The FURUBA ROUND ROBIN PROJECT 

Chapter Fourteen: 

by  Ina-chan
First posted: January 16, 2005

So what has happened in the story so far...

 It’s pretty common right? Every kind of job will have an urban legend... about bosses and third eyes, the infamous hot chick in cubicle 13 who goes out with one new flavour of the month from each floor each month,  and ghosts of former employees making their presence known in dark dungeon-like basements. All in all, they’re just stories exaggerated and fabricated to make boring office life more interesting, right?

 Right?

 But what if...

 What if there is a distinct possibility that there may be a little bit of truth behind every exaggeration and fabrication? Particularly involving a specific mysterious death in a certain dungeon-like basement?

 For young Yuki Souma, who just wanted the simple experience the sense of normalcy and independence brought by a part-time after school job, this was a distinct reality. It’s not only the chaos and confusion brought about his well-meaning family and friends that’s the root of all this trouble. Now, Yuki Souma, will discover that there are forces beyond the control of all things natural at work that whispers in the mist and moves within in the shadows.

 Of course, the real question is... will light be shed to these mysteries before it’s too late?

******

If one is asked to point out another person’s most exceptional quality, a lot of people will admit that Tooru Honda was blessed with a great sense of intuition... which is a very good thing. As horrible as it may sound when one says it, Tooru Honda’s superior “mother hen” instincts makes up for the fact that she’s rather slow and dense with a lot of other things. Of course that doesn’t mean that she’s stupid. She was just raised to become ever so trusting of the people around her, that even at age 17, she still hasn’t lost that child-like naïve innocence that makes her vulnerable to the manipulation of other people despite common sense.

 Okay... so maybe she’s a LITTLE bit stupid.

 But then again, it’s also one of her more endearing qualities on top of being her most persistent traits. That’s the main reason Shigure Souma actually had to work twice as hard (with Hatori’s help to boot) to calm her down from her super-shocked panic mode and convince her not to worry too much about the latest drama that just happened in the almost soap operatic scenarios that usually occurs within the four walls of his house.

 Confused?

 Ah, anything that involves Shigure and calming down a super-shocked Tooru in panic mode does that all the time. So, let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

 It all began when the three Souma boys returned from last night’s adventure (see chapter 13 for further details) as announced by a sudden explosion of the common room paper-screened door courtesy of the projectile landing of an unconscious Hatsuharu, followed by a very very VERY annoyed Kyou, who unceremoniously handed a very ill Yuki, still in his rat form, to a very surprised Shigure’s before making his way towards the direction of his room.

 Of course, it was only natural for Tooru to rush downstairs upon hearing their loud arrival.

 “Eh? EH!?!?!?” The girl’s eyes widened in horror as she surveyed the damage in the room, “Ha-ha-hatsu... K-k-kyo-ku... wh-wha....?”

“IT’S ALL THE DAMNED RAT’S FAULT!” was Kyou’s simple growl in explanation as he passed her and disappeared upstairs

 “Hatsuharu-san!” Tooru finally crying out something coherently as she hurried towards the fallen boy, “What happened?”

 “Ara? How did I get here?” Hatsuharu murmured as he sat up and surveyed his surroundings, “One moment I was walking with Kyou to bring Yuki home, the next moment I’m sitting up here. Mystery.”

 Beads of sweat ran down both Shigure and Tooru at the comment.  Shigure sighed but said nothing. He didn’t know what exactly happened, but one doesn’t have to be a genius to figure out what happened in the last few minutes at least. All you have to do is add up a very infuriated Kyou, a semi-amnesiac Hatsuharu, and a broken part of his home to come up that somewhere along the way, Black Haru must have made an appearance. The only variable that doesn’t make sense in the overall formula was Yuki. And why in the world were the boys out at this time of the night?

 “AH! YUKI!” Hatsuharu jumped on his feet anxiously, “Sensei, we need to call Hatori-niisan right away!”

 Alarm instantly rang through the older man upon hearing the boy’s urgent tone. He frowned as he finally got a better look at the rat in his hand. He was wondering why Yuki kept quiet all this time. His younger cousin definitely didn’t look very well at all.

 “Yuki-kun?” Tooru stared at the Ox, an openly bewildered expression crossing her features, “But I just saw Yuki-kun studying in his room earlier this evening...”

 Of course, since the Goddesses of the Fates seemed to have a grudge against all the characters in this story, they chose this particular moment for that familiar “poof” to happen.

 “KYAAAAAAA!!!!” Tooru cried out in horror as she turned around and averted her eyes

 “Tooru-kun, go call Ha-san. Ha-kun, come and help me bring Yuki to his room,” The writer instructed with uncharacteristic adult authority

 As soon as they settled the ill young man in bed, Shigure gave the Ox a questioning look, “What happened? Did he have an attack?”

 “No,” Hatsuharu shook his head in reply, an angry expression crossing his face as he remembered the earlier events, “I don’t know how he ended up like this. Yuki asked us to wait outside while he went somewhere with this old hag. We waited, and then Yuki came out looking like he was locked in a freezer for God knows how long. He was all blue and shivering. He transformed all of the sudden on our way back, so I just made sure to keep him as warm as possible.   I knew I should have insisted in going with him... It’s all my fault. If I had just gone in...”

 “Hold on a minute,” Shigure interrupted with another frown, “Where did you go? What old hag?”

 “Yuki’s work... I don’t know who the old hag was. A dumpy old hag... I think Yuki called her Saori-san or something like that,” The Ox replied as he fidgeted with the blankets over the older boy

 Saori-san? Shigure frowned. There must be a handful of employees named Saori working for their family. For some strange reason, his instincts suddenly clicked in alarm. Then again, he’d always had a nose for smelling a conspiracy involving members of his family from a mile away. Most especially if it involved any of the jyuunishi. He didn’t know why, but something was telling him that there was something going on here that was more than meets the eye.

 “He’s still shivering very badly. Shouldn’t we put him in warmer clothes?” Hatsuharu’s words interrupted, pulling the writer’s thoughts back to reality

 The Dog looked at the Rat, and found that the younger man had now curled into a fetal position under the blankets, and was shivering violently, despite the obvious feverish flush starting to form on his face. He made a small sigh of relief upon seeing that his younger cousin was breathing didn’t have that usual laboured quality when the younger man had been very ill like this in the past.

 Shigure shook his head as he instinctively put a hand on the boy’s forehead. He didn’t need to be a doctor to figure out that a fever was on its way, despite the cold clamminess of the younger man’s skin, “More than likely, he’ll transform again. It would be better to get some extra blankets and make him feel as comfortable as possible.”

 “HATORI-SAN IS ON HIS WAY!” Tooru burst in to the room anxiously, “How is Yuki-kun?”

 “He’s fine,” Shigure replied reassuringly, “It looks like just the beginning of a cold.” But knowing Yuki’s history of being sick, it’s definitely going to be a rough morning, the Dog added silently as he glanced at the apprehensive girl beside him and the equally worried boy across him. He let out a defeated sigh, it’s going to be very difficult for all of them.

******

From the shadows, a lone person watched the silhouettes moving in the 2^nd floor as he waited.

 He slapped a mosquito that was persistently attacking him and let out a moan of pain as he hit the same injury he got from the earlier bush incident, then wondered for the millionth time why he was doing this. Of course it was his job and his Boss ordered it.

 He’d known right from the beginning that this Saori person was not the right person for the job, and now this complication. The Boss was not going to be happy to hear that Yuki had fallen ill from the first contact. Of course, at first it was just to discourage the young man from finding out what was really happening in the basement of that particular Souma Building . The Rat Zodiac’s had been traditionally reputed to be gifted with the insight to see right to the truth.

 But they never expected the normally dormant Hiroga to become active again at the mere presence of that boy. And they definitely didn’t expect the room to react to the boy’s presence either. Perhaps the legend was true... What would happen if all twelve was brought in there...

 Of course, Saori had no idea who Yuki Souma really was. And luck was in their side that the Ox complied to not going in that room with the Rat. Though it probably won’t open the door, two out of twelve would probably still have been enough to overcome Hiroga’s protective barrier...

 But...

 But what if they were wrong about this whole thing? What if Hiroga was right all along?

 The soft hum of a car engine arriving and parking nearby brought the mysterious figure’s thoughts back to reality. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the Dragon exit the car and make his way towards the house. This was definitely going to be even more complicated.

 The Dragon paused, and turned to look at his direction, causing the mysterious figure to hold his breath and step further into the shadows. He didn’t dare take a breath until he heard the other man’s footsteps disappear into the house.

 This won’t do at all. The Dragon’s gift of insight is just as strong as the Rat’s. On top of that, the Dragon’s connection to the Head was too close. It simply won’t do if the Dragon got involved too early in the game before his cue. If the Souma Family Head was to find out about what they were doing, all hell was definitely going to break loose. The Head was known for his possessiveness over the Twelve, after all. The Boss will definitely not be happy to hear about this.

******

“I’m fine,” Yuki rasped insistently, as he glared at Hatori standing by his bed, ignoring his protests completely.

 Sometime during the wait, Yuki had regained consciousness to find his worried family hovering over him. Also to wake up to his utter horror and embarrassment, the state of undress he was in with Tooru being in the same room. Shigure had somehow managed to convince Haru and Tooru to leave the room to give his younger cousin whatever dignity he had left just before Hatori made his entrance.

 “Say what you want, Yuki-kun,” Shigure sighed, as he shrugged lightly, “But you still look like a drowned rat. At least let Ha-san take a look at you to reassure Tooru-kun.”

 “Shigure, get out.” Hatori stated blandly as he pulled out his stethoscope and started to work

 “Ah! Some people have no sense of gratitude whatsoever. I get treated like this after all I’ve done for you...” Shigure sighed again in mock injury as he made his way out of the room

 As soon as the other man left the room, Yuki tried to burrow further in his covers, a rather feeble attempt to escape Hatori’s probing.

 “You know the drill, Yuki. The more you cooperate, the faster we’ll get this over with,” Hatori intoned in warning, prompting the boy to let out a defeated sigh as he sat up to allow the doctor to continue his examination. At first glance, everything he saw seemed to all indicate that Yuki was recovering from symptoms of acute hypothermia... and early symptoms of the common cold. Nothing really to be alarmed with... except with the fact that it seemed rather unusual for a person to suffer from either ailment when winter was still several months away... He took out a thermometer and put the apparatus on the boy’s ear “How are you feeling?”

 “Fine,” The boy replied as curtly as his hoarse voice would allow, over the digital thermometers insistent beeping

 The doctor frowned as he stared at the machine’s results. While it wasn’t unheard of, it was very unusual for a person to suddenly develop cold and fever symptoms so quickly. And he didn’t like how the boy’s voice was sounding either...  This cold might not be so “common” after all.

 “You’re staying at home tomorrow. No school, no part-time job. I’ll call to let them know, myself,” Hatori ordered, “And bed rest, you will not leave this bed unless you are going to the washroom.”

 “You’re kidding,” Yuki glared at him incredulously, “I said I’m fine.”

 “That’s my best offer, or would you prefer to check in to a complimentary guest suite in the hospital? Because I can arrange that too,” Hatori countered with his usual bland sarcasm

 Yuki let out a frustrated sigh as he sank back into bed.

 “Look, this is just a precaution. I’ll come back to see you tomorrow and we’ll decide what to do next then,” Hatori explained in a gentler tone, “What were you doing out so late anyway?”

 He saw the boy flinch and make an involuntary shiver at his question before answering in a weary, almost inaudible whisper, “Can we do this tomorrow, Hatori?”

 “Alright,” Hatori replied before giving the boy an affectionate pat on the shoulder, and making his way out of the room. Yuki’s non-verbal language was enough to let him know that something happened. And it had contributed to this current illness. It seemed more like a stress-related physical reaction than a real cold. But knowing Yuki’s medical history, it was better to be on the safe side.

 “So is the patient going to live?” Shigure asked light-heartedly

 “He’s going to be fine, as long as you keep him in bed,” Hatori replied, “His lungs are clear so there’s no danger of running into his old complications, at least not at this time. But his fever’s a little worrisome. If his temperature reaches 40 degrees, or he suddenly starts suffering from his spasms, let me know right away. We might need to bring him to the hospital for closer monitoring.”

 “Is it that serious?” Shigure asked, his tone instantly shifting into a more serious note

 “I don’t know yet,” Hatori replied honestly, “But Yuki can be just as delicate as Akito and Rin when it comes to stress-induced physical exertion. I’d personally rather not have to deal with three of them all at the same time.”

 “Ah...” Shigure simply replied with a knowing tone

 “Shigure,” Hatori began as he started walking downstairs, “What do you know about Yuki’s new job?”

******

Yuki let out another sigh and burrowed deeper into his blankets as he heard the Dragon leave his room. He knew that everyone was just looking out for his well-being, but it just annoyed him to death when people treated him like an invalid. It was bad enough that he was feeling close to being one.

 As much as he hated to admit it, Hatori’s advice to stay in bed was all he wanted to do. His head ached, this throat ached, his chest ached, every single muscle in his body ached... and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to get warm. Even though he knew from past experience that he was probably running a fever, the coldness he was feeling was different from the usual fever chills. It was as if he felt frozen from the inside out.

 All at once, the haunting images he saw in that room flooded back at him. He sat up, and shook the images out of his head. He wrapped the blankets tighter around him and rested the back of his head against the wall behind him.

 “Just what was it with that room anyway?” Yuki murmured quietly to no one in particular

 /You already know the answer to that question./

“Eh?” Yuki’s eyes shot open at the sound of that unfamiliar voice. He quickly scanned his room for the unwanted intruder, only to find himself alone. He instinctively put a hand over his forehead, “My fever must be worse than I thought.”

All at once, the room felt claustrophobic. He needed to get out for some air. Though, it seemed rather risky to disobey Hatori’s orders after the doctor had just given them a few minutes ago. And there was the fact that Hatori hadn’t even left yet. Hatori, after all, was known to enforce his threats. Being sick and stuck at home was bad enough... staying in the hospital felt a lot more like a death sentence more than anything else. Plus, there was this undeniable urge for him to go to the bathroom.

Well... Hatori did say that going to the washroom was acceptable.

“That’s good enough for me,” Yuki sighed aloud as he slowly maneuvered himself out of bed, only to realize that he was still completely naked underneath the sheets. He balked at the idea of running into Honda-san in the hallway, but just the idea of walking across the room to his closet to rummage for clothes, then continuing on to the trek to the washroom already felt tiring as it was. Plus the call of nature was becoming more urgent by the second.

He let out another sigh and silently prayed to the gods to give him a break as he stood up. Against his better judgment, he painfully trudged his way towards the second floor bathroom, wrapped in his blankets and all and forcing his protesting muscles to not pause to rest until he was in the sanctity of the bathroom. It was only when the door was safely closed behind him that he allowed himself to relax with a sigh of relief.

/My, aren’t you a jittery one./

Yuki looked up in surprise at the sound of the voice and scanned the room in confusion. There was no one there but him, “What’s going on here?”

/Do you really want to know? Then look over here at the mirror./

Yuki frowned. He faced at his reflection on the mirror, who stared back at him with an identical expression of bafflement. Yuki frowned, not quite understanding what was the voice was saying, when all of the sudden, his reflection gave him an almost sinister smile, /Boo!/

The boy let out a surprised yelp and automatically stepped back in horror, stumbling into the empty tub behind him. To his further shock, his reflection stayed at the mirror and started laughing in complete amusement.

/Oh my what is that? A little jittery rat. Chased by a cat, fell in a vat, and drowned. Poor little jittery rat./

All of the sudden, the air started to turn cold again. Yuki clutched his blankets, slowly standing up with his back to the wall. Not taking his eyes from the strange apparition in front of him, “What? Who?”

/Delirium, hallucination, ghost... whatever makes you happ./ His reflection shrugged dismissively. /But since I’m going to be here for a while and there really isn’t anything you can do about what will happen after this, we might as well get acquainted and be friends./

“Who are you?” Yuki finally managed to whisper

/Revenge./ His reflection replied with a hard tone, eyes flashing. /I already warned you about staying away from day one. But still you chose to come. You brought this upon yourself./

“Are you... Hiroga-san?” Yuki asked with a little more confidence

/I was ready to forget everything they did to me. I was content with the fact that no one would be able to unleash it. But of all the people they had to get involved, they had to bring in one of the twelve. Hmph... who would have thought that just one of you would cause this much damage. The first seal is broken now. And it’ll just be a matter a matter of time before they figure out how to break the rest. There’s only one way to fix everything./

He could sense the other entity’s fury with each word spoken. The air in the room became heavier and colder... making it more difficult to breath. Whatever confidence Yuki managed to gain was quickly flagging as he desperately tried to wrap his blankets even tighter for warmth, “Wh-what a-a-re y-y-ou tuh-tuh-alk... ?”

/I’ll just have to kill all twelve of you before they figure it all out,/ His reflection shrugged non-chalantly

Yuki’s eyes widened in horror, “No...”

/But don’t worry, my little jittery rat... I’ll spare you for now,/ His reflection stated reassuringly, /After all, I still need you. No one will suspect a little jittery rat like your self, after all./

“NO!” Yuki cried out as he leapt on his feet

“Yuki-kun? Are you alright?” Tooru’s muffled voice called out worriedly from the other side

/Be a good boy and say everything’s alright,/ His reflection instructed

“The hell I’ll do anything you say,” Yuki glared at the mirror

“Yuki-kun? I’m coming in,” Tooru called out upon not hearing an answer right away

/Do it before she comes in,/ His reflection stated

The boy turned towards the door to yell at the girl not to come in, only to find his voice trapped in his throat. His hands instantly flew to his neck, /What?/

“You should have done what I told you,” His reflection whispered in amusement

“Yuki-kun? Are you alright?” Tooru asked tentatively from the door, carefully averting her eyes

/Honda-san! Get out of here! Go get Hatori!/ Yuki cried out desperately

“I’m fine.”

Yuki stared at his reflection in horror upon hearing his voice say something different from what he wanted to say.

“Okay,” Tooru replied, relief evident in her voice, “Anou... I thought you might be hungry so brought some porridge in your room.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry to have worried you, Honda-san. I’m coming out in a bit.”

/What?/ It was only then that he realized that Tooru seemed to be paying attention to his reflection rather than to him.

“Un,” Tooru nodded with a slight blush as she closed the door behind her

“Nice girl you have there,” His reflection commented as soon as the girl left

/Stay away from her!/

His reflection simply smiled, “There’s no need to continue being so uptight. You’ll get your chance soon. But for now, I think it would be best if the poor little jittery rat took a little nap, don’t you think?”

Yuki felt his heart sink at his reflection’s words. He tried to shake his head, only to realize that his body was completely motionless. His reflection raised a finger to his lips as if to gesture him to be silent. Yuki gaped in horror as his own hand reflected the gesture against his will.

He could only watch helplessly, as his reflection slowly closed his eyes... his own eyes following suit... until he was engulfed in darkness... and nothingness...

End of Chapter 14
Return to Chapter 13  
Continued on Chapter 15 

Author’s squawk!

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How’s that for evilness! So many possible twists to follow! Who is Auntie Saori really working for? Who is that mysterious person in the shadows? What the hell happened to Hiroga? What is that room? What does the 12shi have to do with that whole mess? What is the secret behind that room? Is it really a hidden treasure?

Well... who’s willing to take the baton? Eraya or Adria, you decide between yourselves quickly who will take it.

And here’s my challenge, if you choose to take it:

Now that it’s established that Hiroga is a bad boy and is now currently in control of our poor Yuki, portray him showing off his absolute badness behind his limited knowledge of  Yuki to keep up his Yuki facade. Since he’s stuck at home for now, you have a choice of showing him interact with either Tooru, Kyou, Shigure, and if you choose to keep Haru in Shigure’s house, Haru... and have the character of choice (not necessarily the same character who interacted with Yuki) to suspect that something weird is going on.

On the sideline, portray Hatori starting his own investigation about what happened. Whether he finds something out or not at this point is up to you.

That’s it! Have fun!

Ja!
Ina-chan