Please read the note at the bottom.
Lioness of WEST SIDE
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Whiskey Lullaby
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'Oh Tohru.' He thought. He knew now. 'Hanajima, that was her name, wasn't it? The creepy one. Oh yeah. And the Yankee.'
They had told him a week ago, but he didn't believe it. 'I mean, Tohru and Yuki? Dating? I didn't believe it until…well…I had been following them, trying to prove Tohru's friends wrong, when I saw Yuki lean in close to her. His back was to me, but somehow, I knew that he had kissed her.' That was today,
Kyo had been sneaking drinks of whiskey from Shigure's room. Somehow it just…helped. You know? 'Maybe,' he thought. 'Maybe I can drink her away. It's not like she lives here, anymore.' Ever since they got out of school, Tohru had been living in an apartment closer to town.
'Sure, she comes every day, but…'
'But maybe she's just doing it to see Yuki.' In his drunken state, he wasn't angry at the rat. He hadn't been really angry with him for years now.
Now, all he felt was remorse. Sitting on the bed, it started,
She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette
She broke his heart he spent his whole life tryin' to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night
How many bottles had he had? Shigure wasn't to be home until late that night, if at all. 'Okay, that was the fourth. Wait…oh, what does it matter anyway.'
Tonight was the night. Tonight, Kyo decided to drink and not stop until he never remembered Tohru Honda.
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away her memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
He slowly collapsed, head down in the pillow. Before he lost consciousness, he had written a note. All it said was this:
I'll love Tohru until I die.
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I'll love her till I die
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
Hours later, Shigure found him face first in a pillow, and in a rush called Hatori's cell phone. As Hatori was on his way, Shigure checked Kyo's wrist for a pulse.
…
Nothing. By the time Hatori had taken him to the hospital, it was too late. Kyo died that night from alcohol poisoning.
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Tohru had found the note. With tears running down her face, she said, "Yuki-san, look at this. I…I don't get it." Yuki took the note and read it to himself.
He sighed. 'Oh Kyo. Couldn't you see that she loved you too?' When Tohru told Hanajima and Arisa, they cried from guilt.
In a whisper, the Yankee told the part they played in the story. 'Stupid Kyo! We thought that you would make a big show…but not this!'
Tohru, being Tohru, blamed herself. Slowly, she started to drink. She didn't really want to forget, but if it would ease the pain…
The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself
For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath
She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night
One night, as soon as she started, Tohru couldn't stop. Getting in a cab, she went home. Once there, she pulled out everything and brought it to her room. She just couldn't stop. Preparing herself for anything, she sat on the bed and took the lid off of the first bottle.
She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees
Alright, he would admit it. Yuki was worried about his friend. He knew that she would blame herself, but he wasn't sure how far she would go. He decided to go to her place. Maybe they could see a movie or something. Anything to keep her from thinking about…Kyo.
She clung to her only picture of him. Blinded by tears, it was all she could do to down one bottle and open the next.
We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life
We laid her next to him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
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After that, we couldn't forget them. How could we? The girl who had shown the Sohmas so much compassion, and the one Sohma we could never truly appreciate.
I caught Momiji in his room one night, playing his violin and softly crying. The song was so gentle and forlorn, against my will, tears started to roll down my cheeks. Once he had finished playing, I asked him softly, "What was that song?"
Still crying, he looked up and whispered, "The Whiskey Lullaby."
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
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This shows that there is always someone who loves you, and there is always someone who will cry on your behalf.
If you're wondering who is narrating at the end, I had originally thought either Yuki or Hatsuharu, but you can decide who it was.
Natsuki Takaya and/or Tokyo Pop own Fruits Basket, and the song is Whiskey Lullaby. I don't know who wrote it, but my favorite version of it is by Brad Paisley.
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