A/N: Hey, I'm back with another one shot. I worked really hard on this one, so please review! This one is set in an AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. *brushes tear away* Natsuki Takaya does.

Final Battle

It was a stormy night. The rain fell down harshly, as if Mother Earth herself was crying out her eyes. The trees, just bare branches from the long season, shook violently. And it was cold. So very cold.

Two boys, on the brink of manhood, stood in the clearing, swords drawn. The older of the two, grim faced, naturally settled into upright posture despite the heavy rain. No more was he the timid, soft spoken boy of the past. He spoke firmly and slowly as he squinted against the harsh rain in an attempt to see the other boy. "We don't have to do this. We don't have to fight!"

The younger boy simply shook his head, rain running down his short, straight hair. He was done with the foolishness of the past. The regret that came with it.

"Don't you see? This is the only way to go. The only way." He looked down grimly. "Your very existence sickens me. I'm done playing around! It's either me or you. One of us wins, one of us loses. I will never live with myself until you die by my hand. Only then, shall I have fulfilled my life's goal!"

"Please, please... calm dow-"

"No! I will fulfill my goal! Then- then I will no longer have the need to live myself I will be content with my life!"

Rain cleansed the appearance of tears as the other boy pleaded in a desperate attempt to restore a friendship that never was. And never will be. He knew the arrogant red headed boy would never, ever, consider making peace. As the silver haired boy said the coming words, he knew it was an empty promise to both their ears. "Please! Don't do this! I don't want it to end this way!" He begged. "We can still make peace! E-even become friends. I will forgive you! Just please. Kyo!"

The red headed boy scowled, his dark, beady eyes filled with rage gone so far that it was now pure insanity.

"Why must you forgive me?! I have done nothing wrong! It is you who must pay! And I will never, ever forgive you!" The older boy bit his lip and looked down, expecting this answer despite his good intentions. The younger boy continued. "You - it was because of you that I suffered! Because of you the nobles never accepted me! Because of you that the town saw me as a threat instead of a strong samurai who wanted to protect them from the likes of you!" He jabbed his finger in the direction of the other boy. "AND IT WAS BECAUSE OF YOU THAT MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!"

The boy with the beautiful violet eyes struggled to remain calm and composed. Not to let fear take over him.

"Kyo, it was for the best. Couldn't you tell? It was your father who killed your mother, not me! He was insane with hatred and pent up, useless rage." He ignored the other boy's attempts to stop his words. He was not the timid boy of the past. Instead he let his voice grow stronger. "I put an end to him before he could harm others! I'm so sorry for that, but it was the only way. He would've killed you next! Please, don't do this. Don't become like him! Don't walk down this dark, dark, insane path of hatred!"

"YOU LIE! YOU KILLED THEM! DON'T YOU DARE BLAME IT ON FATHER!" Kyo screamed, his strained voice echoing out into the night. He steadied his sword, brushed the damp hair out of his face, and regained his composure. The other boy looked at him with sorrowful, pleading eyes that was met with a glare."It's either me or you. One of us wins, one of us loses. And only one of us comes out alive. Say your final prayers, Yuki. It's time." With a fierce scream, Kyo charged onto the battlefield, his loose, black kimono swinging around his lean body. "DIE, YOU BASTARD! AS YOU SHOULD'VE MANY YEARS AGO! PAY FOR YOUR ACTIONS!"

Kyo lashed at Yuki fiercely with his katana. Yuki parried just in time, grunting from the force of the contact. The boys glared at each other through the rain, all hope of friendship vanished. Kyo broke contact first, swinging his katana around in a wide arc, only for Yuki to dodge his second attack and roll away. Time seemed to stop and all could that could be heard was the clang of metal and the silence of two enemies with never ending hatred for each other. Yuki lunged at Kyo, muscles screaming and bleeding from a shallow cut above his left knee, but Kyo was able to parry and swing towards Yuki's legs, casing him to slip on the wet grass. The past few years were not wasted though. Yuki leaped from his seated position, sword held high over his head, and this time Kyo didn't have enough time to dodge fully out of the way, giving Yuki a chance to maneuver other boy's sword out of his hand. Yuki had always been a good samurai, better than Kyo - which caused some of his bitterness. Kyo was always too prideful to ask Yuki for help, and now stood weaponless.

Left with only his fists, Kyo refused to give up the battle. He tried to punch Yuki, but his fist was blocked.

"Kyo! Give up already!"

That moment of hesitation ended up being a deciding moment in the battle. In the next attack, Kyo kicked Yuki then twisted his body to grab his opponent's sword before flinging it away, with Yuki still caught off balance from landing on his injured leg. The boys were well matched, blocking each others attacks but soon their movements became sloppy. But Kyo refused to give up. This was his life's goal, and he would fight to the end to achieve it.

Yuki's persistent onslaught continued, despite his unwillingness. His fist glanced on Kyo's jaw. Kyo fell to the ground, blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth. He gasped for breath, bloody and battered. While Yuki regained his breath and picked up his sword, Kyo scrambled across the muddy dirt in a shoddy, half baked attempt to find his own sword. His fingers finally closed around the cold holster of his katana, and Kyo smiled grimly. 'This is the end,' he thought. 'Its sad, but it needs to happen.'

Kyo stood up shakily and hid the katana behind his kimono. He charged at Yuki. For a moment, one final moment, the boys stood in the rain, falling like glittering crystals from the heavens. They simply stared at each other, a tacit understanding flowing between them. One of us wins, and one of us loses.

Yuki charged first, seeing only his father in the insane boy before him, who was far beyond saving. No more peace making. He had to eradicate the monster this boy had become.

Yuki ran and lunged to plunge his katana deep into the red headed boy's side. He suddenly felt a growing pain erupt from his abdomen as he lunged. The boy with the silver hair fell down exhausted, defeated, and watched as the boy - no, the monster - sickly and slowly removed his sword from his stomach, smiling sadistically and triumphantly.

He looked down at his stomach. He had been tricked. The kimono was being stained with red, and the blood kept flowing. 'What a shame,' Yuki thought. His dear mother Tohru had made him that. It was now ruined. What was he going to tell her?

Kyo laughed maniacally with a wild, savage look in his eyes. He had finally killed him! His one true enemy (a/n: OTE, anyone?)! He jumped up and down. "I've done it! I've done it! I've restored my honor, avenged my parents, and made the one being whom wrecked my life PAY! I'VE DONE IT." While saying the words, he gasped from the pain of his own wound, clutching his side.

Yuki had to laugh and cry at the same time. Kyo asked, "Why are you laughing? You're close to dying. By my hand!" Yuki struggled to form a coherent sentence. He managed to choke out, "I - I was ironically defeated by the monster whom I easily fought off so many times. How did I lose this one time, when it counted the most?" But he continued laughing, tears streaming down his pale, porcelain face, like dainty, delicate china slowly shattering. It was a beautiful yet twisted sight.

"I failed," he mumbled. "But I won't die with regrets. I won't. Does it really make you happy, Kyo, to know, that you've accomplished your only life goal by killing someone else? Does it really? Now the town has one less samurai protecting them. But, even so...I forgive you, Kyo. I forgive you with all my heart. I hope you can forgive me too for not putting an end to you earlier. That was my fault. I was too cruel and merciful to realize what you had become. But I have just one message to you Kyo, before I die."

The beautiful boy with silver hair struggled to choke out his last words, practically drowning in his sobs. Were those tears of happiness? Sadness? Or something else? Kyo didn't know. He could only watch as Yuki, his one true enemy murmured his last words. "Please don't hate. Please learn to forgive, love, and learn from your mistakes. Please - no more hatred. We've had enough of that." Yuki slowly closed his eyes and delicately said with his dying breath, "Please...no...more...hatred..."

And then the boy, the samurai, the brave warrior, the enemy - was no more. Just like that. Kyo collapsed to his knees all of a sudden, gasping as he felt a burning sensation on his side. He slowly traced his fingers down his kimono. Dammit. That son of a bitch had stabbed him the same time he had stabbed him. He delicately grazed his fingers over the wound. He winced. The red headed boy knew in that moment that he would die today as well. At the hands of his enemy. But then again, said enemy died by his hand. So why wasn't he elated?

Yuki was dead. Dead. He was DEAD for God's sake! So why didn't Kyo feel happy? Wasn't this what he had wanted? What he had desired? As Kyo laid dying in the middle of the muddy, bloody battlefield, his short, miserable life played through his head. And he wondered.

He remembered how both he and Yuki decided to train as samurais when they were five, the only ones in their generation willing to take up the responsibility. He remembered getting mad at Yuki for also taking that career option, making him look less unique and special. Getting mad at Yuki for acing the first test in their studies. Getting mad at Yuki for always being better at him in everything - smarter, stronger, kinder, and better liked. Getting mad at Yuki for being initiated as an official samurai at the tender age of fourteen while Kyo still had a year left in his studies.

He also remembered other things. His parents arguing. His dad smashing things. His mother crying. Feeling sick as he saw his mother's dead body, covered in blood. Seeing Yuki suddenly barge in, frantically asking what had happened. Seeing Yuki kill his father in front of his own eyes while sobbing uncontrollably. 'Why was he crying while killing my father?' Kyo didn't know. It was the last straw. He was too busy burying his trauma under his growing hatred of Yuki, too busy blaming someone else in an effort to find a reason to move on.

And now he had accomplished that. But he felt nothing but emptiness inside. 14 years. 14 damn years wasted. 14 years wasted walking down his father's dark path of hatred when he could've done something else with his life. He thought of all the things he could've done in those 14 years, or if he lived after this incident - which was clearly not going to happen. He could've made some friends. Fallen in love. Sadly part with his lover to travel the country, protecting people as a samurai warrior. Then returning back home a celebrated hero, reuniting with his love. He could've had some kids. Taught them how to fight and be brave. He could've died peacefully, content with his happy life. He could've, had he not chosen the path of darkness.

But he had. And now he was dying miserably at age 19 in the rain, staring up into the stars, faint iridescent shades glowing off of them in the pitch black sky. They were beautiful. How had he not noticed them before? How had he gotten so caught up in his delusions? How had his vision got so disoriented because of the hatred?

A single tear traced his way down his cheek. He didn't want to die unhappy and empty. Like Yuki, he wanted to die happy without any regrets. And if that meant getting stuck in his false illusions, then so be it. No matter how wrong he had been, he would push it out of his mind. He would believe that he had done good. It was selfish, but it was the only way for him to enjoy his last moments in peace.

Yuki...Yuki had talked about forgiveness. Walking into the light. His father...his father talked about killing all the 'unworthy weaklings.' About descending into the darkness. Kyo wanted to be free and happy. He had to choose: Light or Dark?

He chose to keep walking down the same path. He was too selfish. Thinking immediately of all the bitterness he held over the years, Kyo laughed again, elated, discovered by chaos and insanity once more.

"I've done it father," he murmured. "I've...done it." Kyo closed his eyes for the last time, a small, triumphant smile wickedly piercing his face like an unwanted decoration.

And then the boy, the samurai, the selfish child, the monster - was no more.

One of us wins, one of us loses. And no one comes out alive.

A/N: Hey guys! So...how was it? After finishing this particular one shot, I felt quite good and proud of myself. I've been wanting to write a fight scene for a long time with samurai and Old Japan type themes. So yeah. I'd like to give a shout out to one of my best friends Izzy, who helped me write the fighting part of this.

In other news, I started watching the Jdrama Hana Yori Dango. For those of you who have watched it, who's your favorite character? And who's mine? The first person who guesses correctly gets the next chapter dedicated to them.

Ja ne,

~Queen Ore-sama ^_^