Previously on UD...

"You want us there incase anything happens... Right?" Haru asked me, finally looking into my eyes for the first time since I told him who I truly was.

"Yes. I would appreciate it."

"Alright, then I will be there no matter what." He smiled at me and I felt my heart jump into my throat at the facial expression.

We finished eating and I mentally prepared myself for the days ahead. It was going to be a rollercoaster, and at the back of my mind I knew that it wasn't going to be just about the audience.

Akira's POV

I muttered words under my breath as I did my homework for the night, Ritsu's homemade hot chocolate at my side.

After leaving Shigure's home, Shigure offered to take Momiji and Haru home, knowing that it would be awkward to be stuck in a car with the two after all we spoke about at the dinner table. Honestly, I gave him credit for that- Made me think that he actually thought about his actions before hand. I was behind on homework, and only finished the Homework that had the due dates closer to the current date, which included today being one of the due dates from the homework I finished last night.

I sighed heavily, feeling fatigue. I didn't want to deal with school right now, for the first time in my life, I didn't feel like learning new things. I scoffed at myself, 'And yet I would have given anything to go to school when I was younger.' I thought. I was kept prisoner at the HouseHold, told if I were to ever go outside, others would have to deal with the sight of me. Couldn't go to school, so Hatori striked up a deal with Akito, told him if he could be my teacher, he would go to school to become a Doctor for the HouseHold... Akito agreed.

I was taught high school standard education by Hatori after I learned how to read and write. I did advance quickly, because I had nothing else better to do while all my cousins were in and out of the HouseHold whether it be for school or to go train up in the mountains, that included Haru.

I fumbled with a strand of my hair, biting my lower lip as I found more difficulty in concentrating with my thoughts constantly on something else. A downfall of mine ever since I was young, I may be smarter compared to others (Egotistical, I know) but when it came staying in one place, or thinking about one thing, didn't work out very well for me.

"What are you working on?" I felt someone sit down on the couch beside me. I looked to my right, seeing Hatori leant over as he surveyed my homework.

"Science and Philosophy." I muttered. He nodded, not interested. He took a swig of his drink. I sniffed, smelling alcohol.

"You drink?"

"After today, I need it." He told me, "I don't think I have ever seen you drink before." He chuckled, nodding his head lazily as he pushed his bangs to the side.

"That is a good thing too. I'm horrible when I drink too much, I would rather if you don't see that side of me." He told me, his eyes looking solemn for a moment. I didn't press him, thinking that it was a conversation for another time. And he didn't need extra stress right now.

After a few minutes of him just watching me work- Which was barely anything because he was just breathing down my neck and I was too nice to tell him to leave, I twirled my pencil in my hands, staring at the page blankly then at my textbook, eyes going back and forth as I searched for the answer to the question.

"Hatori... What did you want to be before you became a Doctor?" I asked him, curious to know. He thought for a moment, trying to think back on such a time before Akito agreed to the deal.

"Well... Actually, I wanted to be an Artist." I furrowed my brows, placing my pencil down as I turned around to look at him fully.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I loved to draw and paint, my favorite to draw was the animals that would sneak into the HouseHold are the pond in the garden. There was also a picture of you and our cousins with the respected zodiac animal." 'I didn't know he drew, yet alone was an artist- I have never seen him draw... I was the reason why he stopped.' I thought to myself in realization.

"You stopped because of me... Didn't you?" I asked him, feeling guilt creep up at the back of my neck. He shook his head, ruffling my hair up as I smiled, shaking it before flattening it out to fix it.

"I don't see it that way. I mean, I still do miss the dream of becoming an Artist, but that doesn't mean I can't retire as a Doctor in the future. After retiring, I could get back into drawing, back into creativity." He told me positively, his smile never fading. This arose a question in me, what am I going to do after school? College? University?

"I see... Can you draw now?" I asked him, shifting over a pencil and blank piece of paper. He chuckled, softly shaking his head.

"I can sure try. It's been years since I drew anything relatively creative." I nodded, thinking for a moment, totally forgetting about the homework I had to do.

"How about... You draw something in this room? For reference I mean."

"Perhaps." I handed a notebook to him, placing the piece of paper over it as he grabbed the pencil.

---

3rd Person's POV

Haru walked down the halls of the HouseHold, searching for a room that was left uninhabited for years.

He was relaxing after a long day, his thoughts of Akira shaking him up. Akira walked through the Sohma HouseHold with him years ago, years that he didn't remember, but with everything, he tried to find ways to remember her, to remember her when she was a child with him, just a distant cousin who shared the same curse of the chinese zodiac as him, a person- A girl, he must have cared for even back then.

He passed many rooms as he searched for the specific room, a room that no one went into, as told of tales of ghosts and hauntings, that it was cursed. Seemed to fit right in to this family of theirs.

He walked past a door, but halted to a stop, feeling a wave of deja vu hit him, realizing that the door was more than familiar. He barely ever went down this hallway, so why was it so familiar to him? He grabbed hold of the door handle, finding it to be unlocked surprisingly. He opened the door, dust hitting his face. He coughed loudly, covering his mouth to muffle the sound and shield it from the dust. Yeah, no one has been in there for a while.

After the dust cleared, he blinked rapidly, coming in sight of a bedroom, very blank in character. He walked further in, leaving the door open as curiosity took over him. Such a waste of a bedroom. The bedroom was blank, barely anything in it except for a bed, a desk, a dresser, and a full length mirror that had a white sheet over it. He walked over to the mirror, letting his fingers lightly graze over the white sheet that was covered in dust. He felt the urge to pull it off, so- He did just that. He pulled it off in one swift movement, restraining him from coughing up a storm from the dust that hit him. He took in a heavy shaky breath at the sight of a broken mirror. The cause of the broken glass being seen at the middle. He hovered his fist over it, realizing that someone punched it head on, out of anger and spite.

He heard crying distantly, but he turned and looked around, seeing no one was there. The crying continued softly, before shouts of worry filled the room. It was a memory replaying in his mind. A memory of a Fateful Day.

He saw himself as a ten year old, staring inside the room with big figures inside of it, two of them being Hoshi and Caralina, and the form of a little girl cowering.

"Ammara, look at me." The voice was venomous, void of emotion. He began to remember, staring, watching as his best friend received her fate. Momiji clung close to Haru, crying out tears.

The little girl was cowering, keeping in her tears and defied the voice, not looking at him.

"Ammara. Now." It was Akito. Akito only a few years younger at the time, but still older than the two. She looked up, no longer shaking in her mother's arms. Fire was in her eyes, her hand filled with cuts.

Haru let out a shaky breath, shaking his head erratically. This was Akira's room.

He stared at the broken mirror, remembering how unfazed Akira looked when she got hurt at Shigure's- 'She didn't feel anything.' He concluded, 'She already knew what true pain was.'.

---

Hatori finished the drawing, placing it down on the table for Akira to see. Akira's eyes roamed over it, before realizing what he drew.

It was her. Akira younger and much happier than she currently was, before anything happened. She remembered it vividly, the day before her birthday, how excited she was about being finally beautiful.

She shook her head, keeping herself composed. She missed that day, and it was hard to believe that Hatori remembered what she looked like beforehand.

"You were happy, ecstatic, you showed me all the outfits you were going to wear after you transformed, what friends you were expecting to befriend at school, the street food you were going to eat, the places your parents were go to take you. Everything, I have never let go of that memory. To me, you are still Bright Orchid, Mara." Hatori breathed out, smiling sadly to himself. Mara was a nickname that Momiji gave her when he was learning to talk, it was difficult for him to pronounce her first name, so he just called her Mara until he could say Ammara. It was distant, forgettable, and yet Hatori remembered it, Hatori remembered what she looked like the day before, her pigtails, the necklace and earrings she wore that was handed down to her by Kagura, who felt no need for jewelry.

Akira stared at Hatori, 'To hell with it.'.

Akira jumped up, embracing Hatori tightly, almost knocking his alcoholic drink out of his hand. Hatori stiffened at the motion, not expecting for her to jump and hug him like that. A picture entered his mind of a much younger Akira- No, Ammara, the little girl who clung to him more than she ever did with either of her parents, jumping on him when he returned from school, greeting him before berating him with questions of curiosity. Hatori placed down his glass, hugging her back just as tightly, holding her head in his shoulder.

Ritsu stared from the cracked door, surprised but felt a sense of longing, a sense of accomplishment. Ammara appeared again in that moment, the Ammara everyone knew, the unfortunate little girl who lost her human rights the moment she was born- Ammara Akira Sohma, the Ugly Duckling.

To Be continued

Pic on top is the drawing Hatori made of Akira when she was younger, just imagine it uncolored. -Golden