Ok, I just want to point out that there are SPOILERS in this one. Well, one big one. I’m just going to say this-if you haven’t learned Akito’s big secret yet, then it has a spoiler in it. This only shows up in the manga, NOT in the anime. I’m assuming that everyone who reads this knows Akito’s secret. If you don’t know it and want to read this anyway, look it up, because the whole story is based on it. I would write it here for you guys, but I don’t want to ruin it for anybody. Oh, and this is from Akito’s perspective as a little kid. Well, hope you like it!!!!! Let me know what you think!
I giggled at the mirror, delighted by how funny I looked. The sound bounced around and around the empty room, echoing through the hallways. My breath quickened, and I glanced around anxiously, alert to every noise. I hoped nobody had heard me laugh. It would be very, very bad if someone caught me in here. I stayed still, not even daring to move until the sound had passed entirely. After a moment I relaxed, alone again in the desolate room. No one had heard me.
I returned my full attention to the reflection in the mirror. It was so unfamiliar, I barely recognized myself. But I liked the reflection. It was so much prettier than I normally was. Mommy’s fancy kimono hung from my bony frame, the bright colors and patterns making my sun-deprived skin look even paler. “It would look SO much prettier,” I whispered to myself, turning this way and that before the mirror, “If my skin wasn’t so pale. I wonder why Mommy’s doesn’t look as pale as mine…”
I cast my gaze around the room, trying to come up with a way to add color to my complexion. Suddenly, I saw what I was looking for; a drawer of Mommy’s usually locked dresser was slightly ajar, and I rushed toward it, knowing what I would find. I had been in here many times before, and I had once knocked over the dresser by accident and found this. I hadn’t had any time to use it then-Mommy had caught me- but I had time now! I pulled makeup out by the handfuls. I loved playing with all of Mommy’s girly stuff. It was so much fun! I could spend hours in this room, just trying out all the different combinations of clothes and different kinds of makeup and finding out what looked best on me. I only wished that my hair was longer so I could style that, too. Mommy had never let me keep my sleek black hair long; I bet it would have looked nice. Maybe it would have even been as long as hers!
“Akito-san! Akito-san, where are you?” I heard my nurse’s distraught cry. I couldn’t be caught in here again! I was going to get in so much trouble. Mommy was going to be really mad at me. I knew that she hated it when I played dress-up and makeover, but it was just too much fun to pass up.
Suddenly footsteps pounded towards the door, and Mommy burst in. She looked mad; her long raven hair swirled over her shoulders, and bracelets jangled on her wrist. Her expression oozed an indescribable anger that my eight-year old mind could not comprehend. I ignored her expression, focusing instead on her jewelry. I wish I had thought of wearing jewelry like that! The bracelets and necklaces made her look even prettier. I bet it would have made me look better, too. “Mommy?” I asked, trying to ignore her glare. “Will you help me? I wanna grow up pretty like you, Mommy. I need your help!”
Mommy’s expression changed from anger to hate. I looked into her eyes, and all I could see was my reflection, my hair cut short like a boy’s, her fancy clothes barely covering my skinny body. I didn’t see love or kindness; all I saw was a little girl forced to act and dress like the boy she had never wanted to be.
It scared me.
I broke down and started to cry. I knew what was coming next. I didn’t even try to resist as Mommy ripped her clothes off of me, forcing me into my traditional male kimono. She washed off the makeup, scrubbing hard at my skin to make sure there wasn’t a trace left. When she finished, she leaned back and studied me critically. When she appeared satisfied by my male appearance, she shoved me out the doorway and retreated into her room, slamming the rice screen behind her.
I ran screaming and crying past my frantic nurse, back through the hallways, and lunged into my room, slamming the rice screen shut. I threw myself down on the pillows, still sobbing. Within minutes I heard the rice screen door of my room sliding open and Sigure, Ayame, Hatori, and Kureno walked in, softly shutting the rice screen behind them. I let them comfort me, telling me how pretty I was, and how sad Mommy would be when I grew up and she realized how she had wasted all of my beauty by forcing me to be raised as a boy. They passed me around, each holding me in his arms, telling me how I was the most important thing in his world. I clung to them all, clung to them because they were my lifelines. They were the only real things in my world.
They promised me that they would never leave me. My zodiac members promised me that they would never leave me, and I was never going to let them go.
