(Chapter 22)

Author's Intro:

IMPORTANT: My great, great aunt is in critical condition right now, so I'm headin' off to some more states to see 'er. I'll be gone from this coming Thursday (July 7th, I think. Maybe) through Monday. So don't think that I've given up on you guys!

Now for Chapter 22:

(A/N: WARNING: This chapter will contain lots of spoilers in Volumes 14-19.)

Kyo paced his room, believing that if he did it anymore, he would make a hole in the ground.

'I'm going to go to the Main House again…' he thought nervously. 'But I can't keep doing this.

'Tohru means so much to me, but I can't just go in there and get only her out. She wanted to break the Curse, and this may be her chance.

'What things make up the Curse?'

In Tohru's room, she was thinking of the same thing.

'What things make up the Curse?'

The Juunishi Curse is such a mysterious thing….it had a twisted bonding beyond a human's comprehension.

Tohru thought of Kureno, who was, all of the sudden, freed from the Curse. That happiness mixed with sadness that he felt….and how Akito had begged the teen to stay with him.

And, though Kureno was free of all burdens, he could not say no to the child.

'That….that must be the Curse.'

She also thought of what Shigure had said that day to Rin.

"It is slowly going away……soon the Curse will be gone…

"All of the Zodiacs have come together…

"If you asked others if they looked down on Kyo…"

There was so many things that barely held their hearts together. But that was breaking.

What would be the final straw? The final action that led everything to the breaking point?

Could Tohru make that step?

The Cat slumped down onto her bed.

'But…but what would Akito feel?'

She knew that the God was desperate to keep everyone together. That is his love, his duty, no matter what Ren said.

Her love for Akira might be true to her, but this was something different. It was the bondage of Juunishi.

And she might not be able to break that.

Shigure stared at the entrance to the Main House. He was to give Akito his greetings today, but for some reason, he didn't want to at all. The Dog kept thinking of the subtle changes that were happening. Dare he mention them, once again, to Akito?

Hatori had blamed him for being cruel to their God, and he was completely right.

But now….now there was someone else that would pay for his cruelty.

Tohru Honda was under Akito's control, and was probably already terribly wounded. He stopped.

When did the Dog ever care about others? When were they ever a priority before himself?

'Never…' he answered, scratching his head in amusement. 'Looks like I'm changing, too. Just like everyone else.

'But that won't stop me just yet. The End is near, the End is near.'

And with that, the author walked all the way to the God's room, but wasn't granted permission to enter. Nobody was there.

Tohru had fallen asleep. It had been awhile, it seemed, since she had been able to relax like this. Her wounds didn't seem to hurt as much, but maybe it was just because of everything that had been on her mind. But the Cat decided that for a bit, even if it was only a few minutes, that she would forget about everything and settle down.

The last thing that she needed was a fever from stress while she was imprisoned.

But the deep slumber was interrupted by a swing of her door. Akito had decided to visit once again. He seemed much calmer than usual. This made Tohru nervous.

The God carried a container with him, though it seemed as if he was trying to hide it.

"Akito-sama, um….."

"Yes?"

"Did you bring anything with you?" Tohru asked, and then gasped. "I-I'm sorry for my rudeness! Ah! P-plea—"

But he cut her off.

"I did bring something with me."

Akito pulled out a jar of paint. It was pitch-black, like the starless night sky. Opening the can, the God began to make strokes of the dark color along the Cat's wall.

"Why am I doing this?" Akito asked, more imitating what she must be thinking than asking the question to himself. "Your heart is nowpitch-black. Mine was long ago. I did this to my own room once. Your precious Rat was there, too.

"You, Tohru Honda, are truly worthless and alone, now. Where are your friends? Where is your Kyo?

"He hates you, remember? Now all you have is black. And a little birdie once told me that your mother wanted you to be like your father. You strived to be like that, which is where you got your speech mannerisms. How touching.

"But would she of "loved" you if you had not done these things? I don't think so. And I wouldn't call that love."

Tohru shook with sadness and rage. She knew the truth now. Kyo did NOT hate her. The feeling rose through her stomach and into her throat.

"THAT'S A LIE!" Tohru yelled. She was immediately surprised at her actions. And afraid of what Akito would do.

'But……for some reason…' Tohru concluded, 'I needed to do this. I needed to stop living in a lie.'

"And why do you say that?" Akito growled, taking a step closer to the girl.

"…." Tohru couldn't think of anything to say. There WAS no way that she would know, if you believed that she had no visitors.

Akito stood staring at her. He thought about what she had said.

Either, she just knew in her heart, or someone had told her.

'And it should be the latter. She is too easy to break for her to make an outburst like that..'

"Who was here to talk to you, wench?"

Tohru looked back up at him with wide eyes.

"TELL ME!"

This time, there was no window to enter. There were great consequences ahead. It was a serious matter.

Kyo silently slipped into that building. He streamed down the halls, avoiding anyone who happened to be around.

It was so dark….and a gloomy aura seemed to cover this entire hallway. Kyo turned to this one.

Author's Closing:

And another chapter out! Whoop!

I've started to read the manga series "Death Note". It's really interesting for those of you who like possibly confusing details and mystery. They've even recently (June 17th) released a movie, "Death Note", based on the series in Japan. I have the movie poster. (Hee-hee)

Laterzzz for now.

E.