"A Strange Sort of Peace"
Author's Note: KyouxYuki & TohruxYuki are THE official pairings in this fic, to answer the review questions ^.^ I've taken a liking to both pairings and I've decided to experiment by trying both at once =P. Also, I may speed up the pace SLIGHTLY. Not super fast… just enough so that I don't babble on and on, trying to describe every little thing. Here's to trying a new method of writing… er… slightly new.
Pairings:
KyouxYuki TohruxYuki
(Yes I know I'm a strange one.)
Summary: It all begins when a sleepless Yuki finds himself haunted nightly by a benevolent kitchen ghost. Could this be related to the dangerous accidents that keep happening around Tohru? Meanwhile, both a shocked Kyou and a timid Tohru find themselves falling in love... with Yuki!?
Warnings: This story includes yaoi, non-consensual sex (rape), violence, death and much OMGness. Rating may change.
Part 2:
His first reaction, which in his opinion was the most sensible, was to rush out of the classroom at full speed when the cat had asked 'what the hell was wrong with him.' He hadn't snapped back into the real world until he felt a light, almost accidental touch against his arm. The next thing he knew, Kyou was leaning over his desk staring at him straight in the face. As if Kyou hadn't already violated his personal space that morning.
He only turned away with a careless expression, not bothering to ask what the cat had wanted, gathered his things and left. It was better not to acknowledge that he had been caught off guard again. If he let it get it through his thick skull that Yuki wasn't invincible, the bakaneko just might start thinking he'd be able to beat Yuki in a fight. And his cocky attitude was enough to deal with as it was.
In any case, he had more important matters to attend to: heading to the library to find some answers about one thing.
Hauntings.
The library was busy and slightly crowded when he walked in and the buzz of the students made Yuki fidget with paranoia and vigilance. He hated crowds with a passion. Luckily for him, he'd never had the misfortune of transforming in a busy street or in a large public place. He tended to stay away from those places altogether, like the rest of the inner circle of the Jyunishi .
And it was probably habit that had saved him a lot of pain and misery. If he had the bad luck of transforming at a crosswalk, then not even Hatori would be able to conceal the secret of the jyunishi from the world.
The cursed members of the Sohmas were incredibly lucky. Part of the curse, he supposed, was its very own desire to keep itself hidden.
He paused a moment in a thought, a chill running down his spine thinking that perhaps the curse itself had a mind of its own. A consciousness that smiled upon the suffering of unfortunate souls of the Sohma clan.
Yuki picked up the book that had fallen off the shelf. It had bonked the top of his head while he was brooding in front of a shelf. The book had happily landed beside his foot.
He picked it up obligingly, figuring that if the book had wanted to be checked out so badly as to throw itself off the shelf, then he might as well have taken a look at it.
'No title?' he thought when he let it flop open in his hand. With one quick movement, he slapped it shut and tucked it under his arm. So after making his way over to the tables on the other side of the library where he set about looking through the stack slowly, one book at a time.
Not even a few minutes passed before his gaze was drawn once more to the maroon cover of the book that lied silently beside his elbow. He set down his palm on top of the textured cover and ran his fingers along the front. Someone must've really liked you, he thought knowingly. Did they borrow you a lot? He picked it up from the table and leisurely opened up the maroon book.
"What's so special about you, though?" he wondered and read the faded lines of the first page.
A piece of paper slipped out from between the pages to his surprise.
Well, what do we have here? Yuki thought as he set down the book. It was a clipping from a newspaper dated only a few years ago. Its headlines were already too wrinkled and battered to be read, obviously worn from frequent use and readings. But the words underneath it were clear and bold, holding firm to the story within its letters.
'The red.... butterfly?' he read some words aloud to himself. Yakuza... a female gang, that was.
He quickly skimmed over the clipping and looked around, slipping the piece of paper gently inside his pocket. Without hesitation, he picked up the maroon book and flipped quickly though the worn pages for more clippings. Several more instantly fell out of its pages, no doubt holding more secrets.
Yuki stared at each of the clippings, frowning from the sheer coincidence.
Gang. Red. Car. Riot. Fight. Deserted. Rival....
Butterfly... butterfly, butterfly, butterfly... again and again he read over the same words.
"Kyoko... Honda?" He said suddenly out loud. "Kyoko Honda?"
Some girls giggled as they past by him, startling him as if someone had just placed a hand on his shoulder and said his name. At the same time, his heart pounded meaningfully in his chest.
He waited but a few moments before he headed over to the counter to check it out, all the while, feeling unfamiliar warmth as if someone close to him was smiling.
And he liked it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yuki noticed three girls further down the hallway caught in a lively conversation. One of which was Arisa, who was making some wide sweeping gestures as if narrating a story. Hanajima was looking out the window. Yuki suspected that she was fazing out the yankee's narrative, but a moment later she turned and made a remark that made Arisa laugh and pat her back.
And the moment his eyes moved towards Tohru, he smiled. She was already looking back at him and the eye contact made her exhale and throw her gaze to the floor again. She seems to be doing that a lot lately, he thought to himself.
However, Tohru's wasn't the only person studying Yuki. Saki's watchful eyes were as well and he could feel her black eyes on him as if they meant to burn a hole straight through him. His smile faltered when Saki looked him straight in the eyes.
Invisible waves of electricity flashed behind her.
As if his legs feared mortal danger, they deliberately changed his course down the hallway and veered straight ahead to his classroom instead of towards Tohru and Arisa like he had originally intended.
That… wasn't supposed to happen… he thought grimly.
He turned and fearfully stared at the door where he had come in, wondering how in the world that he was supposed to catch Arisa and Tohru alone. There was something very scary about the young psychic that always managed to throw off Yuki like no other (that is, aside from Akito.) She possessed a knowingness that caught the members of the Jyunishi by surprise.
And no doubt, the psychic would definitely suspect something if he asked to see her two closest friends alone. In fact, Yuki wasn't sure Saki hadn't already begun to suspect something. He sighed and sat down at his desk in the nearly empty classroom. He rested his chin thoughtfully on his palm and sighed.
Wouldn't it be rude, though? he wondered, If he were to simply ask Tohru about her deceased mother. How would Tohru react to the fact that Yuki thought her mother was haunting the house? Or rather, just haunting Yuki himself and not haunting her beloved daughter like one would expect? How would Arisa react, for that matter?
Why was it so hard for him to just ask about Kyoko? And just what would he ask, if he ever did dredge up the courage to ask them?
"Lack of action merits no answers for the inquirer," a voice answered his thoughts aloud.
"I know that. But I don't think I'll be able to. Especially considering the circumstances-" Yuki stopped in mid sentence and jumped out of his seat. The chair was sent sliding back against another desk with a loud bang. "H-hanajima!!" he cried in surprise. "Y-you surprised me… when you… walked… in just now!"
Saki seemed to be unaffected by the outburst and continued, "Something has happened."
"Can I do something f-for you?" Yuki asked, not moving to claim his former seat. Saki's expression remained stoic as usual and Yuki had trouble deciding whether or not she was really going to answer until she opened her mouth a few seconds later.
"You want to ask them something." She said.
"N-no it's quite all right. I think I already had my question answered," Yuki answered quickly. He noticed no change. He fought the urge to sprint for the door. Well… would it really hurt to tell Hanajima what was wrong? "I... think I have a problem... with Tohru's mother."
"What problem is that?" she stated more than asked and Yuki felt himself obligated to answer truthfully. Besides, he reasoned, she was a psychic. Who better to believe in ghosts than someone like her?
"I think I'm being haunted by Tohru's mother..." he trailed off, suddenly feeling foolish. After all, before the chopstick incident, he would have dismissed anyone who believed in hauntings and ghosts. He was just the kind of person who didn't believe in wandering specters and restless spirits. His first initial images of ghosts looked suspiciously like Akito… or of floating white bed sheets with eye-holes cut out.
"Why," she asked. Why are you asking Arisa and Tohru? He finished her sentence unconsciously.
"Because ... they knew her in real life right?" He said, resting his hand unsteadily on the arm of the chair.
Saki gave no answer, only waiting for him to continue with his explanation. He couldn't help but glance at the door briefly, wishing he had given into the urge to leave the room earlier. Did she believe him at all?
Whatever her stance was, her expression gave no indication of what she was thinking. "I don't really know why I wanted to talk to them. I guess I thought they might have some answers for me. Maybe even finding out why she's haunting me. Me of all people. It doesn't make sense..."
"You're not in a position to say whether or not she is haunting you." she replied quickly and turned to leave the classroom. Yuki debated with himself furiously whether or not to stop her and settled for sitting down in his chair and staring off numbly into space. Yuki turned suddenly to her retreating figure, a question waiting impatiently on his lips.
"I won't tell them." she said, almost as if she was reading his mind. "It's not my place."
"Then..." Yuki said.
"When?" She interrupted him.
"It only happens at night, so I guess that you could... I mean... tonight is fine... And Saki, I know this may sound odd, but I'd rather Kyou and the rest of them not know about-"
"Leave the door open. Wait for me in the kitchen."
Yuki looked up curiously from his desk only to find Saki gone. Of course, she was probably already outside with Arisa and Tohru once more.
"Wait... he asked himself with a disturbed look on his normally calm features. "How'd she know it was happening in the kitchen...?"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Tohru had wanted to watch something that had a good ending, and Kyou had wanted to watch anything and everything with violence in it. Kyou hadn't said a thing the entire time, but Yuki spotted the way Kyou's eyes lingered on certain posters.
Personally, Yuki didn't really care, still unbelieving that he was on a semi-date with Tohru; the semi part coming into play whenever he set regretful eyes on the damned cat who had decided to come after all. But he really felt as if the cat being there didn't ruin the trip. The fact of the matter was that he was out with Tohru and he was going to make sure she enjoyed herself.
On the bright side, the movie theater wasn't too packed that day, being a weekday. Apparently Tohru had asked the two of them spur of the moment and hadn't taken into account that they still had some things to do. Especially since it was a weekday.
She also nearly died of guilt when Yuki paid for her ticket, but she eventually warmed up to the idea. He knew she was enjoying herself in the end, especially when they set foot inside.
Tohru hadn't been inside a movie theater since the time her mother had taken her to see an old samurai film. And he knew it was a special time. Which was why he nearly hit Kyou after the two of them started an argument.
But instead of just knocking the cat down like he usually did, he managed to notice people looking their way during the loud shouting on Kyou's part. He shoved the cat back against a wall and hissed at him, "You're trying to ruin this day for Tohru aren't you? Are you trying to be a problem?"
"Shut up! I'm not being a problem!" Kyou said, and suddenly his mind scrambled. He could feel Yuki's warm breath against his neck. And despite all efforts not to allow it, the touch on his shoulder was frying whatever thought processes he had been trying to get through his head. "Just get off me!"
It was the damned mouse's fault. It wasn't like he had done anything wrong. In fact, the only thing he had done was stare before Yuki got antsy and reacted violently to Kyou's remark.
It really shouldn't have meant a thing. He knew what people whispered about Yuki : how absolutely beautiful he was. And Kyou sure as hell wasn't blind. He'd be an idiot if he didn't know it. For fuck's sake he had to see his face every day. How could he not?
But if he would admit anything, he wouldn't say that Yuki was beautiful.
He was just nice to look at.
There was something pleasing about the way that Yuki's hair moved. About the way he walked and about the way his voice sounded. The little things that made Yuki who he was.
That was all. Was it wrong for him to look at something that everyone else did?
He simply swatted away his aggressor's hands. Yuki didn't protest. The boy only turned on his heel and walked off on his own. He paused a moment later, waiting for Tohru like the polite gentleman he was.
Kyou rolled his eyes and turned his shoulder to get rid of the soreness. It had been the first to hit the wall when Yuki had shoved him back and Yuki seemed to be particularly more irritated that day. He tended to be more violent when he felt annoyed. I thought you didn't want to ruin Tohru's day, huh? He thought stubbornly and glared at Yuki.
Tohru turned worriedly to Kyou. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
He snorted. "Worry about yourself, I'm fine." The anger seethed beneath his chest. What's his problem!? I have a right to be here just like everyone else, fucking mouse… In one last attempt to get the feeling of Yuki's hand on his shoulder, he brushed it off with his other hand as if it was a tangible object.
He paused in mid-brush. The air around him suddenly snapped with electricity. It was almost as if someone had flicked a switch inside his head because suddenly he felt alert and aware of his surroundings. What was it?
Tohru had once asked whether or not animals could sense things like earthquakes in advance. He didn't answer, never having stopped to think about it, himself. Kyou narrowed his eyes, looking about the room for the source of the disturbance.
Meanwhile, Tohru nodded understandingly and turned to walk towards Yuki. She had a smile on her face and a bounce in her step.
But she had only taken but a few steps before there was a loud crash directly above. She looked towards the source of the loud noise. She turned down just in time to shield herself from a downpour of broken glass.
She crouched down and involuntarily let out a small squeal that caught the attention of both Yuki and Kyou who rushed forward, pulling Tohru to her feet before larger shards of glass began to fall on top of her.
Yuki looked on, horrified, relieved… and even a bit jealous… from afar. He hadn't been looking in their general direction until Tohru had screamed. And by then, Kyou was already pulling her forward out of the way of the falling glass.
Yuki crouched down beside Tohru, his arm just barely touching her shoulder.
"Tohru are you all right?" Yuki asked, brushing aside her bangs to see her face clearly. People were bustling about them, a few of them employees that had rushed to the sound of the crash. Tohru, who was a bit shaken, but otherwise unharmed nodded. "What happened?" He noticed Kyou who was already on his feet, staring at something on the wall. Yuki followed his gaze.
"One of the fucking movie display cases up there shattered for some reason…I don't know what happened." He said. Sure enough, Yuki stared at the the broken glass embedded on the floor and then looked back up at the wall where the glass had come from. The display itself had virtually just shattered as if someone had hurled something at it.
"O-Oi… Kuso Nezumi… before Tohru screamed… did you feel.." he said cautiously. Suddenly, it seemed very crazy to him. And there was a small fear in the back of his mind that the mouse might've thought that he was crazy.
But to his relief, Yuki interrupted him, "Yeah, Kyou." He helped the uncertain Tohru back to her feet. "I felt it too.."
It took several moments, but the manager of the small theater had come out to investigate and took several moments to assure the people around them that everything was all right. They had to spend another ten minutes explaining and accepting their solemn apologies and free passes, but eventually they made their way back out.
"Oh you're hurt!" Tohru spoke up more confidently at the door. She reached out and took Kyou's in her own. "You're bleeding."
Kyou blinked curiously. "I am?" he said and he pulled back his own hand slowly, staring at the crimson that was already starting to drip down his wrist. "It's not that bad, it's only a cut." Despite his protests, Tohru had already reached into her pocked and pulled out her handkerchief. Yuki stood silently and watched the two with a serene look to him.
"Well, you should worry about yourself… You're the one who was nearly impaled by falling glass, weren't you?" Kyou replied.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Yuki didn't have trouble staying up late to wait for Saki that night. It wasn't a matter of trying to keep awake. It was more a matter of being too restless to get some sleep before Saki entered the household.
Yuki was already waiting in the kitchen, sitting on a stool, swimming in a chaotic sea of his own thoughts. Many of those thoughts were centered around the appearance of the kitchen-ghost. Or actually of what Yuki was sure was Tohru's mother.
He wasn't quite sure whether or not he was making things up, but he felt that whatever had entertained him the nights before with the chopsticks definitely wanted him to find the old maroon book and the scattered newspaper clippings between its pages.
He opened the book once again, aware that the book itself probably had nothing to do with the haunting itself. As far as Yuki read, it turned out that it was nothing more than a coming-of-age novel of a young woman who was determined to reach some college or university. In the end, of course, she did manage to reach her goal but the story wasn't over yet. He still had to read the last few chapters.
Saki was already sorting through the clippings when he looked up from the book.
Once again, Yuki found himself surprised enough to jump out of his seat, the stool falling over and hitting the flour loudly. Saki didn't react.
"Ah... I went to the library the other day. I was looking for anything that might give me some help and I ... stumbled... upon this one." He held up the small novel and set it down on the counter in front of Saki. "Inside it, I found all sorts of articles that were all about some female gang that used to run around the city a long time ago. I even think a few of them are still... active, if you will, today."
Saki picked up a single article and scanned her eyes quickly over it. She handed it to Yuki who had already ran through all of them several times.
"This is the only one I don't quite get." Yuki said to her as he politely took it from her hands. "All of them are about the gang except for this one." He flipped it over once as if he hadn't already looked it over a hundred times.
"A car crash," she said.
"Yes, that's right. What does a car crash have to do with all the others?"
"When did Kyoko start haunting you?" she asked, seeming to ignore the question or find it irrelevant.
"You know her name?" asked Yuki in surprise.
"You forget what I am to Tohru." she replied, unaffected by his surprise. Of course she would know her name, Yuki scolded himself. She was one of Tohru's best friends and being that as it was, Tohru would have at least told her something of her late mother. And it wasn't as if Saki wouldn't have had the chance to meet her when Kyoko was alive. Kyoko was probably an acquaintance.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" he stopped himself when catching a glance from her. "It all started a few nights ago. With chopsticks..." He averted his gaze.
"Chopsticks." She repeated. Yuki wasn't sure whether she was asking or just confirming and it was beginning to drive Yuki insane.
"It would always happen when I was downstairs about this time at night and cooking ramen noodles." he said. He looked over to the stove where a kettle of water was already beginning to whistle faintly. He walked over to the stove and turned it off while reaching for one of the noodle cups in the cupboard.
His hand paused hesitantly over the handle of the kettle. Was Kyoko going to come? Well… whoever it was anyway. The point was that Saki was there and he had never had anyone else in the room when it happened.
Saki waited silently as Yuki poured the boiling water into the cup. He guessed it really didn't matter after all. It wasn't as if he was losing something if he stopped being haunted right?
He cursed and grabbed his burnt hand, both the kettle and ramen hitting the floor.
"Augh..." he said out loud. He was being stupid again and had managed somehow to pour the boiling water on his own hand. He turned red under the careful gaze of Saki, who moved towards him.
"Are you all right?" the psychic asked. Yuki nodded, rubbing the burnt skin. It was already beginning to tingle and he could feel the painful sensation of pins and needles on his injured hand.
The two lifted their heads when the faucet turned on beside him. Yuki turned to Saki questioningly, thinking she had been the one to do it. But she was on the other side of the kitchen, so his only explanation left was ...
"Kyoko?" he asked. And the most profound sense of guilt, relief and happiness hit him all at once when two pale hands reached out and drew his hurt fingers under the cool stream of running water that soothed the painful burn.
Yuki looked up to see a red-haired woman with Tohru's eyes smiling down on him. Her hands ran softly up and down his wrist comfortingly.
"Honda... Kyoko?" he asked again, not taking away his gaze. She smiled and released his hands, turned the faucet off and kissed his forehead. She tapped the edge of his nose playfully and whispered,
"Clumsy."
And Yuki nearly protested out loud when her form suddenly vanished silently, leaving only soft whisps of smoke-like tendrils in her wake. He turned angrily in Saki's direction. But when he spoke, it wasn't towards her. It was towards the person behind her, just out of view outside the Kitchen door.
"Baka neko." Yuki said knowingly. "How long have you been here?"
And sure enough, the red-eyed cat came out from around the corner crossing his arms.
.
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..
.----
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Author's Note: Moo?
Kativa-Chan – to tell the truth, I've already read it ^^. And I agree with you on that, it's definitely is one of the best I've ever read. I can only wish some day I might be as good as her ^^.
NemKess- Bleh… I did think that was a little far-fetched now that I think about it. Although here's a fun tidbit: in the manga, rain makes kyou 'sleepy as hell' XD.
Gallatica – Wooho! Kindred spirit! I'm tired of seeing the same clichés in all these fics… A lot of them are really good, but some things get on my nerves. No doubt there're a thousand and one clichés in this fic, but I figure I might as well attempt to write this fic anyway =P. Anyhoo, no you're not a blurcase. I figured that that POV changes may have been confusing. It's hard, writing from the outside. Usually I feel more comfortable to write in a first-person point of view and this feels new to me . How do people do it so easily!? O_o. And about the weakling Yuki… well that weakish-yuki-stereotype gets on my nerves SO much too . One of my top pet-peeves. If you've watched Yuki close enough, you'd know he's a strong person and he carries himself well considering the hell he's been through. Hopefully, Yuki doesn't turn into a puddle of mush. B'sides, Kyou an Tohru will make sure he wont! Nyahaha! Wish me luck! ^^
Aisha C. – thanks for taking the time to Review! I really appreciate it ^^. Interesting? Thanks, I always wondered what would happen if Yuki was haunted. ^^.
Enjen- a little slow? Hmm… yesh. Indeedy. Things didn't really speed up in this chapter and it'll probably stay the same pace, considering my inability to make exciting fics -_-. Anyhoo… competition between Tohru and Kyou, eh? *rubs chin and then claps, rubbing her hands together malicious looking* Nyahaha… we'll see…
Gia- It's such a compliment to be called original ^^ *turns red* ! thank you! *sob* Anyhoo… the official pairing is KyouxYuki and TohruxYuki. They're both the official pairings and it's going to be a tug-of-war until my muse tells me otherwise and she's pretty sure that she wants these two pairings to stay final hehe…
Yaoi-Fan- Congrats!! You guessed it! It IS her. ^^ *high five* Here's your complimentary Sohma-family plushy pack for guessing right =P. *gives plushy pack*
Pallas2- Me? Talent? Pfffttt XD. I laugh at you!… j/p. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the story ^^. I'm surprised that people actually find this interesting XD. Now… maybe I'll REALLY be convinced if no one falls asleep when reading this fic. =P
Blade6- do you reaaalllyyy wanna know what happens? Well you seee…. *narrates the entire story*….. and that's what happens ^^.
Neurotic Squirrel- I may have a teeny tiny amount of plot but let's see if I can turn this baby into an actual story and not just a fluke XD. Thanks so much for the review. And personally, I've taken such a liking to the YukixKyou pairing XD. I love you too! *big tackle*
aera-chan- hai! update ready and waiting, ma'am! ^^ Thx for the review.