Born to be Broken.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be here. I'd be using all that money to buy me a half-decent bikini waxing, a French manicure and a full body massage. Because that would mean I was rich and could afford little luxuries like that. It would also mean I'm Japanese.

Note: Uh... trying to think of something note-worthy to say... Hmm... My main goal of the last chapter was accomplished: I scared people with the Blank Faced Specter which is the least scary of the apparitions I still have up my sleeve, let me tell you! (Holds up sleeve and several pairs of glowing yellow eyes glare out from within.) I will be honest with you dear readers; I have not slept well since I wrote that last chapter and I doubt I will sleep easy until I finish this damn fic. The things I do for publicity—I mean, uh, my beloved readers! (Cheesy grin.) Lots of Akito in this chapter, for my fellow Akito fans and I will try and answer some questions as well. Not many though, I need some fuel for my upcoming chapters too! Okay, now to thank the reviewers who have reviewed thus far! (If I don't mention you, I apologize. It means that you have reviewed following my writing of this chapter.)

Defafaeth Mechqua: To you too! I hope that means you are enjoying it!

Demeter1: (Laughs.) Yes, I too enjoy the thought of Ayame in a teensy weensy little non-existent scrap of material! I thought that might be a bit much, but then I thought back to the Ayame we have seen on the show and realized that it is totally plausible! (Laughs again.) Yes there will be plenty of Akito in this chapter to quell your Akito needs and do not despair; he is not drowning in the shower. He is half in and half out of it. Though that doesn't really explain which half is in the shower but I don't think I need to go into that. (Sweatdrops.) The French was just a throwback to the show, when they speak French to one another. I was worried it might slow the flow a little, but I hoped it would be in keeping true to their characters. (Though it was a bitch trying to translate those sentences! I myself do not speak the language, though I did get A's for it in Year 7!) The 'lucky' thing will be coming to light soon, so I hope you'll stick with it a little longer. As for the Apocalyptic Evil and the Blank Faced Monster, all I can say is that everything is related in this story. I don't mention anything if it does not have some kind of influence on the plot and characters. I'll leave it at that.

rileycharlotte: Well I'm glad that at least someone here can speak and understand French! Though I will resist from using copious amounts of it or writing an entire French formatted fic just to show off! (Laughs.) In a sense, I'm glad it scared you! Seems that I'm writing this thing the right way then. That Blank Faced Specter is something that's always given me the creeps in my own tangled imagination, so I thought I'd let him out to go on a bit of mayhem for everyone else's enjoyment (and fear) too! Worse then him to come though, so if you like being scared so much I hope I won't disappoint you! (Fangirl bow.) You didn't do one, but I thought I would anyway!

HelloKat: I'm so happy that people are finding this spooky! Is it really fun to read? I think it is, but that's because I'm kind of self-obsessed. Glad you think it is though and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!

SniperKitty: HelloKat and SnipperKitty... seem to be having a cat epidemic around here... Well, N E way, you shouldn't read such spooky fics late at night if they're going to scare you that much! (See's her moving to close the page.) NO! NO!! STOP THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!! I'll have you know that I actually wrote this fic late at night, and even I was doing the whole 'looking-over-shoulder-thing-towards-the-door' routine. I'm well aware of how creepy it can be where it's dark and when there is a full moon outside. (Closes curtains and shudders.) Thankyou for saying my writing's beautiful! I think it can be pretty shit at times, so therefore I'm one of those people who love themselves but tend to be insecure about other people's opinions... (Shrugs.) Oh well! Thankyou very much! And I most definitely agree about Ayame/Shigure. (Obviously.) There are so canon in the Furuba relationship line-up yet half the world seem oblivious to it! (Including the damn writers!) I'm sick and fed up of Ayame/Shigure/Hatori fics and to be honest, Hatori with either of those two! Hatori is diddly squat STRAIGHT!! He has about as much kink in him as Ayame's hair! Exactly what the HELL makes people think that he would be compatible with Ayame or Shigure is beyond me or why he would even hop into bed with both of them at the same time. These are three grown men, they should have stopped experimenting in College not that Hatori would have been experimenting anyway since he is too mature to ever do anything of the—(Sighs and counts to twenty.) I'm sorry. I've started off on my second favorite rambling topic, falling just short of 'Why Akito isn't a bastard.' But I won't get started again. Back to your comments my dear. Yes there are far too few fics about Ayame/Shigure but my friend "rileycharlotte" is, as we speak, writing a grand fic with those two crazy fellows as one of the couplings so if you need more of them, simply read her story! I'm glad mine makes up for it somewhat too! They certainly need more support than a certain other threesome that I will not stain this fic with mentioning again. And yes, Akito is coming back. I'm extremely fond of my evil wittle cwumpet and there will be plenty of angst for him hence forth, but also some sweet fluffy lovey, dovey stuff too. He needs a cuddle that poor thing...

emily: Sorry, didn't mention you last time! (Sweatdrop.) Yes my fic is rather nice don't you say? (Gets hit over the head by Wallbug; my editor.) Ouch! Okay, sorry I'll try and be more modest! N E way, thankyou emily and I hope you will keep reading. That is, if I haven't offended you by not commenting on your review sooner!

Now without further ado, the next chapter! I shall keep you waiting no longer!

"You woke up screaming aloud

A prayer from your secret god

You feed off our fears

And hold back your tears, oh

Give us a tantrum

And a know it all grin

Just when we need one

When the evening's thin

You're a beautiful

A beautiful fucked up man

You're setting up your

Razor wire shrine

Cause you're working

Building a mystery

Holding on and holding it in

Yeah you're working

Building a mystery

And choosing so carefully"

(-Taken from the song "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan.)

Akito knew nothing to do, but to follow the voice. He made his way through the hallway of the Main House, seeking the source of the mysterious singing that weaved through the walls all around him. His footsteps fell against the floor unnaturally loud and echoed onward into the time in which they should have rightfully faded. It was a dream he knew, for no reality condensed your movements down to the constriction of air that was as thick as melted treacle and limbs that felt old and rusted. When he turned his head, the world blurred and swung into double copies before settling into place again. And his actions in dreams were never true to what they would be in real life. Later he would think back at them and wonder why he had not chosen an alternative course of action. But Akito knew very well at this point that dreams were almost always never to the control of the dreamer. In fact, it was as if they were ordained by an outside will that plunged a hand into his own consciousness and took over.

Because Akito knew that he wouldn't aimlessly wander the hallways like this without a cane in hand and nary a clue in his head as to what he was doing. But a dream justified that, if it did not forthright explain the reason, it hovered in the background willing itself to be known and presented at the appropriate moment. The reason here was this haunting song; this woman's voice so thick with melancholy that one could not help but feel compelled to cry with each lulling word.

Akito pushed open a side room and peered inside. A lantern bobbed within the center of the room, swaying back and forth as if held by an invisible hand. The flame flickered lightly to match the movement and Akito was enamoured by it.

"Nothing in here." Kureno said, walking up behind him, his figure blurring as a result of his movement. "Might as well try upstairs."

Akito turned to address him but he'd already disappeared up the hallway. Denied the interaction, the turned back to examine the lamp. The glass containing the petite orange flame was dusty but as he watched the grime was pushed aside and lines were cleaned. A distinct word was formed.

"Lucky."

Akito slammed the door shut and moved away. He heard it slide back open and the lantern followed him out into the hallway. Only this time a figure appeared to be holding it. Akito recognized him; didn't know him very well, they hadn't crossed paths much but he knew of him. Ayame Sohma. The snake. He walked up beside Akito and swung the lamp in his face, making sure that the word shone bright with the flame illuminating it from behind it. He pointed to it, as if to make sure that Akito could not miss it.

"You still can't face it..." He jeered and flounced ahead into the shadows. In darkness, his body disappeared so that the lantern once more seemed to swing by itself. "You can't face the fact that you're all alone while everyone else can live and be happy. You're angry because you once knew what it was to not be alone, to not be bitter, didn't you? I wouldn't exactly call our family lucky you know... but if you had to call anyone lucky, who would it be Akito? Would it be the one that you could love?"

"I... I don't know..." Akito said, though he wasn't sure why he felt compelled to answer. Ayame was the snake after all. He paused and seemed to consider the surrounding walls, then the ember of the flickering lantern light itself. His pale face shone orange in the glow. "All I want... is to know what all this means... All this sorrow, this spite... this grief that saturates everything..."

"Don't we all?" Another voice asked. Akito glanced to his side to see an open door, peering into darkness beyond. A tiny firefly of light hovered near the frame and Akito saw that it was a cigarette. The dark haired Shigure inhaled on the cylinder then leaned his head forward into the light, smiling sardonically as if he intended to share some great joke. "You're not the only one who wondered such things, Akito. Those that came before you asked themselves those exact questions a hundred times before... and it ended up driving them mad. They weaved their web into a tangled knot from which the mind cannot escape. Do you want to follow blindly in their footsteps, chasing sought after ideals of which none have succeeded in finding?" He blew out a stream of smoke in Akito's face and suddenly faded away. No magicians illusion, he simply vanished. The cigarette spiraled toward the ground and bounced once before coming to a rest. Akito instinctively trod on it and naturally burnt his foot. He cursed and held it up with one hand, rubbing at the black burn mark with his fingers, trying to ease the sting.

"Why did you do that?" Another voice asked, without concern. Akito glared at Hatori, who stood in the light of a nearby window, also smoking a cigarette.

"I didn't want the house to catch fire, that's why." He explained logically and set his foot back down, glancing around for the offending cigarette. It was gone.

"You fear that something so small could cause an almighty catalyst..." The doctor pondered, fingers perched on his chin and still clutching the cigarette. He drew on it thoughtfully and blew out a puff of smoke. "Perhaps you feel you have to stamp out these problems before they become so large that they could destroy everything. Yet... you do not consider, that some use could come of these things, to others." He indicated the cigarette, then he too disappeared in an anti-climatic fade and the flaming cylinder fell to the floor once more. Akito rushed to stamp it out, watching the red burn a mark on the floor similar to the one that now adorned his foot, but another figure beat him to it. Ritsu Sohma, the monkey, snatched it up and crushed the ember against the wall.

"Others could take care of these problems," He said, throwing the squished butt out the window and turning his dark eyes to Akito. "You never take the chance that things might sort themselves out, you always take the aggressive action that more often than not, ends up hurting others and yourself."

"If I don't act quickly-" Akito began, but Ritsu cut him off.

"Working quickly is not as important as working kindly." He murmured, walking away towards the stairs. He looked back once and then began to fade slowly out of vision. "Curses are the negative actions and cruel consequences of cruel actions. We must never forget less we bathe in our misfortune forever. We are not lucky. We pay for it, with bad luck. We pay for our mistakes, by forever making mistakes, until the end."

"The end...?" Akito whispered. But Ritsu was gone and had no answer. There was a tug on his sleeve and the master glanced down to see the boy, Hiro, with his fist clasped firmly around the material. He gave another determined tug to make sure he had his attention and then pointed in the direction Ritsu had gone.

"Around the master, the zodiac circles. Like the earth orbiting the sun, like the moon orbiting the earth. There is a center to it all, but not even at the very center are there answers to the questions we all seek. Before we find new answers, we must remember the ones we have forgotten. Only then can everything move forward, toward the end."

"What end?" Akito asked again, but once more his question was ignored. Hiro faded away, his eyes still set on the stairs and his hand still clasped on the sleeve, the pressure only eradicating when his hand too was gone.

"There are answers to be found if you seek them." Came Ayame's voice and Akito saw his face appear in the light the window threw inside. He smiled and gestured to the stairs with the lantern and his head. "But first you must accept the past you refuse to face, the past that poisons you, that you allow to poison you. You can only accept when you understand the answers that you couldn't understand then. Then, the answers will come. When you ask, they will fly back to you as if carried on the wings of a bird. You should start upstairs. Many secrets lay hidden upstairs. It is the first step, to unlocking your past."

At that, the lantern snuffed out and darkness encased everything. Akito felt his heart thud into the wall of his chest and he plunged forward toward the stairs, hoping to find some solid structure to cling to. It was not the stairs he found, but the hand of another. He tried to make out the face in the darkness but there was only a vague outline. He thought it might have been Kureno, but the figure was taller and had longer fingers. He felt them intertwine with his own and gently nudge him forward.

"Luck is on your side." A voice said, a voice he didn't recognize. "Now... let's go upstairs and find that which you have lost. Don't be afraid. Nothing will happen to you while I'm here."

"... I don't even know who you are..." Akito whispered, though he still allowed himself to be lead slowly up the stairs. Each board creaked beneath his footsteps but the figure ahead of him seemed to distribute no weight at all. There was a slight chuckle at his statement, but it was gentle. Non mocking.

"No. Not until you're ready." It simply said and by then they had reached the top of the stairwell. The figure rested its hand on the door to Akito's room. Without hesitation he shoved it open and stepped back so that the light from within would not open his face to Akito's inspection. A hand rested into the small of his back and gave him a coaxing push toward the doorway. Akito took the hint and stepped inside, noting that the singing had increased in strength. It was definitely coming from this room. He gazed around in the fading light and finally settled on the source. A woman with long black hair was highlighted against the circular window, her head craned back slightly as she sang, crooning almost to the ceiling. In her hands she held something large and white, Akito couldn't see in the bad light. He stepped closer trying to make out what it was. Finally, he was able to tell that it was a pillow and she was squeezing it tightly between her hands, then up against her chest. Her eyes were closed as she stepped toward the bed and, still singing; gently pressed it down against the other pillow that lay there. A lump stirred beneath the covers and then a stifled scream and the blankets began to flail, tangling into a thick twisted canopy of sheets. Still the women continued to sing soothingly, eyes shut in contentment as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Akito couldn't fathom any of this, but he didn't like it. He staggered backwards, a cry choking in his throat.

"Stop..." He croaked and then gasped as the creaky floorboard gave a despairing screech beneath his feet and collapsed. His foot sank straight through the floor down to the knee, the splinters of wood impaling him through the leg. Akito screamed and desperately tried to tug himself free, only to see the woman's eyes turn to focus on him. He wished she would close them... they were the white of victims who had either hanged themselves or choked to death. Her lips drew back in a snarl and she gave a defiant thrust downwards' with the pillow, silencing the cries once and for all.

"You really should get that thing fixed." Kureno said idly examining the hole in the floor.

'Come out of there little one... that's enough for now...'

Akito stirred in his sleep, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks. He made soft murmuring noises against the wet floor and his fingers twitched slightly. His hair was gently swayed to one side of his head by a sensitive hand. The same hand then trailed down to slightly lift his chin.

'Wake up now... no more of that. Wake up sweet one and get off of this wet floor before you catch a cold.'

"Catch a cold..." Akito murmured, still asleep. His head tucked down, away from the prompting of the hand but his fingers caught against the others as they moved away. They squeezed them slightly, bending them down so they cupped the raise of their own fingers, nursing them affectionately. "Catch a... cold..."

"You will if you don't get up soon... come one now... No point in laying there all afternoon."

"Don't... want to get up..." Akito said, slowly beginning to gain consciousness. His eyelids flickered open for a brief second and then closed again. He pressed his face further down towards the rise of his own shoulders as if trying to curl up and hide. "No... point... die anyway... be still forever... no more getting up..."

'But you're alive now, aren't you? That means that you can still get up and keep moving.' Another hand came down and with some hesitation rested against the drying crown of Akito's head, rubbing the hair softly with only the thumb. Akito's eyes slowly opened as he registered the contact and he painfully tried to turn his face to see. 'It's hard, I know... but nothing's quite easy now, is it? All things good are worth working for. So you'd best get up... Okay?'

The contact left him and a shadow threw itself over Akito's body as the sun from outside was obscured by the figure. Akito tried desperately to make out who or what it was, but his eyes were too blurry and the sun too glaring in his eyes. The figure gazed down at him for a second longer and then seemed to blur down to nothing. It was moving toward the door and in a second, was gone as if no one had had ever been at all. But Akito remembered the touch; his hair was still compressed by the weight of the hand that had been touching him.

"Wait..." He drawled, trying to sit up. His whole body ached and it was a pointless effort. He blinked a few times and rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear his vision and that at least seemed to yield to his efforts. Soon, he could see well enough to make sense of things again, though it was too late now.

Akito shook his head and tried to remember what had happened. He had been showering and something had come at him from nowhere... something invisible. It had been touching him intimately and then had disappeared, leaving him confused and humiliated. Then... he had fainted. Akito winced as he used his hands to push himself into a sitting position. He had collapsed half in and half out of the shower, thus rewarding him with a glaring bruise along the center of his stomach where he had made dramatic contact with the ridge supporting the shower door. He also had a bump on his head from the floor and a throbbing abrasion on his hip that had scraped the side of the door. He took a moment to calculate his injuries fully, before becoming aware of the stinging feeling on his back. This caused him some distress, for he would have liked to believe that the event he proposed was a dream preceding his fainting was but that; a dream. And the scratches he found adorning his back were proof that it was not so. There was a full-length mirror in the room and once he had managed to drag himself to his feet, Akito made his way over to it and turned around to examine his back. True to his suspicions, there were ghastly red lines covering the length of his spine and shoulders, some so deep that they had drawn blood. But what disturbed him most were the distinct red handprints he could make out, outlined vividly against the pale skin of his buttocks. There were black bruises also surrounding them.

"Dear God..." He muttered, gently touching one of the scratches with his hand. He hissed at the pain it caused. "Still... considering the state I was in when I fainted, I should be thankful I'm not infertile." He glanced quickly at his inert organ just to make sure that it had not encountered any damage in his collision with the floor. Akito came to the conclusion that he must have grasped the side of the door as he went down and landed on his side, rolling over at some point during his sleep. Otherwise he would not have been surprised if he had awoken infertile. It would serve him right really.

The shower was still running, but Akito wasn't too concerned with wasting hot water. It was his predecessors' money that paid for everything around him and as such, he had a right to be wasteful. Unlike the others; namely Shigure who couldn't salvage a door to save his life. Heaven forbid the money that was wasted on his house could have been prevented if he had only chosen to stay within the grounds instead of running away. Akito inhaled sharply, realizing that there was no use getting angry with Shigure for wanting a little space. After all, hadn't he allowed him to go in the first place? He was the dog and that small comfort; the ideal of loyalty was the only reason he had let him off of his leash to roam free. But sometimes he regretted it. Shigure was the only one besides Kureno that he could speak freely to, though he knew that he did not agree with what he said at the best of times. But still... it was awfully quiet now that he was gone. And with him Yuki and Kyou... not that he missed Kyou, but Yuki... it was no such much the absence of his presence as it was the absence of control. From a very early age, Akito had been taught how to individually treat each and every zodiac member and none had been more important a lesson then how he was to treat Yuki. The Family Elder's had not been pleased when he had allowed Yuki to leave, but truth be it that Akito was tiring of the game's he played with him. It was boring to say the least and non-profiting. He knew Yuki cared nothing for him, yet it was that overwhelming sense of power that enticed him back for more of the mental torture that he inflicted on him. But now, with Tohru standing in the way there was no longer any point to it. He tired of it long ago and now he had the perfect excuse to cease the exercises completely.

It just wasn't important anymore. Akito wanted peace. And even more so, he wanted that same kind of understanding that Tohru offered to Yuki and had once offered to him. But not from her. Being gay naturally meant that he had no interest of that kind towards her, but he loved the idea of her. Her kind nature, her understanding. And too often he had wished that someone would understand him the way she understood all the others and tried to understand him. But the thing with Akito was that he was too complex to even understand himself. There were too many tangles and webs weaved within his persona that only the most patient of people would be able to sit down and weave through with him. As much as he hated to admit it, Akito wanted to be looked after. To be protected. To be shown mercy and compassion, which he himself denied, for it was forever denied to him.

After all, he was the spider. The vessel for the consumption of souls. That was the truth he had to live with day in and day out.

Sighing, Akito reached out and turned the taps, choking off the floor of water. He examined his nails and scowled when he saw that they were still caked with blood. Hadn't that been the point of his showering in the first place? Still, he wasn't prepared to repeat the process just for the sake of his nails and decided to pick the blood out later with something suitably sharp. Right now, he needed to think. Away from the bathroom.

Akito made his way over to the towel he'd set out and quickly dried himself; hissing at the cloths' contact against his abused back. There wasn't much to be done about his hair and he settled for a rough towel dry and a rake through with his hand. The cabinet mirror still dripped with the words that had been drawn there and Akito found it hard to deter his eyes from them. 'Creak, creak, creak' and 'lucky.' What was he to make of that? That was folderol... nonsense. Balderdash. Akito mentally went through a list of words that seemed to adequately describe the nonsensical gibberish. Considering what he had just endured, he felt he deserved a better explanation then that. He was ashamed of himself for fainting at the sight of them, but the reaction had seemed barely within his own control. Something inside of him had just snapped at the sight of the words, as though an unconscious part of himself had recognized the significance. But his brain had shut down on itself before he'd been unable to make the connection. This disturbed Akito, so much more so because he had seen a similar reaction before. The victim's of The Dragon's Touch; those that had had their memories erased. Akito had once witnessed Momiji's mother faint at the sight of her own son, whom she had allowed herself to 'forget' when his presence became intolerable to her. This had been explained by the Elder's as a 'Trigger'; which was the main cause of why those who'd had their memories erased were supposed to be kept away from anything or anyone that might jump start their memories. Hatori spoke with Kana from time to time, but he very rarely saw her if ever. Momiji was supposed to keep out of sight of his mother, less he undo the effect of the hypnotism and there had been cases in which people who had learnt of the secret nearly regained their memories following the erasing process, simply at the sight of one of the cursed. The procedure was nearly always fool proof however and Akito found it difficult to recall any cases he'd heard of where an individual had successfully regained their memory of the event they'd been made to forget. He looked up at the words on the mirror and a chill ran down his spine. He'd fainted just like Momiji's mother, whose brain had closed in on itself before it had been able to access the hidden memory of the child she didn't even know she had. Had Akito's brain too shut down to prevent him from remembering something? Or had the fear of the situation simply become too much for him to handle?

One thing was for sure; he wasn't going to figure anything out standing around in a towel. There was the dream to consider, as well as the words and the figure he thought he had seen upon waking. Or thought he had seen. Whatever the case, they were circumstances best thought about with dry clothes on his back and the essence of the bathroom far behind him. He finished toweling off and then eased himself down to retrieve his robes from the floor. He gazed at them with disdain. If he had to, he would call this ensemble garment his default costume, for it was the attire he wore the most often out of any other. Not that he was particularly fond of it or had a dire lack of other suitable clothes, oh no. The reality was quite a par removed from that.

The outer robe was a pale red that was more relaxing on the eye then it was harsh. It was worn over top of the white robe, which was fashioned to the waist by the black cord. Though it was tailored for his miniscule figure, Akito found that the damn thing tended to be falling off of him more and more recently. He supposed it was due to his substantial drop in health, not to mention weight. He could fit into size six clothing without even needing to breath in or tape himself into it. But there was nothing attractive about his thin frame, or so he felt. There had only been one point in his life when Akito had been happy about his appearance and that was during the months prior to Tohru appearing in the Sohma household. Well... perhaps happy was not the right choice of word. Better to say that he was content with how he looked. His weight, though still less then what was considered healthy, gave him a fine slimming effect that in turn made his legs and body look even longer then they already were. And whilst he didn't find his face appealing at all, he could look into the mirror and not hate what was staring back at him. For a while. Now, there was no middle ground. And the robes that he was intended to shuffle about in until the day he died, only made him feel more conscious of himself. For the robes' colors and even the way in which they were worn, were a secret message to anyone who knew how to read it. In his case; just about everyone who lived in the Sohma Estate. They could look at what he was wearing and immediately decode his current status. The white and red kimono traditionally represented Lordship, authority and leadership over the clan, but within the Sohma's both took a whole new respective meaning. Whilst the prior was still true, there were more important qualities that were made obvious through the wearing of the garment. The white kimono worn underneath was supposed to represent the physical purity of the wearer, mostly so in regards to sexuality and virginity. It was shielded by the red robe that symbolized the position of higher authority that distanced himself from all other individuals that stood in his presence. Red was the color of power, fertility, life force, vitality, determination and good luck; all qualities that were thought to be possessed of the perfect Family Master. Akito found it ironic that he had not any of the last four qualities; perhaps with the exception of determination. That he knew he had. He'd expressed it quite considerably during his many attempts to dissuade Tohru from remaining with the Sohma's. As for the prior two qualities, well... power and fertility just came with the job description, passed on by his mother before him and so on. Those other qualities you had to earn.

Akito thought back to what he had learnt about the symbolism of the robes, even as he was slipping them back over his shoulders. If the red robe was removed before an individual, it shows that the wearer is giving himself or herself over to the person they stand before. This was part of a custom following the Family Master's marriage to their suitor; to express their willingness to surrender to them that which the white robe represented: Their virginity. White also represented psychic matters, dispelling evil spirits and for beginning a new phase, that being marriage. After the consumption, the Family Master was expected to wear cream robes beneath the red to show that they were no longer pure. It was positively un-thought of, for the Family Head to marry if they had already engaged in sexual intercourse with someone other then who they were intended to marry. It was punishable, but only by stripping them of their title after they had produced an heir. Such an occurrence was uncommon; the last time to date being Akito's great, great, great Grandmother. Or so he recalled. There may have been others who had done so, but had never been caught.

'Well... the white rings true for me at least...' Akito thought, bitterly tying the cord around his waist and slipping the red robe snuggly atop his shoulders. 'Perhaps not for purity, or goodness, or heterosexuality... but for being their good little virgin, yes. Even after what The Doctor did... still, he never would have risked my being tainted before my time. Wasn't that considerate of him?'

He pulled his boxer shorts back on and gave the mirror one last glance. Feeling defiant, he strode on over to it and swiped the beading condensation with his sleeve, cleansing a line straight through the words.

"Next time, try writing it in human blood. It lasts longer." He said; raising an eyebrow as he gave the bathroom one last unimpressed look. "I'm not frightened by whatever you are, and I suggest you quit with your silly little games. ...Am I making myself clear?"

The bathroom had no answer. Feeling as though he had made his point, Akito grinned at his reflection in the mirror, retrieved his cane and then reached out to grab the door bar. A loud squeaking noise made him jump and he uttered a small cry of alarm. He leapt back from the door and then managed to compose himself. He slowly made himself over to the door again and leant down a little, pressing his ear to the wood. From behind it, he heard the definitive squeak again, the groaning cry of wood being depressed beneath a heavyset heel. Creak, creak... and then finally, a third time.

"Creak, creak, creak..." Akito uttered, casting a look back to the mirror. The kanji had all run together now due to the contact of his sleeve, but he could still remember clearly what it had said. Was this what it had meant? Silence followed the sound and then, tentatively, it was repeated as if to ensure that Akito hadn't missed it the first time. Creak, creak, creak. Creak, creak, creak. With five-second intervals between each set. It was a strange use of sound though; the first and final creak of the three was longer then the rest. Akito realized that it was being used to mimic the SOS signal.

SOS Save our souls.

Save. Our. Souls.

Save. Our. Souls...

Sharply and abrupt, Akito jerked the door open almost sending it crashing straight through the wall. He scoured the room critically as if to ensure that no one was there. The creaking noise stopped immediately and Akito, trying to ignore his heard pounding violently in his chest, staggered over to the squeaky floorboard. He was certain that it was what had been making the noise just a few seconds earlier and that it had been unable to do so itself. Someone had to have been doing it. Sure enough when Akito attempted to repeat the SOS type call using his cane as the instigator, the floorboard produced the same sound as before. He quickly raked the room with his eyes, just to make sure that there was no one squatting in any dark corners that might have made the sound. His search came up clean.

"What is it with you...?" Akito wondered, pressing down on the floorboard again. It screeched dutifully in response but otherwise offered no explanation. Tired of trying to psychoanalyze a floorboard, Akito brought his mind back to a more pressing issue. That of his dream. In it, the female figure had been singing a song that he knew to be strikingly familiar; in a de je vu type way. It was nothing he could remember off the top of his head, but knew that it had some sort of connection to his past. Perhaps his childhood. He wasn't sure but he had a pretty good idea that Kureno might know, having grown up alongside him and being a fair few years older. Akito had just resolved to go and see him, when his thoughts were once again interrupted, but this time from the sound of a distressed call for help from downstairs. And this one Akito could place: It was Shigure.

SCENE CHANGE

Shigure had carried Ayame all the way from the back road and up the front few steps of the Main House before the other man began to stir. The whole while the author had been cursing near to everything that could have imposed such a horror; the dead weight of his lovers body making him want to scream with every step. But he had pushed on, regardless of the many times he had wanted to sink to the ground in defeat. Everything will be all right, he kept repeating to himself, forcing his terrified mind to believe it. The Family Elders are old and wise; they'll understand what to do. They will! And they'll fix him and everything will be all right. Just do your part and get Ayame there!

"Just hang in there..." He whispered, hoping that Ayame was listening as he carried him up the steps. The tailors' body began to twitch and his heard jerked spastically to one side, bloodied foam leaking from the corner of his mouth. Shigure whimpered as he stumbled on the old boards and nearly launched himself through the doors. He managed to regain his footing in the nick of time and looked down at the man in his arms to register his condition. Ayame blinked like a child awakening and glared up at him balefully, with his milk white-eyes. It looked very much like cataracts had stolen his sight, though it was clear that he could see Shigure perfectly.

His eyes seemed to glow with a malevolent light.

"Um... hi." Shigure said, not really thinking on the words that were coming out of his mouth. "Look, I've almost got you to Main House Aya, and as soon as I talk to some of the folks inside I'm sure it'll be clear sailing. So why not just sit still and take it easy until then, okay?"

Ayame was not interested in his advice.

With one sinewy movement of his body, he bucked from Shigure's grasp, slithering from his hands like Jell-O. The dramatic shift in weight caused the inu to stumble forward and he rammed over Ayame's body, sending the both of them sprawling within the Entrance Room of the Main House. One of the servants who had been lighting candles near the doorway, screamed as they barreled through almost tipping her up. As it was, wax from the candle leapt spitting up through the air and landed on Shigure's arm, sudden and scorching. He cried out at the sharp pain and then desperately pushed it aside, when he saw Ayame desperately attempting to crawl away. The action was bizarre, for it seemed as if Ayame was completely unaware that he could make use of his arms. They flapped uselessly by his side as he bucked his body back and forth as though trying to maneuver with his hips. Shigure had little trouble subduing him. He simply threw himself over his back and braced him down hard against the floor. It likened to the play fighting they had engaged in only the night before and for once Shigure was glad that he was the one who more often then not won these games. Ayame writhed beneath him, gurgling incoherently as he tried to squirm free. His jaw made a clicking noise as he gnashed his teeth together, attempting to turn his face around to bite Shigure. The novelist held firm, hating how much force he had to exert just to hold his lover down. This day was not meant to be like this!

"Don't just stand there, GET HELP!" He screamed at the stunned looking girl. She stammered a reply and quickly abandoned her task to aid in his own, scuffling away as fast as her feet could carry her. "Hurry!" Shigure urged, then continued to call from help in case someone was close at hand. "SOMEBODY!! HELP US!! HELP US SOMEBODY!! HELP US!!"

There was no immediate reply and Ayame was growing impatient. He no longer lashed beneath Shigure like a whip, but rather remained eerily quiet with an angry look on his face. Only then did Shigure detect the threatening hiss that emitted from Ayame's barely parted lips. The forked tongue snaked out as if tasting the air, then swept back within never halting the steady never ceasing hiss. Shigure felt his whole body shiver.

"Ayame, listen to me..." He whispered gently, gripping the base of the silver haired mans arm to prevent him from using it if he thought to. "You've got to hear me... Listen, I don't want you to hurt anyone okay? Me least of all... Do you hear me? Ayame, I'm your boyfriend... I... I care about you. I don't want to see you like this. So please..."

There was some sort of reaction, though barely obvious to one who wasn't cursed like he. For a moment, Ayame's angry expression laxed, as if the cords that contorted his expression had been released. The hissing subsided and his body was not as stiff as it was before. The angry light in his eyes seemed to fade. Though there was not nearly enough time for the words to take effect fully, because it was then that the servant girl reappeared with Arata, the mar de camp of the Family Elders. She was a tall, middle aged woman with a pale face, scrupulous expression and long brown hair pulled atop her head in a tight bun. Her red robes were decorated with black vines and small Asian dragons.

"Sohma Shigure." She stated, her tone containing an obvious trace of disapproval. "And what dire circumstances might I ask would force the great novelist to return to us? Slumming it are we? Should we be graced at your presence? Would you like for me to bow?"

"Maybe later." Shigure grunted as Ayame gave a wild buck beneath him. "I'm here on behalf of Master Ayame, who as you can see, is not in the best of ways."

Arata snorted indifferently. "Of what insanity grips that snake has little of no importance to us here within the House of Sohma. Those are his personal issues to deal with, not ours." She made a prim gesture with her hand as if suggesting that Shigure and Ayame run along. The inu barked angrily at her and was about to make an objection when the servant girl beat him to it.

"Please Mrs. Arata, but there is a plausible reason for Master Shigure and Ayame to be here!" She said softly, bowing even as she spoke. "They came careening in her like bats from Hell and the sna- I mean, Master Ayame writhed as though O'yama himself ravaged him from within! I dare say it is too horrible to even stand the sight of being this close to him! I beg leave!"

"Stay where you are!" Arata snapped, kneeling down beside Shigure and pulling back her kimono sleeve. The girl gave a muffled cry and turned away, face buried against her hands. Arata ignored her distress and locked her eyes on Shigure's sweat beaded face. "I want you to lift his face up so that I can look for myself and see whether or not we can be of any assistance to you. Depending on my assessment, I may or may not ask you to leave the vicinity. But that will depend on the circumstances of the snakes state."

Shigure snarled at her, hating the disrespect Ayame had to endure within the Sohma House simply because he was cursed by the snake. But he sided with his better judgement which said that defending Ayame's honour was not as important as restoring Ayame himself. Therefore he merely did as he was told and, using one hand to wrench Ayame's hair up, exposed his face to Arata. The elder woman examined him with horrified clarity dawning on her face. Clarity, but not downright fear. This surprised Shigure, who had half been expecting her to jump up and run screaming from the room. Ayame's mouth opened wide and he lunged forward, dragging himself impossibly across the floor towards the Family Elder. A hissing cry erupted from his mouth and a clear foul substance dripped from the long teeth that had grown from his upper jaw. Arata moved away slowly, her eyes never straying from Ayame's, but she didn't turn and flee either. She moved as if she knew exactly what to do. Shigure was amazed. And suspicious.

"You know what this is, don't you?" He asked, his voice cold. When she didn't answer, he grew angry. "YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS, DON'T YOU?!!"

Ayame screeched in rage at the sound of his raised voice and propelled himself again at Arata, bringing Shigure with him. The inu had to use all his strength to pin him to the floor once more. He grunted with the effort of holding him immobile.

"Oh please... beg thee do I that this evil will not avail me..." The servant girl moaned, who despite her fear had turned to see. Her hands were clasped over her face, her eyes peering out over the peaked surface. "Mrs. Arata... tell me what must be done! I will obey if it means we can drive this fiend out!"

"That's my boyfriend you're calling a fiend there, love." Shigure grumbled, forcing weight down through his chest as Ayame tried to attack Arata again. "Dammit, would you just sit still already!!?"

"Takako... I need you to fetch me Susumu and Nobu." Arata said grimly, standing up and gazing down at the mad eyed thing that had once been Ayame. "Tell Susumu to bring the supplies necessary for an eviction. Quit your blubbering and make it fast, dammit!!"

The girl, Takako uttered a squeak of apology and raced away to carry through with the request. Suddenly, the main doors swung open and Hatori entered with Kureno hurrying close behind him. Both stared down at the two men hunched on the floor, then looked to Arata for answers.

"I heard screaming..." Hatori said as way of explanation. He set his medical bag down at his feet and took a step towards his two friends. "So what's the big emergency? Is there anything I can do to- HEY!!"

In the blink of an eye, Ayame had slithered away from Arata and propelled himself into Hatori, sinking his teeth into his leg. Shigure yelled in shock, trying to wrench his lover free of the doctor, whom was screaming obscene language that he would normally never think to use. Ayame was grinning maniacally, fingernails stabbed into the skin of Hatori's ankle as he chewed his way through the fabric of the pant leg. Blood started oozing from the abused limb, splattering against the floor.

"Fuck the Buddha!!" Kureno cursed, leaping around the doctors flailing form and coming up beside Ayame. Without a moment's hesitation, he wrenched the metal candleholder from the floor and slammed the base down roughly against the side of Ayame's face, wresting his mouth free. A primal hiss of pain tore from the snakes mouth as he was knocked aside, falling to the floor with Shigure sprawled atop him, helplessly trying to pin him down. Kureno dropped candleholder and quickly threw himself over Ayame's wriggling form, helping Shigure restrain him. The inu gasped wearily as he looked at the rooster's bruised face, thinking strangely enough how odd it was that both of them had been involved in two major events already that day. And Hatori too.

"You could have killed him with that!" He growled, wishing that he had something better to say to the man who had just prevented Hatori's leg from being gnawed off. But Kureno didn't seem to really care about what he had just done. He sniffed as he shoved Ayame's hand forcibly into the small of his back, resisting the urge to break his wrist. It was a reflex thing really.

"Please, I didn't exert nearly enough force to kill him, nor hit him in the critical space of the skull. Being the temple." He added smarily, shoving Ayame's arm down again to cease his wriggling. The snake hissed once in pain and seemed to decide that staying still was possibly the best choice for the while. "You'd prefer if he'd had the chance to take a chunk out of our dear Hari's leg? For now, your inability to contain him has led to your friends poisoning."

"Jesus..."

The slurred groan came from Hatori himself, who was leaning against the wall as he raised the hem of his trouser leg to examine the wound. The bite was ragged, oozing blood from the puncture marks, which, due to the chewing action, were many. Sweat was streaming down the doctors' face and his eyebrows were creased in pain.

"He bit me... I don't believe it... He damn well bit me!!" Hatori groaned, popping open his surgical bag and rummaging through it. He came across a rolled bandage and quickly unraveled it, winding it around his leg just above the bite mark to slow the venom's progression through his body. "Shigure, would you mind telling me what the Hell's going on? ... Dear God... that's almost unbearable..."

Kureno turned his head towards Arata and nodded once at her. "Take Hatori back to the Examination room and administer the anti-venom. If all goes well, he will be able bodied once more by the evening. I will need the supplies brought to me before I am to proceed with the Eviction. I was uninformed of the situation when I arrived here, as you can see."

"I sent Takako out looking for you." Arata explained as she leant to help Hatori to his feet. He winced and clutched at his leg, swaying as he was pulled upright. "She may return with Nobu and if so send him for the supplies, if I am not back in time. Until then, keep him subdued as best you can."

"No." Kureno said sarcastically. "I thought I'd let him go for a little wander around the compound while we waited."

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of humor." Arata sniffed as she dragged a limping Hatori out the door. Once they were out of sight, Shigure turned his attention to Kureno, astonished and angry all rolled into one.

"Something I missed?" He snarled, ever so politely. "My boyfriend is here, going through I don't know what and you are talking with the Family Elder's like you're one of them... Hatori gets bitten by Aya and poisoned... I don't even know where to begin!"

"Then let me help you..." Kureno grumbled, driving his elbow deep into Ayame's spine and leaning his weight on it. "The reason I talk with the Family Elder's like I'm one of them, is because I am one of them. I'm the son of Nori; one of the Elders's who stores the record of all people whose memories have been erased. I was born not Kureno, but Susumu which is the name that the other Elder's address me by."

"But the Elder's are so old! Hence being elder..." Shigure rationalized, with a perturbed expression on his face. "And you, well you're my age! Younger by a year!"

"If I was given a choice, which I wasn't, I wouldn't be an elder at all." The rooster explained with a brief roll of his eyes. He obviously detested the position. "And the reason I could hit Ayame the way I did and know I wouldn't hurt him, is because I was trained in ninjitsu for many years. I know the limitations of my strength."

"Ninjitsu?" Shigure was intrigued. "Never would have guessed that!"

"You wouldn't. I'm quite exceptional at hiding things." Kureno said sullenly. His dark brown eyes turned to focus on Shigure and his face was grim. "Now... I must be honest with you. Arata and I are well aware of what has happened to Ayame and we can fix this, for lack of a better word. We are about to perform an age old Shinto Ritual called 'The Eviction.' It's like an exorcism, though not in the sense that you might know. You see, Ayame has not been possessed by another spirit; what has happened is that the spirit within was brought forth into dominance by the hand of another soul. What we are witnessing is the Evil Spirit that has cursed him, that of the snake, taking over."

"The Evil Spirit...?" Shigure asked, feeling a chill race up his spine. "You mean...?"

"Yes. Just as the dog curses you and the rooster curses I, only in Ayame's case something has occurred that for generations has been kept under control. What reigns in the Evil Spirits in our bodies and keeps them from gaining dominance over our own souls, has lapsed. Something has happened, that shouldn't have. Something has gone wrong. Because this is not supposed to happen." He pointed to Ayame, as if Shigure couldn't guess just what 'this' was. "I can't say what, because I honestly don't know. But it does have everything to do with Akito."

"What has everything to do with Akito?" A sharp voice asked from the stairwell. Both men looked up to see none other then Akito himself walking down slowly towards them. He gazed at them apprehensively as he reached ground level and then paused to take in the situation. After a minute of this silent assessment, his eyes fell to Ayame whom was nearly invisible beneath the bodies of them both. "When I heard screaming, I assumed it was someone calling for help. I had no idea it was anything to this nature." He cocked an eyebrow to express his opinion on what was happening. "What, might I ask, are you doing to the snake?"

Ayame hissed fretfully at the sight of the family master and all his efforts now went into trying to crawl away. Kureno and Shigure dug their heels into the floor, pushing down on him with all their might to prevent his escape. Akito watched without so much as a change in expression.

"Well... while I find this amusing, I'm afraid I have other things to attend to. Kureno." He said sharply, causing the roosters' head to jerk up to attention. "I must speak with you. When you're done playing with Shigure and his squeak toy, would you mind terribly meeting me upstairs?"

Shigure was about to say something he knew he'd regret in regard to the squeak toy comment, when he came to a disturbing realization. Akito addressed him as Kureno. Was he simply doing it because of Shigure being there, or was it because he had no idea that Kureno was actually Susumu, a Family Elder? If so, then there were many more secrets within the House of Sohma that even he, the Family Master was not privy to. Why he found this a surprise he could not say, only that it sent a bad feeling washing through him. Bad was the evil you knew, but even worse was the evil you didn't know. Kureno seemed to have some idea as to Shigure's though process and lowered his head so he could whisper to him without Akito hearing.

"Though I am Susumu, my main role in this family is as Kureno; personal servant to Akito. That is as it's always been. Akito does not know about my being a Family Elder and it would be best if you did not stir his suspicions." Following this, he raised his head, the movement looking as though he had simply straightened up out of a bow. "It is good to hear your voice again, sir. Might I draw your attention to the fact that Ayame is not the victim of Shigure's ravishment's or mine. Rather, he is the victim of the Evil Spirit gaining control over him. The Family Elder's are returning soon to perform 'The Eviction.'"

Akito cocked his head to one side, his expression curious. He looked down at Ayame's foam flecked face and curled his lip.

"'The... Eviction..." He stated, clearly having no idea as to what Kureno was speaking of. "The snake... is the dominant personality then?"

Without so much as a flicker of fear in his eyes, the young master hobbled closer, placing his cane to the side as he knelt down so he could get a closer look at the tailor. Ayame squirmed in Kureno and Shigure's hold; mouth opened wide to hiss reproachfully at Akito whose face continued to get closer and closer. Shigure fidgeted, not certain that this exactly was the brightest move on Akito's behalf. After seeing what Ayame had done to Hatori, who had been one of his closest friends, he could only imagine what it would do to the man who had whipped his brother and caused him so much upset in the past.

But Ayame made no such move to strike. His head swayed from side to side, hissing all the while as though warning Akito from gaining any ground. But the Family Master seemed enamoured. He followed the snake's movements with his own head, eyes locked on the sallow white orbs that had sickened Shigure to the stomach to look into. Moving slowly, so as to not frighten him, Akito reached his hand out and rested it on the front of Ayame's face, fingers pushed upwards through his bangs. The snake made a harsh noise and then, inexplicably began to coo softly, laying it's head against the floor in submission as it looked up at Akito with nary an inch of malice in it's eyes. The young man relinquished his touch, seating himself on the floor next to the three older men and casually examined his sleeves.

"You should leave him this way. He's not as much trouble." He said, with a small sort of smile.

Shigure regarded him with amazement. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Calm him down. We've been holding him here for the last ten minutes."

"He has been kicking up quite a fuss." Kureno agreed, standing up and brushing his clothes off. He seemed amused that Ayame had been reduced to a subservient wreck and seated himself beside Akito, bowing even as he did. "I was just asking Shigure, Master Akito. Asking him why he thinks this may have happened to his friend Ayame. Why now? He never got time to explain to me the answer."

Akito glanced over at Shigure. "How did this happen?"

Shigure was stumped. In a way, Kureno was almost as manipulative as he was. Without exerting his own will, he had managed to nudge Akito towards asking himself. Why he was not sure, but perhaps it was to give some information or even to stay around a bit longer. Whatever his motive it had worked.

Shigure explained what had happened on the road back from the Picnic area. The whole while, Kureno and Akito didn't make a movement between them; neither jumping to interrupt him or deny his explanation. Finally, when he had finished Akito seemed to be pondering on something. Shigure could tell, because his head was angled down and his eyes in turn were hidden beneath his long bangs. A habit he had developed as a child when he wanted to close off his thoughts to the rest of the world. Because in Akito's case, his eyes were the main tellers behind his every intention and they were the most likely thing to give him away.

"... It would appear...that there is some element of truth behind those rumors of the Old Road..." He said at last, his voice so soft that Shigure had to lean close to hear it. "For once the gossip whores of the Sohma household were correct in their second grade opinions."

"It would seem so, sir." Kureno said obligingly with a little nod of his head.

"And you say that you could not see these apparitions that the snake spoke of?" Akito asked, putting his accent on the word 'apparitions'. It sounded as though he were mocking the belief in such things, but Shigure could sense something else to it. Something more then that. His nose told him nothing and he couldn't read Akito's eyes for they remained hidden; but he could have sworn that he heard fear beneath the immaculate voice.

He nodded in response. "No. But something was definitely there. Whatever it was hit the car and the kind of fear that came off of Ayame, it was a fear beyond anything that the mind may have been able to conjure."

"And just how do you know that?" The Master asked and this time, there was disbelief in his voice. Shigure regarded him from the corner of his eye.

"Fear stinks." He said. "Ayame was reeking from a smell even more pungent then that of fear. Terror. I've never smelt terror before, because I've never known anyone to be that frightened. Whatever he saw got inside of him and did something. I mean look at him!!" Ayame nibbled his hand in response. "He's calm right now, but he was thrashing before! He bit Hatori, would have gnawed his damn leg off if it hadn't been for Kureno!"

"Well... isn't it lucky that Kureno knew what to do..." Akito hissed and as his eyes settled on the rooster, Shigure thought the sound was so much more dangerous then Ayame's had been moments before.

"He whom the gods love!" Three voices called in chorus. Shigure and Kureno looked up to see Arata, Nobu and Sho traipse back through the front door. Sho was the teacher of rituals and etiquette concerning the Sohma clan and her presence was required at a moment like this, when the procedure had only ever been performed generations before hand. Nobu worked side by side with Arata and he was one of the Eldest Family members at sixty-three. He'd seen through Tamiko's reign before Akito and even through her father's before her. He warranted a lot of respect within the clan, though of course not nearly to the degree that Akito, as family master did.

All three Elders bowed their heads to Akito, the gesture following the official spoken greeting. It was an old tradition and not anyone else from the family bothered to integrate it into their conversations with Akito, but the Elder's found it proper.

Akito, not even turning to look at them, answered with the correct response. "Blessed be the faithful." He grumbled, sounding all too much like an impatient child reciting lines.

"I was just on the verge of calling for you." Arata said, placing the supplies for The Eviction ceremony on the ground before Ayame. "This man has been taken under control by the evil spirit."

"As these two inform me." Akito murmured, grasping a hold of his cane and using it to push himself to his feet. He gave a whimsical sigh and raked a hand through the back of his hair, allowing the longer strands to drift sensually across the length of his neck. "And the only reason I was present here at all, is because it amused me for some time. But I'm afraid now the interest has faded. Therefore, I part company with you now."

Sho stammered and raised herself up on one knee. "Sir! It is imperative that you are present for the ritual! You know this. You have been taught it."

"I care not for lessons. You know this. I have taught you." Akito responded his voice husky. This was a dangerous sign Shigure knew and his whole body went rigid. After seeing the Family Master's attack on Kureno this morning, he did not fancy to see it demonstrated again. Especially not on a woman. If this were to occur he knew he would have to put a stop to it, and that would not help his position in the eyes of Akito Sohma at all. He'd already shamed himself twice doing so.

Sho seemed to back down a little at this but Arata was not so easily intimidated. She dared to stand up and actually approach the master, coming to a stop just a few feet from his turned back. Her eyes were hard.

"Akito..." She said softly, non-threateningly. "We know that you care not for the knowledge we have tried to instill in you. But that does not mean you are free to ignore your responsibilities as Family Master. The man before you is a consequence of your imperfection and this may not have occurred, if had correctly followed in the path set for you. Not in the time of your mother did it happen, nor in the time of your Grandfather or even in the time before him. It is our fault for failing to raise you correctly. Our failures are your faults, we accept our sin. But we need you to accept your own and help this man. He is the innocent and the innocent-"

"-are neither good nor bad." Akito droned in distaste and Shigure was certain that this was not the first time he had been asked to repeat this phrase. The young master slowly turned and rather then the mask of anger that Shigure had been expecting, the expression was characteristically snide as though he meant to humor the will of impetuous children. Perhaps that was exactly how he looked at them all. "What a day it will be... when this family will be able to take responsibility for themselves... wouldn't that be something, Arata? The day when they come to realize that they have more of a clue about what's going on here, then he poor selfish prick they call Family Master? Family Master?!" He snickered and raised his head, face turning deadly serious. "That's the greatest joke of all, isn't it Arata? For if he were truly master, then perhaps his own permission would have been asked for the extraction of his seed rather then the permission of a Family Elder? Is that not so, Arata? I know it was you that he went to all those years ago. And you told him that he could do it. Didn't you?"

"Akito... I'm not sure what you are talking about..." Arata said trying to keep her voice calm. But her actions denied her words, for she was backing away into her kneeling position again. Akito gazed at her expressionlessly for a minute and then shrugged it off. He turned to Shigure with the same dull look.

"It's not enough that I spend every day dying for you, you insist on adding to my workload?" He smirked wryly and waved a hand at the Elder's. "I suppose that this is my curse as well, that I must play wet nurse to you all. Arata, I will attend this little ritual if it suits you. Not because you ordered it however. We won't forget whom it is that rules this family again now will we? Otherwise, I may not be so gentle about my past grudge." His eye narrowed dangerously.

Shigure blew a strand of hair from his face. "I think I liked him better when he was silent."

Next chapter spoiler: The Eviction process takes place, Akito identifies the song and finds out the secret beneath the floorboard. (Sarcastically.) Will the fun never end? R and R if you care, but if you don't, please don't flame. Go eat a box of chocolates and whinge about your non-existent love life or do whatever it is that you flamers do, I dunno. Just don't bother me. I actually spent time and effort writing this stuff and I don't want it shot down like every one of Jo Lo's boyfriends. Get the picture? Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to go eat a box of chocolates.