"What the Hell! Why didn't you try to stop her?" Kyou Sohma yelled after he watched her run out of their yard.
"You stupid cat. Don't you remember what Hatori said?" Yuki replied angrily.
"Dammit." Kyou said, thinking back. "You know, this whole situation is your fault! And now we can't even try and get her to remember because it could 'seriously damage her psyche.'"
"Don't you think I KNOW that? Do you think I wanted her to leave? I always knew you were stupid but I didn't know you were this moronic."
Kyou completely lost whatever composure he had retained and put all the frustration and rage from the situation into one punch. Naturally he had no chance of landing one on the agile youth but it had never stopped him from trying before. He felt the wind rushing past his fist and was taken aback when he felt it contact with soft flesh.
"What?" Kyou asked in surprise.
He had actually punched Yuki in the stomach. He looked at him lying in the dirt, desolate and weak. Was this the same Yuki who could take him down in under five minutes? The same Yuki who could retaliate with a swift kick to the head if he wanted? Was Kyou actually getting stronger than him? The look on Yuki's face gave him all the answer he needed.
"Damn Rat! You LET me punch you? What the Hell is that going to accomplish?"
There was no reply; only fits of coughing and a despondent glance.
"Pain is not going to bring her back! What is wrong with you! I miss her too but Akito-"
"I know," Yuki coughed weakly. "Just go to school, I'll catch up."
"Fine, whatever." Kyou said over his shoulder as he walked out of Yuki's sight.
The boy got to his feet and dusted off. "That stupid cat." He thought drearily. "He complains to me about Tohru's departure. He has no idea what its like."
XXXX
The room slowly came into focus for Yuki as he slowly regained consciousness. It took him a moment to remember what had happened. Suddenly recalling the events that had transpired before, he tried to get up and look for Tohru but his limbs would not respond. The needle that Hatori gave him must not have completely worn off. "Damn that Hatori!" Yuki's thoughts were clouded, partly from the drug but mostly from fear for Tohru.
A long shadow appeared in the doorway.
"Yuki, I know you are conscious, and I'm sure you are wondering where our young Honda-san is." Akito was clearly amused.
"What did you do to her?" Yuki said weakly; still unable to move much more than his mouth.
"What always must be done to protect this family? She will not be pestering this family anymore."
"NO! Akito, why? She did no harm. She only wanted to help us." The disbelieving youth was able to lift his head for a few seconds.
Cold, mocking laughter greeted his anger. "Yuki, you know she was poison for us. She had already changed you so much. I could not allow her to continue."
Tears appeared at the edges of Yuki's eyes. "How could he do this to me? Does he really loathe me with his whole being?" He thought as the tears broke free and streamed over his face.
"Oh I see I have upset you." Akito strolled over to where Yuki lay. He touched Yuki's tears and brought his hand to his mouth to lick away the salt water. He put his hand underneath Yuki's chin and turned his face toward him so he could look in to his watering eyes. "I don't want to see any of that. If I do, I will have to eliminate the problem permanently."
Akito placed a soft kiss on Yuki's mouth and left.
XXXX
Tohru Honda arrived at school five minutes before the bell rang. Her chocolate hair was mussed and her face was shiny from sweat. She took a quick stop in the girls' bathroom to freshen up and headed to class with out a moment to spare. She was her best friends Hana and Uo waiting outside class for her.
"Hey Tohru-chan, where are your personal escorts today?"
"Escorts? What are you talking about?" Today, there was a reason for the bewildered look on Tohru's face; she had no idea what Uo was talking about.
"What's wrong with you Tohru-chan? I'm talking about Soh-"
"Arisa-chan, don't you think we should be getting to class?" Saki Hanajima interrupted.
"Uhh, yeah. C'mon Tohru," The blonde girl said as she grabbed her friend's arm to bring her out of her daze.
"That was weird. Was she pretending to not know what I was talking about?" Arisa Uotani thought in class. "I can't see Tohru doing something like that? And besides, she really looked like she didn't know what I was talking about."
"...And the velocity multiplied by the cosine of the launch angle gives us the horizontal velocity which remains constant. Are there any questions?" The teacher's monotone voice droned out.
After the bell dismissed the eager students Arisa approached her friend.
"Whoa, when did physics get so hard? I don't remember any of this stuff." Tohru said.
"Hey Tohru, do you work tonight or are you going home with Yu-"
"Arisa-chan," Saki interrupted, "You know Tohru always works. Don't let us make you late Tohru-chan."
"Ah, yes. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Tohru turned and almost walked right into the strange boy from this morning. Luckily he stepped aside in time so she only brushed his arm. "Ah! Please excuse me!"
The orange haired boy said nothing as he moved over to let her pass.
"What was that about?" a very puzzled Uo asked after her friend turned the corner.
Hanajima looked over at Kyou and stated, "She doesn't remember."
XXXX
Yuki stood outside the school after the bell rang, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl who had captured his heart. Patiently he waited, the hot sun doing nothing to warm the icy feeling in the bottom of his stomach, and then at last she walked by. There she was; the flawless embodiment of all things good in Yuki's life. Close enough to reach out and touch, to hold, if only he could.
Would this always be enough for him? Merely watching from the sidelines of her life? How would he be able to make himself not love her? She accepted the curse once, why wouldn't she be able to accept it a second time? Surely he could win her love again like he did before. But... there was always Akito; he was determined to make Yuki's life miserable.
"Dammit," Yuki thought, "I can't even grieve because of him and what he you do to Tohru. Why am I so special to him, he never treated any of the other zodiac like me."
He watched her leave the school yard, her chocolate tresses flowing behind her. Despondently, he started home. Step after step brought him closer to what was once the happiest place in his life. Now, it was only a place of painful memories. When he stepped out of the genkan and into the dining room, he saw Hatori sitting at the table.
Anger flamed in Yuki. "Dammit Hatori!" Yuki said, flinching when he realized who he sounded like. "How dare you come here after what you did?"
"I don't blame you for hating me, Yuki, but I need to check how you are healing. And remind you what could happen to her if you try to make her regain what she lost." Hatori said.
"I know about that! It's bad enough that she can't live here anymore, but you won't even let me talk to her!"
"You know that it is best for her, or are you too selfish to care!" Hatori flared back, but realizing what he had just said he followed up with, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
Yuki was shocked to see the despair in the doctor's face. He was usually so… sterile, was the word that came to Yuki's mind. Just like one of the steely cold instruments in his doctor's bag, Hatori never really showed anything other than emotionless sterility. Even after Kana…. Yuki's rage faltered when he saw the guilt there and followed the doctor's orders and removed his shirt.
Immediately, the doctor started his job and began inspecting the wounds that were finally starting to close.
"It's only been three days," Yuki thought, "it feels like three years."
He breathed in sharply after a jolt of pain brought him out of his thoughts.
"Hatori?"
"Yes, Yuki?" He replied, "Oh wait, let me guess, you want to know why I followed Akito's orders and erased Honda-san's memories of you. Am I right?"
Yuki tried to control the anger that flared up but his voice still came out harsh, "What were you thinking?"
Hatori sighed, "Ignoring the fact that it was Akito's orders, and you know what he could do if I refused; he threatened to harm Honda-san. And you of all people must know a little about my situation. You know I wouldn't want to harm Honda-san or cause you any pain, Yuki, but Akito…"
Hearing these words somehow calmed Yuki and soothed his anger. He always knew that Hatori never liked his job, but now he knew the reason-
"And also…" Hatori continued, "He threatened Kana."
XXXX
"She doesn't remember."
"Hana-chan, what are you talking about?" Arisa asked.
"Her electric signals are different. But of course you already knew that," The electric girl said, not to Arisa; Hana's eyes refused to leave the young man with orange hair and red eyes.
"What the Hell would you know about it!" Kyou shouted, sparking the interest of many around them.
"More than you realize."
"Dammit! Stop talking like some fucking psychic!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Uotani yelled, angered at being out of the loop.
"Just leave me the Hell alone!" Kyou yelled over his shoulder as he ran down the hallway.
Arisa turned to Saki, "Just what was going on back there?"
"I think it would be best if you didn't talk to Tohru about living with Sohma-kun for a while," She replied, "At least not until after I've spoken to her first."
"Honda-san lives with Prince Yuki?"
Arisa and Hana turned to see the president of the Prince Yuki fan club, Motoko Minagawa.
"What? Is there something wrong with that?" Arisa loomed over the now terrified redhead.
"If you try and harm Honda-chan in any way, you will be (BEEP) with electric shocks." Hana's eyes glowed with a strange light.
"I….I-I'm not afraid of you!" Motoko shouted as she fled from then in terror.
"You don't think she would actually do anything about it, do you Saki-chan?" Arisa asked after the dust had cleared.
Saki turned and walked toward the school's exit.
"Saki-chan! Where are you going?"
"Remember what I said. You shouldn't talk to Tohru-chan for a while. I need to talk to her first." She said over her shoulder as she walked out the door.
"Why not!" Arisa asked angrily, moving to follow her.
"Ah! Uotani-chan, I need to talk to you about your unexcused absences last week," Her homeroom teacher did not seem pleased.
"Umm… Yes, Kameyama-sensei. Saki-chan, wait for…." She turned to ask Hanajima to stay but she had already left in the direction of Sohma house.
XXXX
Motoko ran. She was still unsure about what she should do about the Honda situation. She knew she could not allow her to continue to contaminate her Prince, but there was the probability that Uotani and Sakijima would come after her.
"I don't care what happens to me... I need to save Yuki from that Witch!" She thought to herself.
She took a sharp turn and headed in the direction of Sohma house. Despite the fanclub rules, which she wrote herself, she had often visited it. Yuki had never known of course, she had to be content with simply gazing on the house. "But not this time."
XXXX
Tohru was walking "home" from school when she found herself at the same house from this morning.
"Prince Yuki's house." She thought when she saw it. "Why did I come here? It's like I'm drawn to it."
It was so weird, ever since this morning it felt… not quite right to her. Everything seemed to have changed overnight. It didn't even seem like she was in the same grade as yesterday. And these… daydreams. At least she thought they were daydreams. Little scenarios danced in her head, they were set off by the strangest things… like leeks, and martial arts. In class the teacher mentioned something about Hitler's secret base during World War II and instantly she had an image of her and Sohma-san in a garden.
"What is wrong with me?" The girl said aloud.
"How much time do you have, Witch?"