Tears of an Angel: Chapter Four

By: Sakura Avalon or Kinomoto ( ashyboylova@yahoo.com )

Disclaimer: . . . meow meow me-owwww  meow meoooww meeeooowww meow meeeooowww! . . . .  -- translation: I don't own Fruits Basket so stop annoying me! --

authors notes: a change of atmosphere here . . beware . .

keys:

italics = the past

- - - = change of scene

Chapter Four: Part one and two

Guardian angels linger closer than one would expect

. . Watch for them . .

               I watched hesistantly as Mizuki-sensei turned toward my desk, her eyes shining brightly with anticipation upon hearing me answer, yet again, another math question. It was quiet an embarassing moment for a student in my grade, like myself, to continously get the incorrect answer time after time, so you should pretty much understand the feeling I am harboring right now, ne? Feeling myself blush, I shielded my face with my textbook and gave a small cough.

               " Aaah, Honda-san!" she called happily, " I haven't called on you for the longest time!" Taking her time to finish her sentence, she gave a small smile. " What's the answer to number seve--"

               Right at that exact moment, as if Kami-sama himself had heard the prayers of his forgotten angel, the bell which signified that class was finished, rang. I watched as the teacher infront of me shouted out incoherent words to the class, which I caught little bits of pieces here and there.

               " Honda-san, I believe you are coming home with us?"

               Shaking out of my daily daydreams, I looked up and smiled at the lavender haired prince -- now known to me as Sohma Yuki, whom was also known as the famous nezumi Akito-san favored so much. Standing next to him, was Sohma Kyou -- the stray neko of the family.

               " I hope it won't be too bothersome." I bit my lips, " I mean, for me to intrude into your--"

A small smile appeared on the prince's lips, " Not at all, Honda-san, don't worry about a thing. We'll be waiting for you out in the hall."

" What do you mean ' we ' ? I'm not going anywhere with a nezumi like you." I heard the voice of Kyou cry out in the hall.

" If you rather walk home yourself, be my guest." Yuki replied quietly, " I didn't want to be rude to Honda-san, but hurry up and leave. It'll be my pleasure."

A small pause, then out came Kyou's masculine voice, " Fine! I will!"

" If you are, how come I don't see you walking?" Yuki laughed, " Don't tell me that you don't even know what the word, " leave " means? Really baka neko, I'm surprised!"

" Kuso!"

               Quickly packing up my things, I ran out into the hall before anything got out of hand.

" Please, please stop fighting. I've heard enough fights to last me a life time. I don't need to hear anymore."

" The nezumi started it, go blame him!" Kyou muttered.

Yuki, obviously ignoring that statement, turned toward me and smiled. " Let's get going, Honda-san."

-              -               -

" So, who exactly are you," the purple eyed prince asked me cautiously. " and why were you hiding behind the bush?"

" Yuki-kun, don't bombard her with your silly questions!" Shigure remarked absentmindedly, " Tohru-kun, are you okay?"

I smiled at the man, " Hai, Shigure-san, daijobuu."

" Akito-san didn't do anything to you, did he now? When I left the house, he was in quiet a . . temper . . "

" He didn't do anything out of the ordinary for me." I replied quietly, " I didn't notice the difference."

Firey orange eyes met mine, " What do you mean out of the ordinary? How do you know Shigure and Akito-san? Hurry up and answer damn it!"

" Baka neko, let her rest." the lavender-haired prince said, " I bet she had a rough time out in the woods, considering all the blood that's on her."

" CChh, from what I remember, you were the one bombarding her with questions, not me." the ' baka neko' replied in defense.

Getting up from his seat, he gave a final glance towards me, then left the room.

" Y-U-K-I-kun, " Shigure grinned, as his wandering eyes met mine. " We finally have a g-i-r-l in the house! Do you know what this means?"

" You old man, stop sticking you heads up of girl's skirts, and start giving us answers!" the boy, now known as Sohma Yuki, whispered deadly.

" A GIRL! WE HAVE A GIRL!!"

-              -               -

               " Honda-san?" Yuki asked curiously, " I mean, you don't have to tell us if you don't feel like it, but, who are you and how do you know Akito-san?"

Shivering at the mention of my masters name, I quickly glanced around the room. To my surprise, I found the whole family seated together in the living room, waiting for my answer and explaination. Shigure, of course, already knows everything about the situation -- along with the part in which I come in. Sohma Yuki and Sohma Kyou still remain clueless.

               " Honda-san?" Yuki called again, his purple eyes showing a hint of desperation.

As if feeling his want and needs, I felt pity for the nezumi while at the same time, feel a strong bond between us -- the favorites of the same master. " Sohma-kun, I am ready to tell you all you need to know." Stretching my arms, I took a deep breath and began my story.

-              -               -

"  Yuki-kun," Shigure's lively voice filled the kitchen and crept into my room. " I'm surprised at you. You're never this, this kind to anyone other than the ones harboring the curse."

" And why does this concern you?" Yuki remarked, " This is my private business, not yours."

Shigure sighed helplessly at the nezumi's words. " What I mean is, what makes her so different from the rest? There are plenty of girls out there whom you treat rudely -- why is Tohru-kun any different?"

" I, I know how it feels to be held in Akito-san's room."

 A small pause.

" I know how he treats his ' favorite'  people, and believe me, it's not a good scene. Remember, I AM his favorite cursed member, I WAS in his room thousands of times when I was young. So I should KNOW how it feels and how much it DAMAGES a person."

Another pause.

" I just don't want to add on to her problems."

Shigure, from the way he spoke, was obviously smiling. " Yuki-kun, you're so sweet! Sweet as a chocolate cake." He giggled, " I want to taste you."

" SHIGURE!"

-              -               -

" Wait, so that's the reason why you're here?" Kyou asked, his fingers brushing the tip of his hair. " You're here to protect us? No offense but, you're a girl and from what I saw, a very clumsy girl."

" I can't fight, like you guys, but I am useful in many other ways."

" Like what?" Kyou smirked, " Cooking?"

" Baka neko, " Yuki muttered under his breath. Turning toward me, he said uncertainly. " You can do spells and enchantments, right?"

" Hai, but as you can tell by the name given to me by Akito-san, I am the angel of the dark -- so during the night, I am ready to fight while during the day, my healing abilities--"

" Nani?" Kyou interrupted, " So, what you're saying is that you can only use your enchantments and spells only during the night! What good is that if they come to us during the day?"

Yuki glared at the neko. " I guess after those countless times of loosing against me, I finally got through to you? Baka neko, We're men! We can fend for ourselves, so stop complaining like a baby!"

" Who says I'm complaining? I just want to understand what she's trying to say!"

" Really." Yuki's eyes flashed dangerously. " Let me help you to understand."

" Ooh! A story!" Shigure cried happily.

. . Silence . . .

A small sigh erupted from the dog as he squirmed under the glares of the two Sohma boys. " Well, I haven't spoken in a while and . . and."

Completly ignoring the words of the elder, Yuki started his explaination.

" The angel of darkness, well, there are only two of their kind -- seeing how Akito-san trapped them and turned them into his own slaves. The first Angel of Darkness is Honda-san's mother, and now her. From what I remember, Honda-san's okaa-san was killed by Akito-san for failing a mission -- which automatically made Honda-san the next angel of darkness. Get it so far?"

After receiving blank nods from the family, he sighed.

" Anyways, remember all the talk about the mysterious deaths happening here? Well, on each person's death, there lay a black feather, which I suppose is yours." He turned to me. " Ne, Honda-san?"

A faint smile appeared on my lips. " As you can see now, I don't have them anymore. I have to fit in with the human crowd."

Yuki nodded.

" I'll take over from here Yuki-kun." Shigure smiled. " You're going to have a tough time getting through to the neko over there."

Yuki nodded again, then rose from his seat. " I'm going to get some rest, oyasumi."

" Oyasumi Sohma-kun." I muttered silently. The days hardships were finally getting to me, and I couldn't help but want to sleep.

-              -               -

. . Repetitive Life . . a life not worth living . .

              

to be continued . . .

Authors notes: gomen nasai minna-san! i know i haven't updated in a long while, and i am very sorry for that. things got a little rough between my friends and so i didn't have much time to do anything.

* bows * gomen nasai! i tried to make this chapter a little longer, does it show? ^^

arigato for all the reviews! it made me so happy when i read them -- it sure brightened up my day!

this chapter is a little different from the ones before it -- as you can tell -- because the atmosphere i put in here is ' curiousity ' and ' happy ' -- well not happy, but a little brighter than the others.

the story is taking a turn here, and so i just wanted to explain the main points so far. hope you understood what i wrote! i know this is badly written, and so i want to apologize for that too! i'll revise it soon!

-- saki --