iii. the storm breaks

Kisa waited in silence underneath the sakura tree, her arms crossed demurely before her. She was thinking of the fact that this morning Momiji-kun had been singing the happy monkey song (which had made Ritsu-san go into a near apoplectic fit--he had assumed that the song was some sort of veiled threat, brought on by something he himself had done). But Kisa knew that the song was not for Ritsu-san.

She even sort of thought she knew to whom Momiji-kun was singing this song, and every other song.

Her head shot up when she heard someone come out into the garden; when she saw that it was not dark-haired Hiro-kun, but rather white-haired Hatsuharu-san, her heart dropped.

"Oi," Hatsuharu greeted her as he passed.

"Good morning," she returned half-heartedly.

Hatsuharu paused. He ruffled her hair good-naturedly. "Hiro-kun is being lectured," he said, soto voice.

"...The ice-cream?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Hatsuharu looked at her shrewdly. "Kisa-chan wouldn't happen to have had anything to do with that, would she?"

"N-n-no." Kisa blushed. She knew it had been Momiji-kun who had eaten two cartons of chocolate ice-cream. He was going to get very, very fat if he went on as he was. But Hiro had been trying to dispose of the empty cartons this morning before anyone else woke up. He had instructed Kisa to wait for him in the garden.

"Well, then," Hatsuharu said carelessly, "I suspect a certain blond villian, who has been known to eat enormous quantities of sweets in the past."

"...In that case, Hatsuharu-san, you would be correct," said Kisa carefully.

Hatsuharu shrugged and went on his way. Kisa watched him go, unable to conceal a smile. She adored her cousin, and his strange ways. He disappeared from sight. She could hear American music blasting in a heavy bass, and then there he was again, leaning out the driver's side window of Freak Show, the car that Hatsuharu had bought upon turning sixteen years of age (with Souma funds, of course, though he had put all the money he had earned since then back into the accounts). It was a vivid purple, and everytime Kisa rode in it, she could feel her heart pounding in time with the impossibly loud music. Hatsuharu shouted over it now, "I won't be back for a while; be good."

"Y-yeah!" She waved as he raced from the grounds, passing through the gate and the guards there with no difficulty.

Five minutes later, Hiro sauntered out into the garden, looking sullen.

"Come on, we have to look for Haru," he informed Kisa, grabbing her arm.

"Hatsuharu-san?" She let him pull her along. "But he just left!"

"What!" Hiro turned to look at her. "You saw him?"

Kisa stared. It was very rarely that Hiro expressed so much worry for anything. "Is something the matter, Hiro-kun?"

"Damn, you're clueless," he muttered. "Didn't you know? Yuki and Kyo disappeared this morning. Akito thinks Haru had something to do with it. He's ordered us to search for them all over the compound; he has people in the city searching, too."

"Kyo-san? Kyo-san is...is no longer in confinement?"

Hiro paled. He took her by her shoulders, pulling her in close until she could feel his lips against her ear. "Don't say it, Kisa. I am, too, but gods, don't say it. He'd know." He pulled back to look her in the eye. She could feel his hands trembling a little. "I don't want him to think you, too, might have been involved."

"Okay," she said. She smiled gently, grateful to have a friend like Hiro-kun, who always knew what she was thinking, and who always understood.

Kisa sat down to dinner with a rather large bruise upon her left cheek. Hiro caught her eye, and she gave him a reassuring smile. Akito-san had been very easy on her.

He had been in a terrible rage all afternoon. There had been no word from Haru or Yuki; no one knew where they were. Kisa had been forced to explain that she had seen Haru leave, but she had assured Akito that he had left no word as to where he was going or what he had done. He had still hit her for it. But she was glad to be able to sit here at the table, with Hiro-kun, Ritsu-san and Kagura-san. Rin-san was in her room, unwilling to come out for anyone. The adults were all consulting with Akito-san, trying to decide what to do next.

And Momiji-kun was still missing in action.

She had the vaguest of ideas where he was, and she knew it wouldn't be good for him if anyone were to find out. She had told Akito-san that she thought he was out with friends from school; she hoped he hadn't seen through the lie.

"You've been seeing Onee-san, haven't you?" Kisa asked Momiji-kun when she cornered him in the kitchen late that night.

He had been digging through the ice box, for all intents and purposes looking for more ice-cream, but when she said this, he gave a violent start and slammed the door shut. His eyes were huge, the pupils tiny. He rounded on her like a wild animal.

"Shut up! Don't ever say that!" Quickly he made a circuit of the room, and she realized that he was looking for eavesdroppers. When he was satisfied that there were none, he relaxed slightly.

He ran a shaking hand through his blond hair. Kisa was struck suddenly with how old he was; seventeen, almost a man now. This wasn't the carefree rabbit of two years ago.

"I apologize, Kisa-chan," he said, more composedly. "O-of course I'm not seeing...that person. It's forbidden, you know that."

"A thing being forbidden never stopped you before," she pointed out.

"That person is beyond forbidden. Kisa, don't let's ever mention this again. It's not something to speak of lightly." Momiji-kun touched her cheek, where the bruise was turning a rather sickly shade of brown. Then he went back to rumaging around in the refrigerator.

On tiptoes Kisa left the kitchen. Momiji-kun's denial was the strongest affirmation she could have asked for.

'Onee-san...'

She sighed and retreated into her bedroom, lost in memory.

Early that morning, before the other juunishi sleeping on the same hall as she awakened, Kisa crept into Yuki-san's bedroom. It was very near Akito-san's quarters, so she took care to be especially silent; the tiger was a master at sneaking up on prey unnoticed, and Kisa fully utilized this talent.

Yuki-san's room was very bare. He had never bothered to decorate it as he had his room at Shigure-san's old house in the country. Kisa got the feeling that Yuki had always considered this a temporary home. The only personalized touches were a potted plant, set lovingly in the only window where it could soak up the sun, and a book open on the futon that had never been folded up. Kisa lifted the book carefully, and read the page it was opened to.

there is a steel-colored cloud on the horizon

and i am not menaced, i am still--

for all that the seabirds are dancing, i will

remain as i am, unmoved,

removed from the violence of not knowing.

for ages men have lived and died

and thought many resisted, all were tied

to the same fate in the end, the one i shall meet,

greet as a brother. oh i am not afraid

of furious clouds or flashing lights--

i cannot run, and the only war i fight

is this one within myself that i am losing,

choosing to press on, though it is true

i never was a match for you.

The spine announced the book as a collection of poems by an Englishman named Mathias Church. Kisa decided to keep the book. Yuki-san wouldn't be needing it, wherever he was, and she needed to brush up on her English, anyway.