Pairing:This chapter contains Hatori/Shigure
Rating: M
Warnings:There is also slight OOC, language, some sexual content, talk of death, and references to: violence, torture, and blood.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya does.
Yuki curled up in the bed as he heard the ticking of the clock, remembering those heals up against the ground as he was taken into that room. The screams came back to him as he remembered the howling from that room, the look on Haru's face as the woman repeatedly stabbed him. He buried himself deeper in the sheets as the clicking became louder, hearing that venomous voice whispering in his ear.
The memory was so vivid within his mind, his heart racing as he remembered that woman, remembered those hands on his shoulders. He took a deep breath as he tried to block out the memory of her. He buried his face in his pillow as he heard the ticking getting closer to him, tears forming in his eyes.
"Can you get that clock out of here?" Yuki asked as he looked over at Ayame.
"The clock?" Ayame asked. "What is the clock doing?"
Yuki's body shook. "It's bothering me… can't we get a digital clock in here… anything that doesn't make noise…"
Ayame looked over at the clock. "Yuki…"
"Please, get rid of it. You don't have to throw it away, just get it out of here…" he closed his eyes tightly as he looked at the clock. "Please…"
Ayame picked the clock up and left the room, Yuki's body shaking as he looked around the room, it was starting to get dark out, he could feel himself being closed within a box, his body shaking as he remembered being in that room. He looked out the window seeing the setting sun remembering the day when he was taken away. He remembered as Haru was taken out of the car by Hatori, the urgency that was in his voice as he told Ayame to take Yuki to Shigure's house.
"Take Yuki to Shigure's place, I don't want him here for this…" Hatori looked over at Shigure. "I'm going to need your help for this one…"
"Why isn't he transforming?" Shigure asked as he looked at Haru's limp bleeding body, his breathing ragged. "Haa-san…"
"Help me…" Hatori cried out as he lifted Haru's body out of the car, slathering his blood on his shirt. "What the hell are you doing here, Ayame? Get him the hell out of here!"
Ayame wrapped his arms around Yuki. "We have to go!"
"He's bleeding everywhere!" Shigure breathed as he helped lift Haru out of the car. "Haa-san…"
"Get the fuck out of here, Ayame!" Hatori screamed at Ayame.
"We have to go Yuki…"
Yuki closed his eyes as he remembered Hatori's body language; he never thought that he would see him like that. He never thought that he would hear him curse; he never thought that he would hear him curse. He closed his eyes tightly as he remembered the blood that was lacquered on Hatori's hands, the tears that were forming in Shigure's eyes. He remembered the look in their eyes as they glanced at one another. Even at that moment he didn't even know if Haru was alright.
"The clock is gone," Ayame announced as he walked back into the room. "Is there anything else that you need?"
Yuki looked up into his brother's eyes. "How's Haru?"
Ayame sighed, but he couldn't hide it from Yuki. He had no choice but to tell him the truth. "He's alive…"
"He lived?" Yuki asked as he looked into his brother's eyes. "But what happened to him? Is he alright? Is he awake?"
"He's fine…" Ayame continued. "Tori-san said that it was difficult to keep him, but he managed to. Haru's going to be make it, but he's going to need to stay in bed for a while… that's what you wanted to hear, right?"
Yuki closed his eyes. "Thank goodness… he's alright… I thought…" he fought the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I thought… I thought…" his breathing caught in his throat as he went back to that day, seeing Haru dangling from the chains in front of him, blood rolling from his body as blue liquid fell from his lips. "I thought…"
Ayame placed a hand on Yuki's shoulder. "I know that you're in pain… we all are…"
Yuki shook his head. "What exactly do you know about this situation? Were you there when we were taken from the streets? Were you there when we were kept in that dark room?" his voice increased with ferocity as he almost stood up from the bed. "Were you there when Haru was pulled from the room? Were you there watching everything that woman did to him?" he shook his head again as the tears rolled down his cheeks, his voice turning into a piercing howl. "You know nothing!"
"Yuki…" Ayame breathed. "I know that you're in pain…"
"Do you know what it feels like to be hunted down like a fugitive, like an animal? Do you know what it's like to go through all of that, not knowing what you've done?" Yuki closed his eyes as he felt his brother's hands on his shoulders. "If you feel all of that, you sure don't show it!"
Ayame shook his head. "I searched for hours…" his hands shook on Yuki's shoulders. "I searched for ages for you, looking everywhere for you. I thought you were dead, Yuki," he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, his voice breaking. "I thought that they took you from me…"
Yuki shook his head. "I wish… I wish that they did…" he swallowed hard as he fell back on the bed. "I wish…" his voice shook as he closed his eyes tightly. "I wish I wasn't such a burden to Haru… I wish that I went in his place… if I didn't use the cow… if I…"
Ayame shook his head. "I'm glad that you're alive… I'm glad that you're okay. I was so worried about you," he closed his eyes as tears continued to roll down his cheeks. "They're going to come after us, aren't they? All of us?"
Yuki nodded. "I think so…"
Ayame swallowed hard as he heard those words. "Then we have to be ready…"
As Yuki saw the fear that was within his brother, his heart broke. This was the life that they were to live for the rest of their lives. This was the life that they had chosen. They were forever going to be on the run. This was how it all was going to end.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"A complete and utter failure!" Hikari yelled from the corner. "I had that rat underneath my fingers, all I had to do was squish him and he'd be gone!" she pulled out her gun as she cocked it and aimed it at the corner, ignoring Akane's rolling eyes, not wanting to hear any of her mindless tripe. "Then that dragon had to interfere with that damn dog…"
Katsu's eyes lit up as he looked at Hikari. "You're sure that it was the dragon and the dog that showed up."
"Oh I'd recognize the dog from a mile away…" Hikari snorted as she lowered the gun, looking at her leader. "Exactly how I remembered him…" a smile rolled across her face. "And I could sense that the one he was with was the dragon… he had a certain air to him…"
Akane looked at Katsu, her voice filled to the brim with authority. "It's true… we all know that the snake, the dragon, and the dog are inseparable. But the way that he carried himself… definitely the dragon…"
"That's your next target isn't it, Katsu-chan?" Hikari asked as she looked over at Katsu whose eyes moved away from her.
Katsu took a deep breath. "How will I be able to tell who he is…?"
Akane smiled as she closed her eyes, her arms crossed across her chest. "He has very distinctive eyes. They're a color and a shape that you may remember," she looked at Katsu, her eyes opening as her smile faded. "I don't think you'll want to look at them too long…"
Katsu glanced over at Tsubasa. "Then I guess we should get moving tomorrow," his eyes never left the young boy. "Are you ready, Tsubasa-kun? You may be able to get your target soon…"
Tsubasa smiled a nervous smiled as he ran a hand through his chestnut hair. "How are we going to get to them? They've probably caught on. I mean if the dragon, snake, and dog went through that much trouble to get the ox and the rat… what will they go through for a tiger and the rabbit?"
"I won't give them time to save the tiger," Hikari smiled viciously. "As soon as I see that beast I'm going to put one in between the eyes. It'll be dead before it even knew what hit it…"
Akane growled at that. "Is that what you think this is all about? Quick deaths?"
"The less I have to look at them the better. If you had that philosophy perhaps Bessie would be in a casket!" Hikari looked over at Katsu, trying to ignore the angry Akane's eyes falling upon her. "What about you? Going after the dragon?"
Katsu chuckled at her question. "Why? I want to see how much I can make him squirm before I destroy him."
Akane looked at Hikari as she took a deep breath. "What's the plan, Katsu-sama?"
Katsu took a step forward as the room started to thicken with the sensation of authority, fear, discipline. The three looked upon their leader as he closed his onyx eyes tightly as if trying to remember something, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his body stiff as he took a deep breath. The sound of metal grating against the sheath echoing through the air, all of his subordinates staring at him.
"A week from now," he held on tightly to his sword. "We will attack the two places where they could be hiding them and we will take them down…" he looked over at Akane. "You will go with Tsubasa-kun, Akane-san to the doghouse. As for you Hikari-san," he glanced at the blond to his left. "You will go to me to the dragon's den," he extended his sword in front of him. "We will take down the rabbit and the tiger, but only the rabbit and the tiger," his eyes never left Hikari, who was rolling her eyes. "You may wound who you please, but not kill them. Anyone who gets in your way must be taken out of the equation whether it be your target or not."
Akane drew her dagger and put it against Katsu's sword. "Agreed, Katsu-sama."
Tsubasa drew his dagger as well as he put it forward, his eyes not leaving his master. "Agreed, Katsu-sama…"
Hikari took her gun and placed it against the three blades. "Agreed… Katsu-chan…"
All of them looked at each other, one more week until they were going to strike back. One more week until they were going to make the animals pay. A smile rolled across Katsu's face as he retracted his sword, his hand wrapped tightly around the hilt. His smile beamed as his eyes fell on each one of his comrades.
"For Cassandra…" he announced as he looked at all of them, putting his sword back into his sheath. "We will make them pay for Cassandra…"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Haru took a deep breath as Hatori sat by his side, bandaging his wounds. The ox's eyes fell upon the blood that was staining the doctor's shirt, seeing the fatigue that was overtaking him. His body tightened as Hatori wrapped the bandages around him, his eyes still swollen with the sorrow from earlier.
"Do you ever turn off?" Haru asked as he looked at the doctor seeing his eyes look up at him. "You're always working…"
"People are always getting beat up," Hatori answered softly.
Haru looked deeper into the dragon's eyes, sensing the emotion that was taking him over. "You're worried about me…"
"You came home barely in one piece…" Hatori answered curtly.
"No," Haru took a deep breath as the dragon looked away, reaching for more bandages. "You're worried because I haven't transformed yet…" Hatori was about to speak. "Your eyes give everything away, Hatori-san."
"Not everything," he answered as he stopped looking for the bandages, taking a deep breath. "Otherwise you'd be underneath an avalanche of a lot of feelings, Hatsuharu. Trust me, they don't show everything."
Haru took a deep breath as he smiled. "Fear, anger, annoyance, concern," the dragon froze in place as the boy kept listing them off. "Curiosity, joy, and…" Haru smiled. "My God do I see some sorrow in there?"
"Okay, I get it," Hatori tried his hardest not to smile as Haru looked at him. "I'm not used to people reading my emotions so well… well not anybody but Shigure…"
"Shigure…" Haru grinned as he said that name. "You and Shigure seem to be at each others throats."
Hatori answered as quickly as possible. "He's just being paranoid…"
"And that concerns you?" Haru's grin disappeared.
The doctor shook his head as he stopped bandaging Haru's leg, a small smile upon his face. "I don't need to talk about this with a sixteen-year-old…"
"You're worried that he's worried. It terrifies you that people are worrying about you," Haru managed to get Hatori's eyes to fall upon him. "You're afraid that if he worries about you he's going to lose you…"
"He's going to lose me someday…"
"You think he's going to lose you now," Haru didn't break eye contact with Hatori, the dragon stiffening in front of him. "You don't want him to worry because you don't want that to be the last thing that he ever feels toward you… Hatori-san…"
Hatori couldn't look at Haru. "He's always worrying about me, ever since we were kids… he's always worried that I work to hard or that I'm so distant. He's always going to wish that he could be closer to me and after all this time… I'm starting to regret all of the times I made him worry…" his eyes then fell on Haru. "I can't believe I just said that to a sixteen-year-old…"
The cow smiled victoriously. "Sometimes it's nice to get stuff off of your chest…"
"I haven't gotten anything off of my chest in twenty-seven years," Hatori continued to bandage Haru's leg. "How much more do you think you can get out of me?"
"How many weeks am I going to be stuck in bed?" Haru asked, closing his eyes as the pain rolled through his leg, Hatori focused on the bandaging.
Hatori smiled faintly. "Kids…"
"Now, tell me what happened with Shigure…"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Shigure walked through the door reflecting on what had happened earlier. He could still taste Hatori's breath on his lips as he inhaled. Leaned up against the wall as he heard footsteps come closer to him, being met with a tear streaked Ayame.
"Aaya?" Shigure asked as he looked at the snake. "Are you alright?"
Ayame shook his head. "They're coming for all of us," his voice grew quiet; something that Shigure didn't think was possible. "Aren't they?"
Shigure bowed his head. "So you heard…"
"Yeah," Ayame nodded as he looked at the dog, his body was stiff. "I heard. But Kisa…"
Shigure closed his eyes as he thought of Kisa: she was next. His breathing stopped as he remembered the look on Haru's face as he explained what their fate was going to be. He moved closer to Ayame whose breath was trembling as he heard the news, trying to take it all in. None of them were going to be alright throughout this event: not Hatori, not Ayame, not Shigure. Slowly they were all going to fall to ruin, and Shigure saw first hand what this had done to them.
"How are we going to tell her?" Ayame asked as he looked at Shigure. "We have to tell her."
"How do you tell anyone that they are about to be hunted, Aaya?" Shigure asked as he looked away from his sobbing friend. "How are we going to tell Momiji? And then after that…" he closed his eyes tightly. "We're going to lose someone that we never wanted to…"
Ayame's heart sank as his voice trembled. "Tori-san…" his voice was shaking. "How are we… how are you…?"
"We'll all be fine, Haa-san's tough. I wouldn't want to be the one who has to go against him," Shigure shook his head as if trying to evade the thoughts from his mind. "And on the off chance that they do succeed in their game… well I hate to be the one who has to face me…"
Ayame examined the look on Shigure's face. "What happened with Tori-san…?" the snake's eyes narrowed. "I never asked you that question. On the phone he sounded out of breath. Is he alright?"
Shigure didn't need any time to generate a lie. "His lungs are trashed, Aaya. Of course he's going to be out of breath under this stress. He's been smoking since high school…"
Shigure remembered that moment in Hatori's arms, feeling his breath on his lips, those hands on his shoulders. He closed his eyes as he tried to take the moment in again, the passion still making him tremble. Ayame was on to them, he was a lot smarter that some would give him credit for. But at that moment, he didn't care what Ayame thought, after all of this time, he knew the snake was aware of what was going on.
"Well…" Ayame looked out the window. "We still need to tell Kisa what's happening… that she's the next one…" his eyes closed tightly. "And then we need to take her into custody."
"I don't know where she'll be safer… Rin and Kagura are staying with Haa-san and I'm going to keep Momiji and Hiro here, but Kisa… I don't know where she'd be better off…" Shigure explained.
"Sad it has to come down to this…" Ayame continued as his eyes didn't leave the window. "We don't know who will live… who will die… and who will be so emotionally damaged that they wish that they were dead… we don't know what's going to happen when this ends… if this ends…"
Shigure tried to block out the thoughts of losing everyone that was close to him. He looked at Ayame knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came for him. Both Hatori and Ayame were going to be gone in the same instant, leaving him alone, leaving him behind as they fell into the darkness. His breath caught in his throat as he counted down the days to that moment. Everything was falling out of his reach, slowly slipping through his fingers. The only two that ever mattered to him, the two that were as much of him as he was were going to leave him… for good.
The wind started to sweep outside as the rain started to fall, tears forming in his eyes as the splashing of water hit the ground. His hands shook as he looked at Ayame as he tried to remember the feeling of Hatori's body in his arms. The rain fell harder as his body trembled as Ayame walked closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder as his eyes fell upon the tears. Shigure never broke eye contact with Ayame as the tears formed within his eyes, one falling down his cheek as he heard the crash of thunder.
"Gure-san?" Ayame asked as he became mesmerized by the tears.
"A-Aaya…" his voice was breaking. "You… Haa-san… both of you…" he closed his eyes tightly as he swallowed hard, the trembling growing stronger. "I… I'm going to lose you… no matter what I do…I'm going to lose both of you… and I'll never get you back… no matter what happens… you'll be gone…"
Ayame tried to fight his own tears. "Who said anything about being gone?"
"If they come for you something within you is going to change, whether they touch you or not their going to break you. I can't watch Haa-san break again… I promised myself that I would never see him in that much pain ever again… I told myself… that nothing could touch him…" he swallowed hard as his sobbing began, taking him over. "And nothing could save Haa-san if he were to fall again… not even me… no matter how I tried…"
Ayame closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, the next words sending chills down Shigure's spine. "After all of this time, Shigure… Hatori-san…"
The dog closed his eyes tightly as he took in those words. "Always, Aaya…" his voice shook violently. "A-always…"
There have been a lot of questions revolving around this story. I am now just eluding to the reason why this is called Cassandra. As for the questions dealing with pairings, you will have to read more to find out (there is a little of Haru/Yuki as well as Haru x Rin, you will see as it goes on.)
The drama is on hold as he go back to horror in the next chapter and I will elude more to the reasons why the story is called Cassandra.
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