(From the last chapter…)

Then, someone barged into the room with a swift opening of the door.

It was Yuki and Kyo.

Kyo nervously walked to the side of Kagura's bed and his eyes hovered over her corpse-like features.

"Kagura… what happened to you?" Kyo thought as he set his eyes upon hers, her eyelids tightly covering them.

(Chapter 5 – Double Curse)

"So, how's everything here, Shigure?" Yuki asked as he grabbed a seat beside his cousin, Shigure.

"Looks like she doesn't have much time left," Shigure sighed, "her illness struck her fatal. She knew she had the disease, she knew it but she still allowed it to destroy her. Perhaps she already knew the story of the disease tracing back to her grandmother, then passing it on to her mother and then to her."

Kyo was listening to their conversation and told them, "Why didn't anyone tell me about this earlier?"

"Like what I said, Kyo," Yuki eyed him, "Kagura truly loved you and will do anything for you. But if you heard that she is incredibly ill, she'll rather die than have you worrying about her."

"But I'm her husband-"

"You see that, Kyo?" Shigure lost his composure, "You always say you're Kagura's husband but have you ever shown her that you are her husband? From the way I see it, you're acting more like a heartless master to a slave. Kagura loved you unconditionally but you always disregarded her feelings."

The words of Shigure silenced Kyo.

"She has risked everything for you, because of her love for you. Her happiness, her tears, her personal wants, and now, she's knocking on Death's door to take her life away for you. You see, she knows that you consider her nothing but a nuisance, not as your wife. She knows what the truth is but she chose to keep herself blindfolded in denial." Shigure continued, "She knows that you are always in the company of Tohru everyday after you leave the household in the morning. She doesn't mind… because she said that whatever makes you happy makes her happy, too! But I think… she's just cutting herself with a knife once more, denying the fact that she's hurting. She knows how short her life is, remembering how the same disease killed her grandmother and her mother. And now, even if she knows how sick she is, she's still allowing it to destroy her."

:Flashback:

"Kyo-kun, if you don't mind me asking…" Kagura broke the silence, "What would you do if there will be news that my life is shorter than you think it is?"

"If that was to happen," The cat said, "I'll be laughing myself to the clouds because I would be free from the shackles of marriage with you. How I wish that was true."

The boar was saddened at that statement. She began to pick at her food and asked, "Kyo, please be honest with me. Are you… going out with another woman?"

"You know what?" Kyo stood up, throwing his table napkin on the plate, "Too many questions ruin my appetite."

He stomped his way to their bedroom and Kagura just stared at her food and continued eating.

:End of Flashback:

Kyo placed a hand on his mouth and his eyes narrowed as he trembled more in fear and in guilt.

"What have I told her…?" he thought as he remembered that particular memory, "She asked those questions because she already knew everything… She knew about how short her life is and that I've been with Tohru… What have I said to her…?"

"Now look at you, all shaking in fear." Shigure mocked, "I wish you would just change for the better, Kyo."

Then, someone entered the room – it was Hatori.

He walked over to the vital signs monitor and wrote something on his clipboard.

"Hatori-san, could you inform us on what kind of sickness Kagura has right now?" Yuki asked.

Hatori said, "I made a phone call to Mr. Akito a while ago. He told me the whole story of the plague in the bloodline of Kagura. Dating back to her grandmother's time, it's actually a curse. Her grandmother fell in love with the head of the Sohma Clan in her time. Now, Kagura's grandmother was engaged to another Sohma and rejected the leader. When she was married and was pregnant, the leader cursed the woman, saying, 'Let every female descendant that will come from your bloodline, be cursed with a deadly disease, as well as having the curse of the Zodiac.' After giving birth to Kagura's uncle, the following year, her grandmother gave birth to her mother. After childbearing, Kagura's grandmother had gone terribly ill."

Hatori flashed an injection from his pocket. He removed the needle cover and injected the medication on Kagura's left arm, then placed a cotton ball on the small opening the injection made. Then, he replaced the needle cover and he placed it back on his pocket.

He continued, "Kagura's grandmother died at the age of 45, and her mother died at the age of 36, 7 years after Kagura was born. These 2 women died of the same disease but Kagura's uncle never had the disease. And the same plague that killed her predecessors is most likely the one which will erase her from the world."

"I see," Yuki reacted, "so Kagura has been cursed double."

"Exactly." Hatori nodded.

"We can end this deadly chain, right?" Shigure asked.

"Yes, we can. But if we have to end the chain, it will still take away Kagura's life." Hatori expounded, "Scientifically speaking, she has a very rare and incurable disease. It's a mix of anxiety syndrome, a cardiac weakness, a respiratory vulnerability and a very slight case of brain-spine-nerves miscommunication."

"You mentioned about anxiety syndrome… so, it's bad for her to get too worried?" Yuki asked.

"Indeed." Hatori replied, "She shouldn't get too angry, too sad, too surprised or too nervous. It might be hard for her to swallow that she's not supposed to be too sad but… we have no other choice. And, she's not allowed to get too tired or else her heart muscles would work more, even in its incredibly weak state and might even stop working. Her lungs cannot anymore support the faster need of oxygen when she's tired. And when these things happen, her brain, to be particular, the hypothalamus will panic and get confused and there will be that brain-spine-nerves miscommunication."

"Is there a chance that she can live more than 2 years?" Kyo suddenly asked.

Hatori was rather surprised at his presence and smiled a bit, "Actually, yes. But it needs a lot of work and a lot of cooperation. After her release from the hospital, she will need a lot of medicines and a lot of rest. We have to get rid of her anxiety syndrome. But even if we get hold of this syndrome, she will still die of the sickness. The good part is… if we manage to remove the anxiety syndrome, her time left will give an incredible boost. And if that happens, she'll be able to live 3-6 years or more."

Kyo felt a sudden urge to help out his wife get over the disease but thought of how he'll be able to lighten up the burden, when he himself is already a burden to her.

"Can you possibly do that, Kyo?" Hatori asked, "If she wishes to live longer, there's no particular cure. But you alone, are enough to elongate her life. Can you take away the pain from her?"

Kyo looked at his unconscious wife and thought more about it.

TBC…