Chapter 3 (Nightmare Realized)

"Please Hatori, stop walking for just a second!" Kita yelled as she tried her best to run after him but one big step for him was equivalent to two regular steps for her. Hatori always made her feel so short in comparison. Not to mention, her speed was hindered by the fact that she had to hold up her oversized skirt. Lucky for her, he stopped, giving her a chance to catch up.

"Now, explain to me where the hell we're going." Kita demanded, waving her finger at him. She didn't like it when people kept information from her and she could tell by the sullen mood in the kitchen after she had gotten changed that something bone-chillingly horrifying was going on and that it involved her. She wanted some answers now.

Hatori looked towards the sky. It was a cloudy day but surprising warm for mid-January.

"Kita, do you know that I made a promise to your mother after New Year's twelve years ago?" Hatori asked, insouciantly.

Kita shuddered violently. Her last New Year's: the first time Hatori had saved her. Or did he? Holding down Akito so her mother could whisk her away from him. She often wondered if what Hatori had done for her was what she really, truly wanted.

"No. I have no knowledge of any promise." she said, starting to wonder what he was getting at. He appeared to be avoiding the question.

Hatori turned to face her.

"After what happened that night at the main house, your mother asked me to watch over you and to protect you from the Sohmas, especially if anything were to happen to her. Since you were with your father most of the time and stayed away from Sohma property, there wasn't really a problem and it was easy for me to keep the promise..."

Hatori paused and looked into her broadened yellow-green eyes. Just like Mina's.

"...until now."

Kita's back stiffened. She now understood what he was hinting at. He was taking her to see Akito.

Absent-mindedly, she plopped down onto the cold ground. The grass was damp from a recent downpour of freezing rain but she didn't notice even with the water seeping through her skirt. Her head was spinning so quickly she was having a hard time keeping it on her shoulders.

I have to see Akito.

"Kita, are you okay?" Hatori asked, kneeling down and putting his hand on her forehead even though he knew it wasn't an accurate measure of temperature or degree of illness. Regardless, she was only a little warm.

"I-I'm okay." she said, her voice quivering. She mentally cursed herself for lying so much.

"We're going to see Akito, aren't we?"

She looked sufferingly up at Hatori who looked away from Mina's hurt eyes. He had betrayed both her and Kita by obeying his master. It was a lose-lose situation.

"There's no other choice. He's the head of the family. He has to decide where you will live and who will be your guardian." he said, almost like he was trying to convince himself that he was powerless as well.

Kita felt as if she might faint. Her body started to sway backwards as if she was going to fall directly onto the wet grass but Hatori loosely grabbed her shoulder to steady her, cautious not to hold onto her too closely. If he were to transform, they would be even later.

Her dream last night. She sat bolted upright. She had dreamt about Akito. He was...

She rubbed her forehead, a fierce migraine developing. She couldn't even reflect on it.

Akito's words from that night twelve years ago played on repeat in her mind. I'm going to marry you one day. She hasn't seen him in twelve years. They were just little kids then. There is no way he'll still feel that way when she sees him now.

One day you'll be all mine.

"Does he still...?" Kita stopped talking when she realized that she wasn't quite sure how to phrase all of her curiosities into one inquiry. Does he still act violently when you take something he says the wrong way? Does he still shy away from everyone else? Does he still act possessively when faced with losing something he wants? But Kita realized that all these things paled in importance to the one question weighting heavily on her soul, her soul whose future rests in his hands. Does he still want her?

"He asked for you every New Year's and every family gathering, he requested that you come." Hatori said, responding to her unspoken question.

Kita froze. There's no way he expected her to show up all those times. He never invited her. No one ever invited her. She was in exile, wasn't she? Without her mother, she had no more active ties to the Sohmas.

"He told me to ask you to go." Hatori admitted. "Keeping my promise to Mina, I never told you about it because I thought that after a certain amount of time, he would forget about you and I wanted you to live separate from him. I didn't think you'd ever have to see him again."

"You could have at least told me!" Kita spat angrily at him, finally standing up and surprising them both with her boldness.

"If I had told you he wanted you to go, you would have gone. Am I right?"

Kita's face softened as she nodded guiltily. She would have gone, mostly for her mother and family obligation but a little part of her would have been interested to see Akito again. A masochistic, wicked, little part.

"Then it's a good thing I never told you." Hatori said, unforgivingly. "Now, let's go."

They walked to the main house with no sounds made but the squish of their shoes on the watery grass. A deafening silence seemed to surround the Sohma estate at all hours. Kita had only been there a couple of times other than New Year's and she had always been unnerved by the absence of activity and life. Not that it was always that way, it just seemed like it was.

When they reached the front door, Hatori clasped a hand on her shoulder.

"Remember to be polite, respectful, and humble because you don't want to anger him. If you make him happy, than your fate will probably end up better than anticipated." He said, turning to solace her jitters.

She looked up at him with a fearful expression.

"You're going in with me, aren't you?" she asked, in a frenzy. Who knows what he would do to her if they were alone together.

"Yes, I will." He sighed, dreadfully. "But I can't guarantee that I'll be allowed to stay."