Hey there everyone! Once again, a new fic for me lol. Sorry to everyone who reads IFOF, I am trying to get over the dreaded writer's block but nothing's working o.o I have had this fic written up for a while now and I actually forgot about it! Hope you enjoy :)

SHATTERED LIFELINES

DancerInTheDark101

SHATTERED LIFELINES

Chapter 1: Forgive or Forget? Bitter Rain.

Crimson eyes widened fractionally as the burning pain ripped through his battered and bruised body. Groaning, he winced as a hacking cough shook his frail frame.

He had been lying in the same position for what seemed hours, cold, shaking and in pain. Rain fell from the heavens, drenching him in the small droplets of water. No one had come searching for him and he wasn't really surprised. After what had just conspired, he didn't blame them at all for not wanting to know where he was.

Sighing, partly from exhaustion partly from exasperation, the crimson-eyed teen coughed again before taking another shuddering breath. He didn't know the last time he had felt so bad. Only moments ago, he had been extremely cold, but now he seemed to be burning with a fever.

He knew he was in very bad shape and as another hacking cough consumed his being, the teen felt spots dance around the corners of his vision.

Why does this always happen to me…? Can't I ever get a break…? Why…

As the rain continued to pound and the storm continued to rage in the darkening sky, Kyo Sohma fell into a fevered sleep.

/flashback/

"Damn you, you damn rat!" screamed Kyo, his red eyes blazing with anger. He had just been humiliated, again, by none other than Yuki Sohma.

His orange hair was currently dripping wet and clung to the sides of his tanned face. While he had been studying for maths, the rat had snuck up behind him and poured a bucket of waterover his head!

"Is that the best comeback you have?" spoke the cool, calm and collected voice of Yuki, his violet eyes shimmering with amusement. "Well, I guess that you are stupid, so…"

"Shut up!" Kyo yelled again, fighting the urge to smack the other boy down. Unfortunately, the urge became too hard to resist and his fist went flying out in front of him to punch the pale teen in the face.

Kyo growled as Yuki dodged it and slammed his own fist into his stomach. Kyo bit his lip and fell to the floor, clutching his stomach. Although the punch had hurt like hell, Kyo got back up and clenched his fists. He wasn't going to let Yuki beat him this time!

"You are so stupid."

Those four words only made him more angry and Kyo launched himself at his rival. He tackled the rat around the middle and they both went flying into the nearest wall, creating a rather large hole…

A sharp pain swept through his arm and Kyo stared at the thin trickle of blood running from the cut on his upper arm. He and Yuki had been a lot of fights over the years, but never really had they drawn any blood.

Looking beside him, Kyo saw that Yuki too, was bleeding. There was a small gash above his left eye, from which there was a thin stream of blood running into his eye. There was some glint in the rat's eyes that Kyo didn't like one bit and he swallowed slightly. He was in deep shit now. He really didn't want to say a thing, but of course somehow his mouth opened and a triad of taunts slipped out.

"Oh," he whined, "did 'Prince Yuki' get a little bitty cut? Did 'Prince Yuki' scratch his 'pretty' face?"

"Shut up, you idiotic cat!"

Kyo rolled eyes, but then suddenly stopped as Yuki's fist collided with the side of his face. His lip spilt and blood rolled down his chin.

Growling, Kyo stood up and pushed Yuki further into the wall. "Goddamn you annoy the shit out of me! Just leave me the fuck alone and go drown in your own worthless shit!"

"Kyo!" screamed a voice that wasn't Yuki's. Kyo turned to see Tohru Honda standing in the doorway, fear etched on her pale features. Her bright blue eyes were shining with anxiety.

Stunned, Kyo didn't even notice Yuki slide out of his grasp and suddenly he was falling flat on his face. His head slammed into the ground and it hurt

"Stupid cat…"

"Tohru?" came the familiar voice of Shigure. There was a long pause as Kyo figured that Shigure was assessing the damage and trying to work out what had happened. "Yuki? Kyo? What happened?"

The next thing Kyo heard was Yuki's sickly sweet voice. "It was just a little scrap, Shigure. Kyo here got a little overworked and this is the result."

"Shut up!" Kyo screamed, angered. He looked up from the floor, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. "It's always my fucking fault! Why the hell is it never 'Prince Yuki's' fault!?"

"Kyo…" whispered Tohru, her blue eyes staring into his crimson ones.

The cursed teen snarled at her and picked himself up off the floor. "I don't want your fucking pity! I want everything to stop being my fault! I want to be free from this damn curse and free from this fucking family! I hate it here!"

"D-do you really mean that, K-Kyo?" stammered Tohru. Kyo whipped around to see tears threatening to fall. "D-do you really hate it that much here? Is it me? I've never had anyone hate me before…I'm sorry!"

Kyo didn't know what to do. He stuttered slightly, trying to figure out what to say to the innocent girl.

"Look what you did now, stupid cat!" sneered Yuki. Kyo found that he couldn't look Tohru Honda in the eye.

The cursed cat jumped slightly as a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked up to see Shigure staring down at him with pain-filled eyes. He didn't know what to make of the look and struggled to get out of the dog's grip.

"Shigure?" he asked when he found that he wasn't going anywhere. "What--?"

All Shigure did was look over towards where Tohru was standing. The orphaned girl was standing with her face in her hands, small teardrops slipping through her fingers.

"Why…?" came the mumbled voice, "why does he hate me? I didn't do anything, did I? I'm not a bad person…am I?"

Kyo's eyes widened at her words. He didn't hate her…

He was about to apologise to Tohru when Yuki stormed in front of him. He had never seen the rat so angry before, which wasn't a good thing.

"What the hell are you thinking, you stupid cat! How could you hate Miss Honda? You are a selfish, brainless reject!"

No matter what anyone thought, those words hurt. Kyo never thought that Yuki would have said those words to him. Yeah sure, he called him stupid a lot, but reject?

Eyes downcast, Kyo pushed past his rival, slapping off Shigure's hand as he went. "Fine," he mumbled, "it looks as though I'm not welcome here anymore. For what it's worth…I never hated you, Tohru."

"Kyo…"

The cat heard Shigure's voice call after him as he stepped out of the house and into the downpour of rain. He heard running footsteps, but before they could reach him, he slammed the door closed and ran off into the trees.

/end flashback/

Kazuma ran through the forest, trying to find his foster-son. He had arrived at Shigure's house a few minutes after the departure of Kyo and had been filled in immediately of what had happened.

The rain had not stopped its relentless downpour and the dojo master knew that wherever he was, Kyo would not be in a very good condition. He just hoped that he was able to find the boy soon.

"Kyo!" he called out against the constant pitter of rain. There was no response, again. A feeling of horrible dread settled deep within his heart and Kazuma hurried on.

Well there's chapter 1. Wonder what's going to happen to Kyo? Will he be found? Hope you enjoyed. See yaz later!

DancerInTheDark101

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