Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.
Chapter Ten : Gone
The next day Tohru took off work and visited Ayame at his shop. She went straight to the snake, confronting him the moment she walked into the shop.
"Where's Yuki?" Her voice had lost its normal softness, it was unusually demanding. Ayame cocked his head over in confusion.
"You have just as good a guess as I do, Tohru-san," Ayame said, removing a pin from his lips and inserting it into the hem of a skirt.
"You know exactly where he is. Hatori-san told me so last night." Ayame winced suddenly, a pin stuck in his finger from when he jerked in surprise. The snake set down the skirt and licked the drop of blood from his finger.
"Come with me." He stood, leading Tohru into the back room. He sat and motioned Tohru to do the same. "Tohru-san, you're right. I know where Yuki is. But, so does Akito. He and Kureno went to fetch him last night. They'll be back tomorrow morning. I'm sorry, but you're too late." Tohru slouched in her chair in defeat. Ayame stood and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry. It's the Sohma curse." Tohru jumped to her feet.
"No! It's not the Sohma curse that does this! It's Akito-san! It's his fault! No!" She shook her head forcefully, tears of anger and despair flying into the air. Ayame smiled grimly.
"On the outside, at first, it may seem to be Akito's fault. But in the end, it's the curse. The curse with no cure."
-
Yuki had just returned home from work when the doorbell rang. He tossed aside his jacket and opened the door.
"Hello, Yuki." Yuki stumbled back, tripped, and landed hard on the ground.
"A-A-Akito!" Akito smiled and shut the door behind him. He glided over to Yuki and twined his bony fingers into Yuki's hair.
"It's so nice to see you Yuki. I've been bored lately, with my favorite toy lost. But now I've found him, and I'm ready to have lots of fun to make up for all the time you were missing." Akito jerked Yuki violently to his feet and dragged him the rest of the way into the apartment. He tossed Yuki to the ground and proceeded to tour his apartment. When his eyes fell on the picture of Tohru and Yuki, he smiled.
"I see that you still cling on to the past. I would forget about her, if I were you. You'll never see her again, after all." Yuki shuddered and broke down sobbing. Anger sparked into Akito's eyes. "What? Are you unhappy with my decision? Are you defying me! HOW DARE YOU!" Akito flung the picture into Yuki's face, the glass frame shattering.
He screamed, clawing at his face, trying desperately to pry the glass shards from his skin. Akito flung about wildly, throwing things, overturning chairs, and pulling out drawers. Soon Akito discovered the knife drawer. He paused, rummaging through the drawer. After a few seconds his hand emerged with a large butcher knife.
Akito turned on Yuki, grinning. Yuki's eyes snapped open as he tried to stand and run, but the rat tripped and fell the ground again. Akito pinned Yuki to the floor with his fist and brandished the knife.
"We're going to have lots of fun now, huh Yuki?" Akito ran the blade across Yuki's shoulder, laughing. Yuki winced as Akito kept teasing him with the blade, cutting here, poking there. Akito was about to take off a chunk of Yuki's ear when the door slammed open. The god of the Jyunnishi paused and turned to see who was intruding on his fun. Yuki lifted his head just far enough to see who it was before he passed out.
Hatori, Hatsuharu, Ayame, Kureno, and Tohru stood in the doorway. Akito scowled as the visitors stood. His hands were drenched in Yuki's blood, as was the floor and Yuki himself. Tohru was near to fainting.
"I see that you have come to crash our party. But we were having sooo much fun!" Akito threw back his head and laughed. He brought the knife up, directly above Yuki's heart. "Noooo!"
Tohru flung herself forward, knocking Akito aside. He jabbed at Tohru, the knife still in his hand. Time seemed to slow as the knife slide into Tohru's stomach. Hatori, Ayame, and Haru ran forward, hauling Akito off of the girl. She gasped for breath, clutching her stomach.
Haru picked up the closest thing to him (the leg of a chair) and smashed it into Akito's head. He was immediately unconscious, blood dripping from the side of his skull.
Hatori dropped to his knees by Tohru, examining her wound. He clenched his teeth and pulled the knife carefully out of her stomach. The blood flowed faster, drenching Hatori as he told Ayame to fetch him a dishrag. The snake did as he was told. Hatori pressed it firmly to her cut, trying through tears to stop the bleeding.
Haru used another rag to wipe Yuki's bloody face and slashes. Ayame hovered around nervously, clasping and unclasping his hands until Hatori told him to call for an ambulance. Kureno just watched.
Twenty minutes later Yuki was being treated for his cuts and Tohru was in Critical Condition. Hatori, Ayame, and Haru sat in the waiting room. The cow was stretched out on the floor, asleep. All the pressures of the day hit the cow like a hurricane, knocking him over with full force. Hatori and Ayame sat in complete silence. They hadn't spoken to each other the whole time they were in the hospital. Ayame spoke first.
"I'm sorry, Hatori. This was all my fault. I shouldn't have told Akito where he was…"
"It's okay. You haven't changed, and neither have I. It'll be okay." A doctor entered the waiting room. They looked up hopefully.
"Are you Yuki Sohma and Tohru Honda's guardians, Hatori and Ayame Sohma?" Hatori spoke first.
"Yes. Please, how are they doing?" The doctor turned, rubbing his temples.
"Mr. Sohma is fine. We only had to give him a few stitches. He's sleeping now. Miss Honda, however…" Hatori fell to his knees.
"No… Please, please tell me she's okay!" Ayame rested his hand on his cousin's shoulder.
"I'm sorry. We've lost her."