Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction / Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Long Denied ❯ Black Scorpion ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to post, but my disk died and all my future chapters have been erased. Sigh...Now I've had to rewrite everything.

Remember Shigure's little stone Junikyu in the first episode? Ever wonder what happened to them?

Ritsu's mother once told Tohru that her child traveled the world. Ever wonder where he went?

Thanks to all the reviewers, passed 100 reviews and that's a record for me!



Long Denied
Chapter 12: Black Scorpion



Tohru-



"Don't cry, mom. Please, don't cry."

"You have to remember, life's hard. It's never easy."

"I know, mom." Tohru's mom always said that when it had been a hard day and she came home looking so tired. "Don't be afraid. It'll be all right. I'll make sure everything works out." Tohru wasn't sure how she would do that, but she knew it was very important to make her mom happy. It was her dearest wish, ever since she could remember, to make her mom happy.

"Will it?" Kyoko put her arms around Tohru as they sat together on the floor of their apartment. "I lost my job, Tohru. There's no money to pay the rent and no money for food. Is it really going to be all right?"

"Yes, mom." Tohru said, completely faithful that life would turn out the way it was meant to. She didn't know how, but she would fix it if she had to. That was all that mattered, making her mom happy. "I promise."

Kyoko looked at her with eyes that seemed startled by Tohru's unflinching faith that the world would do as she thought it should before she began crying and lay her head on Tohru's little shoulder. "My precious..." Kyoko whispered. "What would I do without you?"

Tohru laughed. "You don't have to think about that, mom. I'll always be here. I'll always love you."

"Don't talk like that, Tohru." Kyoko pulled away slightly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "You don't have to always be with me. One day, you'll want to leave and have your own life. That's all right, I want you to have your own life. It's normal for you to fall in love and..."

The thought horrified Tohru. "NO!" She cried, throwing her arms around her mom and hugging her as tightly as she could. "I don't want to leave you, mom. Please, I don't want to leave you!" Tohru's eyes stung with tears of fear. She had never been able to understand why anyone would want to fall in love, she was already devoted to her mother. "Don't make me leave you, mom. I want to always be with you."

The thought of being alone terrified Tohru more than she could say. Her whole life centered on her mom, she really didn't care to much for other people, only mom. It was only because her mom had once commented that she was worried about Tohru's lack of friends that Tohru tried to make any. She was glad she had, in the end, that was how she'd met Uo-chan. She had no desire for friends or learning or anything unless it made her mom happy.

Kyoko patted Tohru's hair, her eyes filled with grief, but also with something else. "Oh, sweetie. Sometimes, I wonder..."

"Wonder what, mom?" Tohru asked, looking up at her mom's worried face.

"I worry, Tohru." Kyoko put on hand against Tohru's cheek and studied her face carefully. "I worry that he's going to come and take you away. He was right, you know. He sold me my hope, my dream."

"He who?" Tohru asked. She had a brief, fleeting memory of a man with mismatched eyes, but it was like a faded dream. She had the instinctive feeling that her mom was talking about this man, but that couldn't be. "No one will ever take me away from you, mom. I'll stay with you forever, I promise."

"Honey, you're twelve. You're going to feel different when you're sixteen or seventeen and some great guy comes into your life and sweeps you off your feet."

"No, I won't. No one's ever going to be as important to me as you are." Tohru had no doubts about that and she met her mom's eyes easily. "Tell me who you're afraid will take me away, please. I'll stay far away from him."

Kyoko shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He said he was going away. He won't take you away from me, not now, it's been so long. I was afraid that if I didn't give you a good enough life that he'd take you away. He didn't seem quite human, but I guess my mind was playing tricks on me. Of course he was human. Never mind me, dear. I'm being foolish. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll get a new job tomorrow. I hear the supermarket's hiring. We'll have ramen for dinner, anyway."



Tohru woke up and stared, for a moment, at the orange plastic of her tent. It glowed slightly as the morning sun shone through it. A soft breeze made the light plastic rustle and Tohru remembered where she was. Alone.

The dream had been a memory of years ago, when her mom was still alive and well, and Tohru still felt the pain of loss. Her mom had been dead for a week now, but the pain of her loss hadn't diminished one bit.

'I promised mom I'd never leave her alone.' Tohru rolled over onto her side and her eyes instantly fell on the photograph of her smiling mom. 'So...why did she leave me?' The question hung in Tohru's mind for a depressingly long time. She loved her mom so much. Why did she have to die? A car accident. Just an accident. It could have happened to anyone. If her mom had just stayed home from work that day or had left home five minutes earlier or later, everything would have been fine. Now, there was nothing Tohru could do for her mom.

Tohru had stood at her mom's grave with Hana-chan and Uo-chan at her sides, both hugging her and mourning with her. Tohru knew that Uo-chan thought a lot of Tohru's mom, it had taken a lot of courage for Uo-chan to get away from that gang and she probably wouldn't have done it without Tohru's mom. Hana-chan cared a great deal for Tohru, and Tohru knew that Hana-chan really had no friends before they'd met. They were both so special to Tohru that Tohru was glad her mom had wanted her to make friends.

She knew they were with her to support her and to show respect for her mom, but in one terrible moment, Tohru wanted them to just disappear. She didn't want to hear them crying and didn't want to see them. Yes, it was a selfish thought. Tohru wanted to be alone so she could kill herself.

That was what the small kitchen knife was for, so she could do it. Tohru wanted to die so badly, but she didn't want to make anyone else sad so Tohru had planned to wait until she was alone. After all, without her mom, Tohru was nothing. How could she life without her mom? Nothing mattered now. Who was she supposed to live for? Who would need her like her mom had needed her? Who should she make happy?

Then, Uo-chan had rubbed her hand up and down one of Torhu's arms and said something that reminded Tohru of her responsibility.

"Do you think you'll go back to school tomorrow?"

It was such a simple question, but Tohru had no answer. She had never really had an interest in learning and only went because it made her mom happy. Her only friends were Hana-chan and Uo-chan and, though the thought of hurting them made her squirm, Tohru knew they were both strong. They didn't really need her and she owed her mom her loyalty. She had to keep her promise, never to leave her mom. Hana-chan and Uo-chan would be all right if Tohru left them. She really should, she promised mom...the small knife felt very heavy in Tohru's pocket.

'I'm not afraid. I have to keep my promise.' Tohru didn't like the fluttering in her stomach when she thought about the knife and felt her friends arms around her. She couldn't be afraid. She couldn't break her promise.

"Your mother said she wanted you to finish high school, didn't she?" Hana-chan spoke with her normally soft voice, though her hand tightened where it lay on Tohru's arm, as if she knew what was going through Tohru's mind. "I think it was important to her."

"Yes." Tohru replied, her voice still dull with grief. It seemed like she'd cried for hours. "She told me...she said I had to. I had to get my diploma." That was it, then. She couldn't join her mom again until after she'd done the last thing her mom wanted her to do. First, graduate high school, then...then she could be with her mom again.

Tohru sat up in the tent, ducking her head so she wouldn't bump it against the poles that held the tent up. 'Well, I can't just lay here. There's to much to do and it'll take an hour to walk to school.' Tohru knew her mom would hate for her to show any weakness; her mom was so strong and Tohru was sure she would want Tohru to be strong, too. Even if life was so hard, Tohru had to be strong. Living in a tent wasn't so bad. At least she had fresh air and peace and quiet. No loud cars around or choking smog from the city.

"No time for laying about!" Tohru said out loud, keeping a bright smile on her face as she stepped out of the tent to get dressed. It was really to small to change her clothes inside the tent and, though modesty made her nervous and red-faced, Tohru stepped out into the cool morning air. She pulled off her pajamas and dressed in her slightly rumpled school uniform as quickly as possible, though the possibility of someone seeing her this far out in the forest was very slim. Tohru couldn't stand the thought of someone seeing her undressed.

Her school uniform was in need of a wash and Tohru though that maybe she should stop at the Laundromat after work. Then there was food to be thinking about, she had to find something to eat since she didn't get paid for another two days. So much to worry about, but it would only be for a couple of years. Life would get easier when she could move back in with her grandfather and when she started getting paid at her job. She crawled back into the small tent to grab her school bag and her eyes fell again on her mom.

"I'm doing this for you, mom. I'll do my best to make you happy." Even if she didn't really see the point in living without her mom, Tohru would keep going on until she got her diploma. During her walk towards school, Tohru noticed a large house she hadn't seen before.


Shigure-


"Going out, Yuki?" Shigure asked, watching Yuki pull on his dirty, worn gardening gloves.

"What does it look like?" Yuki answered in a slightly distasteful tone, as if just talking to Shigure were beneath him.

Shigure didn't mind. At least Yuki was talking and had interest in something. "Well, I suppose it's to much to hope for that you're going out on a date." Shigure sighed dramatically. "Such a pity and I was sure that you'd be able to pick out one girl at your school that you'd like above the others. Or boy, far be it from me to limit your choices. You know, if it's a boy you're interested in..."

"Shut up!" Yuki snapped, irritably as he walked away. "You know damned well what I'm doing, so just leave me alone!"

Shigure smiled at Yuki's back, not bothering to tell Yuki what he knew. Yuki was getting better, but it was happening very slowly. To slowly. Still, Yuki was right. Shigure did know where Yuki was going and he knew why Yuki was going there. Tomorrow was Akito's birthday and Yuki was going to pick a bouquet of flowers for him.

'How Yuki would hate it if anyone found out he gave Akito flowers for a birthday gift.' Shigure chuckled at the thought. No one would ever imagine that Yuki had any kind of romantic feelings for Akito; that would never happen. Though Shigure was the last one on Earth who would preach the immortality of homosexual love, he was very sure that nothing would ever develop between Akito and Yuki. They simply had to much bad blood between them.

Yuki feared Akito more than he feared anyone else, even his foster parents who'd regularly beaten him. It was tradition to give the head of the family a gift on his birthday, though, and Yuki couldn't break tradition. The young rat usually ended up giving Akito the best flowers from his garden. He always seemed more than a little embarrassed when he handed Akito the bouquet, especially since the gifts were normally given at a gathering and Yuki had to do it in front of everyone.

Everyone in the family knew Yuki didn't feel that 'way' about Akito, even Akito himself knew, but that didn't stop Yuki from blushing dark red when Akito took the flowers from him. It wasn't a pleasant blush, either. Embarrassment from making a spectacle of himself in front of everyone made Yuki blush. Yuki was so painfully modest and bashful, though, that he always felt as if everyone were watching him and judging him. He'd had the notion that he had to be perfect ingrained into him practically since birth and he was having a hard time learning to be a normal sixteen year old boy. He had to give the perfect gift, had to make Akito happy.

Yuki was simply giving his best for Akito and, as Yuki really didn't have any interests outside his little garden, there was nothing else he could give Akito.

It was the same with all the cursed members of the family, the gift for Akito that was something personal and usually hand made. Even Kyou normally gave Akito a gift, though he wouldn't be invited to the gathering. Instead, Kyou would present Akito with the gift privately. It was another example of how the cat was excluded. The gifts always varied, but they were always given from the heart, trying to show their respect and gratitude for the sacrifice Akito made for them.

Shigure had thought long and hard about what to give Akito. Akito wasn't exactly the easiest person to buy for. Not only did he have no hobbies, job, or any interests outside the inner circle of the Souma family, but everyone in the family would be giving him a gift, not just the Junikyu. Shigure knew that Akito wouldn't have the slightest interest in most of the gifts given to him and that, often, Kureno would sell off the unwanted gifts and put the money into one of the family's accounts.

There was a reason for all the gifts and it wasn't because they wanted Akito to be happy. It was another one of the more distasteful Souma traditions that everyone in the family who gave the head of the family a gift on their birthday was to be granted a single favor.

'Stupid tradition.' Shigure thought, as he contemplated what he should give Akito. "He gets irritated and takes it out on everyone around him. Whoever started this tradition should have been shot with a dull bullet.' Shigure hated Akito's birthday, even though he worked hard to give Akito the perfect gift. He liked giving Akito gifts, but he hated that damned tradition. It made Akito so unhappy. 'He's got reason to be unhappy. I'd be pissy, too, if the only reason people gave me birthday presents was because I would have to give them a favor.' The mere fact that a lot of people would abuse the tradition of Akito's birthday and ask for things that might be illegal or hurt the family, meant that visitors were carefully screened before they were allowed to see Akito and Hatori was a harsh judge. First they had to get passed Kureno and then, Hatori would decide if they would be allowed to see Akito.

Of course, Shigure would be allowed in, he always was. All Junikyu gave Akito gifts, it was expected, but they never asked favors. Again, it was expected. The perfect gift couldn't just be bought at a store, it had to be special.

Shigure wanted his gift to stand out, even from the other Junikyu gifts. Every year Shigure worked hard to produce the perfect gift and he rarely failed to bring a smile to Akito's face. This year, Shigure wasn't sure what he was going to do. In his experience, simple gifts that had something to do with the family, were Akito's favorites. That was how he'd come to the idea to use rocks from his front garden. Shigure had never had any talent with painting, but he did his best to paint with black ink, the same stuff he used for his writing, on stones, trying to make them look somewhat like the twelve Junikyu animals. He debated on whether or not to include the cat, but it was hard to decide. His heart told him that Kyou belonged with the rest of them, but he didn't think Akito would appreciate it. In the end, Shigure did paint a cat, but he made sure Akito wouldn't notice it. He painted a very small cat's face on the underside of the stone he used for the dog's face and seriously doubted that Akito would turn over the rock to look at the bottom.

When he was finished with the gift, Shigure left the twelve stones on the back porch to dry and went back inside his house. Aside from all the family worries, Shigure still had a job to do and he had a deadline in just a few weeks with three chapters left to his latest novel.

On his way to his study, Shigure passed Yuki's bedroom and noted, with a bit of despair, that the room was still spartan and bland. In almost an entire year since Yuki had come to live with Shigure, Yuki hadn't made any effort to make the room a home and it had no personal affects besides Yuki's school bag sitting neatly on the desk and a mirror that Yuki had turned to face the wall. It seemed that Yuki hated looking at himself as much as Ayame did. Yuki had improved a bit during his stay with Shigure but, despite the fact that Yuki hadn't tried to kill himself lately, Shigure was still worried. They boy hadn't made any friends at school, at least none he ever spoke of. Hatori said this was because of that 'incident' when so many of Yuki's friend had had their memories taken when Yuki was a child.

"He learned very suddenly that friends will only bring him pain." Hatori had explained, his own dead voice giving away none of the pain he must have felt at remembering what he'd done to Yuki. "He won't make any friends, because he's afraid he'll lose them. It hurts to much to lose someone once you give them your heart. He isn't brave enough to try again. Not yet, anyway."

Shigure still remembered that day years ago when Hatori had come staggering to Shigure's house and collapsed, weeping, into Ayame's arms. He'd cried for a long time that day and felt a great deal of guilt for the pain Yuki had suffered.

Shigure had hoped that starting a new school without any other Souma's around would give Yuki the courage to try making friends. Apparently, though, sending Yuki to school with girls wasn't as good an idea as Shigure had thought it would be. The girls made Yuki more nervous and introverted than normal and Yuki couldn't relate to the other boys at all. So Yuki went to school, easily
made excellent grades, stayed out of trouble, and was massively popular. Still, he radiated an atmosphere of being deeply unhappy and nothing Shigure did or said could shake it. Yuki never really smiled.

'I'll have to think of something else. I don't know what else to do, though. I'd like to send him to a therapist, but it's to dangerous. He won't talk to anyone in the family, including me, and I don't even think he realizes how much danger he's in. He just doesn't care anymore.'

When Shigure returned to his painted stones a short while later, after a painful battle with writer's block, he stopped short at the sight of a young girl in a school uniform admiring the stones Shigure had painted.

She wasn't human.

She stood near his porch, smiling innocently at the collection of rocks Shigure had just painted. She was small and frail looking, with arms and legs that were a little to thin to be properly healthy. Her brown hair was quite long and looked a bit scraggly at the ends, as if she needed a haircut, though it looked clean and tidy. Her face was broad with large eyes that seemed enchanted with the stones.

For a moment, Shigure just stood there, with his newspaper in his hands, staring at the girl who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he was less than five feet away. She LOOKED human, but wasn't. Shigure looked the girl up and down, trying to decide what was wrong but he couldn't see a thing about her that was out of the ordinary. She LOOKED like a normal girl, but she wasn't.


"My word! Do my eyes deceive me or is there a strange young girl standing on my porch?" Shigure spoke at last, irritated with himself for not knowing what about the girl was wrong. His nose was telling him she couldn't be human, yet his eyes were telling him that she obviously was human.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I was just looking. I didn't mean to barge in without permission!" She panicked, looking extremely embarrassed and perhaps even afraid that she thought Shigure would beat her for just standing around.

"It's all right. I just set them out to dry, no harm done."

They spoke like this for a while, a pleasant, meaningless chatter. The girl, or whatever she was, admiring Shigure's stone paintings and telling him about some story her mother had told her about the legend of the Zodiac animals while Shigure was trying to figure out what the girl was. She was disappointed when she found that there was no cat in Shigure's Zodiac and told him how sorry she felt that the poor cat had to be forever alone. Shigure thought of Kyou, living pretty much happily on the other side of the city with Kazuma and wondered who really had the worst part of the deal. Was it Kyou, the outcast of the family, or Yuki, the treasured 'darling' of the family who was kept so close he was virtually a prisoner in his own home until Shigure had taken him away.

She smelled entirely wrong. Humans smelled a certain way and animals smelled another way. Junikyu had their own, distinctive scent. This girl, though she did remind Shigure of the scent of some kind of animal, he couldn't figure out what animal she reminded him of. 'She can't be human, no matter what she looks like.' Shigure thought, carrying on the conversation with the girl, or whatever she was.

Either his eyes or his nose was lying to him and Shigure wasn't sure what he should do. She didn't seem at all threatening, but Shigure's nose never failed him. She smelled strongly of humans, but her basic scent wasn't. She must have spent a lot of time with humans or the scent wouldn't be so well hidden. Shigure's mind filed through all the possibilities of who and what this Honda Tohru could be and found the choices limited. She couldn't be human, that was impossible. She couldn't be Junikyu, there were only thirteen cursed people, and they were all known. She could be like Akito who didn't smell exactly human, but didn't transform, but that didn't make any sense, either. There was only one head of the family.

When she admitted that her zodiac sign was the dog, Shigure knew she was lying. He would have known if she were a dog. Still, he played along with her lie. "Funny, I wonder what he'll say when he hears he has a fan."

"He?"

Shigure realized his mistake at once and covered it quickly. "So, you were born in the year of the dog? I knew there was something I liked about you, besides your pretty face." It just wouldn't do to let outsiders, let alone someone Shigure couldn't tell what they were. Luckily, she either didn't notice Shigure's slip or she chose to ignore it. Unluckily, for Shigure, someone else did notice his last comment.

A sharp, sudden pain made Shigure lose his train of thought and, when his head cleared, Yuki was standing over him, with a deceivingly sweet smile that he only wore for outsiders.

"Please, forgive my cousin, Honda-san. He's a bit of a flirt, but he's harmless. In general it's usually just best to ignore him."

The girl, Honda-san, looked at Yuki with something close to adoration and it was clear that whatever she was, she admired Yuki a great deal. 'So, not human, but with human reactions. She acts just like a girl with her first crush.' Shigure noted, seeing the girl's faint blush.

Yuki was his usual, coolly polite self when he spoke to the girl and, much to Shigure's surprise, Yuki knew her. Honda Tohru, from school, was a girl in Yuki's class and she behaved like almost any other young girl would. She was slightly flushed at being in the company of a boy who was so obviously popular at school, but smiled sweetly at them.

If Shigure had been any thinner skinned, he would think how ungrateful Yuki was to someone who'd saved his life. 'It's not as if he wanted to be saved, though.' Shigure admitted to himself, remembering how angry Yuki had been when he'd woken up and found that he hadn't died, as he'd planned to. There had been days of angry glaring and stomping around the house by Yuki. 'Well, he's going to have to get used to it. I don't care if he thinks I'm to nosy for my own good.'

As Yuki spoke to Honda-san, Shigure was still thinking more of what the girl was rather than the conversation. He paid attention just enough to be surprised when she admitted that she lived close by. The fact was that she couldn't live close by, Shigure owned all the property around his house for almost a full half-mile. She was lying, but Shigure had no idea why.

When Yuki suggested that he and Honda-san walk to school together Shigure felt a spark of worry. If he didn't know what Tohru was, how could he be sure that she wouldn't hurt Yuki? 'She can't be human, so Yuki might not be safe in her company.' Shigure watched the two teenagers walk away with suspicious, narrowed eyes. 'And I promised Akito that I'd protect Yuki.'

Shigure followed them to school that day, trailing carefully behind the two and keeping a close eye on them. Tohru didn't threaten Yuki in anyway, though, and, in fact, seemed remarkably nervous just walking next to him. Nothing odd happened, except that Shigure got his first look at Yuki's 'fan club', and gained a new appreciation for Yuki's stamina in putting up with that nonsense.

Shigure went home as soon as the two reached the gates of the high school, at least a little reassured that the girl wouldn't hurt Yuki. He was no wiser than he had been when he first saw her and that irritated Shigure more than anything had in a long time.

Honda Tohru didn't seem to be at all dangerous. Still, Shigure hated mysteries and, when he returned home he decided to find out where she'd come from. It was easy to follow her strange scent through the forest until he found a tiny, bright orange tent. It didn't take a whole lot of effort to figure out she was homeless and had taken up squatting on Shigure's property.

'What am I supposed to do about her?' Shigure asked himself as he walked once around her amateurish campsite. 'She hasn't even built a fire and the nights are still cold. She's got no food out here, I can't just let her live out here without saying anything. She's to close to the house and I'm still not sure if she's dangerous or not.' Shigure sighed before he got down on his hands and knees and peeked into the tent. There was next to nothing in it and barely enough room for a teenage girl to sleep. 'She's to close to the family, it would be bad if she saw someone transform and no one knew she was around.' So Shigure sat down on the grass to think. 'I can't leave her out here. Even if she isn't a real human girl, she obviously doesn't know how to survive out here. She'll die. I can't let her run around so close to my house or the estate unsupervised, it's to risky.' That was when the idea hit him. If he couldn't let her run around unsupervised and he wanted to solve the mystery of what she was, there was one very simple solution. She would live at his house.

Shigure smiled. 'Now all I have to do is get to in the house without Yuki protesting. If I can get Yuki to think that it's his idea...'



The next day-
Kazuma's dojo-
Kyou-


To top it all off, it was raining. Kyou hated the rain. It made him feel so damned weak. Tired, like he wanted to just lay down somewhere warm and sleep. "I can't believe you're leaving me behind." Kyou muttered, leaning against the door of his master's bedroom as he watched his master pack. "Why? We went on a training trip just last year, so why do you have to go again?"

"It's only for a little while." Kazuma said, sounding as if he were trying to pacify Kyou. "I really must go and I don't want to leave you here alone."

"I'm sixteen, it's not like I'm a little kid!" Kyou protested, though it sounded more like a whine with how weak he was feeling. Kyou just couldn't make himself as angry as usual. "I don't need Shigure to baby sit me! Shigure, of all people! He's a lazy pervert and he acts like an idiot."

"That's not a very kind way to speak of someone who was good to you." Kazuma said in a disapproving tone. "Shigure was good and generous to you when you needed him."

Kyou didn't like to be reminded of that short time between his mother's death and when Kazuma had adopted him. It had been a very frightening few days and even Shigure's kindness hadn't been able to soften the fear or anger Kyou had felt for those days. "Yeah, I know." Kyou grumbled, not looking his master in the eyes. "I owe him, but I don't have to like him. Akito probably told him to let me stay at his house, ya know."

Kazuma laughed softly. "I doubt even Akito 'tells' Shigure what to do. He seems to have a very solid idea of what he's doing and he has a reason for everything he does. It was kind of Shigure to offer you a home while I'm gone and I hope you'll show him due respect, both for this kindness and what he did for you in the past. When I told him I had to go for a while, Shigure jumped at the chance to have you stay with him. I expect he's as eager for Yuki to have someone his own age to talk to as I am for you." Kazuma folded another shirt and stuffed it into his satchel. "It's just the thing, I think. You spend to much time with me, Kyou. Even after school you never go to friend's houses or just out to fool around with the other boys. With Shigure, you can be around Yuki and have more contact with the family. I'm afraid I've kept you to far from them all this time."

"I don't care about the family." Kyou crossed his arms and tried not to look like he was pouting. "I don't want to be anywhere NEAR Yuki! That damned rat just makes me furious, I hate the sight of him." Kyou also hated the idea of living with Shigure. That dog was never serious about anything and he was such an idiot. "Why can't I stay here or go with you? I wouldn't get in your way, master, I promise." The thought of going on a training journey into the mountains with his master was very tempting. Kyou liked nothing better than to have his master all to himself, without having to share him with his master's students or neighbors or even other family. "I can cook better than you, so I'll be a big help. What if something happens to you and you're all alone? An accident or you get attacked by a bear or something?"

Kazuma smiled gently. "I know you'd help me, Kyou, but this is something I have to do on my own. You know I'm not leaving you behind because I don't care for you anymore or that I don't trust you. If the authorities find out I've left a minor here alone while I go gallivanting around the mountains they'd take you away from me. They'd make you go back to the estate and Akito would find another home for you."

Kyou went cold at the thought of leaving Kazuma and the image of Akito declaring Kazuma an unfit guardian sent a chill down Kyou's spine. A hand landed on his shoulder and Kyou looked up at Kazuma.

"I do trust you, Kyou, but this is for the best. I won't be gone all that long, perhaps a year, at most."

"A year?!" Kyou stared at Kazuma in shock. Horrified at the thought of being parted for so long from the one person who'd shone him unfaltering love.

"Yes, a year. This is very important to me. I'm sure you're strong enough to get along with Yuki for a short time like that. If you really don't like him, you can always avoid him."

Kyou didn't know why his master spoke like that sometimes. 'If he didn't like Yuki?' what was that supposed to mean? Everyone knew that he and Yuki hated each other, that was the way it was supposed to be, right? If it hadn't been for the rat, Kyou might actually be accepted into the family. Not only that, but Yuki was always so damned smug and self-righteous. He thought he was better than everyone else and...and everything. Kyou just hated everything about Yuki, especially how he was treated like the prince of the family.

"You're going to make me do this, aren't you?" Kyou asked, sitting on Kazuma's bed heavily. "You're going to make me live with Yuki? They've got a girl there, now, ya know. It's not safe. I don't know why, but they've got some stupid girl living there." In all honesty, Kyou hadn't even realized that the girl was in the room with him and Yuki until the girl had thrown her arms around him and transformed him. Was THAT ever embarrassing! To think that he'd let down his guard so badly and in front of Yuki, at that.

"Oh? You mean that girl who transformed you?" Kazuma turned, but not before Kyou saw the smile on his master's face. "Shigure called and told me all about it. She sounds charming."

"She's irritating! And you don't have to laugh, it wasn't funny! She managed to transform all of us in about thirty seconds. How stupid can she be to be that clumsy!?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?"

Kyou stomped out of Kazuma's room, growling under his breath and afraid that if he stayed longer he would yell at the man. He loved Kazuma, really. There was no one more important in Kyou's life than Kazuma; he was the one person who always treated Kyou with respect. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt the closest thing to a father that he'd ever had.

Kyou ended up in his bedroom and sat on his bed, now confronted with a new challenge. Not only did he face the future of living with Yuki and Shigure for the next year, but he still had to finish Akito's birthday present.
'I hate this.' Kyou stared at the stupid, nearly finished project on his bed, wishing that it weren't raining so he could go train in the dojo. If only he didn't feel so weak... 'Dumb, dumb, dumb.' Then Kyou sighed and picked up the knitting needles again. At least no one would ever see the stupid thing except Akito and Kyou was pretty sure Akito would just throw it away. He'd just die if Yuki or Haru found out he could knit. It had been Kazuma's idea that Kyou learn to knit. It would give him something constructive to do on rainy days when Kyou go to weak to do much of anything.

'Stupid tradition. I don't even like Akito and what kind of moron gives a present to a person he doesn't like? It's not like Akito's ever been nice to me.' Yet there he sat, knitting diligently with the dark green yarn and two knitting needles Kazuma had given him for last Christmas. 'Tradition, tradition...always the same with this family. Even Kazuma's giving Akito a gift before he leaves.'

It only took a few hours before the dark green scarf was finished and Kyou looked at the gift with failing hope. 'Stupid idea. Never should have done it.' Why on Earth would Akito want a scarf? He rarely went outside and never in the winter. He's going to hate it.' Still, it was the best Kyou had to offer. It wasn't as if Kyou could give any of his fighting skills.

"Kyou, its time to go to the estate." Kazuma called. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Kyou yelled back, looking morosely at the scarf before he folded it into a neat little square. 'This is never going to work. He won't listen.'


Later-


Kyou was given a private audience with his god after the rest of the Junikyu had given Akito his gifts. Again, tradition. The cat wasn't part of the Junikyu, so it wasn't allowed to present its gifts with the others. Not that Kyou minded, really. In fact, Kyou rather thought that it was for the best if no one else heard what he was going to ask Akito. He'd been thinking about his request for quite some time and, as he entered the room with the knitted scarf in one hand, Kyou had a sinking feeling that not only would Akito not give him his wish, but that he'd get a beating for just asking. Akito was always in a sour temper on his birthday, anyway.

Going through the motions that he'd been going through all his life, Kyou kept his eyes on the floor as he walked to stand just in front of Akito's chair, though Akito wasn't sitting in it. Instead, Akito stood next to the window where he seemed more interested in what was going on outside than in Kyou. Still, Kyou sat on his knees and held the scarf in his hands, trying not to look as nervous as he felt.

"What have you brought me?" Akito asked, not taking his eyes off whatever it was he was looking at outside the window. He didn't sound at all eager for another gift and Kyou could hardly blame him. At the back of the room, just beyond Akito's chair, there were dozens upon dozens of still wrapped gifts still laying where Akito had obviously dropped them. Beside Akito's chair were the more valuable gifts that had been carefully and neatly set down. A collection of painted rocks, a small painting probably done by Hatori, a small bouquet for flowers, a box of candies probably made by Momiji, along with several others. Akito had, no doubt, had his fill of gifts for one day.

Kyou leaned forward a bit and held out the scarf with both hands.

There was a long, tense moment when Akito said nothing, just stared at Kyou's gift. Kyou felt sweat start to form on the back of his neck. Akito took the scarf from him with one, long fingered hand and Kyou couldn't help but think that it look like a skeleton's hand, all bony and sharp looking. "You made this? How unexpected."

Akito walked away from Kyou, going to lean against the wall where he had been when Kyou had come in. He seemed to examine the gift for a moment before he let the scarf fall to the floor. Kyou couldn't help but notice that his scarf wasn't put with the treasured gifts from the Junikyu or with the unimportant gifts from the rest of the family. Even his gift was alone, as if Akito was afraid it would contaminate the rest of them.

Kyou tried not to shake as he felt his hopes further fall and toyed with the idea of not asking his favor at all. But this was important and Kyou thought that if he didn't ask right then, that he'd never get up the courage again. "I ask a favor, Akito-sama." Kyou was very proud that his voice didn't tremble when he spoke and he kept his eyes on Akito's bare feet.

"A favor?"

Kyou felt sick at the tone of Akito's voice, but he couldn't be sure if Akito was amused or angry at the idea. It was so hard to tell with Akito.

"Yes." Kyou answered bravely, desperately wishing he weren't alone with the head of his family. It wasn't that he was afraid of Akito, not that he would admit, anyway. It was just that whenever Akito looked at him, Kyou could see the loathing in his eyes. "It's my right to ask. Just because we're cursed don't ask, doesn't mean we can't."

"It's against all tradition. Don't I do enough for you, cat? Don't I give you life? I give you life and you think you have the right to ask more of me?"

Kyou didn't move from his place on the floor, even when Akito slowly glided closer and closer towards Kyou. Kyou concentrated on Akito's small, narrow feet as Akito walked towards him. When Akito put both hands on Kyou's shoulders, Kyou flinched, but didn't pull away.

"Are you getting greedy, monster? What do you ask of me? Riches? A new house? Oh," Akito gave a low laugh. "I know. I know what you want and I should have realized it at once." One of Akito's hands reached up and stroked the side of Kyou's face. "It's what you've always wanted, isn't it? Are you going to ask me to be apart of the Junikyu? Do you wish to be zodiac?"

"No."


Akito-



Akito didn't like Kyou, but that didn't mean he could just abandon the cat. No matter what he looked like or smelled like or how frightening he was, Kyou was a Souma. He was cursed just like the rest of them and he needed Akito. It was nice to feel needed. He hadn't known Toma well, but Shigure often spoke of the previous cat in terms that nearly glowed with affection.

"He was so gentle, Akito. His hands were rough, but he taught me to read and he would hold me when I was little and rock me to sleep." Shigure had said that long ago, when he still lived at the estate and had visited Akito nearly every day. "His voice was soft, he never yelled, and it was soothing. His voice could always calm me no matter what was going on."

Akito hated the way Shigure's eyes would light up at the mention of the old cat. It set something hot and uncomfortable burning in the pit of his stomach. He didn't like listening to the way Shigure would talk about Toma, as if the old cat was the most important thing in the world and, when he sat in his chair and watched Kyou kneel before him, all Akito could see was Toma and what Shigure must have seen. He knew it was illogical; Shigure always described Toma as an old man, not the young man that Kyou was. Akito wondered if Shigure saw Toma in Kyou and wondered if the old cat had once had Kyou's eyes as red as blood.

When he walked towards Kyou, Akito felt a terrible glee when he saw Kyou shutter imperceptibly before getting a hold of himself. It was good that Kyou be afraid of him. It almost made Akito feel that Toma was afraid of him and that was good. Surely, Shigure couldn't like someone who was weaker than Akito. Shigure was a strong person and he wouldn't like someone who was weak. He wouldn't like the frightened little cat.

Kyou's answer surprised Akito more than he liked to admit. He liked to think that he knew his family better than anyone and he'd always heard Kyou going on about becoming a 'real' member of the family. That Kyou would have a wish so important to him that he would break tradition that WASN'T about becoming a part of the Zodiac, worried Akito.

"No?" Akito asked, still keeping his hands on Kyou's face, running his fingers over Kyou's face. Akito liked touching Kyou's skin, it always felt so warm, as if there were a fire burning just under his skin. Perhaps it was the monster that was the source of that heat. The monster that slept just under Kyou's fair, freckled skin.

It fascinated Akito that just under Kyou's very human skin lurked a monster, one of the hidden secrets of the Junikyu. It wasn't even remotely human and all that kept it hidden was a simple black and white bracelet on Kyou's wrist. Akito leaned down and pressed his cheek against Kyou's, drinking in the radiating heat. It seemed to give him energy.

'I wonder what the bracelet is and how it works?' Akito thought as he pulled away slightly and studied the top of Kyou's orange head. 'It's just a bracelet, isn't it? How can it be magic? Doesn't really matter, I guess. People can't turn into animals, yet here we are.' Akito spend a few more minutes petting Kyou, running his fingers though Kyou's hair and trying to decide if he disliked Kyou because he was the cat or because of Shigure's affection for Toma.

"What do you ask for, then? What does my beautiful monster wish for?"

Kyou flinched at the 'beautiful monster' but it didn't deter him. For the first time since he walked into Akito's audience chambers, he looked up and met Akito's eyes with eyes as red as blood. "I want my freedom." His voice rang with desire and Akito was momentarily stunned at the request.

"Don't we all?" Akito answered at last. "Freedom from the curse..."

"No." Kyou's voice was almost harsh. "Not the curse, I know that's impossible." The bitterness in Kyou's face echoed what Akito knew all his family felt and what he himself felt. Hatred of what kept them apart from the rest of humanity. "I want to keep my freedom. When I finish high school I don't want to get locked up, like all the other cats."

And understanding hit Akito. The doom of the cat was to be imprisoned after high school. It was tradition, the way it had been done since the very beginning of the Souma family. Akito wasn't sure why, but he was sure there must be a reason for the custom.

'Don't give in to him.' The voice Akito had long since gotten used to spoke to him as he looked down at Kyou's beseeching face. 'You have to be strong. The cat must be locked up and kept close. If he's allowed freedom, he'll run away. We can't have that.'

'Would it really matter?' Akito asked the voice. 'Why do we have to lock up the cat? It's not really that important, is it?' Akito rather liked the thought of letting Kyou run away. He didn't like Kyou being that close and didn't see why he should make everyone unhappy by keeping Kyou so close.
'It IS important! Everything we have is tradition. You give into Kyou's demands and the whole family will start asking for the impossible. You already let Yuki go to a school with girls, what's next? Allowing marriage? You can't let him be free, who knows what will happen? There's a reason for the tradition, right?'

'Well, I suppose there must be some reason, but what is it?'

'It doesn't matter. If there wasn't a good reason, then none of it would have been started in the first place. Something terrible will happen if Kyou leaves. Our family will suffer if the cat leaves.'

Akito had the strangest feeling that the voice in his head knew something that it wasn't telling him and he felt unreasonably angry at it. It just wasn't fair that his own mind was treating him like an imbecile. Shigure once told him that there was a reason for everything. There was a reason for rain to fall and a reason for the sun to rise and set. Even if the reason wasn't known, there was a reason. Akito's eyes went to the black and white beaded bracelet on Kyou's wrist and he wanted to know the reason. Why the bracelet?



Kyou-



Akito slid down to the floor until he knelt in front of Kyou and slid his arms around Kyou's neck. They were only inches from each other when Akito whispered into Kyou's face, "Why should I let you go? You get freedom for all these years, that's more than fair for something like you. What's waiting for you in the outside world? Do you really think you'll be able to find someone to love you, is that it? Are you hoping for love and a house with a white-picketed fence? A smiling wife and a couple of kids? It won't happen. Your life's never going to be normal."

"I don't care." Kyou replied, struggling to keep his voice calm even though he was pretty sure Akito was telling the truth. He wasn't at all comfortable having Akito so close, even though he knew Akito was like this with all the Junikyu. Akito was known to turn violent at a moment's notice and Kyou knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself against Akito without hurting him. "I don't want any of that, I just don't want to be locked up. I'm not an animal and I never did anything wrong, I never hurt anyone, not even in my original form. I don't deserve to be locked up."

Akito laughed and leaned his head down until it was resting on Kyou's shoulder. "You were born, Kyou. That's what you did wrong." He paused and seemed conflicted, something that made Kyou frown. Akito pushed away from Kyou a little, put a hand to his head and scowled, as if he suddenly had a dreadful headache. "No...no, I don't like that." When he focused again on Kyou, his voice was darker, even though he still smirked. "I'll make you a bet, Kyou. The prize is your freedom."

"I'll do anything!" Kyou agreed quickly. To quickly, if the expression on Akito's face was anything to judge by.

"Good. I want you to defeat Yuki, my beloved rat. Beat him, fair and honest. If you can do that, I'll give you freedom for the rest of your life. If you lose, you'll follow the fate of hundreds of other cats and spend the rest of your life locked in that tiny little house. If you're lucky, I may let you play in the garden. Shigure tells me your predecessor did that. So, do you agree? You must defeat Yuki."

"Yes!" Kyou didn't care what the challenge was, he could do it! He could do anything! Kyou's worst fear was to be locked up in that house. Never to be able to leave or go for a run in the forest or even to have a real job. He'd never be able to spar with his master and he certainly wouldn't be able to run the dojo if he were locked up. Kyou just couldn't live like that.

"You can't tell anyone about this little bet, Kyou." Akito added. "You can't tell Yuki or even Kazuma, if you do, the bet's off."

"I don't care, I'll do it!"

"No, you won't." Akito disagreed. "You'll never beat Yuki. He's the rat and you're only the cat. You're nothing."



America-
Count D-




"Mr. Detective? I didn't expect to see you here." Count D was surprised to find Leon in the private room of the mental institute for the criminally insane, but he was more disturbed by the drawn look on Leon's face when he turned to look at D. "I didn't expect to find you here."

"Same here." Leon immediately came over to D and took a large potted plant out of his arms, grunting under the weight. "Jesus, D!" Leon's face twisted with the effort, but he managed to stagger to the window where he set the plant down on the floor. "How the Hell did you get that thing here?" He cast a not to subtle look at D's slender arms. "It must weigh fifty pounds."

"I keep a healthy diet." D answered, going to stand by the bedside of the patient. "Have the doctor's told you anything?"

Leon was quiet for a moment, but came to stand by D. "No. They don't think he'll ever wake. Something about mental trauma of killing a guy." Leon looked uncharacteristically grim as he spoke and D found himself worrying about his human friend.

That wasn't a good sign and D was glad his grandfather wasn't around to see him like this. Such weakness was unacceptable. He was a Kami, after all, and couldn't afford to favor one animal over the rest. Yet, as time passed, D found himself favoring Leon over all other creatures on Earth. It wasn't safe for D to give his heart to any one creature, his papa had proven that lesson. 'Poor papa...'

"So, what are you doing here?" Leon asked after an oddly long silence. "I didn't think you'd want to see the kid. He did try to kill you."

"He also tried to kill your brother, yet here you are." D pointed out, remembering the fear he felt when little Chris had been held at gun point by a boy barely a few years older than himself. How tragic that Murakai had suffered so much. At least now, D could be sure that the child was resting comfortably and safe.

Only a very few days had passed since the young teenager had attacked Count D's petshop, injured from his work. The child was an assassin, trained since birth to kill without a second though. He was very competent until his last target had been lucky enough to shoot him first. True to the way he'd been trained, Murakai had prostituted himself in order to get close enough to his target before killing him. After being shot, Murakai had taken refuge in D's petshop, threatening both D and little Chris with a gun. Fortunately, Murakai didn't know he was invading the home of a Kami.

D didn't like guns and he didn't like it when someone threatened Chris, another human he'd foolishly allowed himself to become attached to, but he couldn't bring himself to order his darling pets to attack Murakai. Tet-chan alone would have been easily able and willing to kill Murakai. Not only would Tet-chan kill the boy, but he'd eat the remains. Tet-chan wasn't alone in his blood-thirsty desire to protect the petshop and it's owner. All of the pets were very enthusiastic about their privilege of protecting D and most of them were capable of killing, though none of them could quite match Tet-chan's savage delight in killing.

D had no intention of punishing a child for something that wasn't his fault. If anything, Murakai deserved pity and compassion. So D woke Murakai to his own pain and loneliness, let him realize how angry he was at the world that had done this to him, before he put Murakai to sleep.

Yes, it was D who let Murakai slip into the sweet dream he now rested in. Human doctors said he was in a trauma induced coma, but D knew better. It was from D's influence that Murakai now believed he was with his mother again, this time living a happy, peaceful life. Murakai's mother had given up her son long ago when she wasn't able to take care of him. Murakai didn't know that, he didn't even really remember his mother, but that didn't stop him from willingly falling into the lie D had woven for him. A loving mother waiting for him with open arms. For Murakai, who'd been raised with abuse and hate, it had been the happiest moment in his life.

It was D's wish that Murakai should sleep forever in his dream. What waited for him if he did wake? Trials? Prison? Years of life alone? It wasn't Murakai's fault that he was a killer, yet he would be blamed for it. It was better for Murakai that he never wake.

Murakai was part of the organization known as the Black Scorpion, just as Leon suspected. Before Leon had rushed into the petshop to rescue his brother, however, D had removed the tattoo from Murakai's chest. If he were found to be Black Scorpion, Murakai would suffer terribly. Even if he didn't get locked in prison for the rest of his life, Murakai would likely be killed by the same organization that had created him. The Black Scorpion wasn't known for its mercy.

D suddenly realized that Leon had been very quite the whole time and he looked up at his blonde friend. Leon wasn't normally silent and even when he was upset or angry. Leon was far more likely to lash out at whoever was closest to him. "Have you come to visit him, Leon?" Stupid question. D could easily see how Leon was affecting him and, if he had any intelligence at all, he'd break all contact with the detective. Still, since when were emotions controlled by intellect? The simple fact was that D enjoyed Leon's company and he liked talking with him.

"That could have been Chris, ya know." Leon stared morosely at Murakai's still body, attached to humming machines and tubes that kept him fed. "He was probably someone's little brother. I wish I could do something. Someone just picked this kid up somewhere because his parents couldn't look after him. If Chris...damn. I don't know what I'd have done if Chris ended up in Murakai's shoes." Leon stepped closer to the head of the bed and reached down to brush the hair away from Murakai's face, careful not to disturb feeding tube. "I just don't get it, D. He's a kid. He should be worried about grades and girls. This...this isn't right." Leon turned abruptly and strode out of the room with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. "I'll see ya, D. I gotta get back to work."

When D was alone he sat next to Murakai and gazed at the peaceful, sleeping face. "Leon is quite correct. This is not right. Sleep well, child." D left the room, secure in the knowledge that he'd locked the child in a world of pleasant, endless dreams. After all, the child had lived a life of nightmares, it was only right that he have peace and safety in his dreams.



At the police station-
Leon-



"You can't be serious!" Leon yelled at his captain, his legendary temper getting the better of him again. "You can't take me off this case. What about Murakai?"

"There's nothing else we can do, Leon. It's out of our hands." The captain kept his voice deliberately low and stared right at Leon. "Murakai's in the hospital and he'll stay there until his family come to claim him. If he wakes up, maybe he can tell us something, but you heard what the doctor's said."

"There won't be any family to claim him!" Leon exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "He's Black Scorpion! The poor kid was sold or stolen at birth, God only knows where his parents are."

"There's no proof that he's Black Scorpion, he hasn't got the tattoo. The rumors all say the Black Scorpion's have tattoos on their chests. That's all it is, anyway. It's all just rumor. We don't even know if they really exist."

"I've heard all the rumors, thanks." Leon said bitterly, not adding that he'd heard more rumors than any of the other police knew about. Thanks to all the time he spent in China Town, Leon had developed connections there and, apparently, the Black Scorpion was very well known in oriental circles. He'd heard how the Black Scorpion children were used not only for assassinations, but also as entertainment for rich men who didn't care to much about legalities. "I've heard so many rumors it makes me sick!"

"Maybe you need a vacation, Leon." The captain suggested, none to gently. "You haven't taken a day off in three years."

"I don't need a damned vacation, what I need is to solve this Black Scorpion thing!" Leon slammed both fists down on his captain's desk, though he knew it wouldn't do any good. He'd worked with this man to long and his captain knew how to handle Leon's bouts of temper. "Murakai's fourteen, captain, he's nothing but a kid. They did something to him that made him lose his mind. If he hadn't gone into coma, they'd have killed him for fouling up his job. I can't let that..."

"Yes, you can. You have a new case, Leon. You let Murakai get to you and you'll never get anything else done. That poor kid's going to sleep in the hospital, probably for the rest of his life. I know it's hard, but you have to get on with other things, you can't let yourself get emotionally involved with this kid."

It was to late for that, Leon knew. He was already emotionally involved.

"So what's going to be done about him?" Leon asked bitterly. "He's just going to be forgotten?"

"You know he won't. We're doing everything we can, but what do you want to do, Leon? Are you going to start a crusade against an illegal organization that might, possibly exist somewhere in the world? Where are you going to start? What are you going to do if you find them? They'll send kids like Murakai after you; do you think you can shoot them? Can you shoot little kids?" He paused. "I don't think you can. Get out of my office, Leon. You have a job to do and there are other people in this city who need you besides Murakai."

A thousand things sprang to Leon's mind about what he'd like to say to his captain, but he kept his mouth shut for once and marched out of the office, slamming the door closed behind him.

"Cool it, Leon." Jill said softly the moment he came out of the office. No doubt she'd been listening outside the door as she normally did when Leon looked like he'd get himself in trouble. "We're on your side, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." Leon had to swallow hard and take several deep breaths until he was calmed down enough to think properly. "I can't let this go, Jill. I just can't."

"I know." Jill put a hand on his arm and Leon felt reassured by her gentle touch. "But the chief's right, too. We can't do it without any proof that Black Scorpion even exists. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm pretty much useless."

"Don't say that, Leon." Jill admonished. "You know it isn't true. Besides, you have a new case. She's sitting at your desk."

She was one of the terrified girls Leon had ever seen and, given his job as a detective, he'd seen plenty of frightened girls. Her hair was somewhere between brown and red and she wore a very traditional oriental outfit, though the first thought that struck Leon was how different it was from the outfits Count D normally wore.

Well, actually, she wasn't really a girl. She was a cross-dresser. Leon knew that the moment he saw the girl...er...boy. Her hands were a little to large and she had an Adam's apple that wasn't quite hidden under the neck of her elaborate clothes. To her credit, Leon noted, she was one of the better cross-dressers he'd seen and it would have been easy to mistake her for a girl if Leon hadn't known what to look for.

"Crap." Leon cursed. "This is all I need!" To top off all the stress of the day, now Leon was going to have to deal with some kid who thought he was a girl. He felt his blood pressure start to rise dramatically and struggled not to explode. He wasn't angry, exactly, just irritated. Why did that guy have to pretend he was something he wasn't? It was like he was lying to the whole world and if there was one thing Leon hated, it was a liar.

"Leon Orcot, you be nice!" Jill warned in her stern, commanding voice. Handing him a file and giving him a warning look, Jill seemed to know the thoughts forming in Leon's mind. "You don't know him, so don't you dare judge him!"

"Don't you trust me?" Leon tried one of his most charming smiles, but it didn't work on Jill. It never did. "I'll be good."

"I know you to well. You tend to say whatever pops into your head without thinking. He's got feelings, Leon. Think of him as her and you'll be better off, take my word for it." Jill gave him a warning glare. "SHE," Jill emphasized that first word. "Introduced herself as a girl, so it's best that we keep it like that. She's a timid little thing and she's got reason to. She was attacked this afternoon by a couple of thugs who apparently took her for a real girl. She reported to the officer who found her that she wasn't molested, but she might be to bashful to admit it. Just do your job and don't upset her."

"The way you talk, you make me sound like I'm some raw recruit." Leon muttered as he opened the file Jill had handed him. The first thing that struck him was the name of the victim. "Souma, huh?"

"I thought you might notice that." Jill commented. "Same name as that friend of yours, right?"

"Ayame, yeah." Leon grinned. "Don't worry about me, I'll keep my big mouth shut. If I can get used to D, then I can get used to anyone." A random thought drifted across Leon's mind. 'Besides, D is a lot prettier than that kid.' The thought took Leon almost completely by surprise and he was stunned for a moment. 'Pretty? Well, I guess he is. No one can deny that, but I don't think I like him like that.' Leon was well aware of how he felt about D, but that didn't mean he had to act on his feelings. He admired D's connection with the world around him and he liked fighting with D. As strange as that sounded, Leon LIKED fighting with D. It gave Leon a good way to let out some of his temper and he knew D could keep up with his end of the fight.

His mind wandered back to the name of the cross-dressing boy sitting next to his desk. Souma. 'I wonder if it's a common name in Japan. Maybe he...er...she's related to Ayame.' Leon found himself strangely excited by the idea and he looked up at the victim who sat very primly at Leon's desk, with her hands folded neatly on her lap. She was pretty good looking for a guy and, Leon remembered from a picture of Ayame he had, Ayame was a bit of a dandy, himself. They could be related.

"Why do I get this case, anyway?" Leon asked Jill, though not with any real rancor.

"Because the chief wanted to get your mind off Murakai." Jill answered. "You're to wrapped up in his case. Besides, the kid's Japanese and you know the language. Besides, the suspects are reportedly oriental. Maybe D can find something out for you."

"I don't need D to do my work for me!" Leon snapped.

"No, but I thought you might like an excuse to visit him that doesn't involve trying to arrest him. Honestly, D's going to think you have a bondage fetish if you keep trying to get those handcuffs on him."

"You've got a filthy mind, Jill." Leon told her flatly as he tried to ignore her giggles. "I've still got Murakai's case to finish up on, the paper work's going to bury me." It really wasn't the paper work that bothered Leon, though. The thought of Murakai laying silent and helpless in that hospital bed hurt Leon.

It also hurt Leon to know that somewhere out there were kids still being treated like that and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. No one knew where the Black Scorpions were trained, how they were chosen, who ran the whole thing, or if they really even existed. That was another hard part of the whole deal. Not a single Black Scorpion had ever been captured alive. Apparently, they were also trained to commit suicide if they were in danger of being caught. Leon remembered one rumor that in Chili the police had found the body of an eight year old boy with a black scorpion tattooed on his chest. That hurt. Chris was only nine. It might have been Chris.

Leon shook his head and brought his mind back to the present. There was nothing he could do for Murakai and probably nothing he could ever do to stop the Black Scorpion. He was pretty much useless to everyone. Even his own little brother was being raised by D because Leon didn't earn enough money to take care of him. 'I'm stupid and useless, what made me think I could help Murakai?' But, he had a job to do and made his way away from Jill and towards the boy...girl was looking at something intently on his desk.

"Miss Souma?" Leon said, giving the best smile he could manage with his thoughts lingering on Murakai. "I'm detective Leon Orcot, I've been assigned to your case. I just need some information from you." It had been a very long day and Leon just wanted to go home and see D and Chris. He seemed to be getting tired very easily, lately. It would be nice to get back and have a cup of tea with D.

The expression on her face was one of startled fear and she immediately jumped to her feet when she heard her name. "Hai! Souma Ritsu desu." Then she looked horrified and blushed dark red. "Sorry! Sorry! I forgot where I was, forgive me for speaking Japanese, please! I didn't mean to be rude!" Her voice, while slightly panicked, was thick with her Japanese accent. "I'm sorry I was looking at your papers, I was just curious, I promise I'll forget it right away!"

"Don't worry." Leon smiled as he sat down and he motioned for her to sit, too. "I was told you'd been attacked, miss?" He looked down at the papers Jill had given him while he gave her a quick once over. There was a large bruise that covered the left side of her face from chin to her hairline and her wrist had been sprained. She did, indeed, wear a bandage around her right wrist and held it close to her chest.

She nodded slowly, the flustered blush never leaving her face. "Sorry to take up your time, officer. I...I know I shouldn't have bothered, there's probably nothing you can do about it anyway." As soon as she'd said that, she got embarrassed again. "Not that I think you CAN'T do anything! I'm sure you're a wonderful policeman, but they ran away so quickly when that other policeman came..."

"Ah," Leon felt his pride pricked. "Don't get so upset. You can't just let something like this go and not say anything. They're going to hurt some other girl if you don't help us catch them. Let's start at the beginning. Can I have your full name and age?"

"Souma Ritsu. I'm nineteen years old."

Leon wrote down what she told him on a form. He felt his weariness start to lift. She seemed like a nice, polite girl and Leon wasn't feeling nearly so bad about having an hour left before he could go home. Sure, she was nervous and worried, but most women were after being attacked. He really didn't understand why a guy was dressing like a girl, but it wasn't his life so it really wasn't his business. Leon would do as Jill told him and try to keep his big mouth shut. "Where do you live?"

"Well...I'm staying at the Gillian Hotel, but my home is in Japan. I'm only visiting America."

"I see. Are you here alone or with friends or family?"

"Oh, I'm alone. My family doesn't travel much." Her eyes slid away from Leon and she looked disturbed. "We...um...we like to stay close to the family estate." Then she brightened quickly. "I'm afraid I'm the only one who likes traveling. I guess I'm a bit odd, even in my family."

"It's not safe for a young woman to go out walking alone in parts of this city, ya know." Leon irritably scribbled on the form about her place of residence as he thought about this innocent girl getting attacked just because she wanted to go out for a walk. "Tell me, how many attackers were there?"

"Three men. They were about the same age, maybe thirty and...and I remember one of them was wearing a hat. Does that help?" She looked at Leon with such hope that he hated to dash her hopes. "I'm afraid I didn't get a good look at them, I was afraid..."

"Anyone would be afraid, miss Souma. Especially when three men jump you. You're damned lucky you only got a sprained wrist and a bruise." Leon swallowed hard. He hated this next part of the interview. "There a few more questions. You did go to the hospital, right?"

"Well, no. The officer who found me bandaged my wrist. I really don't need to see any doctors." Ritsu seemed more than a little nervous about this subject.

"Ummm...then I have to ask, did the attackers rape you?" Leon squirmed when he asked that. He almost never got these kind of cases and the sight of Ritsu paling reminded Leon of why.

Ritsu looked down at her lap again. "You don't have to worry about me, officer. I'm all right."

"That's not the answer I need, miss Souma." Leon persisted as gently as he could. "I need to know what we're going to charge these guys with once we catch them. Were you raped or was it just a physical assault? Did they rob you?"

Ritsu's hands tightened into tight fists and Leon saw her bite her lip and felt sudden pity for her. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to go through something like that. "They took my purse." Ritsu admitted. "But there wasn't much in it. I lost my credit card and passport, but my family can cancel the credit card and arrange for me to get another passport. I...they hit me a lot and called me names." Her head hung even lower with shame. "I deserved it. Stupid to go out. I should have thought better. I've never been very smart and..."

"Smart or stupid," Leon told her, "You didn't deserve anything that happened to you, miss Souma. Please, this will be kept confidential. Were you raped?"

Ritsu looked up at him with teary eyes. "No." She swallowed hard. "They...tried. When they found out I...wasn't what they thought I was, well, they got very angry." Her hands began to fiddle, twisting and turning as she struggled to stay still and calm. "I think...they didn't like what they found..."

Leon felt sick to his stomach as he envisioned what had happened to Ritsu just a few hours ago. He'd heard enough hate in his life to know what those men must have said and knew that the bruise on Ritsu's face and the sprained wrist probably weren't the only damage done. "Look, I really think you should go to the hospital, Miss Souma."

"NO!" Ritsu nearly shouted, then blushed when she realized how loud she'd been. "No, I'm okay. It's against family tradition to go to hospitals and doctors. It's just not done."

Leon frowned. "Not done? Why the Hell not? What kind of stupid family thing is that? Your hurt, of course you have to go to the hospital!"

"I really can't. You have to understand. The head of my family would be very angry if he heard I'd gone to a hospital without permission."

"Well, whatever." Leon growled. "That's a stupid reason. Why can't you go to see a freakin' doctor?"

Ritsu didn't answer. "Umm, may I ask a question?"

"Yes?" Leon encouraged, still irritated about the whole no hospital thing.

"This picture?" She pointed to one of the photo's Leon still had about Murakai's case. It was a photo taken by the Chilean police, a picture of the dead boy with the Black Scorpion tattoo on his chest. "What is this?"

Leon knew she was just trying to change the subject. If Ritsu could read English as well as she spoke it, there wasn't much reason to lie. She'd probably read enough to understand what the photo was in general. "It's just evidence in a case I'm working on." He told her. "The tattoo is a connection to some kind of gang of assassins."

Ritsu gasped, horrified, and put her bandaged hand over her mouth. "That can't be right!" She exclaimed. "You must have made a mistake."

"What are you talking about?"

"You must be mistaken." Ritsu said earnestly. She tapped the photo of the Black Scorpion with a well-manicured fingernail. "That's not some assassin's mark. My cousin has the same tattoo."

Leon went cold at her words and he froze for just a moment. Cousin? She couldn't mean Ayame, right? Ayame who seemed so gentle and carefree in his letters? Ayame couldn't possibly be an assassin. "Your cousin?"

"Yes. He's had it since he was very young." She leaned forward and whispered as if she were telling a great secret. "He didn't have a very happy childhood and we only found him by chance. Seems he'd gotten involved with some...less than legal people. It wasn't his fault, you understand." She hurriedly added. "He was just a child and couldn't stop what was happening to him. He's really a very good person. He might not be the best person in the world, but he'd never kill anyone!"

"I don't suppose you could tell me your cousin's name?" Leon tried to keep his voice level, but it seemed that Ritsu could see his discomfort.

"Why?" If anything, she sat straighter and stiffer in her chair, her eyes darting around nervously. Leon knew she'd never be a decent liar, but then again, Leon wasn't terribly good at it, either. "I told you, my cousin's done nothing wrong."

"Oh," Leon let out the biggest laugh he had and hoped it sounded more genuine than it felt. "I'm not accusing your cousin of anything. Actually, I was more curious about your name."

"My name? Ritsu?"

"No, Souma. I have a penpal named Souma and I was wondering if you were a relation." At least that much was true and Leon didn't have to worry his conscious about lying again. "It's just idle curiosity."

"Oh." Ritsu's guarded attitude vanished at once and Leon almost felt badly about the deception. Still, anything that helped to stop the Black Scorpion... "Well, his name's Kureno, but I really don't think he's your penpal. I've only met him once and he really didn't seem the type to have a penpal, to be honest."

Leon said nothing. 'Kureno. I don't think Ayame ever mentioned a Kureno in his letters. What if Ayame's a fake name? It's...possible.' Even to Leon, the argument sounded weak. 'If he is part of the Black Scorpion, why would he have a penpal of all things? The people training him wouldn't allow it. He'd have to make up a whole life just to tell me and he's never told me anything that has ever contradicted himself. If is has been lying to me all these years, he's done a real good job of it.' Leon scowled down at the photograph of the boy's chest with the black scoprion. 'He MIGHT be lying.'

"Have I said something wrong?" Ritsu's timid voice spoke up, bringing Leon out of his musings. "I'm...I'm terribly sorry. I knew I shouldn't have come here. I was just wasting your time and now I've made you angry with my babbling." Tears sprang to her eyes and she suddenly jumped out of her chair with more energy than Leon would have thought she had. Her eyes were insanely wide and wild and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I'M SO SORRY!!! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE OPENED MY BIG MOUTH!"

"SHUT UP!" Leon barked sharply, his angry eyes flashing at Ritsu. "Just shut up! Damn, you talk to much! Do you have to be so loud?!" He hated self-pity more than he hated liars. "What the Hell are you talking about? You never should have come here? What are you going to do? Run away and let these bastards attack someone else? Are you that much of a coward?"

Ritsu trembled at Leon's words and bit her bottom lip.

"Don't even think about it!" Leon slammed both hands down on his desk and half stood, towering over Ritsu. "You start crying and you'll never get anywhere! You want to spend the rest of your life sobbing?"

A strong hand landed on Leon's shoulder and he turned to find Jill smiling sweetly at Ritsu. "Forgive him. Leon's had a bit of a hard week, he's not really the pigheaded, arrogant, ass hole he sounds like." She turned that sweet smile towards Leon, but it turned vicious and shark-like when it hit him. "He's got to learn to calm down. Leon...sit."

Reluctantly, Leon did as Jill told him to do. "You wanna take over my case, Jill?"

"No, but I think I may just sit with you for a moment." True to her word, Jill walked around to her side of the desk and sat down, keeping her hard eyes on Leon.

Ritsu, seemly taken aback by Leon's verbal assault, took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her hands. "I...I really am sorry. I have a hard time controlling myself sometimes. I really am worthless and you shouldn't waste your voice yelling at me." Her whole attitude shouted that, this time, she was telling the truth. She really did think she was completely worthless. "Please, don't get upset over me. I was just worried," Her sand colored eyes looked at Leon with real concern that he didn't understand. She didn't know him, she couldn't possibly be worried about him. "You looked...angry, just now. When I mentioned Kureno you looked so angry. Are you?"

"Naw." Leon tried to brush it off, angry that Ritsu had read him so easily. He had more to think about than Ritsu's unexpected panic attack. "Not really. I was just thinking about my penpal. About how much I'd like to see him. I've never actually met him before. He might not even be in the same family as you, I was just curious. I'm looking for Souma Ayame."

Ritsu's eyes lit up like spotlights and a brilliant smile split her face so wide that she winced when a cut in the corner of her lip started bleeding. "Oh, Ayame! Yes, yes, Ayame's one of my cousins! He's a very good man and if you're his friend, I think you must be good, too. He wouldn't like a terrible person." There was something in Ritsu's eyes that almost frightened Leon. It was the same adoration he saw in Chris' eyes when Chris looked at him. Such an innocence that it made Ritsu look all the more vulnerable and Leon knew, all of a sudden, that he couldn't let Ritsu walk back to her hotel alone. She's get attacked or mugged again.

On the bright side, at least Leon could be pretty sure that Ayame wasn't part of the Black Scorpion.

"I think I'll ask for some vacation time. Can you do me a favor, Miss Souma? Give Ayame a call and ask him if it's all right that I come for a visit? He invited me a while ago, but I wasn't able to go. I think I can now." Leon sighed. "When all this is done, I'll walk you back to your hotel, Miss Souma."

"Good idea." Jill stood and gave Leon a nod of her head. "Before we go anywhere, can I have a word with you, Leon?"

"We? Are we going somewhere?" Leon asked, suspiciously, even as he stood to follow Jill. She didn't answer and led him to the water cooler, just out of Ritsu's sight. "What's going on, Ji...urk!" It took Leon completely by surprise when Jill grabbed him by the ear and squeezed just hard enough to get his attention.

"You listen to me, Leon Orcot!" Jill hissed. She kept her voice low enough that no one passing could hear them. "Don't you dare think you're so clever! I know what you're up to and I won't let you do it!" She let go of him, but didn't give him enough room to get away from her.

"What are you doing, Jill!?" Leon demanded, keeping his voice as quiet as hers, though it took quite the effort.

"Who do you think you're fooling with all that vacation shit? Did you think I'd believe that? You're going to Japan because you think Ritsu's related to a Black Scorpion agent!"

"You were listening!" Leon accused, though he knew he shouldn't have been shocked. It wouldn't be the first time Jill had been nosy enough to eavesdrop. "You spied on that whole conversation."

"Very observant, detective." Jill said acidly. "Naturally, I was listening. I heard everything, including that little comment about Black Scorpion."

"Keep your mouth shut!" Leon ordered, though he really didn't think she'd listen to him. "If the chief hears you..."

"You might live a while longer and we all know you'd hate that, huh? Do you honestly think I'd let you go to Japan just to get killed?" She smacked him upside the head. "How stupid are you?"

"Jill..."

"Don't interrupt me!"

Leon shut his mouth, but only because he'd never seen Jill so angry before. Normally, she was content to just pull his ear or punch his arm if she was upset at him, but she never flew into such a temper like this. She must be really worried.

Jill glared at Leon before speaking again. "You're really going to do it, aren't you? You're just going to pick up and fly off to Japan looking for the Black Scorpion. Where are you going to get the money? You told me two weeks ago that the electricity to your apartment had been turned off because you couldn't pay the bills. How are you going to buy a plane ticket?"

"I don't have to. Ayame sent me plane tickets that I never used. If I write to him again and ask, he'll send me new ones. I could leave tomorrow if I can get Ritsu to get a hold of Ayame."

"What are you going to tell your brother? What about the Count? Don't you think they'll be just a little hurt when you 'go on vacation' without them?"

Leon met her eyes easily. "They'll deal with it. I'm going after Black Scorpion and I'm not taking them somewhere so dangerous. D's always getting himself into trouble, he doesn't need to follow me into it and God knows I'm not dragging Chris somewhere that he might get killed!"

For a long moment they just stared at each other, neither one willing to give an inch. Finally, Jill let out a tired sounded sigh. "You're the most stubborn person I've ever met, Leon. I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?"

"No."

"Shit." Jill cursed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well...that's it, then. I'll be ready as soon as you are. We'll meet at the Count's petshop. I want to say bye to the Count, too. Maybe he'll water my plants while we're gone."

Leon gaped at her. "You are NOT coming with me!"

"Well, I'm not letting you go by yourself, you'll only get killed and then what'll I tell the Count?!" Jill threw up her arms, defeated. "We'll go hunting Black Scorpion together, Leon. If nothing else, the Count would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

"Jill, this seriously isn't a good idea." But even as he spoke, Leon couldn't bring himself to sound as determined to make her stay in America as he should have. "I swear I'm going to do everything I can to find these Black Scorpion people."

"Yes, I know you are and I know why you aren't going to telling the chief that you have new evidence about Black Scorpion. You know that he wouldn't let you go after them and he might not even believe that it's real evidence. That Ritsu kid says his cousin isn't Black Scorpion, so it's not real hard evidence, now is it? Jesus, Leon. You just have to make life difficult, don't you?"

"I'm not forcing you to come."

"Pfft! Like you can take care of yourself! Don't make me laugh. Without me or the Count, you'd be lost. You go take Ritsu back to her apartment and I'll tell the chief that we're both going on vacation. You must have about a month of vacation time saved up, by now. Go on, I'll call you tonight. Try to sneak off to Japan without me and I'll rip your intestines out through your bellybutton."

When she walked away, Leon couldn't help but smile after her. He would never be able to say that he thought it was a good idea for Jill to go with him, but it was good to have her. She was the person he trusted most in the world, aside from D, and he knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself in a dangerous situation. She was twice as smart as he was and tough as nails. If he was going to have anyone at his back, Leon wanted it to be Jill. At least he wouldn't have to worry about her. If D came along or Chris, Leon knew he'd worry every ten seconds whether they were all right or not.

By the time Leon returned to his desk, Ritsu was looking at the photo of the Black Scorpion tattoo again. Ayame was Ritsu's cousin. Ritsu had another cousin that was possibly Black Scorpion. If he went to visit Ayame, he would have a fairly good chance of meeting Kureno with the tattoo.

Even if Ayame wasn't apart of the Black Scorpion, if Kureno was then Ayame might be closely involved with a killer. Leon just couldn't allow that.

He went back to his desk and held Ritsu's coat for her. "Come on. I'll walk you home, I think I've got all the information I need for now." As they walked out, Leon added, "I have to make a quick stop on the way, though." He wondered how D would react to Ritsu when he brought her to the petshop.




To be continued...





A/N: The Black Scorpion was from Petshop Of Horrors manga volume 7, DUTY. The whole premise of that story was that a young boy had been trained to be an assassin by some shadowy organization that tattooed all of their assassins with a large black scorpion on their chests. I guess they weren't very bright, huh? Who in their right minds would deliberately mark their assassins? Anyway, one of these assassins was a child who stumbled into Count D's petshop. Count D took pity on the boy and took the tattoo of the scorpion off his chest. Don't ask me how, D has his secrets. If you like, just imagine Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing, that's basically what the assassin boy was like, emotionally speaking. I don't know the boy's name, so I named him Murakai. Why? Because I liked it.



Cousin D: Dear readers, sorry about the long wait. My disk decided to die, taking with it all of the future chapters which means I have to rewrite everything. Honestly didn't mean to take so long getting this chapter out, but it got a bit long, as they tend to do.

Evil Little god of Writing: Enough, enough. No one wants to hear your sniveling whining! Damn it! How long have you been writing? You KNOW to save extra copies of everything!

Cousin D: Yes, I know. I get busy, though. There's so much to do.

Evil Little god of Writing: NO EXCUSES! To punish you, I get to play with a character. (Giggles insanely) I want Shigure.

Cousin D: You can't have Shigure. He's my baby, the best of all the Fruits Basket characters. I won't let you hurt him.

Evil Little god of Writing: Awww, come on. You know it's more fun to torture the characters you like best. Come on. Compared to the rest of his family, he's had a pretty easy life. Just let me...

Cousin D: No! You can't have him. I'll give you someone else to play with, but not Shigure. You can have Rin or Hiro. I might even give you Kisa or Momiji.

Evil Little god of Writing: Hrumph. You're no fun. Everyone else in the family's already been...ohhh...

Cousin D: I don't like the sound of that.

Evil Little god of Writing: Hee, hee. I just got a lovely idea. If I can't have Shigure, yet, I know whom I want.

Cousin D: This does not bode well, readers. Wait a minute, what do you mean, yet? Shigure got tortured enough in the first chapter!

Evil Little god of Writing: Don't be silly. You know there's no such thing as to much torture. In the end, Shigure will be mine.