Lies and Deception
Chapter 11
By: FayeValentine00 (Sarah-chan)


We stepped up to the gate of the main house and I couldn't help but pause a moment. The last time I'd been here, Akito had tried ruin everything and forced me to leave all of my friends behind. this time would be different. With everyone's support, Akito had to accept us. I NEEDED Akito to accept us.


I felt a squeeze at my hand and looked up to see Yuki smiling down at me. A moment later I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Kyo with a similar expression.


"Good luck. Kagure and I will wait out here."


"Thank you."


Taking one last breath, I let go of Yuki's hand and led Shigure, Ayame, Hatori, Momiji and Yuki into the building that scared me so much.


We sat down and waited for Akito who lay lounging on the patio, just outside the door.


"Tohru ... you never listen, do you?" Akito's voice was soft and when I didn't answer, he continued talking. "I told you not to tell anyone. I said that you needed to leave. You don't belong here! YOU'LL NEVER BELONG HERE!"


In a quick motion, Akito was on his feet and a moment later he was standing in front of me. I couldn't help but cringe as memories flowed back to me from that time when Akito had attacked me after seeing Kyo's true form.


"Did it hurt, Tohru?" His voice was suddenly very condescending. "Were you sad?"


I didn't answer him. I wasn't sure what to say. What was he trying to prove to me. We both knew that Leaving the family had hurt me deeply so why throw it into my face.


"All of you were wrong." Akito suddenly addressed the 5 men sitting behind me with a mixture of anger and hate. "You all thought I did this to hurt you ... to torture you. ... How vain of all of you. ... You're wrong. I always knew that perfect little Torhu would find a way to make you all happy. You all make me sick! She'd doesn't belong here. She's not one of us. SHE'LL NEVER BE ONE OF US!!!!" As he screamed, he grabbed a vase off the shelf and sent it shattering into the wall.


After another second or two, Akito stood over me again and stared down at me with a look of disgust on his face. "I told you. ... I told you that I'd make you suffer for ever getting involved with our family. ... You're so stupid. You always think that you can fix everything. You are not their savior. I AM THE HEAD OF THIS FAMILY, NOT YOU!!!!"


I sat with my hands balled up into fists. I suddenly felt extremely angry. This was all a power play for him. He didn't care what he did or who he hurt, as long as he felt that he was in charge.


"Nothing to say Tohru?..."


I still didn't answer. I had no clue what to say.


What happened next was the very thing that I most dreaded. He grabbed me by the hair and yanked me to my feet. I couldn't hold in the yelp of pain and shock that escaped my lips before Momiji, Shigure and Yuki grabbed Akito tightly and tried to pry him off of me.


I felt like I was reliving the past. Years ago, we'd gone through a similar outburst by Akito but this time was different. This time I was pregnant and I was terrified that he'd do something to hurt my child.


"A-Akito ... What are you so afraid of?"


"What?!" Akito just seemed to become more enraged and used the handful of hair in his grasp to shove me back down to the floor with surprising force.


"I only want to be happy with Yuki and my friends. I-I want you to be my friend."


"Shut up! SHUT UP!!" He screamed wildly. "I hate you! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"


"Give me a chance. You're sick. L-Let me try to help you." I fought back the tears in my eyes and looked up to Akito.


"What the hell is wrong with you?! You shouldn't be here! We don't need you!"


"Yes we do." The deep voice behind me caught Akito and everyone else off guard.


"Hatori?!" Akito's grasp had loosened when he realized that Hatori had defied him.


My head was spinning. Nothing was going as I had hoped. I didn't want to cause a fight. I didn't want the family to be torn apart. All I wanted was for me and my friends to be happy. In order to do that, we had to have Akito's permission.


"Stop! Everyone please ... please stop." The tears that I'd held in since entering the building began to trickle down my face. "I don't want this. I don't ... I don't want you to fight."


I felt Akito's hand loosen on my hair a moment before I was shoved forcefully at the wall. I tried my best to brace for impact but thankfully it never came. Two strong hands seemed to effortlessly catch me out of the air and when I looked up, Ayame was looking down at me in concern.


"Are you okay?"


"Yeah."


"Tohru ... This is all your fault. Everything was fine until you got involved with our family."


"That's not true." Yuki's words were spoken quietly but you could hear his anger easily. "That's not true at all. ... Before Tohru came, very few of the Junnishi actually spoke to each other at all. The only time we ever saw each other was on New Years. .. Now it's different. .. Now we are friends."


"She's ruined everything." Akito's voice seemed different. "She's made all of you hate me. She's made all of you think that your curses don't matter. ..." Suddenly Akito began coughing. At first it wasn't very bad but it didn't stop. As the second went by, Akito's coughing became more intense.


"Akito?..." Something was wrong. I knew it but I didn't know how to help until I noticed a pitcher of water against the wall, near the broken vase. As quickly as I could, I grabbed an empty cup and poured Akito a glass of water.


When I held out the glass of water to Akito, all of the men in the room seemed to freeze in shock. My eyes met his and I could see a mixture of hate and fear. "NO!"


He smacked the glass out of my hand, causing it to shatter and sending small shards of broken glass into my hands and arms.


"I don't want your help! I DON'T NEED YOU HELP!" He screamed at me wildly until a second coughing fit hit him.


I was afraid. My hands were bleeding and my whole body was trembling but this was the only time that I'd be able to show Akito that I was sincere.


"Tohru..." Yuki put out his arm to stop me from getting a second glass but after one look at my face, he backed up but continued to watch me closely with concern.


I went back to the pitcher and filled the second glass for Akito. The moment he saw it, he smacked the second cup out of my hand too but this time I forced myself not to flinch when even more of the glass shards embedded in my hands.


"I DON'T WANT YOUR SYMPATHY!" His coughing seemed to grow worse by the minute but no one wanted to approach him.


One last time, I went to the pitcher and poured water into the last glass that sat on the table. I tried to ignore the pain of the glass digging deeper into my hands as the blood from my hands stained the glass and dripped off the bottom. "Akito, please let me help you."


I knew that if he refused me this time that there was no hope but I tried to have faith in Akito and in myself.


When he looked up at me the last time, he looked more like a confused child then the head of the Sohma family.


"Why? ... Why?" His voice was shaky and emotional but this time he didn't hit the glass away. Our eyes met and we just stared at each other for a long time until he finally took the glass from my hands. "I don't understand you at all."


When he finally took a sip out of the glass, I felt happy. Akito talking the glass was such a small step when you looked at the grand scale of things but it was the first time that he'd ever accepted anything from me.


He finished the glass of water quickly and was just about to set down the cup when his whole body went limp. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The glass slipped from his hand and shattered onto the floor. He stumbled a few steps and then began to fall.


I watched in shocked horror as Shigure and Hatori caught the older man gently and lowered him to the floor. Hatori did a quick examination before looking up at Shigure with an expression of disbelief.


"He isn't breathing."


"Oh my God."


I watched as Shigure and Hatori began working frantically over Akito's body to revive him.


I couldn't look away and I started muttering to myself. "This is all my fault. ... This is all my fault. ... AKITOOOOOOO!!"
Tears were pouring from my eyes as I watched the scene before me and until the moment that Momiji, Yuki and Ayame had ushered me outside and closed the door behind me, I couldn't stop looking.


I could hear Momiji, Ayame and Yuki calling to me over and over, begging to me to calm down and snap out of it but I couldn't. All I could see was Akito laying unconscious on the floor, surrounded by shards of broken glass.


This was all my fault. If Akito died, they'd all blame me. I'd upset Akito and caused him to push himself to hard. If he died, I'd never forget myself.




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Next Chapter - Is he dead?