Part 18

I started to get confused as Isuzu continued driving. "Um, Isuzu? This isn't the way to the family compound."

"We aren't going to the family compound," said Isuzu, making a turn. "Akito would kill Tohru if he saw her."

"Then where are we going?" asked Momiji, eying the unconscious Tohru with a worried expression.

"Haru told me that the security at Shigure's house has left. So we'll be going there."

I gaped at Isuzu. "He won't agree with that!!"

"Well, it's four on one. He won't have much choice, will he?"

Kisa had Tohru's head in her lap. "Rin-san, I think you hit Tohru too hard. She hasn't woken up yet."

"It's all about timing, Kisa. It's better that she remains asleep now."

I felt very nervous as she made another turn on the dirt road towards Shigure's house. I know that Haru wouldn't put us in danger deliberately, but I couldn't help but think that any minute men in black suits are going to pop up and demand to know why we were there. The further we got it looked as barren as Isuzu had said it would be, but I was still nervous.

She stopped the van right in front of the front, just as Hatori had done so months ago. Of course, our sudden arrival didn't go unnoticed. No sooner did Isuzu stop the car, the front door came open and Shigure came out. The cheerfulness he had usually carried around himself had disappeared quite a bit. I could tell he greatly missed Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo's company.

"What the—Rin?!" he gasped as she calmly climbed out of the driver side. I tried to remain calm too as I climbed out of the passenger side. "Kagura?! What's going on?!"

"Be quiet if you know what's good for you," said Isuzu, opening the back door. "Momiji, go get the album. Kisa, you take her legs and I'll take her upper half. Kagura, lead the way."

I knew that meant 'distract Shigure for the moment'. I put on a sweet smile as Momiji skipped past me and into the house. Shigure was still in a state of shock that he said nothing to Momiji.

"Hi Shigure!" I greeted sweetly. "Long time no see!!"

"Um, Kagura? What exactly is goi—Tohru?!"

I turned my head. Isuzu and Kisa had removed Tohru's unconscious body from the van and were carrying her towards the house.

"She really is out!!" I said worriedly. "Isuzu, try holding back next time!!"

Shigure ran in front of the front door. "Hang on!! I know what you're all up too and I can't let you do it!! If Akito—"

Isuzu glared at him. "I'm quite aware that you're Akito's stooge, though you put up an impressive fight the night they took the trio away. Or did you let them waltz in?"

"I did not!! I had no idea what Akito was doing!!"

"All right then. We want to help out the trio, and I'm sure you want to help them out to. Now stand aside."

"Rin, even though security left here Akito might still have my house monitored. I don't want to put you kids at risk. Please, just take—"

Isuzu raised Tohru in her arms. "Duck, Kisa."

Kisa did so. Isuzu threw Tohru's unconscious body at Shigure. Like a gentleman Shigure caught her.

POOF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tohru remained unconscious, but where Shigure stood now was the Dog.

"Sorry we had to do that," said Isuzu, picking Tohru back up. Kisa took her end. "You'll understand someday. But bear in mind if you call Akito I'll castrate you."

Any protests Shigure had he immediately silenced. I gave Shigure a comforting pat as I followed Isuzu and Kisa into the house.

"Momiji, have you found it?" yelled Isuzu.

"Give me a sec!!" Momiji yelled back.

Tohru stirred in Isuzu's arms. They took this as a note to pick up the pace up the stairs. I followed them, feeling a little excited. Isuzu obviously knew what she was doing. Hopefully Tohru would be able to regain her memories with this encounter.

"There," said Isuzu, depositing her on the bed that Shigure had bought specially for her. I was pleased to see that he had kept Tohru's room intact. "Now we wait for her to wake up."

We didn't have to wait long. Five minutes later her eyes came open. She rubbed her sore head and groaned. But she became more aware of her surroundings she became fully awake. She sat up quickly and looked at us with terrified eyes.

"Where am I?" she demanded. "Who are you people?!"

"My oh my, Tohru," said Isuzu, smirking at her evilly. "Is that any way to talk to your family?"

Tohru blinked several times. "Family?"

Kisa sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm glad to see you again, Nee-chan."

Tohru stared at her. "Family…but I don't know any of you!"

"But you do," I said sadly. "You were part of our family. But your memories were erased."

Tohru shook her head. "I-I-I-I-I-I—"

"I have to hand it to Hatori," said Isuzu. "Managing to erase so much but keeping intact your stupid personality."

"I'm not stupid!" said Tohru indignantly. "And it doesn't feel like I've lost my memories!!"

It was then that Momiji rushed into the room, waving a photo album. "I found it!!"

"Momiji, will you demonstrate?" asked Isuzu.

She didn't need to ask. The sad joy that had spread across Momiji's face caused him to act. He tossed aside the photo album which I caught and launched himself at Tohru.

"Toooooooorhuuuuuuu!!!!" he cried happily, something he had probably been holding in. He threw his arms around her.

POOF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tohru screamed. She literally screamed as pink smoke filled the room. When it cleared an adorable bunny was clinging to her.

She screamed again.

"What—wasn't—how—what—why—I—what—"

"You found out about our family in a similar fashion," said Isuzu. "I think it was when you hugged Shigure…or was it Kyo? Kagura, who was it?"

"Kyo-kun," I confirmed.

Tohru looked completely confused.

"We Sohmas have a curse," continued Isuzu, speaking to Tohru as if she was five years old. "Some of us are cursed to transform into the animals of the Juunishi when they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex, or if we're under emotional and/or physical stress. Momiji there turns into the Rabbit. Kisa." She patted Kisa on the head. "Turns into the Tiger. Kagura." She pointed to me. "Turns into the Boar. I turn into a Horse. And—"

"Rin!!" yelled Shigure as he ran into the room. He froze when he saw a very awake Tohru.

"And Shigure there turns into the Dog."

Tohru looked at all of us as if we were crazy.

"When you found out about the secret, you were allowed to live with Shigure. It was strange that Akito, the bastard who runs our family, gave exception to you since anyone who finds out about it gets their memories erased. But you were allowed to stay with the Sohmas. Unfortunately…things happened and your memories were then erased."

Tohru rubbed her head. "I…I don't know what to believe. I feel fine, really. But all of you are insisting that a piece of my life is missing from my memory. Aren't those with missing memories emotionally depressed without knowing why? I honestly feel fine!"

Isuzu looked at me. I nodded my understanding and handed Tohru the photo album.

"I think this will prove our case," I said.

Tohru looked at the cover of the album and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but—"

"Nee-chan, please look at it!" said Kisa, tears forming in her eyes.

"Please, Tohru," said Momiji, still in his Rabbit form. Tears were already falling from his eyes. "We're telling the truth!"

"You're part of our family, Tohru," I said softly. "We cared enough to go looking for you. Just please…look through it."

Tohru stared at me, then at Kisa, then at Momiji. She slowly nodded. "All right. I'll look through it."

For what seemed like hours we sat with her, telling the stories of each photo.

"This was when we went to the hot springs!!" Momiji said excitedly. "See the ribbon in your hair? Yuki gave that to you for a White Day present!!"

Tohru stared at the photo. "That ribbon…where have I seen it?"

This continued all day. But we felt we were making progress with each photograph. She seemed to take great interest in Yuki and Kyo. Much to my fear she seemed to show more interest in Kyo.

"You two went out for a while," I said, pointing to a photo of Yuki.

Tohru glanced at me. "Really?"

"Yes. You were both rather shy about your relationship, but you were really happy."

"Oh." She continued flipping through the photos.

Finally, she reached the end of the album. She closed it with a shaky sigh.

"This is very strange," she said softly. "I…I really don't know what to say."

My heart sank. "Nothing?"

"No. Usually photos would trigger memories. But…nothing. Not even a hint of it."

I glanced at Isuzu, who was speechless.

"But these photos show we were telling the truth!" she said. "Don't you believe us?"

Tears were forming in Tohru's eyes. "I don't know. I look so happy in these photos. Why can't I…please, someone take me home."

"Nee-chan," said Kisa, getting teary-eyed too.

Shigure clapped his hands. "Enough! Haa-san going to take her home!"

Ice formed in my veins. No, Hatori was going to catch us!!

"You called him, asshole?!" yelled Isuzu.

"No, he called me. Apparently he's upset that you took Kagura with false permission. Not to mention you yanked Momiji and Kisa out of school to get Tohru."

I felt a lump in my throat. I had promised Hatori I wouldn't do anything reckless and I broke it…

Isuzu grabbed my wrist. "We're leaving now!!"

"There's only one way out of here!!" I said numbly. "We're going to run into him on the way here!!"

"You guys go," said Momiji. "I'll take responsibility for this."

"Me too," said Kisa.

Isuzu pulled me up. "Okay, let's go."

I broke away from her and turned to Tohru. Before I could stop myself I was hugging her tightly.

"I'm so glad to have seen you again," I sniffled, tears spilling down my face. "I just wish Yun-chan could've seen you."

Isuzu pulled me away. "Okay, let's go!!"

We did manage to escape without running into Hatori. But that didn't stop him from guessing that we were there. So when he got back with Momiji and Kisa, he gave us quite a lecture.

"Neither of you ever learn, do you?!" he fumed. "Going out without permission?! Kidnapping Tohru?! Blackmailing Shigure to make him keep you there?!"

"I didn't blackmail him," said Isuzu. "I just threatened to castrate him."

"Do either of you know how dangerous and stupid your stunt was today?! What if you had been caught?! Not just by Akito's men, but the real police?! What would you have done then?!"

"Why don't you shut the hell up?!" snapped Isuzu. "It's your fault that any of this happened anyway!!"

That shut Hatori up. He closed his eyes and sighed sadly. Then he opened them and stared at Isuzu.

"I'm at my ropes end," he said sadly. "From now on don't expect any support from me, Isuzu."

I gasped. Isuzu just shrugged and stood up.

"Fine," she said evenly. "It's not like you ever offered me any real support anyways!! I'm fine with you remaining Akito's stooge right along with Shigure." She started to leave the room. "I'm gonna go stay with Haru for a while."

"Isuzu!!" I said, starting to stand.

"And don't lay the guilt trip on Kagura," Isuzu added. "I lied to her about getting your permission."

Before either of us could respond, Isuzu was gone.

"Hatori, are you really going to stop standing up for her?" I asked.

"I've tried, Kagura. I've had to put up with a lot from her. It's just..."

I swallowed. "She was lying. True, she did lie to me about getting your permission, but she told me right away it was a lie. Instead of backing down I went along with her. And the only reason she did it was because I told her what happened. So in a sense this is all my fault!!"

Hatori was silent. I lowered my head.

"I know that I broke my promise again. I know that there's no way you can trust me. But I love Kyo-kun, Yun-chan, and Tohru!! I want things to be back to normal again!!"

Hatori sighed heavily. "Kagura, I know how you feel. Do you think any of this has been easy on me? I have to wake up every morning and face what I did. And…I don't want anything more to happen. As far as I know, Akito doesn't know about what happened today. But it's getting very hard to take care of you and everyone else if you keep pulling stunts like this."

"I know, but I want them back!!" I wailed. "I want Tohru to remember everything!! I want Yun-chan to be out of Akito's reach and be happy!! I want to Kyo-kun back and out of isolation!! I miss him and I love him and I want him back with me!!! Is that too much to ask for?!"

Hatori didn't answer me at first. After a while he reached out a put a hand on my head.

"I know that these times are very difficult. If I could do it all over again, I'd do it differently. I'm sorry that all this happened to you. First the cancer and now the division and loss of family. I'm so sorry…"

I couldn't provide a coherent answer for him. All I could sit there and cry and be depressed.

The glow of seeing Tohru again died as the days passed. To stay on Hatori's good side, I barely ventured outside my house. But as the days passed they grew colder too. I was pleased to finally see some snowfall.

On the night of the first snow, I was so excited I went outside to walk around in it. I wore thick layers to protect my stitches, but I had fun watching the snow. It helped me to forget the pressing problems that kept trying to suffocate me.

"Kagura!!!"

I froze in mid step. Someone had called to me.

"Psst!! Kagura!!!"

I recognized the voice that called to me. I turned to one of the windows at Akito's main house to see a pale face staring back at me.

"Yun-chan!!" I gasped, running over to him.

"Not so loud, Akito's sleeping off a fever," said Yuki, glancing quickly behind him.

"How're you holding up?" I asked.

"As badly as I did when I was a kid," answered Yuki gloomily. "I'm living the nightmare I've had for years."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. But I have something to ask you."

"What?"

"I heard a rumor that Rin, Kisa, Momiji, and you kidnapped Honda-san and tried to trigger her memories."

"Um, uh, yes, that's true."

Yuki reached out and grabbed my hands. I was surprised at how pale they were.

"How is she?" he asked. "Did she look healthy? Did she look happy?"

"She was healthy and her same usual self," I said, feeling happy at how concerned Yuki was for her.

"How did it go? Did she remember anything?"

I shook my head reluctantly. "I'm sorry. Not even seeing the photos in the album help trigger her memories."

"…Did you tell her about her relationship with me?"

"Yes. But her reaction was the same as with all the photos." I held back the notion that she had shown more interest in Kyo. It made me unhappy and Yuki certainly didn't need to hear it.

He sighed sadly. "In other words, she didn't really react at all."

"…"

Yuki leaned against the frame of the window. "Why is it so wrong to love her so much? I may be a Sohma, but that doesn't mean I have to remain celibate!! All I ever wanted was to be happy and loved. And Honda-san…she gave me all that. And now…"

I blinked back my own tears. "Have faith, Yun-chan. I'm sure if she saw you in person it would trigger her memories."

"…That never worked for Hatori and Kana."

"Yun-chan—"

"Dammit, I still remember that last night I saw her. She had sworn once that if her memories had been erased she would try to be my friend. She told me that night that even if she couldn't remember me, she would remember our love. Did you know Akito forced me to watch Hatori erase her memories?! Even after she fell to the floor I was freaking out." He looked upwards, tears sliding down his face. "I still love her; even if she doesn't fulfill her promise…will I turn out like Hatori? Forced to let her go while she goes off and falls in love with some other guy?! Is it so selfish to want her forever?!"

I choked, tears spilling down my face.

"I understand how you feel," I sniffled. "That's why I'm not going to give up on it. I won't accept her falling in love with someone when her true love was you."

Yuki laughed a little. "I bet it was a relief when you found out she loved me most and not Kyo."

I laughed a little too. "A little. But I'm sure Kyo-kun's feeling the same way about me. I'm going to try to remedy this. Please remain strong, Yun-chan."

Yuki sighed. "At this rate…I don't know if I can."

"Yuki…where are you?" came a tired voice from inside the house.

Yuki stiffened. "Oh no, Akito's awake!! Quick, get home!!"

I nodded. "Take care of yourself, Yun-chan."

He gave me a sad smile. "You too, Kagura."

I hurried home before Akito saw me. It was heartbreaking to talk to Yuki. But his words struck a chord within me. And it made me want to see Kyo more and more.

So when I got home, I collected the leftovers of the night's dinner; teriyaki beef that was sill steaming hot. I packaged it up and headed out again. Though I knew that Akito would be distracted by Yuki, I moved quickly to the house Kyo was being held. I got there in record time and undetected.

When I glanced into the barred window, I saw that he was sleeping. Not exactly a comfortable sleep, but he looked peaceful.

"With much love, Kyo-kun," I said softly, setting the package in between the bars. I knew the delicious smell would wake him right up, so I hurried back to my house.

Seeing both Yuki and Kyo when they were so vulnerable made me come to a simple conclusion: Tohru needed her memories back. And Yuki and Kyo needed to get as far away from Akito as they could.