CHAPTER 15
It was about six when they arrived at the main house. Hatori was on the porch, smoking a cigarette. Akiko, Rin, and Kagura sat down at the opposite end of the porch, leaving Kana to talk with Hatori. They were still well within listening distance, but Kana didn't realize that.
"Hello, Hatori-san." She said with a smile. Hatori stubbed out his cigarette.
"Hello, Kana-san." He replied. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, just to drop the girls home. Akiko wanted to check something, and I thought it would be nice to say drop the girls home and say hello."
"Akiko wanted to check something? What would that be?"
"Oh," Kana giggled. "She thought she might have been pregnant."
Had Hatori been holding anything, he would have dropped it. "P-pregnant? By whom?"
"Oh, she didn't say. Maybe you should ask her."
"No, thats all right. I'm not sure I want to know. If she had been...her brother would have been furious."
"Her brother?"
"He's the head of the family. Akito. I don't think you've met him." That wasn't quite true. The only time Kana and Akito had come face-to-face was when Hatori had asked to marry her. That had been wiped completely from Kana's memory.
Kana appeared not to have heard the last part. "He has blue-gray eyes, doesn't he? Not like Akiko. Her eyes are much darker. Almost black She has a cute nose, too. " Kana shivered. "Such angry eyes, he had. Scary."
Hatori fought hard to keep his expression steady. Akiko's eyes had widened, although Rin and Kagura hadn't noticed yet. Hatori blinked abruptly and said that he had to go.
"Oh, well, bye then." said Kana, heading back down the steps. By the time she'd reached her car, Rin and Kagura were on their way home and Hatori and Akiko were in the kitchen, staring wide-eyed at each other.
"IT CAN REVERSE?" They howled in perfect unison. Hatori was staring at his hands, not sure whether to be happy or furious or frightened. Akiko fell over in a dead faint. Onto Hatori, of course.
Akiko awoke first, a few hours later. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. The kitchen was completely dark, and she could feel a piece of cloth under one of her legs. She stumbled to the wall and flipped the light switch, squinting through the sudden flood of light. Her eyes fell on Hatori's naked form and she quickly averted her gaze. Picking up his shirt, she tossed it over him, and stumbled to her room, leaving Hatori on the floor.
When Hatori woke up the next morning, he found himself on the kitchen floor, completely naked with his clothes scattered around him. He got up and dressed quickly. Akiko was sleeping in her room. Hatori shook his head at her and headed to his office. As far as he was concerned, this whole mess was her fault. He shivered slightly. Kana was married now. If she suddenly remembered, what would happen? He got back to work on researching the medicine. Suddenly, he remembered what Kana had said before she started talking about Akito. Who could have gotten Akiko pregnant?
After breakfast, Hatori cornered Akiko in the living room. "Akiko, I need to ask you some questions."
She looked up at him, lounging on the couch in one of Akito's kimonos. Hatori was starting to see them as seperate people. "Why would I answer them?"
"Because I am you doctor and I need to know." He replied promptly, lying through his teeth. He was curious more than anything else. Hatori nervously tapped his pencil against the pad of paper.
"Oh. All right."
"Uh...did you screw Kureno?" Hatori winced. He shouldn't have phased it like that.
"No." replied Akiko flatly.
"Shigure, Yuki?"
Akiko mumbled something that Hatori didn't catch.
"Pardon?"
"Not yet!" Akiko almost yelled, but she quickly regained control of herself. Hatori wasn't sure whether or not to laugh, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Do you remember anything about...that night?"
"You know very well I don't. You don't either."
Hatori winced. "Well, have you had sex with anyone?"
"Not your business."
"Akiko, I'm your doctor."
"I haven't within the last three months, good enough?"
Hatori widened his eyes in feigned, teasing surprise "Could it be? The reputed sex god Akito...a virgin!"
Akiko didn't explode, as Hatori would have expected. She giggled and threw a pillow at him. "Not as though you're any less of one," She said back snidely, apparently forgetting what Hatori had revealed when they were playing truth or dare. "Who said I was a sex god, anyway?"
"Shigure and Ayame," replied Hatori without hesitation.
They both stopped for a second and tried vainly to remember that night. They had no idea what had really happened and...
"Wait. You thought you were pregnant by me?" Hatori asked suddenly.
"Who else?" replied Akiko grumpily.
"Why didn't you ask me to check?"
"I was afraid you'd swallow your cigarette and die." She said, apparently miffed.
Hatori tried to think about that for a second, then shrugged and wandered out of the room.
Later that day, Rin and Kagura burst into the house where Hatori and Akito were having a glaring match (a.k.a.: dinner).
"We've got it!" Kagura announced. "Shigure, Ayame, Hatori, Kyo, Yuki, and the three of us are going on a trip for the weekend." Akiko switched her glare to Kagura. Kagura, though daunted, continued bravely. "We'll be going to the hot springs."
Akiko's glare slowly transformed into an evil smile. Yuki would be there. The hot springs. Oh, so many possibilities…
Hatori looked up from the ashtray. "I don't suppose I get any say in this?" Rin shook her head and leered at him menacingly.
So, the next day, the eight of them were on the private bus, heading for the hot springs. Upon arrival, Hatori quickly introduced Akiko to Okami as Akito's twin sister, forgetting that Okami had been at Akito's birth.
"But..I helped birth Akito. He had no twi-"
Hatori quickly interupted her. "Could you please show everyone to their rooms?" He asked, giving her a meaningful look. She appeared to get the message.
"This way," She said, smiling cheerfully. She shot Hatori a slightly confused glance after everyone except Ayame and Shigure had gone to their rooms.
"Are you going to tell me what this is about, Master Hatori?" She asked, smiling.
Hatori quickly explained about the medicine. Okami shook her head afterward. "I see. That makes some sense, although I find it hard to believe."
Shigure smiled. "It's true. If you'll excuse us, we'd like to relax a little bit before dinner." Okami smiled graciously and bowed, while they quickly went to their room. Akiko had a room to herself, of course. Kagura and Rin were sharing, as were Yuki and Kyo.
Rin and Kagura had mentioned to Akiko that they were going to take a dip in the hot spring before dinner. The boys were evidently doing the same. She quickly unpacked her things, and pulled on one of her yukata's; The ones that she'd worn as Akito. Slipping through the doors, she dropped her yukata on a bench and wrapped a flimsy white towel around herself. She stepped out and was about to drop her towel when she noticed Shigure, Hatori, Ayame, Yuki and Kyo staring at her.
She'd walked into the men's baths out of habit.
Clutching the towel more tightly around her, she backed out of the room and then turned and ran.
Once she'd gone through the doors to the womens baths, she dropped the towel and flung herself face-first into the water. Rin and Kagura pulled her up.
"What's wrong, Akiko?" Rin demanded.
"She just walked in here. By accident, I think." said Shigure called from the other side of the bamboo fence. Kagura and Rin stared at her and she nodded miserably.
"I'm not used to seperate parts of the spring. There were only women at the convent. " She muttered miseraberably, sinking into the water. Shigure and Ayame exchanged amused looks, while Hatori just looked bland, as usual. Just then, Okami called to everyone, saying that dinner would soon be ready. Everyone climbed out of the tubs to get dressed and eat. By the time they finished eating, it was late so everyone decided to go to bed.
Author's Note:
Lameish ending. (sighs) Ah, well. Just one more note: I really, really really appreciate all the reviews, but there is something that irritates me. For those of you who don't already know the spoiler relating to Akito and don't want to know, please feel free to skip the rest of this.
Those of you that do know; PLEASE STOP TRYING TO INFORM ME OF THE TRUTH THAT I ALREADY KNOW. I knew the truth about Akito beforeI started posting this fic; I try to keep up to date with the release of the chapters in japanese. >. I realize that this may be unreasonable but every timeI get a review pointing out that Akito really is a woman, I get that much closer to just deleting this fic and forgetting about this whole thing. It's really disheartening. Also, if I hadn't known the spoiler, it would have spoiled it for me. So please, people- even ifwe authorsaren't consistant with the Manga, this is fanfiction. Emphasis on the fiction. Not every little detail has to be consistant with the actual anime.
Thanks for all the reviews,
Lady Literature