"Are you going to tell me what's wrong, Akito?"
Anzu sat in the room of the Sohma head and slowly rubbed circles over the older woman's back. For hours, Akito had been clinging to her and hadn't let go. Right now, she had her head laying in the crimsonette's lap. Although her eyes were closed, Anzu knew she was faking and trying not to talk.
"If you're going to give me the silent treatment, then I'll leave." Anzu frowned. "I haven't been to school in a week because of you and I can't repeat what I did last year."
"If you leave, you won't come back."
Confused by her statement, Anzu wanted to say something immediately, however she thought about it. There had been people who had left her side and, although she wasn't sure who the Sohma head was referring to this time, she didn't want to make any assumptions too early.
"I already told you that I'd come back. I've been coming back everyday."
"That means nothing!"
Akito immediately sat up, glaring at the shocked, unsuspecting teen. Over the years, the distance had become too great but, for some reason, this past year had revealed some immense changes that she wasn't ready for. What she wanted to do was take it out of the crimsonette in front of her and really let her have it. She could yell at her, hit her, push her, kick her, even swing her around if she wanted to. Yet, she knew she wouldn't feel the gratification she wanted from it.
Anzu's shoulders slumped forward in defeat as she sighed. "I don't know what's happened, but I hope you'll tell me when you're ready. Maybe I can-"
"You've already done enough!" Akito pushed her down onto her back. Because it was so sudden, Anzu didn't have time to react and by the time she'd recovered, Akito had already gotten on top of her. "I'm the chosen one! No one's supposed to leave me; you should be begging me for mercy!"
"You keep talking about leaving... Who left?"
"You're probably in on it with all your distractions." The Sohma head didn't hear her through her rage. "This is all your fault! You're the reason he's gone!"
Akito's fingers wrapped around Anzu's throat as she tried to choke the teen. Perhaps it was because she hadn't been eating lately that Akito's strength wasn't as pronounced as before. Anzu could easily pull at her wrists as she loosened Akito's grip. Who was she talking about, because there was no way it could be Kureno. Suddenly, something wet plopped onto her cheek and Anzu turned her attention back to Akito, who, to her surprise, had started crying.
"I wish you would just talk to me." Anzu relaxed, but kept a hold of Akito's wrists. "The pain you're holding in... You can't dance around it. You have to embrace it; that's the only way it will start to go away. I had to do the same thing when my mom died, and I'm still doing it now."
"...I have to face the root of the problem."
Anzu could tell that Akito was pondering her thoughts, but she didn't know what they actually were. The advice she gave, however, was something she had to learn herself. It was only after crying herself to sleep in Tohru's arms that she started to realize it. Maybe something she said had resonated in Akito's mind because she slowly crawled off of the teen and stood up.
"It's not your fault..." The Sohma head slowly said out loud before turning back to Anzu with a smirk. "You're absolutely right. I need to face the root of the problem."
The crimsonette frowned as Akito's facial expressions didn't seem the least bit sincere. She wasn't sure what had clicked in her mind but, whatever it was, it seemed like nothing but ill will. She was going to stop her and try to get more information out of her, but it seemed like the ravenette's mind was set.
"Thank you for clearing things up for me." Akito fixed her disheveled clothes. "You can go home for now, Anzu. We can talk later."
"...Are you sure?" Anzu slowly sat up cautiously. "I can go get some more snacks and we can-"
"Later. I need time to think."
Unsurely, the younger girl stood up and left the room. Everything about this screamed that it was a bad idea, but what else could she have done? After all that, she still didn't get to ask Akito about what she'd seen in that weird building on her way back from the convenience store. She would've gone there again since it was daytime, but she'd already had enough confrontation with Akito for today.
Looking at her phone, she saw the multiple missed calls and messages from Machi. Telling her that she'd be in school tomorrow, she smiled quietly to herself as she started her journey home. It was nice to have someone thinking of you and she knew she wanted to give Machi a gift when she saw her next. As much as she appreciated Machi, she couldn't help but feel a little sad because there was someone else that she wanted to check up on her.
Another message caught her eye before she closed her phone - an unknown number. Opening the message, she read it over a couple of times before truly processing it.
'Hello Anzu. This is Arisa, the girl from the convenience store. If you're still interested in me teaching you how to cook, I can swing by your house.'
With a wide grin, the crimsonette quickly responded with a date and time before continuing on her way. Once her plan went into full motion, she knew she'd be able to surprise Kureno with the love of his life and bring them back together. The more she thought about it, the more her excitement grew and she decided that she wanted to make this a group activity to prevent any awkward moments. This was nothing better than the perfect time to ask Momiji to join them. Taking a detour, Anzu walked along a familiar path until she stopped in front of one of the homes in the main estate.
"Lola?"
Momiji answered the door in surprise after Anzu had knocked. Compared to her, his energy level was in the ground. Honestly, he looked a bit tired, like he had a lot on his mind.
"Am I allowed to come in?" Anzu joked as Momiji hadn't moved out of the door frame. She was concerned because he wasn't acting like himself but her first instinct was that he may have had a long day at school or something.
Momiji immediately stepped to the side to let her in with a small smile, but the warm atmosphere that she remembered wasn't there. Every movement they made felt awkward as they moved towards the living room and sat on the couch. Momiji even sat on the other end, which made her a little uncomfortable. At first, they turned the tv on and started watching Looney Tunes, but neither one focused on what was going on. Finally, Anzu picked up the remote and turned the tv off before facing him.
"Are you mad at me?"
Momiji glanced at her in surprise as he broke out of his thoughts. The concerned look in her eyes was more than enough to affect him, but he still hadn't figured out a way to tell her what was going on. How could he just mention that he'd left her alone in this curse?
"I'm sorry I've been spending so much time with Akito." She continued with her apology. "I haven't been the best girlfriend, but I want to make it up to you. I was hoping maybe we could hang out this weekend and walk to school together on Monday? We can even get mandarins again-"
Scooting towards him, she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms. It wasn't until the blond stopped her by playing his hand on top of hers that he found the courage to tell her what was going on.
"Anzu, my curse broke."
The words seemed to echo through a never-ending tunnel as Anzu looked at Momiji. His curse broke. He was finally free. She wanted to smile and show him that she was happy for him, but her face didn't want to move. It was like everything was moving in slow motion and her heart had dropped into the deepest pit in her stomach. She almost didn't hear his next words.
"I'm not sure how or if I should try to explain to my mother what's happened."
"You've been seeing your mother again?"
"It's only in casual passing, but I wouldn't expect you to know. You're always with Akito. You don't even hang out with me anymore."
"Because I'm trying to find a way out!" Anzu suddenly yelled out in frustration. "You already got your happy ending. I want mine too."
"What do you even know? What part of this looks like a happy ending to you?" Momiji asked her angrily. "My mother still doesn't remember who I am and I still have to walk on eggshells around my family. Nothing will ever go back to the way it was."
She was taken aback; it was the first time she'd ever seen Momiji like this. Even when they had to face Akito, she'd never seen him this angry. More than anything, she was confused as to why he was directing his anger towards her. As far as she was concerned, he was living a luxury being outside of the curse. He had no idea how it felt to live life without the curse, mainly because she was naive to it before coming to Japan. To have that kind of freedom ripped away from you suddenly was unfathomable.
Momiji, seeing Anzu's facial expression quickly dampen, reassuringly squeezed her hand in his with a frown. "Lola, I didn't mean-"
"Don't." Anzu recoiled. "Just leave me alone."
"Anzu, wait."
The crimsonette wasn't listening as she immediately turned away and left the home. She was still too busy processing how Momiji's curse could've broken more than anything. It was like she was at a crossroads. One small part of her was happy for him, but there was a big part of her that loathed the entire ordeal. Here she was trying her best to figure out Akito, yet maybe that didn't seem to matter at all.
° ∆ -------- ••• ------- ∆ °
"What's going on, Anzu?" Kureno stepped into the room with a concerned look. Ever since she'd come home at the beginning of the weekend, the young girl had holed herself up in her room and refused to come out. It was now Sunday afternoon. Since she hadn't moved from under her blanket, he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Should I get Momiji-"
"No." Her voice was sudden, but quiet. Peeling back the end of the cover, she peeked out at him with puffy eyes. "He wouldn't come anyways. The last things I said to him weren't very nice."
Kureno frowned. "What happened?"
Anzu looked away from her uncle as tears threatened to leave her eyes again. With a small sigh, she divulged and told him everything - from how she'd been spending so much time with Akito that she'd been neglecting her relationship with Momiji to Momiji's curse being broken and how she hated herself for not being sincerely happy for him. She realized that she wasn't a victim in this and she'd taken her frustration out on him, but she couldn't admit at that time that she was in the wrong.
"No one ever talks about life after the curse." Kureno started out slowly after listening to her. "Yes, what you said was selfish, but it's because you didn't understand. Once you're out of the curse, the majority of its confines still apply."
"Why is that?" She asked as she sat up. "Why couldn't you just leave?"
"The curse was my lifestyle. There was so much I couldn't do because of it." He replied. "It's like... a habit. The methodology of the routine can't just go away in the blink of an eye. I'm not aware of Momiji's full situation, but because of everything that may have gone down, something like the curse breaking isn't an easy cure to the years of trauma he may have endured."
Anzu bit the inside of her cheek with guilt. She didn't think about any of this and now she'd probably caused Momiji a lot of hurt. She didn't even know how to apologize to him. Suddenly, she felt something touch the top of her head and she looked up to see Kureno smiling at her as he patted her head.
"Next time you see him, just be sincere and apologize. Something like that is a lot to take in, for the giver and the receiver." Her uncle assured her.
"He deserves to be mad at me." Anzu sighed. "He'll probably smile when he sees me and I don't want that. I don't understand how he can even do that with everything going on in the background."
Kureno placed his hand in his lap. "He probably uses optimism to hide the negative values in his life. I read in a book how that can be called a coping mechanism. The only thing is, those are the types of people that you have to look after the most."
Anzu nodded quietly. "Thank you Kureno. I really mean it." Her mind was starting to clear and she was starting to feel better, but there was something else weighing on her mind. "Also... I wanted to ask you something."
"What's going on?"
"When I was with Akito the other day, there was this strange building outside and I think I saw someone in there." She started off. "I saw one of the house staff taking food there and she told me not to tell anyone that I was there, but something felt really off-setting about it."
Kureno furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he racked his mind over what she was talking about. It wasn't until a visual clicked in his mind that he instantly knew what the strange building was. Before he could say anything about it, the doorbell rang and he looked at Anzu in confusion.
"Are you expecting someone?"
"I..." Anzu looked at her phone before gasping when she realized what day it was. "I am! Can you let them in please? I need to take a quick shower! And whatever you do, don't let them leave!"
The crimsonette quickly jumped out of bed and ushered her uncle out of the room before heading to the bathroom. Hopefully when she came out, she'd be graced with the touchy sight of a much-needed reunion. Not wanting to miss anything, Anzu cleaned herself up and tried to wash away any thoughts she had of Momiji for the time being. When her plan was over, she could revisit them.
Once Anzu was done, she peeked into the common area from her room to see Kureno sitting in one of the chairs while Arisa sat on the coach. The air was so tense someone could've cut it with a knife.
"I waited for you, y'know?" Arisa suddenly spoke up. "I never thought we'd meet again like this."
There was silence on Kureno's end but Anzu couldn't see his face to know what he was doing. Staying behind the wall, she wanted to see where the conversation went before she interrupted them.
"Last time we talked, you really upset me but it didn't feel like the end for us." She continued. "Well, if there even is an 'us'."
"I wanted there to be."
Arisa looked at the male in surprise by his words. She wasn't expecting him to be so direct this time, but she figured that something had changed since the last time they were together. Tears welled in her eyes as he started to explain his true intentions to be with her.
Leaning her back against the wall, Anzu left the two alone and sunk into her own thoughts. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about Momiji. She could take a page out of Kureno's book and face her fears, but she still hadn't come to terms with their new reality.