Hey there! So, this is my very very first fruits basket fanfic! Uh, it's also my first attempt at slash-ish stuffs… be warned that my idea of slash is "Uaaah, look, Haru and Kyo are holding hands!" So you hard-core slash fans… sorries. If you don't like slash, it really doesn't have to be taken as romance, just super-duper brotherly love.
Also, I tried to stay as in-character as possible… I know, it might not seem like something Kyo would do but… the poor boy has feelings too!
So, please enjoy! And I will love love love you if you leave me a review!
Kyo: Hey! What is this you're writing about me?
Haru: *glare*
JediTears09: Ah! Black Haru! Lemme just… delete this… *presses "post" and runs away* Happy reading!
"Hm?"
Hatsuharu stopped walking and looked upwards just as the heavens opened up and a sudden spring shower spattered softly over his face.
The weather reports didn't say anything about rain…
Haru shrugged and continued his stroll, hands resting in his pockets and face upturned, enjoying the gentle caress of the cool water.
A startled slip and a near-fall in a newly formed patch of mud jolted him back to reality. A pale pink blush crept over his face as he realized that he was, once again, lost.
"Damn." Why did this always happen to him? He had only been taking a quiet walk in the woods behind Sensei's house- he'd walked this path a hundred times. So why couldn't he remember the way back?
Too many thoughts in his head, not enough room for a bunch of maps, too.
Haru sighed and flicked his hand up to glance at the black watch fastened around his slim wrist. He hadn't been gone more than ten minutes, the house couldn't be that far away.
"Let's see," he muttered, squinting against the rain and looking around. "If the sun was there, then that's East, so this must be… South?"
Frustrated, he swiped the back of his hand across his face, wiping raindrops off his eyelashes and the tip of his nose.
"Ugh." He flopped against an elm tree, smacking the back of his head repeatedly against the rough bark and causing a cascade of water to fall from the canopy above. "Think, Haru, think!"
But, as he had suspected, it was thoroughly unsuccessful, except in giving him a dull headache.
Haru stilled as he heard something moving through the trees not far away. There was some rustling, then a thump and a soft groan.
Looking around warily, Haru took a few tentative steps towards the source of the disturbance.
Lying at the foot of an enormous tree, sprawled across the twisted roots was… a pair of pants?
Haru stared at them, confused, until he caught sight of a tuft of orange fur, and then a small, still form.
Recognition dawned on his face.
"Stupid cat," he muttered, then leapt over a boulder and bolted towards the unconscious Kyo. Scooping up the cat in one arm and the abandoned clothing in the other, Haru searched for shelter and prayed that Kyo wouldn't transform until he found some.
An outcropping of moss-covered rocks formed a small cave, and Haru scrambled inside. It was damp, but warm, and not nearly as wet as the downpour outside.
He unceremoniously dumped the cat and his clothes in a pile in the back of the cave and settled himself near the entrance.
A short time later, a faint mewling came from the back of the cave, and Haru opened one eye to see a little orange cat stumbling across the pebble-strewn ground.
"What happened, Kyon-Kyon? Fall down?" he asked with a smirk.
"No!" Kyo hissed. "It's… it's this damn rain! Makes me sick."
"Well, what were you doing out here then? You ought to be more careful, Kyon-kichi, next time I might not be there to rescue-"
"…you." Haru said flatly as Kyo transformed back into human form.
He quickly looked away as Kyo scrambled to pull his pants back on, embarrassed, although he wasn't sure why.
"Thank-you, Takaya-sensei, for that pink smoke," he thought.
"It stinks in here," Kyo sniffed, now fully dressed. "Let's get outta here."
"It smells like wet cat…"
"Shut up, idiot!" Kyo snarled, and tried to lunge at Haru.
But Kyo was still weak from the rain and his recent transformation. He staggered, and Haru caught him before he fell.
Haru rolled his eyes and tried to step back, but Kyo clung to him.
"What are you-" he said disgustedly, then stopped in mid sentence as a shudder ran through the boy's body.
"Kyo, are you… crying?"
"No! Shut up!" Kyo's voice was shaking. "Just… damn it, just hold me for a while."
Haru started to say something, but stopped. He slid down the cave wall, and Kyo buried his face in Haru's chest.
Haru patted his back awkwardly.
"Poor kid," he thought. They all had it pretty rough, being members of the zodiac, and rarely got any proper hugs or embraces, or normal relationships with other people.
But Kyo was the cat. Hated and looked down upon by most of the family. Possessed by a second grotesque form. Doomed to die alone, locked away in a cage, forgotten. Haru's jaw clenched involuntarily at the thought.
One heart could only take so much pain before it broke, so who could blame Kyo for this?
Kyo's voice broke Haru's reverie. It was quiet, but he seemed to have stopped crying.
"I'm not… I'm not an animal." There was a fierceness in his voice that told Haru he had been waiting a long time to say this. "I'm not afraid to die. Hell, sometimes I wish it would all just be over already. I'm scared… to die alone."
Kyo lifted his tearstained face, and Haru saw the hurt and fear in his eyes for the first time.
Haru had no words for him. He simply hugged Kyo a little tighter. It was enough. It was more than words alone could have said. It said, "I wouldn't let that happen to you. I'm here, and I always will be."
They sat like that for another hour or so, Kyo listening to the pounding of Haru's heartbeat, Haru resting his chin on the top of Kyo's head.
The rain stopped, and Kyo got up and stood with his back to Haru, looking out the cave entrance.
"We should get back. I'm sure Tohru's already freaking out about us catching pneumonia or getting eaten by bears or something."
Haru stood up as well, and went to walk outside, but Kyo grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"You better not tell anyone about this, or else," Kyo growled.
He was back to his old surly self again. Haru almost smiled.
Instead, he smirked. "Yeah? Or else what?"
"Or else I won't tell you how to get back to the house," Kyo said smugly.
Ah. That.
Haru sighed, "Alright, alright. It's nobody else's business anyway. Your secret is safe with me, Kyon-Kyon."
Kyo stomped out of the cave, followed closely by Haru.
As they approached Shigure's house, they could hear Tohru's voice. "Kyo-kun? Hatsuharu-san? Dinner is ready! I made codfish!"
Kyo stopped suddenly. "Hey Haru?" he said quietly. "…Thanks."
Haru looked at the orange-haired boy and smiled.
Kyo stepped onto the porch and went inside, and Haru's smile became a scowl.
When Kyo came of age… Haru would kill Akito with his bare hands before he let her lock Kyo away.
Kyo wouldn't die alone, because Haru would always be there.