I have my mock Junior Certificate exams starting Monday. That's why the update took so long. The JC is a state exam that everyone in Ireland takes in 3rd year (9th grade), and it marks the end of compulsory education. Most student stay on though . . . . so yeah, I'm real nervous. But here are some review responses!
Sauronia; That's a relief. I'm really glad you like the story so much. I'll keep posting chapters!
cm1000; Bingo! And bingo again! Yup, you were right about the pictures and the Latin names. And yes, I thought I'd use Rin because she is actually very protective of others. Plus she lives with Kagura. She probably promised her mom she'd take care of her. Back to the Roman names, I won't give too much away but I will say that they'll become very important . . . . . .
crystalfeathers; You were my third review on that chapter, which got me thinking – Chapter 1 got one reviw, Capter 2 got two and 3 got three . . . . hmmmm. Let's see how Chapter 4 does! Thank you for the review, and the cute smily eyes!
Chapter 4. Protectare, Procul Totus Sumptus
He still wasn't sure about this. He replayed the conversation again and again in his head, searching for some more of an inkling into what Shigure was planning. He wasn't sure the man was planning anything, but it would be wise to assume the worst of him, he realised with a sickening sinking feeling in his stomach.
There was the obvious detail that Shigure had refused to tell Hatori how he knew about this, and the doctor entertained the possibility that Akito himself had ordered Shigure to capture Tohru and bring her to him. But then, surely Shigure would be better off keeping it from Hatori?
There was also an inconsistency. Why was Shigure so concerned about Tohru all of a sudden if thus far he had done nothing to help Yuki or Kyo? He was as responsible for them as he was for her. Perhaps, though, he felt there was nothing he could do for them. Was there?
Hatori kept arguing with himself like this for a long time, his missing chart forgotten and abandoned. He saw several patients during the day – a boy who had sprained his ankle falling from a tree, a woman who had run out of cold medicine and asked him for some – and had seen to them robotically, his thoughts elsewhere. He gave Akito his daily check-up, and while there found nothing out of the ordinary about his conduct.
The God was in a very good mood, as usual these days.
Hatori returned to his house, and there, he packed two bags; one with his own clothes, one with some women's clothes he had "borrowed" from a linen closet. He left the bags in his car boot and returned to his house. He waited. He smoked some to pass the time.
Finally the phone rang. "Ten o' clock, Haa-san".
"I'll leave now." He put down the phone and hurried through the darkened Sohma House to Akito's residence. Telling the lanky man that Shigure had broken his wrist in a fall, he sough permission to leave for the night. Akito indifferently waved his hand in dismissal, never turning to face Hatori or otherwise moving from his position reclining on the deck, head on one arm. Hatori noticed a rusty brown stain of dried blood on the Head's hand. Yuki's.
He left in a hurried fashion, pointedly taking plaster and bandages for a cast with him, and drove away from the Main House, to Shigure's.
The other man was waiting at his porch, holding a carrier bag and a cooler bag. He flipped open the boot and deposited them, then sat in the back seat. "Got everything?"
"Yup," replied Shigure. "I brought the essentials – milk, rice, cereal, tea, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, bread – what?" Hatori was staring at him again.
"Tea and an English history book."
"It's very good. You should read it, you'd enjoy it. It's very insightful and critical. It's interesting that Gibbon himself isn't afraid to attribute part of the blame for the Fall of the Empire to the Catholic Church, which is rather brave for a 1700s author – what?"
Hatori rubbed his temples in frustration. "You're treating this like a holiday."
"That was a slip. I was talking about a book. You should know by now, it doesn't count if I'm talking about a book." He sighed. "Anyway, I brought some shirts and pants and so on in the other bag."
"No kimono?"
"No kimono, no haari, no yukata," answered Shigure, who was conspicuously wearing "normal" clothes again. Hatori started the car and began driving towards Tohru's neighbourhood.
"Why don't you wear them anymore, anyway?"
"Eh? I don't really know. I don't know why I started wearing them in the first place but, it was always a bit of show, wasn't it? I never took it seriously. The whole "novelist's image" and all that." He sounded a bit sad. Hatori listened to all this self-confession with vague surprise at Shigure's solemnity. He hadn't spoken to his cousin unless necessary since last month, and hearing this from him now was a reminder of a side of Shigure he didn't show often, save to Hatori and a few others. He wondered what that side had been doing since then.
It wasn't odd to think of Shigure this way – as many different sides of one person – because in effect, that was what he was. Hatori wasn't sure if there was a "real" one still inside there, but if there was, that sad, solemn voice was probably the closest one could get to it.
They arrived at the estate and Hatori pulled up the car just around the corner from Tohru's house. He killed the engine and checked the time. "Twenty-five past ten," he read out. "What time does she come around this way usually?"
"Half past."
Hatori stared out into the darkness incredulously. "They let Honda-kun walk home on her own every night?"
Shigure stared out the window also. "I'm going to let you realise the irony of what you just said on your own."
Tired from her work, Tohru yawned slightly as she trotted down the footpath, pushing herself to go faster than her weariness wanted to allow. I still have to do the dishes when I get home. The stars twinkled in the clear, crisp sky, the grass in the gardens she passed already showing some hints of frost. Tohru shivered and walked on, her teeth chattering slightly with the cold, her nose and fingers frozen.
She rounded the last corner, so lost in thoughts of her chores at home that she almost collided with a man walking in the opposite direction. She jumped back in surprise, toppling over and landing in a heap on the concrete. Her leg grazed against the garden wall next to her and she felt a gash open just above her ankle. A red stain opened like a flower on her sock. Oh no! I've ruined it! Mmm . . . . protein. Protein needs cold water to be washed out –
"Imouto-kun, are you alright?" Tohru looked up to see a hand held out to her.
"Ano, I . . . uh, yes thank you very much. I'm very sorry." Though ashamed of her carelessness, she thought it would be rude to refuse his hand, so she allowed him to pull her to her feet. "I'm very sorry. Please forgi-"
He suddenly covered her eyes with a cool palm and she was hit with a wave of panic. Run away! There was no time to act, no time to even think about this familiar situation before a strange light filled her head and then she felt herself falling down into blackness.
Okaa-san . . . . . . Okaa . . . . . . –san? Who is . . ? Where am I?
There was blackness everywhere. There was nothing, not even a solid surface beneath her feet. Am I flying? Am I floating? No . . . . I'm moving, though. Wait, not me.
I'm . . . . . . . . being . . . . . . carried?
The blackness over her eyes began to recede a little. Groggy and leaden, she tried to move her terribly heavy head. Someone was carrying her. Two strong arms held her firmly but not ungently. Why am I being carried? Where are we going? Her bearer was walking briskly to . . . . somewhere. The darkness still at the edges of her eyes began to advance again, as she slowly slipped back into unconsciousness. She felt the man stop and heard a clicking sound. These facts slowly leaked into her mind through the bubble of unconsciousness around it. She fell slowly back into the blackness as if through deep water, hindered and half-suspended all the way down.
But I thought I had to . . . . . . wash the . . . . . dishes . . . . . .
Tohru gasped, and the bubble suddenly burst, flooding her with memories.That was right. She was supposed to be going home to wash the dishes! The man, the fall, the hand, everything came back to her. Being carried down the path, and a car door opening. She was still in the man's arms. The realization hit her like a bucket-full of ice-cold water.
Okaa-san!! I'm being kidnapped!! Okaa-san, help!!!
The man noticed the girl's return to consciousness as she stiffened and made a sudden intake of breath. He leaned down quickly and slid her into the car. "Okaa-san" she uttered quietly, her weak voice reflecting the lack of strength in her body. A surge of fear and panic took hold of Tohru as she entered the car. It was a prison. No hope of escape existed but outside it. Tears began to leak from her eyes. She flailed her arms weakly and tried to escape back out the door, but her forearms were grabbed from behind and she was dragged like a rag doll along the back seat and held in place. Just before the door was closed she cried, louder this time, "Okaa-san! Okaa-san! Oka-"
One of her arms was quickly released and her captor clamped a hand over her mouth. His other arm then snaked across her so that he was holding her right arm with the hand that had previously been holding her left, and keeping her left arm pinned beneath the same arm. Then door snapped shut and as that one noise reached Tohru, she fell limp in her captor's arms, tears streaming from her eyes, shudders of fear running through her tiny body. That sound shut her away from the ouside world. That sound made her realise she had no hope of freeing herself.
The first man entered the driver's seat, started the car and drove away without a word, eyes fixed on the road ahead. From her position, half sitting and half lying against the man who held her, her legs along the length of the back seat, she watched her neighbourhood disappear through the window.
I've been kidnapped. Okaa-san, I've been kidnapped. What should I do? What's going to happ- Horror stories of abductions filled her head instantly. People dragged away in the night by mysterious assailants, to be locked up and trussed in dark rooms all alone. To be released half-starved and beaten. Or to be killed in captivity, shot or stabbed without a person who loved you anywhere nearby. To die in fear without a loving person around. Or – and this frightened Tohru the most – to vanish from the world, no-one ever knowing what happened to you, never even finding a body.
Okaa-san, what should I do? What can I do? I'm not strong or brave like you or Uo-chan or Hana-chan. What will I do if they, if they – hundreds of "if they"s entered her head, none of them comforting. Okaa-san, what if they are molesters like the ones Otoji-san spoke about?
She went completely limp with despondence. It will serve me right no matter what happens. I deserve this for getting myself kidnapped. Just think of all the trouble I'll be causing Ojii-san, Otoji-san and Oba-san. I'm the worst. The complete worst. Otoji-san is right. They should never forgive me for this. Never. Sobs racked her tiny form, though sound could not escape her mouth.
"Chotto hana, Haa-san didn't scare you that much, did he?"
Tohru felt the grip on her yield, and a hand rested gently on her shoulder. She hesitantly shifted her body to face him, quivering with trepidation. She looked for the first time at the face of her kidnapper, and whatever she had been expecting in the depths of her fear, it hadn't been the sight which met her eyes.
He was quite young, in his late twenties at most, and he had black messy hair. His face was a pleasant one, and it seemed to be made for smiling. The soft smile upon it somehow suited that face. Tohru risked a quick glance at his eyes. His eyes, somehow, didn't reflect the smile it at all. It's a very sad smile.
"It's nice to see you again."
"Again?"
He began brightly, "Mm-hm. I'm the strange man from earlier on. Don't you remem – oh . . . . ." He trailed off, comprehension written on his features.
Tohru really didn't understand, but as if by default, anxiety rose again. "Ano . . . Kidnapper-san, am I supposed to recognise you? I'm so sorry and it's very rude but I, um . . . .um . . ." She flinched when sound escaped him.
Laughter. He was chuckling lightly. That didn't seem as sad. "Ki – Kidnapper-san? Aha hah! That's, I mean, ahah ha haha!" He waved a hand in her direction to still her choppy apologies. "No, it's ok. I'm Shigure, and that's Hatori, my cousin forward slash friend forward slash accomplice forward slash babysitter. And I think he would prefer emphasis on the last one. With a different word. Don't use the words I use." Tohru's eyes rested briefly on the back of the driver, the man who had brought her to the car. But, what did he do, Okaa-san? The thin shell of security and calm cracked once again as the little girl mentally scanned herself for injury. Her hand twitched and her lips trembled. She didn't feel hurt in any way at all, but she was still frightened by her captors, and even more so by . . . Okaa-san, they mustn't! They mustn't! I have to go back!! –
"Tohru-kun?"
Tears spilled out of her eyes and she covered her mouth with small hands. Sobs wracked her tiny, fragile form and she began to cry. "P-please. Please, Shigure-san, please. L-let me go. Please let me go. I, I, I have to go back!" The car stopped and the engine was turned off, and Tohru was aware of Hatori sitting against his seat, exhaling heavily. She sobbed, tears blinding her, vaguely aware of black tree branches waving like like claws outside the windows.
Shigure quietly leaned forward and gripped her shoulders, pulling her towards himself so that she was sitting in the middle seat. Tohru risisted weakly, but her body soon slackened and had to submit to his greater strength. She clamped her eyes shut as she was locked in a gentle prison. Still frightened, the timid creature quivered in his arms, dampening his shirt.
She felt his hand push her chin up. The man leaned down and Tohru was terrified that he was going to kiss her. Just a small peck landed on her forehead, though. "It's alright. It's alright. Don't be scared." At this, the girl slowly opened her eyes. He loosened his hold and moved his hand to her head, slowly so as not to frighten her, separating a single brown hair from her tresses and holding it in front of her eyes. "One hair. Neither I nor Hatori are going to hurt one hair on your head. And we're not going to rape you or molest you or do anything like that, either. That's a promise. Ok?"
He pulled her back against himself, kissing the top of her head and murmuring again, "It's alright. Don't be scared." Tohru eventually allowed herself to relax, her tensed body collapsing. She didn't know if she believed him. She didn't know if she was still afraid or not. Right now, more than anything else, she was exhausted. Her already wearied body had been completely drained by the adrenaline and the weeping. Like a small child after a nightmare, she accepted any semblance of comfort and security she could find.
Nobody moved for a while, so Tohru was startled when the other man, Hatori, suddenly grabbed a case from the driver's seat, exited the car, and opened the back door, sitting in next to her. She recoiled slightly. "May I see to your ankle?"
"Eh?"
"Ah, it's ok. Haa-san's a doctor." Shigure let her go then.
"A . . . . doctor? Th-that's amazing, Hatori . . . . . .-sensei . . . ." A shadow of a smile crossed Hatori's face at this reaction, but Shigure frowned slightly. "Ah! Um, excuse me Hatori-sensei. Wh-what do you w-want me to-to do, Hatori-sensei?" She was nervous again. Frightened? thought Shigure. Of what?
"Just prop your leg up on the seat." Deftly he opened the case on his lap and pulled out some gauze, disinfectant and a bandage. When he saw that she was hesitating, he smiled reassuringly. "It's alright." Tohru meekly pulled off her shoe and stained sock.
"Ha-Hatori-sensei, the blood will ruin your clothes."
"Don't worry about that." Tohru was shivering again, though.
"You don't have to be scared, Tohru-kun," said Shigure. He pulled her back again so that there would be room for the doctor to treat her cut. "He's not going to hurt you."
"Well actually, this is going to sting." Hatori passively held up the disinfectant.
Shigure stared at his friend silently for some time. He exhaled loudly, "Ok, I don't think you get this, Hatori." Tohru couldn't help laughing nervously, but she abruptly silenced herself. The girl allowed Hatori to disinfect her wound, though she flinched at the promised pain (but not as much as she had flinched when he touched her) and gently bandage it, but watched anxiously the entire time. She mumbled disjointed thanks to him, but only relaxed once his hands left her skin.
"Th-thank you . . . . . Ha-Haa . . . ." She trailed off, her small voice evaporating, and falling with her body. She was exhausted, and when the blackness crept around her eyes again, this time she surrendered to it.
Her head was propped on a cushion on Shigure's lap, serenely sleeping. He almost didn't want her to wake up again, and be thrust back into the trauma. Better for her to stay in this shell of safety. "You needn't think I enjoyed that any more than you did, Hatori."
Hatori made no response as he pulled a travel blanket out of the trunk and layed it gently onto her, making sure it covered her, his only focus this task. He had slipped into the work, occupying his mind this way rather than idly boding on the situation.
Just like what he was doing when he searched for those useless records.
He satisfied himself and stood up straight. He had pulled it up in a park once Tohru started crying. It was dark and deserted, and no-one would notice their presence. Hatori had felt dirty, thinking methodically like that, like a criminal, and having her crying, pleading behind him, made it worse. In the end, he hadn't been able to do much for her. Again. Again and again, this happened. Why can't I help her?
"It would have been better . . . . . if we had never met!"
Why can I never help you? "Haa-san?" Hatori turned to the other. "I'm sorry." The Dragon closed the door, sat into the driver's seat and started the car again. Soon they were back on the road.
Nooooo, I didn't forget about the curse!
And yes, Shigure did hug her. Completely. To the extent you would suppose he would transform. Yes, you would suppose so.
Eh heh heh.
And as for Tohru, she just fell asleep. It's like, the minute she stopped being tensed up, she completely collapsed.