The Sparrow and The Fox [Book 1]

20

Kenshin walked down the hall towards his sister's room before opening the door and walking into the room, leaving a shocked Kureno outside as the door closed behind the young man. "Hello sister, how have you been?" Kenshin asked innocently as the girl looked up at her brother from where she sat near the deck, her eyes lighting up, happy to see her older brother.

"Kenshin," She said softly as she made her way to the young man wrapping him into a hug. Kenshin returned the gesture, knowing her good mood wouldn't last long since he was about to shatter it. "I've been well, and you?" She asked.

"I can't complain it's been a few weeks since I last got sick." He told her, smiling down at her.

"That's good. Hatori better keep up the good work." Akito said, causing Kenshin's eyes to go cold, but he knew she wouldn't notice since it was only a slight change.

"Come sit with me, brother. The weather is nice today." She told him as she grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her to sit on the deck.

"Akito, if you don't mind me asking, why did you summon me here today?" Kenshin asked, careful not to aggravate her just yet.

"I wanted to hear your most recent report." She told him a warm breeze making both of their hair and clothes dance around.

"Of course, I'm here to serve you and only you." Kenshin said with feign loyalty, "Let's see... ah yes." He said as if remembering something he had forgotten, but he was only playing it out for his sister to think he was becoming forgetful. "Yuki has accepted to become the new president in his school, which will keep him pretty busy and away from the Honda girl. Shigure is as bothersome as always, but he does seem to be plotting something, so he might tell you about it soon. Kyo still has trouble connecting with people, but it seems the girl is helping with that; he still hasn't won a fight against Yuki, so that bet is still going on between you two." Kenshin told her, leaning against the door frame as he lazily moved his fingers around in circles on the wooden floor.

"What about that stupid girl?" Akito asked, turning to look at her brother.

Kenshin smiled at her, knowing that this had been the opportunity he had been waiting for. "She's doing well. It seems that she's connected with every member of the zodiac she comes in contact with, but it's nothing compared to the bond you have with us." He said pointedly before a loud smack sounded in the quiet room.

Kenshin let out a bitter laugh as he felt the slight pain on his cheek where Akito had struck him while his sister stared at him angrily. "Oh sister, you should know by now that a simple slap to the face does nothing to me." He told her, smiling at her wickedly.

Akito froze as she realized she was losing her hold on Kenshin once again as she had years ago, "Don't look at me like that. And don't you dare compare me to the girl." She said coldly as Kenshin raised a brow.

"Akito, we both know that you've hurt me way worse than I've ever hurt you." He told her with an innocent smile, "So it's not me who is ruining our bond, it's you." He continued as he stood up from his spot and turned to walk out. "Oh, and Akito, I suggest you be more careful, or you'll end up losing our little game." He said, walking out of the room as Akito began to yell at him to come back while servants ran inside to calm the frantic girl down.

Kenshin continued to walk away from the room, ignoring his sister's screams as servants held her back. "Kenshin! Come back here, don't you dare ignore me!" Akito shouted, her screams filling the house, but Kenshin only kept walking, a wicked smile gracing his lips.

He knew that Akito would claw and kick as they tried to hold her back with all their strength. Kureno, who had stood outside of the room waiting for the siblings, watched as the young man walked down the hall away from all the chaos he had caused.

After watching the young man disappear around a corner, Kureno quickly ran into the room, grabbing hold of Akito, "Let go of me, Kureno!!" She screamed, her voice going raw. Kureno knew that he would pay for holding her back later, but he didn't care as long as Kenshin was safe from her wrath.

🐀🐂🐅🐇🐉🐍🐎🐐🐒🐓🐕🐖 🐈

Later that day, when Kenshin finally got home, he went straight to Shigure's office, wanting to have a small chat with him, "Kenshin, your back we were wondering where you snuck off to." The man's teasing voice said.

Kenshin didn't bother answering. Instead, he took a seat, waiting for the man to turn to see him, obviously not having done so before. "What happened to your cheek?" Shigure asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Now you notice? How sad I thought dogs were man's best friend." Kenshin said sarcastically.

"Oh, I see you went to see her." He concluded, noticing the bad mood the young man was in since walking into the room and the dark aura that seemed to hang around him. Shigure had to admit that when Kenshin was in a bad mood, it was unsettling since the young man had always been one to be calm and happy.

"Yeah, I did. She summoned me to the main house today for some sibling 'bonding time.'" Kenshin lied, casually making air quotes around bounding time.

"I'm guessing it didn't go as planned," Shigure said, letting out a deep sigh.

"No it didn't." Kenshin lied, smiling inwardly, knowing he had gotten exactly what he wanted from Akito.

"But what are we going to do? She's our god." Shigure said nonchalantly.

"Shigure, she's not immortal. She's just as human as the rest of us; it's just that she's been raised in a way that she doesn't seem to realize she can live without us. You and I know that if the curse could truly be broken, she would have at least one person by her side, and that's you." He said, looking in the man's direction knowing that Shigure had a smug smile on his face even if Kenshin couldn't see it.

"She might only be human, but to me, she's much more." The older man said wistfully as Kenshin gave him a look before standing up walking over to the door.

"Yeah, no, I'm leaving before you decide to talk about how much you wish to have her or something." He said as Shigure whined for him to stay, but the door was slammed shut, leaving him alone in the room.

Once Kenshin shut the door, Shigure's expression turned dark as he smiled bitterly, "Oh Kenshin, if only you knew how much I've caught you with that exact expression on your face whenever you think you're all alone, but this old dog knows just how to see your vulnerable side just like you know how to see mine." He muttered to himself.

Kenshin let out a sigh as he finally went into his room and stretched out on his bed, wanting the day to be over with already. But he did smile to himself as he thought about what had happened today, Kenshin didn't like making his sister feel that way, but he knew that if he wanted to break the curse, he would have to push her in ways that he never had to see if it triggered something to break the curse.

He hoped that everything he had been doing till now was worth it in the end. He wanted nothing more than to break the curse for those he cared about. Kenshin wanted everyone in the zodiac to live their lives without Akito's shadow hovering over them, tying them to her to the point where it became suffocating.

That was the reason why he had vowed to break the curse so they could all be free, even Akito. Even after everything she had done to them, Kenshin still wished that his sister would realize that she could live her own life without them.