-The Secret Sohmas-
The story of the piece of their world they were never meant to find.warning: notes for the names are at the end of the chapter.
update: The climax continues.
The Sohma girls and their groups are approaching the final gate, on their way to rescue their counterparts.
Reviews: I'm putting all my extra commentary at the end of the chapter now that it's getting good so you can just read the chapter like you came here for and you may read about yourselves when you're all done.
ENJOY!
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Chapter 10-
The clock slowly ticked away and she stood and waited. She was told why she was suppose to wait, but standing there alone, she began to wonder why she listened without question and what would happened if she too broke the cycle.
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"Thank God that's done. Sheez, Shigure-san, I thought you were never going to shut-up."
"Oh," Shigure whimpered with a laugh. "But your cousin is so interesting."
"Yes!" Agreed Kagura. "All of them! It was so kind of Kagiru to distract that guard for us."
Kyoko didn't bother arguing anymore. She was rubbing her cheek from where Kagi had lovingly smacked her down before he had to run to finish making sure they were in the clear. All the fight had been worn out of her so now all Kyoko could express at that point was simple irritation.
Kagura pulled on her arm again. "Look, Kyoko-chan! I can see Ayame and Hatori-san! Hey!"
Kagura started waving frantically in attempt to catch the small group ahead of them's attention. It worked eventually. The group led by Hara had stopped to discuss the current going-ons with Hitori. The meeting of Hatori and Hitori was very anti-climactic and even though Hitori did not talk much, Ayame seemed to think it was his life's goal to recount everything he knew to this new woman who looked like his Hatori. This gave Kyoko, Shigure and Kagura plenty of time to catch up. Hara had barely convinced them to move on when Kyoko got to the gate.
"You're here." Hitori sighed. It wasn't really a sigh since it was the female version of Hatori and Hatori doesn't really sigh, but Hitori had her small, motherly way of sighing.
Kyoko rotated the brim of her hat to the side and frowned as she normally did in these circumstances. "We're here. What's the 4-1-1, Hitori-san?"
Miss Hato glanced back to see Hara, Hatori and Ayame lingering by the gate. Apparently Ayame had caught sight of Shigure and refused to move.
"Kagiru-san went ahead to see how the boys were doing and if Momo-san had seen anything. Hara's in front of you and Yukiko's coming behind."
Kyoko spun around to see the delicate, gray-haired girl come out of the trees and join the main road. Loud conversation could also be heard in the distance, implying that Ayaa and Shigeru had decided it was time enough to join the main group.
Hitori's attention was on Yukiko and her two companions. "Who is with Yukiko-san?"
Kyoko turned back, looking uninterested. "A Momiji version of Momo and a second Honda Tohru."
Hitori glanced down at Kyoko at that comment and Kyoko's eyes formed strange slits and looked up at hers. "He'll not know of this one."
Hitori did not feel threatened, Hitori did not easily feel threatened, but nodded just the same to show that she understood and agreed.
Kyoko passed her by once she got the nod. Shigure was insistent on introducing himself formally to Hitori, but Hitori did not take kindly to men of Shigure's type and was frozen to any charm he attempted. Kagura and Kyoko together forced Shigure to move on.
Kyoko didn't feel as disturbed by Shigure's presence anymore since he acted flirtatious with just about every young, beautiful girl that come his way. He was very much like Miss Shigeru.
Kyoko joined Hara when she passed through the gate. Kagura stayed clung to her while Shigure rejoined Hatori and Ayame and they began telling of their adventures through the treacherous compounds and the dangers they had faced and the hearts they had captured. Kyoko had never been so relieved for Hara's company in her life.
Kyoko saw Yukiko meet Hitori at the gate, and she twisted around and let out a breath. "Looks like everything's alright."
Hara didn't nod or make a sign of agreement. "I'm worried," she said simply. Kyoko shifted her hat so she could better see Hara's face, though Hara wasn't looking at her, but up ahead. "Hitori-san mentioned that Akito had wanted to meet the guys."
Kyoko's eyes widened and her pupils dilated. She spun quickly so she could see the Club House where she had left Ru and the others a week before. There was no Ru sitting on the porch or looking out the window. There was no familiar smells of cooking or whistling out back. There were no happy faces at all, just a cold, dry air.
Momo was standing on the porch instead, but her face was not the welcoming face they had expected. Momo's eyes were swollen and her cheeks were red. Kagiru was also standing the on the porch, his face also narrowed into a worried frown, though he tried hard to consol Momo.
The gate creaked behind them as Yukiko, Tohru, and Momiji passed through the gate, followed closely by Hitori, Ayaa and Shigeru could be seen in the distance. The creak was Kyoko's starting gun and she sprinted at the Clubhouse. She ran to Momo first. Hara had run beside her. Yukiko, when she spotted them, ran as well and was not far behind.
"Momo?" Hara's question was understood. Kagiru turned to them so Momo's face could be seen. She looked up at Hara, her eyes quickly flooding anew with tears. Kagiru and Kyoko met eyes for the briefest moment before Kyoko turned with a blind fear and burst into the Clubhouse. "RU? RU, ARE YOU THERE? ANSWER ME!"
Yukiko got to the porch in time to hear Kyoko's desperate calls unanswered. Hara hadn't moved from her spot in front of Momo, trying to coax an answer from her. "Momo."
Kyoko burst back out through the door huffing and puffing, eyes both flaming with anger and contorted with grief. "He's not here. They're all gone."
"Momo." Hara said again. The small girl sniffled and wiped her face with a frilled sleeve. "He- He- He took them. Akito took them with him."
Yukiko bent down to her level. "Where, Momo?"
Momo's voice became a quiet, but powerful, wail of despair. "The main house."
Tohru, Momiji and Kagura had caught up to the others on the porch. Shigure, Ayame, Hatori and Hitori stayed back slightly, but within hearing distance.
There was a silence: A long, painful silence filled only by Momo's quiet sniffling. It was broken by the thud of Kyoko's bag as it dropped hard onto the porch. Looking up, one could see her face was dangerous contorted; her eyes nothing more than enraged orange slits. She leapt off the porch in a sprint.
"KYOKO! WAIT!" Kagiru shouted after her and tried to reach for her, but he was too late to catch her or begin quell her anger. There was little left to do. Yukiko and Hara sprinted after her.
"A-! Wait, you guys!" Kagiru shouted after the three girls, but it was too late for them, as well. Kagiru started to chase them, but he stopped when he saw he couldn't catch them in time. Tohru and Momiji assisted Momo in walking down the porch stairs and back on the dusty road.
"What's wrong?" Kagura asked, approaching Kagiru. "Isn't that where the boys are?"
Wind kicked the dust up off the road and blurred their vision for a moment. Kagiru's eyes stayed on where the sprinting girls had vanished. "We didn't clear the last gate."
"Oh no," Momo gulped.
"What?" Tohru asked, looking back and forth at Momo and Kagiru. "Who's at the last gate?"
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The three sprinting girls found out in the same instant Kagiru answered. She was perhaps the most elegant of the transformations between male and female Sohmas. With long chocolate hair and empty eyes, she stood with an emotionless, yet sad and tainted gaze before the final gate.
"Kurenai."
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note: No notes
name notes: 'Kurenai' means 'Crimson'. That sounds like a girl name, right?
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Uh oh. Only five pages this time. The final handful of chapters are going to be shorter. I'm sorry. That's just how it worked out. It's getting pretty suspenseful, though, right? I hope I can keep it up for the climax.
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Thank you, reviewers. Your support makes me eternally happy. I am very thankful.
I have seven reviews! That must be a personal best! You guys rock!
Damki: Wow! You've reviewed every single one of my chapters so far. You da bomb. It's always great to here that someone like Zou's funny even when you haven't read the series. Did Yukiko really make you want to cry? She really never got emotional moments. There was the one when she has the attack, but it's not that in depth, so I leapt at the opportunity for her to jerk some tears.
Okay, maybe some of the writing skill is my own. I've gotten better since 6th grade. If you liked Twice Lost, Once Found, then you should like Second Try for Love. They're written a little differently, but I think 2nd Try had a bit more effort put into it.
Serinity's Angel: Don't worry, Serinity. Rin doesn't show up, unforetunely 'cause she wouldn't get in a car with a group like that if you tied her up, but Rin's counterpart shows up in the next chapter. I actually kinda like Rin's counterpart. He's cool.
Nekokazam: Clever username, newcomer. There really isn't too much more Yuki, Kyo, and Haru. I was surprised myself with their lacking. They're in there a lot in the early chapters and some of 'em make a tiny come back, but the rest of the story is mainly the Secret Sohmas. I'm glad you're excited about what's to come, though. I love enthusiastic reviewers!
JennyKim319: I'm so happy that you think Ayaa and Shigeru came out the way they were suppose to. They made me so nervous. I think they could be a little more over the top, but if you like it as it is, then the better for me. It was a hilarious chapter, wasn't it?
Moonflower: Yeah! It makes my day to know that you were waiting to review me. Good! Someone else thinks Momo's eyes looked sad, now no one can get mad at me for the main difference between big Momiji and lil' Momiji being the eyes.
Seadrance: He's sad, but he's adorable. My writing must be good 'cause you guys can't see lil' Momiji and you still think he's adorable. OO! You faved me? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
Catana: Yo there, newcomer. You've the 2nd longest review next to Damki. Yes, the great numbers of the Sohmas makes counterparts very annoying to add. There's suddenly twice as many people and I don't know what to do with them. Unforetunetly, the plot of this story will not get much more complex than it already is. I want to go into detail with people, but it's already chaotic and to mess with my fictional characters too much when people are already guessing with what they know… things would just get confusing. Man, I wrote it and I have potential for getting confused. I want it to be long and complex, but I'm only human. Forgive me, oh wonderful reviewers.