Fruits Basket Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Neko's Healing ❯ Blood ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: ::sighing heavily:: I don't own `em, I just own the DVDs...and the manga GNs up to #11. And the 2006 Calendar. And a couple posters. And the 12” stuffed Kyo, and a 4” stuffed Yuki; and the half-sized stuffed Kyo--

',=P'''

I'm planning on uploading at least one chapter a week, just so you all know--most likely on Saturday evenings.

Enjoy!

 

3- Blood

 

Kyo flinched slightly away at Yuki's sharp tone and stared at the nezumi, shocked speechless. Yuki--so freaky at the mere sight of blood that he'd been known to pass out when someone nearby got a bloody nose--was willing to do this; for the neko, his worst enemy...? The bakemono of the family? His mind almost didn't register Yuki's words, as the nezumi started detailing the practical aspects of what he would be doing.

 

The neko couldn't take it anymore. When Yuki decided he'd have to get the supplies from Shigure's house, Kyo found his voice, determinedly shutting out the cacophony of confused whispers echoing in the back of his mind.

 

“Why?”

 

Yuki blinked at him, surprised. His face settled into a scowl. “Because it's closer than the store, baka neko!”

 

Kyo desperately suppressed the urge to yell back--or snicker. Another unexpected surge of that pure, white-hot rage rushing up from the depths of his mind stole his breath for a moment, difficult to fight off; leaving him weak-kneed and shaking as he huddled in on himself in its wake. This one was worse than the last one, only a couple minutes before. The healing must be fully complete, then.

 

There wasn't much time!

 

He was glad he hadn't been standing, that he'd ducked his head and covered his face before Yuki could register the emotion. The nezumi might have mistakenly thought it was Kyo's rage, directed at him. Yuki didn't know any better, after all; no one but Kyo knew where his habitual anger really came from.

 

When he'd caught his mental breath, Kyo wasn't sure if Yuki had purposefully misunderstood his question, or not. There was a sense of hysteria bubbling just below the surface of his thoughts, ready to rise up and take over. He wasn't ready to give in to it just yet, even though fighting off the rage had weakened him. He dropped his hands and raised his malformed, vaguely lizard-like head, long ears flat to his currently hairless skull in his distress.

 

“Why are you agreeing, to bleed--for me?” He held Yuki's eyes with his own, still somewhat shocked that there was no more fear in them than when he was in his human form. Just since the healing...had that one, simple act, changed Yuki's perception of him that much?!

 

No one had ever been unafraid of his bakemono form. Not his mother, not Akito; not Tohru...

 

...least of all, not himself.

 

Yuki glanced briefly down at his hands after a moment, then back into Kyo's purple eyes; so different--yet so similar, somehow--to the neko's normal red. Kyo could see him struggling to put an answer into words, mouth opening a couple times, only to close again without a sound. Finally, the nezumi asked a question.

 

“Do you really hate me?”

 

Kyo was getting tired of flinching. He felt like an open book just then, that anyone could read. He dragged his eyes right back to Yuki's, wondering if the nezumi could recognize the rueful expression twisting his currently malformed features. A small chuckle escaped before he could stop it. Seeing the intensity--and the true concern--in the nezumi's eyes, and feeling the churning thoughts and emotions roiling about the edges of his own mind--and, dangerously, below it--he decided to spill more truth than any Neko-cursed Sohma had in centuries.

 

What did he have to lose, after all? What was left, after his choice had been made and acted on? He drew in a ragged breath and began speaking, looking out into the blackness under the trees without really seeing anything.

 

“The Sohmas don't really know anything about nekos, for all one of us has been cursed by the Neko's spirit since the Jyuunishi Curse first landed on the family. People have taken the time to study all of the other Dobutsu no Jyuunishi--but not the neko.”

 

Yuki blinked, brow wrinkling slightly at the apparent change in subject, then decided to listen. Probably amazed that the two of them had yet to start fighting, Kyo figured, suppressing the urge to grin--he knew damned well what that expression would look like, with his currently overly wide mouth-full of razor-sharp, jagged teeth. He had seen his own reflection, once.

 

“The Neko's Curse is--different, from the others...and I don't just mean this,” he gestured down at himself, glancing directly at the nezumi for a brief moment to make sure he was listening. Yuki nodded, and he continued, “There's also the healing; just as the tatsu can take memories, the neko can take injuries. But--” His breathing got shaky as the voices clamored at him to stop, don't trust anyone--especially not the nezumi!!

 

One voice was especially loud; bitter memories flowed from it, trying to drown his sense of here and now. Kyo twitched as blood splattered across his mind's eye, a ghost of pain ripping through his body. He briefly closed his eyes and swallowed, hard, as he concentrated on blocking them all out. When he opened his eyes, he stared straight into Yuki's.

 

“The person with the Neko's curse--remembers.”

 

Kyo couldn't know that his eyes had gone hollow and grief-stricken from the memories swirling through his mind. Yuki saw it; the bakemono's face was quickly becoming familiar to him, just like Kyo's human face. He could almost see a ghostly image of the familiar human features, overtop the bakemono. His expression became concerned; he had also noticed that Kyo seemed to be fighting himself, somewhat, to speak. It appeared to be more than his usual difficulty in finding the right words.

 

“Remembers...what?”

 

Kyo looked down and off to the side, voice a mere whisper. “...all the previous nekos...”

 

Yuki stared at Kyo's profile, then shook his head sharply. “What--what are you saying? You `remember all the previous nekos'...? What exactly does that mean?”

 

Turning back to him, Kyo swallowed. He had never told a living soul about this; no neko ever had. He knew. But--Yuki hadn't removed his hands from Kyo's, yet. A thin trickle of unaccustomed comfort made its way into the neko' soul, spreading a warmth he'd never felt before.

 

No neko had felt before...

 

“They're--like voices, whispering to me, most of the time. Sometimes--something will happen, that's too close to some of their experiences...and one or more of them will push their emotions and memories onto me so hard, I can't help but feel them as my own.” Purple eyes became intense as they bored into widening violet-gray. “If I get angry enough, I can make them back off. It's the only thing that's ever worked.”

 

He sighed and bowed his head. “A couple of the previous nezumis--they--” His free hand rose to his eyes, pressed; then dropped. “They had a lot in common with--Akito. They--pulled some pretty rotten stuff on the nekos of their times.” A shudder visibly rippled through him, before he raised his head again, if not his eyes. “And...more nekos than I like to think about were--l-locked up--early. Earlier than Akito's planning on locking me up.”

 

This time it was Yuki who flinched, gasping, eyes wide. His hands tightened on Kyo's. “What!? He's locking you up?! When--! How long have you known--?”

 

The rage was building again; this time multi-sourced, and wild. There was more than a touch of insanity laced through it; especially the oldest. Kyo grit his teeth and concentrated on breathing as he set himself to keep it down. The effort cost him, leaving him even weaker. If this kept up, there wouldn't be time for Yuki to re-energize the beads; even if he slit the nezumi's wrist with his own claws, with bandages waiting for later.

 

“Akito decided it--when I was six. When...when my m-mother...died.” He raised his eyes to meet Yuki's horrified gaze, the rage within subsiding a bit in confusion at the nezumi's expression. There was no trace of gloating, or triumph; only that horrified empathy.

 

The voices all quieted, equally confused. No previous neko had ever been friends with a nezumi, after all...or any of the other Dobutsu no Jyuunishi, for that matter.

 

Kyo had managed to live quite outside of their experiences. He'd have to thank Shigure, sometime, for arranging that.

 

The neko wrenched his thoughts back to what he'd been telling Yuki. “He--Akito tried to make a bargain with me. If I could beat you in a fight, before graduating high school, he wouldn't lock me up after graduation; he'd make me a full part of the family.” Kyo snorted, every voice in his head in scornful agreement at the unlikelihood of Akito keeping his word about that. “I've never believed him. I figured he'd just lock you up, too, if you dared lose to something like me.

 

“Besides--he just said he wouldn't lock me up `after graduation.' He never said he wouldn't lock me up at all. He probably intended to lock me right up the very day I beat you, or something like that.”

 

He watched Yuki's face change as the nezumi's thoughts flew. The horror melted into understanding, with a few brief flashes of calculation; laced with surprise; a flicker of...irritation? And lastly, confusion. Yuki licked his lips, mouth likely dry as bone, and frowned. He looked down at his hands, still resting on Kyo's, for a moment; as Kyo stayed silent, guessing the nezumi's next question. The nezumi finally released Kyo's hand to raise both his hands to his face, covering it, breathing deeply for a moment.

 

When Yuki looked up, hands lowering to his lap, the confusion was still there. Kyo would bet his cousin had finally started thinking about exactly how much martial arts training each of them had had--and how Kyo only ever consistently lost fights to the nezumi. Kyo knew for a fact that the one time Yuki had faced Hatsuharu in full Black-mode rage, he'd had his butt handed to him on a platter, in well under thirty seconds. He'd been sure Yuki had been knocked unconscious, so had then taken Haru down himself--in well under ten seconds; without breaking a sweat, and without any element of surprise.

 

Haru had definitely gotten the message that Kyo was well and truly pissed, for some reason the oushi couldn't figure out, and been shocked White again. The oushi was used to losing to the neko--but he hadn't realized Kyo had been holding back with him that much!

 

Kyo wasn't sure anyone had ever told Yuki about that--or if Yuki had ever had reason to wonder. If Kyo could take Haru, that easily, when Yuki couldn't touch him--why was Kyo always loosing to Yuki? Why would he keep picking fights with the nezumi, just to lose? If that question wasn't the main thing on Yuki's mind just then, Kyo would be well beyond surprised.

 

“All the fights you've started with me--were you even trying to win them?” Yuki's hands had clenched in his lap until the knuckles turned white.

 

“...No.”

 

“Then--why fight me at all?!” Yuki's confusion was quickly turning to anguish. Kyo sighed, eyes and shoulders drooping. Things were already screwed up royally--he might as well spill everything. Yuki would just keep at it until he found out, any way.

 

“Akito--ordered Hatori to take some of your memories, right before--my mother--” He shifted uncomfortably as memories rose up; not all his own. “He tried to take mine, too. I was smart enough to not let them know it didn't work.” A glance at Yuki was showing more confusion than he'd ever seen on the nezumi's face before. He grimaced, then caught himself--thankful beyond words when Yuki didn't even flinch at the no doubt horrendous sight.

 

Kyo's vision started getting suspiciously blurry, as he suddenly realized there was apparently now one single person on the face of the planet, that truly wasn't scared to death of his monstrous cursed form. He'd been almost deliriously happy when Tohru had actually admitted that it scared her--as no one else would speak the truth of their feelings to his face. He didn't mind the fear itself, so much--but when people pretended it didn't bother them, or that they weren't afraid; he couldn't stand that.

 

And Tohru...she had still wanted them all to be together, just the same, in spite of knowing what the neko really was. In spite of her fear, she still truly cared--for him.

 

Unlike his mother--pretending to love him, when she was really only terrified of him. So terrified, that she finally went into their bathroom and slit her wrists, leaving her slowly cooling body in a blood-covered tub; for her six-year-old bakemono of a son to find.

 

His multi-tone voice roughened, old pain lancing though him, echoed many times over. “We were best friends, damnit! But--Akito got jealous. In the space of one lousy week, he took away the only people who ever even pretended to give a damn about me. You forgot all about me; Shigure started flinching, and took off whenever he saw me; and Mom--died...”

 

The rage was back, bringing a dull roar to his ears now. Blackness spread at the edges of his vision, in swirls and eddies; if he didn't calm down, fast, he'd be sucked under the tide of the voices. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply, trying to center himself.

 

He wasn't ready to lose his mind to it yet. He'd fight it as long as he could. He didn't want to be one of the insane voices in the head of the next neko!

 

A hand once more on his tight-clenched fist snapped his eyes open. Yuki was leaning close, staring intently at him, a mild frown mostly of concern on his face. He appeared to be thinking hard about something; looking for something in Kyo's eyes.

 

The neko blinked, surprise spreading among all of the voices, scattering some of them. The deep rage had been startled into questioning. He blinked again, wondering when Yuki would finally blink; the violet-gray stare was unbroken--and slightly unfocused. After nearly five minutes of staring, just when Kyo was about ready to jump up and start pacing, the nezumi spoke.

 

“...Whenever you've attacked me...I've felt...disappointed, before getting angry. It's--why I get angry...like I'm expecting something entirely different from you.” His head cocked curiously. “Maybe Hatori didn't do as thorough a job as he could have...?” Violet-gray eyes sharpened suddenly, boring into Kyo's. “You still haven't answered my question. Why the attacks?”

 

Regret washed through Kyo, silencing the mostly subdued voices. He sighed. “About a month after I went to live with Shisho, I overheard Hatori and him talking about you--he thought some parts of martial arts training might help you get control of your asthma.” He shrugged, as Yuki let go of his hand and sat back on his heels again, blinking in surprise.

 

“The next day, I nearly sprained my shoulder pretending to attack you, while trying not to hurt you.” The corner of his mouth twitched with a small smile. “D'you have any idea how clumsy you were back then?! Kamis! I'd only had a few lessons, myself; I was worried sick I'd hurt you by accident!” A small snicker burst out before Kyo could hold it back.

 

Yuki gave him a flat-eyed stare, obviously not thrilled at what he was hearing. Then the corner of the nezumi's mouth twitched, too, as the rather twisted humor of the impossible situation struck. The only way Kyo had of helping his best friend--was to follow Akito's wishes, and pretend they were enemies...

 

The nezumi sighed, the bleakness of Kyo's nearly life-long situation overcoming him for a moment. He looked about at his one-time garden without really seeing anything outside of his own head, not even the night's darkness. The storm had cleared enough to let some of the moon's light through breaks in the clouds, and the pale, silvery light that crept over the clearing made the shadows seem pitch black in comparison.

 

Kyo bit back a gasp as some thing, deep within him--growled. He wasn't aware of the sound vibrating in his chest, the sensation in his mind taking all his attention. Yuki heard it, though, and started in surprise at the angry, animalistic sound. Violet-gray eyes watched in growing concern as the neko hunched in on himself once more, arms wrapping about his own torso; jagged teeth gritted, purple eyes open but unseeing, as Kyo fought the tide of emotion coming up from the deepest pit in his mind.

 

It wasn't--him. Kyo refused to give in to it, however weak he felt at that moment. He would keep it locked away in the deepest parts of his mind that he could, for as long as he could! If he let it loose--if it got free--! He shuddered to think of what might happen. Just touching the edges of--whatever it was; maybe the mind that went with the horrible form he was cursed with? It wasn't the first of the Neko no Jyuunishi--that one Kyo knew; wispy, mostly insane remnant that the spirit-self was, now. It didn't even remember its own name any more.

 

Kyo wasn't sure just what the raging--thing--was; but it tinged everything he saw in red...red of rage; red of blood. It wanted--blood. Splattered everywhere; by its own claws, and teeth. Blood dripping from the trees, pooling on the ground--running in rivers from the still-warm flesh that was the liquid's source--

 

Kyo shuddered as the insatiable bloodlust built up in his chest and painted such horrifying images on the inside of his eyelids, where he couldn't escape them. He bowed down into a tight ball, a pitiful, mewling sound running an eerie counterpoint to the continuing predatory growl. He was more terrified than he'd ever been in his life--even the times, late at night, when he would allow himself to think about what it would be like to be locked up in that small, dark room...seeing no one, but Akito; until the day he finally died.

 

Just like in the memories of previous nekos--

 

It was too late--he knew it, could feel it in his malformed bones--! Even if Yuki re-energized the beads right then and there, he didn't know if he would be able to restrain--whatever it was that felt that awful, sickening, mind-consuming bloodlust. The blackness was swirling closer about the edges of his vision, ready to drown him when his strength gave out.

 

Two mournful voices along the edges of his mind agreed that once he lost, he was done--Sohma Kyo would be no more. There would only be the Bakemono. It would take over, and wouldn't rest until the body it wore was destroyed. Those were the voices of the two previous nekos who had lost themselves to it, before anyone knew what would happen.

 

If Kyo lost to it, if the Bakemono took over and his own family were forced to destroy his body--the whole cycle would start again. Yet another child would be born under the Neko's curse; to grow up shunned, and hated, outcast from the Sohmas he or she was kin to. Even more likely to be locked up early in that same small cell of a room that Kyo was fated for, with a recent rampage of the Bakemono fresh in everyone's memories.

 

An image of Honda Tohru drifted before Kyo's eyes. He suddenly realized--the Bakemono would go straight for Shigure's house...right after ripping Yuki to shreds. It would then kill Shigure...

 

...and Tohru.

 

-.-.-.-

 

I kinda like the idea of the Monster form somehow messing with Kyo's head. I've thought of other ways it could happen, too--but those are for other fanfics, this is the one I picked for this story. I hope you're enjoying it so far!