~CHAPTER 10~

Yuki had been fulfilling that vow every single day, too. He was amazing, and he waited on her head to toe. Tohru was immensely grateful, to say the least. It was hard on both of them, and Yuki had put up with her through it all.

"Yuki-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Are strawberries finished for the season?"

They did this mostly every day. He would wheel her to the secret base with him as he tended to his garden, and she would keep him company.

"Yes, unfortunately. There are still carrots, lettuce and leaks though."

"Ah, I see." She fidgeted with her dress in her lap, "Good thing Kyo-kun is not here with us then!" She laughed.

"That is always a good thing," he joked back dryly.

He would wheel her to the edge of the garden and begin his work, and she would simply watch, making small talk here and there. She looked down bitterly at her casted legs and the pillow she held firmly to her ribcage.

"They look to be coming along nicely though, Yuki-kun! You are an expert gardener." She smiled at the way he was careful with each individual plant.

He chuckled, blushing a bit, "I wouldn't say I'm an expert." As he finished harvesting the new crops, he walked back over to her gingerly, setting a basket full of different veggies in her lap. He would do this every time he could because he knew it made her feel like she was helping. She smiled brightly up at him.

"They look delicious! We can prepare these with lunch today!" His hand found the back of his neck nervously at the thought of cooking.

"Heh, yeah . . ."

"We will need to hide the leaks from Kyo-kun though . . ." she giggled as he took hold of the handles of her wheelchair and moved them to the direction of the house.

"Or we could hide Kyo from lunch."

'You goddamn son of a bitch!' Kyo roared, busting down the familiar door. Akito lay draped over the kotatsu. His heavy daze quickly replaced by annoyance as he smirked at the cat.

'Coming to me in that manner – honestly, what is the matter with you? Must you continue to act like such a monster? Even now?'

'You did this, you murderous little fuck! I'll kill you, I'll kill you!' Kyo pounced from the opposite end of the room, crushing Akito's neck with his hands. 'Die . . ." Fire spewed from his teeth, and burned in his eyes, ignited by his soul and the memory of Tohru lying on a hospital bed.

In a flash, he felt arms tugging him backward, pulling at him in an attempt to save Akito. 'Get off me!' He screamed, fastening his fingers tighter around Akito's neck, listening to the noises he made – gurgling and choking.

From upstairs, he could hear Tohru and his cousin making their entrance, awakening him. Kyo sighed, sitting up in bed to gather his thoughts.

"Hey."

Tohru locked eyes with him as he walked casually down the steps. "Oh, Kyo-kun! What would you like for lunch?" She motioned to the freshly picked foods from the base in her lap.

"Um, anything is fine really."

Tohru began handing Yuki different ingredients from her lap to throw into the pot on the stove.

The vegetable stew was good, but it lacked everything it had before now that Yuki was making it - under Tohru's supervision, of course. "Kyo-kun, did you go to Shishou's today?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah . . . it was fine."

"I'm glad!" She bubbled happily as Yuki gathered the dirty dishes for Tohru and started for the sink.

"How's . . . your ribs?"

"Eh? Oh, u-um . . ." She tugged a little tighter on her pillow, pulling it closer. "They're fine." She got quieter, gazing over at Yuki who was doing her usual housework for her. "Healing up in no time!"

"Yeah…" Kyo's hand travelled awkwardly to the back of his neck.

"Huh?! How does that feel?!" As Shigure finally tore Kyo hands away from Akito's neck, Kyo began furiously kicking Akito in the ribs in any effort to cause him pain – even if it was only a fraction of the pain Tohru had felt - even if it was only for a moment.

As Hatori and Shigure maneuvered Kyo to the other side of the room, Akito lay crumpled on the floor, desperately gasping for air.

"You… monster… would do this… to your God?"

"You – you are not anything to me. You will never be anything."Kyo watched the blood drip from Akito's mouth as he spoke.

"Do you want to go to the dojo with me, Tohru?"

"Eh?!" Suddenly, her eyes lit in glee. "I-I would love to! Yes!" Yuki studied Kyo with distrusting eyes.

"Could I borrow her… for the day?" He mumbled awkwardly, yet full of annoyance that he needed to ask permission in the first place. He couldn't understand how his cousin could feel so damned entitled to her now – this was his stupid fault after all, wasn't it? Yet if Kyo wanted to spend time with Tohru now, he felt the need to ask for her.

"Why would you ask me that?" Yuki huffed.

"I would love to go with you, Kyo-kun."

"There you have it." He grumbled, scrubbing the inside of a pan with slightly more fury.

"Yuki-kun…"

"Are you ready, Tohru? Do you need me to get you anything?"

"No, no. Let's go. I'm so excited! It has been a long time since I have seen Shishou." Kyo grabbed at the handles of her wheelchair to wheel her toward the door.

Kyo helped Tohru with her shoes. All the while, he could feel Yuki's eyes burning holes in him it seemed. He glanced up while putting on his own shoes, and sure enough Yuki was glaring at him as if to say 'don't fuck up.' "We'll be back."

"Yeah – dinner will be ready at six." Yuki replied in a flat, heavy tone.

As Kyo pushed Tohru down the sidewalk, his thoughts couldn't help but wander back to that day. That awful day.

"It's because you lost." Akito's words slashed the air around Kyo – a jolt in his heart caused him to pause.

"What…"

"You lost, didn't you? To Yuki. You still couldn't win – not even the girl." Akito began chuckling. "Pitiful. Though… I imagine it is difficult to love a monster like you. Especially after she saw how ugly you truly were."

Tears streamed down Kyo's face – he couldn't decipher if they had been tears of sadness or of pure hatred. "I… know. I already know that. You don't have to tell me," Kyo breathed, "You are the worst though.

"Out of us all, it's you that is the worst monster of us all."

"Goddamn asshole," Yuki threw the dishrag into the sink violently, watching the two of them leave the property. It was no use. He wasn't entirely sure when he started pacing around the kitchen, but his body was willing him on its own accord. His nerves were shot. Had they arrived? Kyo better not come back with a damn scratch on her… Not like I'm not her father.

Cringe.

I don't want to be either. "Damn it…" With a sigh, he called a quits on the chores of the day and began up the steps. Just as he was heading to his room for a relaxing read, something urged him further down the hall to the wide open door at the end. He stood still in the frame of the door – her bed was stripped, closets empty, and it was quiet – oh so very quiet. He wondered briefly if this was how she felt all the time – consumed by the quiet of this big, empty room. His eyes caught the familiar book that was the cause of all that had happened this past few months.

Ignoring his urge to light the damn thing on fire, he approached it calmly. The last entry was months ago – the night Tohru fell. Or in her words, the night she 'gave up.' He traced her lonely words. How had he forgotten to hide this from her? Of course, it's not as if she could wheel up the stairs and grab it, but…

As far as saving future problems goes… He snatched it, leaving the cold, quiet room alone, shutting the door behind him.