The time that Kyo first met Akito
Mama and Papa were acting strange. Mama dressed him in a scratchy shirt, and made him wear a tie around his neck. The tie hurt his throat. The shoes pinched his feet.
He complained once, but then Papa spanked him hard and told him to shut up, so he did.
Kyo knew to be quiet when Papa was in a bad mood.
They walked into the gates. Kyo looked around. This is where Kagura lives, and Haru. Yes, and maybe you can visit them afterwards Mama said. No, we're going straight home afterwards. Mama was quiet then. Papa always got his way.
Kyo wished he lived inside. He could Kagura and Haru every day.
There was a big house that they walked into. In the entry, they took off their shoes, which was a relief. Kyo wanted to take his socks off too, like at home, but Papa told him not to.
An old woman talked with his parents. Akito-sama invited us here today. Yes. So this is the cat? This is Kyo, his mama said. The old woman had a mean look on her face. Its name is unnecessary. It is the cat.
Papa called Kyo it sometimes. If he complained, Papa would hurt him. Kyo stopped complaining a long time ago.
They walked into the house. Before, Kagura had told him there were lots of maids who took care of the house, but he didn't see anyone.
Well if it isn't little Kyo, a boy said. He was a big boy, as tall as Mama. Shigure-sama you are not required here the old woman said. Nonsense said the boy visiting Akito should be a happy thing, he should go there with someone with a smile on his face. He pointed to his own face. And that's me.
She tried to say something but the boy was squatting down and talking to Kyo now. My name is Shigure, I'm the year of the dog. Kagura calls me Gure-nii, so you can call me that too if you like. Let's be friends, okay?
He was one of the zodiac. He was nice. He decided he liked Gure-nii.
Gure-nii took his hand. They're just going to the meeting room with the flowers, right? I can take them there. Ma'am, Sir, pleased to meet you.
Shigure-sama, I must insist… Gure-nii interrupted. You don't want to do this job, I can read it on your face. So why don't you let me do it? The old woman was angry but she left.
As they walked, Shigure talked with Mama and Papa. I'm very glad to meet Kyo, actually. I like to make friends with all of the other cursed Sohmas. I suppose that's how dog-like I am. Gure-nii ruffled his hair. But I certainly wouldn't chase a kitten this cute, he said.
When they got to the room, Gure-nii showed him how he needed to bow down when Akito came into the room. And he said it was important to only talk when Akito asked him a question. He felt scared, but Gure-nii patted him on the back and told him not to worry.
He was expecting Akito to be scary, but he wasn't big at all. Just a little taller than Kyo was. When he saw Akito his face and chest felt really hot and he got goose bumps everywhere. He started to cry and he didn't know why. He was scared and happy at the same time. He loved Akito and hated him. He felt all mixed up. Papa was about to yell at him for crying, but Gure-nii told them it was natural the first time one of the cursed Sohmas met Akito. There was a bond between them. Gure-nii had cried as well, he said.
Akito only asked Kyo how old he was and if he did what his parents told him to. Then Akito said to come with him, Mama and Papa would stay behind.
Gure-nii took his hand and they followed. He was glad Gure-nii was coming with them. He didn't feel so scared.
Akito was talking to him but he really only understood that Akito called him monster but it didn't seem like he said it in a mean way.
They went through some doors and there was a garden. Akito asked him if he liked the garden. He said yes and Akito said that was good because he was going to live there someday. Akito asked him to put his arms out.
Then Akito pulled the beads off.
He screamed. It hurt really bad. It hurt all over his body. He was crying but his voice sounded weird. He must have fallen down because he was looking up at Akito.
Akito was saying something, but the voice sounded like it came a long way away. Kyo couldn't understand him.
Akito's face was looking like Papa's face. Kyo covered his eyes. I'm sorry, I'm sorry he said. He made himself as small as he could. Please don't tell Papa.
Had he fallen asleep? He woke up lying on the ground. Gure-nii was putting the beads back on his arm. Akito was gone. His clothes were ruined, lying all around. He cried. Please don't tell Papa. Please don't. Of course I won't, Gure-nii said and then he picked him up. He cried on Gure-nii's shoulder. Please don't tell. I'll get in trouble. Don't worry, don't worry, Gure-nii said softly.
Gure-nii was carrying him somewhere. Where do you think you are taking that thing, Shigure-sama. To get clothes. Kyo can't go home naked. That's its parents' concern not yours. Gure-nii just laughed and kept walking.
They went into a room that had closets. Gure-nii dressed him up in a kimono and told him he had done a very good job and he shouldn't be scared. Kyo did everything Akito had told him to do and Gure-nii would make certain Papa and Mama would not be angry.
Gure-nii took him back to Papa and Mama and told them that his clothes had been ruined in an accident, but it hadn't been Kyo's fault. The kimono he was wearing was an apology gift from Akito for the accident. Papa frowned but he didn't say anything.
Gure-nii walked them back to the entrance and talked with Mama and Papa. At the entrance Gure-nii tied his shoes.
They all walked together to the front gate. Gure-nii noticed that Kyo's feet hurt, so he picked him up and carried him there.
When they reached the gate, he gave Kyo a kiss on the cheek and then set him down again. Maybe I'll come to your house soon.
Kyo hoped he would. Gure-nii was nice.
But he didn't want to come to the main house again.
The main house hurt.
The time he threw away his future
He had gone home to pick up his school books and some clothes. He wished he'd been allowed to live at the dojo, but master had said no. He'd need to ask someone for directions to Shigure's house. Obviously he couldn't ask Haru, and he didn't really feel like talking to Kagura. Hatori was probably the least bad choice.
The envelope was taped to his bedroom door. Whoever put it there obviously didn't want him to miss it. Very fancy envelope, his name written in beautiful calligraphy.
He ripped it open. 'The head of the Sohma family requires the presence of Kyo Sohma on…'
The date was from back in May. Probably right after he and Kazuma had gone to the mountains.
Shit. He missed the date by months. Akito was going to be even angrier than usual, and as far as he knew, Akito was always angry.
To hell with it. Kyo left to go to the main house. If he went there unannounced, maybe Akito wouldn't have time to work himself up. On the other hand, maybe it was just going to piss him off more. You just couldn't win with Akito. Not if you were the cat.
He stopped at the gates. There was this air of 'you don't belong here' on the grounds. He hadn't been inside for a long time. He used to be here most days, walking Haru home from school, but they were in different schools now.
He walked through. The last time he was here-back in March? It was only six months, but it felt like an entire lifetime since then.
As always, the main house looked like it was judging him. Probably because all the inhabitants were.
It was Akito's home pitch. Of course Akito would have the advantage.
He had to keep going. If he kept going he could hold on to enough determination to go see that bastard Akito.
He slid the front door violently and kicked his shoes off.
A maid walking by looked at him with horror. "Kyo-san!" She scurried off. Either to hide or to get reinforcements.
It was definitely to get reinforcements. He stomped through towards where he thought Akito's apartments were, but found his way blocked by an old lady-probably the head maid? Backed up by a couple of men. "How dare you enter this house. You have absolutely no right to be here. You must leave immediately!"
"Go to hell. Akito ordered me to come here, so I'm here, old hag."
"You are too late. If you wish to see the head of the family, you must make an appointment, and perhaps he'll deign to meet with you."
"I don't give a shit. Where is the precious family head?"
"Don't be vulgar. I will not hesitate to use force to evict you from this house, even if you are a monster."
"As if you could, you fossil." The guys behind her did look pretty big-possibly gardeners. Kyo didn't care. He was confident in his fighting ability.
Though he knew if he did that, it would only make things far, far worse.
"If I may intercede…" a mild-looking young man came from behind the old maid. "The family head is aware of Kyo's presence here and has agreed to see him now, in order to save time and bother."
The old maid shook her head "I don't know why he babies these disgusting things. It only encourages them." With great resentment, she stepped aside.
The newcomer beckoned. "If you'll follow me, Kyo." He had heard of Kureno before-Kyo wondered if this was him.
Kyo was led to a poorly-lit room. "Akito will be here shortly."
He stewed in his own juices for several minutes until the door opened again. "You're very tardy, my poor little monster."
He was furious at himself. Idiotic! What kind of idea was it to accept a bet?
From a certain perspective, it wasn't like he had much to lose. He knew that he was going to end up in the small house in the garden sooner or later.
Of course, he now had a firm deadline. That was the truly stupid mistake. Just two and half years was all he had left. Who knows how long he could have stayed outside if he'd just kept his damn mouth closed?
Kyo looked at the paper in his hand. And to top it all off, now he had to live with the damn rat. If it had just been him and Shigure, it would have been okay. Shigure was a weirdo, but Kyo could tolerate him.
Kyo wondered if Shigure had told Yuki who their new housemate was going to be. He thought for a moment. Maybe he actually hadn't? And seeing how long he had been away, an attack from Kyo would be a complete surprise. Maybe that would be a big enough advantage for Kyo to win the fight. Maybe the bet was winnable after all?
Probably not, but he was going to have to try.
The time he refused to obey
Kyo watched Hiro and Kisa walk away together. The brat was usually a pain in the ass. But today he had been genuinely helpful. And Kisa-she was so much like her.
Of course, if that were true, it had implications that he and Hiro were just alike, and he had opinions about that notion.
No matter. It wasn't important.
He had done it. He had done the most difficult thing he'd ever done. He finally stood up to that person. He told him that he refused to obey and that he wouldn't go the course that everyone was forcing him to.
The old man had no power any more. He could insult Kyo as much as he wanted to. He could make demands. He could make threats. They meant absolutely nothing. That person's words were nothing more than words.
It hadn't been like he had fantasized it would be. Kyo hadn't yelled at him. Hadn't hit him. Hadn't even swore at him. He just quietly told the old man that he was finished with the game and would no longer be playing.
Amazingly, Kyo didn't even regret not having told that person to go fuck himself.
"Maybe I will if I ever see him again," he muttered.
There was only one person he still needed to confront. Akito.
He did not lie to himself. The idea of doing that was as scary as talking to his ex-father had been. Every other time he had talked to Akito-and it hadn't been many-he had ended up in tears.
But he had two things on his side now. He knew it could be done. He had just defied his father, so he knew he was strong enough. And he had heard what Haru had done, so he knew that the bond wasn't unbeatable. And the other thing was-
He knew that he loved Tohru far more than he feared Akito.
True, he hadn't seen her in days. And maybe he had ruined things so that she'd never want to see him again. It didn't matter.
It didn't. Fucking. Matter.
He loved Tohru and it gave him the strength to do anything.
He was strong enough to face the people who had overshadowed his life for as long as he could remember. He was strong enough to defy the curse. He was strong enough to walk away from the Sohmas and never come back.
He was strong enough to give up his anger. He was strong enough to let his resentment go.
He could become friends with the person he had always seen as an enemy.
He could forgive his mother for not being able to stay with him.
He stood at the doors of the main house.
He could do this. He could do anything.
He slid it open.
Bring him on.
...And then the truly frustrating thing was that it turned out that Akito wasn't even home.
All that hyping himself up for nothing.
As it happens, he ran into Akito completely by accident the next day. It was such a surprise to see Akito in plain clothes, at the dojo of all places, that he forgot what he was going to tell him. The lines that he had told his father-they just completely slipped his mind.
In the time it took to remember what he had wanted to say to him, Akito beat him to the punch. "You can live how you like."
He couldn't give the speech he had planned on. After having been told he was free, if he said the words he wanted to, he would have just sounded stupid.
But it was good news. If Akito said that, then nobody in the Sohmas would even try to harass him anymore. Not that it mattered if they would. But that final confirmation. He had declared himself free, and Akito had accepted it.
He had only one speech still to be made, and that one would be one of penitence, instead of defiance. But it needed to wait until she left the hospital.
When that day came, he was going to give it everything he got.
Author's Note
Originally this was just going to be a 100-word story about Kyo giving the speech to Akito that he didn't do in canon. It grew. And then finally, I realized that it worked better to stay canon-compliant.
So basically, I completely discarded the reason I started writing this in the first place.
I should note that the reason why this story does not include their confrontation at the beach house is that there's no other story to tell there. At the beach house, we know how Kyo felt and what he thought about before, during and after. This story was about trying to expand on canon, and not repeating it more than necessary.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading.