"Yuki," Shigure asked. The rat had stopped shaking; he'd risen to his feet.

"Does it really matter how strong we are now?" he asked. He walked to the head of the stairs. "I couldn't see it before, but… I feel like such a coward for not facing my problems."

"You aren't going after her, are you?" Shigure asked, getting to his feet. Yuki looked back at him with a smirk on his face.

"No," he replied. "I think she'll come for us soon enough."

"Right," Shigure said, returning the grin. "I guess I should make dinner now?"

"I'll help you," Yuki said, following him downstairs.

"Are you sure? You've never really been the most capable in the kitchen."

"Neither have you," Yuki remarked disdainfully.

Their conversation was interrupted when someone knocked at the door. Shigure left the room to answer it. He opened the door; there was a young girl holding an umbrella over her head. She was about ten feet away from the porch.

"Hello?" Shigure called. He got no answer. He slipped his shoes on and raised his head. The girl was nowhere to be seen. He stepped out into the rain cautiously. He was about three feet away from the house when he heard Yuki behind him.

"What it is?" the younger boy asked from the doorway. Shigure glanced back, about to reply, when he saw Okami's slim, dark figure behind Yuki.

"Yuki—!" he cried. The wolf's vectors slid out of her back and pushed Yuki off the porch; his thin body flew across the clearing. Shigure looked at Yuki's limp body in shock, but he turned back to Okami, taking a step in between the wolf and the rat.

Okami laughed. "You think you can save him?"

"What's wrong with you, Okami?" he asked. "This isn't like you!"

"This isn't just me…" she agreed, looking down at her hands. "This is Akito Sohma and Fortitude Okami Ferude. This isn't me. Shigure Sohma!" she screamed, snapping her head back up. Her eyes were a burning red; her pupils were narrowed into elliptic slits. Her voice was softer when she continued, though still hosting her anger. "What do you want? Tell me what you want."

"I want you to stop this, Okami," Shigure said. "Stop it all."

Okami grit her teeth. With a flick of her vector, Shigure was kneeling before her. She stepped forward with a swift pace, raising her machete. Her eyes became wide with rage. Shigure closed his eyes, prepared for the moment that Okami ended his life.

Yuki sat up in time to see his cousin's blood-stained corpse fall to the ground. Okami stood there, a bloody hatchet in one hand, a splash of blood staining the front of her white dress. She looked straight at the trembling rat, making no move to advance. Yuki felt a strange sort of nostalgia occur to him as he stared at the wolf girl.

She was the only one who was able to make Akito smile. One day, a little wolf girl just showed up at the main house; she said she wanted to live there with the Sohmas. Akito didn't want to let her stay, but then she made a deal with him. She would die whenever he did. Akito had seemed nicer after that. Okami and Akito shared a bond of light and dark… if Okami died, Akito would inherit her dark side. When Akito died… Okami inherited his dark side.

Okami gazed serenely at her friend and began to sing.

"Saa, washuremashou… sonna miari ga… mata chinurarete yuku nante…"

Yuki rose to his feet and began to run in the opposite direction.

"Namanurui kaze… toguro wo maitara…"

Yuki's feet felt like lead; he felt as if he couldn't run away from Okami fast enough. The corners around his vision began to darken.

"Sore ga tabun aizu…"

FB

When Yuki awoke again, he was lying on a table. He was restrained at his legs, arms, and fingers by metal cuffs. He looked up at Okami, who had lingered by his side.

"Are you ready to begin?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Yuki said. His tone perplexed the wolf; he didn't sound unenthused or sarcastic; his voice seemed to hint at encouragement. She motioned to two wooden and metal contraptions on the table strapped to Yuki's arms.

"This torture should look familiar," she enlightened. "I will tear off all of your fingernails. One by one." Yuki's eyes widened and he inhaled steadily. "Grit your teeth, rat." She positioned Yuki's first nail in the metal rip and raised her hand, but froze. 'That's odd,' she thought. 'Why am I hesitating? I never hesitated with the others…'

"I'm about to kill you," she informed Yuki, putting her hand down. "I'm about to slowly torture you to death and you just lay there. You ask me no favors? You don't beg for mercy?"

"No," Yuki said. The wolf blinked at him in her childishly cute way and he almost smiled. "All this time I've been hiding; I've been running from you as if it would solve my remorse. Then I realized… Fate's course can't be finished until you find what you're looking for. If torturing me is what will make you happy, then torture me all you want. I just want you to promise me one thing."

"I knew there was a catch," Okami said, but patiently waited to hear Yuki's request.

"Promise me that you will be happy one day?"

Okami blinked, her crimson eyes bleaching into light amber. Her expression softened. She nodded her head.

"I promise," she said in her soft, innocent voice. She paused to lean down to Yuki's ear. "I'm sorry… Nii-nii…"

(Although Okami promises to make herself happy one day, this scene is graphically violent. If you do not want to read this, please skip to next author's note.)

Okami grit her teeth, her eyes shifting color and shape as she straightened herself. Her pointed teeth were bared as she raised her fist and brought it down on the lever. Yuki winced, moaning slightly from the pain. He clenched his jaw, opening his eyes and turning his head to look at his bloody fingernail on the table. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked up at Okami.

"Why are you doing this?" he thought. He would've said it out loud, but the pain was too great; if he opened his mouth, he would probably scream.

Okami positioned the next nail in the metal rip and repeated the action. Yuki felt the flesh around his nail bed rip in thin strings as the nail was ripped out of its place. He let out a pained scream, tears of regret rolling in torrents down his face. When Okami tore off his third nail, he shrieked in agony. He began to thrash slightly, trying to escape the looming pain. He felt alone; he was one of the few Sohmas still alive. He continued screaming in pain, much to Okami's pleasure. His back arched off the table, and he began to tremble. This made it difficult for Okami.

"Hold still," she barked. She put her fist down on the trigger at the same time Yuki jerked reflexively. The rip caught on the rim of the nail, tearing it only halfway off. Yuki gasped, looking at the nail sticking almost straight up. He whimpered again as warm blood pooled around his palm.

"You have to do it again?" he breathed. He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "No… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Okami repositioned the odd nail and tried again. Yuki jolted, screaming as the nail came clean off.

When he had run out of fingernails, Yuki was less responsive. It was as if he'd given up already. This frustrated Okami; after his speech before their torture session, she'd expected him to last longer than the others. She pulled a hammer and nails out of a drawer.

"Yuki, can you hear my voice?" she asked. Yuki stared forward blankly, but nodded his head slightly. "This torture is simple; I will drive fifteen nails in each hand—one for each joint."

She positioned the nail over his first finger and raised the hammer. She brought the hammer down on the metal nail. It broke the skin of Yuki's finger and wedged in between the two bones, pinning to the wooden table. Yuki's eyes widened from the sudden pain; he gritted his teeth as rivers of tears moved down his face.

Okami growled in frustration, picking up another nail and positioning it over Yuki's finger. She raised the hammer, giving a scream of frustration as she slammed it back down. Yuki gasped in pain, closing his eyes. He squinted past the pain, trying to make sense of his tear-blurred vision. He felt another nail being driven into his hand; the nail wedged painfully in between the phalange and metacarpal of his index finger. The sudden disruption caused the metacarpal to crack; it shifted to make room for the metal nail. It was then that Yuki gave a scream; it was short and small, but he couldn't help the pathetic sound from escaping him.

His cry pleased Okami; she was grinning slightly as she put a nail against his next finger. Yuki clenched his teeth. She drove the next nail into his hand and he screamed a bit more loudly. She drove two more nails into his hand. By now he was screaming all he could; the pain of the cold metal inching between his dislocating joints, causing him to bleed, tearing at his flesh…

It was all too much pain.

Okami had moved to his next hand. Yuki felt fresh pain in his left index finger and cried.

"Stop it!" he cried. "Stop it, please! I'm sorry! For whatever reason that you're upset, I'm sorry!"

"Shut up!" Okami snapped, slamming the hammer down over and over again, rapidly putting nails in Yuki's fingers. Yuki screamed, closing his eyes and squirming uncomfortably. "No matter how much you cry… No matter how much you apologize… I will not stop! DO YOU HERE ME, YUKI SOHMA?! I WANT YOU TO SUFFER FOR EVERYTHING! SUFFER AND DIE, NII-NII!"

Okami stood still for a moment, staring at the ground, panting. She dropped the hammer with a loud bang; Yuki inhaled sharply, trying to steady his breathing. He choked, spitting up blood; Okami looked up at him in surprise.

(The graphic scenes are over for this chapter. Please continue reading.)

"Okami…" he said. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth. "It's okay now…"

He closed his eyes once more. Okami sighed; she'd better start cleaning up. She threw the leftover nails and hammer back in the drawer carelessly; she unfastened the nail rippers from Yuki's arms, putting them on the other table. She unfastened Yuki's restraints. The put her hand on Yuki's cold throat and froze dead in her tracks. She gave a loud scream, her oval pupils dilating as her eye widened. She fell backwards onto the hard ground. She sat up and inched swiftly across the room. She screamed again, burying her face in her hands and putting her knees to her chest as her vectors shot out at Yuki's body. She pinned him against the wall and lifted her head, her wide eyes filled with hate.

"You stupid, selfish fool," she spat, rising to her feet. "You liar! Why don't you LOVE ME?! LIAR!"

Yeah… before you go calling me a dark, vile creature of hate and pain; think about the cuddling scene from the first chapter. Just think about it.

Right, okay. This chapter was easier to write because I've been building up to this chapter for a week. I hoped you all liked the chapter; it's getting harder to censor all of this stuff. The next chapter will be great. Do you want a preview?

Keep reading…

Keep going…

No more previews, Gir! *AHHH!* No. *AHHHHHAHHHAHHH!* ARIGHT! I WILL GIVE THEM A SMALL PREVIEW!

FB

"It's all over when you lower that hatchet, Okami."

"I don't want to do it, Haru…"