Imprisonment 4

Author's notes: Sorry for the late update! My brother was hogging the computer all week long, keeping it in his stinky bedroom and saying he had a project. Now here I am, typing this thing INSIDE his smelly bedroom without a gasmask on.

Thank you for your wonderful comments! If any of the characters are OOC, please be kind enough to tell me. Sankyuu.

Anyway, let's go on to the fic.

****

Yuki's POV

Feeling the warm winter sunlight stream on my face, I lazily opened an eye, seeing something that looked like the ceiling. Now I opened both of my silver-purplish eyes, realizing once again that this was my prison…

…the room of my never-ending torment.

…the cage where I was locked in…

…the room where I never wanted to be in.

Once regaining my full consciousness, I raised a hand to ruffle my hair, the same color as my eyes. But when my fingers reached my temple, an aching pain started to sear through my head, as if it was being hammered on the wall. I winced in pain as I remembered the painful memories of yesterday, of what happened between Akito and me.

I tried to get up, hoisting my torso by my arms upwards, trying to sit up. But the moment I tried to do so, my head started to deliver unwanted pain, sending me wincing and flinching as I clutched my head, finally sitting up.

My fingers felt the bandages that were skillfully wrapped around my head. As I moved my hand towards the side, where it hurts so much, I felt a slight wet patch of something staining the set of bandages. I brought my hand back down where I can see them, finally seeing a slight trail of my own blood trickling down my forefinger.

I groaned out of discomfort as my head started to ache. Someone noticed me by that, who then walked in the room.

"Yuki, I see you're awake." Sohma Hatori greeted me, entering the room with a set of fresh, clean bandages at hand. "Your head started bleeding…again."

I didn't respond – instead, I looked down on my pillow to see a patch of red liquid staining the white cloth. "Am I okay? Am I going to be?" I asked, my voice full of worry.

"Yes, you're going to be alright." Hatori said to me, kneeling beside my futon. He reached up to me and carefully unwrapped the soiled bandages, setting them on the corner once he was finished. "It's just that…" he continued, wrapping the fresh bandages around my wounded head. "Akito got a little bit out of hand."

"Hatori-san…?" I asked, looking at the doctor to ask something.

"Hai?"

"Did you tell Honda – eh – Tohru-san about me being here?" I asked my eyes locked at him. I blinked twice, expecting an answer from him.

But he didn't answer me.

"Hatori-san, please answer me." I reminded him, seeing him finished with my bandages.

"Iie." Was Hatori's only reply. "I didn't tell them."

My eyes grew wide in shock. Tohru-san's probably worried about me right now that she couldn't do anything right!

"I could call them!" I exclaimed, trying to stand up. "I shouldn't leave them worrying for me. Shigure-san…that baka neko…Tohru –

I was cut off when I felt a strong grip grappling my right arm. I looked down at Hatori, surrise etched in my eyes.

"Hatori-san…doshite –

"Oyamenasai." Hatori told me in a serene voice, a stern look upon his face. "You can't use the phone. Akito told me so."

Akito told him so?!?!?! This was really unlike my cool, calm and collected state…but I need to tell Tohru-san. Does Akito want me THAT bad? THAT bad that he doesn't want me to use the phone? What does he want from me anyway?

I fumed, my eyes still locked upon the doctor as I started to feel my rage streaming through my veins. "Hatori-san --!"

"Don't." Hatori silenced me, pulling me back to the futon. "Akito will hear us. Besides, you're not supposed to get up. Don't you feel any pain in your ribs?"

And that was when I felt a sharp pang of pain enter my ribs. "How'd you…"

"I accidentally put more force on you're the other day than expected. So I broke one of your ribs…it should heal soon though." Hatori explained as I sat back down on the futon. "Don't get up unless you really need to, or else you'll disturb the healing process and make it worse. Just stay put."

I nodded silently, rage still within me. With that, Hatori left me in silence, closing the door carefully before completely going away.

Tohru-san…

**

**Tohru's POV**

It all started one summer afternoon…a day when the sky was so blue, so clear…a day when the birds chirped happily up in the trees…the day when we heard the beautiful music played by the masterpiece of nature that surrounded us.

We were alone that day. It was only the two of us who worked in his garden.

And it was beautiful.

Strawberries of the richest shade of red were sprouting, the most orange of carrots, the whitest of onions. I was so delighted to see the fruits of our labor that I didn't notice Sohma-san stare at me amusedly.

"Are~?" I asked him, turning to him. "Is there something on my face?"

He laughed at my stupid question. "Of course not, Honda-san. It's just that you really look beautiful today." He told me, a warm, welcoming glimmer in his eyes. I blushed deep red, as red as the strawberries were, looking down at the newly harvested fruits and vegetables.

"A-arigato…Sohma-kun…"

Yuki smiled at me, his beautiful face basked in the warm, glorious light of the mid-afternoon sun. He was an angel before me, and I swear he looked so…so satisfied with his life as he looked at me, a smile playing on his lips. His silver hair was playing slowly with the wind, a few strands blocking his eyesight, which I wanted to swat away from his gorgeous purplish-silver eyes.

But I couldn't.

Why?

I don't know.

"Please, Honda-san," he started, his soft, mellow voice music to my ears. "Call me Yuki. We have been friends for quite some time now, haven't we?" he asked of me, making a blush creep up again on my cheeks. The idea of calling Sohma-kun in his first name was quite an endearing one…but he was right.

"Demo, Yuki-kun," I finally got it out of my mouth. "Please call me by my name too."

He chuckled and I giggled – and it was a promise to keep between us.

And I would never break it.

Ever since that fateful, summer afternoon, things started to change. Something started to grow inside of me…a feeling that I can't describe…I just don't know what it is…

And that was when I knew it was true. How could I have been so stupid not to notice? The way my breath falls short when he's around…the way I feel goosebumps crawling on my skin…the way my heart throbbed when he's near me…

The way my cheeks would warm up if he smiles at me…the way he speaks, he acts, he looks at me…. Really, I was stupid not to know even if all the evidence I need was here within me. I even act so clumsily and stupidly when he's near…

I love him.

I love Yuki.

Sohma Yuki.

And that was when I remembered…a promise I longed to keep…I will protect them, in whatever way I could.

Author's notes: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! Please review! Arigato!