A/N: This lovely little plot bunny is courtesy of Icemask12. She doesn't even read Fruba and she can come up with good plot bunnies. Thanks, kid! n.n Anyway, enjoy the story!
Horror
Run. All he could do was run. He had to get away from people, before anyone saw him. If they saw him, he would be in even more trouble. Kyo knew he shouldn't have lost his temper that way. But Akito had goaded him until he couldn't stand it anymore. He had brought this upon himself, stupidly. And Akito had his beads. He would become human again eventually but without the bracelet he would switch back and forth.
Kyo cut into the dense forest, leaping through the trees and around boulders. Branches whipped across his body but he didn't care. He had to get back to the main house. After their fight Akito had taken his bracelet, out of spite. He needed it back before-
Kyo's thoughts were cut short as he collided with something. Someone, actually. The stranger he had collided with flew backward and slumped against the trunk of a large tree. A loud crack could be heard upon impact. Kyo approached him cautiously. The man didn't move. Any normal human would have screamed or run or something. Kyo studied the man carefully. His senses were heightened in this form, but he couldn't smell any blood. There were no visible wounds, yet the man was obviously unconscious. Then Kyo realized the thing that should have been apparent from the start.
The man had no heartbeat.
In this form, Kyo could always hear the blood pumping through a person's veins, their life-force providing them with vitality. Yet in this man, there was nothing. He was dead. Kyo had killed him.
The enormity of what he had done sent Kyo reeling backwards into the forest, running from all his thoughts. It was all too much. He couldn't comprehend the shock of it, and yet the guilt was already crashing down onto his shoulders.
Suddenly, he was back in his human form. All the energy was gone from his body, and he collapsed under a tree. As it began to rain, he curled up and tried to collect himself. It was no use though, guilt kept invading his mind. It smashed every rational thought against images of the man slumped against that tree. A complete stranger's life had been snuffed out. First his mother, and now this man.
These thoughts swirled around and around, making him sick. He did not know how long he lay there, but eventually Shishou found him. His foster father didn't say a word, just helped Kyo off the ground. He slipped the bracelet back onto Kyo's wrist and helped him back to their house. He dried Kyo off and tucked him into bed like he had when Kyo was a small child. Kyo soon fell into a restless, nightmare-ridden sleep.
One Month Later
Kyo walked through the city watching people with listless eyes. He had taken to doing this lately, wandering the streets and looking for someone to help. He felt like he had to, had to atone somehow for what he'd done. Shishou worried about him he knew, but but Kyo felt he had no choice to his actions anymore. There was a price to be paid and this was the only way, short of suicide, that he could think of.
Kyo came to a street corner and stood in the small group of people waiting to cross. One woman looked familiar. The hair, the posture.. it was Kyoko-san. She was ready to cross the street but her mind was obviously elsewhere. There was a car coming, one that was obviously speeding. This was Kyo's chance. He stepped forward, catching Kyoko's wrist. She turned to face him, recognition lighting up her eyes. The car sped past, earning honks from other drivers.
"Hey kiddo!" Kyoko beamed, using her old nickname for him.
"I'm not a kid!" Kyo cried indignantly.
"Sure you are," Kyoko said, reaching up to ruffle his hair, "I have to go to work, but here." She handed him a slip pf paper. "Come visit me sometime. You can meet my treasure!" Kyo just nodded. Kyoko crossed the street without any hazard and turned the corner.
Kyo had atoned just a little. No enough to stop, but enough to make a start. He would visit her. Once he had atoned.