*Fourth chapter... and yeah, I have a reason for making these "short" and that's because it's easier for me to write them like this - I don't wind up ...stuck... this way... and it is quicker. And yes, Akito is very scary in this fic. It has to be this way... Just deal, okay? This chapter is LONG... kind of... not really... almost? ^-^ Enjoy.*
-: :- = flashbacks. o.O;
Aite - Chapter 4 - Ai (Love. o.O;)
It was rather heartbreaking to have to care for Yuki like this - feeding the boy when he was too drowned in tears to do it himself, waking him from recurring nightmares... Ayame, Shigure, and Kyo had been drained of all their energy and the mouse hadn't returned any promising results. Instead he had departed into his own little world in which he wouldn't speak, eat, or leave his room unless it was necessary. This left the other three wondering if this was a result of Akito secretly visiting him again while he was alone.
...And so they decided to pay a visit to the dying relative, leaving Kyo to look after Yuki... though much to his dismay. He screamed and kicked and protested about how staying with the 'chikuso-nezumi' would only wind up ruining his life and disrupting the 'balance of the world'... Ayame and Shigure were too good to play in to his petty little games and Kyo was shoved into Yuki's room to look after the sleeping boy when the others left.
Grunting, he slid over to a wall and proceeded to rest his back against it, watching the silver-haired boy with slitted eyes as he tried to tell himself that he was as annoyed as anyone could get while in the presence of the mouse. But he couldn't seem to get as angry as he used to get - not even by just thinking about Yuki could he get mad. Something about the boy had managed to start changing Kyo's outlook on the mouse... and Kyo couldn't help but wonder what it was that made his heart skip a beat whenever he got near him.
Yuki turned on to his side, violet eyes fluttering open to meet the gaze of the cat. He blinked a few times and drew the blankets further up and over his shoulders. Saying not a word, he continued to watch Kyo - half wanting him to leave and half wanting him to stay... but he had found himself not able to think what he wanted to think anymore. He didn't know right from wrong when it came to his thoughts and he was left debating over which was the right to do.
Kyo raised a brow as he returned Yuki's cold glare before he decided that he might as well do his damn 'job' and watch over the boy and try to get him to at least give a crooked little smile in response to something. He felt a sharp pain in his heart as the boy turned away from him. Eyes narrowed even more as those brows of his furrowed, slender digits curling up into palms to form fists. Kyo was not happy.
"Chikuso-nezumi..." he murmured, raising a hand as his fists uncurled in preparation to slap the boy as he crawled over to the other side of him. ...But he couldn't bring himself to slap him. In fact, he hadn't even known why he wanted to in the first place. Lowering his hand, he instead brushed those silver strands of hair from the boys pale face. He pouted as he got nothing in return from Yuki but a cold, emotionless glare from the now dull violet eyes that belonged to him.
"I can't have anyone," Yuki started... with an all-too monotone voice. "We Sohmas weren't meant to love. We weren't meant to have feelings or to matter in the world. We're only meant to be. Just to live... To live and then to die."
"Nani? What are you talking about, Yuki?"
"I can't have her. No matter how much I want to, I know I can't. She's not one of us - she's not supposed to know. Not supposed to care. ...And we're not supposed to care about her... because we're different." He paused as Kyo lay down beside him... and he tried to rid himself of the urge to cry... And even though he felt as if his world was ending, even though he wanted so much to just break out into a fit of tears, he couldn't cry. "...Those who are different aren't meant to mingle with those who are normal - it only causes complications. Especially when it comes to us."
/He's in love with her,/ another sharp pain in his heart. He winced and tried to figure out just what was wrong with him - why he started to care about what Yuki said and how he felt... It never mattered to him before, not until Yuki had that 'chance' encounter with Akito.
"...She only sees me as a friend. Perhaps that's best, the way it's supposed to be."
. . . . . .
"A visit?" Akito asked, pushing himself up to his feet to greet his relatives Ayame and Shigure. "What brings you both here?" He paused as the two stopped in front of him and he then sat back down on the hard wood of the porch after noticing the rather displeased looks on their faces.
"You know why we're here," Shigure stated, keeping a rather pissed Ayame from wringing Akito's neck by keeping a hand on his shoulder. Taking a seat beside the sick boy on the wood, he took a few moments to glance around at the area and take in the surroundings. "What did you tell him?"
Ayame didn't sit, he remained standing with his arms crossed over his chest and those golden eyes of his narrowed. Restraining himself from lashing out on the boy, he hung his head and started playing with his hair, slender digits entwining with each other as they mingled with those snow-white filaments.
"I told him the truth." Akito stated, patting the hard surface beside him as he glanced at Ayame and gave a soft smile as the man sat down beside him and let his legs dangle off the edge of the porch. Focusing on nothing particular, he stared forward in silence for a few meaningless seconds before turning his head and letting his gaze fall on the approaching Hatori. "Arigatou," he said as he calmly took the cup of tea handed to him by the older man. Raising the cup to his lips, he took a sip of the dark liquid as he blocked out the greeting Ayame who was growing all too hyper upon the presence of Hatori. /Hadn't he just been mad?/
-:
"Aishi'teru, Honda-san," Yuki stated rather calmly as he took one of the girls' hands in to his own. Violet eyes fixated on Tohru as he watched the blush creep into her cheeks, accentuating the darker pink of her lips.
"...Hontou? Yuki-k--" The girl was cut off by the sound of Kyo's voice ringing through the house while he called for the 'chikuso-nezumi' he so loved to hate. Tohru was left watching as Yuki took his leave to take care of the cat.
Akito was mad... more than mad, he was pissed. He had allowed Tohru to live with the Sohmas, he allowed her to keep her memories - he hadn't pressed Hatori to erase everything she knew about them. He had been under the influence that Tohru would prove no threat, that she would just simply be there and nothing more. But this - Yuki falling in love with her? It was not to be taken kindly. And so, after a few seconds of silently following Yuki, he grabbed the younger boy by the arm and pulled him into an empty room.
No, he hadn't planned on doing something like this, he had planned on a simple visit so he could spend time with his relatives. How was he to know this sort of thing would happen? He hadn't even greeted anyone before finding himself in this rather disgusting situation. Pinning the frightened Yuki against the wall after sliding the door shut, he narrowed those dark eyes of his as his gaze met the boys. "What do you think you are doing?"
He could see the fear in Yuki's eyes - the fear he both loved and hated. And he sighed as he heard no response from the boy. "Yuki..." slender digits traced the boys jaw line as he spoke, trying to come off as sincere and polite as he could before he slapped him across the face. The 'snap' of skin meeting skin making him wince and then he decided to rest his forehead against that of Yuki's as the younger boy tried to keep the tears back. "My precious Yuki... You've dug yourself a hole... Are you planning on being buried alive?" he asked, pale hands caressing the silver-haired boys abused cheek.
"...I-I..."
"Shh..." Akito shushed him, "Must I tell you stories of the Sohmas and their lovers? It always ends in tragedy, poor, poor Yuki... We aren't meant to love. We aren't normal, we're different. Love, happiness, good fortune... We're not meant to have it. It's pointless chasing a dream you know you can't catch." He paused for a second or two before he picked back up, "She'll only get hurt, Yuki... and you will, as well. You know it's true. She'll find someone normal, someone she can do everything with. Do you think she wants someone who can't embrace her? How would you welcome her home? A simple wave?" He paused again, a little smirk tugging on his lips, "How would you make love to her?"
He could see the tears welling up in Yuki's eyes, he could feel the younger boy sliding down the wall. He hated having to put Yuki through such pain - such torture. "Let her go... unless you want me to interfere." He backed away from the mouse and calmly left the room, pausing in his steps to turn his head and watch as Yuki met the floor with full force. Sighing as he left, his right hand placing itself over his heart and leaned against the wall as he slipped out of the house unnoticed.
:-
"Are you all right?" Shigure asked a dazed Akito, raising a brow as he waved a hand in front of the boys face.
"Ah, hai..." Akito said, glancing oddly at the hand before he decided to expand a little more on the subject at hand. "He's in love with that girl," he stated, noting the nods from both Ayame and Shigure in response. "I wont have it."
"You should ha-" Ayame shut himself up, seeing as how he was about to get himself in a hell of a lot of trouble. "...Doushite?" he asked, being a little more careful not to step out of line this time, "You were so harsh on him when he was younger, why not let him be happy?"
"He'll get hurt."
"I don't think you know her as much as you think you do! She would never hurt him!" Ayame protested, slamming a fist on to the hard wood as he did so. "She's kind, gentle, understanding... and she doesn't care about the curse! You, of all people, should see and understand that!"
"How dare you question my actions and my thoughts! Have you no idea what I'm going through for YOU?! For you and everyone else?! My life is ruined because of all of you! I live for the sole purpose of dying so that you can live out your lives! I'm being sacrificed for a group of people who could care less about whether or not I actually exist! ...And if I can't be happy then no one else will, either!"
"You aren't happy because you chose not to be! Let him love and be loved! Stop ruining our lives because you're too focused on your death-to-come to make yours worth while!" Ayame was red in the face now, and Shigure was left tugging the man to his feet and off in the opposite direction while the snake screamed at and insulted the sickly boy.
"Tohru doesn't love him," he stated quite simply, as if everyone already knew and those who didn't should have. He had ignored most of what Ayame said after 'let him love and be loved!' because, quite frankly, he knew for a fact that the girl only cared for Yuki as if he were her brother. "I care for him more than she ever could."
Ayame paused in his insulting and set to thinking about what that last part meant, but Shigure only apologized for the ordeal before dragging Ayame off, leaving a silent Hatori with a more than ruffled Akito.
. . . . . .
"Yuki..."
"...I wonder if... perhaps someone will love me as much as I love her... but even then he wouldn't allow it." Yuki paused as he tried to pick up a deeper trail of thought on the subject, but he couldn't think of anything to say that would cheer himself up. "... He's right, we're not meant to be happy."
"Maybe you should think what *you* want to think," Kyo said as he pulled the melancholy Yuki into his arms, placing a soft kiss on the boys forehead as he tried to get him to sleep. He hadn't even known he had given that sort of comforting kiss until after he had already done it and that heart of his was left skipping beats as the mouse dug his face into his chest and grasped his shirt. Kyo could feel the slight burning in his cheeks as he blushed and wrapped his arms around the silver-haired boy. /...Baka-nezumi...making me blush.../
*Okay... I'm not writing anymore for this chapter. u.u Wait until the next chapter for more! I spent waaaaay too much time on this today. XD!!! I hope you all liked it...*
-: :- = flashbacks. o.O;
Aite - Chapter 4 - Ai (Love. o.O;)
It was rather heartbreaking to have to care for Yuki like this - feeding the boy when he was too drowned in tears to do it himself, waking him from recurring nightmares... Ayame, Shigure, and Kyo had been drained of all their energy and the mouse hadn't returned any promising results. Instead he had departed into his own little world in which he wouldn't speak, eat, or leave his room unless it was necessary. This left the other three wondering if this was a result of Akito secretly visiting him again while he was alone.
...And so they decided to pay a visit to the dying relative, leaving Kyo to look after Yuki... though much to his dismay. He screamed and kicked and protested about how staying with the 'chikuso-nezumi' would only wind up ruining his life and disrupting the 'balance of the world'... Ayame and Shigure were too good to play in to his petty little games and Kyo was shoved into Yuki's room to look after the sleeping boy when the others left.
Grunting, he slid over to a wall and proceeded to rest his back against it, watching the silver-haired boy with slitted eyes as he tried to tell himself that he was as annoyed as anyone could get while in the presence of the mouse. But he couldn't seem to get as angry as he used to get - not even by just thinking about Yuki could he get mad. Something about the boy had managed to start changing Kyo's outlook on the mouse... and Kyo couldn't help but wonder what it was that made his heart skip a beat whenever he got near him.
Yuki turned on to his side, violet eyes fluttering open to meet the gaze of the cat. He blinked a few times and drew the blankets further up and over his shoulders. Saying not a word, he continued to watch Kyo - half wanting him to leave and half wanting him to stay... but he had found himself not able to think what he wanted to think anymore. He didn't know right from wrong when it came to his thoughts and he was left debating over which was the right to do.
Kyo raised a brow as he returned Yuki's cold glare before he decided that he might as well do his damn 'job' and watch over the boy and try to get him to at least give a crooked little smile in response to something. He felt a sharp pain in his heart as the boy turned away from him. Eyes narrowed even more as those brows of his furrowed, slender digits curling up into palms to form fists. Kyo was not happy.
"Chikuso-nezumi..." he murmured, raising a hand as his fists uncurled in preparation to slap the boy as he crawled over to the other side of him. ...But he couldn't bring himself to slap him. In fact, he hadn't even known why he wanted to in the first place. Lowering his hand, he instead brushed those silver strands of hair from the boys pale face. He pouted as he got nothing in return from Yuki but a cold, emotionless glare from the now dull violet eyes that belonged to him.
"I can't have anyone," Yuki started... with an all-too monotone voice. "We Sohmas weren't meant to love. We weren't meant to have feelings or to matter in the world. We're only meant to be. Just to live... To live and then to die."
"Nani? What are you talking about, Yuki?"
"I can't have her. No matter how much I want to, I know I can't. She's not one of us - she's not supposed to know. Not supposed to care. ...And we're not supposed to care about her... because we're different." He paused as Kyo lay down beside him... and he tried to rid himself of the urge to cry... And even though he felt as if his world was ending, even though he wanted so much to just break out into a fit of tears, he couldn't cry. "...Those who are different aren't meant to mingle with those who are normal - it only causes complications. Especially when it comes to us."
/He's in love with her,/ another sharp pain in his heart. He winced and tried to figure out just what was wrong with him - why he started to care about what Yuki said and how he felt... It never mattered to him before, not until Yuki had that 'chance' encounter with Akito.
"...She only sees me as a friend. Perhaps that's best, the way it's supposed to be."
. . . . . .
"A visit?" Akito asked, pushing himself up to his feet to greet his relatives Ayame and Shigure. "What brings you both here?" He paused as the two stopped in front of him and he then sat back down on the hard wood of the porch after noticing the rather displeased looks on their faces.
"You know why we're here," Shigure stated, keeping a rather pissed Ayame from wringing Akito's neck by keeping a hand on his shoulder. Taking a seat beside the sick boy on the wood, he took a few moments to glance around at the area and take in the surroundings. "What did you tell him?"
Ayame didn't sit, he remained standing with his arms crossed over his chest and those golden eyes of his narrowed. Restraining himself from lashing out on the boy, he hung his head and started playing with his hair, slender digits entwining with each other as they mingled with those snow-white filaments.
"I told him the truth." Akito stated, patting the hard surface beside him as he glanced at Ayame and gave a soft smile as the man sat down beside him and let his legs dangle off the edge of the porch. Focusing on nothing particular, he stared forward in silence for a few meaningless seconds before turning his head and letting his gaze fall on the approaching Hatori. "Arigatou," he said as he calmly took the cup of tea handed to him by the older man. Raising the cup to his lips, he took a sip of the dark liquid as he blocked out the greeting Ayame who was growing all too hyper upon the presence of Hatori. /Hadn't he just been mad?/
-:
"Aishi'teru, Honda-san," Yuki stated rather calmly as he took one of the girls' hands in to his own. Violet eyes fixated on Tohru as he watched the blush creep into her cheeks, accentuating the darker pink of her lips.
"...Hontou? Yuki-k--" The girl was cut off by the sound of Kyo's voice ringing through the house while he called for the 'chikuso-nezumi' he so loved to hate. Tohru was left watching as Yuki took his leave to take care of the cat.
Akito was mad... more than mad, he was pissed. He had allowed Tohru to live with the Sohmas, he allowed her to keep her memories - he hadn't pressed Hatori to erase everything she knew about them. He had been under the influence that Tohru would prove no threat, that she would just simply be there and nothing more. But this - Yuki falling in love with her? It was not to be taken kindly. And so, after a few seconds of silently following Yuki, he grabbed the younger boy by the arm and pulled him into an empty room.
No, he hadn't planned on doing something like this, he had planned on a simple visit so he could spend time with his relatives. How was he to know this sort of thing would happen? He hadn't even greeted anyone before finding himself in this rather disgusting situation. Pinning the frightened Yuki against the wall after sliding the door shut, he narrowed those dark eyes of his as his gaze met the boys. "What do you think you are doing?"
He could see the fear in Yuki's eyes - the fear he both loved and hated. And he sighed as he heard no response from the boy. "Yuki..." slender digits traced the boys jaw line as he spoke, trying to come off as sincere and polite as he could before he slapped him across the face. The 'snap' of skin meeting skin making him wince and then he decided to rest his forehead against that of Yuki's as the younger boy tried to keep the tears back. "My precious Yuki... You've dug yourself a hole... Are you planning on being buried alive?" he asked, pale hands caressing the silver-haired boys abused cheek.
"...I-I..."
"Shh..." Akito shushed him, "Must I tell you stories of the Sohmas and their lovers? It always ends in tragedy, poor, poor Yuki... We aren't meant to love. We aren't normal, we're different. Love, happiness, good fortune... We're not meant to have it. It's pointless chasing a dream you know you can't catch." He paused for a second or two before he picked back up, "She'll only get hurt, Yuki... and you will, as well. You know it's true. She'll find someone normal, someone she can do everything with. Do you think she wants someone who can't embrace her? How would you welcome her home? A simple wave?" He paused again, a little smirk tugging on his lips, "How would you make love to her?"
He could see the tears welling up in Yuki's eyes, he could feel the younger boy sliding down the wall. He hated having to put Yuki through such pain - such torture. "Let her go... unless you want me to interfere." He backed away from the mouse and calmly left the room, pausing in his steps to turn his head and watch as Yuki met the floor with full force. Sighing as he left, his right hand placing itself over his heart and leaned against the wall as he slipped out of the house unnoticed.
:-
"Are you all right?" Shigure asked a dazed Akito, raising a brow as he waved a hand in front of the boys face.
"Ah, hai..." Akito said, glancing oddly at the hand before he decided to expand a little more on the subject at hand. "He's in love with that girl," he stated, noting the nods from both Ayame and Shigure in response. "I wont have it."
"You should ha-" Ayame shut himself up, seeing as how he was about to get himself in a hell of a lot of trouble. "...Doushite?" he asked, being a little more careful not to step out of line this time, "You were so harsh on him when he was younger, why not let him be happy?"
"He'll get hurt."
"I don't think you know her as much as you think you do! She would never hurt him!" Ayame protested, slamming a fist on to the hard wood as he did so. "She's kind, gentle, understanding... and she doesn't care about the curse! You, of all people, should see and understand that!"
"How dare you question my actions and my thoughts! Have you no idea what I'm going through for YOU?! For you and everyone else?! My life is ruined because of all of you! I live for the sole purpose of dying so that you can live out your lives! I'm being sacrificed for a group of people who could care less about whether or not I actually exist! ...And if I can't be happy then no one else will, either!"
"You aren't happy because you chose not to be! Let him love and be loved! Stop ruining our lives because you're too focused on your death-to-come to make yours worth while!" Ayame was red in the face now, and Shigure was left tugging the man to his feet and off in the opposite direction while the snake screamed at and insulted the sickly boy.
"Tohru doesn't love him," he stated quite simply, as if everyone already knew and those who didn't should have. He had ignored most of what Ayame said after 'let him love and be loved!' because, quite frankly, he knew for a fact that the girl only cared for Yuki as if he were her brother. "I care for him more than she ever could."
Ayame paused in his insulting and set to thinking about what that last part meant, but Shigure only apologized for the ordeal before dragging Ayame off, leaving a silent Hatori with a more than ruffled Akito.
. . . . . .
"Yuki..."
"...I wonder if... perhaps someone will love me as much as I love her... but even then he wouldn't allow it." Yuki paused as he tried to pick up a deeper trail of thought on the subject, but he couldn't think of anything to say that would cheer himself up. "... He's right, we're not meant to be happy."
"Maybe you should think what *you* want to think," Kyo said as he pulled the melancholy Yuki into his arms, placing a soft kiss on the boys forehead as he tried to get him to sleep. He hadn't even known he had given that sort of comforting kiss until after he had already done it and that heart of his was left skipping beats as the mouse dug his face into his chest and grasped his shirt. Kyo could feel the slight burning in his cheeks as he blushed and wrapped his arms around the silver-haired boy. /...Baka-nezumi...making me blush.../
*Okay... I'm not writing anymore for this chapter. u.u Wait until the next chapter for more! I spent waaaaay too much time on this today. XD!!! I hope you all liked it...*