Chapter Six: Hell Broken Loose
Stepping out of the car, Tohru and Hana looked with amazement at the huge Sohma complex. Cherry trees around the area were at their full bloom, spreading leaves at the slightest breeze, creating a scene that the brown haired girl lost herself in. "It's so beautiful… isn't it guys?" Shigure walked in ahead of them, strangely not amused. Kyo followed him soon after taking a look back at the trio behind him. 'They're both looking at her with such… longing… guess I really don't stand a chance with her do I? Oh well, being with her wouldn't help me beat Yuki anyway.'
"Yes… what a scene isn't it? You look cute with all the leaves floating around you like that." Yuki said, grinning. Tohru blushed and brought her hands to her face, embarrassed. "Oh! Th-thank you, Yuki!" Yuki again laughed at Tohru's innocence and walked into the Sohma estate.
There was indeed a party going on inside, albeit more like a barbeque, with a large table set up underneath a large tree. Seated there already were Momiji and Hatsuharu Sohma, waving as they started to come in. Momiji ran straight toward Tohru but was stopped by Kyo before he could hug her and transform into a rabbit. "Idiot! Not now, we have stuff to tell you later!" Kyo barked out, in reference to Hana's knowledge of the curse.
(A/N: Bet you were wondering when I was going to put those two in weren't ya? Yep that's all I got to say. gets shot OK… on with the story!)
"Whaaaaa! Kyo hit me again!" Momiji whined loudly, as he usually did. As Yuki and Kyo tended to the almost juvenile rabbit, 'Haru' walked up to Tohru with his also usual intense look. "Thanks for coming Tohru. By the way, Hatori wanted to see you. I think it has something to do with your meeting with Akito the other day… speaking of which… thanks." He explained, giving a thumbs up.
"Huh? You knew about that?" Tohru asked the cow, curious as to how the other zodiac members learned of the meeting so quickly. "Shigure told us, he was really surprised about how you kinda got through to him. I'm not quite sure what Hatori wants because of it, but I'll bet it's nothing big." He patted Tohru on the shoulder, allowing her through the group to the road leading to the separate houses. She looked back at the group before continuing, seeing more zodiac members trickling in from random directions. Ritsu trudged along from one road while Kagura and Ayame ran into the arms of their respective loved ones from another. Hana was seated at the table, seeing firsthand how the zodiac members acted amongst themselves.
Tohru entered Hatori's little house and closed the door behind her to find it strangely empty and dark. "Hatori? You wanted to see me?" she called, fumbling for a light switch. She found one, but it was only for a very dim ceiling fan, lighting up a lone figure in the room, but it seemed shorter than Hatori. The man slowly rose from the floor, with a simply unexplainable expression. Tohru then immediately recognized him.
"Hello Miss Honda." He said grimly.
"Akito… do you know where…" the stunned brunette began to ask before she was cut off by the head of the Sohma clan. "Right behind you." Hatori snuck up behind her and grabbed her wrists, startling her enough to cry out in a fear she had never yet known.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
NOOO!
Hana gasped as the image entered her head, grasping the attention of some of the Sohma's around her. 'Tohru… now what? She just went to… NO!' Her realization of Hatori's abilities made the seemingly frail girl spring to her feet and begin to run in the direction that Tohru went in minutes earlier. However, she was stopped by many concerned Sohma's behind her.
"Hey! Where are you going!" Kyo yelled after her. She looked back over her shoulder. "Something… is wrong… Tohru… is in danger… I have to help her!" She declared, forcing sharp pangs in the hearts of many of the Sohmas. Yuki immediately ran after her, hoping his predictions weren't true. 'Akito… if you're doing this now… I'll find it very hard to forgive you… even if you do lead us!' the rat promised himself. Yuki was not alone, several other Sohmas were following him. First was Kyo, then Momiji and Hatsuharu. Kisa also was not far behind. "Hey rat boy! Just one thing, you're not alone in this! We make a truce, OK?" Yuki was a little startled by Kyo's comment, but just kept running.
Each one in the group had their own reasons to defend Tohru, a reason to confront their leader for the first time.
'Tohru… hang on!'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Miss Honda… why did you betray me like this… why did you divulge our secret… after being the only one to be able to know how I felt, why did you BREAK THAT TRUST!" Akito demanded his victim, who was crying from being beaten by the Sohma leader. Hatori was no longer holding her at bay, but could not look as she was punched once more by him. 'Dammit… this is exactly what I didn't want to happen… Shigure, Yuki, Kyo, everyone… I'm sorry…'
"Akito…I'm…sorry. It was an… accident. It was just… a friend of mine… you can… trust… her…" Tohru managed to explain before going limp in Akito's grasp. "You were the only one that made me think that my life had meaning, and now you just blow it up in my face! I don't care if it was your mother! You still betrayed me! It's just as I thought, you've been nothing but a bad omen for this family, and I won't allow you to harm us further!" Akito's proclamation shocked both Hatori and Tohru, but what happened next was a surprise to end all.
"LIAR!"
The door to the house burst apart and Akito immediately let go of the brunette in order to cling upon his head, which was pulsing with a very intense pain. "Tohru has been nothing but good for this family… how can you not see this!" Hana yelled out even in what seemed like a trance. Hana was bombarding Akito's mind with electric waves, walking slowly toward the Sohma leader. "Tohru has not only helped you, but every… single… one… of the Sohma's inflicted with your curse that she's met. She's helped them to lead on a better life… better than anything you've ever told them!" Akito opened one eye at a squint to look into the empty eyes of his attacker, realizing who he was speaking with.
"You mean… you're… the one… who found out…" Akito groaned between fits of pain that only seemed to get worse. "Yes…" Hana declared. "My name is Saki Hanajima… Tohru is my best friend and I love her… I won't let you take away her memories, our memories…" Speech seemed to become impossible for the telepathic girl as she increased her fervor, forcing a scream out of the squirming Akito.
"Hanajima!" Hatori screamed, placing a hand on her shoulder. Hana stopped her attack, looking back at the taller Sohma. "That's enough… although… what he did was wrong… if you kept going, you would have been just as guilty as he is." Hatori explained, not daring to look back at Akito, who was now breathing heavily from the strain on his mind and body. He was recovering quickly, but was quite shocked. Hana then looked over at the barely moving Tohru, and got free of his grasp to check on her now not-so-secret crush.
"Tohru… are you all right… Tohru!" She called out. Tohru stirred, opening her eyes to see everyone. "Hana… everyone… you're here…"Yuki stared at the two girls, thankful the two of them were safe.
"Akito…" Yuki began. "As much I hate to admit it… I think Miss Hanajima is right." He now focused on Akito. "All my life you told me that my life meant nothing… that it was darkness. When Tohru came into our lives, I started to see the light… she IS that light! As the one who bears the most of this curse, isn't that what you would want? Don't you want us to be happy despite our curse! I… I love her too… she makes me happy, she makes all of us happy! Isn't that what you want!"
Everyone looked at Yuki at this point, trying to take in everything that was going on. First they learned that Hana knew of the curse, and now there was a love triangle between her, Yuki and Tohru? And Hana attacked Akito… something that no one else ever dared to do. This newfound courage found its way to everyone in the room… each of them with a reason to stand against their leader.
"The rat boy's right! She accepted all of us… even my true form… even you! Don't you want people to accept us, treat us like regular people? What's that other crap you spout out then, huh? That bullshit you taught us isn't the way we should live!" Kyo explained his affect from 'Tohru's light,' as Yuki put it.
"Kyo, you're being a little too harsh…" Momiji stepped in. "But you are right… Tohru just wanted to be everyone's friend, is that so wrong? She wants to help… she might not be able to do what she wants to do, but she just wants to try… like all of us. She always tries… we all have to!" The younger Sohma proposed. "Well put." Haru said, thinking it was his turn. "Tohru might not be able to break our curse, but she can at least try. If it doesn't work, then oh well. That's life. Isn't that right, Kisa?"
The young tiger walked forward with tears in her eyes, inspired from everyone's speeches. "Akito… I'm sorry but… please don't hurt sissy anymore… I don't… want to lose her… none of us do…" Akito stayed on his knees, almost fully recuperated from Hana's attack. "All… all of you… think this way… about me… and her?" He asked them calmly. There was silence, but most of them nodded. Tears started to flow from Tohru's eyes as she watched what was happening, how much they were praising her.
"It's true… I do want you to be happy… but… all this time… I thought that… the only you could… was with me, but… are you just… trying to replace me?" Akito asked no one in particular, trying to reason out this mutiny in his head.
"No, of course not Akito… in fact quite the opposite." Hatori offered. "In the time I've spent with her and everyone else, all I've seen is that they are just grateful to know people outside of our family… they wanted to find someone who could not only help them break their own curses, but yours as well… they want to help you just as much as she does." Akito's eyes grew wide at Hatori's wise words. He slowly turned his head toward Tohru on the other side of the room. "Is… is that true?" Tohru nodded, smiling once again. "But I… I don't deserve this… I don't deserve such… kindness from someone… like you… Miss Honda… forgive… me…" Akito said with the last of his strength before succumbing to the last effects of Hana's waves. Hatori quickly went over and picked him up to take him to his bed.
"I trust that you all know that this is a rare event… I don't know what he'll do, but… I'm sure he'll come around." Hatori proclaimed before leaving with his patient. Just then, the opposite door slammed open to the forms of Shigure and Ayame. Breathing heavily from running down to the house, they took the time to look at the scene in front of them. "OK… what did we miss?" They both asked at the same time. Almost everyone sighed in exasperation at the duo. 'Those two are just impossible…' Yuki thought to himself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Fast-forward to 5:00 – Sohma Shigure Residence: Tohru's Room
"Well, she seems fine… she's covered with cuts and bruises, but no fractures or internal damage." Hatori stated his analysis on the sleeping Tohru Honda. "Thanks a lot Hatori… maybe you should head back to the main house now… Akito didn't look that good." Yuki offered. "That's a wise idea." Hatori responded. Hana stopped him then. "Hatori… how much do we owe you? I know you only attend to the family, but I'm willing to pay for her…" Hatori looked back and gave his rare smile at the two youths. "As far as I'm concerned… she is family now." He then left without another word, leaving Yuki and Hana alone with her.
Yuki was the first to ask. "Miss Hanajima… if I may ask… what did you mean… back at the house… when you said you… loved her?" Hana chuckled, confusing the rat boy even further. "I suppose I can tell you since Tohru told me… about you as well." Yuki did not look at all surprised and simply gestured her to go on. "It was… just recently… after she had gone to see Akito the first time… something came up… and it just popped in my head that I was… falling in love with her. I didn't know why or how… I just did… that's why I came this weekend… to tell her… but now that she has you… I doubt that she would want to…"
"I don't know about that…" Yuki interrupted her, startling the gothic girl for the first time. "You and Tohru have been friends since before we've even met, and I can tell you have something special… I love her too, but… now it looks like we're at an impasse, huh?" Hana didn't respond, save for a nod. Yuki leaned closer to Hana to whisper in her ear.
"Tell you what we'll do… to help her decide… who she's happy with…" He proposed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(A/N: Nope! I'm not telling you what they're going to do! It's a secret! Sssh…)
The next day: Sunday – 10:30 AM
As Shigure trudged away from the occupied table, the phone rang again. "Hello, this is Shigure speaking… Ah, Hatori! We hear from you once again! How's Akito doing?" Silence fell over the line for about 10 seconds before Shigure dropped the phone altogether, collapsing to his knees with a look of terror stricken on his face.
"Shigure! What's wrong? What did he say?" Tohru asked, picking up the phone, but not bothering to talk to Hatori on the other end.
"Akito… Akito is… dead…" Shigure managed between shocked whispers.
'No… NO! Not again… this can't be… That was nowhere near powerful enough of an attack. This can't be happening again.' Hana's mind nearly reeled with guilt.
'Did I… actually kill him?'
