Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. If I did... well, let's just say things might have gone differently ;)

So this story came to me, as mine usually do, when I was supposed to be asleep so I could be fresh and awake for college the next day. I should know by now that... that never happens. I guess it's a consequence of constantly having slash on your brain. I am a messed up individual~ So Haru x Yuki is my Furuba OTP. And every once in a while, I find myself inspired to write them a little something. It has been a long time since my last fanfiction starring the rat and the ox, so here is this one. It is a chapter fic, but it will only have three or four chapters. It wasn't originally meant to be a chapter story, but it ended up being longer than I thought it would be so I'm splitting it up :)

The second chapter is already in progress, so it should be posted here soon. In the mean time, I would love some feedback to let me know what you think of the story so far. Your comments are what keep me inspired and motivated to continue my writing, because I love to hear what my readers think of my writing. Thank you for taking your time out to read this story, and I hope you enjoy the first chapter! :)

Afterstorm
chapter one

It was hard to miss the crashing sound of thunder. It sounded as if it was right above the house, reverberating throughout the walls. And with each thunderclap, several seconds prior, was an accompanying bolt of lightning. And the torrential downpour hitting the walls like thousands of arrows was there to make sure, just in case the thunder and lighting were failing, that nobody would be sleeping that night. Well, Yuki thought to himself as he yawned, except for maybe the stupid cat.

Luckily, the next day was not a school day so the household would be able to sleep in, though he had the feeling that Tohru would not in favor of making sure everything was ready for the Sohmas when they all awoke. Yuki sighed and stood up from his bed as another flash of lightning completely illuminated his bedroom like daylight. He stalked over to the window as the light quickly faded, peering outside as another clap of thunder exploded somewhere in the sky. Reassuring himself that his window was safely latched, as he could see how powerful the wind was blowing, he thought about how glad he was that someone had been responsible enough to check the weather report earlier that day. Oddly enough, that person had been Shigure.

He and Tohru had already made sure that his secret base would be well protected from the chaos now rampaging outside. He couldn't help but worry about his garden though, based on the severity of the storm. He remembered telling Tohru about the oncoming storm – she had immediately begun to panic, worrying over the garden and the laundry hanging outside, and she ended up bumping into Kyou, turning him into a rather aggravated cat in the process. Yuki smiled at the memory, brushing strands of silver hair out of his eyes as he stared out the window. Tohru's innate inability to handle pressure – that was one of the many things about her that he had come to grow fond of.

Smiling softly, Yuki had just begun to turn on his heel to go downstairs when another flash of lightning lit up the yard beneath his window. For just a moment, he thought he saw someone standing by the treeline, but the light had already faded. He placed his hands on the window sill and froze in place, keeping his eyes fixed on that spot, waiting for another flash of lightning to come. When it did, the figure had moved, only slightly, closer to the house. As the light faded, Yuki threw open his door and leaped down the stairs, his feet hitting only a few of them before he reached the first level.

He darted through the hall, the thunder so loud as he moved that it seemed to shake the house, and ran past Tohru who had started to ask him what was wrong. But he was silent as he reached the sliding doors and threw them open, scanning the poorly moonlit yard for a shadowy figure. He saw no one, and Tohru came up behind him, placing a hand lightly on his arm. "Yuki-kun...?" she asked quietly.

"...I thought I saw someone in the yard. I guess I must have imagined it," he said, though his eyes kept searching the area with suspicion. The rain pounded against everything around him, and he had to strain to hear Tohru suggest he go inside and she would get him a glass of water.

Another flash of lightning struck, this time close enough to the house that he could hear the sizzle of the electricity. And then he saw him. Heedless of the fact that he was both barefoot and in his pajamas, Yuki ran without hesitation outside into the yard, his feet sinking into the wet ground with every stride. He landed on his knees beside the figure lying on his side in the mud. "Haru!" he shouted as another thunderclap pierced the air.

The sound must have shocked the ox awake, because his eyes snapped open and he abruptly shot up into a sitting position. Yuki immediately threw an arm behind him, enabling him to soften the landing when he instantly fell back. It took Haru a moment, but his gaze eventually landed on Yuki's face. "Oh... Yuki," he said, as if he had simply stumbled upon him strolling leisurely down the school hallway. Yuki inhaled sharply at the sight before him – his friend was completely soaked with rain and coated in mud, but there, running freely down the side of his face, was an exorbitant amount of blood flowing from a rather unpleasant gash on his temple.

Carefully, Yuki hooked his arms around Haru's shoulders, dragging him so that his upper half was lying on Yuki's lap. At the sound of Tohru's gasp over his shoulder, Yuki turned to her and ordered, "Quickly, wake Shigure. And call Hatori!" The last sentence was a shout, as she had already turned around and ran back toward the house, dropping the umbrella she had brought out for him.

Yuki gently brushed wet, white locks of hair from Hatsuharu's forehead in an attempt to further examine the source of the blood. Haru's eyes listed to the side, and Yuki lightly slapped his cheek to bring his focus back to him. "Ah, Yuki... what are you doing here?"

Despite the rapid pounding of his heart beneath his chest and the bolt of lightning that struck a nearby tree, Yuki smiled at him. "I could ask you the same question." At that moment, Shigure arrived next to the rat, giving him an unreadable look before hooking his hand under Hatsuharu's arm. "Careful," Yuki said. "I don't know if he's hurt anywhere else." Together, they lifted the ox to his feet, which Yuki noted were bare underneath the mud and leaves stuck to them. The ox was having trouble holding his own head up, let alone his entire body. Slowly and carefully, they carried him over to the porch, setting him down on the dry wooden surface.

Tohru came over then with a bundle of towels, kneeling down beside Hatsuharu. She began to gently pat off the mud and the rain. When Yuki reached over for a towel as well, she locked eyes with him for a fraction of a second. He could see in them all of her worries, but also her fierce determination to make sure that whatever she could do to help, she would do without hesitation. "Hatori?" he asked, turning back to Haru. He hated to see her face when it was filled with concern.

"He will arrive here as soon as he possibly can," she said, and Haru's eyes suddenly connected with Yuki's once more as he cautiously attempted to clean his face of the grime and the blood.

"Haru," Shigure said lightheartedly over the rat's shoulder. "If you wanted to see us so badly, you could have just asked."

The ox smiled at that, still able to find some humor in his situation. He shifted his gaze to Shigure, but said nothing in return. He started to close his eyes, but Tohru turned to Yuki. "Hatori-san said we cannot allow him to fall asleep."

The rat placed a hand on Hatsuharu's drenched shoulder and shook him slightly. His eyes fluttered open again, this time unable to focus on anything around him. Yuki didn't want to think about the damage this head injury might have caused. Shigure stood up and nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "Of course, he may have a concussion."

"You know who did this," Yuki said, his voice flat with the emotions he was trying to suppress in that statement.

"I know," the dog of the zodiac said.

"I haven't seen any other wounds," Tohru spoke softly, placing the muddied towels to her side. Hatsuharu was, as best as he could be right now, clean and now only damp in comparison to being completely soaked.

"Thank you, Honda-san," Yuki said, offering her what he hoped to be a reassuring smile. She could see in his eyes how emotionally exhausted and physically drained he felt, and she smiled back as well, wishing her smile to be the same.

"What the...?" came a voice by the sliding doors, thinly veiling his surprise. Kyou stood frozen in the doorway, and it was easy to see from his body language that he had no idea what to do. He was trying not to show it, but they knew at least to some extent that he tended to inwardly panic at scenes like these. Yuki would never say it out loud, but he understood that feeling of shock and uselessness. He felt that way right now, doing whatever he could and knowing it wasn't quite enough. All he could really do was wait for Hatori, and it was absolutely killing him.

"Ah good, Kyou-kun," Shigure said, rubbing at his own hair with a towel. "Kindly assist us in moving Hatsuharu inside?"

After creating a lift system with a blanket that would cause the least amount of movement, they were finally able to move the injured ox inside the house and close the sliding doors, significantly decreasing the sound of rain and thunder. The lights dimmed somewhat, but persisted in staying on. Tohru had gone while they were bringing Hatsuharu inside, and she returned with a warm blanket and a couple more towels. She shook out the blanket and placed it over Haru, with as much care as she could.

"At least in here, Hatsuharu-san will be warm," she said, and then handed Yuki a towel. His mind on other things, it took him a minute to process the reason as to why there was suddenly a towel in his hands. "Yuki-kun should dry off as well," Tohru said, that reassuring smile on her face once again, as she began to dry her own hair. "We wouldn't want you to get a cold."

As Yuki towel dried his own hair, the sound of the rain beating against the sides of the house seemed to ease up, and the thunder became less frequent. He was relieved that the storm was subsiding somewhat – it would be much easier to transport Haru to the hospital if the storm dissipated.

"So what the hell happened?" Kyou asked from his position leaning against the far wall. His face wore it's usual scowl.

"You really are dense, stupid cat," Yuki said, snapping at him, as he usually did, out of his own frustration. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

"I'm just having a hard time believing that he came all the way here, from the main house, with that head injury," Shigure said, his arms cross and his hands in his sleeves.

"It's Haru," Yuki said, as if that explained everything. He looked back at the ox lying more comfortably now, his eyes open and unfocused. "He gets hung up on the weirdest things. I'm not surprised that he decided to come here rather than go to a hospital."

"Or to me," Hatori said as he entered the room, carrying a case likely full of medical instruments. "I am in the main house as well. It would have taken a lot less effort to come to me."

"Ah, Hatori-san!" Tohru said as he entered, immediately moving as if she were going to go to the kitchen and prepare tea. But she paused, knowing that something far more important needed to be dealt with before they could all comfortably sit at the table drinking tea together.

"As far as we can tell," Yuki spoke, preferring to get straight to the matter at hand, "The head wound is his only injury."

The doctor knelt by the ox's side, gently turning his face toward him. "If you wouldn't mind," he said, glancing over at Tohru. "Could you please get a damp washcloth?" Whiel she ran off to do so, he pulled a small flashlight from the pocket of his jacket, shining it in Hatsuharu's eyes and waving it back and forth.

"Ah... Hatori..." Haru said, focusing on the dragon of the zodiac. "I thought you were... with Akito, but you're here. A mystery..."

Yuki had no idea how relieved he would feel when he heard the ox beginning to speak normally once again. The breath he didn't know he was holding rushed out of him in relief. Tohru returned with the damp cloth, and Hatori gently cleaned the blood from the wound on his head. Hatsuharu didn't wince – in fact, Yuki had never seen him do anything of the sort, but his face showed just the smallest amount of discomfort or pain.

"I can stitch the wound," Hatori said, and Yuki let out another relieved sigh. "But I'm afraid he may have some internal trauma to his brain. It is likely that he has a concussion. We should take him to the hospital immediately and have scans done."

"I don't want..." The ox started to say, but he listed again, causing Yuki to worry even more than he had before.

"Haru," he said, leaning over his friend's blanketed form. "Will you please go to the hospital? For me?"

It took longer than Yuki liked for Hatsuharu's eyes to fall on his. "I suppose... since Yuki asked..."

Hatori got to his feet and glanced around the room. "My car is in the driveway."

The storm had let up significantly as they drove down the roads. The majority of the car ride was spent with Hatsuharu leaning against Yuki, his head resting on his shoulder. He didn't even realize it until they had arrived at the hospital, but he had been holding the ox's hand the entire drive. Hatori had called the hospital ahead of time, so as soon as they arrived, Haru was taken away by a couple of, thankfully, male nurses. Yuki was suddenly very much alone in a cold and bare waiting room.

Kyou had stayed home, stating that whatever happened had nothing to do with him. And Yuki had convinced Tohru, who was still very much concerned with the well-being of someone important to her, to stay home and try to get some rest for tomorrow. "I look forward to eating your breakfast when I get back," he had said, knowing that this was the line that would get her to stay. Honestly though, he just didn't want to see her pacing back and forth, worrying about every possible thing that could go wrong. She was too kind of a person, and he hoped she would be distracted enough if left alone with Kyou. Somehow, that stupid cat had a calming and healing effect on her, one that Yuki knew he could never replicate.

He wasn't sure, but he thought Shigure might have taken off with Hatori, who had asserted his position as the family doctor and demanded he be involved in any medical decisions and tests as they were needed. And so he was left with nothing but old magazines and his thoughts. He began to pace at first, but quickly realized that it wasn't doing anything to keep him distracted. He looked through the pile of magazines restlessly, finally settling on an old gardening magazine and plopping into a chair.

The reading did little to keep his mind off of the situation, however. He knew. He knew it was Akito that had hurt Hatsuharu. It was always Akito. And he was fairly certain that Hatori had been there when it happened, but that was a conversation best saved for after he got news on Haru's condition.

Yuki had always known that somehow, for some reason, he was an important person to Hatsuharu. He wasn't shy about admitting that Yuki was his first love, and he was always doing everything he could to help the rat out, even forgoing his own problems in favor of resolving Yuki's. But what the rat hadn't realized was just how important Hatsuharu was to him. He considered himself a very selfish person, someone who would always put himself ahead of others. So when had Hatsuharu become so important to him?

Right as Yuki was getting frustrated with the magazine failing as a distraction, Hatori appeared from around the corner and approached him. He stood up immediately, dropping the already forgotten magazine, and walked over to him. He looked around questioningly, then turned back to face the dragon. "Where is Shigure?"

"I lost him somewhere by the nurse's station," Hatori said with a sigh indicating that this was not the first time something like this had happened. "He is probably there now, flirting with them. I'm sure the uniform played a key factor in this development." He smiled despite his words, and then was silent as he looked Yuki's face over.

"Well?" he asked, his voice full of impatience. "How is Haru?"

"They did a few scans of his head and his brain," Hatori said, his voice and posture conveying the business-like aspect of him. "The results aren't in yet, but they did stitch up his wound in the mean time. You can go see him, if you like."

"Where?" He demanded instantly.