AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ren is such a manipulative hypocrite… I would have updated sooner too, but FF has been on the fritz. Boo!

Kami no Kodomo
Child of God

Chapter 2
Discovered

"WHAT IS THIS?"

Akito was in the middle of her morning lesson the day after her birthday when her mother stormed in, screaming. Akito didn't need to know what was wrong—she could see it in the woman's crazed eyes and the plastic test she gripped in her right hand. She had been rummaging through Akito's things… and found the pregnancy test.

"GET OUT OF HERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!" Ren shrieked to the private tutor.

The middle-aged woman didn't have to be told twice. She grabbed her bag of teaching supplies and ran out of the room.

"Hatori! Somebody called Hatori!" Akito cried out to anyone who might hear. The maids were never too far—someone had to hear her!

"YOU LITTLE WHORE!" Ren screeched, stumbling over Akito's book bag on the floor near the door. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Akito hurried to her feet and fled. As her mother lunged at her, she managed to go around her and ran out the door, screaming for help. She could hear her mother not too far behind her, shrieking like a banshee. Akito ran outside into the hot summer air, her bare feet slapping against the smooth stone path. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that her mother was still trailing after her. Akito screamed for Hatori as she ran toward his house. She began to gasp for air and got a stitch in her side by the time she reached his house and he stepped outside. He took one look at Ren and his face instantly turned white as a ghost. He knew that she had found out the truth.

"Quick," he told Akito firmly. "Go inside."

Akito, wheezing, did as he commanded. She hurried into his house and locked the door behind her. She could hear her mother screaming all kinds of foul and hateful things while Hatori tried to calm her down. Exhaustion finally overcame Akito and she crumpled to the floor in a heap. And as her body began to wrack with sobs, it was then that she realized that her cheeks were already moist with tears.

She knew she was in trouble. She knew that she had made a mistake. She didn't need her mother finding out and making threats before Akito could have it taken care of.

I'm not stupid—I can take care of it!

But it was too late now. Her mother found out and she was ready to tear Akito apart for bringing such shame to her family. Akito would never hear the end of it from her mother—she knew.

She didn't know it then, but the feelings that had overcome her and made her tremble and cry were those of fear. Fear of what would happen with the abortion. Fear of what her mother would do to her if she had her way. Fear of what the rest of the Sohma family would think when they found out that the head of the family was a pregnant, sixteen-year-old girl. Fear of what the Juunishi would think of their God when they found out how weak she was.

She had to get this parasite out of her. It was her only hope.

It took some time, but Hatori finally managed to calm Ren enough to invite her into his home without fear of her killing Akito with her bare hands.

That's not to say that Ren didn't look at Akito with complete and utter distain. She had never been particularly close with her daughter, a fact that she had made very clear to everyone. She didn't even want to speak to Akito now, she was so furious.

"I'm going to get an abortion," Akito stated simply to her mother as the three of them sat in chairs around Hatori's desk.

Hatori didn't say anything from his seat on the other side of the dark stained desk. His gaze moved steadily from Akito to Ren sitting on opposite ends of the desk with him in the middle. He wasn't sure if he should stay quiet and play referee or be an active participant in the discussion.

"An abortion?" her mother spat, her left eye twitching with rage despite her attempts of suppressing it. "You need parental consent for that. Don't think for a minute now that I'll agree to that!"

Akito stared at her in horror before turning to Hatori. "Tell her, Hatori! Tell her I need the abortion!"

He did not want to get in the middle of them. Furthermore, he did not want to give his opinion without that of a specialist first. He was still a medical student after all. "I think it would be wiser to consult a specialist rather than to jump right into a decision. But," he added cautiously, "your mother does have a point. Parental consent is necessary in order to undergo the procedure."

Akito felt betrayed. She wanted to scream, but she was too stunned to do even that. She just stared at him as he avoided eye contact with her. How could he do that to her? She needed him to back up her decision to get the abortion, not turn his back on her instead.

"A Sohma would never kill an unborn child," Ren went on indignantly. "But the important thing to bear in mind is that by undergoing an abortion, you would never learn from your mistake. We can't risk it happening a second time with all of your fooling around."

"Fooling around?" Akito shouted, her temperature beginning to rise with rage. Was she hearing her right? How dare she accuse her of such a thing! "Last time I checked, that was your speciality!"

"Oh don't you dare throw that in my face! How unbecoming?"

Akito held her tongue and clenched her hands tightly in fists in her lap, shaking in fury. She had to turn the discussion back in favour of her getting the abortion, not engage in a screaming match with her abhorrent mother. That would not work in her favour in the slightest. "But isn't it just as risky for someone my age to carry a child for 40 weeks and give birth to it?" Akito shot back between clenched teeth.

"That's a risk we'll have to take," her mother hissed.

"I think," Hatori piped up, "that the best thing to do right now is consult a specialist, get his opinion, and then make an informed decision. Akito makes a valid point regarding her age and physical capabilities, and we cannot risk the life of the head of the family."

He offered to make the consultation appointment for them since he had to go to the hospital then anyway for a class. Thus forced Akito and Ren to leave together and return to the main house.

"Don't you even want to know who the father is?" Akito asked as they walked across the gardens. She wiped her brow, the heat already reaching its peak for the day.

"Don't be a fool," her mother replied sharply. "The servants talk. I know the details of every visitor you have. Don't think I don't know who the father is. Luckily, only a couple of our most trustworthy servants know of this particular dilemma. Mizuki-san will now be your personal servant to respond to your every need before anyone else."

They returned to the main house, where Ren walked Akito to her room. Once Akito was inside, she could hear the faint voices of her mother and Mizuki outside, no doubt discussing what to do with her.

Naturally, Akito was grounded indefinitely and wasn't permitted any guests besides her mother, Mizuki and Hatori. Akito grew lonelier, longing for some companionship, or anyone to talk to her. Mizuki wasn't paid to entertain her, and with the age gap between them, it proved difficult to find anything in common even if Akito tried.

She went with her mother and Hatori to visit a specialist outside the Honke, but he determined that she ought to be strong enough to carry the baby to term, but also that she was, indeed, twelve weeks pregnant, and thus an abortion at this stage would be more risky to her health. Ren was thoroughly satisfied with his response, but Hatori remained quiet and pensive.

Akito was fuming. She didn't want that thing inside her and she didn't want to carry it for twenty-eight more weeks. When the three of them returned to the Sohma estate, Akito was formulating her own plan.

If no one would give her the abortion, she would take the parasite out herself.

All she needed was a knife.

And the kitchen was full of them.

When night fell, and the servants had all gone to bed, Akito crept out of her room and glided silently across the wooden floors to the kitchen. Although she had gone to the kitchen many times in search of snacks, she wasn't familiar with the setup and where the servants stored things. She flicked the light switch on, but quickly changed her mind when she questioned the brightness of it if someone were to wake up and glance down the hallway. She settled on turning the light on above the sink. It wasn't nearly as bright as the main lights overhead, and she hoped it wouldn't catch anyone's attention.

She went about on her search now, carefully pulling open drawers, looking for the perfect knife. She found one that looked ideal for slicing open fish; it was thin, and the blade proved to be very sharp. She ran her finger over it gently and it sliced through her delicate skin without the slightest bit of pressure.

Satisfied, she took the knife and tucked it into her obi.

She slipped back to her room, keeping an eye out for anyone who might have stirred in the course of her midnight hunt. Closing the door behind her, she tiptoed warily into her room and walked into her private bathroom. She stepped up to the mirror over the sink and stared back at her reflection. Her face looked paler than usual, but determination was fixated in her grey eyes. She took the knife out of her obi and placed it next to the porcelain basin. From the drawer under the sink, she pulled out a little sewing kit she had found that afternoon. She ran the needle under some hot water, dried it, and then, with some difficulty, slid a thread through the hole at the end. She pulled out some red towels that she had heedfully snuck into her room and hid under the sink. She put one on the floor under her, another on the sink next to the basin, and the other on the lid of the toilet (just in case she needed it).

She looked over her operating station, ensuring that everything was ready to go. She put some gauze next to the towel on the sink and took a deep breath.

She stripped out of her nightclothes and hung them on the hooks behind the bathroom door. Her eyes examined her body's reflection in the mirror. Her breasts were growing as a result of the pregnancy, giving them a fuller, more desirable appeal. Her stomach, although appearing normal, looked like it was starting to grow (or maybe that was simply a trick of her mind?). As she stared at her reflection, it began to dawn on her. Her actions would be irreversible in the end.

But it has to go! Akito reminded herself. The parasite had to come out, and if Hatori or the experts wouldn't do it, she had to.

She picked the knife up and ran it under some hot water. She wiped the water off the blade on the towel and held it over her stomach.

Her throat closed up and she could feel her heart beat quicken. Sweat began to form on her brow as she looked at her stomach in the mirror, the blade just centimetres away from her skin.

Do it, she told herself. You have to do it!

It's the only way!

Her hands began to tremble as Shigure appeared in her mind, holding her naked body to his, his kisses trailing over her shoulders and down her breasts. The touch of his hands on her hips. How he intoxicated her…

It had all been for him.

Because she loved him.

But did he love her back?

Tears filled her eyes. She grazed the knife across her stomach lightly, marking the path she would make as it drew a thin red line of blood.

She tried to swallow, but couldn't.

I'm sorry, she told the child inside her.

She poised the knife over her starting line and was about to press down when the bathroom door swung open.

She whirled around, brandishing the knife at the intruder and her eyes widened in horror.

"Ku-Kureno?" she gasped.

He had heard her moving around the house and decided to check up on her. He had not expected to find her like this.

He stared back at her in horror, immediately grabbing her hand with the knife and thrusting it away from her. He gripped her hand against the wall as she struggled to fight him off, to no avail.

"What are you doing?" he demanded urgently in a whisper, looking at the red line of blood across her stomach.

"Kureno, I… I…" she stammered, feeling herself shake under his strong grasp as the blood raced from her head. She suddenly felt dizzy and she wavered.

He took the knife from her then and tried to hold her up with his other hand.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" he demanded under his breath, taking in the scene around him—especially the needle and thread.

"No," she began to sob then as she collapsed onto him, quivering all over. "I don't want it! I want it out!"

He put the knife down on the towel next to the sink and lifted her into his arms. He didn't know what she had been thinking, but he knew better than to question her in that moment. And he knew that he could not leave her alone now.

He carried her to her bed and gently placed her down. She immediately curled into a ball, shaking with sobs. He went back to the bathroom, looking for bandages to wrap up her cut, and saw that she had already placed some aside. He stared back at her quivering, naked form, clinging desperately to herself from some unknown tormentor. He tried to put the pieces together in his mind as he returned to her and asked her to sit up so he could wrap the gauze around her. She complied without protest. When he had finished, she gripped the sleeve of his nightclothes, her gaze on the floor.

"Don't leave me. Please," she begged in a barely audible whisper.

Completely bewildered by her request, he stared at her, still shivering in her vulnerability. He'd never seen this side of her before, except when her father died.

He agreed without a word, and wrapped her thin summer blankets around her. He lay down on his back a few inches from her, but she snuggled in close and rested her head on his arm.

He wondered what kind of thoughts had been corrupting her mind as he observed her fall asleep in peace next to him. He watched in painful silence as his former god clung to the only person to save her from herself.

And he knew that he could never leave her again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Honestly, it breaks my heart to call my little tenshi a parasite, but that's how I would imagine Akito to view the baby given her situation… T.T

By the way, I in NO WAY promote Akito's thoughts and actions in this chapter (a caesarean abortion?). I know that people are driven to extreme measures in situations like these, and by writing it, I am not saying that I approve of it. I am writing it based on how I believe Akito would deal with it. I have my beliefs, and Akito has hers. Let's try and remain true to her character, shall we? Thank you.