I hate that I never update this stuff... I looked today and realize that this story has 91 followers? That's... Motivating, and I'm sorry to those who were interested in this story and probably lost that interest when I never updated it.
I reread the story so far myself and I was getting pretty in to it. There's nothin' more cool than reading a story that isn't that familiar and getting to the end with the knowledge that you get to choose what happens next. My first thought is sexy kyo and haru pr0n, of course -ecchipervertface- But the story must go on, I have decided. !_! If anyone has read my previous stories, then you know they tend to drift down a dark path.
Chapter 3
Kyo was scowling down in to the sink as he brushed his teeth, probably a little too jerkily to seem normal. One would think that he was punishing his poor gums.
The truth was, he was still troubled about all that happened at school the other day. Since then, the ox had been absent. He kept picturing the last image of Haru that day, with that dazed and troubled expression darkening his features.
He spit the remnants of toothpaste into the sink and turned on the faucet.
It almost seemed to be an inner conflict with himself. One part wondering why he shouldn't just drop it, the other part not being able to deny that he was concerned. The question was why? It didn't have anything to do with him directly.
But it was nagging. Had something happened? There was no way he would know, being someone who was basically outcasted from the main house where they resided.
Not to mention for a guy who was in everyone's business, he was pretty unreadable when it came to himself. Or more like, he didn't project much when it came to emotion, outside of his alter ego. Because of the curse and the way they were raised and treated, Haru had grown to have two sides... The calm, collective side... And obviously the troublemaker side that took a brunt of the damage.
Maybe his switch finally broke? Like he blew a fuse, or something. Was that repairable?
"Ergh.." He growled under his breath, jerkily turning off the water and stomping out of the bathroom.
He felt so out of character.
"You wanna repeat that again?" Some guy was saying. He was red in the face and standing far too close for comfort, and judging by his demeanor, he wasn't going for a hug.
Haru, feeling a little disoriented, blinked blankly. He didn't reply. After all, he didn't know what he said to , either.
..Again so soon?
"What, not acting so tough now, are ya punk?" The other was saying, huffing and puffing and practically spitting with every word.
It didn't take much effort to dismiss the guy with a raise of his hand and walk away without a word, leaving the guy blinking in confusion with his fists clenched at his sides yelling a hesitant "H-hey!" to his retreating back.
Habitually, his hands found their way into the pockets of the black slacks he was wearing and he felt his phone vibrate against the fingers of his right hand. When he pulled it out to glance at the screen, which was difficult to see in the sunlight he paused on the sidewalk.
The amount of missed calls was... Alot.
He glanced at the time and the jump just made him feel even more disoriented. The date was .. The wrong date.
Glancing around himself, feeling only slightly panicked and apprehensive. He'd say it looked vaguely familiar, which meant it was obviously near home or the school. He plopped down on one of the publish benches flat on his back, and glanced through the text messages.
'Where are you' - Hatori
'You're not answering your phone' - Hatori
Very deductive. He snorted.
'Hatori is getting mad where did u go?' - Momiji
Did he go home at all yesterday?
'Are you lost? Call me.' -Hatori
From then on they all got pretty repetitive. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, the feeling of the warm sun against his face making the faint pounding in his head not so noticable.
"Haru." It was a familiar, soft but stern voice.
His soft gray eyes cracked open slowly to look at the person who was sitting on the small empty portion of the bench that he hadn't taken up with his body. He pushed himself up, meeting the beautiful dark eyes that seemed to bore in to his.
"Rin.." He said softly, with adoration and something much more saddening underneath.
She didn't return it with a warm look. Her expression remained cold and unrelenting.
'We can't do it.' She was saying, glancing down with her pale skin looking so much more pale than usual.. Her black hair falling in to her face. He reached out to brush the strands away from her brow, and her eyes met his again. A single tear trying to escape from the corner of her eye. There was a bandage hiding a mysterious wound that ran from her cheek bone to her jawline. And yet she still looked tragically beautiful.
Everything in him went cold, already knowing what the cause of it was. Who the cause of it was..
Her delicate fingers reached up to wrap around his wrist, the grip shockingly strong and as cold as ice. So cold he swear he felt it seep through his entire being, leaving him feeling.. Sad. Angry. Alone.
'We can never be happy here'.
'I'm tired.'
'Tired of you.'
"H-Hatsuharu?" Came another soft female voice, cutting in. It sounded lighter, like the weight of the world wasn't holding it down.
A dream..
Tohru sat on the bench, apparently frozen in place. Eyes wide and her face 3 different shades of red. Haru's hand, which was extended and his finger tips barely brushing against the smooth skin just above her eyebrow as if to push her bangs aside, moved up to ruffle the hair atop her head to save her from her confusion and discomfort.
"So it's Tohru, huh." He said flatly, laying back down and folding his arms behind his head.
Silence ensued while Tohru continued to silently sit by his side and he continued to ignore her out of what would seem, disinterest.
"Were you dreaming of something before?" She finally asked hesitantly, "You looked very sad." Apparently that was what she had observed. All of the emotions that swirled around in him seemed alot more severe than sadness.
tick.
His answer was silence, but that didn't seem to dissuade the young brunette. One of her charms, most would say.
"If you want to talk about it-"
tick.
"Not interested." He sat up and pushed himself up from the bench, intent on relocating himself. But he wasn't surprised to here the soft patter of footsteps behind him.
tick.
"But m-maybe-"
tock.
He swirled around, which apparently startled her because she jumped.
"Maybe what?" He asked. Or rather snapped, taking a step as he did so. She apparently wasn't as dense as they gave her credit for, because she reflexively took a step back.
"Maybe I can tell you my life story? "
One step.
"So you can pretend to understand and care..?"
Another step.
"You'll pat me on the back and tell me everything is going to be okay..?"
Another step.
"And then you'll bat your eyelashes and twirl your hair around your finger and everyone will go all doe-eyed and live happily every after? Don't give me that bull shit, do I look like Yuki to you? This is real life, princess."
There was no where else for the long haired girl to go, having backed herself into a corner. She started and glanced over her shoulder at the solid wall that was there before looking back at the taller male in front of her.
He stared down at her, but it only felt like he was looking right through her.
"That's it? What a joke.." He said coldly.
Her lips parted and closed. She was at a loss and for a moment she looked crushed. Completely battered by his harsh, accusing words.
"I..." She gathered herself for a moment. "I just want to do what I can to help.."
The ox regarded her coolly for a moment, his stony gaze making her fidget.
"I know one way you can help me." He said quietly, his fingers moving up to run along the length of a lock of brown hair that hung loosely from the yellow ribbon in her hair. Once he reached the end, they moved to tracing the collar the of medium cut shirt she was wearing.
She didn't flinch or push him away, but stared at him with those wide eyes. Full of such innocence. So naive and eager to jump in and take on someone else's problems regardless of whether or not there's a benefit in it for her. Somehow he felt disgusted.
"How fucking chivalrous." He said, unimpressed. "Go home already." He ordered, pushing away from the girl and walking in the opposite direction without looking back to see Tohru's knees buckle under the sudden loss of tension. She didn't follow him, to say the least.
"-seen him at all?" Shigure's voice got more clear as she moved from the living room into the kitchen.
"Tori says he never came home from school." He seemed exasperated. Yuki had a troubled expression. Kyo was leaning against the railing on the stairs, like he'd stopped himself in the middle of coming down from his room. His expression showed a mix of frustration and concern. They glanced at her when she shuffled in.
"Something is wrong." Tohru said quietly, setting the small grocery bag on the counter top, which was the whole reason she'd been out and happened to pass the sleeping ox. That expression of such built up contempt and the lack of emotion in his gaze. It was haunting.
"You're right. Haru is missing." Shigure pointed out.
She shook her head at the statement, looking down at her hands that were gripping the edge of the counter through her bangs. "There is something wrong with him.. Something horribly wrong." Her voice was slowly getting thick with emotion, which was alarming for the frail girl.
"What do you mean? More importantly, did you see Haru just now?" The dog asked, tilting his head to try for a better look at his flower, but there was a curtain of hair covering her face.
"Did he do something to you, Miss Honda?" Yuki demanded, coming up on her other side. Tohru looked at him with wide eyes, barely suppressing tears when she recalled the confrontation.. To be so dismissive and cruel..
"H-he's not Hatsuharu." She hiccupped, thinking of the quietly considerate ox she knew that never hesitated to listen with a small spaced out smile when she was rambling. Or the protective brother figure that searched high and low when Kisa was hiding and sighed in utter relief when he found her even though all he got in the end was a sharp bite.
Yuki's hands were on her shoulders, concern etching his features. Haru had definitely been strange lately, but to lay a hand on Tohru?
"I couldn't do anything." She said, the guilt she felt over the situation was drawn all over her face, even though she didn't even know what was going on.. just that it felt wrong to see one of her close friends with that kind if expression. It hurt.
She opened her mouth to speak as a tear managed to squeeze its way out when large towel flopped over her head, thanks to a certain ill-mannered redhead.
"What do you think you are, a super hero? Give me a break..." His voice was drifting off, she realized when she peeked out from beneath the towel, because the cat was walking out of the room. She sniffed and took a deep breath, knowing that was Kyo's own awkward way of trying to console her and tell her that it'd work out in the end.
She could only hope.
Haru didn't bat an eyelash when he felt someone sit down next to him, keeping his flat gaze on the quiet stream in front of him. He didn't say anything or bother to even acknowledge the other.
Kyo, to be honest, was surprised to have found the ox so quickly. He'd only thought to look along the path that Tohru would generally take to get to the store and back, but had decided to take one of the wooded paths to an area that he remembered them visiting as children. He stepped out from the trees and there the other was with his back to him, his long legs stretched out in front of him as he watched the water.
Silence can only go on for so long.
"What's the deal?" Kyo finally asked. Just from looking at the others profile, it was still obvious he'd been fighting...With someone.
Haru didn't look at him, but snorted. "Come to make idle chit chat?" He glanced at the cat. "Get to the point."
Kyo's brows furrowed. "What did you do to Tohru?"
The question made Haru laugh. Sudden, loud and humorless. "Did she tell you?" He asked, tossing a small stone he held into the water and sending a sidelong glance at the redhead. Tohru had been right, the look on the white haired teens face... It didn't seem like Haru at all.
"Tell me what?"
A malicious smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "That I almost gobbled her up."
Kyo's eyes lit up light a bonfire at midnight. Anger so hot that you could probably feel it at that proximity.
"You what? Bastard..!" He growled grabbing a handful of Haru's shirt and giving him a good jerk that almost pulled the taller male on top of him. He shoved him to the side, which left Haru's back digging into uncomfortable gravel. His fist was pulled so tight that it hurt.
"She's so unguarded and naive, she didn't even push me away when I-."
"Enough!" Kyo hollered, though it didn't wipe the baiting look off of the ox's face. What the hell, he didn't know what to do. By Kyo reasoning, the only thing to do is knock the living shit out of the little ass hole.
"I know you didn't do anything." He said, trying to be coolheaded. For once. "Tohru loves you, even though you're a big jack ass. You love her too, don't you?"
The white and black haired teenager's face drifted back to a some what normal expression of blankness. His eyes remained completely flat, like the words hadn't effected him at all.
"I don't feel anything." He said tonelessly.
"Then snap out of it!" Kyo scowled, glaring down at the other. "You're not yourself right now and you're pissin' me off."
Haru's eyes narrowed. "I have." He answered. "I've bent and bent. For this family. For this curse. I've bent so far that I've already snapped. You're broken just like I am, Kyo. You just don't realize it yet. You're too stupid and head strong to notice it."
"Who are you calling stupi-" Kyo began to retaliate but he stopped short when Haru reached up at him, catching him off guard. He'd expected a solid hit, but all he felt was the others hand brush against the side of his face.
"You haven't had much experience with it." Haru said, and for the first time since Kyo had gotten there, he saw a spark of emotion behind the others grey eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows at the ox that was still just lying in the dirt, looking up at him with a reminiscent but regretful look as his fingers brushed over his forehead, pushing his fiery red hair away for just a moment before it fell back into its rightful place.
The redhead was too baffled to say anything. This wasn't the usual Black Haru perversion. It went deeper than that. At least, it's what it felt like.
"Just..Closeness." He sighed, fingers trailing down the cats temple, a palm brushing against his cheek..A thumb running over his jaw."Warmth." Despite the cold tone, the cow's fingertips seemed to almost be on fire. "Being able to enjoy the sensation of just a simple touch. And you think you're happy..Until it's gone." He said, pulling his hand away and sitting up. It was almost like he'd been trying to make a point.
The neko could feel remnants of the heat where the white haired male had touched him, but once he retreated it felt as if those very spots were being attacked by the coldness.
"There's no such thing as love in our world. It's just an illusion that cuts you when it shatters." Haru said impassively as he pushed himself up and casually brushed the dirt off his pants.
He glanced at the redhead and their eyes met for a moment as he tried to read the other, but after a second he seemed to shrug it off and started toward the tree line.
"Thanks for the chit-chat, kitty-cat." He said with one-handed wave, not looking back. He used a goading tone, as if he just easily dismissed what they'd just spoke about.
Kyo was left feeling... Unsure of what he should be feeling. Confused? Depressed? Concerned? Mad? Alone?
One thing was obvious. Something inside of Hatsuharu Sohma had broken into a thousand tiny pieces somewhere along the way.
And his face was still burning.
TBC
So I'm thinking about a little more HaruxKyoxHaru action in the next chapter. Dunno if it's obvious, but I kind of want it to build up a little and not be completely and retardedly random. (I want plot AND... smexy stuff? Can you do both? Hmm...)
Anyway, thanks for reading. Feel free to review and give me your opinions. - Kuu.
