Note to JupiterLover: A Yuki/Kagura fanfic? Sounds interesting. I don't know how I'd go about writing it, though.

Part 15

If only I could say that it got much better after that. If only I could say that everything afterwards was positive.

If only indeed.

I was happy when Kyo kissed me. It made me feel so good knowing that he was coming around; fully close to returning my feelings.

So when he didn't come and see me after that, I was a little hurt. Point in fact no one really came to see me, save a random relative I never met before. I wouldn't even see Hatori; Mom told me he'd stop in whenever I was asleep. I didn't even get a phone call from anyone.

What the hell is going on?! I wondered one day, my chest tightened from my hurt feelings. It's been two weeks since anyone came to see me! And Hatori's avoiding me as much as possible!

I can understand why, my voice of doubt reared its ugly head. You betrayed him. You added on an extra workload to him and betrayed his trust. If I were him, I'd be upset too.

That doesn't explain why he won't talk to me period! I thought back. Yes, I betrayed him, but that was over a month ago! Hatori has never been known to hold grudges against anyone other than himself!

That's it; he's probably holding a grudge over himself. He probably thinks it's his fault you're so stupid. So in order to avoid you altogether without actually neglecting you, he's been examining you while you sleep.

That did seem to make some sense. At least, in Hatori's case.

But that doesn't explain why no one else has been coming to see me. No one from the Juunishi; not even Kyo! No one's even called me!

It was hard to ask questions when there wasn't anyone around to answer them.

"It does seem a little odd," said Mom when I told her about it. "I mean until a few weeks ago, everyone was pushing to try and come and see you. Let me talk to Hatori about it and see what's going on."

That gave me high hopes. But just a day later, Mom was acting all strange. I knew she did go talk to Hatori, but she refused to say anything to me about the subject.

That made me feel scared.

I had had enough. I was sick of not seeing them!

So I did the only thing I could do; I called up Shigure's house. I waited patiently as the phone rang on the other line. Don't sound too angry. Just ask them calmly why they haven't stopped by.

What happened next was even more bizarre.

"I'm sorry, but the number you are trying to reach is no longer in use," said the cold voice of the operator.

"WHAT?!" I shrieked, slamming down the phone. Shigure's line no longer existed?! Did he change his number?! What the hell was going on?!

I tried the number over and over again. And every time, I still got the operator's message.

I felt like crying. This was really scary. What happened to everyone over there? What happened to Shigure, Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo?

But I wasn't getting a straight answer from anyone. I was seeing no one but Mom and a few nurses. And if Mom knew (which I knew she did) then she wasn't saying a word. I was being left in the dark and that severely pissed me off.

There was only one thing left; try to contact Hatori. So I pretended to sleep, silently praying that he would come in.

It paid off; after lying still for almost two hours, I heard the door to my room open and close. As the person approached the bed, I felt the familiarity of them. I knew it was him.

"Still stable," said Hatori. I heard the scratch of a pen as he was probably writing on his clipboard. "Very smooth progress."

He was close, but not close enough for me to grab him. But I got my chance when he leaned over to check the machines. My eyes snapped open and I grabbed a fistful of his coat. All these weeks of hospitalization had allowed me to regain some of my strength, so my grip was firm and solid.

Needless to say, Hatori looked surprised to see me. He even dropped his clipboard!

"Kagura!" he said, staring down at me shocked.

"Hello Hatori," I greeted through clenched teeth. "How have you been? I wouldn't know since I haven't seen anyone in weeks!"

Hatori took a hold of my hand. "Let me go, Kagura."

"No! And you're not going anyone until I get some answers!!"

Hatori stared silent at me.

"Why are you avoiding me?! Why has no one come to see me at all?! And why is the phone line cut at Shigure's house?!?!"

Hatori's eyes widened. Well, at least eye. "You called Shigure?"

"I tried to! But the number no longer exists!"

Hatori took hold of my hand with both hands. "If you let me go, I'll try to explain it to you. But bear in mind I'm not giving you all the details."

"Why not?!"

"Because you're still in a delicate condition."

I scoffed and let go of his coat. Hatori pulled up a chair next to my bed and sat down.

"The reason I've been avoiding you," he stated. "Goes in part with feeling responsible for your injuries. Every time I see you like this reminds me that I could've done more. Not just to help you, but everyone else. I've had my fair share of tragedies in my life and I made a vow that the younger generation of Juunishi wouldn't have to go through my experiences. But here you are; experiencing more pain and suffering than I ever did in my life."

I swallowed heavily, feeling a pang of guilt for being so angry. Hatori was suffering right along with me.

But his answer didn't really satisfy me in the least. It felt like he was telling me the truth, but holding back at the same time.

"And the reason everyone's been avoiding you is because of Akito," continued Hatori. Obviously the other point was over with him. "He's been in such a foul mood and still is upset at you for saving Isuzu. So he's forbidden the Juunishi from seeing you or even calling you."

I felt tears well up in my eyes. Forbade them? From even coming in contact with me?!

"I'm sorry," said Hatori. "I know avoiding you like this causes you more pain. I'm going to stop coming around when you're asleep and I'll try to lean on Akito to let some visitors in. In the meantime, be positive okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

Hatori stood up. "I have to be going now. Get some rest, okay?"

I nodded. But as he was leaving, I realized there was one thing he left out.

Shigure's house. He didn't even mention it! I doubt he forgot about it, so there was no reason to not address it!!

---

The next several days dragged on for me. I was still in the hospital as Hatori insisted on keeping me under close observation.

Every time I saw Hatori, I demanded he tell me about Shigure's house. Either he would ignore me or flat-out say no. This really made me angry at him, though in my condition I couldn't really attack. Not to mention my own promise to myself that I would never say or do anything harmful to him prevented me from trying.

I continued to try and contact Shigure, but I still got the same response from the operator. I was too afraid to try the main house; Akito probably tapped into all the phone lines and would use his own power to get his way.

I didn't know if Hatori was really trying to get people to visit me, because I still didn't get any visitors except for Mom and Hatori. And while I did appreciate their company (not so much Hatori's company); I really wanted to see my friends again.

"Kyo-kun," I murmured to myself one evening. Hatori was somewhere and Mom had gone home. "When will I be able to see you again?"

The memory of our kiss was still fresh in my mind. I absently put a hand to my mouth, running my fingertips along my lips.

"I wonder when I'll be able to kiss you again," I asked the empty room before I fell asleep.

---

Sometime later, I came awake from the slightest sound. I held my breath as I heard the door creak open.

Hatori and Mom don't sneak around like that, I thought. Then maybe it's…

My hopes built up as I stared at the silhouette entering my room and closing the door. It looked like a boy, with an average height.

It's him, I thought excitedly. It's Kyo-kun!!

The person flipped on the light switch. And my hopes sank to the pit of my stomach and faded.

"Good evening," greeted Akito, smiling in his strange way.

Icy fear lanced through me. My throat tightened and I started trembling. This was not a good sign.

"What's the matter?" he asked smoothly. "Aren't you glad to see me?"

I obviously wasn't, considering the last time I saw him he almost killed me.

He sauntered over to my bed. But instead of sitting down in the chair, he folded his arms on the bed rail and leaned over me.

"You don't have to be frightened," he said in mock comfort. "I'm not going to hurt you."

I hated myself for the fear that wouldn't go away. I was scared of him. His assault on me left a scar on me that know makes me so frightened whenever he's nearby.

"How are your stitches?" he asked. "Are they evened out? I'd expect them to be since Hatori put in new ones while you lay in a three-week coma."

And whose fault is that? I yelled silently, but I was trembling too much to say it.

"I must say I was surprised though," he continued. "When I came to see you just a few weeks ago, I saw the most disgusting thing. I saw Kyo of all people, kissing you. What's more, you were enjoying it."

My face turned dark red. That was Akito? The person I felt watching us kiss?

"I was very surprised, you see. I was under the impression that he loved Tohru. All I could think was 'why was that Cat kissing Kagura like that when he was suppose to love Tohru?'. Then I put two and two together. And I came up with a shocking revelation.

"Kyo was kissing you like that and not Tohru because Tohru had rejected his love. This meant that she herself had a love and that love was Yuki!!"

My eyes widened and my heart slammed against the wall of my chest. This was bad. Really, really bad.

"I don't like it when people keep things from me," he said, his eyes going dark. "Especially something like this. I was fine with Kyo being with Tohru because it would've made it so bittersweet to break them apart. But as usual things don't go my way. Tohru chose the wrong person to fall in love with because Yuki belongs to me!!!"

I whimpered softly, the fear spreading. What did he do to them?!

"I wanted straight answers. So I sent some associates to Shigure's house to get those three. I must say that Yuki and Kyo put up a good fight. Shigure even tried to help them and he almost never crosses me. But they fought so Tohru could escape. Well, she was only able to run about a few hundred feet before they caught her too. So they were all brought to me and Shigure was kept under close observation at his house."

Tears were starting to spill down my cheeks.

"Once they arrived, I calmly asked them what was going on," said Akito, smiling at my tears. "I half-expected them to deny the accusations I threw at them. Yuki and Kyo looked like they would.

"But Tohru's another story. She stood straight up and declared her undying love for Yuki. She gave this long speech about how the Sohmas saved her; how they all gave her the love she had lost when her mother died. She also told me that she wanted to be friends with me as she was with everyone else! Can you believe that?! I don't need friends! She soon found out after I smacked her in the face.

"Then the strangest thing happened; Yuki actually raised a hand to me! Never once did he ever dare to do such a thing. Kyo also raised a hand to me, both of them protecting Tohru. Both of them declared that their lives were meaningless until they met the ones they love. That sounded strange from Kyo since he loved Tohru for so long, but apparently you saved him to some extent."

I sniffled a little. I was proud of Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru for standing up for their feelings. But judging from the look on Akito's face, the worse was yet to come.

"After their speeches, I realized I had a situation on my hands. These three looked so mutinous and the others would no doubt follow them. So there was only one thing I could do for them.

"I decided for Yuki that he had spent enough time on the outside and that he needed to return to replaced Kureno as my toy."

"No!!" I shrieked. I struggled in my bed, and then yelped in pain from my back.

"As for Kyo, I decided that he was too much of a danger to everyone and sent him into the traditional isolation early."

"No!!!!!!!" I screamed, and then yelled more from the pain in my back.

"And Tohru…well, I saved the best for last." Akito's smile was utterly sadistic. "And all it took was to threaten Hatori with you."

I froze. I stared wide-eyed at him in horror. "No…you didn't…"

"I had Hatori erased Tohru's memories of us," confirmed Akito.