Hey. Gotta write fast…. No time to spare!

First Rain

Chapter 6: A Welcome Voice

Darkness filled the room. Somehow, it was darker than it had ever been before. There was no reason for it… at least no sensible reason. The only thing Yuki could think of to explain it, was that the fact that she had brought him light, made it seem even darker now that she'd gone. It was the truth. She had brought him light. Opened his window. Opened his eyes. Opened his heart. Opened him up. Helped him to see. Help him to breathe air that wasn't filled with hate and frustration.

He could do with a bit of that air now. He was so frustrated he couldn't take it. There was no escape. Not even a crack in the system. Not a crack in the door or the window. Surely there was no way oxygen could get in through that thick mahogany door…. Or the window. The thought started to make Yuki panic. If anything happened, there'd be no way to get out. No escape route. Not even a way to call for help. No-one would care even if they could hear him.

He started to feel a little claustrophobic… and then a lot. He tried lying down on the floor with his eyes shut but it made it worse. He couldn't breathe… He couldn't think… The only instinct he had was to find a way out… But there was no way. No way… and no-one.

He started to pull on the window bars, yelling out to a person who wasn't there, in a place that didn't exist. He started screaming… crying… begging... It wasn't fair… it wasn't right…. There had to be a way… There just had to be…

"Yuki…"

He heard a voice. He spun around. It was coming from the door. He made his way over, and put a hand on it. There was someone on the other side. He knew… It had felt like he'd never hear another human voice again.

"Yuki… Are you there?"

"W-where else would I be." Yuki tried to hide the tears in his voice. "Who is it…?"

"Kyo."

"Good. I'm glad it's you…"

Kyo sat on the other side of the door, with his back leant against it. Just hearing Yuki's tearful voice was enough to drain all the courage he'd worked so hard to keep. He leant his head back and breathed in deeply with his eyes closed. This was more painfull…

"It's my fault." Kyo breathed. Yuki's voice came again. And this time it was a welcoming thing.

"No it's not. You were right all along. I should have… should have listened when you told me… to be careful…"

"Don't be stupid. She would have got herself out of there before they came if she knew they were going to come. It's my fault. Not hers. And if it is, then she'll be paying for it. And if it's not her fault and it is mine, then it's me who should be beheaded. Not her."

Yuki digested this for a second. "How is it your fault."

Kyo managed a bitter laugh of regret. "I yelled at the Prime Minister."

He heard Yuki laugh shakily, and smiled. That was another sound he'd like to hear again more clearly, but probably wouldn't. "Well you should have seen his ears." Another laugh. Kyo smiled sadly. "I… I have to tell you… Stupidest thing I've done in my life. I… had to divorce Kagura, Yuki." There was silence this time, which was good, because Kyo didn't know what he would've done if Yuki had laughed. "I'm… never gonna see my kid…"

"It's my fault too. I shouldn't have looked… ever. It would have been better… If I'd never seen… If she'd… never come…" Kyo heard no more. There wasn't a sound. It felt like Yuki was crying. He spoke again."You said… beheaded…"

"That's… what they'll do to Tohru. I'm sorry Yuki." There was once again that deafening silence. The air was so thick… so still… so quiet.

Kyo got up and leant against the door. "I have to go and find Haru and Momiji. They ran away. No doubt I'll get in trouble if I don't try to find them…. But I'm gonna get them more lost… so no-one can find them. You… Won't judge me… If I hide to… for a bit?"

Yuki was quiet. Alone again. Was it too much to take? He knew he couldn't be selfish, not to a brother who'd practically lost their only child… and wife. "Go ahead. I'll still be here when you get back."

"Good."

As he walked down the stairs, Kyo realised what a bastard he was. Tohru…

He took the pace to a run and then to a sprint. He had to find her and help her, before it was too late.

Haru and Momiji ran through the mahogany forests as fast as they could. They were hopelessly lost. They didn't care at all. The only thought on their mind was to run. Away from the madness. Away from the death. Away from everything that threatened to swallow them up completely. That feeling of helplessness; that if you didn't run you'd be caught. That if you were caught there was no running away again. That f you didn't run away, you'd never escape. That if you didn't escape it would all be over. That was the feeling they were running from, adrenaline rushing through them, sweat pouring off them, their hearts racing as fast as a humming birds wings.

Suddenly there was only one of them. Haru looked around. He was alone. "M-Momiji? Where the hell… MOMIJI!" He yelled, suddenly worrying.

He spun around, moving so quickly he couldn't see. All the trees looked the same. There was a problem. Which way had he been running?

Suddenly he spotted him. Momiji was being half carried, half dragged away by a couple of guards.

Haru started running towards them. "No! Haru… they'll get you too, just run!" yelled Momiji, franticly struggling against the guards. "Run, dammit!"With that last word he bit the guard's hand, and got a little closer to freedom. But another guard came up behind them all and grabbed him harder. No resisting would work. He surrendered, crying, letting them drag him back towards the place he'd run from.

Haru ran. He ran like never before. He ran out of bitterness, frustration and fear. He would have stayed and saved Momiji, but deep down he knew there was nothing he could have done. Now his brother would probably have his tongue cut out… and he would just run so far he'd never hear about it. To a place he wasn't recognised as a prince. If he ever made it out of that forest…

Yuki cried. He cried again. And he couldn't stop it. No voice of reason was going to sound to him through the door. His only relations were gone. His only friends. Just him in that stupid, tiny little room.

There was a sound at the window. He jumped. He looked at the shut, barred window. The bars were twisting around… On their own. Yuki stepped backwards, terrified. The first bar suddenly disappeared. He watched it as it shot up through the hole in the ceiling that it ad been screwed through. The second did the same.

Without a thought, Yuki had flung open the covers, and without even opening it, he'd leapt through the window.

A new feeling entered his body. He lay on the ground, dazed. Something was coming out of him… It was red… He didn't know what it was. It hurt. He managed to lift himself of the ground. He breathed out, almost without breathing in. He… Was outside…

Tohru sat alone in the cell. Her eyes hurt from crying. She was helpless.

"Tohru!" She heard a voice, and was shocked. Panting, running towards the cell she was in at the prison in Akitao, was Kyo.

"Kyo-san…?"

"Look, we don't have much time." He said. He produced a key from inside his shirt, and shoo it a little. Some blood came off. He started to unlock the door to her cell. She stood up.

Where'd you get the key?"

"Swiped it." He laughed. "OK, beat up the guard. Don't tell."

She blinked. Eventually the door swung open. "Is this… Allowed?"

"What do you think? Does 'Beat Up the guard' mean anything to you?"

"S-sorry."

"I need you to go and find Haru and Momiji. I have to go and tell Yuki you're out of here."

"O-OK, do you know where they went?"

"No, or I'd find them myself." He turned and started to run towards the exit. Tohru saw the punched out uard.

"Kyo, wait!"

"What?" He stopped.

"I didn't try to hurt Yuki."

He paused, and turned around. "I know."

He ran back towards the palace. He ran just a little faster. It had started to rain.

AN: I am so depressed, well, actually this is fun, but it's depressing. Last chappy soon. O O

AN2: If I made mistakes don't flame, simply learn to ignore…

AN3: I made myself cry again writing this… Poor Yuki… Poor Momiji… Poor… Kyo… Poor Kyogura… Seriously, if they call their child that I'll kill it.