unrevised.
/ chapter 18 /
Ichika sat on the grass as she watched Tohru farm her new plants.
It had been a few days since the encounter with Akito and Tohru's first meeting. Since then, Tohru had been more talkative and cheery than usual, and it didn't take Ichika long to realise why she was like that.
Perhaps Tohru wanted to be strong in front of her, even though deep down she was afraid from all that had happened. Maybe this was the effect of processing dark information.
"Are you sure you don't need any help, Tohru?" Ichika wondered.
"I'm fine, Ichika-chan! I'm only seeding the plants before I water them," Tohru assured as she poured a couple seeds into each pit that she made. "But aren't you bored from watching me?"
The bluenette shook her head before leaning her chin into her palm and propping her elbows on her knees.
"I like being around you, so it's not boring."
It was the truth. Tohru's presence calmed her a lot. It was peaceful, dazy and she felt extremely relaxed around her.
Tohru's lips broke into a bright smile. "I like being around you too, Ichika-chan!"
Ichika was almost blinded by how bright she was smiling. She brought her knees to her chest and moved her gaze to the ground as she felt her cheeks warm up.
No one has ever told her that before. It was nice to not be treated as a nuisance, or bad omen, for once.
Was this how Kyo, Yuki and the others felt around Tohru? Like flowers were blooming within them?
"Kyaaa!" Tohru all of a sudden screamed, frightening Ichika as well.
Yuki and Kyo, who were inside the house, bursted out the door and came bolting over to her out of nowhere.
"What is it?!" They both said in unison.
For people who fought a lot, they sure do similar things.
"S-S-S.." Tohru stuttered, trying her best to form a sentence. Her shaking finger pointed over to a direction and the three Sohma's glanced over to see a big bush and something slivering out of it.
Ichika's eyes widened as it slivered over towards her. This time, it was her turn to scream as she rushed to get up from ground to make a run for it, but before it could get to either girls, Yuki had grabbed a hold of it like it was nothing.
The Rat spirit held it by it's neck and glared down at it harshly as it tried to wiggle out of its grip.
On the other hand, realising what it is, he spat to the side and dug into his pockets with a sigh.
Why were the two boys so calm about it?!
Yuki stomped inside the house with his hand still holding the white snake and the rest followed after him in curiosity of what he was about to do.
"Shigure!" Exclaimed the gray-haired Sohma, as he shoved the snake into Shigure's bewildered face.
"Skin this thing alive and cook it. Right now." Yuki said darkly.
Shigure blinked and adjusted his glasses as his examined the snake closely.
"Eh?" He started. "A-ya?"
The snake wiggled sadly and Ichika almost felt bad for it. Yuki's hand was relentless though as he didn't let go of it and squeezed it tighter, but she doubted he would kill it.
Not yet, at least.
It seemed to be someone they all knew.
Shigure tried to calm Yuki down who seemed to be adamant on skinning the snake before Shigure was able to successfully pull the snake away from his grasps.
A few moments passed as it rested on a pillow, as Ichika, Tohru, Kyo, Yuki and Shigure sat around it and stared down at it.
"I'd like to introduce you girls. This is Ayame Sohma. As you can see, he's the Snake of the Zodiac." Shigure gestured. "He's also Yuki's older brother."
Tohru looked at him in curiosity as Ichika simply stared. Shigure had explained that he, Ayame and Hatori are the same age and have known each other since they were kids. They went to school together all throughout elementary and high school.
Ichika felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of Hatori's name.
So Ayame and Shigure both saw all different sides of Hatori, being that they've all known each other their whole lives. This made her envious. She, too, wanted to see Hatori's different sides.
"Greetings all!" A voice flamboyantly greeted, before a puff of blue smoke enveloped half of the room.
Ichika's eyes widened as a tall man with long white hair and golden eyes stood bare in front of them as if his... thing... wasn't proudly out.
Kyo quickly moved to cover Tohru's eyes while Yuki and Ichika looked away.
Yuki tsked. "Consider yourself lucky we didn't call the police!" He yelled. "And why are you still naked?! Put some clothes on!"
Ichika had never seen Yuki so irritated before. He had always been calm and gentle-spoken. His brother brought out a lot of personality in him.
With his hands on his hips, Ayame looked down at his bare body nonchalantly. "Oh, I must have forgotten them somewhere." With a smile grazing his lips, he turned to Shigure lovingly. "Gure-san, may I fetch my spare clothes from your room?"
"Of course, A-ya," Shigure said with a wink.
Ichika looked back and forth at the two who seemed to be in their own world as she could hear Kyo gagging in the background. Her first thought being: Why did Shigure have Ayame's clothes and why were they in his room—
Ah, nevermind. She shouldn't think too much into it.
Ayame disappeared into Shigure's room and after a few moments, he returned wearing a casual red outfit that reflects a chinese design.
"Anyways, A-ya, I can finally introduce you to two new faces! Starting off, this is Tohru Honda whom you must have heard a lot about," Shigure gestured to her as she gave him a polite bow before he continued. "And this is Ichika, Ichika Sohma."
Ayame nodded over to brunette and returned her bow with a wide smile. Then he turned to Ichika and the moment he met her gaze, something struck him. His eyes widened slightly. He faltered a little.
Without a word, the white-haired Sohma stepped closer to her and bent slightly down due to their height difference. He stared into her face and this made Ichika nervous as she didn't know where to look. It was almost as if he was looking through her and deep into her soul.
Then she remembered. Ayame was there on that day to witness her most humiliating moment. The day she got exposed as the fourteenth member of the cursed.
It was still quite embarassing for her to meet the other members of the curse when she had made an impression like that.
She immediately ran over to Tohru and hid behind her back, gazing intently at the weird man.
"What's wrong, A-ya?" Shigure asked, having seen the peculiar interaction.
"Ah, I didn't mean to frighten her," He said sheepishly, before quickly turning to the blue-haired Sohma. "She looks a little familiar."
"Ah, she shares the spirit with our Haa-san! You were there for that day, weren't you?" Shigure replied.
Ayame nodded. "Yes. Though I do feel like I've met her somewhere else before.." Then he shook his head and smiled joyfully as he turned to the blue-haired Sohma. "My apologies, My Lady, I must have been captivated by your beauty~"
"Damn you, Ayame! You're just as perverted as Shigure!" Yuki snapped, glaring at his older brother.
"B-But Yuki! That's a little too harsh—"
Ichika blocked out the one-sided argument as she remembered the way Ayame had stared at her. There was something about his eyes that told her there was more to it than just the excuse he used.
But maybe she was just overthinking it. She was probably looking into it too much.
Among the noisy racquet Yuki was causing with Ayame, Ichika heard a deep voice beside her.
She met Shigure's light-grey eyes.
"Don't worry, Ichika-chan. Ayame may be a bit flirtatious, but he's not a bad guy," He stated.
"It's alright to be scared of new people, Ichika-chan! I'm sure you'll eventually get used to his presence like how you did with the rest of us!" Tohru added, turning to face her with a kind smile.
Ichika nodded, returning the smile. Tohru ran off to calm Yuki down and she was left with the older Sohma.
Yuki was snapping smartly at his brother while Ayame retorted more calmly and kindly. Tohru tried her best to calm the Mouse spirit down and frequently turned to Kyo to ask for help, in which he turned down as he didn't want to get involved in their 'family drama'.
They both stood from the side with a smile on their faces as they watched it play out comedically.
"Ne, Ichika-chan." Shigure spoke up from beside her.
Ichika glanced away from the scene and looked over to Shigure whose eyes didn't leave them.
"I've spoken to Haa-san. And I think it's about time he paid us a little visit, don't you think?"
Uh oh, what was Shigure planning this time?
Ichika blinked. "Isn't he busy with work?"
"Well he is.." He started, before he smirked. "But don't you want to see him?"
She felt her face flush as she turned to face the front before the man beside her could notice, but little did she know he had already caught a glimpse of her reddened face.
She did want to see him. Why did Shigure have to hit the nail on the head like that?
She had been wanting to see him for so long.
She just wanted to feel his presence. To feel the calming aura he carried.
To see his sharp purple eyes that turned gentle when he looked at her.
To feel the warmth of his hand whenever he patted her head.
He was her saviour, she knew she owed him her life. It was the only line of connection she had to him, but that was okay for her. As long as she was able to stay by his side, she'll push away her feelings and lock them up in a tight little box.