Sorry everyone that it's taking a bit longer than usual for me to update; school really has been keeping me busy!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing! As always, it is greatly appreciated and I'm very grateful!

Well, Akito's back, but then again, I'm sure you all knew it was coming...

Anyhow, I think this session might shed some light on some things, but maybe it doesn't - it's a kind of strange session, I suppose. So, enjoy you best you can!

Patient – Sohma Akito; Session #216

"Good morning, Kazuki," Akito greeted me as she walked in fifteen minutes early for her morning session with me. On her face she wore one of her creepy little smirks and her glinting eyes stood locked on me. She slowly made her way to the couch and relaxed on it, sprawling out so her oversized robes fell off her left shoulder and her legs were revealed. "Are you doing well?" The tone of her voice was very unsettling.

"Uh, I'm fine," I answered. While I had been preparing for her, since she was my first appointment of the day and she often came early, I had not expected her to be so oddly "friendly" (I doubt that is the proper word to describe it), especially after my unhappy session with Kyou the previous afternoon. Admittedly, my curiosity about Akito's misdemeanor had vanished after a restless night of worrying about, as Kyou put it, how much trouble I was in. Before I went to bed I spent hours reading through all of Kyou's session notes again; to my dismay, the more I read, the more I found things I wrote that would obviously anger Akito, particularly my suggestions to Kyou about defying Akito. As a result, I had decided it was not worth bringing up again and that if I could, I would let the whole thing be forgotten as if it never happened (an ineffective way of dealing with any problem, I know).

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Akito went on, "A bit cold though…"

"Yes," I agreed. It had grown colder as we entered the month of November, although the sunny sky gave the illusion that it was warmer.

"You look tired," she then commented with a sardonic, knowing gaze, "Did something keep you up last night?"

"No," I lied, "I slept well."

She smiled strangely; "I'm very glad to hear."

Goosebumps crept up my arms; I knew that she was playing with me. She could tell I was nervy, despite my best efforts, and was trying her best to put me more on edge. Moreover, I was upset with myself for being so afraid when I had done nothing wrong in the first place. After all, rationally speaking, Akito was just a person, and a frail, sickly one at that, and yet I found myself at times just as terrified of her as the rest of my family. For that, I hated myself, but at the same time I couldn't deny that there was something truly frightening about her. It's not something I can clearly define, just something in her presence, an aura if you will, that commanded fear in all those who stood before her. I suppose, though, it actually had to do with my entire family being preconditioned to worship her, this being instilled in us all as children. Obviously, this psychological explanation was more reasonable than the typical "Sohma family curse" one that was utterly senseless and extremely overused.

"Thank you," I replied and, in the hopes of gaining my own control over the situation, started, "So, are you ready to begin our discussion for today, Akito?"

"Sure," she simply said, "Why not?" Her willingness to go along with me so easily was uncharacteristic and, hence, made me more wary.

"And is there anything you want to talk about this morning?"

"Whatever you'd like to - I'm sure you have plenty of things you'd like to discuss." Her eyes remained on me and her eerie (almost sinister) grin would not leave her face.

Admittedly, I was taken back by her offer; Akito rarely allowed me such freedom before in our sessions. She typically liked to control the entire meeting and was very careful in allowing me to bring up topics (restricting many) and in what she was willing to go over with me. At once, I knew the whole thing was still just a game to her, but I also knew that I could use such an opportunity to my advantage as a psychiatrist trying desperately to make progress with at least on of his patients. Furthermore, I was ashamed of being so cowardly and became determined to prove to not only myself but to Akito as well that I would not be so easily bullied and manipulated. So, I began, "Well, Akito, I think it would be a good idea if we returned to discussing your relationship with Shigure again."

There was a flicker in her eye and almost a wince, but she ultimately remained composed, smirk remaining; she could recognize a challenge. "What about that?" she asked calmly.

"Maybe it would be best if you answered that question. Obviously, what happened hurt you very much and perhaps contributed to your issues of mistrust. Why don't you talk through what happened and your feelings on it? Then, together, we can try to analyze it and find ways for you to overcome the experience."

Akito let out a short, brazen chuckle. She sat up a little bit straighter and answered, "Sure. Let's talk about it." Her eyes glared directly into mine. Suddenly, I was filled with both excitement and dread, because I hadn't expected her to agree. However, she seemed to be unwilling to cave in and determined not to be the first to snap. Quickly, I grabbed my pencil and prepared myself to take as many detailed notes as possible, as I knew chances like these were far and in between. "Shigure and I," she started. Then, for a moment, she appeared to waver. Yet she repeated, "Shigure and I are…we were…" She stopped once more, and I thought I saw her counting softly under her breath. Inhaling deeply, (with noticeably rising anger) she tried again, "Kureno was – it wasn't my fault…Shigure, he…he - " Her own fortitude was clearly failing her as she began to twitch, her face becoming almost distorted with frustration. She then lashed out, "I thought I told you I didn't want to discuss that with you, devil!"

"I'm sorry, I just thought that it was something worth talking about," I explained.

Resting on the couch once more, her anger melted and that menacing smirk returned. "No, you're not sorry," she sneered. Slowly, she began to snicker and remarked with intrigue, "You are something else, Kazuki…something very interesting." With this, she burst into hysterics, her laughter ringing creepily through my office. "Do you really think that you can save them – save me? As if I, a god, need saving? And will you save that wretched cat, too?" The laughter grew worse. "But I almost forgot, that's why you were born, right - to save our family from its curse! Well, your whorish mother's little 'prophecy' certainly saved you, didn't it, when you should have been sliced out of her like you deserved. It hasn't done the rest of us any good, though.

"Yet, you actually still believe it, don't you? You actually still believe your own pitifully insane mother. You thought you'd run away for a time and then come back as our glorious savior! Did you really think it'd work? Do you still? You do, don't you? It's been two years, and you still think you'll save us! Our family's been cursed for centuries and you think you'll be the one to break it? I've never seen anything so sickeningly hilarious – a bastard brat who thinks himself greater than a god. You truly are a fool, Kazuki!"

Her cruel laughter continued as I felt my face grow hot, both with anger and humility. However, I was speechless; I couldn't find my words and my mind was racing, filling my head with an incoherent jumble. My emotions were consuming me to the point where I actually felt true hatred in its ugliest form, and I felt it strongly. I hated my family and I hated myself. For a brief moment, I even hated my mother, which I feel shameful admitting. Most of all, though, I hated Akito; I hated her for laughing so callously, for insulting my mother, and for mocking me. I hated her for what she had done to the rest of my family and for the fact that she had no remorse for it. However, what I hated her most for was speaking so candidly the truth. It felt as if she had ripped off a bandage that had been hiding a terrible wound and went ahead and poured salt onto it. I took a deep breath. "Why do you still come to see me then, if you feel that way? Why do you make the others?"

Akito calmed down a bit and flashed me a wider, triumphant grin, "Because you entertain me. I like that I can talk to you about whatever I'm feeling and you have no choice but to listen. More importantly, though, I want to see you suffer. I remember when you returned from America – as soon as I saw you, so confident and idealistic, I knew you deserved nothing but misery. That's why I force the others to see you and why I still come. I want you to hope you can save us, I want you to try as hard as you can, because I know each time you fail to free us from our curse, the more you yourself become consumed with it. I know it's killing you, killing you inside that you can't do anything to help us. You see, Kazuki, I'm crushing you little by little."

I was quiet for a moment and I soon felt sick. Swallowing down my queasiness, I inquired, "Well, then, say if I just end my practice?"

"But you won't, Kazuki, and that's why it's all so brilliant. You are going to keep on trying to save us like a hapless fool, not understanding that our curse can't be broken. And I'm sure you'll still tempt my disciples with your silver, but I am confident now that they won't follow. And you'll even continue to hope that you can help me – your god! I am glad, though, because you're suffering will just grow worse as time goes on. But, the devil is supposed to burn in hell…" Sighing, she laid her head all the way back, turned from me, and closed her eyes, as if going to sleep.

I said nothing to her, since I had nothing left to say. I didn't bother watching her fall asleep, but instead pulled out my files for my next patient and began preparing for the session. Half of me didn't want to but to, instead, actually just give up on the whole thing entirely, proving to Akito that I wasn't idiotic enough to continue with such a charade. However, I suppose in the end Akito had been right; I wasn't going to just leave, because I still believed I could make a difference. It just wasn't in me to give up, although I recognized that I had grown into a much sadder person in the last two years. What's more, despite my efforts to completely forget what Akito had said, I could not. Ultimately, Iguess my effort to prove that I would not be intimidated only resulted in Akito making certain that she would not be made a fool by me.

The truth is a very, very painful weapon, indeed.