𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧?

Chapter 9

As I begin to cut away at my hair, I feel something snap in me. My soul feels ripped out of my body, and then replaced, with something better. Something new. 

A picture cuts through my mind, seeing the deer statue in the Zodiac Garden crumpling  to the ground. 

The curse... the curse has....

Hatori's POV: 

What was that? That thing? 

How did it wake me up like that? Was it... did I dream of her again? She seems to be all I dream about. Her face, her smile. The way she talked to me. The humming I always heard when I was around her. Almost like the bond, the curse, was actually there in the same room as us.

Maybe I've been to rude about it. I've blamed her for a lot. But, she didn't asked to be born the deer. Much less to be told that it's all her fault that I'm stuck the way I am. Alone, never being able to find true love. 

But, I can't hear the humming tonight. The invisible string that binds us, isn't here. There's no humming, like if the curse were broken. Or if... if she had died. 

"Snap out of it Hatori." I tell myself. 

I cough quietly, and decide to push the humming out of my mind. It's probably nothing.

"Hatori-kun, you know, I've really enjoyed working beside you." Kana smiles at me.

"I'm sure you have." I turn away from her. 

"In fact.... being around you has made me feel feeling I never thought I'd feel." I clinch my jaw. Already aware of what she's going to tell me. "I.... I love you Hatori-kun! I really do."

"While I appreciate the fact that someone as nice as you would like me, I can't return your feelings." I sigh. " For the first part, it would be unprofessional of me. And for the second part, I simply don't feel that way towards you Kana, I have someone else in my life..."

I stop myself, and am shocked at my own words. I don't have someone in my life. I'm not in love with anyone. Why would I say that? I'm not the type to lie.

"It's her isn't it?" Kana glares at the ground. "It's that Natsu girl. I should have known better."

"No Kana... I..." I try to defend myself. Natsu? No. Of course not? I might love Natsu but I.... what am I thinking? What am I saying? What the heck is going on? This is Natsu I'm talking about!

"Don't, Hatori-san. I understand. It was unprofessional for me to say anything." She snaps, leaving the room.

I think I need to have my head checked. I think I might have hit it on something.

Natsu's POV:

My heart pumps as I leave the house early. My parents are very ticked off at me for impulsively cutting my hair. And for tearing a photo that "technically" belonged to them. For some reason, they act like it's the worse thing that's happened in the house. Even my basically deaf grandfather who lives with us, is commenting on the fact that they keep bringing it up. 

It's only six in the morning, and I'm scared what will happen if I show up in at the Main House in a frenzy, covered in morning dew, and looking like some homeless person with the state of my hair. 

Maybe I should go through the back way. To avoid people. Although.... that might mean I'd cause a commotion, or run into Ren. I think as I get closer to the Main House. Although, right now, Ren is the least of my problems. In fact, I could probably even get her on my side. Which is an awful, yet somewhat satisfying idea. 

I keep my head up as I slip through the back gate into the Main House, and get around. At one point, a servant sees me, but she didn't say anything. If it were Shiri, the main servant, she'd cause an uproar about disturbing Akito at this time of the day. But the younger servants are so used to seeing me come in and out of the Main House as I please, they just ignore me. 

As I reach Akito's room, my heart is racing in my chest. Throwing itself against my rib cage. And my whole body has decided it's going to tremble. I know this fear, I used to feel it all the time back when I was bound under the curse... but I'm free now. 

I take a step further, although I am scared, I won't let it stop me. 

I have a goal. I have something I have to fight for. I have someone I have to fight for.

I pull the door open, and Akito's cool voice speaks, "I was wondering when you'd show up."