Fumei no Musubi
Chapter Nine 
by Ina-chan
First Posted Online: October 27, 2003
History: Sequel to Jyuunishi no Enkei Monogatari

“There’s no use sulking,” The silver-haired man leafed through the magazine he has spread on his lap, head cocked to his side as he half-listened to the automated voice from his cell phone, “You know Tori-san’s orders. Total bed rest for a week.”

The writer continued to frown childishly. Of all the people to become his prison warden, his best friend and cousin was the last person he wanted. Not only was Ayame completely loyal to Hatori’s commands, but he can be annoyingly and assertively stern if he really wanted to.

        “Ne, A-ya...” Shigure began, “Shouldn’t you be looking after Yuki instead? I mean, we almost had to drag you away, kicking and screaming whenever we try to separate you from Yuki’s side in the past. What’s the big change of heart this time?”

        The snake gave him a sidelong glance as he continued to check his voicemail in the phone, “And have Tooru-kun worrying over you, on top of looking after my brother and being pregnant?”

        The writer couldn’t help making a wolfish grin, “Well then, why don’t you go over and take care of Yuki-kun and send Tooru-kun over here to me.”

        “So you can manipulate her into letting you skip your doctor’s orders,” Ayame countered without missing a beat, “I don’t think so Gure-san.”

        “MOU! You’re no fun at all! Of all the people to betray me, I didn’t expect it to be you,” Shigure whined childishly

        “Ah, but it’s all because of my love for you that I’m doing this Gure-san,” The snake grinned as he hung up his cell phone and put the device inside his pocket, “Besides, you wouldn’t want to be in Tooru-kun’s company at the moment.”

        “Eh?” Shigure raised an eyebrow, before comprehension started to dawn in his face, “Is she going into ‘that stage’ already? The one that had Kyou ready to commit seppuku?”

        “No.” Ayame shook his head solemnly, “Gura-chan has taken it upon herself to keep Tooru-kun and Yuki company as much as she can. As much as I am quite eager to stand in for my brother in terms of supporting his wife, there is just so much my manly sensibilities can take with constant discussions about... womanly situations in their conditions.”

        “I see,” The writer chuckled with amusement, “I suppose Yukino-chan and constant diaper changes didn’t help on making your decision to escape here either.”

        The snake gave the dog a wounded look, but not before making an involuntary flinch before regaining his composure, “Come now, Gure-san. I know that you see me, sitting here beside almost constantly throughout the day since yesterday as some form of punishment. It’s really unfair assume a beautiful and innocent babe at fault.”

        “Even if the beautiful and innocent babe obviously inherited both her parents’ lungs?” Shigure continued innocently

        “Even though the beautiful and innocent babe obviously inherited both her parents’ lungs,” Ayame agreed before falling into a more serious tone, “But all kidding aside, Gure-san. You really gave us quite a scare yesterday. Tooru-kun was inconsolable with worry...”

        A wave of guilt immediately assailed the writer at his cousin’s words. He lowered his eyes and stared at the IV line impaled through the pale flesh of his arm, “How is Tooru-kun doing?”

        “Gura-chan, Yukino-chan and Kyonkichi has been keeping her company and well-distracted,” The snake replied, “I’m sorry.”

        “Ha?” Shigure looked up in surprise and stared at the silver-haired man, “What for?”

“That I didn’t notice this earlier,” Ayame continued, “Tori-san said that you probably collapsed from lack of sleep, lack of food, and lack of fluids.”

The dog lowered his eyes once more and didn’t reply.

“I suppose I also took it for granted because we used to do the same thing when we crammed for finals back when we were still in school,” The snake murmured contemplatively, “But then again, back then, the three of us looked after each other...”

Ayame’s voice trailed until the room fell into a deep pensive silence. Shigure couldn’t help feeling even more guilty after hearing his cousin say that. Since Hatori showed his displeasure with the writer pursuing Souma Iwaku’s trail many years ago, Shigure didn’t even bother bringing his other best friend into the loop of his discovery.

Of course, at that time, Ayame was in no position to help him with such trivial distractions. It was no secret that at that time, the snake was going through a personal crisis with his immediate family. In fact, roughly a few months after that particular New Year, it was the first time of the number of times Ayame... "moved out"... of the Main House, which later on eventually became a permanent situation.

Ironically, the circumstances now were not that different from then. The snake has been unusually silent about witnessing the prior incident between the dog and the dragon. But behind the nonchalant mask that his cousin always wears, Shigure knew that being forced to watch and do nothing regarding the obvious conflict between himself and the doctor was causing his cousin a lot undeserved pain... that on top of worrying over his younger brother and sister-in-law.

“Why are you doing this?” The snake suddenly asked out of the blue, causing the dog to raise an eyebrow

“It’s just work, A-ya,” Shigure replied with a strained grin, “You know how stubborn I can get when I get serious enough over something.”

“I know,” Ayame agreed, but still looking unconvinced, “But why are you doing THIS? This story you’re working on... why is it so important to the point of fighting over it with Tori-san? I don’t understand...”

The writer suddenly found himself speechless, not knowing what to say to that. But his cousin’s eyes were looking at him pleadingly, and Shigure saw all at once how this whole situation was hurting him. So he gave him the most honest answer he had, “I... don’t know...”

That was pretty much the truth anyway. He didn’t know. He couldn’t explain it. There was something inside of him spurring him on. A great sense of urgency that only intensified after Kagura’s daughter’s birth and that incident during Yuki’s hospitalization.

“What’s happening, Gure-san?” Ayame’s voice asked hesitantly, “There’s... something... going on... Tori-san told me not to pry... but... it’s... very” The snake’s voice trailed again as he struggled with his words, “...frustrating.”

“There’s nothing going on,” Shigure replied reassuringly, “I’m just researching for a new story I’m working on and I got too carried away...”

“DAMN IT!”

His cousin's outburst came unexpectedly that the writer almost jumped. He looked up to get startled as he found a pair of golden eyes, glaring at him with a very dangerous expression. Ayame paused as he ran his fingers through his bangs with a loud frustrated sigh before wrapping his arms tightly around himself as if seeking comfort.

“Stop it Gure-san,” Ayame’s voice was unnaturally calm, but the writer could sense the controlled fury behind his quiet tone, “I’m sick and tired of watching every single person I ever cared about drop around me like flies. I know that whatever it is that you’re hiding with Tori-san... it has something to do with everyone getting sick. You... Yuki... Akito... Please stop doing this to me. Stop leaving me out in the dark... I’m not fragile.”

Shigure gave his cousin a defeated look, before tiredly closing his eyes and sinking into his pillows. Once again, he felt himself starting to drown in the guilt-laden wave of silence fell in the room. Shigure, of all people knew it. Beneath the layers of Ayame’s random acts of idiocy, was a sharp, incisive, mind. And after further experiences in adult life chipped away more of the insolent pride that blinded the snake in his youth, it was a matter of time before Ayame figured everything out on his own. With how things were going... it would be a matter of time, before everyone in the Jyuunishi circle found out. The truth after all, will eventually float to the surface of a lake, no matter how much one tries to weigh down and hide that figurative corpse.

But... as much as he wanted to share... this... with Ayame... just how much with his cousin understand? Just how much will he want to understand?

        “Gure-san?” Ayame’s voice called out to him expectantly, determined not to let this go

        Shigure sighed in defeat.

        “I started dreaming again,” The dog replied, keeping his eyes closed, “Only this time... the dreams feel too real to be simply dreams...”

        The snake didn’t reply. Shigure made another sigh. Not to demean his cousin and as much as he hated to admit it, it was really Hatori that he felt the most comfortable confiding with these sort of things. Though he couldn’t depend on Hatori to agree with him all the time... in fact the only thing he can depend on was Hatori’s antagonism to many of his thoughts or ideas. But somehow, Hatori’s counters focused him. Grounded him. Seeing the opposing end showed what route he needed to take with clarity.

        “What was it about?” Ayame’s soft voice rang loudly in his ears. The writer’s eyes shot open to look at his cousin in silent surprise. The snake man simply stared back at the dog with an expression of utter seriousness, that for one second, it almost felt as if it was Yuki’s intense look gazing back at him... back when they were working with the legal details together to ensure Tooru’s safety before his cousin got married.

        “What was your dream about?” Ayame prodded again, when Shigure was unable to answer right away.

        The writer turned his gaze and stared at a random spot ceiling, “I’ve been having so many lately, I don’t know where to start.”

        “Start with the first one that comes to your mind then,” The snake encouraged gently

        Shigure closed his eyes and almost immediately an image came clearly within his mind’s eye, “There was a funeral... for a little girl who drowned.”

        Ayame didn say anything, but Shigure could sense his cousin's apprehension.

        “Ne, A-ya... you hear what the Outer House members say about what’s happening in the Inner House, right?” The dog opened his eyes and suddenly turned to his cousin enthusiastically

        “A bit,” Ayame answered pensively, “The Outer House members are careful of what to gossip in front of me.”

        “Have you heard what they said about why Kazuma-dono’s grandfather was imprisoned?” Shigure asked

        A line furrowed on the snake’s brow, “Not particularly...”

        “Kana-chan said that there was a rumour going around from back then, that they thought he was imprisoned because he killed someone.”

        The other man’s eyes widened in horror, “Who?”

        “Souma Yumeko.”

        This time, it was the snake, who stared at the dog, speechlessly. The significance of that name weighed heavily on Ayame's as if the snake was physically struggling over a sudden heavy load on his back. Shigure shifted to face his cousin and waited patiently for Ayame to regain his composure.

        “But... it was an accident, right?” Ayame stammered uncertainly, “She wandered to the lake, fell in, and drowned... right?”

        Shigure rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Kana-chan’s grandmother, Noriko-san, was one of the people who looked after Yumeko-san. She knew about the curse and researched extensively about it. Though all her accounts in the journals that survived are worded in a way that only those who knew about the curse will completely understand what she was referring to.”

        “Is that why you were meeting with Kana-chan?”

        “For the most part,” The writer nodded, with a wry grin, “Though partly, I was somewhat curious to see how she was doing.”

        “Yare, yare...” Ayame shook his head with a sigh, “You really don’t think do you, Gure-san. No wonder Tori-san was so upset.”

        “You’re the one to talk,” Shigure countered with a light-hearted tone, before his voice lowered into a more serious pitch, “But that’s not what Ha-san was entirely angry about. He didn’t want me poking around the dark for skeletons hidden in our family closet.”

        “You found something, didn’t you?”

        “Apparently, Yumeko-san’s rites were suspiciously hasty. It almost as if the Family was hiding something.”

        “What was it?"

        “Noriko-san was one of the few people who saw Yumeko-san’s body before she was cremated,” Shigure replied, “According to Noriko-san’s diary, there were scratches and bruises on Yumeko-san’s face, neck and arms. It was as if she struggled while someone held her under water.”

        “Souma Yumeko was murdered and the Outer House members believe that Kazuma-san’s grandfather did it,” Ayame stated the sentence aloud in disbelief, as if the idea will make more sense in doing so

        “That’s basically it on the nutshell,” Shigure replied as he reached over to the bedside table for a packet of cigarettes

        The line on Ayame’s forehead furrowed even deeper, unable to believe what he just heard, "That’s insane! The cat and the mouse of the Jyuunishi have a reputation of... not getting along... but to the point that they would actually kill... ”

        “That’s because, he didn’t kill her,” came the writer’s muffled reply as he spoke while lighting the cigarette in his mouth, “That cat's only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

        “He was the one who found her, wasn’t he?”

        “He even tried to revive her, and carried her to find help. But it was too late,” Shigure nodded before taking a drag, “Needless to say, there was no way that he would do anything like that to her.”

        “Why?”

        “I don't know if this had anything to do with it... but Yumeko-san was "different" from the other Mouse incarnations. It's a funny coincidence that the Mouse always seemed to end up with birth complications, isn't it?" Shigure began, "According to Noriko-san's diary, Yumeko-chan's birth was very difficult. I would assume that she probably had some brain damage that's why she ended up blind. I made some additional research... I don't have proof, but and I have reason to believe that she was probably autistic as well. Noriko-san wrote that Yumeko-san had an unusual memory. She started playing the piano by ear to flawless perfection since she was three and if you prodded her, she could recite books read to her or conversations she heard word for word. Though, even at age 10, Yumeko-san's cognitive reasoning and logic remained that of a 5-year-old's."

        Ayame leaned back on his seat and stared at no particular thing in space, deep in thought, "So that means..."

        "Yumeko-san was not capable of 'hating' anything or anyone... or so it appeared," Shigure murmured, "It's not clear how she ended up getting acquainted with Kazuma-dono's grandfather. But it was definitely clear that she adored . Noriko-san said that Yumeko-san would often sneak away to be with her beloved ‘Oniichan’ despite her physical limitations and.... objections... from certain members of the Inner House. And he loved her dearly like a precious little sister,” The writer replied in an odd tone, an unreadable expression crossing his face as his tone fell into an almost inaudible whisper, “That’s how it should have always been.”

        "Then the mouse died, the cat was accused of her murder and imprisoned..." Ayame continued absent-mindedly

        "'It's all the mouse's fault'," Shigure took another drag from his cigarette, "And the cursed cycle of hate and revenge started all over again."

        “But if it’s really a murder, why try to hide it?" Ayame protested, "Why wasn't there any investigation to find out who really did it?”

        "No, it's not the matter of not having an investigation. Noriko-san had reason to believe that what they found in their investigation was the reason why it was hidden away in the first place," The dog stated pensively

        "What do did they find?"

        "The found hair samples in her hands," Shigure replied,"I suppose from the struggle."

        "And?"

        Shigure satred the wisp of smoke filtering from his lit cigarette before looking up to give his cousin a silent significant look, "It wasn't orange."

        The snake frowned,"They never found out who did it?"

        Shigure snorted before taking another drag from his cigarette, "I think they knew who it was from the beginning. This sort of thing has happened before."

        "Then why...?"

        "Because our family prefers to bury skeletons inside closets rather than solve the root of the problem," Shigure interrupted coldly as he stabbed his half-finished cigarette on a nearbl ashtray in a huff of simmering anger, "As a result, we're allowing ourselves to be trapped in this damned cycle and history repeats itself over and over again."

        "Gure-san?"

        Shigure stopped and gazed at his cousin's face. Ayame was being exceedingly patient with him. But it was obvious that it was the patience of a person, sympathetically listening to the words of the confused and the delirious. All at once, a heavy sense of fatigue fell onto the writer's body. He fell back on his bed with a sigh and ran his hands over his face tiredly, "Sorry A-ya. I'm not making any sense... These dreams I've been having are making it hard to think straight."

        "It's alright, Gure-san. We'll think about it later. What's more important right now is for you to get better, then later on, we'll figure it out together. Now go ahead and sleep. I'll stay here and watch over you. Don't worry about those dreams," Ayame leaned out from his seat and put a reassuring hand on his cousin's arm, "After all, they're just dreams, right?"

        Shigure gave his best friend a strained smile and closed his eyes in defeat.

        /My mom told me once that sometimes, dreams are glimpses of memories from a past life./

        "I wonder if she's dreaming of the same thing while she sleeps..." Shigure murmured absent-mindedly, his consciousness hovering between the line of sleep and wakefullness

        "Who?" Ayame asked curiously

        "Yukino..."

******

A young woman opened her eyes sat up with a loud gasp. She put a delicate hand over her chest, trying to calm her hammering heart. Her eyes fell upon her unfamiliar surroundings, and suddenly, that sense of panic she felt in her dream resurged in her entire being.

They were waiting for her for a long long time.

She needed to get up.

She had to go to them.

So she struggled with her beddings and maneuvered herself out bed and out of the room, not bothering to put anything over her bed clothes.

"Tooru-kun?" A voice called out to her in concern as she stepped into the hallway

The young woman turned around to see Kagura's alarmed face.

"Tooru-kun, where are you going?" Kagura called out again as she stepped closer.

"To the garden," Tooru replied with a distant voice, "The children are waiting."

"Children?" Kagura frowned as she reached out for the other woman. The boar's eyes widened in concern upon realizing that her friend appeared to be half-asleep, "Tooru-kun, what are you talking about?"

In turn, Tooru broke free from the boar's loose grasp, still determined to go toward her intended destination, "They're waiting in the garden. She's crying because her brother's teasing her again."

"Tooru-kun, there's no one in the garden. You must have been dreaming," Kagura said gently but maneuvering her friend back into the bedroom, "You had a rough day, you're supposed to be resting now, remember? Kyou-kun said that he'll look after Yun-chan so you can get some sleep."

"But the children..." Tooru prostested, half-resisting as Kagura led her back to bed

"All right, I'll go to the garden and make sure the children are alright,"Kagura finally gave in, realizing that it was no use arguing with someone sleepwalking. She made a small sigh of relief as the other woman appeared pacified with her words and allowed herself to be tucked in.

"Thank you," Tooru said with a warm grateful smile, her eyes drooping to answer the silent beckoning of sleep, "I'm glad I can always depend on you."

"Shhh... just go back to sleep now," Kagura hushed softly, fixing the blankets under her friend's chin

"Thank you... Nagusami-chan..."

End of Chapter Nine
Return to Chapter Eight  
Continued on Chapter Ten 

AUTHOR’S SQUAWK:

        It has been a while since I last updated this fic, ne? Hmmm... the plot thickens and is becoming more and more non-sensical! Or is it? For those of you confused, there are some references to events that happened this fic's prequel "Jyunnishi no Enkei Monogatari".  Anywayz, thanks for continuing to read! ^_^.


Ja!
Ina-chan