Chapter 8: Silent but Deadly
I gotta give my cousins props. They moved quickly. Yuki caught me mid-fall and rushed behind the nearest trees. Haru distracted the poor guy who had banged into me. Of course Haru could never politely distract someone. He had to start screaming. I groaned internally. Geez Haru…
Haru's P.O.V
It was that kid from our class who'd known sign language. He'd been reading a book while he walked so he had banged right into Rei. For the love of god it was only her first day…
"What are you yelling at me for?" Mateo asked calmly.
That stopped me. I had just been yelling random nonsense at him.
"Did I hurt anyone?" He asked worriedly. "Hey, I thought I heard more than one voice. You, Yuki, and those 2 were here. He pointed to Tohru and Kyo. "So where is Yuki?" Kyo had a snarl on his face and Tohru tried to glance around in way she obviously hoped was inconspicuous. She was looking to see where Rei and Yuki had gone.
"Ummm Mateo-san-
"I'm terribly sorry if my cousins have bothered you Mateo-san." Yuki came to Tohru's rescue as he reappeared from behind some bushes shooting me a quick glance and gave a sharp jerk of his silver head toward the tree behind me. I nodded.
"It's fine." Mateo seemed slightly bewildered. He gave us all a last puzzled look, watching me warily as if afraid I'd deck him or something. As soon as he'd gone his way, Tohru turned to us.
"Erm, Yuki-kun?"
"Yes Miss Honda?"
"Where is Rei-san?"
"I got her." I trotted over to the tall oak tree behind me and looked up. The next thing I knew, I was laying on my back in the middle of the clearing. Sitting on my chest was a small black panther. Its sharp white teeth gleamed wickedly at me and its needle like nails dug into my shirt. Staring at it, my eyes met startling green ones. I gave a chuckle and shoved the panther off me.
"You know Rei; you need to be a bit more cautious." The panther just sat up and began licking her paws. She was only the size of a small border-collie and her thick black fur was still short though slightly mussed. Her midnight coat still gleamed in the sun.
"Wait! So that panther-that's Rei-san?" Tohru gasped stunned. "She's part of the zodiac?" I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. Sometimes Tohru was overly forgetful. Luckily, Yuki decided to explain it.
"Rei is a part of the zodiac, but not a very well know part of it. Unfortunately, since it seems it has been awhile since she last transformed, Rei may be awhile changing back."
I bent down and picked up clothes that I'd hidden in the grass behind me when Mateo had appeared. I folded them and put them in my school bag.
"C'mon guys, time to head home." I started walking down a path. I then became aware that only Rei was following me. And I felt stares on my back.
"Guys?"
They were all looking at me with the strangest look on they're faces. Kyo suddenly exploded into insanely loud laughter. Rei just rolled her eyes. (This let me tell you, looks really strange on a panther) Yuki chuckled softly and even Tohru seemed to find something funny. But she swallowed her laughter and walked up to me. She then whispered quietly:
"The house is that way Hatsuharu-san." She pointed in the opposite direction than I was going. I flushed slightly.
"Ah." I sighed. "Oh well. I admit defeat. I can't for the life of me ever find anything. Lead the way Tohru." So we all marched down the path to Shigure's house. Kyo gave me an angry look when he realized I was staying with them for the time being. As if I wanted to be near Akito when one of his favorite toys (Rei) was no longer there to play with. Yeah, right.
"Welcome home everyone!" Shigure sang. And in a way, I was home. This was the one place I wanted to be.