Fruits Basket

~Another Tiger~

Chapter 4

"Where were you? I was worried sick" Shigure shouted as we came in the door.

"I left you a note, did you not see it?" Tohru added looking at him questioningly.

"No I don't think I did…what happened to Kira!?" he ran over to me, taking me from Kyo. "Kira! Kira, speak to me" he whined.

"…Gure…" my voice was weak, I was tired and sore.

"Oh, Kira, you're alright…what happened to your wrist?" he had found my wrist which was now very red and starting to bruise.

"Akito, that's what happened. Hatori, you never should have left the room. If you could have seen what he did…grr…I HATE THIS!!!" Kyo shouted as he ran up the steps, slamming his door shut.

"…Hari…you left them alone with…Akito?" Shigure couldn't believe his ears.

"I apologize Shigure, but I had no choice in the matter." He just nodded and looked down at me, he could see the dried blood that I had coughed up.

"This blood, it's from Kira…isn't it?" his voice was sad and low, just the thought of things getting that bad made him depressed, and that's saying something.

"Yes, Shigure, it is. She coughed it up earlier when she went into a coughing fit. Kyo brought her down so that I could help her."

"…Gure…m.."

"Shh, shh, shh, it's alright, I'm here…I'm here. Hari, why don't we take her upstairs first, then we can talk?" he took me upstairs and laid me down on the bed, he left after placing a little kiss on the top of my forehead and closed the door. I curled up into a ball and cried myself to sleep not knowing that there was someone watching me.

Next Morning

The sound of coughing could be heard, as Kira woke up coughing. Once again, she coughed up blood. The stranger from the night before, woke up to the sound of coughing. "KIRA!" it was Kyo. He got up from his corner and ran over to Kira, picking her up and running downstairs, luckily for him, Hatori had decided to stay the night just in case. "Hatori! Shigure! HELP!!" he yelled as he came into the living room with Kira in his arms.

"Quickly, lay her down on the couch, get some towels" he did as he was told and ran off to get some towels.

"Kira…Kira, sweetie look at me, Kira breath" I tried to do as I was asked, but it was so hard, with each breath I would take, I would just cough it back out.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no. Is she alright, is she going to be ok-whoa-a-a" Tohru tripped and fell on Hatori and Shigure. POOF.

"Tohru…" they whined in their animal forms.

"Oh I'm so sorry" I watched as a dog walked over to me. COUGH.

"Kira…" hm, wait a sec, I'd know those eyes anywhere.

"…Gure…?" I said reaching my hand out and petting him on the head.

"Yes, it's me, it's Gure" I got off of the couch and sat down on the floor, a sea horse only a few inches away.

"…H-Hari…" I said as I picked him up.

"Yes, it's me" I smiled and kissed him on the head. I held him as I hugged Shigure, coughing into his fur. Surprisingly enough, I had started to calm down as I held onto Hatori and Shigure. I only let go when…POOF. I turned around and hid my face in the couch, my face was completely red.

"Kira…" Shigure whined as I hid my face in the couch.

"Shigure, don't you think that you should put your clothes back on first?" Hatori said dully already dressed, minus his coat (wasn't wearing it)

"Oh opps…heh" he said as he got dressed.

"Kira you can face me if you want, don't worry I'm dressed" Hatori said, as he had set down on the couch on the side of me to block my view of Shigure. I turned around and hugged him, hiding my face in his chest.

"Alright, I'm dressed now…mm…don't I get a hug?" I grinned at his childish behavior and ran over to him, jumping into his arms and laughing a bit. "I think that you should go back to sleep Kira, it's still too early for you to be up" Shigure said as he set me on the couch and covered me up with a blanket.

"Yes, I think that that would be best for now." I yawned as Hatori and Shigure went into the other room to leave me to sleep. "Shigure…I think I've figured out the answer to her problem" he said seriously.

"What's that?" Shigure asked.

"I think that if one of us is in our animal form, then it calms her down and then the coughing would stop. I think that that's the solution" he said astounded by his findings.

"Hm? But I don't understand Hari…how…how could that stop her coughing though?"

"I'm not completely sure Shigure, but I think that it might be effecting her emotionally, and there for has a sort of calming effect for her. I believe that she might possibly be like Yuki. We both know how Yuki was when he was smaller. That's why we kept him inside because he broncile tubes were so sensitive. I think that stress is what brings this on for her." Shigure sat there listening and processing it, thinking it over.

"So as long as we are able to turn into our animal forms when she starts coughing, we can stop it?"

"Yes, that's correct. It would be a lot better instead of giving her injections, if she doesn't really need them. I'm not completely sure what the long term effects would be if I continued to give her those injections, so it would be a lot safer for her instead of the injections." Shigure nodded, going into the living room again. He sat down on the couch, laying my head on his lap. (nothing perverted people remember brother and sister relationship ONLY) taking his hand and stroking my head/face in a brotherly way .

"Hari…what will happen though if Tohru isn't around though to change us into our animals, or anyone else for that matter…including you?" he asked sadly. There was a long pause before anything was said.

"I'm…not sure Shigure, but I'd rather not think about it. All that we would be able to do is hope that she would overcome it on her own."

**but what if she can't?...what would happen then…?** he thought to himself sadly. He loved Kira, she was like a sister to him and he couldn't bare it if anything happened to her.

"…m…" she shifted in her sleep grabbing his hand and snuggling closer to him, making Shigure laugh a little.

"I think that I should most likely get going now, and Shigure…Akito demands a meeting with her a week from now…" Hatori said quietly as he looked away.

"What!? But why?...please Hari…tell me it's not true…please…?" he pleaded as he looked at Hatori with teary eyes.

"…I'm sorry Shigure, but it can't be helped, but you may come along incase anything does happen if you want" he said as he left without another word.

"…What are we going to do?..." he said quietly to himself as he looked down at you slightly. He hadn't forgotten what Akito had done to you yesterday, in fact, the spot on your wrist had already started to bruise over now. (sigh) a little while after, he fell asleep with your head still on his lap, you still on the couch.

3 Days Later

It was around 11:00 A.M. now, as you started to finally wake up. (yawn) stretching a little, you noticed someone beside you. It was Shigure, he was asleep on the couch without a sound. You got up quietly and gently laid the blanket on top of him to keep him warm as he slept. You see, for the last three days, you've made the couch your home, sleeping there, and every morning, you would find Shigure right there with you, watching over you. Once you finished, you tip toed out of the room, upstairs and on top of the roof, careful not to wake anyone up. You just sat there on top of the roof, letting what was left of the cool morning air blow through your hair and against your smooth skin.

YOUR POV

It felt so good just sitting there, nothing but the wind and myself, it was so peaceful that it calmed my spirit letting me feel at ease. To be honest, it was rather hard to be like that now a days, it's been hard to truly feel happy these past nine years…sigh…it's hard to believe that it's been nine years now, nine years since I had finally decided to close myself off, nine years since everything had finally decided to collapse and fall apart, nine years since I started to tune everything out, nine years since I was able to talk, nine years since I was willing to do anything at all. Yes, it's been that long, it's been nine years since I was willing to live, nine years since I had the courage to try, nine years since I was thrown away and forgotten, nine years since I was able to breathe in freedom. My thoughts were interrupted by panicked yelling. "Kira!? KIRA!? KIRA!!! KIRA WHERE ARE YOU? KIRA!!!!"

"what's going on?" Yuki asked, stretching a bit.

"Kira's missing, she's gone!" Shigure cried.

"WHAT!?" Kyo yelled.

"we must find her then" Shigure said.

"I agree Shigure" Yuki said, nodding.

"KIRA!?!?!?" Kyo shouted.

Sigh. Must they really yell? I just continued to sit there on the edge of the roof as their cries faded into the back of my mind. Nine years and yet I still don't have the courage nor will to speak, I still don't understand anything, I can't even manage to survive on my own. To think, all of my childhood I had tried to gain my parents attention, trying to be the best daughter that I could be, trying to be normal…trying to make them…happy…but I never could, I never could make my parents happy, I never could be the best daughter I could be…I never could…be…normal…

"KIRA!!!" I jumped, as I was brought back to reality and faced with a red faced Kyo. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING UP HERE!? DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU'VE CAUSED!?" I flinched at his words, I didn't like being yelled at, especially when I didn't do anything wrong to begin with. "WELL ARE YOU JUST GOING TO STAND THERE ALL DAY OR WHAT!?" I looked down ashamed of myself and slowly started getting up, but when I was about to take a step forward, something unexpected happened. Shigure had run into a wall in the house with a great amount of force causing the house to shake, and in return, causing me to lose my balance falling backwards off of the roof. "KIRA!" Kyo yelled racing towards me trying to catch my hand, unfortunately, I was a bit too far out of reach and continued to plummet to the ground. "KIRA!" Yuki yelled as he ran to catch me. THUD!!!

"Uhh……." I had landed on top of Yuki luckily, though I couldn't say that Yuki was all that lucky. He laid there on the ground swirly eyed and Kyo laughing bit but off.

"Are you ok Kira?" Yuki asked still swirly eyed on the ground as I nodded my head.

"Well ya dumb rat, looks like you're good for something after all!" at that moment, Yuki shot up glaring at Kyo.

"Me? At least I did something. This is your fault stupid cat." Kyo jumped down off of the roof, landing on the ground he tried to kick Yuki in the head.

"SHUT UP! YOU ALWAYS BLAME ME! IT'S ALWAYS MY FAULT! GRR…IF SHE HADN'T BEEN ON THE ROOF TO BEGIN WITH, THEN THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!" I flinched at his words once again.

"Well maybe it was to get away from you. Stupid cat" Yuki said simply.

"GRR…I SAID SHUT UP!" he took another kick towards Yuki's head, missing for the second time. "YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME, MAYBE SHE RAN TO GET AWAY FROM YOU!!"

"That's ludicrous. I've done nothing to earn such a thing. You on the other hand, how many times have you gone and yelled at her? Hm? You scare her every time."

"YEAH!? WELL IF SHE'S TOUGHIN UP A BIT IT WOULDN'T MATTER! NOT TO MENTION SHE DOESN'T USE HER HEAD!" he yelled throwing punch after punch at Yuki, with Yuki blocking everyone of them and trying to send back some of his own. Kyo's yelling and his and Yuki's fighting continued, until Kyo dodged one of Yuki's kicks and was sent towards me. The sound of his foot hitting my head could be heard, then a loud thud. All was quiet as I laid there motionless, frozen in place unable to move. Yuki had sent me flying a couple of feet. I made absolutely no sound what so ever, my mind blank, it was as though something had shattered.

"…Kira…" that was all that was said. Shigure came running to my side and kneeled down beside me.

"Kira…" he held me close, though still no reaction, I didn't even try to move.

"I'm sorry…" Yuki said quietly with sorrow filled eyes, he had no idea that something like that would happen. Still I made no sign of movement, I just laid there like a lifeless doll.

"Grr…THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!" Kyo lunged at Yuki, landing a single punch, then wham, Kyo was kicked right in the gut.

"If you had just taken the hit like a man, then this wouldn't have happened"

"IF YOU HADN'T TRIED TO KICK ME IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEN SHE NEVER WOULD HAVE GOTTIN HIT!!!" I still remained silent through it all as Shigure lifted me up into his arms and slowly carried me into the house. He walked up the stairs and down the hallway to my room. There, he opened the door, walking in, he placed me gently on my bed and left. He went back outside to yell at Yuki and Kyo. I reached for the phone subconsciously (you have one in your room), picking it up I dialed in a number. I could hear the ringing of the other end as it lay on my bed, as I stare out at nothing.

"Hello?...Hello, is anyone there?" it was Hatori on the other end.

"STAY OUT OF THIS SHIGURE!!!"

"No I won't! do you two realize what you've done!? Did you see her!?" Shigure shouted angrily.

"I SAID STAY OUT OF THIS!" THUD. Shigure was thrown to the ground.

"Kira is that you? What's going on over there?" Hatori asked getting worried. I didn't say a word, all that I did was press a button to let him know that it was me.

"How dare you! I let you live here and that's how you repay me!?" Shigure yelled.

"Kira what's going on? Are you alright?" he started to worry.

"…Ha…ri…" that was all that I said as I lay there on my bed.

"SHUT UP!!!" part of the house shook, it caused a shelf to fall and glass to break, but I didn't budge.

"Kira?...Kira?...I'm coming over, stay where you are." With that he hung up, though I didn't touch the phone after that, so you could hear the sound the BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP sound that tells you that the other person has hung up. I sat there as the others continued to yell and fight outside, I was just lost within myself, lost in my own little world. 5 minutes had probably passed by when Hatori finally got there. He wasted no time in going up to my room to see me, though when he saw me, he wasn't too happy. "…Kira…" he slowly walked over to my bed, turning the phone off, he sat down by my side and looked at me. "Kira…" he place his hand on my cheek and rubbed it gently, he then pulled me to him and held me close. "I'm truly sorry that this had to happen to you" he then picked me up and held me in his arms with my head placed gently against his chest as he left the room. When he got outside, everything stopped, both the yelling and the fighting. "I'm disappointed in you…all of you. I thought that you would have behaved better than this…I guess I was wrong. She will be staying with me for the time being, good bye" Shigure started to cry as Hatori took you away, while Yuki and Kyo just stood there silently not knowing how to respond.

"…Kira…" Shigure cried as you disappeared from site. Hatori walked all the way back to the Sohma family compound, his car was in the shop today, so he couldn't use it. When he got back to his personal office, he went into another room I'm guessing it was his living quarters and laid me down on his bed. He set down beside me, and pulled me into his chest where I grabbed his shirt and buried my face in his chest. I was still a kid, a kid who didn't understand life, a kid craving for attention, a kid that just wants to be loved…that's all. Luckily, I had Hatori there to comfort me as my mind was still spinning in a way.

"It's alright, don't worry, you're staying here with me for a while" I was a little happier as he told me this, since I had actually wanted to stay with him from the very beginning. We just sat there for a while with him holding me, like a father would his scared little girl. You see, that's why I love Hatori, he's like a father to me, a real father and he understands me better than anyone else does.

"…Ha…ri…m…" I tried to talk, though I still couldn't manage to talk fully.

"Come, let's get you something to eat" he said with a small smile on his handsome face. He picked me up and carried me into his study where he sat me down in a big black chair. "I'll be right back" he left and went into what I guess is the kitchen and came back about a minute later holding a basket of fruit and a knife. He slowly started to cut a piece off of the side of an apple, then tried to hand it to me, but I wouldn't take it (still can't really move) he frowned a little, but then knew what he had to do. "Here" he said as he took my hand placing the bit of apple in it and placed it to my lips. He pressed down a little, which caused me to open my mouth a little bit. I then took a small bite out of it and swallowed. "There we go, that's much better" he smiled slightly as he continued to feed me. RING. RING. RING.R-"Hello?...alright understood" he hung up the phone and then looked toward me. "Apparently Akito needs me, so I'll be gone for a little while, will you be alright by yourself?" I merely nodded my head in understanding as I kept my expressionless face. "Hm…well, I'll be back as soon as I can, why don't you get some rest while I'm gone" with that he left the room and headed towards where Akito dwelled. I just sat there for a while just staring at nothing in particular until I decided to get up. I stood slowly, then step by step headed towards one of the doors that led outside. I set down on the porch, not really caring if it was a bit chilly outside or not and just stared out at the pond as I lost myself within the confines of my mind. Maybe Kyo was right…maybe I am nothing but trouble, that's all I ever do is cause trouble. Maybe I should just give up on even trying, it's not like I can do much good anyways, so why even try…if I had never gone on the roof, then none of this would have ever happened…if I had never gone on the roof, then I wouldn't be in this mess right now… I never would have gotten hurt…I never would have fallen…

FLASH BACK~

...WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING UP HERE!? DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU'VE CAUSED!?... ...are you okay Kira?... ...IF SHE HADN'T BEEN ON THE ROOF TO BEGIN WITH, THEN THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!... …TOUGHIN UP A BIT…, DOESN'T USE HER HEAD!... …NEVER WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HIT!... … STAY OUT OF THIS!!!... … I'm coming over… everything kept flashing through my head, over, and over, and over, and over again, all the yelling, all of the punches, the kicks, everything, it was just too much. It just kept repeating itself in my head like a broken record, and to think…I could have prevented it all…I don't know how long I was out there, but the next thing I knew Hatori was back and bringing me inside and out of the cold.

"Kira…you've been out there this entire time…haven't you?" he looked down upon me as I looked up at him, I just looked into his eyes as though telling him the answer and then looked back down. "Sigh…Kira, you shouldn't do that, you could make yourself sick"………………………………….

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Well, there's chapter 4. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember, please Review? Please? I need reviews. Please and thank you.