Fruits Basket Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Neko's Healing ❯ Waking ( Chapter 24 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or Ranma.

 

::Sigh.:: Lengthy excuses and apologies for lateness are at the end of this chapter...

 

If anyone's interested, I've created a General forum under “Crazy 109 Say what?” for talking about writing and stuff. (In case you've ever wondered--in the ten-codes, “10-9” means “please repeat”--or, “Say what?!”) =P

 

::sniff:: It's done, but for the Epilogue. WAAAAH!! End of Story Letdown Time! Now I've gotta concentrate on my original stuff for a month or so, having put it off wa-a-a-ay too long. ::picking up an archaic bow and arrows and slipping off to stalk that most elusive of near-mythical beasts, the “Agent who's interested in representing a new, unpublished author”--not to be confused with the truly mythical, “Editor who's interested in representing a new, unpublished author!”::

 

Enjoy!

 

24 - Waking

 

...where...am I...?

 

The blankness receded slowly from his thoughts, freeing his mind enough to realize he seemed to be floating in a field of unchanging darkness. He didn't seem to have any feeling in his body. There was no pain, no surface underneath him; no air moving across his skin--not even numbness. He was just--there.

 

He wasn't all that worried by it, though he vaguely supposed he should be. It was...his mind chased lazily after a way to describe the sensation, as “comfortable” just wasn't quite right. He finally settled on “safe.” He didn't feel safe very often...if he ever really had.

 

After letting his thoughts gather for a while, he realized he must be deep in his own mind. His more recent memories stayed just out of reach, so he didn't know why he was there--why his mind was...was hiding. He knew something really bad must have happened, though. He had found himself like this before, once or twice, though he never recalled much about the experience afterwards. Now, back in this place that wasn't really a place at all, he remembered those times.

 

The first time--that had been when he was still very young, after Akito had torn his bracelet off in front of everyone at that horrible New Years celebration; exposing his bakemono form to them all, starting his shunning in earnest. By the time Kazuma had found him, hours later and well after the evening rainstorm had stopped, he'd been pretty much catatonic. He'd stayed that way for nearly a week.

 

The second time...that had been when his mother--died...

 

Why was he hiding in his mind this time? What terrible thing had happened now?

 

...Did he really...want to remember...?

 

With the return of even those few, faint traces of curiosity, the blackness about him had lightened a bit. Sudden, sharp fear spiked through him, ripping away the precious, fragile sense of safety. He curled into himself, bodiless as he was, blocking off his `vision'. He wasn't quite ready to find answers; not yet.

 

Time didn't seem to mean anything, where he was. He couldn't tell if it was passing, or not; there was nothing at all around him that changed, to measure it. There was only his thoughts, which went unpredictably from being still as marble, to racing bullet-like across his mind. That strong, numbing fear was laced through all of them.

 

Eventually, a sense of impatience spread through him. Impatience with his own thoughts, with the unchanging surroundings; with his own perceived cowardice in not breaking free of it, and just waking up. What good did it do him, or anyone else, cowering inside his own head?! Hiding never helped; things would still be waiting for him when he finally did wake, and might be worse the more time went by. He might as well be dead, as stay there, huddled into himself!! It was even worse than the Cage--

 

Kyo stiffened, mind stilling, after flinching away from the mere idea of his fate. As his thoughts stayed quiet, a piece of a memory's image surfaced bright and clear before his mind's eye. The ghost of a gentle touch to his cheek went nearly unnoticed as the memory of astonished, watery black eyes filled his vision.

 

Akito...?

 

--the Healing!

 

Exploding in a panic from the tight little knot he'd worked his mental self into, Kyo focused on spreading his now-frenzied awareness up and out, desperately trying to wake up; like a deep sea diver struggling up to the ocean's surface for much-needed air. More and more bits and pieces of recent memories whirled into his mind from all about as he rose from the depths, biting at him like teeth; setting a sense of urgency into him as he consciously remembered just what he'd been fighting against, before intense pain knocked him unconscious--and more importantly, who his body had been made to fight.

 

An image of Xian Pu, her beautiful face contorted in pain as the bladed hand of his bakemono form came down on her collarbone, flashed before his mind's eye. A sharp stab of anguish tore through him; how badly had he hurt her?!!

 

What had his body been doing, while his mind buried itself in oblivion--! Who that he cared for had he hurt, by giving the kami-damned curse the opportunity to take over?!? Had he--more than just hurt anyone...?!

 

Kami-sama--how could he have forgotten--!!

 

-.-.-.-

 

Akito nearly fell off the edge of Kyo's bed when the neko suddenly started almost upright with a huge gasp, red eyes wide and unseeing with near-total panic. Kyo flopped bonelessly back down, hands tightly clutching at the sheets as the weakness of his body overwhelmed him, sweat popping up on his face as he struggled completely awake. His breathing was ragged, strained by effort and emotion; his vision hazy, surroundings registering only as unidentifiable smears and blobs of color. His mind was slow to cope with the sudden input from all of his senses after so long shut away deep within himself. The only thought he could focus on was the desperate wondering, `Where am I, what's happening--!!'

 

The inu burst into the room when Akito screamed his name, only to freeze and stare wide-eyed at Kyo when he saw his young cousin finally awake. Akito's eyes were fixed on the neko in worry as she knelt by him, visibly trying to keep herself from reaching to touch him. Kyo was struggling to at least raise his head, to focus bleary eyes and look towards the doorway, and the sudden commotion going on there.

 

Xian Pu, who'd been convinced to leave Akito alone with her Airen at least long enough for a trip to the necessary, shoved Shigure out of the way as she all but flew back into the room, her Great-Grandmother appearing right behind her. The Amazon's eyes widened, her face lighting with pure joy as soon as she saw that Kyo's eyes were open. She promptly glomped her Airen about his chest, totally forgetting about his curse in her relief at his waking.

 

The brief thought that he might still have the core of the curse on him was completely ignored. She didn't care; he was awake!! She hadn't lost him forever! Her baby would know her father!

 

Shigure ended up sprawled haphazardly on Xian Pu's cot, which had been squeezed in between Kyo's bed and the one wall with hardly any space between. The Amazon hadn't bothered to remember to be gentle when she bowled him over. He tried hard not to land on his Clan Head, who only had eyes for her brother. Yuki and Tohru crowded in behind the Amazons on Kyo's other side, Tohru practically having to sit on the dresser. An anxious Kazuma was stuck hovering at the foot of the bed, peering worriedly at his adopted son. The room wasn't really big enough for all of them; there'd been barely room to squeeze in the extra cot!

 

Kho Lon hadn't had a chance to tell her great-granddaughter that Kyo might have been successful in getting rid of the Jyuunishi curse. When he didn't transform, it took the purple-haired Amazon a whole minute before she noticed. Then she raised her head to stare incredulously into shocked red eyes, a shade deeper than her own and suspiciously watery as Kyo's mind tried to keep up with the shocks hitting him all at once.

 

Kyo was slowly able to recognize that, yes, he really was in his and Xian Pu's familiar bed, physically and mentally in one piece; most of the people he cared about in the world were there, looking unhurt...and, most importantly--his wife was hugging him, without him transforming into a neko! It seemed the curse had been broken! His arms instinctively wrapped about Xian Pu, even as his mind whirled in bewilderment.

 

Having Akito, of all people sitting at his bedside, seemed a minor shock in comparison. Until he remembered Akito's part of the curse, and how close it came to subjugating his thoughts with its evil. His breath caught and his eyes went unfocused as his mind stilled, listening for any tell-tale notions that might...not...be his. Feeling for the lifelong-familiar rage, that was forever lurking below his mind. Listening for the familiar chatter from the spirits of the previous nekos.

 

In his mind, there was only silence. The only thoughts he could find were his own.

 

Shock sent icy ripples through his muscles as hope and sadness both pressed in on him. That the curse could really, truly, be gone--! That the neko spirits...who'd been with him for his whole life; giving him support, no matter how back-handed and awkwardly, when it seemed no one alive gave a damn about him...were truly--gone...

 

For the first time in his life, Kyo felt completely and utterly alone within his own head, as well as within his family. Shivers broke out throughout his body as he tried to deal with a deep, unexpected sense of loss. Kenji-neko, especially, had always managed to bolster him up with whispers of encouragement and advice, whenever the fear or anger got to be too much; the last neko was a great deal like his grandson, who'd adopted Kyo for his own son. All of the neko spirits had held back more as Kyo got older, and became more independent--but they'd still been there.

 

How...how was he supposed to cope, now, without them? It almost was like they'd died, all over again! Except, this time, there would definitely be someone to mourn them; unlike most of their physical deaths.

 

Remorse flooded him as he realized how selfish he was being, wishing them all to stay trapped in his head just because he'd feel lonely without them. They'd all more than earned the right to pass on to whatever awaited them on the other side of death. How would he feel, if he'd been one of them, and his “host” didn't want to let him go?

 

No--he'd be fine without them. It wasn't like he was truly alone, anymore; he had more people who cared for him, now, than he'd ever dreamed he'd have in his whole life! That didn't lessen his sense of loss, but did help him be able to bear it.

 

Shigure had really done a good job of drawing Kyo into the family, getting them to care about him as even as much as they had--more than past family had ever cared about any of the past nekos. If Kyo hadn't been forced to work at cross-purposes to the inu, thanks to the kami-damned curse--! He felt the need to thank Shigure, again, sometime soon. He didn't feel the thanks he'd given that night he'd healed Yuki was anywhere near enough, for the risks the inu had run, trying to manipulate Akito against the curse.

 

It wasn't helping Kyo's breathing any, looking up at all those faces of his concerned relatives and in-laws swimming about in his still wavering sight. It was quickly starting to feel like the room was closing in on him, as tightly as Xian Pu's grip. He started to sweat in earnest as his scrambled senses tried to keep track of all the movement around him, feeling chilled to the bone. His mind was clearing enough to realize that his body was shaky, and sluggish; the effort to just sit up was almost more than he could manage. It was as bad as what his curse did to him during severe thunderstorms.

 

Kho Lon looked down at her Son-In-Law with a smile full of relief as she read his aura. There was none of the roiling mess of darkness that had been trying to consume him, before the bracelet was returned to his wrist. Careful watching and further testing was called for, to be certain, but her instincts said her Son-In-Law was merely himself once more.

 

The stain of panic spreading over his face gave her a twinge of concern, until she noted how his rather glazed-looking eyes were darting around in confusion, and the way he was starting to draw back into himself. Especially as Mu Tse, Ranma, and Akane were now trying to squeeze in through the door, having heard the commotion from downstairs. Banging her staff once and hard on the floor, she drew all eyes to herself.

 

“All right, children; keep back and give Son-In-Law some room!” One withered hand flapped about at them all in a shooing motion. “Step back, now! Don't crowd him.” Tohru, Shigure, and Akito edged away as much as they could, without actually leaving the room, while Kazuma and Yuki stayed rooted where they were.

 

Xian Pu, of course, was firmly attached to her Airen and unlikely to separate any time soon. An amused but still hair-raising cackle from the Elder finally got Kazuma and Yuki to back off, everyone shivering at the downright horrifying sound. Ranma grabbed Akane by the shoulder and drew her with him as he stepped right back through the doorway into the hall, gulping nervously, even as Mu Tse cringed out after them. That relieved some of the congestion in the room, at least.

 

Kyo, who'd spent an entire month living at the Nekohanten, had enough close experience with the Matriarch's peculiar sense of humor to be able to ignore the rising of his neck hairs at her unnerving excuse for a chuckle. There was no malice in it, after all. He tightened his arms possessively about his glomping wife, still expecting the curse to transform him at any moment, while staring intently at Kho Lon until she looked back at him. Then he slowly nodded his thanks, a tiny half-smile quirking at one corner of his mouth and lighting his misting red eyes.

 

Kho Lon's answering smile was huge, scaring Tohru and Yuki a bit, even as Kyo's whole attention was claimed by the formerly unknown feeling of his now much-loved wife, held snugly in his arms for the first time. The Matriarch gave one more stamp of her staff, looking towards the doorway and stating firmly, “My great-granddaughter is perfectly capable of crowding her Airen all by herself. Give the young man some time to adjust!” Hopping onto the dresser right by Tohru, who couldn't help but jump a bit, the old woman settled herself, still beaming.

 

Shigure moved about until he was behind Akito, gently resting one hand shoulder as she stared at Kyo with a teary, relieved smile from her corner of the room, at the foot of Xian Pu's cot. He casually settled his shoulder against the doorframe he was all but pressed against. The inu could easily understand that Akito was extremely happy that her brother had awakened, seemingly just for her, even if in truth it had only been a coincidence. Then again, the final stage of the healing might well have been waiting on Akito's coming. With magic, how could you tell?

 

Yuki managed to squeeze over onto the dresser by Tohru and the Matriarch, while Ranma, Akane, and Mu Tse contented themselves with just poking their heads in through the doorway as a smiling Kazuma dropped suddenly to sit on the foot of Kyo's bed, his knees giving out with relief and so giving the three teens a clear view. The karate master quickly reached to grip one of his son's blanket-covered feet, charcoal eyes suspiciously watery. When Kyo finally tore his gaze away from his wife, it was his foster father he spoke to first.

 

“Shisho...? How...how long...?”

 

Kazuma smiled even broader at Kyo's tremulous voice, swallowing back the tears that insisted on forming. His own voice wasn't very steady when he answered, low and rough instead of soft as velvet. “Kyo.” He had to clear his throat to continue. “It's--so good to see you awake. How do you feel, son? You've been--asleep, for a week.”

 

Red eyes blinked, still somewhat clouded with confusion and the peculiar emptiness in his head. `One week...?' That's...how long I've been out of things?' He'd been afraid it had been much longer, by the relief he was seeing all about him. Kyo glanced about at everyone, becoming a bit more nervous. He had noticed the hesitation in Kazuma's unusually roundabout answer, and wasn't sure he wanted to know its cause.

 

“Uh...” Then his eyes went back to his oblivious, almost-purring wife, and softened. This thoughts finally settled and focused. She showed no signs of letting him go from her almost desperate glomp any time this century. He wasn't about to release his own grip on her, either. He briefly tightened his arms about her again as relief and amazement all but drowned him. He didn't realize it when the whisper escaped his lips, “...just wonderful...”

 

Several choked snickers jerked Kyo's attention back to the room at large. Blushing nearly as bright a red as Ranma-chan's hair, he glared at the loudest sources--namely, Shigure, Kho Lon, and Kazuma. The suspicious twitches at the corners of his mouth gave away the neko's own suppressed amusement, though--and his red eyes just didn't have that practiced glare of fury sparking from them. A month of Kho Lon's brand of teasing, on top of his time living with Shigure, had finally at least somewhat inured him to that kind of ribald humor at his expense.

 

Some day, he might even be able to start giving as good as he got. Say, in twenty years, or so... His eyes darkened as his expression was tinged with sadness instead of humor.

 

Kyo's face went neutral when his eyes found Akito's. Staring at the suddenly nervous-looking Clan Head, the neko didn't pay any attention as looks were exchanged about the room. He didn't even twitch when suddenly Shigure and Kho Lon were quietly chasing the others out of the room, until only Kyo, Xian Pu, and Akito remained, as the door clicked softly closed.

 

Shigure had started shooing the others out, to grant Akito the privacy to reveal her relation to Kyo in private, if she chose. Kho Lon didn't know just what needed saying between Kyo and his Clan Head, but she was canny enough to know there was unfinished business there--that would not take place with an audience. Between the two of them, even Kazuma didn't argue to stay.

 

Xian Pu, not quite as distracted as she seemed, loosened her grip on her beloved enough to raise her head and look about. Seeing Akito sitting on the far end of the cot, head down and eyes shadowed by her hair, Xian Pu worked herself around to sit at Kyo's side, even as she helped him lever himself to sit upright. The couple shared one long, speaking look before settling, Kyo's arm about his wife's shoulders, hers about his waist; her head comfortably and comfortingly on his shoulder.

 

Whatever was troubling Akito, that she wanted to tell Kyo--she'd have to say it to both of them, for Xian Pu wasn't letting her Airen out of her sight for some time. They had a whole week of catching up to do!

 

-.-.-.-

 

Akito left the room a good two hours later. Shigure, who'd been lounging about in the hallway waiting on her, straightened up and gave her reddened eyes and tear-streaked face a questioning look, worried for her. He was fairly certain she'd told Kyo he was her brother...had the neko taken it worse than Shigure could have anticipated? Worse yet, would the neko hold an emotional grudge against Akito for everything that the curse had forced her to do, to hurt people--especially him? Just because a person's mind forgave someone, didn't mean their heart would follow suit...and there was a great deal of pain in Kyo's life that would be difficult to put behind him. Most especially, his mother's death...

 

Then the first beaming smile of pure, unadulterated happiness that the inu had ever seen on his Clan Head's face hit him in the eyes like a mental sledgehammer. Nope; Kyo had obviously not rejected her!

 

Shigure was frozen in place at Akito's expression, his jaw dropping in surprise, dark eyes wide and wondering. He looked so comically amazed, that Akito actually giggled--a remarkably high, lilting sound, coming from her--which did not in the least help him to regain his thoroughly scattered wits. Still giggling a bit, she wrapped an arm about his and pulled him away, her black eyes dancing with mirth as her inu all but staggered along at her side, all the time staring at her without blinking once.

 

He didn't even chatter incessantly on the ride back to the Honke, instead listening to his Clan Head's bubbling excitement as she made plans for the future, both short-range and long...plans that showed she knew her formerly Jyuunishi-cursed family better than even Shigure had thought.

 

Most astounding of all, she was giving each of them the choice to follow each step of her plans for them, or not--including the younger set's own choices for which schools to attend, and where exactly everyone wanted to live. She was no longer obsessively demanding they stay close to her, no matter what.

 

By the time he'd escorted Akito all the way back to her rooms, Shigure was suspecting he knew the name of the odd, warm feeling that wrapped about him whenever he was with the curse-freed Clan Head these days. He'd been feeling a faint, preliminary echo of the sensation for a long time, after all.

 

Fear of possible curse-inspired consequences had kept him from ever exploring the feeling--along with Akito's random, frequently alternating bouts of insanity, and highly subtle manipulation that challenged even his ability to follow them. How could he possibly admit to having such deep feelings for, let alone give his deepest loyalty to, someone so dangerously unstable?

 

Shigure had barricaded off an entire part of his being, withholding his loyalty and love as he had; twisting his very self into someone he wasn't terribly happy with, as he concentrated on doing what he could to subtly help his family--and to research a cure for the curse. His own more and more heartless manipulations to counter Akito's had almost become something of a game between them, their family slowly seeming more like playing pieces, than people, as his emotional walls grew...

 

A chill whispered up his spine, raising his hackles, as the inu realized just how close he'd been to truly becoming the kind of cruel, manipulative person that the curse had forced Akito to be. He hadn't had the excuse of the curse whispering in his mind, altering his thoughts. Another few short years, and he might have gone beyond the point where he could be redeemed. He shivered, firmly repressing that line of thought.

 

He found it quite laughably ironic that the cure had been literally living right under his nose, in his very own house, for the last couple years--in the single last person anyone would have ever thought to hold even a clue to a cure. In hind-sight, it made a perfect, warped kind of sense, quite of a kind with the rest of the curse as a whole. Unable to truly love, unable to truly live--shunning and locking up the one who could save them...oh, yes; the person who'd cast the Jyuunishi curse on his family had been one sadistic, kami-less bastard with one hell of a grudge!

 

A small, quirky half-smile graced his face as he firmly shoved away all thoughts of introspection and concentrated on listening to Akito's rich alto voice, his dark eyes never leaving her face. It really wasn't so bad, he realized; this falling in love. Not without the curse to complicate things, anyway! Thoughts cheering considerably, Shigure briefly wondered if Ha-san or Aya had figured out what was happening to him, yet. He rather thought Hatori might suspect; but Aya hadn't been around the Honke enough during the last week, to see his behavior.

 

Shigure's smile broadened in anticipation of his best friends' reactions. His irrepressibly cheerful façade slid easily into place, this time reaching more than surface-deep. This would be the perfect excuse for a party! And this time--they could invite Akito, without fear of consequences.

 

Oh, yes, indeed; it was going to be a wonderful celebration!

 

-.-.-.-

 

Back in the Nekohanten, Kyo was staring at the doorway to his and Xian Pu's bedroom, red eyes darkened with swirling emotions he was too upset to even try to sort out yet. He wasn't sure just how he was supposed to feel about what Akito had told him, let alone what he really felt. Xian Pu hugged him tightly, staring worriedly at his abstracted expression, offering support with her presence. A firm return of her embrace reassured her it was appreciated, though he obviously didn't feel like talking yet. His thoughts were whirling too much to make any sense.

 

Xian Pu let him stew in his own confusion for a while, then finally let him go, reaching up to kiss his cheek before sitting back to stare at him. He ought to be nearly ready to talk about it; he needed to talk about it. Kyo blinked after a moment, seeming to come back to himself, and looked questioningly at her.

 

“Beloved...is...it is good you know about sister, no? Even if J--the Jyuunishi curse made her do bad things. She no cursed--“ Xian Pu's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in annoyance with herself for a moment, as she struggled to correct her grammar. She knew pretty much how the words were supposed to be put together, and had plenty of encouragement to speak proper Japanese--and thanks in large part to Kyo's coaching, she actually wanted to speak it well; she had no reason to want to appear dumber than she was, since she wasn't chasing Ranma any more. The problem was, she had two years of bad habits to break. Her Airen had started learning her language; she could certainly improve her use of his in return! “She is not cursed, now, thanks to you.” She stared fiercely into her neko's bewildered eyes, complete certainty her tone.

 

Kyo slumped, letting his chin drop to his chest. He sighed, working at taming the maelstrom of thoughts in his head--all of them only his. He missed the neko spirits even more, as he tried to deal with the knowledge that not only did he have a sister--who was Akito, of all people; but his own sister had been directly responsible for most of the worst things that had ever happened in his life. Including his--their--mother's death.

 

How was he supposed to deal with this?!!

 

One small part of him felt only relief; here was proof that it was not his fault--he hadn't been responsible for her death. His angry denials over the years had always held a small kernel of doubt. Another part of him was horrified all over again at what the curse had done, to his family. Yet another part was angry, and resentful, that no one had told him about Akito being his sister! Never mind the list of people who'd know, until then, was extremely short--and he could understand in his head, if not yet in his heart, why she hadn't told him.

 

The more he thought about it, the more surprised he was that the curse hadn't forced Akito to tell him. As hard as it was to wrap his mind about it, now--he couldn't imagine how it would've affected him years ago, before he'd found the support he'd desperately needed. How had she been able to keep it from him?

 

Damnit! He had no clue how to deal with this! What was he supposed to do now?! How was he supposed to treat Akito? She'd said she was leaving it up to him, whether to tell the rest of the family or not. How the hell could he decide?! He couldn't even make up his mind how he felt about it, yet--never mind figuring out how everyone else would deal with it!

 

All he knew for sure, was that he couldn't find it in himself to blame Akito for all of the things that he knew the curse was truly responsible for. Since he'd awakened to find her there with him, he hadn't recognized the person wearing the body of his Clan Head. There was simply no malice in her, without the curse...just a nearly overwhelming sadness and regret. It looked like her true personality was even-natured, and downright sweet.

 

His neko's sensitivity to emotion had seen the fear that had been lurking in Akito's eyes, after she'd nerved herself up to tell him...fear that he'd reject her. He'd controlled his confusion long enough to assure Akito that he didn't blame her. How could he, who'd dreamed for his whole life of being accepted just a little bit, possibly reject the sister he hadn't known he had--who actually wanted to be his sister, now that she could? Hypocrisy in others made him furious; he wasn't about to practice it himself.

 

Kyo had only been under the core of the Jyuunishi curse for a few hours, but it had been more than enough to show him how insidious its influence was; and how hard to resist. He couldn't imagine having lived under that, since birth. With Xian Pu to support him, he was more than willing to give Akito the chance she was hoping for. If things didn't work out, if the curse's conditioning ruined their budding relationship--he'd still have his wife by his side, forever.

 

One corner of his mouth twitched up in a half-smile as he wondered how Akito was going to react, to having him acting like a real brother. Somebody was going to have to protect her from that hentai inu, after all--Kyo had seen the attraction between those two, even in the short time Shigure had been in his room. A wicked glint came into his eyes as his smile turned into a toothy grin, as he anticipated Shigure's reaction to having a Neko-ken Master intent on putting the fear of the kami into him.

 

Payback was such a wonderful idea!

 

-.-.-.-

 

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry for the delay in posting!!!! ::bowing profusely in apology::

 

I don't know how it always happens...Spring Break comes up, and WHAM!--I get the flu. Very Very Bad Case of flu. This time--with carbon dioxide poisoning on top of it. Oh, joy! By Day Four, I'm almost feeling human again, temperature back down to 101--and I'm usually 97.6, not 98.6...and BLAM! He-e-ello-o-o-o, Second-Ever Gallbladder Attack! ::grumbling growling and just generally cussing out all the perversity in the universe::

 

To top it all off, the school district I work for was intent on out-sourcing us bus drivers--you know; firing us all, selling the buses, and hiring Laidlaw to take care of busing... My union had to bite a pay cut that amounts to about $4,600 annually PER DRIVER,in order to keep our jobs. It's still better than working for Laidlaw, because they didn't touch our insurance; but not by very bloody much! I've commuted 40 miles one-way to Naperville for all these years because the pay was that much better than the mere peanuts offered in my home town. This cut is more than my steadily rising gasoline bill! ::GRRR!!!:: The truly disgusting part is, the Laidlaw bid was $11.3 million annually--and our transportation department budget, WITH a decent raise--was only $9.7 million. I was taught in school that 11 was greater than 9...yet we drivers had to choke down more than a million dollars in budget cuts to our pay, Heaven forbid they cut back on purchasing a couple brand-new buses for the best-maintained fleet in the State... I DETEST the Illinois State legislation that encourages a school district to out-source and spend more taxpayer dollars, just because the State will reimburse them more for it! It's not like the district residents' property taxes will decrease; their State taxes are going to end up increasing, while the level of service goes straight down the sewer system!

 

AAAARGH!!! If I don't have an ulcer by now, I'll never get one! ::glancing down in surprise, then stepping off the sneakily-arrived soapbox in embarrassment before the full-blown thirty-minute detailed Rant pops out:: Oopsie. Sorry `bout the rant...!

 

That's why I hadn't posted the ending to this story yet. With that much...erm...pure angst flooding my system, I had to confine myself to a couple other stories that were...ahem...more in that vein. I was kind'a rough on the characters...! I did try working on this one, several times; but I ended up ripping out everything I wrote and sticking it in those other stories...::sigh:: First week of May the union voted yes to the horribly unfair contract, then the surprised school board accepted it 7-0; so at least I know I'm not out of a job as of July 1. Now I just have to find a supplemental source of income to make up the $4,919 it's gonna cost me, personally, next year--not counting the 3.5 percent raise we WOULD have gotten, had the district not been outsource-happy! ::stalking off in a fine state of suppressed rage, muttering somewhat distractedly about how the kiddies on the bus are behaving quite nicely, after getting a look at this expression...::