Chapter Two
"Daughter?!" Kaede screamed. "But…that's just not possible!"
Akito slowly said, "Of course it is" and turned his back to Kaede.
Kaede stood up, "How can you be my father?! Your only five years older than me!"
Akito stared down at his daughter as he moved closer to her, "As a child of five…I was raped by your mother"
Kaede's mouth flew open and her words barley came out, "My mother…. raped you…when you were five but that would mean…. that's just wrong…my mom raped you when she was twenty?! I don't believe that she would do such a thing…or that someone as horrible and violent as you could be my father!"
Akito clutched his hand firmly on Kaede's head, "Do you really think I would lie about something as horrible as that?!" Akito drug Kaede across the floor by her hair and slammed her into the wall. Kaede stood up and landed a hard punch in Akitos face and he stared at her for the longest time before collapsing to the ground and spitting out a mouth full of blood, "Darn you."
Kaede began out the door and Akito shouted, "You think you can live? Your death will be the death for us all, you're a plague amongst us!" Akito pointed his index finger sharply at Kaede, "You really think you can live?"
Kaede said nothing but slammed the door behind her and walked past Shigure who was waiting at the need of the hall,
"What happened Kaede?" Shigure gave Kaede a sympathetic gaze and Kaede burst into tears on Shigures shoulder,
"It's not right. It's not right," She screamed, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Shigure helped Kaede to her feet and walked her out to the car, holding her tightly, trying to calm her. Shigure looked at the car and shrugged and began towards the lake. Shigure sat down the tear filled Kaede and let her bury her head into his chest. Shigure stroked her hair, "Kaede, what happened?"
Kaede longed to say that nothing had happened, but Shigure would know she was lying and shook as she spoke,
"Akito said something really hard to believe." Kaede let her tears stop and Shigure wiped them away, "He said…my mom raped him when he was five years old and that…he was my father!"
Shigure nodded, "I know"
Kaede looked up at Shigure surprised, "How do you…"
Shigure looked up into the cool dusk sky, "I was coming home from school, I was in 1st grade then. I was going down the hall to see Akito; I had to show him my history grades. When…. I heard screams of pain and hate from Akito. I ran to his room as fast as I could…and saw that…well I won't go into details I asked what was going on and the parents of the house and some of the older…now deceased members of the zodiac came…but it was too late…that might be one of the reasons Akito is the way he is, he…"
Kaede looked at the ground, "So in other words, he doesn't love me?"
Shigure rubbed his chin, "Well, Akito doesn't love anybody, so yes, he doesn't love you but I imagine that he might like you a little more than the rest of us being that you are his own flesh and blood"
Kaede said nothing but stood up and began towards the car, "Thank you Shigure" she called back and disappeared into the woods.
A car arrived in the driveway of Shigures house and Kyo, Yuki and Tohru looked out to see a rain soaked Shigure enter, "Evening Kyo, Yuki, Tohru"
"Where's Kaede?" Yuki demanded.
Shigure waved his hand, "Oh, she's fine"
Sharply Yuki spoke, "No she's not"
Shigure sighed and fell into a chair at the table and Tohru brought him a cup of tea. Shigure took a few sips and took in the aroma of the tea before taking a few more sips. Shigure looked at Kyo, Yuki's and Tohrus face and sighed,
"Well…I talked with Hatori and it seems like Aktio's health is failing…he has only three months at the most to live"
Yuki looked at Shigure coldly, "Kaede"
Shigure nervously nodded, "What I'm about to say must not be repeated then."
Yuki, Kyo and Tohru nodded and Shigure cleared his throat,
"Well, when Akito was five years old, he was raped by Kaede's mother, she became pregnant and gave birth to Kaede and you know the story after that…however there's a much larger thing at stake here."
Tohru looked at Shigure, "How…Akito…" Tohru looked like she was about to cry.
Kyo snorted, "As if we're supposed to believe THAT story?"
Shigure sternly said, "Well…I was a witness to the whole incident unless you don't want to believe me?"
Kyo and Yuki glanced at each other and at the same time muttered, "No wonder he's the way he is"
Shigure waved his hand, "Now, now, don't jump to conclusions!"
Tohru looked at her feet, "Shigure-san, you say that there is something much larger at stake…what?'
Shigure looked sadly out the window, "Kaede must die before her next birthday and she must die before Akito dies, if she doesn't then everyone even moderately related to the Sohma family will fall ill immediately and die…however, if Kaede is killed before Akito's death and her next birthday…then the Sohma's will live on"
Shigure stopped from saying more and Kyo glared at him, "Hey, there's more, what is there?"
Shigure rubbed his chin and sighed, "Akito must be the one to kill her"
The door suddenly blew open and a dark figure came in. The door flew off the hinges and bashed through another door.
Shigure sighed, "Another door broken, I swear everyone wants to break my house" Shigure began crying and the dark figure sat down at the table and removed the black hood covering their head revealing the figure to be Kaede,
"Shigure! I heard everything…and now I understand, sacrifice my life to keep yours alive…but can I offer my own input in this?"
Shigure shook his head, "You'll have to wait until the Sohma house meeting later this week, you might be killed on the spot and we can't raise a finger to help you, we're bound by Sohma house law"
Kaede stood up and slammed her fists into the table, "Sohma rule this, Sohma rule that! I'm sick and tired of taking orders…I…we only get one life in this life and is this how you think I really want to spend it?" Kaede screamed out in frustration and stomped upstairs and slammed the door behind her.
Kaede fell on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't even know if it was her room, she was too angry to tell. Kaede shifted and tossed on the bed to get comfy, and when she failed, stood up and paced around the room. I'm a human being…not an animal. Is it really okay for me to die so that others in the future can suffer the curse. I should end it now and then less will die and suffer in the future, the end of the Sohma family…or will another family contract the curse…what of the rest of the world…thousands may die. Kaede clutched her head and kicked a nearby bookshelf, shaking a book loose. Kaede bent down and picked it up and read the title, 'the Sohma family'. Kaede flipped through the pages and after skimming through she returned to the first page and began reading,
Not much is known about the origin of the Sohma family curse…but one thing is known, it was first recorded over 1,500 years ago and even then, it had been around for many years. Yet, during all this time, it has all been kept a close secret and has leaked many a time. The house of Sohma has a special family line within the Sohma family that has the power to erase others minds. With their powers, the Sohma's cuse can be kept a secret. Kaede flipped a few more pages and stopped at a page entitled the 'cat. Slowly, Kaede read, God invited all the animals to a party. The cat however, deceived the cat into believing it was the day after it really was and thus the cat is a fool. It was best that the cat is not included in the zodiac, everything would be thrown out of balance and there is no need for a fool in the Zodiac. Kaede quit reading
"Must even the family books reek of hatred towards Kyo and I?"
Kaede sighed and peered into the kitchen where Kyo, Tohru, Shigure and Yuki were talking to each other. The brown haired Tohru had a perplexed look on her face, "Shigure-san, what do you mean that Akito, her father, has to kill her?"
Shigure leaned back in his chair and began smoking, "Well, it's been that way every time this has happened, it's a little rare but it has happened on twenty-four other occasions since the annals of history were recorded for the Sohma family."
Kyo stood up, "If they do kill her, what about me, I'm a cat too"
"Nothing really Kyo" Shigure said, "The spirit will just be added to yours, nothing will change,"
Kaede walked into the kitchen and Shigure welcomed her with a smile, "Good evening Kaede," Shigure paused, "Are you feeling better?"
Kaede nodded bitterly, "Is the cat really a fool?"
Shigure, Kyo and Tohru looked at Kaede puzzled, "A fool?"
Yuki nodded, "The cat truly is a fool"
Kyo jumped up, "What the heck you saying, that Kaede and I are nothing but fools?"
Yuki nodded, "I hate you because you're a cat, and even though Kaede is nice unlike you, I hate her too because she's a cat, that's just the way things are"
Kaede felt tears forming in her eyes and stormed into the kitchen and opened the drawer and pulled out a long steak knife and walked back in front of the others and held the knife above her heart, "If…" Kaede said in tears, "You hate me, and everyone in the Sohma family wants me dead so that they can live…. I'll." Kaede dropped the knife on the floor and it made a clangor noise. Kaede let herself sink to the floor on her knees and broke into tears. Tohru bent down beside her and let Kaede cry on her shoulder, "I don't want you to die…"
Shigure suddenly screamed, "Tohru, out of the way!"
Tohru felt herself get thrown back into the counters and felt herself blackout for a minute or two. When she awoke blood was all over her. Tohru looked in front of her to see Akito, hunched over Kaede, with a steak knife stuck in her chest. Akito put his foot on her and pulled it out and cleaned it with a nearby towel. Akito glared at her, "Good thing Shigure cared enough for you to push you out of the way, otherwise I wouldn't have hesitated to go through you to get to Kaede"
Tohru felt her body go light and let darkness over take her and let herself fall into darkness….