Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters.
Note: Hmm…I hope I did a good job at trying to describe the areas…I've always felt sorry for poor Hatori and Kana…Sorry if I've made any grammatical errors and such…Hope you people enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 21: A Plan Formed
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'Whoa…'
Kyo stared in awe at the beautiful place Hatori had brought them to. There were more beautiful hues of green, around a cave hidden by ivy vines, than could be counted. There were flowers of a deep blue and, surprisingly, silver all around the place. They were on the ivy, around the tree trunks, in the top of the trees, and within the bushes. To top it all off, there were butterflies…beautiful, light blue and black butterflies that were all over the place. There were even a pair of deer underneath a willow tree, drinking from a crystal clear pond.
Something didn't seem right though. This seemed all just a little too…beautiful…too…peaceful…too…too…something just wasn't right.
Hatori lifted a hand, holding a golden flame in his palm, and flames leaped onto the ivy which had been hiding a small opening of a cave. Only that particular ivy burned. Common reasoning would have said that the flames there should have set the whole place on fire since all of the plants were connected in some fashion or form…Hatori then turned towards them and said,
"Follow me…don't make a sound until I say you can relax…"
Everyone silently, and slowly, followed Hatori into the cave. Kyo was the last one to step inside the cave and as soon as he did, the ivy immediately returned and blocked out all sun light. Though, his eyes didn't have any trouble adjusting and he could see through the dark easily. He looked up ahead and quickly caught up to the others, who had already started to walk into the deep stone hallway that seemed to be slanting down. As they traveled further down, it continued to get darker…and for a while, the walls became quite damp…though no water could be heard. After about what seemed like twenty minutes, the air seemed to change, the walls became dry, and a very dim light was being emited from a little farther down the hall. When they came upon a doorway, Hatori signaled for them to stop and stay put. A minute later he came back out of the room and motioned for them to enter. When Kyo stepped inside the room, he stopped to gawk along with the other two vampires a little ways ahead. This room was nothing like the outside. What seemed to be water trickling down the walls at first glance, was really dark blood…Butterflies were in the room, but they were just the dark fluid in a different form…On the wall to the left, there were brown ivy vines with blood red and gold colored flowers here and there…It seemed to be covering some sort of door…no…It was a coffin…embedded into the wall, as if it had originally been a closet…
"You can speak now…"
Kyo jumped at the sound of Hatori's whisper…that seemed to be as loud as a shout, shattering the silence that was once in the room.
"…just try to keep your voices at a whisper though."
Everyone nodded…and for a while, no one spoke. Too afraid to break a silence that was more than just a few years old…and afraid of what might be awoken within this eerie tomb of a human named…Kana.
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"My, my…Just where did my little pets run off to?"
An angry sneer appeared on his face as he spoke, though his voice remained at a calm tone…
"You're not answering me…Hatsuharu…Hatori…Yuki," a horrid smile then crept to his face, "…Dear Yuki….Where are they?"
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"So…how can we do it? This was your idea to start with, so what should we do?"
"How am I supposed to know!? I asked you how to do it in the first place!"
Kyo glared furiously at the clam Hatori…Kyo had noticed that he hadn't opened his eyes since they had taken their seats in various spots within the room...
"It will be no easy task, I'm afraid," Shigure said as he got up and took step towards Kyo, "Though we should be able to do it if we pull together…You interested in what I have in mind?"
"Yeah, so get on with it and knock off the suspense act! Just who are you trying to impress!?" Kyo growled, trying hard to keep his voice fairly low while still letting his aggravation be known…
"I don't know…if you're going to be that way about it…why should I--"
Kyo lunged at the vampire and Haru immediately struggled to pry him off of Shigure,
"Just stop it, both of you! You can get your grudges out after we've taken care of Akito! Have you forgotten that Yuki is still there to tell him what he knows!?"
Shigure's eyes narrowed in thought and Kyo turned away from him as he crossed his arms,
"Damn Yuki!"
"So…what was this plan of yours, Shigure?"
Kyo and Haru looked over towards Hatori before looking back over at Shigure while giving a nod of agreement.
"Well…my attribute would be my senses…and the fact that I can manipulate a being's will or emotions for a very short period of time…Hatori has the power to control gold and silver flames…Haru has the power to be everywhere…and yet nowhere…and Kyo…your specialty will be the straw that breaks the camel's back...hopefully."
Kyo and Haru stared at Shigure in confusion while Hatori remained in his place with his eyes still shut. Haru was the first to speak,
"So…what do you want us to do?"
Shigure gave a grim smile before beginning his explanation,
"First, Hatori will put a barrier of silver flames up around the room that we will confront Akito in…Haru will then hold his arms and legs in place by bringing himself out to four different places at one time…Do you get what I mean, Haru?"
"Yes…go on…"
"Ok…Then with your other hand, Hatori, you'll use gold flames to certain points on his body to weaken him…Yuki will attempt to help around that time, though whether he'll do more good than harm, I'm not sure…Then I'll do what I can to distract Akito's soul as Kyo uses his little power to search it and find his off switch, so to speak…Any questions?"
Kyo turned back towards Shigure and muttered,
"If Yuki squeals, will we be able to catch Akito off guard at all?"
"Maybe, maybe not…I just wish we had an ace up our sleeve…"
Haru then chose to speak,
"What about Ayame? He was being controlled by Akito just before they chained up Kyo…Will he pose as an obstacle…or an ally maybe?"
"Hopefully, Akito will be pissed off enough that he won't try to toy with us."
"What!?"
Everyone turned towards Hatori to see him looking over towards the coffin in shock…maybe even horror…
"…No…that can't be…"
Kyo leaned over towards Haru's ear and whispered very low,
"Has Hatori finally gone off his rocker?"
Haru just shrugged and continued to gawk.
"Why!? …I don't understand…"
Kyo looked over towards Shigure to see the vampire's mouth agape…At least he wasn't the only one being freaked out by this little scene.
"Don't!…No…DON'T DO IT!!"
The weird butterflies started dropping to the ground and soaking up into the floor…The dark fluid flowing along the walls suddenly dried up…The red and gold flowers shriveled up and the ivy followed suit…It revealed the coffin with a small glowing cross on it…The silver light became brighter before shooting out in a beam…that hit the ground just a foot or two away from Hatori…the beam took a form of a girl…she smiled and her lips moved as if she were speaking, but no sound came out…Tears started to flow from Hatori's eyes and she crossed her arms over her chest as she began to glow brighter…the light then became too bright for any of them to look…when they could see again, a small, bluish-silver marble was in her place…Hatori picked it up slowly, gingerly with tears still flowing down his face, and said as he turned towards the others,
"You have your ace…Be thankful and use her well…She gave up her soul…for us…"
The other three vampires stood speechless in front of Hatori…He would never see Kana again now…not in life…or death…
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((AN: Good? Bad? Reviews please! Was this chapter sad at all? Also, I was originally hoping for this to be the next-to-the-last chapter but…^^;; That's probably not gonna be the case.))
