Author's Note: Reading my own work is sickening me right now. I wrote this so long ago, I should have at least done some hefty editing. Oh well.
I actually have all the chapters dated. The date for this chapter is Wednesday, January 29. Quite neurotic of me to do it, but since pretty much every chapter effects the next, it was kind of necessary.
By the way, the title of the last chapter was the title of a hidden AFI track. Look at the lyrics to it.
Enjoy, regardless.
Chapter 7 (A Different Kind Of Lesson)
"Kita, wake up. Akito wants to see you now." Kureno said, opening the door to her room.
Kita was already awake but still lying down in the luxury of her Egyptian cotton sheets. She had gone to bed drastically early last night after crying herself sick and had woken up ten minutes ago because of some noise coming from Akito's room. She looked at the clock and realized that she still had twenty minutes before her alarm would go off and, on top of that, she had set it a half hour earlier than yesterday after almost being late for school.
Kita got out of bed and stretched her hands high above her head. For once, she felt well-rested but still not ready to start her day. She had a fear that today would be another day like yesterday but hoped that each passing day would become easier and easier as the tears dried and the wounds healed. She was already feeling decently satisfied with the idea of being awake and alive. Seeing Akito didn't sound so bad after all. In a way, she missed him already which seemed like a strange thing to think after having just started living here. However, remembering how fussy everyone is about looking meticulously perfect when you see him, she concluded that she needed to at least wash her face first.
"Does it have to be this second? I'd like to get ready for school before I see him." she said, already reaching for her cleanser. Kureno sighed and gave a bewildered look at her attire. She was wearing her school uniform after having fallen asleep in it last night. It was pretty wrinkled and stretched in odd contortions from sleeping but it would have to do.
"Okay but make sure you do it quickly. He's very impatient this morning." He warned.
Kita didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her face wash and powder and stumbled into the hallway, practically sprinting for the bathroom. When she came to it, the door was shut and locked.
"Oh come on!" Kita said loudly. "I only need the bathroom for two minutes tops. I have to see Akito. Please hurry up."
The door unexpectedly swung open. Kita was surprised that her request actually spawned results and especially surprised to see Haru standing there looking extremely sleepy. He doesn't even live here, she thought confused.
"It's all yours." he said, stepping aside. "Good luck."
Kita felt like she should have at least said thanks but her mind started racing at the words good luck. Am I in for something bad, she wondered as she ran the hot water. Do Kureno and Haru know something I don't know?
She frantically powdered her face, the evanescent scratch nearly gone. Then she ran her fingers through her disheveled hair and tried to smooth the wrinkles out of her day-old uniform. She hadn't been scared to see him before. Cruel fate.
Once she looked presentable, she walked slowly to Akito's door and slide it aside; she didn't feel the need to knock. He had requested her presence in the first place so he was expecting her prompt arrival.
Considering the fact that he had been sick yesterday, he seemed well, or at least normal for him. He was sitting down to the right of her, huddled around the heater, his back against the column near what could be called the front of the room. She knelt down in front of him.
"Good morning Akito." she said, not quite sure if it was acceptable to wish him a good morning but deciding that he'd probably appreciate the greeting anyway.
He lifted his head up a little towards the ceiling but didn't look at her. His dark hair fell around his face, making it hard for Kita to see his reaction.
"Where were you yesterday, Kita?" he asked mistrustfully but still maintaining his composure.
Kita felt the familiar shiver his voice caused run from the frontal lobe of her brain to the bottom of her feet. He was acting in that creepy way he normally acts before he gets violent. What did she do wrong?
"I-I was at school." she said fumbling with her words a bit and praying that was a sufficient answer.
Akito laughed curtly and did not smile.
"I mean after school. Where were you?" He put his feet up on the heater, waiting for a response even though it didn't really interest him anyway. There's no excuse for what she did.
"I-I was in my room the entire night." she said, fidgety. She hadn't done anything that would be disgraceful to the family or disloyal to him. He seemed to think she belonged to him and she wasn't about to argue with him about it.
Akito stood up and walked towards her, adjusting his yukata to keep it from falling too far off his shoulders. He stood over her and she closed her eyes, preparing for a paroxysm of the most virulent nature.
"I was sick yesterday, Kita. Very sick. And I wanted you to come and take care of me. I missed you and it made me very sad that you didn't want to help me feel better." He ran his hand through a strand of her hair. She gritted her teeth, afraid he might pull it.
"I missed you too." she said truthfully. She really did miss him yesterday. While she was locked in her room, she was thinking about how he had consoled her after the funeral and how much she wished he could do it again.
"I wanted to see you but I thought that since you were sick, you wouldn't want to be bothered."
Akito let the strand of hair slip through his bony fingers and something occurred to him that he had not considered. She didn't know what being head of the family entailed; she only knew about how everyone must obey him. She didn't know about the burden he must suffer with the full weigh of the Zodiac curse or about how he will die a premature death. I won't tell her yet, he thought. I'll save that unpleasantness for later.
"I'm not going to punish you. You didn't know. However, in the future when I'm sick again, your care will be much appreciated."
Internally, Kita let out a sigh of relief. This wasn't so bad a visit. I'll just have to watch my step carefully, she thought. Although I never agreed to it, I am Akito's and there is little I can do about it. Maybe if I stay in line, I can always be around the kind side of him, the side I actually like.
Akito extended his hand to Kita, offering to help her up from the floor. She took it graciously, practically floored by the amiable gesture. She stood calmly, waiting for an instruction or a good-bye but she didn't receive a dismissal of any sort. She quickly caught onto the fact that he wasn't finished yet, as Akito was still standing closely in front of her.
The fact that she couldn't read his expression was bothering Kita so she reached out and pushed his hair away from his face, secretly relishing in the soft feeling of his hair between her fingers. A mischievous spark flashed in his charcoal eyes that excited Kita and she started to become more afraid of her own emotions than of him.
He placed his hands on her hips and aggressively pulled her towards him, placing a forceful, passionate kiss on her lips.
Kita had only ever kissed two guys in her entire life, Akito and Raidon, and there were certainly no similarities between the two. When she kissed Raidon, it was like kissing a brother, detached, unromantic, and even a bit awkward. Kissing Akito was the exact opposite of that. It was emotional and intense and felt...right. But how, thought Kita, how can it be right? If you care about someone, you don't hit them when they upset you. There is something about him that I have yet to understand but I'm sure it would help explain the way he treats me and the way I feel towards him.
But for now, Kita was wrapped up in him and it felt so good to forget the pain and not have more of it inflicted on her.
She ran her fingers through his messy hair again and pressed her body against his, allowing her to feel every bone in his cadaverous body. He smiled into the kiss and Kita took pleasure in making him happy for once, a task that is quite difficult to do it seems.
Akito pushed his tongue against her tightly pursed lips, demanding entrance into her mouth. She conceded, parting her lips and eagerly welcoming his advances.
She couldn't comprehend why she was allowing this to happen or why she was so enthralled with his carnal desires, especially since she herself wasn't ready to go further with him than where they were now even though he seemed fixed on doing so.
His hands began to slip below her hips and Kita gasped into his mouth, her mind abruptly returning to center on what was happening. She started to get very nervous unbeknownst to her that it only aroused him more.
A knock at the door brought the action to a halt. Akito groaned and moved his hands back up to her hips, thoroughly irritated that it interrupted his inspection of Kita's dental work. Kita, on the contrary, was thankful for the disruption.
"Enter." he said, annoyed. He didn't let go of Kita's hips even though she had untangled her fingers from his hair at the prospect of someone else entering the room.
Kureno entered and despite the fact that he knew he had disrupted them, he wasn't at all embarrassed or ashamed. Kita, on the other hand, blushed dark red and hid her face in Akito's yukata because she couldn't look him in the eye. Akito found her child-like embarrassment endearing.
"I apologize but Kita is going to be late for school if she doesn't start walking right now." he said, mechanically.
Akito sighed angrily, reluctantly letting go of her.
"Good day, Akito." she said, bowing and exiting the room.
Just when things between us were starting to get good, he had to try to take it further, she thought bitterly. Another bad day in the making.