Chapter Two: "Welcome To The Sohma Game!"
Sitting on the opposite side of everyone else in the dimly lit room, Rin Sohma looked around at the other 11 people surrounding her. She really had no idea why she was here—or why there was a coffin in the front of the room—but the message Hatori had left on her cell phone had seemed pretty urgent. Sighing, she decided to count the ceiling tiles to pass the waiting time.
Closest to Rin was Hatsuharu Sohma, who was also wondering what the purpose of this spontaneous meeting was. Eyeing all of the other anxious people in the room, he began to get a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. Why was he here? He chose to avoid the Main House as much as possible. But like Rin, it was Hatori's urgency that had made him so curious. Getting rather bored, he chose to spend the time staring at Rin.
Momiji Sohma was sitting on the floor at Haru's feet, bouncing up and down in anticipation. Surely, something big was happening if all of the Sohmas were invited. Maybe they were having a party? He did not know. His head buzzing with ideas, he closed his eyes to try to relax.
On the floor next to Momiji was Ritsu Sohma, who found himself too unworthy to sit in the chairs provided. He spent the waiting time wondering why he was worthy enough to be asked to come. He buried his face in his hands.
Annoyed by the presence of his strange "family", Hiro Sohma sat next to Ritsu with a scowl on his face. He felt he could be doing something more important than sitting densely in a room full of people he didn't like, such as watching paint dry, folding socks, or watering the lawn—in the middle of winter. That coffin was getting on his nerves…
Kisa Sohma wished that Hiro would stop scowling, because it made her feel even more uncomfortable. She could tell that something bad was going to happen, just by the look on everyone's faces. The coffin didn't really suggest happiness either. She looked around. Everyone was there… except for Tohru, and whoever they were waiting for.
In the chair behind Kisa sat Kagura Sohma, who was looking around aimlessly. She did not particularly care why she had been forced to attend the day's collaboration. She was just upset that she couldn't sit by Kyo. She frowned as she picked at her blue nail polish.
Ayame Sohma sat between his fellow Mabudachi members—Hatori and Shigure—with his brother, Yuki, and the cat, Kyo, on the other side of Shigure. Ayame was expecting no more than a family reunion, being the only one of the five who did not know the real reason why they were there. Hatori sat up straight, facing forward, with the envelope in his shaking hands. He knew why they were there, of course, but he did not know what the whole family was waiting for. Shigure paid no attention to any of his surroundings, but instead played with Ayame's precious hair. Yuki wrung his hands nervously, occasionally looking up at everyone but avoiding eye contact. Kyo sat with his arms and legs crossed, wondering what the heck was taking so long, and where the heck Tohru had disappeared off to.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Tohru flung the door open and ran in breathlessly, muttering something about how she was sorry she was so late.
"Where were you?" Both Kyo and Yuki asked her at the same time as she sat down on the ground next to Kyo's chair.
"Oh," she panted with an almost sham smile. "I was—"
Her reply was left unheard as the door opened again with an elongated, drawn-out creak. 13 heads turned to the door to see who had come in.
Kureno Sohma stood in the doorway, wearing an utterly sinister smile on his face. He took a step forward, and for a second, Tohru was afraid that he would sit next to her, but he instead crossed the room and leaned against the wall near Rin's seat.
For a final time, the door opened and the Sohmas—including Tohru—were startled after being distracted by Kureno's entrance.
A short young man walked into the room with an air of arrogance in his steps, and stood at the podium next to the coffin at the front of the room. A bushy black mustache obscured the majority of his face, and his equally bushy black hair, although topped with a white top hat, was as untidy as if he had just jumped off of an airplane. He had a very crisp, clean, white suit, and looked like one of those men who had just too much money for their own good. With a smile as maniacal as Kureno's former, he addressed the crowed of anxious people.
"I," he started with such a booming triumph that many people flinched, "am Sam Kohatio-san. And you are here for one reason and one reason only. Your God, Akito Sohma, has been murdered."
Sam gestured toward the coffin and watched the Sohma family gasp in shock with an expression that Hatori couldn't help but define as pleasure. Hatori decided that he had been right. This Kohatio fellow was just as stuck up as he had let on in their phone conversation.
In the shock of this news, nobody really seemed to wonder how Sam Kohatio knew Akito was their 'God', or to wonder how Kohatio knew Akito at all.
Nobody wondered why, or even noticed for that matter, that Kureno was smirking and chuckling at the news.
"It is very sad, indeed," Kohatio continued. "But what is even sadder is that one of the 14 beautiful Sohmas seated in front of me is the murderer."
Everyone started a mass uproar at this, except for Kyo, who was narrowing down who he thought it was mentally, Hatori, who was surprised, but said nothing, Kureno and Yuki, who kept their mouths shut for the good of everyone, and Rin, who stood up and pointed a thin finger at Tohru.
"Why is she here? She's not even a Sohma!" Rin shouted, and Tohru looked terrified.
"Why is Kureno here? His curse is—" Hiro started, but Ritsu covered Hiro's mouth and began blaming himself for Hiro's outburst of the curse in front of a total stranger. Kureno just smirked.
"Do not worry, children of the Zodiac. Akito-sama has informed me of your most unfortunate curse. Before his death, of course," Kohatio assured them.
"How did Akito have time to tell you all of this if he was… killed?" Hatsuharu said slowly, staring at Kohatio with an evil eye.
"Akito-sama was left notes, threats if you will, by the murderer in advance," Kohatio explained smoothly. "He called me last week and filled me in on the events of everything."
Kohatio met eyes with Hatsuharu. There was something about the beetle black eyes Kohatio had that made fire pierce Hatsuharu's heart… He felt like he was falling…
He looked away, and the strange feeling was gone.
"How did you know Akito?" Hatori blurted out.
Kohatio gave Hatori a pleasant—but fake—smile that made Hatori feel a pain in his head. "I have known Akito-sama since I was a young boy. Our mothers knew each other, you see… but that is not important right now. What is important right now is the information you hold in your sweaty hands, Hatori dear."
With an aggravated glare, Hatori handed Kohatio the envelope. The room was filled with an oppressive silence nobody had the courage to break. Kohatio opened the envelope slowly, savoring every moment of anxiety. That was just the kind of person he was. He enjoyed bringing people awful news.
"You sit in the seats before me as cursed people, feeling you have no purpose in life. But under the greatness of Akito-sama, he has formulated a way that you can remember and treasure his memory long after his mortal being has left our beautiful planet. Akito Sohma-sama has devised The Sohma Game."
Momiji felt a smile come to his lips amidst all of the horror. He loved games!
Everyone listened quite cautiously.
"You will live in this Main House for the next few weeks, using your mind and a few clues to figure out which one of you Sohmas—yes, Isuzu, Tohru is not a Sohma—is the murderer.
"You will not be alone, however. Akito-sama has arranged three responsible individuals to act as detectives to help crack this case! Let me introduce you"—Kohatio opened the door and allowed two people to enter the room. Yuki took a sharp breath of air and Ayame looked at his brother worriedly—"To Ren and Rini Sohma. Ren, as you may know, was dear Akito-sama's mother. Rini Sohma is the mother of Ayame and Yuki."
Everyone stared at the two brothers for a minute before Rin broke the hush. "Where's the third? You said there were three people."
"Dear Isuzu, I, Sam Kohatio, am the third! Now, we three will escort those who need to be escorted home to collect a few assets for the next few weeks. Nothing big, just clothes and essential supplies. We will reassemble here in one hour. Is everyone ready? Well then…
"Welcome To The Sohma Game!"