CHAPTER FIVE

Feeling accusatory eyes on his back Yuki whirled back from the fridge and stared in waiting a Kyo, his eyes narrowing. Kyo merely softened the gaze a notch and scuffed the floor with a socked foot before leaning against wall and blinking thoughtfully.

"What?" Yuki asked, a sigh surrounding the question and almost engulfing it entirely.

"Why would she want to check on the damn Hatori anyway?" Kyo sighed, jamming his hands into his pockets and turning his head away.

"I don't know either…" Yuki admitted, his fingers playing carefully over the door and he swung it shut in sudden loss of appetite.

Kyo pushed away from the wall silently and gave a slight inclination of his head before disappearing down the hall and Yuki heard the sounds of footfalls on the stairs. The Rat sighed heavily and followed a few minutes later, bypassing Kyo's open door with mild disinterest as the Cat never left his door open, and locked himself safely behind his own door. As he sat quietly on the windowsill and stared out into the darkness he let his thoughts wander back to Akito, how the woman had been so desperate looking as they left the hospital. It perplexed him to see and remember such a broken stare on the woman's face, on a woman so utterly fearless and powerful as Akito nonetheless.

"Quit thinking about it Yuki…" Yuki murmured softly, slapping a hand lightly onto his forehead and he leaned his head against the window frame and stared in admiration at the silver spun moonbeams that white washed the darkness of his room. The moon calmed the Rat slightly and after a bit he went to the futon and settled in for the night, although it was only early evening. The moon had risen early Yuki noted somewhere in the back of his mind, its closeness mildly unusual but welcomed.

Akito gaped at the confession and at the affection almost dripping from onyx eyes and she looked away quickly to hide the surprise on her own face.

"I think of you always." Shigure added, turning her face softly once more and pressing yet another gentle kiss to her parted lips.

"Stop…" Akito pleaded, shocked at her own voice and she pushed back forcefully to face the window again.

Shigure silenced and the command and remained seat on the floor, Akito turned and stared at the Dog before pacing the floor.

"Why do you always lie to me?" Akito asked, pausing in her steps and looking curiously down at the man.

"I am not lying!" Shigure protested, his playful demeanor shifting suddenly and Akito shook her head and covered her ears.

"You always lie to me! You scheme ways to push me away and bring me back again! Tell me the truth!" Akito shouted, her eyes shut tight and her hands clamped over her ears. The voice carried sharply to Shigure's ears and the Dog resisted the animal instinct to whine, instead he rose from his spot and went to Akito.

"I cannot tell you a thing with you ears covered!" Shigure informed her, taking pale and cold hands into his own and drawing them to his chest for warmth. She started to shake her head but Shigure freed a hand and stopped her, forcing her to look at him, "Why would I lie to you about this… About loving you?"

"Why would you tell the truth when I am like this?" Akito demanded her voice low and she gave in to Shigure's embrace, feeling his chin rest atop her head as he brought her tightly into long arms.

"Why would I lie when you are like this?"

Akito sniffed back tears and wrapped her frail arms around him, drawing him even closer and resting her cheek on his chest.

"Do you really love me?" Akito whispered, her hand closing around loose fabric at his neck and she stared hopefully at him.

"More than anything." Shigure assured her, closing the vow with a soft kiss and lifting her up to his height to stare lovingly into deep turquoise.

Tohru paced the floor of her bedroom with cordless phone in hand for a total of five minutes before staring down at the plastic coated device in frustration. She let out an exasperated groan and tossed the phone to her plush bed. Her thoughts were jumbled, but that wasn't what was frustrating her. Arisa deserved to know that the Kureno she had loved was on the verge of death… right? The thought made her pull a pillow to her face a scream as loud as she possibly could into its bulk. Finally she grabbed the phone and began to dial the memorized number, it rang three times before an answer.

"Alright… I don't WANT new window for the thousandth time!" Arisa shouted into the receiver and Tohru jerked the phone back a few inches.

"Uo-chan!" Tohru cried into the phone and the sound of Arisa shifting the phone was heard and she cleared her throat, "You busy?"

"Sorry!" Arisa fumbled, the phone shifting more, she paused and turned down the music in her room, "Ummm… no… why?"

"I found Kureno…" Tohru started, her eyes closing slowly, "But he's not really… okay."

"Tohru I don't want to talk about him…" Arisa said softly, a plea added to the sound.

Tohru sighed and sat down on her bed, searching for the right thing to say as the awkward silence throbbed angrily at them.

"But he could die!" Tohru protested, gripping the phone tightly trying to hold back tears and she could hear Arisa doing close to the same.

"What?" Arisa gasped, having just processed the information, she had her eyes narrowed to the point where Tohru could almost feel the demanding gaze.

"He was hurt… Go see him!" Tohru pleaded, her voice thick with a lump in her throat and she cursed her emotional nature for the first time.

"How?"

"Call yourself a Sohma… what with all the Sohma's that have ALREADY been there no one will even question you!"

Arisa fell silent and the music stopped all together, in fact she was rustling fabric and she pressed the speaker phone button while she dressed, Tohru merely swung her legs patiently and waited.

"Okay… I'll go now!" Arisa said suddenly and the line fell dead, Tohru smiled sadly and ended the call on her end before setting the phone on the nightstand and falling back onto the softness of her comforter.

"Arisa…" Tohru murmured, staring upside down at the rising moon and closing her eyes to the tears she was fighting back.

Arisa struggled with her shoes at the door and cursed foully at them before tumbling haphazardly out the door and she got up swiftly enough to rise into a run and she took the stairs two at a time. She didn't bother to wait for the elevator and the Yankee wasn't even winded at the bottom, she made a right and followed the road to a crosswalk, traversing her way the eight blocks to the hospital.

"Damn… Damn…" Arisa growled, the soft cheery music in the elevator only agitated the anger and worry swarming her thoughts and rimming her sight with unshed tears, true to her vow she wouldn't cry yet. Not until she could see for herself the damage.

Her feet pounded down the hallway to ICU 4 and she almost slid over as she skidded to a stop outside the open door, she checked around the dark room for anyone and crossed the threshold as if an alarm would trip at her presence. Seeing the tall form in the bed she covered her mouth to hold back a gasp, the monitors beeped and whirred softly and she narrowed her eyes at them as if they were hurting him.

"So… you are a Sohma are you?" Arisa whispered, taking the empty seat closest to the head of the bed and staring at the blank expression on his face, she swallowed the urge to pound his head in for never coming back and just stared at him, "I guess… I knew that already… you seemed like one."

The one-sided-ness would kill her if she remained talking and she reached out and grasped the limp right hand in her own, recoiling slightly at its icy feel. Her eyes traced a path over his face, to his closed mouth and eyes and she eyed the slow rise and fall of his chest. The nurse at reception had told her that the man that lay before her was in a coma but she hadn't wanted to believe that, she covered her eyes with her free hand and sobbed quietly, her grip on his hand tightening.

"Don't leave me again…" Arisa whimpered, leaning forward to rest her head near his shoulder and she blinked away tears, but the wouldn't stop coming, "Don't go…"

All she wanted was for him to open his eyes and smile faintly, to whisper "Hi there…" softly and assure her that he wouldn't leave again but alas, he remained deathly silent. The blinds had been pulled shut and the door was the only light that entered the room, none of it touching the bed but Arisa could still see Kureno's outline in the shadows. The sharp line of his jaw and the slight upturn of his nose at the end, she leaned up and pressed a light kiss to his lips and smiled at him.

"I'll hate you." Arisa whispered with a smile, her tears rolling faintly down her cheeks, "I'll hate you if you leave me…"

"That's a lie if I ever heard one." The voice was feminine, low and gentle and completely monotone.

"Saki…" Arisa acknowledged, her eyes never leaving the empty expression on Kureno's face.

"I felt you calling out to me." Saki responded, her footfalls slowly crossing the room and she sat beside Arisa, "So this is him?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry…" Saki whispered, wrapping her arms around Arisa slowly and she pulled the crying girl into her arms and rocked softly.

"I love him… Saki… why do they always leave when I love them?" Arisa whimpered, allowing the loving embrace, her hand still twined in Kureno's as she cried into Saki's embrace.