Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Broken ❯ While You Were Sleeping ( Chapter 5 )

Kagura held Tohru close to her until she heard the girls breathing settle into a slow rhythmic pace and then gently settled her back onto her pillows, still holding her hand. She sat for a time trying to put her thoughts in order and decide what to do next. Though she dreaded telling the others this new piece of information, she knew that it was necessary to keep them all in the loop. Telling them in group would probably be best. That way if Haru went Black again, Kyou'd be there to restrain him and the reverse was true if Kyou lost the battle she could see him fighting with his own temper. She looked over at Tohru's alarm clock. She'd been in here an hour. Kyou was gonna skin her slowly for taking so long. Releasing Tohru's hand, she stood. She quietly made her way to the door and exited the room only to head down to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror. Her face was a mess. She turned the cold water on and began splashing it her face hoping to rid herself of the tear tracks and swollen eyes and lips that her crying and caused. Ten minutes later, though the signs of tears were still there, they weren't as obvious, and she was presentable. She ran a couple fingers through her hair, dried her hands and headed down the stairs.

Momiji and Kisa had resumed their game, and Haru had joined them. Apparently Hiro had arrived at some time during her talk with Tohru, because he sat at the table with them playing also. There was conversation, but it was quiet and low. She picked up bits of it as she started walking past the four of them. Apparently they were catching Hiro up on what all had happened. While the game continued amicably, as they spoke, there was a tension at the table that belied the guise. Kagura ruffled the younger boy's hair as she walked by, and smiling a smile that said it was all going to be all right. Hiro looked up at her, and she stopped, a barely suppressed emotion in his eyes that she couldn't name. Hiro always seemed torn when it came to Tohru, on one hand he cared a great deal about her, but she took Kisa's time from him, since the younger girl liked to spend so much time here with her neechan. "Have you guys seen Kyou?" She bent down to the group and whispered. "What do we look like, his keepers?" Hiro replied in a whisper of his own. He gave Kagura one of his patented smart ass kid looks and she favored him with a look that said she'd hurt him if he didn't just talk straight. "He's outside practicing katas or something." "Ok, I'm going outside, keep an ear out for upstairs. She's sleeping right now, but she could wake up"

She arrived outside in time to see some guiltless two by fours splitting in two as Kyou executed a kick that would have killed a person. The rage she'd expected to see burning in his eyes wasn't there. They were cold, like crimson ice, and they held nothing except death. She, who knew him better than any other Juunishi, had never seen him like this. She stood back and watched as he flawlessly executed move after move slowly decimating his entire work area. She shook her head and involuntarily stepped back a step. He was past the anger that kept him from winning against Yuki. This was cold, calculated, each move executed to its full destructive potential. If he went after a person in this state he'd kill them, his anger crystallized, his one intent full destruction of whatever lay in his way. She watched him in rapt fascination. Each move seemed to release a little bit of anger, each gave him a vent to his emotions that were probably overwhelming. And while she wished that he could have found release some other way, she couldn't deny that this was probably the only way he knew to deal with everything going on inside of him. Of course he was going to have to rebuild his work out area here when he was done. Finally, he came to a rest, sinking slowly to his knees. His entire body seemed to be vibrating. The cold aura around him fell away. Kagura watched him, her eyes wide, as his knees hit the ground and he began pounding it with his fists, tears flowing from his eyes. "Why, why, why?" he repeated it over and over again, each hit to the earth beneath him punctuating the words. Kagura moved to him. She sank to her knees beside him and drew him into a tight embrace. "It's going to be ok Kyou, we are going to fix this." she whispered to him." His voice was hoarse and strained when he responded. He pulled away from her still looking at the ground. "Fix this, how the fuck are we going to fix this? The damage is done. She's...she's...never going to trust any of us again, not really. The son of a bitch has done us all in. You can't fix a girl getting raped Kagura, it's not like mending a fucking door." "I know that." She pulled his face up forcing him to stare into her eyes. "But you are wrong; she hasn't lost her faith in us. I don't believe she ever had any faith in him for him to have broken it. She loves us all and that hasn't changed. But she is hurting. I think that she fears the exact same thing. That we believe that she deserved this, that she is unworthy of us." His eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath, trying to bring his emotions under his control again. "That's ridiculous, I already told her that." "Until she's ready to believe you, it isn't going to matter what you tell her, it's only going to matter what you show her. Talk is cheap, we all have to live what we tell her, or most likely, in the end we'll lose that which makes her, her." She gave him a small sad smile, hoping that her words had made some sense, because as she re thought them in her mind they really didn't. Still looking in his eyes she spoke again,"I've got new information for you, lets get the others and we'll talk. Since we don't know when Shigure is going to be back, we can catch up Yuki when he gets back." Kyou drew another deep breath and drew his fingers roughly through his hair. He shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. Then visibly braced himself, though Kagura wasn't sure what he was bracing himself against. He stood up, offering her a hand so she could do the same.

They walked in an uncomfortable silence back into the house, each wondering what the other was thinking, even as they tried to collect their own thoughts and bring them to some sort of order. Kyou reached the door just a moment before Kagura. He slid it open and waited for her to enter, then followed her as she crossed the threshold into the house and then followed. Though his motions did not show such, he was reluctant to hear what she had to say. The look in her eyes, when she had told him they needed to talk, had scared him no small amount. It wasn't a dangerous look, but one that was so full of sadness and horror that he'd had to pull back from her and take a hold of himself to keep from shaking her and demanding that she just tell him right then and there. He cleared his throat. "Kagura wants to talk to all of us before Shigure gets back. Let's go up to my room. That way we'll have some privacy if Shigure gets back, and still be in range if Tohru needs something." The little group at the table just nodded. They stood and followed Kyou up the stairs and into his room. He closed the door once they were all inside and turned on the CD player to play softly in the background, just enough to cover their voices, but not enough to block out sounds in the house. As everyone found a place to settle in his room, he turned to Kagura. "Well, this is your party, whenever your ready we are." She looked at him as he sat down on his bed. Something about the position, reminded her of a cat getting ready to pounce its prey. She looked around. Kisa had the same posture. The others though had taken defensive positions. Haru and Hiro were both sitting up straight, eyes alert. Haru was actually in closer to a crouch, balancing on his toes his arms draped across his knees in deceptive casualness. Momiji had sat down in the chair at Kyou's desk. His feet graced the seats edge. His arms were wrapped tightly around his knees and chin rested against them. It was another of those eye opening things, which seemed to only come in the wake of tragedy. No matter what they seemed to say or do, their instinctive natures were twined with that of their Juunishi counterpart. They fell into their animal's actions and reactions without thought. Kagura looked up from her own place beneath his window. She took one last look around the room. All eyes were on her, and never, never had she ever felt so much like making her peace with Kami-sama. The looks in the eyes that stared burning holes stripped her of her confidence and left her to just hope that she could get through the story without a breakdown.

She thought for a couple of seconds on just how to approach this. Finally she just blurted it out, seeing no reason to beat around the bush. "Akito has cursed her." The group just looked at her, if the situation hadn't been so dire, she'd have been wishing for a camera. The looks they displayed were priceless. En mass they responded. "He what? How? What do you mean cursed her?" She held up a hand. "Let me finish, I'll answer your questions when I'm done." She drew in a breath. "Akito has somehow linked her into the Juunishi curse. Those cuts on her stomach were not just cuts; they were kanji, which read 'Cursed of Sohma'." She could feel the tension rising in the room, like water during a flood. She swallowed and continued. "The curse has two parts really. The first is that if there are spots available when she gives birth, her children will be Juunishi." She looked around the room at the eyes narrowed to her. The tension rose higher as she watched Haru flex his hand, perhaps, unconsciously. "The second part is more damaging to her. The only way that she can have children at all is if they are also of a Juunishi, otherwise she will be barren." The full impact of those words took a moment or two to hit. The tension in the room, crested as if a tsunami, Haru's black side exploded, Kyou was on his feet, this eyes once again like crimson eyes. Momiji was full out crying Kisa looked like she was trying to understand exactly what Kagura was saying, not getting the full idea of what she had said. Hiro said nothing, did nothing, just sat there. Haru started for the door. He got no more than two steps before he toppled as a roundhouse kick swept him off his feet. "Where the hell do you think your going?" Kyou growled. Haru looked up at him...the black slipping away momentarily as he met Kyou's eyes. He didn't answer, because in truth he really hadn't been sure. Kagura looked at the two of them. "I am not finished." Kyou turned his head to face her. There was more? How could this get any worse? "I think you should all know the curse is not what bothers her. She'd love a child no matter what its curse." Kagura smiled a small smile. "What bothers her the most is that in order for her to have children of her own, one of the males of the Juunishi is going to have to be the father. She thinks of it as a form of blackmail. In order for her to be happy, one of you will have to throw away your own." She looked at Kyou, and watched the emotions he was feeling rapidly played across his face. She narrowed her eyes at him, and tossed out the last as if it were inconsequential. "The only good thing is that you guys can huggle her now and not transform. She is truly one of us." Hiro looked up at that. "Doesn't that mean though that she'll transform if she gets huggled by a guy other than one of us." "I don't know, but she's actually linked more into Akito's part of the curse I'd think since he's the one that did it. Akito doesn't have any problems with huggling that I've heard." Hiro nodded thoughtfully as he moved a hand to run it through Kisa's hair and try to calm her as comprehension dawned in her brain and tears began to well in her eyes. "I think I'm going to go someplace and think for awhile." Kyou's voice broke an uncomfortable silence that had fallen. "I'll be on the roof." With that he walked to his window, stepping over Kagura and was out it, almost before she realized he'd been there. She looked after him. "Well," she thought to herself as she looked around the room, noting everything still in one piece. Haru was standing up to leave the room, his black side clearly rising again. Momiji had calmed down enough to help Hiro with Kisa, "that went better than expected."

Kyou paced the roof, walking from one end to the other, cursing sulfurously in his head. "Damn you Akito." He repeated those words over and over to himself as he stalked across the roof, time after time. Akito had ruined everything, everything. Just when Kyou had finally realized his own feelings for the girl laying injured downstairs, Akito had to step in and fuck it all up. Kyou flung himself down onto the tiles of the roof. She'd never believe he loved her now. She'd always think that he wanted her because he felt guilty for what happened to her, he felt sorry for her. And then, there was the other part of that damned curse. Kyou wasn't sure he ever wanted to be responsible for bringing another Juunishi into the world. Why bring a child knowingly into all this pain. A spot could open at anytime, accident or disease could make any child he might have with Tohru, suffer as they had all suffered. He closed his eyes. What if something were to happen to Yuki while Tohru were pregnant? Could the Cat really be a good father to the Mouse? He opened his eyes. Where in the hell had that come from? Kyou growled into the silence. He knew where it came from. He loved her, cared for her, wanted to be with her forever. He wanted all or nothing with her, and all included her, a family and home with her right up to the day they died. She was the first and only thing that made this life really worth working for and living. She'd given him hope that life could be something besides waiting for death and a cage. Akito knew this, Kyou had no doubt that Akito had known he was lying. This curse while put on Tohru, had been aimed at him as well. A reminder that Akito was there and would be watching to see how these cards played. This was the angle he'd been unable to see. He'd arranged it so that Tohru had to be with one of them. Kyou sighed. It was one thing to plan out a life with her in his head. He'd done so countless times in his dreams. It was quite another to do so here in reality. He'd never even told Tohru how he felt about her. Even if she felt the same, he didn't want her chained to him when he went to his cage to rot. She deserved so much more than that out of life.

Kyou looked down across the yard to see the rest of the younger set come out of the house, with the exception of Haru. They'd thrown on coats and seemed to be leaving. Kagura looked up to him on the roof. "We are going back to the Main House to get some clothes and stuff Kyou!" He just nodded at her. "Haru left right after you did, so he's out in the woods around here someplace!" Another nod,"If he's not back by the time you get back we'll go out and look for him!" was Kyou's reply. Kagura gave him a nod of her own. "If you see Yuki on your way out, tell him what you told us, ok?" Kyou asked hoping she'd agree. He didn't want to tell the Mouse anything. Somehow, he figured, Yuki'd find a way to blame Tohru's current troubles on him. Kagura nodded again and then turned with the others go. Kyou watched them go. Finally, some time alone to think. He settled back on the roof, trying to clear his mind and focus on the problems at hand, only to be jerked from all thought by a scream. He was on his feet before he'd realized he'd moved. He went to the edge of the roof and swung himself into Tohru's room only to find her writhing on the bed, talking to herself in a low voice, with an occasional whimper. Then, another scream. He moved carefully to her side. "Tohru," he said softly as he attempted to take her hand into his own, only to have it knocked away.

Tohru looked up to see Akito striding forward as she knelt before him. His hand impacted her face and she flew, literally, across the room to land against a wall. "So you want to know this family, love this family. I have a way to make that happen. Yes, let's see how you would deal with a curse of your own." He moved to her his hands grabbing her hair, hauling her up onto her feet. He bent his head and took her lips forcing her to open her mouth as he plundered it. He lifted a claw tipped hand and drug the claws down through the fabric of the front of her shirt, just far enough to find a lace encased breast. Using the hand still wrapped in her hair, he pulled her head back and moved his kiss down her throat, biting hard enough to draw blood and leave bruises. She pushed against him, trying to extricate herself from his hold only to have her head jerked back further as he moved down to her shoulders and her breasts. He bit down hard as he moved his lips over the breast that he'd partially exposed. The material holding it ripped as he sank his teeth in. She screamed as she felt her skin break. He sucked at the blood, stopping to raise his head when she screamed. His eyes seemed to glow as he looked down at her.

His voice was soft and sinister as he spoke, words hissing out through swollen lips. "One more scream and I will kill you where you stand. If Hatori comes through that door, I will kill you, then Hatori will erase you from the minds of everyone that MIGHT have given a flat damn about you. It will be as if you never lived at all. He gave her an evil smile. She bit her lip drawing blood as he resumed suckling her, pulling her down to the floor with him by her hair as he sank to his knees. He pressed her back to the floor and made short work of the rest of her clothes and his. "We won't be needing these for a while." Tohru just stared at him her eyes wide and full of fear. He spread her legs and lowered himself to her and thrust himself into her, fully as deep as he could go. Tohru arched her back, biting back the scream in her throat as he tore through her body, impaling her upon himself. He pulled back slamming into her again raking his clawed fingers down her back and started a frantic rhythm.

Tohru began to writhe on the bed as Kyou stared down at her, whimpers of pain escaping her lips. "Tohru," he said louder. "Wake up." His words seemed to have no effect. Her movements on the bed were starting to worry him. She was moving more frantically. Tears were flowing from her closed eyes. She was going to pull out the IV or do damage to herself if she didn't stop. He leaned forward to grab her shoulders and shake her, preparing himself for a full out attack on himself because she wasn't going to know that he was him when he woke up. "Tohru," his voice held note of command as he shook her shoulders. "Tohru, wake the hell up!" His voice rose to a near yell. Her eyes popped open, staring into his, yet not seeming to see. She lashed out at him, catching him full in the face with a punch that sent him reeling, causing him to loosen his grip. Only then did she seem to recognize who he was. "Kyou?" Her voice was a low whisper. He looked intently into her eyes. "Yeah, Tohru, it's Kyou." He watched the tears slide down her face. He reached out to wipe them away. She grabbed his hand and brought it close to her. "Kyou I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." He cut her off. "I know you didn't, you were dreaming. And given what I came into, I can guess what it was about. I'm surprised you didn't do more than just hit me when I grabbed you, but I had to wake you up." She closed her eyes. "Oh Kyou, I'm sorry, sorry for everything, it's my fault, all my fault...I should have told you when he called..." Kyou stood locked in place, not knowing what to do, but his instincts did. He lowered himself down to the bed and slowly pulled her into an embrace, giving her an opportunity to stop it if she wanted to, hoping against hope that it hadn't all been a fluke and he could hold her. She didn't resist. He pulled her tightly to him. "You are not at fault," he said hoarsely. "You did nothing wrong. You did what you thought you had to do to stay here with us. If there is fault, lay it at our fault for being so selfish, for wanting you with us." He felt her arms slip around his waist. It felt so very right. She buried her face in his chest and the tears began anew as he gently rocked her. "I'm here for you, Tohru. I will always be here for you, until the day I die." He whispered softly as he rested his cheek against her head. If she heard his words, she gave no sign.