A/N: Welcome to chapter 4! This is a special chapter that introduces the other perspective that will make appearances in this story Yuki's! This chapter is a small break before some more interesting things happen! Also, a huge shout out to my friend who helped me edit and write this chapter! It wasn't originally planned to be included but I'm glad that it's here now!
Yuki's POV
One day earlier
I got to school early and was sitting in class by myself as my fellow classmates gathered in their usual groups. I'm used to being by myself by now but that doesn't stop me from wanting to be included. I have to hand it to the 'Prince Yuki Fan club' for helping keep the other girls away, though their methods are a little heavy handed. I was staring at nothing in particular when I felt it on the edge of my senses. A strong pulling force like a magnet.
She's here.
There's only one person outside of my family that gives off this feeling and that's Liisa Ito. The feeling gets stronger as she approaches our classroom. Her friend opens the door for her, and I can't help but look in her direction.
What is it about her that creates this feeling? She isn't related to the Sohma's in any way that I could find.
When I first encountered Liisa, I was shocked by her presence - it's a very similar feeling to the other zodiacs in my family. Where my family's presence was more of a gentle tug, hers was stronger; more outstanding. Her features also caught me off guard - long blond hair reaching the middle of her back and clear light blue eyes. My curiosity is piqued to find out what this feeling is, though she's never given any indication if she feels the same towards me. Not that I've ever spoken to her unless it was for class. I didn't realize that I had been staring at the back of her head until she turned around and our eyes met.
"Y-Yuki-san! How are you today?" she asked nervously. She broke eye contact in favor of looking to the left of me.
"Mm … oh, Ito-san I'm well and you?" I replied politely, I noticed her flinch as I spoke; I worried that I might've said something wrong so I inquired, "Did I say something offensive?" Her eyes roamed the room looking anywhere but at me as her cheeks flushed pink.
Is she always this nervous?
"No! I mean no, and please just call me Liisa" she said in a rush.
She has a problem with her last name? I can relate to that. She seemed to get even more nervous and she started to back up. I came out of my thoughts too late to warn her that she was on a collision course with one of our classmates, I reached out an arm uselessly not knowing what else to do as she bumped shoulders with the guy.
"HEY! Watch it" he yelled as he turned around to face her clearly ready to lecture whoever it was. I was surprised then when he relaxed and seemed to take on her awkward air. "O-oh it's you Liisa-san. Uh just, watch where you're going alright?" I saw the guy's face go red and she quickly turned away.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" she apologized quietly. I caught a quick glimpse of her face as she returned to her seat, her face was as red as a tomato. That was odd usually he creates a scene when someone bumps into him. Oh well it isn't my problem and everything worked out.
The teacher came in and started the lesson a little while later.
The Next Day, After School
I wearily walk down the main trail that leads me home. The house is almost in sight when I felt the familiar magnetic force that signals Liisa's presence.
What's she doing out here?
The feeling quickly faded away while I continued onwards. Right when I turned onto the path that leads to the front entrance, I caught a glimpse of Shigure closing the door.
Maybe he just got home?
Ah well, I walk to the door and let myself in.
"I'm home," I announced as I bent to remove my shoes.
"Welcome back Yuki," My cousin responded from down the hall, poking his head around the corner. "I had an unexpected visitor just now."
Did she come to the house?
"Really? Who was it?" I chose to not assume. We both moved towards the living room. I could tell he's enjoying himself too much.
"Well now! That's what surprised me! It was a girl!" He chuckled. I shot him a disapproving glare but he chose to not acknowledge it.
"And? What did she want?" I asked, sighing as I let my heavy book bag slide to the floor with a heavy thud and sat down at the coffee table. Shigure sat down across from me with a shit eating grin on his face.
"Interestingly enough, her and a friend walked through the woods when they noticed the house. Her friend claimed to be worried about the living resident being an elder who needed help." He chuckled again, "Too bad her friend wasn't with her when the girl stopped by. She said her friend had work, though I don't know if that was true."
"Did this girl give you a name?" I was ready to hit him.
"Yes! But when we made our introductions, she only gave me her first name. Odd, huh?" He looked at me like I had the answer to that.
That's definitely strange you usually give a full name on introductions. I realized my cousin was staring at me with a strange look on his face.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He really wants to test my patience today. Damn mutt.
"It gets even better she was wearing the uniform for your school when I asked about you she said she knows you. She said her name was Liisa, that name familiar to you?" My cousin snickered into his sleeve again. I didn't respond, but her image from yesterday popped up in my mind.
Why does she keep popping up so often these last couple of days? Even after she caught me staring at her in the classroom, I kept running into her and her friends after that. Maybe I just noticed we cross paths often?
"Sorry, what?" I asked giving my head a slight shake. My cousin pouted realizing I hadn't heard what he said.
Jesus you're a grown ass man, don't act like a child.
"I was saying that after I asked her if she knew you, she asked me if I was and I quote "worried about my son." Hilarious, right?" He burst out laughing. I didn't laugh and soon my silence was noticed by the adult.
"Please tell me you didn't go along with it," I asked with a deadpanned expression. I can't blame her per se given that we both have gray hair and eyes, although mine are a darker shade than his. But our personalities couldn't be more polar opposite.
"Of course not! If I did have a son he wouldn't be as aloof as you, and he'd obviously have my good looks!" He put his right hand on his chin and shot me what he thought was supposed to be a look of seduction. I felt like throwing up.
"Never make that face again it's disgusting and I hope you didn't show that face to Liisa-san. She might get sick." I covered my eyes with my right hand and sighed. "You're just embarrassing me; I do have to go to school with her you know."
"Oh? What's this? You care what a girl thinks about you? Could you finally be spreading your wings and becoming a man?" I would've punched him in the face if he hadn't blocked my fist. My patience was wearing dangerously thin at this point.
"Shigure, do you ever tire of being a pervert?" I huffed at him ready to leave.
"You didn't answer my question, Yuki," he teased raising the pitch of his voice as he spoke.
"You already know the answer to that. It's a big fat 'no.' I just don't want people at school to think I'm like you," I said pointedly.
"Speaking of school, how's the student council president thing going? Is that why you were late coming home?" He looked too interested at the change of topic.
"Yeah we had a meeting today. The other members were clowning around like always." I rolled my eyes. Like a couple of people I'm sadly related to.
"Ah, reminds me of when I was in the student council with Ayame and Hatori," My cousin wistfully sighed. "We should have them over one of these days. You'd have to promise to be nice though." He gave me another shit eating grin.
"No way! Don't invite them over here! I can't stand the pair of them!" I exclaimed, slamming both palms down on the table. Shigure only chuckled, then after a couple of minutes his playful expression turned serious.
"Actually there was something I wanted to talk to you about. I just couldn't resist teasing you first," he paused putting a hand to his chin in thought. "It's about your classmate, Liisa-san." I was wondering if you've noticed anything strange about her at school." He could be referring to the feeling that she gives off. I decided to ask him directly about it not wanting to talk in circles for another hour.
"Are you talking about her strange presence?" I asked watching the adult carefully.
"Yeah, it was strange. I thought it was you at first but the longer I felt it I realized it was different than any of the other Sohma's presences. It was like a strong tug on my soul, far stronger than any of the others. Then I heard knocking at the door and I opened it to reveal a girl I've never seen before." He stared back at me, gray eyes boing into my own.
"Yeah I noticed it the first time I met her at school. It was startling because I know none of the others attend my school. I thought she was a member of our family at first but there's no relation as far as I can tell." I explained calmly Shigure didn't give any sign of knowing more. "Her last name is Ito. You don't know if they have any relation to us, do you?"
"Nope! Never heard of them, although, the person who'd know for sure would be Akito. He has access to all of the Sohma family history records," he wore a neutral expression. Just the mention of him sent a shiver up my spine and ignited anger in my stomach.
I have no intention of asking him that's for sure.
"No way! You better not mention it to him either! If she's anything like us, then she has enough troubles of her own without him getting involved," I told him quickly trying to keep the anger out of my voice. Any time anyone mentioned the Sohma Family Head, he would get uncharacteristically angry, though he tried not to show it.
"Alright, calm down. I was only saying who would know," Shigure said soothingly. I was way over this conversation and stood up abruptly not wanting to take my anger out on my cousin.
"I'm going to my room, I have a lot of work that needs to be done," I clipped then scooped up my bag and headed out of the room. I skipped dinner that night in favor of not having to talk to my cousin again.
The Next Day, After School
One again, I found myself plodding towards home feeling tired after another student council meeting of chaos. I sighed, hoping to just go home and quietly relax before having to get started on my homework. As I neared home, however I picked up more than one presence coming from the house. They were so jumbled together I couldn't discern who it was but it seemed to add more fuel to my exhaustion.
Dear God, don't tell me he invited those two over this soon?
I opened the door and said my usual "I'm home" while taking off my shoes. The house is silent but I can feel the 3 presences coming from down the hall. I walk quietly down the hallway and when I turned the corner I heard someone gasp as I try to take in the scene.
I register that Shigure and a girl who might have been Tohru Honda stared back at me as I swept my eyes over the scene. I barely had time to register the strange cat standing in front of my cousin when I heard a hiss. My eyes slide over to see an orange cat had made the noise. I could feel a smirk curve my lips up as I recognized him.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in." I couldn't resist taunting my explosive cousin.
"Shut it, ya damn rat! Took ya long enough to come home!" He retaliated with the same venom that I have come to expect from him. Before I could react, however, a puff of smoke surrounded him signaling he's turning back into a human.
"I need to get out of here!" someone yelled and I saw a multicolored streak race down the hallway and skid into Shigure's bedroom. The door slammed shut; a small stream of smoke escaped from under the door a second later.
I was at a loss for words as the smoke cleared from Kyo's transformation. "What just happened? Who or what was that?" I found my voice a moment later simultaneously as the bathroom door ahead of us slammed shut. That must've been Kyo.
"That was Liisa Ito. She's in our class," A girl's voice informed me. Turning, I found myself face to face with Tohru Honda. I had completely forgotten she was there.
"Yes Yuki, get with the program!" Shigure exclaimed as he threw an arm around my shoulders pinning me to his side. "Now, she'll need some clothes! She's seems to be your size and height, so lend her something of yours." he paused then added almost like an afterthought, "Best get something for Kyo too."
"What happened to their clothes?" I asked as, still pinned to my cousins side was escorted towards the stairs.
"Ah, they got left back where we bumped into the orange haired guy," Tohru chimed in. Then why are they here? I just wanted to have a calm and relaxing afternoon is that too much to ask?
"Alright. I'll get them something if you stop pushing me," I sighed trudging up the stairs.
"I'll come too so I can give the clothes to Liisa," Tohru suggested following me up. I was about to respond when someone called her name from down below.
"Ah! I'll be right there!" she called back then added to me. "Just leave the clothes outside the door if I don't come back please." I nodded and she turned hurrying back down the stairs. I continued to my room that's flanked by two vacant rooms used for storage nowadays. I dug through my dresser and came across a set of unused pajamas that I can give to Liisa, and a shirt with horizontal stripes and a pair of sweats that are extremely itchy for Kyo.
This will show that cat what I think of him, barging in and making me help fix his mistakes.
I left my room to stop at the bathroom first.
I opened the door without knocking and threw the shirt and sweat pants right into Kyo's face.
"What the hell was that for?" He hissed angerly pulling the clothes off his face.
"You should learn to lock the door or anyone can walk in on you," I stated then shut the door on the fuming idiot. I quietly padded down the hall towards Shigure's room. It was silent inside but just as I bent to put the pajamas on the floor I heard Tohru's muffled voice from inside the room.
"Have you always been cursed?" she asked. I knew it was wrong but curiosity got the better of me, I shifted closer to the door to hear better.
"I-I've been cursed since birth," Liisa began her voice wavering slightly. "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."
So, she's got a curse of her own. Her House sounds like ours. I wonder what will happen when they find out that these two know of our curse.
"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," the other said. I felt surprise flood through me and I almost missed the next part. "But I want to hear everything and I mean everything." she added gravely.
How can she accept her just like that? She just kept a big secret like this for who knows how long and then she's being accepted? Is this what it means to have a true friend?
A sense of yearning rises up from within me but I stubbornly shoved it back down. I pushed it down stubbornly. No, it's better this way. They've known each other for a long time. It seems I don't have the luxury of that. Besides he wouldn't allow it.
Feeling like I was intruding on something, I snuck away while Liisa was responding, I was just walking into the living room when the bathroom door opened and Kyo stepped out.
"You! Damn! Rat!," he ground out through gritted teeth. He stalked towards me and I rolled my eyes waiting for him to challenge me to a fight like usual. Before he could reach me, however, a voice called out behind him.
"Um, I don't mean to interrupt whatever you two are doing, but I'm going to get the clothes that were left behind. I won't be long," Tohru announced shyly. Kyo's face lost its usual edge and he became somewhat awkward.
You would think he's never talked to a girl before.
"O-ok, are you fine going on your own?" He asked much to my surprise.
Maybe he has after all.
"Yeah I'll be fine! Just thought I would tell you guys where I went!" She cheerfully said with a beaming smile. Does anything ever bring her down? She always had a smile and exudes a cheerful nature.
"We'll be in here when you get back," I chimed in pointing into the living room. She nodded and made her way to the front door. We both entered the room together, our other cousin was already there sitting at the coffee table reading a newspaper. We had just settled at the table when the door opened and Liisa came in.
"I was right. Yuki's clothes fit you well," the adult said perversely. Kyo and I struck him at the same time, at least we agree on something.
"Stop saying perverted things; it's unbecoming," I reprimanded him, then I turned to her to add. "Sorry about him, he hasn't been properly trained."
She stared at me with confusion clear in her eyes. After a second she thanked us then went to sit with her back against the wall and her knees pulled to her chest.
"So Liisa-san, care to explain why you also turned into a cat?" Shigure asked her rubbing the spots where we hit him.
"I'll explain that in detail when Tohru gets back. She needs to hear this too," she clutched the front of the shirt she was wearing looking troubled about something.
"Did she not know?" I asked innocently. I gathered as much from the conversation I'd eavesdropped on between them but I wanted to hear it from her own mouth. What I didn't expect was the suspicious look she gave me before answering.
Does she know that I eavesdropped on part of her conversation with Tohru?
"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," she explained. I gave Shigure a puzzled look that he returned.
"What do you mean? I thought there weren't any other houses in this area," I addressed to both her and my cousin. "Aren't the woods around this house owned by the Sohma family?" he nodded.
"It is, sooooo…" he turned back to face her, I did the same watching her carefully. "Where do you two live exactly?" I could almost see the gears turning in her head as we waited for her answer.
"Before I tell you, I think it's best to give you some context on how we ended up living where we are." She began her right hand messing with a multi colored bracelet on her left wrist. It reminded me of the one that Kyo has to wear but each bead was a different color. I couldn't help but watch it spin around and around as she geared herself up. "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." I glanced at her face, there were tears in her eyes and she took a moment to compose herself all the while still twirling the bracelet. I noticed that all the beads except for one had a visible shine like there's a light inside. The gold bead is dull, almost lifeless in comparison to the others.
"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." she glanced in Shigure's direction, "I didn't know these woods belonged to anyone, otherwise I'd have gone someplace else."
"What about Tohru-san?" The adult prompted, I glanced over at him and he wore a serious expression.
"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 looked back at her but she was staring at my cousin like her life depended on it and I couldn't help but admire her strength after hearing her story.
Both her and Tohru are so strong to keep moving forward in the aftermath of what happened to their mothers. If they're able to do this, what am I doing with my life? I wanted to leave the Sohma family, yet here I am living on their land supplied with money from their bank account every month. If I really wanted to leave, I should've gotten my own tent and lived out in the woods far away here but…
The conversation had continued on but at Shigure's snort I was brought back to the present. "Really? You two are living in a tent?" I saw her cheeks redden with embarrassment. I felt a strange feeling well up inside of me. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. What is this feeling? It's like I want to protect her? No, I don't think that's right. What is it?
"Shigure that's enough, you're being rude," I snapped at the adult sending him a stern glance. I shrugged the feeling away. Right after this I saw her straighten up like she heard something we couldn't.
"Tohru's back," She announced jumping to her feet alarmingly fast and was out the door just as the front door opened.
"Hmmm, that's interesting," Shigure said thoughtfully as the indistinctive sounds of the girls are head from the hall.
"What?" Kyo demanded roughly.
Did I miss something?
"I was thinking about her hearing range. I didn't hear anything from outside and I'm going to assume neither of you did too." The adult explained looking between us. I stared at him realizing that he was right, and then another thing came to me.
Oh shit! If her hearing is that good, then she definitely knows that I eaves dropped on her earlier!
"I'm sure we could ask her about it when they come back together." Shigure stated just before the door re-opened to reveal our guests awkwardly standing there.
"Ummm, Shigure-san do you have a phone? We need to make a couple calls." Liisa asked shyly a light blush dusting her cheeks.
He stood up "Yeah, if you'll follow me please." he left the room to show them where the phone is. It was dead silent in the room, Kyo and I pointedly didn't look at each other. I could hear the muffled footsteps of the others as they went down the hall. After a couple of minutes Shigure returned.
"Wow I was able to leave you two alone and not have my house destroyed! Amazing!" he exclaimed, plopping down next to me at the table. "Speaking of which, why did you show up here Kyo? And where have you been for the past 4 months?" I curiously peered at my orange-haired cousin. His usual foul mood is visible but there was something else mixed in...sadness? Now that I got a good look at him, he seemed thinner than the last time I saw him.
"Training," he grunted without looking at either of us.
"Ok, then why did you come here?" Shigure asked again, finally Kyo's eyes slide over to lock onto mine. That was all the confirmation the adult needed.
"Well! In light of what happened earlier, I ask that you hold off your lover's quarrel until tomorrow, preferably outside! Last time you were here you put a hole in my roof." He told him cheerfully. Kyo tsked and looked away from me.
"Why wait? We both know the outcome is going to be the same," I said snidely not being able to help myself. Kyo was on his feet in an instant.
"You want to go ya damn rat!" he yelled, why is it this guy can always bring out the worst in me?
"I meant what I said," I retaliated. "It's not my fault that you can't comprehend defeat you stupid cat," I also got to my feet as he came closer. Kyo was cracking his knuckles clearly itching to fight now. So easily wound up.
"I'll get you this time!" Kyo came at me and I easily kicked him away and he thudded against the wall.
"That's enough you two! How do you think our guests would react if they saw you two fighting?" the adult chided but making no move to break up the fight. I sat down on the far side of the room as far as I could get from Kyo. He stayed on the other side of the room and all three of us sat in silence until the girls came back. When they entered, Tohru marched right to the table taking a seat next to Shigure. After a moment's hesitation looking very nervous Liisa followed taking a seat on Tohru's other side.
"I want to know the truth. No more excuses." Tohru addressed her friend with authority in her voice. She started speaking as I moved to sit on Shigure's other side at the table.
"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?" he asked aloud. I leaned forward to see her better and she had a confused look for a second before responding.
"Yeah, like him right?" She nodded at Kyo who still sat apart from the rest of us.
If she's like Kyo, then she's also just a scape goat for the curse right? I felt something squeeze my heart. I realized with confusion that it was pity. Am I feeling pity for the cat? I couldn't dwell on this new feeling for long as my cousin continued with his questions.
"So who are the other zodiacs in your family?" I was interested in this too, and my interest was piqued when she looked confused.
"What do you mean? I'm possessed by all 13 Zodiac Spirits." She paused her eyes flicking to mine then away again, fear clear in her eyes. "Isn't Kyo the same?" I was shocked.
How is this possible? Our bodies are considerably weak with just the one Animal Spirit how can she even be alive with all 13 inside of her.
"However, I've never heard of someone, let alone an outsider, be possessed by all 13 Zodiac Spirits before." he continued curiosity in his voice. "Care to explain how you're possessed with all 13 spirits?" She nodded and took a deep breath before beginning.
"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." We sat in silence, she looked down at her lap. "When the child is born, they don't live past a year old because their bodies can't contain all of the animal spirits," she took another deep breath before continuing. "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 heard Tohru mutter but she trailed off.
"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." That's a little complicated.
"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 from his side of the room.
"Well…uh…that…" She trailed off her voice chocking up into silence. I couldn't imagine what was going through her head. I was watching her intently when I heard a howl outside, I saw her flinch at the noise. Right after the howl died away she jumped to her feet in a panic.
"There's been a landslide!" she exclaimed, I stared at her not understanding how she would know that.
"So you heard her warning too," Shigure spoke calmly, I turned to look at him as he walked the window still confused.
"Can you guys can talk to animals too?" She asked and I realized what happened she must have been able to understand what the howl meant.
"Yes we can, but only to our respective animals. I take it you can talk to all of them?" I look away from her when she says this feeling uncomfortable. I don't really like communicating with the rats, they give me the creeps.
"Wait! What about our tent! I left mom in there! I only brought the clothes and nothing else!" Tohru shouted jumping up and racing out of the room Liisa close on her heels. The three of us hesitated a second before taking off after the two girls.
"What's the chance the land slide hit your tent?" Shigure scoffed as we caught up to them at the front door.
"Wait! It's dangerous to go outside right now! There might be another landslide!" Liisa called after her shooting out the door. I threw my shoes on and chased after them, Liisa staying about 10 feet ahead of us. Kyo stayed in step with me as we ran after the girls Shigure bringing up the rear. The sound of footsteps and Liisa's scent hanging in the air guided us when she derailed off the main path onto an animal trail. Eventually, we came to a clearing in the trees skidding to a stop at a mass of mud and twisted tree limbs. Liisa was standing frozen in place while Tohru was at the mound of mud desperately digging.
"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. As I heard this it spurred me into action, I stepped forward a want to help springing up in me like earlier with Liisa. Shigure had caught up at this point and was by my side as I approached the panicked girl. He placed a hand on top of hers, effectively stopping her grave digging.
"Honda-san calm down, it's dangerous to dig in there," I soothed 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. She looked behind her; I assumed she looked at Liisa. "Come, let's go back to my house. You two will stay for the night and we'll come back tomorrow, okay?" he continued. She nodded and stood up. I had just turned to go when I saw Liisa streak past me, turning back I saw Liisa with Tohru in her arms. I caught a whiff of a sour sickly smell that was over powered by the strong smell of mud until now. Liisa put a hand to her forehead, she looked up in a panic.
"She's burning up!" Her 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 her. She nodded in his direction. Wordlessly, she shifted Tohru onto her back and stood up to begin the trek back to the house. Us guys followed her back through the woods silently, when we got to the front door I held it open for her, Shigure went in first instead. I shot an annoyed look at the back of his head.
"I'll show Liisa-san where the room is. You two, get some ice for our sick guest," Shigure ordered without sparing us a glance. Liisa followed him wordlessly down the hall leaving Kyo and I alone on the door step. I wordlessly started heading to the kitchen, sure there was an ice pack in the freezer. I opened the door to the kitchen and gaged at the stench that rolled out to greet us.
"God damn how can you live like this?" Kyo complained disgusted as he pinched his nose closed against the stench.
"Well, it doesn't stink when the door's shut," I said coolly trying to hide my embarrassment. "I think there's an ice pack in the freezer. We just have to get over to it." I took a deep breath through my mouth and waded out into the pile of trash. I can hear Kyo cursing behind me; he's so noisy. We cut a path to the freezer and an even worse smell permeates the air when we opened that.
"Dear Jesus! I'm going to die!" Kyo exclaimed as he turned away from the freezer, making gagging noises.
"Stop being such a baby," I said even though I too found the smell sickening. I quickly rooted around for the icepack and pulled it out shutting the door quickly. We both sighed in relief as the terrible smell lessened to a tolerable degree.
"Alright let's get out of here before you try killing me again," Kyo grumbled turning to leave.
You didn't even do anything no one made you come in here, stupid cat.
Once out in the hallway I shut the door and we both took deep breaths of the greatly improved air.
"What do you two do for meals?" Kyo asked as we made for the stairs. "You can't possible cook in that pig stye."
"Take-out mostly. We both tried cooking but we hated each other's preferences; eventually we started piling the garbage in here." I explained as we reached the stairs.
"And you called me a slob," Kyo said under his breath, I chose to ignore that comment. Once we reached the top of the stairs, I heard voices coming from the room to the left of my bedroom. We pushed open the door just in time to hear Tohru start talking.
"Like not telling our moms 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 could feel sadness welling up inside of me. I didn't know that a small action weighed so heavily on her mind. The feeling only intensified as she went on.
"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." She slammed both fists down on the blanket with a loud Flump.
"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." Silence hung in the air after she spoke, broken only by the sound of Liisa's muffled sobs. She took several deep shuddering breaths as all three of us looked on. The urge to comfort the crying girl arose but I was rooted in place by the waves of sadness radiating from her. It's amazing that she was able to endure that amount of stress, yet I can't help but feel the need to protect her – the need to make sure she doesn't feel like this again.
Where is this feeling coming from? I don't think this is all coming from me. I snapped back to the present as I heard Liisa start to speak.
"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." she hunched over her friend I couldn't tell what she was doing from where I stood. "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." she sat upright again taking another shuddering breath; the room was silent as I watched her. I wished there was something I could do to help them, then an idea came to me. I don't really like it but there are a lot of rats that live out in the woods; I could amass enough to dig out their tent with ease and surprise them with their belongings tomorrow morning.
The sound of clothes ruffling broke the silence as Shigure shifted uneasily next to Liisa. She shot a glance at him.
"You have my condolences." He says barely above a whisper. She nodded her head in response. Her head flicked to us when a floorboard creaked under Kyo's foot.
"Did you bring the ice?" her question broke me out of my thoughts and sprung me to action. I wordlessly crossed the room and held the ice pack out to her, as she took it I couldn't help but notice that she looked exhausted. When she had turned back and placed the ice pack on her friends forehead I leaned down and placed a hand on her shoulder. I mentally kicked myself when I felt her jump at my touch.
"You should get some rest. One of us can watch over her." I whispered so I wouldn't wake the sleeping girl.
"I'm fine. Really." She dismissed without turning around.
"If you're sure, then we'll leave you to it." The adult beside us cut in before I could insist that she gets some sleep. I removed my hand from her shoulder and straightened up as the adult stood. "I'll be back later to see if you need anything else. Let's go you two." He added, motioning for me to follow him out of the room. Once he softly shut the door he turned to us in the dimly lit hallway.
"Let's go down stairs, it looks like it's going to be a long night," He told us, shooing us ahead of him. We returned to the living room and resettled around the coffee table; Shigure turned to Kyo and began talking.
"Alright! First things first! Kyo, you've been missing for 4 months and Akito is wanting to see you. I need you to stay here for the night then come with me to the main house in the morning," He used an authoritative voice while the cat looked away without a word.
"Fine I'll stay but only tonight," He finally said gruffly. Shigure and I blinked at each other in amazement.
I've never seen him agree to something so fast, wonder what happened to make him stay?
I had little time to dwell on this however as Shigure started speaking again. "Well, that was quicker than I thought it would be. I've set up a futon for you in the room to the right of Yuki's room." He narrowed his eyes at Kyo. "Am I going to have to come and make sure you don't take off in the night?"
"No, you won't. I said I'm going to stay and I mean it at least until tomorrow," He turned his piercing gaze on me. "As long as you promise to fight me, I'm not going anywhere."
"Yeah alright, I suppose I have no choice in this," I stood up not wanting to be up all night. "Well, I have things I want to do before bed so if you'll excuse me." I had walked to the door before the voice of the adult stopped me.
"You're going to go dig out their tent aren't you?" my older cousin murmured behind me. "Want me to come with you? It'll be hard to do it alone."
"Who said I was going to be doing it alone?" I questioned without turning around. I heard him scoff behind me.
"Right of course, your little friends will be helping I take it?" he kidded me. I only turned briefly a smile twisting my lips up then left closing the door behind me.
"God, he's creepy when he does that," Kyo said before I had taken more than a few steps.
"He's trying to help in his own way, you wouldn't get it," the adult sighed, I left after that and headed for the second time that night to the mound of mud and branches that hid the tent the two girls had lived in. As I walked I made small squeaking noises to alert the rats scurrying in the underbrush that I needed them. By the time I was back at the mound the ground was a swirling mass of long bald tales and small furry bodies.
"Dig," I simply said. I've learned over the years that rats can't understand complex human speech only simply words or orders. For more complex orders eye contact is required so they can understand. The mass of bodies descended into the mud mound, making quick work of what would've taken the 5 of us hours to do. They only needed 15 minutes to make contact with the tent and 5 more to drag it out of the mud.
A shiver went down my spine when I made eye contact with one of the rats. Why did I choose to do this?
Tell the others to make sure there are no more human items in there.
Right away. The rat turned with a flick of its long bald tail and started squeaking out orders to the others. There was a pitter of paws as they once again started digging through the mud. I turned my attention to the tent. There was no saving it; I found the opening and unzipped it seeing a tangled mess of belongings inside.
I guess first I should check for the picture that Tohru was digging so desperately for.
I started to shift the items around ignoring the squeaking of the rats around me. I took out two sleeping bags and used those to set items on to protect them from the mud. Eventually I pulled two photographs out of the tent - amazingly the glass was still intact on both frames. I carefully set them down on one of the sleeping bags.
After the rats confirmed nothing was left behind in the mud mound, I gathered the sleeping bags to carry them back to the house. I ordered the rats to carry the rest of the items. Once we reached home, I ordered the rats to leave the items in the front yard. I grabbed a few bags from inside to place the smaller items in; folded the sleeping bags; and tossed out the ruined tent. Lastly, I placed bags of items and sleeping bags in the living room before I took a shower and went to bed.
Finally, I get to relax after an exhausting day.