OMG. Updating is such a pain now you guys… I love you all, but still, school is my priority now. I am now currently working on the character designs for the sequel. I assure you that if you like this story, then you will like the sequel so review you guys! Well, before I give away any more of the plot, I give you chapter 13! BTW…. R&R!
Chapter 13- A True Hato is Born
Tsubasha and Shigure rushed to Kyo's room and found a slowly morphing monster. Its hands were covering its face and when Tsubasha and Shigure slowly approached it, it moved its hands suddenly and narrowed its eyes at them in pure malice. It flung a large arm at both of them knocking Shigure to the wall incapacitating him, but missing Tsubasha. She too narrowed her eyes at it and attempted to grab hold of its arm, but the monster wouldn't allow it. When she did grab hold of its arm, it started to toss Tsubasha around frantically, yet she still held on. Finally, the monster clamped its mouth onto Tsubasha's right arm and ripped her flesh into shreds. Tsubasha let go out of surprise, collapsed onto the ground and watched as the monster lapped up the blood on its mouth. Meanwhile, Shigure had awoken and saw the damage to Tsubasha's arm. By that time, the monster had punched a hole into the wall and started its deadly march.
"Tsubasha! Hang on! I'll call an ambulance!" screamed Shigure as he ran towards to the phone.
"Stop!" yelled Tsubasha grabbing onto Shigure's kimono with as much strength as she could.
"What the hell do you mean? You're gonna die!" exclaimed Shigure trying to shake Tsubasha off.
"You've gotta listen to me… trust me Shigure, please," said Tsubasha, almost begging. Shigure stopped in his tracks and bent down to her level and started to cry saying,
"What could be more important now than you being safe? Tell me… what is more important in my life?" questioned Shigure almost playfully. Tsubasha laughed and replied,
"Please, you must call Hitoshi… only she can stop Kyo. I'm quite fine, I've had much worse, but please do this one thing for me." Shigure hesitated and looked at the mess that was once Tsubasha's arm, but then he looked back up at her face, looking deep into her eyes, which were filled with determination.
"However, there is one condition," said Shigure getting up and slowly advancing to the phone. Tsubasha looked a little bit puzzled and asked,
"Ok. Well, what is it?"
"Um… you're gonna have to tell me her phone number, I don't believe I know it," said Shigure laughing nervously. Tsubasha laughed yet again and told it to him. When Shigure did dial the number, he held the receiver up to Tsubasha's ear. Tsubasha waited eagerly until Hitoshi picked up the phone saying,
"Hello?"
"Hitoshi-chan!" exclaimed Tsubasha.
"Sensei! How are you?" yelled Hitoshi with happiness in her voice.
"Listen to me Hitoshi, I want you to come over here at once. Kyo has become insane. Only you can calm him down." There was a period of silence then Hitoshi started to laugh. Tsubasha was very surprised at her reaction, but before she could do anything, Hitoshi started to speak,
"Why do you insist so much sensei? Why… WHY GODDAMN IT!"
"Because you're the only one who can stop him! WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND YOU IDIOT! Why… why don't you?" questioned Tsubasha as she collapsed onto the floor crying. Silence was still present on the phone and then Hitoshi hung up. Shigure slowly put the phone down and sat down beside Tsubasha who was holding up her free hand to her face so that Shigure couldn't see her tears. Shigure gently touched Tsubasha's arm. She lifted her tear drenched face from under her arm and said,
"She's not coming… she won't come."
(Tsubasha's dojo)
Hitoshi had put down the phone and was sitting next to it. Eventually, the tears she had been hiding came forth.
'Even if sensei wasn't lying what can I do to help him? I'm worthless… a worthless piece of trash,' thought Hitoshi curling into a ball.
"You don't give yourself enough credit," echoed a voice all around the room.
"Huh?" questioned Hitoshi as she uncurled from her ball.
"You are the only one the cat will listen too. Please, get yourself up and go to meet him. Go to help him," said the voice. Hitoshi stopped crying and said to herself,
"Although I might be like this, I want to see Kyo. I want to help him. I want to be with him!" exclaimed Hitoshi as she got up and ran towards the door with a smile on her face.
(back at Shigure's house)
It had been about an hour and Tsubasha's arm had now been wrapped with bandages. She was sitting in a corner with absolutely no expression in her face. Her eyes were emotionless, as if she was dead. Shigure could only stand by and watch her deteriorate.
"This family will die. They will all die by that monster's hand," whispered Tsubasha. Shigure's eyes widened with surprise and horror, but Tsubasha wasn't finished,
"And Hitoshi and I will join you."
"That's a load of garbage sensei," said Hitoshi at the doorway. She was covered in sweat and panting, but she was smiling with all of her heart.
"Hitoshi!" exclaimed Tsubasha. She forced herself up and ran to hug Hitoshi who ran towards her as well. They embraced happily, but Tsubasha pulled Hitoshi away and said,
"Kyo needs you, now more than ever, so go make me proud." Hitoshi smiled and ran through the hole that Kyo had made with Tsubasha and Shigure smiling after her.
(Kyo with his ugliness)
"I am all alone," whispered Kyo crunching down on all fours. He looked into a nearby pond and saw the twisted image of what was the true form of the cat monster; turning away, he started to punch a rock opening the wounds that had come from punching the wall. Suddenly, a gentle hand laid itself onto Kyo's gnarly, bloody hands. Kyo stopped and looked up at whom the hand belonged to… it was Hitoshi smiling gently at him. Kyo's eyes widened with sadness at first, but then he grew angry and dug his fingers into Hitoshi's middle and dragged it sharply across creating three deep bleeding cuts. After Hitoshi collapsed, Kyo took the opportunity to run deep into the woods away from Hitoshi. Hitoshi's head flicked up when she realized that Kyo was escaping. Flinching in pain, Hitoshi ran towards Kyo as fast as she could until she finally caught up with him. Kyo looked back and his eyes widened in fear as he increased his pace. Hitoshi was panting, but she increased her pace as well and yelled out to Kyo asking,
"Why are you doing this Kyo?" Kyo then suddenly jumped into the woods so that he could loose Hitoshi. She stopped for a minute and looked around for him until she heard some rustling to her right. She jumped to face it, but winced and gently placed her hand on her stomach and lifted it up. Her hand was covered in a thin layer of blood, like a bright red glove. She stared at the hand but wasn't paying attention to the fist that had come into contact with her face.
"Because no one understands me you whore!" screamed Kyo as he repeatedly punched Hitoshi. Hitoshi could only dodge the punches until she grabbed one of his hands and took the opportunity to kick him in the stomach. As Kyo grabbed his stomach Hitoshi staggered towards him with one hand on her slowly worsening stomach and one hand reaching out towards him saying,
"You don't let people understand you Kyo. You close yourself off and shut yourself down around people, but I understand what you're going through. I have a horrible being inside me as well."
"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BITCH! DOES YOUR FORM SMELL LIKE 30 ROTTING PEOPLE? DOES YOUR FORM LOOK SO DEFORMED AND CROOKED? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!" exclaimed Kyo as he smacked Hitoshi aside. Hitoshi sat up with hair all over her tear-stained face and put her hands up to her face covering it.
"I'm no help to him… nothing to him at all," whispered Hitoshi to herself.
"Then let me help you Kawakami Hitoshi," echoed a voice coming from nowhere.
"Help me? Is it to help Kyo?" questioned Hitoshi to the voice aloud.
"Yes. It is to help him… are you sure you wish for me to help?" questioned the voice cautiously.
"I will do anything… anything to help Kyo," whispered Hitoshi closing her eyes in prayer.
"Very well." There was a blinding light that engulfed Hitoshi's injured body and managed to blind Kyo who was almost a mile away. When the light died down and when Kyo put down his hand, he saw a beautiful woman with pure white wings and long black hair and was put half up and half down, but there were little delicate curls on her head that seemed to be held together by an intricate chinese looking hair piece. Her dress was very simple, a shinobi-like outfit held together by a string rather than a knot and long floating chiffon-like sleeves, but it made her look heavenly. On her chest, there was an intricate tattoo, which was purple like her eyes that seemed to be almost emotionless. She descended down near Kyo almost walking on air and spoke in a perfect voice asking Kyo,
"Please come with me and I will help you."
"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" exclaimed Kyo slapping the figure aside. The figure was now on the ground lying as if she were dead, but she broke the silence by saying,
"Fine little cat. If this is the way you wish to act, then I can act like that as well." She then disappeared. Kyo frantically searched for the woman, but no matter how much he tried to find the woman, he couldn't find any trace of her. Suddenly, he felt a giant surge of wind and when he looked up, the woman was hurtling towards him and getting ready to punch him in the face. Kyo couldn't react quickly enough thus the woman punched Kyo right in the face. Kyo collapsed onto the ground rubbing his face. When he looked up at the woman, he could see that she was going to kill him if he didn't cooperate, yet he got up and tried to punch her back, but the woman took his arm, put it behind his back and kicked him onto his stomach. Kyo plummeted down and gasped for air rapidly while the woman turned him onto his back. She placed her hand onto Kyo's forehead and mumbled some words under her breath with her eyes shut. Then she snapped her eyes open while an electric shock was delivered throughout Kyo's body. Kyo started to scream and howl while twitching and flailing. His eyes were wide with pain and he gave a final shriek until he fell unconscious.
(white noise)
Kyo opened his eyes and frantically got up. He looked around and saw nothing but white. White surrounded him, but he noticed that he wasn't in his true form. He looked at his hands and they were normal; he touched his face and felt no deformities or odd ears. He looked at his hands again and smiled in happiness, but his happiness turned to anger when he saw the woman who had knocked him out walking towards him from the white noise. He started to yell at her saying,
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WALKING TO ME LIKE YOU'RE SOME INNOCENT PERSON? YOU STUPID BITCH! AND WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE WITH HITOSHI? DAMNIT, WHERE IS SHE?"
The woman looked at him sadly and motioned for him to look behind him. Kyo refused until he heard a familiar voice, a voice that he had yearned for, for so long,
"Why don't you look behind you, you baka." Kyo's eyes widened in surprise and he swiveled around to find Hitoshi standing directly behind him. She was dressed in a white tube top and a white short skirt with a light see-through overlay that reached her ankles. Her eyes were as green as ever but even though she was smiling, there were clear tears welling up from her eyes. Kyo looked at her and ran towards her wanting to wrap his arms around her delicate body and embrace her with all the energy he had, but Hitoshi stopped him and looked into his eyes.
"Kyo, I'm here to help you right now," said Hitoshi gently. All of the joy and happiness had left Kyo at that moment. He yelled at her saying,
"CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CAN'T? NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME, I'VE BEEN THROWN OUT OF SOCIETY AND I DON'T BELONG ANYWHERE! YOU CAN'T HELP ME DAMNIT!" Kyo grabbed his head violently and knelt down and started to shake violently with tears. Hitoshi looked at him in pain, but she knelt down beside him and said to him gently,
"Kyo, would you look at my hands?" Kyo lifted his head up puzzled, but he took both of Hitoshi's hand and sat them on his lap looking at them.
"What's so special about them?" asked Kyo seeing nothing unusual. Hitoshi insisted again saying,
"Look harder." This time Kyo tried his hardest. At first he could see nothing but after a while, bloodstains started to appear on her hands. They grew worse and worse until Hitoshi's whole hands were caked in dry ancient blood. Under her fingernails was the substance as well and it didn't stop at her hands. It reached her arms and slowly it was reaching her shoulders. And the smell, the smell was horrible. It smelt like a decaying corpse that had just been ripped apart. Kyo looked at Hitoshi in pure horror as she smiled back at him very sadly.
"You see now? This is the blood of my ancestors. The demon inside me ripped them apart inside out and ate them alive with these hands," said Hitoshi softly as she held up her bloodstained hands to her face.
"These hands… killed so many… they…" Hitoshi couldn't finish her sentence. But she continued anyway.
"Kyo, I might not understand what you're exactly going through, but I do want to be there for you and right now I think you need someone, so please… let me be there for you even though I might not exactly know what you're going through, please accept me," spoke Hitoshi as she placed her bloodstained hand onto Kyo's cheek. Kyo was still in shock from seeing Hitoshi's hands, but now he was even more surprised. They stayed like that for a minute until Kyo looked up at her face and said,
"No, I can't." Hitoshi looked absolutely distraught.
"But I want to be there for you! I want to see you! I want to help you!" exclaimed Hitoshi as Kyo walked away from her. Kyo stopped in his tracks and bit his lip shaking madly.
"You'll only get hurt! Do you understand? I will hit you and you have to see that ugly piece of shit that is my true form!" screamed Kyo with his eyes wide open in fear. Hitoshi looked at the mess that had become Kyo and she closed her eyes and smiled.
"I don't care about that. I want to be there for you, I want to help you. The only way you would hurt me is if you refused to let me get close to you," said Hitoshi looking up sadly. Kyo stopped and looked at Hitoshi who was walking towards him with open arms. She stopped and smiled at him gently. Kyo then turned all of the way around and looked at her, she was still walking towards him but soon, Kyo started to run towards her. Hitoshi stood still and held her arms wide waiting for Kyo. When Kyo finally did reach her, he buried his face into her chest and shook violently with tears. Hitoshi closed her eyes and gently placed her hand on his orange mess of hair and softly asked,
"You just wanted someone to understand you for who were didn't you?" Kyo stopped sobbing and nodded his head still burying his head in Hitoshi's chest. Hitoshi sighed and patted his head again slowly kneeling down. Kyo followed her and lifted his head away from her chest to look at Hitoshi who was smiling at him.
"I think it's finally time for you to rest," said Hitoshi kissing Kyo's forehead. Kyo blushed for about a second, but soon his eyes closed and he collapsed onto Hitoshi's lap sleeping. Hitoshi kissed Kyo's head once more and then looked at Hinomi who spoke saying,
"You do realize that you still cannot escape your fate right?"
"Of course," replied Hitoshi, "but if I can help this family and put and end to the curse that plagues my family, then I will gladly do so." Hinomi smiled and told Hitoshi,
"So pick up that little cat… this family's purpose has finally been fulfilled." Hitoshi nodded and picked up the sleeping body of Kyo carrying it while following Hinomi out of the white noise.
(Shigure's house)
"So, that idiot cat transformed eh?" questioned Akito laying down next to the wreckage in Kyo's room. The whole family was in Shigure's house, but Shigure stood out, knelt down and nodded at Akito, almost annoyed, but he wasn't finished,
"But Hitoshi-chan is bringing him back." Akito whipped his head around and glared at Shigure and said,
"WHAT?" Shigure replied very calmly,
"Yes, she will bring him back."
"YOU MEAN THAT BITCH? YOU LET HER BACK INTO THIS HOUSE?" questioned Akito standing up quickly and storming over to Shigure glaring at him. Shigure stared back into his face and replied,
"Yes." Akito's face started to cringe and morph into a mess and he started to kick Shigure with all of his might.
"YOU LET THAT BITCH BACK INTO THIS FAMILY? YOU WILL DIE!" Shigure was sitting still, but he was still cringing when Akito kept on kicking him. Suddenly, someone grabbed Akito's leg and brought him onto the ground smashing his head. As Akito massaged his head and looked around for who had hurt him, he looked up and saw Tsubasha glaring at him and saying,
"Yes, my student will bring back Kyo, and don't you dare call her a bitch. The only person who's a bitch is you." The whole family was totally surprised at Tsubasha's actions, but no one did anything even though Akito was staring at all of them frantically and menacingly. Tsubasha handed Shigure her hand motioning him to get up. Shigure accepted her hand and got up as Tsubasha said,
"She will come and liberate this whole family." Just as soon as Tsubasha finished her statement, a figure walked through the door carrying Kyo. Tsubasha looked at the figure in awe and slowly said,
"Hinomi-sama?" The whole family looked at the radiant being in awe examining her wings and her unexplainable beauty. Hinomi smiled at Tsubasha and handed Kyo to her saying,
"Would you take care of this little cat Tsubasha-san? And after that, please come to me, it is time for this family's burden to be finally removed." Tsubasha nodded with tears of happiness in her eyes. She placed Kyo in Hitoshi's bed and ran back to Hinomi with all of the Sohma family's eyes on her back. She stood in front of Hinomi and shut her tear-drenched eyes. Hinomi placed her hand on top of Tsubasha's head and stood still for a while muttering something. As the chanting intensified, a light shone out of Tsubasha which eventually blinded everyone except Hinomi. As soon as the light faded away, Tsubasha had a totally different dress on made up from a tube top and a skirt with a light floating piece of cloth that acted as a dress draped over her tube top and skirt with little folds all over the place. Shigure looked at Tsubasha in awe and started to blush a little, but Tsubasha wasn't paying attention. She was standing beside Hinomi looking at Akito as thought he was a piece of dirt. Akito looked up at the duo with absolutely no fear, instead, he seemed to almost be ridiculing them. Hinomi grabbed Akito's head by his hair and yanked his head back to get a better look at his face.
"Tsubasha-san, are you sure that this pathetic individual is the leader of the Sohma family?" Tsubasha replied back very coldly,
"Yes, this individual is holding all of the pain of this family." Hinomi looked back at Akito in utter disgust.
"He is not worth such a burden. All he seeks is pity while the rest of the family suffers… he isn't worth anything," said Hinomi utterly disgusted by Akito. Although Akito seemed as though he didn't care, his eyes widened in sadness and pain. Hinomi then let go of Akito and started to chant something again. Tsubasha this time followed in Hinomi's footsteps chanting along with her. As time progressed, a bright ball appeared out of Akito's chest. Along with Akito, all of the members of Sohma family that had curses had bright balls peeking out of their chests. Akito looked at it in amazement but didn't touch it or do anything to it except stare at it. Finally, the balls of light had fully appeared from all of the Sohmas'. Each of them was staring at them totally awestruck. Inside each of these balls, there were the animals of the zodiac, the dog, snake, monkey, e.t.c, but for Akito, there was an old man, who looked very sickly and was barely standing up. Hinomi and Tsubasha looked at each other in happiness but they seemed to be exhausted.
"Now, the true fight Tsubasha-san." Tsubasha looked at Hinomi and nodded at her as though she was signaling her to start. Slowly, both of them started to place their hands to cover the ball of light. As soon as they covered the light, the animals as well as the old man started to struggle, but Hinomi and Tsubasha continued to squeeze the spheres. Eventually, the animals stopped struggling and started to attack. Their eyes had grown red and they were biting and scratching and punching outside of their sphere. The family was staring at the animals but then moved to Hinomi and Tsubasha. Both of them were covered with bruises and scratches from the animals that were biting and scratching them. Although the scratches were deep and the biting painful, they continued until there was a bring beam emitted from the sphere that belonged to Akito. The thing inside the sphere was no longer an old man, it was a demon and it had shot something directly through Tsubasha's stomach. The demon laughed as it watched Tsubasha choke in pain. Although she had to use one hand to cover the wound on her stomach and although she was constantly coughing up blood, she continued to place her free hand over the sphere. Shigure was looking at Tsubasha looking very worried, but somehow, he knew that he couldn't come near her. Suddenly, Tsubasha cried out,
"HITOSHI! HELP US! ONLY YOU CAN TRULY FREE THIS FAMILY!" Tsubasha, who was exhausted waited for a minute still enduring the blows of all of the spirits of the animals, let go of her hand from the sphere and collapsed onto the ground. Shigure ran towards the slowly dying body of Tsubasha but someone had already gotten ahead of her. A hand appeared beside Tsubasha. She looked at it and slowly grabbed it and was pulled up.
"I'm sorry sensei," said the person. Tsubasha looked at the person in amazement, although it seemed as if Hinomi was standing next to her, but indefinitely, it was Hitoshi smiling at her with bruises all over her body.
"Let's get rid of this curse… all three of us." Tsubasha smiled with pure happiness and placed both of her bloodstained hands over the sphere along with Hitoshi's. The animals started to struggle again, but this time much harder. They seemed to be biting harder and scratching and kicking as much as they could, even the demon was firing beams of light everywhere, but neither of them gave up. Finally, each of the beings in the sphere gave out a large last effort to release themselves from Tsubasha and Hitoshi, but they all failed, but in Akito's sphere, the demon gave out a frightfully large blast of light that engulfed both Tsubasha and Hitoshi, but both of them let out a large scream and crushed the ball out of existence. After, the ball vanished, so did the light and it's damage was revealed. Both Hitoshi and Tsubasha were severely damaged (Hitoshi is now back in her normal body), but Hitoshi was defiantly much more hurt than Tsubasha. Hitoshi was breathing very heavily and every time she breathed out, droplets of blood came out of her mouth. There were severe gashes from her fight with Kyo and this fight had just deepened the wounds. There were bruises, gashes and cuts all over her body, but she still managed to talk to Tsubasha saying,
"We've done it sensei, we've finally done it." Tsubasha was crying now, not from the pain of her wounds, but from the pain of watching her student die.
"Yes, we've finally done it. You've been wonderful, my student," said Tsubasha as she embraced Hitoshi. Hitoshi could only lay limply as Tsubasha grasped her student tightly. Then Hitoshi asked Tsubasha,
"Hey, sensei, could you lay me down? I'm really tired." By now, even the whole Sohma was in tears although they still stayed far away (not including Akito cause he's evil). Tsubasha bit her lip trying to control her tears but she nodded anyway. Slowly, she laid Hitoshi down on her back. Hitoshi then placed her hand over her stomach and looked at Tsubasha, who was crying, Shigure had joined her and was squatting next to her crying as well.
"Oh please you two, stop it, I'm fine," said Hitoshi softly but with much enthusiasm.
"How can you be fine? You're dying in front of me!" exclaimed Tsubasha as she buried her head in Shigure's yukata.
"But I'm dying now because we freed both of our families didn't we?" replied Hitoshi smiling gently at Tsubasha. Tsubasha looked at Hitoshi amazed at her bravery.
"I didn't die because that demon ate me alive sensei, we've won sensei! We beat it, we finally beat it and that's all that matters sensei, that's all that matters…" said Hitoshi as she slowly got quieter. Finally, Kisa and Momiji jumped out of the crowd and flocked themselves around Hitoshi. Kisa started crying and held Hitoshi's hand begging her,
"Please stay with us Hitoshi-san! Please don't leave us!" Hitoshi looked at Kisa and grasped her hand asking,
"Then you forgive me for hiding that scary person for such a long time Kisa-chan?" Kisa nodded violently but then buried her tear-stained face into Hitoshi's arm. Then Momiji came up crying as well and said,
"You forgot to hug me Hitoshi-chan… you forgot…" Hitoshi smiled and said,
"Remind me when we see each other again okay?" Momiji nodded as well and walked away, crying and taking Kisa along with him. Hitoshi looked at the whole family and at Tsubasha and started to cry. She then looked up at the ceiling, closing her eyes and said,
"I'm so happy… so happy." Slowly, her chest stopped rising up and down and eventually, the bloody mist from her mouth stopped, but she still was smiling, a smile that could last eons.
Author's Note
Aaaah… Yuki is finally done with this chapter! Sorry you guys, I've been really busy and I lost my ideas. Well, I'm sure you all expected this, this was a last minute decision, so now the sequel is really important, so read it you mean people! Oh yeah, I'm supposed to talk about Kyo and Momiji next… well, Kyo's cool although I wish he would stop hiding his personality so much, it gets me aggravated and Momiji is just stupid. He annoys me… done and done. Soo… nothing else, I might get another chapter out, but don't get your hopes up, I'm gonna try really hard though, so hold your meanness, but please R&R! Man, I need to know what you guys think about this story!