The Curse and the Blade
By: SajaNatalia
Kyo lay awake, staring at the ceiling. It was quite early morning, but for some reason he couldn't coax himself back to sleep; he had had a most confusing dream.
There stood a woman, dressed in traditional garments, but not a kimono. Instead she wore a hakama. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and she carried a sword dripping with blood. Suddenly, she flicked the blade so the blood fell to the grass.
She walked away into the mist.
The dream wasn't what had bothered Kyo. The problem was that he felt as if he knew the woman in his dream. He had been trying to place her, but without success.
Minute after minute passed, and Kyo continued to stare blankly into space. It just didn't make sense. He had never seen this woman before, but it was as if he reached out just a bit farther, he could grasp her name. She must have been a cat, he thought, trying to give his mind an answer to this problem so he could just go back to sleep.
Unfortunately, this method didn't work, and Kyo lay awake, pondering this mystery until the sun rose. Along with the sun, however there was a loud scream from down the hall followed by a few curses and a thump.
The door to Yuki's room flew open, and out fell none other than Ayame. "But, my brilliant brother, I only wished to help see you off to school! You mustn't be angry with me!"
This was followed by a few other loud noises and the scream of, "Go away! I don't want you here! Go bug Shigure!"
"But Gure-san is most definitely still asleep. I couldn't possibly intrude upon him, as that would be quite rude, Mon frére," Ayame replied.
Kyo laughed to himself. Of all the things he had to deal with, at least he didn't have a brother like Ayame. Of course, this didn't mean he sympathized with Yuki. He would hate him until he was in his grave.
Figuring the whole house would be up in a matter of minutes, Kyo got out of bed and dressed quickly, listening to the argument between Yuki and Ayame all the while.
"But you mustn't miss school, Yuki, and I can take you! You must rise to the occasion! You must try to make a great impression upon the poor, poor souls of your school! You must-" Yuki cut Ayame off.
"Go away already!" Yuki seemed to have completely lost his cool.
"Well then," Ayame continued. "I shall have to go and help Tohru-kun rise from her bed instead, then!"
Crack.
"Yuki, you really shouldn't throw furniture at me. It could be considered as rude."
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Yuki groaned as he sat down across the table from Kyo. Tohru was making breakfast, and Shigure and Ayame were off discussing something, probably Yuki.
"What is it, Yuki-kun? Is something wrong?"
"What? Oh, no, Tohru. It's just Ayame again." Yuki picked up his chopsticks and broke them apart.
"Can't handle your older brother, Yuki? Are you that weak?" Kyo laughed, resting his arm on his knee. At that moment, Tohru made her way over with breakfast, preventing a fight from starting.
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"Come now, class. Open your text books to page 235," Mayu instructed them. Sighing, Kyo obeyed, doing his best to look bored.
"Today we will be starting a project, class. You will be put into groups of three to research a certain aspect of the Bakumatsu. I will pull names out of a hat to create groups, and then I will tell you just what your topic is," with that, she turned to the hat in her hand.
Leaning over, Tohru addressed Kyo. "Isn't it exciting? I really hope I get grouped with someone I'm friends with!"
"Tohru Honda will be grouped with..."
"Good luck, Tohru," Kyo responded, turning back to the front.
"...Kyo Sohma and..."
Inwardly, Kyo rejoiced.
"...Yuki Sohma."
"WHAT?" This was both Yuki and Kyo, as they stood in their desks.
"Sensei, can't I switch with someone?" Yuki asked, raising his hand.
"Or can he just jump off of a cliff?" Kyo inquired, shooting a horrible look Yuki's way. The rest of the class was silent.
"Sohma and Sohma! Cut it out right now!" Mayu shouted back at them. "I will not stand for this. You two are working with Honda, and that's final! Now, your topic is the warriors of the Bakumatsu. I mean everything from the Shinsengumi to the Hitokiris. Get to work."
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"Kaoru-dono?"
"What is it, Kenshin?" Kaoru looked up from the meal she was preparing.
"It's just, this one feels as if someone's-" Kenshin yawned. "-talking about this one."
"Oh, it's probably nothing, Kenshin."
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Author's notes: Yeah, I know it's moving slowly, but bare with me, okay? It'll be good!