Title: Ever After

Author: Shiori Asuka

Summary: When Akito orders Hatori to erase Tohru and Kyo's memories and their love is forgotten, what will happen to the two teens? What secrets are being kept?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters associated with the Fruits Basket anime/ manga. They belong to Natsuki Takaya.

Dedication: This is dedicated to Gypsy. Requiescat in pace.

Authors Note: This is sort of AU and I have no idea when in the timeline it happens. I have only read up to the end of Volume 11. I know some details of what happens, but bear with me please. Read on! XD

"No!" Tohru cried, tears streaming down her face. "I won't let you!"

Kyo closed his eyes in defeat. He knew that what was going to happen was inevitable. There was nothing that anyone could do. Akito had decided, and what Akito decided was final. No one could go against his orders. Kyo couldn't go against his orders. Besides, he was tied up anyway.

Hatori was to erase their memories. Their time together. Their happiness. Their love. In a twisted, psychotic kind of way, Kyo could understand. Akito could never experience love, his life was simply too short for such things. And because he couldn't feel the cherished emotion, he was scared. Not of love itself, but of what would happen if someone were to fall in love.

Quite simple really. Kyo thought to himself bitterly. He would lose another pawn to screw around with.

Just because he could understand didn't mean he was happy about it. In truth, he was furious. At Akito, at Hatori, at that damned rat, at Shigure… Unfortunately for Tohru and himself, he was tied up. And Tohru was as helpful as a drip of water in a drought; utterly useless. Kyo wasn't being mean, he was being honest. Tohru couldn't fight; she couldn't stop Akito at all.

But Kyo didn't blame her, no. Quite the contrary, he blamed himself.

If only… If only I hadn't fallen in love with her, if only I hadn't been selfish! I knew this would happen!

Closing his eyes against the pain he felt in his heart, Kyo willed back the tears he knew were residing behind his eyelids, ready to escape the moment he opened his eyes. Why? Why did this have to happen? It's not like Tohru deserved it. She did so much for everybody else, she cared so much for everyone else and yet this was the thanks she received. To have her memory erased, the happiest time of her life taken away from her… Her love taken away from her.

And I can't do a damn thing!

A sob from someone ripped him from his thoughts violently as he snapped his head up to see who had made the noise.

Heart wrenching, he realised it was Tohru.

It had seemed that Akito had taken advantage of Kyo's absent-mindedness and had used the opportunity to grab Tohru without his making a fuss. Akito was holding her in place by yanking on her hair as hard as he possibly could. Kyo felt his hands clench into fists as he heard Tohru whimper. Whether from physical pain or emotional, he didn't know.

Tohru's heart felt like it was breaking. Pain lacerated her in every which way. It felt as though Akito was ripping out, not only her hair, but her heart as well.

Another hair was ripped out, and a sob escaped her as another crack appeared on her already weary heart. She couldn't take much more of this. Seeing Kyo tied up, watching him suffer over her, it was killing her. She couldn't stand to see the pain that had never before showed, so clearly on his face right now. Each time he winced, a tear escaped him, he whimpered, another crack appeared on her heart. She couldn't take much more of this.

It's the only way…

"A-Akito-san…" Heads turned as she spoke for the first time since said person had grabbed her. Eyebrow cocked and eyes filled with hatred, Akito gripped her hair harder in an attempt to stop her before she spoke any more.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Tohru steeled herself to continue.

"Akito-san… I… Onegai… (1) I know that there is nothing I can do to make up for the things I have done wrong,'" She could hear Kyo struggling against his gag as she said that, obviously wanting to argue. She could also see Yuki struggling to keep himself from running over to her. "But… If it is I who has done wrong… W-Why must you punish Kyo? If… If… Kyo is let go… A-and left alone… I'll consent… to having my memory erased… Just… Please… Leave Kyo alone…." Her voice almost cracked from built up emotion as she finished that sentence. What she said, she felt deep in her heart. She was in the wrong, so why did Kyo have to suffer?

Tohru could feel the shocked stares directed at her from the other Juunishi.

Akito sneered at Tohru; wanting nothing more than to kill her were she knelt.

"What do you know, you little tramp? You know nothing! Kyo isn't being punished for you're incompetence. No, he's being punished for an entirely different reason, the damned monster, so keep your own damned mouth shut!" And to 'encourage' her to listen to him, he yanked her hair hard enough to make her cry out in pain.

"Shut up! It's you who doesn't know anything!"

Everyone had been so busy with Tohru that they hadn't notice Kyo get through his bindings.

Panting heavily, with his wrists as red as rashes, he stood up and looked at Tohru with a pained expression. He turned back to Akito.

"You act as though you know everything, yet there is one thing that even I know more about than you. And that's love." Hatori and Shigure winced as Kyo broached the forbidden subject.

"I was once like you, I thought I knew everything. That is, until I met Tohru. She showed me what it's like to have real love. Not fatherly love, not a pity kind of love… But real love. The kind that you would die for. The kind that you would bear all the pain in the world for, for just one second with that person, one chance to tell them how you feel." At this Kyo let a few tears escape.

He knew he'd failed. He knew it was too late. No matter what he did, it wouldn't make a difference. All he could was be there to catch her.

He could see Hatori out of the corner of his eye.

The last thing Tohru saw through her blurry eyes was Kyo collapse before she felt a light, warm feeling overtake her senses. A bright light filled her eyes and then darkness began to cover her vision. She could feel herself struggling to bring back the image of Kyo and Akito, horrifying as it was, anything was better than this darkness. She had heard enough about it to know that she was having her memories erased…

I love you… I'm sorry….

Well? How was it? This was originally going to be a lot longer with more story and I even have a bit if the next part written but I lost all inspiration for this fic so I wanted opinions and decided to yours. R&R… PLEASE?