Chapter 11

"Hatori-sensei."

One of the housemaids stood mid-bow at the door of his office.

"Akito-sama wishes to speak with you."

Hatori sighed. He had been expecting this summons for quite a while.

"Tell him I'll be there in a moment."

Akito sat at the top of the room, Yuki kneeling silently by his side. Hatori was kneeling directly across from Akito.

"So, Hatori…" began Akito, gazing out the window.

"Yes, Akito-sama?"

"Why is it that you disobeyed me?"

Hatori was silent.

"Why is it that you chose to resist?" he said quietly. "Not that it made any difference. In fact, it worked out in my favour…" He gestured in Yuki's direction. "…but it does not change the fact that you refused to comply."

Akito stood and walked towards Hatori.

"And those who don't comply must be punished."

Hatori continued to stare at his knees.

"Don't you have anything to say?"

Hatori looked up at Akito and shook his head.

"That's because you're a coward." Akito snarled at him. "You're a filthy coward! And you'll pay for going against me! You hear that! You will pay!"

Akito grabbed Hatori by the hair and flung him against the wall with unexpected strength.

"Did you really think you could get away with this! Did you!" screamed Akito wildly. He hurled something at Hatori just as he was making an unsuccessful attempt to get up.

Hatori felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He put his hand to it, and when he drew it away, there was an unhealthy amount of blood on it. Hatori swayed precariously, and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"Hatori!"

Shigure ran into the room, with horrifying flashbacks to when Hatori had asked Akito for permission to marry Kana. He ran to Hatori's side, and propped him up against the wall, trying to locate the source of the blood on his friend's hands. It wasn't long until he found the large wound in the back of his head, and noticed the second vase that Akito had broken for Hatori's 'benefit'.

"Yuki! Call an ambulance! Why aren't you doing anything!" he cried helplessly.

Akito swung around to face Yuki.

"Don't listen to him. Stay there and be quiet," he snapped angrily. He turned to face Shigure. "And you, is this a new craze? It seems that all of a sudden, everyone has taken it upon themselves to disobey me."

Shigure wasn't even paying attention. He was too preoccupied with the blank stare Yuki was giving him. It was as if he didn't recognise him.

"Yuki, don't you know who I am?" asked Shigure.

A puzzled look came over his cousin's face, and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Yuki! Haven't I told you not to talk to people you don't know?" Akito stated.

Yuki looked a bit guilty, and looked back down at his lap.

"Yuki, you know me! You lived in my house for years! Don't you even remember Kyo?" yelled Shigure as Akito advanced on him.

"Do not mention that disgusting cat ever again," growled Akito.

"Cat?" Yuki said, a confused expression consuming his delicate features.

"He has orange hair, he used to be obsessed with fighting you, you were in love with him, Yuki!" Shigure yelled, trying to sum Kyo up as quickly as possible.

"Stop talking to him," hissed Akito menacingly, taking a step forward.

"Orange… hair?" said Yuki, a trace of recognition on his face.

"Yuki, trust me!"

Yuki looked anxiously at Akito, and slowly started to stand up.

"Sit down Yuki," hissed Akito, eyes blazing with rage.

Yuki looked down, but didn't move.

"Yuki…" Akito growled. Shigure would pay for ruining this.

"No," said Yuki shakily. "Akito… I don't know what you're using me for, but I don't like it. I don't like being used, and I don't like what you're doing, Akito."

Akito looked shocked, and absolutely livid. How dare he? How dare he run away? How dare he fall in love with that disgusting creature, and then come back and say he didn't want to obey Akito, his god? That ungrateful little retch…

"But… Akito, it must hurt a lot. I mean… I at least I think I understand why you don't want to let us go."

"Shut up," hissed Akito. "You think you understand, huh? You think you understand what it feels like to find out you're going to die so thirteen other people can live normal, happy lives? You think you understand what it feels like to have those thirteen people who you happen to be dying for turn against you? Just… just shut up."

Thirteen people?

Akito had turned away; he didn't want anyone to see how close to crying he was. His voice was cracking, and he was slipping from fuming to just miserable. He forced his voice to sound angry.

"Get out. All of you. Take him as well." He pointed in Hatori's direction, still not looking up from the floor.

"Akito…" Yuki was reluctant.

"Go."

Yuki then turned to help Shigure carry Hatori out, glancing back at Akito.

Once the ambulance had taken Hatori to the hospital, Shigure followed it. Yuki asked for a ride there, and Shigure couldn't say no. He couldn't have let his cousin stay there with Akito, especially this angry.

On the way there, Shigure asked Yuki how much Akito had told him.

"I know about the curse. If anyone except Akito hugs us we transform, right?" Yuki said, looking to Shigure for confirmation.

Shigure shook his head. He sighed.

"We only transform if a member of the opposite sex hugs us. Do you know how many of us there are?"

"Well, he told me twelve… but today he said thirteen. There's me, I'm the rat, then there's the boar, the dog, the rooster, the horse, the ox, the sheep, the tiger, the monkey, the rabbit, the dragon, and the snake," said Yuki thoughtfully. "That's twelve, right? Was Akito wrong? Are there thirteen?"

"No, he was right. There are thirteen of us…" He trailed off. "Did you meet anyone from the zodiac?"

"No."

"Did Akito let you talk to anyone?"

"Just the maids and Hatori."

"Did you meet anyone else? Like by accident?" Shigure kept his fingers crossed for luck. Kyo had disappeared during the night, and Shigure had gone to the main house, suspecting he had gone to find Yuki, and, having heard Akito yelling, he ran inside to make sure no one was hurt.

Yuki fidgeted. He seemed a little guilty.

So he has talked to someone…

"It's alright to talk to people, you know. Who was it?" Shigure said gently.

"I don't know his name… He knew mine. I don't know how, but… you know my name too. And you mentioned this boy… Kyo. He had orange hair like you said. He kept yelling at me. He said I couldn't be Yuki. People keep turning up who know my name, and they always say 'Why don't you know who I am?'" Yuki sighed. "The orange haired boy wasn't the only one. This man… he looked like me, but his hair was really long and silver. He started crying when I didn't know who he was. It's… I don't like this at all. He kept saying 'I'm sorry'. He said his name was Aaya."

Shigure sighed, more sadly this time.

"Yuki, I don't know how to say this, but… Aaya, well, Aaya's your brother."

"But Akito said I was an only child!" Yuki said in disbelief.

"You can't always believe Akito," said Shigure solemnly.

Yuki was unconvinced.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he said doubtfully.

"Do you remember anything about your past?" said Shigure, seemingly ignoring the last question.

"He said I fell off a wall in the gardens when I was being careless. And I hit my head on concrete. That's how I lost my memory," said Yuki. "At least, that's what he said."

Shigure shook his head.

"I need to know you'll believe me when I tell you this."

Yuki nodded.

"Hatori erased your memory, Yuki. You came to him, knowing that he could, and he did it. When you were much younger, he had to erase the memories of all your friends, and you had asked him to erase your memories then, but he wouldn't. He thought you'd regret it. But since then, he's found twice that erasing the memory of a loved one can be the only way to make them happy."

Shigure looked depressed at the thought.

"He knew it would hurt him, and the people who care about you, but you were so desperate to forget, he had to. He thought it was the only way to make you happy again."

There was silence for a moment.

"Shigure, why did I want my memory erased?"

More silence.

"You met Kyo, didn't you?"

"He was the boy with orange hair, about my age with a broken arm, right?"

"So you did meet him. Well, you and he… You've liked each other for a long time. Since you were six, in fact. Ten years…" Shigure stopped mid sentence.

"But, Shigure, we're both, well, you know…"

Shigure gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"Yes, Yuki, that's right, you're gay."

Yuki was baffled.

"How do you know?"

"Know what?"

"One, that I'm gay, two, that I love Kyo, three, that Kyo loves me, four, that it's been ten years that we've loved each other, and now that I think of it, five, how do you know about the curse?" Yuki was bewildered.

Shigure laughed quietly.

"One, two, and four are easy – you told me you loved Kyo since you were six, therefore you're gay, and have loved Kyo for ten years. Three, when I heard about you and Kyo kissing, I copped on to the fact that he probably loved you back. And five, I'm the dog, so it's understandable that I know about the curse."

Yuki tried to grasp the fact that he had loved someone for ten years, and couldn't remember, and the fact that someone had loved him for ten years, and he didn't know him.

"Shigure, is there a way to get my memory back?"

The mood became more serious. Shigure pulled into a parking space outside the hospital.

"I'm not sure. We'll have to ask Hatori when he regains consciousness. I want you to know he deeply regrets erasing your memory. When I ask him about it, it might be best if you left the room, so he doesn't feel overly guilty."

Yuki nodded.

Shigure filled in forms on Hatori's behalf, and then they were allowed to see him. Since he was already conscious, Shigure asked Yuki to wait outside the room while he talked to Hatori.

Shigure opened the door quietly. Hatori was obviously awake, staring out the window, lost in thought.

"Hey, Hatori, how you doing?"

Hatori didn't break his gaze.

"I've ruined everything, haven't I?"

Shigure pulled a chair over to the bedside.

"You haven't."

Hatori didn't speak for a moment.

"How many?"

"What?" said Shigure.

"How many lives have I ruined by erasing memories?"

"None. Momiji is as cheerful as any of the Juunishi, Yuki got over losing his friends when he was young…"

"Kyo won't get over this too soon."

"I guess not."

"I've ruined it."

"There's still hope, Hatori. If we give up this easily, there's no chance of breaking the curse," said Shigure firmly. "I need to know if there's a way to get Yuki's memory back."

"Seeing Kyo would be a big help. Ask Kyo to take him places where important things happened in his life. Chances are he'll remember them when he goes there…" He trailed off. "Is he out there?"

"Yes. Do you want to speak to him?"

"No, just tell him I'm sorry, okay?"

"I will." Shigure stood up. "I'll tell you if anything happens."

Hatori just kept staring out the window.

"Bye, Hatori."

He closed the door behind him.

Ta-dah! Hope you like. Its kind of shite, but whatever. I'm supposed to be doing a project for school. I'm tired. Off I go.

Thanks for caring!

Thinking of you,

Sammy