Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fruits Basket or any of the Fruits Basket characters.
A/N: The first little bit of this chapter actually fits better with the last chapter than with the rest of this chapter so I'm going to label it chapter 13.5. The main part of this chapter will be chapter 14. This is chapter is pretty important to the story so here it is.
Shadows of Intrigue Chapters 13.5 and 14Chapter 13.5
Hatori sat quietly, watching Akito. He had just finished telling the head of the family about Kyo's dreams. Now he awaited Akito's reaction. H e didn't have to wait long. Akito absorbed the information and broke into a scowl, "We have to stop this! This shouldn't be happening! Why is he able to remember? I have to plan. I know what we'll do. If we have to, we'll just do what was done last time. Hatori, start making the preparations."
Hatori closed his eyes and shook his head. He had known this was coming, but somehow he had hoped it wouldn't come to this. But asking that someone with Akito's soul have a change of heart was an impossible wish. Now Hatori was left to hope he could change the outcome of the path set before him.
Chapter 14Later that night
The girl slid to the ground. The boy cried out. And Kyo did not wake up. His dream continued on past what he had seen previously.
The remaining sister ran out form behind some bushes as Kei made his way over to the lifeless girl and cradled her body in his arms. The living girl turned to the older man who was walking away. She yelled something to the man that Kei could not understand. The man seemed to know what she said, however, and tensed before turning around to glare at the girl. The girl continued to chant as the other members of Kei's family closed in around her. The chant ended so suddenly that Kei glanced up to see what had happened. His cousin, who had killed the girl he loved, was staring at her sister in shock. The girl's eyes had gone cold and empty, reminding Kei of bits of glass rather than eyes. Her voice, when she spoke again, sounded as if it came from far away, "You killed my sister. Now you and all who have followed you this night are cursed. This curse will follow you throughout the generations until all who follow you turn against you and recognize their true leader."
The leader sneered at the girl, "You curse us? I, in turn, curse Kei. His curse will also follow him through the generations. It will not be broken until the day the curse you have placed on us has also been broken. Until that day, he will never be able to join this family as he has wished to do for so long."
Kyo shot up into a sitting position, breathing in a shuddering gasp. He squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head into his hands, trying to erase the memory of what he had just seen. He heard the sliding of the screen and a faint rustle of fabric as Tohru crawled across the floor.
"Kyo?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay? Do you need to talk about it?"
Kyo shook his head, "Not this time, Tohru. I need to think. I…there was so much more. I don't understand. I need to figure it out. I think I just need to be alone for awhile right now."
By not looking up, Kyo missed the hurt expression on Tohru's face as she backed away, "Oh, okay. If that's what you want. I'll just be going back to my side of the room, then."
Not until he heard the screen slide shut again did Kyo lift his head. He sat in silence for a moment, willing his brain to function as he needed it to. His dream revealed more to him that night than ever before. Not only had it been longer, but it had also been clearer, allowing him to notice more than he had before. Some of what he had seen answered questions, some of it had confused him further, and some of it had simply left him reeling.
Kyo was shocked and horrified to realize that, when he could see clearly in the dream, he recognized the faces of every person who had been in that clearing. It was his own family, or at least all the cursed members of his family. This led Kyo to believe that he new part of his dream had possibly shown him how the curse had started. But that also confused him for the curse had not started in this generation. Therefore, it didn't make sense that the saw the faces he knew from his cousins. Or, if it did somehow make sense, Kyo wondered, did that meant that Kei was….
Kyo shook his head, not wanting to deal with the conclusions he was drawing from that line of thought. Next he thought of the girl who died in his dream. He had never seen it before, but this time he noticed that in the last few seconds before her death, all of her fear seemed to rush away from her. As the blade slit across her throat, her mouth had formed a small, tender smile. This element of the dream not only confused Kyo, it nagged at his mind. Something told him that smile was a very important detail but he had no idea why.
When he had exhausted all his thoughts regarding that piece of the dream, he focused on the last thing he noticed. It was a seemingly insignificant detail, but if his thoughts about it were correct, it might help him learn more about the rest of the dream. This last detail involved the surviving sister. As she had informed the family of the curse she had placed upon them, Kyo notice that for the briefest moment, she had turned a saddened gaze into the crowd that was in the clearing. He felt sure that glance was directed at a particular individual. If that was true, then perhaps she had been lying to her sister when she offered to take her place, marrying the leader's heir. Maybe she, too, had been in love with someone else. If Kyo could find out who that person was, maybe he could use that to gain more information.
Letting out a sigh, Kyo fell back down into a laying position but did not immediately close his eyes. The other nights that he had dreamed this dream, he had not attempted to go back to sleep. He had no idea whether he would dream again or sleep peacefully for the rest of the night if he allowed himself to slip back into slumber. He wasn't even sure whether he could clear his mind enough to sleep again that night. So, he lay on his futon, staring at the ceiling, letting thoughts swim through his head in no discernable order.
On the other side of the partition, Tohru also lay awake, her thoughts coming across in a more organized manner. Kyo had brushed her off. He had had another nightmare, she was sure of that. But something was different. He didn't seem concerned about her when he awoke and he said there had been more. Maybe the dream had revealed to him that there was no reason for him to worry about her. After all, the girl who was killed in his dream had a face identical to her own, but what did that mean? Aiko also had a face identical to hers. That was it. Kyo wasn't concerned about her because he was concerned about Aiko. He had certainly worried enough about her that afternoon.
Tohru felt her eyes begin to sting and squeezed them shut as she rolled onto her side, with her back to the screen that divided the room. She refused to cry. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. Looking out into the darkness of the room, Tohru noticed that everything seemed to have grown still and silent again. Rolling onto her other side, Tohru strained her eyes and ears for any sign of movement on Kyo's side of the partition. Not sensing anything, Tohru crawled to the screen again and peered into Kyo's half of the room.
Kyo had fallen back to sleep. Tohru knew she should feel glad or relieved but she couldn't muster up either emotion. As much as she hated how the nightmares had been affecting Kyo, she saw a silver lining in the two of them being brought closer. But tonight, Kyo had not wanted her to talk to or offer comfort. He dealt with his problem himself and seemed to have done a better job then when he had had her help. The silver lining was growing dim. Tohru didn't want to be stuck inside the cloud. She crawled back to her own futon and forgot her earlier resolution as she softly cried herself to sleep.
Kyo, who had not be as soundly asleep as he appeared, turned towards the partition and whispered in to the dark, "I'm sorry, Tohru. I need to find some answers myself before I drag you farther into this."