Hi… I get the feeling this is nearing completion…. –sniff. I have been listening to the Fruits Basket soundtrack, and good god, the opening song makes me feel so sad… So sad I couldn't sleep last night… No, that's a lie. I couldn't sleep last night because I was worrying about the fact that we had pheasant for dinner (Not a usual thing I know) and I swallowed the bullet. O.O

First Rain

Chapter 7: Apocalypse

It was beautiful. And sad too. The water was pouring out of the sky like blood from a wound… And although he didn't understand it, Yuki was convinced that he knew what it meant.

I'll never find her… He thought. He was in the strange place she had described… A forest. He was lost, but he didn't understand the concept of 'lost'. Since his first breath of clean air, he had been lost. This world was unknown to him. Something told him he was never meant to enter it.

And in his point of view, at this rate, by the time he found her it would be too late.

-

Kyo ran up the stairs towards the third floor. He was still dripping, even though the rain had only started when he was in sight of the Palace. He ran towards Yuki's room, and knocked rapidly on the door. There was no answer. "Yuki?" He tried again. "You better not be brooding in there, this is important." There were no signs of human life.

If there had been anyone inside that room, they would have been able to hear the repeated 'thudding' sound of someone flinging himself against the door in an attempt to break it down. This worked.

Kyo fell with the door onto the floor of the empty room. He slowly got up, expecting to see the astounded face of his brother. But there was no-one there. Kyo looked around, dumbfounded by Yuki's absence. There had never been a time when he hadn't known exactly where Yuki was. And this room had almost never been empty. It felt cold… Lonely. Just like he must have felt.

Or perhaps the coldness was from the fact that the window had been shattered? Sure enough, Kyo could see the broken glass in the frame, and the small spots of blood that accompanied them. Steeling themselves, he looked out the window, waiting to see a broken body on the ground. But there was none.

"So. You made it then?" He said to himself, smiling.

-

Haru stopped running. He looked around. The rain had made it even harder to see anything in this dense forest. But he was certain of one thing. He was alone.

The feeling was more devastating than it should have been. He was almost never alone. He always had the annoying little one near him, or irritating him. Momiji was always by his side, if he wasn't out or with Yuki.

He'd always been there. So why the hell had he just left him to those damned guards?

Haru was more shocked than sad, or angry. He sat down on the thick roots of a tree, and contemplated this past few hours. One word came to mind. He rolled it around in his mouth and thought of the best way to say it. But there was no way. It was a thought, not a spoken word. Chaos.

He slowly stood up and smiled to himself. He knew there was no way he would keep running now. No fuel. No motivation. He was no longer being chased, and it seemed all his earthly ties lay in the other direction. And so, that was where he would go. Back where he needed to fix things. And he had an idea of how to do it.

-

Tohru tried desperately to find Hatsuharu and Momiji. But it seemed they had vanished entirely from the world. They were gone. And the rain made it harder and harder to see. The thick grey clouds were massing overhead like a threat, although it seemed the citizens of Akitaio were already being punished for their sins by the freezing cold rain being thrown at them.

She made her way through the forests now, thinking that Momiji and Haru would assume they were safer in a place where it was harder to see. But it was also easier to get lost.

Tohru slipped on the wet ground and fell. She had one hand in a puddle that was growing larger by the second, and the other hand was in a patch of mud so dark it was almost black.

This day just keeps getting better and better… She thought sadly. She lifted her head up from it's down ward position. And at that instant she saw it. The sight she would never forget. The sight her premonition had warned her of.

She saw him.

-

"Crying…"

This is what they call an apocalypse… Isn't it? The sky isn't blue, or black, or even orange. It's a dull grey. That's not what she told me could happen. They say when ther's an apocalypse and the world is going to end, the sky will change colour and everyone will die. Is that this? Are we all going to die? Everything looks so sad… Like even the trees are mourning for something… Someone. The sky is crying. Crying for someone gone.

Crying for her.

"Yuki!" It can't be. I'm mourning too. She's still there, in my head. That's why I can hear her voice. But I can't see. I can't see a thing. Why is the sky crying. Stop… Please just stop… I can't stand it…

"STOP CRYING!" The sound of footsteps echoed in his ears, small, but resonant nevertheless. He felt a hand on his soaked shoulder. And he turned around. It can't be… "You're not real. You're dying. You're… Dead. Everything it crying for you."

Tohru's eyes pleaded with him. "Don't talk like that. I'm here. It's really me. Why can't you see?"

Who cared if it was an apocalypse? She was there. With him. He could watch with her. He could watch the world die with her. It wouldn't matter. He wouldn't care. The world meant nothing without her there. Something said the world could survive now. Something said they'd all pull through. How could anything be sad with Tohru there? Even now, the sky's bitter mourning tears felt like tears of joy and relief. But why cry at all? Why not laugh?

She put her hand out, her palm facing towards the overflowing heavens. She looked beautiful even in this light. "This is what they call rain, Yuki." She smiled at him. "It must be the first rain of the winter."

"The first… Rain…"

-

Momiji struggled wildly against the hundreds of hands that seemed to be holding him down. He saw that one of them was already holding the knife. He had no idea where he was, except for the indication that there was no rain falling. He looked down. He recognised the marble floor of the main hall. So, they were going to do it here? Right now? Surely there would be somewhere more appropriate…?

"Right…" Said someone. Momiji assumed it was the one with the knife. "This'll only take a second and then I'll all be over." A face came into view. Momiji spat at it. "Now…" Said the man, unfazed by a little royal saliva. "If you'll open your mouth…?"

"You're crazy!" Yelled Momiji, closing his mouth tightly immediately afterwards.

The man smiled. "Orders are orders." His free hand grabbed Momiji's blonde hair and forced his head forward. Momiji glared at him. The man let go of his hair, but pinched his nose instead. Momiji tried defiance, still glaring. But he started to feel hot, and began to run out of oxygen. The glare faded, and his face seemed to be pleading. Didn't these people have hearts? They probably did this sort of thing every day…

"Momiji?" There was another voice…a more familiar one. Momiji tried to concentrate but his mind was starting to go blank, and he didn't dare open his mouth. He'd rather suffocate than give up. But it seemed he wouldn't have to.

There was a sound like metal meeting with skull, and the man let go of Momiji's nose. He inhaled deeply, but to his almost humoured surprise found that it made a weird whistling sound when he did so. It would have been comical, were it not for the seriousness of the situation.

Momiji blinked when at least three other men went down after the man with the knife, ad then some more, and then he could see his surroundings. And a flash of bright orange.

"Kyo!" He yelled without thinking. Luckily by the time he did all his enemies had fallen, at the hand of his older brother with the broken off leg of a suit of armour. "Thank God, they were gonna cut out my tongue!" He shouted, his hand over his mouth in a somewhat protective manner.

"Bastards…" Kyo uttered, nudging the splayed out body of one of the men with his foot. "Where's Haru?"

"He… Carried on without me."

"He left you? Bastard…"

"Stop that! And he had to. I yelled at him and made him go. Plus, I don't think he was looking forward to having his thing… 'Surgically removed'." Momiji smiled, although Kyo couldn't see this because his hand was still over his mouth.

"Hey!" There was a voice from the door. They both turned, and saw Haru, panting like crazy, his hands on his knees. He'd obviously been running like a thoroughbred. "I… Have an idea."

"Do you now, Oh Drenchéd One?" Kyo raised an eyebrow. "What's that then?"

"Look, I'll handle the important bit. You two just go outside to the gates and scream bloody murder. Do whatever; just get as many people as you possibly can to crowd by the Palace steps OK? But make sure they don't come too close. As many people as you can possibly get. Don't matter who they are."

With that, he began to run up the stairs. I sure as hell hope this works. He wiped a bit of rain off his forehead. This plan was going to be a risk, and it could all end up achieving nothing positive, but there was one person he knew he could count on. And they'd certainly agree to help Yuki. OK brother. It's about time you paid me back.

AN: Woohoo! I finished the chapter! I thought I wouldn't, because I've been out until 6:00PM and I only had till 8:00 or 7:00 to write it!

AN:I have had the weirdest stomach feeling…. It doesn't hurt, it's just… weird… I guess that's the bullet talking. I feel like I've been brutally shot, but it's not too bad. Still, it's pretty cool. How many people can say they've ingested a weapon of destruction, eh?

AN: Next chapter will be the last one, then there'll be an epilogue. See you there!