"No…" Tohru said quietly. "Anything but that, please, no…"
"You said 'anything'." Akito ridiculed.
Tohru looked down. What he said was true. Slowly, she went over everything in her head.
"Okay… You can erase my memory, but on one condition…" She said softly.
"And what might that be?" Akito asked curiously, triumph filling his voice.
"Kyo needs to get better first… and once he is… his curse needs to be lifted."
"What!" Akito bellowed.
Tohru glared at him, and for the first time, she said something full of hatred.
"It's that, or I'm reporting you, and all of those torturous things you've done to everyone…"
Akito drew in his breath, then let it out quickly. "As much as it pains me… Yes, yes… He puts a stain on the Sohma name anyway." He said, throwing her a glance.
Tohru was at a loss for words. He agreed. He agreed! A smile of relief painted over her lips. "And as soon as Kyo's better… and his curse is gone…I'll come, and you can erase them… Erase them all, all the memories I've made with the Sohma's, I don't care! Just as long as Kyo's happy!"
"True love… how revolting." Akito said with pure disgust, gritting his teeth slightly. "I suppose it's foolish of me to be playing this little game of yours… but then again… there can be a catch of my own, now can't there?" He asked with a smile. Tohru gulped slightly as he continued. "If you don't come the very day Kyo is back on his feet…" Akito gently pulled his finger across his neck, causing Tohru to flinch.
"Both of you. You get me?" He asked.
She nodded and looked down with saddened eyes. "I understand."
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It had been three weeks since Tohru went to visit Akito. On this clear October morning, she sat solemnly by Kyo's hospital bedside. He was gradually getting better, and was supposed to regain consciousness any day now. When Tohru heard this news, she made it a point to be there whenever she could. She didn't know why, but she felt obligated to be there when he awoke.
"Kyo," She whispered, talking to his sleeping form once again, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through this. I'm sorry for not seeing Akito sooner, and I'm sorry for the punishment that myself and all the Sohma's will have to face because of this. I'm so, so sorry… for everything…" She whispered as the tears rolled freely down her cheeks and onto her lap.
"How many times do I have to tell you…?" A voice asked. "Quit apologizing for things that aren't your fault…"
Tohru's head instantly shot up. "K-Kyo?" She questioned. Kyo turned his head to look at her, and Tohru possibly broke into one of her biggest smiles yet.
"Kyo!" Tohru exclaimed and ran to his bedside. "You're okay! Oh, I thought you'd never recover!" Tears of joy now ran down the girls face as she laughed.
Kyo smiled slightly, a faint blush frosting his tanned complexion. "You don't need to get so happy…" He said with a small laugh.
"Oh, but I am!" Tohru squealed. "I truly thought you weren't going to make it!"
"Huh? Why wouldn't I?" Kyo inquired, his expression puzzled.
Tohru paused, her smile swiftly fading from her lips and her eyes saddening.
"What? What'd I say?" Kyo asked, even more confused than before.
"Nothing!" Tohru lied, putting on a false smile. "Everything's alright."
When she's says 'everything's okay,' that means that everything is certainly not okay. Kyo thought grimly.
"Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to." He said gruffly and turned his head away.
Tohru stood up and brushed her skirt off lightly. "I… I'm sorry Kyo… I think I'll go now."
And without another word, she left, and all was quiet once again. How he wished that he asked for her to stay… stay by his side forever…
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"Ah, Kyo, glad to see you're in better heath!" Shigure said with one of those "that's-so-cheery-it-has-to-be-fake" smiles.
"Yeah, yeah…" Kyo grumbled, walking across the kitchen toward the refrigerator.
It had been a little over a week since Kyo had returned from the hospital, and he had stayed in bed for a great deal of that time. Finally, the pain had subsided and he was able to move about freely again. The only pain that remained was the fact that Tohru hadn't said so much as two words to him since he arrived home.
Just as he shut the refrigerator door, clutching a fresh carton of milk, Tohru entered the kitchen with a half gloomy, half cheery expression tracing her features. They just stopped and stared at one another for a moment or two before Shigure butted in.
"Having a lovers squabble again, are we?" Shigure asked in an obnoxious tone.
"N-no! It's not that!" Tohru swore up and down.
"Some day, I swear I'm gonna punch your face in, dog…"
"Ouch, such hard words Kyon-Kyon!" Shigure kidded.
"Shut up." Kyo grumbled and stomped back up to his room. A few moments later, his door slammed, causing Shigure to go into another one of his "Oh, he's gonna tear apart my poor house!" speeches.
Tohru began to walk toward the staircase, but Shigure stopped her.
"Ah, I think you should leave him to himself for a moment, Tohru…" Shigure said.
"No… I'm sorry, but I can't." Shigure stared at her sudden defiance. "I'm sorry but… I have something really important I need to tell him." She said with a bow and turned back to the stairs.
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A soft ring filled Tohru's ears. Ring... Ring... Oh, when would it finally end?
Finally, she heard the words she'd been waiting for: "Hello, this is Hatori speaking."
"Oh, Hatori, you don't know how happy I am that you answered!"
"Tohru? What's wrong?" He asked.
Tohru was hushed for a second, then she continued, "I want you to ask Akito to lift Kyo's curse… please… After he does, I'll be right over for my… punishment."
There was an awkward silence on the other side of the line, then Hatori sighed. "Don't call it a punishment, Tohru… This is a very brave thing you're doing. In the process, you're saving Kyo, but he will serve much heartache by losing you. But then again, he will have his curse lifted…"
Tohru felt tears weld up in her eyes, but she shook them off. "Hatori, please… please ask. As soon as possible… if that's okay, that is…"
"No, no, it's fine." He said with a smile, though he knew she couldn't see it. "I'll get on it right away."
"Thank you very, very much." Tohru whispered, and with that, the call ended.
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Tohru lightly knocked on Kyo's door. "Kyo? May I come in?" She called softly. When she received no answer, she decided to open the door a crack and peek inside. She saw Kyo lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with a far away expression. Normally if Tohru was in this situation, she would just walk away and leave him to his thoughts, but not this time...
"Kyo, I'm coming in." Tohru said meekly. Slowly, and quietly, she shut the door behind her and approached his bed.
"What is it?" He asked, slightly startling her. He looked at her through the corner of his eye, not moving his head from its previous position, and continued, "You wouldn't have barged in like that if you didn't have something to say."
Tohru, now extremely flustered, stumbled to find the right words. After a few seconds of trying, she just gave up and let the silence take over once again.
Kyo sat up and ran a hand through his fiery orange hair, heaving a deep sigh. "What is it?" He asked again. "You can tell me."
"That's just the thing, Kyo, I can't tell you…"
Kyo was shocked and vaguely bewildered by her response.
"Why not…?" He asked somewhat hoarsely.
Tohru sat down by his bed, leaning against the side. "Because if I did, you'd surly try to stop me. I just came to…" She paused. "Tell you that, no matter what happens today, I want to stay by your side."
Kyo stared at her, a deep blush forming on his cheeks. "Tohru, what the hell are you talking about?" He asked awkwardly and sat down next to her.
Tohru was silent again, then she replied with, "I'm going to see Akito."
"What? Why! You know that bastard's not good for anything. And you have no business seeing him!"
Tohru laughed somewhat. "That's where you're wrong…"
Kyo just stared. He stared for the longest time. He didn't know what was going on, and he wasn't really sure if he wanted to know. But then, he decided…
"Tohru… why are you visiting Akito?"
Tohru looked over at him, and he was able to see the traces of tears that she was trying so hard to hide. "It's a surprise." She said with one of her warm smiles. Kyo wished that he could smile with her, let off one of those smiles that he held especially for her.
But he couldn't.
He knew that deep down she was in pain for whatever it was she was about to do.
"So, is that it?" He asked quietly, though even if she said yes, he didn't want her to leave. He truthfully didn't.
"No, that's not it…" Tohru said softly. Something deep inside of Kyo sighed out of pure relief, despite the fact that she was clearly still in pain.
"Please, Kyo, if you get any weird sensations… tell me."
Kyo's face flushed. iWeird sensations like wha---/i
Suddenly, Kyo's body began to sting all over. He felt himself tremble and hunch over, grabbing his ears with his hands.
Then it was over.
He had the oddest feeling… like something was missing… something… Yet, there was a completely different feeling filling the void.
"Kyo! Are you okay!" Tohru asked, gently shaking him.
He looked up at her with a shocked look on his face. "And right after you warned me, it happens…" He laughed.
Tohru laughed too. They laughed together for the first time in months.
"Hey Kyo?" Tohru asked, a genuine smile still playing across her lips.
"Yeah?" He responded.
"You know what that feeling was?"
Kyo sat there and stared at his left hand, opening and closing it slowly. "No, not really…"
Tohru's smile grew and she hugged him. She hugged him with all she was worth, knowing this was the first, and possibly last, true hug they would share together.
Kyo braced himself for the transformation, the poof of smoke and everything around him growing unbearably larger as he transformed into the all-rejected cat of the Zodiac.
But it didn't.
Kyo gasped and stared at the girl clinging to him for dear life. His cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "What the hell…?" He questioned out loud.
"You're curse, Kyo…!" Tohru began. "It's gone! Lifted!"
Kyo felt like he was floating in midair. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing. The only things that mattered now were he and the brown haired girl whose arms were wrapped around him tightly. She was looking at him intently, the cutest smile on her face.
Hastily, he wrapped his arms around her as well and buried his face into her hair. "Tohru…" he breathed. "You did this… didn't you…?"
Tohru blushed a deep red and nodded ever so slightly. "I… sort of… in a way, yes." She answered, trying not to say anything that would worry him.
"Tohru… thank you so much." He said. Tohru had never seen him like this. The tone of his voice, his actions… Hey wait… Why's her shoulder wet…? Oh… Kyo's crying. OH WHOA! HE'S WHAT!
"Kyo… You okay?" Tohru asked.
"Yes… I'm better than I've been in quite a while..."
Tohru smiled and closed her eyes, gently nuzzling into his grip.
Me too…
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Yay, I learned how to do italics! .