it's getting serious, and it's getting sad :( let me know what you think, and you should know by now that i don't own it, and don't profit. x-v-x

I am the key to the lock in your house
That keeps your toys in the basement.
And if you get too far inside
You'll only see my reflection.

It's always best when the candle's out,
I am the pick in the ice.
Do not cry out or hit the alarm,
You know we're friends 'til we die.

And either way you turn
I'll be there
Open up your skull
I'll be there
Climbing up the walls

YUKI:

He was gone, even in the air around me I could feel his absence, and it chilled me to the bone, even more so than the sudden burst of cold weather. I felt totally alone, like it was just me in the cruel and punishing world, and there was no longer anyone to save me. I heard nothing from him, he didn't struggle, there were no cries, no final pleas to our present captor to let us go.

I sunk my eyes to the floor, the broken snow on the ground glimmered, it was dusted on my shoes. I felt surprised that it fell here, I had thought of it as some evil place that did not deserve any beauty, alas, nature does not discriminate against the cruel, and things of pure magnificence occurred behind the walls of the Sohma house, and I suspected they may have even been more lovely than the average garden, the snow did not sparkle like this at Shigure's house. Maybe it was the curse of the man about to be executed, as you realize your time is running out, you recognise things in the world that never occurred to you before, how you are attracted to the green of the leaves, the scent of the wind, and how it truly feels to breathe. Perhaps my heightened perception of the snow beneath me was all because I knew I didn't have long left. I knew our punishments would be severe. No one would ever dare even touch the cat, especially the rat, however, I had crossed all boundaries set by legends and family history. I had fallen in love with him. yet I knew, although it was mostly my fault, the price he would have to pay would be larger than mine, he would suffer worse than I, and Akito would probably enjoy torturing him more than me. It wounded me deeply.

I took a deep breath, and looked up to the devil above me, Mephistopheles personified lingered above me, beautiful in her kimono that hung off of her sickly frame, her calm expression revelling nothing of my fate. Part of me considered begging, pleading with her not to hurt him, yet I knew this would fuel her rage further, and I would not lower myself to such a state, I would take whatever she sent my way. What I hadn't shared with anyone was that I had a plan of sorts, and although I was a dangerous one, it was all I could do to keep him safe.

KYO:

Kureno led me to a large empty room, there were no chairs, tables, rugs, or lights, only a cold wooden floor. He seemed to hold no malice towards me which was a small comfort. I did not really know him, he was my cousin, yes, but I had never had a conversation with him, he was always fused to Akito, always by her left shoulder, lingering close to her, making sure he witnessed each breath she took. There was no semblance of boredom or of a wish to be away from her, he was loyal, and maybe just a bit obsessed.

He stopped at the centre of the room, and turned to me, his face was delicately sculpted, as was the way within our family, we were all made from the same clay it would seem, but he was nowhere near as beautiful as Yuki, he didn't even come close.

"please, sit with me" his voice was not as I remembered, he sounded tired and not really in the right frame of mind.

We both sank to the floor uneasily, I was unsure of where to place myself, not wanting to put my back to the door, but upon further inspection I found there were four doors in the room, one on each wall. I was doomed from the start. We sat awkwardly for about ten minutes, not a word was exchanged between us, I tried not to look at him, instead I busied myself with fiddling with my shoe laces.

"I'm sorry" the words were quiet, a whisper, no more.

I could not reply, my throat was dry, and I knew my voice would quake.

"hmmph?" was all I could muster.

"I'm sorry, for what he's going to do. I tried to stop him, but he's furious"

There were many things I had to consider from this statement. What was Akito going to do? And did Kureno not know about her gender? Or did he not know I knew? and does the rooster have an influence over the seemingly untameable 'God'. There were too many things for a panicked mind to sort through.

I simply shrugged my shoulders.

"I think you're lucky, Kyo, you know what almost none of the Zodiac animals know. You know love. It saddens me deeply that he's going to tear you apart... like this. " the rooster's eyes fell to the floor, and I knew he was speaking the truth.

I felt a tinge of sadness for him, I knew his situation, anyone with eyes could see it, and yet, he seemed only to be realizing it himself now.

"I love Akito, I always have. There is no changing this, I am with him daily, I see him for who he is, and I accept him. I am with him because I want to be, and yet..." he paused, his eyes beginning you sparkle with tears.

"..yet, I am his prisoner. There are places I could be, things I could be doing, if only I could leave him. it is a desperate situation, one I don't fully understand, and one I don't want you to be subjected to. What you and Yuki feel for each other is too pure to be interrupted by...him."

Our eyes met and stayed locked for the longest amount of time in our lives, an understanding passed between us then, that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

We stayed silent for a long time, looking in different directions, not awkwardly this time, but more thoughtfully. I heard footsteps rattling along the open hall that we had entered by, and my heart slowly began to crumble, thinking it was Akito, I resigned myself to my fate, this was the end. However, a small old woman entered the room, and with a grating voice she said:

"Sohma-san, Sohma-Sama would like to see you" his eyes darkened noticeably.

He suddenly took me by the hand, and whispered:

"Kyo, to get out of situations like this, you have to think about the ground your feet stand on"

His words made no sense at all, he sounded like the main character from an adventure movie. I didn't let it consume me however, I simply nodded and accepted his bizarre statement. He left, his light feet making no sound on the echoey floorboards. And the I was alone, the criminal at the gallows, the deer in the headlights, the flashback before your lights went out. I knew it would not be long.

YUKI:

I was being led by Akito along a hall, similar to that which Kyo had been taken down. I entered into a plush room, four doors surrounded me, including the one I had just entered through, rich draperies hung from ceiling to floor, luxurious chairs and a daybed were scattered throughout the large expanse of wooden floorboards and wide closed windows. A fire burned in the corner, it's menagerie of colours dazed me for a moment as I tried to decide if it was real of not.

She pointed to a large armchair close to said fire, and half spat, half growled:

"sit"

I obeyed, thinking it best to do anything she said. The fire danced playfully to my right, blissfully unaware of what was happening. I closed my eyes, not wishing to see he in front of me, not wanting to be disgusted with myself for something that I deemed only too natural. I was going to be battered with an onslaught of insults, the only thing I could do to protect myself from them was to distance myself. The words I knew she was going to say would cut me deep to the bone. They were words that had long ago ruined me, made me claw at my eyes trying to escape them, wishing myself deaf as not to hear them, hoping to die so I did not have to experience them. Things like that never leave you. Words, like those Akito had near killed me with, were in fact more dangerous than knives of guns. People like Akito were weapons in themselves, and they were vicious, merciless, and inescapable.

"I'm not sure I can even describe what I feel" her voice was silk, smooth, calm, and utterly terrifying.

"you...and...the cat....that....thing.....that revolting thing. How? Why? Have you no idea of how unnatural that is? Do you even remember the story of the zodiac?" her voice was beginning to tremble slightly, she was losing composure.

I thought to myself: 'we are more than the animals we are cursed with, we exist as human beings also' but I could not bring myself to say it, the fear she struck within me froze me, it almost stopped my quickly beating heart. I knew not to answer, her questions were rhetorical.

"you....you disgust me, and you disgust other people, they can see it when they look at you, you know? They know what you are and it makes them sick. You're wrong, nauseating, against anything right. There's something seriously wrong with you."

The words slipped from her mouth in such a way that it almost seemed it wasn't actually her saying them, she was mysterious in that her voice was enchanting, soothing, yet at the same time it crept over you like a bad disease. She was truly something other-worldly, and not in a sense I would class as good.

I thought of Kyo then, as she reintroduced me to all of my old fears. To her I was nothing but a toy, a thing to control, and because of my childhood fears of her, she still had that hold over me, that I knew, tonight I would have to rid myself of.

"and so you took refuge in each other? Two freaks together, because no one else will have you "

My stomach lurched, I was going to be sick from fear is she continued, and so, it was time for me to begin. I had thought my words through carefully, I would say them strongly, and with dignity, I would not lose my temper, and I would not crumble.

"do you hate me Akito?" my voice did not waver, I sounded proud, and unafraid. I left her no time to answer:

"or do you hate what I am?" I looked her straight in the eyes for the first time, and stared at her, making sure she knew how I felt about her.

"a filthy animal...that's what you are" she snarled, it was working.

"do you hate that fact I'm an animal, or do you hate that I'm male" her face changed so quickly that I almost didn't catch the transition.

"do you hate the fact that I am what you've been made to be? That I am what you've been made to masquerade as?" my voice was still strong, quiet, and decidedly menacing, but my hands trembled upon my knees.

She growled, a noise I didn't know human beings could make, a foul and unforgiving hiss, followed by a spindly hand tensing and flying forwards at me, nails out and ready to strike my cheek, she dug in, tearing at the skin with what felt like the claws of a beast. I lurched back in my seat, my head whirling and suddenly too heavy for my neck, and she was on me, her knees pinning me to where I was slumped, her pointed fingers digging deep into my shoulders. I would not give her the satisfaction of screaming, I merely grimaced.

There is something I will never understand about Akito, her anger makes her stronger, almost to extraordinary lengths. She held me there, with all of her strength, and I was powerless. She seemed to fall towards me, and tried to force her lips upon mine. A struggle ensued that I cannot remember to describe, I only know, that soon she was clawing at the sides of my head to hold me still so she could worm her tongue into my mouth. She was sickening, she tasted bitter and poisonous, and my insides began to churn, my eyes tightly closed and swelling with tears. She pulled away gasping.

"I'm going to make you sorry."

It's always best when the light is off,
It's always better on the outside.
Fifteen blows to the back of your head,
Fifteen blows to your mind.

So lock the kids up safe tonight
And shut the eyes in the cupboard.
I've got the smell of a local man
Who's got the loneliest feeling.

That either way he turns - I'll be there
Open up your skull - I'll be there
Climbing up the walls

Climbing up the walls
Climbing up the walls