Chapter 21
TT: Is it just me, or does a lot of this story just happen to be a chapter to fill in time?
Eris: Well, dog-pervert believes in me know, so I have two people to draw off - I'm not complaining.
Kyo: Anything to put off school.
TT: The main characters have spoken!
Since Kat asked, and I thought that maybe other people might like to know, I have no problem with people printing out my stories, just so long as you don't try to claim it as your own and you keep my name on it (but I'm not paying for all the ink you'll use! P)
SillyLittleNothing - the ouiji board might be burnt to ashes, but it won't go away!
Kyo: I told you that thing was evil! It's trying to haunt the story! It wants to TAKE OVER!
ShadoWalker - the ouiji board is from a previous chapter, and it won't leave
Klove - Now you need to read another chapter
Kat - Alright, I'll see what I can do in the next few chapters!
Tally - Kyo's mother didn't become a ghost, she moved on almost immediately after she died. Kyo knows this too, in fact that probably hurt him more than the fact she killed herself because of him. I studied Japanese for, oh, probably a year, but that was a long time ago, I wasn't any good, so I don't know either.
One more thing: W00T! 200-REVIEW MARK REACHED! I love you guys! If I do 30 chapters, will we get 300?
Eris: Popular, we're popular! Wheee! blows party-blower
Kyo: …So can I eat the cake now?
"The dragon-doctor – "
"Hatori."
" – Right, Hatori – he still doesn't think I'm real, does he?"
Kyo paused, lowering his glass of milk, looking thoughtful, "Hatori's… very sensible, I suppose. He doesn't believe in ghosts, or anything like that as far as I know."
"Kinda hypocritical, considering he's cursed."
"Mmm. Just don't go haunting his room or something, in order to make him believe you exist."
"Of course not. What kind of specter do you take me for?"
Kyo gave her a sly look out of the corner of his eye, "You just don't want to be away from me too long – I'm your 'power source.'"
Eris gave him one of her familiar, cheeky looks, "Heh, how'd you guess? Do you think they'll tell the others about me?"
"Well, Akito's going to know at the very least – Why, having seconds thoughts? Because if you are, tough, it's a little late for that!"
"No, I'm more worried that Yuki's brother – the pretty long-haired snake guy – will encourage Shigure to call that exorcist."
Kyo looked at her, "That stuff works? It didn't with the ouiji board."
"I have no idea. It probably works if you do it properly, but I just don't want to find out. And your idea of exorcising the ouiji board was to make cross signs and command it to go back to hell while it burned."
Kyo scowled at the memory, muttering, "Didn't burn very well, either. And before you say it – I did not overreact!"
"Ha! Yeah right, c'mon, you know you did – you're just in denial."
"You should talk, weren't you in denial about being dead for, what, two years?"
"Well yeah, but that just means I can recognize the symptoms in you."
"Riiiiiight."
"By the way, I think we're scaring Shigure."
"Eh?" The cat turned away from Eris and the glass of milk he had on the table, to see Shigure standing in the doorway of the dining room, a disturbed expression on his face. Kyo glanced back at Eris, "How long has he been there?"
"Just before we got onto your denial – in time for the burning comment. And before you ask, no, Tohru didn't pass by while we were talking, neither did Yuki."
"Okay then – and I'm not in denial."
Eris smirked, her voice changing to a singsong tone, "Yes you areee."
"I said I am not!"
Shigure cleared his throat, "Uh, Kyo, who are you talking to?"
Kyo didn't look around, "Eris – she's being annoying as well as stupid – Ow!" He suddenly grabbed his head, eyes screwing shut in pain, "Damn it, Eris, don't do that brain freeze thing, do you have any idea how freaky it is to watch someone's hand suddenly go into your head between the eyes?"
Shigure paused for a moment, before sitting down in the closest seat, eyes focused on the same point as Kyo, as if he'd be able to see Eris if he stared long enough. "She really is real, isn't she?"
"Of course she is, you stupid dog! Why the heck would I lie about something like this that'll make everyone think I'm insane?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead bringing his glass of milk to his lips.
"…And she calls you 'NeKyo'..."
Kyo spluttered, milk going everywhere and choking on what got caught in his throat. Eris thumped him on the back – Kyo stared aghast at Shigure – the dog noticed that his face had turned bright red – "Where the hell did you here that?"
"Ayame called just before – he wanted to know how you were doing – he was at the main house when Akito called for you, and he saw the whole thing."
"And out of everything she did, you two only remembered the nickname she gave me?"
Shigure looked surprised, and then smirked, "You mean that she really does call you that!"
Face still completely red, Kyo glared fiercely at the dog, "Shut up!" He glared at Eris from the corner of his eye, "Now see what you've done!"
Eris gave him a wide-eyed pout, "What did I do? I mean, how was I supposed to know they'd actually pay attention to what I call you? Besides, its not like you'd let anyone else use to nickname in the anyway. What's the harm in them just knowing?"
"Its embarrassing, that's what!"
Eris retaliated by sticking her tongue out, before changing the subject, "NeKyo, the perverted dog is staring through me."
Rolling her eyes, Kyo glanced back at Shigure, "She wants you to stop staring at her – she hates it when people stare at her when they don't even see her."
Shigure wondered how Kyo could know so much about the invisible presence in the room – they must have become quite close (the fact that this 'Eris' was dead kept his perverted thoughts at bay), and no one had noticed. Oh, they'd noticed that Kyo's behavior had changed, but not to this extent. He looked back over at Kyo, "How long has she been around, exactly?"
"She's been dead a lot longer than any I know of has been alive, if that's what you mean. She sometimes talks about things, like how cars once used hand signals… But she's good help in modern history."
"I see." Well, that was something to relay back to Ayame, at least. "Ayame and Hatori both said something about a cat – or cat ghost – being there as well…"
Kyo frowned – he had been rather out of it when Eris had decided to teach Akito a lesson. He looked at Eris.
Eris met his gaze quietly for a few moments, before answering the unspoken question "He was a really old ghost, Kyo – I'm talking centuries! I don't know for sure, but he was saying some stuff… I think he was the first cat to get locked away by the head of the house – he just wanted to see it stop, wanted to see the cat walk free again…" Hazel eyes looked down at her shoes, fingers playing with the laces.
Kyo's brows furrowed slightly, but gave Shigure the answer he wanted – leaving out the other details. "And Eris says he's not the only one, either. There's a lot of ghosts, but they're all bound to the cat's house, and that he was the only one with enough power to travel that far and see the incident."
"Interesting… Oh yes, now I remember what I wanted to ask in the first place – if your friend here has been staying with us for so long, does she know why my internet download has been going so fast?"
A pause, then Kyo raised an eyebrow at the invisible girl, answered, "She says that she may have been looking at web comics at one stage – and incidentally, your perverted stories disturb her."
Later that night, Kyo found himself lying on the roof, he and Eris not speaking, just enjoying a comfortable silence. Then, he sighed, "I'll have to go back to school tomorrow, won't I?"
"Mmm? Yeah, I guess you will. Why are you complaining – I know you've been bored."
For a moment, it seemed as if Kyo wouldn't answer, "…Because Haru and Momiji will be there."
"Huh?"
"I don't want to see them… See the disgust – or fear – in their eyes. Because of what they saw, that I'm a monster."
It didn't matter who said otherwise, or how many times they disagreed, Kyo's belief that he was a monster had been too deeply ingrained to truly disappear, so Eris tried a different approach. "So is every other person in the world. Everybody hates at one stage, desires someone else to be hurt, or something similar – heck, even Tohru has or will do it at one stage! Its what's in people's hearts that matters. Everyone, human, cat or whatever else, we all look the same under the skin… We've all got darkness in us Kyo, we're just not in denial about it." She gave him a wide smile when he turned his head to give her an incredulous look, "I think that makes us just a little bit better than them, don't you think?"
Kyo tucked his arms behind his head, staring up at the stars for a moment, going over Eris' words in his head. Then he gave a wishful smile, "Yeah…"