Chapter 6

Tohru concentrated on learning everything the little instruction book laid out for chess strategies. She had the chess set up before her on the table in front of her to work out all the examples in the book. It was harder than learning pre-calculus algebra, but she had a goal. Secretly, she was trying to learn some moves that Yuki had not mastered yet.

He was so good at learning that he almost picked up the moves on the first try. It was disheartening for Tohru since it was not so easy for her, but at the same time it was a great challenge. Shigure, Hatori and Ayame even helped by giving her secret tips during the day when Yuki was at school. Of course, this was after her homework was completed for the day.

Some days, after lunch, two of the older Sohmas took over her board and entertained her with their antics. It seemed that all the older Sohmas were extremely intelligent, and had mastered chess in their younger, awkward years. The funniest part was how they tried to use distraction to their advantage. Ayame and Shigure hammed it up and acted like clowns in an attempt to fluster Hatori into making careless moves. It rarely worked, but it made her laugh.

Of course, Hatori usually couldn't stay long enough to actually finish a complete game, since their matches could last for hours. It seemed that Akito did not like his personal physician to stray far from the compound. Luckily, Ayame seemed to have a photographic memory, and could set up the previous game even after weeks of not playing. Hatori also seemed to have an incredible memory for the placement of his pieces when Ayame "accidentally" misplaced them.

It was a Monday, and Tohru was actually a bit disappointed that she had no homework to complete. In her invalid state, homework was something to look forward to. And strangely enough, her grades had improved in the weeks she had been bed-bound. So, she submerged herself in learning chess moves that were new to even the Shigure, Hatori and Ayame.

Only an hour had passed after Yuki and Kyo reluctantly left for school, when Shigure's phone rang. Tohru cocked her head to the side to eavesdrop. Surely there was not a deadline for one of his books looming near. His editor had not been by threatening his body parts, or pleading for him to work. So, it must be something else.

She turned her head back to her happy little family of chess pieces and moved them about to imitate the maneuver she was trying to learn. A whimsical thought entered her head about cutting out pictures of the faces of the Zodiac members and taping them to the appropriate pieces.

Her mind wandered over each piece. Of course, Akito would be the king. I mean, naturally, he was the head of the family. That, and he didn't get out much. The king could only move one space in any direction. Yup, definitely Akito. The evil king.

Who would be the queen? Her first thought was one of the female members, but the way Akito hated and hurt the women of the Zodiac, Tohru just couldn't see any of them protecting the king like the chess piece queen would. Her next natural thought was Ayame, since he was so feminine in every way but his voice. This made her giggle. There was no way that Ayame would be the queen, although that was another name for a cross-dresser. Hmmm, Ritsu maybe? No. He was too meek to go boldly all over the place attacking and defending.

Then the perfect member came to her as she looked at the clock to see how long it was until lunch and Hatori's visit. Yes! Hatori would be the perfect queen. He was always taking care of Akito. He went where he was needed. He could attack or defend with those powers of his. Yes, Hatori was the queen.

Then she moved on to the bishops. Not that any of the Zodiac were particularly religious, but these pieces were dangerous and she needed to pick just the right friends. The more she pondered the remaining Zodiac members, the more she was leaning towards either Shigure and Ayame as the bishops, or Yuki and Kyo. The older Sohmas were more chaotic than dependable. Yuki and Kyo could be trusted to act certain ways in almost predictable patterns. Finally, she decided Yuki and Kyo would be the bishops… striking out at their opponent and returning to the house.

So, that left Shigure and Ayame as the knights. Which, felt right to her. The knights had such a strange move. Two blocks up and one block over. It was so hard for her to remember to look at Yuki's knights and see that they could move in 4 different directions, and actually jump over other pieces. Yes, the older Sohmas were unpredictable enough to make wonderful knights.

The rooks were an easy choice. Obviously the most straightforward fighters left were Kagura and Hatsuharu. Funny, that she had never noticed the similarities in their personalities. Both could be sweet and mild, then could snap and turn into violent, swirling, death machines (at least as far as Kyo was concerned for Kagura). They both seemed to symbolize the proud castles that were their pieces.

Tohru giggled quietly to herself imagining the faces of her adopted family if they returned to find their faces attached to chess pieces. There was that family picture she took at the beach she could use. One of the shots had been ruined by the developer and had a big yellow block across the bottom of the print. It wouldn't take any time to cut out the faces and tape them on…. Too bad the game didn't have more pieces so she could use everyone.

She finally decided against the idea because she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Those who she had assigned might not like her using them, and those that had not been used might feel slighted, being left out. Still, maybe it would help her use the strategies if she pictured her friends faces on the board.

Shigure stepped out of his office and startled her. She had been so deep in thought she forgot he was even on the phone. He shuffled into the living room and brought the cordless phone with him that he placed on the table. "Tohru, dear. It seems that I've been summoned to the main house. Akito has something to discuss with me that can't wait. I never will understand the feigned sense of urgency that these minor things seem to generate. I hope you'll be fine by yourself for a short while. I could always call Ayame over to keep you company."

Tohru began protesting to calm his nerves, "Oh, no. That's alright. I'll be quite fine on my own. I've been alone many times and it does not bother me. I would hate to disturb Ayame from his shop. He works so hard to make such fanciful creations. One should never disturb an artist. Besides, I'm still trying to learn these moves, and Hatori should be by very soon." She smiled her most confident, disarming smile at the tall man that hovered above her and watched him visibly relax. It truly did touch her heart that these men were so concerned for her welfare.

So, by 9:30, she was waving at the receding back of Shigure as he left the house in the woods. Since it would be a good three hours before Hatori could be expected, at his earliest, she returned to studying her chess book.

The quiet warmth of the house lulled her into a sleepy state as minutes ticked by. No matter how much she wanted to read, her eyes refused to cooperate. Finally, she relented and placed the book on the table, and slid down into her sea of pillows and closed her eyes.

There was no way to tell how long she had drifted in the half awake state not quite awake, but not deep enough to be asleep. Something had aroused her mind. She kept her eyes pleasantly closed as she listened to the sounds of the house around her. There were the usual nature sounds entering from the open front door. Birds, bees, bugs. There were no telltale sounds of Shigure moving around in his kimono, or hints that Hatori had arrived. She was attuned to the sound of his car as he drove down the driveway. It could wake her from a dead sleep. There were no sounds that would indicate either Yuki or Kyo had returned home from school early. She lazily wondered what it could have been.

Then, she heard an out-of-place sound. It was a strange tapping noise, and it sounded nearby. Could that have been the sound that woke her? She tried to determine what it was. Did a mouse get into the house? Was it a woodpecker? When the sound came again, she decided to open her eyes to look for the source.

Sitting on the table not three feet away from her was the one person she feared most in all the world. Akito. His black, hateful eyes looked at her like she was a bug of the worst kind. Something to be squashed and scraped off his shoe. He fingered the chess pieces and tapped them from square to square in his impatience for her to open her eyes.

His cold, slimey voice made her shiver as he spoke, "Ah, I see you have finally noticed my presence." He picked up a pawn and smiled at it, "It has come to my attention that you have been distracting my dear Zodiac members. I never seem to see Hatori or Shigure anymore. They are always here with you. Even the younger members seem to flock to your side." His voice dropped a few tones to sound condescending, "Poor Tohru, so sick and pitiful. You need to be waited on hand and foot by my Zodiac." He leaned threateningly close to her face as he sneered. "Don't think I haven't noticed what you are doing. You want to take them all away from me. But, there's a flaw in your plan. They don't need you. They need me. I am their God. They are bound to me for all eternity. You need to keep your nose out of places where it doesn't belong, or it might get cut off."

He leaned back and gently placed the pawn back on the table as he rose to tower over her. "You don't seem to understand that the only reason you remain here in this house is at my pleasure. If I just say the word, Hatori will erase your memories, and Shigure will toss you back out on the street where a stray like you belongs." The sickening smile returned to grace his pale face, "Kanna learned her place. You need to learn yours. It would be a shame if one of your dear friends were injured because of you. Terrible things happen every day, and how could you live with the guilt and shame? You've lost your father and mother, how horrible it would be to lose your surrogate family or friends." Those eerie black eyes bored into her very soul and left a chilling ache.

He turned and sauntered towards the open door and paused just past the edge of the kotatsu. "Yes, the sooner you learn your place, the better it will be for everyone." His voice rose in volume, pitch and anger. "No one needs you, you stupid, pathetic, wretched girl. You need to stay out of it. YOU NEED TO LEAVE MY ZODIAC ALONE!" and with that last shout, Akito grabbed the edge of the kotatsu closest to him, and flipped the entire table and its contents over onto her.

Tohru lay under the table in a state of shock. This time, there had been no other around that she was protecting from Akito's rage. It had been directed solely at her. His acidic, hurtful words had wormed their way into her head and wrapped painfully around her heart. The times she had encountered him before, she had been bolstered by the fear for her friends, and her need to protect them. It was different when defending yourself.

She strained to hear any more from Akito to indicate a further attack or exit, or anything. He floated like a vengeful spirit and seemed to appear out of nowhere. But this time, she could barely detect padded footsteps that moved away from the house followed by a sinister snicker that faded. Still, she held her breath until she heard a distant car crank up and drive away down the gravel drive.

As the silence settled on the house, she exhaled and proceeded to hyperventilate in the aftershock of the encounter. Thoughts swirled painfully around in her brain for some time before she started to take notice of her surroundings.

The table rested painfully across her abdomen and leaned up against the wall behind her. It was a good thing she was so close to the wall, or it would have simply flipped over on top of her and pinned her to the floor. Her legs that had been warmly snuggled under the kotatsu, were now exposed to the chilly morning air, making her shiver.

Scattered all around her, and on top of her were her beloved chess pieces, and all the snacks that Kyo had arranged for her. The practical part of her mind that was beginning to function thought, "What a waste of perfectly good food."

The pain was beginning to become unbearable as the heavy, solid-wood table teetered on her stomach. Why did Shigure have to replace the busted table with such a heavy one? With her shaking hands, Tohru tried to push the massive table back over onto its legs. But it was those very legs that were giving her trouble. She didn't have quite enough strength to push hard enough to right the table.

She instead, tried to wiggle out from under the pinning weight. That didn't work either. The darn thing was square, and one end was being held up off the floor by her poor body. So, in a last ditch effort, she decided to lift up on the end of the table and heave it off of her. In that quiet practical part of her mind, her voice of reason warned her, "Hatori is going to be mad. He said no physical exertion." But, what else could she do? Lay there and wait for someone to move furniture for her?

With a super-human (at least for Tohru) heave of her arms and upper body, she got the table to teeter up off of her body. With another big push, the kotatsu crashed back down on its legs with a flutter of the skirt. A loud noise echoed through the room as the heater dislodged itself from the table and bounced across the floor.

Tohru flopped back against her pillows and proceeded to catch her breath from the exertion. Little by little, she picked up the items off the floor and replaced them on the table surface, except for the scattered food. That she placed in the little trash can that survived the onslaught of the table.

With everything cleaned up, Tohru shook from the aftereffects of the adrenaline caused by Akito. How was she supposed to act like nothing had happened? What could she tell Hatori or Shigure when they came home to this mess? Did she want to tell Yuki and Kyo what had happened? That would just start more trouble between the boys and the head of the family. And what had he meant by that threat to hurt her friends? What should she do now?

Tohru couldn't think straight as she worried over all these matters. It took a bit before she noticed the excruciating pain radiating from her abdomen. Her eyes rounded with concern. Hadn't Hatori said something once about if the pain got worse? But, this wasn't that bad. As the pain caused her to sweat from the intensity, she worried over what she should do.

She really didn't want to call Hatori. He was so busy all the time, and didn't need her calling him and getting him in more trouble with Akito. But, she was alone, and the pain was getting worse, and she was beginning to get really scared.

Finally, when she didn't think she could stand the growing pain anymore, she dug the phone out of her blankets, and dialed the kindly doctor's office number. It rang and rang, and he never picked up. She worried her lower lip and tried to think who else she could call. Only the older Sohmas were around during the day. Maybe Shigure was done with his errands.

She ended the call and punched in Shigure's cell phone number. It rang, and she subconsciously counted the number of rings. When it reached the fourth ring, she began to sob. He wasn't going to answer either. Still, she sat there listening to the rings while she tried to decide what to do.

The sweetest sound she ever heard was Shigure's silly sing-song voice when he picked up the phone on his end. "Hello. You've reached Shigure. How may I be of service? Your wish is my command." She was so relieved; all she could do was cry for a few minutes as she gathered her thoughts of what to say. She could hear the confusion in his voice as he again said, "Hello? Is someone there?"

For a moment, she was terrified that he was going to hang up before she forced any words past the lump in her throat. But, he must have looked at the display for the caller I.D. as he questioned, "Tohru? Is that you? Are you crying? What's the matter?" The tension in his voice built as he assumed it was her on the other end.

Amid the tears and pain, Tohru squeaked out, "Shigure. Please. It hurts. Please." She hoped she was making enough sense that the man could understand her.

His voice was deadly serious and the concern was plain, "Tohru, dear, what hurts. Are you okay? What happened? Hatori is right here with me. He wants to speak to you." Then there was some shuffling noise as the phone was passed to the serious doctor.

She was almost as happy to hear Hatori's voice as she had been to hear Shigure answer the phone. His deep voice questioned, "Tohru, what happened? Tell me where it hurts."

With a great effort, she tried to control her whimpering as she whispered, "Akito…he came here….He….I was asleep…he said…" the sobbing returned and she forced out, "Please… it hurts…. Please!"

Hatori's voice was concerned, but commanding, "We'll be right there. Don't move. I'll give the phone back to Shigure so he can talk to you while we drive over." Then, he tossed the phone back to his pale cousin and scrambled for any supplies he thought he might need. Hatori picked up his office phone and called for an ambulance to meet them at Shigure's house. Better safe than sorry. And from the little bit he had gleaned from the sobbing girl, her condition must have worsened considerably for her to actually call for help.

The two men sprinted to Hatori's dark car that waited just outside his house. As they were buckling up and backing out, Shigure saw a shadow in the window of Akito's home. It gave him chills though he didn't know why.

Hatori broke several speed limits on the way to help Tohru and Shigure kept her on the line. Although most of what she said was incoherent, he kept up his end of the conversation. The men exchanged what they knew, and realized that Akito had purposely drawn them both away from Shigure's house to leave Tohru unprotected. Worse than that, Akito had done something to the girl that caused her pain, and reduced her to a sobbing mess. Knowing the history of the head of their family, both men imagined the worst.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Please review. "Regard me kindly." said Tohru