A/N: Alright, theme #2 under my belt! Go me! XD Honestly, though, I'm really touched by all the reviewers' kind and encouraging words. This next theme is more Kyou-centric and only hints at Kyou/Kagura, but I was in a depressing mood and you can't really expect a fluffy drabble with the world 'cruel' in the theme. (And if my hints are as vague as I think they are, this drabble is focusing on the day Kyou turns 18, meaning the day he'll be locked up. FOREVAH!) Still, I hope it pleases!
By JleeBean
2. The cruelest month.
It was the longest month Kyou had ever had to endure. Seventeen years and 135 days of knowledge and dread dwindled away into reluctant resignation as he watches the thin second hand work its way around the face of the clock, bringing him that much closer to the rest of his life.
Tick, tick, tick goes the clock, like mocking laughter and the hand that holds it tightens until the cheap plastic covering cracks.
Kyou tries not to think about the coming dawn and the procedures it will inevitably bring with it. He tries not to think about the way Tohru's face will go all blotchy when she'll cry, because undoubtedly she will. He tries not to remember the last thing he ever said to Shigure, or the look on the Rat's face when he'll be taken away. With enough concentration, he doesn't think about the way that room is just so damn small or the way the bars in its one window looks so cold.
Instead he tries to remember the last time he ever truly laughed and the way there'd always be a milk carton waiting for him every morning. He closes his eyes and tries to see the way Tohru's face always lit up when he actually did something good for once in his awful life, and if he focuses hard enough he can still remember the way Kagura would wrap her arms around him and tighten it just so whenever he dared to pull away.
He feels awful now, because he never got to tell her how much he actually liked the attention, and isn't it just like him to only realize it now, now that it'll be lost to him forever? He has no doubt that she'll be there that morning, when Kureno and Hatori arrive to take him away. He thinks she'll cry for him, but quietly because, oddly enough, Kagura always manages to keep that part of her emotions in check. He thinks maybe he'll cry too, or at least put up a struggle, because he'll be damned if Akito thinks he'll go willingly. A part of him realizes he has to be strong, at least for the women, but another part wants to scream, "Screw that!" because this was his life, dammit, and he refuses to just hand it over like that.
Crimson eyes widen just slightly as the second hand reaches the top and tick, just like that, his life evaporates and he is now a man. He doesn't feel all that different, actually, only extremely tired. He wants to scream and curse but can't muster up enough energy to do it so instead he lowers his hand and places the clock back on the table. He turns his light off and sits there for a moment, trying to memorize his room as best as he can. He makes a promise to himself that he'll finally tell Kazuma-sensei he loves him and thank Tohru for all her hope. He promises not to squirm away when Kagura hugs him this one last time.
Tick, tick, tick goes the clock as he settles back into bed. He closes his eyes and thinks, hopes, that maybe it won't be so bad.
Tick.
Next: Four rings of light upon the ceiling overhead.