Kazuma burst through the doors, carrying Aria in his arms quickly. It seemed her condition hadn't improved in the slightest. In fact, it felt like she was getting worse.

Watching the scene, Shigure stood up from his spot on the floor, racing over to her. "What happened?"

Shaking his head, Kazuma moved past him before replying quickly. "Not now. Call Hatori."

The dog seemed shaken, but did as he was told, running to the phone and pushing the buttons aggressively.

The man burst into her room before placing her on the bed, sweat covering her entire body now. She looked terrible.

Yuki and Kyo followed him inside, staring at the girl who looked almost dead. "Master, is she going to be okay?"

But he wouldn't answer the question, which worried the boys even further. "I never wanted this to happen. I just wanted her to be honest with her feelings for once."

Stepping forward, the cat turned his head. "What are you talking about?"

Kazuma collapsed in the chair next to him, pushing his hair back in clear anxiety. "The day your memories got erased, she came to our house, fell to her knees and apologized for not being able to protect you. I tried to reassure her but she wouldn't hear it. Instead, she ran away and never came back to see you again. She was just a child, I wanted to help her."

The information swirled around in his head, suddenly recalling something in the back of his mind. A long time ago, he had seen someone around his house.

The man seemed to understand. "It was so long ago but, you heard the noise and came out to see what was happening, not knowing anything. You asked who she was. She was devastated."

The headache appeared but Kyo could indeed remember leaving his room that night, thinking the stranger was annoying and loud. All that time, that was Aria? It left a terrible feeling in his stomach. He hurt her again without realizing it.

He wondered how it felt to have someone you've known for months, act like a complete stranger so suddenly and painfully? It was hard to even think about, and that's how Aria lived.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Hatori rushed in, taking a look at the girl laying in bed. His eyes couldn't help but widen the sight before him. She looked so pale. "Ari..?"

The doctor quickly opened his bag, placing a hand on her overheated forehead. "What happened?"

A silence entered and Hatori gritted his teeth, clearly anxious. "I asked, what happened?"

That's when Yuki stepped forward, glancing at the cat. "He transformed into his original form and Aria used her power to calm him down. Even though he kept resisting, she never stopped."

Hatori moved down to find her pulse, his eyes falling to ones of devastation. "She must have overexerted herself. Her pulse, it's very faint."

Kyo's face fell, clear anxiety now upon it. "Overexerted herself?"

Nodding his head, the doctor pulled a bottle of pills from his bag. "Aria can't use her power for an extended amount of time. It shuts down her internal organs slowly, burning her from the inside. She knows this and yet, pushed herself too hard."

That sounded extremely painful to everyone in the room, Yuki remembering her coughing up blood during the incident with Kyo. She knew it was dangerous, but didn't stop?

Hatori put the bottle of pills on the table before pulling out a very small syringe and needle. "This should help her recover quicker but all we can do it wait for her body to repair herself. It's shut itself down because of the danger. Something about this is still strange though. Did anything else happen? It very important you tell me before I give her his medicine."

Kyo rubbed his arm, remembering the pools of light and debated telling him. It seemed so personal, he didn't want to tell. "Before I came back, she put her hand on me and it was like I was in another body. I saw everything she's been through."

The boys watched as Hatori's eyes widened, him dropping the needle onto the floor. "She didn't…"

Just looked confused, the doctor cursed and pressed a finger to her neck before shaking his head. "You foolish girl. Why did you do that?!"

Everyone looked shaken by him. Hatori never raised his voice, this was new. "Hatori, what's wrong?"

Shaking his head once more, he put his head into his heads. "Even though I told her how dangerous it is, she went and did it anyways….I can't believe this…"

Yet it seemed, the boys still didn't understand. "Did what? Hatori, what's happening?"

He sighed once, looking at the girl, now distraught. "Soul sharing. That's what you experienced Kyo. In order to calm you down she pushed your soul into her body so that you could see what she does. It's extremely dangerous and yet she disregarded all the warnings."

Kyo took all this in and tried to process what the doctor was saying. So the reason they were able to speak to each other was because of the soul sharing? That's how she was able to show him everything.

Shaking his head, Yuki took a step forward in disbelief. "Aria could do something like that? I thought she could only control people with words?"

Hatori lifting his head, sighing. "Her words hold power, yes. But she's also able to influence people in other ways, such as pushing emotions into them and getting into their head. When we found out though, we both promised never to tell Akito about it, as he would surely use it to hurt others."

As much as all this information was fascinating, Kyo had other thoughts. "So, she's going to be okay, right?"

But the doctor was silent, letting his hand fall. "To be completely honest, I'm not sure. Only time will tell if she'll survive this or not. If she had just pushed herself then the body could heal itself but because she did something so reckless, I'm not sure if she will recover. Right now, she's just barely alive."

The words suck into Kyo, trying to process what he was saying. There was no way she could die, she was right there in front of him just a couple hours ago. This wasn't happening.

Racing forward in anger, the cat clenched his fists, shouting. "What the hell is that?! You're a doctor, right?! So, fix her!"

But Hatori just stood. "It's not as simple as you think Kyo. Aria's body is completely different to us Somha's. All we can do is wait."

Yet it seemed the cat wasn't happy with that reaction in the silighest, only getting more angry. "Damn it, can't you do anything?! I'm not going to just sit around and wait for her to die!"

Yuki just stood frozen by the entire scene. This girl knew that doing something like this could kill her, and yet she did still, with no hesitation? She must have really loved that cat. "He's right, there has to be something we can do…"

Shaking his head, the doctor moved past them quietly. "I'm sorry. I wish there was. I'll be downstairs if anything changes. Shigure has already offered me to stay the night."

After that, Hatori left the two boys alone. Kyo moving up to the bed and punching the soft fabric with his fist. "Damn it! Why did you do that?! Why did you let me see?! I didn't want it like this…"

Yuki watched the cat fall apart silently, remembering her fighting for him. "Even through everything, she never stopped fighting for you."

A small pit of anger swirled in the cats stomach at that, turning his blind anger on the closest person in the room. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? I didn't do this! It's not my fault!"

But the rat had his own ideas. "Who do you think she was protecting all this time, idiot? You walked away from her when she was only trying to keep you safe."

Gritting his teeth, Kyo reached over and grabbed Yuki's shirt. "Shut up! How was I supposed to know this was going to happen?!"

He frowned and threw his arms off of him in annoyance. "What I'm saying is, whether or not you like it, she did all of this for you. She really cared about you, you stupid cat."

Yuki watched his cousins eyes crumple, a slight shake in his hand now. "I didn't ask for her to die. How was I supposed to know she'd do something stupid like that? Just when…."

He couldn't finish the sentence in front of Yuki but he knew what he wanted to say. Just when someone finally accepted him, loved him, she would be taken away? It wasn't fair, it was cruel.

The rat could see that Kyo would fall apart at any moment and decided to let him have his moment of peace. "I'm going to talk to Hatori again and see if there is something I can do. It's better than just blindly yelling and not doing anything."

Watching the rat leave, Kyo moved up to Aria, placing a hand on her face carefully. It was still ridiculously pale. "Please, don't leave me."

She didn't make any move of response which brought tears to his eyes, falling down beside her. "When I asked you to show me your past, I didn't mean it like this. Hell, if you knew I would have never asked in the first place."

Grabbing her hand, he recalled all of the experiences she lived and frowned. He didn't want these memories if it meant she would be gone. He needed her. "I take it all back. You can have your memories and secrets. Just, don't leave me. You said you wouldn't so please, be okay…."

Kyo squeezed her hand so tightly with the will of her suddenly jumping up and smiling at him, but that never came. She still remained cold and lifeless.

It was more than he could bare.

About a week had past and Aria had not woken up, but that didn't stop Kyo from sitting beside her all day and night, silently hoping for a miracle.

Shigure watched the boy from the doorway, sighing. "He really is dedicated."

Another voice answered, the dog knowing who it was. "Yes, it seems he really cares for her."

Smiling softly, he turned to find Hatori watching him. "And how are you doing with everything?"

The doctor looked at the two and sighed. "She hasn't changed. I'm afraid that maybe she really won't make it through…"

But Shigure just waved him off. "Come on, this is Ari we are talking about. She is strong. It will be okay."

Hatori narrowed his eyes at his friend. "It seems you are in rather high spirits, given the circumstances.."

Shrugging his shoulders, Shigure began to walk away. "Ah well, someone has to be with the gloomy atmosphere around here. You all are acting like she's already dead. Meanwhile, I believe in Ari. She's pull through."

He then left the Doctor alone to think about what he just said. Somehow, Shigure was always able to find the positives in the darkest situations.

He just hoped that he was right.

Aria's dazzled eyes opened the world around her. Everything felt like it was spinning at a thousand miles per hour and her head pounded with an annoying ache. She really pushed herself too much this time.

Her limbs felt like lead in every aspect of the word, like she hadn't moved them in years. It hurt to even try to lift them.

She managed to put a hand to her head, trying to calm the headache that had shaken her awake.

Refocusing her eyes, she froze when she found a very familiar head of orange hair draped across her bedspread. He looked to be sleeping.

Aria smiled to herself, forcing her arm to touch the long strands that where matted across his face. She missed seeing him.

She moved a certain way and groaned at the pain when he stirred underneath her, lazily flopping his eyes open.

Blinking a few times, he froze when they met eyes for the first time in a week, his filled his absolute emotion. "Aria?"

She opened her mouth to respond but was only met with a series of coughs and gasps. Why was it so hard to talk?

His face turned to one of fear, reaching forward to see what was wrong. "Aria?! What's wrong? I'll go get Hatori!"

Kyo stood up to leave but stopped when a hand grabbed onto his shirt in a plea, almost like she was asking him not to disappear.

He looked down and understood, opting to yell out of the room instead and reaching for a glass of water on the table. "Hatori! She's awake!"

Pushing the object into her hands, he spoke. "Drink this."

Aria complied, carefully bringing the liquid to her lips before coughing some more. Her throat felt so dry and unusual.

Hatori burst into the room then, running up to her in question. "Thank goodness. Aria, how do you feel?"

She shook her head, trying to speak again and able to get out a few words. "Like crap."

He sighed in relief at this, pulling out his stethoscope and pressing it to her chest. "That's understandable. You were unconscious for about a week."

Aria took another sip off water before spitting it out and coughing some more. "A week?!"

Hatori nodded his head and pulled the object away. "It seems your heart rate is back to normal, but you still should stay in bed until your body fully recovers."

He pushed some pills in her hand before getting down to the things he really wanted to say to her now that she was healthy. "Aria, what were you thinking, soul sharing?! You know how dangerous that was."

She took the pills and shrugged her shoulders playfully. "Hey, you know what they say, desperate times cause for desperate measures?"

But Hatori didn't find it funny at all, instead shouting out. "This isn't funny, you could've died! In fact, you were an inch away from it. If you hadn't stopped when you did then…"

Aria flitched at his tone which caused him to lower his voice. "I was really worried Ari.."

Looking down at her cup, she replied. "I'm sorry Hatori. I needed to do it."

Shaking his head, he put a hand on her arm carefully. "Promise me, you won't do something that reckless again, okay?"

Aria looked at his hand and wondered if this was what having a father was like? Someone who would worry about you and care for you. It was kind of nice.

Nodding her head, Aria replied. "I promise."

This seemed to satisfy the doctor, glancing at Kyo. "Now, I suppose you two have a lot to talk about. I'll be heading back now. Call me if anything changes."

She agreed and watched him leave before Kyo spoke. "I thought, I'd never see you again."

Aria turned to him, surprised to see him so distraught and lost. It hurt her to see him like that. "I'm sorry Kyo. I didn't know I'd be out this long."

But he just slammed his fists next to her. "If you knew it was dangerous, then why the hell did you do it in the first place?!"

Bringing a hand up his own, she felt his warmth course through her. "I wanted to help you. I know I'm not able to bring back your memories but, I wanted you to know that I trusted you."

He grabbed her hand and brought it up to his face. "What is the point if I never see you again?! I never wanted you to die."

Softening her eyes, Aria spoke. "I'm sorry I hurt you again. It seems that's all I'm good for."

Kyo suddenly remembered something, leaning closer to her. "All the things you showed me, were those all real? Did all of things, really happen?"

Aria nodded her head sadly. "I guess your pretty disgusted now, huh?"

But he just leaned closer, a head touching her cheek lightly. "Like hell would I be. That would never happen. So, does that mean the thing you told me was real also?"

She knew exactly what he meant, her confession to him. It was rather sudden she supposed.

Touching the hand that was resting on her cheek, she sighed. "I suppose it was kind of lame, huh? But, yes, it was."

Kyo eyes deepened as he gave her his response by reaching down and kissing her softly. It was tender and fragile, almost like he was afraid of being rejected, but that never came.

Pulling away, he searched her face for any kind of disinterested. "So, this is okay?"

Smiling at his unsure demeanor, Aria pulled his shirt closer and kissed him back as an answer. He was always so unsure of these types of things.

Suddenly, someone coughed from the corner and they turned to find Yuki staring at them awkwardly. "So, I take it you're okay?"

Kyo pulled away from her in embarrassment at the display and Aria just coughed. "Oh, hey Yuki. Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry I worried you."

Crossing her arms across his chest, the rat couldn't help but enjoy the scene before him. "I'm glad. And I'm also glad you made up with that stupid cat."

She blushed at that, throwing her pillow at him in annoyance. "Shut up, will you? Are you here to check on me or heckle me?"

Laughing silently, he smiled. "A little of both. Glad to see it's working. Don't push yourself like that again, okay?"

Aria rolled her eyes but couldn't help but reveal a little smile of her own. He really was worried about her after all. "Okay mom, I won't."

He chuckled back when Shigure entered happily. "Ah, so she lives? I knew you'd push through."

Aria crossed her arms in front of her at the dog and smirked. "Good to see someone believed in me."

Nodding his head, he sighed dramatically. "You should have seen the house the past week, it was like a funeral in here. Poor Hatori and Kyo didn't sleep for days, just waiting for the fair maiden to awaken from her slumber."

This got Aria concerned. "Did Hatori really stay here all this time? What about the main house?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the dog replied. "He was too distraught to go back. So, he told the house that he needed to check up on you."

She let the words sink in and everyone watched as she grew silently more panicked. "Wait, he told the main house about my condition?!"

Nodding his head, Shigure answered. "Oh yes, and might I say that they were very concerned for you."

Aria's eyes widened then, everything watching her practically leap out of back, but instead wince at her muscles. "Aria what's wrong?"

Leaping forward, she grabbed onto Kyo and started pushing him out of the door, even if it was very weak. "You have to get out of here, now. Quickly, there's no time…"

But he just turned and grabbed her head. "Aria, calm down. No time for what?"

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Aria stood frozen at just who she was staring at, Akito.

Her hand fell from Kyo, detaching him from her side and staring at the man who had plagued her very being for years. He was here, in this house. Her safe haven was ruined.

Akito eyed her from across the room, clearly panting and breathing heavy from some sort of struggle. His body was weak, why was he running?

Aria's breath caught in her throat, whispering out. "Akito?"

Just then, he raced forward, wrapping his arms around her tightly. The action made her tense up in surprise. "Aria…."

Hugging her small body, she was shocked to see him shake under her, almost like he was afraid. "I heard from the main house. I came as soon as I could."

Not really knowing how to react, Aria just stood still, not wanting to anger him in front of Kyo and Yuki.

He buried his face in her hair, whispered out to her. "I thought you were gone. Don't leave me Aria. Please, don't ever leave me."

After a couple moments, he let go, tracing his finger across her cheek. "Akito, did you come all the way here? Were you worried?"

He stopped before nodding his head. "Of course. What would I do without my songbird? Don't you ever do that to me again, understand?"

She blinked a couple times before nodded her head, fulfilling his satisfaction. Then, he turned to the onlookers. "I would like to speak of my songbird alone."

Kyo and Yuki tensed up, not wanting her to suffer anymore pain but Aria just shook her head, telling them not to speak out against this. "It's alright boys."

Still not convinced, Shigure instead grabbed the boys and pulled them away before bowing. "We will be outside if you need anything."

Then, he shut the door, ignoring the shouts from Yuki and Kyo to let them go. Now, they were alone.

Placing a hand on her cheek, he spoke. "When I heard that you were dying, I didn't know what to do. You've always been next to me, I can't live without you my bird. Remember, You need me just like I need you."

Narrowing her eyes, she spoke. "Why are you being so kind? It's not usually your character."

Letting his hand fall away, he frowned. "You can not leave me. I forbid it. Everyone else can but you, I won't allow it, ever."

He heard the door slightly open and smiled under his breath, gaining an idea. "You can play house a little while longer but know you will always return to me in the end, that's always how it will be. We monsters must stick together."

Leaning over her, Akito smiled and pressed his lips onto hers aggressively, claiming her.

Aria gasped at the action but didn't make a move to stop it, as it might anger him even more. The last thing she wanted was for him to snap at Kyo or Yuki.

As he was kissing her, Akito opened his eyes and stared right into the shocked face of Kyo, smiling under his breath at what he was witnessing. That was right, Aria was his.

Licking his lips, he pulled away before letting his head fall onto her neck, moving the fabric from her shirt carefully.

Then, in one swift motion, he sucked on the skin, leaving a pink and purple ring in its place. Aria gasped at the contact and Akito smiled at his work, knowing very well that Kyo was watching the display.

Pulling away, he turned to find Kyo had entered the room, Aria eyeing him with warning. "Take good care of my songbird, Kyo."

He took a take closer and Aria moved to sit up, wincing at the pain. This caused Akito to step back and smile. "Don't worry. I won't touch your cat. I wouldn't dream of messing with your chess pieces."

Akito then pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at her. She was just barely about to catch it in time."Take it. It will help."

Looking down at the bottle she found it to be medicine of some kind. "Why would you..?"

But he just turned away, heading for the door. "You have to take it. That's an order."

Narrowing her eyes, Aria relaxed just slightly, watching him stop in the archway. "I suppose I'll take my leave now that I see my bird is unharmed. You watch over her now. Aria, I'll see you soon."

She shivered as he left and couldn't help but feel an absolute anger burning in the back of her throat. Why had he come and visited her? It was like some kind of joke, acting like he was concerned for her well being. It was funny.

Crushing the bottle in her hands, she shook with rage. Kyo eyed this with concern and stepped forward. "Aria, are you okay?"

She closed her eyes tightly before throwing the bottle at the wall next to her, it shattering with the pills falling to the floor. "You have got to be kidding me….acting like he cares..since when?"

Finding the place on her neck that he claimed, she gritted her teeth and began to scratch away his touch, his breath. It was like a weight on her very being and she hated it.

Kyo gasped at this, realizing she was hurting herself and raced forward, stopping her from continuing. "Aria, stop! You are hurting yourself."

Shaking her head, she tried to pull back, feeling a desperate need for the mark to disappear. "Let me go! I have to erase it."

He looked at his with sad eyes, not letting go of her hand in and slightest. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her until her strength diminished. "Listen, I'm here, okay? I'll erase it."

She looked down at this, bringing her hands into a fist and for the first time, Kyo could see how much anger and rage she felt towards Akito. She had been holding all of this in for so long. "I hate him."

He wanted nothing more then to embrace her at this moment but with the stupid curse, he had to settle for a hand on her head. No more would he be blind to her suffering. No more.

Right so, lots of feels in this chapter, huh? I think it's important to recognize that Akito does care about Aria in his own twisted way. His backstory is the same as in the manga so you can see how he wouldn't want her to abandon him, like everyone else has. It's another tactic. Also Kyo and Aria fluff moments for the win.

Please make sure to comment and like as it's my drive to keep going and update faster!