Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters, the Chinese Zodiac, or any other crap I should put up here so I won't be sued. This story is mostly told from Kyo's POV. Yeah…woohoo…okay moving on.
Kyo's POV
"I'm afraid of you right now, Kyo. But I want us to stay together." Those words have been pulsing through my head ever since they were spoken by her. Her.Tohru Honda; One of the first people to ever have accepted me, whilst I was in my hideous, skeletal form. Even though everything turned out fine, I would've rather not her have seen me like that. I'm such an idiot. To think she could ever feel the same way about me as I did her. It's all that damn rats fault.
He is the cause of all my unhappiness. Every time I see him talk to her, even look at her, it pisses me off. And not understanding these feelings pisses me off even more.
I hate his curse! For this I can never hold Tohru in my arms without turning into a cat. I want her in my arms. But does that make me weak? That's the last thing I want to be. Damn, if my master could see me make a huge deal about this, he'd be so disappointed.
No, I can't act this weak and idiotic. I have to keep my feelings from her, even if it rips me from the inside out.
These thoughts were clouding my brain, late every night. Only on this particular night did they finally annoy the Hell out of me.
"Shut up!" I yelled at myself.
I put my arms behind my head and looked at the stars. I was on the roof. So many memories, only on this roof. Watching sunrise with Tohru and the rat, talking to Tohru about training in the mountains, Tohru cheering me up, Tohru. It was all about Tohru now. I hated myself for being such a lovesick fool.
I looked at the inky-blue sky. This was the best time to be outside. I sometimes wished dawn would never come. I didn't have to talk to anyone, or be with anyone, no one but myself. I was alone to let my mind wander. But unfortunately this evening, I fell asleep and didn't awake until I heard thunder.
I looked back up at the sky, still half-asleep. It was still nighttime, or early morning I guessed. I didn't want to be rained on, so I hopped down off the roof and made my way inside. Still a bit disoriented. I was surprised to see Shigure awake and sitting at the table, pencil in hand.
"Ah, Kyo you're inside for once. Didn't want to get rained on I guess?" he asked me, a little too cheerfully.
"What are you doing up?" I yawned, ignoring his question.
Shigure gave me a look of mock offense. Idiot.
"Why do you care? You never care about me anyway!" he said, his lip quivering.
I rolled my eyes as he went on and on.
"All I ask Kyo is that you care about me, I feed you, clothe you, put a roof under you (you never stay inside). All I ask is a simple thank you." He said, every word dripping in self-pity and pathetic mockery, I found it quite disgusting.
"Shut up," I replied making my way up the stairs.
Shigure smirked behind me and then looked back down to his paper, pencil moving around it rapidly.
I trudged up the stairs; Shigure wasn't in his room so I would stay in there. I could care less if he got mad at me for stealing his bed. The worst I would get was one of his stupid 'all I ask of you…' talks. Could he ever be serious? He was supposed to be the adult. He was almost freakin' 30!
I plopped down in his bed, not bothering to put the covers over me. I listened to the soft rain patter on the roof. Then eventually I drifted off to sleep.
I awoke maybe a few hours later because I heard voices from downstairs. Why did they have to be so loud? This is why I sleep on the roof.
"I'm not brave enough to wake him up, he might kill me!" I heard Shigure whine.
"Oh, and you think that the stupid cat feels any better about me?" Yuki replied wearily.
"I'll go, but I don't think he'll be too happy about breakfast. I made leek stew again. I couldn't help it. The leeks at Yuki's garden are so delicious," Tohru said cheerfully.
I could here her light footsteps coming up the stairs. When will people put it through their head that I hate leeks?! I pretended to be asleep, just so I could open my eyes to see her. Wow, I am an idiot.
I felt her lightly touch my shoulder.
"Kyo? Kyo, breakfast is ready." She said softly in my ear.
My face grew red, just to know that her face was that close to mine. I had to pretend to be asleep a little longer, in hopes that she would get closer. I hate being such a lovesick fool.
She bent down beside me, I felt her soft hand stroke the side of my face and the other was rubbing my shoulder. It felt good; she needs to give backrubs to people.
"Kyo, wake up," she said a bit louder this time.
I decided I shouldn't play her like this any longer as I slowly opened my eyes. She really was close to me. Our noses were almost touching. If I had lifted my head any more, we would've been kissing. I couldn't bring myself to lift my head. However I couldn't hide my feelings of surprise, she was almost too close…
"Ah! Whoa! What're you doing?!" I said defensively.
She bolted back up and gave a frantic and yet apologetic look.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you; I was just waking you up for breakfast! I won't do it again really-" she began feverishly.
I stood up and quickly tried to cover for myself.
"Uh no, that's not it. I was just surprised…that's all. You…I…don't do that next time you wake me up!" I stuttered.
"Okay," Tohru replied, looking down at the floor.
I did feel a little bit sorry for yelling at her.
" I made leek stew for breakfast, I know you don't really like leeks, so I want to know if there's something else that I could make for you," she asked looking directly at my face.
"Uh, no, it's fine. I'll deal with it," I said brushing past her and making my way downstairs.
I felt her smiling as she trailed behind me. I couldn't help but smile as well. I loved that goofy smile of hers. Shigure broke my moment of reflection.
"Ah, so he's awake. How did you sleep?" he asked sitting at the table with a newspaper and a bowl of leek stew.
Yuki simply glared at me. I sent a poisonous look back at him. I ignored Shigure, sat down, and hastily began shoving spoonfuls of leek stew into my mouth. I winced at every sip that slithered down my throat. Yuki gave me a look of mild shock. I swallowed another disgusting spoonful and then glared at rat boy.
"What's that look for?!" I shot at him defensively.
"You're eating leeks, on your own will?" Yuki replied, not seeming at all offended by my last comment.
"Yeah? So?" I said raising an eyebrow.
"You hate leeks Kyo, a sudden change of heart? Or is it just because Tohru cooked them?" Shigure asked nudging me with his elbow, with a devilish grin.
"That's not it and you know it! I was just so damn hungry and there was nothing else to eat!" I lied, giving Shigure a slap on the back of the head.
"I'm glad you're eating them," Tohru said smiling.
I didn't reply, but simply shoved another spoonful into my mouth. Yuki gave me a quizzical look but then turned back to his stew. I was thankful that he hadn't given it another thought.
School started out sucky that day. The Prince Yuki fan club was still bombarding me with questions about my cousin. That Yankee was just trying to pick a fight with me, and the Psychic was just plain scaring me, as usual.
"You have rather strange electric signals today," Saki Hanagima said to me in the middle of class.
I stared at her wide-eyed.
"Uh…I'm just…having a bad…day?" I suggested, hoping that she couldn't read minds like she could electric signals.
"Hm. It seems like a stronger emotion than anger; I have noticed it popping up more than usual. Especially when you're around…" she began, almost accusingly. Arisa Uotani interrupted.
"Hana, that's just rude. Don't read other people's thoughts," Arisa said half-joking.
Saki said nothing back but kept stealing glances at me during the rest of the class. How could someone like Tohru be friends with such weird girls?
I encountered Saki at lunch as well. I sat at my desk, looking at the lunch Tohru made for me. Bourbon chicken, white rice, and Miso soup. She knew I wasn't really a fish person, so Bourbon chicken was perfect. Even though I wasn't hungry, I decided to not waste a good meal.
Saki sat down, directly across from me. Why was she bothering me so much? She never pestered me like this. She just sat and stared, with that blank, almost sinister, look in her eye.
"What do you want?" I asked, almost a little too harsh than I had intended.
"I was wondering…" she said, eerily soft.
I really hope she wasn't going to talk to about earlier this morning, when we last saw eachother. I begged and pleaded in my mind that she would just go away. She was the only person that truly scared me.
"…are you going to eat that?" she asked pointing at the Miso soup.
I gave her an insane look. I shook my head. She then took the soup from off of the desk and walked back to where she was previously sitting. I gave a sigh of relief. That was close.
The next person to approach me during lunch was fan Club girl #2. She asked extremely annoying questions. She wouldn't leave until I had answered all of them. I told her that I didn't give a damn about Yuki and if they wanted to know about his private life ask him. But if they ever came near my house I would kick their scrawny asses. She looked highly offended and stalked off in a huff. I could care less if I ticked her off or not.
And the last person (thank god) to come to me was Tohru. Se asked how I liked the lunch that she made for me. But she noticed how I had given my soup to Hana and she wondered if there was something wrong with it. I told her no, it was fine and that I just wasn't hungry. She smiled and then sat across from me. We began to converse. Mostly about my master and how he was doing. It was amazing how I could talk with her. I felt like I could say almost anything around her.
"I'm glad that your Master is doing so well, I mean the last time I saw him was when…was when..." she trailed off and then looked down at her feet sheepishly.
I know she didn't mean to make me mad. But the fact is, she did. I couldn't help but glare at her. How could she be stupid enough to mention that? I rose up from my chair and then walked out of the classroom, slamming the door behind me. She knew how I felt about my other form. Why did she have to bring it up?
I looked in the classroom window, to steal one more glance at Tohru. To my misfortune, she looked as though she were on the verge of tears. I was so mad at myself. I threw a hard punch at the wall to let out my anger, and then stormed off. I didn't want to be at school. I could care less if Shigure gave me a lecture about how he was paying for tuition and how important school was.
As I walked down the street back to Shigure's house my mind began to wander down a strange path. The curse. There has to be some way to break the curse. Every curse was breakable. Maybe Akito knew, but I doubted it. If he knew how to break the curse, then he would've done it by now. Or would he? In a sense, I think that Akito almost enjoys having this curse put upon him. Akito had always been protective of his family. And this curse would keep outsiders away from the Soma's. Or maybe since he thought that he had to go through so much suffering, that everyone had to suffer with him. I don't know, Akito has a strange way of thinking.
Before I knew it I had approached Shigure's house, all of my anger towards Tohru had disintegrated. I did feel really bad for making her so upset. But she should know better than to talk about my other form.
I slid the door open to see a mingled look of shock and disappointment on Shigure's face. It did puzzle me a bit. Why would he look so disappointed, and almost worried?
"Had enough of school for one day, Kyo?" he asked, trying to hide his worried expression.
"Yeah, and what's that look for?" I asked, sitting down at the table.
Shigure gave a heavy sigh and then looked out the window, it looked as though something was troubling him. I looked at him with curiosity.
"Akito… has only a few nights left to live." Shigure said solemnly.
That was it? Akito was dying. Yeah, I already kinda knew that. And why should I care if Akito died or not? He never cared about me, so why should I care about him?
"That's…uh…sad," I replied, not sounding too broken up about the matter.
"And he's requested to see Tohru before he dies," Shigure said wincing. He knew that I would be angry.
I stood up at this news. What? Why did he want to see Tohru?! He couldn't erase her memory, what could he possibly want with her that couldn't end in pain?
"Why?! Why the hell does Akito want to see Tohru?!" I demanded.
Shigure didn't answer; this angered me further. I grabbed him by the collar of his robes and shook him violently.
"Why?! Answer me damnit!" I yelled into his face.
Shigure's expression didn't change, even after my outburst, he remained calm and collected. I sat down at the table with a pouting mouth and a mingled feeling of anxiety and rage. Shigure waited for me o calm down before he spoke again.
"I don't know why Akito wants to see Tohru. But there is nothing that I can do about it. For now all we can do is wait, and hope that his reason for her presence is not going to end in suffering for her, and the Soma's." he explained.
I was nonplussed. His guess was as good as mine. I had to sit and wait for hours, when she would arrive home and then face her dismal fate. All I could do was watch. It tortured me. I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't change what was about to happen to her. And the worst part was, I didn't even know what was going to happen. Sick and twisted fantasies ran through my head about what Akito had in store for her. It was too much.
The hours passed by painfully slow. I sat on the roof, keeping a vigil on the path that led from school to the house. I hoped that I could see Tohru's smiling face as she skipped down the path with Yuki at her side. If only Yuki would just leave, then the picture of her would be perfect. He was the only thing standing in the way between her and I. Unfortunately; the thing standing in the way was a heavy titanium wall instead of cellophane. He was much harder to see through to me.
Finally, after 3 excruciating hours, I spotted Tohru walking down the path. But to my dismay, she was alone. She had lost the happy bounce in her step and she had a solemn mien about her. I wondered where the damn rat was, most likely a student council meeting. After all, he was the president.
I jumped down off of the roof and ran to greet Tohru. As I approached her, she sent me a painful smile. She always hid her feelings…I hated that. I got up close to her and gave an exasperated sigh. I took her hand in mine and dragged her to the porch. She sat down next to me, looking down at her feet.
"What's wrong?" I inquired, trying to catch her eye by bringing my face close to hers.
It took her a few moments to contemplate on if she should tell me or not. She looked up into my eyes. I could see she was insane with worry and looked utterly upset.
"Hotori…came to meet Yuki today," she explained slowly.
This statement intrigued me immediately. Not only did Akito want to see Tohru, but now Hotori was unexpectedly interested in Yuki. I wondered why the Soma's had suddenly begun to take interest in eachother. It used to be that we just let everyone be alone.
"Yeah, what did he want with him?" I asked her silently.
"He said…that Akito…wanted to see him…for a while." She said, almost on the verge of tears.
I could understand why she was crying. Although I hate this fact, Tohru cares about Yuki so much, and she knew the immense fear that Yuki had of Akito. Akito's mere presence scared the hell out of him. I had no idea why, Yuki or Shigure or anyone never told me about it. But you could practically sense a feel of danger towards Yuki when Akito was around.
"Don't worry about it, that rat can take a lot of crap from people. He'll be fine. How long do you think he'll be gone?" I asked putting my hands behind my head.
Tohru shrugged, "Hotori said it would be maybe the whole night. There's no telling really."
I leaned back and thought for a few moments. Tohru was so upset; I didn't have the heart to tell her that Akito had summoned her as well. What else was I supposed to do? Make her worry even more? She had enough on her plate already.
Maybe I should do something for her...but what could I possibly do to help her? She was always the one cheering me up, finding ways to make me smile and laugh. She took good care of me; I'll admit that I need her a lot more than she probably needs me.
"Hey, like I said, don't worry too much. And...how about...I cook dinner tonight, and we could rent a movie or sumthin'," I suggested, trying to sound polite.
Tohru's face lit up with shock,"Oh no! I couldn't possibly! I mean, I promised I would cook and clean and take care of the house, I'm only doing my fair share! You shouldn't have to do this for me! It's quite all right! I'll...-"
I interrupted by cupping my hands around her face and staring into her dark blue eyes, such beautiful eyes.
"Stop babbling, you need a night off. Besides, I want to cook. Because then I don't get anymore surprises about what I'm eating, like leeks," I said, the last bit I murmured to myself.
Tohru stared blankly back up at me. She just stared for a moment, she looked like she was thinking hard about something, but knowing her, she probably just spaced out.
"O-okay," she said bringing my hands down from her face and setting them in her lap.
We gazed at eachother for a few moments, before I realized that she had her hands on top of mine and our fingers were interlocked. My cheeks flushed crimson as I tore my hands away and I stuck them stiffly at my sides. Tohru's face cracked into a warm smile. I looked the other direction, embarrassed to show my fire truck-red face.
Just then, Shigure decided to rear his ugly head. I heard a faint, taunting, voice coming from behind me.
"Kyo and Tohru sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I..." he sang in between suppressed giggles.
I bolted up and just about rung his neck.
"You idiot! Don't you ever quit?! It's not like that and you know it, so shut up, asshole!" I yelled, shaking him violently.
Tohru was behind me telling me that I shouldn't hurt him, and that it was all in good humor, but as usual I didn't listen. After a while I stopped shaking him long enough for Shigure to finally spew out an explanation.
"We have to leave pretty soon now to pick up Yuki. Hotori has too many patients at the moment (the flu is going around at Soma house), so he can't take Yuki home. And Yuki explained over the phone that he would only stay at Soma house if Hell froze over. And considering that probably won't happen, we have to pick him up," he explained.
I blinked a few times, "Akito is known for notoriously short meetings now, isn't he?" I said, it was more of a statement than an actual question.
"Yes, well, his time is short. He has many things that he wants to say to many people," Shigure pointed out, putting his arms around me and Tohru's shoulders and leading us to the black van. He barely ever drove it. Quite frankly, I was really scared of his driving.
"Please don't tell me that you're driving..." I whined.
"It'll be okay Kyo, Shigure is responsible, I'm sure he's a wonderful driver," Tohru said, trying to comfort me.
But her words did the exact opposite. It made me even more worried that she was enough of an airhead to believe that. I cringed as I entered the metal death trap, which Shigure was directing. I buckled my seat belt before he could even turn the ignition.
The car gave a low rumble and Shigure backed out, turned around, and drove (thankfully) on the right side of the road. At least he did that right.
"So much for dinner and a movie," I muttered disappointedly.
The drive wasn't as bad as I thought as it would be. Shigure only ran over 2 stop signs and a squirrel. A lot better than the last time, I think he actually hit a pedestrian...he doesn't like to talk about it.
After an hour or so of screaming, carsickness, falling all over eachother, and hitting heads on the ceiling from bumps, we reached Soma house.
I had only been there a few times after I moved in with Shigure, but Soma house was hard to forget. The towering citadel was definitely intimidating. There were dozens of pagodas lined up one after the other. It was like we had our own city. The 'Soma City', as I would call it, was dotted with lakes and ponds, even forests could be found.
"Ladies first," Shigure said smiling at Tohru.
He opened the massive gate door and let Tohru inside. He soon followed her, not bothering to leave the gate open for me. I muttered curses at him as the door almost hit me in the face. Tohru looked around.
She was still amazed by this place. What was so amazing about this place? To Yuki it was Hell, to Shigure it was Hell, and to me it was Hell. What could possibly possess anyone to live here? For me, for everyone in the Zodiac, this house reeked of painful memories. I looked around at the other houses and noticed that Akito's window was wide open, however there was no light inside. He needed fresh air, that was the only thing they could do for him now.
Akito's death, however horrible this may sound, wouldn't bother me when it came. Every Soma hated the man, or so it seemed. He was a corrupt, seething, snake. I hated him with every drop of blood in my body. He beat Yuki, blinded Hotori, pulled Tohru by the hair, slapped Kisa, scorned and ignored me, rejected everyone. And since he rejected, they rejected back at him. I had a feeling that he was quite aware how everyone felt about him, but he had so much power over them that he really didn't care.
"Shall we?" Shigure suggested towards Akito's dwelling.
I gave a heavy sigh and looked absentmindedly ahead. I grasped Tohru's hand for comfort, whatever happened, I always wanted her to know that I'd be there.
"Yeah," I replied slowly.
Tohru did not seem at all surprised that I had her hand in mine. I savored that moment, that picture of our hands intertwined will stay in my memory for all eternity.
We trudged across the grounds, as slowly as we could, none of us wanted to be there and you could tell. As we approached the steps up to the sliding door, Tohru squeezed my hand, as if she was in pain. I tightened my grip on hers as to say 'Don't worry, we'll be fine.'
As Shigure stared at the sliding door he looked as though he had some second thoughts. But nonetheless, he placed his hand on the door and slid it slowly to the side. He looked in the dark room for a moment, his face turned stone still, he ran desperately inside. I dared not to look over his shoulder. Tohru about ran inside after him, but I pulled her back. I knew Akito would be pissed off enough at Shigure for bursting in; Tohru didn't need to get in trouble as well.
I finally saw what all of the commotion was about. As soon as Shigure's had opened the door, the scent of fresh blood entered my nostrils. Yuki was lying in a heap on the floor. Akito was standing in front of him, whip in hand, blood dripping onto the wooden floor. It was horrifying. Once Tohru saw the grotesque picture, she began to bawl on my shoulder, hiding her face in my shirt, as I was soaked with her tears.
Yuki didn't look hurt too bad. His shirt was ripped off and there were long streaks down his back. He had previous scars there, but now the old wounds had been opened again. Yuki slowly stood up, with some support from Shigure. I expected Shigure to say something witty or obnoxious to Akito, but he knew that it wasn't the right time.
Akito's knees were shaking, they finally gave in and he fell to the ground. He was growing weak, but yet he was still so strong.
Shigure hobbled, with his arm around Yuki's middle. Yuki looked up and gave Tohru a painful smile. Tohru loosened her grip on my shirt and looked up slowly at Yuki. She let go of my shirt, her hands shaking. She reached her hand out to him and touched the side of his face. Anger boiled inside of me. Yuki took no notice to my rage; instead he directed his attention to Tohru.
"I'm fine, you needn't worry," Yuki replied in a hoarse voice.
He really was in pain, for a half a second, I almost felt bad for him. Shigure took his hand off Yuki and let him fall into Tohru. He changed into a rat and Tohru caught him just before he hit the ground.
"He should be easier to carry that way, I have to speak with Akito for a moment. Stay outside of the door; don't come in, no matter what you hear. Just stay outside," Shigure said gravely.
We all obeyed his orders. We knew better than to mess around with Shigure when he was like this. It was pretty rare to see him that serious.
Shigure walked silently into the house and closed the door behind him. He saw Akito on the ground, a disturbing smile played on his lips, as he ran his fingers down the whip. The blood now was splattered on his hands. It was a contrast, the crimson liquid against his white, spider-like, hands.
Shigure sat down in front of Akito, his face grave.
"Why do you do this to Yuki? Why do you torture and beat him? What has Yuki done to you Akito? What could he have possibly have done to hurt you so deeply?" Shigure asked in a monotone voice.
Akito sat for a moment in silence, the insane smirk still on his pale lips. He looked up at Shigure, his eyes were cold and empty; The eerie look on Akito's face sent chills up and down Shigure's spine.
"Even when I have passed, Yuki's fear for me will still be fresh in his blood. I have set his mind by my laws and my rules, call it brainwashing if you must. He will never defy me, never, even if I'm dead and six feet under, the image of me, his blood on my hands, will be scarred in his mind," Akito said in a deadly whisper.
Shigure looked at him as though he was insane (which he probably was). But in a way, he pitied Akito. Akito held the burden of the curse, he had a horrible past, not many knew about it. Shigure didn't ask anything more of Yuki, he was disturbed by Akito's reasoning.
"And what of Tohru? Would you like to see her now? She's here you know." He said.
Akito, surprisingly, shook his head. He reached into his kimono and took out a folded up, wrinkled, piece of paper. With trembling hands, he placed the paper in Shigure's lap.
"Give this to her, I have no time to speak with her. There are others that are more important than her who I must converse with." He said, the strange grin still on his face.
Shigure nodded and stuffed it in the belt of his robe.
"Kyo's here too, would you like to speak with him?" Shigure suggested.
Akito gave a hoarse laugh, "I said that I had important people to talk with. I have no time to spend with the cat and his stupidity.
Shigure stood up without another word. He bowed to Akito and made his way for the door. But Akito stopped him.
"Shigure!" he barked at him.
Shigure turned towards him questioningly. Akito paused a moment before he spoke.
"Don't give the letter to her yet, wait for four days. You will understand later." He commanded before sending Shigure out.