Sorry for the wait…let's just get straight to it then, shall we? (:

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Yuki slowly turned his head. His eyes stared into space, and within its purple depths was an expression of absolute sadness and hopelessness. Shigure felt his heart breaking just looking at him. He opened his mouth to protest again, when Yuki finally moved his pale lips.

"I…"The voice was barely audible, and trailed off into silence. Only Akito seemed to have heard everything he said, a wider smile evident on the clan head's face.

The tension in the air grew heavier. No one dared to speak, desperate to know what Yuki had whispered.

Akito enlightened them. "Yuki says he's staying." A cruel smirk followed the sentence.

"Why?" shouted Shigure, frustrated. "What have you told him? What lies have you brainwashed him with this time?"

Akito's smirk vanished, replace by a frown. "Watch how you talk to me, Shigure. I won't accept such impudence."

The dog bit his lip. It wouldn't do to lose his temper. "Okay. What have you told Yuki?"

"Nothing…but the truth."

Nobody believed Akito. The deity's definition of truth was disputable.

Akito noticed the suspicious glares. With a thin smile, "I merely told him what he always knew, deep down in his heart. He knows now that he's not wanted with you people. That he's safe with me. Don't…hurt him again by teasing him with your lies of wanting him to live with you."

Haru lost it first. "Who's lying? You're the one terrorizing him, making him live in this nightmare!"

The deity directed a death glare his way. "Watch your tongue, you filthy cow." A hand possessively stroked Yuki's hair. "In any case…the truth is whatever Yuki wants to believe in. Since Yuki thinks you've abandoned him, telling him that you want to take him back…would be a lie. I think it's best that Yuki doesn't get confused, ne?"

Silence again. Akito leaned back into the shadows, but not before lazily waving his hand at them. Dismissed. Yet no one moved…until Tohru turned.

"Tohru?" Kyo's voice was incredulous. Hatori arched an eyebrow, his expression unreadable. Haru glared at her. Ayame wrinkled his forehead in confusion. Shigure glanced at her sharply out of the corner of his eye.

"I…I think it's best that we obey Akito-sama and leave." Tohru's voice was tremulous, and Kyo knew that she was trying not to cry. "As…as long as Yuki's not hurt. Physically."

Hatori understood first. "She's right. We should go."

Shigure glared at him coolly. "But of course." The doctor bowed his head. Shigure sighed. Why? "Let's go…"

Haru and Kyo wordlessly obeyed, walking out of the room after a brief glance at Yuki. Tohru, her eyes suspiciously bright, hurried after them. Yuki did not even look at them. Ayame didn't move, until Hatori gently touched his elbow. The both of them followed the teenagers, the silence unbroken.

Shigure was the last to leave. Even as he passed through the doorframe, he turned back. Akito's smile was visible as a white flash in the dark. Physical hurt, thought Shigure grimly, is not the only hurt Akito is capable of dealing out. He left, that thought weighing down every footstep away from the room.

Back in the room, Akito hummed softly, gently cradling a crying Yuki.

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Drama, yeah…XD Please R&R! Reviews really make my day!!!