::Disclaimer: I do not own any characters excluding Tichini. These are the sole property of.. well, read the inside of your DVD boxes..:::
Kyo climbed onto his roof. The sun was out for the first time in weeks and Kyo was eager to retreat to the solace of his retreat in the sky. Spring had come quickly this year and he was not eager to waste another day indoors.
Yuki was home - with crutches and more medications then a small pharmacy - but somehow the fun of it was gone. Kyo could no longer taunt Yuki into fighting. Though Kyo had healed long ago, along with Tichini, Yuki had been comparatively slow in recovering fully. The fact irritated Kyo. Yuki had always beaten him at everything, so why couldn't he beat him in healing fully?
Kyo had a lot to think about. Their last midterms were drawing near. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do afterwards. Perhaps something with martial arts. One thing was certain - he would leave the area as soon as possible. Probably the country if he could. It would be safer the further away from Sohma house he could get.
He lay on his back and stared lackadaisically at the clouds. Life at the house was falling into monotony again. Perhaps Tichini would come by for a visit with her psychotic ways - that was always entertaining. He felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. He was glad that she had not died in the accident - more relieved however.
The accident. There seemed to be no end to the problems it caused. Kyo had been forbidden to ever drive again by almost everyone with sense, but had been allowed to keep his license. With a downside of course. His insurance fees had more then tripled. Shigure took great joy in delivering each sizable envelope to Kyo personally.
Tohru was one of the few things in his life that had actually stayed the same under pressure. Kyo had never thought about what was going to happen when they graduated - how was he going to survive without he in his life? She always had a strange smile or an oddly helpful story about everything. Sure she could be a little ditzy, but it was merely the fact that she was.
Still, tonight would be leeks for sure. That was one thing about Tohru that irked him - she kept leeks on the meal plan even when Yuki wasn't there. Kyo knew they had benefits when it came to colds and all, but who the hell would eat leeks on a regular basis? It was like trying to feed a cat manure - there was no way in hell it was going to happen. Dogs and rats might nibble at it, but a cat wouldn't touch it. At least that was how Kyo like to think about it.
And now Yuki was back. There would most definitely be leeks for dinner.
The breeze fluttered through the trees and made a soft, rustling sound. It was a sound Kyo wished they could bottle so that he could listen to it constantly - they had the sounds of the ocean, how much harder could this be? This was nice, not oppressive like water was. Below he could hear the clicking of Yuki's crutches on the floor.
It was the only thing destroying his paradise.
*
Tohru hummed as she stirred the stewed leeks. She hoped Yuki would like them - he hadn't seemed very much like himself since the accident. He was quieter then usual, in his own sulking way. He had opened up a little since he came home from the hospital, but if wasn't quite the same.
"Maybe we should have Tichini-san over for dinner sometime," Tohru said cheerily to Shigure (who had snuck into the kitchen attempting to take the leftovers from the night before without being noticed).
Shigure sighed and reached for a leek instead. "Perhaps," he said, not-so-contentedly chewing, "We should invite her over tonight. She's been working with Ha'ri-san for about three months now; I doubt she would miss a chance to leave the compound. She seems too cheerful to find him interesting."
"You find Hatori-san interesting."
"Yes, but I've known him since I was four. There's a difference for someone who's nearly a decade younger and has just met the man."
"Yuki-kun says he suspects she might be crazy," Tohru said with a slightly absorbed look on her face as she took the leeks off the burner.
"She might well be," Shigure said with a snort, "But that is what makes her interesting, isn't it?"
"I suppose," Tohru said brightly. "Would you call her please?"
"If I must," Shigure said, with a whining look to Tohru's back.
Tohru simply kept making the stewed leeks.
*
Tichini limped painfully to her cottage. Her whole body hurt. Ribs, legs, head. All pounded with the dull, resounding pain that refused to leave her. All she wanted to do was crawl back to the over-sized cottage, take a painkiller - or several - and fall asleep.
Painkillers. They were her new best friends, and perhaps the only friends she had made at the Sohma house, short of Momiji. Painkillers were wonderful things - pop a few and the world didn't bother her anymore. She didn't feel her bones grating as she walked. She didn't want to wince every time she took a breath.
She barely had time to close the door before her knees started to buckle. With a sigh, she pulled herself up on the counter. She took a handful of the pills without water and lay down on her couch. The lights were off - she hadn't bothered to turn them on.
It was too bad she was exhausted. She was hungry, but too tired to cook. She had been here so long that this felt like a routine now. Hatori knew nothing of it - he only noticed that she grew thinner and thinner as the days went by. Momiji always handed her breakfast in the morning for some reason or another. She had a feeling Hatori told him to, because over time the breakfast contained more and more sugar.
Most of the Zodiac gave her a wide berth - as if she were something dangerous. She didn't transform. That was an oddity, and it was a frightening one. The curse was not over, but she was immune. It scared some and made others curious, thought most remained aloof. Ayame had come to see her once. He looked her over like a dress hanging in a shop window before saying he didn't see anything wrong with her. With that he flounced off, leaving her staring.
It was as if… She never finished her though - simply drifted off into a clean sleep. She was completely out of it in seconds.
She never heard the phone ring.
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A/N: Ah, Chapter 5. We all know what this means. We're halfway through! YAY! Er.. I should probably stop celebrating now - there are five more chapters and an epilogue to go. ::disgruntled chibi-Becca:: Anyhow, I [finally] saw DVD #4. It was great - I loved Hiro and Ritsu. Hiro reminds me of me! Ah, I'll stop rambling now, I hope you all enjoy the story thus far and will watch for more chapters.