Would you care?, a fruits basket fanfic

Would you care?

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, nor do I own Yuki's fate. Though the fate part would be cool xD I got inspiration after reading vol. 16 for the 11th or so time. This takes around the time when the curse ain't lifted and Akito's still evil-ish. And she's a female in this story to :D

"Did you hear?" a tough blonde girl asked her friend.

"Hear what?" the naïve brunette asked.

"Prince Charming's got himself a new lady friend," the blonde replied with a smirk.

The brunette's eyes widened. "Really?!" she exclaimed.

"It's true," a third girl responded.

The brunette looked lost in thought for a few moments. 'If Yuki-kun has a girlfriend...' she thought, 'she might have to meet Akito.' The brunette looked up worriedly.

"What's wrong, Tohru?" the blonde asked. The brunette, Honda Tohru, shook her head, not wanting to worry her friends.

"It's nothing, Uo-chan."

The blonde, Uotani Arisa (or 'Uo-chan'), looked towards the black-haired girl. "Know anything about the new girl, Hanajima?"

"I have read only some of her waves," Hanajima Saki replied. "There is no sure way to find out anything without more waves."

Just then, as if on cue, the girl that the trio were talking about ran right by them. "Yuki!" she called happily, waving to the reigning Prince. Girls aside from the trio glared at her as Sohma Yuki waved back and smiled. Smiling back, she walked up to him and began to talk.

Tohru, Arisa, and Saki all watched with interest. The girl was rather pretty; with shiny, light brown hair and shocking gray eyes. Instead of wearing the standard short short skirt, she chose short shorts instead. The sleeves on her uniform were rolled up to her elbows, showing off her pretty, pale skin.

They also watched as fan girls of Yuki began whispering amongst themselves.

"Do you know that girl?"

"The nerve of her! Talking to my Yuki-kun."

"Your Yuki-kun?"

"I want to strangle her..."

"She's worse than Honda Tohru."

Tohru blushed slightly at the mention of her name, but remained silent. 'Is she going to meet Akito-san?' she couldn't help but wonder.

"I'm home!" Tohru called out into the hallways, taking off her shoes.

"Same here," her boyfriend, Sohma Kyo, appeared behind her, repeating her actions.

"Welcome back," Sohma Shigure said, coming out of a room, one of his own novels in his hands. Kyo momentarily eyed it with disgust before looking around.

"No rat?" the cat vessel asked bluntly.

"Not yet. Yuki-kun called ahead and told me he would come a little later though," the dog replied. "And how are you today, Tohru-kun?" he asked with a smile.

"I'm fine," the brunette replied, "and you, Shigure-san?"

"Just as fine."

As Tohru and Kyo moved out of the door area, it slid open, revealing Sohma Yuki and the new girl known as Karinta Hiroki. "Ah!" Shigure said. "There's Yuki-kun right now."

"Hello, Shigure. Honda-san. Cat," Yuki greeted.

"Are you retarded?" Kyo hissed. "There's another girl standing right there."

Hiroki feigned shock. She looked left, right, and then behind her. "Where?" she said with a fake oblivious voice. Kyo sent her a small glare before smirking.

"She's quite different from Tohru-kun, I can say that," Shigure remarked, clearly amused. Hiroki grinned and bowed.

"She knows about the curse, baka," Yuki said. Hiroki nodded.

Kyo and Tohru stayed silent for a few moments. Yuki deadpanned. "Shigure, you didn't tell them, did you?"

Shigure rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It slipped my mind?"

"Of course it did."

"C'mon Yuki," Hiroki interrupted, grabbing the rat's hand, "we have to work on our project still."

"We'll be upstairs," Yuki said before the two of them climbed up the stairs.

"..."

"What's on your mind?" Kyo asked as he helped Tohru prepare dinner.

"Eh!?!" Tohru exclaimed, surprised. "Am I really that easy to read?" Kyo just nodded.

"Pretty much."

Tohru let out a small sigh. "U-Um... are Yuki-kun and Karinta-san dating?" she asked nervously. Kyo shrugged.

"Ask Shigure, he's probably the one who knows the most on those two," Kyo said.

"B-But... that'd be rude and isn't he writing right now?" Tohru protested.

"Probably just getting nagged at by his editor," Kyo said. "Go on ahead; I've got dinner basically covered."

"Th-Thank you Kyo-kun," she said, bowing. And with that, she left the kitchen in search for Sohma Shigure.

"Hey Yuki..." Tohru's ears perked when she heard Hiroki's voice from inside the door. She stood there, wanting to hear some of their conversation.

"Hm?"

"When will I meet her?" Hiroki innocently asked. Tohru froze and she could imagine Yuki freezing in place too. The 'her' Hiroki was referring to was Akito-san, the head of the family.

"... Why would you want to meet Akito?" Yuki asked after a long pause.

"Well, shouldn't I?" Tohru listened closely now. "After all, I know about your secret; so don't I have to meet this Akito-san?"

"No. Don't meet her," Yuki said shortly.

"Why not?" Hiroki asked curiously.

"Because you don't want to. Trust me," Yuki replied.

"That's not a very good reason," Hiroki said, a little annoyed.

"Just drop it, okay?"

"No, I will not drop it," Hiroki said angrily. The sound of shuffled papers came from behind the door, so Tohru assumed that she had stood up. "I have brought up this topic at least four times all ready and each ended with you telling me to 'drop it'. What's so horrible about me going to see the head of your family?"

More shuffling; Yuki must've stood up.

"No, don't even say it," Hiroki interrupted. "Just because you had bad experiences, doesn't mean that I'll share the same fate."

"Akito is unpredictable. Most likely, you're going to end up getting hurt or wind up in a hospital," Yuki explained with a slight edge to his voice.

"Yeah, 'most likely'. But most likely doesn't mean that it's a 100 guarantee that I'll get hurt," Hiroki was near shouting now.

Tohru heard Yuki growling softly. Or was it Hiroki?

"You know what?" Yuki said after a pregnant pause. "Go to the main house. Go get yourself hurt. Because just so you know," he dropped his voice down to a whisper just loud enough for Tohru to hear, "I don't even care anymore."

"Fine! Then I will go!" Hiroki shouted.

"Whatever," Yuki said calmly and returned to his work. Tohru left the scene before she could be discovered.

"So?" Kyo asked, looking up at the girl he loved as she walked into the room. He set the last plate down and waited for her answer.

"... Shigure-san said that he didn't know," she lied, hoping that Kyo wouldn't notice. Kyo let his gaze linger a bit longer on Tohru before dropping the subject.

Shigure came out of his office and called Yuki and Hiroki to come down to dinner. Hiroki came down and mumbled an excuse about how she had to go home early and couldn't stay.

Shigure didn't question it and let her go.

She quickly put her shoes on and left the house.

Yuki made up an excuse also, saying that he wasn't hungry.

"Hunh," Shigure said, "wonder what happened between those two."

Tohru kept her information to herself, hoping that Hiroki wouldn't actually meet Akito by herself.

'Please don't Karinta-san. You don't know how she could react to you.'

The next few days went by uneventful. Yuki never even glanced towards his former friend when she passed, and likewise, she never talked to him.

"Did they break-up?" Arisa wondered one day.

"I don't know," Tohru said, honestly.

"Both their waves seem very upset at the other," Saki said, "but I can't distinguish what made those two so angry."

"Maybe they just got pissed at each other," Kyo said, reading a book and not really paying too much attention.

"That isn't it," Saki replied, "there is a definite reason as to why the two of them are no longer on speaking terms."

"So we just gotta find out what the reason is, right?" Arisa asked, folding her arms behind her head.

"Yes and no. Even if we discover the reason, it's up to Sohma Yuki and Karinta Hiroki to decide whether they will begin speaking to each other again or not."

Tohru rubbed her temples. This was getting too complicated.

'I don't see anyone else here,' Hiroki thought, looking around the huge area of the Sohma estate. She pressed down on the button and waited for a response.

"Yes? Who is this?" a voice on the other end asked. It sounded masculine. She guessed it wasn't Akito.

"My name is Karinta Hiroki," she began, "may I speak with Akito-san?"

"... one moment please..." Hiroki heard some shuffling before receiving her final answer. "I'm going to open the door for you now, where some maids will be waiting for you. They will guide you to Akito-san's room."

"Thank you very much," she said, before the doors opened. She walked in and looked all around her. 'This place is huge,' she thought absent-mindedly as she followed the silent maids through all the halls. They finally stopped at a simple door; no writing, no plaque, no name on it.

"This is Akito-san's room," one of them said before the rest of them bowed and left.

Hiroki took a deep breath and lightly pushed open the door. "Akito-san?" she called softly.

"I'm here."

Hiroki saw a woman who resembled greatly a man. Her hair was black and short. The style reminded her of Yuki's hair. She pursed her lips. Then she remembered that they were no longer speaking and pushed the thought of him aside. Akito was wearing a loose, long-sleeved kimono. Hiroki noticed that there was a lone man sitting behind her with brown hair and matching brown eyes. She recognized him as Sohma Kureno, the rooster.

"Please, have a seat," Akito said kindly.

'Is this her true nature?' Hiroki couldn't help but wonder as she folded her legs down onto the mat provided.

"What is your name?" Akito asked.

"Karinta Hiroki."

"And, may I ask, why do you wish to speak with me?"

"I know about the Sohma secret," Hiroki began, "and I thought it was time to talk to you."

Akito's face darkened slightly.

"I don't really get the curse and I was hoping that you could-" Hiroki was cut off by Akito as she began to yell.

"WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO LEARN ABOUT MY FAMILY?" she shouted. "WE DON'T NEED YOU."

"A-Akito..." the brown-haired man spoke, trying to calm down the raging woman.

"WHO NEEDS YOU? WE DON'T NEED YOUR PITY," Akito continued.

"I-I wasn't trying to pity you," Hiroki began, but she was cut off again.

"DON'T LIE TO ME," Akito roared before slapping Hiroki sharply in the face. Hiroki brought up her hand and gingerly touched her cheek. It stung.

"P-Please... Akito-san..."

This time, Akito picked up the mat and threw it at the poor girl.

"Akito!" Kureno tried again.

And then...

Akito picked up a piece of glass that had been broken off from a fallen vase...

And began to cut Hiroki with it.

Hiroki could feel warm tears fall down her face, stinging when they met the raw cuts from the glass piece.

"Akito!" Kureno tried to hold down the raging woman, but Akito threw bits and pieces of glass at the young girl.

"WE DON'T NEED YOU. GET OUT," Akito continued to shout and scream. Hiroki ducked her head down and covered the back of her neck with her hands when she was sharply kicked in the chest.

She gasped for breath as she fell onto her side, grasping her throat, desperate for air.

More glass.

More punches.

More kicks.

More abuse until the sliding door opened and revealed Sohma Hatori and Sohma Yuki. Both their eyes widened at the sight as Akito suddenly calmed down and left the scene. Kureno followed her as Hiroki watched painfully through her bloodied and battered vision.

She blinked drowsily. When she opened her gray eyes, she caught Yuki just staring at her, rooted to his spot.

He didn't say anything. He just stared at her.

"I-I know Yu-Yuki," she gasped out, "I sh-shouldn't... have come..."

"Karinta-kun," Hatori said, "I have to check up on your wounds.'

Hiroki just blankly stared at the two men, silently putting up with the searing pain coming from her open wounds. 'Am I going to die? Without even telling him...' Hiroki closed her eyes, wanting to fall asleep.

"Karinta-kun, do not fall asleep," Hatori's voice barely made it to her ears. "Whatever you do, don't fall asleep."

Hiroki opened her eyes again slowly and brought them to Yuki. Her heart sank when she saw he wasn't even looking at her. He was leaving. 'I knew it,' she thought sadly, 'he hates me. I love him, and he hates me.' She smiled bitterly as Hatori continued to clean and bandage her wounds.

"Yuki..." she whispered. He didn't turn, just slid open the door. "I'm sorry," she said before finally losing conciseness. Hatori's eyes widened as he watched the girl slip from reality. He quickly checked her pulse before shouting at Yuki, "Call the hospital!"

Yuki said nothing and just left the room, almost as if he hadn't heard the man. Hatori was getting angry. He checked her pulse again and took off his jacket. Laying it on Hiroki's slightly breathing body; he got up and ran to the rat vessel.

"Yuki."

Yuki stopped, but he didn't turn.

"What is wrong with you?!?" Hatori asked angrily.

Yuki didn't respond. Hatori considered yelling at him but decided not to. He needed to call for help for the wounded girl. He searched his pockets and found his cell phone. But before he dialed the number, he said softly, "She loves you."

When Yuki turned, Hatori was already walking back to the room, talking on his cell. The teenager stood there, as if in a trance.

"Yuki... I'm sorry."

"She loves you."

He silently just continued on his walk out of the main house.

Three days passed. No one outside of Kureno, Hiroki, or Akito knew why Hiroki was hurt so badly. No one outside of Kureno, Hiroki, Akito, Hatori, or Yuki knew why Hiroki was no longer at school. Most students passed it off as her just being sick. Tohru worried. Saki and Arisa noticed, but didn't press into the topic.

'Did Karinta-san really go see Akito-san?' Tohru wondered. 'Did Akito-san hurt her?' She glanced over at the gray-haired reigning prince. 'I want to ask Yuki-kun... but I don't think he knows,' she concluded as she watched him laugh with his friend Manabe Kakeru. She closed her eyes. 'I worried for Karinta-san, but should I really be butting into her business?'

A hand landed on her shoulder. She squealed in surprise and turned to face her orange-haired boyfriend. "Ah, Kyo-kun," she said in relief, "you startled me."

"What's wrong, Tohru?" he asked, his hand sliding down her arm. He gently grasped Tohru's hand in his own.

She looked down; she couldn't lie to him. "I-I'm worried," she said softly.

"About what?"

She let out a deep breath. "About Karinta-san."

Kyo frowned. "Everyone is," he said.

She shook her head slightly. "No, not about that. Do you remember the day when Karinta-san came over with Yuki-kun?" she asked.

Kyo nodded. The dismissal bell rung, but the couple ignored it.

Tohru bit her lip and continued. "And do you remember when I asked you if they were dating and you told me to ask Shigure-san?"

Kyo gave a curt nod and urged for her to continue.

She sighed. "When I was looking for him, I overheard a conversation between Yuki-kun and Karinta-san," she confessed. "Karinta-san was asking about when she could meet Akito-san," Kyo's face darkened, but the orange-haired boy said nothing, "and it led to an argument. The day after that was when they weren't speaking. And now, I'm not sure what happened between them. So I'm worried; what if Karinta-san did go and see Akito-san?" She turned her gaze to her boyfriend.

Kyo remained silent for a moment before saying, "And no one really knows except the rat and Karinta, right?" Tohru nodded. "Then we can't do anything. The rat isn't going to talk; he doesn't speak when he gets back to the house." He kissed her gently on the forehead. "C'mon, let's get going before Shigure freaks out," he said, changing the subject.

Tohru nodded and walked out with the cat.

A week passed.

Yuki still had not said anything.

And Hiroki still had not returned to the school.

Three weeks passed.

Still no word from Yuki.

Still no appearance from Hiroki.

"Where's the rat?" Kyo wondered one day back at Sohma Shigure's home. It had been a month, and they began to realize that Yuki usually wasn't present after school hours.

"No clue," replied the dog, reading a book.

"I don't know either," Tohru said, thinking about what could've happened. She could've ended up like Sohma Kisa, the tiger, who had been hospitalized for two weeks after Sohma Hiro, the ram, told Akito he loved Kisa. She folded her hands over her lap and hoped for the best.

Sohma Yuki ignored the stares of the young girls at the hospital. He didn't even glance at them; he just kept his eyes straight and continued on his way to a certain hospital room. He had a small bouquet of lilies in one hand, the other tightly clenched at his side.

It was late; he knew that. He only came late at night when he knew she would be sleeping.

He walked and walked until he reached hospital room 143. Turning the knob slowly, he gently pushed the door open. His eyes landed on the girl sleeping on the hospital bed. Yuki's features did not soften nor harden; he remained unfazed.

After setting down the lilies on a nearby chair, Yuki gently touched Hiroki's cheek. Her skin was soft and slightly bruised. 'This was the first hit Akito landed on her.'

His hand rested on her cheek before he retracted it.

Hatori's words still rang in his ears.

"She loves you."

'That can't be true... can it?' he thought, his gaze still lingering on the sleeping beauty. 'Hiroki can't love me... she knows that.'

"Mmm," she groaned softly, turning her body into a more comfortable pose. Yuki froze; he didn't want to have to encounter her when she woke up. But he wanted to watch her for as long as he could. He stayed standing there; ready to exit the room if needed.

Minutes passed. Then hours. Until a nurse came and told him that visiting hours were over. Yuki barely noticed a small blush on the nurse's face as he left the hospital building.

It had been two months; the news of Karinta Hiroki's hospitalization had spread through the entire school.

Tohru worried even more now.

"Well, now we know where he's been goin' to," Kyo said when he first heard the news. Tohru just nodded.

Yuki stared.

'It's nearly 8:00, she should be asleep by now,' Yuki thought, staring at the clearly awake girl.

She just stared back. 'Has he been visiting me?' she wondered before focusing on what he had in his hand. Lilies. 'Has he been the one who's sent me lilies?' She looked over at the desks filled with bouquets of lilies.

"Hi Yuki," Hiroki said after a pregnant pause.

He didn't reply. He just walked over to the desk, placed down the lilies, and headed back towards the door.

"Yuki, you hate me don't you?"

The named boy said nothing, but didn't leave. He stood there will his hand positioned over the door knob. He heard her sigh before she sat up.

"You do," she concluded. "Now I'm gonna have to call you Sohma-san, right? Ugh, I'm never going to get used to that." She just kept rambling on to herself. "I bet Uotani-san, Hanajima-san, Honda-san, and a bunch of other people are going to ask me what happened. Now I have to make up an excuse. Do they know about me being in here, Sohma-san?"

Yuki stopped slightly when he heard how she addressed him, but he nodded anyways. He heard her sigh again. "So I'll have to end up giving them an excuse as to why I'm in here. Ugh," she made a face, "I hate hospitals."

"... Why?" Yuki finally said. Hiroki looked surprised, but happy nonetheless. He turned to face the gray-eyed girl.

"The smell," she made a face again, "I've always hated the smell." She paused to form another question. "Did you give me these?" she asked, gesturing towards the white lilies sitting on her desk. He nodded simply.

She smiled brightly. "Thank you. It means a lot," she said.

Yuki felt himself just nodding again.

A nurse knocked on the door lightly. "Visiting hours are over," she said before walking away. Yuki turned the knob and opened the door.

"Yuki," she said before the boy left, "I love you."

He froze. "She loves you."

"I know you hate me; but I thought you had the right to know," Hiroki whispered. Yuki stayed silent and left the hospital. She flopped back onto her hospital pillows. "Only a few more weeks," she whispered.

Yuki kept coming to the hospital.

He stayed silent through each visit.

Hiroki would talk less and less. It eventually ended up as her just looking at him as he entered. And then it ended up as her not even looking at him. If it bothered him, she wouldn't know.

So in the room 143, it was completely silent. Every passing day. Every passing night.

"Did you mean it?"

Hiroki tore her gaze away from the dark sky outside her window to face the rat. "Mean what?" she asked softly, her voice slightly rough from not being used.

"When you told me that you loved me," Yuki began slowly, "did you mean it?"

She turned her gaze away from the boy and stared straight forward. "Of course I did," she whispered. "Why would I lie to you about that?"

"I'm just curious," the Prince replied. "You've seen how many times a day a girl comes up and tells me she loves me." Hiroki laughed softly.

"You're right. You can never be too sure."

He smiled lightly. "So we're friends again?" Hiroki asked, turning back to the rat vessel. "I get out of this hell hole in about a week."

"... Yeah. Friends again."

On his way home, Yuki thought about the gray-eyed girl known as Karinta Hiroki. He thought about his feelings for her. And her feelings for him.

'She knows about the curse,' he told himself, 'she knows she can't be happy with me.'

He knew that. But the question that haunted him was whether or not she knew it also.

Yuki stopped coming. Hiroki noticed.

But the white lilies continued to pile on her desk, as if someone were bringing them during the time she slept.

'At least it's only until tomorrow,' Hiroki thought, eyeing her flower pile. 'I wonder what Yuki's doing; we are supposed to be friends again.'

She decided to get a little more rest and quickly fell asleep. What her eye didn't catch was the single red rose, only slightly poking out from the white mound.

'Back in school,' Hiroki thought as another person came up to her and asked what happened. She repeated the same process throughout the day: walk, have someone come up, tell them the fake story, walk away, avoid Yuki, walk.

At last, the bell rang, signaling dismissal.

As she was walking towards the doors to leave the school, an arm quickly encircled her waist and a hand covering her mouth before she could scream. She was literally dragged up the stairs and onto the roof. 'What the hell?' she thought before turning to face her captor. Her gray eyes widened.

"Yuki?" she whispered, reaching out and gently brushing her fingers against his pale skin.

"Hiroki," he whispered back. She looked back and forth and asked, "Why're we here?"

Yuki smiled lightly. "I thought about what you said."

"Oh," she breathed, pursing her lips and glancing away and bringing her hand down from the Sohma's face. Her eyes widened again when she felt a pair of hands take hers and a pair of lips gently pressing against her cheek.

"Y-Yuki?"

"I'm glad that you love me," he said, resting his forehead against hers, "because I might feel the same way about you too."

Hiroki grinned brightly. Then she remembered something. "How'd you grab me without transforming?"

Yuki looked surprised himself and thought about it for a few moments.

"I guess having my arm around you doesn't count as a 'hug'," he shrugged. She smiled again.

"I really do love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Yuki whispered back. Then he moved forward and pressed his lips against hers.