The Sohma Institute
By Lady of the Ink
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but you knew that. I hope. I do own this story, and all the plot twists it contains.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Close Calls


Tohru flinched slightly as she felt Haru's warm breath wash over her cheek. He was so close that she could see the darker gray that ringed the outer edge of his eyes. Her entire field of vision was filled with his face, a face that was almost frightening in its newfound intensity. Gone was the unreadable and unreachable person she'd been talking to before. In his place was a near stranger whose entire focus was squarely on her.

Pressing tightly against the wall behind her, she struggled to put some space between them. It turned out to be a futile effort; when she leaned back, he simply followed. Clearly she was at his mercy for the moment. She wondered what he was going to do, hoping that whatever it was would be harmless.

Whether luckily or not, he didn't keep her waiting for long. He spoke, his voice seeming almost deeper than before, adding to her unease. "You're here to help me? Is that really what you think?" His un-bandaged arm rose to her face, his fingers lightly pinching her cheek in a gesture normally reserved for small children. "You're either completely innocent or extremely foolish. Since you're working here, I'd lay odds on foolish."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Tohru managed to ask breathlessly as she sought to make sense of his words over her swirling thoughts and pounding heart.

Haru chuckled with little humor. "Well Miss Honda, innocence doesn't last very long around here, and only foolishness would think that that could be changed."

"I still don't understand," she whispered, struggling to remember everything that anyone had ever said about this side of Hatsuharu. Ms. Almont had mentioned something about violence, but only in relation to Kyou. Was it a specific grudge that would cause him to lash out? Or was anyone near him a potential target? Her eyes widened and she couldn't help but wince when he next spoke, his nose barely an inch from her own.

"Do you want . . .to help me, Miss Honda?"

There was a lot of weight behind the seemingly simple question, and she had the sinking feeling that it might be a trap. Even so, she couldn't help but answer it honestly. "Y-yes."

"How? Will you do it like the others did? Say the same empty words? Smile the same false smile? Will you do all the right things and still be wrong in the end?" There was anger burning in his eyes now, clearly visible from such close range. But there was another emotion there, almost hidden behind the first. It was that tiny flicker of pain that gave Tohru the courage to look him straight in the face without wavering.

"I don't know why you feel this way, or if it was or wasn't true of the other people who worked here. The only person I can speak for is myself. I do know that when I say I want to help you, I mean it exactly the way that it sounds. I want to see you get better, just as I'm sure the other people here at the Institute want."

He smirked, finally moving away from her, although it was only a step or two. "Want has absolutely nothing to do with why I'm here, why any of us are here. It's more a matter of need, although he would never admit it. He holds himself in too high of esteem to acknowledge that there's something others can do that he can't. Even though it's something like this, his pride still won't allow it. Why else would he go to such lengths to keep all this secret? All so he didn't have to ask and show a weakness." He scoffed loudly, a frown spreading across his face.

It was Tohru who moved closer this time, her curiosity overriding her earlier fear. "What secrets, Haru? Who needs you? What wouldn't he ask? What does he need from you?"

Barely looking at her, Haru gestured to his wrapped arm. "Do you think anyone would want to do this to themselves?" he asked angrily. "Well, he did. He was willing to go through this rather than admit he needed help. But then they told him he couldn't, that he wouldn't be able to handle it. That's when he ordered the twelfth floor to be created. No asking, just orders that everyone obeyed. They always obey."

Tohru's mouth was open, her lips forming the start of another question when she was interrupted by the door behind her flying open. There was a loud bang as it slammed into the wall with such force that it bounced back off. An orange-ish blur burst inside, knocking Haru over on its way to the other side of the room. It wasn't until he came to a crouching halt behind the desk that Kyou's features became clearly visible.

Tohru stared in stunned disbelief at the panting figure beneath the window. Her mind was whirling as she struggled to put a reason behind Kyou's unusual entrance. The list that she came up with was short but panic inducing. Mental images of flood, fire, and destruction flashed through her mind.

Just as she was about to go into headless-chicken mode, another shadow fell across the threshold. Kagura stood there, her eyes quickly scanning the room. They swept right over Tohru where she had retreated to, her back against the wall once more. She didn't spare a second glance for Haru as he picked himself up off the floor. No, her gaze zeroed in on Kyou and remained there. Watching the way that the other girl's features lit up at the sight of him, Tohru found it harder than ever to believe she would willingly inflict harm on him.

"Kyou! I came to find you! Why did you run away?" Kagura asked, stepping further inside. Her hands were clasped together and pressed against her chest; confusion furrowed her brow. All in all, Tohru thought, she looks completely harmless.

Kyou didn't seem to agree with her assessment, however. He scooted along the wall, turning when he came to the corner. Kagura followed his every move, leaving the two circling each other like prizefighters at the beginning of a match.

"What do you want?" Kyou practically snarled, coming to a stop right beside Tohru's legs. Glancing down at him from the corner of her eye, Tohru wondered if she should move out of his way and give him a clear path to the door. But when Kagura began to speak after looking at the two of them, it was immediately clear that she was upset. Tohru decided that the best thing to do was remain motionless and as uninvolved as possible.

"You leave me and come running to her?" Kagura asked hoarsely. "Is there something going on between the two of you? Are you thinking about CHEATING ON ME?!"

So much for uninvolved. Tohru opened her mouth in preparation to deny that accusation, but Kyou beat her to it. "Are you insane? I hardly know her! And if I were interested in her - and I'm not! - it still wouldn't be cheating. In order to cheat on someone, you have to be dating them first! You and I have never and will never be a couple! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Instead of the tears that she was expecting, Tohru watched in shock as Kagura's face contorted with rage. Her hands dropped to her sides and balled into fists. In a move so quick that it was almost too fast to see, she launched herself at Kyou, landing a solid hit to his cheekbone. Tohru cringed at the sound of flesh hitting flesh and barely got out of the way before Kagura swung again. Kyou managed to dodge the second blow, ducking under it at the last moment. He used Kagura's moment of disorientation to slip out the door and down the hall. Kagura was quickly hot on his trail.

Tohru blinked at the suddenness of their departure, just as rapid and confusing as their entrance. She wondered where they were headed, and hoped that it wasn't toward a room with any breakables.

As soon as the sounds of their pursuit faded and she managed to regain her senses, Tohru turned back to Haru. Even if she were to go after the two, she would have to make sure that he was okay first. He had taken a pretty hard fall to the floor and might have re-injured his arm in the process. She wanted to have a look at his dressing before she did anything else, and if that meant facing his darker side, she would do it without complaint.

She found him sitting on the edge of his bed, looking expressionlessly at the now empty doorway. The burning anger from before was gone and his face had resumed its original blankness. He looked up at her approach, but otherwise remained motionless. As she sat down by his side, she wondered if he had reverted to his old, calmer self.

"How's your arm?" she asked cautiously, not wanting to risk agitating him if the composure he was displaying was only momentary. Haru looked at her and then down at the aforementioned limb. He then turned it as though checking for injury. If she hadn't been watching him as closely as she was, Tohru would have missed his wince of pain.

"What is it? Where does it hurt?"

"It's just kind of sore."

"Let me check it out anyway. You never know if it might be serious. It's impossible to tell under all that gauze." Tohru waited until he obediently offered his arm to her. Finding the edge of the white material, she began to carefully unwrap it. The dressing was even thicker than she had thought, taking almost a full minute to unwind. When the job was finally done, she had a mountain of bandages at her side and a shocked expression on her face.

She had expected a cut or scrape, maybe a small rash. Her ideas had never included the reality. Hives spread from his wrist to his elbow, bigger than she had ever seen. They were all an angry red color and it was painful for her just to look at them. She could only imagine how badly they must be bothering him.

Of course, she thought, to look at his face, you would never know it. His mask of composure was intact. He seemed mildly curious about the condition of his arm, nothing more.

"Haru, how did this happen?" He shrugged, raising his arm to get a better look. "Do you mean you don't know?" He nodded, momentarily shocking her into silence. Tohru couldn't believe that someone could get such a bad reaction and not know where it came from. Shaking it off, she studied his arm some more, looking for further clues. She thought there was a bruise on the inside of his elbow, but she couldn't be sure through the inflammation.

"Do you know when this started?" she asked, hoping some questions might help to explain his condition.

"This morning, I think."

"Who wrapped it for you? Ms. Almont?"

He shook his head. "Hatori did it."

"Is it that serious that they felt they should call the doctor?"

"Uh-uh. He was coming anyway. He gave me some ointment, I think." Pulling away from her, Haru retrieved a small tube from pocket. Taking it from him, Tohru read the instructions on the back. It seemed to be the garden variety cream to be used on allergic reactions like hives and welts.

Deciding it was safe enough, she carefully applied another coat before rewrapping his arm. When she was finished, he told her that he had promised Momiji a game of Monopoly. "If we don't get started soon, we'll never get done by lights out," he told her as he left the room. She followed along more slowly, her mind telling her there was something she was forgetting . . .

It wasn't until she was in elevator at the end of her shift that Tohru remembered something. During her talk with Momiji, he had mentioned that Haru was helping Ms. Almost with something the day before. Logically, there was a good chance that whatever had given him the hives had happened then, which meant Ms. Almont would know what it was. She decided to ask the older woman the next time she saw her.

She summoned a hint of her usual smile for the guard on the first floor and then made her way through the dimly lit lobby. The night air was cooler than she had been expecting due to a strong breeze. It pushed the sides of her coat open, causing her to shiver. Tohru sat her bag down in order to button her jacket before she headed to the bus stop. She had just slipped the last button through the hole when a hand wrapped around her arm, startling a small shriek from her lips.