Thank you again! I really, really am glad to have gotten reviews and to have gained new readers! Hi, new readers! (waves) Welcome to the Insanity Express! Well, not really, but still. I hurt my finger while playing basketball and it kinda hurts to type, but I came to the library (damn you, dial-up!) and posted this just for you guys! I'm waiting for the sympathy reviews to just pour in... Okay, my finger is okay. It only hurts a little. But that's entirely beside the point!
Disclaimer: I don't (ow) own (ah, my finger!) Furuba (sympathy reviews... you will give me sympathy reviews...)
Chapter Four: The Way She Is
"So anyway, I think it's imperative that you try harder," the young blond teacher concluded. She tapped a large stack of papers on her desk and placed them in a far-off corner. "You're an intelligent young man, Shigure-kun. I know you can do better." Her manicured nail indicated the 65 stamped atop Shigure's exam.
He looked at Hatori for support, then, sensing he wouldn't be a reliable source for back up, swiveled around to face his instructor.
"Karuma-sensei," he began in his enrapturing, melodious voice as he seized both of her slender hands. "I'm about to graduate, don't you know?"
"Why, yes. I'll... I'll miss you, all of you, dearly," she said, rather startled by the sudden physical contact. "Especially you and Hatori." She nodded to the male standing in the corner by the open door. "And our Ayame-kun." She beamed sweetly. "Unique as he is, and...Distracting." Her voice betrayed the tiny crush she had on him. Removing the blush from her cheeks, she continued," Tell him I hope he feels better. But what does this have to do with--?"
"Dearest, it has the world to do with my exam! It's extremely vital that you change my grade!" Shigure said smoothly, using his left hand to scoop up his chin. He grinned, slightly parting his lips to allow his bright teeth exposure to the young instructor. "You like us, don't you? You like me, don't you?" They were suddenly in proximity with one another since he leaned over her desk, practically in her personal space.
"Don't be so easily swayed, Karuma-sensei," Hatori advised. "He needs to earn his grades, like everyone else. Life isn't as easy as he thinks, and to indulge him would be unwise."
"Hatori's such a kidder!" he said, gazing at his teacher. "A regular comedian. This isn't about sliding along in life. I have a dream." He adopted an inspirational pose, eyes directed with a hopeful gleam at the ceiling, elbows bent and fists level with his chin. "I have no idea what I'll be once I get out of high school, but I have to get to college! For my cousins! For my parents! But, most of all, for myself!"
Karuma's eyes sparkled with tears. "Inspirational. You have such a way with words, Shigure-kun!"
"Karuma-sensei," Hatori warned.
"Karuma-sensei," Shigure sang, large eyes dotted with sparkles.
"He-- Karuma-sensei, he always does this. It's his dirty method of persuasion."
The boy rushed to Hatori, eyes still in convincing mode. "Please be silent, Hatori-saaann."
"Uhh.." Even Hatori couldn't resist the sparkling eyes. It was a step above the trademark puppy-dog eyes Shigure employed as his method of persuasion, and much more effective.
"What do you say?" he asked the woman behind the desk. "Pleeeeaaaaassssee?"
"Well-- I--" Karuma started, but trembled under his super shiny penetrating gaze. Even her sky blue eyes gained his sparkles, giving her a dazed look.
"Karuma-sensei."
"I can't just hand out grades…" Her voice deflated like a week-old party balloon.
"You can. For me."
"Well-- I-- Okay. But promise me you'll study harder next time," she said as a form of compromise between him and her conscious.
"Yes, dear lady. I shall. Thank you!" Shigure floated out of the classroom and down the empty hallway. "Have a nice night, Karuma-sensei!"
"You're..."
"Cunning? A stunningly sexy mastermind?" Shigure guessed with his hand under his chin.
"...Despicable."
He slapped the sides of his face in faux astonishment. "Me? Despicable? Not me! Surely not!" His arms flew to the back of his head. "I miss Aya-kuuun! He'd back me up. Quick! We must go to our fallen comrade!" he ordered, a fist raised.
"Did you forget?" Hatori asked dully. "We have to pick up Kyou and Kagura from school."
He stopped and looked at the sanguine and tangerine sky. A golden sphere drowned in this carpet of beauty.
"It's getting late," he admitted, an edge of worry lacing his words. "Let's go."
"I've been saying that for the past hour. Until you decided to con our teacher."
"The past is the past, Hatori. Don't dwell on it. Onwards, men!" Shigure pointed to the exit and shortly followed his finger to the outside world.
The elementary school was deserted. The swings creaked eerily in the wind as if moaning for human companions. Each piece of equipment in the playground squeaked and groaned with its own pitiful song.
"Let's hold hands and skip!" the bolder of the two ordered.
"I don't think so."
"I think so. La la la la la la laaaa!" A frolicking Shigure dragged along Hatori into the building. His repetitive song echoed in the dormant corridors.
His frivolity somersaulted into curiosity as he briefly searched the halls. "Those wacky lovebirds aren't here. Hm."
"Are you here for Sohma Kyou and Kagura?" a voice asked.
"Huh? Oh, yes," Shigure informed the invisible speaker.
The invisible vocalist made herself visible by stepping into their paths. Her eyes were the size of records at the sight of them.
"Sohma Kagura and Kyou's...parents, I presume? Just Kagura's? Or, um-- Kyou's?" A blink. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting this. None of them mentioned having two daddies. Of course, every family is unique and it was naive of me to think that they have a conventional family. I apologize."
"Ummm..." Hatori reddened as Shigure devilishly grinned.
"Why, of course this is my lov--"
"We're their cousins," Hatori interjected with a glare aimed at the grinning boy. He threw Shigure's hand out of his possession. "We came to pick them up."
"Ah. Yes! Yes, certainly." She stepped aside. "Please, come in. They're presently inside my office."
One sweeping glance at the office and Shigure noticed that the interior matched her to a tee. The cardinal color was a deep burgundy; everything from the walls to the leather couch was drenched in the sophisticated and thoroughly no-nonsense shade.
Their cousins were on the floor among a bunch of toys. Kyou omitted himself from pile and took to stoically glaring at the oak desk. Kagura merrily constructed a large tower, periodically pausing in her stacking to squeal, "Kyou-kuuun!" and hug him or kiss his cheek.
"Sweet kids," Suzuki Reiko commented.
Shigure beamed as he approached them. "Yeah. We love our cousins sooo much!" The girl was more receptive to the loving show, laughing as he kissed her forehead. Kyou nearly bit his hand off when he tried to pass on a bit of affection toward him.
"Where the fuck were you?"
"Kyou!" Suzuki admonished.
"I'm just saying," he glared at the black-haired high schooler, "that they're late."
"We're sorry. Blame Shigure," Hatori intoned.
"Hey! None of you had to stay with Miss. Sunshine over here!" he growled, pointing at Kagura. "She nearly-- Oomph!"
"Jerk! Super royal jerk! I hate you! I love you! How DARE you!" she yelled passionately, kicking and punching her beloved. "And after all I've done for you!" She grabbed his ankle roughly and swung him above her head a few times before hurling him out of the window. "Hey, come back here!"
After she leapt out of the broken window after him, Hatori sighed. "We'll pay for a replacement," he promised wearily, jerking a thumb at the window.
"Never mind. It's small compared to all the other broken stuff."
"Other broken stuff?"
"Well, Kagura threw Kyou into a desk while making one of her many visits to his classroom, shattered a swing's chain, broke a couple of chairs with her fists when not allowed to see him," Suzuki catalogued from behind her desk. As she sat down, she wordlessly invited the boys to follow suit.
Hatori and Shigure complied.
She let her fingers mesh with each other in front of her nose, elbows on her desk. "For well over 25 years," she began, eyes trained on her fingers, "I've been a psychiatrist."
"Psychiatrist, huh. Just like you, Ha'ri," Shigure joked.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. You were saying?"
"Ah. Yes." Her smoky charcoal and grey eyes regarded the duo solemnly. "I became a principal because I felt I was qualified for the job as well as compatible with it. You see, I specialized in Child Psychology. I can reason with children, understand them.
"Kagura's behavior towards Kyou is very...disturbing," she summarized, stressing the last word.
"Excuse me?" Hatori asked.
"I've never encountered such a sweet girl. When away from Kyou, she's very mild, angelic even. But placed in the same environment as him, and she becomes fierce, a loose cannon, violent. I'm afraid I'm forced to inquire what her home life is like so her behavior can be swiftly modified."
No words transpired from either party for an eternity it seemed. Shigure broke the continuous stream of silence.
"Just what the hell are you saying?"
Suzuki leaned forward. "Just that she's acting in a contradictory manner. She says she loves him, yet... To be blunt, beats the crap out of him. I just want this to be taken care of so she won't get into any trouble, like a suspension."
"Suspension!"
"If you don't want it to escalate that far, we could always hold an intervention between the children and us or have them see... Well, me. I was about to say shrink." Reiko released a half-hearted laugh, then let it perish when sensing the venom of the Sohma boys.
"Are you implying that Kagura-chan has a problem?" Hatori inquired with only a speck of a threat.
Shigure, less disciplined at controlling his emotions, soared over a slightly threatening tone. "She's always been this way, since she could walk and talk!" Anger was an uncommon expression for him to express. Even Hatori had to back away. "Kagu-chan's a good girl! She's a good kid!"
"I agree. I know how--"
"No. You don't. You wouldn't unless you...completely understood." His mind retrogressed through a graveyard of painful memories. "Our family..."
"Shigure," Hatori cautioned. He placed a hand on his arm.
"You might as well say... That Kyou-kun is... That he's damaged, too. Well," His brown eyes flashed with rage. "Say it! Call him disturbed too! Do it. If Kagura-chan's disturbed, isn't he as well? Well? Speak, Miss. Psychiatrist!"
"Shigure! Calm down!" Hatori ordered, rising from his chair and holding both arms. "She," he spat with an uncharacteristic amount of venom, "isn't worth it."
"I see you two are too personally attached to the young ones to give an objective response. I'm not saying this to be cruel. I truly want to help them!" Suzuki barked.
"O--Of course we're personally attached! What the hell, they're our...cousins. We love them." A pause. "If she needs help," Shigure smirked corrosively, "then she won't be "cured" by your hands."
Kagura's squeals of delight and Kyou's shrieks of pain rushed through the broken glass window. Their vocal output however was subdued, as if they were a considerable distance from the school.
"This is just the way she is. Accept it. I can't tell her to change who she is and the person who does is...a fool. Let's go, Hatori." Shigure swiveled around and stalked out of the office, Hatori slithering after him.
"Kagu-chan! Kyou-kun! We're leaving," Shigure called.
They were actually across the street, which explained their muted voices. Kagura waved at her cousins, an arm slung around a battered Kyou's shoulders.
"That bitch. That crazy, insensitive bitch," he muttered.
"I never thought I'd say this, but...I agree," Hatori vocalized in a steely tone.
"What did Suzuki-sama want?" the conscious one out of the pair asked.
He dived into his happy-go-lucky persona with a huge grin. "Nothing. Everything's okay now. Let's get ice cream! Ha'ri's paying!"
"Yayy! Ice cream! Kyou-kun, ice cream," she cheered as she shook him out of unconsciousness.
"No... Ice cream makes me dizzyyyy..."
I've decided something, Shigure thought as Kagura dragged Kyou ahead. There's nothing wrong with our Kagu-chan. Nothing at all. I hope she stays...
She waited for her cousins to catch up and placed a diminutive hand in both of theirs. "Thank you, Shii-kun, Ha'ri-kun, for being there. I love you!" she beamed.
Hatori was unable to resist the smile tugging at the edges of his lips. Shigure was less adamant in preventing the use of his facial muscles.
"...this way," he murmured. "Don't change, Kagura-chan. For one day, Kyou-chan will see you as I do: wonderful."
Someday, that day will come.