I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters, though I wish I could .'''
Chapter 4Tohru cautiously opened the door. "Hatsu-kun... Good to see you..?" she asked as she looked at him strangely and then back to Momiji. For some odd reason she began to feel as if she was being left out of something important, but it was not right to meddle into other people's business; therefore, she decided not to ask.
Hatori and Shigure both looked up when they heard Haru's name, their faces stern with fear. Quickly realizing the strange looks they were giving towards the door, Shigure returned to his smiling self and Hatori just remained basically the same.
Yuki froze as well, stiffening up. As if matters weren't already complicated...
Momiji recovered himself and smiled. "Hello Haru-kun what brings you here?"
Hiro walked through the door, the smile playing on his face still, until he heard the name Haru. His face fell into one a little angrier.
Haru stepped through the door, and nodded at Momiji. "I just dropped by to see if any of you guys have seen Kisa...?" he questioned, scanning their faces with his blank eyes.
Momiji sweat dropped hugely. "Oh... Kisa? No, I haven't seen her lately..."
Hiro turned his head away at Haru's mention of Kisa. He had always been jealous of the sibling-like relationship between Kisa and Haru.
And Haru did notice the immediate change in Hiro. "Hiro-kun looks like he knows something..."
Momiji sweat dropped again, and stepped into Haru's line of vision. "Oh... don't worry about Hii-kun... he's just not feeling very well lately. He hit his head earlier..."
Tohru looked around, seemingly confused as usual.
Haru raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Momiji was acting weird and oddly panicked, and Hiro had yet to make one smart-ass comment to him. Something seemed to be up... He looked around. "Where's Yuki and Shigure-san?"
Momiji copied Hiro. "I think they were in the study..." Realizing the words that had seemed to spring out of his mouth, he jumped slightly.
Yuki sighed and stood up. "I sometimes wish we weren't so closely connected with Akito-san. This would be the only time in my life where I would be glad to see Black Haru. He'd get something done about this... quickly and efficiently..."
Yuki walked out into the living room and smiled at Haru. "Good morning, Haru-kun. What brings you here?"
Haru looked at him. "Have you seen Kisa anywhere. I haven't seen her at all in the main house."
Hiro, sitting at the table the way he had been earlier, had his arms crossed and his head was buried in them while he muttered quietly... "Have you checked the Cage, you dumb ox?"
Yuki shrugged and smiled slightly. "We don't know where she is. We're actually kind of surprised she hasn't visited us lately. We haven't seen her for a while..."
This time, Haru did catch on to Yuki's unease. If there was someone who almost never lost composure, it was Yuki. Haru leaned back and crossed his arms. "Alright, something's wrong. Hiro's not being a smart-ass, Momiji's far too calm and not always grinning, and you, Yuki seemed to have slipped on your composure."
Momiji sweat dropped; Hiro grumbled again; and Yuki looked a little shocked, silently wishing for Shigure's help.
Shigure suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a hand on top of Haru's shoulder. "I'm afraid there's a bit of a sickness floating around in this atmosphere." he said in a cheery voice as he looked towards Yuki and winked secretly as if knowing he could handle this situation.
Yuki almost sighed in relief. "Yeah, there's an illness, so we're trying to keep it isolated to this house instead of spreading it to everyone..."
Momiji nodded reverently in agreement.
Hiro sighed and walked back towards the bedrooms. He didn't want nor need more sleep, he just wanted to get away from everyone.
Haru watched Hiro go carefully. "I see, so the illness is causing this for you all..." he looked back at Yuki. "But illnesses don't make you depressed. What's wrong with him...? Relationship problems...?"
Momiji smiled. "You could say that..."
Yuki looked at him, eye twitching slightly, and Miji's mouth snapped shut. He excused himself and darted out of the room towards the bathroom, not really needing to go, but wanting not to say anything too incriminating.
Haru's mind clicked. "There's only one thing that has ever made Hiro act like that before. Did something happen to Kisa?" his voice was very stern.
Yuki managed another massive sweat drop and looked at Shigure pleadingly.
(You must excuse this next part... I thought I would just throw it in…)"Hmmm... Maybe she's got her monthly?" Shigure asked as he made a ridiculously stupid/perverted face. From inside the study, Hatori sweat dropped and Kyo, who was nowhere to be seen as of now, seemed to become sick. Shortly after, he returned, sickened look on his face.
Yuki placed a hand on his forehead, and shook his wrist, head moving along with the movement flowingly.
From the hallway outside the bathroom, Momiji made an oddly disgusted face and sweat dropped.
Hiro, reaching the door, bristled angrily, and yelled back down the hall. "I WISH IT WAS THAT EASY!"
Haru definitely didn't buy it, and the comment from Hiro didn't make it any better. "Maybe I should ask Hiro-kun. He seems to know something more than you do..."
Yuki shook his head. "It's nothing bad, Haru. Just go back home. We're trying to deal with something here..."
Haru snorted, and shook his head repeatedly. "I don't think so... I'm going to go talk to Hiro..."
Yuki stepped in front of him, and stopped him. "Haru, no." he insisted, in an almost wary voice.
Haru looked around at everyone, and made a very displeased face. "I want to know what it is."
Shigure sighed softly, looking at Yuki. "He has a right to know..." Hatori said from behind Shigure as he stood there. Shigure and Kyo seemed to sweat drop horribly.
Yuki's eyes went wide in surprise. Ok, so they were going to tell him... but who would be the unlucky victim... err, messenger?
He looked around. Momiji shook his head violently and backed up. Neither Kyo nor Shigure seemed to be of any help. And then.
"She's in the Cage, dummy. Did you ever think of looking in Akito-san's personal torture room?" said a familiar, smart aleck voice. "I think you'll find her in there..." Hiro walked around the corner, and leaned against the wall, adjusting his loosening bandages.
Haru stared for a moment at Hiro, his brain slowly processing what he was thinking. He felt the anger bubble up, but he pushed it back with a laugh. "In the cage? What could Kisa-chan have possibly done wrong to make Akito-san lock her in the cage?"
Hiro looked at the ground, his voice suddenly becoming very small. "It's my fault... it's my... Akito saw us... together... he heard her say..." He clenched his fists tightly. "He threw her in the cage because..."
Haru continued to stare for a moment afterwards again, the anger boiling beneath the surface now. "Akito put her in the cage for what reason, again..." He stalked over to Hiro, and picked the smaller boy up by the front of his shirt.
Hiro refused to meet Haru's eyes. That was new. "He put her in the cage because..."
"TELL ME!" Haru yelled, shaking Hiro slightly.
"Because she dared to love without his permission," Hiro answered at last, letting himself hang limply in Haru's grasp.
Haru looked around, the wild look in his eyes. Black Haru was about to make his appearance.
Momiji grabbed Tohru comically, and made a run for cover.
Tohru yelped as she was dragged away and looked around quietly. Kyo began to sweat drop as he watched the scene unfold.
Don't kill the kid Haru.. he thought.
Haru growled, and threw Hiro down onto the ground. "And you just let it happen, didn't you, you little selfish pain in the ass!"
Hiro stumbled and ended up on his rear, looking away from Haru. "There was nothing I could do!"
"Did you even try to stop Akito!" Haru roared, walking slowly towards Hiro.
Hiro looked at Haru right in the eyes and without any other emotion muttered one single word. "Yes."
That somehow managed to stop Haru in his tracks. Hiro stood up. "I tried to stop Akito! I really did! I offered to let him take me! Not her, I was sure she wouldn't be able to handle being in the cage alone! I would much rather be the one locked in the cage!"
Haru's expression turned a little to surprised. "What are you talking about!" he snapped angrily.
Hiro swallowed hard before saying anything. "I'm saying that I tried to get Akito to take me instead! This whole thing was my fault, I never should have told him... I... I never should have been in the house like that... I..."
He was stopped by a hard smack from Haru that once again sent him sprawling to the ground. "Quit wallowing in self pity little boy and finish the damn story!"
Hiro wiped his lip, for it was bleeding. "I'm trying to! I did it, Haru! I told Akito I hated him because of what he was doing! Because I didn't want to lose her to that stupid cage more than you didn't!"
Haru crossed his arms, and continued to glare. "Continue."
"Just because she said she loved me is no damn reason to lock her up in that damned, forsaken place!" Hiro managed at last.
Haru turned around and stormed out of the house, riding on a cloud of rage.
Yuki looked back at Hiro, at the obvious lack of damage by Black Haru, and of the very large amounts of damage about to be caused at the main Sohma residence.
Kisa lay there on the ground with a large red mark on her cheek. Akito had gotten angry again... Kisa was curled up into a small ball and Akito was already in her own room. Kisa trembled slightly from the blow and coughed softly, cheeks red. Somehow she had captured a disease, which is commonly known as the flu. Coughing lightly again, there was a very loud poof and Kisa remained under her pile of close. She made no movement other than the continuously trembling. So she just lay there, with her uneaten food outside of the cage door, because obviously she wouldn't eat it.
Yuki looked at Shigure uneasily. "Umm... is there anyone we can warn about Black Haru at the main residence...? Is Kureno there that you know of, Hatori-san?"
Momiji quietly removed himself from his hiding place, Tohru following quietly from behind.
Hiro stood up very slowly, his head pounding.
Hatori nodded. "Kureno is there... He rarely wanders away from Akito..." he mumbled, thinking of the damage that Black Haru would cause.
Yuki looked at Shigure. "We might want to call the main house... tell them they're expecting a rowdy guest. And then we should follow him."
Shigure nodded. Tohru please stay here... and guard the house?" he asked, and Tohru merely nodded. Hatori wandered off and spoke through the phone with Kureno in a slight hurry.
"Right..." Kureno muttered from the end of the line and hung up the phone.
Yuki motioned to the door. "Shall we all begin damage control?" He looked around.
Momiji stood up, and gave him an uneasy nod. Hiro brushed himself off and muttered a soft "yeah."
Yuki looked back at the door. "Alright... let's go..."
Shigure wandered off with the two in silence, winking at Tohru before exiting the door.
"More like Damage Patrol…" he muttered as he glanced around in silence and continued to walk with them.
…………………….
Kisa laid there in utter silence, covered by her clothes other than one of her orange tiger ears and her tail sticking out from the pile. The pile was not moving though, but it you watched closely you could see the restless breathings of Kisa, that made the pile rise only slightly.
Yuki walked quickly along the street, the quick footsteps following him assuring him he wasn't alone as he walked. There were people on the street, most of whom looking like they'd just seen a ghost. Or an ox rampaging down the street. And from the number of people still on the ground and recovering, Yuki could tell that they weren't far behind Haru.
There was the main house now... and there was the door ripped violently from its hinges and strewn in a pathetic crumpled pile on the ground. Yuki walked in with only a small glance at the crumbled door.
Haru stalked down the main hall, ramming into anything that got in his way, and knocking it down as he made his way to the cage.
Kisa groaned slightly in pain and winced from under her clothes, her head throbbing. "H-Haru-kun... H-Hiro-kun..." she whimpered as her tail flicked slightly and fell to the floor with a small plop, and she went slightly limp. So there she lay, unconscious with a large lump on her cheek, a cut on her forehead, and rosy cheeks from the virus.
Haru stormed down the hall until he finally came upon the room. He paused when he saw the cage. It looked like there was nothing in there... until he saw the clothes move ever so slightly, and then his eyes caught a flash of orange. So she WAS in there...
That made him angrier than he had ever been in his life. He ran up to the cage, and grabbed the bars, pulling as hard as he could on them, shaking them violently, putting as much strength into it as he could.
Kisa's ear twitched slightly in her unconscious state and all of a sudden she went back into consciousness. Moving her head slightly, her clothes uncovered her head and she winced in pain, growling softly.
Haru continued to pull as hard as he could on the bars until the rest of the group showed up.
Yuki sighed, and put his hand on his head. "Haru, you can't get her out like that. Not even someone as strong as you are Black can pull those bars apart..."
Hiro stepped past Yuki, and shook his head. "I don't think so. They're just might be something to that..." He walked up to the cage and looked in, pressing his forehead against the bars, and smiling softly.
"If you're not going to help..." Haru grunted as he pulled again, and finally resorted to kicking the door as hard as he could. It rattled, but nothing more. "Then get out of my way, you stupid sheep..."
Hiro just ignored him, and sighed against the cage, closing his eyes. "You're sick, aren't you, Kisa?"
Kisa looked almost blindly at Hiro and she growled, head spinning and warmth radiating off of her. "H-Hiro..." she whimpered as she lifted her head slightly to try to see him better, but her head only plopped down onto the floor of the cage weakly, making her wince again.
Momiji walked up, grinning brightly at seeing Kisa again. "Hello again, Kisa...!"
Hiro ignored Momiji, and managed to push his hand into the cage slightly, making it go in as far as he could. He held out his hand, fingers extended.
Haru continued to pound on the cage, raising quite a ruckus.
Yuki sweat dropped. "Does anyone know where they keep the keys? I don't think Haru will be able to break in anytime soon."
Shigure put a finger to his lip. "Akito doesn't even tell Hari about that one..." he muttered. "One of the servants maybe?" he asked as he glanced around, but no one was in sight.
Kisa looked up at Hiro's hand and crawled to him slowly, putting her maw into his palm and then resting her head against it.
One thought ran through Shigure's head. I hope Akito doesn't hear the ruckus...
Hiro smiled ever so slightly, and rubbed his thumb on the top of her nose, all along her snout. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin, it was so hot to the touch...
Momiji walked up to Haru, and looked at him pleadingly. "Haru, please, calm down. If this continues, then Akito will hear and we'll all be in trouble."
Haru pounded on the cage, the anger starting to wear off. His hands were already bleeding from the times he had punched the cage. He took a step back, and sighed, reverting back to normal. "I can't get the cage open..."
Momiji sweat dropped. Hiro's gaze continued to be only on Kisa. Yuki turned back to Shigure. "Which one of the maids, though...?"
"The head servant?" Shigure asked as he tilted his head and looked terribly frustrated.
And there she came... The head maid, rushing around the corner with keys gripped in her hands. "What on earth is going on here!" she yelled in a hoarse whisper as she scowled at all the men standing there at the cage's entrance. Akito had given her the keys in advanced, just so she could open it and slide in the meals, which were scarce.
"Ah, the head maid..." Haru said softly, smiling pleasantly at the lady. "Do you think we could possibly borrow those keys from you? You see... there's someone in there that shouldn't be... and now she's terribly sick..."
Yuki quietly snuck around behind the maid, he wasn't going to let her get away if she decided to go for Akito.
Momiji walked up to the maid, his eyes brimming with pathetic tears. It was his sad little kid face. "Please... we all care too much about her to let her stay like this..."
Hiro turned around, and looked at the maid. "She's running such a bad fever, you think you could let her out? We need to get her to Hari!"
The maid panicked slightly when she was surrounded and gave the keys to Shigure, bowing her head. "Please... Do not tell Akito-sama..." she muttered as she bowed once again.
"Do not worry... We won't say a word..." as Shigure put a finger up to his lips, signaling the quiet sign. Looking over at Hiro, he gave Hiro the keys.
Hiro stood up and took the keys, staring at them for a moment, his hand shaking slightly.
"Are you going to open the cage, or will I have to do it for you?" Haru asked impatiently.
Hiro nodded and turned around. He pushed the key in after three tries, and a deep breath to steady his hand. He opened the door to the cage, and stepped inside.
Haru moved over to the door of the cage, standing in front of it in case someone got the idea to slam the door shut and lock Hiro in there as well.
Hiro walked up to the small orange figure on the ground, and bent down. He picked her up quickly, tears in the corners of his eyes, and walked out of the cage, cradling the tiger close to him.
Momiji slipped in quietly after Hiro, and picked up the clothes lying on the ground. He walked out and stood there, smiling graciously.
Yuki sighed in relief. "Let's get back to Shigure's house. This is only one part of the plan completed. As soon as Akito-san finds out about this, he's going to be very displeased."
Momiji nodded, and flashed a peace sign. Haru nodded but once. Hiro didn't say anything as he had his face buried in the soft orange fur of the tiger.
Kisa fell unconscious, the cut on the side of her forehead bleeding. Growling softly again, her tail flicked weakly and fell back into limpness as she fell in and out of consciousness.
Shigure smiled at Hiro and Kisa, proud that half of the problem had been taken care of.
Hiro looked up at Shigure, worry in his eyes. "She's really sick, Shigure..."
Haru and Miji frowned deeply, and Yuki looked a little worried.
"Let's... let's just get the hell out of this house..." Haru said softly. "Let's go back and get Hatori."
Momiji nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's go... anywhere but home. This isn't much of a home anymore."
Shigure nodded in agreement and gave the maid back the keys. The maid looked up in astonishment and wandered back to her quarters.
Yuki lead the way back out, as he had led it in. When they were a distance from the main house he finally sighed heavily, and leaned against a tree, laughing softly.
Hiro ignored him and kept walking, focusing on Kisa mainly, not really watching the street. Momiji padded along quietly behind him, the most pleasant smile possible on his face.
Haru stopped and looked at Yuki, watching him lean against the tree and laugh. "What's so funny?"
Yuki shook his head. "That was far too close... I suppose we should all be thankful that we're in one piece and we have her back with us..."
"But what about when Akito finds out?" Haru said softly, following Yuki as the gray haired boy began walking again.
Yuki shrugged. "We'll wait until then..."
They finally arrived at the house and Shigure sighed thankfully. Kisa was still unconscious though, her ears twitching occasionally as her fever rose.
Hatori paced outside as he noticed Hiro carrying Kisa. Tohru practically sprinted towards Hiro, looking at Kisa with her eyes watered.
Hiro sidestepped Tohru and handed Kisa over to Hatori, and looked up at him, pleading the doctor with his eyes. "Please... she's really sick... help her..."
Momiji nodded ferverently, looking up at Hatori with a similar expression. Haru had a look that said 'this gets worse, and I'm taking it from your hide'. Yuki just shook his head. "Hatori's a great doctor. He'll get her cured soon."
Hiro nodded, and looked at the ground, his eyes watering again. No, he wouldn't cry... at least not until she was human again.
Hatori took Kisa and wandered into the spare room silently, signaling for Momiji to follow with her clothes. Kneeling beside Kisa as he set her on the bed, he wrapped up the visible wounds and poured a liquid down her throat, that made her cough harshly and violently, flopping onto her other side.
Momiji followed Hatori curiously. He'd never really been able to see Hatori work... he'd hardly ever had anything bad happen to him at all.
Hiro sat quietly at the main table, looking every which way, and glancing at the clock. He looked really nervous.
Kyo looked at Hiro. "Don't worry... She'll be all right..." he muttered in an almost-caring voice.
Hatori soon walked out of the room and sighed, taking off his gloves.
Hiro stood up quickly, nearly bowling Kyo over in the process; he looked up at Hari, asking with his eyes what the news was. Momiji was nowhere to be seen. It worried him slightly.
"She's fine... we will know if she makes it through the night..." he informed him in a calm, but slightly worried tone.
Shigure sighed softly. "You may go in... But try not to wake her..." Hari informed Hiro.
Hiro nodded quietly, and walked into the room. Momiji grinned as he walked out, nodding at Kyo and quickly skipping back out to talk to Tohru.
Hiro approached the bed slowly, going as quietly as he could, which happened to not be making any noise at all. He kneeled down next to the bed and lightly put a finger on her forehead. It was still blazing hot. He sat so he could fold his arms on the bed, and set his head on them comfortably, watching her sleep lightly.
It took him only a moment to confess in the smallest, quietest voice he had. "I'm sorry, Kisa. I didn't mean for you to be hurt again. I... I don't know what I should do. If I stay close to you, then Akito will be very, very angry, and everyone will get in trouble. If I don't, then Akito might not throw you back in the cage again. Either way it's going to be hard..."
He buried his face in his arms, and sighed heavily. "This is such a hard decision... I'm too young to make this kind of a decision about people's futures... I'm just a kid..."
Haru nodded at them from the doorway, and walked out into the main room, sitting down quietly at the table. Yuki had been sitting there for a while, sipping his tea and waiting for the news.
Kisa seemed to mumble in her sleep lightly and her ears twitched again. Her fever only stayed at a constant temperature right now, but that temperature was very high and fatal.
Shigure wandered over to Yuki and sighed as he plopped down onto the floor. Kyo sighed slightly and watched the others. Tohru was standing in a corner as Momiji approached her. She had this terribly sad look on her face.
Momiji tried to keep as much of a grin on his face as he could, but even his hardest efforts couldn't pay off, and it slid off as he looked at Tohru. "Come on, Tohru! She's a tiger! They don't ever give up... ever! Besides, Hii-kun's in there with her now. She wouldn't give up knowing that he's there..."
Hiro stood up enough to lean forward, and quickly press his lips into the tiger's hot forehead. He winced when he felt the temperature, and his eyes welled up again. "I won't... I won't let some illness get the best of you, not after going through all the trouble of getting you away from Akito..."
A tear dripped from the tip of his nose, and landed on the blankets, right over Kisa's chest. "Please don't give up on me, Kisa... I'll be waiting for you when you wake up... I'll... I'm waiting for you, Kisa... I always will."
He dropped back to his knees, and cried into the blankets, hoping to whatever god that wasn't Akito would hear him and not let her die.
Tohru swallowed slightly and hugged Momiji quietly, and soon holding his rabbit form. "S-She'll make it..." she muttered, over and over again.
Momiji nodded as best as he could in his rabbit form, and tried to snuggle in closer to her. "Yeah... she'll make it. She's a tiger. They never give up like that..." but he couldn't hide the worry and doubt in his own voice.
Haru watched, and shook his head. "We won't know anything until tomorrow..." he snorted in disgust. "I hate waiting..."
Yuki sighed. "You sound like Kyo, calm down, and wait. She'll... she'll pull out of it..."
Haru shook his head. Even he could hear the doubt and loss of composure in Yuki's voice.
Hiro continued to cry into the bed covers, his worry not even slightly hidden from anyone... he loved her too much to lose her.