Chapter 5- I Just Can't Look, It's Killing Me

Kureno heard the bang of a screen door being thrown open, but didn't bother looking up from the calculations he was juggling on the books before him. His hand was still moving abacus beads and his lips quietly kept track of the equations until he got them down on the ledger. He heard the footsteps rushing down the hallway and he penciled in the figures meticulously in the right columns. He didn't stop until a shadow loomed over his paperwork.

Looking up, he saw that Akito was standing in front of his desk. She was breathing hard and her hair stuck damply to her forehead and her cheeks. Her eyes were dark and shadowed, with a spark of malice in them that made Kureno wonder at what new game she had decided to try out this time and with whom.

"I want Kyoko to come with Hatsuharu this year." Akito snapped out.

"You know Kazuma won't bring her." Kureno replied flatly as he closed one ledger and opened another one. Akito sneered.

"If you pressure that bitter, spineless waste that spawned her, he will make sure that she shows up. I trust that you know what to do." She spat out as she walked out of his office and back into her apartments.

Kureno waited until he heard her slam the door shut before picking up the phone. He knew better than to disobey her.

(Line Break)

Yuki slipped out of Akito's room quietly, careful to not disturb the Goddess, even though he knew that she wouldn't wake up. Not after being given that particular sedative, at any rate. But he couldn't be too careful. She had ways of doing the unexpected.

After making sure that none of those pesky maids were about, he rushed over to his and Rin's room. It wasn't until after he had locked the door behind him that he dared to relax. It was true that he was one of the privileged, but he also was smart enough to know the cost of that position and how quickly he could be toppled from it. He had had enough warning from Shigure's exile and Hatori's wounding and that had been enough for him.

Besides, he had to make sure that nothing he did would affect Rin. He didn't want the guilt of knowing that he had driven away another woman. One was enough to have taught him his lesson.

"She did it, didn't she?" Rin asked as she brushed out her hair at the small vanity table in the corner of their suite.

"Just like you predicted she would.' Yuki replied coldy as he sat down on the bed and watched her.

Rin grimaced at the reply.

"Are you regretting it now?" The horse of the zodiac asked as she put her brush down and turned to face him.

"I don't know. I honestly didn't think she would go through the request." Yuki answered as he flicked imaginary lint off of his yukata.

"You know you can't back out now." Rin reminded him as she went over to the bed and sat down next to him.

He smiled at her as she moved closer to him, making sure that her breasts pressed up against his arm as she did so.

"I know." Yuki replied as he turned to look at her, his grey eyes steady as they did so.

"Then cheer up. You'll finally have her in your grasp. After all that was what you wanted, wasn't it?" Rin murmured.

Yuki's eyes darkened before he finally murmured something in reply as he then bent down to claim Rin's lips with his.

That was what he wanted, wasn't it?

So why did he have such a sick feeling in his gut over it?

(Line Break)

"Why did you want to meet?" Kazuma asked the bitter man sitting across from him, his dark eyes hooded as he looked at Kazuma.

"Kureno contacted me today." Kyoko's father spat out, his eyes brimming with barely concealed venom.

"And?"

"Akito wants Kyoko to come to the upcoming New Year's celebration at the family estate."

Kazuma'e eyes widened at the statement.

"No. I haven't taken her for eight years, there's no need for her to go now."

Kyoko's father's eyes narrowed at Kazuma.

"Akito wants her to show up. She will show up."

"And why should I give into Akito's whims at this point? I am not afraid of her. Kyoko will stay at home and that is all I will say about that matter."

"You aren't her real father." Kazuma's lips twitched. He knew that the other man would use that excuse as a weapon that time around.

"You know I am legally her guardian now. You can't hope to use that as a weapon against me at this point. It won't work and you know it."

Kyoko's father smiled a sick, humorless grin that was more of a baring of teeth than anything else that made Kazuma get chills down his spine at the sight.

"True. But you forget that inside the family, I will always remain her father. If I tell Akito that you have refused my request, she will be taken away from you. There's no doubt about that. Absolutely none."

Kazuma bit his lip. He wasn't afraid of the man. Nor of Akito giving him orders to do certain things. But he knew that if Akito was putting pressure on Kyoko's father, there was no way he could get away with defying the head and not expect Kyoko to pay the consequences.

"She will be there then, since you request that ever so politely of me." Kazuma replied, his words carrying a double-edged frost that even Kyoko's self-absorbed father couldn't miss.

"I'm glad we see eye to eye on this, Kazuma-dono." The other man hissed as he drank more tea. Kazuma only bowed before he got up and went to the door.

"But I do expect you to pay for her kimono. After all, you can't expect Akito to think that you don't want your daughter to be suitably dressed for the occasion." Kazuma told him as he stopped to put on his sandals.

"What?" The other man practically shouted, clearly not expecting this request to come out from that conversation.

"She needs a kimono. She has come of age in all ways, so of course it would be expected that she be presented in one and after all, it is traditional that the girl's father purchase her first kimono, I thought I would simply remind you."

Kazuma pointed out, making the man grind his teeth in suppressed rage, since he knew that Kazuma was right and that the only way he could save face would be for him to either withdraw the request or to foot the bill for a kimono.

"I will contact you later on the matter, Kazuma-dono. Thank you for coming by on such a short notice."

Kazuma only smiled and bowed before taking his leave of the house, knowing full well that despite everything, it had all been a pyrrhic victory for either side. He only hoped that he would be able to shield Kyoko from the worst of the fallout.

(Line Break)

Haru frowned and sat up. Something, a noise, a scent…he wasn't sure, but something had woken him up from a deep and comfortable sleep. He wanted desperately to go back to sleep, but he had a gut feeling that he had woken up for a reason and he needed to find that reason out fast.

Yawning widely, he crawled out of bed, careful to not disturb Kyoko, who was curled up in the covers and dead to the world. Smiling at the soft purring that was coming from the cocoon of covers, he tucked the covers in more tightly and quietly slipped out of the room.

Once in the hallway, he made his way to the kitchen and was not at all surprised to see Kazuma in the act of pouring himself some freshly brewed tea.

"Hatsuharu-kun. Couldn't sleep?" Kazuma asked in a level voice as he took another cup from the cupboard and proceeded to pour him a cup of tea.

"Something woke me up." Haru replied as he accepted the tea.

Kazuma nodded and invited Haru to sit with him at the table.

"Why are you up so late, sensei?" Haru asked as he took small sips of the tea, careful to not burn his tongue as he did so.

"I was out visiting Kyoko's father." Kazuma told Haru, not bothering with niceties as he also drank his tea.

"I suppose it wasn't a good meeting?" Haru asked as his mind started clicking into action.

"Akito wants Kyoko to show up at the banquet this year and put pressure on her father to make sure that it is done."

"Hn. Pretty typical of her to do so. There is no real way to avoid the summons, is there?" Haru asked thoughtfully.

"Only one and that depends on whether his desire to curry favour with Akito will outweigh the financial costs. If he is so willing to sell his daughter for a position, he should very well be prepared to spend for that."

"Hn. He won't. He's not willing to make that much a sacrifice." Haru decided as he finished his tea.

"What if he does?" Kazuma asked "My hands are more or less tied at this point. He is her father and if she disobeys him, Kyoko would be taken away from me, unless we run."

"And that takes planning and we don't have much time, what with the banquet only a month away. I suppose we will have to rely on her father's tight purse not opening an inch to pay for an expensive kimono."

"Not a good thing to rely on, but it's the only thing we have at this point." Kazuma agreed as he wondered how the fourteen year old boy in front of him could understand all too clearly what Kyoko's father as an adult couldn't.

"It'll be enough. And if it isn't, I will protect her." Haru reminded him as he stood up and put the cup in the sink before going back to what was now his and Kyoko's bedroom.

"Let's hope so, Hatsuharu-kun. Let's hope so."

(Line Break)

"I don't want to go to the fucken banquet." Kyoko stated flatly as her father and two seamstresses sat in Kazuma's living room, piles upon piles of expensive silk beside them.

She had arrived early from school due to her teacher going home ill unexpectedly. She had been looking forward to having a small nap right before she made dinner for the men in the household, but that was put on the backburner when she opened the door to find her birth father and two seamstresses and was informed that they were to make a kimono for her to wear to this New Year's Celebration.

Which Kyoko had flatly refused to attend.

"Akito has asked this of you. You can't disobey her." Her father pointed out harshly. Kyoko shook her head.

"I've been doing it for nine years, what's a few more? I'm not going to that damned banquet. Not now and not ever, so take the damned fabric and piss off."

Kyoko ordered her father harshly, her anger getting the better of her. She knew why he had come when Kazuma and Haru and the rest were out. He knew that they would tell him to leave and take his ridiculous request with him.

There was no way that she was ever going to go back to that main house while she was alive. She was the cat and she knew Akito hadn't wanted anything to do with her ever, so the summons meant something horrible would happen. Again.

Her father's eyes narrowed and he grabbed her arm, pulling her close.

"Listen here, you little monster. Akito has asked this of you and you will do it. You will get a kimono and you will go and if you don't, you are going to be put in that cage, like you should have been when you were born. Am I making myself clear?" He hissed at her, his face inches from her as he spoke.

"You wouldn't dare." Kyoko hissed back, but her voice wavered slightly as she spoke.

Her father smiled cruelly as he pulled out the letter with the all too familiar stamp on it. She didn't have to read it to know what it said. She had seen that seal before when she had gone to live with Kazuma, when Haru had been made a permanent resident of their little household. She was beaten and she knew it.

"Fine. You win. I'll go." She finally relented and motioned the women to come to her room.

"Don't disappoint me." Her father called out.

"Fuck you."

(Line Break)

Haru found her in the middle of the room, her hair loose in heavy waves about her shoulders and wearing a heavy and rich kimono in shades of deep red and brown that complimented her skin, hair and eyes perfectly. She was kneeling and it looked like she had been crying before he got there.

"I guess you have to go to the banquet?" he asked her softly as he reached out and caressed her cheek. She sniffed and her hands clenched on her lap.

"He gave me no choice. He came when none of you were here and of course, Kunimitsu and Kyo can't do anything. I had no choice!" She whispered angrily. "None and he knew it." Haru murmured in agreement as he pulled her into his lap and started stroking her hair. They sat like that for what felt like hours, the silence stretching out companionably between them until Kazuma knocked on the door.

"Haru? Kyoko? Are you allright?"

"Yeah. Come in." Haru had replied. Kazuma obeyed the summons and entered the room, his sunny expression going stormy when he saw the kimono that Kyoko was wearing as well as her tear-stained face.

"I take it your father was here to deliver the news." Kazuma asked gently as he knelt down and pushed a lock of orange hair behind her ear.

"I have no choice. I have to go, but at least Haru will be there." Kyoko replied, the steel going back in her voice, her fit of self-pity over and done with.

Kazuma smiled at that, glad that even though her father intended for her to wallow in self-pity, she was rising above it and wouldn't let herself get beaten down by it.

(Line Break)

"She's here." Rin whispered to Yuki as she sat down next to him, careful to not let her too-short skirt ride up.

"Out in the garden. I told her Akito wanted to see her there and she's waiting for you. She's all yours." Rin whispered as they pretended to watch yet another New Years Dance.

"Good, but what about him?" Yuki muttered as he took another sip of sake- his sixth one of the night- and motioned to Haru who although looked like he didn't have a care in the world, was watching everything around him with hooded eyes.

"That's the best part. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of him." Rin whispered just at the exact time that the music stopped, signaling the dance being over.

"You only have about ten minutes. Make the best of them." She whispered as he took one last swig of the alcohol and slipped away before anyone could notice.

(Line Break)

He hadn't expected to be dumbfounded when he saw her. He only slightly recalled a tomboyish girl with long, messy hair and dark red eyes. What he found in the garden was far removed from what he was looking for or expected.

He found a woman. A woman wearing wine red and sepia robes that complimented the tan skin and russet hair. A woman that he wanted to possess, fully and completely.

"Kyoko" He called out to her and watched as she turned to him, her eyes wide as she saw him standing there.

"Yu-Yuki?" she whispered as she rushed up to him.

"Yuki…My god. You're…you're nothing like I expected." She told him as she reached up and cradled his pale face in her hands.

Yuki laughed a bit at that and put his own hands over hers.

"Likewise. I…kept thinking about you. All those years. I wondered how you were." Yuki murmured as his hands moved from her hands and down to her waist before he dipped his head and kissed her passionately.

Kyoko's eyes widened and even though the kiss was nice and skilled, a far cry from Haru's first attempt on her, but it had no real emotion behind her. With Haru, she knew that he meant it with all his heart. With Yuki, it was mechanical and Kyoko was sure he would display the same passion when doing anything else.

She put her hands against his chest once she had gotten over her shock at being kissed and forcefully shoved him away from her.

"Why did you push me away?" Yuki asked, surprised that she hadn't given in like Rin always did. Flustered and unsure, he reached out and grabbed her arm tightly.

"Let go of me, Yuki." Kyoko hissed as she fought to pull away from him.

"No. I'm not going to do it again. I was weak and stupid as a child. I'm not letting you go. Not now, not ever." Yuki told her, his eyes cool and serious as he pulled her close and kissed her again, this time harder and more forcefully than before.

Kyoko attempted to scream through the kiss, but Yuki's mouth muffled the sound. Failing at that, she tried to push him away again and even kick him were it counted, but the kimono hobbled her effectively. She had no choice but to receive the hard, angry kiss that Yuki was giving her.

And hope that she would be able to get away from him before things got out of hand.

(Line Break)

Haru's eyes glowed angrily as he pushed Rin away and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You ever kiss me again, I'll make you regret it." Haru gritted through clenched teeth as she walked away from a dumbfounded and furious Rin.

"I'm not good enough for you, Hatsuharu?" she asked in a mocking voice, her face flushing redder than before.

"You'd rather get kissed by some stupid slut than me?" Haru's eyes narrowed and he rushed at Rin, effectively pinning her against the wall, leaving her gasping for breath at the shock of the sudden fury the ox displayed.

"I'll say this once and only once, so listen carefully. The "Stupid Slut" you refer to is Kyoko, who will always be much more than you could even think of being. Don't ever call her that in my presence if you want for me to even acknowledge your pathetic existence, understood?"

Rin turned even an even deeper shade of scarlet, but she nodded. She knew better than to annoy Haru further. She knew he wouldn't hit a girl, but she didn't want to test the theory either.

He only shook his head as he turned and left her standing there, drowning in shame and mortification and the seething need for revenge…

(Line Break)

Haru could hear Akito's screams of rage, but he didn't register them. He was worried about Kyoko and was intent on looking for her.

His brow furrowed when he passed by the same room again and he swore softly, cursing himself for having the worst sense of direction. Ever.

He turned and was about to go back the same way he had come when he felt someone tug on his sleeve.

"Kisa-chan?" He asked the little girl, whose yellow eyes were huge and wide in her face as she looked up at him.

"Are you looking for Kyo-neechan?" She whispered so low he had trouble hearing.

"Can you take me to her?" He asked, feeling slightly foolish that he was asking a young girl for directions.

Kisa nodded and dragged him off into the garden.

Just in time to see Kyoko try to pull away from Yuki, only to be dragged back and kissed forcefully and clearly against her will.

Seeing that made Haru's rage rise and he rushed out to the garden, intent on saving his Kyoko from Yuki.

He was sure that he was going to kill him once he got his hands on him. Although he had made his peace with the rat, the simply possessive instinct that any person felt towards his partner erased that truce that had been built through the years. Kyoko was his woman, he wouldn't let anyone else touch her that way. Ever.

He would have, if it hadn't been for Akito grabbing him at what was the last moment.

"You won't! You won't!" She screamed as she shoved him away. Haru blinked and stumbled over the bench by the pond. He felt himself flailing, trying to grab onto anything that would stop his fall, but he knew he had failed when he heard the crunching thud of bone meeting hard stone and the pain shot through the back of his skull the front like red lighting across his vision. He felt himself falling further and the next thing he knew he was engulfed in icy water.

He could hear Kyoko screaming his name and he looked up through the water, but he only saw a blurred figure in red and brown before it was all black.

(Line Break)

Yuki sipped the hot tea, as he watched Hatori speak with Kyoko and Kazuma. He was only shaking a bit now that the excitement had died down. After Haru had fallen into the deceptively deep pond in the garden and he had had to fight to keep Kyoko from going after Haru, Kazuma and the others had shown up. Shigure and Kureno had pulled Akito away to calm her down and Hatori had begun to work on a blue and bloody Haru that Kazuma had pulled out of the pond.

And now that Hatori had finished working on Haru and was speaking with Kazuma and Kyoko he once again asked himself how it happened to go so wrong. He had wanted to be Kyoko for so long, he had never entertained the possibility that she wouldn't feel the same. Even though he had sensed that Haru had some kind of feelings towards her, he had never thought that Kyoko was returning those feelings.

But now that he looked back, he was cursing himself for not seeing the clear signs of it when he had been at the dojo. The way that Kyoko would stop and look at Haru as she had brought them drinks. The way that her hands had lingered just a touch too long on his arm before she left. It had all been there and he had been a fool and now he was sure that he had hurt both of them deeply.

"Penny for your thoughts, Yuki?" Hatori's voice broke through his silent soliloquy of self-pity, making him shake his head and look up at his older cousin.

"How is he?"

Hatori frowned and pulled out a cigarette and lit it before saying anything.

"The shock of falling in the water caused his heart to stop. Luckily we got it beating again quite quickly. He got some water in his lungs, but he should have no lasting effects from that. What is more worrying is the head injury. The force of the trauma caused bleeding in the occipital area. He could be blind, possibly even have some cognitive problems for all we know."

Yuki hissed through his teeth at the severity of Haru's injuries.

"Does Kyoko know?" he asked as he put his cup down and stood up.

"I wouldn't dream of keeping it from her, Yuki." Hatori replied tersely.

Yuki nodded and rubbed his face briskly before facing Hatori.

"I should go and…"

"Don't even dream of it. She's not in a good state of mind and the fact that you held her back when everything was happening isn't sitting too well with her at this point in time. She's blaming you for Haru's accident."

Yuki felt his heart sink at the bottom of his chest when he heard this, despite admitting deep down that she did have a right to do so. After all, if he hadn't kissed her in the garden, Haru wouldn't have come after him, along with Akito…

"Yuki…I know that you had a different idea on how things would have turned out…but now that things have come to this, I would tell you to stay clear from Kyoko and Haru. We have enough strife in this family."

Hatori told him as he took a drag from his cigarette.

Yuki sighed and nodded, even though he could feel the ice starting to rebuild in his heart once more.

(Line Break)

Kyoko ran through the woods, not caring that her feet were being cut up and torn up by the harsh underbrush. Her raggedly hacked off hair collected twigs and leaves, but she didn't notice. She stumbled and fell. Her yukata skirt got tangled in a thicket of brambles, but she ripped it loose, ignoring the long scratches left by the brambles.

Her only thought was that she had to run as fast as possible. She had to get away. Get away from him, the one with the slanted brown eyes and vacant smile and the feel of his hands on her. Blood trickled down her bare legs, but she barely felt it. The pain had all coalesced into a single mass that was blocking almost everything else out except the most basic instincts.

The cat had taken over and she was simply obeying it without conscious thought. Kyoko the girl was no longer there.

Notes: I do apologize for the delay of this chapter. I've been horribly busy at the school I teach and I only have access to the net at the school, so hence the long gaps in between.

The Kimono Issue I mentioned is pretty much the way it is laid out here. Most girls get a kimono when they come of age. I made it that the Sohma family has this tradition at 15 rather than 18 due to their semi-aristocratic lineage and yes, they can get pricey. Kyoko's father was never given a name and I am not even touching that can of worms. Nope.

Yuki and Rin do care about each other…as much as they can, but Rin knows that Yuki wants Kyoko. It's this twisted loyalty that makes her be willing to be an accomplice to him. She only sees Haru as a conquest, nothing more. Her heart really is with Yuki.

Haru's accident-Your heart really CAN stop if you fall in water like that. Live in Canada…we should know these things. He.

As for Kyoko…Not telling (grins) wait till the next chapter which is coming sooner than this one. This is where it starts to get really dark and Tohru comes in and the universe kind of follows the nearly same pattern as the basic universe.

And Thank You so much to all the people that read and review this story and the others I have posted up. Your comments are much appreciated. bows

Thank you.