Threats and Secrets
By: Unknownred
X
Summary: Tohru Honda goes from being a good-nature girl to a quiet, pessimistic person while living in the Sohma's household. There's something different about her. What has happened to Tohru for her to be like this? Will the three Sohma's including her two friends find out what's wrong? Find out for yourself.
X
X
A/N: Two chapters per individual chapter (on the Content). Thanks!
X
X
X
Chapter 1 — Threats
X
It was growing late when Tohru finishes cleaning at her job and is escorted out by Momoji, whom waves excitedly at the sight of Tohru. Wishing her luck heading back to the Sohma's estate, Tohru bids her valediction and promises him that she will be careful getting there.
While on her way back, Tohru takes a short-cut from her job nearing her school that led back to the house. She walks calmly, feeling a short breeze catch up with her, her skirt rustling as she continues to walk. Her hair brushes forward, the ends whipping her cheeks as an unseen force drives against her back and unlike any wind, this force was brawny and profound. Tohru, not being able to hold the weight, trips over a crack and falls to the ground, her hands landing on the concrete before her body does.
Sitting up, Tohru glances behind her but finds no one there. Not a soul in sight. Feeling another breeze brush past her, Tohru was met by silence and the only sounds that could be heard was her breathing and the flapping noises of her clothes. Swallowing, she gets up and starts walking again— this time, glancing back in wariness.
Thoughts crowd her mind, unwanted thoughts, that is. Shaking her head, trying to rid the horrible and ridiculous thoughts, Tohru suddenly feels like something is wrong, and that a pair of eyes are watching her. She pause mid step and swiftly uses that foot she's on and spins around, her eyes wandering the school ground, but finding nothing.
Tohru, feeling uneasy and slightly panicked, started up again. This time she was running, her school bag weighing her down, knocking against her leg as she ran past the extended walls that guarded the school and took a right that led the way home. As she was running, she didn't notice the shadows following heed. When she got to the end of the corner, she took another right and took a moment to breathe.
After and righting herself, she turns and walks into a pair of muscled arms, nothing compared to Kyo's or Yuki's. She gasps and realization dawning upon her. She was in the arms of a stranger! "Oh!"
The strange man laughed, lowering his chin towards her face and breathing heavily. This was the presence from earlier, Tohru had realized. She struggled but sadly, couldn't break free. Opening her mouth to scream, she found herself compelled to do so and did what any other girl would do in this situation. "Please, let me go!"
The man laughed, tauntingly, at her measly struggles. Shaking his head, he held her in a firm grip and lowered his voice, as he muttered menacingly into her ear. "You'd be wise to hold that tongue of yours or else, I'll put that tongue to good use."
Tohru shut-upped and glanced away, frightened that this man had threatened her. Her mind reeled with redundant thoughts, the 'what ifs'' startedclawing her, wishing she should have asked Momoji to accompany her instead or had taken the bus home. Now, she's in this state and is wishing that someone, anyone would come to her rescue.
The taunts began, frightening Tohru to no end, as she was cornered against the corner wall of a huge building. No one was out taking walks or playing outside; no one to call for help or fight off this man. Even now, part of her wished that she hadn't agreed to take on one of her co-workers job… but she really needed a higher pay. She didn't want to be a burden to the Sohma's so that's what her plan was intended for: save up the extra money for rent.
Finally pushing her aside, Tohru hit the ground roughly and turned on her back to only find that the man had vanished and she regretted at that moment for not looking at the said man's face. No identity, no proof. The only evidence Tohru had was the man's voice and what his presence felt like, very intimidating, nothing she has ever felt even when Akito hovered over her, shooting small threats at her— but nothing compared to this.
For the second time, Tohru got up and ran all the way home, not glancing back, fearing that the man was following her and maybe catch up with her again. This is it, Tohru thinks as she enters the threshold of the estate, safe.
The noises erupted through the thin paper walls, making Tohru's heart jump with surprise. She could feel her chest beat, simultaneously and felt her throat close as she walked into the den and met the two cousins, arguing about something unrelated.
"I hate it!"
Tohru walked up towards the two boys, reaching Yuki first and tried tuning them out as she waited for them to stop their argument.
"Hate is such a strong word," Yuki retorted and with a curt nod, he chuckled and glared at Kyo, "and yet, it can only be used on you."
"Shut it, rat boy!" Kyo stepped forward, giving off a courageous vibe. He held up a fist and lunged forward, only to pause quickly as Yuki dodged and Tohru's face appeared out of no where. Gasping, Kyo swung his hand back, making Kyo lurch forward and falling on his knees. Yuki, on the other hand, spins around and asks concerning questions to Tohru. "Are you alright, Honda san?"
"Oh!" Tohru gasped, finally finding her voice and blinked down at Kyo who was clenching his fist in agitation as Yuki defiled him malignly. "I'm fine… Kyo, are you alright?"
Kyo stands up, not bothering to brush his shirt off from wrinkles and turns away, ignoring Yuki and spats, "Of course, I'm okay! You should be asking that rat that question— he's the one who needs help!"
Tohru bites her lips and turns to Yuki, "Are you okay, Yuki kun?"
"Yes, thank you, Miss Honda." Yuki replied with a gentle tone and a warming smile that made Tohru forget about her earlier exploit.
Tohru nodded softly, before glancing back at Kyo who wore a smug look on his face and crossed his arms over his chest, grumbling.
"Where's that dog loitering about?"
As if on cue, Shigure walks into the den, holding a couple of books in one arm-hold and a letter in the other. He looks at them and blinks, pretending to be oblivious towards all three.
"Oh, hello there Tohru." Shigure greeted, shooting her a smile and tip-toeing past them to the next room that led to his study. Yuki shook his head and walked out of the room and down the hall. Kyo stopped grumbling, and closed his eyes in frustration.
"Ah, you got to be kidding me!" He shouted.
Tohru jumped. She didn't know why she always jumped but she should be used to this. It was almost an everyday routine: Kyo and Yuki always have had something to argue about. Sighing, Tohru walked back out the den and went upstairs to her room. Seeing the huge bed which she had argued was unnecessary when she first started living with the Sohmas'— she didn't think it mattered anymore as she plopped onto the covers.
Feeling the warmth of her covers, allowed her heavy eye-lids fall and consumed her in a deep slumber.
Knowing consciously, that she was only dreaming made her feel dominated as the scenes all folded together. Tohru's dream self jumped from one scene to another, one body to another, and into different inceptions.
One scene folded to the original day like any other day; Tohru was walking down the stairs of her school when she felt like someone was following her from behind but even though her mind told her it was nothing, she couldn't help but feel the irk to look. Disobeying her conscience, she followed her actions. But when she did turn, there was no one there, except her own shadow.
Gasping, realization hit her. Her shadow moved, it wasn't her own shadow! Starting to feel antsy, Tohru whipped around and started running down the halls, the blurs of people inside their classrooms became no more than an image on a wall.
Sensing the feeling of the conflict arise, Tohru narrowed her escape as she turned a quick corner and slid forward, her hair flying past her face and feeling the air change.
Tohru looked around her room in a daze, feeling the beats of her heart quicken. Breathing heavily, Tohru gets off her bed and walks to her window, where a full moon shines brightly from its spot, caressing her face. Tohru looked away, only to catch a dark shape parked outside the gates of the estate. Squinting closely, Tohru couldn't make out the shape even though she had a feeling who it could be and why.
"I finally found you." The deep, static voice erupted through the earpiece. Tohru jumped, and held the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a moment before putting it back to her ear to listen. "If you do as I say, no one will get hurt in the process."
Tohru looked around her surroundings in concern and then breathed shakily into the phone, "Process…? Who is this?"
"You tell a single soul," The voice continued, obviously ignoring her questions, "You will regret everything… you ever held close."
Then the line went dead and Tohru stood there, speechless and shaken. Was that a threat? Tohru thought, her mind rushing with thoughts and a rewind of her day. Was it a prank or a wrong number? Did someone just wanted to scare her?
Indeed, her presumptions were correct. Someone, whoever it may be did their part. That someone plotted every little detail in making Tohru suffer: being encase in the green house, locked and faced with bees— scurrying around, mad; having her hand stuck to her desk (what a pain it was to peel it off), having the decency to be framed as revenge from Yuki's fan club even though they didn't seem to know anything about it, having a lot of burden against innocent people, including dragging herself down.
Tohru bit her lip and drew back from the window, taking a few steps back. She swallowed with great difficulty. She had figured it back then what everything she ever held close that this stranger had beheld her with great malign. The bees, for revenge of embarrassing the leaders of the Sohmas' fan club; revenge for talking continuously with the Sohmas, having them protect her from the school's curt behavior, and having her friends being involved as well led to very difficult and unworthy hardships. Tohru felt ashamed and depressed but she hid it well with effort, disguising it in front of her friends with a happy expression.
Feeling a tear slide down her cheek, Tohru gasped and quickly wiped away the tear. But not one tear is enough; she shook with fright and unknown acknowledgement. Someone was out there, keeping track of everything about Tohru and it scared her, very, very much. But what could she do? She couldn't just tell the boys that she, possibly may have, a stalker. This was havoc and all because of her.
"No one can hear you. You're mute and blind, you're wrapped in complete darkness. So face it, you're nothing but a mere shell." The deep hoarse voice chuckled, echoing down the halls of the school.
Tohru stood still, her head turning every which way, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. Instead, all she got was one last reply before the voice faded. "Stay that way, and everything will go according to plan."
"What's this plan?" Tohru wept silently, her tears slipping into her mouth. She tasted salty tears and shook her head in disbelief, "What's this process you keep on saying?"
Silence was met and that's probably what the stranger intended it to stay that way. Tohru cried out, forgetting that it was dark and everyone must be sleeping at this point, "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
Tohru squinted through her tears and glared at the open window, her curtains blowing up at the midnight's breeze. Tohru gasps, disbelief shoving its way down her throat, at the sight of her window being opened.
"No questions."
Tohru gasps aloud, and spins around, her head whipping to the left.
"No answers…"
Tohru, frightened and shocked whips her head to the right, "Who—?"
"…is none of your concern."
Tohru slowly backs away, her eyes searching her dark room. She could feel her hear beating rapidly against her chest as the only sounds in the room echoed repeatedly were her heavy breaths and the pounding of her ear drum.
"I'll be back."
Tohru bumped into her window and whipped around, letting out a small shriek. Finding the window closed, she felt suddenly flabbergasted as if she had dreamt it all. Tohru slowly slid to the ground, her hand resting on the window sill as she shook her head in silent dread. "No, no, no, no…"
X
X
Chapter 2 – Secrets
X
X
Tohru had arrived in class first, after deciding it'd be best to eschew Kyo and Yuki's early rising morning fights and Shigure's eyes that can see through your soul, especially Tohru's. Of course, she made their breakfast and left it on the table before gathering her school materials and stuffing them in her bag before heading out.
She didn't have much time to herself as she rushed towards the gates and entered the school's door. Feeling the shivers crawling up her arm, Tohru passed her locker without taking off her outside shoes and ran upstairs to her classroom's floor.
Taking her seat in the back near the window, she viewed the vacant room with lack of interest— her eyes searching feverishly, eyeing every detail of the room, making sure nothing out of the ordinary was bugged or something other than related.
Tohru remained still and exhausted from her earlier nightmares. She couldn't sleep for long because she'd ended up awake by the time her eyes close a millisecond too soon. She bit her lip, her eyes stinging with now formed tears. She had been crying continuously every night and she couldn't figure out the reason why this is happening to her. The stranger threatening her, the causes in school and out of school, the warnings… what is really going on?
Tohru shook her head and slumped down in her seat, burying her head in her arms. She stayed that way until a loud, air horn blared from inside the school. Tohru shot up, almost falling off her seat as a rush of students both sexes walked into the school, chatting away, not noticing Tohru's presence.
Tohru sat again, her eyes wandering from each and every student that came into the classroom, memorized by their daily activity. She hadn't noticed her friends come in and greet her for she was too lost in her own oblivion.
"Yo, Tohru!" Arisa waved a hand in front of Tohru's face, trying to catch her attention. But regardless, Tohru remained lost in space. Arisa looked over at Saki, adjacent to Tohru. Arisa shrugged and began to whistle at Tohru once again.
To no prevail, class has started and everyone rushed to their seats as the teacher came in and started on their attendance roll.
Tohru, absentminded, continued her daydreaming and the whirl of thoughts scurried her good intentions with awful, scars of rejection and filled with horror. Tohru felt numb, she wanted to swallow, but it seemed her mind was frozen and couldn't register the demand. She felt almost like a doll, still and fake. She wasn't a being, she was useless and extinct.
"Honda san?"
Recalling the name, it felt so familiar and yet Tohru remained frozen to her seat, staring at the front where the teacher was taking roll. He stood there, eyes hovering over each student searching for Tohru and finally locking eyes with hers. "Honda san, do I have to keep repeating your name or are you going to answer?"
"Stupid." One of the fan girls whispered aloud, earning giggles from a couple of other people in the room.
She didn't say anything but she stared. Her eyes dilated with no emotion and a mix of confusion swept over her. She could feel the cold sweat roll off the side of her forehead and down her neck. It was getting rather warm in here, and she didn't know why. She felt herself radiate warmth but something wasn't quite right. It felt like everyone's attention was all on her and all she could do was look intently up ahead, at the teacher, her eyes never dropping from his gaze.
What is wrong with her? Tohru thought. Something irked her mind but she couldn't place her tongue on it.
"Well then." The teacher continued, breaking the gaze and returning the class's attention to the front where they started their lesson.
The morning went on, Tohru staring straight at the blackboard and the teacher feeling the shivers from his student, tried at least to uplift bright spirits for his class, even if he felt sort of intimidated by Tohru's gaze.
Suddenly, Tohru felt her stomach lurch and all the thoughts brewing in her head froze to one image in particular. A scene from a nightmare. She felt the acid on her tongue and she knew it was going to come up sooner or later. Feeling the rush of heat increase, Tohru started to feel the sweat run down her back, drenching her shirt. She robotically craned her neck to the side, her eyes eyeing the door.
The vomit was rising in her throat and by kami; she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of everyone, including her friends. She stood up immediately as if she wasn't anything lighter than a feather; jerking her chair back and hearing it crash to the ground. Everyone's head shot up, their eyes following the scene as Tohru rushed to the front.
"Honda san, what's the meaning of interrupting…" The teacher shouted, after calming down from his mini-shock. Tohru started her way down the aisle, passing Kyo's and Yuki's desk on the way. Yuki shot up his arm and grabbed Tohru's hand.
Tohru spun around and jerked her hand out from his hold. She couldn't wait; she felt the mixture about to erupt. All the while, all the girls started whispering and making loud ooh and aw-ing noises.
"Tohru!" Arisa called from her seat, her eyes searching Tohru's pale expression.
Kyo joined in, standing from his seat and rushing to Tohru but Tohru backed away, ignoring everyone's eyes and ran out the classroom. She heard foot steps running after her and the teacher yelling after them. But she didn't go to the bathroom, she ran down a few hallways, zigzagging down the maze she called school and up to the school's roof. There, she finally burst and puked behind the door's wall.
She emptied what was left in her stomach but she could still feel the bile in her body and it wasn't good. She straightened up, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt and then placed a hand on her head. She felt normal, that is, if everything that happened today was normal.
"Having trouble breathing?" A whisper came from behind her.
Tohru made a swift turn-around and faced a silhouette. She glanced back but saw no one behind her. She took a few steps back and was surprised to see the shadow take the steps with her. Scared now, Tohru reached for the open door but it closed shut automatically. For lost of words, Tohru's heart beat sped up and her mind raced with panic.
"I'll help you," The voice laughed, "with your breathing… where you can't breathe at all!"
Tohru jumped and turned to run away but to her astonishment, she felt glued to the ground and her limbs felt numbed to the bone. She was absolutely useless at this point.
Slowly and utterly pained, she felt the coldness of fingers wrap around her throat and squeezed her airway where she started to wheeze out small breaths.
Her limbs were dead and unmotivated to respond to her mind's demands, Tohru stood there, and her eyes remaining on the roof's exit as her sight grew hazy with blurred vision.
"This is fun," the small voice wavered as Tohru was losing unconsciousness, "We should play again sometime… but for now…"
"TOHRU!" Kyo kicked the door open and ignored the impact it made against the wall, while Yuki, Arisa and Saki followed from behind. They caught sight of Tohru's head falling as they made it to the top step.
Kyo rushed over and slid forward, catching Tohru with his hands, making sure she didn't touch his body or else her friends would find out about his hidden identity. Tohru laid still, her eyes closed and her breathing uneven. The rest of the group ran and surrounded the two, worried written across their faces.
"What happened?" "What's wrong with her?" "Tohru?" Questions built on top of each other as Arisa and Saki tried to figure out what's wrong.
"I don't sense anything wrong." Saki muttered and then paused. She turned her head to the back of the door and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Arisa, check behind the door."
Arisa looked at Saki and then nodded. Standing up, she made her way to the roof's exit door and pulled it to her. There she stood, hovering at the sight of vomit mixed with blood. Frozen and shocked, she had to clear her throat of stutters and brought the attention to Saki.
"Blood."
The boys' ears perked at the word and turned their attention to the stains and then back to the frail body that lay before them.
"Honda san," Yuki muttered, concern spilling, "why didn't you talk to us?"
"What really happened to Tohru?" Kyo questioned, looking up. He glanced at Saki, hoping that she'd get a signal or something.
Saki made a small shrug and glanced away. She sighed and shook her head sadly, "Well until Tohru wakes up, we can not jump to conclusions. When the time is right, she'll have to tell us."
The rest took a moment for everything that has had happened sink in and then they took Tohru's still form and brought her down to the infirmary. Students, inside their classrooms, were peering out and whispering to one another as Arisa had taken the liberty of carrying Tohru to the nurse's— the two boys silently thanking kami for their burdened reason.
Closing the door behind them, and making sure it was sealed, Kyo darted forward, and watching as Arisa had set Tohru's lifeless body on the sickbed. The nurse, that happened to be in his office, came out and started asking the group what's their reason for her to be in this state.
"She just fainted, sir." Yuki responded, pulling the covers over Tohru and patting her shoulder in reassurance for him self.
"Well, when she's awake, I'll send her ba—" The doctor stated, writing down on his clipboard.
"It'd be better, if you sent one of us to help her back." Kyo interrupted, motioning to the four of them.
"He's right," Arisa agreed, looking from Kyo to the doctor, "She might still be weak at the knees, so we'll just write down our names and class so that you can send for us."
The doctor nodded his head and wrote more things on his clipboard. Saki, whom was standing adjacent to the nurse, glanced at what he was writing but couldn't really understand what some of the words indicated.
Torch.
Plead.
Rot.
"Sir," Saki stepped forward, turning to the nurse, giving him a hard stare, "What do those words mean?"
"Words?" The doctor moved away, walking up to the bed and placing a hand on top of Tohru's forehead. "Diagnosis of the body."
The group looked at each other, and shrugged in confusion and then looked back at the doctor as he began to make his way to the exit. "Well then, I'll call for one of you to take her if she wakes." He mentioned, sliding the door open.
Saki was the last to leave, and gave the doctor one last hard stare before retreating the infirmary. The door closed behind them and Kyo and Yuki started walking down the hall, muttering to their selves.
"This doesn't make sense." Arisa sighed, shaking her head. She pinched the arch of her nose as she stared at the backs of the two boys. "There was obviously something wrong with Tohru… why didn't she let us in on it?"
Saki didn't respond right away. Arisa continued, "I mean, she was acting pretty weird this morning— did we not catch on early enough?"
The two boys paced slow, insulting one another under their breaths, in blame of Tohru's bedridden state.
"You must have upset Honda san yesterday." Yuki glared sideways at Kyo who in return grounded his fists and deepened his hatred for the rat.
"Unlike you who started it!" Kyo spat. "Listen rat boy, there's something fishy going on—"
"Fishy…? You're hungry already?" Yuki joked, chuckling to himself.
Kyo's face burned as he growled furiously at Yuki, stopping and was about to swing when Saki came between them.
"This is not the time to be rowdy, Sohma san." Saki looked at Kyo giving him a disapproving look. Kyo's mouth fell as Yuki and Arisa shook their head in agreement, silently chuckling at his mistake.
The group started walking again, slowly this time as they rounded the corner and stepped outside the corridor. "So what do you think really happened?"
The two boys replied their 'I don't knows' as Saki started looking around, her eyes searching for a sign of some sort that would lead to Tohru's conditional state. As if on cue, and very hazy, Saki sensed a small emotion wafting in the air. Saki stepped away from the group and wandered forward into the courtyard.
Voices were heard but no appearances were seen. The air was too thick for Saki to breathe but she didn't know what just happened. Silently, standing there, she strained to hear the distant voices that overlapped each other.
"So it was your fault all along."
"I had to do what I had to do."
"Your bloodlust caused this— now you went too far!"
"Ha!" "If you only knew."
The voices had nothing, no meaning to their words, no emotion but Saki pulled their voices and comprehended that something terrible had happened and they were piecing each scene together, a plot that Saki, even herself wanted to know, came into line.
"How long are you going to torture yourself?"
"Until you plead for me—."
"I… I rather rot in 'ell than kneel before you!"
Saki, bewildered as the voices teamed up a scene in her head made her want to puke. She felt her surroundings break in pieces and the ground seemed too inviting.
"So be it."
"Hanajima san!"
"Saki!"
"Yo, psych-girl!"
Arisa rushed forward, bringing a hand to fan her best friend, wondering what had just happened.
"What's wrong with her?" Kyo yelled. Arisa waved her hand for him to be quiet and shook Saki gently.
Coming to her senses, Saki opened her dazed eyes and looked at the trio staring back at her. She placed a hand to her forehead and sat up.
"I think…" She spoke, breathing unevenly, "I figured out what happened to Tohru."
"What?" The trio spoke up, giving Saki a look of disbelief.
X
TO BE CONTINUED
X
X