Akito Shuts up by AmberFox
The Kosakana Sushi Restaurant bustled with life as the party took their seats at the collection of tables in front of them. Being a very expensive restaurant Kosakana was not suited to hold such a mass of people at one table, so the staff decided to put a few tables together to hold all fourteen guests. They had even gave the guests a free drink each due to the business they brought to them.
After all, it wasn't everyday that the head of a very important family like the Sohma's was to celebrate his birthday.
The twelve zodiac members sat around the god as she surveyed the room. Usually she wasn't allowed out of the compound due to her declining health but since it was a special occasion, and the family doctor Hatori was there, she guessed it was alright. It was still a bit of a shock that they all invited her out in the first place. Although that still didn't explain why she was there. Sitting beside the pale goddess sat her mother, as polite as ever, on her left. On the heads right sat Kureno. Hatori sat next to Ren while Shigure faced him on the other side of the table with Aya beside him, who was trying to rise a conversation out of Yuki across from him. Hatsuharu was next to the rat trying to calm Momiji down beside him since they were in a fancy restaurant. Ritsu was beside Ayame, in a suit and being unusually quite. Akito reckoned he was trying to gain more self-control of his urge to apologise at random, but she didn't think it would last for long. Near the monkey sat the tiger, Kisa and Hiro, who was muttering something. Kisa just blushed cutely and nodded. Ah, to be in love… She wished those two would just drop dead. Opposite the sheep and next to the rabbit sat the boar Kagura, who did look a bit bored sitting next to the dark horse, Isuzu, who sat at the far end of the table next to Hiro, looking like she'd rather have her teeth pulled out with rusty pliers then sit at the same table as everyone.
"Isn't it just super, little brother?" Akito heard Aya called to Yuki over the table. "To celebrate in such an exclusive restaurant were the most postages people go!"
Yuki just grunted as he read the menu.
"Ah, brotherly bonding." Shigure said sarcastically. "Such a precious thing…"
"Can we have cake for desert?" The head heard Momiji ask Kagura in excitement.
"I don't see why not." The Boar answered back. "But you might be a bit full before that."
Hiro scoffed. "I doubt anything can full him up. He's like a black hole."
Rin, beside the sheep, agreed. "A black hole that won't shut up."
"Whaa! There picking on me!" The little rabbit cried to Haru, who petted him sympathetically.
"That wasn't very nice Hiro-kun." Kisa said to the sheep.
"It's true though." Hiro said.
"What's taking them so long with the drinks?" Kureno asked himself over his own menu.
"Well, it must take simply ages to make fourteen different drinks and try to serve them at the same time." Shigure said beside him.
"Such a fancy restaurant, yet they have such poor serving quality." Ren piped up across from the two.
"I don't think they are use to serving so many people in one go." Hatori said next to the woman. "At least the drinks are complimentary." He looked through his menu. "I hear the Yubiki here is very popular. Made with the best fugu around, apparently."
"I'll try that then." Ren said. "They have too many options."
The three men grunted.
"What's the matter Risu-kun?" Little Kisa asked the strangely silent man beside her. "You look tense."
"I'm sorry." The monkey whispered to the tiger. "I'm just not use to being in suck an expensive place. What if I get a flustered and start making a scene. We'll all get kicked out and it'll be my fault. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry. All you have to do is be happy and talk to the others. No one will say it's not right because everyone else will be doing it too." Kisa said with a smile.
"If the other patrons complain about you they'll have to complain about all of us, and I don't think that'll happen." Haru said worldly.
"Of course!" Ritsu jumped as Aya put in his view. "Being as powerful as the Sohma's does have it's perks every now and then." The snake laughed and flipped his hair. "But we must be polite and ever gracious in social gathering such as this, so it's best to do as the rest of us do and talk quietly amounts ourselves until our orders arrive. I must say I'm awfully proud of you for voicing out your opinion in such a public place for all to hear, I know it's not easy for you, being of such shy nature and I commended you for your strength and determination to better yourself in the face of others opinion of you and I hope to help in any way possible." He ranted to him with a knowing smirk.
"Th-thank you." Ritsu could only stammer. His idol had praised him…!
'God's he does go on!' Akito and Yuki though as one.
The drinks then arrived on the trays of two waiters.
"Nothing like a little sake to start a festive mood, eh Kureno?" Shigure asked the rooster as he sipped his drink.
Kureno shrugged. "I'm not one for sake. I prefer Chuhai, it has a better flavour." He swirled his lemon-flavour drink in his hand.
"What, can't hold your liquor?" The dog teased.
"Like you can't stop writing those dirty novels." The maroon-haired man shot back.
"My my!" Aya turned to the two. "Is this the usually stoic Kureno, with a sense of humour? Is it the end of the world already?"
"I'm driving tonight, and I don't want anything to happen." Kureno justified as he drink some of his Chuhai.
"Next thing we know he'll have a secret lover on the side." Shigure sniggered to himself.
Kureno almost choked.
"I think those books you write have permanently affected your mind." Yuki told the dog.
Akito raised an enquiring eyebrow at the rooster behind her fruit juice, but said nothing.
"Calm down, Momiji." The goddess could hear Haru say over the din of the others. "It's impolite to jump about."
"I can't help it! I'm so exited!" The little blond beside the cow claimed. "I've never been to a place like this before!"
"Well, neither have I and you don't see me fidgeting." Hiro said from across the table.
"That's because you're playing your game-boy under the table." Isuzu muttered darkly.
"He's a good player." Kisa defended. Although it seemed to worsen the sheep's situation.
The waiter had finally arrived to take the groups orders.
"I think you should have the Fugu Sashimi, daughter." Ren told Akito before sipping her Koshu. "Goodness knows you need to eat something less fattening."
"I think it's safe to say that Akito-sama would prefer the Fugu Tempura." Hatori said to the waiter, noticing Akito's cold gaze towards her mother. "And I'll have the one as well, but with some Temaki on the side."
The waiter nodded and, sensing the area around the doctor and the older woman grow chilly, moved to the other guests.
"It is not wise to undermine me in front of other people." Ren coldly told Hatori as she looked straight ahead.
"As the head's physician it is my decision whether her diet needs changing or not." The dragon replied in matching tone. "You have no say in anything health related about your daughter." He then took a sip of his Happoshu.
Ren humphed.
Secretly, for only Akito had noticed, Hatori then took two small pieces of folded paper, and hid them under the rim of his plate.
"Yuki, tell me how is everything at school?" Ayame asked his little brother suddenly.
"What do you care?" The rat shot back almost emotionally. The goddess guessed that he was getting tired of the older mans ranting.
"Oh, I just had some interesting customers yesterday that seemed to know you." The snake said playfully, finally getting a response from his quarry. "It seems that you have a little fan-club on your hands."
Yuki scoffed. "A little? I have a club devoted to me consisting of half the school hounding me wherever I go and calling me 'My Prince'. And some of them are boys!"
Aya looked shocked at his brothers unusual outburst. But then he relaxed. "When I was about you age I hade a secret society devoted to me. One night my house was broken into by them and they tried to sell my underwear to the highest bidder at the school action." He then laughed. "My unwashed sports socks raised ¥2500 before the principle deemed all the items stolen from me invalid and took the thief's away for questioning. The cult was broken up by the PTA once the story broke to the parents." He laughed again. "You should have seen the look on my face when my Y-fronts were put up for bidding! They were taken for ¥5100!"
Yuki couldn't help but laugh at that. "Well, my club hasn't gone as far as that." He then muttered, "Yet." before taking a swig of his Mellon-flavoured Ramun.
"Does Lucky-Kyo have fans as well?" The snake asked.
"I don't think so. Who would want to be a groupie of that stupid cat?"
"When a group of young ladies comes into one's shop and asked for 3 dozen orange cat ears, one gets slightly suspicious of the matter." Aya said with an air of mock snobbery.
"You didn't!" Yuki said in astonishment. "You didn't sell orange cat ear's to a group of girls from my school!"
"Of course not, little brother." Aya looked at his brother with a strange twinkle in his slitted eyes. "I told them that it was best to buy cat ears that matched their hair-colour for authenticity. Brown, black, and some white ears for those of the blond persuasion were sold."
The rat almost died on the spot with laughter!
"I'd hate to be him on Monday!" He said when he finally gained control of himself.
"Indeed." The snake smirked over his umeshu. He was happy with that fact that he was now getting close to someone he now held dear. That and the image of Kyo's face in horror engraved into his mind.
"Can I have the Sushi platter please?" Kisa asked the waiter before handing in her menu.
"Why the platter?" Hiro asked in his usual venom. "All it is is just different types if sushi on a plate."
"I'm not very hungry…" Kisa replied shyly.
"Well I'm having the Chirashi." Hiro said to the waiter. "You can have some if you're hungry afterwards." He told the tiger.
Kisa blushed. "Thank you Hiro-kun."
Kagura and Isuzu shared knowing glances.
When the food arrived, with four waiters and a trolley, everyone seemed to be in high spirits. The drinks were flowing, the conversation was interesting and everyone was generally having a good time.
If you weren't the birthday girl that is.
Akito sat moodily as she watched her kinsmen enjoy themselves. Ayame and Yuki were actually getting along, sharing tips on how to avoid fan girls and how to hide in tight spots. Hatsuharu had switched seats with Kagura to talk to Isuzu and while the head thought that the horse would avoid the ox, they started talking about exams and other stuff the god couldn't hear. Shigure was harassing Kureno about who the cockerels ideal partner would be, adding innuendos here and there. The tiger, sheep, and rabbit were discussing video games and Ritsu was actually enjoying himself talking to Kagura about self-motivation exercises.
Even her damn mother was having a good time! She was busy throwing insults at the young god left and right and although Hatori, the ever vigilant one of the group, defended her with his own resourceful wit the blunted remarks had still caused her some injury.
Well it did, until the doctor decide to do something out of the ordinary.
"Ren-sama." Hatori said curiously. "There seems to be something on your face."
The mother blinked. "Where?" She asked, touching her left cheek.
"There." Hatori said, pointing to the right side of her face.
"Where?" She asked again, now touching her right cheek.
"There." The dragon still pointed to the woman's face.
By now Shigure, Kureno, Aya and Yuki were watching the scene unfold.
"Where?" She turned to Shigure, who blinked.
"It's right there, isn't it Shigure?" Hatori said to his friend with a wink.
The dog smirked. "My, it is extremely large."
"Massive." Ayame said, getting the joke.
"Where?" Ren said, getting cross.
Hitori sighed. With is index finger he touched the skin above her right cheek. When he moved the finger away it revealed a large black mark on her face. "There." He told her, showing his black finger to her. The two of the Mabudachi trio couldn't help but snigger slightly at Ren's shocked face. "I suggest you go to the bathroom and freshen up." The doctor told her, and in an instance she was up and gone.
The two couldn't take it any more and burst into laughter.
"I can't believe you'd remember that!" Aya giggled out.
"I can't believe you actually did it!" Shigure laughed.
"What did he do?" Yuki asked the two, mirroring Kureno's look of confusement.
Hatori smiled as he took out one of the folded papers under his plate. "I put a dab of this ink on my finger, then told her that she had something on her face."
"He put the ink on her and showed her his finger, making her think it was already on her before and that he smudged it." Aya explained to his little brother.
"Pulling off the perfect crime!" Shigure added with another winning smirk.
"You pulled it on me when we were younger." Hatori told the two.
"Ah yes, I remember the day…" Aya went into a dreamy haze as he began to tell everyone about that particular adventure.
As the group watched and listened to the tale of two idiots, Akito noticed something move from the corner of her eye. Moving her head slightly, as not to be noticed, she saw Hatori take out the second piece of folded paper from under his plate and drop its contents on her mothers plate discreetly. It looked like herbs of some sort.
All too soon the party ended. They had desert, paid their bill and left to return to their homes and sleep off the enormous feast they had partaken. The only other incident that night was when Momiji wanted to try all the cakes and attempted to steal Kisa's strawberry cheesecake, which led to Hiro's valiant attempt to save the dish by stabbing the rabbit with his desert fork. This led to the ram telling the little German that if he tried to take anything from his Kisa-chan again, he would find himself stuffed in a trash-can. Unfortunately, Shigure heard all this and proceeded to ask the question "Since when had she been your Kisa-chan?", leading to the debate of weather it was appropriate to tell a child about the 'birds and the bees' in a fancy restaurant. Which led to every single female at the table, and Ritsu oddly enough, to give the dog a glare that dropped the temperature in the room by several degrees. By that time Ren started to complain about a migraine so Hatori gave her some headache pills as well as some sleeping medication to get her off his back.
Anyway.
The next day was drizzly at best. The sky was grey and had been pouring a light rain that didn't seem to be finishing anytime soon. And that's where we find Akito, lying in bed. She had been awake for some time, but the cold-snap of the morning made her feel like she couldn't handle getting up. She awoke to a siren oddly enough, but didn't think of anything of it. Usually traffic sped by the compound and since it was raining no one was outside, making the calls of the siren seem like it was right outside her house.
A knock on her door sounded before it was swung open by Hatori. "Akito-sama." He said in his usual grave tone. "I have some very alarming news…" His voice took on apprehensive note, which was strange to Akito.
The goddess turn her head towards the doctor. "Did the check to the Kosakana bounce?"
That took Hatori by surprise. "…What?"
"I assumed that with everything we ate last night, the bank would think is was a forgery or something." Akito said.
"… The check cleared, Akito-sama." Hatori told the head.
"Then why have you disturbed me? Being called early in the morning after a late night will get me even sicker." She said to him viciously.
"Akito-sama, I don't know how to tell you this." The dragon said. "Your mother has passed away during the night."
Now it was Akito's turn to blink in surprise. "…Wha-?"
"The ambulance has just taken her away. I believe it might have been the fugu." The doctor closed the screen door and walked towards the bed.
The goddess sat up, groaning a bit as she did. "How could this be possible?" She asked the dragon.
"Well," Hatori sat at the foot of her bed. "The blowfish is quite a poisonous fish. Only the meat and some of it's skin is safe to eat. The fish contains a neurotoxin called Tetrodotoxin, which is about 1200 times deadlier then cyanide. The victim starts getting dizzy, headaches, and nausea. Then the toxin kicks in and shuts down the electrical signals in the nerves by binding to the pores of sodium channel proteins in nerve cell membranes." The man sighed. "Basically it paralyses your body completely and you slowly asphyxiate to death. It doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, meaning you are fully conscious when this happens."
Akito's eyes narrowed. "And that's why you gave her the sleeping pills, wasn't it Hatori." She accused in a strangely calm voice.
The doctor looked at her in surprise.
"Once you saw the first symptoms show you immediately gave her the pills so that she could die in her sleep, rather then feel herself slowly suffocating to death." The head accused.
"I have no idea where your getting this notion from." The dragon said coldly.
"I saw you put two paper envelopes on the table." The goddess told him. "One was filled with ink, the other had herbs I saw you put into her food." She smiled bitterly. "Being a doctor, you knew how to get or make the poison, and the affects it brought. Choosing a restaurant that selled fugu and slyly manipulate her with her own ego was a stroke of genius. Only the best for the mother of the head." Akito laughed eerily. "You then set your little joke on her to not only get her out of her seat, but also distract the others with Shigure and Ayame's long winded story. I knew you weren't the type of person to play a prank in the middle of a high-class restaurant." She looked back on him, noticing how pale he was now. "You put the herbs in her food and when she returned carried on as normal. When she when to bed she took your pills thus sealing her fate." She noticed that Hatori was now sitting very still. " Tell me," She demanded. "Was those herbs filled with poison?"
Hatori bowed his head. For a while it looked like he wouldn't answer the head's question before saying softly, "I soaked them in the toxin the night before."
Before he could register it, Akito launched herself on him and gave him the strongest hug he had since Aya's last visit.
"Damn those stupid fan girls!" Kyo growl harshly as he walked home. "First cat ears, now this!"
"It was inevitable." Yuki told the cat beside him. "If you think about it, it's like gang-colours."
"But still," Tohru said from Kyo's other side. "They shouldn't pick a fight with another club." "They didn't pick anything! One fan accidentally hit another in the face with a ball during PE, and now they're having this club-war!" The cat said angrily.
"Ears vs. Badges." Yuki muttered.
"And where the hell did they get the ear's anyway!" Kyo snarled. "It's been going on for a week now!"
"I'm sure it's just a phase." The girl of the group said over Yuki's silent snickering.
"That's what the parent's of those girls would probably say once word gets out about the club-war." The rat told the two, back in neutral mode. "But it's more of a nuisance if anything."
"Damn straight!" Kyo yelled.
They crossed their driveway and entered the house with thoughts of how to survive tomorrow when all of a sudden they heard giggling from the living room.
"Oh, boys!" Shigure sing-songed to them from said room. "I have a surprise for you!"
"Come here little brother!" Ayame's voice rang through Kyo's soul.
"I'm not sitting in the same room as that maniac!" The cat shot back before racing upstairs to the safety of the roof.
"But it's a surprise for you." Aya's head popped through just as the red-head got to the top of the stairs.
"I don't care!" He called from the second floor. "If it has anything to do with you, I don't want to know!"
"But it hasn't got anything to do with me." The snake told them.
"Huh?" The three asked.
"Then why are you here!" Kyo's voice echoed.
"Now now." Shigure interrupted. "That's no way to treat a guest. Just come with us for your big surprise!"
"Whatever." Kyo reluctantly climbed back down the stairs.
Diving there was relatively easy. Instead of the group risking their lives with Aya or Shigure driving, they ordered a cab. It was a tight fit, and although Yuki was closer to his brother he still refused to sit on his lap for everyone's comfort. In the end Yuki had to transform and be hugged by Tohru all the way there, while his brother held his cloths in a bag. (Because having a cat, a snake or a dog in a taxi without a cage is illegal. Unless it was a a seeing-eye-dog, but that doesn't really count…)
"Why are we here!" The cat stated as they stopped outside the Sohma main house.
"It's a surprise!" The dog announced as they paid for their fare.
"You told us that already." Yuki said from Tohru's cupped hands as they began to walk to the front gate.
"Does this have something to do with Ren-sama's death?" Tohru asked as Aya rapped on the large wooden doors.
"Maybe." The snake said with a smile.
The cat scoffed. "I heard as soon as her body was released, it went strate to the crematorium for her last rights. Talk about quick! She went into the fire from the same van that took her from the hospital!"
The doors opened and permitted them entrance.
"I think it's time to let Yuki get dressed now." Shigure said as the doors closed behind them. Aya took his brother from the girl and walked to a near-by bathroom for him to 'freshen up'.
"This way children!" The dog told the two, leading them around the main house and to the back of the front building.
Walking through secret gardens and passed small alleyways between houses they finally stopped in front of a rather ominous building.
"Why the hell are we here!" Kyo yelled as he took in the sight that was The Cat's House.
"Just sit and wait for Yuki, you'll find out soon enough." Shigure motioned to a table a few hundred meters from the cat's house, that they didn't notice. Sitting on one of the chairs by the table was a young woman in a sun hat and a stunning light pink summer dress. Her face was hidden behind her white fan as she looked to them in expectancy.
"Hello!" Tohru greeted as they made their way towards her. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, we didn't notice you were sitting there."
The woman said nothing.
"Ah, I'm Tohru Honda and this is Kyo." The girl continued now getting a bit anxious.
The woman still said nothing. She turned to Shigure, who nodded in understanding.
"Please sit everyone, and wait for Yuki and Aya to return." He said, sitting down beside the silent woman.
They sat without another word and waited.
Eventually Yuki did come. Although you could have cut the atmosphere around the group with a knife.
"What's going on?" He asked as his big brother came from behind him to sit at the table on the other side of the woman in the sun hat.
"Just sit down and find out!" Aya singed.
As soon as the rat did so the woman whipped out what looked like a remote and pushed it across to Kyo.
"?" The cat blinked.
"I think she wants you to press the button Kyo." The dog said with a laugh.
"Fine." Kyo sneered as he pushed the button.
Instantly, the cat's house exploded.
Laughter rang as the woman looked to the three teens and saw the look of shock/amazement on their faces.
"The hell!" The boys said together.
"Surprise Kyo-chan!" The woman said as she took the fan from her face.
"Akito-sama!" Yuki gasped.
"You blew up a house!" Tohru said in vague shock.
"You're a girl!" Kyo said stunned.
This caused all three adults to laugh harder.
The End! (Of this chapter, anyway!)
(Here's a little index of stuff that you couldn't understand in this oneshot. Also, there's a little not at the bottom of all this explaining why we wanted to kill Ren instead of Akito.)
Sushi - You'd have to be a grade 'A' moron not to know what it is.
Chuhai - flavoured alcoholic drinks with a relatively low alcohol content. They come in many different flavours such as lemon, grapefruit and pineapple, and are based on shochu. It's the Japanese version of WKD.
Fugu - Blowfish or Puffer fish. The fishes extremely expensive meat can also be poisonous. Only the meat and sometimes the skin can be eaten while the liver, intestines, and even the blood have enough poison in it to kill 30 men. A fugu meal can easily cost from $100 to £200 due to this.
Fugu Sashimi - sliced thin peaces of blowfish that are so thin that the pattern on the plate can be seen through the meat. Theses plates are often beautifully decorated so that removing the slices are as enjoyable as the meal itself.
Koshu - Aged sake. Most sake does not age well but this specially made type can age for decades, turning the sake yellow and giving it a honeyed flavour. Very pricey.
Tempura - Tempura are deep fried pieces of battered seafood and vegetables. Various tempura pieces are dipped into a soya based sauce before served on top of the rice. Extremely fattening.
Temaki - cones made of nori seaweed and filled with sushi rice, seafood and vegetables.
Happoshu - A recent invention by Japanese brewing companies, literally means "sparkling alcohol". It looks like beer, contains the same amount of alcohol as beer, but is made with less malt than beer, giving it a different, lighter taste.
Ramune - A Japanese soda.
Umeshu - Japanese plum wine. Made from plums. (duh!)
Chirashi - A dish in which seafood, mushroom and vegetables are spread over sushi rice.
Note:
I know what you're all thinking: 'WHAT THE HELL! Isn't Akito suppose to be killed!' Right? Well that is what we were going to do, except for what we found out when researching Akito-sama. Apparently we found out a lot of facts, aside for the fact he was a she, to help us with this. As you have read, Akito's mother is called Ren. And she's a real bitch!
A little history for the masses:-
She had Akito raised as a boy because she was juelous of the attention the baby was getting from her husband, Sohma Akira. There relationship wasen't helped when Akito was the only one at Akira's bedside when he bumped off, leaving Akito a lovely little box for a present, said by a maid to sooth the young Akito, to contain her fathers soul.
Ren kept calling Akito a nothing, even going to the point of claiming the bond between Akito and the Jyunishi was fake. Which would explain why poor Akito begged Kureno to stay by her.
The doubt eventally boiled down to a bet between the two. If Akito was so confident in her bond she should let Tohru live at Shigure's house and let her know of the curse. If the Jyunishi sill return to Akito she could stay the head of the family. But if her bond breaks, then Ren would win and Akito would have to bow to her and would be forced out of the family forever.
That selfish and manipulative bitch Ren even slept with Shigure when Akito picked Kureno to stay with her instead of the dog.
Ren even pretended to befriend Isuzu so she could steal the box Akira gave Akito on his deathbed, thinking it contained something presious of Akira's. But it had always been empty.
Her mother is the reason Akito acts like a hateful cow and is ill all the time. Hatori had even said that Akito's illness was mental, not pysical due to her mothers hatefull remarks. It destroyed her self-esteem and self-worth casing her to feel like crap all the time!
So... Don't blame the child. Blame the parent. Where do you think Akito got it all from anyway?
