God's Menagerie

Chapter 5: A Forked Path

Hatori worked in silence, gently washing the wound on Momiji's arm. Luckily finding no glass, he reached into his bag, pulled out his disinfecting ointment, and dabbed some onto a new cloth. With a quick mutter of, "This may sting a little," Hatori rubbed it over the cuts. At first the Dragon thought Momiji may need stitches, but with the blood wiped away and the wound clean, he saw the gash was actually a lot more shallow than it initially looked. As Hatori finished applying the ointment, he noticed the game board out of the corner of his eye, sitting innocently on the dresser.

"So is he going to be okay?"

Hatsuharu's voice startled Hatori back to his work at hand. Glancing over his shoulder at the Cow, he answered, "Yes, he will be fine." Reaching into his bag, Hatori retrieved his bandages. Returning his attention to Momiji, who had been uncharacteristically still the entire time, he continued, "Your arm will take awhile to heal, but as long as it stays clean and bandaged properly, you shouldn't get any infections." Momiji barely nodded as he lie quiet on the bed, allowing his arm to be wrapped securely.

Seeing Momiji so emotionless pulled at something inside Hatori's heart. Wanting to comfort his cousin, but not knowing what to say, he finally settled for awkwardly ruffling the blonde's hair. He quickly patched up the small scrapes on Momiji's face before standing. Slipping back into his more stoic self, Hatori picked up his medical bag and nodded to Haru. "He's fine. If you need me, I'll be downstairs with Shigure."

Thanking Hatori, Momiji watched as the Dragon quietly left the room. He sighed, pressing further into the pillow, expression troubled. Closing his eyes, Momiji fought back the tears that were threatening to spill. "Haru?" his voice barely a whisper.

The Ox stepped forward, giving the Rabbit his complete attention. "Yeah? You alright?" Haru fixated on Momiji's arm. "Does it hurt?" Half turning, he was torn between staying by Momiji's side and calling Hatori back in.

Momiji attempted to shake his head, but the gesture was lost against the pillow. "No, I'm fine." Then he rolled onto his side, angling his back to Haru. He tried to sound indifferent, but he winced as his voice cracked, sounding weak. "Do you think I caused all of this?"

Haru's mouth opened in surprise, before clamping it shut. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Well," Momiji trailed off, guilt plaguing him. "If I never walked into that house, or forced everyone to play the game, none of this would have happened."

"Momiji, we all wanted to play," Haru protested. "It looked as innocent as Scrabble. No one knew what the game was about, and besides," the Ox sat down on the edge of the bed, the mattress sinking under his weight, "not all bad things came of it, if these things even are from the game. They could just be coincidences."

"Yeah..." Momiji mumbled, not really believing Hatsuharu's words.

The Rabbit's emotions were contagious; if Momiji was in a good mood, Haru usually was too, but in this case the Cow found himself feeling just as defeated as his cousin. "If you really are that worried, we could try to destroy it," he suggested. Cocking his head slightly to the side, Hatsuharu's fingers unconsciously tapped his chin as he mumbled, "I wonder if it would burn..."

A small smile tugged at Momiji's lips, and he sat up, swinging his legs around so they dangled off the bed. "You'd so catch Shigure's house on fire."

With a chuckle, Haru slung an arm around Momiji's shoulders. "You don't trust me?"

Trust. Momiji faltered at that word and frowned, absentmindedly kicking his legs. Sullenly, he recited the earlier message, "...Is it the dog, sheep, rooster, or rat? Or maybe the monkey, dragon, cow, or cat?"

Haru's good humor faded, and he sighed, "Momiji, you don't really think-"

"One of you cannot be trusted, and one of you will fall into their trap," the Rabbit interrupted him, finishing the rhyme. Staring at his feet, he watched them swing as he kicked the bed. "I do trust you Haru...but what does it mean? If I just hadn't found-"

"Stop that." It was Haru's turn to cut Momiji off. "No more feeling sorry for yourself. What's happened, happened. Don't get so worked up over it."

"Que será, será," Momiji whispered softly, mimicking Shigure's favorite little phrase, though his eyes were still downcast.

Running a hand through his hair, Haru let out a frustrated sigh. Turning to face Momiji fully, he asked, "You want this game to be over with, right?" The Rabbit nodded. "Okay, well, we can't fold the damn thing back up, and we can't ignore it, so we probably just have to finish it."

Momiji looked up, interest piqued. "What do you mean we can't ignore it?"

Titling his head back, Haru stared at the ceiling. "It...does something to us. At least to me," he confessed. "I felt like I had to play after the lights went out last night, and the feeling wouldn't go away until I rolled. ...And now that I think of it, I think the same thing happened to Kyo just a little while ago." Letting his arm drop from Momiji's shoulders, Haru fidgeted uncomfortably, twisting his ring around his finger. "I felt like it was controlling me."

Momiji was silent for a while, the only sound was the ba-bump of his feet knocking against the mattress. He bit his lip in thought, his hands clenching and unclenching the sheets. "Do you think that maybe...we could finish it?" He looked to Haru. "Like, just us? Then it'd be over, right? How many squares are left?"

Standing, Haru walked over to the dresser and examined the board. Out of all of them, Kyo was the farthest ahead, but everyone else was close behind. And the path wasn't too long to begin with... "Two or three more dice rolls would get either one of us to the end. If we roll high, it'll probably be only two."

"Do you have the dice?" Momiji asked. "I started this, so I should finish it." Taking the dice from Haru's outstretched hand, Momiji shook them before he could change his mind. Maybe all of this stress would be over if he could just win the game... Letting them go, the dice rolled across the floor. His rabbit came to life, moving along the path, and as it stopped, the oval lit up, the next message appearing. Jumping off the bed, Momiji quickly collected the dice and readied to roll again when Haru placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Wait, let's see what it says first." Haru released his grip and turned, grabbing the game and placing it on the floor in front of Momiji. Standing behind the Rabbit, Haru read the message out loud. "Rabbit, you hear a twitter, and feel a flitter. Keep hopping, but watch out for their stingers."

Momiji looked up at Haru, frowning. "If what's happening is from the game...that doesn't sound very good..." Glancing back to the oval, he reread the message, muttering it out loud. "Keep hopping..." His grip on the dice tightened. "So does that mean if I roll again maybe we can bypass it?"

Haru was about to respond when all at once, his eyes widened as he shouted, "Momiji, watch out!"

Thwack.

Kyo peeled his shoe off the wall, grimacing at the squashed mess. That was one helluva bug. Luckily he caught it while it was sitting still, otherwise he would have just dodged out of the room. Grabbing his duffle bag off the floor, he hefted it over his shoulder and double checked to make sure the note was still in his pocket. While everyone had crowded into Yuki's room, the Cat slunk to his own room to have a chance to read the letter. The contents unsettled him, and immediately he began packing for Kazuma's.

His door opened with a creak, and he stepped into the hallway, finding Yuki sitting against the wall. Ignoring the Rat watching him, he walked past, stopping in front of Yuki's bedroom door. It was open a crack and he tried to peek in, wondering how Momiji was doing.

Yuki looked at the Cat, then to the duffle bag. "He's going to be fine, but not like you would care or anything," Yuki glared at the passing Cat. "You weren't by him. You locked yourself away in your room."

Kyo rolled his eyes and turned sharply to meet his rival, his voice surprisingly calm. "Don't talk down to me."

Yuki stood, almost hissing, "Then don't act like any of this doesn't affect you!"

Kyo dropped his duffle bag, rounding on the Rat, his fists clenched in anger. "I'm not! I-" he was cut off, screams erupting from Tohru's bedroom. Both boys' heads snapped around. But before they could move, there were shouts and a loud crash in Yuki's room.

Wincing at the sound of more damage, Yuki swore, "You go check on Haru and Momiji." Without waiting for a response, he ran down the hall to Tohru. Yuki made it to the door just as the girls came running out, a swarm of giant wasps close behind. Yuki's eyes widened in shock, "What are those?"

"I don't know, just kill them!" Kagura shrieked, swinging wildly at the air.

Slamming open Yuki's door, Kyo felt a tingle run down his spine as he was greeted with more of the bugs like the one he killed in his room. They were huge, easily the size of his fist, not including the stinger. "What the hell is going on?" he growled, already kicking off one of his shoes to swing at a wasp. "Where did these come from?!"

"Kyo!" Momiji scampered to his cousin, but one of the bugs dived towards him, forcing the Rabbit to hit the ground. The impact jarred his arm, and Momiji felt tears sting his eyes. "Kyo be careful!" Dread washed over Momiji as he heard screams down the hallway. Hit with waves of guilt, he prayed for Tohru and Kagura to be okay.

"Momiji stay down!" Haru hollered, swatting at the bugs, trying to keep them away from the Rabbit.

Staying close to the floor, Momiji crawled to the doorway and into the hall. He had to keep Tohru safe!

Yuki swallowed hard at the swarm that took over Tohru's room. They fluttered around the room fast. He heard a buzz by his ear and instantly knocked it aside, sending the bug flying toward the wall. Hitting the hard surface, the insect fell to the floor, it's legs and wings twitching violently as it failed to take flight.

Looking around frantically, Yuki spied a broom leaning against the dresser. Dodging more wasps, Yuki grasped the broom, lifting it as he would a baseball bat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kagura peeking her head through the door. "Stay in the hallway!"

Haru picked up the board game and used it to smack the wasps in mid-flight. There were so many of them! As he swung at another, he saw Kyo making his way towards the window.

Ducking another wasp, Kyo cursed, narrowly dodging it's stinger. He clawed at the window, but the damn thing wouldn't open! Spotting the lock, he flipped it over, and pushed up the glass. Making quick work of the screen, he undid the clasps and let the entire screen fall out and to the grass below. A few of the insects flew out, but many of them still were buzzing around the room.

Haru aimed his swings in the direction of the window and—

—There was a loud thump against the glass as the wasp was launched through the air. Yuki's eyes narrowed as he focused on his next target, choking up on the small broom. The insects swarmed around erratically, and as the wasp started to descend in it's dive towards the Rat, Yuki pulled back and swung, sending that one into the window as well.

Thunk!

He grit his teeth, eyes darting around the room following the unpredictable insects as they continued to buzz rapidly, constantly changing directions. Suddenly, Yuki let out a gasp as he felt one brush by his shoulder. All in one motion, he he spun, bringing the broom down and—

—Kyo smashed the wasp against the floor. Duel wielding his shoe and one of Yuki's texts, the Cat swatted the wasps towards the ground before slamming the book on top of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haru making quick work of the wasps, swatting them out the open window, though some were trying to fly back in. He felt his hair stand on end as the buzzing kept sounding by his ear before quickly flying away, only to come back a second later. Shaking his head to rid the feeling, Kyo turned, trying to catch his next target. But when he looked up, he gave a startled yelp and—

—ducking, Momiji grabbed Tohru's hand and sprinted down the hallway to the bathroom, Kagura right on their heels. Screaming, they plowed inside, slamming the door shut. The wasps chased after them, and as the door closed, their stingers pierced through the wood, narrowly missing them on the other side. They stared wide-eyed at the stingers in shock, their breathing heavy and audible as their chests heaved up and down, gasping for air.

Downstairs, Hatori found Shigure in the main room, surveying the mess. Hearing the Dragon enter the room, Shigure sighed in defeat. "My poor house. I don't know what to do..." Walking to the debris, he picked up a branch, looking at it, lost, before tossing it back onto the floor.

Hatori reached into his pocket, pulling out his cigarettes. He offered one to the Dog, who took it gratefully. Lighting his cigarette, Hatori took a long drag. Breathing the smoke out, he said, "You'll have to stay somewhere else until this gets repaired. I'm sure you could move back to the Main House."

Shigure inhaled his nicotine, eyes closed. Barely audible, he mumbled, "But what about Tohru? Surely Akito wouldn't allow her to stay there."

Hatori leaned against a wall, voicing his agreement. "True. And Kyo wouldn't be able to stay there either..." he trailed off, observing the damage to the house. The trees would have to get cut and hauled away, and the mud shoveled and washed out. Spying something glinting in the light, he walked over and crouched down. Reaching into the debris, he pulled out a small silver figurine. Standing, he held it up to get a better look at it. It was a monkey.

Shigure caught sight of Hatori's find. "Ah, the game pieces..."

Hatori turned to the Dog. "Pieces to the game in Yuki's room?"

Shigure nodded as he crouched down, looking for the rest. "There should be more. They fell off the table when the landslide hit." Digging through the dirt, he smiled as he found another. Brushing it off, it turned out to be a horse. Hatori joined in, taking handfuls of earth and letting the dirt sift through his fingers.

"How many are missing?"

Shigure paused in thought. So far Yuki, Momiji, Kyo, Haru, Kagura and himself placed their animal on the board, so... "We need seven. We found two, so five more."

Hatori smiled as he dug for a few minutes before finding another one. "Momiji wanted me to play...maybe once things calm down I can. I do mean to spend more time with him." To his surprise, he heard Shigure chuckling.

The Dog continued searching through the branches and dirt. "You might regret saying that. Things aren't what they seem, anymore." He paused suddenly, hearing frantic screams and thudding from above them. Exchanging a panicked look with Hatori, the adults abandoned their search and ran for the stairs.

A low mewl escaped Kagura's lips as she backed away from the door. She clutched her hands to her chest in fright.

Shuffling his feet, Momiji kept his eyes cast downward, "It's my fault," he said quietly. Looking up, he met Kagura's gaze. "I was only a few rolls away. I thought I could win the game." He felt a familiar wetness build up by his eyes, but he swallowed hard and tried to keep the tears from falling. Momiji held his hand out and uncurled his fingers, revealing the dice. "Maybe," he continued softly, "If we roll again, they'll go away."

"But what if something worse comes out!" Kagura fretted, shifting her weight from foot to foot in unease.

Tohru stepped forward and gingerly took the dice from the Rabbit, rolling them between her fingers. She smiled warmly at him before turning to Kagura. "Well then we'll just have to be brave like Momiji-kun!" Behind her, Momiji sad expression shifted into surprise. "Momiji-kun had a plan and he followed through with it!" Turning back, she smiled at him again. "If I was part of this game, I don't think I'd be brave enough to try to reach the ending. I'm proud of you, Momiji-kun!"

Tohru's praise stunned him, as he was expecting her to be upset instead. But through the door he could still hear the others attacking the wasps. "Then if we are going to continue we should do it fast."

Kagura snatched the dice from Tohru's hand. "I'll do it, I want to be brave, too!" Giving a quick shake, Kagura threw them down, the dice rattling wildly against the tiled floor. Somewhere in this house was the game board, and she willed her little boar to move faster.

As Shigure ascended the stairs, a wasp flew at him and he knocked it aside without thinking. As he saw the insect bounce off the wall and to the floor, realization dawned on him. "Ew!" he freaked, "What are these things and I just touched one! Har~riiii!" he whined, shaking his hand in the air, trying to rid the creepy-crawly feeling off his skin.

Hatori gasped as he reached the top of the stairs, coming face to face with the infestation. "We need to get everyone out, now!"

Inside Yuki's room, Haru failed to notice the moving boar, and instantly dropped the game board as the oval flashed, blinding him. The game clattered to the floor as another message appeared through the fog. Rubbing his eyes, Haru stared down at the oval, automatically reading the new rhyme.

Kyo killed another wasp and quickly whirled around to attack more, but the rest suddenly swarmed out of the window. Finding it odd that they left so quickly, but glad they were gone, Kyo slumped forward, weary from the exertion. Surveying the mess of dead bugs, he grimaced. Oh well—Yuki's room, Yuki's problem. Looking around for Haru, he noticed his cousin looking down at that stupid game. The Ox slowly raised his head and they locked eyes. Kyo swallowed hard at seeing Haru's face etched with worry, and the Cat instantly felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Somehow another message must have appeared. "...What's it say?"

Haru glanced down at the rhyme again. "I'm not sure what it means, but it's probably not good." Picking up the game, Haru found it immediately jostled from his hands.

Angling the board so he could read the message better, Kyo mumbled out loud, "Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground." Making a face, Kyo spat, "What the hell does that mean?" Shoving the game back at Haru, Kyo grumbled as he made his way into the hallway, trying to shake off his unease.

Kagura eased the bathroom door open a crack and quickly surveyed the hall. Then all at once she threw it open the rest of the way and bounded out in excitement. "It worked!" She twirled, facing the Rabbit as she walked backwards. "Momiji you were right, they went away!"

As everyone gathered back into the hallway, Yuki spoke up. "What worked? How did you get them to leave?"

"We rolled the dice!" Kagura beamed, flashing them in her hand.

Hatori's face slightly scrunched in confusion. "Rolled the dice?"

"Yes we-"

"What does the next message say?" Yuki pressed, cutting Kagura off. The Boar huffed at him, crossing her arms over her chest. But before Kagura could say anything, he was answered by a low, deep growl that emitted from Kyo's bedroom. The sound seemed to vibrate through the walls, and Yuki subconsciously took a step back. He tilted his head slightly to the side, trying to peer into the Cat's room without having to move any closer. He thought he saw something shift, a brown mass against the furniture.

A hush swept over everyone crowded into the hallway as they all waited in anticipation. Another low grumble reverberated down the hall, and Shigure let out a shaky breath. "That doesn't sound too pleasant," he trailed off, slowly easing back towards the stairs, but was stopped by Hatori. The Dragon glared at him, then pointed to Kyo's room. Shigure slumped in defeat before inching his way across the hall. The Dog peaked into the Cat's bedroom and immediately he backpedalled, face pale. How in the world did that get into his house!? "Everyone," he whispered, "go downstairs. Now."

Without waiting to be told twice, Hatori ushered for Tohru to go down the stairwell. Just as she took her first step, however, a huge, hulking grizzly meandered into the hallway, nose down, sniffing. Everyone froze.

Another deep growl rumbled from it's throat as it stopped, and then it looked up. Upon seeing the family huddled in the hall, the bear promptly stood on its hind legs and unleashed a deafening roar.

Haru felt the hot breath of the bear wash over him, and his mouth dropped open, tilting his head back in a mix of fear and awe as the grizzly towered over him. "That's...a big teddy bear..."

All at once Shigure spun and shoved everyone towards the stairs, save for Kyo. "Kyo! You were fighting bears on your mountain!" Punching the air, he cheered the Cat on, "Goooo!"

"Wh-what?!" Kyo yelled, finding everyone halfway down the stairs already. Scrambling, he grabbed his duffle bag and chased after them. "I WAS NOT FIGHTING BEARS!"

Slamming the front door shut, everyone ran to where Hatori's car was parked.

Resting an arm against the ca for support, Yuki caught his breath before announcing his thoughts. "Okay, I think it's unanimous that everyone agrees that the game's messages come to life, correct?" Yuki looked around at his cousins. He got a collection of nods, and Haru cleared his throat to answer.

"Y-yeah..." The Ox agreed. "It wrote about bugs and stinger before those wasps showed up, and then it mentioned a bear."

Leaning against the car, Yuki crossed his arms. "I see. So now that leaves the question, if we beat the game, will everything return back to normal?"

Tohru thought back to the list of messages Yuki had written down. Something just didn't add up. "I don't think it's that easy, Yuki-kun." She felt her face heat up, attracting everyone's attention with her words. "I-I mean, the very first sentence says there are thirteen animals for twelve seats. You can't do this by yourselves. There is a figurine for each zodiac member. I think everyone has to participate."

Kagura shook her head. "But the rest of the pieces are missing. They got lost in that landslide."

"Then we have to find them," Yuki spoke, starting to straighten.

"But I don't want to go back in there, Yuki!" Kagura looked to the second floor in fright. "That huge bear is still in there!"

"We don't have to." Closing his eyes, Yuki missed the confused look on Kagura's face as he summoned his fellow rats. Small glowing eyes gradually started to appear in the bushes. "The rats will find them and bring them out. In the meantime, what are we going to do?"

Reaching into his pocket, Shigure revealed the horse, monkey, and rooster. "I think we should pay the Main House a visit. We can't stay here; my house is uninhabitable." Rolling the figurines around in his hand, he continued, "Besides, if our little flower is right, we need everyone else to play."

The rats inside the house shifted through the dirt, digging until they found all the remaining pieces. It wasn't long until they emerged back outside, dropping the animal figurines at Yuki's feet.

As the Rat bent down to gather the animals, Hatori pulled out his keys, unlocking his car. "Alright then, everyone's going to have to squeeze in."

As they started to gather into the car, Momiji stopped, realizing Kyo and Tohru hadn't moved. Biting his lip, he turned to the adults. "But what about Tohru and Kyo? They have to come, they have no where to go!"

Shigure glanced at the teens and hesitated, before starting, "Well, I'm sure we could try to find space for Tohru-"

"Forget it," Kyo interrupted, waving a hand. "She can come with me. I'll be staying with Shishou."

"But what about the game?" Kagura asked, worried. "You have to play or we can't finish." Her eyes nervously darted to the house, searching for any movement within.

Kyo looked away, his grip tightening on his duffle bag. Taking a deep breath, he held it in before slowly let it out. Trying his best not to sound bitter, he answered, "Weren't you listening? You only need twelve players. I'm sure you will have enough. And besides," his lips formed a wry smile as he cast his eyes to the side, "It's not like it's a real race or anything. So what if the cat is left out again, right?"

Kagura looked at him with sad eyes. "Kyo-kun...we, we aren't leaving you out. I'm sure there's a way..."

Shoulders slumped, Kyo turned away and started walking up the road. "Don't worry about it. It's probably better this way, anyhow."

His cousins watched his retreating form when Tohru suddenly stepped forward and called to him. Something about his body language and the way he spoke made her believe that there was more to what he said, but she wasn't sure what. She saw him pause, waiting for her to speak, or to perhaps catch up. Instead, she briefly closed her eyes with a small prayer. I want to help him. Mom, help me help him. As she opened them again, she saw he had turned to face her.

Waiting, Kyo finally asked, "What?"

Tohru shook her head with a smile and began walking towards him. "It's okay, Kyo-kun." Don't be sad. "Kagura-chan is right."

He raised his eyebrows in question, not really understanding. When she finally caught up to him, she spoke, "They won't have twelve players, Kyo-kun. It's safe for them to go. And while they are there, they can talk to the others." He was about to interrupt, but Tohru continued, "Because, doesn't Ritsu-chan live Outside, too?"