Disclaimer: I don't own it -.-;
Hello - my quick update again. It's pretty much once a day, isn't it? Ah well... anywho, today I stuck a sticky note to my face and walked around and tallied how many people noticed that I had a sticky note on my face - 31 people! About half of that pointed it out to me. And that was from 10:30 - 3:05... heck... my Math's Teacher tried to turn it into something scientific... so yes... it was pretty amusing too oO;
Anyways, this is a sad chapter - sorry guys it must be done for the good of the story. And... did Shigure remember? Well, you won't find out for a tiny while - just to keep you in suspense. I've thought of the storyline and title for the sequel to this, but there's also two other ones I want to write - a Kyo x Haru one, the summary of which seems highly amusing, or the S-Cry-Ed one. God... my mind goes back and forth, doesn't it?
Anyways, without further a-doo, enjoy - and don't forget to review n.n!
Warning: Character death
Part Twenty-Six: Loss
The roof was hot, so, bloody, hot, but there was nothing in the world that would get him to come down. And, the reason? Ayame was still there. It had been a week, and Ayame had stayed in the same house that entire time, and shared a room with Shigure. Kyo didn't even want to imagine the ways Ayame was violating his Shigure.
Shaking that mental image from his mind, Kyo sat up, and the effect of the sun became pretty obvious. Kyo's front was completely baked, red and sore. His back, on the other hand, was the pale colour it had always been, giving Kyo a very odd appearance.
"Ah! Kyon-Kyon has finally..." Ayame paused, staring at Kyo blankly, before falling into a fit of almost silent laughter. Shigure, who thought it was a wonderful idea for a story, jotted the information in his brain mentally, before sitting quietly – laughing at Kyo wouldn't be a good idea. Ayame just had no sense of right or wrong.
"... graced us with his presence!" Shigure finished, smiling happily over the book that he'd been showing Ayame. "You've been avoiding us, I presume?"
"Hasn't everybody?" Kyo snapped, "I don't see Yuki anywhere in the vicinity!"
At this, Ayame sighed. "Yes... unfortunately, my lovely brother has locked himself in his room with Tohru. I know he's desperate to explore the wonders of being a teenaged boy, but I don't see how it will work, seeing as when they get too close Yuki will..."
"I don't want to hear, I don't want to hear, I don't want to hear!" Kyo chanted over and over again, blocking his ears. "SHUT UP YOU STUPID SNAKE!"
Shigure simply laughed.
"You seem to be having a lovely time."
All three of them blinked, looking towards the front of the room where Hatori was leaning against the doorframe. "The door was unlocked, so I let myself in."
Kyo felt a pang of uncontrollable rage in the dragon's direction. It was his fault that Shigure had forgotten – his! How dare he simply waltz back into Kyo's vision knowing exactly what he'd done? Kyo's hands became fists of suppressed rage.
Hatori paused momentarily, looking over at Kyo. He wouldn't be going anywhere alone with the cat for a long time – if Kyo being emotionally unstable was a bad thing, him being emotionally unstable and pissed off was a whole lot worse. Then again, Hatori didn't ponder that for long – he'd come for a specific reason.
"Kyo," he said simply, looking blankly in the cat's direction, "go and get Tohru and Yuki."
"What? Why in the hell do I have to play fetch! Shigure's the dog – he should go!"
"Kyo. Stop arguing, and just go." Hatori repeated, just as calmly. "I haven't come here for chit-chat, and I need to leave as soon as possible."
Kyo glared, but did as he was told anyway.
So, Yuki, Kyo, Shigure, Tohru, Ayame and Hatori all cramped around the one small dining room table, four of the five looking bewildered, with Hatori looking rather serious. "I have come here... about Akito."
There was silence.
"What about Akito?" Yuki said finally, breaking the silence.
"Akito has... taken a turn for the worse." Hatori admitted, "He's come down with pneumonia, and he doesn't have the immune system to battle the disease."
Another silence.
"So... Akito's... dying?" Tohru asked slowly, not wanting Hatori to register the worst. She didn't particularly like Akito, but she didn't particularly like people dying either – the feeling was indescribable. Unfortunately, Hatori nodded.
"Akito is in his final day. I expect he will be gone by tonight, tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Hatori said this slowly, allowing everybody to digest it. "So, I came here with the intention of bringing you all back to the Main House to see Akito."
Both Yuki and Kyo were sure that they would have protested until they died to not go and see Akito on his death bed, but the feeling that it left them with was... indescribable. It wasn't so much a feeling of wanting to go and register it for themselves; although that was partly involved in their logic. The feeling was that they... felt sorry for Akito.
Whatever Ayame and Shigure thought about Akito, they kept it to themselves.
So, they all loaded into the car in a solemn silence.
"Akito," Hatori said quietly, propping the door open to Akito's room, "Yuki, Kyo, Shigure, Ayame and Tohru are here to see you."
Quietly, Hatori motioned for them to enter and sit on the left side of the heads bed. Kureno, it seemed, was already there, sitting on the right side and staring directly at Akito's face. He hadn't even moved when they'd come in. Hatori sat on the same side as Kureno. Kyo sat directly above Akito's head, with Shigure next to him, then Tohru, and Yuki. Ayame sat next to Hatori. And, in the middle of all of them, Akito lay. His blanket pulled up to just below his chin, heat packs keeping him warm under the blanket. He was unconscious, but just breathing quietly but roughly, and he looked, ultimately, peaceful, which, for the younger Zodiacs, was a complete surprise.
There was silence for a long time, which was only interrupted by Tohru's harrowed sobs. Yuki rubbed her back to try and give some comfort, and Tohru used her shirt to wipe away tears until Hatori left and brought back some tissues.
Kyo, however, had hardly noticed. Although he was watching Akito too, he was also looking at Shigure, who seemed to be having a hard time controlling whatever emotions he felt for the head. He had half considered taking Shigure's hand for comfort, but thought better of it, not wanting to make an uncomfortable scene.
Shigure did have feelings for the head under all his amusing façade. He'd known Akito for years, how could he not? He'd been a loyal dog to Akito for as long as he could remember, coming to his every need, amusing him when need be, and ultimately consulting him about the other zodiacs. Yes, he'd been loyal to Akito; that was until...
Quietly, Shigure slipped his hands under Akito's blanket, taking hold of the god's unmoving hand. Then, it surprised everybody when he began to speak to the head. "Neh, Akito-san, we'll all miss you, you know?"
There was silence, while everybody just listened, fully aware that Akito couldn't hear him.
"And, your life was productive... so you can go without any regrets, you know? We all came just to see you – you are an important person, and it'll be sad to see you go... but we'll all be alright. Just remember, we all love you."
What Shigure said may have been a lie in the younger zodiac's mind, but they didn't voice it.
When they all said their final good-byes to Akito, the five shuffled out of the room. Yuki supporting Tohru who was now bawling her eyes out thanks to Shigure's little speech. Kyo was now more than a little concerned about Shigure, who was looking at little more lost the most of them. He spoke to Kureno in a hushed voice before following them.
However, the moment they got out of the main house...
"Now then. How about we order out tonight?" Shigure said, surprisingly happily. "Aya, you staying for another night? You can't leave our dear Tohru and Yuki alone again, can you?"
Ayame replied to this, but Kyo wasn't listening. It was then that Kyo learnt that Shigure was a great actor.
Akito passed away that night at 10:56pm.
No idea if pneumonia kills in that short amount of time, but hey, imagination is the key for this story. The next chapter will be more opptomistic n.n