"This is crazy" she whispered loud enough so only him could hear. He tightened his hold on her hand. "What, you prefer coming back there?" he asked, not turning back. He did not need to. He already knew what kind of face she was doing. "They're going to search for me…What if they find us?" she grasped his arm with her other hand, as if he could disappear if she stopped touching him. "They won't, trust me." He said, looking right in front of him with determined eyes. "Believe me, they won't find us…" because if they did, all would be over.
She bit in lips in worry. 'I hope too…'
The head maid, an old brunette invited Kazuma to come in. The man bowed and made a few steps to the center of the room, then he kneeled down and bowed in front to the paravent hiding the chief of the family appearance. Kazuma tried to not roll his eyes over this masquerade that was up for already more than twenty years.
"Which is the reason you asked to call for me Kazuma Shihan?" asked the person behind the paravent in a low voice, almost a whisper. "Well…Akito-sama, I am here for a request." Kazuma saw the shadow of a head tilting. "What kind of request? It is about the cursed?"
"It's related indeed…" he heard the chief shift, the noise of his kimono brushing against the pile of layers he was wearing. He continued. "You see…There is an orphan I'd like to take in my house. She is one of Yuki-kun classmate…She already found out about the curse." He heard the person on the other side of the room hold their breath. "I see…" there was a moment of silence where Kazuma feared that Akito refused to let the girl live in the Sohma estate and would order instead Hatori to erase her memories.
Kazuma couldn't tell anything about the chief of the clan, nobody knows that kind of person he was. And that made Kazuma anxious, it's hard to fight against an unknow enemy. "Don't she have a family to be in instead of here?" Asked Akito. Kazuma shook his head. "No, Yuki found her under a tent when he was making his usual walk in the Sohma's field." He explained "However she lost everything because of a landslide, you probably remember the storm, master Akito." Said Kazuma. A quiet hum could be heard from the shadow in front of him. "I see…"
There was another moment of silence. Kazuma really became fond of the girl Tohru and wished she could live here. She was kind and understanding. He felt it was a kind of girl that the cursed needed to meet, especially Kyo. But he had to ask for the chief of clan permission for it to be possible.
"If Yuki saw no problem with her living with you, then let it be. I trust his judgement." The chief told suddenly, making Kazuma jolt in surprise as he was into his thoughts. "However, at the first inconvenience, I will order Hatori to erase her memories." Kazuma exhaled, relieved. He felt like the weight on his shoulders have been lifted. He bowed, to show his gratefulness and respect to the Chief and Akito made a gesture of hand visible from behind the paravent, indicating his permission to Kazuma to leave the room. The man stood up and bowed his head before opening the fusuma doors and getting out of the room. He had good news to tell.
He walked over the Sohma's estate until his dojo. On the way, he saw the young cursed Hiro and Kisa playing with sticks. They were having fun until maids came to scold them. Kazuma stopped to watch Hiro and the domestic arguing against each other. He never liked the servants of the Sohma's house, not since the new chief was born. He remembered when he was young, very young that the spirit of the rabbit and the cat was still haunting their previous vessel. The twelve were praised and treated like saints, they lived as the elite of the family. However, when Akito was born or more like, when Akira died. All the oldest servants have been fired and their memories erased. Those new servants were...vile with the cursed. Always ready to harass or badmouth on them, whispering sickening words that made their ways into the cursed's head like a mantra. All the family was treating them as if they were only animals. Kazuma almost felt the need to interfere between Hiro and the shouting maid, but it looked useless, Hiro was strong enough to defend himself and Kisa from the servants. The kid was good.
Kazuma passed his way and continued to walk until arriving to his dojo. He changed his shoes in the gekan and walked into the living room where Yuki and Tohru were waiting for him. Kazuma was already taking care of two cursed, so taking in a young and gentle girl like Tohru will ease his work on raising the two boys. He had taken Yuki under his wing a few years after he adopted Kyo, in hope to reconcile the Mouse and the Cat. However, it hasn't show results yet, maybe Tohru will be the one to change it.
The girl stood up as Kazuma entered the room and twisted her fingers anxiously. Yuki merely lifted his head up. "Akito-san accepted to let you in as long as you can keep the secret" he smiled and the girl let out a breath she had been holding since Kazuma was back. Yuki rose up and put a hand on Tohru's shoulder. "I told you Akito would accept, he is not a bad person." He said softly before sharing a regard with the man. Yuki was one of the few chosen to had the chance to see Akito. From what Yuki was saying about his relationship with the head of family, he and Yuki were good friends, but they couldn't stay together for too long. It was order. And since high school started, Yuki barely saw him anymore, lack of time.
Yuki bowed and headed to his room. "Sound like you were stressed, Honda-san." Tohru jolted and looked down. "It's because…I did not want to forget you all…You already helped me so much." Kazuma smiled. "It's understandable. So, Yuki told you about what happened in his childhood with his friends? When their memories have been erased?" Tohru nodded "Don't worry, the circumstance where different and that's why Yuki told you to not worry." He sat and invited Tohru to do so. "I will show you your room later and Yuki will be happy to show you around the Sohma's estate. It's pretty big and easy to get lost in." Tohru nodded even more vividly.
"Yes, I maybe I should thank Akito-san to allow me to live you with you" she added. Kazuma's smile went down and he looked down to the wooden table. "I don't think this will be possible…You see, nobody ever saw him." She blinked in confusion. "But…Yuki-kun told me he is friend with him?" Kazuma scratched his neck. "Only a few chosen people saw Akito, those people are Yuki and two others cursed. Sohma Hatori the dragon, who is the Sohma's doctor and Sohma Kureno, the rooster. But nobody else ever saw Akito in my knowledge."
Tohru eyes went full before she down her head. She imagined what kind of lonely life this person was living "It's…sad…Why it is that way?" she asked with concern. Kazuma lifted his head up and looked at the ceiling in thought. "I don't know. Maybe he is like Amaterasu." She tilted her head and repeated the name of the goddess, confused. "I think I need to tell you more about the curse, Honda-san." A disciple walked into the room. They respectfully bowed and put on the table cups of green tea for his master and the girl before leaving in silence. Kazuma take a sip of the hot drink, taking a moment to sip it, making sure nobody else would come into the room. "Tell me Honda-san. What do you know about the story of the zodiac?"
"Ah, yes, my mom used to tell me about it when I was young" she lifted one finger in the air. "A long, long time ago god told the animals "tomorrow I'll invite you to my banquet. You must not be late." The rat, after hearing the new told to his neighbor the cat that the banquet was the day after. And so, when the day of the banquet arrived, the rat rode on the ox back and arrived first, then he was followed by the eleven other zodiacs animals. However, the cat who have been deceived did not come to the banquet." She recited, like a poem before blushing when she noticed that the master was staring at her. "I am wrong? I'm sorry if it's the case…"
"No, no, it's indeed how the tale come" Kazuma reassured. "So, can you tell how many characters there are in this story?" Tohru started to count on her fingers, deep in thought. "Well, the twelve zodiacs…Plus the cat. It's thirteen…Oh! Is Akito-san the cat? That's why he is forced to stay away?" she asked with apparent sadness. "I always wanted to be the cat because I found unfair the way he has been fooled by the rat…" Now, Tohru really wanted to meet Akito, to make up a kind of justice for the cat of her childhood.
"Oh, no…There is indeed a cat. His name is Kyo. He is in the mountain right now, but he will come back in a few days." Explained Kazuma, he was with Kyo but he had to come back earlier to manage the problem with Tohru. Yuki had called him, panicked, explaining him that Tohru had ended up in his arms when she was in high spirit because of her fever. "He lives here too. Actually, he is like my son, so I hope that you will get along" he smiled as Tohru listened with attention. She was so happy to have the chance to be able to meet the cat. However, she remembered the main subject. "But…What about Akito-san?" She frowned. 'Kazuma have talked about Amaterasu…A god?'
Then in a flash, she understood. "Akito-san is the god of the tale!" she put her hand on her mouth as Kazuma nodded. "Indeed, Akito is cursed by the spirit of the god" And like Amaterasu, the god was hidden in a cave where nobody could see him. Depriving the world from the light. Depriving the cursed from their god.
Kazuma never knew if it was traditional, none of the people of the previous generation have been cursed by the god. But he could see by the way Yuki and the others cursed were acting that they were missing their god. Deep down, they were always thinking about that person they never met and they desire to. The bound between all the cursed was unimaginable for the mere humans. It was something specials. That's why during Yuki childhood, the other cursed hated him to be the only one allowed to be with him. But then, the bird and the dragon rejoined the chosen, and cursed hatred toward Yuki stopped and instead, after apologizing, they asked him question. They asked how was their god, what kind of people they were, and how Yuki reacted the first time he saw him.
They were all suffering from this divine absence. And out of all the people in this misery, there were the faithful dog, always chasing after the sun.
They zigzagged hand in the hand in the crowd, trying to avoid touching the people. She was not used to density. It made her suffocate. Noticing her uneasiness, he pulled her toward an isolated pillar. "You're okay?" he asked, touching her red cheeks with his both hands. She nodded, catching her breath. He kissed the top of her head. "In a few hours it will be over." She made a gesture of the head as she grasped his hand.
He pulled her closer and hugged her. The fact that they almost reached their goals made him shiver, thrilled. And he knew that even if she was anxious of doing it, she was feeling the same. They had too few to lose for too much to win. Neither of them will regret what they were doing right now.
He hugged her closer one last time before stepping back, hands on her shoulders. "We should go now…" She looked at him and smiled, unsure. He took her hand and walked, trying to find the way. They tried to walk between people. If he hadn't been here, she knew without a doubt that she would have been lost. A man in uniform stopped them and she felt a cold sweat forming in her back. She tightened her grip on his hand, in case that man tried to separate them. "Your tickets please" he said.
She saw him let her hand go with anguish. He rummaged the pocket in the interior of his vest and handed the two tickets. The man quickly read and gave them back. "Have a good trip, mister Sohma, Miss Honda." The man bowed his head then passed across to continue to control people, leaving them. She felt like she could breathe again and he kissed her knuckles. "Let's go, okay?"
She nodded and followed his lead.