Kami smiled as she headed to the bookstore. The store owner had called her to inform her that the new book Kami was waiting for had arrived. She was excited. It was the final book of the romance series that she read. She walked in and the owner looked over. "Oh hello Miss Kibaru."
"Good morning." Kami smiled. "I'm here for the new book."
"It's right here." The owner, an older woman, pulled out a packaged book. "Why don't you look around and see if there's anything new that interests you."
"Alright." Kami started to walk around the shop. "I should grab a new book for Miyako. She was complaining that she needed a new book on the way home." Kami smiled as she thought back to the morning yesterday. The Sohmas, Tohru, Kami and her cousins had driven back. Kyo and Yuki had been happy because Kami let Yuki join them in their car. Kami had been driving. Yuki didn't want to go with Ayame back, so Kami dropped him off at Shigure's on their way home. Kami missed the lake house, it was so nice. But now she was home and everything would return to normal.
"Oh." Kami picked up a small book about bears. She smiled. "Ariki would love this!" Kami put it in the small bag she carried and then headed towards the front desk.
"Find anything good?" The owner asked, chuckling at the three other books Kami had found. "Yes. My cousins will love these books."
The owner smiled. "Alright then." She started to ring the books up. The door opened behind Kami. "I'll be with you young man." The owner smiled.
"I'm just here to pick up the order Shigure Sohma ordered." Kami turned to see Hatori and blinked.
"Hatori?!"
He looked at her. "Oh, hello Kami. Here shopping for books? I would think all those books Shigure loaned you would be enough."
Kami chuckled and moved out of his way so he could pay for his package. "I had a book on order and came to pick it up. And now I'm getting some books for my cousins."
Hatori nodded and paid for his books. "Thank you." He said to the owner and then Kami and Hatori walked out together.
"Thank you for taking my cousins and us to the lake house." Kami smiled.
Hatori nodded. "It was no problem." He walked next to her. "Thank you for cooking all the food. It was delicious."
Kami smiled. "It was nothing. I'm glad that I was able to do something to pay you all back for the wonder trip."
Hatori nodded. He looked at her back. "So what books did you get?"
"Oh." Kami smiled and pulled out one of the books. It was the one about bears. "This one is for my cousin Ariki. She's only ten, but she's part of the curse. She's a polar bear." Kami smiled. "So she loves anything to do with bears."
Hatori nodded. "You spend your own money to get books for your cousins?"
Kami nodded. "It's one of the ways I let them know they are never alone. It's hard being part of the curse…. You probably know all about that…" Kami sighed. "I'm the oldest and have to do my best to show them life isn't that bad."
Hatori nodded. "Shigure, Ayame and I are the oldest in our generation of those cursed." He looked off. "But you know those two, they aren't the best examples."
Kami chuckled. "Yes." She flushed slightly as she noticed she had lost track of where she was walking with Hatori. The two had just been letting their feet guide them. They were in a park area where many loving couples were sitting together. "Uh…."
Hatori was looking off, lost in thought. Kami stared at him confused. "Kami… Does your family have a head who is part of the curse?"
Kami froze and nodded. "Yukio…."
Hatori looked over at her. "He directs those cursed and holds them close?"
Kami nodded and sat down. "From the moment I was born I've been forced to obey him…. I'm connected to him."
Hatori nodded. "Same for us with Akito. He is the God of the zodiac. We have to sacrifice for him…."
"Hatori?" Kami looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"…I almost got married once…" Hatori said, surprising Kami. His eyes glazed over as he stared out at the park.
"Really?" Kami blinked.
"Her name was Kana. She was my assistant for a while…. She discovered the curse, and she accepted me."
Kami nodded. "To find someone who accepts you even with your curse is amazing." Kami smiled. "In our family it has always been cursed member with cursed member…. Or rare occasions someone will find someone outside who never learns of the curse because of control over emotions…. It's all of our wishes to find that person who will accept us."
Hatori nodded. "It is hard… Kana was a rare occurrence." He looked off. "But she was only a moment in my life."
"What happened…. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Kami said quickly, and a little embarrassed that she was talking about all of this with Hatori. But he felt like someone who would understand… Someone like her.
"I asked Akito for his permission to marry Kana." Hatori sighed. "And the small moment ended." He closed his eyes. "Akito in his anger threw a vase at me." He touched his eye covered by hair. "This eye is partly blind."
"I'm sorry Hatori." Kami reached forward and touched his other hand. She blushed as he looked up at her. She pulled back. "What happened after that?"
"Kana blamed herself." Hatori continued. "She got sick…. And after a while… I erased her memory, so she wouldn't have to live with the false guilt."
Kami froze. "You…" She looked at him.
"I have the ability to erase memories." Hatori nodded. He looked at her, as if expecting her to move away.
"Hatori I'm sorry…. To erase the memories of the person you love." She felt tears coming to her eyes. "That's horrible."
"Kami…" Hatori whispered.
"Have you seen her since?" Kami looked away from him. He probably still loves her….
"She just got married…" Hatori said calmly. "The first day while we were at the lake house."
"Oh Hatori…." Kami covered her mouth. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright… She's happy now." He looked off. "That's all I care about."
"You're such a nice guy, Hatori." Kami smiled. "I hope you find your own happiness." She got up. You deserve to find your own happiness, since it's not your fault. She's the one who choose to forget you."
Hatori looked at her. "You sound like Ayame."
Kami smiled. "As long as I'm not acting like him."
"Now can I ask you another question… Why are you still in school, you should be out living your life by now."
Kami sighed and sat back down. "My emotion is nervousness… When I get nervous and worry about something too strongly…" She closed her eyes. "When I was ten my mother got sick. I was constantly nervous that she wouldn't be okay. I spent a lot of that time as a fox curled up by my mom's bed. For years I missed lots of school. I missed a total of four years. My mom was sick for three year… and then she died and I couldn't bring myself to go to school for the next year."
"I'm sorry." Hatori rested his hand on her shoulder.
"There is nothing I can do about it…. And I don't want you to erase my memories." She smiled. "I want to cherish those memories…. I loved my mother."
Hatori watched her for a moment. "What does your family do for relationships? Those that are cursed?"
"I'm not sure how Yukio will work with it… I'm the oldest and we all keep our relationships secret from Yukio…. My cousin Tai had a girlfriend who didn't know about his curse for a while… He told Yukio and Yukio just warned him to be careful… His emotion is when he's tired. After that Tai just felt too distant from his girlfriend. He broke up with her a month later."
"It sounds more like Yukio heightens your feelings, instead of tries to help you live happily."
Kami nodded. "That's what he does." She got up. "I'd better head home." She started to walk off thinking about her own future.
"Kami!" She turned to see Hatori looking straight after her. "I have one more question." He walked up towards her.
"Yes?" Kami blinked.
"Would you…." He took a deep breath. "Like to join me for dinner tomorrow night?"
"Dinner?" Kami blinked and blushed bright red. "As in… a date?!"
Hatori nodded. "I…. I like you Kami. I've been telling myself not to try any new relationships. From the moment I meet you… You were beautiful and kind. I choose to ignore my feelings… I won't now."
Kami smiled. "Hatori….I…. I've been so focused on taking care of my family, I haven't wanted to admit my own feelings." She chuckled. "We are very similar aren't we?"
Hatori nodded. "I will see you tomorrow then?"
Kami nodded. She looked down and then leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Tomorrow." She grabbed her bag of books and rushed off, blushing bright red. She was surprised that she didn't feel any nervousness about anything. Instead she felt excited.
Kami set the bag down as she spotted a little girl with white hair running toward her. "KAMI!"
"Ariki?" Kami blinked. "What's wrong?"
"It's Rinji." She grabbed Kami's sleeve and tugged at it. "Come on! You have to help!"
"What happened?" Kami asked as he tugged her along. "Where is he?"
"He's trapped!"
"What happened?" Kami asked.
"He accidently kicked a ball and shattered the window…. So he transformed and ran into hide and tripped over the ball. He got stuck in a hole and I can't pull him out!"
"Let's go get that little rascal." Kami smiled and hurried in after Ariki. She found a small black and white tail sticking out of the wall. "Rinji hang on!" Kami started to tug at the little raccoon and after a minute managed to pull out the raccoon. "There you go." She set him down on the ground. "No need to freak out." She smiled. "It was an accident. You don't have to feel guilty."
The raccoon looked down and grumbled. "Rinji!" A little polar bear rushed forward and nuzzled against the raccoon.
"Ariki…. Oh great… Now you've transformed." He grumbled.
"It's okay. "She smiled. She moved back and took a deep breath. Suddenly she turned back. She smiled. "Now you're turn."
The raccoon looked down, but he turned back into a young ten year old boy with greying white hair. "Thanks Kami…" He grumbled.
"It's okay." Kami smiled and patted his head.
"Oh shut up!" He grumbled annoyed.
Kami chuckled. "I brought you a new book Ariki." Kami smiled and walked over to where her bag was. She pulled out the book and handed it to Ariki. "No need to hug me, you'll transform again."
Ariki chuckled. "Okay. Thank you for the book." She hugged the book and smiled.
"No problem." Kami smiled and patted her head. "I'm going to head home. I'll see you later."
"Hey…" Rinji shifted. "You seem really happy right now… Did something good happen?"
Kami smiled. "Nothing you'd understand right now." She patted his head, thinking about her date with Hatori the next day. "Take care." She turned and walked off leaving her cousins standing there. I can't wait till tomorrow…. My own happiness will come hopefully. She smiled.