Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is not my original idea. This story is not based on the manga.
Chapter 5: Your Hands
Kyou continued to hold Kagura as she cried. It had been so long since he had been willing to just stay with her like this. In fact, Kyou could hardly remember a time when they had been able to be near one another without it ending very painfully for him. He still didn't know what Tohru had done to Kagura, but as the boar began to calm down, she pulled out of his arms and stood, crossing her arms over her chest and walking towards the water.
"Kyou…" She whispered softly, in a voice hoarse from sobbing, "I…I want so much to make you happy…"
"Then head back home. People are worried about you." Kyou looked up at her from where he sat; braced to attempt escape should she decide to kill him.
Kagura shook her head, and felt the tears threatening to well up again, "I can't Kyou! I can't go back there! I-I can't face it…"
"Face what? C'mon, tell me!" When Kagura didn't respond Kyou growled at her, "You claim to love me so much! If that's the case, you could at least take the time to talk to me!"
"Why?" Kagura muttered picking up a stone and tossing it into the water, scattering the fish, "It doesn't matter. No matter what I do, I can't make you love me."
"Are you saying you ran away because of me?" Kyou's tone was a little harsher than he intended, but whenever he was feeling bad about something, it caused him to snap instead of acting the way he should.
"No…yes…I don't know!" Kagura nearly burst into tears again, but managed well to hold it in, "Just go back to Shigure's, and be as happy as you can there."
"Not unless you come with me." The cat replied standing his ground, "I mean, do you honestly think I can be happy if I'm the reason you ran away?"
Kagura turned again to face him, sighing softly and wiping a stray tear from her face, "Kyou…"
"Just come back with me already! We can work out whatever you're issues are when you get there, ok?" Kyou walked up to her and held out his hand, "C'mon. Before it gets any later."
Kagura blinked and focused on his hand. An image flashed through her head. Much younger versions of herself and Kyou, him holding his hand out to her, and voice, clearly remembered, echoed in her mind. C'mon Kagura!
Here she was again, years after that fateful day when she first knew she loved him, and once again he had offered her his hand. Tears in her eyes she hesitantly reached towards his outstretched grasp. He closed his fingers around her hand and began walking the same way he had come, leading her to the main estate.
They walked in silence, and as they approached the compound, Kyou thought about the searchers who would come running back upon news of her reappearance. He looked at Kagura; she was in no shape to handle the stress of such a large group of concerned people. Tugging at her hand he pulled her in the direction of Shigure's abode. Kagura's silent stare had remained focused on the ground in front of her.
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Tohru was asleep on the couch, despite her best efforts to remain vigilant, when suddenly she heard an outburst from the blond at the window, "Tohru! Tohru! It's Kyou and Kagura! They're back!"
Tohru was on her feet before the rabbit even had a chance to finish his sentence, rushing to the door. She threw the door open as she cried out to her two friends, "You're back! I was so worried! Thank god!"
As the younger girl cam running out to meet them, Kagura was expecting her to embrace Kyou and continue her exclamation on how thrilled she was that he was safe. To her utter shock, it was herself who was wrapped in Tohru's arms. Kagura began to tremble in a mix of relief and rage. She was amongst friends, she was safe. But Tohru was hugging her! How dare Tohru embrace her after stealing Kyou away! Didn't this girl know how much it had hurt to watch her beloved become enamored of a person you considered a friend? Kagura pulled out of the hug, and looked at the ground once more.
Tohru was a little hurt, but tried not to let it faze her, "Oh Kagura! I'm so glad you're safe! I thought you'd been kidnapped, or worse! And I'm so very sorry that I upset you, I didn't even realize until Momiji brought up the possibility and..."
She stopped when she noticed Kagura giving her a slight glare. So, Tohru had realized that stealing Kyou away had caused Kagura a great deal of pain. The younger girl had known how the Souma felt about the orange haired boy, how could she have ever thought this wouldn't hurt! Kagura tightly clenched her eyes shut, trying to fight off tears and fury, "Tohru…."
"Kagura, please don't be angry! We need to talk." Tohru looked pleadingly at the girl.
"There's nothing to talk about! You win, ok? YOU WIN!" Kagura's shout caused the young girl before her to flinch.
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Kyou who had been standing there the whole time still trying to figure out what was going on blinked in surprise at the outburst. Kagura had never raised her voice like that at Tohru before. Usually even her anger at other people was taken out on him.
He was readying himself in case Kagura completely lost it when a blond head poked from the door, "Kyou! I think you need to come in and let them talk! Besides, I just called back to the main house! Ayame is gonna call Ha'ri, and Ha'ri will probably want to call and talk to you!"
Kyou warily backed away from the girls; still not sure it was safe leaving them alone. He would watch from the entrance, or a window, just in case. He walked into the house and Momiji looked at him, "what!"
"Well, what happened?" The bunny questioned.
"Nothing, she wouldn't even tell me why she left!" Kyou watched from the window warily as Tohru spoke, he couldn't hear her words though.
"You haven't figured it out yet?" Momiji said in disbelief.
"No, I haven't, so why don't you clue me in if you're so smart, brat?" The cat snapped back bopping Momiji on the head.
"Ow! Not if you're so mean to me!" The blond pouted and crossed his arms.
"Just spill it!" Kyou hissed out menacingly.
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you! But you really should know. It's kinda obvious!" Momiji stopped his little rant on how Kyou shouldn't need an explanation at a harsh glare from the older boy, "Kagura's jealous! She thinks you're in love with Tohru!"
"She thinks I'm what?" The orange haired boy said with a slight blush.
"In love with Tohru!" The rabbit repeated, "So now the only question is…are you?"
Kyou shook his head, "No! I mean, I'm not really…I like her, of course, she's accepted me, but LOVE? I…I don't know…"
The feline had never really thought too seriously about the question of love. Did he love Tohru? Maybe he did, or maybe he simply enjoyed her company. Then he thought about Kagura, and how she had run away out of jealousy, it was ridiculous. Then he remembered what she had said at the stream…she wanted to make him happy. Had she thought that in running away he could be with Tohru? Had Kagura run away for him instead of from him?
Out of the blue a new thought struck him, one he really never had had before, one he was shocked could even find its way into his head. What exactly did he feel for Kagura? She was his cousin, he knew that. She was his friend, he supposed. But was friendship all that had compelled him to run after her? Was it possible it was something more?
Momiji watched his orange headed cousin, who was rapidly becoming lost in thought, "After Tohru and Kagura are done talking…I think you need to talk to each of them, separately of course."
Kyou snapped out of his thoughts and focused on the boy, "I guess you're right for once, brat."
Momiji nodded, "If I were you…I'd start with Tohru. You know how Kagura feels, so find out how Tohru feels."
The phone began to ring and Momiji hopped off to answer it, calling out to let Kyou know it was Hatori wanting to talk to him. Kyou went and grabbed the receiver from Momiji.
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"Kagura," Tohru said pleadingly, as Kyou disappeared into the house leaving the girls alone, "I…I don't want you to be angry with me…please" Tohru's eyes were filling with tears, "If Kyou does have feelings for me, I never meant for it to happen! My mother always said that you should respect the feeling of other people, and so I would never have tried to win Kyou's heart knowing that you loved him so!"
"That's not the point!" Cried an equally emotional Kagura, "Either way, he loves you, and I can't have him! It hurts so much Tohru! I can't stand to even be near him! Or you!"
"I'm sorry I hurt you," Tohru said, a few tears falling down her cheeks, "I never wanted to hurt anyone! But please, h-have you even talked to him about this? D-do you know that's how he feels?"
Kagura shook her head and looked away, tears spilling from her eyes. It seemed foolish to jump to the conclusion she had without even asking, but still, "I don't have to ask him, I know. I can see it when he looks at you…"
"Oh Kagura…." Tohru was feeling more and more guilty, tears trickling down her face, "B-but…to be honest…as…as flattering as it is to have him feel that way…" Tohru hesitated, she didn't want to hurt Kyou either if he really cared about her, and what she was about to say was something that would hurt him terribly if she told him…but it would make Kagura happy, and it was the truth.
Kagura sighed and looked at Tohru. She wanted so badly to hate her, but she couldn't. She just couldn't bring herself to hate Tohru, this girl who was always so sweet to everyone, "What were you saying, Tohru…." She asked, curious about why Tohru had cut herself off.
"Oh…I…I was just going to say…I…I really don't feel that way…about Kyou, I mean…that's just awful to say…wasn't it, I mean, if he really cares so much about me…and…" Tohru covered her face with her hands, "I suppose I'll have to tell Kyou…"
"Tohru…I'm sorry I got so angry with you…I just…the thought of Kyou with someone else kills me! But I know that's how it will end up one way or another…" Kagura sighed, "He'll be crushed…you know that."
"I don't want to hurt him. I don't want to hurt anyone…" Tohru said looking at the ground.
"I know. But…he'll deal with it, I suppose."
"You could help him deal with it, then maybe he'll see how much you really care!" She forced a smile as she looked at the older girl.
"I can't. It wouldn't be fair for me to take advantage of the fact he's been hurt." Kagura sighed and walked towards the house, "you go talk to him. I'll wait on the porch; it's as out of the way as I can get at the moment."
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Kyou barely glanced over as Tohru entered the house; he was focused on his conversation with the Souma doctor, "I already told ya, she's fine. Right, she ran away. What does it matter why? Look, just don't worry about it, she's fine, and I'll just let her crash here for the night or whatever." He rolled his eyes and looked over at Tohru as he hung up the phone, "Damn nosey doctor."
Tohru gave him a weak smile, "He's just worried is all." She bit her lip and looked at the ground, "Umm, Kyou…we need to talk…"
"Yeah, we do." He said softly as his crimson eyes fell to the floor as well.
Hahahah! Left ya hanging! How does the conversation between Kyou and Tohru go? Hmm…I hope you liked the Tohru Kagura discourse, I think it went pretty well. Again, I hope I kept everyone in character. I have a few spots where I'm not too sure myself if I did a good job, but good enough for now!
Promise Keeper: I'm glad you liked the mini freak. I think that was one of my fav parts of that chappie too. And thanks for the reassurance about being IC.
Lucinda the Maid: Yay! More support of my ability to stay IC!
Oz: Thank Promise Keeper for the site, she made it. And as for most fics making Kagura evil, that's because they don't like her cuz they want Kyou to be with Tohru! But we Kyou/Kagura fans don't make Tohru Evil, do we? Kagura really does want what's best for Kyou, it's obvious in the last three shows, when she doesn't go after him, cuz she figures he needs Tohru then.
Haruko Sohma: More IC support! I love you guys! And I don't know if I really update every night, I've just been on a streak of good luck with sneaking onto the site at 3 AM! My daddy doesn't like me uploading or downloading things.
