Hey everyone! A second ficcie finally! Sorry for the wait though...I've had a bit of writer's block and I was plenty busy on my wonderful vacation! Thanks again...Uma- Isuzu-Chan! You rox my sox! Anyways...here's my story! I hope u like it! .

DISCLAIMER: i do not own any part of Fruits Basket, its characters or its plot lines. I also do not own the song "Are you listening" the band, or anything affilated with the band, Greeley Estates. All i did was meet them at warped tour. and it was awesome!


Are You Listening?

A Fruits Basket fan fiction by Lockawayheart

Song by Greeley Estates

"I've tried to tell you that I love you. So many times before…

' Room 296, room 296' thought Haru repeatedly in his mind, so he wouldn't forget and go to the wrong room. He forgot things so easily. A mystery… Finally he found the right room. He entered.

"Hey Rin…" he greeted quietly. He walked across the room and put a dozen blood-red roses, Rin's favorite, in a vase. He walked over to her and brushed a lengthy piece of raven hair out of her face.

"You never let me be a part of your life…"

""She grabbed his hand and pushed it away forcibly.

"Don't touch me!" she spat. "Just go away. I don't need you anymore." She snatched her hand back from Haru's and folded her arms across her chest. The I.V.'s pulled at her veins, causing her to wince slightly. Haru sighed. ' Again with the routine…' he thought for what was not the first time.

"What's the matter now, Rin?" he asked.

"I don't need you! Just leave me alone!" she replied heatedly. His temper started to flare, but he controlled it and forced it down.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"If you only knew."

"Why can't you just leave me alone!" said Rin icily. Haru's eyes turned fierce with determination.

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"It's because I don't love you anymore!" Rin's eyes sparkled with fury. She stared daggers at him, trying to get him to give up. Haru knew this tactic well, and gave a small, almost ominous chuckle.

"Don't lie to me. We both know it's not true." He said softly, but still audible. She turned and stared at the roses. ' If you only knew. I want to protect you. To save you. From him. From his anger. These injuries are only a small sacrifice to free you from the danger.'

"I've tried so hard to be someone that you want."

Rin thought of all the times through the years. How she had metamorphosed from a cold and distant pile of flesh to a warm and loyal girlfriend. She had tried her best to be open with Haru, to let him in, and to let him help. She finally had someone to care about her, in a way no one had ever done before. But, that content and seemingly perfect life all had to end. Haru's soft words brought her back to her room, her nightmare, her choice.

"Why now?" pried Haru. "You've changed so much, and I thought we had it all…"

"But now I'm through."

He saw the fear, anxiety, and concern she thought she had hid away, deep inside, clearly in her eyes.

"I just…can't deal with you anymore. I've had it. We're done." Her words stung Haru deep down. He had heard them day after day, every time he came. But every time it still hurt. It still pierced his soul. Her lies were starting to drown him. He struggled to break free of them. He turned his back on her and looked out the window to help clear his thoughts. 'She doesn't want him to know…' he mused to himself.

"Don't you remember?" he asked quietly.

"Did you forget about all the times that we had? Where did they go?"

"Remember what?" Rin asked resentfully.

"That time we went to the ocean. You said you always wanted to feel the warm breath of the ocean brush across your face. So I took you. You tripped over a mound of sand and almost fell in. I caught you, but then that huge wave came and drenched us both. I was so scared you were going to be taken from me. I would fight the ocean, to get you back, if that happened." A single tear dripped sown Rin's cheek, and then down her chin. Haru didn't see it. "Looking back at it now…it seems pretty foolish…" he grinned sheepishly.

"Is anyone in there? Does this make any sense?"

"Just…just stop. Stop now. I can't take anymore of your crap." She said, sick of him trying to get her to change her mind. No matter how much she wanted to, no matter how many sleepless nights she spent, staring at the familiar ceiling, thinking of him, it had to be this way. This was the only way to save him. He turned back to face her.

"No," he replied defiantly. Anger flared inside his chest.

"Damnit Hatsuharu! Go away! Just stay the hell away from me!" Haru took a step closer to her bed. "What don't you understand?"

"Everything…" he said and stared coldly into her eyes.

"It's so useless…trying to get your attention."

He crossed the remaining space between them in three strides. He stood beside her, towering over her seemingly frail body. She stared shyly up at him.

"Rin," he said quietly. "Look at me. Do you really mean this? Is this what you want?"

"Yes," she said quietly. 'NO!' she screamed in her mind. 'I don't want any of this. This is all crap! What he wants. Who gives a damn what he wants! I want to be with you forever!' The outburst in her mind seemed to show by the pained look on her face.

"No," murmured Haru, mostly to himself. "I know what you are really feeling. Why not be true to it and to yourself?"

"So this is it. What else can I do…to show you how I feel?"

"W-what?" she asked startled.

"Tell me what you really want."

"Nothing. Go away." She nipped at him.

"What do you want me to do? I won't leave. That's something I'm not willing to do." He looked at her heart monitor, the melodramatic beeping noise was like a depressed lullaby, lulling whoever was in the room into an anxious, dreamlike nightmare. But Rin was used to it by now. An idea invaded Haru's mind that caused him to grin.

"I could be drowning right in front of your eyes…and you'd never know."

"Fine," said Haru suddenly. "If you don't need me then it won't matter if I'm here or not." Rin looked sharply up at him, her eyes wide.

"Here…or…not?" she asked, but she thought she knew what Haru was getting at.

"If I just walk into the ocean. I just won't come back out. If that's what you really want, then I'll do it." She just sat there. Too upset and worried for words to form in her mouth.

"You won't know if I'm here or not. You want me gone anyway, right?" A tear trickled down her face. Then another. Then another. This time, Haru noticed.

"I'd give up everything to hold you in my arms for one last time."

He cupped her chin in his hand. He brushed the stray tears from their paths with his thumb. He stared into her eyes. His dark mischievous ones bored into her ebony frightened ones. His face came closer. Closer still. His body pressed against hers, and he slowly, cautiously, wrapped an arm around her waist. She shivered.

"Haru…" she began. "We shouldn't. You shouldn't. Akito…" He gave her a soft peck on the lips to make her stop talking.

"Screw Akito…" he said venomously. "Focus on me…and only me. For a minute, a second. Humor me." She looked back at him, wanting to say something, but holding back. Slowly, unsurely, she nodded. Haru came closer to kiss her again, but this one had more passion, more ferocity in it. His eagerness would have unsettled Rin, but under the circumstances, she found herself longing for his kiss. His touch. His taste. She began to kiss him back. He started to lap at her lips, begging to enter. She parted her lips ever so slightly, and their tongues met, dancing in a saturated romance. Slowly, the kiss began to falter, and Haru pulled back. Ending the dream.

"If you choose to walk out that door then I'm not in your way."

He lingered beside her for a short while longer. Enough time to glance at the clock. Slowly, he got up, smoothing out the wrinkles that had formed on his black, semi-tight leather pants.

"Goodbye…love…" said Haru, looking warmly at her. And just like he did when he came in, he brushed a stray piece of black hair out of her face. This time she grabbed his hand and held it. It felt warm and strong in her chilly slender one.

"Visiting hours are over now," he walked towards the door. Slowly. Step by step. Holding fast to her hand until he felt her reach end, and her grasp slip away. And so was he. His scent still lingered around Rin, teasing her nose.

"Is anybody in there? Does this make any sense?"

Haru walked out, past the lobby of never-silent phones, and out the double glass doors. 'Why? Why do you put yourself through this Rin?' Haru wondered in his mind. He switched off the path that would lead him home to the Main House, and on to one that would take him to the dojo. He needed to work out his feelings. Kunimitsu greeted him at the door, but Haru took no notice. He was on a one-track mind, and the track was Rin. He went into a private practice room.

"It's so useless trying to get you to listen to me."

He let his black side come out and take over his body. Rage and deep withheld pain poured from every outlet; his fists, his feet, into the punching bag. 'Why didn't you let me help you? We were so close. How could I not see it? See you? Help you. All I want to do is help. I need you.' He collapsed onto a pile on the ground. Tears that had been suppressed now were let out. Releasing Haru from his emotions.

"I've tried to show you that I love you. But you never let me be a part of your life…"

Rin stared at the door. The images of Haru racing through her mind. 'I love you Haru! But you always did everything first. You kissed me….everything. And you protected me, but you never let me protect you. Couldn't you see that I wanted to? I need you…' Rin thought, biting back tears as doctors poked and prodded her arm with various needles and instruments.

"I could be drowning right in front of your eyes…but you'll never know…"

She thought back to her mother and father. How they hated her. How they drowned her in lies. And how she was shunned in grade school. Drowned in loneliness. But Haru was her life preserver. Then came Akito to take it all away. He drowned her in fear, despair, and pain. But she couldn't tell him. Haru would just end up hurt. It had to be this way.

"Why did you turn your back? We're out of time to fix these issues. Is anybody listening?"

This was life. She could take it. She was already broken. What were a few more cracks? But he couldn't be broken. Rin would make sure. It was her job. Her purpose in life.

"Is anyone in there? Does this make any sense? It's so useless trying to get your attention."

He wanted to protect her. He had to. She was too broken to fix herself. And he needed her to live. If she wasn't around, Haru decided he wouldn't be either. It was all Akito's fault. And until the day when the God falls from grace, until they were free, it would be this way.

"Is anyone in there? Does this make any sense? It's so useless trying to get your attention."

Haru lifted up his head. The tear marks reflecting clearly on his face in the mirror. Rin looked out the window. At the last traces of a blood red and orange sunset, illuminating the sky with what was left of its magnificent beauty.

"I love you…" she confessed in hushed tones. Haru heard her words in her heart.

"I love you…" he said back Rin looked at the first tiny, meek star in the sky, and smiled. And then she wished.