Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and it's characters are property of Natsuki Takaya, not me.

A/N: Wow! I actually managed to update twice in one week. Please don't expect this to become normal. But with four days left entirely to my own devices, I managed to get quite a bit of writing done. I am about halfway finished with the next chapter also, but I start to get busy again tomorrow. Those of you who read Roses of Glass are going to start think I'm obsessed with knives but I swear it's not true. I've written lots of other stories (not all on FFN) and I think these are the only two that use knives at all.

Shadows of Intrigue

Chapter 23

Kyo didn't realize that he had broken free of his captors until he was halfway to Akito. He didn't spare the time to figure out how it happened though. He had to get across the clearing. He had to get to Tohru. He had to save her. That thought carried Kyo to the spot where Akito and Tohru stood, and then he was dimly aware of a flash of white and a moment of searing pain before there was nothing.

He couldn't see or hear anything so Kyo thought to himself that he must be dead. Something had gone wrong and now he was dead. That was the best explanation. But he had never thought death would be an empty darkness where a person was left alone with their thoughts. And he was becoming aware of a dull ache on his right side. So he must not be dead after all. Well, then, it had happened, he'd been locked up. He might never again see or hear another person. He had been happier when He had thought he was dead. If he was locked away, he must have failed. That meant he wasn't dead…but Tohru was. With each thought Kyo felt worse and worse.

It took him a few moments to realize that it wasn't just his emotional pain that was growing worse. He was in real, physical pain, too. The problem was, in this darkness he had no real sense of his body. He knew he was hurt but he didn't really know where or how badly. He concentrated, trying to force himself to remember exactly what had happened. It was then that he began to hear the voices and think that maybe wasn't actually locked up, either.

"Uh uh! I don't think you're going anywhere. I think the police are on their way here to get you," Kyo thought that was Shigure but he couldn't hear clearly enough to be sure.

"How dare you. Get off of me. I am the head of this family. You'll pay for this!" that was definitely Akito.

"You are not the head of this family and you know it," Kyo heard Aiko reply, "Now everyone else knows it, too. Are they okay?"

Kyo wondered briefly who she meant in the last question but Momiji's voice answered for him, "Whose blood is it? Is it Tohru's? Is it Kyo's?"

"I think it's a little bit of both, but I can't tell for sure until I can see their wounds, now can I?" Hatori answered.

Kagura's hysterical voice was next, "Why didn't he transform? They're dead, aren't they?"

"No, they're not," Hatori again, "But I can't get a good look at their injuries with all of you crowded around. I need some space."

Kyo felt himself being rolled over and suddenly his body became completely real again. He had a splitting headache and he felt a burning sensation running from his ribs, across his arm and onto his back on his right side. Without opening his eyes, he winced at the pain and heard Hatori say, "See, he's starting to wake up. It's not as bad as it looks. Now, let's have a look at Tohru."

At the mention of Tohru's name, Kyo forced himself to open his eyes and turned his head in the direction he perceived the voices to be coming from. At first everything looked fuzzy but as his vision cleared, he could see Hatori bent over Tohru, who lay on the ground, eyes closed and covered with blood. He cried out her name as he tried to sit up but the pain he felt before shot through him again and he cried out in pain as he fell back to the ground, biting his lip and squeezing his eyes shut.

When he had recovered enough to attempt opening his eyes again, he found Hatori looking down at him in a reproving manner, "Really, Kyo. I said your wounds weren't as bad as they looked but you're in no condition to be getting up. Stay where you are until we can get you back to my clinic."

Kyo moved his eyes to the side, where Tohru still lay unconscious, "But, Tohru…."

"Tohru will be just fine," Hatori interrupted, "Don't worry. You got there in time. You saved her."

"But," Kyo said again, "how can she be okay? There's so much blood. And she's unconscious. If she's going to be okay, then why isn't she awake?"

"As to her being unconscious, I would say that's partially from shock, partially from pain and perhaps partially from a bit of a concussion. She did hit pretty hard when you threw her to the ground."

"And the blood?" Kyo asked, unsatisfied.

Hatori gave him an amused look as he responded, "I thought you would have guessed that one. It's not all her blood. She's got a bit of a cut that's going to require some stitches to be sure but a lot of that is yours. I imagine you must be feeling a little bit of pain, or hadn't you noticed?"

Kyo's eyes moved to his right side but his energy was sapped and he couldn't lift his head enough to see his injury. He returned his gaze to Hatori and asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Well Yuki, Haru, Ayame and I took the liberety of helping you escape from Akito's henchmen. You ran straight toward Tohru and threw yourself at her, knocking her to the ground with you following after. Unfortunately the timing was a little off so, while Tohru managed to escape having her throat slit, both of you received cuts from Akito's blade. The amount of blood makes it look bad, and I'm sure you'll both be pretty sore for a week or two, but it's nothing too serious. You did it. You prevented history from repeating itself. You saved Tohru and turned the other Sohmas against Akito. They know the truth now and they are willing to side with you. You managed to do what was necessary, not only to save Tohru, but also, I believe, to break the curse. That's why you didn't transform when you fell on Tohru. Akito is being taken into police custody. If you want it, you now have full right to the title of head of the Sohma family and everything that goes with it."

Kyo stared blankly back for a moment, letting all Hatori told him sink in. Tohru was safe. The curse was broken. He was accepted into the family. No not only that, he was to be accepted as the head of the family, if he chose to accept the title himself. At that thought, his expression changed to one of bewilderment.

He heard a chuckle from above him and then Hatori's voice saying, "You don't have to make your decision this instant. In fact, it's probably best if you take some time to think it over. But right now, I think you should try to get some rest. It's been a trying day and, if I'm not mistaken, you haven't had a lot of sleep lately."

Kyo gave what passed for a nod in his current state and allowed himself to slip back into unconsciousness, lulled by Hatori's reassurances into a peaceful slumbr.