Author's Notes: Zomg. The second chapter already? With one review, I am still able to go on. xD Hopefully I will attract more readers, for this depresses me. Heh. Thanks for replying, Dishrag-chan, I am glad you find it interesting so far. Woot, one reviewer! Continue to review, please, it'll help me with my skillz. Heeehee. Anyway, sorry for anything that is kind of Out of Character in this chapter. Meh, you'll get over it though.
Disclaimer: The lawyers said it will illegal for me to say I did actually own it... Damn them to hell!
The Wolf and Lion; Predators of the Zodiac
Author: T hea R ea
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Acts of the Selfish
"Honda-san," a worried, soft voice called out to her from the darkness.
Finger's stroke her damp cheeks, toyed with the tendrils of her brown hair. Soft breathing caught her ears and she had to open her eyes to stare upon the face that touched her so dearly. The pale, but kind face of Yuki Sohma caught her vision. His fingers were playing gently with her let-down hair, which was strewn in waves across her white pillow. He smiled at her awakening, and she automatically returned the gesture.
Letting go of the chocolate tendrils, he sat quietly down next to her. (He had been leaning over her before). "You were out for three periods, Honda-san. I, as well as Kyo, was worried, so I decided to come looking for you. I knew that I couldn't let Kyo come, considering her violent behavior. I bet he would have torn up the Nurse's office for not informing him." Chuckling, Yuki drew his hands together and leaned back in his chair. "But, I am wondering what happened, Honda-san."
"I..." Tohru's head was spinning still at the recent events. "Saki and Arisa..." she stared blankly at Yuki, hands trembled over the sheets.
"They haven't been at school today... did they bring you here? If so, where did they..."
"No," Tohru shook her head. "Yuki-kun... they... they... that woman who came to the class to bring me to the office? She... she told me something that happened." Bowing her head to her chest, light brown tendrils covering her worn down expression. Her mind protested when she went to say it. She brought her trembling fingers to her face hoping to settle herself do with. "They... are gone."
"Honda..." Yuki's voice wavered; he reached out his hands towards the shaking girl. Grey eyes were woven with sadness, but he had to attempt to comfort that poor girl. She had lost her two best friends, the last two who tied her past together. "I'm so... sorry." Hands grasped her shoulders and he pulled her in towards him quietly.
Tohru felt herself shake even harder as he attempted to pull her into a backwards hug. "No, Yuki-kun-" she felt her throat grow dry as he continued the gesture. Their bodies were about to touch when she flinch out of his attempted, comforting embrace. Hands had shot out towards him and pushed his body away from her's. She grabbed her own shoulders and turned to the other side, as if she wanted to avoid him. A pink flush colored her cheeks. What had she just done?
"D-don't put your family's secret in danger for me," Tohru spoke dryly, her eyes averted towards the floor. Her heart raced silently in her chest, her ears beat with the rushing blood. "I'm not worth the exposure of such a secret. And besides, I'm fine. No need to do unnecessary things." Tohru brushed a piece of hair from her face, fingers still quivered.
Yuki watched her back, the outline of her frame under the fabric of her uniform. She was shaking so bad that it was visible and he wanted to hold her still she stopped, very badly. But, when he had offered her a comforting embrace, she had tore away form him with such a scared look in her eye. There was a slight sting where her hands had pressed against his chest. What had he done wrong? was it bad to want to help her in her time of need? Faintly, he heard the rustling of the door being opened behind the curtain. He ignored it.
"Honda-san..." he began slowly, her tormented expression as she tilted her head in his direction. "Maybe I should take you home?" Holding his arm against his side with his hand, he looked slightly abashed. He was thinking that his behavior before had made him look lecherous, perhaps like a player who wanted to use her vulnerability as something to 'get' with her. He didn't want that kind of impression of him in her mind, and by the way that she stared at him, he already though it to be too late.
"Uhm..." Tohru began softly, her face still flushed as she turned her head to the side as well. She felt sick at the moment, from the way she had treated her friend when he was simply trying to comfort her, and by how she selfishly wanted to be treated like that. After the occurrence with the curl lion-boy earlier, she wanted to be held in warm arms and told that it would be caring. It would be selfish to ask that kind of sympathy from the people around her though... "Perhaps that would be for the best?"
Once more aqua eyes were downcast still, and Yuki was watching her with worry. If he had asked her any other day, and she was worse off then this, he was sure that she'd stay. Her school-work was so important to her and she never liked to miss class. Seeing her in such a distraught position made him feel kind of sick from himself. It hurt him so to see her like this; he wished that she would accept his attempt to comfort her.
"The least I can do is carry you..." Yuki spoke in an amused whisper. Leaning in towards her, he bent down to pick her from her laying form on the bed. A deep red curtain of shock covered her face and she flailed as his hands delved under her waist.
"Y-Yuki!" she squealed and hid her face beneath her fingers once more. The rustling of the curtains stopped Yuki mid-lift.
"Excuse me," a male voice chided, "but are you attempting to steal this student?"
Tohru's eyes never made it towards the man who spoke, because once Yuki turned around he dropped her lightly back on the bed. Before she could spot who exactly had disturbed Yuki's attempt to carry her away, the grey-haired man had pushed the owner of the voice back behind the curtain. Tohru saw the frame of two men behind the curtain, Yuki clearly the one on the left. The other man, the one on the right was leaning back casually on his heels, while Yuki's mouth moved quickly.
Not all of the words met her ears, but Yuki's voice rose a little in the middle of the conversation, and she could partly hear what he as saying, "Why... here? ... Does ... know? ... WHAT?" The shrill rise of a screech from Yuki's part made all other noises automatically die. Clutching her ears to get the ring from murdering her brain, Tohru peeked out at the curtains once more. The man on the right was clutching one of Yuki's fisted hands. Thanking that this was a fight, Tohru stumbled out of bed, only to once more be overwhelmed by pain and collapse upon the curtains.
The ivory sheet between Tohru and the two men on the other side was drawn down, and the pained Tohru Honda fell onto the other side. "E-excuse me?' she murmured as she got up, noticing the look that Yuki was giving her."Sorry... Yuki-kun..." she spoke in apology before turning her head to the side to examine the other man whom Yuki was talking to.
Once more today her eyes were invited to a feast of a handsome man. he looked young, at least early twenties. Amused dark green eyes glittered at her, longish chocolate hair was shifted as he brushed it with his fingers. He was in a white doctor's coat, fashioned over a suit that was unbuttoned. He was a few inches above Yuki's height, making him nearly a giant compared to Tohru.
"Why did this have to happen?" Yuki sighed, placing a hand on his face.
"Yuki-kun, is something the matter?" Tohru spoke, rising to her feet. THe pain had numbed down a notch and she could stand, though awkwardly. Turning her head, she looked to greet the older man, but he beat her to the punch.
Swooping down to her height, his face was right next ot her own as he spoke, "Nice meeting you, I'm-"
"She doesn't care what your name is," Yuki cut in, grey eyes watching the Nurse darkly. "She's going home, so can you write a note to the Main Office, Nurse Sohma." Yuki's voice was venomous and Tohru was almost too distracted by the tone of his voice to notice that the man before her was a Sohma. But, she caught the name before Yuki's dark behavior over-came everything else on her mind.
"Sohma?" Tohru spoke quickly. "You're a Sohma?"
The man grinned and nodded, "That I am indeed. The name is Kei, Kei Sohma. Nice to meet you, Tohru Honda-chan." With a wink he drew her hand in a kiss. She had the intention to flinch away and run, but she couldn't do that to someone she just met.
And yet I can do it to Yuki?
Sending the gray-haired teenager a sad look, she let her hand go limp back to her side once Kei let go. Yuki was staring at her with a slightly curious expression, though it was simply there to cloak the inner annoyance her was keeping up towards his cousin, Kei. He would never publicly show his despise of the man, considering the impression of calmness he had to maintain, but inside he was always boiling with rage in his presence.
"So what did you do to this poor girl to make her go home? Change into a rat on her?" laughing almost obnoxiously, Kei turned towards his desk to find a going-home slip from the adorable, brown-haired Tohru.
Yuki gave the man the cold shoulder, simply averting his eyes towards the window, clutching his arms to restrain any attack. Tohru stood awkwardly in the middle of them, running her jittery fingers down the waves in her hair. A cool chill was running through her body, down her spine, making her want to jump. It felt as though the winter wind was lashing across her naked back, causing her to squirm with pain. It was hard to overcome such a dreadful feeling, leaving Tohru in a half-daze as she stared blankly at the floor beneath her.
"Tohru-chan?" Kei's hand was in her face, holding out a piece of paper towards her. "Are you sure you're okay to get home?" Snatching the paper from between Kei's fingers, Yuki pulled at Tohru's arm as he walked towards the door. "Aw, don't be such a meany, Yuki-chan," smirking from beneath him, Kei leaned in towards the still dazed Tohru. "Come on, darling, wake yourself up," he grinned, "or I will have to." Noticing her lack of answer, he swiftly bent his head and planted a cute kiss upon her cheek, "Chuu."
"Ehh?" after feeling the brush of his lips against her cheek, Tohru's face flushed for the millionth time this chapter. "E-e-ehhh????" Clutching her kissed cheek, Tohru was tugged in the direction that Yuki was willing her.
Now Yuki had an even darker look on his face, somewhere between irritation and disappointment. Even at such a drastic time in Tohru's life like this, he couldn't help but feel jealous of his older cousin. Not that he'd admit that he wanted to kiss Tohru's cheek and make a cute, 'Chuu' sound, but...
"Oh, Yuki, Miyagi is here."
At the mention of the name, Yuki's grip slackened a bit, but his face tensed into a shocked expression. Turning his head back, Kei stared at him with a devious smirk on his face.
"Take care and be careful, Tohru-chan, Yuki-chan." Replacing the twisted smirk with a child-like grin Kei waved them goodbye. In a way, Kei really reminded Tohru of Shigure.
As the door shut behind them Tohru wondered why another Sohma was in town and why she hadn't heard of him yet. And why no one told her that he was such a... eccentric man (pervert.. cough). Still touching her kissed cheek, she wondered briefly who Miyagi was, and why Yuki had gotten so tense at the spoken name. Perhaps Yuki and Miyagi held a relationship like Yuki and Kyo? Or perhaps like... Yuki and Akito? Peeking up at the storming Yuki, Tohru saw a blank expression yet struggling eyes. What was he struggling so?
"Yuki-kun..." Tohru whispered softly. "Are you okay?"
"Don't you have other things to worry about," Yuki's reply was not one that she would have expected. He sounded cold, mean.
Stopping abruptly, Tohru pried her arm away from Yuki's tightened grip. The memories were still there, the words still haunted her from what the woman told her.
How could he be so inconsiderate of her feelings?
Wasn't he supposed to be different from that other boy?
Wasn't he supposed to want to help her?
Wasn't he supposed to be caring and sweet and gentle?
Wasn't he supposed...?
Tohru turned her head away when he looked back at her. "I'm sorry for being a bother. Perhaps you should be getting back to class?" Tohru muttered this dryly. "I can get home myself. Can I have the pass?" How unlike her, to be this selfish and uncaring towards him. She was supposed to stay by his side when he was like this, not bail on him because he said one cruel thing. But... she couldn't handle it. Not today.
"Honda-san..."
"Yuki-kun, please!" raising her voice slightly, Tohru kept her head downcast as she rose her arms to accept the ticket of freedom once he handed it to her. Her expression was pained and sad, incapable of looking him in the eye.
Turning his own head away, Yuki placed the white slip of paper into her hand. Grasping it with trembling fingers, Tohru brushed quickly past him to finish the walk down to the office. Her heart hurt as she moved, her leg stung at the swiftness of her pace. But she couldn't do it today, she couldn't think of other people today. She was being a selfish little witch, and today she couldn't car any less of it.
Yuki stared after her with helpless grey eyes. He knew that when he spoke to her it wasn't what anyone would have expected. He couldn't even tell himself that he had said that to her, it pained him to even think about the recent memory. But it was there, the shock and hurt in her expression when he hauntingly replied to her kind words. It made his heart ache to think about it.
"I'm sorry," they both whispered as they moved down their own ways. "I don't mean to act this way around you."
Tohru stopped and crouched on the floor feet away from the office, clutching her chest.
Yuki leaned tiredly against the wall next to his classroom, rubbing his forehead.
How could everything go down like this in a matter of hours?
-
"Yo," Kyo's orange head popped up when the door slammed shut. The homeroom's usual noise continued as Prince Yuki sauntered in with a defeated and depressed expression on his face, plopping down into his seat right in front of where Kyo was. "Hey, I was talking to you, stupid rat." Yuki tilted his head back to look at him, but made no move to neither reply nor get angry at his taunting behavior.
"Yes, Kyo?" Yuki muttered, turning around in his seat to look at the cat fully. He didn't even bother to remove the pieces of hair that blocked his vision as he crossed his arms against the back of his chair and rested his head. "Do you actually need something or are you just going to speak without reason?"
"What's the matter with Tohru?" Kyo didn't even notice the insult that was drawn into Yuki's statement. "You must have run into her, or is that stupid expression because you couldn't find her?" Orange eyes narrowed in worry as he stared upon his cousin. Was something wrong with Tohru? "Hey, stupid, answer my question!" Baring his teeth, Kyo pushed himself upwards. "What is the matter?"
"Don't do anything rash, idiot," Yuki murmured faintly beneath his breath. Brushing the strands of grey from his face, Yuki stared upon Kyo's flame-hued head. "She's fine," he lied between his teeth. "I ran into her at the nurse's office, she had just woken up. I sent her home."
"Alone?!" Kyo seethed, his eyes turning a shade darker. "If she was in the Nurse's office that must mean that she wasn't feeling well, right? What asinine idea did you have to send her off by herself?" While Yuki pondered on the thought of how Kyo even knew the word asinine, Kyo shoved the desk out of the way to go run off from class and find Tohru. This, of course, would end Kyo up in detention or something, and Yuki could see trouble approaching.
"Don't act on random ideas, Kyo; you'll get yourself in trouble. Why don't you just sit down and relax? You really think Honda-san is stupid enough to fall over and die?" Sighing, Yuki looked defeated as he slumped his head down against his desk. "I couldn't stop her, I doubt that you can, idiot." Snorting, Yuki raised his head a little to take a peek at his obnoxious counterpart.
"I'm not going to let her just wander off into danger!" Kyo exclaimed, drawing attention to him. "I DO think she could get hurt out there on her own, especially when she is hurt! You're the idiot for letting her go off on her own!" Growling, Kyo pushed himself past the crowd of students who had surrounded the desks that the two had been fighting at. But, with it just ended, they were a bit disappointed.
Releasing a breath at his cousin's stupidity, Yuki rose as well from his seat. "Excuse me," he spoke calmly, gently pushing aside his classmates to talk to Kyo in private.
By now Kyo was storming down the hallways, an enraged expression on his face as he stomped. Yuki could just see him turning the corner, the vibrant color of his hair against the white hallways making him easy to spot out. He knew he had to catch up to his cousin before he made a fool of himself, if he hadn't already done that. Stomping around like an ogre was not the most fitting image for Kyo Sohma, and stopping him before he ran randomly into someone would be for the best. Yuki could almost imagine the scene, a blood bath. No one would be in his way of 'protecting' Tohru. He'd probably smash her before he saw her.
Trotting to catch up with his ogre cousin, Yuki just made it around the corner before an unknowing bystander was the next murder victim. Two boys were walking down the hallway were oblivious to the danger coming towards them, and Yuki had little time to grab Kyo and shove him against the wall before he stamped them to smithereens.
"Let go of me!" Kyo struggled, wriggling beneath Yuki's hands.
"Stop acting like an idiot and I'll think about it," Yuki snarled, keeping his pale hands clamped on Kyo's shoulders. "You're not going to stop her, and you're not going to skip school. Leave Honda-san alone, she doesn't need to be bothered by your inanity at the moment." Kyo growled, Yuki shoved him roughly against the wall before removing his fingers from the other's teenager's shoulders. "She has a lot on her chest right now, so why don't you save her some stupidity and leave her alone?" With a dark look tossed over his shoulder, Yuki began walking back to class.
"Damnit, don't walk away from me after doing that!" Kyo shouted after the other's boy's retreating back. Running after him, Kyo pulled back his fist to land a punch in the other man's face. Noticing that Yuki didn't do anything made Kyo's rage grow even more. Grabbing Yuki's shoulder, her spun him around and landed a fist right into his cheek. "Don't you fucking think you can talk down to me like that!" Shaking his used fist, Kyo looked at the fallen Yuki, who was clutching a red cheek.
"You don't even know what the hell is happening!" Yuki shouted back, the emotion of rage clearly seen in his darkened grey eyes. "So don't you act like you can do anything you want! Don't go charging up to her, freaking out on her, and making her in even more pain then she already is! You're such an idiot if you do! Do you want her to hurt?" Tears sprung in his eyes at the pain, cheek already swollen. Just thinking of her made his throat close, the image of her pained expression as she looked up at him. The view of her flinching from his touch. Why did it hurt so much to be rejected by her whole body?
"Don't… bother her with your stupid problems," Yuki muttered from his place on the floor, wiping his lips. "Don't make her feel any more pain."
"How do I know that you're not making this entire thing up?" Kyo's lips curled back in a growl.
"Do you think I'd make up Honda-san in pain? Do you think I'd do all of this to keep you away from her if something really traumatic didn't happen?" Yuki stared harshly up at Kyo's blazing eyes. "I don't even think you understand what she is going through right now at all. You won't be able to comprehend her aching heart." Feeling the tears run down his cheeks, Yuki stumbled upwards and stuck out his arm to keep steady.
"I can't understand it because you're not telling m-!"
"They are dead!" Yuki shouted back, a struggling look in his eyes as he spewed it forth. "They are gone from this life, they are dead! Do you now understand why? Don't you care about her? Don't you…?" Yuki trailed off and brought up his arm to wipe away his running tears. He knew that he was blubbering like a girl, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to see Tohru like that again. Never.
"What… are you talking about?" Kyo stumbled upon his words, wincing at the intense air that this situation suddenly had. "No one died…" Kyo's lips moved and as the words released his mouth grew dry.
"Yes… they did," Yuki muttered, rubbing his face. "And I could've helped her… if only Kei… and Miyagi…" Rubbing his head for the second time today, Yuki looked out from the window. His eyes caught the sight of a crouching brown-haired girl at the edge of the school grounds. Even from here, he could tell that she was crying.
"Leave her alone, just for today," Yuki muttered, before turning his back on Kyo.
"But now is the time she needs us the most, can't you understand that?" Kyo shot back at the boys disappearing form. "She… needs comfort."
Yuki stopped momentarily at these words, and shook his head. "But I couldn't even give her that," he whispered.
"Tohru…" Kyo whispered with a sorrowful expression. Turning his eyes towards the window, he gazed upon the sight of the woman crumbled into a ball, sobbing her eyes out. With the same worried facade, Kyo moved silently towards the doors leading out, hoping to help comfort the poor girl.