Chapter 5 – Memories

AN – So I want to let readers know that I do plan on finishing this story. I've got a great feel on the story overall and I know exactly what I want to happen. It'll just take a little time, thanks so much for your patience xD

Day 6

"Hello Hatori!"

The doctor narrowed his eyes and rubbed his temples agitatedly. He hadn't planned on Shigure coming to visit so soon after their last meeting, and he could only hope that the bastard had a serious reason for his visit.

"What do you want, Shigure?"

"Aw, come now Haa-san. Am I not allowed to drop by anymore?"

Hatori chose not to answer and instead let out a long sigh. He moved and let his old friend inside. Shigure meandered in, taking his sweet time, and skimmed over the house lazily. Hatori followed him, and when they reached the living room, he left Shigure and walked into the kitchen. He knew Shigure wasn't the type to wait for permission to sit and thus didn't offer. As Hatori disappeared behind a wall, Shigure's eyes fell onto the coffee table and instantly found something of interest.

"Ah, Hari, good choice. The Count of Monte Cristo. I love this book."

As he set a pot of tea onto the burner, Hatori sighed, "Yes, I know."

He knew all too well, but he had to admit his curiosity over it had only been sparked when Shigure started obsessively reading it. That had to have been almost 5 years ago now. Back when he got kicked out of the estate. Hatori's eyes narrowed mildly at the memory, and he quickly turned to join his friend in the other room.

Shigure had opened the old book and was now smiling as he read over the first sentences. Hatori sat across from him and folded his arms. Although he had endured many of Shigure's random visits where Shigure practically ignored him the entire time, it was still frustrating.

"Shigure, what do you want?"

"Patience is a virtue, Hari."

Hatori's eyes narrowed coldly, and he sighed heavily as he reached into his pocket. He slipped out a cigarette and drew it to his lips. While Shigure had appeared to have been ignoring the other, he too pulled a cigarette from his kimono and lit it quietly.

"You know what I like most about this book?"

Hatori watched him steadily and silently inhaled. Shigure continued.

"He knows how to get exactly what he wants."

Hatori's eyes closed aloofly as he replied, "But his means are far from acceptable."

Shigure smiled coolly at the comment and flipped the page. He decided to disregard the comment. He skimmed through a few more pages before Hatori's patience wore thin.

"Shigure. Why are you here?"

His voice was more demanding then earlier, yet somehow far softer as well. Shigure appeared to study the book for a while, though his eyes darkened the slightest touch. Truly, he wanted to talk to his oldest friend. He wanted to speak the words that had been hidden for so long. He wanted to crack open his chest and watch himself spill out. And he wanted Hatori to listen, to care, to know. Instead, Shigure smiled and looked at Hatori curiously, coldly.

"You look good. It must be nice without so much work on your plate."

Hatori shot a deadly glare at him, and Shigure recoiled. Ok, so that comment crossed the line. Then again, he had sort of meant it to.

"I can't believe you'd say that, Shigure," said Hatori, practically hissing the words through tight lips.

Shigure couldn't force his usual smile to the surface and waved at Hatori.

"Alright, I apologize. But you do look...well, I guess 'good' is the wrong word, but you look like you've had a decent–"

"Shigure," Hatori coldly interrupted. He knew how flippant his friend could get, and he wasn't about to let that happen during this conversation. Shigure just stared at him, faking innocence and confusion.

"What? I was only complimenting."

"Spare me."

Shigure studied him for a moment and then allowed a grin to wash over his face.

"You can't say that it hasn't been nice."

Hatori sent an even darker glare towards his cousin, silencing him immediately. The two stared at one another, delving in the others gaze as they sometimes did. It was the only way Hatori seemed to find any answers to his unspoken questions, and it was the only way Shigure seemed to feel any kind of closeness towards another person. Silence hung over them for the longest time before Hatori narrowed his eyes mildly. Shigure responded by lowering his head and inspecting the ground.

"You said that it's been a month."

Shigure stared through his eyelashes, the focus of his eyes distant and unseen.

The ground was soft. The grass was dense and strong. The thick clouds hung low and dark, so near the point of breaking and yet no rain would come. The air lingered around him, cloaking him and hiding him from despondent sight.

Three days had passed, and the clouds still would not pour.

Hatori narrowed his eyes over the table as though trying to see what his old friend saw.

"It's been longer, now."

It seemed years had passed since wrens sung to the morning light. Eons had passed since he could last feel any kind of warmth. Everyone was so silent now. Those that bickered had drawn somber banners of peace, and those that commonly rejoiced hung their heads in shame and guilt. He was only one man, but oh, such judgment he would bring.

"You should visit her," Hatori's voice grew tender and pained.

Shigure glanced up half-heartedly out of his small reverie, and as he nodded thoughtfully, he murmured with a depth of grace and love that Hatori had never seen.

"You're right. And I want to."

The second the phrase was complete, he looked straight at Hatori's still form. His eyes were solemn against the screened light, and an aloof smile glowered listlessly upon his face.

"But that doesn't mean I will."

"Ms. Honda!"

Yuki hopped forward until he was sitting by her knees. It killed him to see her in so much pain, and he sighed thankfully when Haru stepped forward and put his hands on her back. She shuddered relentlessly and covered her mouth. Her vibrant eyes were dull and vacant, yet twitched every so often as though a horror movie played inside her mind. Heaves racked her entire body as flashes flew over her eyes and pain shot through her heart. Face, places, names and situations, so many things flooded and consumed.

There was a family, the Sohma family. They were burdened, cursed, and the zodiac. The Zodiac! The people, the friends she had made, oh god all of the adventures and trials she endured replayed like a bad dream over and over. It was vague, but it became clear what had happened. Hatori erased her memory, she was sure of it. At least it explained why she had been feeling so strangely lately, yet just as her thoughts began to ease with understanding, something bulky and cruel dug into her shoulder and slashed at the fragile flesh. The smell of decay and fear danced upon the lakes of mud and filth, and her eyes widened.

She hacked out cries that were meant to be words, and her lungs heaved whispers that were meant to be breath. Haru looked at Yuki for a moment before kneeling beside her, and he tried to comfort her. She suddenly tensed and pushed Haru away, curling in on herself and staring wide-eyed at him.

"Don't stand so close to me!"

Yuki squeaked unconsciously and touched her knee, desperately trying to follow her movements. Tears sat thick in her eyes but would not fall, and she pulled her hands to her mouth again. Haru rubbed his arm aloofly and sat up straight.

"Please, Ms. Honda. Try to calm down," Yuki said as he tried to sound confident. It was harder then he thought.

She started to sob as all the joy, all the sorrow, all the fear and confusion began to settle. Even physical pain marked its presence, and her entire body ached. She wanted to laugh, cry, and scream. She wanted to fight, to embrace, to abandon, and acknowledge. The emotions consumed her, and soon she fell deathly silent. The two boys tensed watching her, and her arms slowly fell to her side. Yuki inched closer and pressed against her knee again.

"Ms. Honda, are you alright?"

Her eyes were cast in shadow, but Yuki could see the glisten of tears upon her cheek. She reached forward and picked him up roughly, but without anger.

"Yuki..." she whispered as she pressed him to her face. He stretched to embrace her as best as he could and dug his nose into her cheek. He wanted to cry right then, holding her as she held him, because she was his sole support. She was the one reason he kept fighting. Or, at least, it felt like it now, after everything had happened.

"I...I can't believe I forgot about you guys..." she said with a weak voice. She pulled him away to look at him better, and her grip on him lessened.

Yuki sighed and looked down, "Neither can I. I'm so sorry about all of this..."

Haru stood up and leaned back into his frame as he looked at Tohru.

"So you remember everything?"

She looked up at him, eyes still solemn but slowly regaining their characteristic glimmer. She shrugged and whimpered, "I think so. I remember all of you guys and the stuff we did. But…"

Her voice trailed off as her eyes unfocused just past him. Haru grinned and nodded to himself.

Haru's face became serious quickly as he spoke, "Good. I bet someone would like to know."

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. He held it to his ear, and boredly looked at Yuki as the person answered.

"Oh hey, Kyo, long time no talk," his voice was as aloof as ever.

Yuki twitched and snapped, "Don't tell him she remembered! What are you, insane?"

Haru smiled softly as he dutifully hung up on the rather confused cat, and shrugged lightly to himself, "I just thought he'd wanna know."

Yuki narrowed his eyes when Tohru suddenly gasped. He looked up at her when she started shaking him lightly.

"Why did I forget? What happened?"

Yuki sighed to himself quietly.

"I'm not really sure myself...I'm sorry..."

She shook him again, feeling snippets of hysteria starting to clip at her heart.

"What do you mean you're not sure? What do you know?"

Yuki grabbed one of her thumbs to keep from falling off, and she stopped shaking in order to save him the trouble. She set him down carefully and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry Yuki. I didn't mean to act like that..."

Yuki looked up at her and waved a small paw.

"Don't worry about it, really, I understand why you're upset."

She leaned down on her hands to look him face to face, and her eyes narrowed curiously as she spoke, "So then, what do you know?"

He rubbed the back of his head and shrugged lightly.

"Not much. I know Hatori told me that something bad happened to you. It sounded like you were hurt really badly."

Yuki's voice faltered as his eyes searched the ground for answers. He slowly let a sigh escape his chest, "He told me that he did what he had to."

Tohru studied his actions for a moment and clearly saw his pain. Yuki was such an independent person, yet he still needed a pillar that he could rely on. It wasn't until now that she realized that she was that pillar. So, she asked a silly question, hoping that she could remind him of her happy and ditsy qualities, "So Hatori might know why?"

Haru sighed to himself and leaned against the arm of a chair. He played with his hair idly and said "Look, I know it might sound strange, but if he didn't want you to remember, maybe it's better that way. We probably shouldn't probe too much."

Tohru looked up at him, energy slowly returning to her face.

"So, does that mean you don't know either?"

He nodded and looked at her calmly.

"All I know is that Kyo was involved somehow."

She looked down and thought over it for a moment when suddenly Yuki changed back. She squeaked and turned away as he promptly got dressed.

Haru grinned as he watched Yuki, "You look just as good as I remember."

Yuki shot a glare at him as he tightened a button near his neck, "Don't say stupid things."

Haru chuckled to himself, and Yuki turned back to Tohru. He leaned down to look at her and smiled softly.

"I'm sorry about all the trouble we've caused."

She smiled cheerfully, "It's no trouble at all! I'm happy that I remembered. How could I forget about Haru and Momiji. Kyo, and your secret base!"

She giggled to herself, and a shocked Yuki couldn't help but smile. She was an angel. Simple as that. He would do anything to protect her. No one would hurt her so badly in the future. It was a silent vow he made at that moment. He leaned further down and with a gentle twist of the wrist, he brushed aside her auburn hair. He slipped even closer and rested his lips just beside her ear.

"It's so good to have you back."