Chapter Twenty

Tohru's mind raced as she left for Sohma House the next day. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, perfect weather for a walk across town; there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, at least none that she could see. And yet, still she found herself in low spirits, unable to focus on anything but her last conversation with Yuki.

"Every time I came over, Akito bullied me. I remember once he made me sit in a corner while he said the meanest things he could think of. He invented game after game, the object always being to make me cry. When that didn't work, he took out a belt and hit me with it."

The thought of her friend cowering in a corner of Akito's room was enough to make her eyes swim with tears. What a cruel thing to do to another person. She didn't want to believe it had really happened. But Yuki was not one to lie or exaggerate. There was also the fact that Tohru had seen firsthand what Akito was capable of.

"Nothing you have done to this point is unforgivable!"

Those were her own words, and at the time she'd been so sure of them. But did she know Akito well enough to make such a statement? A year ago, she would have boldly declared that no act was too monstrous to be deemed unforgivable, and a part of her still wanted to believe that was true. Was it, though? She couldn't decide.

What if Akito has done even more things, things no one ever told me about? She realized almost right away how silly of a thought that was. Because assuredly, he had. The question was, how much would she be willing to forgive?

How much should one be willing to forgive?

Such thoughts were weighing heavily on her as she approached Sohma House's main gate. After being buzzed in, she continued toward Akito's house. The zodiac god had given strict instructions not to enter through the front door, but to walk along the side of the building, where he would be waiting for her in the gardens.

I guess it's nice that he invited me to meet him somewhere else for once, she thought. And yet, at the same time, she couldn't help thinking it seemed an odd request. Was he simply changing things up, or was he deliberately trying not to alert Hatori of her arrival?

She tried not to let herself become overly suspicious as she stepped into one of Sohma House's many meticulously kept gardens. This one was lined by hydrangea plants on both sides. Their blue and purple blooms were vibrant, and Tohru slowly passed through them, noting at once that their lush green leaves were glistening with dewdrops. Someone just watered them. She stopped to admire the flowers—and to appreciate the no doubt painstaking efforts of whoever tended them—before ambling on.

She spotted Akito almost right away. He was standing near the rose bushes in the furthest corner of the garden, but Tohru couldn't have missed him if she'd tried. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his all-black ensemble, and for several seconds she just watched him. It's awfully warm today. Isn't he afraid he might overheat? She considered mentioning it, though in the end she decided that a simple greeting was likely her best bet.

"Hello," she said softly when he didn't seem to notice that she was behind him. Akito froze at the sound of her voice, and she couldn't help giggling when he turned to her with a stunned expression. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Straightening, the zodiac god cleared his throat. "There's no need to apologize," he said coolly. "You didn't frighten me."

"Really?" Tohru breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Um..." Her voice quieted. "What is it, then? Did I…do something wrong?"

"Not in the slightest," he replied, stone-faced, and Tohru chewed on her lower lip. He was much friendlier yesterday. I wonder if he isn't feeling well. Or maybe...

"I confess I was beginning to think you might not come," he said by means of explanation. "Though, I suppose I should've known better than to doubt your word."

…maybe he somehow managed to find out about the conversation I had with Yuki. She knew it was a ridiculous notion, but she couldn't help worrying about it all the same.

"Please." As if reading her thoughts, Akito stepped forward, arms extended, his footsteps a soft rustle in the grass. "Let's not be so formal with one another. We are friends, after all, are we not?"

Friends. Again, she thought of Yuki, of how he had once thought that he was the zodiac god's friend.

Yuki trusted him. And then…

And then Akito turned on him.

Would he do the same to her? The question alone was enough to make her stomach feel queasy.

"Tohru?" Akito's face appeared suddenly in front of hers. "Something's troubling you."

His eyes searched her face, and Tohru felt herself starting to relax at the sound of his warm, silky smooth voice. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing. Maybe this is okay.

But then she remembered something else Yuki had said. "I want you to know the type of person that Akito is. Believe me, I know better than anyone how almost...magnetic he can be. He knows how to come across as kind, thoughtful, even apologetic. But I promise you, none of that is real. He's only pretending."

She squeezed her eyes shut. I don't know who or what to believe anymore. Oh Mom, what should I do?

"Tohru? What is it?"

It was strange. She remembered how silence used to anger Akito. He'd seen it as an affront, as insolence. Now, though, it was as if his patience knew no bounds. What changed? She had no answer.

Maybe Yuki was right. Maybe there was no accounting for Akito's volatile nature. Maybe she really was walking into a trap.

Maybe she had been this entire time.

"I…" She took a deep breath. "I guess I was just wondering what made you decide that you don't hate me anymore."

At once Akito's blue eyes went cold, and Tohru reacted instinctively, taking a small step back. Those eyes…

He looked very much like he had all those weeks ago, when he'd yanked her toward him and promised to make her regret associating with the Sohmas. Weeks. Barely any time at all. In that sense, she could understand why Yuki and Kyo were so appalled by her willingness to befriend the zodiac god. But it wasn't in Tohru's nature to hold a grudge, or to doubt someone whose words and actions seemed genuine. Arisa had called her an idiot more than once for being too trusting, albeit affectionately.

"I know it's a hard question to answer," she said when Akito didn't reply. "And maybe I have no right to ask it. But I remember you telling me just a few weeks ago that you hated me. That you thought I was lying about who I am. That you thought I was using kindness as a tool to manipulate you. And then you told me—no, you promised me—that I would never win you over. That you would never accept my friendship, no matter how hard I tried to earn it, no matter-"

"Yes." The zodiac god stared at the sky, at the rose bushes, seemingly at anything but her. "I remember."

"Akito." She forced him to meet her eyes by putting herself directly in his line of sight. "I need you to know that I meant what I said yesterday. I am truly honored that you consider me a part of your family now. It's just...I can't help wondering what changed your mind. Because it can't be anything I did. I haven't been trying-"

"If you must know," he cut her off, his tone deadpan, "it was the night I had my asthma attack. I collapsed, and you rushed right into the house to call for help. You didn't even think. You just did it. Of course, any one of my zodiac would've done the same. But an outsider? Someone who has no ties to me whatsoever, someone who, by all rights, has every reason to wish me dead?"

He took a step toward her, and Tohru went stock-still.

"Err… it was nothing, really," she babbled. "Like you said, anyone else would've done the same!"

He kept moving, until he was standing directly in front of her. "Are you afraid of me?" His voice was low and flat, as if he didn't care one way or another.

But Tohru knew better. "No," she whispered.

He held her gaze for another moment before looking away.

"No," she said again, insistent. "No, I'm not afraid! I just…" She swallowed. "I heard some things. And I was worried that-"

"What things?"

When she didn't say anything, he persisted, "Who said them?"

Tohru clamped her mouth shut, and while Akito didn't ask again, he kept his eyes fixed on her face, as if the slightest change in expression might hint at what–or who–she was thinking about.

"Yuki," he said after what felt like an eternity.

It wasn't a question, but a declaration, and as much as Tohru wanted to deny it, she found she couldn't bring herself to lie. "He was only looking out for me," she said quickly, to which the zodiac god snorted, the sound anything but humorous.

"Yes, no doubt by crafting horrific stories to frighten you away from me."

"What?" Tohru gaped at him as the implication of that sentence hit her full-force. "You mean…it's not true? When Yuki said that you locked him in that room, he…he made that up?"

The sting of betrayal was almost unbearable. They can't both be telling the truth, she reminded herself, even though she wanted so badly for that to be possible.

"Akito?" she said when the zodiac god remained silent. "Is that what you're telling me? Are…are you saying that Yuki lied?"

His sapphire eyes narrowed, and Tohru straightened her spine, inhaling sharply as at last it became clear what he wasn't saying. "He didn't lie."

Akito tensed at the sound of her voice, the muscles in his face contorting into what only barely passed as a grimace.

"I don't understand." Tohru shook her head. "Why...why do something like that? There must be a reason."

She needed there to be. Because if there wasn't—if Akito had tortured her friend for no reason other than to amuse himself—then…

Clearly uncomfortable under her scrutiny, the zodiac god lowered his head, sighing. "Anything I say will sound like an excuse, and you deserve better than that."

"Akito." Tohru shot him an imploring look, her hands folded together, as if in prayer. "I just want to understand. So whatever it is you have to say, say it, and I'll listen. Please."

That made him finally look at her. "You're the first person who's ever bothered trying to understand," he said, a trace of wonder in his voice, "and I thank you for that. However...I'm not sure I will be able to explain myself in a way that will satisfy you."

"Okay." She nodded gamely. "I still want to hear it, though."

He nodded too, the movement stiff. "Very well," he relented. "About ten years ago, Yuki and I were friends. I commanded him to visit me every day after school. I could have done the same to any of the others, of course, but I chose him for a specific reason. According to the old story, God and the rat have a special relationship. I wanted to see whether there was any truth to that or not, and so I started spending time with him. We got on quite well, and...I daresay I rather liked him."

There was a ghost of a smile on his face as he said this.

"Our meetings became the highlight of my day. Often I would sit in my room and count down the hours until his arrival. He was the only real friend I'd ever had, and for the first time in many years, I can honestly say that I was happy."

"So… what happened?" Tohru murmured, and Akito breathed another sigh.

"I made the mistake of telling Ren about my new friend."

Ren. Akito's mother. It seemed that she was the root of so many of the zodiac god's problems.

"What did she do?"

"It wasn't so much what she did," Akito replied, "as it was what she said. She told me I was delusional, that my friendship with Yuki wasn't real, and that it never would be. I was distraught. I asked myself why she would say such things. And then I remembered what Father—Akira—used to tell me. He always said I was special, that I was born to be loved by the zodiac. And I thought, maybe that was what Ren meant. Maybe that was what Akira had been trying to tell me all along. Maybe I wasn't meant to befriend the zodiac, but to be their master, and to be loved for it. That is what a god does after all, is it not?

"I confronted Yuki the next time I saw him. I accused him of being deceitful, of pretending to like me in order to gain my favor. He had no idea what I was talking about, though at the time I assumed his tears and pleas were a ruse. After that...well, I'm sure you know the rest."

Tohru did. She shuddered to think that she might have suffered a similar fate to Yuki's. After all, Akito had once accused her of deceit, too. "Why did you believe me?" she asked. "I know you said it was because of what I did for you when you were in trouble, but…"

It still seemed too easy, like it should have taken longer to convince him.

"It was easier to believe you," Akito said, "because you are not bound to me the way that they are. Because you are not cursed, it was easier to trust your authenticity. Also…" He paused, as if carefully weighing his words. "I overheard your conversation with Isuzu."

"Isuzu?" Tohru blinked in surprise. "I haven't seen her since…" She broke off with a gasp, comprehension lighting her features. "You're talking about the summer home. When we were on the beach."

"Yes." Akito was facing away from her again, his gaze focused on something far off in the distance, if he was even looking at anything at all. "I heard what you told her."

Tohru frowned. She couldn't have hidden her confusion if she'd wanted to.

"It's all right," he said when he saw her expression. "You don't need to be shy. As I said, I heard everything, particularly the bit where you said that you care for me. That the entire reason you want to break the curse...is to save me."

He must have overheard me telling Isuzu about my feelings for Kyo. It appeared, however, that the zodiac god was under the impression that she'd been talking about him instead.

"You have no idea," he told her, "what that meant to me. My father always said that I would be loved forever, not just by him, but by the entire zodiac. Then he died, and I realized that that wasn't true, that my relationships with my family would always be artificial at their core. In fact, Ren made sure I believed that no one would ever truly love me."

His eyes found hers, and Tohru's heart thudded in her ribcage. "But she was wrong," he said, "because you do care for me, despite not being a Sohma, despite knowing all of the things I've done out of pain, fear, and anger. You've seen everything, and yet you still find me to be worth saving."

He reached for one of her hands, and though Tohru was on the verge of jumping out of her skin, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. Not when he was speaking from his heart, not when he was telling her that she'd managed to shatter so many of the horrible lies that Ren had been feeding him since he was a boy.

And it wasn't that she didn't care for Akito. She did. Quite a lot. It was why she'd wanted so badly for what Yuki said about him to be a misunderstanding.

I wanted to keep believing that he could change, that he could be better. That his future wasn't as bleak as he thought.

And now that she knew the full truth of things, did she still believe in him? Did she still think he was capable of change? Did she still think he was worth it?

Yes. The answer entered her mind without hesitation. Yes, I absolutely think he's worth it.

"I'm glad," she said, squeezing his hand. "I'm so glad I've helped you, that our friendship has changed the way you think about yourself. Really, that's all I want, for everyone to see the good in themselves. Because that's just it. Even if you aren't the person you'd like to be right now, it's okay. Maybe one day, you will be. That hope—that possibility—is always there, whether you can see it or not. You just have to be willing to take that first step in the right direction."

At first Akito looked stunned, like he hadn't understood a word she'd said. But then he smiled, and his eyes contained a warmth that Tohru had never seen reflected in them before.

"You truly are extraordinary."

He moved closer, and Tohru's heart was beating at what seemed an impossibly fast rate as she waited, holding her breath.

"What I mean to say is…" He leaned down so that their foreheads touched, his eyes drawn shut, and Tohru found herself unable to pull away. This was the most vulnerability Akito had ever shown her—that he had likely shown anyone in all his life—and there was something about that that made the moment feel special, almost sacred.

I like him like this. Gentle, patient, honest. If he was like this all the time…

But could he be like this all the time? That was the question she couldn't bring herself to stop asking, and she was neither willing nor prepared to unpack the multitude of reasons why her heart wanted so desperately for the answer to be yes.

"What I mean to say," he told her, "is that I'm in love with you."

Shigure rapped on the door for the third time, sighing in exasperation when still no one appeared to greet him. Naturally, the logical conclusion to make was that no one was home, but Shigure knew better. Even on the rare occasion that Ren went out, the house itself was almost never empty.

The dog took several steps back, until he could see the upstairs window that looked into Ren's bedroom. The stark white curtains were drawn, but that didn't mean she hadn't seen him when he arrived. She probably told her servants to ignore me. Irritation prickled at him as he marched back to the door, determined. "Ren?" he called. There was no answer, but he was almost certain that she could hear him on the other side. "Enough with the games. I know you want to see me."

He also knew it annoyed her when he said arrogant things like that, even if they were true.

"I will ask that in the future you refrain from dragging others into our affairs," he continued, still betting on her listening. "Especially Hatori. If you need someone to talk to, might I suggest-"

"What do you want, Gure?"

He spun, startled to find Ren standing on the walkway behind him. Her slender arms were crossed loosely over her midsection, one eyebrow quirked as she stared, somehow managing to look put-out and intrigued simultaneously.

"Ah. There you are." Shigure raked a hand through his smooth black hair. "I confess…you surprised me for once."

He could tell she was trying very hard not to roll her eyes. "Must I repeat myself? What. Do. You. Want."

To make sure you haven't gone off the deep end. Much as Shigure wanted to say this, he knew he shouldn't. Not if he wanted his visit to be productive. "To talk," he said simply, and Ren did roll her eyes that time.

"About what? How you're thinking of ending things with me?"

Shigure didn't like the deadly calm in her voice, and for a moment, he grappled with how best to respond.

"It's all right," she continued, her tone still flat. "I'd be a fool if I hadn't figured it out by now."

Her eyes took on a sinister gleam that was almost enough to make him shudder. "Ren," he began, but she kept going as if he hadn't spoken.

"I am old to you now, in both the literal and the figurative sense." She gestured at herself with a sweeping motion. "Beautiful though I may be, it doesn't change the fact that I am middle-aged, and that you have grown tired of me."

She really is quite scary when she gets like this. Shigure opened his mouth, knowing full well that he was treading on thin ice. Very thin. "That's not-" he started to say, but she cut him off again.

"Hush now, there's no sense in denying it. We both know that this is the way of men, particularly men such as yourself." She flipped a strand of hair over one shoulder. Shigure knew this was her attempt at demonstrating just how little all of this meant to her.

He also knew that it was an act.

"Ren," he said carefully. "I promise, I came here with no ulterior motive. Hatori said you requested more medication from him yesterday-"

"Did he?" She smirked. "That's funny. I didn't think doctor's were permitted to disclose patient information to anyone."

"They aren't," he agreed. "And he didn't. I tricked him into telling me."

She huffed at that, the sound derisive, almost hateful. "Then he's even weaker and more pathetic than I thought."

I'm going to let that one slide, Shigure thought, much as a part of him was itching to jump to his friend's defense. "Why don't we go for a walk?" he suggested. "It's a rather lovely day. The sun is shining. I'm sure the rose bushes are in full bloom-"

"Who is she?"

He halted mid-step, hoping he looked as flabbergasted as he felt. Ren's voice was all-sweetness, but the question instantly set off alarm bells in his head. So that's what this is. She thinks there's someone else.

"I…I beg your pardon?"

"Who is she?" Ren asked again, though instead of replying, Shigure just shook his head and continued down the path.

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that you would drop me and have no replacement lined up?" She trailed after him, her voice growing louder. "I will find out, you know, even if you don't tell me. I have spies, an entire network of people I can rely on-"

"Yes. And what do those spies tell you now?" he interrupted, his voice cold, hard. Here was the part of Ren he couldn't stand, the part that was petty, illogical.

Dangerous.

That wasn't an exaggeration, either. Ren was prone to mood swings with extreme highs and lows, the effects of which were often devastating.

Like the time she tried to kill Akito.

It had been many years ago, so long that it was possible the zodiac god himself had no memory of the event. Somehow, though, Shigure doubted Akito had forgotten the sight of his own mother towering over him with a butcher's knife grasped in both hands.

Shigure certainly remembered. He'd been there.

"Ren," he said gently when she didn't answer, "there is no one." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now then, shall we take a turn through the gardens?"

He started down the path with his head held high. Eventually, Ren did follow, though instead of trailing behind him she hastened her steps so that they were walking in sync with one another.

"I have to tell you," she said as they were passing over a bridge, "there's one thing I did hear about you that I found to be most amusing."

"Oh?" Shigure replied with interest. "And what might that be?"

She skimmed her hand along the bridge's smooth wooden guardrail. "That you are now more determined than ever to break the zodiac curse, that you have rekindled your passion for the cause." She snorted a laugh. "I suppose that may explain why you've been too busy for me."

She wasn't kidding, Shigure realized. She really has been keeping tabs on me. He wasn't sure whether he was more annoyed or disturbed by this bit of information.

"There now, see?" he said instead of taking the bait. "I told you, you were just being paranoid."

Ren chewed the inside of her cheek, as if considering this assertion. "I wonder why, then," she said after a long pause, "Isuzu Sohma came to me asking for information on the zodiac curse."

She turned her gaze up on him, one eyebrow raised, as if to say: Aha, I got you. Shigure stared back at her, though it was only through enormous effort that he managed to maintain a neutral expression.

Damn it, Rin! He cursed the horse for her foolishness. Because if Ren was telling the truth—if Isuzu really had gone to her, and they'd talked—then there could no longer be any doubt where Ren's mind was at. She thinks Isuzu and I are together. Jealousy was, of course, a natural human emotion, but for Ren it was like a poison. It was jealousy that had nearly driven her to murder her son all those years ago, and Shigure would be damned if he allowed such a thing to happen in the family again.

"Because," he said, deciding at once that it was safest to assume Ren knew everything, "she and I are working together. She's in it for her boyfriend, Hatsuharu, whereas I—being the selfish cad that I am—am in it only for myself."

It wasn't entirely true. But it was believable, and right now, what Shigure needed was to take as much scrutiny off of Rin as possible. And if throwing himself under the bus was the only way to accomplish that, then so be it.

"Hm. Yes, you always have been self-serving, haven't you?" Ren mused. "But still, why pick her of all people as your partner in this? She doesn't seem a particularly capable or intelligent girl. At least, that was the impression I got when I spoke to her. The doctor seems a more logical choice. He may be soft, but at least he's resourceful. The two of you are friends, are you not? 'Thick as thieves,' I recall you saying on multiple occasions."

Why don't you just get it over with and say what it is I know you want to say?

"Ren," Shigure interjected. If she wasn't going to cut to the chase, then he would. "I assure you, you have nothing to fear from Isuzu. Even if I was interested in her, I wouldn't stand a chance. Her loyalty to Hatsuharu is among the strongest I have ever seen in a person. She would give her life for him, if it came to that."

He thought she would appreciate his honesty, though in the end it earned him nothing but scorn. "As if that matters. Men like you are always on the hunt for the newest, prettiest thing you can find." She sneered at him. "I wonder what this boyfriend of hers think of the two of you working together. What would he do, if he knew that you've spent the last few weeks making eyes at Isuzu?"

He already knows, Shigure thought, holding back a grimace. And it went about as well as one might imagine. Which was to say, not very well at all. Even now he wasn't fully convinced that Haru wouldn't try to pummel him to death the next time they saw each other.

"There's nothing to wonder at," he replied, again deciding that it was best to be more truthful than not. "He's already more or less threatened to kill me if I try anything." He raised his right hand in the air. "Which, again, I haven't, on my honor, lest I live the rest of my days as a cursed, flea-infested mongrel."

But Ren was already shaking her head. "Even if that's true, the fact remains that you sought her help in the hopes that she would-"

"Wrong," Shigure interrupted. "She sought my help. She was desperate for answers, and for whatever reason, she thought that I would have them."

She didn't look surprised to hear this, which Shigure took to mean that she'd already known. She's testing me. He didn't know why, but that angered him more than anything. "You know," he said, "jealousy is unbecoming of you. I wonder, were you like this when you were married to Akira? If so, it isn't any wonder that the poor man met an untimely death-"

The fist came out of nowhere, a direct hit that was so abrupt that Shigure wasn't sure he would've reacted in time even if he'd been expecting it. He brought a hand to his cheek as Ren rounded on him. "How dare you?" she screamed. "You've no right to speak of such things!"

Shigure winced as the shock wore off and feeling returned to his face. I might have deserved that, he acknowledged. But did she really have to use her nails?

"You're ruining everything! Everything! Everything! Everything!"

Ren's hands were curled into fists, and Shigure didn't dare try to speak until he was certain she was done. "What do you mean," he said slowly, "that I'm ruining everything?"

He watched her warily from a distance, until her short, shallow breaths became longer, more even. "You don't get it," she said finally. "I understand what it truly is to love another person, whereas you do not. You are cursed."

Where is she going with this? Shigure frowned. Were these just the ramblings of a crazy woman, or was she trying to tell him something deeper?

"I do not think you are wrong," she continued, "in your belief that it is within the outsider's ability to free the zodiac. And that is why…I cannot."

Understanding dawned on Shigure then. "You don't want the curse to be broken," he breathed, and in response, Ren inclined her head.

"But why?" he said, aghast. "This is our chance to finally end things! You're telling me you would rather let this family be cursed for generations than see your son alive and happy? You truly hate him so much?"

"This family has already been cursed for generations," Ren said, unfazed. "What's a few generations more?"

"Do you even hear yourself?" Shigure snapped. "You mean to damn us all, and I won't allow it. I've worked too hard to let all of this just fall apart!"

The look Ren gave him was almost pitying. "You don't get it, do you? It already has."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, she and turned and began making her way back toward the house. Red hot fury surged through Shigure, and the next thing he knew, he was stepping in front of her, barring her path. Ren was surprised enough by this that she halted, any amusement disappearing from her face at once.

"What have you done?" Shigure demanded, and Ren gave a small shake of her head. She tried not to show it, but she had her guard up, and Shigure knew why. Anger was not an emotion that he typically put on full display, and she wasn't sure what he would do if provoked further. Good. Let her be frightened. I'm done playing her little games.

"Ren," he said in a voice that was only slightly more civil, "what have you done? Answer me."

He watched as her eyes darted toward the house, then back to him. She was contemplating calling out for her attendants, though in the end she must have decided that doing so wouldn't be worth the effort. Scowling, she crossed her arms over her chest. "I have done nothing. I'm like you. I operate through whispers, through suggestion."

"And just what, exactly, have you been suggesting? And to whom have you been whispering?"

A sly smile tugged at her lips. "Ask your little horse. She knows."

Shigure froze as it occurred to him for the first time that the answer to Isuzu's disappearance might be closer than he thought, namely, right in front of him. She knows Rin is gone.

He wanted to tell himself that he couldn't be certain. After all, Ren hadn't outright confessed to kidnapping Isuzu. But Shigure hadn't missed the way she'd commented on the girl's appearance. She was jealous, and it didn't matter whether or not she believed him when he said that he wasn't romantically involved with Isuzu. That wasn't how Ren's mind worked. Like Akito, she perceived a threat, and she eliminated it, regardless of whether or not it was actually real.

There's also the fact that she knows Rin and I have been working together to break the curse. And Ren had made it abundantly clear that she did not want that to happen. From her perspective, doing away with the horse would be like killing two birds with one stone. For a second time, the image of Ren hovering over Akito with a knife flashed in Shigure's head, the image both vivid and terrifying. Not again, he thought before making the snap decision to reach out and grab Ren by the shoulders. He didn't hurt her, but he pressed firmly into her skin with his thumbs, making it clear that he could, if he wanted.

"I'm going to give you ten seconds," he said in a low, commanding voice, "to tell me where she is."

He started counting down in his head, but he didn't get far before Ren ducked away and out of his reach. The movement was swift and aggressive, a response to his own blatant act of forcefulness a moment ago. "Lay hands on me like that again, and you will pay dearly for it."

"You've done something to her," Shigure insisted, "and I want to know what!"

By then Ren had rushed forward and into the safety of her home. She was standing in the open doorway with her hands resting on either side of the frame, the pose casual, arrogant. She knew he couldn't touch her there. Shigure's blood boiled at the sight.

"My, you're getting awfully upset at the idea of me toying with her. Are you sure that your relationship is purely transactional, as you so claim?"

The dog took a deep breath, willing himself not to yell. "Ren," he tried again, "she is part of the zodiac. She matters not just to me, but to all of us. Please. You must tell me where she is."

She seemed to ponder this for a moment. "I used to think that you and I were so alike, Gure. It was one of the reasons I gravitated toward you. You were young, fresh, cunning. Manipulative." She said it like it was the most delightful word she'd ever uttered. "But now?" she resumed, gesturing at him with a hand, her tone at once turning drab. "You've changed."

No, Shigure thought automatically. I haven't. He was still every bit as cunning and manipulative as he'd been before. The difference was that now he and Ren had conflicting ideas. He still didn't know why she was so strongly opposed to breaking the curse, but he did know that whatever her scheme might be, he couldn't let her carry it out.

"I don't know what I said to make you believe that I've done something with Isuzu," she said suddenly, "though I assure you that the girl and I have only spoken three times, and for very short durations." She looked past him, as if Rin might show up on the estate's main pathway at any moment. "If she is missing, then perhaps she has finally heeded my advice."

"And what advice would that be?"

Ren narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, dropping her voice to a guttural whisper that chilled Shigure to the bone. "Stay out of it."