Curse Keeper

Summary: After Hana sends Tohru away, neither she nor Arissa knows what to do...until Megumi arrives. Circumstances bring them to Shigure's house. But once there, will they receive answers? And what of Megumi? A child who casts curses...in the house of the cursed. FruBa fan-fic. Based on Episode 25 of the anime. Definite spin-off.

Chapter One: Tears in the Rain

Why? Arisa stared after Tohru's form as it disappeared into the rain. Why?

Why had Tohru been kneeling at her mother's grave, bruised, filthy and in tears? Why had she talked as if she thought she didn't belong with the Sohmas? As if she couldn't go back? Arisa was no psychic, and not all that great with people, but even she could see that Tohru belonged with the Sohmas, just like she fit in with them, a reformed Yankee and a psychic. And even if there had been a falling out, she couldn't see any of the Sohma boys just throwing Tohru out in the rain like that.

Why? Why had Hana knocked her away, prevented her from comforting Tohru? Why had Hana sent her away, commanded her to get up and leave? Hana was always so protective of Tohru. Hana loved her. And Hanajima, with her powers and the link that stretched between them, had known something was wrong long before she did.

She turned, stiff and aching, to face the younger girl. Hana lay where she had collapsed, curled in on herself, and even in the downpour, she could see the girl shaking, could hear her broken, anguished weeping. It matched the devastation she felt inside.

Why? She didn't understand any of it, didn't know what to do. She felt tears streaking her face, her throat raw from screaming and fighting Hanajima, but she felt helpless. She didn't know what to do, how to help Tohru, where to find answers. All she could do was stand there in the rain, looking to where Tohru had disappeared, or at the shattered form of her other best friend.

Another form materialized out of the rain. For a moment, her heart leapt. But the figure was too short, and too short-haired for Tohru. Too small for any of the Sohmas that she knew of. Her heart fell again. Then the figure resolved itself, features blurred by rain resolving into those of Megumi, Hana's younger brother.

For a long moment, the boy stood looking at them, then he set his umbrella to the side and knelt beside his elder sister. "Saki?"

Hana made a gasping, choking, heart-wrenching noise, then flung herself forward, latching onto her brother like a lifeline. Megumi put his hands on her shoulders as she sobbed into his shirt. There was silence between them, then he spoke softly, his voice full of tenderness and compassion. "You let Tohru go?"

Hana's hands clenched tighter in his shirt, her shoulders shaking. Arissa didn't hear anything, but Megumi looked up at her. "You fought for her. For Tohru. You fought with Saki."

"I had to." She swallowed hard.

Megumi nodded, then looked away into the rain. "Do you hate her?"

'Damn you, Hana...' She remembered speaking those words. She'd been furious. Then she'd seen Hana's agonized face, buried against her ribs. Heard her voice crack with a pain she hadn't heard in over two years. "No." She staggered forward to stand beside the siblings. "I just want to know what's going on."

Megumi nodded. "What do you want to do?"

The words jolted through her. 'What do you want to do?'

She wanted to follow Tohru, but that...she didn't understand why, but they couldn't. Besides, there was no way she could find Tohru in this rain by herself, and she knew that, having sacrificed so much, having sent her away, Hana wouldn't help her, even if she were capable.

If she couldn't help Tohru, then she wanted answers. She wanted to know what the hell was happening. What the hell had happened.

It had to be the Sohmas. There was nothing else, no one she knew, capable of breaking Tohru's heart like that. Whatever had happened to send Tohru out, filthy and battered, to her mother's grave, it had originated there. At the writer guy's house. Shigure Sohma's house.

Anger bubbled up inside her, suddenly. She didn't know what the hell the Sohmas had done, but they'd hurt Tohru, hurt Hana. Hurt her. She'd known there were some weird issues with them, but tried not to push, out of respect for their privacy, and the fact that Tohru had obviously known, and been unwilling to tell them for some reason. But this...this was way past what she was willing to tolerate.

She had a sudden urge to punch someone. She shoved it away. Instead she bent, her body aching where Hana had knocked her into the stones, and knelt beside them. "Hey. Can you walk?"

Hana didn't answer, her shoulders still shaking in her grief. She laid a hand on Hana's shoulder, and the girl flinched, curling tighter.

"She can't really." Megumi's voice was soft. "It cost her a great deal, to make this choice." He reached up to brush his sister's cheek. His usually calm face was warm and compassionate, and filled with sorrow. He looked back up at her. "I'll help you."

"Sure. Let's go." She got into better position, then pried one of Hana's hands free and draped it awkwardly over her own shoulders. Megumi twisted to brace his sister on the other side. Hana remained limp, lost in a world of her own tears, anguish in her pale face.

Carefully, Arisa rose, pulling Hana upright. She was taller than both the siblings, which made it harder, but finally she managed to brace herself so she was supporting Hana, mostly on her feet, with Megumi bracing and taking what weight he could from the other side. Hana's sobbing had quieted, but she seemed almost unconscious. Arisa shook her head to clear her rain soaked hair out of her eyes. "Come on. Let's go see the writer guy and the prince." She gritted her teeth, letting anger absorb some of the pain she felt. "They'd better have a damn good explanation for this." She shifted Hana's arm to a slightly better position on her shoulders, and the three of them set off through the rain.

Author's Note: There will some references to the manga...but this is going to be slightly AU, based more on the anime.