Sorry for taking so long!!! (Here are the belated review replies.)
Blaze83; Blaze is my middle name, actually! Hey there, kindred spirit! Thank you for the review, I do indeed hope nobody is OOC.
cm1000; Thank you, thank you very much. Hooray for character contrasting!
Veronica Buckland; Thank you very much for reviewing.
N. James The Diehard Dishrag; Thank you! And no, it's not weird. For a while, I was reading more fanfiction than books, but now they're about even. It's a phase, a phase. lol. And I'll explain Ayame's name. Phonetically, the word "ayame" does indeed mean "iris", but neither of the kanji (picture symbols) used to spell Ayame's name mean that. His name is spelt Ayarainbow and mewoman. It's the same with Yuki. Although his name phonetically means "snow", the kanji used to spell his name have a different meaning. Yureason and Kihope. So, YukiReason for hope. And as for the last part, Shigure was talking to himself. Yeah, I know he's acting really weird, but it will be explained.
demon thing; Another kindred spirit. I'm the same way.
crystalfeathers; Yes, the story's . . . . mired in despair for a while. But all in due time, all in due time.
Chapter 7. Felis Infelix
"Let me guess. Tell sensei you forgot something and have to go home." Sharp, dark eyes scanned softer dark eyes. "Am I right?"
The other girl's mouth had opened to say something, but she had been cut off by her relative. Isuzu was an impressive sight, with her quick, omniscient eyes and added height of her high-heeled shoes. Kagura shook her head a little. "Please Isuzu? I just want to – "
"Kagura. I get it, but you can't keep torturing yourself over Kyo. You'll destroy yourself. Besides, you can't cut class. You're not me. People will notice." Kagura lowered her head and stared at the concrete pavement, which at the time seemed a faithful representation of the world. Hard and cold and colourless. The two young women were walking together to their high school, and dying leaves accompanied one's dying hopes. Isuzu looked away and glared for a few moments, before turning back to the other. "Kagura, I don't want you to go back to the Main House for a while."
Her head shot up, and her easily-overlooked adamance steeled her for an argument. "What?"
"Look, it's just too dangerous right now. Akito is itching to use any excuse to showcase his authority, I can feel it, and if you got hurt, think what that'd do to your mom. Think what it'd do to Kyo." Urgh, I'm not good at this and never will be. Kagura fingered her cat backpack absent-mindedly. "And aside from that," added Isuzu, a bitter taste settling on her palette. "I think I saw Gure-nii snooping around there yesterday." A frown settled on her cousin's face. "I didn't say anything cause I wasn't sure."
Kagura's fist clenched. Under other circumstances, Isuzu was sure, she'd be fighting her alter ego right now. "I don't give a damnabout Shigure-san."
"He might be a proverbial son of a bitch, Kagura, but he's clever. Whatever he was doing there yesterday, I don't want you getting mixed up in it, got it?" Every fibre of her being screamed in anger at the thought of the man. "Whatever advantage you believe you have over Akito, remember, the Dog is no longer on a leash. He's free to do whatever he wants. And free, I trust him less than I did when . . . hmph. Well, I never trusted him. But when he was bound by the curse he was at least limited. Now I don't know what to expect from him. But it'll be good for one person and one person only. Himself."
Isuzu was now seething in herself. I hate him. If there is a just God, then there must also be a hell where people like him can rot. "Do you think . .?" The tall beauty snapped her head back to Kagura, and was surprised to see that her angry face had been replaced by one of contemplation. "Do you think he really is unbound, though? Do you think he is free of Akito? After all, I . ." she lowered her head, a note of sadness entering her voice.
Isuzu broke in abruptly. "No! The scenarios don't compare. Not even close."
"But Shigure-san is free to do whatever he wants now as well, isn't he? Supposedly. If the curse is gone, why doesn't he just . . . . throw us away? Why did he go to the Main House at all?"
"I don't know." The other gritted her teeth in frustration. "I don't know, but that only makes me more wary. There's only one tie aside from the Curse that can pull Gure-nii back to Akito's side, and that is personal advantage. Nothing else. No-oneelse."
"I know. I do know that. Now." Kagura's voice sank into sad meditation. Isuzu listened with barely contained rage. His betrayal had come as a particular shock to Kagura, who had never detected a hint of his true nature beforehand. It must have hurt her greatly.
She had stopped calling him "Shii-chan".
But please, I have to see Kyo-kun, please!" All of a sudden, Kagura bubbled over with previously restrained emotion. (Isuzu ruefully suspected it was because of her upset over Shigure's treachery.) "Please! I can't leave him in that horrible place!" She was on the verge of tears at this point. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Kagura pleaded again, "I'll be careful, I will."
She sighed as they approached the school. This couldn't be helped. "Fine. But you're not allowed to cut class. We'll go later on, got it, you idiot?!"
Tohru held her hands together and fiddled with her fingers. From her perch on the couch, she watched Hatori dialling the number she had given him and wait for an answer. Shigure was standing by the door, an unreadable expression on his face.
He and Hatori had barely looked at each other since they came downstairs.
"Hello, this is the Honda residence, correct? Honda-san, my name is Hatori Yamamoto. I'm calling because I and my cousin have kidnapped your granddaughter . . . . . . Yes, I assure you . . . . . Yes. Of course. Honda-kun?" He held the receiver out to her, and she left the couch and tup-tupped over to take it. "Shigure and I will leave you now. Take as much time as you need."
"Th-thank you, Hatori-san." The two men left the room and respectfully shut the door. Tohru took a deep breath. "Hello?" she began choppily.
"Tohru-chan?"
"Ojii-san, is that you?" Tohru breathed out, and her anxiety poured out of her in that breath. She was elated to hear the kindly voice of the old man.
"Yes it's me, my dear." He suddenly cut himself short. "Oh! Stop it Otoji! I'm not going to have a heart attack because of a phone call!"
"Ojii-san?"
"Don't worry, it's just your cousin. I don't think he wants me in this stressful situation." Her grandfather spoke wryly about his grandson's paranoia, as the old man saw it (he didn't like being treated like glass, but then, who would?), before his tone changed to one of urgency. "But Tohru, tell me, are you alright?"
"Yes Ojii-san."
"You aren't hurt at all?"
"No! No, I'm fine!" Tohru shook her head vigorously, forgetting that he couldn't see her. "Hatori-san and Shigure-san haven't hurt me, and they've been taking good care of me, really!"
"Hm." Tohru could almost hear the smile in her grandfather's voice, and all of a sudden, an ache took root in her. She missed him. She was sorry for getting herself into this, and causing him to worry. "Are you frightened, Tohru?"
"Don't worry about me Ojii-san! You mustn't worry! Please, I'm fine."
"I'll worry. I have the duty to worry about you, Tohru."
"Ojii-san . . . . ."
He broke off. "Oh, yes of course. Tohru dear, Otoji wants to talk to you. Is that ok?"
"Yes, certainly."
A muffled rattle came from the Hondas' end of the line as the phone was passed to Tohru's older cousin. "Tohru-chan." Otoji was frank and business-like in his tone. He was trained for this sort of situation, after all. "Have these two men hurt you or done anything improper to you?"
"No."
"Are you sure? Tell the truth, Tohru-chan."
"Yes, I'm sure. They've been very kind." His silence spoke of doubt. "I-it's true!" Tohru fumbled with her own words. "When I had a nightmare last night, Shigure-san was kind enough to help make me feel better. And they've even left the room right now to give us privacy, s-so if there was anything . . anything bad, I could tell you now . . . if there was."
He exhaled loudly. "Why do you keep on getting yourself into these situations?"
"Th-these . . ? I don't – "
"Cut that out!" he hissed. "I honestly wonder how you must be behaving that you walk into a ménage-à-trois if we take our eyes off you for ten minutes! Do you have any idea what a disgrace you are to us?" Tohru honestly had no idea what he was talking about, but she understood that she was being scolded, and she didn't dare answer back. Right there, right then, she was on the verge of tears. "I want to speak to the man, Tohru-chan. Please give him the phone."
"Yes, Otoji-san." Tohru wiped her dry eyes fervently.
"And Tohru-chan . . . . remember what I told you," he said sharply. "Understand?"
Tohru swallowed. A large lump in her throat hindered her speech for some time. "Y-yes, I-I will, Otoji-san." Tohru lowered the receiver, visibly shaken. She placed a hand over her racing heart, and she took a few deep breaths to steady herself before she entered the kitchen, where Hatori and Shigure were waiting; Hatori next to the door, and Shigure leaning against the counter. She raised her head the considerable distance necessary to meet Hatori's eyes. "Ano, Hatori-san, Otoji-san wants to speak to you again."
He left again, and Tohru was about to follow him when she noticed Shigure, who hadn't moved at all, staring at her. He wasn't even blinking, and his eyes seemed glazed over with thought, and his hand was resting on his chin. Tohru was discomfited to say the least. "Shi . . . gure-san?"
He blinked and shook his head lightly, the mist clearing from his brown eyes. They rested on her, and an easy smile graced his features again. "Let's follow Haa-san, ne?" Again, he had shifted.
Hatori picked up the phone again, and Tohru sat onto the couch, lost in thought.
"Yes? Hatori Yamamoto again."
"Yamamoto-san, if you desire, although I assume it's a pseudonym?"
"Correct." He's good, thought Hatori.
"Why did you kidnap my cousin? What do you want?"
"We don't want anything. We only want to keep her here for a while." Tohru's attention was piqued by this. She kept her eyes fixed on her lap, but hung on every word Hatori spoke.
"How long? For what?"
"A few days or weeks. I don't really know. I can't tell you why, either, but I will assure you, we had no other choice." Tohru's cousin was silent. Hatori was quite sure he'd never encountered this situation before. "Honda-san, for what it's worth, I promise we will not hurt her."
"My name isn't Honda," he said as an afterthought. "That was my mother's maiden name, and my uncle's name. Tohru-chan's . . ." He trailed off. Hatori's brow furrowed in contemplation. He had never heard much about Tohru's father. He wondered if this man missed him. Otoji seemed to give himself a mental shake for straying into unnecessary details, and suspicion was evident in his tone when next he spoke. "So, there's nothing else? No "do this or else" or "don't do that or else"?"
"No. I'm not going to demand anything."
"And the police? Any requests in regards to them?"
Hatori sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You can call them if you wish, but it will be a waste of time. They won't find us." He remembered asking Shigure what he should say about the police, or what they'd do if the Hondas called them. Shigure had just smiled darkly and said, Tell them to do what they like. They won't find us. Trust me. Exactly how Shigure could be so certain, he didn't know.
"Hm." Tohru's cousin was once again silent. "Then there is one last thing. I'm sure you appreciate what a vulnerable position you've placed Tohru-chan in. And so – "
"Don't worry. Nothing will compromise her safety."
"Very well." Hatori wondered at the apathetic manner Otoji had voiced his concerns about Tohru. Otoji answered, "You're a strange man, Yamamoto-san." He didn't say anything more for a while. "Well . . . . we're all already late. I suppose we'll have to go."
"Do you want to speak with her again?" Hatori noted the uncomfortable silence. He had never had any dealings with the Hondas, but the sketchy details of them given by Yuki and Kyo in the past were none too flattering. It took a while for Hatori to realise that Tohru's cousin had hung up. He hung up. He hung up. That's not right. Hatori set the receiver down in a measured fashion, somehow disgusted. That's not how it should be. Why would he?
"Well, that's over." Hatori and Tohru, who had both been lost in thought, turned to a nonchalant Shigure. "Tohru-kun, you don't mind if we kick you out of here for a while, do you?"
"Oh, no, of course not." She bowed to excuse herself (even though Shigure was the one who asked her to leave), and went back upstairs to her room.
Hatori opened his mouth . . . . and had the words taken right out of it. "He hung up," said Shigure. Hatori nodded. "Don't worry about him too much. All he cares about is whether Tohru-kun ends up impregnated or something and disgraces the family. Yeah, yeah," he waved a hand in dismissal. "It wouldn't even be her fault if that happened, but those people seem to get a kick out of making everything her responsibility."
"Maybe because it's so easy. But I'm more worried about Honda-kun." Shigure inspected his own nails. Hatori was annoyed at his apathy, (and he was already annoyed just by having to speak to the man so soon after that icy exchange upstairs), but he persevered. "If I noticed, you definitely did too. She's upset."
Shigure smile was only a little wicked. "I have an idea".
With that he left, followed by an exasperated Hatori who watched him climb half-way up the stairs. What are you doing, Shigure? "Tohru-kun!" he called. The girl appeared quickly at the top of the stairs, but before she could get a word in Shigure asked a very confusing question.
"Are you familiar with that game where you fall back and trust the person behind to catch you?"
Twenty minutes later, a bewildered, blind-folded Tohru was being led by the hand outside. "It's a take on that game," Shigure said. "What you do is trust the two eccentric child-abductors enough to let them blind-fold you and lead to Kami-sama-knows-where." She had been too confused to protest.
And now her hand was firmly grasped by Shigure's (Hatori was bringing up the rear), and though she couldn't see anything, she could feel the slope of the ground. They were going up, wherever they were going.
It seemed very quiet, and Tohru was sure there wasn't another person around for quite some distance. She couldn't hear cars or any other sound of civilisation, and of course there was the indefinable sense of solitude that comes from not being near to other humans. All she could hear was the frail twitters of birds, and the creaking of bare tree limbs as the wind rushed through them, and, somewhere in their surroundings, the tinkling of flowing water. I think we're in a forest, Okaa-san. It seems so remote and peaceful. It must be nice –
"Uwaaah!" Her reverie was cut short, and she was suddenly swept up off the ground.
"Shigure," came Hatori's voice from behind them, through gritted teeth. "You should warn her before doing things like that."
Once Tohru became aware that Hatori was giving out to Shigure, and once she recovered her composure somewhat, she began blurting out assurances. "Oh, Hatori-san, it's okay, I don't mind. I-I'm okay." She was a little shaken though, and she turned her head towards the part of the blackness which she was reasonably sure concealed Shigure's face. "But, Shigure-san, why did you – " She blushed a little.
"Stream." Tohru heard the splash of water as Shigure pointedly stomped in it. "Are you coming, Haa-san?"
Hatori muttered something (thankfully) inaudible and followed suit. As soon as they had both crossed the stream he wasted no time in giving out to Shigure again. "Put her down now, Shigure."
"Ooh, you'll go bald if you worry so much, Haa-san. Anyway – " he set the dazed Tohru down and lightly grasped her hand again – "we're almost there."
Gradually Tohru felt the snapping twigs and rustling plant litter of the forest beneath her feet evanesce until grass completely replaced them. They were leaving the forest, and entering a clear area. Shigure guided her forward a little further with his hands on her shoulders. "Ok, take off the blindfold. We're here!"
Tohru reached up to pull the blindfold (a scarf) down, and gasped.
She, Hatori and Shigure were standing on a promontory overlooking a huge lake. The rolling grey clouds of the sky were reflected in its depths, as were the bare trees all around its banks and the mountains that stretched beyond it, creating an ethereal, ghost-like colour. The weak sunrays, whenever they managed to peek out through the clouds, were captured and suspended by the smooth, glass-like surface of the water, shining like diamonds.
"Not bad, ne?"
"I-it's . . . . . It's beautiful, it really, really is!!" Tohru beamed until her cheeks hurt. "It's wonderful! And the lake is so big!"
Shigure smiled. "I thought you'd like it."
She turned to him, but her eyes kept darting eagerly back to the beautiful view. "Oh, I do, I do! Thank you, thank you so, so much. I'm so happy. Thank you, thank you, I've never seen a real lake before."
Hatori caught Shigure's teasing grin. "Haven't you?" He also caught Tohru's confused face, and her hesitation to answer.
"I . . . don't think so. But – "
He approached quickly. "It's not at all strange that you haven't, though, urbanisation being what it is in this country. Many people never leave sight of civilisation in their lives." His tone was informative, but he shot Shigure an icy glare over Tohru's head.
Shigure took it in stride. "Mm, I guess. But it's a little sad too, don't you think? As if the human race is forgetting about places like this. When it's not busy destroying them," he laughed, and, one hand placed lightly on Tohru's head, said, "What would Tohru-kun like to do now?" Her beam slackened only a little when she nibbled her bottom lip. Shigure had read her like an open book. She obviously had a (barely contained, at that) request. "Don't be shy."
"W-well," Tohru began, her eyes were still darting back and forth with such comic cuteness that Shigure's cheeks hurt from fighting back laughter, and even Hatori's mouth twitched. "I wouldn't want to impose – "
Shigure looked into her eyes and said, very solemnly, very gravely, "Tell me or I'll jump into the lake."
The scene that followed needs no elaboration, and of course, Tohru docilely admitted that she wanted to walk around the lake.
Isuzu peered through the branches of the tree yet again, and angrily retreated yet again once she noticed someone down in the grounds. She wasn't in a good mood. Once Kagura had landed safely on the other side of the wall of the Sohma compound, Isuzu had come to the realisation that Kagura was on the other side of the wall of the Sohma compound, despite her earlier decision not to allow her again. "You idiot," she hissed at herself once again. The scars on her back should be warning enough of Akito's power, yet she couldn't keep Kagura out of harm's way.
It was difficult to hide in the bare tree, but her limbs were long and flexible, and she was just about able to manipulate them to keep herself fairly well concealed, and in any case, her acute sense of hearing would warn her of anyone's advance.
The compound was so quiet at this time of the cold evening that Isuzu jumped slightly in surprise upon hearing heavy footfalls approaching her fast. She surveyed her surroundings, and when she saw Kagura dashing from the direction of the Cat's prison, she was first taken aback, the furious at the girl's reckless abandonment of caution, then shocked when she noticed, as the Boar reached the wall, that she was in tears.
Isuzu leaned out, her long hair falling in front of her. "What's - " she stopped herself. She had more important things to worry about. Holding out her hand to Kagura, who had collapsed, sobbing, against the ivy, she commanded, "Kagura, get up here, quick! You'll be seen!" It was no use. Kagura was in a dreadful state. Cursing, Isuzu called again, "Get a hold of yourself! Get up here!" No, I'll definitely never be good at this. "Kagura!"
Kagura stood up and, to the older girl's horror, turned on her heel and ran back the way she had come. "Kagura, what are you doing?!"
"Ge – ge – get Ha-atori!" she called back, choking on her own hyperventilating breath. "Ha-have to, to, to get hi-im!"
"Kagura!!" Isuzu could only watch as the frenzied young woman receded from view, biting back the screams she wanted to release for fear of drawing attention to the scene. Using every foul word she knew under her breath, she waited only a while longer, before deciding that her cousin wasn't coming back.
Get Hatori. Isuzu set her teeth, glanced back one more time, and dropped out of her tree onto the Outside.
Notes:
It's not important, but Hatori and Shigure's pseudonym was selected in honour of my Dad's old boss! He was a nice man, from what I hear.
Once again, a huge apology for taking so long.