Shigure-
There was a pause at the stairway that led up to the outside world. 'The REAL world.' Shigure thought. 'Because this can't be real. A dream world, maybe, but not real.'
"You are quiet."
Shigure tensed, then relaxed, forcing his shoulders not to hunch up. Instead of turning to face Count D, he kept watching his family. Most of them were very quiet and it seemed to Shigure that he'd never seen his whole family gathered like this unless it was for New Year's, almost a full year away. "Just thinking. There's so much to think about now." He kept his voice soft and was sure that no one had heard him. Perhaps Kyou had, but Shigure wasn't certain how much sharper the cat's ears were than before. He moved backwards a few steps, but kept watching his family.
Akito was the first to ascend the stairs, slowly making his way up as if it were painful for him. Perhaps it was. Surely, Kyou's magic kiss couldn't have healed all the problems Akito suffered from Wasn't it enough that Akito seemed to be thinking more clearly? When Akito stumbled on a stair and nearly fell, Shigure took a quick step forward, intening to help, but Kureno was at Akito's side - as always - and easily caught the smaller man's arm to steady him. Even if Kureno hadn't been there, Hatori walked just a step or two behind Akito and would have caught him if he had fallen. They really didn't need Shigure.
"You think too much." Count D told Shigure. He seemed to know what Shigure wanted and respectfully stepped back, away from the family to speak to him. Together, they watched the rest of the family slowly, patiently, follow Akito up the stairs. "You have concerns you do not wish to bother the rest of your family with?"
Only then did Shigure turn away from his family to look at Count D. He wished there were more light. Even with his excellent vision, the kami seemed to be bathed in the shadows cast by the overhead lights. His purple eye stood out well enough, but it was the golden eye that was glaring in the darkness, half shaded by the kami's dark hair. Even in the dimness of the hall, Count D's robes were as bright as a spring garden, every little color bold as a blue jay. "I do have questions."
"You could not ask with your family listening?"
"It would complicate matters." And if no one else knew what was going on, it might make things easier for Shigure to fix. "What will happen to the Souma's who aren't part of the Zodiac? What will you do to them?" Shigure asked, trying to keep his voice no louder than a whisper. Kyou would no doubt hear, but if Shigure were lucky no one else would. Besides, Kyou was a bit distracted. Kaguara stood at Kyou's side with a hand on Kyou's thin arm. It was the first time since Kyou's mother had died that he hadn't tired to shove Kagura away. In fact, Kyou's arm was bent just enough that it looked almost like he was trying to hold Kagura close. "We all share the same blood. If one of us dies tomorrow, someone else with Souma blood will become pregnant and the whole problem will start over again."
"I will simply put the Zodiac blood in the veins of the rest of your family to sleep. If they have children, it will not be inherited and will die with them. I can do this without alerting or alarming anyone thing. A simple touch. They will never know."
It seemed too good to be true. Too easy. "Lovely. That takes care of us. What about Torhu?" He couldn't forget dear Tohru, not after all she'd done for the family. Whether she knew it or not, Shigure was strongly convinced that without Tohru neither Yuki nor Kyou would have survived the previous year. For so long Shigure had been taking advantage of Torhu's good nature and her need for a home. He could have helped her find relatives to take her in or found a more proper foster home. In all honestly, he should have at least called child welfare for her.
Child welfare? Now why did that ring a bell? Ah. The children. Kureno had brought home a whole parade of children in drab gray pants and tunics with lifeless eyes. How could he have forgotten? Kureno had left the children at the rooster's house and Shigure, in turn, had left them with Kazuma. Really, who better to care for children?
He sighed to himself and added yet another thing to his 'to-do' list. The damned list kept growing It was starting to look like Shigure would never get it all done. Not only the children he'd left with Kazuma, but Kazuma himself must have been nearly out of his head with worry for Kyou. Must have Kyou see Kazuma or, at least, call him. Poor Kazuma. Hatori would see to the children, just to be sure that none of them were seriously injured, though Shigure thought that Kazuma would certainly have taken anyone seriously injured to the hospital.
'But some of them saw Kyou's transformation. Can't let them in public until Hatori takes some of those memories.' Hatori would have to see to the children. 'With luck, none of them have spoken to anyone who might believe them.' Other doctors and nurses within the family had done an adequate job with them, but Hatori was the expert. That one boy with the gunshot wound, had he even survived the last two weeks? It had been a bad wound, but the Souma family produced good doctors. More than likely, he was still alive and resting in a bed. They'd have to find a psychologist or a therapist to help the children deal with whatever they'd come from.
'How come we have Souma's in every occupation in the world, but no psychologists? We should have at least one. God knows we could use one. The children aren't our responsibilities. We just have to call child services for them. Someone will be looking for the children.' He tried to ignore the little voice in his head that was whispering, 'Should have called child services for Tohru. Didn't care enough to do that, did I? But we needed her.'
On the subject of Tohru, he was still responsible for two weeks worth of absences from school not only for her but for Kyou and Yuki, also. He'd have to make up some lie to tell the school. It was extremely rare that any of them missed school - except for Yuki's asthma attacks or the down pouring rain would put Kyou out of commission - and it was likely that the school had been calling the house or maybe they'd already alerted authorities. That would be bad. Akito would definitely not be pleased to have investigations about the family. He'd tell them that the household had all caught a nasty flu and they'd all gone to the main house for care. That might work.
Then there was Mit-chan to consider. She deserved a phone call, at least, and an apology for yet another late manuscript. This time, Shigure hadn't even meant for it to be late. If Count D was telling the truth about everything, then Shigure would have to give up Mit-chan as a friend. He wouldn't be able to play with her anymore, but would have to start sending in the manuscripts through the mail.
The police might be troublesome, especially considering that Kureno had gotten himself into trouble just before they'd all gone to Count D. Shigure wasn't entirely sure what had happened when Kureno had rushed off to the rescue of that little boy who'd been kidnapped by Ren, but whatever had happened, that was when Kureno had brought all the children home. Bribes might have to be paid, but if there were any scrupulous officers, it might make the job a little trickier.
Then he'd have to find out where Kureno had gotten the children. Did it have anything to do with the grime and blood Kureno had come home covered in?
Speaking of blood, cleaning the blood out of Kyou's bedroom was going to be a job. How was he supposed to explain that to a cleaning service? They'd think someone had been murdered and that was actually pretty close to the truth. It would have to be taken care of within the family, as most things were.
"So much to think about." Count D interrupted Shigure's train of worries and something in his tone suggested to Shigure that he had heard everything Shigure had been thinking. "I am sure you will do fine. As for Tohru, she is very strong. What will happen to her next is her choice. I fear for her without a proper owner. She was created to be a pet, not a wild animal. She may not survive if I were to let her simply go free. Perhaps I will keep her myself."
"Blood or not," Shigure told him. "She's part of my family now. I don't want her hurt."
"I promise nothing."
Shigure stared into Count D's eyes, trying to find something there that would tell him about the kami's intentions, but he saw nothing. It was like looking at a beautiful mask. Shigure wondered if that was what people thought when they looked at him, but decided that it wasn't. His own mask couldn't compare to Count D's. So he nodded politely to Count D and turned to follow his family.
"You have my card." Count D said to Shigure's back. "If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me."
"Do you anticipate any problems?" That was the last thing Shigure needed to worry about - more complications.
"No, do not worry. There will be after affects, but all that will solve those troubles will be time. One must get used to new things."
Shigure mustered a smile. "And the price for all your generosity?"
"The price will be named at a later time when a proper contract will be written and signed. There is no need to be concerned for Kyou, however. He has already paid his price. Please, do come again."
The words were little comfort to Shigure. He doubted he would ever willingly go to the kami. Still…Count D did have a point. Maybe he was worrying too much. 'Maybe,' Shigure thought as he looked up at the backs of his family, 'Maybe they don't need me anymore. Hatori will take care of the children. As for the police, Rin and Yuki will be able to deal with them easily enough.' He paused, midway up the stairs. 'I did betray Akito and, no matter what my reasons, that's unforgivable. So…why hang about?' That dreary thought slowed Shigure's steps, but he did keep walking.
Kyou-
The Souma family walked down the sidewalk like a gang, all of them clustered together with Aktio at the center, and the other pedestrians moved out of their way, shooting worried glances at the family. They had no reason to be worried, but they didn't know that. The Souma's, even the most dangerous of them, were all lost within their own thoughts and paying very little attention to the world around them.
Still, nothing much had changed. Akito still walked in the protective circle of his family. Hatori walked at Akito's immediate right, just in case. Kureno walked in front of Akito, his eyes constantly scanning the area for threats. Ayame, perhaps the second best fighter in the family, right after Kazuma, walked on Akito's left. Just behind Akito, Shigure walked, arms at his sides in a deceptively casual swing.
How could he have forgotten Kazuma? It was a lump of coal in Kyou's good cheer to be reminded of master and the last time they'd spoken. He'd struck Kazuma, actually making him fly backwards. 'It wasn't a fight, it wasn't like sparring. I just…hit him.' Kyou could envision Kazuma's face, hurt and angry. How could he even think of going back to face Kazuma? How could he hope that he'd be forgiven?
Kyou couldn't smell the blood anymore and, for that, he was thankful. He had run from the house after Count D's father had paid him a visit that had ended with unbearable pain. Kyou even vaguely remembered Tohru and Yuki coming to the rescue, or trying to. He remembered watching helplessly as Yuki was thrown across the room - something Kyou had never seen unless it had been done by master - and then watched Tohru be thrown out of a window. He remembered the utter terror in Tohru's eyes and his own hatred of himself for not being strong enough to help her.
Inhaling a deep breath, Kyou could smell Tohru. She walked just behind him with Yuki and she smelled very sweet. 'I could eat her up.' Kyou almost laughed at the joke. 'A bird…she's a bird and I'm a cat. I'll eat her up.' But he didn't say these words out loud.
"Kyou?" Kagura squeezed his hand. "Are you still feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, just fine." He assured her. "Everything's going to work out just fine."
From behind, a familiar voice said quietly, calmly, "I see maturity has done nothing for your common sense."
Kyou froze and felt a habitual tick in his left eye. "What was that?"
"Oh, no." Kagura tugged on his hand to make him walk again. "Yuki, don't start!" She looked ahead at Akito, but he hadn't seemed to hear. She gave a disapproving frown over her shoulder. "At least wait a day or two before you two…"
"I'm just making a comment." Yuki protested softly. No doubt, he, too, was keeping a close watching on Akito. "But I think we should keep in mind that everything might not be 'just fine'. I want to know more and Count D is hardly a person I would call trustworthy."
"He didn't do anything to hurt us." Kyou said "I'd have died without his help."
"Without his family, you'd never have been in danger." Yuki pointed out. "You were rather out of it, but do you remember anything that happened during that visit of Count D's father? What a pleasant family." He said that last bitterly and it wasn't lost on any of them that Yuki was probably thinking of his own family. "We heard you screaming blue murder. Your room was fairly coated in your own blood. When it was over, you just wandered off. I wouldn't say that they were doing our family any favors."
"But," Tohru added in. "You can't judge a person by his family." Kyou could practically see her bright smile. "After all, we're all different from our parents. I'm not a thing like mom was…" Her voice trailed away at that and Kyou turned his head to look at her. He wasn't at all happy to see her frowning. Tohru was so rarely unhappy that it looked out of place.
"Honda-san?" Yuki looked at her closely. If Kyou had to give Yuki credit for one thing, it would be for his concern of Tohru.
"What?" She looked up and realized that not only Yuki was watching her, but also Kyou and Kagura. "Oh!" She seemed surprised and quickly smiled, waving her hands in front of her as if to dismiss their concern. "Never mind me! It's nothing. Nothing at all. Really!"
Yuki didn't look convinced, but then again, he wasn't stupid. "If you say so."
"Besides," Tohru seized Yuki's hand with both of hers and leaned in so close that their noses were nearly touching. "I thought you were going to start calling me Tohru. Unless you don't want to…"
"No! I mean, yes." It was rare to see Yuki looking so flustered and Kyou enjoyed the sight of Yuki's rosy red cheeks. "Of course I'd like to call you Tohru, if you don't mind. Old habits are hard to break, that's all."
"If this gets anymore cloying I'll have to get a diabetes test." Rin strode passed with Hatsuharu beside her. "Sickly sweet teeny-bopper romance makes me want to throw up."
While Tohru had her usual reaction of flailing her arms wildly and trying to apologize for something she didn't even understand why she was apologizing, Yuki rolled his eyes. "She's just bitter." He shrugged off Rin's insult easily, then turned his attention back to Kyou. "And you know I'm right. It's not as if what happened to you is any great blessing."
Eternal youth. Didn't sound too bad, did it? But Kyou knew there would be disadvantages. For one thing, he wouldn't be able to fight that Yankee friend of Torhu's all the time. She was going to grow-up and, supposedly, Kyou never would. Just a few more years of growing and then he'd stop. "I'll take it over my alternative any day."
"At least with our curse, we could take precautions and, if we were lucky, we'd be able to live our whole lives without anyone knowing better."
Kyou scoffed. "Are you stupid? You honestly think we were better off before?"
"No, stupid cat." Yuki replied, not acknowledging Kyou's growing anger. "I think YOU were better off before. The family, as a whole, is better off now with you to keep Akito," He paused until he made sure that Akito was still a fair distance ahead with Kureno. "With you keeping Akito relatively sane and healthy, but you could have been perfectly happy without changing yourself."
"Happy?" Kyou laughed, derisively. "There's no way I could ever have been happy like THAT. You never did get it." He remembered what it had been like. Every damned time the bracelet had come off, the agonizing pain and unbelievable sensation of one's body changing so radically. The look of horror on the faces of anyone who might see him. "I was a monster. No one could even be in the same room with me. I'll gladly give that up."
"In exchange for what?" Yuki pressed the issue. "You heard Count D. If you're going to keep the secret, you'll have to hide. It'll be just like being locked up in the Cat's house."
"No. At least now, I'll have the run of estate."
Yuki made a funny sort of growling sound Kyou had never heard him make before. "The estate? Why won't you understand? You won't be able to stay on the estate. Stupid cat! Akito will have to hide you somewhere or the rest of the family will find out about you. They might be foolish enough to report you to police or something. Are you really such a brain-dead idiot that even you can't see what's coming? Every Zodiac who accepts Count D's offer will be forced into hiding. You won't even be safe around family, you slow-witted polecat!"
At that last remark, Kyou lost all his self composure. It was rather a pity because he'd been doing so well up until that point. He turned on his heel and swung at Yuki. What happened after that, seemed too fast to be real. It seemed that Yuki just stood in one place and let Kyou hit him, though Yuki would never have done such a thing. Even when they'd been younger and training together, Yuki would never pull his blows. But this time, Kyou's fist connected easily with Yuki's face. That blow sent Yuki flying backwards until he collided with a wall and slumped down to the sidewalk, dazed.
Tohru let out a gasp and cried out as she ran to Yuki's side. Kagura, familiar with both Yuki and Kyou's fighting ability, stared in shock. Everyone had seen the result of Kyou's blow, but no one but Kagura and Tohru had actually seen it.
"Kyou!" Kagura scolded. "What did you do that for!" She paused, looking at Yuki, still dazed on the ground, and added, "How did you do that?"
"I think we've all had enough excitement for one day." It was Hatori who spoke, walking briskly passed Kyou and moving to kneel by Yuki. "Kyou?"
"I…I didn't mean to hurt him." Kyou felt like he was going to be sick. After all that time, he'd finally beaten Yuki and it didn't even matter. Everyone was looking at him, but they didn't care. Oh, they were irritated that he'd made a scene in public and Akito, of course, looked more than a little unhappy. But there was no earth shaking moment when Kyou was suddenly acknowledged as being stronger than the rat. To top it all off, beating Yuki no longer had any meaning because the bet he'd had with Akito was void. He would not be locked up on his eighteenth birthday, no matter what the traditions of the Souma family were. "I just swung, just like always."
"Well, that will have to change." Hatori put his hand on the back of Yuki's head and helped him to sit up. "Count D said you'd changed and this is more than enough evidence. Sit still, Yuki." Hatori ran the tips of his fingers all around Yuki's skull, feeling for lumps, and when he drew them away, there was a bit of blood. Hatori turned his midly disapproving gaze to Kyou. "You're going to have to work on your temper more than ever."
"Ah!" Ayame's cry of dismay drew everyone's attention. "Brother! My dearest, darling brother!" He sprang forward in graceful leaps until he skid to a stop just in front of Yuki. "Let me take your hands in mine, sweet injured Yuki. Fear not," He kept his voice as loud as he could, not caring that not only family but also passing strangers were staring. "I won't leave your side until this injury has healed!" He took advantage of Yuki's bewildered state and drew him in for a hug. "To think my fearsome brother should be laid so low, but.."
"Let go." Yuki grumbled, trying vainly to push Ayame away. "Leave me alone, I was just surprised."
Ayame wasn't so willing to obey, despite how many times Yuki had beaten on him for lesser offenses. "No, no, I refuse to give in. Your pride will not get in the way of my duty as your big brother. Tell him, 'Tori! Tell him. He needs me now!"
Hatori, much to Ayame's seeming disappointment, said nothing to back him up. Instead, he pushed against Yuki's head to make him lean forward and took a closer look at the injury. "It's not too serious. You'll have a lump and a headache, and a bit of dizziness. I really think you should get straight to bed." With Tohru's help, Hatori got Yuki to his feet, but when Yuki tried to walk, the color drained from his face and he began falling again.
"See! See!" Ayame seized Yuki by the arms and kept him from falling. "You need help, just admit it!"
"I don't WANT help." Yuki protested, trying to pull away. "I just…ehh…" He turned to fix his unfocused eyes on Hatori. "Concussion?"
"I expect so. Let your brother help you. Tohru, don't fuss, he's not going to die. Not on my watch." Hatori got to his feet and patted Tohru on the head. "You'll have to wake Yuki every half hour tonight. Call me if anything happens, fevers or he won't wake for you." He frowned. "Actually, I want you at the Main House tonight, Yuki."
"No!" Yuki snapped instantly. "I won't!"
A direct challenge to his authority was something that Hatori had never been able to take well. His arms still at his side, Hatori gave Yuki a stern look. "I have too many patients to make house calls. I can't afford to leave the Main House, not with Kyou's new…everything…not with Akito's newfound health, not with Rin's injured back which hasn't been treated nearly as well as it should have been. Not to mention Ayame's friend, whom I need to…damn." He looked crossly back the way they'd come. "I should have taken a look at him while we were there. I'm much too busy to go traipsing around at all hours of the night."
"Shigure will be at the house." Yuki began, but stopped when he looked around for Shigure. "Where is he?"
How had Kyou not noticed when Shigure had disappeared from their group? How had he not thought that he could seriously hurt people like he was? 'Of all the times for Shigure to disappear! That irresponsible dog!'' But even Kyou knew that it wasn't fair. It was hardly Shigure's fault that Kyou had hit Yuki when he should have known better. He knew things were different, why hadn't he waited to fight until he'd figured out how much stronger and faster he was? 'Because that damned rat had to go and keep poking at me!' When Yuki began to collapse, yet again, and had to be caught by his brother, Kyou spoke up. "I have to go see master. He's at the hot springs, right?" He watched Ayame turn his back and urge Hatsuharu to help Yuki up, much to Yuki's horror. At least, Yuki would have been horrified if he'd known what was going on. As it was, Yuki muttered and tried vainly to push Hatsuharu away from him.
"Oh, you're so cute." Hatsuharu said indulgently. "There, up you go." He hoisted Yuki up onto Ayame's back and supported him until Ayame had gotten a good hold, linking his hands under Yuki. "You shouldn't complain so much. We're only trying to help."
"Oh, go…" But his voice faded away and whatever he wanted to tell Hatsuharu was never said. Probably for the best. His head must have really been hurting as Yuki gave up his fight sooner than Kyou would have suspected and reluctantly let Ayame hold him. The look he shot Kyou very clearly said, 'I blame YOU for this indignity.'
Tohru, of course, was beaming at the sight. "Just look at you two!" She clapped her hands together at the sight of Ayame holding Yuki. "I can just feel the brotherly love. Good for you, Ayame!"
"Please, Tohru." Yuki said, miserably. He was so unhappy that he let his head droop down until he realized that he'd buried his face in Ayame's hair, a fact that made Ayame squeal with joy and Yuki jerk his head back with a mutter of something that sounded like, "Just kill me now."
"What's going on back there?" Akito demanded from the front of the group.
"Oh, I give up." Too tired to fight anymore, Yuki let his head rest on Ayame's shoulder. "Nothing." Yuki looked at Kyou for a long moment. "I just fell. Sorry."
Akito frowned at the answer, opened his mouth and then closed it. There was something he wanted to say, but he didn't. He looked up at Kureno and back to Yuki. "Are…are you hurt?"
"Just a headache."
"Well, be more careful. Enough of this! I'm tired." It was enough of a signal that it was time to go home. He turned and started walking, most of the family following him without question.
"We'll have so much fun, little brother." Ayame was cheerfully telling Yuki as they walked along. "You can stay in my room in Hatori's house, that should make him happy and you safe. I'll make you some of my special teaThe princess can't stay, of course. I woudn't suggest putting her honor into question, living in a house full of men. I'll ask one of the other families to take her in, if I can. I'm sure someone will. Oh! I know just the place and we'll be going right by there, anyway. Princess," He turned around to face Tohru so quickly that Yuki turned green and Hatori irritably reminded him to be careful for Yuki's sake. "Yes, yes." Ayame replied absently. "Princess, you can stay at my shop. No, don't get upset, little brother. Princess, I have guests at the shop, two of them ladies, so you'll be perfectly well chaperoned. I'll drop you off there on our way home. I'm sure Mine-chan will take very good care of you and you can meet her new friend, Jill-san."
Kyou swallowed hard. He didn't like how weak Yuki looked, riding on Ayame's back like a child. Maybe he'd just gotten too used to thinking of Yuki as being the ultimate rival. He turned, ready to run to the hot springs for a nice quiet word with Kazuma when a hand touched his elbow.
Ritsu, his face still bruised after his disastrous trip to America and looking like he would burst into one of his fits at any moment, looked at Kyou, hopefully. "If you're going to the hot springs, do you mind if I walk with you? Mom will be waiting for me. I'm sure she's worried."
He wanted very much to tell Ritsu to buzz off. The last thing Kyou needed was to walk on egg shells around his frantic cousin . He wanted to run and Ritsu, on his still sore ankle, certainly wouldn't be able to keep up. But, taking a deep breath, Kyou saw both Kagura and Tohru watching him. Tohru, of course, expected the best from him. She always expected the best from everyone she cared about. Kagura, more realistic than Tohru would ever be, frowned at him, waiting for him to do the right thing.
"Yeah." Kyou ran a hand through his hair and thought what a nuisance it would be to walk with Ritsu, but that the smile Kagura gave him was more than reward enough. "Let's go. You sure you should be walking?"
"Hatori said I'll be fine so long as I don't over-do it. You don't mind, do you? I know you like running and if you want to go ahead of me, I won't mind. Honest, I can find my why there on my own, I don't want to be a burden to you." Ritsu's eyes began to widen and he wrung his hands together, the clear warning signs of the fit about to overtake him. "Really, I'm so sorry if I…"
"No, no." Kyou held up his hands to stop Ritsu and had to force himself not to do anything more forceful. If he'd hurt Yuki, he'd probably kill Ritsu. "Look, you're not a burden. Just…let's just go." He turned and started off, only realizing after a moment that Ritsu hadn't exploded into one of his frenzied guilt trips. More than that, Kyou hadn't yelled and for that he was terribly proud of himself.
Ritsu trotted to keep up with Kyou, lifting the hem of his kimono delicately when Kyou moved to fast. Kyou moved quickly and had to remind himself to keep it slow for Ritsu. He was impatient, angry that he had to wait for Ritsu and his sore ankle, but, he reminded himself, he was supposed to be mature and Count D had said that it was he who could take care of the family. They depended on him.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ritsu panted when he caught up with Kyou. "I don't mean to be so slow."
"Never mind. Just come on."
Akito-
He felt strong. Stronger than he could ever remember feeling and it was all due to Kyou, the dreaded cat. 'I can't call him a monster, anymore.' It seemed strange to see Kyou without the bracelet, like he was missing an arm or a leg. 'He's happier, I think. That's good. Right?' Not much had really changed, but even Akito could see the small changes
He, and all the other Souma's, looked to the right when they heard a voice shout, "Tohru!"
There were two girls Akito had never seen before running down the sidewalk, both of them vastly different from each other. The girl in the lead was very tall with yellow hair that partly obscured one eye, rather like Hatori's hair. 'I'll make it up to him. I'll give him back Kana if he wants her.' The first girl wore a long, denim skirt and a blouse with no sleeves, but there was something fierce about her. Something that made her look more dangerous than outward appearance. She reached Tohru, walking next to Ayame while she held Yuki's hand, and threw her arms around the small girl.
"Tohru, where have you been! We were worried sick! Two weeks," She pulled back long enough to take Tohru by the shoulders and give her a shake that sent Tohru's hair flying. "Two weeks you were gone and not a word? How could you? No one at the school knew where you were, we called your grandfather and he didn't know a thing, we even went to the writer's house and it was just abandoned. It looked like you'd all just walked away in the middle of lunch."
"We were very worried." The second girl's voice was even and mellow compared to her frenzied companion, but she too drew Tohru in for a hug and kissed her cheek, gently. "You mustn't leave us like that, Tohru." The second girl was just as bizarre looking - at least to Akito who rarely saw women not dressed in formal kimono's - though in a different manner. She was dressed entirely in black with very long black hair and skin pale, like snow.
Akito didn't like snow. Everything died in the snow.
Tohru smiled at them and put her arms around both girls for a quick hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry everyone. There were just some important things to do." She laughed at herself. "Oh! I'm so sorry. Where are my manners? Everyone," She addressed this to the watching Souma family, all of whom watched the new girls curiously with the exception of Rin and Hiro who couldn't possibly care any less for the strangers. "These are my best friends, Uotoni Arisa and Hanajima Saki." She gave a little bow when she introduced them, but the two girls didn't seem to see the need for such formality. They looked over the crowd of Souma's then back at Tohru.
"Where's carrot-top?" Uotoni-san asked. "His room…" She paused, then moved in close enough that she could pet Tohru's hair. "His room was bad. You don't go back there, hear? Shit. There was blood everywhere, dried right into the floor."
"I know." Tohru answered, trying to smile reassuringly at Uotoni-san. "I saw it happen."
"You saw it?" Her eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip. "Is that idiot alright? Just tell me, did some freak break into the house? You're supposed to tell me things like that. How can I protect you if you won't tell me when things are wrong?"
"Please, Uo-chan," Tohru held up her hands to appease. "You worry so much. Kyou-kun is fine. You just missed him. It was…"
Akito decided then that he would have to have a chat with Tohru and explain to her than family matters should be kept within the family. She obviously didn't understand that knowledge was dangerous and these two girls could use information about the family against them. These two strangers didn't need to know what was going on with Kyou. "Tohru," He made his voice loud enough to be heard though the girls were at the back of the group and he was closer to the front. "Perhaps you'll walk with me a while. There are some things…"
"Buzz off, shrimp." Uotoni-san said, without much thought. "We're talking here. Eh? Kureno?"
The day was full of unpleasant surprises. Akito looked up at Kureno with displeasure. How on Earth could dear Kureno know such a vulgar girl? 'I am NOT short!' Uotoni-san was distasteful in every sense of the word and Akito wanted nothing more than to get the coarse, rude girl away from his family. She would definitely be a bad influence on Tohru 'She's mine, now. She has to be mine. Count D took my family and he took her. She must be mine. Not a Souma, but…mine all the same.' Akito's world froze at that thought for an instant. It was a thought he'd never had before.
Kureno, unfortunately, didn't seem to think so. He was looking at Uotoni-san with frank astonishment. He must have felt Akito's eyes on him because Kureno very slowly looked away from Uotoni-san and down at Akito.
Tohru smiled. "Ah, you two know each other?"
"Well…yeah." Uotoni-san said, hesitantly. She looked at Yuki on Ayame's back and Hatori whom she'd once seen at school. There was also Momiji and Hatusharu. All of them Souma's. "This is the family? He's a Souma? That, I didn't know."
While this had been going on, Hatori had made his way back to Akito's side, opposite of Kureno and watched the whole scene warily. "Akito," He began in a soft whisper. "These girls know nothing about the family, to my knowledge. I saw her speaking with Kureno just before we were all taken to Count D's petshop." He stopped there, just at the bare facts.
(He's afraid you'll hurt Kureno. He's got good reason.)
That voice!
Akito felt suddenly faint, but latched onto Hatori's arm. Very slowly, afraid of what he'd seen, Akito turned and looked to his left where Kureno was still standing. Just beyond Kureno, he saw himself. There he was, smirking at himself. 'No! I'm better now. He's not supposed to be here!'
(Silly.) Akito's reflection leaned forward a little, poking his head far enough forward that Akito could see his smirk beyond Kureno's chest. (I'm not going anywhere. I told you, I'll always be with you. Now, as I was saying, Hatori has good reason to worry. Maybe he thinks you'll bash a vase across Kureno's head, too.)
'I wouldn't. Go away.'
(I don't think so. So, what will you do?) Akito's reflection strolled away from Kureno to where Uotoni-san was saying something, but Akito wasn't listening at all. He was too busy watching his reflection and whatever the tall, ugly girl was saying couldn't possibly be that important. (There's something going on between her and Kureno. You can see it just as well as I can. Are you just going to let it happen?)
Akito tried to ignore himself. It just seemed wrong that Kureno would have a girl that was special to him. Kureno didn't have any friends, not a single one. It made Akito suffer a pang of jealousy. Kureno had always only been close to him. 'But he has a soft look on his face. I like it.' He'd never seen Kureno look so unguarded as he did when he looked at Uotoni-san. 'But…a girl? I would have believed Ritsu was a sumo champion before I'd have thought Kureno had a friend outside the family.'
Kureno didn't move from his protective position in front of Akito, but his mind was clearly - for once - not on his duty. "Uotoni-san, I didn't expect to see you today." What a foolish thing to say. Of course he hadn't expected to see her, why should he?
It, apparently, wasn't what Uotoni-san had been hoping to hear from Kureno. Angrily, she planted both fists on her hips. "San? What's with the 'san'? You know me well enough to call me 'kun' at least! Well? No answer? Ugg! Don't stare at me like you're an idiot." She fell silent and a funny expression took hold of her face until she apparently came to a decision and her lips hardened in a thin, determined line. "Come on!" She seized Kureno's hand and gave him a pull. "We need to talk."
But Kureno - ever obedient Kureno - didn't move. His feet stayed perfectly anchored to the sidewalk and he looked at Akito, questioningly. "Master?"
(Don't let him go! She's a girl and not even a Souma. What do we know about her? Nothing.) Akito's reflection eyed Uotoni-san suspiciously. (We can't be sure he'll be safe.)
But Kureno was the strongest fighter in the family, with the exception of Kazuma and, now, Kyou. Surely an ordinary girl couldn't hurt Kureno. But Kureno was rather innocent. Despite his strength and ruthlessness, what would he do if the girl did try to hurt him? Kureno didn't kill unless Akito ordered him to and Akito knew very well that Hatori disapproved of killing. In fact, with Hatori standing right next to him, Akito feared that the gentle doctor would have a fit if he blatantly ordered the girl's death.
Where was Shigure? He was so useful in confusing situations.
(Shigure would let Kureno go. He's soft like that.) The reflection looked suddenly somber at that pronouncement. (Shigure does many good things.)
Everyone was looking at him, including the girl who didn't look at all pleased. "What's with this 'master' crap? You don't have to ask…" She stopped at the look on Kureno's face. "You DO have to ask? What the Hell's going on?" All the while she hadn't let go of Kureno's hand and he made no move to get away from her.
'Arg!' Akito struggled to keep himself calm. He was better, now. Kyou was going to keep him strong and healthy so he wouldn't hurt his family any longer, but what a decision to make. In the end, warring between wanting to make Kureno happy and wanting to keep him safe, Akito looked away from his reflection and focused on Kureno's silent, waiting face. He would do what Akito wanted. No matter what it was that Akito asked of him, Akito knew without a doubt that Kureno would do it.
"Kureno," Akito asked, somewhat hesitantly. "What do YOU want?"
The question seemed to take Kureno by surprise. It wasn't one that Akito asked often. He thought for a minute, then looked at Uotoni-san. "I would like to go with Uotoni-san…er…Arisa-kun."
"Then go." Akito shivered as he said it, feeling that the decision had somehow started Kureno down a road to pain.
Uotoni-san snorted and gave Kureno's hand another tug. "About time, too." Her angry face softened when she looked back up at Kureno and her grip on his hand lightened. "Come on. There's something I need to tell you. Hana-chan, you take care of Tohru. I'll see you both later." She gave Akito one last look that was somewhere between confusion and dislike, before Kureno began walking away with her. She turned once and shouted, "Don't you dare disappear, again, Tohru!"
Akito's reflection shook his head, mournfully. (Well…that's done it. You've given away your rooster, now.)
Uotoni Arisa-
Why was it so hard to believe that the Souma's did NOT have their sticky little fingers into everything? She hadn't known a thing about them a year ago and suddenly, they were everywhere. Even in her love-life, if it could be called that.
Seeing Kureno standing by that skinny little kid, had made Uotoni's heart stop before she'd recovered herself. It wasn't fair! Why did he have to be apart of a big, powerful and - above all else - rich family? The big part she could get over. The powerful part, she could deal with. But…rich? As she walked with Kureno, Arisa looked down at the toes of her worn shoes. Sneakers she'd gotten at the charity shop. The laces needed replacing, badly. They had probably been white at one point, but had changed to a stained yellowish color. A sideways glance showed Arisa Kureno's polished black shoes. They weren't cheap shoes, either. It wasn't fair!
"Arisa-kun," Kureno spoke as soon as they'd gone out of sight of his family. That was going to be another issue. Why hadn't he dared move without permission from that skinny kid? And why call a kid, master? "You can stop pulling. I'll go with you."
She hadn't been aware that she'd been pulling so hard. Embarrassed, she let go of his hand, but kept her eyes lowered with the hopes that Kureno wouldn't see her red cheeks. With that little display, he was going to think she was some kind of man-hungry slut, dragging him away from his family forcibly. It wasn't as if sweet Kureno could have denied her. He was so gentle. Maybe that was why that kid had seemed reluctant to let Kureno go. Maybe he had been trying to protect Kureno.
'Why can't I be more like Tohru, or even Hana-chan?' She wondered miserable. It wasn't the first time that Uotoni had wished to be more feminine, but life wasn't kind to girls who acted like girls. A girl had to tough, tougher than a man twice as ruthless. "Look," Arisa gestured ahead to the building where she and her old man lived in the dingy apartment. "That's home. Wanna come up?"
"Yes, please."
Arisa swallowed hard as they started up the stairs. She'd expected him to say no. After all, she'd seen the outside of the Souma estate, everyone in the city had. The inside was even more unbelievable even from the stories she'd heard. Why Kureno would want to set foot inside the apartment was beyond Arisa.
"You know," Arisa swallowed hard and spoke once her back was to Kureno. It was really the only way she could talk to him without losing her nerve. "I really like you." God, that sounded childish. Not precisely the impression she wanted to make.
Without comment, Kureno followed Arisa up the stairs to the apartment building's front door, right passed the drunk nearly passed out on the steps. Up six flights of stairs to the door Arisa hated. Home.
"Where the Hell have you been?" Arisa's old man was sprawled out on the couch, his shirt half-unbuttoned and wearing days old stubble. There were newspapers all over the floor and four empty beer cans on the little table next to the couch. "Damn it, girl. If you're not going to make yourself useful, at least start bringing in some money."
Arisa spoke before she thought. "Who do you think pays the rent, bastard?" She wouldn't have said it if she'd remembered that Kureno was standing just behind her. So much for getting him to think highly of her. "And who buys your food? Get up and get a job, lazy ass." She took Kureno's hand again and pulled him into the apartment. "I thought you were going out for your weekly dose of the tracks?"
"Spitting acid at me!" He began to push himself up off the couch, but stopped when he saw Kureno and laughed. "So, looks like you're bringing in more money now. About time you used that body for something other than fighting. Your mother was a damned fine woman, no point in you inheriting that body just to waste it on street fights."
Arisa felt her cheeks burn and hated herself for it. It wasn't as if he'd never embarrassed her before. "He's a gentleman." She hissed. "Not one of your slimy friends." With that, she tugged Kureno into her bedroom before her old man could say another word. "Sorry about that. You can sit, if you want." But the only place to sit was on her bed and it wasn't very comfortable at that. "I'll get you something to drink." How was one supposed to treat guests? It was times like this that Tohru-chan came in very useful. "There's not much, but I've got water. Maybe some soda."
"Thank you, but no." He looked around slowly, taking in every little detail of the room, though there wasn't much to look at. "This is your home?"
"Only when I have to. I AM sorry about the old man. I really thought he'd be gone. He'd never home on Saturday." If she'd known the old man would be there, she'd have taken Kureno to the park to talk to him. "So…" Now this was the awkward part. "Where've you been for two weeks?"
"There was a family emergency. I'm afraid I can't say more than that without permission from the head of the family."
"That kid you called master?"
"Yes. Akito."
"Well," She managed a nervous smile and sat next to him on the bed. "I'm glad you were there. I don't know about the rest of your family, but at least you could take care of Tohru if something bad had happened." No matter where they'd been, Arisa knew someone as wonderful as Kureno would have been able to protect Tohru.
"You said you needed to tell me something."
If she'd known that she'd see him, Arisa would have dressed up a little more. Despite the popular opinion everyone seemed to have of her, Arisa did know how to dress like a girl. She had one nice dress that showed off just the right amount of cleavage and was short enough to show her knees. 'Slut. Everyone will think I'm a slut.' But, despite that, Arisa took a deep breath and blurted it out. "I want sex." Suddenly, Arisa felt the blood rush from her head and felt like she might faint. "With you. Sex with you."
Kureno blinked. "Ah." It had clearly taken him by surprise. No wonder. They'd only known each other for about a whole of day.
"I don't want you to think I'm some kind of a slut who sleeps with everyone who crosses her path. I really like you. I'm not doing this lightly. I've been thinking about you ever since we met and I'm sure this is what I want."
"I'm not a good person to be involved with."
"I think you're perfect."
"You don't really know me."
"I know enough. You've got a kind heart and you're very sweet. You're the best man I've ever met." She would have him. So determined and sure of herself, Arisa went to her door and slid the deadbolt in place just to make sure her old man wouldn't wander in. "I want you to stay with me."
"You can't be thinking clearly about this." Kureno stood up and walked over to her. He towered over her and that wasn't something Arisa could say often. He was so good looking that Arisa took pleasure in just looking at him. A stray passed through Arisa's mind. If the Yuki fan club ever got a look at Kureno, they'd leave Yuki in the dust. Why would anyone even look twice at the scrawny kid when Kureno was around? "You've only known me a day. I'm fond of you, too. This is a first. I'm really not sure what to do." He paused. "I would like to make you happy."
"Then stay." Arisa put her hands on his face and she loved the touch of him. His skin was soft and warm. He even smelled nice, though he didn't wear any kind of cologne that she could smell. "Just stay with me tonight and you'll make me very happy."
Kureno brushed his lips against her cheek, not quite a kiss. "You don't understand. There are...difficulties. My family..."
"I'm not in love with your family. I don't care what they think." Arisa thought, 'Please, don't leave me.'
Kureno didn't move away from her, though he looked sad. "I've done bad things. I'm not a good person, Arisa."
"I don't care. You could be a killer and I wouldn't care." Maybe that was true and maybe it was a bit far-fetched, but at that moment, looking into Kureno's eyes, she didn't care about anything but him. She wanted to keep him and she realized one terrible truth.
She didn't deserve him.
It terrified her and she bit her bottom lip just thinking about. 'He's so handsome. From a rich family. I bet he's smart, too. He's kind and refined.' Arisa felt like her heart was breaking. 'Why's he even let me be near him?' That must be what he was talking about when he said his family was 'difficult'. They wouldn't want someone like her associating with their family. She wasn't what you'd call refined and she sure wasn't the smartest person around. Heck, carrot-top Kyou got better marks in school, no matter how much Arisa teased him. She wasn't at all pretty with her unkempt hair and not a speck of make-up. She was far too tall to even be called cute.
Still, she wanted to be with him. She wanted to be with him so badly, she thought she'd die without him. She'd do anything for him. Give up anything. Even herself. "Stay with me." Was it really so much of a price to pay? Her body was only a body, not really worth much of anything. Heck, not long ago, Arisa might have been killed in some knife fight and no one would have cared - least of all Arisa. It wasn't as if Arisa was ever going to find anyone better than Kureno. Giving her body to Kureno seemed like a small price if it would get him to stay with her.
"My cousin," Kureno whispered, putting his fingers to her hair. "Has told me about love. He hastold me many great stories of love and how important it is. Do you love me?"
Now that was the big question, wasn't it. Honestly, Arisa wasn't sure. She thought she was in love. But if he was asking, the answer he was looking for was, "Yes. I love you." Her fingers latched onto his shirt sleeves. "A day or a year, time doesn't matter, does it?" Of course time mattered. It was very unlikely that anyone could fall in love in just a day. "I love you."
When he leaned down to tentatively kiss her, Arisa almost cried. Giving up something she'd spent most of her life fighting to protect - her virtue - wasn't easy, even if it was to someone as wonderful as Kureno. She had the terrible feeling - especially after finding out that he was part of the illustrious Souma family - that if he didn't want to have sex with her, then he would just disappear. Maybe all of his kindness before had been just that, kindness. Maybe, to him, she had been nothing more than a loud-mouthed shop girl.
'It's stupid. Stupid, just stupid. How many times have I seen stupid girls doing stupid things like this just for a guy. I always said I'd never be one of them. This is even stupider. Kureno's right, I barely know him.' But Arisa put her hands up to cup the back of Kureno's head and kissed him deeper. 'But if I don't do this, why would someone like him want to be around someone like me?'
Akito-
"Well, wasn't that cute?" Ayame, still shouldering sweet Yuki, moved forward, watching the girl and Kureno leave. "Such a tall girl. She ought to get her hair trimmed, though. How adorable she'd be with short hair. Princess, come along. I'll just get her to my shop for the night." He paused when Yuki stirred and muttered something to him. "Oh, now! Don't fret, dear brother. There's nothing to worry about. Mine-chan will take very good care of the princess and there won't be any business at all after another hour or so. We must get going, though."
"No." Hatori spoke up, firmly. "You will take Yuki directly to my house. He's in no condition at all to be toted all over the city on errands. The boy should be in bed and sleeping." He looked around at the crowd of Souma's. "Hatsuharu, Momiji, you both know where Ayame's shop is. Walk with Tohru and see that Mine-chan knows what she should know." He said that last to Momiji. "Tohru needs a place to stay for the night so she won't be alone in Shigure's house. Just tell her that and nothing else."
Akito frowned at the way the conversation was headed. Who was this Mine-chan? Why didn't they wanted Tohru to stay at the Main House? She was practically family, wasn't that what everyone was telling him. Even if she was a girl and not even a proper Souma. Hadn't the visit to Count D's petshop proven that she was more like the Souma's than she was different?
(We know why. Don't make us sound stupid.) Akito's reflection walked away from him to where Tohru was still standing with her black-haired friend, Hanajima-san. (They still don't trust us. How ungrateful. We even swallowed our pride and let that cat touch us.)
'Kyou saved us. He's not a monster, anymore. He doesn't have to wear the bracelet.'
(That's hardly the point. The point is that they don't trust us, not with her, anyway. We could order her to stay.)
The suggestion was tempting. Akito could prove to the whole family that he was trustworthy, even if he had to…no. That was the wrong way to think. He would do his best to treat Tohru kindly. She was good to the family and Yuki was fond of her. 'I wish he were so fond of me. But…' Akito looked at Yuki who seemed to be sleeping on Ayame's shoulder. 'If she makes Yuki happy, that's a good thing. Right? So long as she doesn't hurt him I can be happy. But if she does hurt him, I think I'll have to kill her. I said it before - I'll trust her. She hasn't betray us, yet.'
(Are we sure this is what we want to do?)
Both Akito and his reflection silently watched Tohru, her friend, Hatsuharu, and Momiji separate from the family and walk away. Tohru paused to give Yuki a pat on the back, though Yuki didn't stir from where he rested on Ayame's back, and Hatsuharu took a moment to give Rin a kiss. Before they left, he gave Akito a look that could only be aggressive.
'I did something bad. I deserved that look.' He would make certain to stay away from Rin for a time. Just to make sure he didn't do something bad, again. 'I'll show them I can be good.'
(Even if you have to give them all up to prove it?)
Akito shivered at that thought and wrapped his arms around himself without thinking. Give them up? No. That he wouldn't do.
Startling Akito out of his thoughts, Hatori took his arm, assuming Kureno's place. "We should go."
"Yes. It's been a long day. Where has Shigure gone?"
Hatori didn't answer for a minute, which worried Akito. "He'll be along, soon. I'm sure he just had something to do."
"Promise?"
Hatori kept silent, his eye focused ahead and his hand gently on Akito's elbow. "I…believe so."
Shigure wouldn't run away. Not when things were starting to get better. Wasn't it bad enough that he'd left the Main House to go live in that little hovel he called a home? Why would he disappear at such at time? Everything was going to be better and Akito would be a better person. Shigure could move back into the Main House and they could be together again. Maybe…just maybe…Shigure would tell him stories, again.
'I've missed Shigure's stories.'
Ritsu-
Ritsu was as jittery and nervous as ever, but it seemed worse walking next to Kyou. Kyou didn't talk often, unless he was talking to Kazuma or yelling at Yuki, but it seemed worse. After they'd gone several blocks they were finally able to find a bus. That only worsened Kyou's mood. His cheeks reddened and he didn't quite look at Ritsu as they watched the bus approach.
"I…ah…don't suppose you have any money on you?"
"For the bus?"
"No!" Kyou snapped. "For a beef bowl, of course for the bus!" He suddenly stopped himself and gritted his teeth. "Sorry. Didn't mean to yell, don't start flying off the handle or anything."
Kyou's warning was just in time as Ritsu had begun to feel the rising panic that any kind of critism usually led to. It was pitiful, the way he just couldn't control himself. 'But I did. When Akito was sick, when Ren had shot Orcot-san at the front gate of the Main House. I didn't panic.' Now that he thought about it, now that there was no apparent, immediate danger, Ritsu was very proud of himself. 'I helped him into the house and I didn't freak out even when he was talking to me.'
"Hey, you listening?" Kyou prodded him in the arm. "Come on. Your place is miles away, even I don't want to walk that far and we'll never make it there by dark."
Ritsu wasn't so sure about that. Oh, he knew very well that he couldn't get so far, but Kyou, given his apparent new abilities, just might be able to get to the hot springs in just a few short. When Kyou had emerged from his cocoon, in his full glory, he'd had muscles on top of muscles, but was lean enough that he didn't look as if he were taking steroids. If Kyou really did absorb energy from the sun, then Ritsu suspected that maybe Kyou could run as far as he pleased.
"Yes. Of course." His mother had always taught him to carry some money with him, just in case of emergencies. "You lost your clothes at the Petshop, didn't you?"
Kyou nodded, glumly. "Not that I'd had my wallet at the time. I'd let the house kind of suddenly." He fell silent as Ritsu paid the bus driver and they both took seat near the back of the nearly deserted bus. Kyou picked irritably at the kimono Count D had given him. It was clearly not something Kyou would normally chose to wear - covered in bright green flowers with a black background, the kimono looked like something one of the Zodiac would wear to the New Year's banquet.
Now there was an interesting thought. "Kyou, do you think Akito will allow you to come to the New Year's banquet?"
"How should I know?"
"Well," Ritsu wrung his hands together and bit the inside of his cheek as hard as he could to help control himself. When he tasted blood, Ritsu swallowed it and continued. "If…I mean," He glanced around to be sure that they weren't being watched. "You aren't cursed, like you were. Everything's different now, right? Ah!" He let out a sudden scream, unable to restrain himself any longer. "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't pry and if you even want to come, you always tell everyone you don't want to go! I should just keep my big mouth shut! YOU'RE ANGRY BECAUSE OF ME AND I DIDN'T MEAN TO BREATHE! I'M SUCH A WASTE, TAKING UP VALUABLE SPACE!"
Kyou growled and forced Ritsu to sit by pushing down on his shoulder. "We're in public, idiot! Shut up!" Indeed, everyone was staring at Ritsu's display. "You make me angry only when you start yelling. Just talk!" For good measure, he used Shigure's trick of poking his finger into Ritsu's ribs. It hurt so badly that Ritsu deflated and landed back on his seat next to Kyou.
"I really wish…" But then, it wasn't his place to protest no matter how much he wished people wouldn't poke him like that. He deserved it. The pain was nothing compared to what could happen if too much attention were drawn to the Souma family. "I was just curious." He whispered, hoping desperately that Kyou wouldn't poke him again. He was definitely stronger than Shigure and Ritsu knew he'd have a bruise after that poke.
Ritsu didn't ask anymore questions for the rest of the trip and Kyou silently stared out the window. The city thinned out and more people left the bus. A few stayed to get off in small towns outside the city, but before long there was no one left on the bus but Ritsu, Kyou, and the bus driver.
When the hot springs came into view, Ritsu felt his mood rise considerably. It seemed like ages since he'd last seen his mother and he couldn't help but worry how she was getting on managing the hot springs with no one but his uncle for help. Home. Though it was filled with unpleasant memories of his father, Ritsu loved his home. The sprawling house, the well-tended gardens and picturesque mountains made it look like a paradise.
"How did you know Count D?" Kyou asked, suddenly.
"How did you know?" But Ritsu wondered if Kyou was angry at him for not telling. It hadn't really seemed important and Ritsu hadn't even known that Count D was in Japan until they'd arrived and found the man at the airport. Count D seemed kind enough. Though Ritsu's brief visit to Count D's petshop in America had been odd, the Count had been very polite and kind. Now that he'd found out what, exactly, Count D was, Ritsu marveled that the kami had let him be a guest in his home.
"Shigure has a big mouth. He said you brought home some new friends, one of them Ayame's penpal, from America. Since Orcot-san is Ayame's friend and he's staying with Count D - I don't even want to think about what's going on there - I'm guessing you must have met him, too."
"I only met him for a few minutes. I didn't know what he was or that he was coming here. Honestly, I'd have warned everyone."
"Not blaming you for nothing." Kyou snorted at the thought. "Just wondering. Look, I was out of it for a while and there's been no time to talk to anyone. What happened while I was gone?"
"Ren came back and tried to kill Akito, but ended up shooting Orcot-san. Akito went and ordered Hatori to give him the best care and even gave him orders that Hatori himself was to care for Orcot-san. He deliberately took the bullet for Akito. Wasn't that brave? When he was shot Ren went and kidnapped a little boy who was walking outside the estate with Hiro and Kisa, I think someone said it was Orcot-san's little brother. Kureno went off after Ren at Akito's orders." He leaned in close to whisper. "I think Kureno killed her."
"He did."
"How do you know?"
"I saw it. I was at the Hellhole when he did it. She deserved what she got." Kyou's voice was hard, but Ritsu wondered if it was really what Kyou thought. After all, Kyou was no killer. He was really a very gentle person, or so Ritsu thought. "Anything else interesting happen?"
"Akito wasn't doing so well, though. We all thought he was going to die so he called the whole family together. He even called for you, but no one could find you, Yuki, or Shigure. That made Akito very angry."
Kyou let out a snort of a laugh. "He couldn't have his precious Yuki, I'm not surprised he was upset."
"Actually, he was upset about everyone, I think. Anyway, he was so weak he couldn't do anything. That was when Shigure showed up and betrayed Akito."
"What?" Kyou gave Ritsu a disbelieving look. "Shigure? No."
"Yes. He led Count D to the estate and gave Akito to him. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it turns out Shigure did the right thing. I wonder if that has anything to do with why he disappeared while we were walking home. Look!" Ritsu's attention was diverted from Kyou when he saw his mother coming out of the front door of the house. It was her duty to do such things as greetings guests. "Are you sure Kazuma's here?"
"Orcot-san said master was at 'some hot spring', and this is the only one I can image him going to. Don't know why, though." He, like Ritsu, stood up before the bus had even stopped moving. "So…master didn't say anything about me?"
"Not to me. Sorry."
Ritsu had to concentrate on breathing. Ritsu squared his shoulders as best as he could and kept walking. His mother had never seemed so intimidating before.
She looked up very slowly and Ritsu was shocked to see how warm she looked. Her health really wasn't very good, but she looked thinner and her eyes were red as if she'd been crying. "Rit-chan?" Kneeling on the porch floor, she was almost shaking when she saw him. "Rit-chan, I was so worried." A tear ran down her cheek even as she started to smile. "You didn't leave any word and..."
Ritsu threw himself into his mother's arms and held her as if his life depended on it. There was the familiar explosion of mist and the feeling of change as he turned once more into a monkey. Considering his normally frantic nature, it was a wonder that he didn't spend more time as a monkey. "I've missed you."
"Where have you been? First you send weeks in America and then two weeks without a word…what's going on?"
"Oh," Ritsu nuzzled into his mother, thankful for the warmth and for knowing that she would always be there when he retuned home. "It's a very long story. Kyou's looking for Kazuma-dono. Is he…"
"Master."
Ritsu looked away from his mother to see Kyou looking at Kazuma. There was something odd about the way Kyou was standing, as if he were almost afraid. That seemed strange to Ritsu as he'd never known Kyou to be afraid of anything but himself and Akito. Still, Kyou kept very still and had his head slightly hunched down to his chest.
If the man saw any sign of Kyou's discomfort, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, Kazuma moved forward and embraced Kyou. "I was very worried."
"I'm sorry. It was kinda confusing and I felt really weird." Kyou didn't move to get out of the embrace, but neither did he return it. Unmoving, Kyou just kept talking until his words ran together so fast that he was almost unintelligible. "I mean, I have to tell you, but I don't think you'll like it and you wouldn't understand it, that's for damned sure. But it's all the truth, I swear! You can talk to Hatori and ask him, if you want. He'll back me up."
Kazuma patted Kyou's hair, then pulled away and smiled. "I believe whatever you tell me. I know you wouldn't lie to me. Calm yourself down. While you've been gone, a lot has happened around here. I'm afraid I've been pretty busy." He moved to stand next to Kyou and slid and arm over his shoulder. They walked a few paces until they came to the corner of the house and whatever they saw must have been astounding. Kyou froze dead in his tracks and his eyes widened.
"What the…?"
Petshop-
Leon-
Leon watched Ayame's family go and was in an even worse mood than he'd been when he'd arrived at the petshop. Why couldn't once - just once! - things work out simply? He was a simple man and firmly believed that if the world were simple, everyone would be a lot happier. Sadly, nothing about Leon's life was simple. Especially not the Chinese man walking passed the parlor doorway.
At least he knew that Ayame wasn't one of the Black Scorpion, but there was still more research to do. He hadn't even met Kureno, the one he'd come to Japan to find, but he strongly suspected that the man was somewhere in the crowd of Souma's. He'd go find them in the morning, when he went to see Ayame to find out what on Earth they were all doing at the Petshop.
'He's not telling me something and D won't give me a straight answer if his life depended on it.'
D. There was the source of most of the stress in Leon's life. He was small, several inches shorter than Leon and absolutely exquisite with white skin and eyes that looked like gems. He was dainty, though Leon had never told D that to his face. No matter how feminine and lady-like, Leon was certain that no man would want to be called dainty. With D, the offense might be fatal.
'Not that he'd hurt me. Not really. Maybe he'd throw another tea pot at me, but nothing more than that. Maybe he's scratch me with those nasty, long fingernails. He's done that before.' But D had never done anything to Leon maliciously.
Leon shook his head and let his head loll back on the back of the sofa until he was staring up at the ceiling. There was so much to think about and so much to do, but Leon wasn't really sure where to start. Seeing the whole pack of Souma's in the Petshop was just another complication. He drummed his fingers on his knees and listened to D talk to the Souma's, just beyond sight in the entrance hall of the Petshop.
"You have my card. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. No, do not worry. There will be after affects, but all that will solve those troubles will be time. One must get used to new things." A pause and Leon thought that one of the Souma's must have been speaking. "The agreement stands, Souma-san." Now, which Souma-san was he talking to? "The price will be named at a later time when a proper contract will be written and signed. There is no need to be concerned for Kyou, however. He has already paid his price. Please, come again."
Leon heard the sound of many footsteps going up the stairs to the outer door and the door close. He didn't like it. Why should Ayame's family be in the Petshop? There was only one reason. D was trying to sell them one of his infamous pets. Or maybe he wanted to sell each one of them a pet, to wreck greater havoc. But for two weeks? It was just impossible. Most frustrating of all was that Leon had been at the Petshop nearly every day of those two weeks and he hadn't seen a trace of the Souma's.
The telephone rang and after a minute, when D didn't answer it, Leon went to the tall telephone table D kept the antique phone on and answered it with his usual good grace. "What?"
A sigh on the other end. "Leon, you know how to properly answer the phone in Japanese. Why don't you?"
"'Cause I got lazy." Leon grumbled. He switched the receiver to his other ear and turned slightly so he could watch the door to see when D would come back. "What's up, Jill? Mine-chan has to work and left you all alone? Awwww….poor Jill. You're so bored you have to call me just to have someone to talk to?"
"Shut up, Orcot." Jill growled. "You just leave Mine-chan alone. Actually, I was calling about the disks I'd gotten from the Pit."
"You've got my attention."
"I'm still decoding the information, some of this is highly sensitive stuff. I've got politicians and high ranking business men, here. Names, dates, and what each person bought. Whoever kept records for these people were very meticulous."
"Not to mention dumb as a bag of hammers." Leon added. Whoever heard of keeping such records for an illegal operation on the scale of the Black Scorpions? "Is there a definite connection between this place and the Black Scorpions? Something we can use?"
"Nothing definite." Jill sounded tired over the phone and Leon realized she must not have slept lately. "There's the kids and they'll bring a lot of media attention. Hopefully, enough to draw in demands from the public for investigations. The kids we found with the scorpion tattoo on their chests are a strong indication that we've at least found a training camp, but it's nothing we can prove unless we can find the actual Black Scorpion. All the evidence we have is that a bunch of kids were horrifically abused. A crime, but nothing that proves the existence of the Black Scorpion and it's that proof that we need."
"There's gotta be something. They kept all those perfect records, so there has to be a hint about where the kids went and what they were used for."
"Are you sure you want to hear this?"
Leon didn't like that at all. "Just tell me."
"Brace yourself. The children were used for killing fights, a modern, perverted version of the old gladiators. They were trained to fight and kill without hesitation and without remorse. The ones that survived the fights were paid with extra food and benefits that included time to walk in the sun on the roof of the building. The ones that didn't fight were often used as sex slaves for a sickeningly young age." She took a deep breath. "We knew that already, but there are details here. There are also sales invoices. They were selling the kids."
"Shit."
"Exactly. There are names, but it'll take time to find out if they're real names or just pseudonyms." There was the soft clatter of a keyboard being typed on. "I've got to go. I'm exhausted."
"Yeah, get some sleep. I'll try to come by tomorrow." He hung up the phone to see D standing at the end of the sofa. "One of these days you're going to give me a stroke, sneaking up on me like that."
"I would hate to think so. My world would be much more lonely without you." He stepped into the room and suddenly looked a lot taller to Leon. There was something undeniably magnetic about D and as he looked down at Leon, Leon found it almost impossible to look away from him. "Won't you stay the night?"
It took Leon a minute to process the question. "Huh?"
"It is not that hard to answer. Would you care to stay the night? Night is setting in and your walk back to Ayame's apartment would be a long one. My home is warm and familiar. You are more than welcome."
Leon looked into D's eyes and found his mouth suddenly dry. "I…ah…yeah. Yeah, I'll stay." His words were quickly followed by the thought, 'What have I done?'
But D smiled confidently. "Make yourself comfortable, then. Dinner will be served shortly. Chris will be out soon."
They put Chris to bed at nine o'clock and then came the moment of truth. Leon desperately wanted to run away but it seemed like a cowardly thing to do. When he'd thought about it, Leon could admit to himself that he wanted to be near D. It was all the little things he wasn't sure about. Things like holding hands and kissing and…more intimate things. So when D led Leon to his bedchambers Leon didn't argue and didn't run away. He stood in the doorway awkwardly until D pointed to a door behind a paper screen.
"The bathroom is just there. Feel free to change your clothes in privacy."
"I don't have any pajamas."
"There is something your size in there."
That wasn't exactly comforting. Had D been planning all of this that seemed so unexpected? Despite his reservations, Leon went into the bathroom. Just as D had said, there was a pair of silk pajamas, tops and bottoms, hanging on a hook on the wall. Leon stared at them and thanked God that they were just plain blue and not something flowery like D normally wore.
Very slowly, Leon started undressing. He was absolutely scared out of his wits. He wasn't so stupid as to think that D was going to ask him to sleep on the sofa, this time, not when he'd gone to the trouble of bringing Leon to his private room. What frightened Leon most of all was that he had accepted the invitation.
'I can't believe I'm doing this. I can stop now. D won't make me stay if I want to leave. Ayame's still letting me use his apartment.' Leon slipped his T-shirt off and carefully laid it on the floor. He caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror and was disgusted with how afraid he looked, even to himself. 'This is stupid! I'm a cop, this is nothing to be scared of!' Leon began to work on the button of his jeans, but his fingers wouldn't work right and kept fumbling clumsily. 'This is the twenty-first century and homo…homo…argg!…homosexual relationships are perfectly normal. I'm perfectly normal. D's sexy and has a voice to die for. Anyone would want him. Unless he's setting me up for some kind of joke. No. He wouldn't do that. D's not that cruel. I think.'
"May I help?"
Leon jumped at the voice. "Jeezus, D, you..." Leon paused when he turned around and saw D, but...it wasn't D. This man's hair was much shorter than D's and there was something different about the face. It was the eyes. Both of this man's eyes were gold. "Who are you?" Leon did not like this situation.
"You may call me Sofu." D's doppelganger came closer and closer until Leon hit the bathtub with the backs of his legs and had nowhere left to go.
Leon didn't like being so close to anyone like this.
"I am closely related to the D you know." Sofu smiled and reached up to gently touch Leon's face. "You bring him very much happiness. I will ask you not to make him grieve, if you can help it. His happiness is very important to me." Sofu's hand left Leon's face and went down to the waistband of Leon's jeans.
Leon felt completely helpless to move so long as he was looking into Sofu's eyes. He just stood there as Sofu undid the button on Leon's jeans and then released Leon from his gaze. "What did you do me!" Leon demanded when he could speak again. He wouldn't normally let anyone that close to him and it frightened him that he'd kept so still and done nothing to defend himself.
"Take care of him." Sofu replied, not bothering to answer Leon's question. "I value him dearly." Then Sofu was gone.
Thinking that he must have somehow run out the door or something when Leon wasn't looking - though Leon was sure he hadn't taken his eyes off the man - Leon burst out of the bathroom and directly into D's bedroom. D, sitting on the edge of his bed petting Q-chan, looked up and smiled. "Leon, are you so shy? You do not need to wear your pants to bed. If you don't like the pajamas, then just come without them"
Leon blushed and felt his throat seize up. He went back into the bathroom and finished undressing before putting on the pajamas D had given him. Fine blue silk, more expensive than anything Leon had ever owned, Leon was hesitant to even put them on for fear of somehow ruining them. Still, he dressed and went back out to D. He must have been imagining things. He was so worked up right now that Leon might have had any number of hallucinations.
Leon's heart was thudding so hard that he feared he might throw up. He didn't, though, and walked around to sit on the opposite side of the bed. "Ummm... D? Are you sure...?"
"Turn the light off, won't you?" D interrupted as he took off his robe and laid hung it on a hook near the door. He wore a long nightshirt that was just as expensive looking as Leon's pajamas. When D crawled into the bed and lay his head down, Leon turned the lights off, gathered his courage, and crawled in next to him. "Leon?"
"Yeah?" Leon was very proud that his voice didn't squeak when he said that. Leon's hands tightened on the bedclothes. The darkness of the bedroom made everything seem more intimate.
"I am not going to bite you."
That made Leon laugh nervously. "I know."
"Close your eyes and go to sleep, Leon." D rolled over and Leon could feel D looking at him in the darkness and wished he could see D's face. "I will never do anything you are not ready to do and you are not ready this night. We have plenty of time for everything. I invited you here to sleep, nothing more. Pleasant dreams." A soft kiss touched Leon's cheek before D rolled over and didn't speak again.
After a while, Leon's eyes grew heavy and he relaxed into sleep feeling more comfortable than he could ever remember feeling before.
To be continued…
