A/N: Wow, I actually wrote another chapter. I will have to thank my dear cousin who threatened me to continue to write this fic. ThankS 2!
Anyways down to business…
Chapter 4:
Foul
o
Tohru sat uncomfortably on the ground, her knees brought tightly up to her chest, and arms wrapped protectively around her legs. So many emotions were overwhelming her. Her whole body seemed consumed with worry. Worry for Shigure, worry for Yuki, Kyo, and worry for Haru and Hatori. She felt so helpless and so useless just sitting on the ground waiting. She sniffled loudly when tears threatened to fall again. 'Oh, Mother, what am I supposed to do?' Tohru questioned desperately. It just didn't seem right to not help, to just stand by. 'I guess the only thing I can do is hope that everyone is okay.' Tohru admitted to herself resignedly. Tears rolled down her cheeks. 'Hope and pray…'
"Tohru?"
Tohru jolted her head upright, brushing embarrassedly away her fallen tears. "Momiji-kun! What are you doing here?"
Momiji had been walking down the hallway when he noticed Tohru, just sitting there, crying. Deeply concerned, he had addressed her.
"I was just going to visit Haru, but he isn't around. Hey, Tohru are you okay? Why are you crying?" Momiji asked kindly as he slid himself down next to her.
Tohru shook her head insistently. "Crying? I wasn't crying Momiji-kun! I was just…ano…well I had something in my eye, actually both eyes and—"
Momiji shushed her and patted her gently on the knee. "Tohru-kun, it's okay. You can tell me, I won't judge you. Please, let me know what is bothering you."
Tohru found herself looking directly into Momiji's large caramel colored eyes. For a moment she was stunned, and then fresh tears fell down her cheeks and she couldn't contain herself anymore. Tohru told Momiji everything that had happened in the past hours, leaving out not even a single detail. Momiji listened intently, and a mirrored look of worry formed upon his face. When Tohru had finished by saying that Yuki, Kyo, Hatori, and Haru were out to get Shigure, Momiji lowered his gaze. "I wonder what is happening," he whispered softly to himself. Then in a sudden change of behavior he looked back up at Tohru, beaming. "But don't worry Tohru! Everything will be alright!"
Tohru looked at him curiously. "But Momiji-kun, how do you know?"
Momiji leaned in close, and whispered gently into Tohru's ear. "Because, I have to hope." Then in an instant, his smile grew and he wrapped his arms around Tohru, in a giant bear hug. Tohru yelped in surprise and after only a second there was the familiar poof sound and a burst of yellow smoke. Little rabbit Momiji sat on Tohru's shoulder, nuzzling comfortingly against Tohru's cheek.
To hope and to believe, that is all we can do now, but we will do it to our best of our abilities.
o
o
Darkness was all that greeted the terrified group. Kyo had pressed himself against the back wall with Yuki, Hatori, and Haru close in front. The putrid smell that hung in the house had grown so heavily that even the tiniest of whiff of it caused one to want to vomit. The floorboard let out another protesting creak, this time sounding much closer than ever before. A low grumble, coming deep from the diaphragm, broke out suddenly. Hatori, who seemed scared stiff, let a quiet mumbled command. "You guys," he whispered, "on my signal we grab Shigure and run the h--- out of here."
The group nodded and gulped in response.
"One," Hatori counted, not letting his gaze move away from the hall.
The low grumble was louder, it sounded only feet away. "Two," he stuttered, shaking.
The repulsive breath of the shadow snorted on Hatori, whom was standing in the front. Hatori's hair blew back and he forced himself to swallow down his own vomit; it was inches away. "Three!" Hatori, spun on his heals ducking as he did so, and turned to face Shigure. There was an enormous whoosh sound that whaled over Hatori's ducked head. The attack hit the side wall, splintering it. An ear piercing roar burst out of the shadows mouth as it ripped its hand out of the wall causing large chunks of wood to fall upon the four. "Come on, come on!" Hatori yelled over the deep rumbling roar. They all frantically grabbed Shigure and attempted to rush past the roaring monster. Hatori, Haru, and Kyo all slide by quickly; Yuki was carrying up the back end. "Ugh!" Yuki cried as he was bashed solidly in his back. His grip was ripped off of Shigure and the force of the blow sent him smashing against the wall. The shadow creature let out another monstrous roar. "Yuki!" Haru yelled looking back into the shadows he had just ran out of. Haru was about to drop his end of Shigure and run back, when he heard Yuki yell at them.
"I'm okay! Go on get Shigure out of here! I'll catch up!"
"Yuki, no!" Haru protested, but Hatori urged him on.
"Come on Haru, we need your help right now. Don't slow down. Come on."
Haru hesitated then obliged. The three of them moved as fast as they could, carrying Shigure safely outside.
Yuki let out a controlled breath, for his back ached terribly from the collision. It was so dark, he couldn't see past his hand, but he would have to rely on his other senses to dodge the shadows attacks and make his get away. The shadow turned towards him cutting off his exit. The beast growled and its hot breath nearly paralyzed Yuki. Suddenly it attacked, with speed much faster than Yuki predicted, but he could still sense it. 'Right side, head.' Yuki's determination was correct; he dodged left and ducked down beneath the blow. Taking his chances, Yuki made a blind roll straight under the monsters legs. He cleared it and used his momentum to roll on the balls of his toes and launch himself down the hallway, and out of the house.
o
Torrential lightening ripped the sky in half, and the rain fell with such heaviness that each fat drop that hit the men outside seemed to deter them and sink their bodies farther down into the mud. Shigure seemed twice as arduous with the added weight of his soaked kimono, and the simple action of moving him into the car became extremely tedious. Kyo's feet sank deeply into the mud as he slouched against the car door. He was running on the last bout of his energy, but to his own surprise, the rain didn't affect him as much as it usually did. With the kind of storm that he was in right now, he would normally be unable to lift even a finger. For some reason, he was stronger today.
Suddenly there was a slam of the front door, Hatori, Haru, and Kyo past their soaked dripping bangs to see Yuki heaving shaky breaths and grasping his right shoulder. "Yuki you made it!" Haru cried out, relief flooding through him.
"Yes, now hurry up and get in the car!" Yuki hollered at them in high hysterics, his heart nearly thumping out of his chest. It didn't take him to ask twice; in seconds the group shoved the rest of Shigure in and threw themselves in the car. A ground shattering roar erupted from the house shaking its very foundations, just as the car door slammed shut. From inside the vehicle, the group could feel the rumble, and their anxieties grew. "Hurry Hatori! Hurry!" bellowed Kyo as he pounded against Hatori's back chair.
"I am!" Hatori shot back, fumbling shakily with his keys. Yuki, Haru, and Kyo looked out the back at the entrance of the house, their eyes all fearful. Soaked to the bone, the group shivered. A large outline of a foot emerged first in the front doorway. Then the entire body of the creature appeared at the entrance, but it hesitated there. It growled once again, but made no attempt to move forward. Yuki, Haru, and Kyo stared back at it, their expressions uneasy. All they could see was its shadowed form, for it was well hidden in the shadow and hard to see far past the pouring rain.
Hatori didn't take a chance to look back. At last he inserted the key and started the ignition, without a second wasted, he floored it on out of there. Clumps of mud and water were stirred up from their squealing tires.
For awhile, no one talked in the car as Hatori swerved hastily down the road, the windshield wipers swaying like mad. Shell shocked and freezing, they all sat there confused and frightened. Finally Haru cracked the ice. "What the h—was that?" he barked. And basically Haru spoke for them all. "Where does something like that come from?" Haru continued, his hands quivering from both cold and fear.
"I don't know," Yuki mumbled still feeling panicky. He couldn't believe he had left Shigure with that…that thing! But it was okay now, he thought bolstering as he looked down at Shigure's twisted, white face. 'Hatori will cure him. He just has too…"
o
o
Momiji had long since transformed back to his human form and was now (fully dressed) sitting next to Tohru holding her hand in comfort. Tohru had eventually gained back some of her composure and sat straight up fighting off potential tears. She kept her eyes closed for most of the time, saying silent prayers for the safety of the others.
Momiji could tell that whatever was in that house must have been truly frightening. Every time the thunder from outside rumbled Tohru faintly trembled, and he could feel her cold hand tremor in his. Comfortingly Momiji squeezed it and leaned into her. His concern ran deeply for Tohru and the others.
What seemed like apprehensive eternity, Tohru and Momiji waited, mostly in silence. Then suddenly there was a rush of voices that broke out through the silent and dimly lit hallway. Hatori, Kyo, Yuki, and Haru all stormed in shuffling Shigure in their arms. "That's right, bring him over here," said Hatori's cool yet demanding voice. Tohru jolted up to her feet, pulling Momiji up with her as she did so. The hugest most grateful smile erupted on her pleasant features as she caught sight of the all the Sohma men she held dear.
"You're all okay!" Tohru broke out in relief as she rushed over to the group, Momiji trailing steps behind. She followed them into Hatori's office, where they set Shigure down on the patient bed. "What happened? Did everything go alright?" Tohru spilled unable to hold in her questions.
Before anyone answered, Hatori moved towards one of his many drawers and began to shuffle through their contents. "Could I have you guys step outside? Shigure needs medical attention," he said to them with his back turned. Pulling out a syringe he slammed the drawer shut with force. The teens nodded and scrambled out of the room, giving one last worried glance over at Shigure.
When they were all standing outside the room, Tohru lowered her eyes, ashamed that she had let her mind stray off of Shigure's condition. At last she glanced up. "Does Hatori-san know what's wrong?"
There was a chilling amount of silence that met her question. Finally Yuki shook his head. "No." Tohru's face faltered, and in seeing her expression Yuki quickly scrambled to find words of encouragement. "But after these examinations, I am sure he will find out what is wrong. Hatori-san is a very capable doctor."
Tohru sadly nodded back. "That he is…" she said softly as she glanced over at the shut door. Mother please let everything be okay.
Chapter End.
A/N: sorry I lied, I guess I did have another chapter in me. Kiko of the Neko-Jin, thank you so much for your offer, I really do appreciate it, and I am glad you liked my story enough to pick up its fragments and continue it. If your offer still is there I would like to consider it. But now that I have gotten this chapter out, I feel a little bit of hope that I will be able to continue this fic. So, I will let you know later on if I am truly prepared to hand the story over, that is, if your offer still stands.
Also I would like to send out thanks to all the other reviewers. Thanks you guys!