Author's Note: Wrote this chapter during Fall Break! WOO! Lots of time to work on my stories! Anyway, I'm writing it when I'm sick so please excuse the sucky chapter! (Sorry it took me so long to post it. I was hoping to write another chapter before posting it, but I haven't had time and I promised a reader so yeah)
ENJOY!
Chapter 21
--One Case Close, Another Begins—
The man in the white wig stepped out of the small room. He kept a straight face so that no one could tell what the final result could be. Suspense filled the air as he walked to the podium and sat down. The old judge cleared his croaky throat.
"Akito, I hereby sentence you and Yamato to sixty years of life in prison for murder the murder of Motoko Minagawa and attempted kidnapping of Tohru Honda with 100 hours of community service per year. And because of the amount of money you have, it's enough to bail yourself out. Since you made your fortune from Tohru, you will give her fifty-percent of your fortune. Forty-percent will be donated to several foundations. You will be allowed to keep the last ten-percent. I'm sure it will be a reasonable amount once you finish your sentence."
The judge banged the brown gravel, making notice that the case was over. He strained himself from grinning when he saw Akito and Yamato's face turn pale when they heard this. On the prosecution side and audience, cheers were heard along with high-fives.
"We won!" Tohru exclaimed happily, about to hug Yuki but stopped when she remembered the curse.
"Not only that but you're richer," Uo commented.
"CONGRATS MON FRERE (my brother/it's in French)!" Ayame yelled, jumping on Yuki. The other Sohmas rushed toward Yuki.
"Imagine forty years without him to stop us," Momiji stated, dazing out, wondering at all the opportunities in store for them.
"Another case to add into the books," Haru spoke up. "You haven't lost your touch yet."
The others wanted to say something, but someone ushered them outside where Akito and Yamato were standing in handcuffs with reporters surrounding them.
"Akito, how do you feel abo…."
"What about you, Yamato? After losing…."
Yuki and the three women walked closer to where Akito and Yamato were, and the reporters immediately asked them some questions.
"How does it feel like to…." one began to ask until Akito butted in.
Dark black pupils gazed with hatred at purple orbs. He had warned him not to interfere, he had told him not to disobey him, he had even given him a little demonstration of what might happen if he butted in, but alas, the d--- rat didn't listen.
"The whole world thinks you're so high and mighty, dear cousin, but just because you haven't lost a case, didn't mean you're perfect," Akito commented loudly so that everyone around them could hear. He smirked into the camera and added, "Before I leave, let me give all of you a little gift. It's to get to know Yuki and some of my other cousins a little better."
Akito inched closer to where Tohru was and hastily grabbed her and pushed her on Yuki. Then, the head of the Sohma was grabbed by the guards and was thrown into the vehicle that was going to drive them to the prison.
Without looking back, a poof was heard and Akito smirked.
XXXXX
News of the case was spread all over Japan and the whole world. Kyo watched appallingly when he had saw the live view of the scene at his home. He was happy that the rat had won, but this…this was going too far.
Kyo's face turned white as a ghost once he heard the shrills of the people once the smoke cleared away. Right in the middle of the courthouse was a small, gray rat. Yuki's clothes were on the ground, surrounding him. The news reporters were drastically running around, unsure of what just happened except for the fact that the Yuki Sohma was gone and a mouse was in his place, drawing to a conclusion that Yuki had turned into a rat.
With all of the chaos, no one was really looking carefully to where they were running, bumping into people, a few who happened to be Momiji, Ayame, and Kagura. More screams filled the air as the Sohmas started panicking.
"My place!" Yuki shouted so that the Sohmas and three women could hear him as he dashed out of the building. Luckily, they heard and followed his lead.
Kyo started sweating. Hatori would not be able to suppress everyone's memories. What if they found out about…gulped…him and his true form? Another problem to add into his life. If the world found out, everyone would hate him, they would think he was even more disgusting. His hard work on his dojo would be going down the drain. Life was so unfair to him, not because of his job, but also…Kagura…
Tears formed in the orange eyes as he looked at a pink envelope lying on the coffee table. It was Kagura's wedding invitation; no, Kagura and Kenji's wedding invitation along with a letter from Kagura asking him to come and wondering if she did anything wrong to hurt him.
He wanted to be there at her wedding, but he wanted to be the groom, say 'I do' to her, exchange vows.
Kyo grabbed a handful of hair. She never did anything wrong, it was him. He was the one who was too slow to react, too late, but too in love with her. The wedding was going to be in about three months. He had that long to think about it. He had to at least tell her he loved her, but what about her happiness?
The cat lied on the couch, continuing to watch the special report and thinking about Kagura.
XXXXX
Yuki panted. He was still in his rat form along with Momiji, Ayame, and Kagura in their Zodiac form. The other members and Tohru, Uo, and Hana followed them back to Yuki's apartment. Unfortunately, the crowd began to pursue them.
"Split up and meet back at you know where!" Hatori barked. Everyone obeyed and went their separate ways, getting the reporters confused.
"This way!"
"No, over here!"
"Look, there's Honda-san!"
All the groups made different turns, sprinting for their life, making the crowd die away.
Just when Tohru, Hana, and Uo made one last turn, they found themselves at a dead end.
"I was hoping it wasn't going to come to this, but…" Uo smirked and walked closer to the pesky reporters. She faked a punch and kick, scaring them away. The ex-Yankee threw in screams to add into the effects.
"Come on. Let's go," Uo commanded, as they sprinted to Yuki's apartment hoping that the others were as lucky as they were.
It was about a five minute run away, and when they arrived at their destination, most of the Sohmas were already there. The rat, rabbit, snake, and boar were still in their Zodiac form, waiting impatiently to transform back.
"Mission accomplished," Haru commented once the last two (Hiro and Kisa) arrived, huffing for air.
That precise moment, several poofs were heard and lots of smoke appeared. Tohru naturally screamed and turned around. The other Sohmas followed her lead. Kureno, who was standing next to Uo, gently grabbed her arm and forced her to turn around.
Uo began coughing and yanked her arm away. She turned towards him with a glare. "What do you think you're doing?" It was only then when she got a good look at him and grinned mischievously. "Didn't I tell you to never grab people's arm by surprise?"
"Listen, just tell your friend to turn around too. Trust me. Even Tohru-san is doing so," he politely said. The bird was a little happy that she remembered him four years ago. She was still the same spunky woman he had met. He grinned a bit, but she didn't notice for she was too busy telling Hana to turn around.
The smoke slowly cleared and fortunately, the smoke detector didn't go off.
"Please tell me someone grabbed our clothes," Yuki grumbled sternly, his face turning red from embarrassment.
"Don't worry." The seahorse handed them their respective clothes, and they immediately dashed into the bathroom, a bedroom, or the closet.
"Would someone like to explain what's going on here?" Uo snapped once the four were changing.
"Yes. I think Uo and I are the only ones here who have no clue as to what is going on," Hana said in a calmer manner.
"Huh? Tohru knows?" Uo looked at Tohru with a 'why-didn't-you-tell-us' look.
"Well…you see…" The ex-singer started fidgeting, not looking at her friends. "I wasn't supposed to find out, but I did and so I had to keep it a secret. You saw what happened when the reporters found out. They were afraid of that happening so I just couldn't tell you guys just in case it slipped out by accident to the public," she explained.
"I guess I can forgive you for not telling us, but what exactly it this?" Uo asked, wondering why they turned into different animals.
It took them several minutes to explain their curse and how they transform, etc. Yuki, Momiji, Ayame, and Kagura had finished changing in the middle of the others telling Uo and Hana about their curse. Once they were finished explaining to Uo and Hana, surprisingly, they were calm about it, taking no repulsive attitude about it.
"Even if you three don't mind our curse and don't think of us as disgusting little creatures, the whole world will," Yuki spoke up. His purple orbs showed fear, the calm Yuki they knew was about to break down. Everything he…and the whole family had feared about was the curse leaking out, people panicking, being sickened by them, isolating them from society and mankind.
"He's right," Hatori quickly jumped in. "There was one other time when our curse leaked out, but it was only at a playground. I could easily track those families and suppress their memories, but the entire world, I can't do."
"Now you know how the public will react. All of our dreams and hard work will be gone down the drain in a matter of hours," Haru said sadly.
Tohru never realized, but it was true. Momiji's restaurant, Ayame's shop, and Kyo's dojo would probably have less, probably no, customers/students, making them go bankrupt. Hatori, Shigure, Haru, and Yuki might be fired and anyone with the last name of Sohma could be hated and lose their jobs. And what about school? Would Kisa and Hiro be teased and left out just like she was?
Tohru's head whirled with the numerous possibilities.
"I guess I'll have to say good-bye to my restaurant," Momiji whimpered.
"Aw, com'on, it can't be that bad!" Uo shouted, trying to cheer them up. "I'm sure we can do something to make sure that nothing will change your careers!"
"Yes, just tell me their names and I'm sure my little brother will be delighted to put a curse on whoever it is that's bothering you," Hana added.
"Thanks for the thought, but do you really think you three can actually do enough so that we don't have to suffer. I mean, it's not like you can suppress people's memories or build a time machine or anything special like that," Hiro said in his rebellious manner.
"I'm sorry! I'M sorry! I'M SORRY! IT'S ALL MY FAULT THAT THIS IS HAPPENING! I BRING NOTHING BUT MISERY! I SHOULD JUST BE DEAD! I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE ON THIS EARTH!" Shigure poked the monkey on his side, and Ritsu, who surprisingly was wearing men's clothes, immediately calmed down.
Silence filled the air. No one spoke. They all had weary expressions. No one wanted to leave the apartment because news reporters and police officers were surrounding the ground level. A helicopter flew around the building, making the loud whirring sound.
Yuki quietly and cautiously grabbed the TV remote and turned the TV on.
"We are here live at the apartment complex where the famous Yuki Sohma lives. Early, we had found out that he, along with some other Sohmas, can miraculously transform into different animals; four including a mouse, bunny, serpent, and pig. There has been no word as to where Yuki Sohma and the other Sohmas present at the T. Honda vs. A. Sohma case are now. We don't know what other possible threats they hold and are advising that you contact the police if you spot one of them. For those of you who had just tune in and have no clue what is happening, here's a clip of this morning's incident…"
Yuki switched off the TV too ashamed to see it. Turning into Zodiac animals, how could they be dangerous? If anything, they (everyone out there) were the dangerous ones. They were the ones with guns and weapons. They were the ones that would think of them as disgusting aliens and would have nothing to do with them.
"We can't stay here forever," Kagura whispered in the silent room as she uncurled herself from a ball. Kenji moved closer to her and put a loving arm around her, being careful not to hug her.
"We can't hide forever either," Rin added.
The cow punched the wall. "D---it! This is all Akito's fault!"
"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Momiji said quietly, looking up at the ceiling. "I guess we just have to go out there and see." The half-German young man was about to open the door to leave when Yuki stopped him.
"It might be better if you take the fire escape route," Yuki said lightly, giving him a smile.
Momiji nodded and discreetly fled out of the window and off in the shadows. Soon, the others followed, taking Momiji's courageousness as a sign.
Tohru, however, didn't want to leave. She didn't want to leave Yuki, not yet. After these four years, she had found him. The one man in her life that she wanted to be with, and now that Akito was gone, she was going to make good use of it.
The brunette young woman stood up and whispered something to Hana and Uo. Uo's expression changed, but her eyes showed understanding as Hana nodded. All three women hugged and two left the apartment, leaving the third there with Yuki.
XXXXX
Kureno waited patiently and apprehensively for the three non-Sohmas, particularly Uo. There was something about her attitude that made him fall for her so hard that he kept on wondering about her these past years.
Two thumps made him break away from his thoughts as he saw Uo and Hana brush away any dirt when they had fallen.
"And to think, once Tohru gets her chance as happiness, something wrong happens to Yuki," Uo commented, putting her hands behind her head.
"And what about you, Uo?" Hana said in a mysterious, teasing voice.
"What'd'ya mean?"
"I mean…" Hana started, but stopped once she saw Kureno standing in front of them. A small smile grew on her face.
"Hello Kureno-san. You wouldn't have happened to be waiting for us…I mean, Uo, would you?"
Kureno's calm face turned red and shocked. "Wha…what? No, of course not. I was just…"
"Hana, what do you think you're doing?" Uo hissed in Hana's ears as the two ignored Kureno for a second.
"Nothing, but it seems like I forgot something at the courthouse. Kureno-san, why don't you walk her home? I can go get my black shawl by myself." Hana instantly left, leaving the two speechless.
"Hanajima!" Uo mumbled her full surname with anger. Uo stomped out of the alley, Kureno quietly following her.
After some time, Uo turned around and said, "Look, you don't have to walk me home if you don't want to. I have no clue what Hana was thinking, but…."
Kureno cut her off by placing a finger on her mouth. "I want to, but I was thinking, we skipped lunch so how 'bout it? My treat and we can get to know each other better." Kureno bit his lips once he realized what he just said.
'Yes! Another free meal from him!' Uo exclaimed happily in her head. "Alright, but I get to pick the place." The ex-Yankee thug unconsciously grabbed his hand and dragged him to a nearby restaurant she liked.
They arrived at Piazza Food, which was an outdoor restaurant. There was a rooftop that can be placed on top with a push of a button for cold and rainy weathers. The restaurant had various types of food from American to French to Japanese.
Uo and Kureno were ushered to a table immediately since it was after lunch and before dinner. A waitress came by taking their orders.
An awkward silence fell between the two.
"What…"
"How…" They said at the same time.
"Sorry, you can go first," Kureno politely offered.
"What animal do you transform into?" she whispered, glancing around to see if there was anyone around them.
"I'm supposed to be the rooster, but I turn into a bird instead," he said ashamedly. "Did you really mean it when you said you're not afraid or disgusted by us?"
"Yup. I've been through a lot and I don't see how I can be afraid and disgusted by all of you. You're still you on the inside too."
Then, their drinks arrived. Uo took a sip of her soda before asking, "What was it you were going to ask me?"
"Oh, that. I was just wondering how your tour was?" Kureno asked.
Uo began telling him stories that happened to them. They talked about other stuff that happened to them as well as other things to get to know each other during the meal.
Everything was going perfect; a nice day, a nice meal, a nice conversation until the bill arrived.
Kureno gazed at the numbers on the total. The meal wasn't expensive, but he didn't have enough cash to pay so credit card was the only choice. He sighed and fished out his card and placed it on the small black dish.
The waitress came by and took the dish. She slid the card in the machine and went to give him the receipt to sign.
Kureno scribbled his name and handed back to the waitress.
The waitress looked at the signature. 'Sohma…' she thought as she turned back around stare at his retreating figure. He looked familiar. Then it hit her, he was one of the Sohmas at the Tohru Honda case, meaning he could possibly be the one that can transform.
"Hey, you! You're a Sohma aren't you!" she started screaming at him and chasing after him.
Kureno heard all of this and gulped. He grabbed Uo's hand and they both started sprinting. It didn't help that the waitress was screaming it so loudly that everyone around them heard and started chasing them.
Once again, Uo found herself at a dead end.
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault," Kureno whispered. He gave her a gentle kiss on top on her head. "If something happens to me, I just want you to know, I love you."
Uo's eyes widen, her face turned pink. "That's it!" Uo faced the crowd with determined eyes. It was about time she stood up for what she believed in. 'If Tohru can saved me. I can save him,' she thought.
"Listen up!" Uo roared, getting everyone's attention. "If you don't leave him alone, you're going to get a piece of Arisa Uotani, who is Tohru Honda's best friend and personal bodyguard!"
Everyone staggered, looking at her with fear. Rumors of her and Hana, almost everyone feared them, especially the physic chick who could use her waves. No one knew what that was exactly, but rumors said it was a horrible feeling to feel.
"I guess if no one's going to move, there's gonna be some blood!" Uo ran towards them, but this time, she grabbed the top of a trashcan to show that she meant business.
"AHHH!" The crowd instantly ran the other way, trying to escape the woman's wrath. After a few minutes of screaming, light kicking and punching, the crowd disperse.
Uo was now sweating and gasping for air. "I think we're safe."
Kureno looked at her with amazement. He had never had someone stand up for him before. Akito would always order him to do things, but he had never had someone do something for him.
"Thank you." He walked up to her and offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted.
"It was nothing, but I think we better leave before the police comes."
The two dashed the scene, and the bird took Uo home. They were at the doorstep, meaning that they would have to leave each other soon.
"Well, I guess this is good-bye." Kureno shifted his feet and stared at them, not wanting to look at Uo. "If you don't mind, how about another date some time?"
Uo had unlocked the door to her apartment. She smiled, still remembering what he had told her before. "Sure, call me." Uo stepped into her apartment and was about to close the door until she murmured something. "And what you said before, I love you too."
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Author's Note: Sorry if there's lots of characters that are OOC! Sorry if the ending of the chapter sucked too!
Next chapter: Another Yukiru moment
Probably won't be able to update until either Thanksgiving break or Christmas because that's when I'll have break from school.School and my extra activities are killing me so I don't have time to work on any of my stories! PLEASE DON'T BE MAD!
REVIEW PLEASE!