Kage: Hello hello hello! Ok, just as a warning, this is from Kurai's POV, k? K.
Disclaimers: I own nothing other than Kurai and the plot.
Chapter 9- Black and White Memory
An all to familiar sensation rushed at me in a fluid motion. My body tensed, froze, as I locked my gaze with someone else's. I could feel the memories rush into my brain, and I mentally shut my eyes, refusing to look at them and pry into another's life. These were their memories, not my own! I braced myself, knowing at least one of them would force me to watch them.
Too soon it appeared; it was of Shigure-san and Hatori-san in a room, looking at what seemed like a boy standing in the shadows of the black and white memory I was seeing. Black and white because this was how the memory was felt by the person it belonged to. This memory was behind a veil, a mixture of evil and good. In Hatori-san's arms was.... an animal?
Oh no, had someone bumped into me?! Every time I bumped into something or someone pushed me, I'd transform into a strange animal. Something that looked like a cross between a snake and a dragon. I didn't know what caused it, or how I transformed, though. Those memories had long been lost to me....
Shigure-san and Hatori-san were kneeling on the matted floor of a large, dark room. Not even the small, rounded window offered light because of the sprinkling rain outside. A young man stepped out of the shadows, his eyes covered by his bangs, and fear instantly struck my heart. I knew this man was dangerous, and it was proven to me as he suddenly grabbed a vase from his nearby table and flung it at Shigure-san. He narrowly avoiding it by throwing himself to one side, yelling the name "Akito!"
Why did that name sound so familiar?
At once the veil over the scene went from black and white to blood red as the vase crashed against the wooden wall, sending shards of clay everywhere. Hatori-san stood up and backed up against the opposite wall, looking surprised. The boy, Akito, grabbed a bowl one would use for washing hands, and threw it next, screaming, "NO!! NO!! I WILL NOT ALLOW THAT DISGUSTING THING IN MY HOUSE! THIS IS MY HOUSE!! I WON'T ALLOW IT IN HERE!!"
The flying bowl narrowly missed Shigure-san's leg, him yelling as well, "Akito! Akito stop! Control yourself!"
Hatori-san put down the animal that was once me and edged along the wall towards Akito, who payed no attention to him and picked up a small glass trinket, and flung this too, "JUST DUMP IT ON THE ROAD SOMEWHERE!!! LEAVE IT IN THE RAIN!! JUST LET IT DIE!! THAT DISGUSTING THING WON'T BE IN MY HOUSE!!!"
This time, Shigure-san failed to dodge the flying object, and it struck him in the face. He fell one knee, his hand flying up to the right side of his face as a small trickle of blood appeared through his fingers. Hatori-san grabbed Aktio, looping his arms around the boy's and yelled at Shigure-san to get out of the room.
Shigure-san stumbled up, wiping his arm across his face, revealing a small cut on his cheekbone, just below his eye. He grabbed the animal version of me, and excited the room quickly, while Akito still screamed and struggled in Hatori-san's arms.
The veil around the memory slowly shaded to a dull grey as Hatori-san quickly dug a small needle out of his doctor's coat, and pushed it into Aktio's arms. Within moments, Akito was slumped against Hatori-kun, and another man entered the room.
Suddenly I felt a sensation like being dragged against the flow of a waterfall and I was back in Shigure-san's house, with Hatori-san looking dazed in front of me. I knew little than a minute had passed, but I had seen the memory as if I had been standing right there. It was just the way it worked, unlike my brain which took a moment to kick into gear.
"I'm sooo sorry Hatori-san!" I exclaimed, my mind forcing itself out of the terrible memory, "Really I am! I didn't see anything personal I swear! I'm so extremely sorry!"
He blinked and shook his head a bit before turning to Shigure-san, "What you said earlier," he almost- whispered, "about Kurai-san being able to-"
I turned my head up in time to see Shigure-san nod, a small, reassuring smile playing on his lips. I felt and heard footsteps coming in the room, but couldn't see because the table was blocking my now-limited view.
"Is Kurai-kun awake?" I heard Tohru-kun ask.
Shigure-san nodded in response and I felt the ground rumble as she ran to the other side of the table, where I was, dropping something soft on the ground in the process.
"Oh, Kurai-kun! Are you alright?" she asked, concern welling in her teal eyes as she knelt in front of me.
I nodded slowly, noticing that Shigure-san hadn't mentioned anything about me reading Hatori-san's memories. I glanced over at him; he wearing an expressionless face, but I could easily tell he was uneasy through his eyes.
"Tohru-kun," Shigure-san spoke up, "Why don't you and Yuki-kun set up the beds while I explain what happened to Momiji-san, Haru-san, and Kurai-kun?"
Tohru-kun nodded in front of me as I wondered who both 'Momiji-san' and 'Haru-san' were. Shigure-san lightly reached down and picked me up, curling his fingers under my stomach, and setting me on the table. I glued my eyes to the table as Shigure-san explained to two boys about my 'condition.'
When he was done, I hesitantly looked up to see a boy with black and white hair studying his plate, and another, smaller blond boy looking at the ceiling with a smile gracing his feature's. The first was HastuHaru Sohma, and the other was Momiji Sohma. They were, surprisingly, in the same grade, a year younger than Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki. I looked back at Shigure-san once he introduced them to me.
"What happened?" I asked, but Shigure-san waved his finger in front of my face and gave me a small smile.
"First," he asked quietly, "what did you see from Haa-san?"
"I think I saw.... when you and Hatori-san took me to Akito...." I replied softly.
Shock made itself clear in his eye's though his face kept smiling, like a mask glued on.
"So," he asked, "you know what happened?"
I nodded sadly, "I'm sorry you were hurt because of me."
He smiled with his eyes this time, "You better stop apologizing or you'll end up like Ritsu-chan!" he said cheerfully.
"Who?" I asked in confusion.
"Never mind," he quickly stated, changing the subject, "There are more important matters at hand."
Yuki-kun and Tohru-kun came back into the room and sat around the table, but I barely noticed them as Shigure-san told me about the Sohma's and their curse.
Apparently, one of the thirteen ((including the cat)) angry Chinese zodiac spirits would possess a certain member of the Sohma family, cursing them. Their bodies were strained by the possession though, so every time they were hugged by a member of the opposite sex or weakened considerably, they would transform. Shigure-san was possessed by the Spirit of the Dog, Hatori-san was the Dragon, Yuki-kun was the Rat, HatsuHaru-kun was the cow, Momiji-kun was the Rabbit, and Kyo-kun was the Cat.
Shigure-san went on to tell me the story about my parents, which had been passed down from generation to generation, because it was such an act of courage. Pride and sorrow whelmed inside of me when I heard it; Pride at my parents for doing what they believed was right, but sorrow because they were dead, and I hadn't known it all these years...
"So I'm.... a Sohma?" I asked in confusion, once he was done talking. Tohru-kun had brought tea in while he was, since she had heard all this before, and I was drinking out of a sake bowl.
Shigure-san nodded and I felt overwhelmed all of the sudden. One moment I was homeless and lonely, and now I had tons of family and a huge home! But, wait....
"But..... I'm not allowed to stay here, am I?" Shigure-san shot me a confused look, "Akito, he's the head of the family right? And... he said I couldn't stay...." The overwhelmed feeling drifted away, and I now only felt sadness as my chance of being happy was ripped away.
But Shigure-san shook his head, "This is one time I will go against Akito's wishes. You are family, you have no home, no money.... You could die out there. I'll let you stay here, with Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, Tohru-san, and myself."
Kage: Sooo sorry I haven't update in awhile, but school has been such a damn HASSLE!!!! I'll type more over the week, and will probably get the next chapter up to you by the end of the week.
Now that Kurai is living with Shigure and the others, what's gonna be the room-situation? What? Kurai has to go to highschool? If I remember correctly, Akito makes an appearance there, n.n! ((Note: This is still going by the Furuba storyline, only now there's Kurai in it, n.n))
REVIEW IF YOU WANT ANOTHER CHAPTER! ((Heehee, I'm so evil!))