Of all the Jyuunishi, it's the Rabbit that Akito hates the most. More than that monster Kyo, he wants to paint pain on Momiji's childish face and mark him forever.

--Because Momiji doesn't belong to him, not really – because Momiji came to him broken with scars on his heart that Akito had not given him, because when Momiji wakes in the night breathless from anguish and longing, it is not anguish that Akito has given him and it is not Akito for whom Momiji longs.

--Because to Momiji, Akito isn't the shaper of his life, isn't the one with the power to hurt him deeply and desperately and irreparably; isn't the one who can leave more wounds on his soul that has shuttered and scabbed over long ago.

Akito is a jealous god. All of the cursed are his, his jewels, his toys; and he guards them with the vengeful wrath of a dragon hoarding priceless treasures. Every mark left on them is a mark he has put there – sometimes tangible like the blinded eye Hatori bears, sometimes hidden like the vulnerability behind the ice of Yuki's gaze. They are his to control, his to destroy.

Except Momiji defied him.

With each tear falling from tightly shut brown eyes, Momiji defied him.

Every whimper, every hurt-filled sigh, every moment of believing himself unworthy and freakish, Momiji defied him.

--Because each scar on Momiji's soul signifies that Momiji is not wholly his, was wounded by someone else; because Momiji goes on smiling even through that horrendous and numbing pain, and his smiles never lose their sadness nor their strength – because Momiji is not afraid of him for he can't be hurt by him.

--Because when Akito gathered Momiji's shuddering, shaken, fragile self to him and murmured assurances of love, even that had not healed him. Because Momiji couldn't be healed, not by him, not by his god.

Of all the Jyuunishi, it's the Rabbit that Akito hates the most. More than even beautiful Yuki, it's Momiji he wishes to possess.


Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and all mentioned characters belong to Natsuki Takaya; this work of fiction is mine. Any incongruities to canon is simply because I've only read up to Vol. 11 of the manga; and in this volume, it's mentioned a few times that Akito dislikes Momiji, perhaps more than he dislikes any other Jyuunishi - Kyo scares him, but his dislike for Momiji is seemingly groundless. This story is based off of that observation.