Yuki stood in the hallway, silently staring at us with an unreadable expression. His eyes swept across us from left to right, but a low hiss caught his attention.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in." He aimed a taunting smirk in Kyo's direction. I'm caught off guard because he never acted like this at school. Huh, you learn something new every day.
"Shut it, ya damn rat! Took ya long enough to come home!" Kyo retaliated with scorn. Electricity crackled in the air between the two.
Suddenly, a puff of smoke surrounded Kyo. Whoop! That's my cue to leave!
"I need to get out of here!" I yelled as I ran down the hall, frantically looking for a place to hide before I'm surrounded by smoke. I saw a door ajar to my left and dived inside just in time as I transformed back into a human. A naked human.
I immediately shut the door with my heart pounding against my chest.
"Too close for comfort!" I exhaled in relief.
"What just happened? Who or what was that?" A surprised sounding Yuki asked in the hall followed by the sound of a door slamming.
That must have been Kyo.
"That was Liisa Ito. She's in our class," I hear Tohru's low voice inform him.
"Yes Yuki, get with the program!" It seems that Shigure has a sassy side. "Now, she'll need some clothes! She's seems to be your size and height, so lend some of your clothes to her." There's a brief pause, "Best get something for Kyo too."
This is too awkward! I never thought it would come to this! Embarrassment rises up inside me.
I leaned my back against the door with a hand over my racing heart. After a brief moment, I worked up the courage to slightly open the door and poke my head out to scan the perimeter. The hallway is cleared, so I tentatively called out for Tohru. I heard her muffled response followed by the sound of her shuffling footsteps coming my way. I slinked back into the room and waited for her.
I should talk to her before…
Tohru came in then shutting the door behind her before I could finish that thought. "Sohma-san is going to lend you some of his clothes, so wait just wait a little longer." She informed me calmly with her back to me. Thank goodness she's not panicking right now.
"I heard, but I wanted to talk to you first before we talk to the others. I know you must be confused about what just happened and I'd understand if you're angry with me." I took a deep breath.
This is harder than when I told her I was living in a tent.
"The truth is… uh, the reason I turned into a cat is I- I'm… cursed," I began as my right hand twirls my bracelet on my left wrist. "You had nothing to do with it. It was all me. I'm cursed to turn into an animal when I come into physical contact with a guy," I looked down at my feet and my cheeks turned red when I remembered I'm naked.
Well, I needed to say something to her sooner rather than later.
"Why didn't you tell me you're cursed? Haven't Uo-Chan, Hana-Chan, and I told you that you don't have to be alone. You can share your burdens with us so it's not as hard," My heart cracked at the sound of Tohru's pained whisper.
We didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. I heard soft footsteps approach the door and felt the familiar pulling and pushing presence I associated with Yuki.
Please don't come in here.
I guess Tohru doesn't hear his approach because she continues with her speech,
"Have you always been cursed?" She turned to face me and my heart sunk upon seeing her teary-eyed face, My right hand stopped fussing with the bracelet in favor of tightly gripping it. Tears began to gather in my eyes the longer I looked at her.
"I-I've been cursed since birth," My voice begins to waver. "I'm sorry I had to keep it a secret. I wanted to tell you, Hana, and Uo all about this, but it's… complicated. My family doesn't want outsiders to know about this. They won't treat any of you kindly if they find out you know." I allowed the tears to fall as I finished speaking, but I didn't wipe them away. Tohru was silent for a moment and anxiety bubbled in my stomach. I watched as a steeled look came into her eyes as she wiped her tears away.
"I'm still mad at you for keeping so many secrets to yourself, but I'll get over it. No matter what happens I'll still be your friend," She said finally with a faint smile. "But I want to hear everything and I mean everything." she added gravely.
Honestly ,what did I do to deserve Tohru as my friend?
"Yes, of course!" I smile with relief, "So, uh, could you get my clothes from the tent? I know Shigure-san made Yuki-san give me some of his clothes, but I need lady undergarments." I eyed her uniform, "Plus, you should change your clothes. Your uniform is a little dirty." She looked down at her clothing - smeared with dirt mixed with a rainbow of cat hair.
"I guess you're right. I'll be right back," she said, opening the door. "Oh, it looks like Sohma-san brought you some clothes already." Tohru picked up the bundle of clothes passing it to me- they looked like pajamas.
Now that she mentioned it I didn't hear him leave. Did he linger in the hallway?
As I started putting on the pajama's I became overwhelmed by Yuki's scent. My cheeks felt warmer.
Once dressed, I looked at my reflection in the mirror hanging on one of the walls.
Wow Yuki's clothes fit me almost as well as my own.
I ignored the noise that occurred somewhere else in the house in favor of contemplating how many details I should tell the Sohma's.
I promised to tell Tohru everything, but I don't want to say it in front of these strangers. At this point however, it seems I have no choice.
I surveyed the room I was in as I try to rationalize with myself. My eyes idly read some of the book titles; I recognized a few of them from school.
I mean their memories are going to be erased anyway. Ugh, that means I have to tell The Head of House that people found out about the curse. Wait, does that mean I have to tell him about Tohru? Should I? Like…what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right? It's not like they're going to meet anytime soon, or ever.
My body shuddered at the thought of what might happen if they met.
I tap my index finger on my chin, Maybe I should talk to the Sohma's first because I'm curious about Kyo's situation. And then call up The Head of House afterwards?
When I realized there was a half-made bed in the corner, I became aware of Shigure's strong scent. It smelled of fresh ink and leather mixed with a mild woody musk. Feeling like an overstayed intruder, I left quickly to search for the guys. I followed the soft noises coming from the next room over to find the exact people I'm searching for. It looks like they're sitting in the living room. They turned their heads towards me as I opened the door.
"I was right. Yuki's clothes fit you well," Shigure observed as he eyed me from head to toe. Yuki and Kyo whacked his head at the same time.
"Stop saying perverted things; it's unbecoming," Yuki reprimanded him, then turned to me. "Sorry about him, he hasn't been properly trained."
Trained? What is he a dog?
I decided to ignore the comment. "Thank you Yuki-san, Kyo-san," I moved to sit against the wall farthest from the group situated at the coffee table then pulled my knees up to my chest self-consciously.
"So Liisa-san, care to explain why you also turned into a cat?" Shigure asked me, rubbing his head where Kyo and Yuki hit him.
"I'll explain that in detail when Tohru gets back. She needs to hear this too," I clutched the front of the shirt I'm wearing, trying to decide how to start my explanation when she comes back.
"Did she not know?" Yuki asked me and I shook my head. I kept an eye on him for a second longer, but he gave no indication that he knew more than that.
I'm sure that he heard a little bit of our conversation.
"I've known her for a long time, but I kept this a secret from her and our others friends until today. She should be back soon though. We don't live too far from here," I saw Shigure and Yuki give each other a puzzled look.
"What do you mean? I thought there weren't any other houses in this area," Yuki addressed Shigure. "Aren't the woods around this house owned by the Sohma family?"
"It is, sooooo…" Shigure turned to look at me. "Where do you two live exactly?" The impulse to make up a lie surged inside me.
No, I shouldn't lie. They would see through it. I took a minute to compose myself again.
"Before I tell you, I think it's best to give you some context on how we ended up living where we are." My right hand automatically gravitated to twirl the multi-colored beaded bracelet as I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. "So, we used to live together in an apartment with our mothers. But…they both died 4 months ago in a traffic accident. Eventually, Tohru moved to her grandpa's place while I continued to live in the apartment until the month was up." Tears stung my eyes as the memories flashed across my mind; I took a minute to pull myself together.
"Anyway, the short version is that I couldn't afford to live at my old place and I couldn't afford couldn't anything else. So I decided to come to these woods and live in a tent with whatever I could bring with me." I glanced in Shigure's direction, "I didn't know these woods belong to anyone, otherwise I'd have gone someplace else."
"What about Tohru-san?" Shigure asks.
I scratch the back of my neck nervously, "Her situation's a bit different than mine so it's best if she explains it. But she started living with me at my tent about a week ago." I steeled my nerves and looked straight into his eyes.
"So if you don't mind, can Tohru and I continue living in this forest? We're far enough away that we won't bother you."
"I see." Shigure says as he scratched his chin with his index finger. He didn't say anything else for a while and I started to get worried.
What if he says no? Where would we go? Since I'll tell Tohru the truth, I guess I could also tell her about the dog pack. I'd be fine living with them, but I don't know if she'll go that far.
We sat in silence for a moment before he snorted. "Really? You two are living in a tent?" An embarrassed blush painted itself across my cheeks.
"Shigure that's enough, you're being rude," Yuki sent him a stern glance. It still took a couple minutes for the adult to calm down.
Before he could respond I heard the faint sound of footsteps outside. I sat up straight making the others look at me in alarm.
"Tohru's back," I announced as I stood up to head to the front door without waiting for them. I reached the entrance just as she removed her shoes and noticed the three bags swinging on her arm. When she stood upright, I noticed her complexion is paler than usual. "Tohru, are you okay? You look…tired." I reached out to take the bags from her and she handed them over gratefully.
"Yes, just a little tired. Don't worry; I'll be fine once I take a rest," she waved me off. I decided not to push the subject further; instead, I whispered to her what happened while she was away. She looked like she wanted to say something important but hesitated, prompting me to ask her what was wrong.
"There are big tears in the tent from where the guy fell on it earlier." She stated in her normal indoor voice.
Great! More work that needs to be done! We don't have enough money to replace the tent but maybe we could mend it. I gasped with realization. Wait! We have work today!
I glanced at Tohru's wristwatch panic shooting through me upon realizing we wouldn't make it to work on time.
"I know you hate doing it but we're going to have to call in sick. We have to deal with what happened first," I told her gently gesturing around at the house. She sighed and I could see her struggling with the decision for a moment.
"Yeah, we need to take care of this first. Let's ask if there's a phone here." Her body deflated as she spoke.
She gave in quicker than I expected. Is she feeling alright?
I carefully eyed her for a second before we turned around to head back to the living room. When we returned to the living room we found all three Sohma's sitting in silence at the coffee table.
"Ummm, Shigure-san do you have a phone? We need to make a couple calls." I shyly asked him.
Shigure stood up, "Yeah, if you'll follow me please." He lead us to down the hall in the direction of his bedroom, stopping at the room next to it and opening the door to reveal what appears to be a home office. There are shelves filled with books lined up against one side of the room; a desk positioned in front of the window across from the door; and a smaller table in the center of the room with a telephone on top.
"You can use this," he said, we thanked him as he exited the room to give us some privacy.
"You go first Liisa. I need to think of what to say," Tohru said as she sat down by the center table.
I shrugged, set the bags down, then picked up the phone and dialed the number for my work. I'm glad I memorized it in cases like this.
"The Olive Branch. Mr. Kota speaking," My heartbeat sped up with anxiety yet I forced my voice to sound even.
"Mr. Kota, this is Liisa Ito. I'm calling in today because I have a family emergency."
It's not a complete lie for this is an emergency.
My boss was silent on the other line, causing me to tighten my grip on the phone. "Alright Miss Ito. I'll make note of that. Just remember you're now on strike two. One more and I'll have to fire you."
I felt the tension ease off a little despite the warning. "Yes sir, I know. Thank you, goodbye." I hung up and sighed with relief. "Alright! Piece of cake! Your turn. Tell them it's a family emergency. It kind of is anyway."
My acute hearing let me pick up both sides of Tohru's conversation with her boss. Her boss sounds more understanding of the situation than mine but I digress. She hung up then aimed a tight smile at me, "Alright! Let's change then get back to the others so you can tell me what's going on." She led the way out of Shigure's study and to the bathroom I picked up the bags of clothes as I followed her out the door.
"What did you bring?" I peered down at the three bags I'm holding as we paused outside the bathroom.
"One bag has my clothes and the second one is for the other guy from earlier. I figured he'd appreciate getting his clothes back so I brought them with me. Your clothes are in the third one, but some of them got dirty because the guy fell on your side of the tent." Worry marred her face.
"Let's be thankful we have some clean clothes, huh?" I tried to lighten up her mood and it seemed to have worked because she gave me a quick smile. I went in first - her insistence- so I could put on undergarments, I decided to continue wearing Yuki's pajamas. Save my other outfits for tomorrow. She went in after I finished and came back out in street clothes. I followed tentatively behind her, getting nervous again now that the time to tell her everything was approaching.
When we re-entered the living room, Shigure is sitting alone at the table while the other two are sitting on opposite sides of the room. Tohru calmy sat at the table to the right of the adult then looked at me with expectation; I cautiously sat next to her.
"I want to know the truth. No more excuses." It's rare to hear her use an authoritative voice. Her smile doesn't help me in any way.
"Right. I suppose we could start with some of the questions the guys had before you came back."
"If that's alright then," I heard Shigure mumble, "So Liisa-san, you're the cat in your family?"
That's an odd way to put it. "Yeah, like him right?" I nod my head in Kyo's direction. I noticed a shift in his expression; the same can be said for Shigure and Yuki in my peripheral vision. What is that, pity? Before I could dwell on it longer, the adult continued with his questions.
"So who are the other zodiacs in your family?"
What? "What do you mean? I'm possessed by all 13 Zodiac Spirits." I don't like the way they're looking at me. My right index finger rubs the beads of my bracelet. "Isn't Kyo the same?" Silence hung heavily in the room so thick that it could be cut with a knife. My eyes flickered to each person to gauge their reactions: Yuki and Kyo are puzzled; Tohru is genuinely confused; and Shigure had a look between being intrigued and amused.
Finally after what felt like hours, Shigure spoke. "Unfortunately, the curse works differently in the Sohma Family. One person is possessed by one Zodiac Spirit. Kyo is the cat while I'm the dog and Yuki is the rat, as well as others in our family. We change into our animal forms when hugged by the opposite gender. We can also transform if our bodies are under stress or become weak, like getting sick for example."
I see his eyes narrow at me.
"However, I've never heard of someone, let alone an outsider, be possessed by all 13 Zodiac Spirits before."
So Kyo's not exactly like me after all.
"Care to explain how you're possessed with all 13 spirits?" he asked.
I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat before I began. "It happens every 200 years or so my Mom told me. A girl with blonde hair is born and will be possessed by all 13 Zodiac Spirits." The room was silent; I couldn't look anyone in the eye. I stared down at my hands with one twirling the bracelet, touching each of the colored beads one at a time but lingered on the dull gold one. "When the child is born, they don't live past a year old because their bodies can't contain all of the animal spirits," I take a deep breath feeling a sense of comfort rise inside of me; my heart beat calmed down. "I'm the first one to live this long. I was barely stabilized when I was born from what I was told."
"That's…" I hear Tohru mutter but she trailed off. I couldn't bring myself to look up so I plowed on with my explanation.
"Similar to how you three transform into animals, I transform into the animal that the guy was born under. For example, if a male was born during the year of the monkey, then I'll transform into a monkey."
"Hold up. That doesn't make sense! How could you know this if the babies don't live past a year old?" Kyo spoke up for the time since we arrived.
Nervousness settles deep into my stomach, "well…uh…that…" Unpleasant memories filled my mind from when I lived at my main house. I can't bring myself to say anything and we sit in silence as I drown in dreary memory lane.
We were still sitting in silence when a howl outside made me flinch. I immediately start straining my hearing to listen to what is going on outside.
There's been a landslide! Be careful everyone. Mother's keep your young close. That was the alpha female! I jumped to my feet looking out the window, startling the others.
"There's been a landslide!" I exclaim aloud. I looked at them and all but Shigure stared back like I was crazy.
"So you heard her warning too," He stated as he walked to a nearby window and peered into the darkness. I hadn't realized nightfall approached so fast! So many things had happened in the last few hours that it's hard to pay attention to anything else.
"Can you guys can talk to animals too?" I asked watching Shigure. He slowly turned back around.
"Yes we can, but only to our respective animals. I take it you can talk to all of them?" I didn't move looking at Yuki and Kyo they avoided my gaze, finally I looked at Tohru. As our eyes met I saw fear fill her eyes.
"Wait! What about our tent! I left mom in there! I only brought the clothes and nothing else!" She yelled sounding desperate before she got up and ran out of the room. We all hesitated for a moment then followed her with me in the lead.
"What's the chance the land slide hit your tent?" Shigure scoffed behind me as Tohru threw her shoes on and ran out the door, I was close on her heels.
"Wait! It's dangerous to go outside right now! There might be another landslide!" I called out as I chased after Tohru through the woods. It was easy to keep her in my sight, but she was just out of my reach. I caught up to her when she abruptly stopped in the place where our damaged tent was supposed to be.
All we found was a pile of mud and a mass of twisted tree limbs. I stared in shock at the mud. I felt my knees tremble as something dawned on me.
We could have been buried under that.
"Mom… What should I do? I need to get her out quickly or she'll be in pain!" Tohru desperately cried out as she clawed her hands through the mud. I was shocked at her distress, yet I couldn't will myself to move. I helplessly watched as Shigure placed a hand on top of hers, effectively stopping her grave digging.
"Honda-san calm down, it's dangerous to dig in there," Yuki said resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Let's come back in the morning. You'll get hurt if another landslide occurs. Your mom would feel much worse if that happened to you," Shigure said gently. Tohru looked back at me, tears in her eyes. I still couldn't say anything and stared blankly back at her. "Come, let's go back to my house. You two will stay for the night and we'll come back tomorrow, okay?" She nodded and stood up.
I knew something was wrong the second Tohru started to sway. I darted forward in time to catch her when she fell. I placed my palm on her forehead and worry settled deep within me.
"She's burning up!" My voice shook, "Tohru? Can you hear me?" I saw her chest rise and fall rapidly but she didn't respond.
"Can you carry her back? There's a spare room she can rest in," Shigure spoke from beside me. I nodded in his direction. Wordlessly, I shifted Tohru onto my back and stood up to begin the trek back to Shigure's house. I could hear the others following behind me as we journeyed back in silence. Yuki opened the front door, allowing Shigure to enter first then myself.
"I'll show Liisa-san where the room is. You two, get some ice for our sick guest," Shigure ordered without sparing the boys a glance. I followed him upstairs to encounter 3 doors. He opened the one closest to my left then gestured for me to enter first. It was dark until I heard a light switch go off. The room ware bare except for a few pieces of furniture covered with white sheets.
"Hold on. There should be a few spare futon's in the closet. I always have a few on hand because the other members of the family are always popping in and out of here," He explained, opening the closet door and rummaging around. Soon, he pulled out 3 futons and laid 2 of them on the floor next to each other. I settled Tohru into one of them. I surmised the second one is for me.
"Who's the third one for?" I asked him while he shifted more items in the closet.
"It's for Kyo. He's been missing for 4 months and I'm going to force him to stay here for the night," I caught the pillow he threw at me, "He's going to stay in a different room." That answered my unspoken question. I hugged the pillow as I watched Tohru sleep. The image of her desperate digging through the mud to get her mother's photo was heart wrenching.
"I wonder if Tohru even thought about herself when she started digging in the mud. I mean we could have been in the tent at the time, if we hadn't been here…" I trailed off my hands shaking. I refocused my attention to her as she opened her eyes a little. I moved closer to her head, ready to attend to her if she needed anything.
"Liisa? Where are we?" She asked in a low voice opening her eyes a bit. I moved to her side ready to make her lay down, but she didn't try to get up.
"You collapsed with a fever when we were at the tent. I carried you back here. Just rest, okay? I'll stay with you." I explained to her, she slowly blinked. I turned to my left when Shigure took a seat next to me.
"You must be tired too. Why not get some rest now?" He asked me gently.
"No, I'm okay." I waved him off. Thankfully, he doesn't press the issue. I turned back to Tohru at the sound of fabric rustling to see she had pulled the blanket up to her chin.
"Now…" she began to mumble, "…We've lost our home again." I wore an empathetic mask at her words.
"You feel really bad don't you?" he asked her, she shook her head.
"No, because I know there are worse things." she looked up at the ceiling. I faintly heard footsteps climbing the stairs.
"Like what?" I prompted getting the feeling I know what she's going to talk about. I was finally ready to listen to what she had to say. She looked over at me her eyes unusually bright. I could hear a door open somewhere behind me but my gaze was locked on Tohru.
"Like not telling our mom's to be safe on the day they died. Remember that, Liisa? We had a test that day. I studied all night to make sure I was prepared. I usually told them 'bye, be safe' before they leave but they were already gone when I woke up. So we got ready for school, took the test, and then…" I covered my mouth with my hands choking back a sob as I listened to Tohru.
"I didn't want to go to high school, I just wanted to work to help Mom and Auntie. But Mom said I should go to high school because she only completed middle school.' I know that both of them worked hard to support all of us but I wanted to give something back." I jumped when she slammed both fists down on the blanket.
"I'm so stupid! Even if I failed that test, I really don't care. The most important thing was Mom. So I'm trying to fulfill her wish by finishing High school…" her voice started trailing away and she whispered, "I can't lose to this little… fever." She closed her eyes. Silence hung in the air after she spoke, broken only by the sound of my stifled sobs. I took several deep shuddering breaths to calm down and even though I suspected she fell asleep again I spoke freely.
"The one who's stupid is me. You've been trying to tell me this for so long yet I couldn't bring myself to listen." I hunched over to rest my forehead against hers. "I didn't wake you up because I knew you'd be tired in the morning. I…we thought it'd be best for you to sleep in. I was awake but I didn't tell them to be careful in your stead. I'm so sorry, Tohru. I'm sorry." I sat upright again as I took a shuddering breath and wipes my stray tears.
My ears picked up the sound of clothes ruffling; embarrassment rose up inside of me when I remembered we're not alone in the room. I shot a side-glance at Shigure, who's wearing a sympathetic expression.
"You have my condolences." He says barely above a whisper. I nod my head in response.
I turned to where the door was when I heard a small creak of a floorboard. There in the doorway stands Yuki and Kyo with a pensive and troubled expression, respectively.
Did they hear everything? Great, talk about a lack of privacy. I inwardly rolled my eyes.
"Did you bring the ice?" Yuki wordlessly entered the room and held out an icepack. I took it with gratitude and placed it on Tohru's forehead. Relief washed over me when I saw her visibly relax more. However, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped my head back to see Yuki looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
"You should get some rest. One of us can watch over her." he whispered.
He's too close.
"I'm fine. Really." I dismissed him.
No way in hell am I sleeping with a guy in the room!
"If you're sure, then we'll leave you to it." I'm inwardly grateful for Shigure's interjection. I ignored Yuki even when he removed his hand from my shoulder to watch as the adult stood up. "I'll be back later to see if you need anything else. Let's go you two." He motions for the boys to follow him when he finally exited the room. Once completely alone with Tohru, I heaved a heavy sigh as I refocused on her. I became dimly aware of muffled voices coming from below but I didn't bother to listen to their exact words.
What a mess. I inwardly groaned at the recollection of today's events. The tent's beyond repair now. All of our stuff is buried under that pile of mud -ugh! Hopefully some things are salvageable enough to keep. But where the heck do we go now? At least tomorrow is Saturday so we don't have to deal with school or work. Maybe I can take the time to search for a new place alone? I mean, I've been working really hard so I have a decent amount of money. Plus Tohru's been working hard lately so together we might be able to afford a small place in town. Awe man, I also gotta call the Main House.
I sat in silence as I watched Tohru sleep, thinking of how I was going to continue from here.
Despite my inner turmoil, I couldn't help but smile when I saw Tohru smiling in her sleep. Maybe she's having a good dream.
Whatever happens next, I'm glad that you chose to remain by my side.
A few hours later
My eyelids felt increasingly heavy the more I forced myself to be stay awake.
I'm starting to think I should've gotten some sleep when they offered. I shook head a little. No! I made the decision to sleep later and I'm going to stick to it!
Even with that in mind, I gazed longingly at the futon that's been calling out to me.
No! I can't go to sleep now!
I slapped both of my cheeks in an attempt to stay awake, when that didn't work I stood up.
I paced around the room for a bit, checking underneath the white sheets to discover a dresser, desk and a couple chairs. I snooped in the closet to find another spare futon, a basket of extra blankets and pillows, and a couple of other boxes I was too tired to dig through. I moved over to the window to peer into the darkness that stretched for miles. A shiver ran down my spine as the feeling of being watched washed over me. I pulled the curtains closed in an attempt to block the prying eyes from view.
Just as I pulled the curtains into place, I heard soft footsteps outside the room and felt the strong pulling sensation I associate with Shigure. Followed by a soft knock at the door, I heard his voice say "I'm coming in" and the door opened. He had on a look of surprise when he saw me by the window.
"I'm just here to check on how you two are doing," He softly shut the door so as not to wake Tohru.
"We're doing fine. I think Tohru's fever is going down, thankfully," I walked back to Tohru to check her temperature. I heard Shigure cross the room and turned to see him sit next to me like earlier.
"That's a relief to hear." He paused then added. "You know, both of you made an impression on the boys. I don't think I've ever seen Kyo agree to something so easily before."
"What are you taking about?" I was bewildered at his statement. We didn't do anything.
Shigure stared steadily at me as I tried to figure out what he was talking about.
"You don't seem to realize it but hearing your story made an impact on them. Kyo usually does his own thing and hates being told what to do. I bet he initially stayed out of curiosity, but after I told him to stay the night he easily agreed. I expected him to argue and leave yet he didn't." An amused smile graces his appearance. "Even Yuki acted differently since you two arrived."
I don't understand why he's telling me these things because my mind is reeling with too many thoughts fogged with tiredness. "Uh, sure. Okay, I guess." Before I could stop it, a huge yawn escaped me.
I heard the man snicker, "C'mon, you're exhausted. Please get some sleep. I imagine you have a big day ahead of you."
"No, really I'm fine. I'm not tired at all!" My body betrayed me be releasing another huge yawn.
"See? Your mind may not be tired but your body is. It's been a long day today for both of you. Please, get some rest. You wouldn't want Tohru to find out you're not taking better care of yourself, would you?"
Damn dog. He's got a point. I begrudgingly complied by settling into the second futon.
"For any consolation, I could come back to check on her while you sleep." I considered his offer for a second then warned him to wake me up if something happened. "Of course! Now, stop worrying and sleep." I saw that he directed his gaze at Tohru for a brief moment then got up to turn off the lights and quietly exit the room.
Awake in the darkness, my keen nose picked up on the scents in the room that I barely noticed earlier. The smell of dust strongly permeates the air mingling with Tohru's sickly sourness, Shigure's mild wooden musk, and faint traces of Yuki's surprisingly pleasant flowery scent.
Tiredness caught up to me and my eyelids drooped until they closed. Sleep takes holds of me.