Thanks for the reviews and sorry for the long wait hehe. :D :D :D :D :D enjoy the next coming chapters ;D and i'll try to continue Complete, but I'm in major writers block mode for that story oO hahah but it'll come along, hopefully.. :P

WILTED FLOWER

Chapter 7 - Finding Your Strength

It was a starfilled night, and the two were contently walking home after leaving the park slides. Kyo's hands were stuffed in his pockets with a new light bursting in his cinnamon eyes, and Tohru couldn't wipe the grin that was permanently pasted on her face for the time being. When they reached the front of the house, Tohru opened her mouth to wish him good night, but she was rudely interrupted by the whipping open of the front door. She gasped when her father's angry, ruddy face appeared at the doorway, his whole face was red with anger as he pushed open the screen door with a bang, scanning Tohru with enraged eyes. Kyo's eyes widened at the sight of the strange man in the house and grimaced when the man ordered loudly,

"Get in Tohru. Do you know how late it is?! And who's this?!"

Tohru's eyes filled with pure fear as she squeaked out with alarm,

"N-Noone! I'm so sorry for coming home late... I'll see you later Kyo..."

Kyo just shot her a worried expression and was about to ask if she would be okay, but Tohru had already rushed into the house with a shamed expression, while the dad slammed the door right in Kyo's face.

I guess that's what happens when you have parents...

Kyo pursed his lips, hoping that she wasn't in too much trouble, but there wasn't much he could do now, so he sighed and skipped down the smooth stone steps, heading back "home."

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"You little bitch! You come home late? And for what? A nasty boy? You oughta be ashamed of yourself, you little slut!"

Her lips were trembling so badly as she stumbled backwards onto the wooden floor. She shuddered out with as much firmness she could muster, but the courage in her body had been sucked out completely from her system, leaving her weak and fragile,

"I-I'm sorry... It won't happen again. I'm so sorry."

"Shut up!"

The tears began to pour as he took out his belt from the loops of his pants, using the metal end to whip her on the shoulders. She cried out in pain and lay face down on the floor, thrashing around as her father continued to senselessly whip her on her arms, back and legs. She cried loudly in pain, not running, not fighting back, just laying there. When he finished, he threw the belt on the ground with a snort of disgust before growling out under his breath,

"That's what you get for being such a disobedient little bitch."

The tears leaked out of her eyes like a river, her whole body shaking with pain, and she felt paralyzed as she continued to lay there, shaking.

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Kyo closed the door to the cabin and Shigure immediately began the teasing fest,

"So where were you?"

Momiji chimed in with a full fledged smile,

"I bet Kyo had the hots! I mean, look how smiley he is!"

"Ohh! So the plot thickens!"

announced Ayame loudly in the corner of the room, putting down his fashion magazine with a devilish grin. Shigure placed his hands comfortably behind his head and asked with a mocking grin,

"So are you two in looooove yet?"

Kyo rolled his eyes and sighed audibly, yelling out with a pink face,

"You people just don't let up, and NO I do not love her, I just felt like going for a damn walk!"

They all laughed and Shigure hollered out loud,

"Yea... a WALK!"

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The next morning crept up onto the world and the sun lit up the streets of Kyoto, crowding the sidewalks with pedestrians, and the streets with speeding cars. It was a beautiful day, and Kyo was spraying droplets of water onto the bed of flowers at the orphanage, when he finished watering the flowers he dropped the hose on top of the grass with a soft plop, then he walked over to Tohru who was planting more seeds elsewhere. He squatted down next to her with a smile and said,

"Done with the flowers."

Tohru turned to him with a bright smile, but the light in her eyes had vanished as she said gratefully,

"Thank you so much! You've helped out a lot."

"So how'd things go yesterday?"

Tohru's froze for a moment and then quickly went back to work, secretly sweating internally. She quietly replied back with a small smile,

"It was fine. Don't worry about it."

Kyo prodded further,

"So who was that guy yesterday?"

She ceased doing her work and started to fumble her thumbs together,

"Oh, um... well after my "mom" passed away two years ago, I was readopted again by him... and so now he's my legal guardian."

"Oh..."

"Everything's fine, don't worry."

Kyo cocked an eyebrow at her and said dubiously,

"You don't sound fine..."

She insisted with an overly high voice,

"I am! Please don't worry about me!"

Tohru rolled up her sleeves, feeling her body overheating from the sun that was beating down on her. That's when Kyo's eye caught onto a huge gash that was located right in the middle of her forearm. He snatched her arm into his warm yet rough hands and demanded,

"What happened?!"

Tohru wrenched her hand out of his grip with tear filled eyes and yanked her sleeve down promptly, rambling on,

"Nothing! I-I fell one time and it left this big mark on my arm. That's all."

He said through gritted teeth, wanting the truth,

"This doesn't look like a mark from falling. Tell me the truth."

She felt her chest tightening as real tears fell down from her red eyes like a chain; she whispered out,

"I can't."

He stared down deeply into her pained brown eyes and grabbed her shaking shoulders, yelling out,

"Who's hurting you?!"

She looked away from his burning eyes with shame and lied in a whisper,

"No one.."

He gulped and stared at the girl in front of him with tears rolling down the sides of her soft white cheeks. He lifted a hand and placed it under her chin, lifting it up to face him, and then he cupped her tear stained cheek with the palm of his tanned hands. Then he gently pulled her towards him, placing her cheek against his heart. Once her cheek rubbed against the soft fabric of his cotton black sweater she began to choke and sob like there was no tomorrow. She threw her small arms around his waist and desperately tried to catch her breath. He said under his breath,

"I won't ever forgive them whoever hurt you."

Her head shot up and she looked up at him with alarm fleeting in dark brown eyes,

"No... please don't hurt him, he means well."

He squinted at her with suspicion and repeated,

"Him?"

She stayed silent, not wanting to give out anymore hints, but Kyo had already figured it out,

"It's your father isn't it?"

More silence filled the air from the accusation, and that's when he knew it was all true. He uttered out with disgust and astonishment all balled up into one tone,

"It is him..."

She pulled away from Kyo and pleaded with him,

"Please don't think badly of him... he just gets angry very easily."

Anger boiled in Kyo's veins as looked at her with shining eyes, clenching his fists together,

"Don't stand up for that dirt bag!"

She raised her voice up a little and stood up from the flower bed,

"He's my father, and he's all I've got!"

Kyo rose up as well and spat out vehemently,

"He's all you've got?! You've got to be kidding me!! You've got to stand up for yourself!"

She looked down at her plain white shoes for a moment and then admitted quietly to him,

"I can't..."

"Why the hell not?!"

"I..."

Kyo took her shoulders into his hands again and stated through gritted teeth,

"Find your strength."

She looked back up at him with empty eyes and asked dully,

"Where?"

He stepped closer to her, touching her arm with the tips of his finger and said with a low voice,

"The greatest strength always lies behind a person that you care about... that's where you find it."

She looked to the side at the soft flower petals that fluttered through the zephyr breeze and she repeated wistfully to herself,

"A person that I care about..."

Kyo removed his fingers from her arms and then lifted his fist to a tree, punching it hard, causing a few leaves to falter to the ground,

"I'll beat the crap out of that dirtbag..."

She grabbed his wrist with sweat slicked hands and pleaded with him,

"Please don't..."

Kyo frowned and inquired,

"Why not?"

"Because I have to do what you just said, stand up for myself. I have to use the strength that I've found..."

She looked down at the dirt and the grass, uttering in a hoarse whisper,

"I find my strength in you."

He repeated with astonishment,

"Me?"

Tohru nodded with a halfhearted smile and then said,

"Yes."

She rose her chin up a little further and said with as much confidence she could muster,

"I'm going to face him..."

She turned to walk away, but Kyo chased after her, and stood in front of her, stating with firmness,

"I'm coming with you, cuz if you get hurt I swear I'll..."

She gave him a worried look, but before she could protest, he added in,

"I'm coming whether you agree or not."

She looked at his earnest face for a minute and then nodded in defeat, piping up in a small voice,

"Thank you."

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Kyo and Tohru stood outside the peaceful brick house and he leaned against the wall near a rose bush, nodding at Tohru with encouragement and she smiled back shakily, opening the door with a smidgen of tentativeness. She stepped inside the cold house and the first thing she saw was her father's shadow standing at the edge of the living room doorway, his arms cross with indignation, and his foot tapping with tidbits of anger. She gulped and left the door ajar as she stepped closer to him, quivering a little now. A booming voice filled the room, causing her to jump back a foot or two,

"Where the hell were you?! You were supposed to cook lunch by now."

"I just went to the park..."

"Whatever, go make some damn food already, I'm not going to wait around all day."

Her voice was barely audible as she whispered out,

"Dad... I have to tell you something."

"What? Speak up!"

"I have to tell you something."

"Well, out with it already."

She looked up at him, her teeth biting down on top of one another as she let out the words that she had longed to say for so long,

"I'm leaving!"

Her father could not believe his ears as he exploded,

"WHAT?!!"

She backed away from him, blindly reaching for the door as she stuttered out,

"I'm moving out. I'm sorry..."

HIs anger was flowing with no end,

"YOU BITCH! I pay for your tuition at school, your food, your clothes, your LIFE, and this is the thanks that I get?"

He advanced so quickly towards her that she had no chance to process his following actions. He swiftly punched her in the face, and she flew to the side, crashing into a nearby wall, causing a few portraits to become crooked. From outside Kyo heard the bang and he rushed inside the house in panic. Once he saw her shoot against the wall in pain, he raced to her side and grabbed her by the shoulders before she could slip to the ground, He shot the dad his nastiest glare and the dad just cocked an eyebrow at him,

"Who the hell are you, and why are you in my house?!"

Kyo growled back with disdain,

"You shut the fuck up you nasty piece of shit. Looking at you makes me wanna puke."

Kyo controlled the urge to throttle the red faced man who was standing in the living room with a shocked expression and without waiting for another second, Kyo carried the unconscious Tohru out of the house, racing away as far as possible from the hellhole.

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The bang of the door flying open caused Momiji to jolt backwards, falling to the dusty ground. Everyone else's heads whipped around to see Kyo drenched with sweat and his chest heaving up and down, but most shocking of all, he was carrying an fainted girl in his arms. He shut the door breathlessly with the heel of his foot, and then set her down onto the floor gently, stroking back a few strands of her hair. They all crowded around the unmoving body and Hatori stepped forward, touching her forehead and examining the top of her head with a careful and searching eye,

"It's just a minor concussion, nothing serious."

Kyo let out a sigh of relief and Ayame saw her naked arm, seeing the horrible marks that were permanently left behind. He murmured out loud,

"What terrible scars..."

Momiji crouched down lower and said with a frown,

"Poor girl..."

Haru looked at Tohru and then up at Kyo, asking,

"What happened to her?"

He replied curtly,

"She was abused by her father."

Shigure shook his head in dismay,

"Oh my..."

"Terrible,"

added Ayame who sympathetically nodded along with Shigure. They all let out small gasps when she started to stir, and they leaned in closer to see if she was going to wake up or not. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to see twelve pairs of eyes glued on her, and her face immediately drained of color as she sat up with panic, squeaking out,

"Wh-where am I?!"

Kyo spoke up as softly and calmly as he could,

"It's alright... you'll be okay."

She turned to the soothing voice and felt her chest loosen its knots when she saw Kyo's face,

"Kyo-kun..."

"You're at the place I live now."

Tohru blushed as she looked at the rest of the unfamliar faces, asking nervously,

"Umm... what happened after I passed out?"

"I carried you back here."

Her eyes suddenly widened when the truth of the situation hit her in the head like a rock,

"Wait... but... but where do I go now? My home... I can't go back now..."

"You don't have to."

She looked up at Kyo with saddened eyes and asked desperately,

"But where do I go then?" I-I can't possibly burden you or anyone else with anything."

Everyone turned to Kyo, waiting for his reply and then Hatori pulled Kyo by the collar and literally dragged him into the kitchen, followed by the rest of the gang. Momiji turned his head back and winked at a stunned Tohru, assuring her with a huge smile,

"We'll be right back!"

They shut the wooden door to the kitchen and Haru pointed a finger at Kyo,

"Alright, you explain what the hell happened right now."

Kyo took a deep breath and angrily stated,

"Look, her dad has been abusing her for who knows how long, and I just found out, so I told her to stand up for herself and get out of there... so she did and I brought her here before her dad went crazy on her."

He clenched his fists and continued fiercely,

"But now she's free! She just needs a place to stay."

Haru immediately snapped back,

"You can't tell her to stay here."

Shigure nodded along with Haru and aquiesced,

"I know it's harsh, but letting a girl like her into the life of a bandit? That'd just make things worse... I mean, don't you want her to be happy?"

Kyo stood still for a moment, letting the silence hang in the air. Ayame patted Kyo on the shoulder with his slender fingers and said softly,

"Do what's right..."

Kyo looked up at Ayame and then at everyone else,

"Let her stay at least one night."

Hatori opened the door of the kitchen and said with his back turned to Kyo,

"One night, but that's it."

Kyo stared at his back with a small bit of anguish and pushed past Hatori, and walked over to Tohru, who was still sitting on the ground with her eyes cast downward. He sat down next to her and told her in a throaty voice,

"You can stay one night... and then in the morning I'll help you find another place, I promise."

She looked at him with her large brown eyes and asked,

"Is it really okay? I... don't want to be any troub--"

Kyo held a finger against her soft lips and said,

"You're staying whether you like it or not, so none of your friggin pleading."

Tohru felt a smile slip onto her face and she encircled her arms around him for a quick hug, whispering into his chest,

"Thank you."

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