Warning! If you do not know how Fruits Basket ends, this chapter does contain spoilers. Also, it should be noted that future chapters may contain them as well. The English translated manga is available up to volume 18, but there are a couple more volumes before the series ends, so if you don't want to spoil anything, don't read. Fair warning. ;)
xXx
Usagi curled locks of Hatsuharu's white hair around her fingers, feeling his slow breathing warm against her cheeks, listening to his steady heartbeat. She stayed with him all morning, until he fell asleep beside her a little while ago. Moving slowly, she slipped away from him and exhaled. It was time.
The blue eyed girl found her way around the main house well enough. She knew the path of hallways that led to Akito's room. When she turned the corner she found Kureno just leaving, most likely to fetch something. They met gazes, he shook his head lightly and continued walking, pausing briefly at her side.
"Take care of yourself." The softly spoken words stunned her for moment while Kureno walked off, but did not deter her in the least. She walked to the door, placing her hand against it, and thought about Rin. About the horrible things Hatsuharu told her that Akito had done, about throwing her out of the window, about locking her away in the cat's room. The silver haired girl shuddered, but slid the door open before she could change her mind.
Akito's dark, almost black eyes shifted to her, his mouth stretching into a smirk. The faces of those who worried about her shifted through her mind; of Yuki, of Shigure, Hatsuharu, even Kyou. She entered, bowing as she was used to, waiting.
"Ame," he spoke, a hint of barely concealed laughter in his tone, "this is a surprise. No handholding, no Dog to come in and give me his little warnings. This is rich, little rabbit."
Usagi raised her eyes to meet his. She wanted to reach out, to hold him in her arms. To her he looked like a broken child, and she was trying her hardest to fix him. "I found out about your little friends. How extraordinary that they would suddenly regain the memories that Hatori stole."
She felt a true jolt of fear go through her then, one that brought a maniacal grin to Akito's face. Then he rose to his feet and, before she could react. Twisted his hand in her hair and jerked her up. "You're keeping something from me. Tell me!"
"I came to talk to you." Usagi whimpered, crying out when Akito jerked her hair even harder. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
She crumpled when he released her, breathing heavily as she stared into the floor. After regaining her breath, she pushed herself back on her knees, upright, looking at Akito. He focused his gaze outside, away from her, unreadable.
"I was told once, about you. When you were born, the horrible things your mother did to you." Akito's head snapped back to her in an instant. The look he gave, his nostrils flared, his eyes wide and black with rage, sent her shivering. "That she still does."
"You don't know anything! Shut up! You don't know!" Akito was screaming now. He was in front of her again, angry, pummeling her with his fists.
"She's wrong! Please, Akito-kun, stop!" Usagi could barely raise her voice to the soft whine it came out as. She ached all over now, but Akito mercifully stopped, his balled hands poised in midair for another strike. Though it hurt, she raised her arms to circle around him, and for once he didn't fight back. "I love you. The Juunishi love you."
"You're wrong," Akito tried to sound angry, moved his hands to push her away, but the fight had drained out of him. He was recalling everything, all the words said, everything...
"I know you feel like you're being abandoned, but it's not true. Everyone has to live their own lives." Usagi continued to cling to Akito, her voice breaking in sobs, "We still love you. Don't you want the same thing, Akito? Aren't you tired of pretending to be what you're not?"
"I'm not pretending to be anything! I'm a god!" Akito's voice rose again as he shoved Usagi away. "What would you know? You're an outcast! You don't belong here. There's no place in this family for you. I should lock you up with the cat. I should--"
"I know." Usagi's whisper somehow penetrated the screeching anger of Akito's voice. "I don't belong. That's true. But I know the truth about you Akito. I know how Shigure feels. And I know that this isn't what you want."
A spasm of pain shot through her. She coughed violently into her hand for a few moments, and when she pulled it away from her, she could see the blood smeared across her palm. Before she could muster a response, her blue eyes rolled back into her head, and she was out cold. Akito had been struggling with the words he had heard, bull the dull thud of Usagi's body against the floor pulled him to reality.
"Ame," he rushed to her then, realized her breathing was labored, panicked. It took several cries for help before Kureno was rushing into the room, dropping the tray with fresh tea in his haste. The warm liquid seeped slowly across the floor as they tried to revive the unconscious rabbit.
xXx
Usagi recalled later, in a haze, that she woke up in a dark hospital room with Shigure standing there, watching her with his dark eyes worried. It hurt to move, but she reached her hand out to cover his, whispering, "Tell her."
His shocked expression mixed with the medication lulled her back into sleep.
The next time she woke, her mind groggy from sedatives, it wasn't the dog of the zodiac that greeted her, but the ox. He sat next to her bed, his fingers clenched into his white hair until she could see the black roots peeking through. When he finally raised his head, realizing she was awake, she could see the redness of his eyes.
"Haru, it hurts," she whispered, unable to talk much louder. He automatically reached for the nurse call button, but she stopped him, shaking her head. "It hurts to see you cry."
"It's your fault. After everything I told you, you still," he stopped, his rage flickering away when she touched his arm.
"Come closer," she asked softly, and when he did, she smiled and said, "You know I never lost my resolve to get through to Akito. I put it on hold for you, but I never gave up on it."
The silence settled between them. Hatsuharu couldn't respond to that, but he understood, and his anger dissipated completely. After a while he said, "Yuki went to get dinner. He's worried sick about you. Ayame has been driving everyone in the waiting room crazy. They almost kicked him out."
Usagi wheezed out a pathetic sounding laugh at this, and then coughed a bit. The door of her room opened and Yuki walked in, sipping his drink from the cafeteria. When he saw the silver haired girl staring up at him, he choked, and she gave another wheezy laugh.
"Are you okay?" He asked, setting the drink aside.
"I feel groggy. What are they giving me?" She smiled cheerfully at this, and Yuki shook his head lightly. She drew a slow breath and asked, "Is Shigure still here?" The two shared a strange look at the question, but Hatsuharu answered first.
"Now that you mention it, he left a little while ago." Usagi sunk into her pillow, closed her eyes, and smiled softly to herself. "Yuki, you might want to go get Tohru before she has a panic attack in the waiting room and ends up over there." Hatsuharu pointed his thumb to the empty bed next to Usagi's. Yuki nodded his agreement and walked out of the room with a backward glance at his sister.
When the brunette entered the room, Yuki had to catch her by the arm so she wouldn't pummel the blue eyed girl and aggravate her injuries. She professed her endless worries teary eyed while Usagi listened, smiling widely. Behind Yuki, Kyou and Momiji followed. Momiji took a spot next to Tohru and nodded his agreement to her sentiments, while Kyou lingered in the background.
"Chibi-chan!" Ayame's loud voice overlapped any other conversation in the room when he burst in, his bright golden eyes sparkling with tears. "I was so worried about you!"
Usagi continued to listen to his rant of affection, giggling the whole time. That is, until a spasm of pain went through her chest and she winced. Hatori chose that time to show up, commanding Ayame to hush, which he abruptly did.
"The doctors say you ruptured a blood vessel in your lungs, which caused the blood. You should be fine now, with a few days rest." He fixed his steely gaze on her, and he seemed to soften a bit. "Thank you, for Shigure."
Everyone in the room gave him a puzzled look, but Usagi just smiled widely and nodded. Hatori left again, taking the rambunctious Ayame with him. The group talked and laughed for a while until they decided it was time to go home. As they filed out, Usagi watched them go.
"Kyou," she called softly, catching the cat's attention before he crossed the threshold. She beckoned him over to the bed and sent a pointed glance at the lingering Hatsuharu. "I want to talk to you alone for a minute."
The chocolate eyed teenager shrugged and walked out, closing the door behind him. Kyou stood very still next to her bed, his face betraying his nerves as he shifted his eyes around the suddenly quiet room. Finally, he asked, "What is it?"
Usagi reached her hand out and touched his wrist, the bracelet of beads that rested there. He jerked away immediately, glaring. Undeterred, she turned her beep blue eyes on him and said, "I've known. I know you think I didn't, that you were scared I would hate you."
"How?" Kyou might've fired off a thousand questions, but he didn't seem to be able to speak.
"You remember the time your other form was shown to Akito," Kyou frowned, noticing how she referred to the monster as his 'other' form and not his true form. Still, he nodded, and she continued, "I was there. I had been playing with Haru and picked what I thought would be the perfect hiding place. No one knew I was there, but I saw everything."
Usagi stopped there, waiting, wondering if he would say something. When he didn't, she found herself rambling on, "It was one of two times I ever seen you when I was a kid, growing up in the main house. The other was the funeral." She paused, and then, "I wanted to approach you then. I wanted us to be friends because you were a lot like me."
"How were you and I alike?" Kyou snapped, turning back to her now, his face displaying his irritation. She smiled lightly.
"We were both outcasts. You were the cat, I was the second rabbit. Akito hated us both. We both only had one person who really took care of us." Usagi smiled wistfully as she thought of Shigure. "I didn't mean to upset you by telling you, but I was tired of pretending like I didn't know. I don't think you're a horrible person, or evil, or any of those things. We can still be friends, right?"
Kyou never got the chance to answer. The door banged open and a raven haired girl stomped in the room, her face a mixture of rage and annoyance. Usagi's eyebrows jumped upward, and then she chuckled nervously, sinking down into her bed more as the new girl got closer. Kyou jumped out of her way as she took his spot next to the bed.
"Odango atama, I should pummel you right now." Three more girls filed into the room as she spoke, causing the nervous smile on Usagi's face to widen. "You're unbelievable."
"Aw, Rei, give her a break." Minako chirped, throwing her arm around the irritated priestess and grinning at the blue eyed girl in the bed. "Don't let her fool you. She's been a nervous wreck since we heard."
Usagi laughed at the streak of red that crossed Rei's face, watching from the corner of her eye as Kyou slipped from the room. She continued to laugh with her friends until the nurse came by and kicked them out, declaring visiting hours over.
xXx
Usagi sighed, looking out her hospital window to the city beyond. It was her third day in the hospital and the doctors had finally permitted her to walk around the room. A stack of homework waited for her on the table near her bed. One of her favorite CDs played from the small player that Yuki brought for her, yet her mind lingered elsewhere.
The door opened to her room, and without turning, she called, "I don't need anything, thank you."
"Usagi," she felt her body go rigid at the voice. Though the tone was different than anything she was used to, and the name was one she was never called, she knew who spoke immediately. Turning, she met the black eyes of Akito apprehensively. Shigure following eased her anxiety somewhat.
Then she saw what she overlooked at first, what Akito wore. A simple white dress, revealing what she'd known for so long, what Shigure had told her when she was still a child; Akito was a woman. A cheerful smile broke over her face and she moved forward, slowly. When she finally made it across the room, she enveloped her in a hug.
"I'm so happy."
"I'm," Akito stumbled over her next words, overwhelmed by Usagi's emotion, "I'm sorry, for everything."
"No worries," Usagi pulled away, still smiling. She met gazes with Shigure, grinned, and tackled him with a hug next. Whispering so only he would hear, she said, "It's about time, Gure-chan."
xXx
"What changed?" She had been talking with Akito and Shigure for a while now, but just gathered the courage to ask the question that nagged her since she turned and saw the new Akito.
"When I thought you were dead, that I had killed you," Akito began softly. As Usagi looked on, she found it hard to believe now that anyone had mistaken her for a male. "All of a sudden it seemed the things you had been saying sunk in, and then Shigure came."
"So," Usagi began again, hiding her grin as the two shared a look. Her hesitation was brief, "so the cat's room. There's no need for that now, right?"
Akito shook her head softly, saying, "I was thinking of knocking it down."
"Good," Usagi fell back into her pillows, smiling, her eyes closed, "Good."
The next few days of her stay in the hospital was blur of visitors, laughter, and the tinge of boredom when she was alone. But it never lasted very long, and finally the doctor announced her healthy enough to return to her everyday life, with the promise of following up with a family doctor. She smiled and thought of Hatori.
The person that picked her up, surprisingly, was Kyou. They walked, he carried her bag, but his red eyes avoided her most of the time. "Yuki asked me to come get you. He had student council."
Usagi nodded at this absently, clutching the radio he brought her in both hands. It bounced softly against her legs as she walked, but she didn't mind, humming the tune she'd been listening to that morning. Moments passed before his voice cut through her reverie again.
"The answer is yes." The silver haired girl turned then, her humming stopping, to observe the now flushed Kyou. When she said nothing, he decided to elaborate, "You asked if we could still be friends. The answer is yes."
Usagi only smiled, thinking of no words to say. They stayed silent most of the way, until Shigure's house slowly came into view. Her expression softened with worry, and she mused, "I wonder how everyone will react to Akito now."
"What do you mean?" Kyou asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. She arched an eyebrow at him as they stopped in front of the entrance. "I haven't seen him."
"Her," Usagi corrected, smiling mischievously as she took her bag and disappeared into the house. It wasn't the first time she'd left Kyou shell shocked at the front door, and it might not be the last.
xXx
Umm. I have nothing to say. It might seem like the story is ending soon, but with everything that still has to happen, I wouldn't be surprised if it breached 30 chapters. ;) Please review!
