Beyond the Darkness
Chapter Two: An Early Snowfall
Lazily Akito drifted to the window, drawing his robe closer to his body in a meek attempt to block out the chilling winter air. The snow had gradually begun to fall once again, covering the ground in a pure white blanket. With a sigh, Akito's gaze landed on the main gate, which to his surprise had been left open. His eyes darkened as he watched a few cars pass by, completely unaware of his existence. With a scowl, Akito went to turn away before his gaze brushed over a young, pale woman who paused to lean against the gate. He raised an eyebrow as he heard her racking cough break the silence. A scowl graced his lips as he watched her hold a tissue to her mouth after gently brushing her shoulder-length ebony locks from her eyes.
'A cold, how unfortunate.' He thought sarcastically as another young woman suddenly appeared by her side. She gently placed a hand to her forehead,
"This cold is doing you no favours, and the weather is certainly not helping." The curly mahogany locks of the second girl bounced as she spoke.
'They no nothing of true suffering.'
"I take it you are Miss Matori, and Miss Tokari?" Hatori's voice drifted across the courtyard as Akito hastily stepped back into the shadows of his room, his eyes still pinned on the two young women now on his property.
"Hatori Sohma?" The brunette quested.
"Indeed I am, welcome to the main Sohma house."
"It is so big, and I imagine beautiful in summer." The second girl remarked as her eyes brushed over the buildings around her, merely looking, and yet hardly seeing.
"But I find the crisp snow refreshing, quite beautiful in its own right. And this place seems even more mysterious in it's blanket of snow." The first, paler girl replied softly, her voice barely reaching Akito. Hatori paused a few metres before them, a small smile lighting his chocolate eyes. The two bowed respectfully and Hatori nodded in response.
"You have been in contact with Shigure?"
"We have, but, well, we couldn't find the house." The second laughed nervously. "And Shigure told us to come here if we had any problems."
"Yes, he told me as much."
"I hope you don't mind."
"It is no problem. I have been expecting you to turn up all morning, actually."
"We are sorry to be a burden, if you would be so kind as to give us directions…" The paler girl started,
"Nonsense, it is no problem. Wait here and I'll bring the car around." Hatori stated before turning and heading back the way he had come.
"We could simply walk…"
"I am a doctor. You cannot hide the fact that you are ill from me. A cold I presume?" She nodded mutely in reply. "Being out in this winter air is not ideal, so please wait here and I shall be right back." He replied over his shoulder before vanishing around one of the buildings.
"Well he seems quite nice, and not bad looking either." The brunette winked playfully to her friend, who simply rolled her eyes.
"Trust you." She replied, elbowing her in the ribs.
"What? Well he is! And a doctor! Maybe you could ask if…"
"No."
"I didn't even finish."
"You don't need to, we can worry about that later. Unless you plan on catching some highly contagious disease, we really don't need a doctor. And I'm sure he is far too busy to deal with us any longer than he has to." The brunette turned away for a moment, mumbling something under her breath, which her friend replied to with a glare. They did not have to wait long until Hatori brought the car around to the front gate, into which they hesitantly climbed. Akito mindlessly leant against the windowsill, his thoughts drifting over the two young girls and the fact they would be living in that house.
'Yes, perhaps they will be able to rid that house of its memories.' Without realising it, Akito found himself staring at the paler girl, who had dropped her handkerchief on the sidewalk and had stepped from the car to retrieve it. As she rose, their eyes met for but a split second, and Akito could see her hesitate for a moment before easily lowering herself back into the car and gently closing the door. Akito's expression did not change as he watched the car pull away from the kerb and vanish from sight.
It had taken Tohru Honda much longer to lay eyes on him, and he wasn't even sure what he thought of these girls yet. Secretly he wondered how long it would take them to found out about the secrets of the Sohma family. His family. His secrets.
- - - - -
"Welcome home you three! How was school?" Shigure asked, poking his head around the corner of his study.
The orange-haired boy merely grunted as he quickly plodded up the stairs.
"Good to see you too, Kyo." He remarked sarcastically.
"Good afternoon!" The chocolate-haired girl smiled merrily.
"Ah Tohru! Yuki, I take it Kyo is in one of his moods." He sighed.
"Did you know that someone has moved into the old house on the edge of the property?" Yuki asked, gently dropping his bag on the floor beside the stairs before turning to Shigure.
"Yes, Hatori and I have been cleaning it up. It seems Akito has decided to rent it out."
"Rent it out?" He repeated, eyebrow raised in disbelief.
"I don't know what brought this about, Ha'ri came to me a few months back and asked about it, Akito wanted to know what condition it was in. He told Ha'ri the old house might as well be put into good use."
"And someone has moved in?"
"It really is a lovely house, identical to this one, only a little smaller. And those two beautiful young ladies who have moved in add an ideal charm to the place." He sighed, dreamily.
"And I suppose you are the one who approved them?" Yuki sighed, his eye twitching in annoyance.
"Now what gave you that idea, Yuki?" Shigure laughed innocently.
"You are such a pervert."
"New neighbours? Wow! What are they like?" Tohru asked, excitement bubbling in her voice.
"They are such sweet young girls, fresh out of school."
"On no!" Yuki groaned.
"They only arrived this morning and we all had tea while we waited for their moving van to arrive. After that they insisted on unpacking alone, so we left them to it. Ha'ri needed to get back anyway. You know we should all go offer them a hand getting settled."
"And what exactly have you been doing all afternoon?" Yuki turned to Shigure suspiciously.
"Now Yuki, don't jump to any conclusions."
"You've been spying on them, haven't you?"
"Now why would I do such a thing?"
"You are such a sick bastard!" Kyo shouted, stomping back down the stairs.
"So you were listening, huh Kyo? Don't you think it's great that we've got some new neighbours?" Tohru smiled warmly as he came into sight.
"Yeah, I guess." He paused, scratching his head for a moment.
"Well I think we should all go see if they need any help settling in, it would be the neighbourly thing to do." Shigure stated, standing.
"Yes all right, after all I suppose someone has to watch over you." Yuki sighed.
"I'd love to meet them!"
"What about you, Kyo?"
"I suppose I haven't got anything else better to do."
Together they set out through the land that separated the two houses, drinking in the serenity of their surroundings made all the more so by the settled silence of winter. "You know, I never realised there was another house nearby, let alone one owned by the Sohma's." Tohru stated, glancing to Yuki and Kyo, who were walking on either side of her.
"Oh yes, it's been there for as long as I can remember. Actually the thing that surprised me the most about Akito's decision was that he was actually born in that house." Everyone's eyes widened as they paused and turned to Shigure.
"Oh? You didn't know? Well, I suppose you wouldn't, Akito is older than you after all. Yes, Akito was born in that house, and he has refused to set foot in it for many a year now."
"Oh." Tohru sighed puzzled as the others looked away, clearly deep in their own thoughts. "I guess I just assumed he was born at the main house."
"Most of us were, but Akito…"
"Can we change the subject?" Yuki interrupted, his nervous gaze sweeping the ground.
"Yuki? Are you all right" Tohru quested.
"There are just some things I do not wish to know."
"No, but maybe there are some things you need to know." Shigure commented, strangely serious as they broke through the line of trees in sight of the house. Yuki hung back slightly, his brow furrowed in concern.
"Yuki, are you coming?" With a quick nod, he hurried to catch up.
"Where do you want to put this when I've finished dusting it?" One female voice called from the porch where they could see her beating a large Persian rug.
"How about the dining room?" Another answered from inside where they could hear a great deal of rattling.
"I can't believe Akito was born here. It looks exactly like your house, Shigure." Tohru whispered.
"It took a long time to clean up, and a lot of things needed to be thrown out. Some of it I have back home. I can show you later, if you like."
"Did they belong to Akito? Doesn't he want them?" Shigure merely smiled,
"No, I doubt that, but I thought I better keep them anyway." He shrugged, catching the attention of the young woman on the porch.
"Oh good afternoon Shigure! How are you?" She smiled merrily, hazel eyes dancing as she tossed the rug down and turned to them. "Are these your cousins you were telling us about?"
"This is Yuki Sohma, the brooding orange head is Kyo Sohma, and this young lady is Tohru Honda."
"Pleasure to meet you." They all chimed, Kyo a little less enthusiastically.
"And a pleasure to meet all of you. Shigure told us all about you." She smiled warmly. "Oh my heavens I didn't introduce myself! How rude of me! I am Romiko Matori." She laughed, catching Kyo's eye and winking.
"Do we have visitors?" Another voice called just as the nearest door slid open. The pale, ebony haired girl stepped outside, shielding her bright sapphire eyes from the afternoon sun.
"And this is my dear friend, Aiska Tokari."
"A pleasure." She bowed gracefully as she cast her eyes over each person before her, pausing for a moment on each. Romiko quickly introduced everyone to her as she nodded, a small, almost sad smile gracing her lips.
"Well, we would invite you in, but you'd probably be swallowed by boxes." Aiska laughed before a cough racked her body as she wrapped her coat tighter around herself.
"You have a cold?" Yuki asked sympathetically.
"So do you, by the sound of it." She smiled as she noticed the rasp that was tickling Yuki's voice.
"Ha'ri won't be impressed if you fall ill again, I don't think you were even over the last cold." Shigure muttered, his arms folded, as the temperature seemed to suddenly drop.
"Such strange weather." Romiko pondered, glancing to the clouds that were beginning to overtake the blue of the sky.
"Looks like another storm will set in soon." Aiska sighed.
"And you said you liked the snow."
"I do, but not this much."
"Have you even got a heater set up in there?" Kyo asked, glancing to Romiko.
"Well, not yet." She laughed nervously.
"But you'll freeze!" Tohru gasped. "And I'm sure you don't have anything to eat."
"Well I can see where this is going." Shigure sighed in mock defeat, clearly delighted. "Come stay with us for the night, then in the morning we'll help you get everything else set up."
"Oh no! We couldn't possibly!" Romiko and Aiska gasped in unison.
"No arguing, at least Tohru won't be outnumbered by us men." His eyes sparkled with mischief before turning and heading towards the line of trees.
"I swear you should be arrested." Kyo grumbled, shooting Shigure a glare.
"But…"
"No, he's right Miss Aiska, your cold will only worsen if you stand out here arguing." Yuki stated.
They waited as the girls grabbed their possessions and locked up the house. Shigure paused until Kyo and Yuki fell into step beside him as they headed for home, the girls following, laughing as they chatted.
"We'll have to be very careful tonight. I doubt Akito will be very forgiving if they discover our secret." They nodded solemnly. "But it might be good for Tohru to have the company, I'm sure she must be getting bored of you two by now."
"Hey!" Kyo snarled.
"And what about you?" Yuki asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh no! She'll never get bored of me." He winked as he glanced over his shoulder to the three women following. Yuki and Kyo were quick to deck him.
"Ow! Tohru! Yuki and Kyo are picking on me!" He cried mock tears as Tohru sighed. Aiska shook her head and snickered, while Romiko giggled in amusement as they fell into step beside Shigure. Tohru quickly slipped between Kyo and Yuki, who were glaring at Shigure.
"I don't think those two are safe with him." Kyo mumbled.
"It might be good for him to have two women around closer to his age. You never know, maybe he'll fall in love with one of them." Tohru smiled as they all watched the three laugh together. Romiko playfully pushed Shigure into a bush.
"Or both." Kyo added.
"Well at this rate it won't take them long to discover the Sohma secret." Yuki sighed, clearly irritated by his cousin's actions.
"Shigure is harmless enough, I suppose." Kyo muttered, "So long as they don't try to hug him, and I can't see that happening anytime soon." After a moments pause Kyo nervously cleared his throat,
"Do you suppose Romiko's hair is naturally that curly?" Tohru and Yuki turned to him, eyes wide. "What? Don't give me that look! I was just curious, damn rat." Hearing Kyo's question Romiko turned around laughing,
"Yep, it's totally natural!" Kyo blushed bright red as Romiko motioned for him to join her. "Here, watch this." She said, taking one of the curls, pulling it straight and releasing it. Kyo's eyes widened as it sprang back. "Do you want a go?" Romiko questioned Kyo, who reached out and gingerly pulled a curl, grinning as it repeated the trick.
- - - - -
Hatori rose from his kneeling position on the floor as Akito numbly waved a hand in dismissal. He seemed completely uninterested in the new tenants, and merely stared out the window at the darkening sky as Hatori had spoken.
"One more thing." Akito paused, finally turning his gaze to Hatori, "What is the name of the curly haired girl?" Hatori hesitated for a moment,
"Miss Romiko Matori."
"And the other one? The pale, raven haired girl?"
"Miss Aiska Tokari."
"Did she ask you to treat her?" Hatori was slightly confused at first; completely unaware that Akito had seen them.
"No."
"Did she say anything of this morning? Of this house or this family?"
"Only that the head of the house must be very proud indeed, to have so much." Hatori hesitated, nervous that this would upset Akito. Yet he merely turned to the window again, his expression unreadable and distant as he sat slouched upon his chair, one leg over the armrest.
'I am forced to trust two complete strangers to solve a problem I do not even understand myself. They will regret it if they set even one foot wrong.'