I turned to look, but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it, now
The child
is grown
The dream is gone
- Pink Floyd -
"Comfortably Numb"
-/-
Without You
By Ricchan
-/-
- Chapter 5 -
Yuki
sighed deeply and scowled a little, closing his eyes, but he spoke
once more.
"Kyo...Tohru's back."
In the far corner of the room, there was a shifting in the shadows.
However, there still wasn't an answer. Yuki sighed, slightly annoyed at the person behind the wall.
"Kyo, I know you can hear me," he said again, a touch of anger in his voice.
"I know."
It was Kyo's voice, soft, and pulsing from the back of the room. Yuki sighed once again.
"Finally, I get an answer out of you," he said, closing his eyes for a moment.
Another stint of silence. Fed up, Yuki went on.
"Kyo, Tohru's back; Momiji and I had lunch with her this afternoon," he stated.
"...you're a liar," Kyo replied after a long while.
"Why would I lie to you?" Yuki said; this was true, since he and Kyo had been on decidedly peaceful terms since his confinement.
Kyo didn't say anything this time. Yuki was beginning to get rather irked, but went on as he was before.
"Kyo, she's back, but..." he said, but couldn't bring himself to tell Kyo her memory was gone. This time, the reply was almost instant.
"What is it, is something wrong with her?" Kyo said, a hint of worry in his voice.
Yuki inhaled, then exhaled and clenched his fists in an attempt to alleviate his nervousness.
"...Kyo, Hatori...erased her memory. She doesn't remember us," said Yuki, finally.
There was a thoughtful silence as Kyo thought this statement over.
"...she doesn't, does she?" he said finally, simply.
"No. It's as if she never knew the Sohmas," Yuki replied, equally as simply.
Kyo didn't reply to this. Yuki, growing a little uneasy, continued on.
"Kyo, I want her to remember," he stated. No reply.
"Kyo..." Yuki said after a small while, attempting to get his attentions.
"...you should leave her alone...Yuki," Kyo said, finally.
Yuki looked up from the stone and into the room; although he couldn't see the speaker, he was sure that the speaker could see him and his expression of shock.
"...what?" was all that he could bring himself to say.
"Leave her be. Is she...is she happy how she is?" Kyo asked gently.
"I suppose-" Yuki began, diverting his gaze for a moment.
"Then let her be. She probably had her memories suppressed for a reason," Kyo said strongly, almost defensively.
Yuki looked into Kyo's chamber again, with confusion on his face, his eyebrows twisted upwards and knit together.
"...Kyo, doesn't that strike you odd, though?" he said after a small silence.
"...how?" Kyo replied, after an equal silence.
"Tohru...said she didn't regret ever meeting us," Yuki stated quietly. There was stillness; a breeze pushed a few leaves around on the path.
"...you know, I'd expect you to know by now...what people say and what they mean are two different things," Kyo said softly, his form in the darkness shifting once more.
Yuki looked at the stone again, at a loss for words. Thoughts tumbled in his head, without any possible relief.
"Kyo...why do you think she did what she did?" he asked. Kyo pondered this for a moment.
"...have you ever considered...that there are some experiences she simply chose not to tell you about?" he said after a while, his voice soft and slightly pained.
"Kyo, you're speculating-" Yuki began, but was stopped as Kyo spoke again.
"I'm not going to say anymore, Yuki. Just leave her alone, she's happy," he concluded, and he was silent.
Yuki sat there for a brief moment, looking into the chamber and attempting to collect his thoughts.
"Kyo, I-" he started, but was unable to create a sentence, for...
"Young Sir, what are you doing?"
A maid with Kyo's lunch on a tray entered into the garden, understandably shocked at seeing the Cat and Rat speaking to each other.
Yuki looked at her for a moment, decidedly surprised.
"Yuki-san, why are you near the Cat's room? I don't find you one to-" she began, but Yuki composed himself once more and interrupted her.
"I was just having a conversation with him, that's all," he said gracefully. "If you'll excuse me..."
With one final look towards Kyo's chamber, he left.
The maid watched him leave, suspicious whisps of thought floating about in her mind. She placed Kyo's tray outside the chamber's door, where the meals were placed, and went on her way to fetch Akito's meal. She had happened to overhead much of the conversation the two members of the Juunishi had had, and found it highly strange and definately worth reporting. With a smug smile on her face, she entered Akito's room, imagining perhaps attaining a higher position within the family.
Akito
sat on his windowsill that day, playing with his sleeve, his ragged
black hair in his face; having grown it only recently, the maid found
herself thinking Akito was a dark-haired shadow of his father, Akira,
whom she knew only in photographs (as she was fairly young herself
and didn't know him personally).
"Good afternoon, Akito-sama,
I've brought your meal," she announced, bowing before the tray
as she placed it down.
"As you were," Akito said simply,
not looking at her. She sat, nervous, waiting for the right time to
speak. She then opened her mouth.
"Akito-sama, Yuki-san was having a most interesting conversation with the Cat today; I found him speaking with him outside his room," she reported.
Akito didn't even bat an eyelash, but replied regardless.
"...what were they speaking about, may I ask...?" he inquired.
"Something about that Tohru girl, the one who lived in Shigure-san's home several years back; ran away from them too. Something about her returning, and her memory being gone," she replied, gaining some confidence as she spoke.
"...really, now?" Akito said thoughtfully, tilting his head as he looked out the window at something new.
"Yes, I didn't catch all of it," the maid said, losing all nervousness. "Really, what was he going on about, I wonder? The Cat seemed to be bossing Yuki-san around, I was in my right mind to-"
"...you should stay out of their affairs, both those regarding Tohru and those that do not," Akito said suddenly, looking in her direction with his piercing, black eyes. The maid was hit with a sudden chill, and she gulped.
"Akito-sama..." was all she could bring herself to say.
"It is Yuki's own choice whether or not he chooses to speak with Kyo," Akito said elegantly, not taking his eyes off the maid. "The affairs of the Junnishi are strictly between them and I; you should feel ashamed of yourself to even consider reprehensing even the Cat, who is the lowest of us all."
The maid was silent for a while.
"For-forgive me, Akito-sama, I was...merely confused," she said. "Really, what reasons would Yuki-san have to talk to the Cat? They've always fought and I don't remember them being tolerant to each other..."
Akito laughed; the sound was soft, due to his bad health.
"Sir, what's so funny?" the maid asked, a bit flustered and embarrassed.
"...the Rat has every right to be kind to the Cat; it's necessary if...they wish to forgive each other," said Akito. This only caused the unfortunate maid more confusion.
"Forgive...each other, sir?" she said.
Akito sighed, and looked out the window again.
"...let me see if I can put this into words your mind can understand..." he said, and thought for a small while, before speaking again.
"Suppose...you were offered the chance of a lifetime." he said, looking at her once again, his eyes soft and nearly misty. "You also have a dear friend, and if they took up the offer, then they would win over you. But you have a stroke of luck, and you discover that they haven't heard of the opportunity. What do you do? Do you truthfully tell them when to show up, or do you lie so that you might have a chance?"
The
maid thought for a moment.
"I-I don't know, sir..." she
said. Akito laughed for a brief moment, for the question was not
meant to be answered, and she blushed. He continued.
"That is what the Rat did to the Cat...when the Jade Emperor invited the animals to his banquet. The Rat lied and took advantage of his friend, and by the time he had made it to the banquet, he was second-guessing himself," he said, and looked out the window, his voice becoming soft and thoughtful. "Don't you suppose that seeing the look on the Cat's face, when he was told the banquet had gone on without him, and the Rat was to blame, the Rat's heart would break?"
The maid thought about this for a moment, and how unmistakably true it was.
"...yes, sir, I suppose that his heart would break," she said meekly.
"The Rat...lives with a lot of guilt; because he was the first to arrive, he's also hated by a lot of people," Akito said, his voice still soft, but now slightly melancholy. "The Ox has already forgiven him, so...if both the Rat and the Cat came to forgive each other for their actions...well, I suppose it's a noble pursuit that would have its benefits, wouldn't it?"
He ended this statement by looking the maid right in the eyes, and she sheepishly diverted her gaze to the floor; for the first time in a long while, she sensed Akito's overwhelming power over her, and the dormant wisdom of a true clan leader.
"Yes, sir, I suppose..." was all she could say.
Akito
was silent for a good long while, looking out the window.
"Leave,
please, and fetch Shigure for me," he commanded after his brief
meditation. "I wish for him to dine with me this
afternoon."
"As you wish, sir," the maid said, and
left the room, decidedly weak in the knees.
Shigure was taken to the room shortly after, and he entered with the usual amount of cheerfulness.
"Akito! How are you feeling today?" he said jovially, taking a seat next to the head of the house on the windowsill.
"...a little better today, thank you," Akito replied, looking over and smiling gently at him.
"What's on the menu?" he asked, glancing at the tray on the tatami floor.
"...just the usual, rice, miso, vegetables..." Akito replied emotionlessly, looking out the window again.
"Ah, boring as usual," Shigure sighed, looking at the ceiling and sighing in mock exhasperation.
"Go
ahead and eat some, I'm not that hungry today," Akito said.
Shigure smiled and brought the tray over to the window, where he
began to nibble a bit on the food (he knew that Akito would
eventually eat with him, if he persisted long enough). However,
instead of the usual silence that came with lunch, Akito chose to
speak today.
"Did you hear...the Tohru girl's come back?"
she said.
"Really?" Shigure said, a pickle hanging out of his mouth; he was genuinely suprised, for the first time in a while.
"...yes...apparently...Yuki went to Kyo to tell him and was caught...by some server woman," Akito said, a tinge of poison in her voice as she neared the end of the sentence and slid off the seat, resting her head on her arms.
"Yuki? Talking to Kyo? That's certainly unexpected, we almost never see Yuki around here except at New Years," Shigure noted, leaning his head towards Akito.
"I know, but...he had good reason, I suppose," Akito said. "That Tohru...if she really has come back, then I think Yuki would try to tell Kyo of it as soon as possible...the poor thing really cared for her."
Shigure nodded in agreement.
"Do you suppose...Yuki's seen her?" Akito asked.
"Of course, how else would he know? I don't think anyone like Haa-san would tell him such a thing," said Shigure.
"Hatori erased her memories, didn't he?" Akito said quietly.
"Mhmm..." Shigure replied, nibbling on a bit of rice. "From what I heard from the server woman outside, she told me what the two of them were talking about."
"Ah, I thought as much; it seemed so suspicious, and now so obvious, but Ha'ri never talked about her; when Yuki had that breakdown, the most I heard was that she had...just run away," Akito said thoughtfully, and sighed. "...I feel for Yuki. She was such a source of hope for him, and he was healing from those wounds so nicely...seeing her again, not knowing him...it must be unbearably painful...much like Hatori and Kana."
"You still remember her?" Shigure said, a tad suprised.
"Of
course I do...I did hurt Hatori's eye then, and I blamed it on
her...god, I was so rash then," said Akito, who then covered her
head further with her arms and sleeves. Shigure put his hand on her
back.
"You not feeling very well?" he asked. Akito
shook her head.
"You should get your rest; eat some lunch and get some sleep in," he said. "You have a wedding to attend next week, after all."
"I know..." Akito said quietly. "Do me a favor, Shigure...and don't call Hatori for me...I think he has to deal with enough already at the moment."
Shigure
smiled.
"All right, then, but you have to get your rest,"
he said. "If you don't, you won't be able to stand for the
ceremony."
"And what if I can't?" Akito said, a
hint of playfulness in her voice.
Shigure smirked and swept Akito
into his arms with a single motion; Akito squealed, very
suprised.
"I'll carry you, of course!" Shigure laughed,
and Akito laughed as well, then hugged him around the neck.
"Shigure, you're so kind to me..." she said, becoming rather sleepy.
"I try to be, Akito. I try to be," he replied softly, as Akito fell asleep in his arms.
