DISCLAIMER - You freakin' sadists! You enjoy making me tearfully admit that I invented Fruits Basket but was terribly poor at the time and sold the idea to Takaya-sensei to pay for toilet paper……..

AN : As far as I am aware, very few people, not including Tohru, know about Akito's gender. And so I will throw around my pronouns accordingly. And someone mentioned Akito would not call these two 'monsters'. I took that from the TokyoPop translation of the scene where Kyou realizes his love for Tohru while speaking to Akito. Also, I realize that Akito is behaving quite….um…..well…..harshly compared to her actual personality. Bear with me. I did that on purpose. I aspire to be just as conniving and tortuous as Takaya-sensei in my writing one day.

Tohru Honda and Kyou Souma stood in stunned silence as the head of the Souma family angrily trudged off, Kureno at her side. What had just happened? It didn't make any sense.

When Akito had given the order for Kureno to strike Tohru, all the poor ex-juunishi could do was to let loose his grip on Kyou and stare in utter disbelief at the deranged woman. What was wrong with her? She had gone from scheming and tirading within the confines of her estate to ordering those faithful to her to carry out these twisted fantasies. Kureno had promised to remain with Akito as long as she needed, but he could never ever bring himself to harm someone whose heart was so pure and innocent like Tohru's. And so, he disobeyed Akito.

And Akito? Never in her life had she been so shocked. The one person she thought she had complete loyalty from had turned on her? What did he see in this whelp that prevented him from touching her? Angry and confused thoughts swirled around in the woman's head until finally all she could do was turn around and walk away. Before she did, however, she gave Tohru and Kyou one final glare.

That glare haunted the both of them the whole way back to Shigure's house. All Tohru knew of Akito was anger, but Kyou……. Kyou had never seen the head of the family in this state. Even towards him. Akito was one who would rather let Kyou remain free long enough to cause the greatest amount of pain possible when he was finally locked up.

Both of them walked silent, Kyou holding Tohru's trembling hand tightly, trying not to let himself do the same in front of Tohru. In one swift instant, their worlds had almost fallen apart. They had almost lost each other. Both had been preparing for it individually, however much they were trying to find a way to fight it. But for the event to almost actually happen was far more painful than either had imagined.

Kyou finally transferred his gaze from straight ahead to the silent girl next to him. Her face was pale. Her eyes, fixed on the path before them. Clearly she was upset, and trying to hold all that emotion back in front of Kyou. The neko decided this was no good. As they entered Shigure's empty house, it's members out and about, he turned to Tohru.

"Come on. We're going up onto the roo------"

CRASH!

No sooner had the "fuh" sound escaped his lips had a loud clap of thunder erupted overheard, followed by a flash of lightning.

"Geez! Ok, so we're not going up on the damn roof."

Still silence.

"Let's go sit by the kotatsu," he said, dragging Tohru into the den. She sat down quietly next to him, her mind still deep in thought. Still clinging to silence.

Kyou kept talking, still trying to hide the tornado inside him. He didn't want Tohru to see how terrified the experience today had made him.

"Doesn't that figure? I say "roof" and then the rain comes down like it's typhoon season or something. I bet that damn rat is out in this right now. I hope he gets drenched. Like a wet rat. Haha. A wet rat. That's funny." He rambled on and on, unsure of what to say or do…..when suddenly…

Bzzzzz.

Darkness.

"Damn."

The intensity of the sudden storm had caused the already fragile electrical power system around Shigure's house to fail, leaving the pair in a thick layer of black inside the house. They had been out all day, and so there was no sunlight to pour through the windows and illuminate their surroundings.

Kyou was just thinking about getting a flashlight when he heard a noise from beside him.

Sniffle…………

'Huh?'

Sniffle………

"Tohru? Tohru? Are you ok?" he spoke into the darkness.

"Kyou…." Sniffle.

"What is it? You can tell me." The neko's own worries shifted aside as his concern instinctively switched to the sniffling girl next to him.

"It's just………….today………I was so scared. I thought Akito was really going to take you away and I would never see you again. And he looked so…….so…..so evil. Like he was enjoying the whole thing. And why did he look at me, then at Kureno, and say 'now'? Oh, Kyou………………..I just…………..it's that…………………oh, I'm sorry for acting like this………I'm so so sorry……"

Kyou felt like his heart, already in pieces from the day's events, was being broken into little shards and ground into dust. Without even thinking, he lifted his hand up in the darkness and brought it to the invisible face speaking to him. She really was crying. He could feel the wet streaks on her cheek.

'I don't know what to say…..'

Tohru jumped slightly at the rough touch of Kyou's strong hand caressing her face. The last time that hand had so delicately cupped her cheek, SHE had placed it there while lying in bed recovering from her gunshot wound. But now, Kyou had moved of his own free will. Tohru knew deep in the back of her mind that he only showed this side to her. Sure he and Kazuma were close. And he loved his shishou very much. But Tohru was different.

Finally, Kyou broke the silence, summoning up all his courage to speak from his heart to Tohru. This was a time, he thought, when maybe that was what should be done instead of holding back.

"Tohru?"

Sniffle.

"Yes, Kyou?"

"Tohru, I don't know what words to say to make you feel better. Right now………………………"

He felt her face shift upwards a bit, toward the sound of his voice.

"Today, I was scared. I was really scared. I thought I had accepted some things and it turns out that I haven't. And when I had to face those things…….I didn't know what to do. And then when Akito looked at you……….I thought he was going to hurt you. And that frightened me even more…….."

At this point Tohru raised her hands up to his face in the darkness, one hand on either side.

"But today is over now. We're home. There's no one here to hurt you. Even if there were, I'm here and I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

"Kyou?"

"Mm?"

"Thank you."

The exhausted pair held each other's hand tightly as they sprawled out on the floor by the kotatsu. Even with all the chaos of the day, and the shyness with which the two interacted, they felt safe just being near each other.

In the brief moment before Tohru fell asleep, she noticed a funny feeling on her hands. She touched one to her heart and realized………in the dark, where no one could see…..

In that quiet blackness…..

She realized that the boy who was always so strong…

The boy that always protected her….

The boy she loved so much….

His face…..

Had been painted in tears as well.

Meanwhile, Akito Souma sat alone quietly in her dark room.

The main estate had also been hit with a power outage, but it wasn't much different for Akito, who seemed to enjoy the company of darkness lately.

She sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, rocking back in forth.

"I don't get it. I don't get it. I don't….."

"You don't get what?" a deep voice called from her doorway.

"Our plan didn't work. Kureno didn't cooperate."

The mysterious figure moved closer.

"It worked alright. Just in a different way. A better way."

Akito couldn't see who her companion was, but she already knew. This friend had visited her every night for weeks. Always so kind. And always so clever. Now, after Kureno's disobedience, her only friend.

"I have a horrendous headache again from all of this. Do you have my medicine?"

"Of course I do. I fixed an extra potent batch this morning, in anticipation of a possible turn of events that might cause your migraines to worsen. Here."

Akito felt around in the darkness for her companion's hand, taking the two little pills from it once found. She swallowed them with the glass of water by her futon, and quickly she felt her pain recede and a wave of sleepiness overcome her. She felt strong hands lay her down gently and cover her up with a blanket before she had drifted off completely.

The mysterious figure rose and slowly walked toward the door, careful not to trip in the darkness.

'Everything is going according to plan.'


Dum Dum Dum! This one was a little longer. Who is this mystery person? And why is Akito on migraine medication all of a sudden? And why the heck did I mention Momiji in the prologue? PLEASE R&R. If you have questions about anything I may mention that has occurred in recent Furuba chapters please feel free to email me and I will answer you as soon as I can.