Chapter 8: Shadows' of Pain; Shaded Heart

The next day had soon got under way. Each of them got dressed into their spring school uniforms. They head out the front door, being seen off by Shigure who was busy saying good-bye to Tohru in every way possible. This was the first time in a while that they left together to go to school. Normally it was Kyo leaving before everyone else and getting to school alone, and Tohru and Yuki went together. Everything was quiet though. Kyo had no idea that Yuki had been watching and listening in the night before. So he had nothing to be angry about as of yet. Tohru had no knowledge of Kyo kissing her forehead, even though he remembered it perfectly, and his face got red whenever his eyes met her's.

Hanajima and Uotani caught up to them and walk with them towards the school. "So Orangey is coming with us today?" Uo-chan says punching Kyo in the arm. He yelled at her and they got into a fierce argument that eventually cooled down at the front door of the school.

They reached their class and sat in the same seats as always. Kyo of course sat at the desk nearest to the window. This time however, Tohru was on the other side of the room, Yuki two seats in front of her. Hana and Uo sat on either side of Tohru talking whenever they got the chance. She kept trying to listen to Mayu, their teacher, and pay attention to her friends at the same time.

Kyo was gazing out the window, paying almost completely no attention to Mayu. His mind was racing with one memory over and over again.

He ran into the middle of the road in his cat form, a car coming towards him. He was so upset that he wished he would just die or be killed by someone or something. The car suddenly swerved, the woman in the driver's seat calling to him to move. He shook his head and watched the car crash. Knowing exactly who it was he went into shock and ran in fear, into the forest. Transforming back into his human state, he found his clothes and changed, sitting against a tree. He went back to the car and spoke with the woman. "Kyo…please…take care of my daughter." That's what it sounded like she said to him. He left and hid in the forest again in fright. "I…I have to find her daughter…and do as she asked of me." His voice echoes in the flashback.

He finally remembered that day. It was horrible that he had actually met the girl he was supposed to take care of. How could he ever gain the courage to tell her the things he's kept locked away? Just as Yuki had his own things he wanted to keep jarred up until he found the correct time. He knew his confession was much worse then Yuki's. For a fact, Kyo knew that Yuki didn't have to worry about telling the girl he cared for, and loved so much, that it was his fault her mother died. His hand was on his right cheek, as he kept his head facing towards the window. Finally snapping out of the trance the class had managed to end without him being asked a single question. "What was going on today? Was she doing a review or something?" He thought to himself as he got up from his desk and left the room last so that he, Tohru, Yuki, Uo, and Hana left together. They were heading toward the gym at a very slow pace, all talking or yelling at each other. Tohru was shot many glares from the members of the 'Prince Yuki Fan club'.

Getting there they all changed into their gym outfits and were told to run for their upcoming endurance test at the end of the year. Kyo and Yuki were passing this class with ease. The only thing Yuki couldn't do was run all the time, as he had breathing problems ever since he was young. Though, the only times he doesn't run is when it is very cold outside.

The class ended a little longer then an hour later. They changed back into their school uniforms and left the gym area and went towards their next classes. The day went along quickly, though there were times where it felt as if it would never end. It was getting extremely dark out and it was just a little past three o'clock in the day.

Kyo's eyes rose to look at the sky. Lightning was streaking every which way. Tohru and Uotani were talking alone as Hanajima hurried back to her house to see if everything was okay. She had a bad feeling run through her body since the waves seemed to be picking up a little something that made her stressed out.

Suddenly, an umbrella pops open over Kyo's head. "Here you go Kyo-kun!" She says happily, a strawberry decorated umbrella open above her. Yuki's was open the moment he heard thunder. He had left quickly and rushed to take care of his garden near Shigure's house that he considered to be his 'secret base'.

The four of them, which had suddenly included Momiji, walked into a bookstore nearby since it was about to rain. And since Kyo hated rain, they all decided to wait until it let up a little. The monsoon like rains kept coming down hard. Uo was continuously making fun of Kyo calling his hatred of rain a phobia. "What would it be called Kyon?" He twitched hearing what she had called him. "Rain-o-phobia? Retardaphobia?" She rubs the side of her head, "Would that be fear of retards, or a fear of retarded things…" Uo pretended to question herself, mocking Kyo greatly.

He spun around and started yelling at Uo angrily. "WATCH IT YOU DAMN YANKEE THUG!" Kyo exclaims. The sound of rain was pissing him off, and on top of that, Uo was taunting and making fun of him. Tohru and Momiji were talking and laughing politely about work and how things were going.

Cupping his hand to the side of his face, Momiji whispers to Tohru, "Kureno…has been reporting to Akito-san a lot… I think it may be about Kyo assaulting him…" He was informing her of things that should have been told to the members of the juunishi. Kyo eventually settled down and sat at a table, his arms crossed on the table top, his head buried down in them.

They waited almost two hours for the rain to let up. But setting foot outside right after it stopped, proved to be a horrible mistake. Standing in front of the four of them was Akito and Kureno. The sunlight was dripping out from behind the dark, musty clouds. Kyo's eyes grew wide in horror. If Kureno was accompanying her, she had to have known about how Kyo had attacked him.

Tohru was equally as scared as Kyo. Now that she knew about the deal they had made, the fact that Akito could put it in void made her afraid. The cold, spine tightening smile that Akito had on her face was enough to scar you for life. It was like she planned on making you her permanent slave until you kissed her feet and killed yourself deciding that you were no longer worthy.

Spotting Haru coming down the street, looking lifeless, Kyo looks back and forth from Kureno, to Akito, to Haru and back to Akito again. How could she be making such orders? She was having other's force emotionless thoughts into people's brains. Her current mind puppet was Kureno.

Uotani stared at Kureno, who was practically being clung to by Akito who was having a hard time standing. "My very ugly monster stands before me, does he not?" She says pulling herself away from Kureno slowly. Everyone was standing completely still except for Akito who was making her way carefully, staggering a little, towards Kyo.

He stood somewhat alone even though Momiji, Tohru, and Uotani where with him. There was a good ten feet between them all, and he was in front of them. Akito stood lightly at Kyo's feet. She was just a few inches away from Kyo. Grinning knowingly, Akito places her fingertip against his forehead. "You don't deserve to live and you know it Kyo…Monsters should always be inside their cages." Her nail dug into his skin, drawing a trickle of blood. It slid down his forehead and onto his nose. She drops her hands and smiles. "I'll always visit you. You're one of my children Kyo…. one of my very ugly, hated children." Her voice was filled with pure hatred as she spoke to him. It was as if she was talking to dirt. She probably treated rocks better then him.

Tohru couldn't stand the things Akito was saying to him. If she really wanted him to love her, shouldn't she treat him nicely? She thought to herself. He's not a monster Akito-san…. Tohru found herself mentally objecting to every word that came out of Akito's mouth. Anything negative that she said about Akito made her feel a burning flame of hatred consuming her heart. It hurt to feel this way. She wasn't used to hating someone. She had never hated anyone before, she was so used to being nice to people that made fun of her, or spoke badly to her, that it made her so pure and innocent.

Akito takes a glance at Tohru, her eyes narrow returning the hatred she could sense burning in her. Pointing a shaky finger at Tohru she laughs excessively. "You ugly woman! Not even you could replace me! Not even you will ever be able to save this worthless piece of crap!" She shouts loudly, though the passing people had not even paid the least bit of attention. "You must be a monster yourself…." Her voice trails off, as if she were getting ready to continue eagerly. And she did just that. "Are you as worthless as Kyo over there." Akito took a gentle step towards Tohru. Kyo's body was almost frozen. He couldn't find a way to have himself move and stop Akito from even going near Tohru. "Honda…. You are the devil and I am the God. You say you can help Kyo. You want to help Kyo…." She pauses and her eyes begin to feel like a blazing inferno. "MONSTERS- ONLY- HELP- MONSTERS!" Akito roared and ruthlessly swiped her open hand at Tohru.

She hits the ground being slapped by Akito. Large, red marks covered the left side of her face. Pain struck throughout her body feeling the after shock of Akito's attack. Kyo blinked and grabbed her by the arm. His eyes burning on Akito. "DON'T HIT HER YOU DAMN GENDER BENDER!" He exclaims. Then, suddenly, he feels a rough blow to the back of his neck and hits the ground beside Tohru. He groans in pain, and rubs his neck, turning over onto his back, seeing Tohru beside him.

Momiji ran home in fear. It wasn't like he didn't want to help out, but he was too afraid to do anything. At his house he cried in his room, seeing the vision of Tohru and Kyo getting hurt.

The only one left to aid them was Uotani. She knelt down behind them and then lifts her head up to glare at Akito. "How dare you hit my friends you…." She couldn't find the correct choice of words. It was as if her voice box had been temporarily put out of order. She stayed on her knees looking at Tohru who seemed to be in great pain. The scratches from Akito's nails had blood oozing out from nowhere.

Kyo suddenly sat up and got to his feet. "You damn…. Bas-tich!" He exclaims making up his own word to call Akito. "How dare you hit her…she hasn't done anything to you!" He continued to shout at her, stumbling a little closer.

"Oh…but she has done things to me. She's stolen my family from me. My loyal family!" She cries out in annoyance, and then glances back at Kyo. "A monster like you could never know what a family is like, right?" Akito began to taunt him now, just as Uo had done earlier. This time it wasn't as jokes or to pass time.

Tohru sat up and staggered to her feet with the help of Uo. "Kyo knows exactly what a family is, Akito-san. He's apart of one! With me, Yuki, and Shigure." At the sound of her voice, Kyo had turned around and listened. A small smile came to his face as he heard what she had to say.

Akito glared at Tohru mysteriously. She was again interfering with her business. "You little wench…. Believing that you…a mere woman…. can keep them all to yourself."

Looking at her in anger, Kyo realized that he had to speak up. How could he just stay quiet and let Tohru verbally shoot down all of Akito's words alone? He stepped right in front of Akito and looked down at her. "Just get away from here Akito…." He says quietly, in a slight fear of being humiliated in front of everyone.

Seeming slightly taken aback, Akito grits her teeth in annoyance. "Since when does the monster order the God around…. I don't have much longer to live Kyo…and you expect that everyone will spend their time with that little bitch and not me!"

Kyo seemed to be fuming out steams from a boiling fire in his head. "Don't….call her that…"

Glaring at Akito, Uo runs at her and punches Akito in the face. She falls numbly to the ground in front of Kureno. "How dare you! You don't even know Tohru!" She stood over Akito, staring down at her angrily. "I don't care who the hell you are! You shouldn't even talk to Orangey that way!" Uotani exclaims, kicking Akito's leg fiercely.

Kureno stares at her, pulling her away from Akito. His eyes were locked on her's; tears seemed to be swelling up in her eyes. "Stop this… Uo…you don't understand this. You don't understand anything that is going on." He says softly trying to explain things, though he was not letting her know much. "Just go home…. before…. before something bad happens." Hearing this, Uotani pulled away from him and ran quickly away from all of them. The slight worry in Kureno's expression had made Kyo flinch a little. He hadn't seen that face for a while. He actually looked like he cared about what was going on for a moment. Akito was getting to her feet with the help of Kureno by now.

Standing side-by-side, Tohru and Kyo stared in slight worry in the direction of Akito. The sky was getting extremely dark again, and rain began to drip down, which had annoyed Kyo. He tried to keep as calm as possible though so that he doesn't yell at anyone that didn't have to be shouted at.

Akito opened her mouth to speak, and the whole area she and Kureno stood in was covered with a thick, gray shadow. The girl who attacked her made her overly irritated. Since she didn't know the woman's name she would only be able to find her –if needed- by scanning the faces in the crowd. Words slowly slipped out of Akito's mouth like liquid into a cup.

This chapter….I did pretty quickly. It may be one of the shortest chapters I've typed in the recent days.

Special Thanks to:

YoukaiOnigiri: That was a interesting review, lol. Thanks for enjoying the story so far. I hope you like this chapter. It may be a little bit of what you wanted.

Tohruismyoneechan: I think I came up with the new chapter quicker then people expected. Well…here it is. Thank you for your kind reviews.

K40Sohma: This chapter is shorter then the others. (Aren't u happy? Lol) Well… I'm hoping it'll be as good as the chapters before it. Is this soon enough for you? Lol. Glad to here your enjoying the story.

I will not be adding a chapter for two days as I am going on vacation to Universal Studios. Once I get back you can expect chapter 9! Promise!