Now, that I was officially with Hatori, there was also one positive side effect: I could visit him at the Soma main house! On Monday, Hatori asked me to visit him after work. So, not after long, I was standing in front of the huge gate that lead to the house of Soma. And I couldn't help it, I was nervous. "What if somebody sees me, like Akito?", I asked myself. "What, if they don't like me and distrust me? What, if they change their mind and order Hatori to erase my memory?"
So I was rambling on and on, until I decided that I was making myself only more nervous and should just walk in. When I suddenly heard a cheerful, happy voice, calling me from above.
"Hey, are you okay?" I looked up. Now I noticed a little boy with blond hair and huge blue eyes, sitting on the wall and smiling at me. I blinked. He looked, as if he had just stepped out of a commercial for candies, especially because of his pink and colourful clothes.
"Ah, yes", I answered and giggled nervously. "I was about to go in and –" "Oh!" The boy laughed. "You're Hikari, Hatori's girlfriend!"
I was taken aback. "Yes, I am", I answered. "How do you know –" "Because you look nice", the boy laughed, dangling his feet. "Thank you", I replied, flattered. "I am Momiji Soma", he introduced himself. "Come on in then!"
Now, with the warm welcome of Momiji, I felt more confident and walked through the gate. Momiji was standing next to it, gesturing me to follow him. "I'll show you the way to Hari's house", he said friendly, taking me by the hand. I smiled. "Okay." I immediately liked Momiji Soma!
Hatori was already waiting for me, sitting at his desk in his medical practice. He raised an eye brow, as he saw me entering with Momiji.
"Momiji?", he asked. "He was so kind to lead me to your house", I explained. The boy laughed, as he saw Hatori's stern face. "Don't worry, I'm gone", he joked. "But don't forget to show Hikari the garden!" Momiji left, hopping out of the room.
"He is a great kid!", I said to Hatori. "Momiji is thirteen", he told me. This took me by surprise. Well, he certainly looked younger than that!
"But I would really like to see the garden", I admitted. "If it is okay." After all, I knew that I was an outsider in the Soma World and I certainly didn't want to offend anybody. Hatori smiled. "Of course", he replied and got up from his chair. "Follow me."
"Wow! It is beautiful!" I was completely amazed by the beauty of the flowers and the picturesque buildings. "And so quiet." The whole Soma complex seemed to be deserted. There was only silence … And yet … It was not a pleasant, peaceful silence … It was almost threatening …
"Most of us are away during this time of day", Hatori told me. I shrugged off the strange feeling. I must be imagining things … But I noticed Hatori's eyes, searching the grounds, as if he would be checking if somebody was watching us too. "Why don't we go back and have some tea?", he suggested. "Sounds good", I nodded, not quite sure what to make of all this. We walked back in silence.
Was Akito also gone? Or was he here? He was the head of the Soma family, the one, who had allowed me to stay with Hatori. Was I going to see him some time soon? This, I wanted to ask Hatori, who was walking beside me, holding my hand almost protectively. I was about to open my mouth, as I suddenly felt something weird and cold, twining around my left leg.
"What …?" I looked down. And nearly fainted.
It was a snake. A huge silver - grey snake, wrapped around my leg, slowly crawling up to my back. "H, Hatori!", I bleeped. "Th, there … a … a …" I had never disliked snakes (actually, I thought they were pretty and had something elegant in the way they moved. I was more afraid of spiders), but I certainly didn't like, having one so close to my body! Especially, when I didn't know if it was poisonous.
Hatori immediately looked at my leg. But instead of saving me from the viper, he, to my great surprise, sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ayame", he said, his voice sounding annoyed as he faced the snake. "Would you please get off my girlfriend!"
"W, what?" I was so taken aback by Hatori addressing the animal like this, that I forgot to be scared. "You mean, this is Ayame, your –" Hatori still stared at the snake, who was slowly starting to back away. "Kari-chan, may I introduce you to Ayame Soma?", he asked, as the reptile coiled up in front of me. "Oh … sure." I remembered my manners again and bowed politely. "It is nice meeting you!", I said to Ayame the snake. He hissed something that sounded like a greeting.
So Ayame was the snake … "His body is very sensible to the cold", Hatori explained. "Normally, he is not supposed to go out at a weather like this because he might change into his zodiac form." He faced Ayame. "Imagine what could have happened, if you had transformed outside in front of strangers!", he said reproachfully. Ayame hissed an apology. Hatori sighed. "Well, I guess we should get back into the house", he told us.
Back in the warmth of Hatori's living room, I nearly had a heart attack, when Ayame transformed beside me and I suddenly saw a handsome young man, with huge golden eyes and long, beautiful hair, shining like pure silver, standing next to me (naked, I might add). Hatori dragged him into the bathroom, while I was covering my eyes, my face beet red.
After he had put on some of Hatori's clothes, Ayame, Hatori and me finally sat together in the living room. "Forgive me for scaring you like this", Ayame said to me and lowered his head in an apologising manner. "But when I've turned into a snake, I tend to go for body warmth and well …"
I giggled. Hatori looked at him, clearly disgruntled. "Aya, what are you doing here?", he wanted to kow. Ayame raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Isn't this obvious?", he asked. "I wanted to meet your girlfriend!" He turned to me. "Gure-san has told me everything." "Of course …", Hatori mumbled, as Ayame placed a hand on his heart, his eyes shimmering. "I can not put in words how happy I am for you, Hari", he said dramatically. "After years of loneliness, you have finally found that special someone!" Ayame sniffed emotionally. "You are not going to die alone …" He put a hand into the air. "The power of love defeats everything!", he exclaimed, as he grabbed my hands. "And you're cute! I knew you would be, after all you're Tori's girlfriend!"
"Thank you", I managed to say self-consciously. Hatori sighed. "Ayame, could you please try not to be yourself?", he asked him, although I could detect a little smile in his words. Ayame promptly stopped talking. I had to laugh.
"You must be really good friends", I could see. Hatori and Ayame both looked at me in surprise. "Well, I guess …", Hatori said. "We've known each other since we were little boys", Ayame confirmed. "Yes and I spent most of my time at school with getting you out of troubles", Hatori reminded him. Ayame grinned innocently. "If you are talking about this incident at our school trip, you know I had nothing to do with it …"
"What incident?", I asked, curious. "Some of our schoolmates went off into the red light district", came the answer from Hatori. "What?!" He nodded. "It was a huge scandal. And Ayama here, as the president of the student council wasn't really a great help." "Hey, no one got expelled!", Ayame defended himself. I could imagine why … Hatori had wangled it …
Hatori got up. "I am going to make us some tea", he told us. "Do you need any help?", I wanted to know. He smiled. "No I'm fine, thanks Kari-chan." He disappeared into the kittchen.
"Look at that …", Ayame said, sounding pleased. "I don't think I've ever seen Hatori smile like this before." He turned to me. "This must be your influence." "What?" I blushed. "Oh no, I doubt I have that much of an influence on –" "You do!", Ayame assured me. "Trust me."
He smiled, as he looked thoughtfully into his tea cup. "You know, Kari, we are all happy, that Hatori has found someone like you", he told me. "He had to go through so much during the past … Because of his special abilities, Hatori had lived almost completely isolated inside the Soma family. Shigure and I were the only friends he had. He rejected every girl, who showed interest in him, because he was scared … And of course, if Akito wanted him to erase someone's memory, he had to do so without asking any questions …"
I swallowed hard, as Ayame continued.
"My younger brother, Yuki, for example … he transforms into the rat. When he was a little child he often played with other kids, not cursed by the zodiac. One time, a girl accidentally came too close and he changed into the animal in front of all the other children. Hatori had to erase their memories one by one, making them forget having ever met Yuki. Naturally, he was too young to understand what was going on and although Hatori never said a word about it, I know that he feels guilty, even now. He blamed himself for robbing this little boy of his friends. Being watched by Yuki, who couldn't understand why he was so different …"
"I had no idea …", I managed to say, my voice shaky. "Hatori never told me …" "He hates talking about himself or his feelings", Ayame agreed. "I am sure he also hasn't told you about Momiji." I looked up. "I know Momiji", I said, surprised as I remembered the cute little (not so young) boy who had led me to Hatori's house.
"He is the rabbit", Ayame explained. "But when his mother saw that he was a member of the zodiac, she … she started to reject him." "What?", I asked, shocked. Ayame nodded gloomily. "She hated Momiji. She refused to hold him or to accept him as her child. In the end, she asked Hatori to erase her memory." I couldn't believe it. "You mean, she wanted to forget her own child, just because he turns into a rabbit?!", I asked, appalled. "Yes", Ayame replied with a forced smile. I didn't have to ask how the story ended. Poor Momiji …
"So, this is why I am so glad that you are here now, Kari", Ayame concluded, facing me happily. "You can make Hari forget all this." I smiled gratefully.
"Are you talking about me?" Hatori returned with tea and pastries. "Of course not!", Ayame replied, putting on an angel's face that fooled nobody, especially not Hatori. "I won't ask", he said, as he sat down beside me. I squeezed his arm lovingly. Hatori chuckled. "Everything alright?" I leaned my head on his shoulders. "Now it is …"
It was already dark, when I went back to my apartment. Hatori had to drive Ayame back to his flat, so that he wouldn't transform again. But Ayame didn't leave without making me promise to visit him and his girlfriend Mine at his shop.
"I bet Hatori, you would love to see Kari in one of my custom-made costumes", he said enthusiastically. I giggled, Hatori just rolled his eyes. "And I am going to talk to Shigure, so we can all have dinner at his house", Ayame continued, sounding very pleased. "Is that a threat?", Hatori replied. "You know what Shigure's house looks like. I would never take Kari there. And besides, who would cook the dinner? Shigure and Yuki always eat outside."
"Your brother lives with Shigure?", I asked Ayame puzzled. "I thought he would live here …" "He did", Ayame answered slowly "But he moved in with Shigure …" By the sound of his voice I could feel that there was more to this story, but as neither Ayame nor Hatori mentioned anything, I decided to drop the matter.
"There are four of the zodiacs who do not live at the main house", Hatori explained to me. "Ayame, the snake. Shigure, the dog. Yuki, the rat. And of course, Kyo." "Kyo?", I wondered. "The cat", Hatori answered. "Oh." I remembered the old story. Was Kyo not allowed to live here, because the cat had missed the zodiac banquet? And why did the others not live with the family?
On my way back to my apartment I thought abut all this. The Soma family really was mysterious!
"I'm wondering who the other members of the zodiac are … I hope I'll meet them one day!", I thought. Every Soma seemed so great and interesting in their own way … I wanted to know more about them. They all had been so nice to me … I was fascinated by their world that was so different from mine … Since I had met the Somas, I had found love with Hatori and made friends with Ayame and Momiji. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I would belong somewhere. As if I would have arrived at the place in life, I had to be.
Even though Hatori still didn't want me to know too much about his family. "This is the point of no return", he had told me once. And he was right. I was now part of the Soma family (or I knew their secret). I couldn't turn back now. And I didn't want to …