Chapter 35

TT: So many reviews… o.O I think I'm going to faint at the sheer number. I forget how many people are actually reading this story until I have six reviews come in almost at once.

BlueSilver-soul: Sorry, but Kyo doesn't keep flamethrowers in his pocket, so you'll just have to imagine it happened.

SillyLittleNothing: …Alright, I'll admit it. When the inspiration for a scene hits me hard enough, I don't edit as I go along and when I go back I read what I think is there instead of what it. It's a horrible habit that I've never yet been able to break.

MouseWolf: …Sensei?

On the porch, where Shigure and Yuki had retreated and the rest of the zodiac had come out to watch, confused looks were exchanged. Only moments ago, it didn't look as if Kyo had had the strength to lift his head, much less stand. And now here he was, not only acting as if he hadn't been injured at all, but also acting very strangely even given the circumstances.

Kisa clutched Hiro's hand more tightly as she stared. She was scared for Kyo – she'd seen Eris fade, there was no one left to protect the older feline. Suddenly, she squinted. Funny, but for a moment there, she thought she'd seen something strange.

There! It wasn't her imagination; there was something near Kyo that flickered, in the same sort of way that she saw ghosts. The tiger tried to concentrate, until the picture held long enough for her to make out.

It wasn't near Kyo, it was in Kyo. A ghost, who'd pushed their way into his body. Was this that possession Kyo had vaguely mentioned once? The transparent figure appeared to be female, thought she couldn't see the face. There was brown hair in a ponytail, stretching across Kyo's back as if affected by static, and they had a black, woolen jacket… And purple sneakers.

It was the shoes that Kisa had recognized. Her eyes had widened, suddenly holding Hiro's hand so tightly the sheep winced. "Eris…"

Everyone else snapped their heads around to look at her, eyes wide and surprised, before glancing back at Kyo.

Angered and vaguely humiliated, Akito scrambled to his feet as quickly and as dignifiedly as he could. He scowled, attempting to regain the mental ground that he had just lost in the cat's unusual behavior. "You dare? You don't even deserve to touch me, much less attack - "

"You know something Akito?" 'Kyo's voice sneered, accent never fading, "You're the one who taints others with your touch. Say, is bleach safe for skin? I'll have to ask Tohru…"

Akito was beginning to see red; he lifted his hand to slap the orange-haired boy in front of him -

- Only to have his hand caught in the cat's own. An almost unnatural strength seemed to feel the second body as Kyo's grip tightened, crushing the bones in Akito's hand.

Akito stumbled back, clutching the hand to his chest. Tears of pain welled up in his eyes, before they disappeared. Akito gave the teenager a glare that could melt steel. "You – You'll pay for that, cat - "

He was interrupted again by Kyo's voice, speaking coolly, though his expression was bright. "Kyo's not here right now – can I take a message?" Kyo suddenly scowled; it was a different expression to Kyo's usual one, but there was still something very familiar about it. "I did warn you, Akito; I warned you what would happen if you messed with NeKyo again. I'm not so forgiving the second time around."

For a moment, Akito looked confused. Then his eyes widened, "But, your - "

"Eris. The name is Eris. You better remember it if you want to plead for mercy."

"I just got rid of you!"

A casual shrug, "Your friend wasn't as good over long distances as he thought. I really hope you didn't pay him too much." She didn't bother to explain anymore than that.

Anything Akito might have wanted to say to that was interrupted as the possessed cat abruptly grabbed him by the neck, holding him up in the air with one hand, Akito's feet dangling helplessly a meter off the ground.

The human body is a remarkable thing; it is capable of doing much more than what its owner believes. This is probably because something in the owner's subconscious prevents the person from pushing his body to its limit under normal circumstances, because of the strain on the body this would cause.

However, when she died, Eris lost that subconscious limitation. And it was plainly obvious that her friend's usual limits hadn't occurred to her, as she watched Akito claw helplessly at the hand choking him. One of the scratches had made a few drops of blood well up onto Kyo's finger, but Eris couldn't feel it. She'd almost forgotten what physical pain was.

Eris suddenly snorted, and threw Akito away from her. He flew a few meters across the ground before finally landing, skidding and rolling another three meters before finally stopping.

Eris walked towards him – there was a small, unintentional swing to the hips in her steps. It was the kind of movement that boys did not possess, but girls did without realizing.

She knelt down in front of Akito, meeting his horrified gaze with her own cool one. Akito glared back, hotly, but kept his head lower than hers. Akito wasn't in control of this situation, Eris was. There was nothing Akito could do to change that. They both knew it. And Akito hated that fact, hated that he – him, God of the Sohmas! – had no control over the situation; that he was at the mercy of some ghost.

"You know, Akito. I'm not like you. I don't enjoy hurting people or watching people get hurt; under usual circumstances." Any glimmer of hope that the head of the Sohma family might have had in his eyes faded. "And I've certainly never been one to have people killed. But… You've had a lot of chances."

Akito swallowed heavily. He lowered his head to look had his good hand, resting on the ground, clenched into a fist as he tried to come up with a plan.

Eris smiled her patent, mischievous smile. The expression seemed strange on Kyo's face. "But I'm not going to kill you." Akito's head shot up in surprise, "You see, I'm not the one you – and the other Heads before you – have wronged." She watched as Akito's eyes widened.

Eris got to her feet, and walked away, back towards the house. She climbed onto the porch, and then looked down at Kisa. She knelt down slightly to speak to her, hands on her knees; "Come on, Kisa, we should go inside. I don't know for sure, but I think this is going to be messy."

Kisa looked into Kyo's red eyes for a moment. She saw a flash of hazel, and then nodded softly, taking the orange-haired teen's cold hand with her own, and allowed herself to be lead inside, Hiro following with a scowl. The older members of the zodiac hesitated, looking at Akito, before slowly moving inside as well.

Akito didn't notice any of this. He was staring at the tree line, unable to look away even though he could see anything. Eris had been looking over that way when she said she wasn't the one that had been wronged. What had she seen?

Then he heard it, and his blood suddenly ran cold. He tried to scramble back, but found himself frozen in place. He looked down, only to find ice covering the grass around him, his hands stuck to the ground.

The sound came again; "Mew."

A pair of glowing, amber eyes appeared, hovering without a body just a little off the ground, watching him. Several more pairs suddenly appeared, opening from behind the eyelids of invisible cats. Somewhere behind them, higher up, another set of eyes opened. Eyes that Akito had only seen when he'd removed Kyo's bracelet from his arm.

Akito swallowed as those eyes came towards him, bodies becoming more visible in the process. Eris had no reason, save for Kyo's protection, to fight Akito. But these ghosts had an eternity of torment between them, thanks to all the Heads that came before Akito. It was just his luck that they demanded retribution now.