"You really are an idiot," Hatori said.
He'd come over to Shigure's house only an hour ago, when he'd heard the news that Shigure had been banished from the Sohma estate. It was a rumor, Hatori had been sure, just a rumor; surely Akito was just angry with Shigure, and as the news had been passed from maid to maid, it had grown into this. But, he was surprised to find that Shigure was packing all his things, and his shock only grew when Shigure told him why he was being banished.
"An idiot? I wouldn't say that," Shigure said, closing up a box of all his journals; he had so many, most of them years and years old. He was always writing in them. "'A fool in love' sounds so much more appropriate."
Hatori sighed. "I highly doubt that sleeping with someone besides the person you supposedly care for counts as loving them."
"Ah, Hatori; you only think that because you haven't fallen in love yet," Shigure said in a playful sort of way, wagging his finger at him. "Those in love do quite unusual things, things that cannot be explained. And now, I am being punished for merely following my heart," he ended dramatically.
"You've brought this on yourself, you know."
"I know," his cousin replied, much more seriously that Hatori expected him to. "But, so did she," he added quietly. Shigure moved on to packing his clothes, with merely consisted on him barely folding his shirts and pants before tossing them into an open suitcase.
"How did she do that?"
Shigure looked as though he was going to respond, but stopped when a maid came in to take out the packed boxes. The room remained quiet as the maid gathered a suitcase and a box of journals under one arm. Hatori immediately knew what Shigure was going to say had to be left between them. No one spoke about secret matters in front of the help; that was just asking for rumors to be spread.
They both watched the maid leave. After a moment's pause, obviously to make sure that the maid was safely out of hearing distance, Shigure replied, "She slept with Kureno."
And then, Hatori understood. It was no secret that Shigure was bothered by Kureno's constant presence with Akito, was always jealous of how much time Kureno spent with her. Hatori remembered hearing Akito scream at him after he'd made some sort of remark about how much time she spent with Kureno; she'd yelled about how he didn't trust her, how he didn't understand anything about her being a god. She and Shigure fought fairly often, for Shigure was very good at getting underneath her skin. She always forgave him though.
Except for this time. Now, it was quite clear that this was possibly the end of their relationship.
But, why would Akito sleep with Kureno? That puzzled Hatori. He knew how much she cared about Shigure, no matter how much she tried to hide it. It just didn't make sense that she would do that.
"…Are you sure Akito did that?" Hatori asked quietly.
"I saw them, Hatori," Shigure said rather calmly, though Hatori could sense the contempt in his voice. "I'm very sure."
Hatori hesitated. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. She…she has paid for what she did." Hatori had never seen his cousin speak so seriously. "She will be hurting for a long, long time. She deserves to."
It was true, Hatori could see, that Akito would not easily get over this. She despised her mother, and hated it whenever anyone associated with her. If an outsider ever slept with her mother, she'd be furious. If any of the jyuunishi slept with her, she'd be upset, and shun them for life. But, for the person she cared most about to sleep with her mother….it made Hatori wonder if she would ever get passed this.
And it was in that instance that Hatori learned never to cross Shigure. As harmless as he seemed, Shigure knew exactly what he had to do to completely and utterly destroy someone.
Akito had crossed Shigure, and had reaped the consequences. For a split second, Hatori stopped pitying his cousin, and his only thoughts were 'poor Akito….'
Kureno hovered around Akito like he usually did; or at least, he attempted to. She had been completely distraught when he'd pried her off of Ren; he doubted he'd ever seen her so upset. Once Ren was safely locked inside her room again, Kureno had allowed Akito out of his site, though he didn't stay far. She hadn't wanted him around, but he was worried about her; what could have hurt her so badly?
He'd been around to hear her banish Shigure, and was a bit saddened. He liked Shigure, though it appeared to be that Shigure wasn't as fond of him. It wasn't as though he was allowed to see Shigure much anyway, but when he did, he enjoyed his company.
Kureno followed Akito around as she paced the halls and gardens of the estate. She was so visibly upset; walking around angrily, restlessly, letting out small screams of frustration. Kureno didn't want to leaver her alone, in case she set out to attack Ren again.
Eventually, she went into her quarters for a bath; she allowed Kureno to wait in her room while she bathed. And so, Kureno sat, close to the bathroom door, waiting for her to come out, hoping to talk to her, to figure out what was wrong. Something had happened concerning Ren and Shigure, but he couldn't figure out what would make her so upset.
Kureno didn't move from where he sat until he heard her crying inside the bathroom. He honestly hated hearing her cry; though the connection between God and the jyuunishi that he once had was gone, he still couldn't handle her upset. Perhaps it was because, for over a decade, he'd had that connection, and it had made a permanent impression upon him.
He slowly opened the door to the bathroom, in case she didn't want him seeing her in the bath, though he doubted she'd have a problem with it. It wasn't as though he hadn't seen her naked before.
She was hugging her knees tightly to her chest, sobbing. Kureno was a bit shocked at this; usually, her tears were a ploy to get attention. But now, she had hidden herself away to cry, where (almost) no one would see her.
"Akito, what's wrong?" He knelt by the bath, watching her carefully.
She looked up at him, her eyes red, and attempted to stop crying. "Why-why did you come in?"
"I heard you crying," Kureno said simply.
"So?"
"I don't like it when you cry." He wiped a tear off her cheek. "What happened today, Akito?"
She didn't answer right away, but watched his face, studying him. Kureno held her gaze. He knew better than to look away from her as she did this; she'd be likely to think he had an alternative motive, which surely wouldn't make her feel better.
Tears began to swell up in her eyes again, and Kureno panicked for a moment; had he, somehow, upset her? But then, she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, and he heard her whisper between sobs, "My only faithful one left…. Don't ever leave me, Kureno."
Finally finished this. Hurray! Akito is a selfish bitch, and Shigure is a conniving bastard, hurray!
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