Hey there! I'm extremely sorry about this chapter being a day late, but I had a few distractions along the way! I'm also sorry that it's not as long as the other! I also hope that this story doesn't seem rushed…I kind of think it is!

Okay, well on with the story! Please R&R and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any other related characters. All of them are property of Natsuki Takaya, and have been converted into English by TOKYOPOP.

Words from the Heart: Chapter Three

"I think you know why I'm here to see you, Akito-san," Kazuma Sohma said as he stared at the floor. He sat on a red mat which was several feet away from Akito. The room was dimly lit, the only light coming from the opened sliding door leading to the porch. Akito had her back to Kazuma and was lying on the floor. She remained silent as Kazuma went on. "I know it's required for every cat generation to be locked up…But if you could maybe…" He stopped. What was he supposed to say? Just flat out ask not to lock up Kyo? Akito stirred, trying to control her temper.

"Why do you ask such a thing?" she questioned. "You know that him and I made a bet a while ago…If he should beat Yuki then I will allow him to become one of the zodiac…And he will not be imprisoned until his death. But has he beaten Yuki yet? Has he proved he's worthy enough of being part of the zodiac? Why should I allow that monster around here anyway?" Kazuma did not reply to this in fear of starting a dispute between him and the head of the family. He continued to stare at the ground, regretting what he had just brought up. Now Akito was going to begin a tantrum about it.

'What's the meaning of existence after sacrificing people and their lives?' Kyo's voice pounded in Kazuma's head like a drum. 'I have robbed too much.' "No, Kyo," Kazuma whispered softly. "You're just a boy. You…never hurt anyone…" 'I know no such thing. There's no hope.' He brought his head up to view Akito, who had now gotten up and was staring down at him. Her eyes looked as if they had exploded, and were burning with fury. "Don't…" Akito said, her voice low and somber. "Don't bring this matter up again…He is to be locked up whether he wins against Yuki or not. It's too late for the monster now."

Kazuma slowly nodded. "I see," he replied as he got up. Bowing, he turned around and headed out of the room. "Thank you for your time, Akito-san. I'll be back soon." Without waiting for a good-bye from Akito, Kazuma started down the hall and into the main room of the house. There, he met up with Shigure. Shigure was well aware of Kazuma's presence and had let him and Akito discuss things privately. Without taking his eyes away from his newspaper, Shigure spoke. "Don't mind me asking, Kazuma-dono, but what were you and Akito discussing?" Kazuma stopped and smiled sincerely at him. "Oh, I'm guessing by now you already know." He sat down in a lounge chair opposite of the one Shigure was sitting in, and placed his hands in his lap. "I understand that it applies to every generation, but can't he be an exception? He's found happiness…Now he has to throw it all away…"

"You mean with Tohru-kun, don't you?" Shigure interrupted. "I know he has; I can see it in his eyes everyday when he's with her." He sighed and put down the newspaper, now looking at Kazuma. "She's changed him a lot…But Akito is only doing this because it's part of tradition." Once again, Kyo's voice echoed in Kazuma's head. '…He's not my father!' "Kazuma-dono, I've never seen you like this before. This is having a great effect on you, isn't it?" Slowly nodding, Kazuma sunk into the chair. "I didn't think this day would come so quickly…It was just like yesterday when I took him into my home…Just like yesterday he was smiling and looking up to me as a father."

"They do grow up fast," Shigure said. He picked up the pack of cigarettes that was sitting on the coffee table in front of him, and discarded one from the box. He placed the cigarette into his mouth, brought up a lighter, lit it, and inhaled. "Ah…" Shigure breathed as the ecstasy of the taste flooded into his mouth. The two men were silent for the next few minutes, both listening to the tick of the wall clock and the sound of chirping birds outside. "Shigure-kun," Kazuma said quietly, but just loud enough so Shigure could hear. "Do you know of any possible way to break the curse? Tohru-san questioned me about it around a year ago, and I only told her what I knew." He sighed and continued. "If it could save Kyo…I am willing to do anything to make him happy…"

Shigure rested his elbow on the arm of the lounge chair and placed his chin in the palm of his open hand. "I know you are. A lot of people are willing to put a stop to this, but I'm afraid it's part of tradition. As for the curse…I really can't tell you anything, because I haven't found out myself. Sure, I have my theories, and I have my ways. I'm keen to breaking the curse as much as anyone else who's possessed in this family…But it's not an easy thing. You know, Kazuma-dono. Your grandfather was the last cat. It must've been hard to lose him…" Kazuma cut him off. "No, it wasn't hard. I always said such cruel things to him…I ostracized him, like everyone else did, because he was the cat. I thought it was only right…But after he had passed away, I began to realize that he didn't deserve the treatment he received from the family…And once Kyo was born and was possessed by the cat, I knew I wanted to help him. Once his mother had committed suicide and his father rejected him, I took him in because I knew what he was about to face in life. Pretty soon, I began to look at him as my own son, and I felt the bond between us grow everyday. I had always dreaded the day that is about to come, but when Tohru-san stepped into the family and when she accepted his true self, I had hope…I had hoped like everyone else that she could possibly break the curse." 'There's no hope…' "But now it may just be too late…"

Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, and all the rest were at school. It was finals week and each of them sat at their desks, huddled up over their tests. Tohru had studied hard, so she was prepared. Yuki had also studied, but Kyo had forgotten about everything. Earlier that morning, Tohru had brought up finals at breakfast. "Are you prepared for finals, Kyo-kun?" she questioned. Kyo blinked and dropped his chopsticks. "Er, finals? When are they?" Yuki had rolled his eyes, and Shigure playfully remarked, "Oh, don't worry, Tohru-kun! I'm sure Kyo-kun didn't forget that your finals started today!" Picking up his chopsticks, Kyo answered shakily, "I-I didn't forget about finals! Only an idiot would! The teachers are nagging us about it so much that it's kind of impossible to forget." But according to him, he was one of those idiots.

On the way to school, Tohru periodically questioned Kyo about whether he forgot about finals or not. Yuki had gone to school early to help the Student Council with graduation preparations, so it was Tohru and Kyo by themselves. "Are you sure you studied enough? At breakfast, you seemed a little uneasy about it all. If you want, you can study from my review packets! Here, I'll give them to you now!" She opened her bag and began to rummage through it. Once she had gotten a hold of the packets she ran to catch up with Kyo, who had shrugged it off his shoulder and continued to walk without her. "Kyo-kun! Here!" When she had caught up with him, she grabbed onto his shirt, bringing him to a sudden halt. Tohru held up the packets for him to take, but Kyo shook his head. "Honestly, you don't have to worry about me," he said with a sigh. "I studied enough. Now let's just go to school or else we'll be late." He continued walking again, leaving Tohru to stand there with a sad look of defeat spread across her face. She still wasn't convinced that he had studied like he said he did.

'It doesn't matter,' Kyo thought. 'Nothing's going to happen whether I pass or not.' He just filled in any letter on the scantron, without even reading the question. 'Why does she always have to worry? Now she's probably going to flunk her test because she's probably worrying about me.' He turned his head around to view Tohru, only to see her looking at him. Her eyes were filled with worry and she quickly looked down at her test when she saw him turn around. Kyo blushed knowing the fact that she was actually staring at him, but he knew that it was only because she was worried.

After an hour, students began to hand in their tests. Those who had finished were excused from their classes and were allowed to walk around the school and do whatever they pleased. Kyo handed in his test and walked out the door, heading in the direction of the back door. He was going to sit on the roof for a little bit…No one would bother to look for him there.

Kyo rested his back on the crude cement that blanketed the school's top. The sun shone brightly and the clouds grazed the light blue sky. The wind blew a sweet breeze onto his cheeks and birds soared overhead. He loved days like this. Sighing, Kyo closed his eyes, crossed him arms over his chest, and took in all of the beauty around him. That was until he heard the sound of slightly clanking metal and looked up to see Tohru's head peering over the ladder. "Ah, I knew you were up here!" She climbed onto the roof and settled herself next to him. Kyo sat up felt heat rise around his body when his shoulder pressed against hers. Damn, why did Tohru always make him so flustered?

"It's such a beautiful day!" Tohru exclaimed, brushing her bangs away from her eyes. "How do you think you did on your finals, Kyo-kun?" Kyo shrugged and placed his hands on his knees. "I don't know…I guess I did pretty well. What about you?" Tohru's eyes lit up. "I think I did good! A lot of the questions were really familiar to me and I answered them quickly! I can't wait to see what I got!" As she chatted on about finals, Kyo sat back and admired her beauty. Her chestnut brown hair flowed down her shoulders and her long bangs cascaded the sides of her face. Her brown eyes twinkled in the sunlight, and her milky white skin glistened with radiance. He wasn't going to be able to see her face after five days, so he was going to take advantage of every little moment he had alone with her.

His thoughts flashed back to the night before, where he sat outside the dining hall and listened to the conversation she had with Yuki and Momiji. She had said that she knew about his imprisonment, and didn't know what she was going to do without Kyo around everyday. Kyo had cried when he heard that, and he stayed in his room all night. He didn't know what he was going to do without her everyday, either. Somehow, Tohru had given him a reason for wanting to live, and he didn't want to let go of that. How did a girl like him seem to control his whole life? When she was content, he felt sparks of happiness inside his body. When she was sad, he wanted to do anything to make that smile grace her face again.

"Tohru," he blurted out. "What do you plan on doing after graduation?" Tohru froze at the question. "Eh?!" What was she going to tell him? That she was going to sulk around the house and cry all day long because he was off somewhere in a cell? "Well…Um…I'm not so sure yet!" Sweat trickled down Tohru's face. 'Is he going to tell me about being locked up?! She then felt that unwanted lump appear back in her throat. Tears emerged in her eyes and before she knew it, she was getting up and running to the ladder with her face in her hands. She climbed down and ran to a nearby tree, throwing herself onto the ground and scolding herself for breaking down like that in front of him.

Kyo sat in awe as he watched her leave like that. "DAMMIT!" he shouted as he thrust his fist into the ground. He winced as he felt the pain shoot right through it. The knuckles of his fingers began to bleed, and he couldn't move his wrist. 'Great,' he thought. 'I probably broke my wrist.' He got up, gently squeezing his wrist, and climbed off the roof. Whether she liked it or not, Kyo was going to look for Tohru.

He searched around a little bit before he found her crying by a tree. Seeing Tohru cry always shattered his heart, and this time was no different. He trembled as he approached her, his heart pounding tremendously in his chest. Kyo kneeled next to her and placed his non-injured hand on her shoulder. "Tohru," he whispered. Tears began to leak from his own eyes…He knew why she was crying. "Please…Don't cry. You know I can't stand it…It's okay, really."

Tohru lifted her head up, and their eyes locked. Her heart began to beat one hundred times fast than it already was, and she unconsciously put her hand on his injured wrist, causing him to loudly moan with pain. "Oh, Kyo-kun!" she shrieked. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what was thinking, I…" She cut herself off as she saw his hand's condition: his knuckles were purple and stained with dry blood. His wrist was red and swollen. Gaping, she slowly began to caress it with a feather-like touch. "Kyo-kun…Y-your wrist…You should go to the nurse and have her check it…It could get worse!" Kyo brought his good hand off of her shoulder and placed it on her cheek. He mimicked what she was doing to his wrist and closed his eyes, hushing her. "I'm fine. Let me just sit here with you…"

For the rest of my life.

Kazuma left the main house around two o'clock. He had told Shigure that he was going to his house to meet Kyo there. Shigure gladly accepted, and welcome Kazuma to spend the night if he had to. When Kazuma got there, the house was vacant, so he waited inside for Kyo to arrive home from school.

After their little 'moment' together, Tohru encouraged Kyo to go to the nurse and have his wrist inspected. It turned out that it was sprained, and the nurse advised him to have a doctor see it as soon as possible. That was no problem…The Sohma family had a doctor already. In the mean time, Kyo was told to keep an ice pack on it at all time to keep the swelling down. On their walk home from school, Yuki questioned him about it and asked him how it happened. Kyo simply told him he slipped while climbing down the ladder from the roof and that caused him to slam his wrist into the railing. Yuki only rolled his eyes and called him a 'stupid cat', like always.

"Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, would you two like anything to eat?" Tohru asked as she opened the sliding door to the house. The three slipped off their shoes and stepped inside. Kyo noticed that a pair of sandals was at the door as well. 'Shishou?' Not to his surprise, when he walked into the dining area he saw Kazuma seated at the table. It seemed as if Tohru had already greeted him, for Kyo could see her preparing tea in the kitchen. Yuki was sitting at the table with him, talking about how he can improve some of his martial arts moves. "Ah, hello Kyo," Kazuma greeted Kyo when he saw him walk in. "It's been a while hasn't it? I haven't seen you since your school play, right?"

Yes, it was. Kyo hadn't seen Kazuma since performance of Prince Charming when class 2-D put on the play 'Cinderella'. Back then, Kazuma had cut his hair short, but now it seemed to be growing back. "Shishou…What are you doing here?" Kazuma smiled and rose from his spot on the floor. He walked towards Kyo and placed a hand on his back. "I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing, that's all." Kyo managed a smile and attempted to catch Kazuma in one of his moves, but was unsuccessful. Kazuma had blocked it and shoved Kyo on the floor. Yuki smirked and Tohru came in with the tea. Kazuma sat back down, along with Tohru, and Kyo joined them.

Later that night, Tohru and Yuki studied some more for the finals. Shigure had come home and talked with Kazuma over a delicious dinner Tohru prepared for everyone. Shigure then excused himself and went to his office to resume writing his latest novel, leaving Kyo and Kazuma by themselves. Kyo began to talk about martial arts until he sensed by look the in Kazuma's eyes that something needed to be discussed. "Sorry Shishou," Kyo apologized. Kazuma shook his head. "No need to apologize, Kyo." He took a deep breath. "We just need to talk about something." Nodding, Kyo looked down and his bare feet. Kazuma added, "About Saturday."

Hope you liked it! I would like to acknowledge the three people who reviewed my last chapter…Thanks a lot!

Genevieve: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it!

animerockstar: Thanks…But you don't have to do that!

Aiko: Kyoru rocks! I seriously think it's going to end up that way…!

Until the next chapter!

-A.L. Watanabe