A/N: Hello lovely people~ It's been a while. In fact it's been 6 weeks, crazy. My school is done for now. We have winter break until mid February which is awesome. So expect many updates~
The fact of the matter is, Kureno didn't leave or wouldn't leave Minami's side after his curse was removed, nor did he return to Akito's side which was even more confusing. "Why are you still here?" She looked over at the man who was relaxing on the couch reading a box, suddenly reminded of Hatori.
"You wouldn't want to be alone right now." Kureno said with a small smile, that made her flush. This Kureno, was very different from the original one. "The curse is broken, even though I don't know how or why. There were no signs, and the curse was lifted. My sight suddenly broadened, and in my body, it was only 'myself' and nothing else chased after me. The indigo blue of the sky… thinking about.. Not being able to fly anymore, it saddened me.. Yet I was happy. It finally.. Feels like myself.. 'Human.'. I'm happy."
"What about.. Akito?" She asked him and he frowned and stared at her for a long time.
"Akito… I'm sure has felt it broken and will feel very angry. She's such a sad ad lonely girl." Kureno said and looked over at his expression to see it not changing. "It seems like you really do know a lot about us, your expression didn't even change when I said Akito's real gender."
Minami crunched up her nose. "So you know my secret?" She guessed from what he said before he understood some of what she was going through, but now… He was almost confirming it.
"That you're from another world?" He asked and Minami felt herself freeze for a split second and nodded. "Yes I know, I know that you even know things about us. That to you, back at your own home, we weren't real only fake. I can't imagine the shock you must've gone through." His sad eyes look over to her and Minami looks to the ground.
She couldn't understand how Kureno could possibly know all of this. It didn't make any logical sense to her. "Are you going to explain how you know this?" He shook is head.
"I'm sorry but I can't." He said.
"Do you at least know… if I'll be able to go home again?" Minami asked in a quiet voice. "If all of this… will…"
"Disappear?" He asked. "I'm sorry, but you're stuck here, I'm sure of that." Minami felt her legs collapse from under her as Kureno grabbed her. She covered her face and started silently crying. Minami felt that this would've been the case, but to hear it confirmed… It was a different kind of shock.
"How… How can you be so sure?" She asked him quietly as he held her.
"It's apart of your curse." Kureno said and placed a hand on her back as she cried. "The most miserable one is you, so how could I leave your side? The two of you… really are too much alike?"
Minami couldn't help but find it ironic, that Kureno was the one who was comforting her now, when previously it was the other way around. Kureno left one broken kid and moved onto the other, honestly… it made her want to laugh. After Minami stood crying, she paused and looked up at Kureno, who was seemingly spacing out. He blinked and looked down at her with a small smile.
"You're not going to start falling in love with me are you?" Minami asked him with suspicious eyes and it was enough to make his smile widen.
"No sorry, my feelings are platonic. I was only very happy the first time we met. I was never very close to the rest of the Zodiacs, as I usually kept to myself and spent time with Akito, so I was very alone for most of my life. My parents never gave me much freedom, so I spent the majority of my education inside the Sohma grounds, the only people I've met were Sohmas. You were the first person I met, as well as being the only girl I could hug." His ears were a little red at this point and he scratched the back of his head and looked away embarrassed. "I'm sorry about my previous actions." He bowed his head only to smack it into Minami's, making him only apologize more. Minami felt a smile grow on her face, even through the pain, Kureno really was a lot like Tohru.
"It's fine." Minami said. "Though you were my first kiss."
There was a long awkward silence. Then Kureno covered his mouth and looked away with lightly dusted pink cheeks.
Minami downloaded what he said and felt the heat raise on her face, understanding why he was embarrassed.
"You were mine too." He mumbled into his hand and at this time a certain gray haired individual walked inside to see a very embarrassed Kureno and Minami.
Another awkward silence as Minami crawled off of Kureno and the three of them stared at each other.
"You two… are getting along." Yuki said.
"W-" Poor Kureno buried his head into his hands, which only made it more suspicious.
"We weren't- we were just talking." Minami said quickly and Yuki smiled.
"Alright." He said in a teasing tone which only made it worse. "I strolling and thinking about some matters, and it was dark before I knew it. The two of you missed a shooting star." Yuki walked over and placed a hand on Minami's shoulders, his expression sad even though he smiled. "I just realized something..."
Minami looked up at him confused. "What? Did I do something wrong? Did something happen?"
"Something did.. But it helped me." Yuki said and Kureno looked up at him. "My journey… this journey… is over."
Minami felt only more confused as the doors of the vila opened and everyone returned. "Oh Kureno!" Momiji said and bounced over to him. "You're here too?!"
Kureno blinked and smiled. "Yes, I am. It's good to see you Momiji-kun."
"Wow Kureno-nii-san is here." Minami heard Hiro say and he and the other younger members moved over to talk to Kureno, who put on a smile though he didn't mention the curse lifting. Hatori and Shigure went over to Minami as Kyo and Yuki began to argue with each other. The two adults took a seat beside her.
"Kureno made Akito very upset when he didn't join the rest of us." Shigure said to her. "It was a first."
"Is that so?" Minami asked. "D.. Did anything thing else happen?"
Shigure tiled his head and leaned towards her, examining her expression, a dark smirk on his face that she had recognized from the manga. It was an intimidating look on his face that made Minami lean away. "Why is there something you know that we don't?"
Minami narrowed her eyes as Hatori hit him lightly on the head with the book Kureno was reading earlier. "Knock it off Shigure." He told him, Hatori's expression was enough for Shigure to back away from her.
"Hatori can you help me with the food?" Minami asked, wanting to move away from Shigure's suspicious eyes.
"Of course." Hatori said and they went to the kitchen and Minami released a deep breath. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine, just a long day." Minami said, feeling very exhausted. Hatori didn't say anything to those words, but stared at her for a moment.
"Kureno… he usually keeps to himself but after he met you at the school, he's been acting different." Hatori said slowly and he had a conflicted look on his face. "Was he here with you the whole day?"
"Ah, yeah he was why?" Minami asked and Hatori picked up one of the plates of pancakes, she had remembered that Tohru and Kyo ate them in the manga. He didn't say anything. "Hatori… are you…"
"I'm not." Hatori said faster than normal. "I came with Akito-sama yesterday. I had a lot of work so I couldn't come and meet you. Though, I'd rather it not just be the two of you here the whole time."
"Well he's not going anywhere anytime soon." Minami said absentmindedly and grabbed the other plate of pancakes and moved to walk back into the living room when she felt a hand on her shoulders. Minami looked up at Hatori, only for him to release his hand and look away from her. Minami frowned at him and she continued forward. She passed out the pancakes and everyone took a plate. Minami took a seat on the couch with Kureno and Hatori on either sides of her, they shared a glance at each other, and didn't speak.
Everyone started at this with interest and annoyance (though only Kyo was annoyed).
"It's a triangle." Hatsuharu said making Minami flush in embarrassment and Kureno smile while Hatori pretended he didn't hear a single thing he said and kept eating.
A/N: I wasn't joking about Kureno being platonic (or mostly platonic) Kureno x Arisa is always for the win, but since his curse is broken, he'll be around much more. Minami and Akito still haven't met. Why does Kureno know everything about Minami? That's to be revealed. Hatori is jealous, which was what Minami was guessing, but he shot it down. Kureno and Minami will have a cute relationship around each other, since Minami can just be herself around him. I always thought of Kureno as the type to sacrifice himself for others (which he does), so he moved from one 'miserable girl' to another.
Anyone have any theories about Minami and her connection with the Zodiacs? I'd love to her some. Thanks for all the support~
