Chapter 16: Follow The Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba…still.

People that are interested in the 4min Transformation thing, read the very end of the chapter where the bold print little segment thing is. Just above the 'Thanks' section!

Kyo kept his eyes on the figure that was circling the trees around Shigure's house. He lays forward on the roof, peeking down below, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the roof as he looks around. Suddenly, Shigure walks out of the house in the dark night. Kyo watches him approach the circling figure and smile at it. Cautiously, he pulls himself a little closer to the edge to see if he could hear them talking better.

"Did you tell that monster yet?" A familiar woman's voice asks, a half smirk on her face. Clearly, Kyo thought, it's Akito. Seeing Shigure shake his head, Akito's smirk turns to a frown. "Well… if you haven't told him already, don't tell him at all…" Her voice trails off as she lifts her hand and slides the back of it down his left cheek. "Good by Shigure…" She begins to walk off back into the forest.

"Good night Akito-san!" He calls, trying not to be too loud about it.

Kyo continues to stare down at them. Something came over him. Fear, anxiety, the weak feeling of forever being alone, and the annoyed sense of hearing Akito speaking about him. He had no clue what it was they were discussing. But obviously it was being kept from him and he'd never know. After seeing Shigure re-enter the house, he leaps down from the roof, landing slightly hard on his feet. He lets out a quiet yelp and then runs into the forest swiftly, searching around for Akito. The sight of completely nothing began to scare him; he started to think of how he could compare this darkness to the room he'll be locked away in. A quick shiver runs up his spine and he stops in his tracks. Looking around almost frantically, he sees a figure standing just ahead of him. He couldn't bring himself to move from the spot he was standing in, even when he saw the dark figure begin to walk towards him. Staring back at it, Kyo's eyes began to grow wide when he found himself standing face to face with Akito for the first time since the night they were heading home from school.

Out of nowhere, Akito slams her fist into Kyo's stomach, he lunges forward, his head landing on her shoulder; he was gasping for air, arms wrapped around his stomach. Akito grabs him by the back of the head and throws him against a tree. Walking towards Kyo, she stares down at him, slight laughter almost overcoming the pitch-black darkness. "I saw you on the roof, you evil little monster you…" She says growling at him a little.

The trees around them were all still; there was no flowing wind that allowed Kyo easy breaths. He stumbles against the tree and staggers to his feet quickly, looking at Akito fearfully. The sky seemed to have not one star, it was just an all black blanket up there now. Nothing in the forest made even the slightest sound. All anyone could hear if they were in the area was Kyo getting hit and Akito talking to him like he was trash.

Akito laughs and places her hands at her hips. "Are you honestly that curious about what me and Shigure were talking about?" She asks trying to mock him to the best of her abilities. He stares at her as if he had nothing left to live for. "How about… you let me take you now. The cage is all ready for you… all you have to do is enter it and you'll be locked in." Akito offers; a happy grin crossing her face as the darkness consumed the both of them.

Taking a step towards Akito, Kyo bows his head sadly. He couldn't believe what he was doing. Finally, he lifts his head up and stares at Akito, who was only a foot away from him now. "I'll… come now…." He sighs deeply and meets Akito's eyes. "You… were right… I can't beat Yuki. The cat… can't ever beat the rat…" Kyo adds as he begins to force himself to face the sad truth. "The cat can never be happy can he…" he mumbles and walks to Akito's side, and glances at her. "You must be glad to hear me saying this… aren't you?" He asks in slight irritation, even though there was enough distressed feelings in his body that he couldn't even bring himself to say any more.

Akito sneers at him and slaps him across the face. "Good boy… now keep walking…" she says quickly as she begins to walk, making sure Kyo was following close behind. Every now and then she'd take a glance back at him to make sure he was still there and didn't attempt to slip away from her tight grasp on his mind.

He kept his head down, full of sorrow. Kyo still couldn't piece what he was doing together. It was even surprising him. Was it really that true that this would be the best thing for him as Akito always said? I can't go on living as the monster I am, can I? Even if I ever try to fight Yuki again, I'd only lose once more. I really can't beat him. And… It's not fair… His mind slowly raced around. Continuing to follow Akito, they stop on the other side of the street, not that he was aware they ever crossed one. Many bushes began to rustle as they reached the entrance to the Main Sohma estate.

Turning around lightly, Akito glares at Kyo and grabs him by the wrist tossing him to the ground on the property the Sohma's owned. She begins to viciously beat him by kicking him repeatedly in the side and his legs. Slowly she sits down on his chest and begins to furiously pound him in the face with her fists. He was yelling in pain as they sat in the middle of the road that led out of the Sohma Residence. She continued to hit him over and over again. Blood splattering all over her clothes as well as his, even some on the street. Kyo's nose was bleeding, he had enormous bruises on both sides of his body, and he felt as though he couldn't move any part of his body. Haru and Momiji, who had miraculously awoken after hearing all that racket, eventually pulled Akito off of him. Kyo looked to be on the verge of death, Akito was laughing madly even though only Haru was holding her back now; Momiji on the other hand was kneeling helplessly at Kyo's side in sheer fright. He stares at the cuts on Kyo's face and the blood dripping from his nose, lip, and a laceration in his right ear.

"Kyo…" Momiji whispers hoping he was still conscious. "Answer me Kyoooo." He calls now, tears swelling in his own eyes. "Akito-san… why did you do this to him…?" Momiji asks turning around to stare at Akito even though he was still on his knees. "How could you hurt him like this!" He exclaims now getting to his feet. Nothing was stopping Akito from laughing; she wasn't prepared to answer someone that is questioning her, let alone someone in her family. Turning back around, Momiji sees two people standing at the opening of the Sohma Estate. His eyes began to glow happily recognizing the faces. It was Tohru and Yuki. (a.n: Katsuro is at home with Shigure). He runs to them and only notices that Tohru ran past him and dropped to her knees beside Kyo's badly injured body.

She rests her head on his chest, bits of blood getting on her face and in her hair. Tears filled her eyes but she held them back. She had to be strong for him now since he was the one that was hurt. Looking up at his bruised and bleeding face she couldn't help but let a tear roll down her cheek. "Kyo-kun…." She grabs his hand and pulls him to his feet gently. Quickly, Tohru hugs him and -just like before- it took about four minutes for him to transform. After he had, she gathers him and his clothes up in her arms. She nestles her head gently into his back. "We're… going home Kyo-kun…" whispers Tohru quietly as she kisses his fur ignoring the dry blood on him. Slowly, she walks back to Yuki, giving Momiji a gentle smile. Stopping beside Yuki, she nods a little and leaves, heading back to Shigure's home.

Akito pulls out of Haru's grasp and runs towards the entrance/exit. "GET BACK HERE YOU WITCH!" She exclaims, and then soon enough, Yuki stops Akito. "Let go of me Yuki…" When she sees he isn't moving, she backs up and turns around, heading back to Kureno who was standing under a broken light in the Estate. Haru and Momiji go home as well, waving good-bye to Yuki before disappearing into the darkness of the Sohma property.

Yuki ends up leaving quickly; meeting Tohru at a bench they agreed to catch up with each other at if they got separated. They began to walk back to Shigure's house, Tohru nestling her cheek into Kyo's furry head. Neither of them said a thing until they got back inside to see Shigure paying completely no attention to an utterly bored Katsuro.

x

Sighing, arms folded across her chest, each hand in the opposite sleeve of the kimono she was wearing. Kureno was walking beside her quietly. Akito instantly broke the silence on the way back to their home. "I was so close to having my way with that monster Kureno. You wouldn't believe that he actually agreed to be locked away. He admitted that he couldn't beat Yuki." She lifts her hand out of her intertwined kimono sleeves and laughs into it. Kureno blankly nods, listening to every word she said. "But… my own family went against me, my dear Kureno. They stopped me. Momiji and Haru…. You must force it into their heads as hard as possible, that they will never disrupt my choices or actions ever again." They enter the house, and the last thing Kureno did before following her into the building was nod.

After going inside, Kureno sits down in a chair at the bedside Akito was laying lightly in. It was as though all the swings of her fists, and kicks of her feet had made her completely exhausted. Her eyes were shut and she was asleep in no time. Kureno soon feel into a deep dream state still sitting in the chair beside Akito's bed.

x

Tohru lays Kyo on his bed once again. She smiles at him sadly, resting his clothes beside him once more. It was already two times today that she's had to put him back in his bed after making him transform. This time she had a good reason though. He was injured and appeared to be unable to walk. It was something that, at the time, she was forced to do mentally. The other time it was out of selfishness, she placed all of her love into the hug she gave him much early in the day. But one thing came to her mind… Why was Kyo-kun in the Main Sohma Estate…? What… was he going to do..? She couldn't think of any possible reasons at the moment. It was nearly ten at night and after today there would be only a day left until school resumes on the coming Monday.

She walks into her room, closing the door to Kyo's room behind her. His room was completely dark and he was totally knocked out from exhaustion and pain. The next day, she'll have to tend to all of the wounds Akito inflicted upon his body. Her eyes closed as she lies in her bed, cozily beside Katsuro who was turned every which way, it was just like a little child to do that. She smiles at him. "Good night Katsuro-chan…" Tohru whispers to him even though he was fast asleep.

Yuki was again still awake at this time, sitting in the living room quietly with Shigure, who was actually sitting at a desk that was against the wall, clicking away on a typewriter. It was almost a shock to Yuki, so in any case he stood up and walked up behind Shigure so softly that the clicking of the typewriter keys was louder then his own footsteps. Leaning forward, over his shoulder, he places his head to the exact left side of Shigure's. His head was perfectly aligned with his so it was going to extremely startle him if he ever took his eyes off the keyboard that was connected to the machine. Turning his head finally he falls backward and lands on the ground still in his chair, Shigure's hands were tightly gripping the armrests.

Looking down him with a laughing grin, Yuki stands still, not showing even the slightest sign of offering any help. He watches Shigure get up and fix the chair, then shoot him an questioning expression. "What is Akito planning Shigure! Why did she hurt Kyo like that?" Yuki begins to ask, one question after another.

"Yuki… she's not planning anything-." Yuki quickly shoves him into the desk, it snaps down the middle, and the typewriter drops, shattering on the ground the moment it makes impact. "Yu- Yuki!" He exclaims extremely surprised at how he has been acting lately. Shigure staggers to his feet once more and stares at Yuki in almost pure anger. "You shouldn't talk the way you do about Akito-san…And… since when do you care if Kyo is hurt physically or mentally?" asks Shigure, a slight grin appearing on the face as the shadows of the night clouded his face so that Yuki couldn't see.

He glances at the ground then back at Shigure. "I don't care if Kyo is hurt in anyway. But it does bother me to see that Honda-san is in pain whenever he is." Yuki sighs a little as he speaks, remembering the painful expression that Tohru had when she saw Kyo so badly hurt and practically paralyzed on the ground. "Just… tell me whatever you know about Akito's plans…." He whispers to him, bowing his head slightly.

Shigure nods and walks up to Yuki, the evil-like grin vanishing from his face the moment he had the chance to rid himself of it. Placing his hands on Yuki's shoulders gently, he watches him lift his head up. Meeting his eyes, he too sighs a little. "Yuki-kun….I have something to tell you….." His voice trails off as he began his sentence. What words came next could change the next and last two months of school… for all of them.

Wow…I really enjoyed typing this chapter. Don't get me wrong, I hate seeing Kyo get hurt, but this had to be done, I'm sorry. But everything from the, I think 6th chapter on, has complete meaning somewhere, even if it isn't clear. This chapter is a very big part of the story. And to those of who that want to know why it took Kyo 4 whole minutes to transform… that will be answered in about 2 more chapters! Chapter 18 may be the most long awaited chapter!

Thanks! To all My Reviewers, since of course most of you have been informed about the new rule, I cannot respond to your reviews until it is somehow changed or something. But I do read each of your reviews and I thank you very much!