A/N: Hey everyone! I told you I would post soon. This is another chapter that focuses on reflection. -Smacks herself on the wrist- I couldn't help it. There were just so many unspoken emotions that were pouring out of the end of the anime that I felt it necessary to explain! Please forgive me. -Bows profusely- I promise to try REALLY hard to post again before the end of this week. Or so I hope. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Oh yeah! Please don't sue me! After all, I can't help it that Takaya is such a genius that I was compelled to write about her brilliant characters.-sniff sniff- No, no-alas! Shigure will never be mine.

The Plum on Her Back

Ch 2: Inside the Mind of a Curse

For a fall morning, the sun made its presence known in the sky. As Tohru and Kyo left the house, the raindrops that had been visible only an hour before were forgotten and unseen as they dissolved into the air "What the hell is wrong with that damn Yuki" Kyo griped. "Everyone else has gotten over it. Why can't he"

Tohru chose her words carefully for once. She knew that even for Kyo, 'it' was still a touchy subject. "Everyone is dealing with it in their own way, I guess." She smiled nervously at him. "Shigure deals with everything through his silliness, you with your training, and perhaps Yuki just takes it all in by himself."

Kyo was quiet, but her statement had an impact. Sometimes she could be so smart when it came to people and their feelings. Why couldn't he be more like that?

"Uh, K—Kyo" Tohru felt as if the words were refusing to materialize on her tongue.

"Yeah. What is it" Kyo knew what was coming.

"It's about that night. Um—we haven't spoken about it since, you and me. And I know I should have said something before this, but there was never a moment, and when there was, I couldn't find the words, and when I did, they never came out, and when—"

"Ah—just get on with it. What do you have to say" He stopped walking and turned toward her.

His full attention made Tohru even more tentative to proceed. Her mouth moved, and she could feel the surfacing of old tears forming beneath her eyelids. The onigiri's gaze faltered somewhere between Kyo's slender waistline and his collar. She jumped when she felt his fingers at her chin. They forced her to meet his eyes. "Go on—you can tell me. I'm ready."

She was unaccustomed to the resolute patience she now witnessed. Kyo's body had taken on his battle stance, but she assumed he was using it as a protective shield against her words, which had the potential to cause him grief. He was really making an effort. Tohru felt herself bursting. She cried out, jumping into Kyo's arms for reassurance.

POP.

The sound startled her so that her tears were forced to come to a halt. The moment had been so sober that she had entirely forgotten his curse. How could she be that stupid? Little Kyo sat in the crook of her arms staring up at her. Even as a cat, Kyo's gaze on her had not wavered. He was waiting for her testimony. He watched her as if she would be the one to project his life sentence.

"Kyo—Oh Kyo. I can't belive I am such a klutz." There came another small cry. "I just—still feel so guilty. I'm incredibly sorry. I'm stupid and weak and in my moment of credibility, I—I completely failed. My actions were cowardly. I know you appreciated my honesty, but I feel horrible for hiding inside myself as I did and turning my back from you. I should not have feared you. I feel like such a failure." She cried with the cat still clutched firmly in her hands.

POP.

Kyo leapt from Tohru's grasp quickly so as not to have a repeat of the instant before. She hadn't even noticed; she was too busy anticipating what Kyo might really think of her. She felt his forehead against hers and jumped. Oh my gosh, she thought. Is he still—n—naked"Don't worry" he whispered. "Just focus on my eyes, only my eyes." Kyo's skin was hot and crimson with embarrassment by the surrounding circumstances, but it was clear that this moment was too important to him.

Tohru blushed as well, but managed to calm her trembling lips with the full intent of hearing what he had to say. She cried silently while he spoke

"Tohru, what is true is that you have kept this family's secret like it was your own. What is true is that you have remained honest even when your fear would make you lie about how you felt at the sight of my hideous and disgusting form. What is true is that you protected this family more than any other Sohma has ever had the strength or will to do. You not only approached Akito, but you proved him wrong." His breath came out raspy as if he was doing everything in his power to hold his emotions in tact. Why did she have such a strong hold over him"You—Tohru, you have turned this family upside down by simply being yourself. Don't you ever tell me you failed us! Do you hear me? Don't you ever say that again"

"What do I do, Mom?"

"Just be yourself….."

His words were brutal, harsh even. But Tohru found comfort in them. She let the trembling boy go and turned from him so that he could dress. When he was done, Kyo watched her back. She was so frail, so delicate. The wind stirred her hair so that it shifted over her shoulder, exposing her thin neck. Kyo's hands fell on Tohru's shoulders. He felt the girl tense up in his grip. How was it? Kyo thought to himself, now smiling. How was it that this waif of a girl had done what he had always thought impossible"Tohru" he spoke softly.

Kyo let her turn around, his hands dropping to his sides. Her eyes still brimmed with tears, and her face was raw from weeping. "Y—y—yes." She sniffed.

She could see Kyo's features struggling to say something. He made several attempts before he was able to speak. "I don't know if I told you this properly before, but thank you." It came out so quickly it was scarcely coherent. "Tohru. Thank you" and his smile grew.

Tohru returned his grin. Kyo always did have difficulty saying thank you, she thought to herself. "Your welcome." But when he could smile so freely like that, it was so worth it.

Later, Kyo watched Tohru with her two best friends as he leaned against one of the windows in their classroom. Saki Hanajima and Arisa Uotani. Tohru never did tell the cat how Hana had seemingly refused to help her on the night he had been forced to reveal his true form. If he had been made aware that this disturbing girl, who penetrated his brain waves, had used physical force to hold back Uo, all the while yelling at Tohru, he would have liked her even less. Tohru did not deserve to feel any pain. Kyo would make sure of that.

The look on her face still haunted him. Tohru, standing only six feet away, umbrella loosely hung around her curling fingers. Green eyes lost somewhere inside of herself, rain soaking her skin until her body became a puddle for the storm to spatter. She did not move; she could not flinch. She was unseeing just as his mother had been when he was a child.

He recalled the way his mother's mouth had turned up in revulsion. This woman—responsible for giving birth to him. This woman who had looked at him with troubled eyes, troubled only by the fear that he would become that 'thing.' This woman who never missed a chance to tell him, "I love you." He saw it, the curving mouth, the wrinkling nose, cringing as it inhaled his stench. And as a child, he did not know what else to do—he cried out, a hideous wail, causing her to cover her ears and cry with him. He was an inconvenience, a cross for her to bear instead of the blessed child she had expected. But she never admitted any of this to him. He was aware of the thoughts that circulated that despondent head of hers as she suffered in silence. Why me? Her eyes always seemed to say. Why me? Why do I have a creature for a son?

Kyo's face was a blank mask. This had been his past. This, he had buried until that night. And she had seen him—she had looked on him with those eyes that had so often fell to his wrist as a young boy. He still felt his mother's hand on his arm, rolling up his sleeve for her own peace of mind. Had she ever considered what this simple action did to his own sense of security?

But Tohru—she had been different. The fear he had witnessed buried beneath her sorrow, she also projected through her mouth. She had told him the truth. And even though it pained him to hear, it had somehow set him free. Tohru had done for him what his mother could never do. She told him what the sight of him had stirred within her. She did not spin a story or fairy tale in order to delude him of her fears. She had held that hideous arm weakly as her entire body shook.

I'm afraid of you right now, Kyo...But—still…I want us to stay together...

Her tears had fallen with the rain, she had become the storm—and she had washed it all away. The pain, the hatred. Tohru had set him free.

He, now, looked at her with new eyes. He never thought anyone would say that to him. He could trust her. Ever since that moment when she announced those words, something else had roused within him. He dared to think it, and most often forced the thought from his mind. If she could love him unconditionally in all of his cursed forms, could she love him as a man too? And at the thought, his mask was broken. He felt the heat creep across the bridge of his nose, and peered down at the floor to conceal his discomfort. No, she would probably fall for that damn rat before she could ever love him.

"What the hell is going on with 'Orange Top'" Uo asked suggestively, arms folded across her chest as she watched him from the opposite side of the room. Tohru glanced toward him quickly. Kyo stood there with an unclear posture and expression on his face. Tohru wondered if he was angry with Yuki again. She searched the room for the silver-haired Prince. Yuki sat, quietly, at his desk reading a book that was not from the assigned list of their class. She turned back to Kyo. "Uh—he is just uh—grumpy. I mentioned the possibility of leeks for dinner on the way to school this morning, and his mood turned sour." Tohru replaced the nervous look with a smile.

Hana gazed at her friend. She was lying again. The pale girl with black hair and electrifying eyes did not understand why it was that Tohru always lied for this family. It even hurt her to discern that she had been untruthful about them from the start. She only knew that it was right. This secret that she kept for them—she had been entrusted with it and Hana would never want to destroy her best friend's honor by drawing the truth from her. Even if it was slightly dangerous for Tohru.

Uo observed the stupid teenager that reminded her so much of a cat. Hana had asked her never to question the actions she had chosen on that night. The ambiguity increased when she, additionally, coerced her into making it a promise, something she seldom did. To be honest, the serious look that had flooded her face when she had pushed against her with her entire body in order to stop Uo from helping Tohru, told her it was to be left alone. She still felt uncomfortable with the fact that she could be letting Tohru down somehow. Clearly, something had happened with her and the Sohmas. It must have been a horrible thing that would bring her friend to her mother's gravesite, lying there as if she wished death upon herself. Uo shivered at the remembrance. She no longer asked the question why she had not been allowed to help her. However that still would never stop her from watching Tohru like a hawk.

Yuki quit reading after a while, but his eyes continued to roam the page. He shifted his gaze to Kyo. The stupid cat was looking at him. How could he explain it? It had been written out for them before they were even born. They were supposed to hate each other. And yet—Yuki found it difficult to continue hating him for those reasons. The ugliness of his original form. It had been repulsing. But no one deserved that kind of a curse—not even the detested cat of the zodiac.

And yet, he still disliked him—hated him even. Though it was not because they were sworn enemies at birth. It was a different reason. One that centered at his heart, and continued to choke him with each passing day. It was because he loved Miss Honda.

The zodiac cat had always been her favorite. She said it herself—she would be the first to join a year of the cat fan club. And since that day when he revealed himself entirely to Tohru, the day he took her willingly into his arms and cried with her while she held him as a cat alongside the lake, watching from the sidelines, Yuki had felt their bond grow stronger, while he could only pull away.

She was watching him. He felt her gaze now, and looked up to find her looking intently at him. Yuki smiled. Her face lit up. Could he really make her so happy? So animated? Just by smiling? Yuki crumbled. It wasn't fair. Ever since they were children, the rat had beaten Kyo at everything—everything. He had been the first to walk, to potty train, to swim—er dog paddle. But none of it mattered. Because if Kyo had Tohru...

A/N: Are you still here? I hope you are! Look for the next chapter soon.

Thanks for reading! Until Chapter 3: With Young, Intelligent Eyes

Please Read and Review so that I know to continue!