Chapter 3: Burning Heat
Kyo Sohma looked around, surveying his surroundings. A mall, packed with people, smiling, laughing, having fun. People coming in and out of shops, buying and buying and buying. He hated them all. 'Stupid, ignorant people," he muttered to himself. Actually, it wasn't just these people that he hated. It was everyone. Even himself. Everyone was so naïve about what was going on around them; all they cared about was themselves and their own private lives. They thought that everyone was good in some way; everyone cared about the world and other people. Well, no one had ever tried to murder them, especially not the only person they ever cared about.
What was he doing in that mall, anyway? He honestly didn't know. He just seemed to wander around these days, with no purpose whatsoever. Did he come here to marvel at the stupidity of the human race? Or, perhaps, to make one of his sad attempts to rejoin them? No. Whatever he thought of just wasn't the answer, and this seemed to make him angrier and angrier.
He stopped dead in his tracks. He had come to an old, dirty, video arcade, located in the center of the mall. This wouldn't usually have aroused his interest, if it weren't for the machine in the window of the mall- a DDR machine. That machine was the cause of all his pain, his suffering. It had sucked out any trace of sanity inside him; it had caused him to become… a killer, a menace to society. His anger began to swell up inside him once again. He swore that he would try to stop the madness that consumed him; he would try to end the suffering of others and to himself. But he just needed relief!
Half disgusted with himself, half filled with ecstasy, he took the cigarette lighter from his pocket. He looked ever so casual (except for the fact that he was dressed in all black and had most of his face covered) as he stood outside of the doorway and lit a cigarette. He leaned against the wall, and to other people, he was just an ordinary passerby, stopping to have a quick smoke. He took only a single puff before tossing the cigarette inside of the arcade, as well as a small, glass bottle of lighter fluid.
He was already long gone when he began to hear the screams, the cries of, "fire!" and the parents searching for their children. He almost pitied the ones in the back of the arcade, who most likely would not be able to escape in time. He smiled to himself. It was a job well done. Just the relief he had been looking for…
As Tohru's son, Tai Sohma, stepped into the room, she did not know what to think. It seemed like she was supposed to be thrilled to see him, and he would be dying to see her, and they would have some kind of a mushy-gushy mother/son reunion. But the truth was, she didn't feel like rushing up and hugging him. She hadn't seen him since the day she gave birth to him; if he had not been introduced to her, she wouldn't have even recognized him. And he had never seen her before in his life, or at least since he was a tiny infant. So instead of embracing each other, or exchanging loving words, they simply stared at each other, unaware of what they should do next. Dr. Sherman and her volunteers watched them eagerly, as if they were looking at animals in a zoo. However, when they noticed the awkward silence, Dr. Sherman said,
"Um… I'll leave you two alone for a bit, okay?" And they hurriedly left, not expecting a reply. They looked at each other for a minute longer, until thankfully, Tohru's son broke the silence.
"So… you're my real mother?" He said, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.
"I suppose I am," said Tohru, eyeing her son for any resemblance of herself or… his father. "It's been so long… does everyone call you Tai, now?"
"Yes, they do," He said, not yet knowing what to think of Tohru, "so… my mom… I mean, the lady who's been taking care of me… she's one of your friends?"
"Yes… a very dear friend… has she taken good care of you?"
"Yeah, just like a mother…" Tohru sensed bitterness in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Tai. Things just… worked out this way. I really didn't mean to hurt you, I'm so sorry…" She trailed off. She felt as if she were going to cry. Tai did not answer her apologies. He was silent for a moment. Then, he asked a question that he had wanted the answer to for days, and it had never been given to him.
"So… if you're my mother… then, who's my father?" Tohru paused, as if she were fighting the urge to cry, or scream, or something.
"Your father…" She said, her voice wavering, "Your father was a very good man…"
"Was?"
"Yes, was… you see…" she continued regretfully, "your father… he is dead."
"Dead? How?" Tai said, sounding sad, disappointed, and concerned all at once.
"I can't tell you that!" She cried, finally giving in and lashing out. She then realized that she had yelled at her son, and said, "I mean, I'm sorry, but that's just not something I can tell you right now…"
"Well then, who was he?" Demanded Tai, becoming aggravated at her for not answering him.
"I can't tell you that, either!" She replied, once again raising her voice.
"Why not?" Tai yelled back.
That's when Dr. Sherman burst into the room, having heard raised voices.
"Okay, I think this visit has gone long enough," she said in a falsely cheerful tone, "Tai, I'll escort you back to your family, now…"
"They're not my family!" Tai cried, almost in tears, "I don't even know who my real family is!" He then gave Tohru a dark look. Tohru could only silently tell him she was sorry. She wished that she could tell him everything, about the white room, about how his father had died, about who he was… but she could barely admit those things to herself, much less to another person.
When the two of them had left the room, and were far enough away, she turned on the news again. She grabbed a large piece of her birthday cake, and began to stuff herself as she watched the reporter on the screen. She was only half paying attention, with her thoughts of all of the events that had just happened, when the reporter said something that made her go cold:
"Top story tonight: A video arcade inside the local mall was burned down. 4 people killed, 6 in critical condition. The fire was caused by a man throwing a cigarette inside of the arcade, as well as a bottle of flammable liquid. He was described to be in his late twenties, around 5"8", with light red hair, wearing all black. We don't have any identifiable pictures of his face, but we warn you, be on the lookout! On to the second story: a man in Florida has claimed to have seen a UFO…"
Tohru tuned the rest out. She knew it was impossible. He was dead; she was sure of it! But maybe… just maybe… could it be Him? Well, if it was Him, she knew one thing: He'd be looking for revenge.