PG
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Fruits Basket or any of the characters.
This is an AU fic!!!!
Chapter 2- "Another Challenge"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:::In the mountains in a far away land... LoL...:::
Kyo was dreaming. The dream was about Yuki.
"Kyo..." Yuki called out to him.
"What the hell are you doing in MY dream?! I thought I got rid of you when I left. Shiesh."
Yuki looked taken aback. Then he smiled.
Kyo grumbled, "What's with that stupid ass grin of yours?"
Yuki's smile only got bigger. "I need you to do me a favor..."
"I'd rather die."
"Well, guess what, I'm already dead. Haha, I beat you in death too. How embarrassing."
The cat glared at his enemy. "You can't be dead. You're lying. You're at the Sohma house right now, taking care of my-- I mean that stupid girl of yours."
Yuki lowered his head and replied sadly, "That's the favor I wanted to ask you. Now that I'm gone, I need you to go back home to take care of Tohru for me. Tell her I'm sorry that I never came back. Please Kyo. That's the only thing I want from you..."
Kyo shook his head. "Damn this is bull. Alright. I mean, I know you're not dead. But let's say I'll do it for you. You know we gotta make some kind of deal."
Yuki thought for a moment. "This is the one thing that you could do that would give you victory over all I've done. This is the ultimate challenge. Are you up for it?"
Kyo thought for a moment and then declared, "You're on, you lying bastard. I can't believe that I'm going to listen to you. You are not dead and I'm gonna prove it by going back!" To be honest, he felt his heart thunder against his chest thinking that somehow, this was all true and how he hated that rat but still had fun trying to beat the crap out of him.
Yuki smiled. "That's all I need from you. Hey, don't cry over me when you find out that I truly am dead. You'll be sorry for the rest of your life and I don't want none of that. Take care of Tohru..."
Then he was gone and that was that. Kyo found himself awaking to the sound of water rushing down on his head.
"SHIT!" he yelled out into the pouring rain. He hated the rain. He looked around at his campsite. The tent had falled down and his things were scattered and hidden beneath the new mud. Kyo had been here for 3 and a half years and it had never rained once. 'Maybe this is a sign...' he thought but quickly dismissed the idea and tried to gather as many of his belongings as possible. Then he thought about his dream.
'I gotta get home now... to her...'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shigure was exhausted. He had been up and about since morning for about a year. There was nothing he could do to get Tohru to eat and she was getting alarmingly thin. Sure, she's eaten a bit here and there, but never a whole meal. Shigure missed the old Tohru who was always happy with excitement and ready for a new day to arrive. But all of that was gone once Yuki died that tragic night exactly a year ago. Now he made sure that he didn't have the TV on too loudly like he used to.
'Sigh... Kyo I need you here. Tohru needs someone who could really console her... maybe I should hire another therapist... nah...' Shigure shook his head from side to side.
None of the therapists he had hired effected her. She just stared ahead, not talking the whole time. In fact, she hadn't spoken a word since that night. Not one word.
He was seriously worried about her health.
"Hey Shigure. How is she?" Kagura asked as she walked through the door. She threw her pack onto the floor and sat down.
He sighed again. "The same as usual. I still can't get her to eat anything. I don't know what to do anymore."
Kagura nodded her head and said, "I know... I'm concerned even though it seemed as if Kyo gave her all of the attention. She's gotten to be my friend and then that had to happen. It's sad really."
There was silence. Then Shigure said, "You wanna give it a try?"
"I tried last time. All Tohru does is lay there, crying herself to sleep once she wakes up. It's making me more depressed than I already am. Anyways, you wanna go to Yuki's grave. He died on this day last year. You think we should bring umm.. her?"
Shigure's eyes widened. "No no no!!! I don't think that'll help at all."
"But she has to start somewhere besides laying in that bed all day. There has to be some kind of cure."
A voice interrupted them. "Uh oh."
Kagura squealed when she saw who it was. "MY DARLING KYO! YOU'VE FINALLY RETURNED TO ME!!!"
Kyo squirmed while she hugged him tightly, very tightly. "Um, Kagura, I can't, uh, breathe."
"Oh!" She let go of him quickly but along came her angry eyes. "Where have you been?! You haven't called or sent a letter or anything like that to us since you left. Do you know how much has gone on?!"
Now that he thought about it, he wondered where Tohru was and why she wasn't the one greeting him. He half expected to be attacked by Yuki. "SoOo, where is everyone? Yuki? Tohru?"
Kagura and Shigure became silent and shifted their feet uncomfortably. Kyo didn't have a good feeling at all about this.
"TOHRU! YUKI! DON'T YA WANT TO GREET YOUR--MPHT!" Kagura quickly covered Kyo's mouth wide-eyed.
"Don't. She'll hear you," she whispered.
"Get your hand the hell away from my mouth! And why the hell should I keep quiet? I'm back home. I should be getting more of a celebration than this welcom--Tohru!"
Both Shigure and Kagura froze. They looked up and there she was. Tohru was standing for the first time in a long time. She just stood there staring at Kyo with a blank look. You can say that they were shocked. Especially Kyo.
"Tohru! You've gotten so thin and pale!!! What's wrong?!" asked the concerned Kyo. She stayed the way she was... unmoving. He waved a hand across her face back and forth but there was still no reaction. "TOHRU!!!"
Her eyes shifted and she looked Koki directly in the eyes. He saw pain and distress. He enfolded her stiff figure in his arms and stroked her hair. Tohru still didn't move.
He was glad that he was able to hug her now without transforming.
"Uh, Kyo? I think she'd better get back in bed," mumbled Shigure who was still stunned by Tohru's appearance. Kagura hit him on the arm.
"I think this is good for her. We have to get her out of here and back into the world," she said. "Even though she's in my future husband's arms, it's for her own good and I just want her to get better."
Kyo sniffed her hair and stepped back. "Phew, when's the last time you took a shower Tohru?"
Shigure answered for her. "About three weeks ago. It's very difficult to get her to do anything now that..."
Kyo was still confused but he had this gut feeling, like the time in the mountains. "Now that what? What haven't you guys told me? I come home and you two act all secretive while I'm doing all the guessing. I can't even guess right."
Kagura knew now that Tohru shouldn't be here listening to all of this. "Um... Tohru, let's get you out of here. You wanna see the sunshine? It has missed you for the longest time." She started to tug on her arm but Tohru wouldn't budge. "C'mon Tohru."
Kyo looked from Tohru to Kagura to Shigure and then back to Tohru again. "What the hell in going on here?! No one's telling me anything!"
An audible whisper came from Tohru's lips. "Yuki..."
Shigure and Kagura's mouths dropped. Kyo was still confused but somehow felt shaken up. "What Tohru? I couldn't hear you."
A tear dropped out from the corner of her eye. "Yuki..." she whispered louder than the last time.
Kagura once again stepped forward. "Tohru, I think that Shigure's right. You should go back to--"
"YUKI!!! Oh, God. YUKI!!!" Tohru yelled as she broke down in tears and fell to the floor. Kyo stepped back and stared at the shaken girl in front of him. He didn't know what to say. 'The dream... it was real.... shit.'
Shigure looked at him while Kagura hung her head. He pointed at the calender. Kyo walked over and saw that this was the day that Yuki had died a year ago. It was his 1 year death anniversary.
Kagura scooted closer to him and mumbled in a low voice so that the crying Tohru wouldn't hear her. "They were engaged. But the day after the announcement, he got into an accident..."
So it was Kyo's turn to widen his eyes. He hadn't known they were together at all. He guessed that they started going out a while after he left. Glancing down at the sobbing Tohru, he tried to fight the urge to embrace her even tighter than before. This is what Yuki told him to do--take care of her so that she could move on. Kyo didn't think he could do it but his only motivation was Tohru herself. He still loved her. Therefore, as he pulled her up to her feet and put an arm around her for support, he walked her out into the sunlight, step by step.
Tohru's cries died down. She hiccuped and fought a sob once in a while but once the sun directly reached her face, all she could do was whisper over and over the same words, "The sun... the sun seems glad to have me back."
Kagura and Shigure stood in the entrance gazing at the two.
"I feel so selfish. I want Kyo all to myself but at the same time, I want Tohru to be the same girl I first met." Kagura sighed.
Shigure only chuckled. "I know but it's amazing to see how Kyo returning could change everything. I mean, it's Kyo. The criticizing little idiot."
She punched him on the arm. "HEY! I still loooovvveee my Kyo, no matter what decision he makes. Hmph!" She crossed her arms across her chest and turned up her nose.
He decided to get on her nerves. "Well, if Kyo doesn't want you, I know who will."
Her ears perked up. "Who?"
"Hmm... should I or should I not tell yo--"
Kagura was strangling him now. "WHO?! JUST GET TO THE FRIGGIN' POINT!"
She let go and Shigure just stood there with a smile while holding his neck. "Well, I happen to know a wild, sexy beast. ME!!!" He said loudly.
She snickered. "Ha. As if. Has Ayame been around lately. Heh..."
He opened his mouth in protest, "Hey, that's not fair! He's the one who has the identity crisis, not me!!!"
Smiling wickedly, she said, "Oh of course not you."
"Drop dead boar."
"WHAT?!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyo still had his arm around Tohru's shoulders. He didn't know where she was heading until they stopped at the gate of the cemetary.
"Tohru..." he said quietly.
She ignored him and went in. He followed her around the other graves of the people who had passed away until they came to one overloaded with flowers. She seemed
to loosen up a bit when she saw that people hadn't forgotten Yuki. She kneeled down and put her hand on his tombstone. Kyo remained quiet while she said a prayer.
He didn't know what to do so he just stood there thinking.
'What were you thinking, Yuki, when you left Tohru alone like that? What was going through your mind when... God, I don't even know what happened to you. All I know was that you were in an accident... why did you come to me in my dreams and not to Tohru's. I know you haven't because otherwise, she'd be that same happy girl I left 3 and a half years ago...'
Tohru got up and glanced at him for a sec before turning around quickly and walking towards the entrance. She didn't turn away fast enough, though, for Kyo saw a whole new flood of tears rolling down. He ran to catch up to her and reached out and took hold of her arm.
Without turning around, she said under her breath, "Let go, Kyo."
Kyo didn't know what to do but he knew one thing for sure--he wasn't going to be a coward.
"No." He said firmly. She faced him with a look of curiosity.
"I told you to let go."
"And I told you 'no'."
Tohru looked at him expressionless. "Fine," she said without emotion.
They walked silently for a while. Kyo finally spoke and mumbled an apology.
"It's okay... I've been real stubborn haven't I? It's just so hard sometimes. He promised me, Kyo. Yuki promised me."
Kyo cringed at Yuki's name. Now that he was gone, his training wasn't even worth it. It was all to beat that one rat. Now what was his purpose in life? He thought back on Yuki's words and favor in his dream. He had given him a new purpose. And that was Tohru.
"Tohru, I need to tell you something."
She seemed to stiffen up. "And what is that?"
"Yuki... Yuki, he came to me in a dream."
At that moment, darkness engulfed Tohru, and she fell to the ground.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: I'm done with the 2nd chapter. Whoopee!! Well, I hope you enjoyed this chappie. The more you guys REVIEW the more I want to write. So pretty please review!
Thanx.