AN: Yay…
Last Rain
Chapter two: I Need Some Sleep
The sound of a pen could be heard scratching through the room. Yuki tried to keep it as quiet as possible. He looked at the letter he was replying to. Come to think of it, his handwriting wasn't too good either. It was probably because before two years ago, the only thing he ever wrote was his name. And that had been scratched into the underneath of his bed with a butter knife when he was six.
He shook his head, trying to repress the memory of how bored he had been.
When he had finished writing, he looked at the letter. There were probably a few spelling mistakes, but he didn't notice them.
"To anoneymus,
In reply to your letter, I don't really no what to right. I don't no who you are. I can't possibly meet you untill you tell me. I would apeshi apreshiate it if you didn't send me anymore letters if you cannot give me this information.
Yours sincerely,
King Yuki of Sohma."
Yuki breathed out slowly. He couldn't let Tohru find out about this. If this person was some admirer or stalker, just knowing that he had replied would arouse at the least some suspicion.
After putting the letter in an envelope and addressing it, he put both the first letter and his in the drawer from which he had taken the match. He closed it, but too quickly. Tohru sat up in bed. He jumped. She had done it so suddenly…It was like watching someone rise from the dead.
"Yuki?" He rubbed his eyes. It was early in the morning. He didn't realise he'd been up so long.
"I couldn't sleep." He said truthfully.
Tohru sat and watched as he wearily walked back over to the bed. "You OK?"
Yuki looked at her, but avoided her eyes. He forced a smile. "I'm fine."
Tohru stayed quiet, and didn't lie down again even when he did. He tried to will her to ignore him. To not care about him so much. But it was impossible for that to happen, no matter how much he wished for it.
He sat back up again and looked her in the eye. "I really am fine." She didn't look convinced. "Don't worry about me… Please. I'm fine."
She smiled at him, almost sadly, and lay down again. He did the same, but wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head against his chest and hugged him. No you're not. She looked up as far as she could. She could see his face, staring at the wall. She closed her eyes.
-
She tried to sleep. 3:00am came and she was still awake. Eyes closed. Yuki had fallen asleep hours ago. She had tried everything. She was counting sheep, but there was always one she seemed to miss. She hadn't moved an inch in those long hours. Yuki's arms were still firmly around her. She tried to feel him breathing. Sure enough, when she put her head on his chest, she could feel it moving. It was relaxing. If anything was going to help her sleep, listening and focussing on him would work. But for once, even that didn't help.
-
In the later hours of the morning, Tohru looked like a corpse. She was pale, her hair was all over the place, and she kept yawning; especially while people were talking to her.
Yuki was being unnaturally quiet. He had hardly said a thing all day, and as the clock hands twitched slowly towards 3:00pm, Haru began to worry. He took Yuki by the arm and led him towards the drawing room.
Yuki had said nothing, but the alarmed expression on his face communicated that he was surprised.
Haru sat him down on the couch.
"What's going on?" He said worriedly.
"Nothing. Why do you…"He yawned. "...Ask?"
Haru put a hand through his white hair. "You just… You look…" He sat down next to Yuki. "I'm right, aren't I? There's something wrong."
Yuki sighed. He couldn't act anymore. The weight of the last few months was beginning to get to him. And he was worried that it was beginning to show. "Fine…You…Might be right." He said.
"Come on. You know I am."
"I hate it so much when you're right!" Said Yuki. He put a hand on his fore-head. "Damn it…"
Haru leant against the arm of the couch, putting his bare feet on it. "What's up?"
Yuki leant back on the couch. "If I don't stop being so stupid I'll ruin everything."
Haru stared at Yuki behind serious eyes. "What… What are you talking about…?"
"I keep thinking the stupidest things. Like… I'm not good enough for her. And she deserves better than me. They're…stupid. If I keep thinking them, she might start to think the same thing. And then I'm screwed. And…What do I do? Dad…He's gone. I'm sure of it now. So…Do I try to be like him? Do I…Just… Carry on? What…What do I… What do I do…?"Yuki closed his eyes. Haru stared at him.
"You're so dumb." He smiled. Yuki punched his arm. "She's never gonna think that. And you shouldn't think it either. And yeah, Dad probably is gone. But what can we do about it?"
Yuki sighed. Haru nudged his face with his foot. They both laughed as Yuki swatted away the filthy limb. "I guess you're right. But… There is something else." Should I…? If he tells Tohru, it's all over.
"What?"
Yuki hesitated, debating whether or not to show Haru. Haru peered at him and edged a little closer. "Well…? You gonna tell me or let it sit on you? It'll haunt you if you keep secrets from me. There'll always be a big, fat fungus in the room with us."
Yuki rolled his eyes, breathed out deeply and produced the letter. Haru took it, and read it. He looked up at Yuki, his equally grey eyes glinting with confusion. "What... Who sent this?"
"I have no idea. It was in the mail yesterday. It doesn't have a name on the bottom."
"Well… Does it matter? If you just ignore it then…"Haru trailed off as he saw Yuki shaking his head and smiling.
"See, that's the stupid thing, Haru. I didn't ignore it. I sent a reply off this morning. In secret." Haru didn't reply. Yuki snatched the letter back and began to pace round the room. "What the hell is wrong with me? I have Tohru. You guys. I'm a king for God's sake, what more could I possibly need?"
"It's not about what you need." Said Haru, quietly. "But… Is it about what you want?"
Yuki stopped walking. He turned back to the sofa. Haru was sitting properly upright, his feet on the floor. "Are you saying… Are you telling me I'm-"
"In need of something more than Tohru-kun? No. I'm saying you just got caught off guard during a depressive episode, caught sight of a chance for escape and in a panicked state, took it."
Yuki processed this. "So…This girl… Or whoever this person is… You're saying they could be… Like… Some kind of retreat from the routine I have here?"
"I have no idea. But that's what your gut must have been telling you."
"Well, my gut is the dumbest internal piece of crap I have in my body." Yuki said, waving a fist at his stomach.
Haru laughed. "Just… Tell Toh-…No… She'd probably think you were cheating on her or something. Just… Try to keep her feelings safe, and hide any evidence that you ever saw the lett-… Hey! What are you…" Haru's train of thought rolled off the tracks as Yuki screwed up the letter and plunged it into the warm glow of the fire.
It stayed whole for a second, and was then consumed by flames, a tower of orange curling up the chimney, and then sinking back down again into the small pile of ash that was once a letter. Yuki wiped his brow. Standing so close to the fire was giving him a sweat. Haru thought burning the letter was enough, but he raised both eyebrows when Yuki began to eat the envelope.
Haru sighed. "I didn't say destroy it. And what are you, a goat?"
"I'd have wanted to look at it again if I had kept it. I can't risk her finding out."Said Yuki quietly, before coughing up the wax seal.
-
The light began to fade. Beyond the forests of Akitaio, in a small town called Kiiséa, on the second floor of an inn close to the borders of the woods, a figure could be seen through a window. As the light began to strain and the sun sink under the canopy of trees, the window submitted a dim glow as the inhabitant lit a candle. The sound of a pen scratching was heard through the open window. Everything was quiet.
The figure smiled. They read through the piece of paper they had in their hand. There was a desk in the room, with only a few pieces of paper scattered over it. A letter lay next to a carefully ripped envelope on the desk. Wax from the newly lit candle dripped onto the edge of the envelope, sealing it slightly to the table top.
As the last of the waning Autumn evening light left sight, the moon rose slowly and eerily above the town of Kiiséa. The dark figure, cloaked in black, handed a filled envelope to a horsed messenger.
The messenger read the address from atop his grey mare, and whistled through his teeth. "So, the Palace at Akitaio again then."
"Yes." Replied the figure.
"Gawd… What business does the King of Sohma have with a common drifter, I wonder?"
"Ha ha… He will know, in good time. But for you, it will remain a mystery, I believe."
After rolling his eyes at the cocky wanderer and his irritating choice of route, and with a long sigh at the prospect of riding through the woods at night, the messenger took to the vast forests of mahogany at a steady canter.
The drifter smiled. It was possible to see under the cloak, only the soft pale skin of one that could be of either sex. Only their mouth was visible. And it twisted into a knowing, yet hopeful smile; as the message travelled closer and closer to its destination. All there was left to do, was wait. And if waiting took longer than necessary, a plan had already been compiled.
With one last look into the dark cave-like arches formed by the twisting and curving forms of the trees, the figure turned on their heel, and walked back towards the temporary lodgings.
Yes…Yuki. I will finally talk with you. Thought the drifter. And I will make you fall in love with me.
-
AN: … Okies, I have a request for any readers. DON'T TRY TO GUESS WHO THE DRIFTER IS. YOU WILL SIMPLY GIVE YOURSELF A HEADACHE…And give it away in reviews… Which will make me cry:
Waaah you ruined my storyline! –hits with giant inflatable alien-
AN2: …Kyo is in this fic, just to tell ye. I never write a fic without Kyo having at least one line, even if it's just scoffing at people from the background… Unless it's in a different anime. Like, he got a lead roll in my Phantom fic! See? I don't dislike Kyo, I like him very much. Just… Not as much as Yuki.
Kyo: Thanks. Really, I'm flattered. –hits with banana-
Yuki: Yay…
AN3: Oh, and this fic is going somewhere. I have been planning the storyline since I wrote the first one. So I'm not doing what I did with the last one:
Hmmm… -fiddles-…Just a…-fiddles- …There! –has made giant inflatable alien-
AN4: Sorry for the wait. My computer tried to off itself again. Damn thing. –kicks comp-
Comp: -cries-
Jess: Oh shut up you piece of metal B-cks.
Comp: -kills self-
Jess: …Maybe I should have seen that coming…?
AN5: OK, Kiiséa is half because I am basing the names of places in Sohma after main Furuba characters, (Kisa) and half because I like doing these flicky line things . Aren't they fun?
Jess: -is easily entertained-