Hi again everyone! I know it took me awhile to post this time! Sorry. I'm getting ready to go to college and I'm moving in next week (so soon!) so I've been trying to get organized. You know, shopping for dorm stuff, cleaning my room (such a nightmare!), the whole moving process. So the chapters are going to be coming a little slower for the next couple weeks. I hope you'll stay with me and keep reading! For now here's more…
Disclaimer: Don't own Furuba and don't own the song that I used in the story. It's "My Immortal" by Evanescence.
GONE…?
Chapter 12- The Curse of the Zodiac
Kyo was restless. All he could think about was how Tohru was, how long he could be in this cage before he went mad, and how many possible ways there were to kill Akito. So, if I hit Akito like this, and then I break this bone here… he was plotting furiously now, punching at an invisible Akito on the opposite wall. There must be someway to get free of this horrible place, I have to take Akito down. He paused in the middle of a wild swing at the imaginary Akito, sensing someone nearby. He hadn't had many visitors since he'd been forced into this stupid place. His shishou had been one of the few to see him, and Kyo wished he would come back. Shishou was like a father to him; he was the only one that even slightly understood Kyo's feelings. When he had been here last, he had been as angry as Kyo, and promised to help in anyway he could. The only thing Kyo could think to ask was for Shishou to keep an eye on Tohru. To make sure Akito didn't do anything to her. He agreed, but it was evident that Kazuma Sohma was more concerned about his young pupil than about Tohru Honda.
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
He knew that Kyo hated cages or any kind of close spaces. He also hated being alone, even though he would never admit to it and he often went off on his own anyway. He was afraid of himself, but also afraid that if he were with others, he would hurt them. So over the years, Kyo had built up a barrier to all but a select few that he trusted. He hid himself from the world. However, Shishou knew that now Kyo would have to face all these fears and perhaps others he hadn't even been aware of. His barrier had dissipated. Friendship and honesty had been shown to him and he was no longer hidden from sight. Yet only when his fear had been supposedly taken away was it fully realized. He was alone, and his friends had all been hurt. Kazuma Sohma had taught Kyo everything he could, but now he had to let Kyo decide what came next. Would he fight or would he fall?
"Shishou?" Kyo called hesitantly, standing aside from the window.
"Nope!" said a cheerful voice as a happy and friendly face appeared in his window. "It is I! Shigure! And I have a surprise for you Kyo-kun!"
"Why are you so God-damned happy?" the boy demanded icily, the hairs on the back of his neck were all on end as he glared at Shigure Sohma.
"Because I finished my book and hoped you would read it over and tell me what you think," he replied in that same overly joyous tone.
"And why the hell would you think I would want to read your stupid book, you pervert?" Kyo said in a voice loud enough to be considered a shout.
"Because you would enjoy it. Please Kyo, just take it. It's about our "little flower" and that's all I'm going to say about it." He pushed the manuscript through the bars, and in the light of the afternoon sun, Kyo read the title "Fruits Basket".
"'Fruits Basket'?" he asked with a "what-kind-of-name-is-that" look on his face.
"Yes. Just read it and you'll understand." With that, Shigure wandered away without another word.
"Little flower" was Shigure's nickname for Tohru. This story was about Tohru. So maybe it would be okay to read it, maybe skim through it. Kyo sat cross-legged on the floor of his prison, the manuscript perched precariously on one knee as he opened to the first page. In big letters at the top were the words "To Be Illustrated". Kyo frowned, but began to read. The story was told from the third person point of view. It started out with the words "once upon a time", and Kyo laughed in spite of himself. Shigure had turned it into a fairy tale. The story began on the day Tohru had met Yuki and Shigure. It described Kyo's meeting next, never sparing any character their embarrassing moments or offhand comments. Then Kagura came into the picture and Shigure portrayed her aggressive nature perfectly. All the while, the story revolved around the Curse and Tohru's unknown role in it all. Even in the humorous moments, there was always a tinge of sadness or mystery in the background.
Kyo became immersed in the story. It was all real, all truthful. And in this story, he learned what the others had been thinking or what they had been doing when he had been in other places. Kyo loved reading about Tohru best. She always knew what to say even if she made a fool of herself in saying it. He even laughed a few times at the sheer idiocy of himself and the others, but at the same time, he was drowning in grief. He knew even as he escaped into this magical world of yesterday that he might never have good times like these again. He might never see her smiling face again.
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
Cuz your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
No. I can't let myself think of that. I won't let myself forget her. She's still here, in my mind and in my heart. Even if we're torn apart, she will always be a part of all of us. A part of me. With this thought, he buried himself in the manuscript once more, hoping to finish it before the light faded away.
………………………………...
After leaving Kyo, Shigure decided to pay a visit to his good friend Hatori. Shigure had been working on that manuscript day and night for over a week and now that he was finished, he had to brag about it to someone else, as well as discuss a more important matter. He was admitted into Hatori's house not by Hatori, but by Hatsuharu. "Oh. Hello Haa-kun! What are you doing here?" he asked, a little confused.
"I could ask you the same question, Sensei," was the curt reply.
"I came looking for Haa-san, and I figured his house might be a good place to start, don't you agree?" Shigure asked in his completely oblivious manner, as he stepped inside.
"Good call," said a deeper voice from just out of sight. Then, in the doorway of another room, Hatori appeared.
"Haa-san!" Shigure said gleefully, rushing up to him. "Hello!"
"What do you want?" Hatori asked in an impatient voice.
"Oh I just came to talk and… Haa-san are you all right?" Shigure's bouncy voice faded and was replaced by a note of concern. Hatori was running a hand over his left eye. The one that he was almost completely blind in.
"Yes, my eye has just been uncomfortable lately," he replied. This wasn't true. His eye felt like the wound had split open again. His vision had been nothing but dim shapes and shadows before now, but lately, his vision had been returning in brief glimpses. Yet with each glimpse, came a fiery burning sensation.
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
"Oh, that's no good," Shigure said in sympathy. "I think you've been stressed out lately. What you need is a day off. You should go be with Mayu-chan for awhile. She's missed you."
"Yeah, but the problem is, Akito tends to be ill so often lately that my leaving even for a little while is simply out of the question."
They wandered into the sitting room and there Shigure found Haru talking quietly with Kisa. The little girl was lying with her head on the older boy's lap, but was not replying to his hushed questions.
"Hello Kisa-chan," Shigure said with a goofy grin, but Kisa was silent. Not even a hint of a smile in her eyes.
"She's been like this for awhile now. She's not eating, she's not talking. The only ones she'll even respond to are Hatsuharu and Hiro-kun. So her mother brought her to me, but I haven't been able to do much good."
Shigure knelt down by her and said quietly, "You miss your Onee-chan, huh?"
The little girl nodded, clinging tightly to Haru's pants leg. Hatori looked mildly surprised at her reaction to Shigure's question, but then realized that all of the Sohmas had withdrawn in their own way. They had gotten in over their heads, and the sudden impact was too much for some of them especially Kisa, who had just gotten through some rough times and was still healing emotionally.
Haru laid a hand gently on Kisa's shoulder and held her close to him. "Don't worry, Kisa," he told her. "You'll see her again. I promise."
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you screamed I'd fight away all of your fears
I've held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
Shigure stood up and smiled. Then he turned and looked to Hatori with a grim seriousness in his dark eyes. "Hatori, could you spare a moment?"
They went out into the hall, Hatori still rubbing his eye gently. "Haa-san, we need to act quickly," Shigure told him. "You know as well as I do that the time is coming. If we don't act soon, God knows what the consequences might be. We don't have to be slaves to the Zodiac spirits for the rest of our lives. It won't be long now until we're free of the Curse. However if we don't act now we'll only end up as pawns to another master. Hatori, we have to find Tohru again and we have to break the Curse!"
"Shigure… we don't even know if we're going about this the right way. For all we know there is no way to break the Curse. We could be leading Tohru-kun into a bottomless pit and never be the wiser. I don't want to see her get hurt again. Too many people have fallen by the hands of the Sohmas. She's too good to be brought into this again. I don't want to see her get hurt."
"Well," Shigure replied, scratching his head and mussing his hair up further, "maybe you're right and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about as far as the Curse, but whether we like it or not, Tohru-kun has already been entangled in our affairs and even though she's gone, she will never truly be able to get away from us or from our Curse."
"So you're saying that if all Hell's going to break loose anyway we might as well open the gate for it?"
"Why Ha'ri, that was almost poetic!" his friend said with a laugh. "But it's true nonetheless. We have everything to lose this time Hatori, including Tohru-kun."
………………………………...
Yuki Sohma stood by the gate to the family estate. How could something so easily opened be so hard to escape from? Why was it that he was stuck here again instead of being on the outside looking in? He glared angrily at the walls around him. Here he was again stuck in the Sohma cage. The only thing he had to be thankful for at this point was that Akito had not bothered him yet. He had not seen or heard from Akito since their last encounter.
Glancing over at the estate behind him, Yuki shuddered, remembering nothing but the horrible things that had happened to him here. Then he noticed the strange little structure with bars on the windows near the end of the house, Kyo's new domain. Even Yuki felt bad for him now. He certainly would not want to be locked away in a dark little cell for the rest of his life. He walked towards it, at the same time wondering what was compelling him to go anywhere near that annoying Cat.
Inside, Kyo was holding Shigure's manuscript. He had not finished the story nor did he care to. He liked to imagine Tohru just the way she was, not in the depressing way that the story would describe her as she bid them all farewell.
You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
And now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Fairy tales were supposed to have happy endings. So why wouldn't this one? Again he opened the story, but this time he flipped to the end. On the second to last page, there was a caricature. It was a beautiful picture of Tohru, fully colored and perfect down to the last detail. Kyo stared at it, confused and amazed. Carefully, he lifted it out of the book. He turned it over, but there were no words on the back, no name, nothing.
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me
"Kyo," said a sharp voice above him, making him jump. He shot straight, up, dropping the story to the ground, but still clutching the picture tightly in his hand. A familiar pair of disdainful eyes stared back at him.
"What do you want you stupid rat?" he growled, irritated by Yuki's very presence. "Come to gloat? Come to tell me how stupid and messed up I am for wanting to be a Sohma? Or maybe you're here to tell me how I'm to blame for everything that's happened?"
"No."
"Then what the hell do you want from me?" Kyo snapped, ashamed to be seen like this and pissed off that Yuki wasn't the one in this hellhole instead.
"I wanted… to talk. I want to hear the truth from someone who doesn't care whether it hurts or not. I want to know whether we have any hope left or whether we should just give up."
"Hmph, what are you asking me for then? Anyone else would tell you that you don't stand an icicle's chance in Hell."
"And yet you don't seem to believe that, do you Kyo?" Yuki asked, not demandingly, just curiously.
He thought about it for a moment, and then laughed quietly. "No. I guess I don't. If there's anything she taught me, it's that there is always hope."
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you screamed I'd fight away all of your fears
I've held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
"Right…" Yuki trailed off thoughtfully. "You're right Kyo. For once. Thank you." And he turned and strode back across the grass.
"Hey!" shouted the angry youth after the departing figure. "What the heck was that all about huh? Yuki!"
But the boy ignored him, and continued on his way. "I guess it's up to me then. I'll find a way to fix this mess and I won't give up hope," he told himself.
I tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
Turning away from the window, Kyo glanced at the story that lay open to the last page, at the bottom in bold lettering, it read: TO BE CONTINUED…
Finally the pieces are coming together, and the Sohmas are still holding strong! Write me more awesome reviews okay? I always look forward to reading them!