Disclaimer- I do not own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya does. Enjoy.

Chapter 4. A Matter Under Wraps

"What took you so long?" Hatori scolded as he lit another cigarette; his previous cigarette laid in the ashtray as a dimming light.

"Nothing. Just telling Kyo where I was going." Shigure sat down beside him.

"It's a bit odd."

"Oh, Hari, I'm offended. I'm a very considerate man, you know, just ask Aya."

Hatori shook his head. "No, not that."

"Then what?"

"His belief that we have 'powers'." Hatori leaned against the wall. The wall moaned slightly from the added weight but didn't do anything else. "I think he's in shock."

Shigure frowned at the words. "Are you sure? Maybe the curse is just a natural instinct to him."

"No, he's in some kind of shock." Hatori puffed out smoke slowly. Some of the smoke faded over to Shigure, causing Shigure to inhale it deeply. "We'll have to explain the curse to him later - when he's more stable." Hatori gave Shigure a displeased look. "What you did earlier was very reckless, Shigure."

Shigure nodded, somewhat agreeing. "Hari, do you think we can get his memories back?"

Hatori stared at the books that aligned Shigure's bookshelf more of a distraction rather than actual interest in the literature. "I don't know. I'm not aware of anybody ever regaining their memories back after...after that."

Knowing that the subject of the conversation was going to lead to a certain said person eventually, Shigure decided to bring it up first, since they were both waiting for it to be said by the other.

"Akito."

"Yes," Hatori pinched the bridge of his nose. "Akito."

"We will not be telling him anything."

Hatori looked over at the dog, surprised. Shigure was always so loyal to the God, practically telling him everything before it was even asked; but here he was declaring a certain matter be hidden from the God.

Their eyes met and a mutual agreement was met. Unspoken words were heard and vows were written and stamped through their little exchange.

This was Kyo's chance to finally live a normal life if only for a moment. A life that wasn't riddled with pain and torment of his curse as the tarnished monster of the zodiac. With his mind being such a clean slate and being so vulnerable, Akito could cave him within a matter of minutes. The God could possibly break him more than he ever did before.

With Kyo's current state, they both knew that Kyo would cling to Akito's fallacies with an urgent belief.

And that would only kill him.

They didn't want that.

Kyo didn't deserve that.

"We will keep him away from Akito for as long as possible, Hari."

Keeping secrets from God was never a good thing, especially since they never lasted long in their hidden corners. Akito always had a way of setting those corners aflame. They would get punished when they got caught. There was no if's, there were only when.

Hatori pulled the cigarette out of his mouth before suffocating the small bud evenly in the graveyard of ashes. His hand pulled away with his fingers slightly covered in black soot.

"Hatori." Shigure prompted with a slight hiss. Shigure was serious. He wasn't playing, he wasn't joking, he was downright serious. This was a weighty matter that they were discussing here.

Hatori looked at his hand and realized that a minute amount of dirt had got under his usually clean nails. But it wasn't from his cigarettes, it was from the alleyway where he had picked up Kyo's prone body from the dirty ground.

Hatori turned to Shigure and their eyes once again locked.

"It will be our secret, Shigure." Hatori closed his only good eye and leaned back. "It will be our secret from Akito."

"Are you hungry?" Haru asked as he scooted closer to Kyo. Kyo gave Haru a leveled look and scooted back.

Haru smiled slightly at the action and moved to close the distance again. When Haru noticed that Kyo was about to move back again, Haru quickly hooked his arm around Kyo's neck.

"Come on, Kyo." Haru cooed as he brought Kyo closer to him. Kyo slightly reminded him of Rin when she was being stubborn. "Don't be like that."

"Haru," Yuki warned as he saw Kyo's shoulder bristle under Haru's hanging arm. "You're scaring him."

Haru frowned slightly but eased his hold on Kyo. "You don't have to be afraid, Kyo. I won't hurt you."

"You tried to hurt Hatori-nii earlier." Kyo pointed out. Kyo nudged Haru slightly causing Haru's arm to slide off him. Haru decided to not push Kyo any further and made no further attempts to touch the cat.

"That's because I was angry earlier." Haru pointed to his own head as he tried to keep his emotions intact. "He fucked up your mind."

"I don't think that's helping, Haru." Yuki sighed as he turned to look at Kyo. "Listen, Stupid Ca- I mean, Kyo, we're not going to hurt you so you don't need to be so tense around us."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"What?" Yuki looked a bit startled by the question. He was never questioned as to why he called Kyo that, at least, not by Kyo. It was like their mutual agreement. Kyo called him a Damn Rat and in exchange he called him Stupid Cat. It was as simple as that. No questions asked. No reasoning needed.

"Cat." Kyo sat up slightly as he thought back to when he just woke up. "You called me that earlier, too."

"We just do...because..." Yuki looked over at Haru for help but the Ox was as blank as he was.

"Because?" Kyo asked expectantly.

"Yuki! Haru! You're not tainting our Kyo-chan's mind with your perverse nature are you? Shame on you!" Shigure singsonged loudly as he walked into the living room and stood next to the couch.

Kyo immediately forgot about Yuki and turned to Shigure. He got up, but did not go stand next to the dog. Instead, he went and sat back down on the couch that was closest to Shigure. If he wanted, he could reach out and grasp the dog's hand from his sitting position on the couch, but his hands remained in his laps - preferring to let Shigure finish his talk with his other cousins before getting to him.

Kyo stared up at Shigure which Shigure quickly noticed. Shigure smiled at him. "Well, hello there, Kyo-chan!"

"Hi, Shigure-nii." Kyo replied somewhat meekly. "I...hi."

Yuki crossed his arms in front of his chest. The rat was relieved that the question was dropped so quickly but he was also annoyed that it was dropped because Kyo had lost interest in him and was more keen on replacing him with the dog. Of all people Kyo could possibly get attached to, he never thought it would be Shigure. Seriously, why Shigure, though?

"Were they mean to you?" Shigure gestured to the other two present in the room as he plopped himself down next to his redhead cousin. Yuki frowned and resisted the urge to slap the dog across the head, which he found wasn't too hard considering that it was usually Kyo that did all the slapping. Yuki mostly did the lethal chopstick daggers.

Kyo shook his head.

"Hmm, that's good." Shigure turned to Yuki and Haru before gesturing to the door of his office. "Hari needs to speak to the two of you." Shigure inclined his head slightly toward Kyo. "It's important."

Immediately understanding what the dog was trying to imply, they quickly got up and left.

"What were you and Hatori-nii talking about?" Kyo asked innocently as he pulled the blanket across them both even though Shigure wasn't even cold. Not wanting to rebuke Kyo's unusual but kind nature, Shigure remained quiet and allowed him to drape the blanket across his lap.

"Oh," Shigure laughed and waved his hand dramatically, but his eyes were steely. "Nothing important."

Kyo stared at Shigure, silently prodding him further.

"We were just..." Shigure looked across the floor at the unconscious girl and for some reason felt some hate against her. "Sharing secrets."

"You wanted to speak with us." Was Yuki's greeting as he shut the door behind the both of them. They took a seat across the doctor.

Hatori skipped the preamble and jumped right on it. "Kyo's condition needs to be contained."

"As in?" They were quite sure that they understood what Hatori was trying to say but they needed a confirmation.

"Akito will not know of this whole ordeal."

"We won't be able to keep it from him forever."

Haru nodded at Yuki's words. Haru knew first hand how frighteningly penetrating Akito could be. No matter how well they hid something, he would figure it out.

"We will try to keep his knowledge of this away from him as long as possible." Hatori sighed as he rubbed his temple. "For Kyo's sake."

Yuki's mind flashed to the dark room that plagued the majority of his childhood. Unconsciously, he found his hands tightening within themselves. He and Kyo had their differences, but he would never want Kyo to endure that room especially now.

"Who exactly are we not telling?" Haru asked.

"As limited as possible. For now, I don't want Momiji or Tohru knowing."

Yuki looked shocked. "Even Ms. Honda?"

"Momiji?" Haru echoed instead. "But they were there-"

"I said 'for now'." Hatori held his hands up. "I don't want to overwhelm him with too many people. Knowing them, they might crowd him. Within a few days, we can tell Tohru."

"How about Momiji?" Haru asked as he sat up higher. He didn't like the fact that Momiji was being put out of the circle.

"I will handle Momiji." Hatori stood up. "Momiji has a tendency to say too much, especially at the wrong time. His actions can be a bit excessive, too."

Haru knew that Hatori was referring to what happened earlier this evening and how the girl discovered them in the first place.

"I will let him know when everything is more stable." Hatori sighed as he saw Haru dejected face. "Of course, I am to blame as well. Tohru can stay at her friend's place for a while?"

Yuki nodded. "It shouldn't be too hard to arrange. I'm sure they won't mind."

"Good."

Yuki shook his head, feeling frustrated with the matter. "Hatori, what are the chances of us getting Kyo's memories back?"

Hatori looked them in the eyes, feeling no need to be dishonest with them. They probably hated him, but he didn't blame them. Really, he hated himself, too.

"Slim. Very slim."

Haru and Yuki came into the room when Shigure was obviously telling Kyo some lie about how amazing he was.

"And that's why I'm your favorite cousin!" Shigure trilled excitedly. Kyo didn't look too convinced, but nodded all the same.

Yuki coughed lightly as Haru went down to business and walked over to the girl.

"Oh!" Shigure turned to look at them. "Done speaking with Hari so soon?"

"Yes." Yuki gestured to the prone girl on their floor while Haru nudged her in the ribs with his foot. "Hatori wanted us to get her so he could," Yuki glanced at Kyo and quickly rephrased his words. "...help her."

Haru had already grabbed both of her wrist and dragged her halfway down the corridor when Yuki found the right and not so touchy words. Seeing that Haru didn't need any immediate help, Yuki remained rooted at the spot.

"Hatori made everything clear?" Shigure's voice was still high and dandy, but Yuki could still see the gravity of the situation in his eyes.

"Yes, everything." Yuki sat down at the table and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Is Hatori-nii telling them his secrets, too?"

Yuki arched his eyebrows at that. Secrets? What the heck is Shigure telling the cat?

Shigure quickly turned back to Kyo who was leaning slightly closer to him, almost as if they would indulge him their secrets if he was close enough.

"Yes, he did." Shigure chuckled and patted Kyo's back. The words didn't mollify Kyo in the least, and he frowned slightly.

"Is he going to tell me?"

"Of course he will, Kyo-chan! But not now, later." Shigure waved dismissively.

Kyo pouted and took a fist of the sleeve of Shigure's kimono and tugged it slightly. "Why can't he tell me now?"

Shigure grinned at the action. For as long as he remembered, Kyo had never pouted with him before - Shigure found it quite endearing, actually. "He just can't. Be patient, Kyo, and he will tell you later."

Huffing, Kyo turned to look at Yuki, who was still sipping his hot tea tenderly.

"Yuki."

Yuki choked on his tea from shock.

Shigure went over to Yuki's side and patted the distressed rat's back. Kyo got up, the blanket around him now forgotten on the couch, and sat down next to Yuki on the mat.

Kyo continued to look at the coughing Yuki. "What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, you just surprised him." Shigure seemed very amused by Yuki's state which Kyo found quite odd.

"Oh, sorry." Kyo earnestly felt bad, especially when he saw that Yuki's eyes were watering from coughing too much. "Are you okay?"

If Yuki wasn't coughing so hard already, he would have probably lapsed into an asthma attack from the triple shock. Kyo never called him by his name unless it was said spitefully or followed up with some vulgarity. But not only was Kyo calling his name, he was apologizing to him and asking if he was okay with sincerity instead of the usual grudgingness when he was only saying it for Tohru's sake.

Yuki finally got his bearings straight, and turned to look at Kyo in disbelief to which Kyo returned the look with a weak, apologetic grin.

"Sorry, I didn't think you would react like that."

Yuki looked at Kyo, truly looked at him. This wasn't the cousin he grew up with. This Kyo was so different, so tamed. He couldn't smite him, not when Kyo was in this condition, it would be wrong.

"It's..." Yuki dry swallowed. It felt odd talking to Kyo in such a civil manner. "It's fine."

Kyo nodded, seeming pleased with the answer, before leaning slightly closer to Yuki. "So, what exactly did Hatori-nii tell you?"

Before Yuki could answer, Shigure jumped in. "Now, Kyo-chan! That's cheating. You can't do that."

Shigure took ahold of Kyo's wrist and pulled him to his feet and pulled him out of the living room, leaving a truly nonplussed Yuki behind. Shigure was surprised at how small Kyo's wrist were and how easily he could move Kyo.

The novelist could wrap his whole hand around them easily.

"Come, Shigure-nii will order you some food!" Shigure tightened his grip on Kyo's wrist.

They were so fragile.

Kyo frowned. "I'm not hungry."

If he wanted to, he could probably snap his wrist.

"Of course you are!"

But he didn't want to snap Kyo's hands.

"When is Hatori-nii going to tell me his secret?"

He wanted to keep them safe.

"He'll tell you when you're ready."

But Akito wasn't like him. He would snap them so quickly and leave them broken and untreated.

"I'm ready now."

Shigure dropped Kyo's wrist to pick up the phone and dial the number of a restaurant they frequently ordered from before Tohru came into the picture.

"He'll know when you are."

Unconsciously, Kyo stood close to him and held a piece of the novelist's cloth loosely between his forefingers as Shigure waited for the other person on the line to pick up.

"Do you want some yakizakana?"

It was almost as if he was daring Shigure to leave him like he did before.

"I don't know."

Kyo was anchoring himself to him.

"It's fish. You'll like it."

Shigure wasn't about to weigh that anchor away either. If anything, he was going to lock it in place.

"How do you know that I'll like it?"

If Kyo was reaching out for him, he wasn't going to let him regret it.

"Because I know you."

Ever.

A/N: Fluffy? Too fluffy? Not fluffy at all? Sorry, if everybody seems kind of OOC. I'm still having trouble keeping them in character. What do you guys think about Kyo's relationship with Yuki and Haru? Shigure? And, yes, Akito will be male in this. I've been in the mood to write for this fandub, lately. So, yay!

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8/18/2014