All characters are property of Natsuki Takaya, creator of Fruits Basket.
The room seemed small to Kyo, but perhaps that was just because Yuki's presence seemed to fill every corner. They stood across from each other, trying to figure out what the other person was thinking.
They'd had confrontations before; of course they had. Just not recently. But there was no doubt in Kyo's mind that this one was completely different. An undercurrent flowed that spoke of far deeper pain than had ever been present earlier. It unnerved him, distracted him long enough for Yuki to take three steps forward and smash his fist into the side of Kyo's face.
He landed on his back a few feet away with an oomph that knocked all the breath out of him, but he managed to skid and right himself to the balls of his feet. His left cheek stung painfully. He could feel blood welling up through his split lower lip, but he didn't move. He didn't want to at the moment. While he crouched low to the ground, panting, he took a moment to grudgingly admire the strength packed into the damn rat's slight frame.
"What is the matter with you?" Yuki demanded. Every word seemed to snap with tension. "Why are you acting this way?"
Kyo's face hardened. I could ask you the same thing.
He got to his feet unsteadily, not meeting Yuki's eyes, not caring about the pain. "Just tell me… one thing…" His voice shook with the effort of keeping his anger in check. "Why the hell… are you leaving?"
Yuki didn't reply. He merely gazed, completely uncaring, out the window.
"Answer me, damn it!" Kyo snarled. He couldn't help it; his temper got the best of him. He glared at Yuki.
Yuki finally turned to Kyo, his voice filled with contempt. "Stop acting like a child," he said scornfully. "Get over yourself. Be a man!"
Kyo laughed, even though he did not feel like laughing. "Be a man…What the hell would you know about being a man?" he said, slowly wiping away the blood on his mouth with the back of his hand. He paused before saying his next words. "…Princess Yuki."
Yuki's face flushed. "Need I remind you, idiot cat," he spat, "that you were the one that liked me first?"
Before Kyo could either reply or pummel Yuki to the ground, the light flickered on above them. Shigure had stopped at the light switch for a moment, his face ashy and pale. He glanced at the two of them, a dead look in his eyes, before walking down the hallway again without a word.
Kyo frowned, the anger draining away. "What's up with him?" he muttered.
Yuki snorted, and then a flash of realization seemed to light his gaze. "Of course," he said softly. "Of course you wouldn't know. Besides the fact that it just happened, you are the cat, after all… who would tell you?"
"What? What wouldn't I know? What just happened?" Kyo snapped. He was too worried to be annoyed. Yuki's face reminded him of Shigure's a moment earlier, but worse. His face was blank, as if he had put on a mask. The only thing that gave him away was the slight trembling of his hands.
"Akito-sama…" he said calmly, staring at Kyo with unreadable eyes. "…Akito-sama is dead."
His reaction came slowly at first. Kyo repeated the words over and over in his head, but he could not make sense of it, however much he tried. Dead… he is dead… Akito-sama is…
"Dead!" he choked, and the shock crashed over him like a train wreck. He held his face in his hands and gasped. A small part of him felt relieved, felt… grateful, almost. But the small part was quickly suppressed by the overcoming, mind-numbing horror of it all.
Why aren't you happy? A voice screamed at him, questioning his sanity. He wanted to kill you! He hated you, just because you were the Cat!
Like before, a louder voice drowned out the previous one with its implications. How could Akito… how could God… die?? Impossible!
He didn't realize that he was saying the words out loud until Yuki answered him. Kyo lowered his hands.
Yuki was shaking his head. "Akito-san didn't just die," he said quietly. "He was murdered."
"Murdered?" Kyo blurted. "By… who?" He swallowed, suddenly scared of the answer.
It was one of the Juunishi, he was sure of it. The question was… who? His first thought as to who might have had the guts and motivation do it would be… well, himself. He snorted. Yeah, right.
Rin could do it, if she wasn't so scared. Or Haru, if he was angry enough. But if he had to guess, a wild guess, the one person who would be most likely to would be…
"No!" he gasped.
Yuki's mouth turned up at the corner, a crooked smile. A strange look was in his eyes.
"Me," he whispered. "I killed him. I killed Akito."
He hadn't intended to do it, not really. But perhaps that was just an excuse. Yuki had been trying to find a good one all day long. Who really intends to do these sorts of things? Yuki mused, staring at Kyo's wide eyes and slightly gaping mouth. He smirked, almost wanting to pull out a camera and take a picture of the perfect expression.
"Y-you?" Kyo stumbled over the words.
"Yes. Me," Yuki said slowly, hoping for the words to penetrate the cat's thick head so Yuki didn't have to repeat himself. Again. He didn't see why this was so hard for Kyo to believe. Everyone had the potential for murder in them, murder and suicide. Yuki had just chosen the former.
Kyo still didn't speak, seemingly unable to form words. Yuki bit his thumb, hard, hoping the slight pain would distract him from the odd restlessness he felt. He did not think it was restlessness, really… just some sort of disturbance in the calm pool of his mind. He wasn't usually this vindictive, he was certain of it. He snorted. Then again he usually didn't kill people, either.
As he waited for Kyo's reaction, Yuki's aggravation mounted. He didn't know why, and that aggravated him even more.
Maybe it was because of the look in Kyo's eyes, a sort of disgusted shock; just as if Yuki had declared that they were actually betrothed. Maybe it was the blood-stained clothes he knew were hidden in the dresser beside the bed, and that he couldn't stop glancing at. Maybe it was the way jagged memories of that day kept popping up, most annoyingly, in his mind.
Yeah. That was probably it.
Kyo's face unfroze, and he found his tongue. "What the…" he said hollowly. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Yuki sighed. "I said," he repeated dully, "that—"
"I heard what you said!" Kyo snapped. "I just can't believe it! Why? Why the hell would you kill him? You? The rat?" He laughed a sort of disbelieving, humorless laugh. "If anyone, it should be me!" His accusing eyes burned into Yuki's.
So the question had finally arrived.
Why.
Probably tagging along right behind it was how. And close behind that was, Are you out of your freakin' mind?
Yuki took a deep breath. This was going to be difficult.
The idea had floated in his mind randomly one day. He didn't even bother to take it seriously, shoving it away. Laughing at himself and his crazy impulses, he locked it in a deep recess of his brain, and forgot about it.
But it was not to be suppressed.
Gradually it had wormed its way out, had taken root, and had wrapped around his mind completely with its spiky black thorns. And he didn't even realize it until it was too late.
It hurt him to consider of it, and yet it hurt him more to dismiss it completely.
As weeks passed, he began to think of it more and more often. Unconsciously, he made plans, thought of the best way to exit, to enter, assuring himself that as long as he didn't think of the actual act, he wouldn't do it. Of course he wouldn't.
Then things began to happen to the Juunishi, in quick succession. People got hurt. Badly. And not just the Juunishi, Tohru and Kyo as well. They were "accidents," they always were. But somehow they all managed to happen around one person.
Akito.
Yuki felt like he was slowly being suffocated, being shoved from all sides until he couldn't feel his own heartbeat. Akito is God…
But if this goes on, he could end up killing all of the Juunishi…
No… remember the curse, the promise, the… bond…!
What was he to do?
He couldn't sleep at night. The thorns in his mind pricked him awake and urged him to do something, anything. When he did sleep, his dreams were broken and interrupted. He couldn't tell the difference between his sleeping nightmares and his waking nightmares.
He was getting desperate. He tried to rationalize his idea, but nothing came. Any way he thought of it, it was always murder.
Then again… if there's a weed in a vegetable garden, what do you do? he asked himself one sleepless night. The answer came to him in a flash of understanding.
You pluck it out by the roots.
He clung to that thought like a lifeline, and suddenly he felt like he could breathe again. He would soon be free. And that was all it took to make up his mind.
But how the hell was he going to explain that to Kyo?