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Japanese to Know:

Daijoubu desu ka - Are you all right?
Ne... - Hey (...sort of...)
Kiniiri - My pet; My love
Baka - Idiot; Stupid

Chapter 3

One Last Secret

"Kage-kun!" Ayame purred, bounding into Hokage's room. Or rather, the room he had borrowed for the night.

Hokage opened a red eye and growled, "How the Hell did you get in here?"

"The door, of course! But why the tone?"

"Don't you know you're not supposed to wake me when I'm sleeping?"

Ayame laughed. "Come, Kage-kun, Tohru-kun made breakfast!" He grabbed Hokage's feet and began to drag him from the room and down the hall.

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to shut you up."

"Ah, you're so funny."

"Ayame, what the Hell are you doing?" Kyo yelled.

"Taking him to breakfast," Ayame answered innocently.

"He's our guest! You can't drag him!"

"Shut up, Kyon-kyon," Hokage growled sleepily.

Kyo bristled. "Ayame, forget what I said. Drag him down the damn stairs."

Hokage smirked. "Oh, did I offend you, Kyon-kyon? If you're so offended, why don't you throw me down the stairs? Why make poor Ayame do it?"

"You sure got a mouth on ya!" Kyo snarled, tensing.

Pulling his feet from Ayame's grasp, Hokage stood. He mocked Kyo with his swaying posture and cocky smirk. "Come, Kyon-kyon, try to hit me. Or are you too scared?"

Seething, Kyo rushed Hokage and tried an upper cut. But Hokage swayed out of the way. Only growing in anger, Kyo let out an onslaught of rapid punches and jabs. All failed to land their mark.

"Pathetic. It would've been so much easier if you just said you would throw me down the stairs." Hokage gripped Kyo's arm and flung it aside, leaving his stomach open for Hokage's knee. Kyo stumbled back and held his stomach, coughing and choking for air.

"So…you want to be…thrown down the stairs?" he muttered, glaring through one eye.

"It would have considerably more effect than what you're doing now." Hokage looked around for Ayame, but he had long since gone downstairs. Shrugging, he strode to the top of the stairs. He stepped out and then felt a sharp kick to his spine before flying to the bottom of the stairs. There, he lay in a heap. "See, Kyo-kun? Much more effective."

"Ah, Hokage-kun! Daijoubu desu ka," Tohru gasped, coming from the dinning room.

"Perfect," he sighed, smiling up at her.

"I'll go get you a wet cloth." She stood and took a step forward, but slipped on a board that had broken off the wall. Falling back towards Hokage, he stuck his foot up and caught her back, holding her centimeters from landing on him. His breathing was shaky and his eyes were wide.

"Hokage," Shigure said, coming into the room.

But the boy didn't respond.

"Hokage, it's ok. You don't have to be afraid."

"Fuck you."

"She knows, Kage-kun. She won't judge you. You don't have to run anymore. You're safe here."

Still, Hokage held her there. "She's an outsider, Shigure. She'll never know. She may not say anything, but she judges. I won't be mocked anymore!"

"Are you also a Zodiac member?" Tohru murmured. "But I thought I knew all twelve…I even know the Cat."

"Tch, figures. History forgot my story…why would she know?"

"If you'll let me, I'd like to know."

In anger, Hokage pushed Tohru away and jumped to his feet. "You're so stupid! Don't you get it? You can never understand! Not even Akito understands! Stop being so naïve!" He ran from the house and kept running.

"Should we go after him?" Tohru questioned, picking herself up.

"Like Rin, once Hokage starts running you'll never catch him," Shigure sighed.

"He's so sad," she said. "I wish he would let someone help."

"Ne, Shigure, how come we've never heard about this guy?" Kyo inquired, picking up the loose board.

He sighed. "Akito kept him close. Sometimes not even his own family was allowed to see him. Besides Akito, only four of us even knew he existed."

"Where will he go?" Tohru said.

"Back to Akito," Ayame whispered with saddened eyes.

Hokage stopped at the front gate of the Sohma estate. He buttoned his shirt, hiding the chain that hung heavy on his neck; a reminder of what he really was. Sighing in anger, he jumped easily onto the roof of the high wall and slid over. Avoiding the other people there, he made his way to Akito's chamber. As he made to knock, the door opened abruptly.

"Kiniiri," Akito purred, stroking Hokage's cheek. "So good of you to come back to me. Where have you been?"

Hokage flinched from Akito's touch. "Keep your sickly fingers off me."

The man snarled, "How dare you speak to me that way! I'm your master!" He backhanded Hokage.

Calmly, the boy wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled malevolently. "Baka."

Akito tensed. "You will do well to mind me, Kiniiri. I can lock you back in that box. I can keep you from the world." A sadistic smile curled on his lips. "Has that chain grown heavy? Is it the weight that brings you back to me?"

Hokage glared at the man. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"Yes, our bond. You can never escape." He drew his sharp nails across Hokage's right cheek, watching the blood trickle from the wounds. "You'll never run again." With a quick jerk, he ripped away at the boy's cheek.

Growling, Hokage darted away in order to keep from killing Akito. He held his cheek in his palm, blood seeping from the sides. In anger and pain, he fumbled into Hatori's office. With no sign of the doctor or anybody else, Hokage began rummaging through cabinets and drawers, hoping to find something to stop the bleeding.

"You won't find anything in there," a man said. "And you're getting blood everywhere."

Hokage whirred around and glared at the man in the doorway. His eyes did not soften when he saw it was Hatori. Instead, he tried to lunge away, but Hatori caught his arm.

"Let go of me!" Hokage yelled, trying to pull away. "Leave me alone, Hatori!"

"You're not going anywhere with your face like that. Let me bandage it, and then you can rush off to wherever your heart desires," the doctor replied sternly, pulling the boy back into the office.

He sat with a huff and stayed still as Hatori worked.

"You haven't changed one bit," Hatori mused.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Even though you're sixteen now, you find the time to act like a child." He sighed. "Like Shigure and Ayame."

"Don't compare me to them. I'm nothing like them."

A small smile appeared on Hatori's face. "Want to know what I really think?"

"I have a feeling it doesn't matter what I say."

"Really, you're like all the Zodiac animals…even the Cat."

"The Cat? You dare compare me to a feline?"

"Does that mean the Tiger bothers you as well?"

"Is a tiger not a feline?"

Hatori shook his head and stood, smiling at a privet joke. "There is a quality of the Ram."

"Fine then. What else makes me like the others?"

"The Dog because you are loyal—whether you admit it or not; the Snake because you are devious and proud. Like the Monkey because you find reason to blame yourself. The Cat for your quick temper; the Rat for your wit. The Ox because you can be prone to violent mood swings. The Tiger because you are often quiet and keep to yourself." He paused.

"Dragon, Boar, Rooster, Rabbit, and Horse," Hokage named, counting his fingers.

"Yes, thank you. Like the Rabbit because you can be daring and have fun. The Boar because, while you mean well, you can be quite destructive. The Horse not only because of your speed, but also for your intelligence. And the Dragon for your dependability and, occasionally, logical thinking."

"You still forgot the Rooster."

"I don't know a lot about him."

Hokage stared at the floor. "How can I be all the Animals when I am just one? One not even known."

"It is because you are not known that you can be." He closed his eyes and looked away, saddened. "It is because you are all of these that God is compelled to love you."

The boy bristled. "Akito is no god."