Monday Morning

Yuki hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, so he was laying on his bed thinking about what was to come.

I remember what it was like the last time that I was there...


The room was dark, as it always was. The results from yesterday's punishment still evident on the boy's back. The blood seeping down into the cracks on the cold ground along with the leftover tears. The young boy was sleeping very lightly when the door creaked open. Yuki leapt back into the corner in fear. Hatori sighed as he walked into the room.

"Yuki, it's just me. I'm here to help you get better." he said. Yuki let out the breath that he had been holding. He nodded, giving his permission. Hatori walked towards Yuki as he would a spooked horse. He opened his bag slowly and brought out ointment and bandages.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't bring you food or water. He wouldn't hear of it." Hatori had learned long ago to not mention Akito. He turned Yuki around to take a look at his back. He hissed when he saw the damage. There were welts all around the boy's back and some parts were still bloody.

"This might sting a little," he said as he put some cleaning fluid on his back. Afterwards he applied some ointment and then bandaged him up. "There's just one question. Did he?" Yuki shook his head at the unasked question. They both knew what he was talking about. Luckily he was too mad to do anything along those lines.


Yuki shuddered as he remembered those times when he was only a child. The sad thing was that only Hatori knew of how bad it was. The cat spoke of how he was going to be locked up, and how Yuki was the favorite. He didn't know anything of how hellish it was for him before he came here. He heard Tohru walking to the kitchen, and decided that he would get up early today. Savor the last moments he could have with his only friend.

"Hello Tohru. How are you this morning?" he asked.

Once she had gotten over how early he was up, she said, "I'm doing well! How are you?" she returned. Yuki shrugged as he took the offered breakfast. Kyo walked down the stairs and stared at Yuki.

"Wait, what?! Why are you up stupid rat?!" he yelled. Yuki looked down at his hands.

"No reason really. Just wanted to be here all day when I can before I have to leave." Yuki said, sadly. Kyo, being thrown off by Yuki not yelling at him, grabbed his breakfast from Tohru and went to eat it.


School

The rest of the school day went by too fast for Yuki's liking. At lunch he had to tell Haru that he was going back.

"ARE YOU STUPID?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

Looks like black Haru came out. Yuki thought.

"I think you know why. Please don't make a scene. Do you think that I want to go back?" Yuki answered him. At Yuki's scared voice, black Haru left and white came back, crying.

"Please don't do this, Yuki! I don't know if I can handle sneaking back into that cursed place again. And then seeing you like that! I might break! Please." Haru knew that what he was saying was pointless, and it didn't matter, because Yuki was going to do it anyway. All the while, Kyo Momiji and Tohru were sitting there watching the conversation pan out between the two.

By that time, Tohru was getting worried, and Momiji was sighing, knowing that Haru would not win. Kyo was just wondering why going back to be Akito's favorite was such a bad thing.

"I'm sorry." Yuki said to Haru. "I'm not going to let him be taken. It isn't fair."

Haru just turned away from him as the bell rang. The group parted ways again. As per Yuki's request, the group met up right after school to wait for the limo to come pick him up.

"Goodbye. I will see you tomorrow." Yuki said as they, one by one gave him hugs. The limo pulled up and Hatori got out.

He looked reluctant as he said, "It's time to go, Yuki." The last thing that Yuki saw before getting into the limo, was Haru walking over and punching Kyo in the face.


The drive was long and torturous. Hatori was silent, as was the norm for him, but Yuki could tell that he was dying to say something.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Are you sure that you want to waste your life for someone that doesn't love you back?" Hatori asked.

Yuki didn't hesitate when he said, "I have never been more sure in my entire life." Hatori sighed, but didn't ask anything else.

The limo arrived at its destination way too fast for Yuki's liking. He slowly got out of the car and walked up to the main house gates as he was facing the doors to Akito's private rooms. Hatori was looking at him. He could tell. Yuki reluctantly opened the doors and walked into the room where Akito was waiting for him.

"Ah, Yuki. You're finally here. I've been waiting for this ever since you came to see me. I missed you." He said. "You know what comes next." Akito tossed him rags from a pile of things. Yuki quickly put them on, forgetting how cold they could be. He had his head down in shame and he knew Akito was enjoying this. He had always wanted his pet back. Now he had him for the rest of his miserable life. Akito took his school clothes and put them in a drawer. "Now it's time or you to get reacquainted with your room." Akito said as he grabbed a hold of Yuki's shoulder roughly and dragged him back to the place of his nightmares. The room was as dark as he remembered. Dark and lonely. He might be going to school, but to keep Kyo safe, he had to come back here every day and go through hell again. "You need to be reminded of what you are and who you belong to Yuki." Akito said his voice dark. Yuki shivered and crouched down knowing what was to come.

After the beating and screams coming from his mouth, Akito spoke. "If you're going to school tomorrow when you need to be checked over now don't you. Hatori will be back in to check you." Once Akito left, Yuki sat and cried. Half from the pain and half from knowing that the person he loved. The person the he did this for. Hated him. Hatori walked in later and closed his eyes. He forgot how much torture this was for him. He couldn't stand his best friends bother being hurt like this. But that wasn't his choice to make and so he walked up to Yuki and got his supplies out.

"He doesn't want me to bandage you up, so you need to take it easy and try not to make them open again. I will talk to your gym teacher and make sure you don't do gym." After parching him up to the best of his ability, he stood to leave when Yuki spoke.

"Please don't tell anyone about this. I don't want them to know." Hatori nodded. That was their arrangement last time too.

The last words he said before he left were, "I'm sorry." Yuki nodded in recognition.


Kyo walked home after the weird departure. Why the fuck did Haru punch me in the face? He thought. Why is being Akito's favorite such a bad thing? None of this makes any sense! Why is Haru so upset and who did Yuki say he was doing this for? Kyo sighed as he continued to walk to his destination. He had sent Tohru first on the guise of needing to finish his homework. He wanted some time to think about what was going on. He felt around his eye and sighed. There was going to be a bruise there tomorrow. He continued walking until he reaches Shigure's home.

Haru was sitting under a tree in the shade. No one would know that he was crying unless they looked closely. The tears shimmered as they ran down his face. He didn't regret punching the cat. It was after all his fault that Yuki was going back. But he didn't know what was wrong with that. He didn't even know that Yuki was getting hurt. Or that it was all for him. Haru sat crying until Ishizu walked up to him silently asking him what was wrong.

"Yuki went back to the main house. He heard that Kyo was going to have to go into the cage earlier than was planned and gave himself up instead. Why? Why does he have to love him more than himself? And the cat doesn't even know what hell is. He thinks that being caged up not allowed to see the outside is hell. Humph. Yuki has gone through hell and survived. Now because of someone who hates him he is choosing to go back into the hell that he grew up in." Haru was sobbing uncontrollably by the end of his explanation. "I don't know if I can see him like that again! Everyday progressively getting worse!"

Rin had sat down next to him and was quietly stroking his hair trying to get him to calm down. She was also silently crying. The single tear that escaped her impassionate eye was filled with the emotion that she had always held in when Yuki was brought up. She knew and saw the torment that he was put through, and like Haru, didn't know if he could go through it again.

Little did either of them know that a silent watcher was standing behind the bushes and had heard every word that they had said. Kyo walked away from the pair and decided that they must have made a mistake. Yuki hated him and didn't go through anything. He was getting more suspicious as time went on.

The next day Yuki woke from his troubled sleep and sat in the dark room. His back was burning and he didn't know what he was going to do. Just then Akito walked into the room. He tossed him his clothes and told him that he wasn't to eat anything at school and to make sure to have a good day. He slowly peeled the blood soaked rags from his back and carefully put on his school uniform. When he walked outside Hatori was waiting to drive him to school. He hadn't said a word in all this time and still didn't.

When he reached the school he didn't speak to any of his friends and went straight to class. Halfway through the day at lunch Haru tried to get him to talk. All he got out of Yuki was that he would prefer not to talk. The table was not the same with Yuki not speaking. At gym the guys were changing and Yuki gave the note to the teacher.

"It's okay, but I would like you to change into your gym clothes anyways." He said. Yuki nodded and went to his locker. Kyo looked at him while he was changing only to see a glimpse of his back before the shirt was pulled over his head. Kyo gasped. What's going on and why is his back looking like that?

Gym came and went until the school day was over and Yuki departed for the main house. When he got back to Akito he greeted him normally and went into the black room. He changed into the rags and went back into the corner. He had permission to do his homework so he did and waited until Akito would come back. His stomach was grumbling having had nothing to eat since a day before for breakfast. Akito finally walked into the room.

"I will give you food if you're a good boy Yuki. Otherwise you will get punished."