Reflection: Encounter
By Ozaki Amaya
Amaya sat in the library. Her work shift was over, but she just couldn't resist picking up another book and reading. She still had time.
She looked at her watch. Damn it! Late! Again! She abruptly closed her book, and hurried over to the coat rack. She hastily put her coat on and rushed out of the building.
This was truly becoming troublesome. If Amaya was not so attracted to books, she might actually be on time for class once in a while. Or maybe she should just stop working at the National Library. If I'm late one more time, they'll surely kick me out!! she thought, although it was not that she desperately needed to go to class all the time. She learned faster than any other person in her class. She simply felt obligated to go.
I really need an alarm clock! Why couldn't I have thought of being late if I took the extra time to read that book? I'm so mindless!
She raced down the street, her unbuttoned black trench coat and her silver and black streaked hair streaming behind her. The biting January wind burned her face and ears, but she continued running.
Only one more block...
She was overcome by a cruel urgency, and senselessly concentrated solely on her destination point instead of the people around her. Her cat-like reflexes faltered for just a moment, but it was in just that moment that...
SMACK
Oh no! OH NO!!
She was afraid to look up, afraid to see what she already knew—that she had run headfirst into an orange-haired young man who was about her age and had fallen completely on top of him; that she was a cat.
"Ara...?" A female's soft voice broke through Amaya's terrified thoughts. "Kyou-kun... You didn't change!"
Amaya's eyes shot open and she jumped to her feet. 'You didn't change!' ...I didn't change! But... who's 'Kyou-kun'? And how could this girl... how could she know?
She looked confusedly from the other girl to the astonished young man who was still sitting on the ground. She felt completely helpless, completely bound to this spot by these two complete strangers. Could they be members of my family? She questioned. After all, she never had met her family. In the entire eighteen years of which her life consisted, she had never met a single member of her family. If they are... If they are... A plethora of horrified, outraged notions contended in her mind.
"Kyou-kun, is she another member of Juunishi?" the girl asked.
Juunishi? JUUNISHI?! She knows! Then they must be... related to me! ...My family... Amaya clenched her fists in disgust, resentment, indignation, and wrath.
"...I have never seen her before in my entire life," the young man answered, in a shocked, monotone manner.
"Of course you've never seen me before in your life!! And do you wonder why?? You and the rest my family locked me in the library my entire life, as if I were some terrible family secret, when you were carrying the Juunishi secret all along! As if I were somehow worse! Well, the monster is finally out of her cage, and she will exact her revenge!!" Amaya cried vehemently. Rage radiated from her being as she reached for the black and white prayer beads on her left wrist.
"Matte!" the girl shouted, her voice shaking.
Amaya's eyes widened, and she stepped back, realising what had just transpired, what awful, rude things she had just said to these people she didn't even know. "Forgive me... Forgive me..." she muttered before turning to leave. If it weren't for her guilt, she would want to stay and find out who these people were, but she could not bear for them to see her. She wished she were invisible.
She took a step forward, right into an unsuspecting man in a suit. *poof* Damn it... I am a cat for sure now...
The girl and the orange haired young man, out of reflex, did their best to cover up the fact that Amaya had transformed. The girl pretended she had actually been the one who had bumped into the man and skillfully caught the silver and black striped tabby cat that was Amaya in mid-air, while the orange haired young man speedily collected the girl's clothes from the ground. The three of them rushed into back street.
The girl placed Amaya on the ground. When the orange-haired young man saw which animal Amaya had turned into, he appeared even more astounded than he had been before.
"Sumimasen!" the girl said. Her voice was musical and gentle. Amaya started to doubt whether these people were members of her family. Someone with such a beautiful voice could not possibly be related to her family, who had done such cold things. "I didn't mean to be so rude!"
"Rude? ...You saved me..." Amaya said quietly. The shame she had felt before increased twofold, as she discovered that these people had rescued her despite the horrid things she had screamed at them. It then occurred to her that they might have saved her simply to save themselves. Her anger returned, but she reminded herself to control her actions this time.
"How can she be a cat?!" the young man exclaimed furiously, drawing the attention of both females. "How could they hide this from me??" He threw Amaya's clothes on the ground and ran all the way back to his home, leaving the Amaya and the girl in the back street alone.
"Ahh! Gomen nasai!" the girl exclaimed nervously. "Your clothes are all dirty now!" She hurriedly gathered them from the ground where the young man had thrown them.
"Don't worry about it," Amaya reassured her. Amaya was surprised that this girl was so kind to here. Nearly everyone else stayed relatively far away from her because of her strange hair, and because of what they would deem as her "odd behaviour." She generally kept to herself. Never had she met someone so warm.
"Demo...!" The girl was still concerning herself with the state of the clothes when Amaya changed back to human form.
"It's really alright," Amaya said as she received the bundle of clothes from the girl's outstretched arms. She dressed quickly. This girl may be nice, but if she apologises anymore, I think I'll go crazy, she thought.
"Please, let me make you lunch to make up for it!!" the girl pleaded, bowing repeatedly.
Amaya clenched her fists to keep her annoyance in check. Despite her attempts, her irritation was audible in her voice. "I don't even know your name. I said it was all right, anyway! Mattaku!"
"Honda Tohru desu! Douzo yoroshiku!" she exclaimed nervously, still bowing incessantly.
"Uhn. Ozaki Amaya desu. Yoroshiku." She put her hand over her face in mock embarrassment. Stop bowing...
Tohru stopped. "Wait. Ozaki? You're not a Sohma?!" Her confusion and surprise was evident in her widened eyes.
Amaya removed the hand from in front of her face. "Eh? Sohma? I've never even heard of Sohma..." Amaya did not know to what Tohru was referring. Why would it be surprising that she wasn't a Sohma? Who were the Sohma, anyway?"
"But you're a Juunishi... aren't you? How can you be a Juunishi if you aren't a Sohma?"
"So you mean to say that the Sohma family is a Juunishi family?"
"The Sohma family is THE Juunishi family!"
Amaya's eyes became enlarged at this new, shocking piece of information. "But... my family is the Juunishi family!"
"But that's impossible!...isn't it?" Tohru was so utterly perplexed she very nearly fainted.
Amaya didn't know what to think. That young man she had fallen on earlier must have been one of the Sohma, and also must have been a Juunishi, since she did not transform. But why would there be two Juunishi families? And if there were indeed two, why hadn't they met until now?
"Ano... I don't really know what's going on, but please allow me to make lunch for you to make up for your soiled clothes. Besides, the Sohma would enjoy meeting you," Tohru said with a bit of agitation.
Amaya looked up. She had been looking down at the ground, pondering over her recent discovery. "Maa... I suppose I could use a little food..."
Tohru's face transformed into the pure definition of happiness. She began bowing again, saying "Arigatou!" at least twice. "Ne, kochira!" she said once she was finished with her crazy bowing. She gleefully led Amaya back to Shigure's house.
Never have I seen anyone bow so much, Amaya reflected while walking with Tohru. Never have I seen anyone so happy to make lunch for someone she randomly met on the street. Not even the books I've read had characters like this girl. She is certainly unique...
Kyou burst through the front door, hardly taking the time to kick off his shoes before racing into the common room, looking for Shigure. He wasn't there.
"Shigure!!!" he called with desperation and a hint of anger.
Just as Kyou was about to run up the stairs, Shigure appeared at the top of the staircase. He was wearing his typical informal kimono, as usual, and his glasses. A newspaper was under his arm.
"Oi, Kyou-kun. What's got you all excited? Where's Tohru-kun?" Shigure asked with his laid back tone of voice.
"I don't know!" Kyou exclaimed, exasperated. This wasn't about Tohru. Shigure could be so dense.
"You didn't let her get kidnapped by a molester, did you?" Shigure started coming down the stairs.
"Don't be stupid! The only molester around here is you!"
"Maa, maa!" Shigure laughed and calmly strolled into the common room and sat down at the table. Kyou followed him into the room, but remained standing. There was no way he could calm down enough to sit down.
"Ne, what is going on?" Shigure was suddenly serious. Kyou wouldn't have just leave Tohru like that if there hadn't been a good reason.
"Shigure, did you know about that girl in the library?!" Kyou demanded.
"Eh? What girl in the library?"
"Thegirl!Thecatgirlthatwaslockedinthelibraryandescaped!"
"Kyou-kun! Calm down! I can't understand a word you're saying!"
"The girl! The cat girl! In the library!"
"Ne, Kyou-kun, I have absolutely no idea what you're babbling incoherently about. I spend quite a bit of my time in the library back at the main house until I graduated high school, and I never saw any cat girl in there. Calm down!"
"Maybe there was another library! They kept it locked!"
Shigure smiled mischievously, recalling the days of his youth. "Kyou-kun," he said earnestly, slyly. "Do I look that innocent to you? Aya and I sneaked into every possible forbidden area of that house when we were younger. There was not a corner that we missed, not a single secret part of that house we don't know about. Whatever it is you're talking about, you must be mistaken in it."
Kyou looked spitefully at the elder Juunishi member. "If you're keeping something from me, you won't live to see tomorrow!" He turned hastily and ran out of the room to stake his usual post on the roof.
Shigure remained in the common room, too lazy to trouble himself with Kyou's current state of mind, but still pondering the meaning of Kyou's outbursts. Could it be possible? Could they have made him forget something he had discovered? But Hatori would have been the one... Shigure rose and went to the phone to dial a call to the main house.
Hatori picked up the phone on the other end. "Moshimoshi."
"Ah, Hatori. There's a certain matter I would like to discuss with you." Once again, his tone was serious, as it very rarely was.
Author's note:
I was trying to leave off on something suspenseful, but I couldn't think of anything . so hopefully you find this enough to make you want to read more. I might add more to this chapter instead of leaving off here, but this is where it ends for now. I'm not exactly sure where this story is going yet. I have a vague idea, but I'm sure I'll think of something wonderful. ^^;
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I appreciate all reviews! And that means ALL. ^^
Glossary:
Matte: Wait
Sumimasen: Excuse me/Forgive me/I'm sorry
Gomen nasai: I'm sorry
Demo: but
Mattaku: geez!
Douzo yoroshiku/yoroshiku: Nice to meet you
Maa: well
Kochira: this way
Moshimoshi: hello (on the phone)