Heal Me (Akito Sohma Love Story)

Breakfast

"Good morning, Akito!" You said cheerily. "No, that's not right..." You mumbled. You looked at yourself in the mirror again, this time with a serious expression. "Akito. You sent for me."

You sighed running a hand through your hair. No, don't be rude. After your conversation with Hatori last night, you were feeling the familiar pressure of expectation. Hatori had told you, opened up to you, more about the curse. Akito had been born with a weak constitution, but over recent years, and with recent pressures, his illness grew. He said that Akito bared the full weight of the zodiac curse as the head of the family, and it was killing him from the inside out. But worse than that; he was letting it.

Hatori believed in the strength Akito had to fight off the sickness, fight off the curse, but the boy believed he was born only to die; brainwashed by his spiteful mother. He believed he was born only to rule with a will of iron; brainwashed by his misguided father.

When Hatori told you these things, you were overwhelmed. Listening to the way he told it, you could only understand a fraction of the feelings Akito must have been experiencing for years. You understood his need to lash out; the betrayal he must have felt by the entire family that he was supposed to love, and was supposed to love him back. You wept softly into Hatori's hand and tried to express how grateful you were for the information. He'd said you needn't go back there if he frightened you.

And truth be told, he did frighten you.

Yet, you were honest when you told him you wanted to see him the next day.

So here you were, putting on your simple makeup and rehearsing your greeting. Hatori hadn't needed to say it last night; there was a silent understanding between the two of you. Hatori would try to heal Akito's body, and you would try to heal his mind. You left the mascara out of your routine; you didn't plan on crying today, but you hadn't planned on crying yesterday either..

You stopped fussing with yourself when you heard a knock at your door. Pulling on a blazer, you rushed to open it.

"Hatsuharu!" You smiled curiously.

He looked relieved to see you, but you could sense his uncertainty when he spoke.

"(Y/n)!.. I uh.. Momiji was really worried about you last night, he thought something must have happened to you." He stroked the back of his head. You leaned against your doorway, smiling softly at the boy's words.

"Everything's alright now.." You tried to convince yourself as well.

His eyes lit up as he said, "So you're not leaving?"

You shook your head and noticed children of all ages walking towards the main gate. "Can't get rid of me that easily." You winked and pointed behind him.
"I think you're gonna be late for school."

He shrugged. "You were more important."

You couldn't help but blush at the sentiment and giggled when he turned to walk away. Hard to believe what you'd read about "Black Haru". You saw Momiji walking with his head down, clutching his books tight to his chest.

"Hey cottontail," you chuckled, closing your door and locking it. Momiji spotted you and the dark cloud floating around him seemed to dissipate completely. "Thanks for worrying about me!"

He skipped ahead to cheer to Hatsuharu and you felt lucky to already know such good people here. You stood on your porch a moment longer, looking out at Akito's window. The curtains shifted and you felt a short chill run down your spine. That was where you were heading. O-Ren was waiting outside to welcome you.