Chapter 4: The Scare
Laughing children ran passed a stationary girl with purple eyes and long, gray hair. A pink bow settled on the back of her hair, half of her hair pulled back by it and the rest flowing freely. She stood in front of the school building, her small hands holding her bag. Miki let out her breath she was holding and took a step toward the new building. She hadn't been in contact with other children since the incident at preschool. She tried to put that memory aside as she began to think of the new friends she would make. She smiled, and her walk turned into a skip, a smile upon her face as she entered the building.
Miki made her way through the sea of girls as she made her way to her class. Miki went to an all girls school like all the females with the curse. She felt safer around her own gender, for she didn't have to worry about turning into a rat in front of her peers. She walked into her classroom, looking around in awe. She felt her body bump into another and she snapped out of her daze.
"I'm sorry," she said, bowing a little in apology. The girl turned around and smiled.
"It's okay! I'm Sera, what is your name?" asked the little girl, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement.
"I'm Miki, Miki Sohma," replied Miki, bowing again. The smile on the little girl's face vanished.
"Sohma?" she spoke softly."Yes, Sohma," said Miki, not noticing the difference in her look. The little girl shifted the bag on her shoulder and she looked around.
"Oh.. there's Kimi! I'm sorry, I need to go..." she spat and ran around Miki and went over to a dark haired girl who was sitting at a table.
"I'll talk to you later!" shouted Miki, waving her hand in the air. She had a good feeling about the year.
Miki was enjoying her first day of school, happy to be out of the Sohma house. She sat quietly, a smile upon her face as the teacher began her lesson. Miki swung her legs back and forth in her chair, her feet not touching the ground. She felt her foot hit the leg of the person in front of her and they turned their head to look at her.
"Stop it Sohma," the girl said sourly, her eyes looking at her. Miki blushed and smiled.
"I'm sorry," she whispered back. The girl turned back to the teacher to hear the lesson. Through out the whole lesson, girls turned and stared at her, whispering softly between each other. The teacher more than once had to tell the class to be quiet so she could continue her lesson. They would be quiet for a few minutes, but then another whisper would be started. Miki was oblivious to the conversation going on around her that focused on her. For she was a Sohma, one of the most dominating families in the area.
First recess came and Miki felt ready to try to make friends. As they filed out to the playground, Miki skipped all the way. The sun was shining brightly, filling her body with warmth. She smiled and twirled around outside, falling onto the grass. She giggled as she picked at the green blades, her legs kicking back and forth as she laid there on her stomach. She watched as other kids ran passed her, claiming pieces of the playground theirs for the time being. Miki got up and ran toward the swing set. One swing was left and she sat on it. Before she started to swing, someone grabbed the chain. She looked to her side to see a tougher looking girl looking down at her.
"This is for my friend." she said. Miki looked embarrassed and got off the swing.
"I'm very sorry," she said, bowing. She slid from the swing seat and walked around the playground. The monkey bars were full, the jungle gyms were occupied, and the slides had lines. Miki walked over to the field next to the playground and sat there. Recess wasn't as fun as she thought, but she found some dandelions to keep her occupied until the whistle was blown for them to return to class for reading then lunch.
Reading went by swiftly and lunch rang its bell. Miki's stomach was growling so loudly, you would think she was the tiger and not the rat. She walked through the line, looking at the food. She never had any other kind of food than the food at home, so this was going to be a new experience for her. She paid for her lunch and stood where she was for a bit before she saw the table that was her class. She walked toward it and saw the girls place things in the seats for they were saving them for someone. Miki walked up to Sera and smiled.
"Can I sit here?" Miki asked, smiling sweetly. Sera wrinkled her nose.
"Sorry Miki, this seat is saved for Kimi," she said. Miki turned and walked down the table and sat in the last seat, and ate her lunch quietly. Maybe school wasn't going to be as fun as she thought?
The bell for second recess sounded and the girls ran out to the playground. Miki walked slowly out the door, her feet dragging. She didn't understand why the other girls didn't want to play with her. She stopped. Maybe they knew her secret... No, they couldn't know that she was a rat. Maybe it was her hair color? Her eyes? No... that couldn't be... but what could it be? She spotted Sera by herself on the balance beam and she ran towards her.
"Sera! Wanna play?" she asked, a smile upon her face. Sera lost her balance and fell to the ground. Miki knelt next to her to help her up, but Sera jerked away from her.
"Leave me alone!" Sera exclaimed.
"I was just trying to help you up," said Miki, a confused look on her face.
"I don't need your help!"
"Sohma!" exclaimed a new voice. Miki looked up to see the same girl from earlier, Kimi. She looked down at Miki, a hatred look upon her face. "Stop trying to be of help Sohma."
"I was just trying to help... I don't see why its so bad," said Miki, standing up. Kimi rolled her eyes.
"Are you stupid? Nobody here likes you Sohma, so you should just go to a different school now," Ploy answered, her arms crossed. Miki stared at her.
"What do you mean nobody here likes me? They don't even know me." said Miki, standing strong. How could someone not like her when they didn't even know her? That didn't make any sense to her.
"Because you are a Sohma, you put most of our families out of business. It's because of you that we have to look for new jobs or we are employed under you. Your family is rotten and needs to be stopped. This is why no one here likes you. You should go to a public school, there they don't care what your family has done, but get out of this school, its not for a stupid Sohma like you," said Kimi, staring Miki down. Miki couldn't believe what she had just heard. Her fist clenched tight at her sides and her eyes began to fill with tears.
"That's not true! We aren't that bad, we aren't! You don't know us, you can't judge us! We aren't stupid, and I can go to this school if I want to or not!" shouted Miki, her tears running down her cheeks. Her chest was heaving due to her heavy breathing. She began to take big gasps of air, her chest pounding. "We aren't stupid!" she cried again.
"You're just a stupid Sohma and your family will become poor soon and we'll laugh when that happens," said Kimi. No one knew what happened next, but Kimi had a bloody nose and Miki laid on the ground, her chest heaving, her hands covering her face. Her small body curled up as she began to cry, her face hurting from the attack. Her arms ached as well. Half the playground encircled Miki, Kimi and Sera. Ploy wiped her nose as a teacher came and split the group apart. She knelt down next to Miki and looked around.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Sohma started it, she punched me so I defended myself... got a little carried away though," explained Kimi. Miki slowly uncurled as she was picked up by the teacher and taken to the nurses office.
Miki stood outside school, the other children passing by her. Her right eye was almost black while bruises covered her arms. She tried to hide them as she stood to wait to see who would be walking her home. A slender teenager with long black hair and chocolate brown eyes was soon in front of her. She looked up, a surprised look on her face.
"Seiko?" she asked. "Is it safe for you to come and pick me up?" she asked, worried about Seiko getting hit. He, as she did, possessed the curse. He was cursed with the horse spirit. Seiko smiled down at Miki and rubbed the top of her head gently.
"Don't worry princess, I'm not worried. I won't be taking you home everyday. That stupid monkey, Keiji, will escort you home next week."explained Seiko. He knelt down next to her and his hand gently touched her cheek. "What happened sweetie?" he asked gently, his thumb stroking her cheek. Seiko had always been protective of Miki, since the day of her birth. He didn't know why, but he just had to keep an eye on her. Maybe it was because of her strong hatred for the cat... the cat which caused his sister so much pain... Miki looked down.
"I... got into a fight..." she whispered softly.
"Why?"
"Be...because Kimi was making fun of us! She said we were stupid... she said that if we become poor she's going to laugh at us... that we are evil and take jobs away from people!" sobbed Miki, collapsing into Seiko's chest, her body trembling. Seiko wrapped his arms around the crying child and rocked her back and for. His cheek rested atop of her head and he rubbed her back.
"Its okay princess, don't listen to them. We aren't bad people... we're just misunderstood.. and we have a deep secret that they can't know about.. We'll break it someday though... we will.." he said. It should have been broken by now... but every attempted as failed.. we shall be cursed forever... he thought. Miki settled down and pulled away from Seiko. A smile was on her face as she sniffed. Seiko stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come on, we need to get home," he said as the two of them walked away from the school building and headed back to the Sohma house.
The two made their way into the Sohma house, Seiko dropping his bag as they made their way to the sitting area. All of the school children were sitting around, working on their homework. A six year old brown haired and eyed boy sat at the table. Across from him was a sixteen year old male with spikey brown hair and eyes sat, working on his homework as well.
"Uncle Keiji, can you show me how this works?" asked the younger child.
"Let me see your book Takai," responded the elder human. Miki skipped over to the two and sat next to Takai. Keiji smiled as he handed the book back to Takai.
"How was your first day of school Miki?" asked Keiji. Miki gave a shrug.
"It was fine..." she said softly, not wanting to give to much away. Takai looked at her.
"What happened to you? You're all bruised up," he said. Keiji looked at her as Miki scrunched down, trying to become as small as possible.
"Yeah, what happened? Are they picking on you?" Keiji asked, his finger slipping under her chin to take a good look at her face.
"Kinda... but it is no big deal... really Keiji... I'm fine. We just got into a little scuffle, thats all," she said softly, her eyes not looking into Keiji's.
"Hey... where is Natsu?" asked Seiko as he returned from a hall. Miki stiffened at the mention of the name of the cat. She still despised him for making her quit preschool. Keiji leaned back on his hands and looked at his best friend.
"Not a clue, Sakura and Mamoru left earlier this morning and haven't returned yet," he explained. Seiko sat down, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You think something might have happened?" he asked. Keiji shrugged, grabbing his pencil to work on his homework.
Three slowly turned into five, and Sakura and Mamoru still hadn't returned. Takai and Miki were sitting at the table, doodling pictures of their respective animals. Miki smiled and showed Takai her picture of a rat while Takai showed her a picture of a boar. Seiko and Keiji were sitting side by side, watching the two play peacefully. They looked up when Sakura and Mamoru entered the room. Sakura's eyes were distant and Mamoru didn't look at any of them.
"Where have you been?" asked Keiji, shifting his weight.
"No where," said Sakura, her voice cracking a bit.
"Where is Natsu?" asked Seiko. Mamoru quickly exited the room, leaving the hushed Sakura to stand there by herself. After a minute of silence she softly spoke,
"He's... gone." Keiji and Seiko just stared at her, Takai and Miki slowly stopped their activities to look up at Sakura. Her body began to shake with the eyes on her. She glared at them.
"What?" she snapped, and exited the room. Seiko punched the table.
"That damn cat!" he cried as he rubbed his hand. "My sister... I can't do anything to help her... I feel so... useless.." he said, his eyes swelling up with unwanted tears. "She just... doesn't deserve any of this... she deserves so much better..." he whispered softly. Keiji touched Seiko's shoulder gently. Miki looked over at him and crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his body. Seiko looked down at her, her eyes filled with concern. Takai just looked over at the horse, not knowing what to do. Seiko gave a soft smile to Miki, his arm wrapping around her. He looked over at Takai, still smiling. Keiji rubbed his shoulder and received the biggest smile of all from Seiko.
"Thank you all..." Seiko said softly.
"We need to tell Isamu about this," said Keiji.
"Tell me what?" asked Isamu, appearing in the doorway. Seiko looked up at the voice.
"Isamu! Natsu... he's gone. Sakura and Mamoru were gone for a long time. We asked them where Natsu was... they said he was gone," explained Seiko, pulling away from Miki. Isamu looked at him.
"We must find him... its not good for him to be out there by himself..." said Isamu. "Meet back here in fifteen minutes with whoever you can find. Children, I suggest you go back to your parents and wait there with them. Dinner will be served at the same time as usual so just go ahead and run along," said Isamu, running out of the room. Seiko and Keiji got up and Keiji exited the room quickly. Miki grabbed onto Seiko's leg.
"Are you going to find that stupid cat?" she asked. Seiko smiled and patted her head.
"Yes, I'm going to find that stupid cat. You and Takai should go to your rooms so you don't get in the way of the grown ups," explained Seiko. Miki let go of his leg as he left and sat back down. Takai looked at her as he picked up his stuff.
"Aren't you going back to your room Miki?" he asked. Miki shook her head.
"No, I'm going to wait her until Seiko gets back from finding the cat. Maybe we'll be lucky and they won't find him," she said, sitting down to go back to her drawing. Takai shook his head, and soon disappeared.
Fifteen minutes later, Isamu, Masa, Keiji, Seiko, Kisho, and Ryu were together in the sitting area. Miki hid under the table so they didn't notice her
"We need to find Natsu as soon as possible..." said Isamu to the group. They all nodded in agreement.
"Lets just hope nothing has happened to him," said Kisho, rolling down his sleeves.
"Isamu..." said a soft voice. The group turned to see the voice. There stood Sakura. Her eyes looked tired and worn, her body looking weak and fragile. She slowly walked toward him.
"Yes Sakura?" he asked. She grabbed his hand and slowly placed an object in it, and closed it without him seeing. She turned and walked away. Isamu blinked, the group following her with their eyes as she exited the room. Isamu brought up his hand and slowly opened it. In the palm of his hand sat a bracelet of juzu beads...
Authors Notes: I loved writing this chapter... and the next chapter shall be fun too :) Its picking up, i know... then its going to die down again... I have most of it worked out... I just gotta get off my lazy bum and write it. Thanks for reading it, even if you aren't reviewing. I love you for even reading this far :) I would appreciate if you did tell me how you like it, but thats fine! As long as you're reading I'm happy :) Until next chapter! Ja!
