Pairing:This chapter contains Haru x Rin and Hatori/Shigure
Rating: M
Warnings:There is also slight OOC, language, some sexual content, talk of death, and references to: violence, torture, and blood. This is also going to be the start of a side love story that I have planned to put into this story since it had begun, something to get the center stage off of the horror and more onto the drama.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya does.
"He's lost a lot of blood!" Shigure's voice called out. "So much blood!"
"He's going to be alright, calm down!" Hatori tried to stay serious.
Haru could hear their words, but he couldn't see anything. His body felt heavy as he could feel Hatori's hands on his chest, trying his hardest to stop the bleeding. Breath burned throughout his throat and chest as pain circulated through him. His body gently shook as he heard their words grow louder. He felt his heart start to slow, his body shaking harsher.
"Stay with me, Haru!" he heard Hatori scream.
"Why isn't he transforming?" Shigure asked, his voice frantic. "Why isn't he transforming?! He should be changing by now!"
Haru tried to open his eyes only to feel his body become heavier as he felt his body start to give way. He heard the cries get louder and louder as he fell deeper into the darkness.
"His heart just stopped!"
He remembered the look on the woman's face as she tortured him. He remembered those venomous words seeping from her scarlet lips. The horror stayed with him as he went deeper into the darkness.
"You worthless animal…"
Shut up!Haru wanted to silence that voice.
He felt Hatori's hands leave his chest. "I'm losing him."
"Losing him implies that he's heart's beating. It's not beating anymore. Hatori, you've lost him!"
"He stole everything from you. And now he's taken your life."
Haru felt a surge of electricity through his chest, a light flashing before his eyes. Still he felt lifeless, heavy. He looked forward to see those scarlet lips speaking to him, those hands wrapping around his throat. The moments in the warehouse played over and over behind his eyes. All of the pain was set aflame as he could see that smile before him, torturing him to no end.
"It's over…"
"Haru!" Hatori's screams were bordering desperation
"You're finished."
"Come on!" his voice shook as Haru could hear the tears forming within his eyes.
He felt another surge go through his body.
"I won…"
"Come on!" his voice broke as emotion was starting to take over.
He finally moved his fingers, the sensation of his beating heart returning to him as the face went away, the screams that filled the room disappearing. He struggled to open his eyes, unable to as they became heavy; his body barely moving from the limp state it was in. He could hear Hatori's ragged breathing as a smile rolled across his face.
"Hatori…" he breathed as he moved his fingers.
"Haru," Hatori moved closer to him. "Thank God. I thought that I lost you for a moment."
The boy tried to open his eyes, closing them as he saw the light in the room, wincing as he moved his body, feeling the pain of stitches along his arms and legs. He tried to open his eyes again, only to feel Hatori's hand move to his shoulder.
"It's alight, Haru… you don't have to strain yourself."
"What happened?" Haru asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," Hatori breathed as he pressed his hand up against the wound on Haru's chest. "What happened in there?"
Haru closed his eyes and sighed as he remembered the pain. "What do you think happened in there? They tortured me. They tried to kill me. They were part of some gang that wanted us dead. The woman who attacked me was named… Akane, I think. Their leader was Katsu. The woman who took Yuki was…" his eyes opened wide as he heard that name pass his lips. "Yuki! Who is he? Is he hurt?"
Shigure shook his head. "No, only you were hurt. But Yuki went through quite a bit of torture himself," the next words that passed Shigure's lips sent chills down Haru's spine. "He was forced to watch the whole thing as it occurred. He saw them torture you…"
"What?" Haru asked, his heart feeling like it was going to stop again, emotions taking control of him. "How is he?"
"Shattered," Shigure answered, his eyes avoiding Haru. "Completely destroyed. He's with Ayame right now."
"That must be pissing him off…"
"On the contrary," the dog continued. "He's happy that his brother is here for him. He was terrified for the worst. He thought that you were gone. You stopped breathing, and just now…your heart stopped."
Haru swallowed hard as he lay back on the bed. "Am I going to be alright?"
"You need to stay in bed for a while," Hatori breathed. "And I think it would be in your best interest to stay with me."
That statement made Haru freeze in place. "Why?"
"I'm just concerned for your health. I don't want to see you get hurt…" Hatori ran a hand along Haru's arm. "I was worried about you…"
"You're not my father…"
"I know," the dragon sighed. "I know… but maybe just this once you can let me help you… that's all I want to do is help you through this…"
Haru looked at Hatori, seeing the pain in his eyes. He wanted to help him. Haru could see the fear in the dragon's eyes as he looked at him, he could feel the worry within his body. That day when they were taken into the warehouse, he knew tat he would never be the same. The family was going to fall apart faster than he ever thought it would. Hatori knew that they were going to come after all of them, and they were going to start by finishing off the ones who got away.
The urgency of the situation didn't escape Haru, but in is heart he wanted to think differently. He wanted to think that this was going to be the end and all of the ghosts were going to die. But they were never going to die. The nightmare had just begun. As he looked into the doctor's eyes, he saw the same nightmare. They needed each other more than they would ever understand.
"You're terrified," Haru breathed.
"Aren't you?" Hatori asked as he looked into his eyes.
"No," Haru answered quietly. "They won't come back for me… but you… all of you… I don't know what will happen…" he looked at the dragon taking a deep breath. "I don't know what's going to happen to you…"
Shigure and Hatori looked at each other, Haru's heart breaking as he saw the looks within their eyes. Both of them were terrified, Shigure closing his eyes as he looked away from the doctor, his eyes reopening as they fell upon Haru.
"How do they decide who they kill?" Shigure asked, Hatori's eyes opening as he looked over at the dog. "How do they decide who they torture next?"
Haru swallowed hard as he thought deeply about it, looking at the way that Hatori was looking at Shigure. "They go in order. They wanted Yuki first, then me… they're going to go in order of how our Zodiac animal arrived at the gala…"
Shigure's eyes filled with tears as he looked back at Hatori. "Haa-san…"
"There's still time to stop them before they get to you," Hatori sighed. "After all… the dog is 11th, that's plenty of time…"
"I'm not talking about me!" Shigure yelled as he looked at Hatori. "They're going to come for you… and they get progressively worse. And then they'll come for Ayame. I'm going to be left defenseless… they're going to kill you, Hatori!"
Hatori sighed as he moved to comfort his friend. "Shigure…"
At that moment a scream came from the door. "Haru!"
Hatori and Shigure's attention disappeared from each other as they looked at the door. There stood Rin with Kagura, the two of them covered with tears as they glanced at Haru who was on the bed, covered with stitches. Haru looked at the two of them as they walked closer to him, Shigure wiping the tears from his eyes as Hatori looked back at him, his breathing becoming deeper as emotion was overtaking the room.
"Haru!" Rin yelled again as she ran to his side, grasping his hand. "Haru! You're alive! I was so worried…"
"Worried about me?" Haru asked with a smile on his face. "You should have known it would take more than some crazy gang to kill me…"
Kagura shook her head. "We all thought you were dead. We didn't know right away become some people didn't want to tell us…"
Hatori shrugged. "We didn't want to get the whole family involved."
"You told everyone but me, Rin, and Ritsu…" Kagura growled as he looked at the dragon. "I think we have a right to know…"
Haru closed his eyes as Rin held onto his hand tighter. Everything was going to change. As he looked at everyone in the room, he slowly saw them die before his eyes, every one of them falling into the black in front of him. He looked at Rin again, closing his eyes as he saw the visions of her death, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to shake the pain from his mind. But it kept swirling, it wanted to take him over, he swallowed hard as he tried to block it all out.
"I'm coming for all of them… everyone you know is going to die, Souma Hatsuharu. Are you prepared to lose everything?"
Rin held on tighter to his hand. "I don't want to let you out of my sight…" she looked over at Hatori. "Hatori-san…" the dragon diverted his attention from Shigure to glance over at the horse. "Can I stay with Haru?"
Hatori looked at Haru. "They're going to come for all of us?"
Haru nodded. "Just like Yuki's dream…"
Hatori closed his eyes as he shook his head. "Then you should keep Rin close to you…" he looked at Haru. "You said they have no interest in you anymore, right? Then you're the only one who can protect us from another attack…"
"Haa-san…" Shigure took an aggressive step forward. "Don't put that kind of pressure on him. Don't you think he's been through enough?"
At that moment, Haru's blood turned to ice, hearing the words that passed Hatori's lips. "Do you want to die, Shigure?" his voice was almost shaking. "Do you want every single one of us to die because you think that he doesn't need that pressure? He's our only hope. He's the one who survived."
"You shouldn't just label him like that," Shigure walked closer to him. "If you haven't forgotten you'd remember that you almost lost him only a few moments ago. Do you want that to happen to him again? You don't even know if you'll be able to bring him back!"
Haru watched as the argument flared up between the dragon and the dog, the two of them raising their voices as tears were forming in Shigure's eyes. Rin's hand tightened on his as their yelling increase in ferocity and fear. Kagura stood, eyes wide as she watched Shigure resist the urge to slap Hatori in front of all of them. The tension grew louder, thicker until Haru could no longer breathe. The situation had flared up as the two adults that they hoped that they could lean on had turned into nothing more than dueling beasts, seeing which one could scream louder.
He tightened his hand on Rin's as he saw a tear fall down Shigure's cheek, this wasn't anger, this wasn't about Haru. This was all about Hatori. Shigure had done the numbers in his head; he knew that it was only a matter of time before they got Hatori. The dragon was 5th in the line-up; they had already captured and tortured the 2nd. No one knew when they were going to take Hatori. It could be months, it could be three days. Haru closed his eyes as he looked into Shigure's the pain was taking him over, the boiling sensation of heartache rising throughout him.
"What is this about?" Hatori asked. "What are you so afraid of?"
"I'm afraid that we're all going to die, you bastard!" Shigure yelled.
Kagura leaned over to Rin to whisper in her ear. "What's going on?"
"I think Shigure-san wants some Hatori-san," Rin whispered back as they looked at the two adults. "That's what I'm getting out of this."
Shigure then walked out of the room, Hatori closing his eyes as he sighed. "Shigure…" he looked back at the three kids behind him seeing their eyes on him, smiles upon their faces. "What?"
"Aren't you going to go after him?" Kagura asked as she gestured to the doorway.
"Why would I do that?" Hatori asked as he looked away from them, his voice shaking with frustration, his eyes falling back on the door. "He's going to be fine."
"Cuz you pissed him off," Kagura continued as she looked at the doorway. "You should go after him."
Hatori looked at the doorway as he sighed, his shoulders tensing as he walked toward the door, leaving the room. A smile rolled across Kagura's face as her eyes moved back to Haru who was shaking his head.
"What? Can't I make light of this situation?" Kagura asked as she looked at Haru and Rin. "Besides, it's all very romantic…"
"Will you stop it?" Haru breathed as he looked at the boar. "Shigure's upset."
Kagura grinned as she looked at the doorway, a giggle rolling from her. "I so bet that those two wind up doing it…"
Haru shook his head. "I'm not going to bet against that… because they so are."
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Shigure!" Hatori called out as Shigure walked toward the door. "Where do you think that you're going?"
Shigure looked back at him. "Yuki is probably waiting for me…" he looked at the door again, moving forward to walk out of it. "Besides, Kisa is still there… I have to stop all of this before it gets out of hand."
As Shigure tried to walk away, Hatori grasped his wrist, pulling him back. Shigure fell onto Hatori's chest as he was pulled back, feeling his breath accelerate as he fell onto him. Their eyes met as Shigure looked up, depression meeting fear as they moved closer to one another, their breathing patterns aligning as their bodies became stiffer. Their gaze deepened as Hatori's grip on the dog's wrist faded away, his hands moving to his shoulders.
"You're worried aren't you?" Hatori breathed as he looked into Shigure's eyes.
"I don't know what their going to do to you…" Shigure exhaled deeply as he rested his head on Hatori's shoulder. "I'm scared for you… for all of us… but you…" he closed his eyes as he fell deeper into his chest. "When they get you, I don't know if I'm going to live through it…"
"Don't talk like that," Hatori whispered. "Everyone's going to be alright. No one else is going to suffer," he ran his hand along Shigure's back. "Shigure… I promise…"
Shigure looked up into Hatori's eyes, his body shaking as he saw the blood on his shirt, his swollen eyes, dark circles beneath them. He could feel Hatori's breath on his face, his body tensing against the doctor's as the two of them moved closer to one another. Hatori's hand tightened on the back of his shirt as their breath mixed, the passion increasing as their eyes closed.
"Hatori…" Shigure whispered, passion taking him over. "Haa-san…"
They didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know what was compelling them to be closer. After all of the years of being with him, Shigure never thought that this would happen. They had been close ever since they were kids, but never did he think he was going to be in position with him, never did he think that he was going to be so tantalizingly close to his lips. He moved closer to the point where he could feel Hatori's lips barely touch his.
"Shigure," Hatori swallowed hard as their lips were about to touch.
Electricity rolled down Shigure's spine as his eyes closed tightly, his hands on Hatori's shoulders tightening. They remained barely touching as their breath accelerated. Shigure shook as he could feel Hatori's heart race up against his chest, his pulse racing with every breath. He moved closer, their lips brushing against one another.
The phone then rang. Hatori's hands tightening on Shigure's shoulder, a small purr leaving his lips as his eyes fell onto the phone.
"You should probably get that," Shigure breathed as he looked at the phone. "Could be important…"
Hatori reached to pick up the phone. "Hello…" his voice was breathless as he spoke into the phone. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"
Shigure backed away as he tried to compose himself, watching as Hatori talked on the phone. He could hear the voice on the other end, it was Ayame. He watched as Hatori breathlessly tried to talk to their friend, swallowing hard every moment that he could. He had never seen Hatori like this, completely flustered, off his game. His composure was broken, and it was all Shigure's fault.
"Hatsuharu's fine…" Hatori breathed as he looked over at Shigure. "Honestly, I'm fine, Ayame…" he swallowed again as Ayame tried to respond to him, taking deep breaths as he tried to compose himself, the passion still swirling within him. "I was stitching him for hours, Ayame, of course I'm out of breath…" he took a breath. "No I'm not crying…"
Shigure moved to get a cigarette from the drawer as Hatori kept on trying to talk, nervously tangling his fingers through the cord. He looked at the dragon as he lit the cigarette, taking a drag as if trying to get himself together, trying to compose himself before he went back to his house in front of Yuki. He took another drag as he watched Hatori undo the first button of his shirt, his head swirling uncontrollably.
"Shigure is leaving right now…" Hatori breathed as he smiled smelling the aroma of cigarette smoke. "I'm fine Ayame…" he looked over at Shigure. "I need to go…" he rolled his eyes as Ayame made his response. "Because I'm busy, Ayame. Haru's in pain… I need to tend to him right away… I'll talk to you later."
He hung up the phone and looked at Shigure, breathlessly.
"Are you alright, Haa-san?" Shigure asked as he looked at him.
Hatori nodded. "I'm fine… are you alright?"
"Fine…" Shigure took another drag.
Hatori shook his head. "You shouldn't smoke so much…"
Shigure laughed. "You're one to talk. You smoke more than me…"
They looked at each other as they tried to catch their breath. The nightmare was surrounding them and it was only going to get worse. But as Shigure remembered how Hatori felt in his grip, he knew that everything was going to be alright, if only for a moment.
But all moments had to come to an end.
This chapter came a lot quicker than the other ones, I just can't stand to see this story go unfinished. I feel as though this story generates a lot of hit to my account and stories that do that should be updates more often.
Yes, I do love Hatori/Shigure slash, and have wanted to put them in as a subplot since the development of this idea in August 2007. I just want to take the spotlight off of the horror and do what i do best: drama...
I will continue to update this story a lot faster than once every few months. This story may become my main focus as it is the oldest of all that I'm working on being from early 2008.
Like what you read? Feel free to PM a request. See profile for details.
Also review, the more reviews the more I will work on this story.
Also to put my priorities in order, I've made a poll, vote for the stories you want faster updates on.
