Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of it's characters.

Warnings: Shounen-ai/Yaoi implications (or perhaps blatant), dark/angst, language, and possible gore.

Pairings: Read and find out

Summary: He's their best friend and, yet, he's their worst enemy. He hides behind his joker's mask and pretends he cares, but he doesn't. What does he want and can they stop him before he destroys them all?

Harakiri: Yay!!! Onto chapter 5!!!!

Skye: Whoopee….

Harakiri: ¬.¬ Well, don't sound so enthusiastic.

Skye: No problems there.

Harakiri: Right, well I hope you enjoyed seeing Momiji and Haru because they're going to be back!!! Read on and you'll get to see them!!! Enjoy, minna!!!

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Eternity is Forever Chapter 5-The Puppeteer and His Shadow

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Tohru woke to the sounds of people arguing.

"I just wanted to show her our curse."

"You idiot! You should have told her first!"

"Waaah! Kyou's being mean to me!!"

"Stop crying!"

"Both of you, be quiet. You shouldn't wake her up."

"Tch, whatever…."

Suddenly everyone went quiet as she entered the room. There she saw Kyou, the man she knew as Hatori, the boy, and another young man she had never seen before. "What happened…?" she asked. Hatori stood up and walked over to her.

"You fainted after you ran into Hatsuharu," he said, pointing to the unknown person with black and white hair.

"Ah," she replied, her voice rather weak from her earlier hysterics.

"Ne, Tohru." She looked down and saw the blond boy who had turned into a rabbit.

"H-hai?" He looked up at her, his brown eyes now sad.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I just thought that maybe…you know…" He looked at the floor, arms behind his back, and made circles on the mats with his toe. Tohru smiled.

"It's ok, ah…." She blinked. She hadn't asked him his name yet.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" He smiled brightly. "I'm Momiji! You've already met Kyou and Hari and that's Haru!"

"It's nice to meet you, Momiji," she said. She then turned to the young man known as Haru and bowed. "It's nice to meet you, as well." He said nothing, but he nodded in acknowledgment. Hatori stepped back, having finished checking Tohru over, then he sat down at a desk.

"So, it seems as if you know a bit about our curse then."

"Er, I suppose. You…turn into animals?" He nodded.

"Yes…" he began, but Momiji soon interrupted.

"Hai!!! We turn into the animals from the Chinese zodiac!!!" he stated rather enthusiastically. Hatori glared a bit at the hyper blond, but then sighed. Kyou, who was sitting by the door, somehow managed to look more sour than usual while Hatsuharu merely stared out the window, seemingly disinterested. Tohru blinked slowly.

"Chinese zodiac….?" Momiji nodded, his blond hair bobbing up and down. She thought about that for a moment. "So if you turn into animals from the zodiac then…" She turned her head and looked at Kyou who was staring at the ground, fists clenched and shaking at his sides. Her eyes widened as she remembered a story her mom used to tell her when she was little. It was about the poor cat of the Chinese zodiac. He had been deceived by the rat and had never gotten his place in the stars thus making him bitter and angry. She stared at Kyou sadly. 'Poor Kyou-kun…'

The neko looked up, sensing someone watching him and was surprised as he saw the look of sorrow and sympathy on Tohru's face. He felt his cheeks go a bit red and he glared at her then stood up and stormed out of the room. He didn't know why she was looking at him like that and it unnerved him. There was no way she could possibly care, nobody cared about him. But…he couldn't bring himself to think that she was like everyone else. Tohru was…Tohru was…different. He shook his head and continued his way down the hall. It was no use thinking like that. He would only get hurt in the end…just like always.

"Why did Kyou leave?" Momiji wondered aloud. Apparently it didn't bother him too much because he merely shrugged his shoulders then bounced over to Hatori. "Ne, Hari? Is Tohru better now?" He nodded to the hyperactive bunny boy who squealed in delight. "Yay!" Momiji then bounded over to Tohru and grabbed her hand. "Ne, Tohru, would you like to go to the park?" Tohru blinked in surprise to the question.

"Ah…I, I suppose," she said. The boy clapped his hands happily.

"Hai! You can consider it my apology for scaring you." He grabbed her hand once again and practically dragged her out of the room, but before they were completely out, they heard a quiet voice.

"I think I'll come, too." Momiji and Tohru turned and looked at Haru, who had stood up, and Momiji squealed again.

"Haru's coming, too!!! Now we can have lots of fun!" The energetic boy grabbed Haru's hand, when he came near enough, and dragged both him and Tohru out of the room.

Hatori watched the entire exchange with worry. It seemed as if, unintentionally, Tohru was drawing all of the Sohma's that she met close to her and settling into a place in their hearts. Even Kyou was affected by her. It was unsettling. No one had ever done that…not even SHE had and SHE was a vampire as well, part of their family. He sighed and looked at a small picture he had framed on the desk at which he was sitting. He picked it up and smiled slightly at the sight of the young woman's face, but when he blinked a small tear made its way down his cheek. He didn't want anyone to be hurt, not like he was, but there was nothing he could do but sit back and watch as events unfolded.

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The park was lovely, even at the dead of night, but there were no people out. No children out playing tag, no mothers chatting or cleaning up scrapes, no old men playing chess…nothing but Tohru and her two vampire companions.

"Weeeeeeeeeee!!" Momiji ran towards the swings, arms spread wide, and skidded to a stop in front of one before he plopped down in the seat. "Tohru, come sit next to me!" He grabbed the chain of one of the swings next to him and rattled it. Tohru smiled and walked over towards the boy then sat down in the proffered swing. Next he turned to his other companion. "Push me, Haru!" The other boy walked over and stood behind Momiji then did as he was commanded. Momiji rewarded him with joyous laughter and a bright smile which caused him to develop one of his own.

Tohru watched the two of them, smiling at their closeness. She began to wonder if Yuki or Kyou had anyone that they were that close with in their family. Momiji stopped laughing and looked at Tohru. He let his feet skid across the ground, slowing his swinging and causing Haru to back up a bit so he didn't get kicked or hit in the face by the bunny boy's rear. The boy finally stopped and tapped Tohru on the shoulder.

"Ne, Tohru, are you not happy?" he asked.

"I-iie!!! I'm happy you brought me here I was just…thinking…" Momiji tilted his head to the side a bit.

"Thinking? About what?" Tohru blushed a bit.

"Ah well…I guess about your curse…" she said. It was partially true. While she may not have been thinking about it initially her thoughts had strayed to the topic. Still, that didn't make her feel any better about fibbing. Momiji smiled.

"Really? Well, that's not the only way we're special, you know!" Tohru blinked.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Momiji grinned and giggled.

"You'll see," he said and Tohru was, somewhat, reminded of Shigure. Suddenly she heard a noise and turned to see a man jogging down the path. "There he is!" Momiji reached into one of his sleeves and pulled out a little wooden doll, a puppet. The doll was painted and dressed to look exactly like the man who was jogging toward them. "Watch," the boy said.

Momiji held his hands over the doll that was sitting in his lap and his brown eyes began to glow blue. The doll then stood up in his lap and the jogging man froze. The doll picked up its arm and waved and, down the path, so did the man. Next the doll did a little dance which the man copied, perfectly. Tohru's eyes widened as she realized what was going on. Whatever the doll did, the man copied and Momiji was controlling the doll.

"B-but how..?" The boy smiled and looked at her, his eyes still glowing that eerie blue color.

"This is the other way I'm special," he said. "All of us junishi have special powers that are unique only to us. Some of our other family members get powers, from time to time, but we always have them." He giggled as he made the man do another little jig. "We usually don't tell people about our powers, though, not even our own families. And us junishi never, ever show our powers to each other. Well, except me and Haru." He looked over his shoulder and smiled at the black and white haired boy. "Hey! Why don't you show Tohru your power, Haru!"

"Are you sure she'll keep it a secret?" Momiji nodded.

"Of course! You won't tell anyone else will you, Tohru?" She shook her head, too amazed, and slightly afraid, to speak. Haru nodded and closed his eyes. When he opened them they were the same glowing blue color as Momiji's. He walked over to one of the small street lamps that were placed around the park and stood in the light. Suddenly, blackness reached up from beneath him and began to envelop him. Tohru gasped, but Momiji didn't seemed worried at all. Once he was completely covered, Haru's blackened form sank into the ground and Tohru nearly fainted.

"It's ok, Tohru," the boy said. He looked down at his doll and made it take a few steps, thus making the man walk forward a few steps into the light of another street lamp. Once the man was positioned in the light Momiji's eyes stopped glowing and went back to their normal brown color. The man shook his head and looked around. Suddenly, his shadow rose up from behind him and grabbed him. The man screamed and tried to fight the shadow's hold, but it was no use. The blackness peeled away and revealed Haru, eyes still glowing blue and fangs unsheathed.

Tohru watched with wide eyes as Haru tilted the man's head back then sank his fangs into the exposed throat. She gasped and covered her mouth as she saw the man continue to struggle, flailing his limbs in a vain attempt to break free. Soon his movements began to slow, then they stopped altogether and Haru dropped the now dead man. He looked up at Momiji and nodded slightly before he, and the man, sank into the shadows.

"Haru's going to find some place to put the body. He'll be back soon, though, so don't worry!" Tohru nodded shakily, her face pale and tinged green.

"H-hai…" she said.

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Shadows coiled around him. Twisting, swirling, running tendrils over his body. It was a dream, just a dream. He knew it was a dream because he was standing. He didn't have enough strength for that. Suddenly his eyes opened and he was back in the real world. The same rug, the same walls, the same room. He must have been partially asleep still for he could swear he heard a siren's song. Beautiful, haunting…like Yuki.

Suddenly his door slid open. There was no knock, no announcement, just the scrape of the door opening and the click as it closed. He closed his eyes tightly. He was here for another one of his nightly visits.

"Akito…" He kept his eyes shut, willing him to go away. "I know you're awake. You can't hide from me." He curled up into a ball.

'No! I don't want to dream…not tonight…not for you….never…' He chuckled softly and walked over to the frightened young man. He put a hand on his shoulder and turned him over.

"Now, now," he chided. "You know you must do as I say, Akito. Why fight it?" He rolled the boy over onto his back and stared into frightened eyes. "Yes, darling, fear me." He placed his hands on either side of the young man's head and kissed him. When he pulled back the young man's eyes were blank and glowing bright blue. "Now…dream for me," he commanded softly. Slowly the room began to shift and change. He smiled, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight. "Perfect…"

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So I didn't make it by the end of the week like I promised.

Skye: Duh, you should've known you wouldn't.

-thwaps Skye- Quiet, you! Anyways, how'd everyone like this chapter? I'm rather happy with it myself. Sorry for making Haru so quiet, but, if you really think about it, he isn't exactly the most talkative person in the world. Ah, and cute, evil little Momiji. X3 Oh and there was the appearance by 'him'. Hurray for the bold tool!!! -does a happy dance- Oh yeah, I'm changing the warnings and (might) be putting the pairings up in the next chapter (since I've finally decided on them now). Leave me lots of reviews because I love them so much!!! (And it makes me work faster) 'Til next chapter, minna!!!! -waves-