Fruits Basket Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Neko's Healing ❯ Lightning ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. Or Ranma. Or any other manga or anime.

 

(1-14-06 MM.org--reposting to fix that nasty formatting...no other changes)

 

::long, mournful sigh...::

 

I discovered a hefty dose of teenage-style angst collecting in my system one day, and decided to get rid of it in a creative fashion. Why let it go to waste? Two days later, I found myself with more than ten thousand words written...whew!! >.<''

 

Warnings: There is blood in this one, though I don't go into overly graphic descriptions of injuries, or anything--and it's not from the violence of humanity. Mother Nature unsheathes her claws, instead. Hmmm...there are one or two cuss words; they're kinda warranted, though. O.o'' Actually, all things considered, I probably should've used a whole lot more! Especially from Kyo's mouth!!

 

Oh, yeah; I'm picking on the neko a little bit again...though not nearly as much as in my first fic, “Revelations.” I think he was a bit annoyed with me after that one, even if he did get a nice happy ending...heh!

 

I had this Ranma fanfic I was two chapters into...I woke up one day, and the thing had gone and hopped right over into this one! AAGH! I really hadn't intended to do a crossover...but, well...::whines:: it just flowed so beautifully!! ::sniffs and quits whining:: The first eight chapters of this are straight Fruits Basket; Ranma doesn't butt in until Chapter Nine. The two chapters of the Ranma fanfic are posted under the title “Unworthy.” (You don't have to read that to follow this one. It'll stand alone, even though I didn't even try to fix anything in poor Ranma's life, or anything like that. It's a character development piece, basically just a nasty situation that gets Ranma and Akane to actually talk with each other.)

 

Oh--there's a glossary at the end of this first chapter, for those who don't know what the heck a `neko' or a `nezumi' are, etc. I just like using the Japanese words too much to change `em to English! If you download this as a text file and import it into your word processor, you can do a Find & Replace on `em to change those words to your preferred language, after all.

 

Enjoy!

 

The Neko's Healing

 

By CrazyDragon

 

1- Lightning

 

Sohma Kyo peered out the window into the drizzly night, red eyes narrowed in irritation. Still seeing no sign of his cousin returning, the Neko-cursed Sohma growled softly to himself. `Damnit, where the hell is that k'so nezumi?! He should've been back from his precious `se-e-ecret base' well before the sun set!' He clenched his hands in his pockets as he ground his teeth in frustration.

 

He wasn't worried about Sohma Yuki--no, not at all! Kyo hated that kuso nezumi!! It was just that Honda Tohru was worried about Yuki, and he hated seeing Tohru upset. He steadfastly ignored the loud, purely mental snort of disbelief at that thought.

 

Tohru was currently bustling about in the kitchen, supposedly readying things for cooking breakfast in the morning. Kyo wasn't fooled; there were too many long pauses where she just stood there, a blank look on her face, staring towards the door. She was just flittering about--worrying. She wouldn't go to bed until that kuso nezumi was back, safe and sound.

 

And he calls me inconsiderate! HAH!!

 

Just watching her brief periods of almost-frantic activity was making him exhausted, never mind the usual rainy-day lethargy that made him want nothing more than to go to sleep until the rain was gone. He hated the rain! He didn't voluntarily go out in the damned stuff.

 

Finally, nearly an hour after sunset, Kyo'd had enough. He let out a gusty, resigned sigh through gritted teeth, blowing orange hair out of his eyes. Turning on his heel, he sauntered towards the front door. As he passed the kitchen he called out, casually, “Oi. Don't worry so much. If it'll make you feel better, I'll go drag him back.” A steady murmur of concern in his head, that he'd absolutely never allow to pass his lips, faded away as he neared the door outside.

 

Tohru appeared at his shoulder and broke out in relieved babbling, thanking him profusely while telling him he really didn't have to go if he didn't want to; as she understood he and Yuki didn't really get along all that well, and she didn't want them to get into a fight again just on her account...

 

Kyo waved a hand in the air, turning his back to her while slipping on his shoes in order to hide the slight blush he felt creeping over his cheeks. He stood, and turned back briefly with one hand on the door to tell her, “Whatever. Just quit worrying! I'll walk to the store and back; he might have gone to get something, and is lugging it home right now. Or maybe his fan girls have him cornered somewhere...” He snickered at the thought, an evil grin on his face. “I'll be back soon.” He grabbed an umbrella and was out the door before a flustered Tohru had half finished her profuse, and totally unnecessary words of thanks.

 

The rain was only a light drizzle now, barely more than the clouds spitting on the trees; but he opened the umbrella anyway. It wasn't cold enough out to really bother him, even if he did get wet--other than the `bother' of his own, peculiar curse as the Neko no Jyuunishi.

 

A mere twenty feet from Shigure's house and he was already heartily cussing himself out, his leaden body trying to drag him down to the muddy earth. Thank the kamis it wasn't still pouring, like earlier in the day! The worse the rain, the harder it was for him to even stand up, let alone walk.

 

He trudged along with grim determination, ignoring the sly voice in his head that chided him for showing concern for his `so-called enemy'. He usually refused to talk back to that voice--he might inadvertently speak out loud; and he didn't want people believing he talked to himself all the time! He had enough problems as it was.

 

Kyo kept to the route Yuki always took to go to the store. Once there, a few questions to the clerks told him the nezumi hadn't been there that whole day. Of course, the kuso nezumi was a favorite among the staff...

 

Now scowling and truly annoyed at practically the whole world, the neko turned around and began the long-seeming walk back to Shigure's house.

 

He paused when he entered the forested land that comprised most of the property, sheltering the house in complete privacy; glancing pensively into the trees. Kyo knew where Yuki's `secret base' was--he'd come across the garden in one of the first of his frequent explorations since coming to live with his cousins. His sense of smell might not be quite as super-sensitive as Shigure's inu-sharp nose, but it was better than that of any of the other Dobutsu no Jyuunishi; and he knew very well what Yuki's scent was. The garden was usually thick with it--and Tohru's scent, as well. He could probably find it with his eyes closed--at least, he could before the rain had washed most of it away. He was still fairly certain of its location by eye alone, even in the dark--and his sense of direction was as good as Hatsuharu's was horrible.

 

Shifting his grip on the umbrella as the wind kicked up a notch, stray gusts starting to tug quite determinedly at it, he moved off into the trees, trying to not lean on them every couple steps. The lethargy was slowly getting worse; the storm must be intensifying again, it would likely start raining in earnest soon. Kyo's eyes narrowed as his lip curled in a snarl. Just what the hell did he think he was doing?! And for the kuso nezumi, no less!

 

An image of big, worried, chocolate-brown eyes floated in front of his mind's eye, even as softly mocking snickers floated through the back of his head. Kyo ground out a sigh and pushed himself onwards into the trees as he ignored the strong feeling of a sardonic gaze boring into the middle of his back.

 

He knew damned well what his main reason was; and just never mind any others that he wouldn't ever want to admit to. Even if they might actually be the stronger reasons.

 

It seemed to take forever to reach the garden plot. He kept his head down, watching the ground closely so he wouldn't trip over the roots and fallen branches that seemed to reach out to tangle his leaden feet. He had to stop and lean against a tree for a while at one point, wondering if he was going to end up spending the night out in the weather--the thought of walking all the way back to Shigure's house was starting to seem damned near impossible to him. The tiredness ate at his bones, leeching out every bit of energy from his body. Even simply breathing was becoming a chore!

 

When he got to the first row of vegetables, a tired but triumphant smile flitted across his face. He looked up--

 

Kyo sucked in a breath, red eyes gone wide. The earlier storm--lightning from that must have struck the big old tree at the south end of the little clearing, because that tree was now lying overtop most of the carefully tended garden. The remaining stump sported a jagged, blackened look where the main trunk of the tree had split off from one small, former sucker-shoot.

 

Kyo's eyes were drawn to the one out-of-place patch of paleness visible in the clearing--beneath the tree. Ice shivered down his spine as he pushed hard at his leaden body to move forward; shoving his way through the branches that poked and bent against him, springing back to slap and scrape at his skin. His umbrella tumbled forgotten to the ground behind him.

 

His clothing took more damage than his hide, but not by much. It was hard going to worm his way through the last few, larger branches, close together as they were from the way the tree was resting on them; but he managed it, panting and cursing the whole way. He fitted himself down by the pale form that he was now close enough to see was, indeed, his missing cousin--apparently unconscious. An aware Yuki would have made some sort of comment by now, if only at hearing Kyo's cursing as the neko got closer.

 

With no one else around to see it, Kyo let his face show his very real concern. Hesitantly, suddenly fearing the worst, he reached a hand out towards his cousin's shoulder. He paused when he saw how that hand was shaking. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes for a moment and willed himself calm. Panicking wouldn't help anyone.

 

Kyo sighed and dropped his head in relief when Yuki moaned at his gentle touch, even if he didn't rouse enough to be truly aware. At least he was still alive! The question now was, how much damage was done when the tree fell on him?

 

The neko studied the branches around them as much as he could see in the darkness, tracing them back to the main trunk, calculating exactly where he'd have to push up to shift things about. Getting Yuki out was going to be a real pain, especially if the k'so nezumi wasn't able to wake up and help! It would be a difficult job on a good day--with what the rain was doing to his energy levels, Kyo had some serious doubts he'd be able to do it at all. Even the adrenaline of pure, desperate panic might not be enough.

 

He didn't want to waste the time of going all the way back to Shigure's house, convincing the damned hentai inu of the seriousness of the situation, and then tracking down somebody who could actually be of some help in getting Yuki out of there. That might take until morning! Yuki might not have that much time to waste, if he was badly hurt. If Kyo could at all manage on his own, he was determined to try.

 

He carefully checked over his now softly moaning cousin, gently feeling for obvious injuries. In the dark, his hands had to be his eyes. The limp arms didn't seem to be twisted oddly, and Kyo couldn't feel any breaks in the bones. The nezumi didn't seem to have any knots on his skull, either. Kyo was doubtful that the shock of the impact, itself would have kept him unconscious for so long. He figured Yuki had likely been stuck under that tree for at least a couple hours, maybe as many as four--depending on how long he'd dallied about in the garden when the storm came, and exactly when the lightning had struck.

 

Though the nezumi might have had an asthma attack when he realized that he was pinned so that he couldn't free himself, and that help wasn't likely for a good long while--possibly not until morning. A feeling of sympathetic panic crossed the back of Kyo's mind; he'd likely have an attack, in the same situation! An asthma attack could easily have kept Yuki unconscious for several hours. His breath seemed steady and clear now, at least, much to Kyo's relief.

 

Then Kyo's hand met resistance as he ran it down Yuki's back, still searching for wounds or broken bones. Wooden resistance; surrounded by a warm, sticky dampness that had soaked into Yuki's already partially rain-soaked shirt. His gut curdled when Kyo realized--a branch, about two inches in diameter, had gone straight into his cousin's back.

 

Yuki had been impaled, when the tree fell on him.

 

Kyo drew back, shaking, his breath catching in his throat. Now what could he do?! He snarled at various sensations tickling at the edges of his mind, scattering them. He didn't need the distraction now!

 

Running one hand through sodden orange locks, Kyo realized the rain had picked up, and was dripping down on them through the sheltering leaves and branches of the fallen tree--and his umbrella was still outside the branches. He could hear the sound of the increasing wind through the steady pattering of drops on foliage; it was becoming a steady, low roar. The storm was getting worse, quickly!

 

“...ungh...k--Kyo...?”

 

His eyes went to Yuki's face, seeing the glitter of partially opened eyes through the darkness. The nezumi's head was turned towards Kyo, just enough light from the cloud-reflected city lights filtering through the branches for Kyo's night-sensitive eyes to make out the heavily shadowed face. At least Yuki was aware again! Kyo gently put a hand on his cousin's shoulder, speaking in a soft and reassuring tone of voice that Yuki had never heard from the neko before.

 

“Yeah, it's me. Easy--I'm gonna get you out of here. It's probably gonna hurt, though.”

 

“...'ready...hnn...hurtsss...”

 

Kyo winced in sympathy, then quickly set about positioning himself for one massive effort of lifting, squatting with his shoulders braced against what he judged to be the main branch. The one through Yuki's back came from this branch. It looked like lifting up at just that point would pull the branch straight back out of the nezumi. Kyo took a deep breath, praying to all the kamis that he was right. He then tried to explain what he was going to do, carefully keeping his voice in that same unusually calm tone, lacing it with as much confidence as he could put into it.

 

“Yuki. You're gonna have to try and help me here. I'm gonna shift the tree up a bit; you need to try and crawl forward, at least a couple feet. It's probably gonna hurt like hell when that branch comes out, but I don't have any way of breaking it off or cutting it, and I don't want to waste the time of going back to Shigure's.”

 

A shiver wracked Yuki's body, pale hands clenching at the dirt beneath the nezumi. Worry gnawed at Kyo's nerves; could his cousin even do it? If not, he didn't know how he was going to get Yuki out of there!

 

“You ready...?”

 

Yuki's head nodded slowly. “...Aa...d--do it--”

 

Kyo put everything he had into lifting; teeth gritted, eyes shut tight, muscles straining to the point of screaming. The tree slowly shifted upwards, that branch inching it's way out of Yuki's body. Kyo opened his eyes and fixed them on the dark-stained portion of the branch, beginning to shake with the effort at fighting both the weight of the tree and the lethargy of his curse. Blackness started creeping in at the edges of his vision even as the branch slowly emerged. He let out a strained groan with the effort, his feet sinking into the earth; rough bark cutting in to the skin of his shoulders right through his sweater.

 

He tried to close his ears to the thin, high-pitched, mostly-muffled wail of pain that escaped through Yuki's clenched teeth. He was already lifting as fast as he could.

 

That dark-stained branch was soon the only thing the neko could see, everything else consumed with a blackness that wasn't part of the night. When the tip finally popped into view he gasped out, “Crawl! Now!!”

 

Kyo locked his strain-shivering limbs and watched as Yuki concentrated on moving numb, heavy-seeming arms, trying to drag himself forward. The nezumi dug his hands into the soft, tilled earth, ripping out half-grown plantings as he pulled. One leg came forward, toes digging in to push; the other didn't seem to want to work properly. Kyo had no way to know that Yuki's thigh had been broken by the weight of another branch's landing; one that hadn't pierced through, but had been bent over Yuki's leg while supporting a great deal of the large old tree's weight. He hadn't been able to finish his quick examination of Yuki, especially after discovering that branch in the way--in more ways than one.

 

Kyo squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating, refusing to let the tree down yet. If Yuki could crawl just a few more inches--just a few more--!

 

As flashes of light started floating in his vision, Kyo opened his eyes, praying to all the kamis that Yuki had gotten far enough. He couldn't hold it up much longer! The strain was too much--the weight too great. His gasping breath wasn't bringing in enough air, his lungs and muscles alike were burning--he was going to pass out, if he didn't let up soon!

 

Yuki had gotten farther than either of them would have thought possible--he'd crawled a whole body-length. He'd grit his teeth and just kept at it, probably not really paying attention to how far he'd gone.

 

Kyo gasped out a strangled cry of relief when he realized Yuki had gotten to a spot where he wasn't likely to be injured by any more branches, and tried to let the tree down slowly. His weakened muscled betrayed him for the last few inches, crumpling him to the ground as the tree sank back down with a soft whoosh and a groaning and creaking of protesting wood. A couple more small branches could be heard snapping off, and water splattered everywhere.

 

He hastily looked to Yuki, now surrounded by much smaller twigs and leaves, relieved he hadn't heard a cry of fresh pain. Shaking, he lay in the dirt himself for a moment, before dragging himself over through the branches to his cousin, checking to see if he was going to be able to pull Yuki the rest of the way out.

 

It was hard. He had to get the nezumi out from under the felled tree quickly, and at least try to bind something about his wound--it didn't show in the darkness and the now-heavy rain, but Yuki must be bleeding pretty good now that the branch was out. He'd likely already lost too much blood!

 

As they were close enough to the edge of the branches to have some room to maneuver in, Kyo gently turned Yuki onto his back, then squatted at his head, so he could pull his cousin out by hands under the nezumi's armpits. The neko's muscles protested softly after the strain of the tree; but Yuki wasn't all that heavy, so Kyo ignored the discomfort. As well as the jeering in the back of his mind; he was too busy to pay it any attention, much less respond to it.

 

Once he had his cousin free and had dragged him over to a relatively dry spot under the nearby shelter of still-standing trees, at least partially out of the wind and rain, Kyo slumped against a trunk for a moment, catching his breath. Yuki was moaning softly, the pitiful little sounds an animal makes when in pain; his breathing was labored. He didn't respond when Kyo called his name.

 

Kyo gently rolled Yuki onto his side, then set about carefully peeling back the dark-stained shirt to get a better look at the wound. He was glad it was dark out--the neko wasn't that fond of the sight of blood. In the night, everything was black on grays, and he could pretend to himself that the dark, sticky wetness on the shirt was something else. Anything else.

 

Even in the darkness, though, Kyo could easily make out the bleeding hole through his cousin's too-pale body. He swallowed hard, shivering, staring at it.

 

“H-how...bad...?”

 

Kyo started at the thin whisper of sound, clenching his hands into fists to still their shaking. Still staring at the wound in horrified fascination. Despair clutched at the edges of his thoughts as he briefly debated lying, then thought better of it. In Yuki's place, he'd rather have the truth.

 

“...Bad. I--it's real bad...”

 

A soft, choked gasp from the prone form drew Kyo's eyes towards Yuki's face, what he could make out of it. The eyes were hidden in black shadows; the mouth was a thin, pinched line, with a slight tremble to it. Kyo watched as Yuki bit at his upper lip, then struggled to form words through his pain.

 

“I'm...g-going to...d--die...aren't I...”

 

Voices whispered at the edges of Kyo's consciousness as he stared at the wound again. “I...” The voices were steadily gaining in volume, words becoming easily recognizable. “I--” Kyo tore his gaze from the wound, instead looking at the bracelet of black and white beads on his left wrist. His right hand covered it for a moment as his eyes squeezed shut, his face contorting briefly into a rictus of agonized indecision.

 

“No.”

 

His voice was suddenly strong, determined. Certain. Calmness flooded though Kyo, the voices abruptly silenced.

 

He'd made his choice. They had no more to say.

 

Kyo reached out and held Yuki's left hand with his own, feeling the icy coldness in the nezumi's fingers. There wasn't much time... He took a deep breath, thinking about exactly how to say what he wanted Yuki to do; how much he wanted his cousin to know.

 

-.-.-.-

 

Ooo, a cliffie...! ::getting ready to dodge thrown objects of all sorts:: Yuki wants his turn now, so chapter 2 will be his in POV.

 

Glossaryand all that

 

Formality: rule of thumb--the longer it takes to say it in Japanese, the more polite it is. One of the many things that makes it so hard to translate anime to English, if they want to keep speech coming during the characters' mouth movements! `>.<'

 

Note on names--I like to use the Japanese convention of “Last name, First name” instead of the English “First, Last,” in my fanfics based on Japanese stories. I also tend to use pronouns differently in these fanfics than I normally do. I'm slowly picking up some Japanese (not through regular classes; no time!) and their pronoun equivalents seem quite different from the American English I grew up with! I like the different `flavor' that comes out, though; so I approximate. Sort of. ,'=D

 

The Dobutsu no Jyuunishi (Animals of the Zodiac), in order:

Yuki - Nezumi--Rat

Hatsuharu - Oushi--Ox

Kisa - Taiga--Tiger

Momiji - Usagi--Rabbit

Hatori - Tatsu--Dragon

Ayame - Hebi--Snake

Rin - Uma--Horse

Jiro - Ohitsuji--Sheep

Ritsu - Saru--Monkey (saru is also listed as a verb meaning to depart, or leave...)

Kureno - Ondori --Rooster

Shigure - Inu--Dog

Kagura - Buta--Boar

and then there's my and Honda Tohru's favorite:

Kyo - Neko--Cat (koneko is kitten!)

 

Some other words I'm likely to use:

baka--idiot (the usual rough translation) Any fan of anime who doesn't know this one--SHAME on you!!! =D

gomen--please excuse me; pardon me; I am sorry. Gomen nasai--more formal version

hentai--pervert; perversion (also means metamorphosis, [insect]... O.o''')

Honke--progenitor; main branch of a family (Main House)

Imoto/ Imoto-chan--younger sister; little sister

kami--god

Konbanwa--Good evening

Konichiwa--Good afternoon

kudasai--please

kuso / k'so--Damn it! Sh*t! etc.

Oba-san/ ba-san--aunt

Obaa-san/ baa-san--grandmother

Ohayo--Good morning! Ohayo gozaimasu--more formal version

Oji-san/ ji-san--uncle

Ojii-san/ jii-san--grandfather

Okaa-san/ kaa-san--mother

Onee-san / nee-san--sister

Onii-san / nii-san--brother

Oto-san/ to-san--father

Ototo/ Ototo-chan--younger brother; little brother

Oyaji--Old man; Pops (what Ranma calls his dad)

shimatta--damn!

Shisho (long `o')--master; teacher; can also mean `hindrance'...`,=]

sugoi--amazing; wonderful; awful, terrifying

sumimasen-- I am sorry! Excuse me! Thank you!

tensai--genius. Also means, natural disaster. <BG!!> Ain't language wunnerfull?

 

Extensions:

-ke--family; Wadake, the Wada family

(name)-chan--used after a person's given name to express intimacy or affection; also used as a diminutive for children and pets (so Kyo-chan would mean “little” Kyo)

(name)-kun--Mr. or Ms. - used in addressing younger people or colleagues, in place of -san or -sama

(name)-san--Mr.; Mrs.; Ms.

(name)-sama-- Mr.; Mrs.; Ms. (more formal)