Title: 由希- Yuki

Summary: After he is forced to have a visit with Akito, Tohru has to help Yuki find his hope again.

Rating: K+

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship (Romance)

Word Count: 1,781

It had been a week since that night when Akito requested Yuki come for a little visit. Despite how frozen with fear he had looked when Shigure told him the news, despite how Tohru's heart cringed at the sight, despite how they both tried, nobody could defy a direct order from Akito, so he went. Tohru had waited anxiously for his return all night, scrubbing dishes until she broke two plates, cooking and preparing all his favorite dishes until she ran out of ingredients, scouring the bathroom until it sparkled, but he didn't come back that night.

In the morning, Shigure found Tohru passed out on the kitchen floor, clutching a mop with one hand and a duster with the other. He didn't have the heart to wake her, so he just draped the small blanket from the living room over her and snuck a cushion under her head.

The ringing of the doorbell at noon aroused her from her fitful nap. Recognizing Hatori's sleek black car from the window, she hurried to the door and swung it open. Hatori stood there, supporting Yuki, who seemed unable to stand on his own two feet. Tohru shook as her eyes scanned Yuki. He refused to meet her eyes, keeping his head lowered and angled away from her, but she could see the bandage wrapped tightly around his forehead, the dark purple stain across his cheek, the cast around his left arm. He was wearing a loose, long-sleeved shirt instead of the short-sleeved, silk tunic he had worn yesterday. She didn't recognize the garment- and she should, since she did all their laundry. She was sure those sleeves hid more cuts and bruises.

She wasn't sure how long she would have stood there, immobile and staring, had Hatori not gently edged his way in. He gave her the slightest greeting before helping Yuki inside and up the stairs to his room. Yuki said nothing. She noticed he walked with a limp. By the time she came to her senses and ran upstairs to help Hatori, she could only catch a glimpse of Yuki's back huddled under his covers before Hatori came out and shut the door. He signaled to her to be quiet and led her downstairs.

Shigure was already sitting at the dining room table when they arrived. Hatori briefly told them what he knew; after he had brought Yuki to Akito's room as prompted, Akito had sent him away and locked the door. He lingered though, listening to crashes and screaming. Then he knocked, yelling for Akito to stop, but the head of the family either chose to ignore his knocks or didn't hear them over the chaos. Hatori knocked for five minutes before the door slid open; Akito ordered him to go back to his office and not to disturb him. Hatori had to obey; his body dragged him along. He returned to Akito's chamber ten times that night, but he received the same response each time. Only in the morning did Akito let Hatori in to tend to the crumpled body on the floor- the sedative Hatori slipped into Akito's tea may have been responsible for Akito's acquiescence.

Hatori had wanted to keep Yuki at his office for a couple of days at the least, but when Yuki regained conscious, he had protested in a weak voice, and Hatori couldn't refuse. He gave Shigure and Tohru strict orders to make sure Yuki rested, handed Tohru a bottle of pain medication to give Yuki when he awoke, and urged them both to care for the broken boy. He said this to both of them, but he was looking at Tohru when he spoke. Then glancing at his watch, he instructed them to call him if anything changed and rushed out, explaining on the way that he would probably have to spend the rest of the day calming Akito.

Truthfully, Tohru didn't remember that afternoon very well.

She did remember knocking on Yuki's door a couple of hours later with a tray holding a bowl of soup, a glass of water, and a couple of pills. Since he didn't respond, she took initiative and inched the door open herself, calling his name in a hushed tone. She noticed he remained in the same position that she had seen earlier- curled up in a ball with his head lowered under the covers. Tohru tiptoed over to his bed and set the tray down on the nightstand before carefully inching the covers from his face. His eyes were open, so she knew he was awake, but he didn't look up at her. He didn't even seem to realize she was there. He just stared down at the wooden floor.

Tohru slowly lowered herself down onto his bed and gently grasped his shoulder. He flinched at the contact but did nothing else. She swallowed hesitantly before turning back to the tray and grabbing one of the small pills. Though unsure of herself, she held out the pill in Yuki's line of vision. With his free hand, he slowly took the pill and swallowed it without water, as if he had done that many times before. She tried to feed him next, ladling out a spoonful of the soup and bringing it to his mouth, but he didn't move. She kept trying until the soup grew cold.

Then she left him alone to try to cook something he would eat, but he slept until the next morning. Even when she caught him awake, they continued their dance. She'd bring food, every kind she knew how to make, and try to convince him to eat, but he'd always only accept the small pills. She tried to plead with him, and she cried, but he'd continue to lie there with the occasional silent tear trying to race down his face before he could angrily swipe it away. It broke her heart.

Shigure called the school to excuse the two of them for a few days.

On the forth day, Shigure forced Tohru to go back to school. It was quite the challenge. He hadn't expected the normally docile girl to be so stubborn, but he managed to convince her to go with Kyo, after allowing her to cook everything that was left in the refrigerator and promising her at least a hundred times that he would check on Yuki and try to get him to eat every hour while she was gone.

When she returned, after running all the way back from the school, Tohru was surprised to find a mop of silver hair lying on top of the table. Panting, she stumbled over. He turned his head over and peered at her, seeming to finally recognize her for the first time in days. He tried to give her what looked like an attempt at a smile. She gave him a real one, despite her wet eyes.

She noticed a bowl with a few grains of rice left on the bottom and one of the dishes she had made this morning were beside him on the table. He was wearing the same shirt he had returned in, and his injured arm was tucked under the table. His hair was disheveled and greasy, and though he hadn't gotten out of bed for days, his eyes were framed by dark smudges. Tohru didn't mind. She dropped down beside him and wrapped her arms around him loosely, careful not to let their torsos touch so he wouldn't transform. She noticed the flinch he tried to restrain and felt layers of bandages where her hands rested on his back.

It was light and fleeting, but she felt it. His good hand shakily patted her back three times, settled there for a moment, and then he withdrew it.

She was appalled to realize he was comforting her.

Releasing him, she stared at him and glanced around the table before she raced off.

He didn't understand her actions but couldn't seem to vocalize a question.

Breathlessly, she returned with a sheet of paper and a pen. She sat herself back down beside him and neatly wrote two characters down: Yuki, his name.

"Yuki-kun, I can't pretend to understand the pain you're going through. I don't just mean your injuries, though I am sure they hurt very much. I mean everything that has happened to you since you were little… I think I've always thought I suffered a lot already, but when I think of you, I realize just how lucky I am. I don't know exactly what happened to you last week or what happened in the past, but I do know that you made it through, and that you will make it through, no matter how difficult it is now. Because you're brave, Yuki-kun. And you're strong. And you have so many people that care about you."

Tohru could feel tears welling up as she turned to the paper.

"But right now, I understand it's difficult to see that. But you must realize it's not hopeless! That it can't be! Because hope is right here!" she cried, gesturing to the second character of his name.

"Hope is right here, in Yuki, in you, and no one can change that or take that away. Even if everything else is gone, you will always have your hope. And with that, Yuki-kun, you can't give up. You can't! You must believe that it will be better tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, next week. And if not next week, then next year. And if not next year, in the next lifetime. You will always have your hope, Yuki-kun, and with that, I know you can conquer everything. No matter what has happened or what will happen. So please promise me, Yuki-kun," she plead, "that you will never give up. That you will always continue to search for your happiness. That you will always believe. That you will always hope."

She clasped his one hand with both of hers, gazing at him with fierce determination blazing through pools of tears. He stared at her and gave her a brief nod that made her smile. She gave his hand one more encouraging squeeze before she stood and grabbed the empty bowl off the table, rushing back into the kitchen to get him more.

Meanwhile, he stared at the sheet of paper and almost smiled his true smile. He spoke to himself as he picked up the pen and wrote four more characters beneath his name.

"Yes, I will always have my hope, and the reason for that is," he gestured briefly to the first character in his name before gazing at the name he had written, "you, Honda-san."

由- Reason

希- Hope

I don't know if you can read Chinese characters on your computer, but all you need to know is that Yuki's name comprises of two characters and that the first means "reason" and the second, "hope." I'm not familiar with much Japanese writing (which means I basically know none), so this is based off of Chinese. Inspired by my curiosity as to what how Yuki's name is written- I got his name from the fanbook- and because I saw a Yukiru story with Chinese in the title and was like "WHOA. You can do that on here?" c: A drabble on his name because the only one I've seen so far is by SilverYouko300, though mine is a lot different, I hope.