Hatori's POV
I hope Yuki is home for his appointment. I really don't want to reschedule yet again. I walk up to Shigure's door and knock. Almost immediately, he answers the door.
"Why, isn't it Ha-san! Come in, come in!" Goodness, he's in an overly good mood today.
"Before I see Yuki, I need to talk to you. In your office, preferably." As I speak, I glance around, noticing the quietness. Shigure smiles.
"I hoped you'd say that. Not only do I need to talk to you as well, Ha-san, but everyone went grocery shopping." We make our way to his office and sit down.
"I don't know if you noticed, Shigure, but Kasumi isn't enrolled in a middle school. But since the term is already underway, and she starts high school next year, I plan on continuing to send her home school materials to work on for the remainder of the term. She did the same at my house when she wasn't with Akito, so I thought it would be best to keep that the same until high school. Especially since her parents want nothing to do with their kids unless necessary." The air seems a bit heavy as I speak. Shigure glances at me, twiddling a pen in his hand.
"I, personally, can't teach her anything. Cause, really, how did I even make it through high school? And no one else but me is around to teach her." I look up at him and smirk. Shigure, how dense. I've planned for this.
"Shigure, I know that. The answer is simple. Kasumi can teach herself. She's done it in the past on and off for a couple years. If she has trouble, she is welcome to ask me, Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru. Even Momiji and Hatsuharu."
Shigure raises an eyebrow. "Then why tell me? It seems you have it all sorted out, Ha-san."
I close my eyes for a few seconds. How are you not catching on? "Are you willing to have her home all day? I don't want her shut up in her room the whole time."
"Of course, of course! Such a worried father you are! Don't worry about it!" He says, flicking his hand.
"Alright then. Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Shigure leans over and pulls a folder from his desk drawer. He holds it out of my reach.
"What is it?" I ask, reaching for it.
Shigure grins and hands me the folder just as we hear the kids return. "Read it at main house. It's in Classical Japanese. I'm useless with it nowadays, especially with the old dialects and whatnot, but Akito found it weeks ago in an old attic space. Hoped there might be something entirely juicy in it I suppose, but ended up deciding it was worth more as trash than as translation work. I thought you might have fun with it after I took a look." With that, he shoos me out. I walk into the kitchen where Yuki is helping put groceries away. I clear my throat and the four turn around. Tohru smiles.
"Hello, Hatori! I didn't know you were coming by!"
"That's alright. I just need to see Yuki and Kasumi. Don't worry, it's not bad." I add when I see Tohru's reaction.
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Kasumi's POV
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He needs to see both of us? I knew Yuki had a check-up, but why does Hatori need to see me? Hatori leads us across the hallway into my new room -- which still has more items for storage than my personal belongings -- and closes the door.
"Kasumi, stay here while I do this. I need to talk to you after. Yuki, go ahead and sit at the desk" I sit down on my futon, and skim through a book that I had brought with me to Shigure's.
Within minutes, Hatori is done. "Alright, Yuki, you can go. You're the picture of health."
Yuki shoots Hatori a look as he stands up. "Arigatou, Hatori." As he leaves, he gives me a sympathetic smile. Hatori takes Yuki's spot at the desk chair, and I close my book.
"So, you have something you need to tell me, Hatori?" He nods.
"Yes, I do. As you may have noticed, since you aren't at Sohma House now, I can't home-school you like I have been. I talked to Shigure and we decided, and if it's alright with you-" I cut him off.
"You can't possibly be sending me to a middle school in the middle of the year! I'm already in the middle of high school coursework, and I don't know how schools work!"
Hatori chuckles. "No. We thought you might prefer homeschooling yourself for the remainder of the term. With help, of course." Seriously?! I can't believe it!
"That's amazing, Hatori! I'd love that! Thank you!"
He smiles and stands. "As long as I can get Akito to allow it, I do want you attending high school next year, even if the material would be review for you for most of it. It'll be good for you to interact with people your own age. Well, I've got to get going. I'll send you your materials later this week." With that, Hatori left. I make my way back across the hall and join everyone else. When I enter the kitchen, Yuki catches my eye.
"What did Hatori talk to you about, Kasumi?" He looks so worried. I wish I saw this more often. But we just didn't see much of each other growing up.
"We just discussed what I was planning to do with school for the remainder of the term. That's all." I smile and he looks relieved.
"That's good."
Kyo glances over at me from the fridge, where he's putting food away. "So what are ya gonna do? Not like you can sit around. That damn rat wouldn't let you anyways."
"I'm homeschooling myself, like I have been. The term's already started, and what I'm studying wouldn't match up anyways. And if I happen to get stuck, I can always ask you guys." They all look surprised ... and maybe a little disappointed. "What?" I ask, looking between Kyo and Yuki.
Kyo heads towards the door. As he's about to leave, he looks back at me. "I guess we all expected you to want to go to school. Aw, hell, what am I saying..." He quickly leaves the kitchen. He's probably headed for the roof.
Did they really expect me to?
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Meanwhile, at Sohma House
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Hatori's POV
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Finally. Some peace and quite. It's so tiring, tending to Akito... How long does he really need me? *sigh* That reminds me.. I got the folder Shigure gave me out of my medical bag.
I took the packet out of the folder. It looked like old pages from a journal of some sort. I vaguely make out some medical terminology. Shigure might not be able to make out all of this, but he might have seen this first page and guessed it would be up my alley.
One of the pages in the middle was unexpected.
The Guardian of the Zodiac
"The guardian?" I flipped through the pages quickly, only stopping when I saw a page that looked more like a list.
Role of the Guardian:
The Guardian has a strong sense of protection over the Zodiac, and holds a special role for the greater good of Japan. The Guardian is an important link for Amaterasu and the unity of the people. Attributes varied? The past three known are:
1. Control of earthly form
2. Influence over the family head?
3. Member of the zodiac? Personal contact does not have an effect.
Control of their earthly form... Transforming? Able to challenge Akito's?! What more do these attributes have?
It seems more like the author was trying to work out the old zodiac rumors, but nothing looked particularly solid.
Earthly form:
It seems like the Guardian would take on a form like any other Zodiac, unless they posses the special attribute. If that is the case, they have control of their earthly form. I found an old note in the medical archives for the family:
"Emotions can trigger transformation. As I can tell, that contributes to the subject of the eyes. The Guardian's eyes reflect many things. I believe this can be dangerous. Therefore, I am completing a token, similar to the cat's bracelet, that hides these factors most of the time when worn. "
I flip back to the opening of this section, and reread it all again. Odd... I've never heard of a Sohma like this... This note seems more like fact than merely theory. Maybe this is what spurred the investigation for whoever had the journal... or even the legend. I think it over for a few minutes before I continue reading.
One of the previously seen attributes of the Guardian is the ability to resist the transformation. I have not witnessed it myself, and there was only mention of it a few times at Sohma House. Unfortunately, there is no other information on the subject.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
I sighed. So much for peace and quiet. "One moment." I put the papers in the folders and locked them in my desk drawer.
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And a note for everyone from my faithful editor:
Editing listening to 70's music, gettin' my groooovvvveee on!
The assignment to the readers, regardless of if they choose to accept it is to eat a potato in some form. Fry/ home fry/ French/ waffle/ mashed/ baked/ microwaved/ roasted/ toasted/ raw.