Recently, I have developed this habit of listening to soundtracks while working on this story. I especially like the instrumental music. It is very funny, but I couldn'thelp imagining Momiji during this particular song, and I suddenly found myself wondering, will I ever write him into this story? I don't think so; at least, not as a major role, but maybe I will find a way. He is one my favorite characters. Speaking of favorite characters, I am very happy to feature that his Master is in this chapter! Kyou is very lucky to have him as a 'father', because he is so kind. My karate sensei is not like him at all, though... Whenever sensei sees me, he greets me by slapping my back very hard! Maybe it's how he shows his affection...? I wish he didn't like me so much. Then, I wouldn't fall over as often. And the whole class wouldn't laugh at me as often, either...

The other thing is that all of your reviews are making me feel all gooey inside. So, thank you very much! I hope this chapter is good. All of these seemingly random chapters may seem just like 'days in the life', but there is actually something to it... You will just have to wait and see.

Rating: T. Slash - sensuality - violence - light incest. (Future M rating)
Category: Angst/Romance
Pairing: Kyou/Yuki
Length: 7 ?

Ache
by Lanie Kay-Aleese

Chapter Seven: Stranger Things Have Happened

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Kyou stood in the entryway of the karate dojo. And at first, everything seemed to be normal.

A couple students stood laughing in the corner as they took off their shoes and discussed their weekends. One new student stood near a mirror and kept correcting his stance. There were some others who were stretching out, getting loose and jumping. The colors were the same - muted, earthy browns and a tan wood floor, that shone, and creamy shoji panels with bamboo. The air in the room smelled slightly musky; a good, strong smell. He took in a deep breath of it and dropped his shoulders.

Even the floor felt right beneath his feet. Here, at last, he had found one place where nothing had changed - not at all.

"...Kyou?"

He swung around, a smile erupting onto his face. "Master!"

The tall man stood relaxed in the doorframe, his arms folded politely, and with a strange look that seemed to lift up his thin eyebrows. It was a serene expression unique to his personality, something familiar and comforting. Kyou was filled with an overwhelming certainty that he was right in coming here.

"Kyou-kun, it's... it's good to see you," the man said evenly.

"Yeah, you too." Kyou said, smiling a little. How was it that he could feel so comfortable with his Master, so much more so than anyone else he knew? "I'm really ready to train today!"

Kazuma's lips turned up. "Oh, you have a lot of energy, do you?"

"Yeah," Kyou agreed, as they began to walk towards the changing area, "I mean, I've been really bored and it's been pissing me off!"

"Bored? I thought things had been very busy. You had seemed stressed last time I saw you, and not just about school."

"Yeah, but it's not really anything big," Kyou lied flatly, not even sure what the hell his Master was talking about. He shoved his hands into his jean pockets.

"I'm glad to hear it," said the older man, warmly smiling again. "I'm going to go greet some of my other students. Hurry up and change, so you're not late to begin."

"Yes, Master," Kyou replied, and sprinted across the room. His heart beat wildly as questions and half-memories tried to sort themselves out. He'd been busy and stressed, huh? How did that tie into Akito? What would've stressed himself out, while pissing off Akito?

Kyou pulled his shirt over his head, and stared blankly at the wall.

It didn't matter. Not right now. He had to keep focused on his training, so he could get better, so he could beat Yuki, so he could win his freedom - or as much of it as he could ever get.

-----

"Okay everyone. Get into ready position."

A bead of sweat landed inbetween his eyelashes. A sticky gleam of perspiration had drenched the back of his neck and his gi clung to his shoulders in the most awkward way. Kyou loosened his gi and tightened his belt. He wiped his forehead - so thankful for wristbands - and popped his knuckles into solid fists.

"Bow to your partner," Kazuma instructed. "Left side attacking - make sure you are in fighting distance. Announce your first attack in the series only. Remember, we are focusing primarily on speed so I don't want to see any blocking, and I do not want to see any of you attacking the face. Is that clear?"

Sparring. Free-style sparring, the time when he got to attack his partner in whatever way he wanted.

It was easy enough to watch his partner, to see him flinch and leave himself unprotected on the right side. He used to drop his guard like that all the time - some things had to be learned the hard way - and Kyou found himself surprised with his own speed, his sudden ability for combination attacks that were actually much more thorough than he'd remembered. In that time he couldn't remember, he'd gotten stronger, huh? He smirked to himself, treasuring the rumble opf anticipation in his stomach. He stepped back from his opponent's roundhouse and striking out with an elbow and punch and then the opponent turned around and Kyou saw it: his opponent's head was completely unprotected - it was open for attack, and this was it - he was going to win now. And Kyou went for it.

Until that feeling boiled from behind the pit of his stomach.

A sharp blade slashed into his side, and Kyou doubled over himself and fell across the ground.

"Hey? What's-"

Pain. Screaming. A darkly laughing voice. With a gasp, Kyou pushed upwards so he could hold his torso from the ground with wobbling arms. "Why can't the cat ever learn it's place?" a voice cackled in his ear. "Don't touch him- ever-" And oh god the feeling - so much pain - his chest lurched forward - it hurt so badly now and it was swelling inside of him - the dirtiness - this terrible feeling- Make it go away - And then purple hair - and it hurt, it hurt so damn much - these impure feelings, you can't - blood and purple -

"-What's going on?"

Stop it stop it stop it.

Kyou dropped his head to the ground.

"Stop it!" I'm not - impure --

Something foul clamped to the sides of his throat. Kyou coughed hoarsely, and his head went forward and his mouth opened and everything spilt out ---

- - - -

It wasn't long.

He hadn't sat there for half an hour, not even that, really, before Kyou felt Master standing beside him, staring up at the clearing sky. A bird sang lightly in a tree nearby the dojo's outer walls and a wind whistled softly by. The feeling of tranquility murmured in Kyou's ear, but it passed as quickly as the breeze had, continuing past and leaving him in the stagnant afternoon shadow. He tilted his head back just enough to sigh straight from the center of his chest.

"The class is over, huh?"

"Mm."

Kyou leaned against the building, letting the rough brick bristle his hair.

"I didn't mean to distract you like that," he said, slowly, "It was so damn stupid. I don't know why the hell I started doing that."

"You probably ate something bad. It's normal."

"No, it's not. I - I barely ate anything at all today."

Master chuckled softly. "That would do it."

"No, you don't understand," Kyou began to rub at his temples. "My stomach wasn't upset at all when I came in. It's not even upset right now."

Kazuma sat down fully beside him. "That does seem unusual," he murmured.

"You don't know the half of it..."

The conversation trailed off into silence, and yards away the sounds of people's chatter and business drifted to Kyou's ears. He frowned.

"Kyou," Kazuma began, his voice still soft, but with a sudden firmness that jolted Kyou to attention, "I know that I have failed in some ways... I haven't been available to you as much as I used to be... and for that I am deeply sorry. But, I would be a terrible father if I couldn't see when something was troubling my own son."

In an instant, Kyou felt like a child again, listening to his mother's self-condemning lamentations.

It was demeaning. It was... terrifying.

"Don't be guilty like that," Kyou responded, "This stuff that's going on... it's not your fault or anything. I just got sick."

"You just got sick? That's all that happened?"

"Maybe, I don't know!" Kyou shot out, "What do you want me to say? It was just, being in there, in the middle of a fight, I was feeling so alive! I was moving forward - just to finish off with a strong attack, I was about to win - but I don't know, something felt wrong. Out of nowhere, I felt like my insides were being torn apart! I was hurting, everywhere, and I heard someone's voice and I think - I felt like I'd done something terrible. But I didn't!"

A cold hand laid itself across his forehead, and Kyou stopped talking.

"...What?" he panted.

"Your forehead is hot," said Kazuma, withdrawing his hand and sitting back, "And you stopped working out half an hour ago. You should probably visit Hatori."

"Hell no! I'm not gonna visit him," Kyou replied, fiercely, "I'm just fine."

"You're not eating, you're throwing up, and you're hot. Those are the classic signs of a fever. You've been pushing yourself too much while your immune system has been down."

"What's that supposed to mean," returned Kyou.

Kazuma observed Kyou carefully before he spoke. "You were very sick just a week ago. Don't you remember?"

Kyou felt his mouth drop slightly. "Hey, I was sick, not stupid! Of course I do!"

Kazuma lightly snorted.

"...Is that so?"

Kyou looked up sharply, finding his Master looking at him sternly. His eyes, they looked - troubled. Hurt, even. But Kyou couldn't be sure. And why would his Master make a face like that? There was no way that Master could even know about his memories being stolen. He had to have been talking about something else. Something else; anything else...

"It... was something I overheard, Kyou," Kazuma sighed deeply, hesitantly, "But as I imagined, and in fact, as I feared, this revelation does not come as a surprise to you. You were already aware that some of your memories had been misplaced, yes?"

"I... yes... I mean," Kyou stammered, his heart suddenly beating wildly, "Wait, I mean - Hell! You can't - you can't just say it so openly - that - about what's happening -!"

He knows. He really fucking knows.

"Look," he continuted, as Master gave him that patient, understanding face, "- it's not that I want to lie to you or anything but no one's supposed to know. No one is supposed to know that I know my memory is gone, okay? It's supposed to be like nothing ever happened. So I'm trying to act like nothing happened. Ever. Okay?"

"Kyou... it's not healthy for you to continue living this way."

"C'mon, Master, speak to me plainly, won't you? I know it's not healthy to lose my memory! Duh! But I don't know why I lost it, and it's not like you know anything, do you?"

Kazuma sighed. "I don't know why your memories are gone. But that they would be taken from you... in this manner.. is unforgiveable."

"Come on, do you even know if it was my decision? I mean... do you think I wanted this?" Kyou scowled at his lap, "Do you think it's possible... That maybe.. something really bad happened? Something I chose to forget?"

The karate master paused and fixed his steely eyes on Kyou. His face was uncharacteristically pinched up, stress lines furrowed at his forehead, indicative of deep concentration.

"I am certain that Hatori wouldn't erase your memory without having first recieved your permission, Kyou. He is cold, but not unfeeling." And even stilll...

"Yeah," the cat grimaced and ran his hand through his firey red hair. "But, it's possible that he could've done it without my permission?"

" Kyou. I'm not the person to ask. I don't know very much myself," Kazuma paused and turned to Kyou thoughtfully.

"How much time do you think you may have lost?"

Kyou turned his gaze upwards, to the overhanging roof shingles and the empty blue expanse.

"Ahh... Maybe... 'bout three months. I remember the beginning of summer; June. A little bit of July, but only pieces. I think some stuff was taken out in different places, you know?"

Kazuma bowed his head. "I have no idea," he admitted. "What has happened, Kyou... It's not right. Your aura, it feels... like you've been shaken. Lost. Even angry. Before this, just a week ago, you had taken very ill. You need to be careful not to become sick again, do you understand me?"

Kyou sighed in exasperation. "C'mon, don't treat me like a kid, I can take care of myself."

"I hope so. Until you are feeling better, I don't want you returning to the dojo."

"WHAT!" Kyou snapped upright as if he'd touched a live wire, "C'mon! You know I need this place to escape from that house! And from Tohru more than anyone!"

Kazuma gave him a weary smile. "This decision is the best for you. In spite of the darkness that you may sense, there is still a light that has drawn you back to that place, like a moth to the flame. You have been gifted to recieve the knowledge that your memory is gone, unlike Kana, or Yuki's friends of the past. I believe... that as such, you have been given a precious gift, that you must use. Now is not the time to escape, but to follow the whispers of the past."

Kyou bowed his head in his arms. Damnit... It wasn't fair. Nothing could go right for him, it was his fate. This dojo, this place, it seemed to be the only thing that had gone unchanged during the time which he couldn't remember.

But he had changed, and well, that changed everything.

-----

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