Disclaimer: I do not own Fruit Basket or any of the characters inside. I do not have a beta, so beware of grammar mistakes!
If there was one person whom he could never hate, it would be Akito. He could never hate her, no matter what she had done, no matter that she had just single-hand ruined his hopes for a happy life just because she was jealous, and no matter than she had hurt him and the woman he loved, just because she could do so.
Hatori would never hate Akito.
Hatori could never hate Akito.
Not this girl whom had garnered his love since the moment she had existed.
Something in him would never allow it.
Both as the head of the Sohma house and as the head of the Jyuunishi, Akito ruled over Hatori, and what she decreed was always the final decision, the absolute law. When Akito opened her mouth and gave an order, Hatori executed it perfectly, even if it meant losing his own happiness. Because he could never disobey her.
Or could he?
The moment the vase hit the ground and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, Hatori felt as if something within him had broken as well.
Tears streamed down from his face together with blood, and it was only when he saw the crimson liquid dripping down onto his hands that he realized from a slight stinging pain that his left eye was injurd by one of the vase shard. But it was a pain too slight, too insignificant compared to the overwhelming and indescribable sadness within him chest. It was as if someone had cut out a chunk of his heart, pulled out apart a piece of his soul and left him hollow.
And all of it had nothing to do with Kana, the woman he thought he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. All of a sudden, she felt so insignificant, so far away, and he could hardly register her presence besides himself, shrieking and crying at the sight of his bleeding face.
Even louder was Akito, whose furious look had been replaced by extreme horror, yelling at the approaching servants who had heard the commotions and tried to enter the room to see if something was wrong. Kana had been dragged away, screaming and kicking, and the rest of the servants banished to a further location as well with threats of death from Akito.
"Akito…" He knew that something was wrong, and it was something to do with this frantic, horror-struck girl before him, but he was still too sad, too numbed by the sadness to hear properly what she was yelling at him.
The bond that had tied him to her was gone, the bond which had bound him to this girl for almost his whole life was lifted, ripped away from him so suddenly that it left him feeling raw, helpless and grieving.
But what was he grieving for?
His whole life he had been bound by the curse, tied down by the fear of rejection from other people due to this unnatural secret. And now he was finally free, free from the curse which had been the main cause of misery in his life, free to leave this cage which had contained him since he was born, free to marry Kana and go anywhere he wished to go.
Yet tears continued to drop uncontrollably, Kana the last person on his mind. The same Kana that had brought warmth to his heart and taught him love, whom he had thought he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It was not as if he had just stopped loving her all of a sudden, but something in him was different already, it was as if a hazy fog had been lifted from his vision and for the first time since he was born, he was able to look at the world with a clear mind, a mind which was solely his own.
The spirit of the dragon which had been residing in a corner of his soul thus far had disappeared, leaving him incomplete.
It was time to go, his subconscious told him, just like how all good things must come to an end, it was finally time for the banquet to end. And it was a banquet which had gone on for centuries too long.
"…tori! HATORI! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Akito was yelling and screaming, fists clambering against his chest, her wide eyes was filled with emotions that Hatori had never seen before. Was it fear? Fear of losing him, perhaps? Or of losing a favoured toy? She had felt the bond between them snapped as he had, and contrary to the sadness overwhelming him, it was fear and terror clouding her mind instead. "Don't leave me! Hatori!"
She looked up at him from his chest, this weak, frail, crying girl, and suddenly he wondered how she had managed to order him around like she had always been able to, and how he was never able to reject her, no matter how reluctant he had been.
Was Ren right all along then? That the hold Akito had over them Jyuunishi was unnatural? That the bond they shared was forced upon them, and giving Akito an unfair control over their life? It all seemed so silly right now, that such a little girl had such a strong hold over all of them.
"Hatori! Hatori! Why...?! Why... WHY?!" Akito shrieked, pushing forward with all her might, and making Hatori stumbling backwards with every step she took, his mind too out of it to be able to counter her inhumane strength.
"Don't look at me so distantly! Why do you have such a distant look...? I hate it! Looking at me so distantly since a while ago... I HATE IT!" With a final cry, Akito pushed down and sat on Hatori's chest, as he had found himself no longer able to contain her might and had fallen backwards onto the floor.
"Don't go! Don't go!" Sobbing and bleeding from cuts earned from the shattered vase pieces on the ground surrounding them, Akito clawed up against Hatori, her face leaning in close to his, so near that he was able to see his own reflection from her horror-struck eyes, and spotted the apathetic look he bore. "Don't leave me, Hatori! Don't go anywhere!" She continued to yell, scream and cried, hoping for a reaction from her dragon, from the dragon who could only have belonged to her, heart, body and soul. "Stay with me forever! Don't leave!"
The stinging pain from his left eye reminded Hatori that his eye was probably going to go blind, yet he could not find himself moving from where he sat, moving away from Akito, whose frantic cries of 'don't leave' continue to echo in his ears.
So it was true. After being bound to her side for so long, Hatori was finally able to leave.
He is now…free.
He thought of Kana; beautiful smiling Kana who had embraced him with tenderness and love, even though it would only last for a second.
Then he felt his gaze settled onto Akito who was still clutching to his chest like it was her life-line.
"Stay with me forever! Stay by my side! Hatori! Hatori!" She said to him.
But he was no longer bound, he had no need to stay by her side anymore, he was free to leave and lived the rest of his life happily with Kana. He would marry her, and have a wife and many children whom he could love and hug all he wanted without any fear anymore.
But, could he really do so?
Was that what his heart really wanted?
He lifted a finger to gently wipe away the tears streaming down from Akito's terrified face. It was incomprehensible to her that she would one day lose one of her Jyuunishi, she was truly frightened by the thought of losing him.
How silly.
He was already no longer hers. He was his own person now. The part of him that had restricted him to her side had been broken.
Yet this girl, for this girl who was weaker than anyone, more sensitive as anyone, less brave than anyone, could he really just get up and get away just like that?
For this miserable girl whom he had showered his love her entire life… No, he could not find it in himself to do so.
It had always been him taking care of Akito ever since she had been born when it was time for the Jyuunishi to spend time with her; Ayame had been too careless with everything, Shigure too uncaring about proper-ness, Kureno and Ritsu too young to know better. It had always been up to the matured Hatori whom adults had felt most reassured to leave the safety and health of their future head of house with when it was time for them to play together.
Added to the fact that he was a doctor, and that Akito had always been frail, being born with a weaker immune system than most people, it had always been him by her side when she had fallen ill. It had always been Hatori himself who would be taking care of sick, little Akito every other week, and him being the person who knew first-hand how fragile she could be.
"Don't cry, Akito, I promise… I promise to stay by Akito's side… So that Akito won't cry again." He wrapped his arms around her, whispering soft words of reassurance.
This girl's father died years and years ago, and her mother despised her deeply. To be honest, Hatori was probably the most parental figure than she ever had in her life, if not counting the servants who had always treated her with revere. He had always had a spot soft for her in his heart, having witnessed all her moments of weakness while nursing her back to her full health and was able to see past the 'God of the Jyuunishi' façade to the truth that she was merely a little girl who had no parents and craved for love, to be loved.
Even if the bond between them might have been something forced in the first place, it was not the bond which had forced him into doing all that for Akito. He had been neither unwilling nor reluctant to take care of her, and he refused to believe that it had all been just the influence of the dragon's love that had been in control of all his thoughts and action.
Everyone who had known Hatori knew him to bear the gentlest soul that they have ever seen, beneath that stoic mask he wore on his face.
Could he really leave behind this frail, crying girl who was bawling her eyes out against his chest, this girl whom he had practically raised?
::Hatori, Hatori, hug me!:: He could still remember the day when she had snuck out to see them, being too lonely in the huge house that belonged to her deep within the inner compound of the Sohma estate, her arms raised and stretched out towards him, her eyes misty from unshed tears.
"I won't leave you." He vowed, hugging her tight.
And was rewarded with the brightest smile of his whole life.
…End?
Author's Long Note: Most of the dialogue and idea was taken from chapter 97 and 98 of the original manga, shifted to the scene when Hatori was blinded by Akito, although the former part was supposed to be between Kureno and Akito instead. But the dash of Hatori/chibi!Akito bonding thrown into chapter 98 just about killed me with cuteness, being the huge Hatori fan that I am. So ever since then, I have always had this idea of…what if it was Hatori's curse which had broken first instead of Kureno? Would things have change? For the better or for the worse?
To tell the truth, I have nothing much planned after this part, although if one day I do decide to continue, I'll be following the canon story as much as possible, and that means ShigureXAkito in the end BUT no HatoriXMayuko (I dislike her, by the way), and only possibly HatoriXKana (I have no idea how that would work out though).
But that's getting ahead of myself, and as far as I'm concern, this is a one-shot unless more plot bunnies hit me in the middle of the night, or re-watching Fruit Basket anime and making me itching to write a Hatori story because he gets too little screen time.