Poor Yuki, right? Don't I just SUCK?! ::cackles:: But it is needed to protect Tohru. He really will always be her prince, although Kyo is her knight in shining armor. ::huggles Tohru::
By the way, I wasn't sure as to what exactly "Mit-chan" is a nickname for, so I just went with what the English version called her--"Mii." Hope you all don't mind. ::love::
Disclaimer: This just in! I don't own Fruits Basket! In other news, look at the cute puppies!! ::points::
Tohru was preparing dinner when she started to rub her arms from the sudden chilly breeze that had entered through the window. She went to shut it as Kyo came in.
"Tohru?"
She turned and almost caught her fingers in the window. She shrieked and darted back to the stove. Kyo shook his head.
"My goodness you're a klutz."
She only nervously chuckled in response. Kyo sensed her sadness and reached for her, pulling her to him but not embracing her. He kissed her first on the forehead, then the nose, and finally the mouth. He looked her in the eyes.
"I can't breathe if you aren't happy."
"I-I am happy!" she lied. Kyo eyed her and suddenly took a breath inward and screwed his eyes shut, holding his breath. Tohru watched him with puzzlement before she realized what he was doing. She put her hands to his face and he opened his eyes and exhaled at last.
"I can't help but feel sad…" she admitted. "What if something bad were to happen to Souma-kun? Everyone will blame me…"
Kyo shook his head and kissed the side of her mouth.
"No one in their right mind would blame you," he assured her. At the same time, on the other hand, they thought of Haru…
"Hatsuharu-san will hate me if Souma-kun is hurt," said Tohru.
"It's the same as Kagura," replied Kyo after a moment. "Haru wouldn't be able to hate you. He may be rude and cruel if he changes to Black Haru, but just remember that he never means anything he says while like that."
Tohru nodded and drifted away as the stove buzzed. Minutes later, everyone was at the table, eating quietly. Shigure seemed annoyed, Tohru seemed more lost than Haru ever could be, Kyo seemed angrily depressed, and Haru seemed incredibly sad. His eyes kept wandering from the empty space next to him as if he expected Yuki to blossom from the floor. Naturally, he didn't.
"Thanks, Tohru-kun, for the meal," said Shigure, stretching. "I have to finish one more page and then I'm off to bed. … And may some lightning strike me dead if dinner is to be like this every night."
Tohru and Haru washed the dishes silently as Kyo went off to finally finish the paper he had to write for school. Haru passed a dish to Tohru and she dried it, watching the ox boy. She went to put the now dry dish away when Haru spoke.
"Is there something you want to ask me?"
Tohru stared back.
"Do you ha—"
"I don't hate you," he interrupted her because he already knew what she was asking. Or at least, he thought he did. Tohru shook her head.
"No, I was going to ask if you had any more dishes left after that one…"
Haru looked down to the plate in his hand and after a moment, smiled and started to laugh. Earlier, he had convinced himself that he wouldn't be able to laugh while Yuki was gone and here he was, chuckling. He was so grateful…
"Hey, Tohru," he called softly. "Let's work together to keep ourselves happy while Yuki is gone."
Tohru nodded with her eyes smiling as much as her mouth was.
"He told me to take care of you while he was gone."
Haru chuckled again.
"We boys have a mission to keep you smiling. I have a feeling that Kyo will be doing most of that, but if there's anything that I can do to help, you just tell me."
Tohru gleefully nodded, shutting her eyes and widening her smile like she always did. Haru gave a similar smile, realizing that the days ahead weren't going to be as dark as they had thought.
/-/
Yuki would still attend school at Kaibara High, however, under Akito's orders, he was prohibited from speaking to anyone within the Souma household or Tohru. And that meant speaking only. He could still smile, wave to, write notes to (in Haru's case), or give playful angry glances to (in Kyo's case) them whenever he pleased. Unfortunately, he was also forbidden to perform any signs of affection, but nothing could stop him from holding onto Haru's necklace dearly.
Yuki blinked as Kyo slipped a note onto Yuki's desk as the cat boy passed papers back to the students. Yuki read the note with puzzlement plastered onto his face.
Rat—
Tohru wants to know how you're doing but is too dumb to ask you herself. I don't know—it's a girl thing or something. Just give her a thumbs up or thumbs down. As for me, did Akito agree to your terms? Shake your head or nod. PLEASE NOD.
—Cat
Yuki trailed his eyes over to Tohru. She was glancing up to Kyo as he stepped toward her. Yuki noticed that he tilted his head in Yuki's direction as he gave her back her paper and after Kyo passed her, Tohru was looking at Yuki. The boy gave a soft smile and a thumbs up. She looked relieved, which wasn't an oddity considering that this was the eighth day into Operation: Save Tohru, as Momiji had coined it.
But Kyo's answer was a bit more difficult to explain. Instead of nodding or shaking his head, he wrote his response back in the note. He gave it back to Kyo as class ended and Kyo looked at it eagerly.
Stupid cat ("That bastard…") —
Akito is still thinking over my proposition but I think he'll say yes. He seemed intrigued. I had most certainly hoped that I could have nodded…
—Far superior rat
Kyo stared at it, thinking bitterly, It's been eight days and he's not sure yet? Man, what an asshole…
Tohru, Kyo, Momiji, Yuki, Haru, Saki, and Arisa were all outside eating—or yelling out obscenities if your name happened to be either Souma Kyo or Uotani Arisa. Momiji and Saki were happily chatting with Tohru as Yuki and Haru stayed silent off to the side.
"How are you?" asked Haru after swallowing a bit of his lunch. Others would take this as a mere greeting or another way to say "How's your day going?" but Yuki knew better. Haru was wondering if Akito had done anything… bad, for lack of a better word, to him. He shook his head and gave a smile. Haru had a similar reaction to Tohru's. They caught a loud whiff of the fight Arisa and Kyo were having.
"Let me just dye that hair of yours, Kyo-Kyo!"
"Don't call me that! And for the last time, this is my natural color!"
"Oohh really?? Is that horrid temper of yours natural too?"
"I swear, one day, Yankee—"
"You'll what, eh? Give me hair like that guy?"
Haru glanced over as he saw Arisa pointing to him. Yuki's eyes widened. Not his hair, Uotani-san…
"Ah, Uo-chan!" called Tohru. She had sensed the danger. Arisa went over to Tohru as Kyo went to Haru and Yuki.
"Don't bring me into your fights," Haru ordered dryly. Kyo barked at him, "I didn't! It was that stupid Yankee!"
"Keep it quiet, Kyo-Kyo!" yelled Arisa. Kyo turned to her in order to snap right back but was soon kicked in the back of the knees. He fell forward and glared up from his position on the concrete to see Haru re-crossing his legs as though he had just kicked someone. Kyo growled.
"You bastard!"
"Aw, how cute—he's purring."
"I AM NOT PURRING!"
"You know, you look good on the ground," Haru said coolly. Arisa laughed.
"He does, doesn't he?"
Kyo unleashed verbally at her and Haru looked back to Yuki, hoping to finish the one-sided conversation. He missed hearing his voice…
"Souma-kun," spoke Saki suddenly, looking at him. "You're rather quiet lately."
"He's a bit sick," Haru replied quickly. "It hurts him to talk so we've been writing notes back and forth in order to communicate. It's better if he only talks when it's absolutely necessary."
It was a good excuse, but it wouldn't last four months. It hardly lasted eight days.
"Oh… that's unfortunate," Saki said, looking down. "Your waves do seem more wild than usual—I can't place it."
Yuki sighed and got up, walking away from all of them. Haru and Kyo's eyes followed him until he disappeared through the halls and Tohru fidgeted uncomfortably, trying to resume her conversation with Saki despite the dark cloud looming over her head.
/-/
"Hatsuharu-kun!" called a feminine voice. Haru turned around to see a young girl running up to him. She was in his class and also in the student council. She bowed. "Yuki-kun said that he wanted to see you."
Haru was a mix between confused and happy. The girl told him that Yuki was waiting for him by the front lockers so Haru headed there. He saw Yuki and walked up to him, oblivious to the lack of people around the two.
"What's going on? Is there something wrong?"
Yuki looked up and grabbed him, kissing him very unexpectedly, so unexpectedly in fact that Haru flailed his arms in surprise. He pushed off and backed away.
"Y-Yuki?! What—"
"This is driving me insane," Yuki explained. There was something in his eyes and Haru couldn't place what. The gray haired boy reached for Haru again and the mixed haired boy regretfully evaded.
"Yuki! Stop! If anyone sees us—"
"Hatori won't be here for a bit—"
"No, Yuki," snapped Haru firmly, dodging another advance. "Don't you understand what will happen if we mess this up? It's taking all of my will power not to scoop you up and take you home where you belong. But I know that I can't and I know that you can't. The consequences are far too great."
Yuki looked down, the oddness in his eyes gone. His shoulders drooped and he felt a little more than ashamed. "I'm sorry… I guess I went a little crazy…"
"It's all right. Everyone has a black side, I guess."
Yuki laughed softly and nodded. After thinking about it more, he said, "Well, everyone but Honda-san."
They chuckled again and allowed silence to be the thing that made them part. Yuki watched Haru walk away and felt his heart sink. I'm so stupid… I almost messed everything up.
No… his thoughts battled with each other. What I did was stupid, but Haru understood and forgave me. I could see it in his eyes. Yuki had always admired those gray eyes of Haru's. His eyes were the medium, the gray among the black and white. If one had to pick out the most trustworthy part of Haru, anyone could easily choose his eyes. Whether he was Black Haru or White Haru, his eyes remained gray.
His eyes were truth and Yuki found comfort in them.
/-/
Tohru really didn't have time to worry too much about Yuki with all that was going on in her life during his absence from the house. Apparently, Hiro's mother had to go away for a business trip for a week and therefore needed a place for him to stay. At first, Kisa's mother had offered but Kisa suddenly came down with a bad cold. Next in line was Hatori, but Hiro intervened.
"I'd like to stay with Shigure for the week, if that's okay," he said. Hatori stared at the small boy.
"Are you serious?"
"Of course I am. Why would I lie? Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I'm going to lie, Ha'ri. I thought you knew better than that."
This kid…
"Anyway, I like spending time with Tohru-kun and everyone at the house. I think it will be more fun than hanging around this stupid place. Don't you have anything fun? Though I suppose, as a respectable adult like yourself, you wouldn't have anything cool here. My goodness—why the hell do Shigure and Ayame like you so much? You're stale…"
Hatori was already talking with Shigure on the phone, making arrangements to drop the lamb off.
/-/
Tohru greeted Hiro as he and Hatori arrived at the door that same Saturday evening. It was already the end of week two of Operation: Save Tohru and there was still no answer from Akito. Hatori reported this disappointing news to Shigure as Tohru helped Hiro get settled as he was going to share a room with Kyo (which Kyo had tried to protest but to no avail).
"Why hasn't he said anything yet?" asked Shigure as he poured some tea into Hatori's cup. Hatori took it into his hand and sipped from it. Shigure placed the kettle at his side and said, "I don't get it. Why is Akito-san avoiding the deal?"
"I'm not sure. He hasn't seen much of Yuki because I told Akito to stay inside. He has yet to beckon Yuki to him," Hatori replied. Kyo slid the door to the dining room open suddenly and stared at Hatori.
"Has Akito—"
"No."
"DAMMIT!"
The door slid shut again as abruptly as it had been open and Hatori faced Shigure. "As soon as anything happens, I'll call you immediately."
"You're worried about Tohru-kun, too, right?" asked Shigure. Hatori sighed.
"I didn't want what happened to Kana to happen to her. Especially since she and Kyo are…" he trailed off as a breeze tickled his long bangs. He faced the open door to the outside patio and walkway, seeing Haru walking silently toward the house, grocery bags in his arms. "… Perhaps I should go."
But Haru looked up and saw him. His face was expressionless.
"Oh, hello Hatori," greeted the ox boy. Hatori slowly nodded his hello and Haru inquired about Yuki.
"He's fine," Hatori told him. "I've been keeping him indoors because of the cold weather recently. We don't need his bronchi acting up."
"No, we don't. It has been a little too cold lately. I was worried about his health. Thanks for looking out for him. … Has Akito said anything yet?"
Hatori shook his head and Haru's relieved face darkened at his response. He readjusted the bags in his arms.
"I'll… go put these away now."
"Let me grab those, Haa-kun," offered Shigure, but Haru declined, shucking his boots off and walking by them, heading to the kitchen. Hatori watched him as he passed up until the ox boy slid the door shut with his foot.
"I thought for sure that he would never speak to me again after that day at the main house. Doesn't he have a grudge against me?"
"I'm sure he still has one toward you," Shigure replied a little too light-heartedly. "However, his love for Yuki-kun outdoes his grudges. You and Momitchi are his only source of information about Yuki besides Yuki-kun himself, but Yuki-kun can't speak to any of them. I bet it's very hard for him. He's wanted to be with Yuki for a very long time and now that he has him, Yuki's been taken away from him. Therefore, this longing, loving feeling outdoes all other feelings."
Pausing a moment, Shigure tugged on Hatori's sleeve. "If only your love for me outdid everything else you do!"
Hatori's face remained blank as he said dryly, "Don't bet on it."
"Aww! Haa-san, you are so cruel!" Shigure whined. When he saw that this didn't faze the doctor, he ceased pulling on Hatori's sleeve and more seriously said, "Aaya wanted to know if we could all escape for a weekend to the summer house."
Hatori's eyes met Shigure's. "You do realize that today is October twelfth, in other words, autumn."
"It could double as a fall home."
"This is ridiculous. What are the two of you planning?"
"Planning? Why, Haa-san, I feel violated! We're not planning anything!"
Hatori sighed. "When would this weekend be?"
"The first weekend of next month. C'mon, it'll be a good old Mabudachi get together! It'll be fun!"
"… That's what I'm afraid of."
/-/
On Wednesday, Hiro came downstairs around dinner time and decided that he didn't feel like eating Tohru's cooking even though he enjoyed it a lot (which he would never admit). He went straight to Shigure.
"Hey, Shigure, I was wondering if we could possibly eat out tonight," Hiro said to the dog. Shigure looked up from the manuscript that he was writing whether Mii wanted him to or not.
"That sounds great! … But why? Do you dislike the wonderful dishes that Tohru-kun prepares for us?"
Tohru took that time to come down. She smiled to Hiro.
"Hiro-kun, what is it you would like for dinner?"
He blushed as Shigure answered for him, "He'd like to go out for dinner, actually. Is that all right with you, Tohru-kun?"
"Oh sure! We haven't gone out to eat since Ayame-san treated us! I'll go tell Kyo and Hatsuharu-san."
She headed upstairs and Mii glowered at Shigure. "You aren't, by any chance, trying to escape, right?"
"No, no, of course not, Mit-chan! I'm simply trying to fill my stomach and the stomachs of my mates here. I'll treat you, too, if you want."
"You're treating?" asked Hiro. Shigure paused to think a moment.
"… Of course I am."
Both Hiro and Mii stared at him blankly, wondering why he had to think about it. Mii then proceeded to threaten him with the very pencil he wasn't using so he tried to coax her down. Hiro rolled his eyes and walked down the hall.
/-/
The group arrived at a small restaurant that wasn't too far from the grocery store down a few blocks from the street. Tohru blinked as she spotted Hatori waiting by the entrance, quietly smoking a cigarette.
"Hatori-san?"
Shigure bounced happily up to him and Hiro groaned.
"Oh, right… this is his idea of treating us. Having Ha'ri pay for everything."
Mii looked to Tohru. "How on earth do you put up with him twenty-four hours a day? I can hardly stand him for the few hours I see him!"
Tohru giggled softly and assured the editor that she never had any problems with Shigure. Mii turned to Hatori and asked him a similar question.
"We grew up together," he answered simply, holding the door open as the group headed in. Mii gaped at him. "What's your secret!? How do you do it??!"
Hatori smiled and said nothing, gesturing for her to go inside. Once the group of seven was seated, Mii found herself in between Shigure and Kyo. Tohru was across from Kyo and next to Haru, so Mii had the incredible pleasure of staring across at Haru's face. Unfortunately, she didn't take advantage of this golden opportunity because she was too preoccupied with being bothered by Shigure.
"Sensei! Give me back my menu!"
"Mit-chan, you silly woman, this is my menu."
"So why do you have two?!"
"I have two eyes, don't I?"
"Aaaaah!! Sensei!!"
Somehow with all of the outbursts, Hiro's sarcastic remarks, Kyo snapping at said lamb, Haru almost fainting right out of his seat when Mii's order of a steak was placed before her, and Tohru and Hatori trying to calm everyone down, they all managed to get through dinner. At the end of the meal, Shigure happily stretched.
"Ooh! I'm stuffed!" He hugged Hatori tightly. "Haa-san, I love you."
"Get off. You already know that I'm paying."
"Oh okay good," said the dog as he promptly released him and went back to bothering Mii. Hatori sighed as he pulled out his wallet. One day, I'm going to get him good.
Mii, on the other hand, was not immune to Shigure's ways and was practically in tears thanks to him teasing her about her short hair.
"You're so modern, Mit-chan!"
"Senseeeeeeei……"
"Or maybe you cut it to make a rope to hang someone with?"
"Yeah, you!!!!"
/-/
Hatori pulled Kyo and Tohru aside as the seven exited the restaurant. Tohru looked at him intently.
"Hatori-san, what is it?"
"Akito has come to a decision."
The two youths held their breaths and Kyo tightened his grip on Tohru's hand. Hatori continued, "He's agreed to Yuki's terms."
They exhaled with a happy cry and wanted so badly to hug or kiss or something! They looked to each other and Kyo saw that tears lined Tohru's eyes. However, Hatori spoke again quickly. "But Yuki must stay at the main house until Akito's time of death. If he leaves for anything other than school, the deal is instantly off. … If anything should happen that would result in breaking the deal, I should ask you this."
He paused, looking at them blankly. "… Kyo, would you agree to be the father of the next head of the house with Tohru as its mother?"
The two of them made a "MREEP!" sound and blushed a deep, deep red. Tohru may have been a bit dense, but she certainly knew that babies didn't come from storks. It took a while before Kyo stammered out his answer. "We-well, if it… uh, came to that, I w-would… I would do it. I'd l-like to have a kid with… ah… T-Tohru one day and uh… if we're forced to by Akito, then… f-fine."
"Good," was all that Hatori said to end the conversation. He walked to Shigure to tell him the news and left Kyo and Tohru behind. They stared anywhere but at each other, feeling as thought they were going to explode.
"Kyo…" It was Tohru who spoke first. Kyo raised his eyes and watched her lips. "You… you were serious about that? About… wanting to have a child with me?"
"N-not right now, obviously, but maybe… in the future or something. We still have the rest of the school year and then senior year to worry about. It'd be stupid to go and… have a baby now."
Oh, but he wanted her. He was willing to wait as long as it took, though, for her sake.
Tohru giggled softly. "… It's sort of comforting to know that you're willing to do that. I was afraid that I would have to…" she was so embarrassed she could hardly even say it, "with… Akito-san…."
"No," Kyo said firmly, gripping her hands and pulling her toward him so they were touching but not hugging. "I would never let that happen. I would fight Akito to the death if it meant your safety. The fact that I'm allowed to be the… father gives me a little bit more comfort."
Tohru sighed and Kyo, for once, couldn't place what type of sigh it was. He kissed her on the lips after giving them a polite lick. He looked into her eyes after pulling away.
"You said you wanted to be with me always. Well… here I am."
/-/
Yuki stared into the dark eyes of Akito, trying not to show his fear. It had been a while since he was under Akito's harsh control and so he had not yet been able to make himself numb to Akito's sadistic behavior. Akito's nails were digging into his shoulders and he was biting at the boy's collar bone. Yuki tried to not feel it, tried not to get aroused by it, tried not to think about it but he was slipping fast. It would take some time before he was numbed again, and for now, all he could do was take it.
"What is this?" asked Akito suddenly, drawing his fingers across Yuki's chest and resting on the necklace that hung down.
"A necklace that Shigure gave me a long time ago," Yuki lied quickly. He was afraid that Akito would seize Haru's necklace—or worse, break it somehow. If that happened, Yuki would break along with it.
Akito dropped the necklace back down to Yuki's chest and continued his fingers down Yuki's front. Yuki shivered, bringing an unpleasant grin to Akito's face.
"What, am I going to have to retrain you in these few months that I have left?"
When Yuki said nothing, Akito pushed down, covering his body with his own frail one. He licked at Yuki's ear and grazed his hips against Yuki's and then resting there. "I asked you a question."
"I'm not sure how to answer it," Yuki replied truthfully, looking up at the ceiling and trying desperately to ignore Akito's ministrations. It wasn't going well.
"Well, considering that you had so much fun with that slut, I'm pretty sure you have an idea of how to please people," said Akito. His bitterness traced his words well.
"He's not a slut," Yuki remarked a bit too angrily. Akito smacked him across the face.
"Shut up," he said coldly. "You're not to speak of him at all in my presence, got it?"
Yuki answered with affirmation, but it was the hesitation beforehand that earned him Akito's next action. The young man raked his nails down Yuki's arms to his wrists, pinning him, and grinded his hips against him. The mix of pain and slight pleasure brought Yuki to arch his back up from the floor, gasping.
"That's a bit better…" Akito spoke, leaning down and biting at the skin between his neck and shoulder. "But you're not screaming yet," he added hotly against his skin. Yuki grimaced. I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you…
"… How about I scream that I hate your guts?" sneered the boy angrily. Akito laughed bitterly and grinded against him once again, his eyes filled with lust and delight. "Whatever works."
Naturally, Akito didn't give him a chance to, for he covered Yuki's mouth with his own. Yuki tried to bite Akito's tongue so the man drew back and slapped him hard.
"Do you want me to show you what I did to that boyfriend of yours?"
Yuki ignored the fact that this was the first time Akito referred to Haru as anything more than a slut. He couldn't help but shake his head to Akito's question—he'd rather not be strangled, thank you.
"So then do you want Honda-san as the next mother?"
"Never," Yuki answered quickly. I'm not going to let her down… Akito grinned.
"Good. Now stop rejecting me. You know what will happen—I'll call the deal off immediately and that will be that."
He let Yuki think this over before going back down and kissing him again. Yuki had no choice but to let him in.
This was going to be a long couple of months…
::puts up a shield as she is pelted with tomatoes:: HAH! My IMPENATRABLE tomato shield—AHHH YUKI NO!! ::is whacked with…… a stick::
Yuki: Hmph. Why does she torture us so? Anyway, review and stuff. I WANNA COME HOME. ::bows and drags SB off::