Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters.
Note: Eheh…A possible lead to a good ending--hoorah! Gasp and be amazed if 'tis a good ending in the end because I have written so many bad endings, it's not even funny. A writer's block isn't the only reason for my delay in updates. I'm back in school and my AP Lit class is absolutely horrible. T.T Term papers and things of the like take up a majority of my time and/or kill my want to write anything. The video games Tales of Symphonia, hackMUTATION, Breath of Fire III, and Legacy of Kain: Defiance also take up my free time. DeviantART and Gaia Online don't help much either. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 6: A Double-Edged Sword
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He pulled away after a moment, smiling--wait, smiling!?
"Haru…What's wrong?" his smile suddenly became wider--to inhuman lengths--to reveal incredibly sharp teeth and his eyes became ominous. They held a glint to them that unnerved me to the bone.
"…Haru…" he began to lean towards my face, "Haru…" He said into my ear, causing me to tremble--mostly from fear.
"HARU!! Wake up, damn it!"
I awoke with a start and held my hand up to a sore cheek.
"K-kyou…?"
"It's about time, Hatori wants to see you!" he grumbled some things under his breath as I stared at his back with a dumb and confused look on my face. What had just happened…? That…had been a dream? If so, how much of my life had been a dream? When had I fallen asleep!? …Or had I never woke up from my last session with Black Haru…?
Whatever the case was, I headed for Hatori's room and found him working on some papers.
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Hatori had just wanted to run a few tests on me and had soon gotten what he needed, then told me to go get some rest. Yeah, right. Like that's done me any good thus far. Despite it all, I was still very tired and thus drifted off to sleep in my room after lying down for a few moments.
Heat…beating down on my face…birds calling every so often…the roar of water…I slowly sit up to discover a beach. As I look around, there is no end to neither the water or the white sands that were speckled with small bits of black.
:whisper:
"Great. Lovely to hear from you again…"
:whisper:
"What, me? Sarcastic? No, what ever gave you that idea?"
:whisper:
"I figured as much."
The voice gave a cry that was a bit louder than a whisper, but slurred and incoherent. I quickly turned my head and slowly stood when I saw myself.
"I will be rid of you, and I shall be free…" he said darkly as he began to pace around me, steadily (though slowly) coming closer at the same time.
"Y-you…" I stuttered out as I took a step back for every step he took forward, "What is your real goal? If you're so intent on getting rid of me, why wait?"
He let out a bitter laugh and was silent for a moment as he glared at me before he spoke in a bitter tone, "Don't you think I would have if I had been able? It takes time to gather up enough strength just to be able to come forth when you loose your temper. Until she began to communicate with you, I was unable to gather enough strength…and now that you've learned the truth, I grow stronger with each passing day and with each dream."
I let out a gasp as my foot splashed into water. With a quick glance I saw nothing but death on either side of me. One in the form of Black Haru, myself in some senses…and the other in the form of unusually large and oddly colored sharks. They were as black as any night, with eyes as red as blood and bright as any fire. They came as close to the shallows as they could with out the threat of being beached on the land with the push and pull of the waves and tide.
"Now…" he said as his hand grasped my throat, slowly lifting me up, "It ends here."
"Hey, asshole," I hear a second before Black Haru is punched in the face and I drop onto the ground, gasping for breath in the shallow waves that barely reach me, "Why don't you pick on some one who can fight back!?"
"Y-you!! But how!?" I heard Black Haru sneer, the newcomer just replied with a 'heh' before he began to move. I slowly sat up as my breath returned, and about lost my breath once more when I seemed to be seeing double. On one side, was Black Haru and the other was the newcomer…who looked exactly like Black Haru, only with a different air about him. They glared as I gawked on, I eventually found enough voice to ask,
"What's…going on…?" they both turned to look at me in at the same time, though each had a different expression upon his face. One a sneer, the other a smirk The one soon lost his smirk and turned to glare at the other as he turned his attention back to his opponent.
'Man…I'm starting to get myself confused…what should I call them? Who are they exactly? Me?'
Ignoring my mental plight, the two began to fight. One would make a hit, then the other. At first, they seemed to be fairly even…but as some time passed, it became to resemble trying to balance scale. One end would have the upper hand for a little while, then the other. After a solid punch was inflicted to Black Haru, he pulled back as he wiped the blood coming down from his mouth,
"You think you can beat me? I locked you up once, and I can do it again. I WILL have this body to control!"
"Over our dead body, jackass!" he taunted, swinging his arms as if to let his guard down. The outraged Black Haru lunged forward with his fist, intending to punch the other in the face, but he moved out of the way quickly and twisted Black Haru's arm up against his back…I believe I heard a distinctive crack before he let out a cry of rage.
"You'll not bother us any longer--" he let out a cry as Black Haru managed to knock him to his knees before stabbing him with a broken shell that happened to have just washed up onto the shore because of the tide. As the other Haru let out a cry, I soon, too, let out one of my own. I slowly lifted a hand that had automatically covered my side to see a gouge mirroring the other Haru's wound. He let out a gasp as he noticed my new plight and twisted Black Haru's arm further to make him break away. The two separated and---
"Haru! Haru!"
I came to with a pained gasp, trying to sit up but failing as I truly did have a wound in my side--with almost the same severity that it had been in the dream.
"Damn…it…" I uttered bitterly as Hatori began to dig through his bag for the items needed to treat the wound.
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"There…That should do for now. I'll have to change the bandage again in a few hours, but it should heal with minimal scarring."
"W-wonderful…" I uttered through clenched teeth as the painkillers hadn't kicked in yet, "And…don't you dare…tell me…just to get some…rest…" I glared over at him through one opened eye and he sighed,
"Alright, I won't….Since you already know that, I don't have to tell you."
I groaned in response and he quietly left after packing up his things. I'd really rather get well before getting injured again, but pure common sense and experience tells me that that won't happen.
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((AN: Good? Bad? Please review!!))