Nice to Meet You
"Momiji's...aunt?" Hatori said slowly, staring up at her in shock, still reeling from the kiss much less what she was saying.
"That's right. I'm his mother's younger sister, the resemblance is probably pretty obvious unless she's done something extreme to her face. She is messed up enough to get plastic surgery just so that she wouldn't remotely resemble me after all." J.D. said cheerfully, rocking back and forth on her heels with her hands behind her back. "Is she here by the way? I have a really nice knuckle sandwich with her name on it."
"You came here to hit her?" Hatori asked stupidly, not sure what else to say.
"Well that's one of the reasons but the big one is so that I can be near Momiji." J.D. replied with a sunny smile on her face. "I decided to move here since he couldn't very well just drop in on me in Canada whenever he wants to see me. This way he can drop in on me whenever he wants. You can too if you want seeing as we're sorta in the way of being family."
"You're moving to Japan? Nearby?" Hatori demanded to know, already picturing several possible reactions Akito was going to have about all this and not liking any of them. This woman was obviously a touchy feelie type person which meant she was bound to hug Momiji which meant she'd find out about his curse and then...hold on a minute. How did she know about Momiji if Momiji's own mother didn't? And hadn't Momiji and Kisa admitted that they'd gone to North America? Had those two...had they gone to Canada to look this woman up? Dear Lord.
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"You better believe it. I've already bought a store and we're living there until we can find a place big enough for all of us."
"You brought your family with you?" Hatori asked, assuming that she had a husband and kids in tow. She did seem like the type after all. The whole doting husband, pile of kids and a nice house with a white picket fence. Though he had no doubt she wouldn't be your typical mother or wife.
"Well in a manner of speaking. I mean they're like family in the sense that I love them all to pieces but they aren't actually related to me by blood or anything. Trust me if they were maybe my stupid sister wouldn't have grown up to be such a tight laced square." J.D. said with a grimace. "Actually Tanya is my business partner and since she's raising her siblings they came along too. So far they haven't quite decided how they feel about the whole move but they're resilient guys and if they don't like it they can go back. I promised them after all and a promise is a promise no matter what."
"I wasn't aware that Momiji's mother had a sister."
"Well that's not surprising since we don't like to talk about the other." J.D. replied with a good natured shrug even though it was kinda a sore area. "You see I'm kinda the black sheep of my family. My parents and my sister would likely rather admit to being related to Jack the Ripper then me. I on the other hand think that all three of them are stuffy, prissy and downright inhuman the way they pretend not to think or feel anything more then what is proper. And I can't believe I just said that to a total stranger. It must be that gorgeous face of yours. Just something about it makes me think I can spill my guts and not have to worry about you thinking badly of me. I just know you and I are going to be the best of friends. Just you wait and see."
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"And who is this lovely woman, Haa kun?" Came a smooth and faintly amused voice, the two looking over to see Shigure watching them with a both intrigued and interested look on his face as he looked over the woman who looked like Momiji's mother but obviously wasn't. "You look a great deal like Momiji's mother only a great deal prettier. Relation?"
"You're Shigure san, aren't you?" J.D. said in delight, racing over to shake his hand, a beaming smile on her face. "Momiji had pictures with him so I could see his family. You're a writer aren't you? I looked everywhere for one of your books back home but I couldn't find any. I'm sure now that I'm in Japan I will though and I can't wait to read your work, I hope you'll give me your autograph when I do. I'm J.D. by the way. I'm so happy to meet you!"
"Well if you can't I'd be happy to get you a copy of your book of choice. As for being happy to meet me I assure you the pleasure is most certainly mine, J.D." Shigure said as he raised her hand to his lips and gallantly placed a kiss on the back of it before letting it go with a charming and rather mischievous smile on his handsome face. So this was where Momiji had gone with Kisa. He couldn't really blame the boy and now it would appear that there was another person being added to the soap opera they called a life. But the question was would she be an asset or a liability? And just how much did she know about what she was going to be getting into?
"Are you going in to see Akito or someone else?" Hatori interrupted, knowing that Shigure wouldn't stop talking and neither would this J.D. either likely if given half the chance.
"Well that was the plan, seeing Akito I mean, but I'd much rather stay out here in this truly beautiful weather and speak to J.D. chan." Shigure replied with a downright rakish smile on his face now as he surveyed the lovely lady before him. "After all she is family and she does need someone to show her around this place. You aren't one for tours now are you, Haa kun?"
"Akito didn't know she was coming."
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"Oh dear, well then this will be a lovely surprise now won't it?" Shigure said though there was a look in his eyes that said Akito was likely going to think it was nowhere close to being a lovely surprise at all.
"It's okay, I know he's liable to throw me out or try to kick my butt. And I know he's probably going to order you to erase my memories too, Hatori kun but there's really no need to worry." J.D. quietly said, well able to see the hidden messages going between the two. She knew there was a third that made up the group, she was certainly looking forward to meeting Ayame which she certainly intended to do. "Eventually he'll clue in that I'm not going anywhere and let me see Momiji. Once he gets to know me I'm sure he'll realize that I'm a trustworthy and honorable person. Hopefully. If not we're going to spend the next fifty years or so bumping heads."
"Perhaps. So tell me, what does J.D. stand for if you don't mind me asking." Shigure asked smoothly, icing over the subject for now as he turned it away from talk about the head of his house. It was going to be very difficult to say the least to convince Akito to allow this woman into their world. He doubted anyone could pull it off even if they all begged the little bastard on Momiji's behalf.
"Not at all. It stands for Justine Delia Schwarz, but I don't answer to that. Ever." J.D. said with a wink. "The only people that call me Justine are my parents and half the time I don't even respond to it for them."
"Then I will certainly make sure to refer to you always as J.D." Shigure said with a gallant bow. "Anyway I'll head on in and see what sort of mood our head of house is in. If he's in a good one I'll come and kind you both? Where about will you be? To find Momiji?"
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"He's out with Kisa and her mother. He offered to help them with their shopping." Hatori replied, not at all sure what he was supposed to do with Momiji's aunt. He had errands to do and he didn't have time to waste standing around, entertaining the woman.
"Uhmm..if it's a bother I can come back later." J.D. said hesitantly, getting the feeling that she wasn't exactly wanted and taking the hint. She'd imagine doctors were very busy people with little time to waste, not to mention the fact that Momiji had said that Hatori took care of pretty much everyone in the family. "I really don't mind."
"Of course you're no bother." Shigure rushed to assure since knowing Hatori that man would be too dense to think to do it. "And if Hatori is too busy then he can go quickly check on Akito and I'll show you around in the mean time."
"I wouldn't advise visiting him today. He was up most of the night and he's likely not going to feel particularly sociable. He's sleeping right now." Came a quiet voice and everyone looked over to see a pale man walk forward, looking to be around the same age as Hatori and Shigure. "I heard that you were going out, Hatori san. I was wondering if you..would mind getting me some things." The man asked quietly as he drew a sheet of paper from his pocket along with some money. "If it isn't too much trouble."
"It would be no problem, Kueno." Hatori said as he walked over to take the money from his cousin, not at all surprised that he was staying as far away from them as possible while not looking like it. People made Kueno nervous, especially as he never got time to spend time with anyone other then his family. "This is J.D., if you could forget to mention to Akito that you saw her...?"
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"No problem." Was his reply as he looked over at J.D. thoughtfully before bowing low. With his errand done he quickly made his way back into the house and headed back to watch over Akito until his master awoke.
"Who was that?" J.D. wanted to know. His face wasn't familiar but she was pretty sure that she'd heard that name before. Was he a member of the zodiac too? As she recalled Momiji hadn't had pictures of the rooster, Akito, the horse or the monkey when he'd come to visit.
"That's our cousin, Kueno. I hope you'll forgive him for not coming over to talk but he's not supposed to stray too far from Akito's sight. You could say he's Akito's personal bodyguard slash servant." Shigure said with a rueful look. However bad some of them had it he doubted very much that the suffering they received at Akito's hands could compare to what Kueno lived with every day.
"The rooster, right?"
"Ah, so you do know about the zodiac then." Shigure said with a raised eyebrow although he wasn't really all that surprised. Momiji would have been hard pressed to find a plausible excuse, especially if he'd gone looking for acceptance from a member of his mother's family. If this woman was anything like Momiji, as she appeared to be, then it would be impossible not to find out.
"Yes, Momiji explain it all to me. He kinda had to since I'm a very touchy feelie person plus I've got eighteen years of hugs and kisses and cuddles to make up for." J.D. said with a smile, hoping that she'd done the right thing by admitting that she knew about them. She didn't see how she could pretend not to. "You're the dog and Hatori kun is the dragon, right?"
"In a matter of speaking. Right, Haa kun?" Shigure said as he grinned at a not amused Hatori who was more then a little sensitive about the fact that he turned into a sea horse as oppose to a fierce, fire breathing, dragon.
"You should be careful, Shigure or you might find yourself chained to your editor's desk wearing one of Ayame's costumes." Hatori said coldly before looking over at J.D., still not sure what they were going to do with her. Somehow he couldn't see leaving her with Shigure as being a good idea. At all. "Does Momiji have your phone number? I can have him call you when it's a good idea to approach Akito if you wish."
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"Yup yup." J.D. said with a beaming grin as she nodded her head before going serious for a moment. "And I'm sorry to put you guys out like this. I'm sure I'm going to be causing you guys problems in the future without meaning to. I know that he hasn't taken kindly to outsiders who've tried to be close to any member of your circle."
"Don't worry about that. A little shaking up is always good for this family. We're always looking for new members, especially for those of us who are a little different from the common man." Shigure said with a wink as he looked over at Hatori and wondered how his friend was going to handle this one. Hatori was very protective of Momiji and no one knew better then Hatori what could happen to people who loved the members of the zodiac. And how much it hurt to blame yourself for Akito's doings. Was this woman strong enough to bear the weight she planned on undertaking though? Would she take Kana's road or Tohru's? Time will only tell, Shigure thought philosophically.
"I really am tougher then I look. I know what it's like to live under a controlling hand and how hard it is to break free from that hand, especially when you know that breaking the rules could bring that hand down on you." J.D. said softly, thinking of her cold and ridged parents, both living in their world and overlooking anything that didn't fit into their narrow views. "I also know what it feels like to feel unwanted by the people that should want you the most. I can't replace my sister or brother in law for Momiji but I can let him know that someone related to him through only blood and not the curse can and does love him. Someone who can't begin to understand what he's going through but wants to more then anything. Am I making any sense to you guys?"
"A great amount in fact." Hatori said softly though his eyes were a little less weary. Maybe, just maybe she would interrupt their lives in a good way. Akito was allowing Tohru to stay within their midst, perhaps the same leniency would apply to Momiji's aunt.
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Eyes opening slowly Akito lay under his covers for a moment, pondering the most unusual dream that he'd just had. As his dreams were often wrought with nightmares of death and pain he rarely dwelled upon them willingly but this one was different. It had seemed more like a vision though and it had taken the strange twist in that in this one he survived. Always in his nightmares he died, usually wasting away or meeting some violent end thanks to a member of his family that he'd done wrong. He wasn't stupid after all, he knew how they hated him. He knew they only pretended to care, to understand what his life was like. They were just like vultures, waiting for him to die so that they could fly away free while he was left to bear the sins of their family on his young shoulders in hell. But he would keep them close until that day and continue to lash out at them until his dying breath. Because he hated them too. He hated everyone and everything in this hateful, nauseating hell they called his world. Because they were different from him. Because though they were cursed like him there was one major difference. They had a future. He'd been born dying with his first breath. His pale hands curling into fists Akito slowly sat up, aware of his older cousin in the room, silently sitting off in a corner without a word. Looking over in Kueno's direction with narrowed eyes Akito wondered what the man was thinking. Over thirty and he'd never even been on a date. Never had a life and that's exactly what he deserves, Akito thought with a slight sneer. At least he would have a life eventually, at least he could leave this cage that was the Shoma house. Getting furious just thinking about it Akito took a calming breath. "Where's Hatori? Bring him to me."
"He was going off to do errand when you went to sleep, Akito san. I doubt he's returned yet." Kueno said respectfully, his head slightly bowed in a submission he knew would please the head of his house. Akito was often at his worst when he'd just woken up, especially from a nap.
"And why didn't he get a servant to do his errands for him." Akito demanded to know, his rage shifting to another target. "What if I needed him? What if I was dying right this minute while he was off picking up some cigarettes and whatever else it is he went to get? Or maybe that's why he's been going out so much lately. He doesn't want to be around when my time comes because then he'd have to make an effort to save my life on the slight chance I lived."
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"His assistant is away on maternity leave. She hasn't been replaced yet so he has no one to send on errands of a medical nature."
"Did I say I was looking for your opinion." Akito snarled, pleased when Kueno simply shook his head and replied that no, he hadn't asked. How weak and pathetic. Not sure what he wanted to do now that he was awake Akito looked away from his cousin to ponder. He didn't want to go outside, there might be people out there that would stop and look at him, gawk really. The mysterious head of the house, the poor sickly boy who was going to die soon, Akito thought with hatred for them in his eyes. Hating the idea of their pity and sympathy, the simple minded fools no way near intelligent enough to even grasp what kind of world he lived in.. People who went about their lives merrily never realizing what a gift that ability was. To have no sense of one's mortality, to think you'll live forever. He'd been told of his impending death since he could walk and there was never any hope. Never any chance that things could be different. No, he didn't want to be around people who were his underlings but had the things he wanted most but could never have. He had no friends to see or talk to, he had no school work to occupy his time. There wasn't a book in his room he hadn't read or anything else that interested him. He might as well go back to sleep, Akito decided as he lay make in his bed, closing his eyes as he settled under his covers. After all it wasn't like there was anything else to do. And perhaps, just maybe, he might continue the dream he'd been having before he'd woken up. Of a girl with long black hair who'd pulled him out of the void of darkness he lived in.