The FURUBA ROUND ROBIN PROJECT
Chapter 21: Awakening
by Eraya
Hiroga pulled back from Yuki's cold, blue lips and smiled as energy filled him. "Such relief," he thought as Tohru's protests and incoherent babbling ceased. He allowed himself a smirk. With the original host's spirit dormant and his own spiritual vitality rejuvenated he was now free to take whatever course of action he pleased.
Or so he thought...
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
A sudden and unexpected punch to the face sent Hiroga, in Tohru's body, flying across the asphalt. Hiroga barely had enough time to curse physical pain- a reality he had long since forgotten about- when he found a black and white haired boy picking him up by his shirt's collar.
"I won't let /anyone/ hurt Yuki, you got that?" the boy growled dangerously. Hiroga took no heed to the kid's threat and threw a kick to his captive's groin. He missed, but only just, giving him enough leverage to break free of the Sohma boy's clutches.
He knew in his new host's frail and delicate body he was no match against the kid and he could hear confused and angry shouts followed by monotonous commentary around the corner. Hiroga involuntarily shivered at the thought of having his curse whipped back at him again and decided to flee for the time being.
"I don't think so," Hatsuharu snarled grabbing one of Tohru's pale arms as Hiroga attempted to flee. He flung her back into a wall taking pleasure in the dull thud the body made as it slid to the ground, forgetting in the heat of the moment that it wasn't actually Tohru who had done this to Yuki.
"Yun-Yun's cousin! What did you do?" Manabe wailed, just as Arisa, Saki, and Megumi rounded the corner to the alleyway.
"T-Tohru!" Arisa shouted shocked. She made to run over to her fallen friend when Saki thrust her arm out, halting Arisa's pursuit.
"/That/ is /not/ Tohru, Arisa," Saki whispered vehemently. Before Arisa could make any further protests, Saki nodded to her younger brother, who stepped towards Tohru's unconscious body.
"Sohma Hastsuharu," Hana addressed the raging teen with an air of authority, "you and Manabe Kakeru will take Sohma Yuki back to the school. You said you're family doctor was on his way, didn't you?" He nodded curtly, though his piercing gaze never left the unconscious form of Tohru. "Then go."
He turned an icy glare at her, his black-side never one to be controlled by anyone, but inside his white-side reasoned with her. In the end his love for Yuki won him over. He nodded, traces of rebellion slipping away into the abyss. "Help me carry him," he quietly ordered to Manabe.
"Megumi," Saki nodded to her younger brother.
"Hiroga A-" But Megumi was never able to finish his sentence because just then, in a blur of color and motion, the possessed Tohru Honda was gone.
"Ngh..."
Toshizo Hiro opened his emerald eyes at the girlish sigh. "So, you're awake?"
"Ngh... Fuck off, Toshizo..."
Hiro chuckled slightly at the harsh words that came from a perfectly innocent mouth. He had spent enough time spying on Sohma Yuki and his fellow residents to know that the girl known as Honda Tohru /never/ swore. She never did much more than apologize actually, but that was another matter for another time.
"Did you have enough sleep, Hiroga-kun?" Hiro asked, stealing a glance at the possessed girl. She shot him a glare as she sat up causing Hiro to smirk a little. "You should've known possessing such a delicate flower would have it's consequences... Then again, you never were one with the ladies, were you Hiroga-kun?"
"Shut up!" Hiroga spat menacingly, but Hiro only laughed. The image of Honda Tohru acting so uncharacteristically was too much.
"I apologize, Hiroga-kun," Hiro waved his hand in jest. "It's just, you obviously haven't mastered the art of tactfully killing off your pray."
"Who cares so long as the job gets done?" Hiroga said agitatedly, rubbing the back of his head. He ached from head to toe. One benefit of being dead- perhaps even the only benefit- was never having to feel physical /pain/. Touch was a completely different- and well missed- thing. "God, that guy can pack a beating..." he mumbled to himself.
"I suspected you'd feel that when you awoke," Hiro said holding two painkillers and a glass of water out, "He did fling you into a wall after all."
Warily, Hiroga accepted the medicine being handed to him. "And this would be...?"
"Don't make me laugh Hiroga-kun. You haven't been dead long enough not to recognize painkillers when handed to you," Hiro replied, a small, amused smile gracing his surprisingly handsome features.
Hiroga glared at him again before washing the pain-relievers down. "Let's cut to the chase, Toshizo," Hiroga glowered. "Why are you helping me?"
"Ne, has Hiroga-kun forgotten?" Hiro turned to look at the girl with a quirked eyebrow. The girl's face contorted in confusion. Hiro held in a disappointed sigh. "Ah, my mistake... You wouldn't remember such a trivial thing after all this time, would you?"
"Even if it isn't trivial at all," Hiro sadly thought to himself.
"What are you trying to say?" Hiroga asked with a skeptical look.
"You want to know why I'm helping you. Well, the truth of the matter is I'm not entirely sure," Hiro replied, ignoring Hiroga's question. "Tell me, what do you know of the Ancient Scriptures?"
"And exactly why should I tell you?"
"Well, it might clear up why it is you have your heart set on killing off the Sohma family."
"I don't have a heart," Hiroga retorted bitterly. "And it's all because of that damn project."
"A.S.S?"
Hiroga snorted. "A nice acronym for it."
Hiro gave a small, lopsided smile. "Well, Ancient Sohma Scriptures was a little shorter than Zodiac Insignificant Pleasantry Parties In Dubious Years- what you so lovingly referred to as Z.I.P.P.I.D.Y, am I right?" Hiro smiled, "Besides, this project really is a pain in the A.S.S."
Hiroga snorted again. "Very cute pun, Toshizo."
Hiro shrugged. "I don't understand why you would waste your life away- and I mean quite literally- on a project which has no significance to you, Hiroga-kun. There's obviously something you're hiding about it."
Hiroga looked at the young man sitting in front of him. He had done a lot of growing since he had last really seen him. Toshizo Hiro had been a mere kid when Project Z.I.P.P.I.D.Y- or A.S.S as they now called it- had gone underway... Not that Hiroga had been much older than him. In fact, had he still been alive he'd probably be in his late twenties now. Death had been funny to him; he never actually knew how much time had lapsed since the time of his death. He also couldn't recall most of his time spent in the living world (anything good at least), but he could recite every scrap of information regarding the project... Funny how that damn thing would dictate his life even after death...
"Perhaps it isn't as glorious as you think," Hiroga replied after a moment of silence. Hiro quirked an eyebrow at this statement. "Perhaps it's not even treasure at all... At least in the terms mortals would think of treasure."
"'In the terms mortals would think of treasure...' What do you mean by that?"
"Death befalls us all, Toshizo," Hiroga wryly smiled. "You'll just have to wait and see."
Hatori checked Yuki's pulse for the second time that hour.
"Its still too faint..." he grimaced to himself. Frustrated, the doctor ran a hand through his hair.
He couldn't for the life of him figure out what was wrong. He had arrived at Kaibara High to find Hatsuharu missing and a frazzled Momiji who apparently had no clue what was going on. Having no luck in finding Kyo or Tohru in their classes, Momiji suggested going up to the roof to see if Kyo was there (as that seemed to be one of his favorite haunts). Indeed they found Kyo there, but not in the condition they had expected.
The ashen color of the usually hot-headed youth not only frightened Momiji, but Hatori as well. Soon after discovering Kyo's faint pulse, Hatsuharu returned to the school carrying a half-naked Yuki (he had stripped himself of his school jacket to keep Yuki somewhat decent), also ashen faced. Hurriedly, they rushed the two teenagers to the hospital.
Hatsuharu tried to relay the entire story to Hatori, but because he battled through so many black-outs in a short amount of time there were parts in his story that didn't add up. Unsurprisingly, Momiji had listened to their conversation through the door while waiting in the hallway. What he heard did nothing to ease his racing heart. Haru had a breakdown and almost went black because of the pure mental strain to remember what happened. After calming him down somewhat with fake reassurances, Hatori sent the two teenagers home to wait and rest.
Exhausted, Hatori sat in one of the visitor's chairs. From what he had gathered from Hatsuharu's memory there was a ghost running amuck and possessing different Sohma's and Tohru had been kidnapped... Hatori gave a very wry smile. Sure, he could erase memories, but he couldn't recall them and that was exactly what he needed to be able to do right now. Tohru being kidnapped was believable enough; the girl was so spacey to begin with... But a ghost possessing her and Yuki? Now that surely had to be the work of Haru straining his memories...
"IT'S NOT YUKI!"
Hatori jumped at the sudden cry across the room. Shigure was sitting up in bed, casting his eyes wildly around the room breathing heavily, panic stricken. He turned his eyes, registering Hatori's figure. As soon as he had gotten close enough, Shigure clutched at the doctor's shirt.
"Ha-san," he gave a faint laugh, a nervous laugh before his voice became urgent, "Ha-san, listen... Listen to me, Ha-san..."
"I'm listening," Hatori replied trying hard not to show his shock.
"It's not Yuki, Ha-san, it's not him!" Shigure gasped for air, his eyes still wildly darting around the room. "Don't let him fool you! Don't let him fool you and the others! Don't let him..."
Abruptly, he stopped and continued to look around the room, still tightly holding onto Hatori's shirt. He swallowed his shallow breathes and after a moment his death grip on Hatori relaxed. He began to nervously giggle, as if he had finally registered where he was.
"Shigure," Hatori said firmly, gently pulling his friend's hand off of his shirt. "What-"
"Do you remember that story Ren used to tell us?" Shigure asked suddenly, having composed himself some what. He was still breathing a bit heavily, but otherwise he seemed fine.
Hatori furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you-?"
"Do you remember, Ha-san?" Shigure prompted, a note of urgency.
"...Ren told-"
"No, Ha-san," Shigure shook his head smiling a little as he grabbed onto Hatori's shirt again with one hand, waving the other one about. "Don't even finish that sentence... She only told us /one/ story. Just the one... And you remember it, right?"
"Shigure, you're delirious... You need rest," Hatori tried to reason, prying Shigure's hand from his shirt for the second time.
"Listen to me!" Shigure insisted in a low, dangerous tone. Once again he latched onto Hatori, but this time drew him in so their faces were only inches apart. "Look, I /know/ I sound crazy, but you have to level with me here," Shigure released his friend after a moment, as if realizing how desperate he sounded. He tried to smile as to lighten the mood, but Hatori saw the panic and fear in his eyes.
Shigure didn't panic...
And he didn't fear anything either...
"I remember," Hatori whispered, sold.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note:
Six hours later, this chapter is finished! Woo! I had so much fun writing this that I can't wait until it's my turn again! I didn't get to fit everything I wanted to in this chapter, so if you guys have a bit of writer's block with the next chapter I can throw you a couple of my ideas. I think I left enough ambiguity with certain things for other's develope, such as, what /is/ the story Ren told Shigure and Hatori?
I hope no one seemed too OOC, but in the circumstances of the fic, I could see them needing to act this way... Also, most of the characters I was working with I wasn't used to writing with... Well, Hatori I'm usually good with, but I felt he wasn't my strong suit in this chapter shame.
I hope this chapter proved to be entertaining and you all enjoyed it!
Challenge: Reveal something vital about the Ancient Sohma Scriptures /and/ the story Ren told Shigure and Hatori... Dun, dun, dun! I know, not very creative challenge, but I'm sure the product will be very creative!
Eraya