Chapter 8

The days seemed to blend together as Anzu repeated her actions. She would wake up, Akito would drive her to school, she'd spend the day alone, Akito would pick her up from school, and she would sit with Akito all afternoon. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten dinner with Hatori or Momiji. If it wasn't for the latter popping up at her bedroom window occasionally when she finally went home, she would've been very lonely.

As she sat in her classroom, she turned her attention towards the window. Ms. Sato droned on and on about the history of feudalism, however she paid her no mind. When she was on her way inside the school that morning, she'd heard a couple of girls talking about a school trip. Apparently they were going to the beach for a two-day, one-night excursion, but it sounded exciting.

"Ms. Fukushima, are you okay?"

"Will I be able to go on the school trip too?"

Ms. Sato was caught off guard by her sudden question and wiped her glasses before putting them back on. "I'm not sure. The trip would break the provisions that we have for you and-"

"Aren't school trips pivotal memories that every high schooler has?" Anzu argued. "Are you really going to take that away from me?"

"I understand you're upset, however there's nothing I can do. You would need to speak with your caretaker on this matter."

Sighing, the crimsonette sunk down in her seat as her teacher continued with the lesson. Speaking to Akito about anything felt like a lost cause. Maybe she could convince Hatori or Kureno to help her persuade the Sohma head, however it seemed futile.

Once she had a break, Anzu walked towards the window as Ms. Sato stepped out of the classroom for a moment. She opened it to get some fresh air and leaned against the window frame. The other second years were on their way to lunch and she watched as students called out to their friends and sat in the courtyard.

As she laid her head in her arms, she could hear some of the students whispering about her. The latest rumor was that she's a snobby rich girl who refuses to interact with the 'normal' students. Apparently her parents paid top dollar to bribe the principal into getting her privately tutored by the best teacher in the school. It seemed more thought out than last week's rumor that she was a vampire, although she didn't go to night school so she wasn't sure how that came to be. Honestly, listening to everyone talk felt like the most entertaining part of her day, no matter how unsettling it also made her feel.

"Hallo Lola!"

Anzu immediately picked her head up at the sound of the familiar nickname and looked around. Towards the middle of the courtyard was a male with black and white hair, and next to him was her bouncy blond. Momiji called out to her again and waved his arms with a big smile.

"Enjoy your lunch!"

The crimsonette simply smiled and waved back happily. With how much time they would spend apart, she was glad to know that he hadn't completely forgotten her. She wanted to respond to him, however Ms. Sato came back into the classroom with lunch so she immediately left the window before any assumptions could be made.

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Dinner was quiet as Anzu poked at her rice. She was trying to figure out how to ask Akito to go on the school trip, but every scenario she thought only ended badly. What was there to lose though? The worst thing she could be told was no. Luckily, Kureno had joined them so she felt like maybe he would back her up.

"There's a school trip coming up and I was wondering if I could go." She suddenly announced as she put her chopsticks down.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"I think I can handle being around classmates now." Anzu frowned. "I've been doing everything you told me to do and I'm always by your side. Why can't I do something without you for once?"

Akito stopped eating and glared at the female. "Are you trying to upset me?"

"No, I'm not." Anzu paused to think about how she should word her distress. "I don't want to be separated from everyone else anymore; I can hear when everyone talks about me. I thought I'd be able to make friends, but I can't do that if I can't talk to anyone-"

"And you're saying I'm not enough for you."

Kureno faced the Sohma head and stopped eating. "Akito, that's enough."

Akito stopped talking for a moment and finished eating dinner. The room became silent again and this made Anzu very uneasy. Suddenly, an empty rice bowl was thrown at the girl and she covered her face just in time for it to break against contact and cut a gash into her forearm. As she cried out in pain, Akito stood up and grabbed her by her hair, pulled Anzu so that they were making direct eye contact.

"I am your only friend and you are nothing without me. What kind of person would want to be friends with a freak show like you?" Akito sneered. "Only normal people can have 'friends'. If your mother couldn't even stay by your side until the end, what makes you think someone else will?"

"She didn't want to leave. She died in an accident. There was nothing anyone could-"

"Was it really an accident, or did she do it on purpose?"

"My mother loved me!"

"How do you know? Because she always said it? People lie all the time."

"Akito, I said that's enough." Kureno pulled the Sohma head back, subsequently making Akito let the stunned teen go. Breaking free, Akito left the dining room with parting words full of venom.

"You all should know by now that I'm the only thing that's good for you."

There was a moment of deafening silence in the room after Akito disappeared. For once, instead of following after, Kureno stayed and moved closer to his niece. He took a napkin to try and clean up her open wound, speaking softly. "I'm sorry about Akito. I know this is all still relatively new to you compared to the rest of the zodiac, however Akito-"

"It's always 'Akito this' and 'Akito that'. Why can't you say 'Akito, you're wrong'?" The crimsonette clenched her fists, having snapped out of her frozen state. Immediately, she yanked her arm out of his grasp and ran out of the room. "You're the worst, Kureno!"

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Anzu stared at the bandage on her right arm as she laid on the couch in her house. After rushing away from dinner, she ended up going to Hatori since she couldn't stop her arm from bleeding on her own. Unfortunately, he had to take her to get stitches at the local emergency room and they gave her pain medication while it healed up. The drive there and back was awkward since both of them knew the reason for her injury, yet neither wanted to speak on it.

"I'm going to go on that school trip." Anzu looked out the window as she cradled her injured arm.

"Okay."

"I don't care what- wait, huh?" She turned towards him. "You're not going to talk me out of it and say 'it's not Akito's fault, it's the curse' like Kureno?"

Hatori focused on driving, hiding the growing smile that was about to form on his face from amusement. "If it's your own resolve, I won't stop you. You've been with us long enough to be aware of the curse and what comes with it. Also, I think it would be good for you to get away from Akito for a little bit."

The teen watched the older male for a moment before smiling to herself. "How come you seem to be one of the few that have sense here?"

"Because I've already caught a glimpse of the light."

Deciding it was time to go to bed, Anzu took her medication for the night and turned off all the lights. As she entered her bedroom, she noticed a pink envelope taped to the outside of her window. Opening the window, she looked around before detaching the envelope and removing the cute bunny sticker along the back. Knowing exactly who it was from, she quickly began to read it.

To: Lola

Hallo Lola,

I wanted to see you in person again, but I didn't want to cause any trouble for you, so I thought this would be best. Writing a letter seems so cool and secretive, kind of like we're undercover spies!

Anyways, I'm going to try harder so you can be happy. I never wanted to leave you by yourself. For that, I'm sorry. I'm going to fix this, Lola! Just wait and see!

From: Bugs

A stray tear fell onto the paper and Anzu immediately wiped at her eyes and tucked the letter away in her nightstand drawer. Laying down in the bed, she pulled the quilt over her head and let out a small sob. How did she become a prisoner in her own home? She hoped Momiji was right and he'd come sooner rather than later.