? It's a good occasion! It's time to get our sex life spicy." As ever, Akito frowned "Because you think it's not spicy enough, I don't know a surface of this house we haven't fucked on!" Shigure pouted "your car…"
"Leave her out of this!" Shigure made a puppy expression, massaging experiencedly her hips. "Akito-san" he whispered charmingly in her ear, kissing her neck just so. She whined fisting his hair "Nn…You sure it's safe?" she asked, pulling the two of them down on the floor. He smiled warmly and kissed her "Yeah, it's safe."
Slowly, with hesitation, Akito opened her legs, allowing Shigure between. He kissed her again, as a thank before it changed into something more passionate. She was the one to open his pants and to take his hot dick in hand. He was already dripping out and after pumping up and down, she leaded it toward her entrance, the heart on her lips. It was the second time she was doing it raw with him and she was too aroused about it. Just feeling the tip entering in felt different without the plastic of the condom around.
He was so slow to enter, that made her frustrated, she wanted it all to fill her up. "Shigure" she whimpered, begging to move faster but the man was staying still, the eyes closed and his eyebrows down. It was also different for him and he was trying to concentrate to not come too quickly. He collapsed on her once he was deep in, panting in her neck and kissing it. He squeezed her breast and she sobbed in joy, getting tighter around him. Ah, it felt so, so good.
They both knew each other bodies by heart now and they both know the different erogenous zone. For Akito, all she got to do was caressing softly Shigure spine to make him shiver while she was spamming from the touch of his hot hands on that spot under her knees. Like adventurers, they were searching for more place to please the other, to conquer.
She caged his body with her legs and her arms, their bodies stuck together. They were vigorously moving on the floor, both of them moaning messily. He pulled her on his laps and fucked her in this position, hands on her hips moving up and down, her small breasts bouncing while she was screaming 'feel good' 'deeper' 'mmm! More, more, please -Gure!'
He slapped her ass and she hiccupped in surprise, tightening in spite of her. "What's that Akito-san, you really like it rough" he had a breathless laugh and squeezed the red butt hard before slapping it a second time. She sobbed harder and she bit his shoulder for revenge, that bastard got bigger in her.
He shoved her against on the floor and grabbed her by the waist and after four long thrusts, his body spammed and he put his dick as deep as possible, splurting and filling her with his cum. Just this was enough for her to reach her climax, feeling him fully without condom between them and that hotness in her limbs, ah she felt like she could become addicted. She looked with a dreamy smile his o-face, reaching her hands up to frame his face covered in sweat. He opened sluggishly his eyelids and took one of her wrists to kiss the palm, then, each one of her fingers. She felt she was loved, she felt she was in love.
He collapsed on her and she lovingly kissed his cheek, his nose, his lips before she pulled his head in a warm embrace. Fuck it all, she loved him.
Shigure was shining, not because of the proudness to be one of the nominees, it was something he was already used to, but because the woman beside him was absolutely gorgeous. She surprised him by wearing a deep red cocktail dress and stilettoes. He wanted everybody to notice the pearl he had brought with him, but also, he wanted to keep her for himself only. Damned duality.
Akito wasn't leaving him and was trying to walk as little as possible. Each step she was making reminded him of a baby deer having its first steps, her legs shivering oddly. Her hair was long enough for her to wrap it in a little bun, she put a red flower in. One of the neighbors also came earlier in the house to put a bit of mascara on her eyes and red on her lips. She was lovely.
However, and he couldn't understand how it was possible, but he was the main attraction. Not that he disliked it, he was an attention whore. People were gathering around him and they ignored her. Poor fools, not seeing what's precious. Well, too bad for them, Shigure was going to keep his treasure for himself. "It was a real surprise to see you here Sohma-sensei! Since you said that Ama no Iwato mousou was your last piece, I became desperate haha!"
"Right! It was quite the shock when I saw you here Sohma-sensei, why using another penname?" Shigure smiled like a professional, Akito disliked this smile. It was handsome but so fake for her who know how warm was his natural smile. "Well, I think I wanted challenge myself and try a new life I guess." His voice was calm, measured.
"Sensei you are quite a confident one!" joked another man, sipping a glass of champagne. "I had to admit it's a real honor to meet you, I've read all your books." Akito rolled her eyes aside, 'liar' she thought. Judging by how the man was talking about books like brand, she was sure he had never had a light novel in hand, even less Noa Kiritani AKA Shigure's one. Was it the reason why he didn't want to go? Everything was so boring, so fake. It reminded her the one and only gathering she had in her life, with the Sohma family.
She lifted herself up to his ear level "I'm going to get something to eat" it was only at this moment that the people around them noticed Akito and eyed her with a hard look. How dare she to take Sohma-sensei attention's away when they were talking with him? Women should watch themselves.
Sighing, she escaped, trying to walk straight with her high heels, it was hard. She should had practiced before…But wait, why should she practice to wear shoes, it was absurd!
She drowned her irritation with petit-fours. She looked her watch and mentally insulted somebody's mother. They haven't given the price yet, it was too long and she hated being transparent. It reminded her old life back in the mansion, a spiritless god, a chief of façade. Nobody could see her. She wanted to go back in their hotel room they had reserved for the night and go sleep. Tomorrow she will have to drive them back at home. She still wasn't used to long distance and there were hours apart between Osaka and Inuyama, she didn't trust herself yet to drive in the night.
"You came with Sohma-sensei right?" called a gentle voice beside her. She saw a beautiful woman wearing a very glamour dress, her hair arranged pretty with earring highlighting her gorgeous face. Akito tried to keep inside her the fire of exasperation, but annoyance was showing on her face. She sipped her champagne. "Maybe so."
"Haha, sorry, sorry, it was rude of me. I understand your position, don't worry!" she softly chuckled, it was refined, it annoyed Akito even more. A real woman goals. "We are nothing more than pot plants here, right?" Akito frown softened and she noticed the little light in the woman eyes. It showed experience. "At best, they will saw us as trophy women." She giggled, putting her hand on her mouth. She really looked like a woman from a good family. She and Akito were different and it painfully reminded her that even if she had the highest social status, she couldn't act that way, because she never received the education for. Nobody taught her how to be a 'woman'. She clicked her tongue, why was she comparing herself anyway?
"It's okay, just don't mind them and let's eat all the food before they notice" offered the woman with a little wink, it made Akito smile a bit. They cheered with their glasses of champagne. "Still, Sohma-sensei is more handsome in real life."
Akito's smile dropped. Yes, of course. "It's funny, I know him through Noa Kiritani's novel, she said she was a fan of his books, so I got curious." Akito mouth went agape "Noa Kiritani said that?"
"Oh! You read her books too?!" Akito turned her head in Shigure direction and threw at his back thunders with her eyes. This guy had no shame. "Yes, it's…entertaining." She answered mindlessly, forcing herself to bring back her attention on the woman. "Right, people here don't read light novel, they consider it as subculture of literature."
"I see…" She said by politeness because she didn't care to be honest. "Anyway…Ama no Iwato Mousou was breath taking, this story about that poor girl, until the end I thought she was going to stay for her father, I'm glad she ran away with Mamoru-kun, she deserved to be happy." Akito made her usual frown. Truth to be told, she didn't read that book yet, she wasn't even aware that Shigure had written this book before tonight. He pissed her off, why he didn't tell her? Why was he so secretive about it?
"During all the book, I was wondering what was the exact genre you see. At first I thought it was drama, since the poor Hikari wanted to stay for her father, in spite of everything he done to her, she loved him, that Tarou guy." She stared at her champagne "I loved how sensei compared it with a curse…" Akito went still. A curse? Tarou? Was this book…
They continued to talk until Shigure came to fetch her for the awarding of the prize. At the end, Shigure didn't win it.
"To be honest, it relieves me. I didn't want my photo to be plastered on every paper." He laughed, untying his tie and slumping on the bed of their hotel room. She looked at him with a curious expression. "You didn't?"
"Nah, I didn't write it as a prize book, and I've already had enough on my resumé" he smirked proudly even through his eyes were closed, it made her laugh. She sat on her leg next to him. "Did Ama no Iwato Mousou received a price?" At this, he opened one eye and then turned his head in her direction, before looking away in uneasiness. "Yeah, but I wasn't here to fetch it." Actually, he had learnt the news through the newspaper, it was a sour to know it that way but he had thrown away his phone and his made a new mail.
"This story…Is it about us?"
"I don't know, it is?" he talked back with a sneer and she frowned. He shrugged. "Did you read it?"
"No, no yet." She clicked her tongue "Well, I wasn't even aware that you had wrote it." Shigure closed his eyes again, ignoring the reproach. "Shigure did you hear me?" he hummed and Akito took a breath, trying to stay calm. It wasn't the first time they had an argument. "Such a hypocrite."
His opened his eyes widely and he was scoffing "What?" he laughed "For real?" he was making fun of her and it felt. She squeezed her fists. "You were the one who was making your fake Madonna when I didn't tell you I've got my car's license, but I guess it's alright if Sohma-sensei can keep for himself he had published a book!"
"That's not the same Akito!" he gasped before downing his voice. "What do you mean it's not the same? You're a fucking writer! Why you just didn't tell me?!" He looked away, decided to not answer. "Alright! Fine!" She screamed, removing her dress and throwing it on him before walking in the bathroom. All she needed at the moment was a shower and time for herself to clear her mind. If she had stayed in the same room as him, she was sure she would had strangled him.
She got out one hour later, a towel around her body. She threw a glance at Shigure. He was sleeping on his side of the bed, showing his back. She sighed and removed her towel before sliding in the bed. She faced the wall.
"This book…is farewell letter." He said, not moving his body, his voice echoing in the room. Akito turned her head in his direction. "For you to read, it's embarrassing." Akito stood quiet before rolling slowly and snuggling beside him. He sluggishly turned in the bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. "I guess, I wanted to tell our story through this book. All the way we made until we got to this point."
She kissed his bare chest. "I never thought you were the shy type." She whispered in a mocking tone and Shigure pinched her arm gently "Shut it" he chuckled quietly.
He was tapping vividly on his keyboard, ideas filling his mind, he was in trance. However, even if he was ahead on his planning, he will still trick his editor, make him cry. His screams weren't as good as Mitsuru's. Her cries were high qualities and so innocent in comparison to that young man greedy for recognition. He just needed to continue to train him to have the best sound.
Honestly, he thought that Akito would be against him practicing that kind of behavior, but to his surprise, she had been watching them from far with a wide smile on her lips. Damn, he loved her.
Maybe it was because of how he was living an idyll, but he was in mood to write something romantic. Of course, not something too gummy. No, he stood in the subtility. It was the simple story of a man falling in love. However, he hid the main romantic plot under a nonsense typical adventure. He wanted to try writing about absurdism, it was something which was in vogue during the last century in Europe. Bringing and mixing it with Japanese culture was a challenge that he liked. Nonsense, he knew about it, he was cursed after all.
He had just finished a paragraph about the main character vomiting butterfly after being electrified by love at first sight when he felt two arms enveloping him tightly. He removed his glasses and turned his head at Akito who was hiding her face between his two-shoulder blades.
Right, it was unusual. She was never going in his office uninvited, mainly because the place was a mess and because she respected his private space even though he didn't mind her going in. But, it wasn't the question, what was she doing here? Was she missing him? He smirked, ready to tease her when he heard a sob. "Akito?"
"Hiro's gone…" she didn't need to say more. He abandoned everything and pulled her on his laps and cradled her. "Shigure, it's already the third!" she whimpered in the crook of his neck. The third? He pulled her off to look in her eyes. "What do you mean the third? Momiji, Hiro…" he had suspicion about Kureno, but, for real? What it the reason why it felt odd next to him? Akito confirmed it. "His curse broke when I was still young" she sniffed.
He knew it. "It was the reason why he was living with you?" Akito nodded and sobbed, putting her head back in his neck. He kissed the top of her head. "Here…I'm here." She moved her head, his words comforting her. She dried her tears quickly after this. It was different from the last time. Less strong.
"It's weakening…" she said softly. "You noticed it too" he laid his chin on her head. "Akito, I'm sure you already know." Her eyes widened in horror and she grabbed his kimono like a beggar, please don't say it. "This is the last banquet."
Akito sniffed, feeling the god in her abundant sadness. She started to bite her nails anxiously, Shigure pulled her wrist away. "Akito, didn't you know? Before this generation, there were always one animal of the zodiac missing, always." He studied the shape of her hands, her nails like little shells on the tip of each one of her fingers.
"It's scary…what I am going to do when it will be all broken?" Her voice was hollow. She lived with god all her life, with his loneliness and his story about his twelve friends and the traitor. About endless banquet that Akito never knew. "Once it's over, we're going to be free, there will be no bonds holding us back."
"So please, don't be scared."
"Yes, but with the festival coming soon, we had to watch out the expense" The mayor nodded, his hand under his chin. "That's true the festival…aaah! Listen, I think we should stop for today, all we get are problems and no solutions. Let's take a night rest and talk about it for the next reunion." They all bowed before gathering their things. Akito was glad to go home even if she knew there were going to have more incessant reunion in the near future. The mayor just won't hear her plan business for the village, he better to not get all surprised when the money will run low.
She massaged her temples, feeling a headache coming. She is totally going to make herself a tea and watch TV once she'll be back home. In hope that Shigure hasn't ate all the sweets a friend gave her. She walked out of the little town hall. The pure air of the country eased her dizzying head. She closed her eyes, enjoying it. The silence, the smells, having time just for her before going home.
"Sohma-san!"
Of course, it couldn't last.
She deeply breathed in and looked at the woman who just called her. It was her neighbor; she was running at her. Akito wondered what was the urgency. "Oh! Sohma-san! Is that true?!" she repeated, out of breath when she succeeded to catch Akito. "What?"
"Is that true that you and Sohma-sensei eloped and that you two are both from a high family?!" she squealed, red on her cheeks. Akito was confused, taking the time of processing before completely paling. How? How did she know? Had Ren found them? Was she going to imprison her again, far away of Shigure, no, no, no!
"I was visiting my family and I saw your name on the newspaper!" The woman took Akito's hands in hers. "Oh my god! It's true! Akito-san that's soooo romantic! You left your place as chief of family for love! Kyah!" She turned around, like a high schooler. "Why you never told us! Sohma-san is so mysterious!"
Akito frowned. Romantic? Leaving her own family, abandoning the cursed who needed her, getting away from that hellish place, and they called it 'romantic'. Akito fisted her hand, her nails were digging in her skin. She had to bite her lips to not scream. "Ah! Sohma-san, you need to tell me all the details of your love story!"
The details? She wanted details? She wanted to know how Ren had beaten her for years before trying to force her in an arranged marriage with a man ready to rape her at first meeting? She wanted to know about the curse that forced her, Shigure and the rest of the zodiacs to live on the margins of the society. No, they knew nothing, they just saw a couple of love birds running away together to live their love. They didn't saw the sacrifice they made. Akito wasn't blind, she saw how Shigure was missing his friends and family, she saw how much he sacrificed for her.
All they had left with the zodiacs was the bond, as long as the bond was still here then…
Akito gasped painfully, something was happening, and it hurt, bad. "Sohma-san?" Akito excused herself and left, she had to go home, right now, before…before…
One, two, three, the threads were disappearing. Four, five, six, how many were left? Why were they all leaving at once. Not able to handle it anymore, she crouched in the middle of the path. She couldn't feel them anymore, Hatori, Kagura, Kyo, Ayame…Shigure, and finally Yuki. They were all gone.
Even the god in her left after telling her an old tale forgotten by the age and the time. About a lonely god that lived far away of the humankind and a friendly cat who came to him, about an endless banquet and eternal promise. She couldn't hold back big tears, it was heartbreaking. It was only when the god had left her that she noticed that she was truly alone for the first time of her life. Even when she was crying and hiding, the god was here, comforting the little girl and apologizing for making her and his old friends' life a hell. 'Cat was right…'
She enveloped her arms around her belly, where she used to feel the bonds, trying, begging desperately to have it back. Why farewell hurt so much.
"Akito, let's go home." She lifted her head, recognizing Shigure's shape behind the tears. "Shigure! It's over, I can't…" She chocked between the sobs and he nodded sadly. He lived with the dog all his life, the dog was the one to know his deepest secret, the one who showed him the woman he learnt to love. Akito have been through it fourth time, poor thing, it must have been so much pain.
He took her and carried her like a bride. Even if he had sad eyes, he was still looking at her with love. This will never change. Good thing they lived in the country; nobody was here to see them being completely wrecked. "Shigure, we…" the bond, the zodiacs, the curse.
"I know Akito, I know." He stuck his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. Something was warm and wet behind his eyelids. It was okay, they will go through it. They still loved each other as before, the disappearance of the curse changed nothing. With the end of the end, they could let go the past behind and walk hand in the hand toward the future together.
It was over, but it was also the beginning.
The kids were playing tag. Since the girls were older, they could escape more easily from their cadets. Giggling and jumping around. He had never thought he would find peace in that kind of setting. Hearing his son bawling, he stood up and walked to see what provoked the cries. "What's wrong?"
Mine who started to nurse her son risen up her head in her husband direction. "Oh, nothing, Chizu-chan was just hungry." She assured, rocking the little buddle of joy. Ayame laughed proudly and loudly "That's good my dear son! You shall drink the sustaining milk that your mother provides you in order to become a strong man!" Mine chuckled cheerfully.
"Dad!" Hibika rushed and crashed against her father leg. She shook her head and jumped on her feet "Dad! Do the rocket! The rocket!" Listening her princess word, the knight executed and pulled her on his shoulder before making her gracefully turn around in the room. Mutsuki and Hajime looked in awe whereas Kinu snuggled closed in his dad arms. The twins were playing with their parents, pulling on Rin long hair. She patiently pulled Sora's little hands away.
Mutsuki tried to walk toward his dad, his eyes sparkling like her cousin. It was Machi who took him, sliding her hands under his armpits and she sat him on her shoulders, Mutsuki giggled, moving his little legs in excitement. Yuki smiled warmly at the scene.
Kagura and Tohru entered in the room with two cakes covered of two candles on each. Haru gasped to get his children attention "Look! What's that!" The two toddlers looked but it was Hibika who answered in a scream, wriggling to get off her father hold "Cakes! It's birthday cakes!"
"You know who's birthday is today?" Asked Momiji to the twins who looked with confused expression. Haru held Sora and Rin, Riku. All the family gathered around the table. Kyo let Hajime climb on his legs while Kisa was taking photo, Hiro stood just beside her. Ritsu was looking with a big smile, making sure to not do any mistake and Hatori watched the little crowd with Mayuko at his side, her head resting on his shoulder.
Tohru and Kagura clapped their hands in rhythm and started to sing 'happy birthday' and the children quickly rejoined, because it was something they did at every birthday party. Rin and Haru both blown the candles when the song stopped and they all clapped. "Happy two years!" Sora laughed loudly and Riku looked, dumbfounded.
Rin smiled and kissed both of her babies' head. "Damn, they grow so fast." Said Haru, Kyo roared "Oi! Don't use that kind of words in front of children!" he put his hands on Hajime's ears. Haru 'aaah' mouthed before apologizing. Tohru smiled and cut in slice the chocolate cake, and Kureno helped her to serve, Arisa seconding him.
"Still, it's so nice that we all are still together celebrating that kind of thing." Uttered Momiji, playing with his dessert. The old cursed all agreed internally. The day the bonds of the ancient and original promise broke, they were scared that they all go on their own path, but at the end, they all stood together…Well, almost all. "I wonder if Akito and Gure-nii have their own family too…" said Kisa, more to herself.
"Ah! Don't worry about it Kisa-chan, last time I've saw them, Akito was five months pregnant!" Said Ritsu in a comforting, encouraging smile. All the adults stopped talking to look at the man and it was like the time stopped. Ritsu smiled a moment before screaming and panicking, trying to rush out of the room but Kagura jumped on him with all the vigor that was left in her body, the eyes brightly red. "Where do you think you're going? You have something to hide us?!"
"I'm sorry!" Ritsu shouted, still trying to escape, scrawling on the floor. "Ritsu, you better tell us" said gently Yuki before taking a knife in the hand, caressing the iron surface. "We have all the measures to makes you talk, Ritsu" he threatened with a dark smile, Machi paled. It wasn't the first time he saw him with this expression but it was still shocking.
"Hiiii! Please noo! I promised!"
"It's too late Ritsu! Tell us what you know!" Kyo screamed and a hard look.
Machi was playing with the children outside with Arisa, feeling that the discussion was going to be important and the kids would just be in the way. She threw a small glance at her husband who was talking vividly with Ritsu. The man was still trying to not speak, explaining that he had promised to a certain 'Shigure'. Machi did not know, it was something about the Sohma she couldn't understand, something Yuki did not told her. "Do you understand something Chi-chan?" Machi shook her head, and brought her attention back on her own son playing with Tohru's.
"Goddamnit Ritsu you can't keep it for yourself! It's about Akito and Shigure we are talking about! When did you saw them the last time?!" roared Kyo, slapping the table angrily. Ritsu started to cry in panic "But…But I promised…I don't want to deceive them…"
Hatori put his hand on Ritsu while Kureno and Tohru looked at him with a sad frown. "Ritsu, they are our family too, we deserve to have news about them as well…" explained the doctor. "Yes Ritsu…At least to know if they are happy…" added Kureno with a gentle voice. The man looked down, his lips in a tight line. Tohru saw how uneasy Ritsu was and almost said to him that it was alright, after all he made a promise but Ritsu talked before she had the chance to.
"It was about seven months ago…I, they came at the onsen. At first I was shocked because Akito-san…Akito-san does really look like Ren-san. I mean, it makes sense, she is her daughter…"
"Tell me Ritsu, you're aware that Ren and Akito had the worst relation? I hope you didn't tell her that?" noticed Hiro. Ritsu looked at him with wide eyes, staying silent before standing up again and screaming how sorry he was. Hatori had to calm him again for five complete minutes. "Please Ritsu-san-chan, tell us how are Shigure-san and Akito-san" pleaded Tohru.
"Well…They came here for a holiday they. Shigure-nii told me that Akito had never been in a onsen before and that it was a good occasion to do it before she, uh…She would give birth…" Ritsu was smiling warmly at the memory. Akito and Shigure had looked very in love. Tohru brought her hands together against her heart, tears of joy gathering in the corner of her eyes. "Tohru, are you crying?" Kyo was amazed by his wife. "Yes because…It's such good news and, they deserve it so much!" for Kyo or Ritsu, it was a great news but nothing to cry for. But Tohru remembered Akito and Shigure hardship when Ren separated them. It was such a happy ending.
"I don't know why you all care" spat Rin who was staying behind, her arms crossed. "Akito and Shigure made their choice and left us, we don't need to bother about those two anymore!" Tohru looked with sad eyes "Rin-san…" Yuki looked down "I can understand, it's easy to feel betrayed by their choice…They could have asked our help and find another solution…" Hatori and Ayame looked at the young father. He was right, but it wasn't without forgetting Shigure's character. They had lost their best friend.
"Hey…Did you read Shi-chan's book Ama no iwato mousou?" At his cousin confused expression, Momiji smiled, bringing his legs to his chest. "Me too at first I was sad that they didn't tell us but, when I read the book, I understood and…I'm glad they ran away…I'm sure it wasn't easy for them neither, but they had to."
Mine agreed with Momiji, she didn't read that book but she saw the marks on the girl body. Akito couldn't stay here. She was glad that she escaped and she remade her life. She wished her the best for the baby, she wished she could see her again though, they could have been great friend.
But the bitter and sour feeling wouldn't just disappear, they had lost not one, but two members of the family. They had decided to leave them, they made their choice, and they felt betrayed. No, Kureno disagreed, he shook his head. "Ritsu, can I just ask you one question?"
"Su-sure…"
"Are they happy?"
Ritsu stared before smiling warmly, like the first spring sun, a smile very alike from the one he saw on Shigure and Akito's lips when he saw them. "Yes, very much."
And, this is the end. I'm...drained haha. Writing of cave and illusion have been a real adventure i hope you all liked it! I'm glad I sucess to write it until the end
I'm thinking about writing two one-shot spin off with this story. One about Ritsu seeing Shigure and Akito at the onsen and another set during the epilogue, before the curse break haha. (I didn't write it here because it would have been too long lmao).
For now, I'll continue to write about Akigure, because those two are my muses, of course i'll write about Shiki too because he is just adorable ;w;
I...I thought I would have say more but, nah. I'm just very drained haha.