Chapter 4 - Chapter 4

I rose out of the water gasping for breath as the water dripped in a steady flow off my hair and body. My long black hair encased me like a cloak. I splashed water to my face to help clean my face, and ease up the opening of my eyes. I opened my eyes and saw only blurs, my eyesight was getting worse, I would soon have to wear glasses all the time. As my eyes slowly began to focus a little more, I groped along the side of the bath for some sort of soap, or shower cream.



I rose out of the bath, completely clean and smelling of jasmine and lavender, thanks to the shower gel and shampoo. Climbing onto the bath mat, I grabbed the fluffy purple towel and wrapped it around my wet body. My hair still hanging behind me, soaking wet, I walked out of my small bathroom and into the main room, on route to my bedroom, where I was hoping to dig out some clothes.



Rummaging in my closet, I picked a fitted kimono, made of pale green silk, with very long flowing sleeves. It was bordered with a dark green material, and had hidden pockets for my glasses and cigarettes. As I changed into this I started humming a little French love song, one of the songs I had performed in France.



Nearly ready to leave for Shigure's, where I was having dinner, I grabbed the last thing I needed, and rushed out of the house, keys in hand, in the general direction of the exit from the Sohma house.



The wind rushing through my hair, and forcing my sleeves to billow out behind me, I steered my mo-ped between the many cars along the road, and indicated that I was turning into the forest. My little black scooter, one of my favourite possessions. It got me from A to B. I slowed down as I drove through he forest, not trusting the simple roads. As I got closer to Shigure's house, I pulled up, and parked, he didn't like me riding the scooter, none of them did. Apparently it was, `too dangerous for someone like me', to which I replied that walking was just as dangerous. But they had just glared at me. So now I only rode it in secret.



I removed my helmet, and hung it on the handle-bars of my vehicle, before, removing the keys from the ignition, and walking away. I followed a small footpath and came to the front of Shigure's house. Before I even had a chance to knock, the door was whipped open, and Shigure stood before me, grinning stupidly.



“Hello,” he greeted me.



“Imaginative.”



“Welly welly well then, I am a writer after all, but the there is no need to be quite so sarcastic. But seeing as its you, I might let you off.” He grinned even more.



“Can you just let me in? I'm freezing.”



“You're cold?” he suddenly looked concerned, “you're not getting ill are you? You feel ok, don't you?”



“I'm fine, I'm fine,” I said as I pushed him backwards and entered the house, shutting the door behind me.



“Good,” he said as he leant down, and kissed me gently. “We don't want you getting sick again.”



“Mmmm.” Was all I could manage, “is anyone else here?”



“Yes, they're all here somewhere, I think. If not, they're on their way.”



“Ok.”



By this time we had walked into the lounge, and I walked over and sat onto the sofa, sighing as I relaxed. I let my head fall back and looked at Shigure, standing behind me. I smiled at his upside- down image.



“What?” he asked, smiling also.



“You're upside down.”



He walked around to sit beside me on the sofa, and I lifted my head to look at him. “

How about now?” he asked. I simply smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.



We were still sitting like that half an hour later, with Shigure stroking my hair, when Kyo, Yuki and Tohru returned, having been grocery shopping together. Shigure an I hurriedly jumped up, as if embarrassed to be seen together, and not doing any work. We greeted them awkwardly, both feeling guilty for no reason.



For dinner, young Tohru had prepared a delicious nikujaga, followed by some ice cream, which we just ate straight out of the tubs, the best way of doing so. For a change, Yuki and Kyo weren't arguing, so dinner was a quiet and peaceful affair, ending with the five of us sitting around the table and talking.



“Kuroumo-san, please could you tell me a bit more about yourself? I feel that I would greatly wish to know you more,” Tohru asked me.



“I don't think I quite understand what you are asking me, Tohru.”



“Well, what do you do? What do you like to do? Who are you?”



“Yes, Ku-chan, who are you?” Gure-kun decided to try and be helpful.



I slapped him playfully on the shoulder, “ you know full well who I am. But where do I start. Ok, well you basically know that I am Kuroumo Sohma. I am 25, going on 26. I was born to loving and kind parents, but was a sickly child. So my doctor at the time prescribed me with a medicine that I had to take every day, to stop me from becoming ill. Because of this, and my other weaknesses, I was never allowed to attend school, and I only learnt what it was like through my kind cousins, Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori. I was home-schooled, and therefore I learnt less about science, and more about the arts, which have become my passion. When I was about 7, my brother, Akito, was born.” I paused for breath, as Tohru gasped.



“Akito-san is your brother?”



“Yes,” I smiled, amused by her amazement, “Akito Sohma, the cruel and heartless head of the Sohma family is my brother, my little brother. He too was a sickly baby, and everyone was always so nice and polite to him, because he would one day be head of the Sohma family, that I was soon left alone, and to my own devices, my previous schooling forgotten. So my older cousins took it upon themselves to teach me. They would come home from school each day, and then teach me what they had learnt, Shigure teaching me the English, Hari-kun the maths and the sciences, and Ayame, well, he would just describe what everyone had been talking about, and generally get in the way. So I started to learn more academic subjects, yet I still continued to teach myself art, by studying books, and other people's art work. I continually listened to music, and so formed my own ideas, scribbling them down as I went. I taught my self to play the piano, and I have also learned the clarinet, the guitar, and I sing. My final talent was dance, I would watch the fine ladies dancing on the television, and copy them, I entered my self in dance lessons, and soon picked up the basic moves of ballet, as well as some of the traditional dances from different countries. My one problem was that I could not have a male partner, so I would either have to dance solo, or dance with another woman. That was quite a problem, so now I focus more on the ballet side of dancing. For the past few months I have escaped to France, where I was living with a group of artists. Mostly male,” I said, looking pointedly at Shigure, purposefully trying to wind him up.



“What is France like?” asked Tohru.



“Beautiful, amazing. It has such a rich culture. I spent my time there performing, and getting paid a lot for it too. I danced, I sung, I played. I painted pictures and sold them. I had the time of my life. And then I had to come back,” my voice turned bitter, “I came back, even though I knew my brother would try to kill me. Because staying away, I was killing myself. Not only from lack of medicine, but from lack of love.” I turned away, my eyes welling with tears. Shigure had stood up, and he walked over, laying his hand on my shoulder.



“It's ok,” he murmured softly in my ear before turning to the others, “Don't you three have homework or something?”



“Yes,” they answered in unison, before traipsing off.”

“Are you sure you're ok?” he turned back to me.



“I think I will be,” and I nuzzled deep into his soft kimono, cherishing my time with him.



At that moment, the phone rang.

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