Protection From the Protector
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As soon as Shinichi was gone, Tohru sighed in relief. The entire situation had made her very nervous.
"Arigatou, Kyou-kun." Once again, he was her protector. She gave him an appreciative smile. She would have to find a way to return his kindness, for sure.
Kyou made a small noise in his throat in response, just to say that he heard her. He didn't no what else to say. Luckily for him, Hanajima and Uotani had surrounded her and were asking her questions, while Tohru tried to convince them that she was perfectly alright.
"So what exactly happened here?" Uotani eventually demanded.
"You know," Tohru admitted, "I'm not really sure..."
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"Kyou." After the bell rang, signalling that it was time for lunch, Yuki ran to catch up with the cat. "I need to talk to you."
"What? Why should I?!" Kyou's day had not been a good one. Actually, his whole week seemed to be horrible. The rain that pounded against the windows made his mood even more foul.
"Kyou, it's about Tohru." Yuki paused, but continued. "It's about last night's discussion. For Tohru, please."
Kyou crossed his arms across his chest. For Tohru, huh? "Tch, fine."
"Great. We've got to meet up with Haru and Momiji, too. I told them to meet us in the back field."
"Is this really so serious?" Kyou gave him a unsure look. He didn't like the sound of this.
Yuki nodded as he opened the back door, leading the way to their meeting place.
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"Hey, hey!" Momiji sang as they drew close.
"Hello Yuki, Kyou." Haru greeted.
"I'm glad you're both here already. I can't stay for long, since I have a meeting with the other members of the student council in a few minutes." Yuki warned them, already looking at his watch.
"Hurry it up, will you? Tell us what you know already!" Kyou didn't want to beat around the bush, he just wanted to know the truth.
"What's all this about?" Momiji asked, sensing that Kyou wasn't angry, just worried.
"Well," Yuki began to explain, "Last night, I spoke with Hatori and Shigure. I found out that two of Tohru's best friends, Saki Hanajima and Arisa Uotani, had not had their memories of us erased. Since they still know, they still think that Tohru is living with us, and that we are all still one happy family unit."
"Eh?!" Momiji exclaimed. "Really? Hatori missed them?"
Yuki shook his head. "No, he did it on purpose. He wanted her to have a chance to remember what was taken away from her."
"Really. That doesn't sound like Hatori, defying Akito like that." Haru mused.
"This is good news then! Tohru can remember us, as long as we keep away from Akito's watchful eye! Hooray!" Momiji twirled on one foot in happiness.
"Unfortunately...." Yuki trailed off, and Momiji stopped in mid-swirl.
"What, you don't want to be remembered?" Momiji's smile disappeared.
"No, that's not it. I want that more than anything else. But there's a problem. Tohru can eventually remember us by learning through those who still remember her living with us, but she can get hurt. If she regains memories too quickly, she might be overloaded and get sick - or worse."
Silence overtook the quartet. Finally, Yuki continued. "We four of the juunishi are the ones who are in contact with Honda-san the most. Actually, Haru, has she met you again?"
"No, but we will be in the same highschool once exams are over." Haru reminded him.
"Oh yeah! I pointed out Haru to Tohru when he and Kyou were having an argument. So she does know of him." Momiji confessed. "I guess I shouldn't have done that."
"Ah. Well, there isn't much chance that she will meet Shigure again. I'm just glad that she hadn't met any of the other members of the juunishi, or this situation could be much more complicated. We've got to be careful that we don't instill any unwanted memories into her." Yuki frowned. "I don't want anything to happen to her."
"And Kyou." Yuki turned towards the cat. "You can't be so close to Tohru like you were today. I'm not going to ask you why she was at our house last night, but I have to ask you to stay away from her." Yuki had a tone in his voice which clearly showed that he wasn't asking; he was stating the way it would have to be.
"Like you haven't been talking to her too, Yuki," Kyou accused. "I'll bet that you talk to her every chance that you get, don't you?"
"There's a difference. I think before I speak, I can control myself. You always screw everything up! Who knows what kind of damage that you've already caused her. Bringing her to the house where she shared so many good times with us, what a brilliant idea." Sarcasm rang out of Yuki's mouth. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to speak that way. The words I have always wished to say, they flow out of me like water. Honda-san, I'm sorry, but I don't want him to hurt you. No one should ever hurt you. Even if I have to keep someone I know you care about away from you, I will do it, just for you. "The cat is a fool."
A hand touched Yuki's shoulder, cutting off the flow. It was Haru. "Yuki, calm down."
Kyou thought back to when he had let Tohru into the kitchen; she had told him that she had a slight headache. It's all my fault. It's always my fault, isn't it? "You always think that you are so much better than anyone else, mister prince, you always look down on everybody else! What gives you the right to declare the way things should be?!" Kyou could feel the anger pulsing through him, but he could still see an image of Tohru in his mind, smiling, asking him to settle down, taking his hand.
Yuki stood, taking in Kyou's words.
"Ne, Yuki-kun? You're missing your meeting." Momiji reminded him.
Yuki nodded. To Kyou he said, "Don't do anything stupid." Without another word, he headed towards the school.
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What a horrible night's sleep. After Hatori left and Yuki went to sleep last night, I couldn't get myself to doze off. It was very strange, almost as if I could still hear Tohru's voice down in the kitchen. Stress must be getting to me if I'm imagining such things. Shigure walked down the stairs of the empty house and into the kitchen. An empty milk carton from breakfast was left on the table, a telltale sign that Kyou had eventually come home after he stormed out. Shigure had slept in late that day, and it was already time for lunch. Grogginess fogged his mind as he stepped slowly around the kitchen to make his breakfast. It was such a strange feeling.
He started to read the newspaper while eating some toast, but his mind wasn't concentrating on the characters written on the newsprint. He kept on thinking about the conversation between himself, Hatori and Yuki regarding Tohru. Everyone was so willing to disobey Akito, members of his own clan. Of course, he had caused pain to every person in the family on a routine basis, but they didn't seem to worry much about the consequences. Akito always had ways of finding out information. No matter how much you hid a secret, he always knew. How would he take the news when he finds out, as he always does? More punishment, more anger, more darkness. Shigure's mood was darkening the more he thought about it.
Regret swarmed his mind for what he was about to do. Even Hatori, the one Akito trusted his life to, had betrayed him. Shigure stood up, brushing away his toast crumbs from his clothes. He reached the phone. I'm sorry, Tohru-kun, Ha-san. I think this is for the best. This is the only way I can protect our family...
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Author Notes:
Seventh chapter; Uploaded May 14th 2003, Edited June 3rd.
Yuki gets angry. (he's acting a little Akito-ish too...) I know, barely anything happens in this chapter...You'll have to wait for the next update! The next chance I have to update is after the Anime North Convention. I'm really looking forward to going, I'm hoping to find Fruits Basket and Ayashi no Ceres merchandise! *dances around* I'm wearing a costume too, Kaguya from the manga series Planet Ladder. Whee! (I realize I sound hyper, don't mind me...)
I do not own the rights to any of the characters mentioned in this fan fiction.
Language Translations:
Hai - Yes
Arigatou - Thank You
Eh - What
