Chapter 4: Cracks

Brown still locked with black. Hours seemed to have passed since Akito had pressed her bag against her stomach. Toru felt as if she couldn't breathe anymore; as if she had forgotten how to let air into her lungs. There wasn't much comfort in the fact that Akito also had stopped breathing. He was watching her like a hawk would watch his prey; completely still, without moving at all. It was strange seeing him like that—he displayed the calmness before the storm. And this time, she would be hit by it with its full force.
"Honda-san!" Yuki's voice was directly behind her but Toru only prayed that he wouldn't do something to upset Akito. She knew from experience that he could snap at any second now. Kyo's voice was much louder, rougher. "Stop threatening her," he barked and the girl could hear him stomp his foot on the ground like an upset five-year-old. Shigure's steps were also behind her, arriving in a slow and lazy manner, his socks slightly scraping over the tatami floor. On a second thought, she would have loved to turn around and look at the three of them standing there but she didn't dare to move a muscle.

She felt that it was a pretty dangerous situation in which she was in.

When Kyo stomped his foot again, Akito suddenly hurled Toru's school bag across the room. It neatly crashed through the thin paper door of Shigure's office door. "What the hell are you doing here?" he screamed furiously and his hands flew to her shoulders. His nails dug painfully into her skin as if there wasn't the material of her uniform in between and she frightfully bit on her still quivering bottom lip. "I …" Everything she wanted to say vanished from her mind when he interrupted her by stepping back. He then slapped her across the face.

Yuki's painful cry kept her from starting to sob helplessly but she didn't manage to hold in a painful cry of her own. "I stay here," she shouted rather loudly and watched as the black-haired male in front of her froze before he leapt at her again. They both went down to the floor, a hopeless tangle of arms, legs and his loosely tied yukata. It was strange that neither of the boys had stepped in but Toru could well imagine that they either wouldn't go against their family head or that Shigure was holding them back forcefully.

The last bit of her theory proved to be right when she heard Kyo scream at Shigure to release his hold on him. "Look at me, you dumb girl," Akito hissed against her ear to get her attention. "Why? Tell me why did you go against me?" The hiss turned so vicious that she felt again as if he had just poisoned her. But that was how Akito often felt to her. He was like poison, invading her system, confusing and slipping into every thought she had. It hurt her that he was again and again feeling the need to let her feel his pain as well. She would never tell him that; the pain was still there, though. The family head was currently hovering only inches above her, his left hand pressed onto her arm, his right leg between hers so that he could put his full weight on her.

"Let … Let me explain, Akito-kun," Toru croaked but his hand was soon covering her mouth. "And why would I listen to your lies?" he spat, pressing onto her mouth harder as his anger took over, "You want to leave me, right? Is that it?" The teenage girl tried to continue breathing calmly but she panicked a bit when she saw that special spark in his black eyes. It was a bit of paranoia, a glimpse of the fear which he felt inside. With every bit of courage that she could come up with, Toru tried to deny his words but all that could be heard was a slur of incomprehensible words, further muffled by his hand over her mouth.

Akito's eyes widened as he continued to explain the situation to himself. "So you managed to sneak away from me in the past and you somehow got your hands on them. Do you think they are better than me? You think you can switch our places that easily?" The thin, pale lips on his face had been a bitter line but now turned into a maniac grin, mocking her. "You chose rather poor replacements for me, Toru." His eyes moved away from hers for the first time, focusing on the three people still gazing at them and not being able to help their female friend.

"Let's see … You chose the rat—a rather boring version of a human, really. I'm surprised you didn't lock him away like I did because of his boringness. Right, Yuki? You didn't forget the place where you belong, right? Your special room still waits for you …" Everything about Akito turned cruel; his words were like knifes, slashing at their victims and reopening scars about scars without so much as laughing at it. "Oh, and of course there's that annoying dog. Stupid and nosy like the animal. Well this one can stay in the house without leaving its hair all over the place but that's really all. And then, the cat …"

Suddenly, Toru found strength in her. She pushed her body upwards and Akito didn't expect her sudden movement. The teenage girl startled him but while she was brave enough to act that way, the fact that she was an utter klutz didn't change. So even while she managed to partly push the black-haired male off her, she also managed to crash her nose against his chin heavily.

The look Akito gave her was nothing short of incredulous. His hand had long ago slipped of her mouth and was now holding his chin. He obviously couldn't believe what had happened. And he maybe was stunned by the stream of blood that was streaming out of Toru's nose. It trickled over her lips and dripped off her chin, leaving tiny dark dots on the top of her school uniform. "Akito-kun … I'm so sorry. I want to explain and …" She turned around and felt her eyes watering. "I'm sorry for causing trouble, Shigure-san, I will repair the hole in your door!" Since she couldn't breathe properly due to her nosebleed, her voice sounded nasal and shrill but the brown-haired girl could care less.

Surprisingly, it was Yuki who broke the silence. "I … don't exactly understand what happened but it wasn't your fault, Honda-san." The grey-haired teenager held out a handkerchief to her. Out of nowhere, Akito's hand snatched it away. He unfolded it and wiped the blood off her lips, an openly disgusted look etched on his features. "It's your fault," he grunted, gritting his teeth while he pressed the handkerchief roughly against her nose, "But you may speak." The black of his eyes had smoothed over again. It was now shiny and spotless like a sea and it told her that her following words would either completely mend or completely break him.

***

There was a lot of awkward silence. Nobody had said a word. The silence was uncharacteristic for Kyo and Shigure; for Yuki, Akito and herself not so much but she just couldn't end it. While everyone was staring at her she wondered how she could put the shards that were lying in front of her back together. Or if she could fuse them back together at all. The stares she received from the others were neither hostile nor curious. Well, nonetheless … one couldn't call them friendly either.

Kyo's orange eyes were very much a forceful, questioning stare mixed with a subtle hint of anger and anticipation. (Okay, maybe a lot of anticipation.) Although they had moved to sit at the living room table, it wasn't feeling like they sat there together. It felt as if each of them had decided to randomly sit down and that it was just a coincidence for the other four to have also chosen this table. For once, Yuki and Kyo seemed to share their way of thinking because their stares were oddly similar. Maybe the rat's eyes were a tiny bit more on the fearful side, with a kind touch to it but otherwise the presence of anticipation and the need to question the situation was the same. The stare that freaked her out the most though was surprisingly not Akito's—it was Shigure's. The oldest male at the table gazed at her with cool and calm eyes. Where they normally held mischief and warmth, they were now flat as if he had shoved the emotions out of them forcefully.

The fact that Shigure was not radiating the same atmosphere as Kyo and Yuki wasn't really surprising Tohru; it was more the fact that she felt a bit left out. For the first time she didn't have a clue what they might think of this situation which had presented itself to them so suddenly. At the same time, she couldn't see a way in which she could have avoided telling them about Akito if that was the thing that caused this heavy reaction. It was hard for the brown-haired teenager to cope with the strange distant that was growing between them. In the corner of her eyes she could see Akito watching her possessively, not able to move his eyes away from her anytime soon. She felt oddly mean for even thinking this but she thought that his stare was being a little bit creepy; his eyes were moving through different modes. One second they were shiny, full of curiousness—the next second they glazed over with burning anger.

Then again … while it still freaked her out slightly, she couldn't help but be bugged by the fear that Yuki and Kyo seemed to have whenever their eyes drifted to their family head. Of course she knew that the black-haired male next to her could be aggressive, cruel and all but kind. He had struck her across the face half an hour ago after all and it hadn't been the first time. There also was of course the incident with Hatori's eye that she had unfortunately witnessed. When she thought about it like this, other people would have fled a long time ago. If the boys knew about these incidents then their fear made sense … But they certainly didn't, did they? Hatori had made sure to swear her to secrecy. Maybe they were an exception because they were family?

Anyway … Despite the things that Akito had done and despite the things that he would do in the future, she couldn't find it in her to abandon him.

He surely thought she never noticed and that even if she did, she'd be too idiotic to think much of it but it didn't escape her notice that he sometimes looked at her with tender eyes. He always seemed like he wanted to say something in those moments but somehow couldn't. Those looks lasted mere seconds but when she saw them she felt incredibly happy for an unknown reason. It was a warm, fuzzy feeling that spread from her heart all over her body while it tingled and stole a breath or two, maybe even let her heart skip a beat while it was at it. Toru would never call herself clever or an expert at feelings but she knew that it was alright to have his temper released on her when he made it up with those looks.

"How long does it take for the stupid dragon to drive here?" Akito's harsh voice wasn't exactly pleasant to the ear and ripped Toru out of her thoughts. Her eyes flew to his and she realized that he had only addressed her. The spite in his voice told her that he was feeling insulted because he knew that she knew exactly how long it took to get from Shigure's house to the main house. Shigure had insisted earlier on to call the doctor because 'it was not normal how her nose continued to bleed'. If someone had asked her, the only thing she possibly could have needed in this moment was a bag of ice cubes to cool her neck and she would have waited for the bleeding to stop.

But as always, nobody had asked her and so she helplessly heard them calling Hatori over. She prayed that Akito would be able to keep his temper in check and that Hatori would be able to act as if he didn't already know that she lived here. "Have you gone deaf?" the object of her thoughts snarled and she immediately dropped back to reality. A reality, in which Yuki and Kyo seemed ready to jump across the table to save her. "It takes about 20 minutes," she meekly explained and dared to smile a little at the older male, ignoring that he couldn't see the stretching of her lips because of the handkerchief that she still had to press under her nose.

Akito wanted to snarl an answer but the doorbell saved her from his hurtful words. Shigure rose and went to open the door for Hatori. A job that would have normally been Toru's.

Everyone stared at the door in which Hatori would appear in any moment. When he did, the tall man walked through the door and paused.

Hatori Sohma wasn't easily surprised but when he spotted the girl with a bloodied handkerchief in front of her face and the three males at the table staring at him, he didn't know for a moment what to do, how to behave. His mind worked hurriedly to piece things together. Akito was here and had most likely found out about the situation his Toru was in. And then what—had he beaten her multiple times? The dragon couldn't imagine his God recklessly beating Toru. Or could he?

"What is the meaning of this, Akito-sama?" he decided to blankly inquire and didn't move a finger to sit down himself. The other black-haired male rose to his feet and walked over to his personal doctor. "Oh, Hatori, do not make the mistake to fool me." The shorter male focused on his healthy eye and smiled a small, secretive smile. "Toru tells you everything—I can't imagine you didn't know of this pity party." Akito jabbed his finger against Hatori's chest. "I actually think, you have been her partner in crime all along."

Before Hatori could say anything to defend himself, Toru stumbled to her feet and rushed in between them. "No, Akito! He didn't know anything of this! All of this time, I've-" "Shut up!" Akito pushed against her shoulder and the girl stumbled against Hatori who put her arms around her by reflex. And promptly vanished into a cloud of smoke. "Oh my God, Hitori!" The brown-haired girl whirled around and searched for a large dragon or a snake-like creature. But instead, she spotted a seahorse on the floor.

"Akito!" She turned around and stared at the family head in horror. "What did I do? Oh my God, what happened? Did I change him, oh God, what should I do? Salt water, sweet water, hot or cold?" She grabbed the sleeve of the family head's yukata and seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Will he die? Oh my God, what should we do?" As if nothing ever happened, Akito only rolled his eyes as he had done multiple times when dealing with her panicked rants. "Calm down, Toru. He won't die." His hand curled softly around the hand that still hold onto his yukata fiercely. "Shigure," he ordered, "will get him into some water." The black eyes turned to the dog who had stood behind the doctor. "And make sure, the water is freezing."

Kyo suddenly jumped to his feet and moved to stand nearly between Toru and Akito, albeit nearer to his friend than to what seemed to be his personal nemesis. It was clear that he could no longer handle the situation. "Toru, what the hell is happening?!" he seethed and threw his hands into the air. "Ugh, just tell us what's going on!" His orange eyes screamed that he couldn't take it any longer. The brown-haired girl needed a moment to process what he had said and blinked a few times. "Okay, let me just … I have to …"

She couldn't do this. She didn't know what to say! And Hatori … He had changed into a seahorse! This was crazy! And she didn't know … She just didn't want to …

Akito's calm, dark voice whisked her out of her panic as if he had pulled her out of cold water and saved her from drowning. "Breathe." She felt her chest raise and suck in air greedily.

"I have known Akito for a really long time," she suddenly started and looked at the floor, about to either turn red or start crying. "My mother was not feeling very well after my father died and left me … alone for a bit and I decided to wander around the neighborhood. And somehow, I got lost. I just sat there at the playground and it started to rain and then there was that kind man and that had been Akito's father and he brought me to his home and I met Akito and Hatori and I was there for some time and then Mom came back and took me home and …" Toru fell quiet. Her rambling and her long sentence had taken away her air and she felt like she was suffocating.

"Breath."

The girl sucked in another two breaths, before she continued. "Hatori and Akito had been very nice to me and I continued to come over to visit and to spend time with them. After some while, it had become normal for me to come over and then Akira-san-" Akito heavily jerked her arm and just like that, she stopped speaking and looked at him with wide eyes. "When mother died, he graciously asked me to stay at the main house but I declined." Her brown eyes watered. "I didn't want to inconvenience him anymore than I already had over the years and decided to stay on my own." The family head looked as if about to interrupt but she almost comically looked at him in the most serious way there could be. "I stayed alone. It was in the forest behind Shigure's house. I stayed in a tent."

Silence. Pure silence, until Akito broke into a dark chuckle that slowly turned into a raspy laughter. It was only lasting for a few seconds but it was music to her ears. Laughter meant he was making fun of her and that was better than being angry with everybody. "You. You stayed in a tent. Alone. In the forest." His free hand pointed in the general direction of the forest located behind Shigure's house. "You, who is not able to stand the sight of a bug or be alone in a dark room for more than a few seconds, are you … Are you kidding me?"

The look on his face was genuinely stunned; he obviously couldn't believe what he just heard. Toru turned as red as a tomato, her cheeks burning unpleasantly. "No! I mean, yes, you are right but it's true! I stayed there for a week or so until Shigure found me!" Her eyes turned to said person and he nodded. The Cheshire Cat grin was forming again on his lips. "Oh, yes, I did found her. It was positively hilarious to see her in that small, dirty tent. Yuki and I had a good laugh at the sight." Yuki glanced at the house owner. He hadn't said much since his cry but he hesitantly nodded now. "It's true."

Toru watched Akito determinedly as if she was willing him to ask her to get out the tent and show him how she had lived in it. Maybe if Akito hadn't been Akito, he would have simply said 'Okay, if you say so!' and would have accepted that it was a simple coincidence that Toru got to live in this specific household. However, he was Akito and therefore rather believed that she (Toru!) wanted to mess with him.

"Tent or no tent—it doesn't change anything, especially not your betrayal," the family head explained and his voice was still angry but somehow soothed at the same time. Toru could only guess that this was most likely because he wasn't sure what to think. The brown-haired girl was certain that he, on one hand, wanted to believe her badly but on the other hand simply couldn't. Toru really didn't know where his trust issues came from but they didn't allow him to accept this. Just as she thought about his words, her brown-eyes immediately noticed how he seemed to switch back into an angrier mode. Since he had already lashed out at her, the only people he hadn't accused yet were Kyo, Yuki and Shigure.

It wasn't a question that she couldn't let that happen. She needed to come up with a plan to distract him and continue to calm him down at the same time. Perhaps now would really be the best time to make a beeline for the main house. "Akito," Toru heard herself hesitantly saying and she immediately got his attention. "If you like, we could return to the main house together so that I can properly apologize and explain to you." The cat let out a hiss that clearly told her that now he was the one who felt betrayed. The rat stared at her, as horrified as he had been when Akito had struck her across the face. The dog simply walked away without a visible reaction when a puff noise from the kitchen could be heard, signaling Hatori's return to his human form.

The black-haired male tightened his grip around her wrist—she had almost forgotten that he still held onto it. "Very well," he sternly replied. "But you know, admitting a crime is always followed by punishment." Her eyes stayed with his. She hadn't done anything wrong. She wasn't that mean person that he believed her to be. She hadn't replaced him. Who could be able to replace him? Nobody, she was sure of that. "We'll leave when the dragon has tended to your nose. Until he does, stop facing me. Now that you'll be silent, seeing the disgusting sight of your nose isn't necessary anymore." Toru was sure—nobody could replace this.

It wasn't until she fastened the seatbelt and gazed out the window to look at her three boys standing at the door that the teenage girl realized that she had let the distance between them become more real. Kyo stared hard at her; he most likely wanted to rip off the door of the car and pull her out of the vehicle. Shigure simply watched and since he was still behaving oddly, his gaze made her shiver inside. But when her brown eyes fell on Yuki … Something broke. He waved half-heartedly at her and seemed lost, alone, left behind—downright miserable.

She remembered.

Toru made the mistake of asking him about his other friends and the relatives he called 'dog' and 'rat' and 'snake' and the seven-year-old also wanted to know if she could meet them, too. His slap hadn't been very hard or very painful but it had surprised her. And surprised children started to cry. "Why did you do that?" she sniffled and sobbed as she pressed her hand onto her cheek. Her skin stung a bit.

The slightly older boy cupped her face in his hands and leaned over. "I've told you a long time ago that you are my friend, not theirs! Did you meet one of them? Why did you ask? Did you see the grey-haired boy again?" His black eyes told her what he didn't want to hear. Toru would never lie to her friend but she was afraid of being slept again. "No, I haven't. I'm sorry, Akito-kun, I'll stop asking." Her voice turned into a whisper. "I'll never ask again!" Smiling sweetly, he let go of her face and pecked her on the cheek. "I'm glad, Toru. I like you the most."

On her way out, Toru sneaked away from the path she was supposed to stay on and made her way through the gardens. She had indeed seen the grey-haired boy again and she was just so curious! He seemed so nice but lonely at the same time. She just wanted to greet him, maybe cheer him up a bit, and know what animal he was! While walking around with Akito earlier, she had seen that he was sitting at a window near the eastern part of the house.

The small girl sneaked her way towards said window, pretending to be a western special agent on a secret mission. With a bit of luck, the boy would still be sitting there! And really, when she neatly slid around the last corner, she saw him sitting in the window. He wore a pale blue yukata and leaned against the window's frame, looking at the birds in the trees in front of him. Oblivious as she was, the brown-haired girl didn't care to carefully approach the boy. She started to run towards and waved at him heartily. "Hello!" The boy's head whipped around, staring at her. She continued to run up to him until she stood directly in front of the window.

"How are you?" The grey-haired boy looked really funny—his eyes (also grey!) were wide as he took her appearance in and he looked nothing short of incredulous. "I'm fine," he choked out. "And you?" His voice was really quiet and calm. Toru frowned. "Really? You don't sound fine at all. What's your name? Is it dog or snake or rat or—" His face suddenly became sad. "Rat," he whispered, so sad that she felt like crying, "But you already knew that, didn't you? Everyone only comes to me because I'm the rat." Confused, her brown eyes continued to stare up at him. She didn't really know what to think about this; Rat was only a nickname, right? So why would someone visit Rat because of his name? The girl really didn't understand.

But she understood that Rat was really sad. Heartbreakingly sad!

A bright smile spread over her lips and Toru giggled softly. "Don't worry, Rat! I didn't come because of your nickname! I actually saw you walking through the garden a long, long time ago and I wanted to talk to you! But he has forbidden me to come so I had to sneak away." An adorable blush showed itself on Rat's cheeks. "You wanted to talk to me?" He glanced over his shoulder, carefully. "Who forbid you to talk to me?"

At his question, Toru looked down. "I can't tell you …" she replied guiltily, "I already broke on of his rules." As usual, she decided to no longer brood over her act of rebellion. "But let's forget about him for now! Why don't you come out and we play a bit?" She sent him a toothy grin because he appeared rather nervous to her. Rat smiled kindly, though still sadly. "I'd like to but he'll come and place me back in my room soon. He won't be pleased if I run away." Oh, she was so curious! Somehow trying to wrap her prodding up in a polite question, Toru titled her head. "That's too bad. Where is your room? I could visit you again when I'm here next time."

Rat pointed out of the window and to the right. Toru looked at a cube shaped room that had been added to the building a few months ago. Akito had told her about how he had been allowed to look at the building plans. "That's your room?" The small girl gaped at Rat. "But the cube doesn't have any windows!" Rat peered down at her from his higher place on the window sill. "It doesn't have any windows," he agreed in a hushed voice. Both children were silent. Rat staring at the floor, Toru staring at Rat.

"You … you never told me your name," Rat suddenly whispered and the girl titled her head further to the side. "You're right … I'm so sorry, this is so rude of me! Please accept my apologies." Her cheeks blushed heavily as she bowed. She let her excitement overwhelm her! When she had straightened again, she smiled at him. "Well, since you have such a cool nickname as Rat, I'll also choose a cool nickname for myself. Uhm …" A few seconds passed in which Toru tried to come up with an acceptable nickname. "I know! I'll be Onigiri!" While the girl grinned, Rat frowned at her. "Nickname? Rat isn't a nickname. I'm the rat because I am-"

Steps behind Rat let him become stiff. "You have to go now, Onigiri! He'll get very angry when he sees you!" He waved a hand at her. "Leave!" Suddenly frightened, Toru stumbled backwards and hid behind a group of bushes.

"What now? Are you talking to yourself?" Toru stared at Rat's frightened form, pressed against the window frame. She couldn't see the other person but that had been Akito's voice right now! The grey-haired boy nodded his head in a jerking manner, all the while staring at something inside which Toru couldn't see. "Wow, you actually managed to do something interesting. Well, if turning crazy can be considered interesting." The girl behind the bushes scrunched up her face—why was her friend being so mean to Rat? Were they fighting? Her heart went out to Rat. He seemed to be really sorry for what he had done. Couldn't Akito see that?

The next words of the young heir told her, he couldn't. "We shall move you back to your room," the black-haired male announced and finally appeared next to Rat at the window. For a moment, his black eyes lingered on the place where Toru was hiding but his gaze moved on, wandering over the garden. "After all, you love your special room so much, right? It will never go away; it will always wait for you."

Once Akito had finished, he grabbed a handful of Rat's grey hair and pulled him away from the window, inside the room and down the hallway. The small boy's cries of how he didn't want to go back followed Toru all the way home and deep into her dreams.

She shouldn't speak to Rat again—she was the reason that Akito walked in on the boy talking! It was her fault. And so, her seven-year-old self had pushed the memory away, had shoved it deep into a locked box at the back of her mind. Where it had stayed, safely hidden from her consciousness. It had stayed there; until now.

Horrified, the teenage girl quickly patched together the things she had learned from her memory. Yuki was afraid of Akito, heavily afraid. He hated rooms which were dark, he despised rooms without windows. He had been forced to stay in the room for long periods of time. Toru remembered Akito often saying he was going to go the cube-shaped room. So the black-haired male had put that unimaginable pain on her friend, on Yuki. (On Rat.) Her brown eyes turned to Akito who sat next to her in the back of Hatori's car.

"Akito …" His black eyes moved to her lazily as if she were a picture at which one would glance while passing by. "I was wondering … What exactly is Yuki-kun's special room?" A terrifying feeling appeared in her heart. She already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it from him. How could she be friends with a person who had put this kind of pain on someone? Toru was too occupied with the terror inside to notice Hatori's warning stare, directed at her through the rear view mirror.

The family head stretched out his arm, his fingertips sensually stroking over her right cheek and then following her jaw line. He smirked and leaned towards her. "It's darkness," he said and the smirk turned into something else, something maniacally. "Don't worry. You'll see it soon."

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket and I don't earn money with this.

Hello, folks! Padlock strikes again.

This time, I shall present to you 5,400 words of pure FUN. 5,400 words of AKITO'S WRATH PART 1 OF 500. I'm not saying that this story will turn M-rated anytime soon but Akito will get a bit more dramatic in the near future. By the way: we have another cliffie here, I love those thingys!

THANKS A LOT for every fav and follow and the reviews I've received so far. You are wonderful. (I still giggle, occasionally.)

Question of the day: Do you think Toru will turn away or stay with Akito? ;D

Oh, and for some while, I've been entertaining the thought of doing a Fruits Basket & Ouran High School Host Club crossover. Imagine the hilariousness of a jealous Akito who is about to punch Tamaki in the face because he kissed Toru's hand. :D

Anyway, that will have to wait a while because next to the AkitoToru-flash, HitsugayaRukia (Bleach) got all my fan feels. :D (Again.)

Differences to manga:

Nothing that isn't obvious but feel free to point things out if you like. By the way, for those Kyo-lovers (if there are any); do not fret! Kyo shall be more blunt and aggressive throughout the next chapters! Oh, yes, any thoughts on Shigure's awkward behavior?

Since we won't be talking through my boring A/N since after the festivities: HAPPY CHRISTMAS (take my cliffie as a very loving gift).

xoxo Padlock