Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Broken ❯ Strategy ( Chapter 4 )

Kyou: " I can't believe you're doing this to Tohru."
NK: "Does it bother you?"
Kyou: "Of course it bothers me, and you're making me all sappy."
NK: "I promise you'll get over it."
Kyou: *glares at NK* "I'd better, I can't kill him if I'm sappy."
NK: We'll see.
Kyou: *Crosses his arms* You forgot to say it.
NK: I didn't realize you were such a spoilsport *rolling my eyes* I don't own Fruits basket... etc etc.

Chapter 4 ~ Strategy
Nocturnem's Koneko

Hatori looked at her, the horror and shock, evident in his face. He dropped heavily to the bed, bringing his arms around her head, and leaning her head into his shoulder. He could feel his clothing dampen, the smell of salt in his nostrils as she wept. He opened all of his senses, the ones that made him able to erase the minds of those that Akito ordered. To his inner eyes, the curse hung around her, strong and vibrant in colors of crimson entwining and pulsing in time with her own bright aura...

Tohru moved before Hatori could catch her, throwing her arms around his waist and pulling her body closer to his, still crying heavily into his shoulder. He braced himself for the transformation. It never came. Only then did he take in the full significance of what she had said "He said that he would make me Sohma and allow me to share in all that was Sohma. That, I too, would know the pain of a curse." The curse had given her the ability to hug the members of the Juunishi, she was now truly one of them. How had Akito done it? Could she hug non-Juunishi of the opposite sex still? That was definitely going to have to be tested before she went back to school. He moved his attention back to the girl in his arms. "Tohru, you've got to stop this now, you are going to rip out those stitches in your stomach, if they don't heal right they'll scar." She pulled back from him slowly, allowing him to help her recline back onto the bed putting a couple more pillows behind her so she could at least sit up a little bit. She didn't really seem all that shocked that she'd been able to hug him. She rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes and drew in a couple of shuddering breaths trying to bring herself under control. At his words, Tohru just looked at Hatori wondering if she should tell him. "They are going to scar anyway," she said her voice as steady and loud as she could make it, even then it hovered just above a whisper. "They might not, and if they do, probably only very little. I did a very good job stitching you up, if I do say so myself." He sounded a little injured that she had so little faith in him. She sighed and bowed her head. "I didn't mean it like that 'Tori. Akito told me that they were going to scar. He put some kind of chemical on the tips of those claws of his to prevent the cuts from healing up properly or something. He said it was something they used to use for body art of some kind. The kanji and the claw marks on my back are with me forever." Hatori just looked at her, his mind trying to take in the information she was providing. Where had Akito gotten something like that? How long had he been planning this little horror story of his? It got worse with every passing moment.

He turned away from her, looking out the window of her room, and putting a cigarette to his lips. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and raised it to the cigarette inhaling as he lit it. "I'm sorry, Tohru, if you never hear this from another member of this family, know that I speak for all of us. I am truly sorry for what he's done to you. We can't re-write the past, but I swear to you we are going to try to make the future better." He turned around to look at her. She looked pale, bruises dotting the surface of her face and neck. But, she looked relatively alert She definitely didn't look like the half dead girl he'd been taking care of last night. She'd pick up Kisa's stuffed tiger and was holding it close to her, petting it's fur as if it were real. "Are you up for some company?" She looked up at him. Company? She hadn't realized anyone else was here besides Kyou and Yuki, and Shigure it had been so quiet. She hadn't even heard them fighting. She hadn't seen anyone except Kyou and Hatori. He caught the question in her eyes. "Kisa, Kagura, Haru and Momiji came with me last night and spent the night here waiting to see how you were. Yuki's been waiting with them. I didn't want you to have too many visitors before you were ready. I'd rather that you didn't tire yourself out, but I think that they really need to see that you are awake and if not ok, at least on the road to recovery. I can let them come in one at a time, so they don't stress you out too much." He looked at her with one eyebrow cocked. She passed her tongue over her lips before biting her lower one. Then she nodded her head slowly. "Ok." was all she replied. "Well then, I think that we need to get you cleaned up a little bit and ready for visitors,"

Outside, Kyou was sitting cross legged on the ground looking at Kisa in a state of something akin to shock as she ran through her story again. That fucking bastard was a line that got repeated in his head a lot, but he didn't interrupt the girl as she spoke. She looked up at all of them as she ended her story, the last part of it none of them had actually heard. "Did Hatori say anything else about what he's planning to do?" Kisa shook her head. He swallowed. "Ok then, we are obviously not going to be told the truth about Tohru's condition from any of them, so everything that we find out is going to have to be either from her or by listening in on them." Momiji spoke up as Haru came to, sparing a glance at the ox to see if he was White or Black. Haru looked kind of dazed, but he was definitely back to white. "Shigure left for some appointments before you came down. Ten to one, he's on the way over to Ayame's and Hatori's going to be going there later." The others nodded. It was Yuki's turn to speak. "Well, if we are going to keep our knowledge a secret, we need to get back in the house and stop huddling like this." Kyou continued his line of thought. "I told Hatori I was going to be making some breakfast, I think we'd all better get back in. We'll think of a plan of action once Hatori is gone." They all stood and walked to the house. Kyou went into the kitchen and fetched some eggs from the refrigerator and started on breakfast, then thinking that if Tohru wakened she was going to need to eat something, he pulled out a can of chicken noodle soup from the pantry. He'd start it once everyone else was eating. His mind was moving at a slow crawl as he cooked, trying to assimilate all the information Kisa had told him. He could not help but think that there was some element missing someplace. As Yuki had said, Akito didn't do things for no reason, there had to be more to this than just a terror tactic, what was his angle? "Kisa, Momiji, set the table!" He paused, a few manners might not hurt. "Please!"

Once the eggs and rice balls he'd prepared were done, he took them out to the table. He'd made some hot chocolate as well. He sat the whole feast down on the table and went back into the kitchen to fix the soup for Tohru. Once it was done, he poured into a bowl, he placed some crackers on the tray as well as a cup of the hot chocolate and walked up stairs. "Kagura," he said as he walked up the stairs, could you and Haru handle the breakfast dishes?" He walked to Tohru's room. He knocked once, and opened the door, carefully balancing the tray on one hand. She was awake and sitting up. Hatori was carefully brushing out her hair. Relief flooded through him. He took note of the changes that Hatori had made since last night as he stood there with the tray in hand. Hatori had given her a blood transfusion and arm was now in a cast It looked like he'd been changing some of her bandages as well. "I thought maybe you might be hungry." he said softly. "Even if she isn't, she needs to eat." Hatori spoke into the silence of the room. "Bring the tray over and you can help her eat while I finish cleaning up my mess. Hatori moved away from her side, laying the brush down. He took down the now empty bag of blood and removed it from the iv connection. He hooked in a fresh bag of Saline. We'll take the IV out tomorrow, but I want to make sure you stay hydrated for at least another day. Once your ready we can let the others come up and say hello" Tohru simply nodded and turned her attention to Kyou who had brought the tray over to where she lay and set it across her lap. She allowed him to ladle the soup into her, stopping occasionally for a drink of the hot chocolate or a bite of cracker. While she was eating, Hatori cleared away the casting materials, and used bandages, then packed up the small x-ray machine. Once she was finished eating, Kyou moved the tray away. "Kyou," He turned at the sound of her voice. "Arigato." He flushed. "It was nothing. Did you want your hair down or do you want me to pull it back for you?" She gave him a small smile. "Back off my face at least, then I'll look like I normally do." "Hold on then." He went to the bathroom and got her basket of hair ties and barrettes and brought it back with a small mirror. Maybe a mirror wasn't the best thing for her right now, but she'd want to see her hair, and she deserved to know what the others were going to be seeing when they saw her so she could be prepared for their reactions. Fortunately the pajama's she wore had long sleeves, so the most anyone else was going to see was her hands neck and face. He picked up the brush and handed Tohru the mirror, she gasped as she looked into it but said nothing. "You watch what I'm doing and tell me if it's ok" She nodded. He carefully brushed through the strands, trying to accomplish the simple hair style she wore most days. It proved more difficult than he'd imagined, but not as bad as he'd feared. Pulling the sides of her hair back, he brushed them until they were smooth and pulled all the hair he'd gathered into a ponytail holder. He looked at what she was wearing, trying to determine the right color bow. She normally tried to color coordinate, he'd noticed. He'd paid no attention to what he'd grabbed last night. The pajama's had a cow jumped over the moon theme on them, with the cat, the dog, the cow, the dish and spoon. He doubted that she'd got it for the nursery rhyme, more likely because it had three of the Juunishi in the pattern. "Yellow ok for the ribbon?" He' picked up the ribbon that Yuki had gotten her for White Day and held it so she could see it in the mirror. She looked at the pajamas she wore with the yellow moon that the cow was jumping over. "Hai, Kyou-kun." He wrapped the ribbon around the ponytail holder and looped it into a bow. "How's that?" "Good, Kyou-kun. Arigato." She gave him another smile, but it only served to make her look sad, somehow, to his eyes. He leaned over to her ear and whispered for her ears alone. "No matter what you look like Tohru, you are always beautiful to me." She blushed. Hatori looked at them both, wondering to himself just what had passed between them. "Ready for visitors then?" She nodded, though she looked nervous. "I'm gonna take the tray down to the kitchen. Then, I have to go run some errands for the main house, if you need anything you have someone call." "Ok, Hatori." "Any preferences on who you want to see first?" She shook her head as she felt Kyou ease down beside her and take her hand. "I'll go, too, but I'll be back once the visits are done." She simply nodded. He squeezed her hand and then released it, walking to the door and opening it for Hatori, and finally exiting after picking up the equipment and Hatori's medical bag.

They arrived downstairs to see Kagura and Haru in the kitchen cleaning up the last of the dishes. Momiji and Kisa were sitting at the table playing a card game. Kagura looked up from her dishwater as the tray was deposited next to her. "Yuki went to get some groceries for dinner tonight." Hatori nodded, but the look that she gave Kyou told the cat that the rat was doing more than just shopping. "Ok, then, you can all go see Tohru one at a time, but not for too long and don't tire her out. When Kyou says times up, it's up, no arguments." Momiji and Kisa looked up from their game at these words and nodded. "I'll be going now, you've got the number to my cell if you need me?" Again the affirmative nods. He gave them all a reassuring smile and then took his things from Kyou and headed out the door. Once they were sure he was out of ear shot, Kyou turned to Kagura. "Where is Yuki, really?" "He said something about knowing the back way into Ayame's shop. I think he's planning an information gathering run." Kyou nodded. "Good, the rat is much better at sneaky than any of us are. So, who goes first?" Shockingly no one jumped to volunteer. Kyou made the decision for them. "Ok, Kisa go on up, but don't get her excited." Kisa smiled and excused herself. Momiji, your next, then Haru. Kagura, I think you should go last. She might decide to talk a little about what happened with you, being another girl and all, and after seeing the rest she might just want to be hugged and reassured. You can do that, we can't. Kagura just nodded. This was not the Kyou she knew. He was thinking things through. What Yuki said to him must have really have had an impact. He seemed to pick up on her thoughts. "If she's gonna get through this in one piece, we've all got to work together. I may not like it, but I'll do whatever it takes to see her really smile again." His voice took on a growl before he got halfway through the sentence. Kagura just nodded her head, not sure what she could add to that.

The Juunishi cycled through their visitation round. Kisa was crying when she came back down, though she'd assured Kyou that she hadn't been in the room. Momiji was silent when he left her and had come downstairs and sat for a time by himself before deciding that someone ought to go make sure that Haru was just killing trees because Haru had left the room barely in control and had left the house in search of a tree to kill.

When Kagura's turn came she wasn't quite sure what to expect. "Just keep your voice low and try not to scare her ok? No freaking out and losing it in that room, I mean it." The look he gave her told her quite explicitly what he'd do to her if she didn't stay in control. "Ok, Kyou, ok, you've made your point." She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door then let herself in, bracing herself for what she was about to see. Upon entering the room, she looked at Tohru and all but ran to her side. Tohru slid over on the bed as far as she could and hugged the older girl for all she was worth. "Tohru-chan, are you ok, Tohru-chan?" "Hai. I just wanted to hug someone so much." Kagura wrapped her arms around the younger girl avoiding the IV. Tohru sniffled into her shoulder. "Go ahead Tohru-chan get it all out. Talk to me, cry on me, it doesn't matter. I know your hurting inside." The tears came like a flood. Tohru was just on the verge of babbling everything to the older girl when she caught herself. They didn't know, and they couldn't know, that's what Akito had said. She tried to pull back, but Kagura wouldn't let go. "Kagura, I... "Kagura released her keeping her hands on Tohru's shoulders. She looked her squarely in the eye. "We know everything Tohru. Kisa overheard Hatori talking to Shigure and she told the rest of us. You don't have to hide it from us, we want to help you, if you let us." Tohru's face crumpled again. and she flung herself back into Kagura's arms, her words came out confused and in spurts. "But... if they know about the curse...not hug me.. I am dirty... unworthy. The hand that had been stroking her hair stopped and the words that Kagura had been whispering in her ear stopped too. She pulled Tohru back and looked into her eyes, again. "Curse, what curse?" Tohru moaned. Kami-sama they hadn't known, and she'd just blurted it out. "It's nothing...nothing." "Tell Me, Tohru." the words were ground out between Kagura's teeth. Tohru moved back from the older girl, laying back on her pillows. Kagura was not the type that would just let this go, and not telling her might just make the girl explode. Tohru pulled the shirt to her pajamas up to reveal the cuts on her stomach. Kagura gasped as she saw them, and then tilted her head as if trying to see them better. She realized what she was seeing moments later. "Cursed of Sohma" was written across Tohru's abdomen. Kagura's eyes flew to Tohru's face, as her hands hovered just above cuts as if she thought she could simply rub them and wipe them away. Tohru began to speak, softly and mechanically, trying to keep the tears at bay until the explanation was out of her mouth. "He cursed me. I cannot have a child, ever, unless it is by a Juunishi. My children will be Juunishi, if there is a spot for them to be upon their birth." Kagura's hands flew to her mouth, tears beginning to stand in her eyes. Tohru mustered a small smile for the older girl. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "In truth, the curse itself doesn't bother me too badly. I do not care if my children are Juunishi or not, I would love them regardless. And, now I can hug all of you without fearing that you will transform. What bothers me, is that in order for me to have children, it will have to be with one of them, and I do not want to blackmail any of them into a relationship with me. When I marry and start a family, I want it to be for love not because one of them believes it was owed to me." The tears that had been standing in her eyes, began to flow, and Kagura moved forward to wrap the girl in her arms once again. "I don't think that you ever need fear that. All of them love you, and this isn't going to change that. At least one of them loves you enough to do something I never thought he'd ever do willingly. His love for you may be the deepest and strongest I've ever seen him display for anyone or anything. It will take more than a curse to change his feelings for you." she whispered the words softly into Tohru's ear, even though the girl didn't seem to be listening to her. Kagura's heart was wrenching, too, for another reason. She had to face the fact, now, that she was going to lose what she'd never really had.

~~~~~~~

Yuki slid into the back door of Ayame's shop. His only fear was that Mine, Ayame's assistant, would be here. But, if the older Juunishi were having a meeting here, Ayame would have closed shop and sent her home. He moved closer to the curtain that separated the main room from the store room he was standing in. He could hear voices trailing back to where he was and once he had settled into a spot concealed by hanging dresses near the doorway, he started trying to identify them. Ayame was there, Shigure too, and Kazuma, if he was not mistaken. There was knock on the door not too much later. They all greeted Hatori. "Shigure said you wanted to meet with us today, Ha'san." he heard his brother say. Then he heard the shades over the windows dropping as Hatori closed the door behind him. Hatori nodded. "I suppose that Shigure's filled you in on the details." He walked to the sofa that Kazuma was sitting on and took a seat, lighting cigarette as he walked. Ayame handed him an ashtray. Kazuma spoke up, "He was just coming to the girl's injuries, I'm surprised you didn't take her to the hospital." "Too many questions there that none of us want to answer. An investigation there might lead to an investigation of my records. Akito has been very heavy handed with the younger set. No matter how powerful the family might be, we could easily lose all of them to the authorities and before it's all over with, could very easily end up in prison for not actively putting a stop to it." A heavy silence filled the room. Ayame broke the silence. "So what are we going to do now?" "I'm not sure." Hatori responded. "But, this time, he has gone too far. If the kids find out he's behind this, they'll stage a full out revolt. I thought we'd be able to keep it quiet, but eventually it's going to get out now." Shigure favored Hatori with an odd look. "I thought we were just going to report it as a mugging and move on from there." "We were, but now the situation's changed. There was more to her injuries than met the eye." He glanced at Ayame, "Do you have anything around here to drink? Something with alcohol content is preferable." "I think I've got a couple bottles of wine in the back. Go get them, we're all going to need a drink before I'm done telling you all about this." As Ayame poured the wine, Hatori continued the story of what had taken place where Shigure left off. The two men that hadn't heard the story were at a loss for words. Ayame finally broke the silence. "He's gone mad, the best thing we can do is find a nice room with soft walls for him until the end of his days." Kazuma nodded his agreement. "I'm not finished yet." Ayame's eyes widened as did Shigure's because this part must be something new. Hatori drained his glass and handed it to Ayame for a refill. He lit another cigarette with the one he was just finishing. Stress always made him chain smoke.

"He's cursed her." "What? "How?" "Cursed?" The three of them all spoke up at once. In the back room, Yuki paled as he heard the words. He scooted closer to the door so that he could hear the details on this fully. "He'd done some tantric blood ritual. It's the only way I know how to describe it. Some of the old pagan religions say that sex and blood are the two most potent ways to power a spell or a curse. He used both, linking her into our curse, yet giving her one that's completely unique. She's not going to be able to bear children unless they are by a Juunishi. If she bears a child when there's an open spot, it will be her child that fills it. Not just one child will be like this all of them will. I thought that maybe he was just trying to frighten her, but its there, entwined with her aura. To make matters worse, he's also made sure that the curse marks don't heal so that they'll always be able to be read. He used something on those claws of his to make sure that the cuts scar." Shigure's head dropped into his hands even as Ayame's hand flew to his mouth. Kazuma just sat rigid looking forward, then he spoke. "I think then our first concern should be getting her out of the link. We've got to find out if that curse is breakable somehow, and if it is how to break it." "I agree," Hatori answered. "It looks as though we four are going to have to learn how to do research all over again." That brought a small smile to everyone's lips. "On a lighter note, it seems that the curse doesn't just have detriments, she can hug any of us now without a problem. The problem is that I am unsure if she's going to be affected if she hugs a non-Juunishi." "Well, then, I think that Kazuma is going to need to pay a get well visit soon then to see if she's been affected in that way." Shigure's voice sounded strained. "School's gonna be back in session in two weeks, we have to know before then." Kazuma just nodded at this. "I can go over there with Hatori tomorrow." Hatori drained his second glass of wine. "Well, since that takes care of the business at hand I suggest that we part ways, it won't do any of us any good if Akito gets wind of us meeting like this. We'll meet again here, in two days, same time?" They all nodded. "Until then study hard."

Yuki crawled out of his hiding space and slipped to the back door opening it and closing it behind him carefully. Then he started back home, lost in thought, trying to sort out his very mixed up emotions and wrestle with the newest piece of the puzzle. For once, Ayame was right. The mad man needed to be put someplace where he could never, ever hurt anyone again.