Chapter 20: The Mirror
I'd hate to say it but… Kan Yume is nearing its end. Though it has about 2-5 chapters left. I hope everyone continues to enjoy until we reach the end. A lot will probably happen within the closing chapters. Please continue to R&R,lol.
As he is allowed entrance into the Sohma Estate, Kazuma-dono walks down the ever-winding path to the house were Akito has always taken up residence. How much he resented Akito now for locking Kyo up like he was some kind animal. It wasn't right at all. Nonetheless, he was practically forced to visit Akito and, as he thought about all of this, he began to wonder about why Akito had demanded his presence. It was all beginning to come together in the Dojo owner's mind. He had to be aware of his surroundings, from the moment he enters the house to the second he exits the Estate.
Gradually, and with the specified caution, Shishou steps up onto the short amount of stairs that lead up to the sliding front door. He knocks on the door gently so it doesn't tear and waits for some indication of response. He stares at the door for a moment and just before rapping at the door again, it slid open to reveal Kureno and a visibly sleeping Shigure on the couch just over his shoulder. "We've been waiting for you for quite some time, Kazuma-dono…" With a nod, Kureno sidesteps out of the way to permit his entry. Nothing was too clear yet.
Kazuma bows and stands up straight, and hesitantly, as he enters the house. He takes a seat around a table where a couple other chairs were set up. It was clearly obvious that their –the chairs- purpose served this small gathering and probably nothing more. "So… where is Akito-san?" the master of the dojo asks curiously, glancing around the living room in search of suspicious objects, only to see a little velvet pouch on a dresser and Shigure sleeping obliviously on the couch. No true clues were just lying about according to his first impression. Yet, not seeing Akito anywhere raised his distrust to a great height. "Wouldn't it be fitting for the one who invited me… to be present?" Shishou asks evidently.
Kureno sighs and sits down at a chair diagonal of Kazuma. He entwines his fingers, almost mockingly at Kazuma's polite posture. "She's getting dressed to be exact…" he explains, catching Shishou's eyes wondering around the room, occasionally stopping at the velvet pouch and Shigure's sleeping body. "What are you looking at?" Kureno asks, nearly demanding a response.
"Just browsing," Kazuma said calmly, returning his focus back to the former rooster, who was fairly annoyed at something or another. "How are you today?" he asks Kureno randomly, "And why is Shigure sleeping so dully in the living room? Did he come by earlier and just pass out from exhaustion or something?" Kazuma's questions came a little rapidly, but not near any type of accusing tone. Honestly, he wasn't even searching for answers when he was making inquires to Kureno; frankly, he was just attempting to make conversation while they awaited Akito's arrival. With a gentle sigh, Kazuma spots Kureno becoming more and more exasperated and not wanting to answer his various questions.
One of the doors down a nearby hallway slides open and out walks Akito who was dressed in a delicate red kimono. It was silky smooth and the darkened roses managed to create an illusive shimmer. At the ends of the sleeves was a darker red; like a puddle of blood. This instantly caught the eye of Kazuma and he watched as she carefully walked toward them to sit in the chair opposite of him. "So… Kazuma-dono… how have things been as of late?" She asks as if she knew what he was preparing to say. "I heard some terrible person destroyed your dojo. So sad to hear of such a thing…" the words rolled off her tongue with a sound that made Kazuma sense the distastefulness.
"I see you've heard of the incident," after pausing for a short time, Kazuma adds, "Everything has been just great. We're in the rebuilding process… it's turning out better then the original structure, though I do wish the old one was still standing tall…" a soft smile pierces through Akito's eyes and she returns a hollow, almost invisible, glare. He catches Kureno winking at Akito and then quickly hides it. Kazuma looks down and blinks, pulling his head back up to smile proudly. "How has…Kyo been? I trust you've been treating him with the proper respect." Kazuma states kindly, looking at Akito almost questioningly. "He… has been under your… watchful… eye, has he not?" his sentence was broken up into a couple words here and there but his eyes were being constantly diverted by the possible bloodstains on her kimono sleeves. She tugs at her sleeves after peaking down at them, Kureno hears an annoyed groan come from Akito, but Shishou just plainly ignores it as if it were something ordinary. "Ahem?" Kazuma clears his throat, waiting for Akito's many responses.
Akito allows a smirk to pass over her face. "Kazuma… I'm… glad to hear that you are in reconstruction, but sadly, that monster of a boy you once looked out for has escaped like a tiger from a zoo. I haven't exactly been given the chance to treat him with respect or have him under my watchful eye. Apparently he got loose a day ago and I have my… suspicions." She rolls up her sleeves and pulls herself to her feet, taking a glimpse around the room as if there was something there that wasn't supposed to be. Akito sighs silently, trying not to draw any unwanted attention to either Kureno or herself. "So….I-."
Kazuma cuts her off almost accidentally, "What happened to your kimono Akito-san?" curiosity rose from his voice like smoke from a fire. "Most people would treat a kimono of that stature with the complete importance. Yet… you seemed to have gotten an… unfriendly stain on both sleeves, and I do believe I see one at the cover point," he points feebly across the table at another dark red stain being covered by the part of the kimono that comes over to make it close. "I'm sorry… for taking such a great deal of notice in your clothing… but may I also question why Shigure is sleeping on the couch in the living room and why is there a small pouch on your dresser? I don't remember you getting so concerned about make up or looks…. maybe I just never paid attention. Is that right?" his questions came as calmly as ever, to show there was nothing he was too concerned about. In truth, though, he was becoming even more aware of his surroundings, but he was doing it slowly.
She blinks and then glances back at the dresser and then at Shigure. Akito sighs and looks back to Kazuma. "That oaf fell asleep… he was going to go home, clearly he didn't he get to his feet before dozing off." Akito folds her arms across her chest and glances down at Kazuma-dono. "You're certainly full of questions today…" her arms drop to her side as she gradually steps past the two of them and stops at the dresser. She slips her hand onto the counter and runs her fingers across it in a smooth, figure eight style pattern. Her hand drops gently upon the velvet pouch and she works the contents out of it before slipping it into a hidden pocket inside her sleeve. "Of course… it should be I… that is asking the questions, correct?" Akito passes on her own question as she turns around and leans against the large, mahogany colored dresser. "Are you possibly hiding something, Kazuma-dono?" She asks, walking towards her inelegantly.
To Kazuma, her skin was even paler then it was last time they had encountered each other. He blinks as he scans her kimono for any obvious changes, but nothing was clear to his naked eye. There were no such hints toward anything by briefly examining her kimono. "I have nothing to hide, Akito-san. I'm almost as open as a book, though there are things I prefer to keep to myself," Kazuma admitted, a smile nearly as pure as one that Tohru would produce was across his face. "But… your question was quite a defensive one, was it not?" He pulls himself to his feet to look across to meet Akito's eyes, though she was quite diminutive compared to his fairly large height.
Akito slightly grins and lets the mirror slip out from the pocket up her sleeve. "My dear Kazuma-dono… how long you have trained the members of the jyunishi. Don't you think we should pass it down to someone whose more the likely been waiting a great deal of time?"
Her question as well as her statement caught Shishou completely off-guard and his eyes quickly shot over to her hand where she was shuffling her fingers around in order to get a firm grip around something, a handle of some sort. His eyes narrow and as soon as they do, he was able to hear movement around the house. As he turned around to look, he felt a shock of pain rush from behind his kneecap and up his leg until he felt like collapsing. Instantly, he was grabbed from the back by Kureno, holding his arms lock tight, Shigure standing in front of him to meet Kazuma face to face. "What…" he struggles to break free as he glares at Shigure, "What're you three…planning to do now?" Kazuma's voice was now suddenly producing a little bit of anger, yet the lack of fury annoyed Akito greatly.
She smiles and walks around Kureno and Kazuma and looks at the dojo owner's face, her eyes narrowing greatly. "I just want to try out my new toy on you… it seemed to have worked when I borrowed it for its use on Rin…" Akito grins after speaking when seeing a sense of horror overcoming Shishou's normally calm expression. "I'm curiously on how it would work on you… maybe it'll be the same with you as it was with the late Isuzu Sohma." The mirror slips firmly into her grasp and she holds it up so the glass, reflecting part faces Kazuma's face. "This was the cause of her demise. A mere mirror. Did you know, I already know who the next horse of the jyunishi will be?" Akito laughs as the mirror's glass begins to glow, currently reflecting Shishou's horrified expression.
XxX
Kyo runs to the front gate of the Sohma Estate, stopping a good distance as to not be seen and notices the two guards from only a couple days ago. They were identical to what he could recall. "I doubt the doughboy and stick will let me through without checking with the 'oh wonderful Akito'." Kyo says to himself, mocking the words he believed they'd more then likely say. Slowly, he lifts his hand up and runs it through his hair out of aggravation as always. It had been an hour since the moment Shishou left the dojo's property and it caused his anxiety to rise by more then a few levels. He turns around and hurries to the side of the Estate were a large, unclimbable gate stood tall and firm. Kyo places his hands around two bars and he grips them tightly, permitting the microscopic ridges to lightly rub against his skin. "What am I going to do?" he whispers to himself so softly he himself could hardly hear.
An exuberant voice fills the air, coming towards him, though it wasn't loud enough for the guards at the front gate to hear, "Kyo! Ky-ohhhhh!" It was Momiji, prancing along ever so happily. He was clearly a million times less gloomy after he learned that Kyo was healthy and alive. "What're you doing Kyo? Do you like those metal bars?" He asks jokingly as he stops his bouncing around just beside him.
Kyo stares at him, then narrows his eyes slightly, "You gotta help me in…"
"No problem," the childish rabbit says cheerfully, "I know all of the secret ways in. Follow me!" he exclaims, prancing off toward the farther end of the side where there was a great deal of large trees that were significantly close together. The cat or rabbit form of a jyunishi would even have trouble getting through these small crevices and holes. Momiji points to some random corner and explains, "Go over there and push through a few bushes, you'll stumble right into my back yard, I'll follow you!" A nearly invisible, yet grateful smile slipped across Kyo's face as he pushed his way through the large, overgrown bushes.
XxX
Tohru falls asleep in the living room as the night slowly became itself. The sun set just minutes ago and despite her worry, her weariness had overcame her urge to stay awake and she dozed off.
She was running in her dreams. Speeding away from a chasing shadow. Then she stopped dead and against her will she was forced to turn around to face the creature that was closing in on her. It was the true form of the vengeful spirit of the Cat. But something about it told her conscience that it wasn't Kyo, there was something about this one. He had somewhat more control of this form and was less concerned about being seen by a person who knows about the Sohma Curse.
"Who are you?" Tohru's voice in the dream echoed as she questioned the form that Akito regularly called a monster. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Her questions came at a more rapid pace but there was definitely no type of concern for herself hidden anywhere. Though she had only seen this form of Kyo twice, she felt like she was used to it, as if it were something she had seen all her life. "What's your name?" She approaches the vengeful spirit carefully, trying not to offend the unknown captivator of the monster-like spirit in anyway.
The monster looks at Tohru with a sense of peacefulness and replies, "I'm the grandfather of Kazuma Sohma. The master of a dojo I believe he is," its voice was raspy and elderly. "I actually came to you in your dreams for one reason… to thank you from releasing me from that dreadful mirror. Unfortunately," he whispers, approaching Tohru a little more, "My grandson is in danger and the boy he honestly considers his son will soon be in danger as well…" Shishou's grandfather says gently, "I beg you to at least give some shot at helping them. They don't deserve to be put into a world where its always cold. A place where all you see on the other side is people enjoying themselves while you endure the torture of being stationary…"
Tohru nods a lot and says, "Of course!" as tears began to swell up in her eyes, "I'd never want something to happen to either of them…" those tears slowly drip down her cheeks now and become absorbed by her clothing. "Where are they?" Tohru asks gently, holding back the need to sob uncontrollably.
"The Sohma Estate. Akito's house…" he says as his form disappears into the darkness of her dream.
There's the end of chapter 20! I finally got there and that leaves me with only a couple chapters to go. Yet... within those chapters all the previous ones have created a whole bunch of stuff that need to be done. So... the final few chapters will more then likely be packed with a lot of information. Please R&R!