Once upon a time, there was a place where I was happy. Where I could be myself and live my dreams - where the world was not my keeper, and my dreams were my life. There was a time when I was so happy I couldn't of wanted anything more then what I had. Life was perfect, life was bright, and life was mine.
Then one day...everything was gone.
I lost everything in a instant - my happiness, my world, my dreams - they were taken in the blink of an eye. Suddenly I was alone, cold, and on the floor, bleeding from places that aren't meant to bleed. My heart fell apart and I couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
I had been betrayed.
Betrayed by the person I trusted the most...
Paradise was shattered like it was never there in the fist place, falling away in little shards -and I was lost.
I was dead.
Then, I became a type of revenge that eats your soul and haunts your every thought - a monster. All I wanted was to kill the one who betrayed me, to make him pay for what he did, to make them all pay. They deserved it for doing that to me, for casting me out where I belonged. I hated them all, and that hate fueled me and changed me into a violent mass of muscle and hatred with the only thought of killing my best friend - my betrayer…
And only after the fire burned away and I remain standing did I realize the curse. Forever after will blood stain my hands –the blood of those who once trusted me and once laughed and played and stayed by my side. I am a murderer, a cold blooded killer - I am the ugliest thing that there ever was.. I am now the shape of hatred, of uncontrolled yet pinpointed rage, of pure and utter revenge, of hurt.
I realized all this as he stepped out of the flames in front of me, eyes dead cold and face set in a thin line. I said his name in a voice that wasn't anything distinctly human. It was my voice, but full of the screeching agony that I had felt and was feeling. It was horrible, and it made my broken heart shutter with disgust.
He said my name in the equally and always cold voice, flat and dead. I realized that moment that I was no longer the person I had been, and that we had both lost sight of that trust -that friendship- we once had. Then slowly from his belt he pulled his training sword - a double edged piece of diamond cut steel with a center grove- and in that moment I knew I was going to die.
That day, the bracelet of the Jyuunishi Cat was made by Sohma Yukari, the Rat, out of the bones of all my family members - including his.
And now - more then a thousand and something or other years before - I can remember the look on his face as his own blade slid through his body. I can still hear his voice in my head as he spoke an ancient incantation to create that bracelet, and I remember him smiling at me and saying 'I'm sorry...'
It's my faulty they are all cursed - and I truly believe that I have the heaviest pain, the hardest part of it all. I'm the one who started it, I'm the disgrace to the entire Sohma line - to the right of anyone's life. I'm a killer who will live forever with the memories of all my descendants who blame themselves for the curse when it really...my fault.
This is my purgatory. Eternity without self forgiveness. The blame for hundreds of people suffering through the ages. A killer of everything I ever really had. I'm destined to live forever and watch pain, hatred, and anguish...
And it's all my fault...
God, I'm sorry and I know I deserve this but...just please... let me free...
Strange Happening's
By SAL-Chan
Part Twelve: Dinner With The Sohma's
"Even though he was temporary, the memories are forever..."
Tohru
-tomato sauce, and rice! That's it, that's everything!
I smiled and placed the bag of shrimp in my basket and checked over my quickly written list. I had gone through all the things I needed for dinner with 13 people - most of which were male- and had written down what I didn't have in stock. I was going to try mankind a dish I found in one of my translated cook books - a dish that Americans seemed to like a lot: spaghetti with meat sauce. Shigure would have to use the forks he got as a present for it, because I don't think chopsticks will do very well.
I turned down another isle and found myself looking at chocolates that lined the walls. With a quick smile I snatched one of the bars off the wall and placed it in the basket, knowing fully well that chocolate was not on my list - but I wanted to feel a little greedy today. It's just a chocolate bar anyway, but I thought a second more and snatched a few more bars of different flavors for the others.
Smiling, I walked to the checkout counter and paid for everything, counting and laying out the money. As the girl behind the counter typed in my payment in the cash register I felt a chill creep up my spine and goose bumps fly down my arms. I blinked and drew in a cold breath, realizing what that feeling was and turned around to follow where the brush of cold had come from. Immediately I expected to see Kyo standing behind me or sitting on a checkout desk or something - yet when I turned around...he wasn't there.
Another cold feeling brushed against me and settled in the pit of my heart, and a dark feeling covered my entire being. All in all it was a bad feeling that covered me and it shook me to my very soul. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck slowly rise, and a shiver passed through me.
Someone was watching me...
"Miss?" I jumped and spun around, and a gasp was pulled from me as the cold feeling that had wrapped around me was yanked from the room. I blinked at the casher who had one of the most bewildered faces I had ever seen. She held out my change and raised an eyebrow at me, smiling slightly in a uneasy way.
I smiled at her slightly, another chill passing through me as I carefully took the change from her and nodded, walking toward the door at the same time. The hairs on the back of my neck still stood up straight as I stepped outside, and another cold feeling wrapped around me so quickly that it made me jump. I spun around and looked toward the sky, where the brush had come from and found nothing again, and that dark feeling was waving and filtering through me once more.
My heart been frantically in my chest as my eyes searched the sky. I knew something was there, that someone was watching me. And whom ever it was, they were not friendly. Then instantly the dark cold let go of me and flew away quicker then I thought possible as another type of cold - one that reminded me of grapes - seemed to hurry after it, then settle in me. I turned as if on instinct as that type of cold rushed through me - somehow knowing who it was.
Kyo instantly fell into my view, dropping from the ground in a glitter of his tear energy and a wisp of bright orange hair. Upon hitting the ground he looked up to me immediately, panting slightly still down on one knee. A second after he spotted me he stood up quickly and cast his eyes to the sky - in the same direction I had before. I spun around and looked as well, only to find the glittering of the sunlight and the smoky clouds in the sky.
"You alright?" Kyo asked breathlessly hollow, gliding next to me - eyes still glued in the same spot. I nodded slightly and made a soft noise of an affirmative. I took a moment to breath, my heart and mind racing. Is it possible that Kyo felt the same thing I did? Did he came to see if I was alright? And beyond anything, was there actually something watching me? Could there be another ghos-
"Lets go, Tohru." Kyo bit out, and I felt the energy connection link between us. I nodded and wet my suddenly dry mouth, taking a few steps backwards, then turning down another street - eyes still glued to that some spot that I had felt the black cold from. That feeling made me cold through and through, and I couldn't shake that feeling at all. I was scared....
"Kyo..." I mumbled with out a thought. "...was anything there?"
I felt a shudder go through our connection and I finally broke my gaze from the sky and looked at him - a mechanical roar echoing through the air. He was 'walking' with his head down, hands in his ripped pockets and biting on his lip just slightly. Ever so slowly I watched him become whole again, tired looking eyes glancing up at me for a moment, then back to the ground.
"Was anything..." He looked up toward the horizon quickly, face set in a grim line. He pushed off the ground a little and forced himself in front of me, making me stop in my tracks by the sheer force of his steady and strong gaze. I shuffled the bags in my hands and found myself stuck in his gaze - which for the first time was sturdy, blunt, and straight forward.
"Listen to me Tohru, and just do what I say. Forget whatever the hell you just saw - whatever you felt." His tone was dead and flat, and his eyes healed no shine. Seriousness etched itself in his face and distantly I remembered the only other time he looked at me like that - that night I first saw him at the hospital. Dead seriousness and demand, no questions asked.
My heart beat thundered in my chest and I nodded, trusting him for whatever reasons he had. I knew that whatever I had just experienced was something I shouldn't know about, and I listened to him despite the fact that I felt whatever had happened was extremely important. My heart stung and the world felt still.
A softer roar of a mechanical monster ripped through my still world and a cold that had encased me without my knowledge evaporated, and the world began again. I blinked as the roar became a distant moan and then a quiet hum beside me, my eyes still glued to Kyo. His eyes were a deeper color then I have ever seen, and the memory of the only other time his eyes had that color rang through out my head. Boiling hot anger and frustration made his eyes shades lighter, and hatred made them the color of blood. Dark, flowing crimson...
And for the first time in my life I was actually scared of him and what he could do. And I hated myself for it.
Someone's arms wrapping around my waist finally broke my gaze from his, and I almost stumbled over myself when I tried to turn and see whoever was attached to my back. As I turned I caught sight of a blob of black and white, and I realized as my eyes focused that the only person who would stop for me and owned that much black and white would be Hatsuharu.
The Cow sat on his quietly humming bike - helmet visor up so he could see. His eyes were crinkled at the sides with a smile I knew he had on, dress shirt wrinkled by the wind and -knowing Haru- from sitting on the floor of his room as well.
"Ne-Chan..." The name was nuzzled into my back, and instantly I knew Kisa's hands were wrapped around my middle. Her hug tightened for a moment, then let me go altogether, and she slid in front of me with the grace of a tiger. Her eyes were wide and happy, a smile gracing her growing face. I was surprised to say the least.
"What...what are you two doing here?" I asked, shuffling the bags in my hands again and smiling at Haru then Kisa.
"We're on the way to Gure-san's house. Haru wanted to be a little early, so...here we are." She smiled and the Cow on the bike took off his own helmet, running a hand through the top part of his hair. His face was neutral, but his skin was still slightly pale with a unknown lingering illness. I watched his eyes flicker from behind me - where I expected Kyo to still be- then back to my face.
"Why are you still out here Ne-Chan? It's almost five o'clock." Kisa dropped her head to look at a watch she had pulled from a pocket inside her pants. It was then that I noticed Haru's influence on the younger Sohma's clothes; black velvet thigh high dress with pants underneath - black boots included. It reminded me of him...
"I needed to finish shopping for us tonight. Shigure just told us this morning about you coming over..." Kisa giggled when I said that, and Haru shook his head with a small smile on his face.
"That's Shigure for you..." The Cow mumbled, and slowly the smile fell off his face. He wasn't looking at me anymore, but past me - eyes slowly turning serious. I looked over my shoulder quickly and caught sight of Kyo, arms crossed and eyes still blood red - face plain and pale with death. For the first time, he truly looked like a ghost.
"Tohru." Haru said suddenly, and I turned back to him in time to see Kisa walking back toward the bike with one of my shopping bags in her hands - I hadn't even realize that she had taken one. Haru's arms were outstretched toward me, with his black and white riding helmet held out, face blank. "Need a ride home?"
I stood there for a second, wondering whether I should decline or take the ride. Though the question he asked me wasn't even a question at all - not really- and Kisa's was already seated behind Haru with the bag in her hands, helmet on and visor up so she could look at me - I didn't really have a choice. I guess the decision was already made for me...but I didn't want to leave Ky-
"Go with them, and don't worry 'bout me." The Cat slid past me through the air and stopped next to the bike, near Haru's outstretched hand. His face was still grave and his eyes still that color red, but his voice was the same as it always was - not like a moment before. I wondered for a brief moment if he could read my mind - truly wondered if he was able to. So...I tried it out...
What will you do? I thought, shuffling my bags around again while staring at him.
"There's something I need to take care of before I go home. Don't worry..." he said, grinning slightly as I felt my eyes go wide. "And no, I can't read your mind..."
Haru laughed. A short laugh that made his eyes glitter - a laugh he desperately needed. I smiled at him and Kyo grinned, but there was something that snagged at the corner of it all. Something darker...
"Come on, it's getting late." Haru said, laughter subsiding. Kisa was staring at his back with a blank look on the part of her face that I could see - staring at him like he was crazy. It wasn't new for the both of us now that Kyo was here, but it was still unsettling that the majority of the family though we were insane.
Tentatively I reached out and took the extended helmet, then slowly looked up at Haru, question in my eyes.
"Don't worry, I've ridden without it before." He said calmly as Kisa patted the set behind her, a smile lighting her eyes. So I guess all the Sohma's had the ability to read my mind...
Kisa took the bag from me as I fumbled with the helmet, finally getting it on and locking it under my chin. I clumsily got on behind Kisa - suddenly very happy that I had had the sense to put pants on today- and took the bag back, placing it in my lap.
"Just put your arms around me and you'll be fine, don't worry." Kisa said to me, unable to see me through the sides of the helmet. She lightly looped her arms around Haru's middle, the package of groceries sitting in her lap, protected by her arms. I copied her position as well as I could. It wasn't like I was that scared of the bike...
"Go slow." Kyo's voice was almost a growl, and I suddenly noticed the ring of dark violet that circled his pupil and stretched into the rest of his iris like small veins. My soul froze, my breathing stopped, and I could suddenly taste my heart beat in my mouth.
"I will." Haru mumbled back and Kisa's hand came out of nowhere and closed my visor, the harnessed monster underneath us roaring to life again. Something underneath us clicked and I felt Kisa lift her legs up, and I followed her actions. But my eyes never left Kyo's face until we pulled forward and past him.
My heart hummed with some unnamable emotion that was a step closer to fear then I would have liked. Something very bad was happening - something I could get involved with, but shouldn't for my own safety - but I had felt it in the air.
It was then that I realized that I was suddenly afraid of Kyo. Afraid of what he could do, afraid of what he would do, afraid of him...
This was not good...
Unknown
"How much longer do we need to wait?! Damn, you have no idea how boring this is getting! How do you have so much patience for this?!?!" I turned to him with a sweep of my wings, and suddenly I was stuck looking into two perfect orbs of midnight blue. His gray hair made no indent in his gaze as the wind played with it, and I felt the weight that his eyes held on me. And despite myself and my better judgment, I gave him a nasty look back.
"What?" I asked, pushing a peace of my golden brown hair behind my ear. He just sighed and looked back down, pale lips pulled down in a frown. Hot dog, he was cute...excuse the pun.
"We still have to let him try." Another winged man dropped in next to me, copper colored hair fluttering down his back to hover around his knees. His flushed red cheeks was the only color on his almost white face, his eyes the color of liquid paper with the pupils slit. His long arms were crossed over his thin chest, legs crossed at the ankles below him. He was covered in a white tank top with gold around the edges, his pants pooling around his feet. I crossed my eyes and huffed at him too.
"The both of you suck." I mention lightly, brushing back my shoulder length hair again. "And you , Atsuo, have no excuse to suck. You want to do this as badly as I do."
Atsuo laughed, his grin showing his perfectly white teeth - two long fangs included. In a swoop of a thin bony hand, he pushed some random strands of his copper hair behind him and smiled past me.
"It is redemption, dear. We're required to let him try...it's our fault after all." His voice was smooth, crawling under my skin. I shook it off and turned back to my original companion. "And what's your excuse, Hitoko? You think he deserves a second chance?"
"I never said he deserved a second chance..." Atsuo added, sweeping in front of us so we created a triangle. "I'm just saying the he deserves to try...he'll probably fail like all the others..."
"Same difference anyway." I bit back, and Atsuo frowned. Hitoko's eyes were still pointed down at Earth, still that same troubled blue color.
"You're a lot different when you're not old, you know that?" The comment made me glare at the white eyed man. I snorted at him and flipped him off.
"Well you're a lot different dead too." I added with a grin, and he flipped me off as well. Gotta love family bonding.
"It's going to happen anyway..." For the first time since he came back up Hitoko's tenor came from his pale lips, eyes wavering to the two of us. The older man sighed and crossed his arms, natural gray hair whipping in front of his face again.
"Then why the hell are we bothering?!" I bit back, anger creeping up my spine. A sturdy hand captured my shoulder and made me look into Atsuo's eyes again, only to notice the same question floating around his mind as well.
"If it's going to happen, why do we need the warnings?" Atsuo added in a
more normal voice then I was able to, eyes suddenly glued on the other man's
face. Quiet creped into our triangle, the wind pushing my hair out from behind
my ears again. Slowly Hitoko turned his eyes toward us, and I
instantly regretted yelling at him. Sadness and loyalty were buried into the
very depth of that midnight blue, a shiny cover protecting the night sky
from escaping his eyes.
"It's not that...nothing like that at all. Death is going to come for him if nothing changes anyway..." I didn't understand him at all. He said that it won't work, but it will...there was something I didn't know that he did.
"What are you not telling us?" I asked as Atsuo's hand dropped from my shoulder, his face falling as well. I watched things connect behind his white eyes and he turned to me quickly, startled.
"Books..." One word and I understood. I remembered what I told the reborn Dog before I died - the double cursed years- and everything came back. I felt my mouth hang open in a full and utter astonishment, eyes glancing over and wide.
"Certainly he not going to..." I started, but Hitoko shook his head and looked down again. Strong and skinny arms enveloped me from behind as Atsuo's spicy sent filtered through my nose, and I clasped both hands over my mouth.
"Who was the first to die in the last circle?" Atsuo's tenor was rough and low, almost at a hiss. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me, Hitoko, or himself.
"Yukari." Hitoko said quickly, his voice almost a growl. A string of curse words fell from my mouth, and I pushed away from Atsuo and was in front of Hitoko in a flash, his deep blue robed crumpled into my fists. I was inches away from his face, my black eyes on fire, anger and fear griping at my heart.
"Then I'm next?! So you're saying that no matter what, mine will die next anyway?! That...that thing will kill him?!" I was shrieking in his face, tears dripping from my eyes. The night blue color never faded from my sight, and he never blinked or spoke as I nestled my head into the crook of his neck and let myself cry.
"Shigure's going to open the book and find out, Simai. In fact, he probably already knows - or is in the process of figuring out. There should be another 40 years tacked onto your host's life, so this second chance won't matter anyway. We're going to have to kill him...again..." Hitoko's hand came up to cup the back of my head, and his other arm looped around my waist. This was comfort for any soul...
"That, or we convince him to come back..." Atsuo was still calm and reasonable, so a point for him on that. I laughed into Hitoko's shoulder.
"He won't come back...you know it, I know it. Hell, everyone knows it..." I sighed and got myself comfortable on the gray haired man's shoulder, my body shaking. "We won't be able to kill him anyway..."
"Yukari will..." Hitoko said it so suddenly that it surprised me. I pulled back from him, surprised etched on my face. Midnight blue was calm and quiet, the definition of serious. I shook my head.
"Yukari won't kill him again and you know it..." I said, shock echoing in my voice. Hitoko shook his head at me, pain etching itself in his face.
"If Kyosetsu starts killing again, in what ever way he would - even if he didn't mean to, Yukari will kill him. And if Kyosetsu stays in or is even with his descendant on earth and that happens, Yukari wont have a choice - he'll kill them both. They're not going to die the same way we did, Simai. Hisoka won't let it happen again if he can help it -and he can, with Yukari. So even if Kyo survives..." He stopped and let me go, unable to look at me anymore then I could look at him.
"...Shigure will still know," Atsuo continued, face slowly become grave. "-then Akito will know, and it will start all over again. Friendship, betrayal, death and destruction, redemption. Only this time the players will change..."
"What will happen to us?" I mumbled, suddenly afraid and determined. My soul would cease to exist before I let Setsu do this again...I would kill him before that happened...
I just might have to...
Tohru
"How did you manage to make all of this food in such a short amount of time?" Shigure's voice was full of awe as he picked up a shrimp from the plate and ate it, a slow and lazy smile coming to his face.. I smiled and mixed the slowly heating red sauce again, hitting the wooden spoon on the side of the pot and covering it to heat more. Not ready yet...
"This is orgasmic..." The Dog sighed and licked his fingers, and immediately after he said that random object flew at him from different rooms and different directions.
"Don't be perverted tonight Shigure...." Hatori's calm voice was ended with a loud smack to the back of Shigure's head, his face calm and neutral. The Dog dropped down out of the line of fire with a whimper and sat on his haunches, rubbing the back of his head among other achy parts of his body that had been hit by flying books and cans.
"Table's set Tohru!!" The small blond skidded into the kitchen, slamming into a brick wall that was Hatsuharu. The Cow didn't move or flinch at his post at the counter and continued making salad, but Momiji fell backwards and landed with a small thud on his rear end. Laughter echoed through the kitchen - most of with was from the small Rabbit sitting on the floor - and I smiled.
"Tohru!" I spun around quickly to face the surprised voice, only to find Ayame - covered in a apron that had cow spots on it - fighting with the bubbling water of the spaghetti and losing. The water flew out of the pot within small bubbles and fell onto the burner, hissing at the white haired Sohma. He hissed back at it and I moved quickly to shut off the heat, affectively ceasing the hiss. He smiled down at me, gold eyes flickering.
"You truly are a savior-"
"-Shut up. Before you even start, shut up." Yuki's quiet voice filtered across the room from where he was working on shutting Shigure's silver utensil box. Ayame smiled and pushed stray pieces of hair behind his ears. Before he could come back with anything Hatori shot him a glare, and the Snake shut up immediately.
"Where's Kisa?" Haru asked the room as he helped the Bunny to his feet. Momiji dusted himself off and smiled up at the Cow.
"She outside with Hiro and Ritsu." He said, eyes glittering like they once did before. The phone rang amidst all that chaos in the kitchen, and I watched Shigure slid out and answer it. I turned my back on the conversations going on in the little kitchen and opened a cabinet, pulling out a bowl for the pasta and one for the sauce. The cabinet closed by itself and surprised me, but I caught a glimpse of a pale hand on the corner of the door, and I smiled up at him. Yuki smiled back, having no idea why my heart was beating as quickly as I could think.
I was scared that it had been Kyo. Gods....
Two seconds later, I handed a bowl of red sauce to Shigure - who slid back into the room after telling us Rin couldn't make it- a large bowl of pasta to Ayame, a plate of Italian bread sticks to Haru. Momiji got the variety of carbonated beverages, Yuki took the plate of shrimp and sauce, and I took the large bowl of salad. The parade of food marched into the dining room - which was expanded to fit another table from Shigure's office so there was enough room for all of us to sit. Well, enough room for the 10 of us that were going to eat.
Kisa fumbled into the room with a laugh, followed by Hiro who had a nasty grin on his face. The two of them shot past all of us and skid into the kitchen, and a moment later, a very tired and out of breath Ritsu stepped into the doorway.
"I'm sorry... I couldn't keep...up with them..." He said, panting in between words. Hatori said something to him and I stepped into the kitchen and called after them. A moment later Kisa slid into the room, Hiro right behind her - both had innocent smiles on their faces, and both panting slightly. I laughed and ushered them into the dining room where everyone was picking out seats. I made it halfway to the other door in the kitchen that connected to the hallway when Hiro stepped back in, a grave look on his face.
"Don't bother calling Kagura. You can't do anything for her..." The words were there, but the spirit that Hiro normally had was not. I stared at him and watched covered emotions clash behind his dark burgundy eyes, and sighed. Maybe he was right...
"Tohru! Come! We're ready to eat!!" Shigure's voice flooded into the kitchen from the doorway, and Hiro turned without a word and entered the room. I listened to the sounds of the Sohma family filter through the doorway and I smiled, truly happy.
The only regret I had when I entered the dining room was that Kyo couldn't share this with us...
Kyo
I cursed and pulled the rest of the memory energy off of the grocery store and concentrated on centering it inside myself, making my form whole again. There was enough to get me home only if-
"You thinking of going anywhere, boy?" The man said, his booming voice coming out through gurgles of blood as he grabbed my arm - again. The man in front of me was tall - like 6"6'- with broad shoulders and half a face. The entire right side of his body looked as if it hade been eaten by a lawn mower, or as if he had been dragged by a car...
"You can't leave yet." The girl with the long black hair and half her spine poking out of her neck said, circling around my back and purring as she spoke. One of her legs was disfigured at the knee, and both of her arms were out of their sockets. Blood continually dripped for the back of her neck and from her nose - which looked to be broken- and hit the ground with sickening splats, evaporating instantly afterwards. She smiled and she looked like she was missing almost all of her teeth. My bet was she got hit by a bus or something...
I was dealing with some major next level nightmare shit.
If I could I would vomit, but since I hadn't eaten anything in about two years that was kinda impossible - it probably would have made me feel a hell of a lot better though. Just another run in with the city's dead and angry ghosts. Who knew people could be so brutally killed in front of a grocery store?...
"He doesn't look very dead..." The girl said, crossing her arms over the front of her bloody school outfit. The man nodded, and I couldn't help but stare at the small part of his brain that was showing. Oh yeah, I could feel the nightmares creeping up on me now...
"He's dead though." He said, blood falling from his mouth in clumps. Good God, I needed to get the hell out of there.
I pulled my arm as hard as I could backwards, and I heard a satisfactory click as his thumb broke - or broke again, whichever way you look at it. I pushed strength into my legs and picked the sturdiest leg to stay on the ground as I spun the other one around and hit the guy on the good side of his head. He flew off into traffic, and a instant later School Girl was on top of me, a wicked grin on her face.
"You still have some fight in you now, don't cha?!" she shrieked at me, and I hit her as hard as I could with my right arm. She fumbled sloppy off of me with another sickening scream, and I was off and running a instant after that. If I could just concentrate on home I could-
Something - pure and cold- slammed into my back and made my outline shutter. I actually hit the ground and slid, my face and arm grinding against the pavement. I felt the stitches tear on my cheek and I tasted blood in my mouth - a sickly copper taste, but a taste nevertheless. That same power slid around me and strapped me to the ground.
"Ya gotta be kidding me..." I mumbled to myself, pulling up at the store's memory energy to make myself whole again. I only had enough to do that maybe one or two more times, or get home. I closed my eyes quickly and pictured my room and willed myself there...
A hand laced through my slightly long hair and yanked my face up, my eyes opening instantly. School Girl sat on top of me, a grin on her face as she trailed a bloody finger down my ripped cheek. I felt her hand on my cheek...
"Oh Orange, you're hurt..." She said, pouting her lips. I spit at her and struggled to move my arms but found I couldn't, so I tried to concentrate on the field at home, Shigure's office, my room...
A finger found it's way into my cheek and I screamed. When the blinding whiteness went away, I found School Girl's face puzzled, her hand covered in blood - most likely my blood...
"You're bleeding," she murmured, black eyes wide in amazement. I watched her dip her hand down to the concrete sidewalk near my cheek and pull more blood away. I felt something leaking out of a part of my cheek, and I believed her - I was actually bleeding. She gripped my shirt with the non-bloody fist, eyes still on the tear in my cheek.
"How are you bleeding?" she asked, and I felt the power around me push me to the ground harder - squeezing out the air I had in my lungs and crushing my chest. I know I said I wanted to feel, but this is fuckin' ridiculous!
"Convert the energy into yours." A voice said from behind me, and instantly I felt that bubble of anger attack me. School Girl's head shot up as fast as mine went backwards, and low and behold there he was - grinning in all his unearthly glory. I felt myself growl at him without a thought, without meaning to.
"Shit, you could help me ya know!" I shouted at him, but he simply brushed an almost-the-same-color-as-mine orange strand of hair out of his eyes and crossed his arms, staring down at me - eyes black and void.
"I am helping..." he said lightly, and I felt School Girl shift on top of me. Something wet slid across the cut on my cheek and I froze, my stomach dropping out and my heart stopping. I watched one of his orange eyebrows raise as I stopped my breathing as well and just let myself be dead, because if I was dead I wouldn't feel it. At least I hoped I wouldn't feel it...
"You taste good..." She purred on top of me, and I felt my eyes widen. No she did not just lick me...if there is a God, this couldn't be happening.
Slowly I turned to face her, still keeping my heart and breathing at a stand still - I didn't need either, but they were a small comfort. My eyes glue themselves to her mouth - or more accurately to the blood that was smeared all over her mouth, a smile on her lips.
Oh, that's right, I had forgotten. God doesn't like me...
"HoleymotherofGodKyosetsuifyouvalueyourfuckingsoulatallyouwillgetherthehelloffofmeRIGHTNOW!!!!" I said it in one breath as I let my heart beat start up again, letting it beat so fast I through it might explode. School girl smiled at me, giggling with a crazed edge to it. He black eyes were whole and alive, but no body was home....
"Concentrate and calm down. Makes yourself whole again, then close your eyes and look at the binds. Use your energy and pull the binds into you, then convert the energy into your own." Kyosetsu said in a clearly calm voice, and on the edge of my vision I saw his hand extend forward - palm out - toward School girl and I felt her freeze on top of me - her body going ridged, unmoving.
"Now do it." His voice was distant in my ears, the world slowly becoming gray. I was loosing touch- shit, not good!
I closed my eyes quickly and grabbed a decent amount of energy and pulled it to the surface, letting it wash over me. With my eyes closed I could see the Tear-ing and memory energy that I had in myself, the swirling colors coming together to create a grape-lavender energy that I recognized as my own. The color flowed around me, wrapping my thoughts in a blanket of warmth, extending outward in a lazy and completely comfortable-
"Concentrate." Kyosetsu's voice was sharp and exactly what I needed to get back on track. I grasped onto that energy and stuffed it back inside me - though it was reluctant, it listened and wrapped itself inside of myself. It seeped into my skin, and slowly the outline of the School girl came into view. It was deep black - a midnight color, and when I brushed my energy against the blackness it didn't move. I stretched the energy out more and brushed across another midnight black energy – probably that Half-face that I had knocked across the street before. That energy was moving back towards us, angry and flaring.
Reaching out in the other direction I brushed across a darker violet energy, almost black but not. The moment I touched it, it lashed out and raced around me - locking me in a suffocating embrace.
"Don't play with me Kyo. I'll kill you..." was all he said, and the darker violet let go of me and I pulled my energy back to me. Note to self: Don't play with shit you don't understand yet. This - he- would be one of them...
I could see the things that held me to the ground now, the same black energy that School Girl gave off. I slowly laced my grape color power around it - parts of my power molding together to look like a pair of hands and pulled, but it didn't move.
"I can't get it-"
"Pull harder," he said simply, and I felt anger bubble in the back of my mind. I grabbed at the black rope again and pulled, yet this time I yanked it off. It squirmed in my grasp, fighting as hard as it could to get back to it's creator.
"Damnit, how do I change it?!" Frustration made me bark at him, and I felt my grape energy thread through her black rope and pull on it, and slowly the black became the same color as my grape energy. I pulled the energy into me, and suddenly I felt too full - like there was to much in me. I was full, even without attaching myself to anyone. It was so strange to feel so much after feeling so little before, but I soaked it in and let it course through me.
I held onto that as reality smacked my in the back of the head, literally.
A hand had laced through my hair and smacked it against the concrete. Stars fluttered behind my eyes as reality came into view again, once again I found myself face to face with School Girl.
"Now force it out at her." It was a simple command - but a command nevertheless. I growled - ignoring the pain I felt for a moment- and pushed the power through my arm and let it coil in my fist. One quick swing and she was over the wall and in the grocery store again. I sat up a bit gingerly and my head swam.
"Note," his voice was mocking as he sat next to me, a grin on his face. "that when you are attacked by other supernatural forces, they can and will hurt you. Note as well; If you get hurt by another force, you actually get damaged. Thus you need to heal again, thus you need to use more Tear-ing energy."
"You're a pain in the ass-" I winched and lightly touched the back of my head. It came away sticky and coated in red. "...shhiiiiit! No kidding! Man, my head hurts..."
"I would think so." He sat, running an hand through his hair. He chuckled, a his grin crinkling the edges of his black eyes. "She just tried to crack the sidewalk with your head after all."
Someone shouted over everything, but no one moved - except us dead people, like always. Half-face hobbled through a wall on the other side of the road and continued to walk across the street, walking through every car in his path. Kyosetsu's face scrunched up and he sighed, standing up and brushing his pants off. A normal pair of straight legged jeans covered his legs and a red shirt hung on his thin frame like it would on a scarecrow. A black jacket covered his arms and once he brushed himself off, he put both hands in their respective pockets.
I stood shakily next to him, my breathing tight. It still felt like there was too much in my chest, but not so much since I punched the school girl. No regrets about it though, even though she is - well, was a girl. She tried to see if she could meld my head to the concrete, so she deserved the punch.
Half-face stumbled to the side walk a few feet from us, huffing and puffing. His eyes dragged over Setsu, then back over me and slowly a smile came onto his face.
"Mimi roughed you up a bit, didn't she, Orange...well, Orange One." The grin was almost as bad as Shigure's. God, did I want to see how far my fist would fit into his head-
"Well, it's not as bas as what I'm going to do with you." Kyosetsu's voice was low, his eyes closed and a smile on his face. We both gave him a odd look, but his smile just grew.
"Yea right, shrimp! What can you do?" He laughed - which was probably a bad idea. I felt his energy boil around me and I took a step back, wobbling slightly. I guess I could have a concussion, but I don't know if that's possible when you're dead. I've never had one before - neither Haru or the Rat have tried to pound my skull into the ground, and the only other time I had hit my head this hard was in the accident. Sure Haru did get a hold of a bat that one time, but that was my fault to begin with. My arm slipped back into place after he hit it as well, so no major harm was done. I died in the accident, so I really don't remember if I had enough blood loss or brain damage or whatever to have a concussion.
Kyosetsu smirked, and instantly I knew that I did not want to get on his bad side.
"Wait and see." His eyes slid open, the black that had once been there now a deep dark violet. In a graceful movement he set his legs shoulder with apart and dropped his hands to his sides. Wind picked up around him and flung his hair and his clothes as far up as they could go, and I think it was then that Half-face found himself outclassed. The smirk turned into a full fledged grin, and as slowly as he lifted his hand toward Half-face.
The man let out a scream and simply evaporated into thin air, tossed away by the wind. Any trace of his energy was gone, like he was never even there in the first place. Not too flashy or visual, but very effective. I didn't want to ask where he went - I didn't want to know.
I definitely didn't want to get on his bad side.
"Go home Kyo." His voice was grave and rough, and he didn't turn around. Slowly he put both hands back into his pockets, and I saw him take a deep breath. "Someone's waiting for you..."
I felt my heart beat in my mouth and I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see it. Frankly I wanted to be anywhere but here at the moment and thought of home - my room - and pushed myself there. But frankly, I didn't want to be home either...
I knew what was waiting for me...
...and that was something I was more scared to face then an angry vengeful spirit of the Cat.
Tohru
"Ah...that was good." The statement was followed by the ritualistic euphoric smile, and as soon as it was said, Shigure leaned back and patted his stomach. The glare that Yuki normally sent Shigure was in sync with Hatori there, and immediately following the sudden quiet, Ayame burst out laughing.
"I don't understand. What's so funny?" Kisa asked, looping her arm through mine again. She had separated from me to eat, but she had quietly demanded to sit next to me during dinner - settling on my left. Across from her Haru and Momiji grinned, and next to Kisa, Hiro sighed. I sat on the end of the right side of the table, Shigure sitting at the head. Yuki took up his normal spot on the left side of the table across from me, dressed in a blue long sleeved shirt - I had warned him about the red meat sauce on white- and a pair of jeans. Next to Yuki sat Haru, whose white shirt made it all the way through dinner and remained white. Momiji - in a short sleeved yellow shirt and tan pants a few sizes too big for him- sat next to Haru, and unfortunately his shirt didn't make it through as well as Haru's did.
Across from Momiji was Hiro, who was dressed in a red long sleeved shirt with a high collar and a black pair of jeans, a bored look on his face. A small spot of red sauce sat on his chest, but he played no attention to it whatsoever. Ayame - who sat next to Hiro - looked perfectly flawless in actual clothes. A light violet turtleneck covered all of his upper body and then some, and thick black pants contrasted his striking hair - which was tied back from the pasta that seemed to have it out for him since the beginning. Across from Ayame was Hatori who was still dressed in his work clothes - a pressed white dress shirt and black slacks. His tie was loosened and hung onto his neck without care, the tie black with the words 'Happy New Year' written in the center along with different colors of confetti. When Shigure asked him about it, he just said that he dressed up for work this year. Ritsu sat next to Hatori in a soft pink shirt and dark blue pants that were a few sizes too big for him and his thin frame, his hair pulled back into a low pony tail. I guessed that they were Ayame's clothes just because I suspected Ritsu had fallen and torn his own. When they came in today the Monkey just kept asking the Snake for forgiveness until he was dragged away by Kisa.
Dinner had gone smoothly, the only catastrophe had been Ayame's elbow catching his glass and knocking it into the empty set next to him.
There were two seats open at the table, the one next to Ayame and the other seat at the end of the table. Normally the three of us left one seat open - the one across from Shigure- for Kyo, and as Shigure predicted they would, the rest of the family (Who hadn't Tear-ed) kept swinging glances at the end of the table. The other seat...well, we just left it open in hopes that Kagura would join us somehow...
I didn't talk much during dinner. I was happier just listening to the rest of them talk to each other and enjoy themselves- and that's what made me happy. We forgot our troubles and became a normal family - myself included- and spent a lovely dinner talking about nothing important but everything important at the same time.
That's something I noticed from the family, now that I know about Kyo and all. Everyone else takes each other in stride; there are no ill feelings and no hatred in anyone's eyes. Yuki actually tolerates Ayame, Ritsu's constant apologies have diminished to about one apology every twenty minuets, Hatori's letting himself smile more often, Momiji actually listens and takes in everything someone says, Hiro's rants have cut back to snappy comments, and Kisa speaks out more and enjoys life.
Shigure and Haru are the only two among us that seem to have held onto who they are – Shigure's always joking and Haru always white (unless provoked by a outside force). And strangely, I like the comfort that it brings. It lets me know that some things will never change, no matter what happens or - in our case - who dies.
And in the midst of all the conversations that I half listen to, I managed to turn just in time to catch Yuki's eye. I smiled lightly, happy to actually see him speaking out and talking to the others. And to my surprise, he smiled back, a full smile that makes his eyes light up and his face glow. A smile that made my heart beat race in my chest and a warm feeling rush into my cheeks.
And I loved it...
But as soon as our eye contact was made, it was broken as Yuki looked up suddenly. I watched his eyes widen, dark and dreary thoughts echoing around his head. An instant later, I saw Haru's head swivel around and look in the same direction Yuki was looking, dark gray-black eyes suddenly echoing in silence of stopped thoughts. Shigure's dark head swiveled in that direction as well, but nothing moved behind his chocolate eyes - only the edges of a smile pulled at his lips. I turned to -my curiosity piqued - and I suspected my face went through the rapid changes that everyone else went through as well.
In the light of the kitchen, Sohma Kagura looked much older than I would have ever guessed she could. Her hair was neatly brushed down around her shoulders - and I distinctly remember her hair being pulled up and disheveled when she came in. Her thin frame was covered by a short sleeved black shirt that I'm sure everyone in the room remember instantly, no matter how deep they bury the memory. She let the sleeves fall as far as the wanted to, her figure not matching Kyo's clothes at all - her shoulders were a lot smaller then I remembered. Her own blue jeans that were faded at the knees, but mostly covered by Kyo's old baby blue sweatshirt that she must have taken from my room. Her feet were bare, despite how cold the floor was, and in her hands she still held her old cat backpack - newly sewn up and as fixed as it could get.
Yet it wasn't the fact that she was actually standing at the dining room doorway that surprised me, nothing like that at all. It was her eyes.
Life sparkled in her gray-brown eyes, swirling in their depths and filling in the holes where her soul seemed to be lost before. It filled her entire face, made her skin seem shades lighter and her cheeks a rosy color. Tears still sparkled at the edges of her eyes and continued to wet her lashes, tear tracks evident on her cheeks.
She sniffed and brought one of the sleeves of the sweatshirt up and wiped her nose, then blinked at us and stepped into the room. The grace she once had was back in her gait, her head held high as she walked to the no longer wet and empty seat next to Ayame and sat. She placed the cat bag on her left side so it leaned up against her, then reached out and grabbed the spoon in the bole of spaghetti, dishing it out in a large chunk to herself. She then scooped a good amount of red sauce and poured it onto her pasta, cut it up with her fork and started to eat.
I cast a quick look around the table and found everyone else staring at her like she had grown another head. Haru's black eyes caught mine for a second, the same question floating around the back of his head and in the back of mine.
Kagura slurped up a piece of pasta and wiped her chin, blinking up at us
again. She cast her own questioning look around, slowly placing her napkin back
in it's spot.
"What?" she said quickly, one eyebrow raising. It looked as if everyone but
myself, Shigure, Haru, and Yuki flinched. No one said anything for a few heart
beats, until I found my courage that had fallen into my stomach and yanked it
back up again.
"Kagura..." My voice sounded weak, but the moment her eyes locked onto mine I knew. There was no need to be afraid, but I still felt obligated to ask for those who didn't know. "Are you alright?"
The entire room seemed to stop breathing, and Kagura eyes sparkled with a type of mirth that only she knew of and was not willing to share. She took her eyes away from me for a moment and cast them around the table, and I watched that utter happiness in her eyes slowly die away. She dropped both hands into her lap and her eyes came back to me in a heart beat, questions flaring and washing through her cloudy brown eyes. She turned to her food then, head dropping and concealing her face form everyone with a curtain of dark brown hair.
"Tohru..." If felt like forever since she last said my name, since I last heard her talk. She didn't pick her head up, but she didn't need to for me to know that tears were pooling in her eyes again.
"Tohru..." She repeated, hands suddenly clutching the cat bag again. "...Tohru? Do you remember? The last time that I was here...you remember that?"
My heart reached out for her in so many ways, and I was almost compelled to go over to her and wrap he in a loving embrace.. Kagura was the closest thing I would ever get to a sister in the Sohma family and it hurt me to know what she was going through - but I knew I could do nothing for her. I wasn't the one she needed comfort from...
"Yes, Kagura. I remember..." My voice was soft and almost overbearing in the tomb like quiet of the room. Momiji had even flinched when I spoke, eyes wide as saucers.
"I remember..." She said, sighing. "That after dinner we went outside and set off fireworks. You remember that?" Her voice was fridge and almost touchable, heavy in it's undertow. My heart beat frantically in my chest...
"Yes..." I said quietly, afraid that I might break something if I spoke too loud. I knew exactly what Kagura was talking about; I remember it like yesterday. Shigure had gotten hold of a few boxes of fireworks somehow, and Yuki and Kyo and set them off in Kyo's field when we –Kagura and I- sat on the roof and watched them scurry and bicker about what they would light off next. A few minutes later, Shigure relived them of their post and him and Hatori set of the rest of the fire works as the two boy's sat on the roof with us -both out of breath with smiles on their faces.
I always remember that day with a smile.. It happened about a month before Kyo died...That memory doesn't hurt anymore.
Slowly, Kagura lifted her head and looked back at me, tears leaking out of her eyes in constant streams. She let them fall and I knew she wouldn't wipe them away until she was finished. I remember her once saying something like 'Why wipe them away when you know you're not finish crying yet?', or something like that.
She smiled though, the small rivers rippling over her cheeks and falling onto her lap. Kagura had become strong again...
"That had to be a really good last memory...don't cha thing?"
No one moved or said anything, everyone just listing to their own respective heartbeats. Cold crept up my back and wrapped me in violet cold, and I just watched a smile spill across Kagura's face. It looked as if tears were sprinkling from the ceiling above her, smile shiny stars falling around something that just found it's life again. And slowly he dropped from the ceiling, standing firmly on the ground with a question looked on his face. Kyo never looked more alive.
I gave a quick look to Shigure and Yuki, both of whom had matching smiles on their faces. Haru was truly grinning, his eyes aglitter with the fire they always hid. Hatori was smirking to himself, and Ritsu had a pleasant little smile on his face. Four of them still had question and worry flooding their eyes, pain and something deeper -loss- etching their faces.
That's when I knew Kagura knew about Kyo, and I felt myself smile. The Cat just grinned back at us, the scrapes and scratches almost entirely evaporating off of his face with the grin. There was a warm glow of happiness that danced through his eyes, and I would give anything for that happiness to stay there forever.
There was 6. Kagura was number six on the list of the Jyuunishi that could see him, so we were halfway there.
"Dear Tohru..." Set's voice from that night so long ago rang in my head, reminding me of things I needed to remember. "...Pain will still be there for some of them. You can't do anything for it. You are not the ones that decide whether Kyo gets his body back or not - he doesn't even decide. The ones who don't believe will be the one who decide...all you can do is be there for those who know, and for him."
I had almost total forgotten what he said. That thought sobered any happy though I had, any happy thought I could have.
"Just remember..." he said, black eyes echoing sadness that I haven't- and couldn't touch. "...there are others hurting worse then they are. Kyo is one of them..."
And that was my own little curse. To know and not to tell...
I don't want to imagine what this is like for him...
And I didn't want to think about what it's like for everyone else.
The Sohmas truly are cursed.
God help them.
Unknown
"And so...we add another one..." My voice carried to him across the field that the house sat in, and even though he didn't move I knew he heard me. I would have been scared if he didn't...
I pushed myself on my white wings toward him where he sat on the top of the house, legs crossed at the ankles and arms behind his head. His endless eyes were pointed at the sky - never wavering - totally silent as the night above him. I ran a hand through my lime green-dusty gray hair and shook the short strands, sitting casually next to him - no hesitation, no regrets. I pushed a thick fingered hand through his long orange hair and shook it, a grin on my face.
"Don't look so down..." I mumbled, draping my arm across my bent knee. I heard him sigh and sit up next to me, eyes still cast to the sky.
"I'm not looking down, I'm looking forward..." He said simply, head slowly turning toward me. I met his eyes without fear and saw my own sky blue eyes reflected in them, along with my pointy nose.
"...It's the same thing." He continued, a slow grin crinkling the edges of his eyes. I never understood why they were still afraid of him...
"Why are you down here, Kazuo?" The question was sudden and sharp, and any humor that had been on his face disappeared instantly. I watched something move behind his endless black eyes. I blinked at him and cocked my head, smiling.
"I just think you shouldn't spend New Year's alone..." I said truthfully. He just stared at me for a long moment, face blank and eyes suddenly dead. He was always good at hiding things from me, but I've been getting better. Atsuo's no problem to read anymore, though Kyosetsu's not comparable to him in that matter. The only other person I can't read like I can't read Kyosetsu is Hitoko...
"What makes this year different?" Ah...he didn't trust me. His voice was low and ominous, and knowing him he suspected me of something. I always did make him think twice...
"Well it's the first time you're out in about 20 years...and it's the first time anyone's ever gotten this far before...those good enough reasons?" He backed off immediately, eyes dashing to the sky. I let it go and sighed, putting my wings away with a thought and laying back against the roof of the house. The night smelled like clean darkness and food, of happiness and tears. I always loved the night...
"I saw Hitoko today." It was mumbled, but it made me crack an eye open and look at him. His legs were loosely crossed, and his shirt wavered in the wind. The wind pushed his hair back and away from his face, and for a moment I saw the person I knew centuries ago - one of my better friends and...well, someone more human.
"Did he say anything?" I asked, pushing into the conversation I knew he wanted to start. He wanted to know what was going on upstairs - I can understand that- but I didn't want him to get mad at me...
"He asked me to come up for dinner.."
I blinked. "No, he didn't."
"Yeah, he did." The Cat slipped backwards and lay beside me, like we did when we were kids. I felt the top of his head brush mine, his elbow brushing my shoulder. "I - of course - shot him down instantly."
"Like always."
"Screw you."
"So...that can't be it, right? He's gotta be under you skin if you mention him..." I furrowed my eyebrows, and he laughed slightly. If we just sat like this - staring at the sky- I could pretend it was before everything happened and that we were just two friends laying outside, staring up at the sky and talking guy-talk. He was quiet for a minuet, and I turned to look at him slightly. His eyes were closed and his breathing was study - though I know Kyosetsu well enough to know he's not asleep, that he doesn't sleep...
"Well?" I pushed, and he sighed.
"Kazuo...do you remember the fireworks that one night before New Year's? The one's Atsuo and Sheishoin made?" His voice was distant, locked in a memory of childhood. A smile was laced lightly on his face, eyes still closed so he could view what once was. I smiled too...
"When the two of us, Yukari, and Simai were sitting out back. Yea, I remember it...why?" I felt the corner of my eyes sting and I sighed, knowing fully well the he knew I was a few steps from crying. Cats do have good noses...
"No reason." He shook his head, letting it loll back and forth on the roof's shingles. There was so much warmth in his voice that I wondered for a minuet if we were back home...
"You always have a reason." I heard the snicker in my voice, and he chuckled. But it wasn't a 'ha ha, funny' chuckle, it was a bitter one.
"Hitoko sent you down here, didn't he?" He role his head toward me and locked me in endless black. My hair reflected bright green in his eyes, and I found myself unable to lie to him.
"Yes."
"To scorn me?"
"...yes."
"Geez..." He sat up in a fluid movement, the grace of a cat with years of practice. He had a spiteful smile on his face, and his eyes were empty and hopeless.
"And I wanted to come. I am still your friend Setsu. Maybe I'm nothing like what Yukari was to you but-" His hand shot out to stop me, and I effetely quitted. His eyes seemed to move on their own as he studied my face - my eyes. I let him look for the truth in that statement, that I wasn't mocking him, that he didn't have a reason to flat out attack me. He looked for fear - which I didn't have- and resentment - which I didn't crave to bother with.
"No one..." He said lowly, dropping his hand but leaving his eyes trained on mine - eyes and posture defeated. "...will ever be who Yukari was. You don't have to try to be him to make me happy, Kazuo. I don't want that. Just be who you are - who you were - and I could care less...."
I smiled at him, letting it capture my eyes so they twinkled like stars in his eyes. So this redemption thing was working after all...
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear..." My smiles was laced in my voice, and he snorted.
"You're such a ass."
"Like you should say anything."
"Nice hair, by the way."
"Nice eyes, by the way."
"Pig."
"Cat."
He smiled, and I couldn't have asked for anything more then this.
(Chapter End)
Ranting: Well lady's and gents (If there are any guy's reading this...), I'm back with the second half of SH, and frankly I think I opened with quite a bang. There's a lot of stuff that happened, but I'll let you guy's mention it and input the new info.
School's now over - except for like a hour on Friday - and I can't be any happier. Oh and by the way, I am the new Assistant Technical Advisor at school (That I'll look good on my collage résumé) so that means that I'll probably have more work to do over the year. So I'll try as hard as I can to get this stuff out as quickly as I can. Unfortunately I just picked up reading a new series by Laurell K. Hamilton, and I'm getting some pretty good idea's...Grin's She's influencing my writing already. So be prepared for something new of mine to come out soon...something ere, sometimes violent, very supernatural , and very sarcastic. Such as the preview...I'll talk more about this further down.
And so...the plot thickens, in more then one way. I'm not going to say anything at all any more about that will happen, no hints - for my plot is finished and complete. I know where this is all going, and I love it. Btw, welcome the new OC's with open arms. Welcome magic, and welcome angels, and hold on for the ride!
So...let me have you comments!! Fire away!
PS: Sorry. My language is becoming more violent. It's the books! The books!! Anyway, it says PG-13, so you shouldn't be surprised. There aren't half as many curses in here that I normally say in a day. Be thankful I haven't had Kyo or Haru pull a New Yorker and curse anyone asses out yet.
Question of the Chapter: How many licks to the center of a tootsie pop?
Favorite Line: God this is a hard one...um..."Oh, that's right, I had forgotten. God doesn't like me..." and "I was dealing with some major next level nightmare shit." - both from Kyo. Though I'm sorry to say, I'm infusing Kyo with my sarcastic-ness.
Favorite Character: Kyo, Shigure, and Setsu.
Date Finished: June 20th, 2004. 9:30 p.m.
Date Edited: June 28th, 2004. 10: 01 p.m. (I pity all who read this before I had Misaki-Chan Beta this for me. I'm sorry to you if you did...)
Moving along...
Misaki-San: Glad you like him. And know you right, he's not a Yuki, but he is someone else...ah, I said I wasn't going to explain. So you'll find out later. Thank you, and have fun editing this chapter!!
HelloKat: And it keeps on getting thicker...and Hitoko wont help at all. He wont meant to not help but...you get the point, right? School's over so I can devote a whole week to just working on SH. You'll have to wait a wile longer for all of this to come together...see ya next time.
Adria: Thank you, and I'm glad I didn't scare you that bad. Thank you for the complement, and thank you for the luck.
HanaTenshiHimeko: Lol thank you. But thank God school is over... Sigh's TGFsummer...Upidating ASAP, I promises.
yamatoforever: Your the only person who really though and said something about how Akito will feel-, and about what Shigure's getting into....So are you worried about what she did now...again i must say that I never did really write what she was doing before she came to dinner...did I? Laugh's wickedly!! ok, sorry. So you like the other Jyuunishi too...good. They will be back...
Someone psychotic...: Lol I'm sorry everything's so long, but most people love long chapters. Thank you for the complements, and come back and review again!!
Note: I yanked the Bonus to this chapter because the author of the books I based the Bonus on didn't want anything based on her writings on the site. I respect her as an author, so I yanked it. Sorry.
By the way, I don't own FruBa. This plot and original characters are mine, but not Fruba itself. Any twisted, enhanced psychotic tendency, morbid reactions, deep and well deserved brooding and/or beating ones self up that happen to appear in the story are mine and I stake full claims with some help and idea's. Please review, and any flame will be laughed if not ignored. So please, have a nice day!
Mail me if you want to talk. Ja!
SAL-Chan