Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Broken ❯ Crimson Ice ( Chapter 14 )

This story is very dark, angsty and full of a lot of mature themes. If you are too young to see a "R" rated movie, you are too young to read this. IF you choose to read it, regardless of the rating, remember you have been warned. Don't go running to Mom and Dad saying I've ruined your illusion of a happy shiny world. :)

Somebody in a review said that they liked my disclaimers. Well, they serve a purpose… this story is too angsty on its own, even for someone like me. So I attempt to lighten the mood so that people are receptive to what I write… it also provides a really good contrast to the story itself. (looks around, seeing no one believes her)

Ok, lets be honest… Koneko is very much like a light switch or Kenshin, or well any of a dozen other anime characters, the disclaimers are written by my sweet loveable side… the story… well, let's just say that I could give Battousai a run for his money on a bad day.

Koneko sits at her keyboard, looking at her chapter with an almost guilty feeling, only to find Kyou reading over her shoulder.

Kyou: Hey…you can't do that.

NK: I already did… but at least your back, and so is Tohru… how did the Time Out go…

Kyou: It wasn't so bad, Tohru came and sat with me… we…talked…*bright red blushing glow* yeah, talked…

NK: *rolls her eyes as she remembers teenage hormones wistfully* Well as long as you both enjoyed your talk… I guess that's all that really matters.

Kyou: *ping ~ kitty cat form Kyou*

NK: Geez, it shouldn't have been that embarrassing… picks up the kitty and rubs his ears.

Kyou: Just tell them already…*purr*

As stated before this Koneko does not own Fruits Basket, I stay far too broke to own anything that has worldwide sales.

Chapter 14 - Crimson Ice

Kazuma looked up, from where he sat as he heard a knock at his door. He stood and went to it, opening it far enough to see who was there. Three sets of eyes stared back at him. He opened the door wider and moved out of the way so they could enter.

This week had been an odd one. It seemed the Juunishi were coming out of the woodwork and all showing up at his doorstep. Kisa and Hiro had shown up two days ago wanting to start lessons. Kagura and Momiji had shown up three days before that wanting to get back into training. And now these three. Something was definitely up.

"Kyou, Yuki, Haru," he said softly, as he closed the door behind them, "what can I do for you?" He'd looked at each as he'd spoken their names, trying to gauge their moods. The oddest part of this whole meeting was that there weren't any barbs passing between the three of them and there weren't any signs of the tension that usually abounded when they were all three in the same room.

Kyou looked at his Shishou closely. Maybe they'd moved too quickly, as the man looked somewhat suspicious. But Kazuma, also in some way looked pleased. "We were hoping you'd have the time to give us some extra training in the evenings." Kyou answered for the three of them, though the other two nodded behind him as if echoing the sentiment.

Kazuma looked at the three of them. "You have all gone as far as I can teach. I don't have the skill to take you further than what you are already. What you have to learn at this point comes from inside, not outside."

"Can you teach us to fight as a group?" Yuki spoke up. "Can you help us learn to trust one another enough to be able to work as a unit?"

Kazuma looked at the Mouse, and then at the Cat and the Ox. There was a deeper game afoot here than they were willing to talk about. He remembered what Hatori had said New Year's Eve, "If they come to us for help, we give it." For the whole group to be showing up at his door for lessons, they had to be planning something fairly large scale.

"Hai, I can do that. But you won't be able to learn it unless you've really gotten to the point that there is not distrust between the three of you." Kazuma looked at them and sighed. Maybe they should just ask him to spin gold out of lead. But he had to try.

Kazuma walked to the door of the workroom that lay off the main living quarters and opened the door. "Well gentlemen, there is, as they say, no time like the present to begin."

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Kyou stretched out his weary limbs along the roof's shingles and leaned back pillowing his head in his hands. Damn, it had been a long day. It had been a long two weeks actually.

Things were gradually getting back to normal now that classes had started again. They had fallen back into their normal routines after a couple days. Tohru's alarm would go off and he'd get up, give her a `good morning' kiss and head to his room to get ready for the day as she hit the snooze button.

It was odd that neither Shigure nor Yuki had said a word about the sleeping arrangements. Well, Yuki hadn't anyway. Shigure had pulled him aside a couple days after he got back from the Main house and asked a couple pointed questions. Upon having received the answers he'd been expecting to receive, the Dog had given him a long lecture on responsibility, which was very unlike him. Then Shigure had handed him a brown bag. "If you need more, they're in my top dresser drawer."

Kyou's face nearly glowed red as he thought about the conversation. It had been more embarrassing to have to admit that he'd never even thought about what could have happened than it had to admit that it had happened at all.

Yuki and he had had some long talks over the past couple weeks, as well. Ok, maybe not long, but they had been at least using conversational tones instead of angry ones. Yuki had told him about the conversation that he'd overheard on New Year's Eve, leaving him more than a bit awed. After that, together, they had started to slowly craft a plan of retribution from the seeds of the idea that Kyou had had on New Year's Eve. The first part of the plan had involved getting everyone back into training or getting them started on training.

They'd sent Momiji, Kagura, Kisa and Hiro for lessons with Kazuma. Momiji and Kagura had both had some training when they were younger, but they'd never been as into it as Haru or Kyou, or for that matter even Yuki. Kisa and Hiro were just starting out. Kisa seemed to be enjoying the lessons thus far though. She was flexible and graceful as she practiced the katas that Sensei assigned her. Hiro on the other hand, didn't seem to be enjoying it at all.

While the plan didn't call for any of the four of them to be directly involved in dealing with Akito, they needed to be able to deal with those that might try to come to Akito's side.

Kyou closed his eyes. He could hear Tohru and Yuki in her room below him. Yuki was tutoring her in Math again. There had been a time when he would have been thoroughly jealous, but that time was long past. He knew that Yuki and Tohru had had a long talk about her relationship with the Cat after New Year's. He didn't know what had been said. He really didn't want to know what had been said. Whatever had passed between them was between them. It had however also smoothed things a bit between him and the Mouse. When they were all in the same room together, they made a conscious effort not to start something in front of Tohru.

And as much as Kyou hated to admit it, he was coming to grudgingly like the Mouse. With all the time they'd spent with one another lately, he was seeing that there was more to Yuki than an unemotional pain in the ass. While Kyou thought of himself as fairly straight forward and simple in terms of personality, Yuki was complex. He had layer upon layer of protections woven around him. What Akito had done to him as a child had scarred him very deeply. For some reason, once Kyou had begun giving a damn, this just added to his fury with the Clan Head.

No matter how much they'd managed to build though, the lessoning Sensei was putting them through was hard work. One thing that they'd discovered in a fairly short period of time was that none of them truly placed a lot of faith in the other. The tests that Sensei devised for them were truly eye opening in that regard. They were learning to overcome that though, if only because so many of the tasks that Sensei set them to could only be accomplished with them working as a team. When the unit fell apart, they accomplished nothing.

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Tohru smiled at Yuki as he closed the book they had been working from.

"Thank you, Yuki-kun, for your help." She said softly, her hand rubbing at the splint she now wore in place of the cast on her arm. "I don't think I could pass this class without your help."

"It's nothing, Tohru. I enjoy helping you."

She smiled at that. "You and Kyou seem to be getting along better. I'm glad."

"I guess we just needed some incentive, Tohru-kun." He kept his words purposely vague. Kyou didn't want her upset or alarmed at what they were doing. The less she knew about it the better. Yuki agreed with him completely on that point.

Tohru only nodded at his words. She knew that the entirety of the Younger set was planning something, but she was not being given too many details. Kyou had told her only that they were going to make the Clan head see the error of his ways. She'd only nodded. If they felt that they needed to do this, she wasn't going to try to block them. Too many of them had other things that they wanted Akito to pay for. What had happened to her had been the final straw, releasing their anger from where it had been held in check.

She had made a request of him though, feeling that since she wasn't making an issue of what he was doing he could at least acquiescence to something for her. "You won't kill him, promise me that." She'd said this to him one day after watching him working out in the back yard. She'd watched the coldness come over him that Kagura had seen before and had realized as Kagura had that Kyou had become a dangerous foe. He'd looked at her, his eyes darkening as she held them with her own, begging him to agree.

He'd looked away, running fingers through his hair and staring up at the rising moon. "I promise… we won't go that far."

She'd wrapped her arms around his waist at that point and he'd lowered his hands to grip hers as she stood at his back. "Thank you, Kyou."

The Mouse exited her room moments later, telling her he'd see her downstairs. She'd only had only nodded and given him a warm hug before closing the door behind him.

She heard Kyou's entrance into the room as she stood behind her closet door, pulling out an outfit for the next day. Kyou moved up behind her and pulled her close to him, her back to his chest. "Homework done?" He said softly as she relaxed against him. She answered with a nod, still holding her uniform in her hands. He released her then, letting her hang the uniform on the hook outside the closet door and close it.

"I'm gonna go take shower," he said as he watched her hang the clothes on the door. She smiled at him.

"Ok, do you want to watch some TV before bed?"

"That sounds good." He answered as he walked out the door.

Tohru changed into a pair of knit pants and an oversized t-shirt and walked down the stairs to the main room below. She smiled at Yuki as she entered the room and sat down across the table and pulled up the covering surrounding the table then moved beneath it. Yuki's hair was still damp from his shower and he'd changed out of his school uniform as well. He already had the television on with a DVD in the player.

The movie on the television was one that Tohru hadn't seen before. It was an American movie, with subtitles. Yuki had a love of American psychological thrillers. Apparently he had just started the film; it was still going through its opening credits.

"What are we watching, Yuki-kun?" She asked. Her question coincided with the sound of the shower being turned off.

"Pitch Black." She nodded. Yuki had talked about getting this one when he seen stories about it on the internet.

Kyou walked in at that point still drying his hair with a towel. He had pulled on a pair of cargo pants and a loose t-shirt after his shower and seemed much more content with the world in general. He sat down behind Tohru, scooting beneath the coverings on the table and rested a hand on her thigh. There was no reason to be overtly open about their relationship in front of the Mouse.

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Yuki turned his head from the screen to the couple across the way when Kyou had gotten settled on the floor. Neither of them seemed to notice him looking at them. They hadn't seen this movie before, and he'd watched it yesterday, so they had to watch it more closely than he.

Their relationship had deepened in the last few weeks. At first, he'd been able to convince himself that the only reason that Tohru was with him at all was because he had been the one that found her and brought her home. He'd almost managed to convince himself that Kyou was playing on her debt to him. He had wanted to believe desperately that she really had no deep feelings for the Cat.

Oddly, it wasn't because he wanted her, but because he didn't want her to be hurt. Cats always cause pain to the ones that they are with. Or, at least, that was the saying within the family. In the last few weeks, he'd come to understand that he didn't love Tohru, at least not in a romantic way. She was something much more than that to him. He shook his head and turned it back to the TV screen. He didn't even really understand it himself.

What he knew was that he wasn't jealous of Kyou's relationship with the girl, now, though at first he had been. He'd come to understand that on some deep level they were meant to be together. They didn't seem to have a choice in the feelings they shared, it was like their souls were bound, even before the attacks by Akito. Akito's attacks had only reinforced the link that was already there.

He also knew one other thing, no matter what Kyou meant to her, it had in no way lessened her love for him. He wouldn't call their relationship "sibling- like" because that took away from its quiet intensity. He only knew that he would love her always, platonically and unconditionally, and she would do the same for him. Just as Kyou had a part of her, each of the Juunishi held a part. Their pieces were just much smaller.

He was also happy for the two of them. It was amazing that they could feel such strong emotions for one another and had come through all of this only stronger. They had found each other in adversity, even if they'd known each other all along. Their bonds were being forged like a thousand fold sword. Someday, he could only hope that he, too, would know what it was like to feel the way they felt, though he prayed he never had to know the pain they'd had to feel to gain what they had.

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Kyou felt Tohru's body go limp against him as he watched the TV screen. She'd fallen asleep, her head bent over to his shoulder. He moved his body around so that he could make her a bit more comfortable as Riddick led what was left of the movie's characters on their final run through the creatures in the movie. He smiled down at her and then returned his eyes to the screen. He understood English well enough, but sometimes he missed the nuances of the language. He didn't want to miss what the subtitles said the characters were saying, just in case he mistranslated.

He looked at Yuki as the credits rolled and then at the girl against him. "We lost her about 20 minutes ago," he whispered softly.

Yuki smiled. "You take her on up. I'll clean up down here. We both knew she'd be out before it was over. Tohru-kun doesn't like these kinds of movies."

Kyou nodded to him and then stood up carefully cradling Tohru in his arms. "Goodnight, Yuki."

He carried her up the stairs and into her room, laying her gently on the bed, debating on whether to change her into her pajamas. She'd wake up if he moved her too much. What she wore was comfortable enough, he decided, so he just pulled the blankets up over her and walked around to the other side of the bed. He set the clock and pulled off his shirt, then lay back, reaching out to turn off the bedside light. He rolled onto his side, and pulled her close to him and then drifted off to dream.

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The day started as usual. The alarm went off. Kyou got up and went to his room for a clean uniform. He heard the alarm go off a second time and Tohru got up and hurriedly went down the stairs to get breakfast together. He followed after her and went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out the half gallon of milk to take a drink from the carton but stopped as Tohru spoke up, "Kyou… I need that to cook with."

The phone rang as Tohru set breakfast on the table. Shigure got up from his usual place and answered it.

"Moshii Moshii."

"Ha-san, to what do we owe the honor of your phone call?" He said in that all too cheerful for it to be eight in the morning voice.

The smile he wore stayed firmly on his lips, but the three at the table watched the color drain from his face with a shocking rapidity.

"Hai, 9'oclock. No, we won't need a ride."

Shigure hung up the phone and walked to the table. That horrible fake smile was still in place. He looked at Kyou, "Well Kyou-kun, looks like no school for you, we have pressing engagement elsewhere." Tohru from Shigure to Kyou and then lowered her eyes to the table and the meal was eaten in silence from that point on.

Kyou walked Tohru to the door as she and Yuki prepared to leave. "I'll be there as soon as I can," Kyou said, forcing his voice to calm as he spoke to her. "I'm sure that whatever is up, it won't take all day." He dropped a kiss on her lips and sent her on her way.

Yuki followed her out the door, pausing momentarily to meet Kyou's eyes. They nodded to one another as he left, each leaving unspoken the words that were easily understood in that moment.

Once they were gone, Shigure reappeared in suit and tie. "What does Hatori want, Shigure? Kyou asked, dropping the control he'd had, his hands flexing at his sides.

"Hatori, he doesn't want anything, but Akito would like to speak to you." The Dog looked at him with sympathetic eyes before turning away and putting his overcoat on. "Shall we go? The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can leave."

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Kyou opened the door to Akito's reception room and let himself inside. He could almost feel Shigure and Hatori behind him as they escorted him in. The room was dimly lit, with the smell of sakura blossoms filling the air. Akito was lying on the chaise that was the platform's only piece of furniture save the candelabras that were currently lit. The three of them moved to the center of the room and settled to their knees.

Akito opened his eyes to look at the three who had entered, his eyes reflecting the flames of the candles that gave the room its illumination.

"Hatori, Shigure, you may go. I wish to speak with the Cat privately." The Dragon and the Dog exchanged looks and then rose to their feet and moved out of the room.

Akito sat up slowly as soon as the two were gone and stood, his outer robe hanging from his arms as he moved down the steps. He smiled wickedly as he approached Kyou.

In a sickeningly sweet tone, the Clan Head spoke.

"Kyou-kun, it has been too long since we have spoken privately. I wished to tell you how beautifully you… danced… on New Year's Eve. But, perhaps, your partner… inspired you. Tohru… dances quite well. Have you continued practicing the dance? I daresay that Tohru has learned… to appreciate dancing. I tried to teach her… all the steps I knew."

"But perhaps you've taught her a few new steps. The great dancers say that there is always pain to truly mastering the dance." The Clan head moved up, to stand over Kyou's knelt body. Before he could react, Akito's hand swung out, backhanding him with a violent force. The Cat felt his lip split under the slap as he was knocked sideways.

"How clumsy of you to fall on the first step of the dance I want to teach you today. Tohru made the first three steps before she fell."

Kyou pushed himself back up into a sitting position, and brought his hand up to touch the back of it to his lip. He pulled it back as he looked up at Akito, his eyes gleaming with deep within as they became more feline in their shape.

"If you are going to learn to dance with Tohru… you are going to need to learn the dance I taught her." The clan head crouched down to be at eye level with the cat, bringing a single finger to his face and sliding it down his jaw, his voice a hushed, gravelly whisper. "A clumsy cat like you though… only blood and pain will come of this. When cats dance, they cry out, but it's not in pleasure. No, their dancing is a thing of animalistic need." Akito's solitary fingernail at his jaw, pushed downward, scraping the skin away from the line it was making. "Aren't you grateful? I taught your little blossom the dance of the Cats first. The first dance… always stays with you."

Akito reached down and took Kyou's hand in his, bringing the Cat's fingers to eye level for both of them. "`Your claws that hold her close, have you marked her with them as yours, yet? I have an amusing little salve, to make sure that you, too, can keep your mark upon her."

Akito stood, nearly throwing the Cat's hand back at him and bent over Kyou, his eyes widening as his voice rose to a menacing growl. "Why are you not thanking me? Have I not given you everything you wanted? She would now even take something like you, with your monstrous claws and glowing eyes, in preference to a soft caress. She now only expects the dance to be of blood and pain, which is all that you would ever be able to give her."

Kyou telegraphed the hit that was coming at him, but couldn't move from the position he was in, as Akito's words echoed themselves in his mind. This one landed across his left eye, sending him sprawling on the floor. The Clan Head stalked over to him, and rammed his foot onto the back of Kyou's head, grinding his face into the floor.

"Why are you not properly thanking me? You should be groveling at my feet in appreciation."

Kyou rolled out from under Akito's foot, "I owe you nothing. What you did was only for you and your own twisted desires! If I owe you anything, it would be sending you to hell."

Akito's arm shot out and his hand caught Kyou by the throat. His fingers pressed hard against the younger boy's trachea. Kyou's breathing became ragged as he brought his hands to the Akito's hand, feeling the Clan Head's fingernails breaking his skin.

Akito leaned over him and brought his lips to Kyou's ear. "I have taught many others to appreciate my dance. You have never been worthy to be instructed by me." Akito took a ragged breath. "I feel befouled having taught your little slut the basic steps of my dance. If you both fail to appreciate what I have given… well, let's just say I hate to leave a lesson unfinished. I will suffer the indignity and give you both lessons in the dance until the both of you understand, fully, the gift I have given you."

He released Kyou's throat and let the boy fall to the floor, gasping for air. He looked down at him for a moment and then turned away climbing up the dais and exiting to his private quarters.

Kyou crawled up to his feet as he stared at the Clan Head's back. He heard the doors open behind him as Hatori and Shigure entered the room. As much as he wanted to follow Akito and rip him limb from limb, this was neither the time nor the place.

"Come on Kyou. Let's go back to my office so I can clean you up. You don't have to go to school today." Hatori said, squeezing his shoulder lightly.

Kyou nodded jerkily, still glaring at the door Akito had passed through. "I can go."

He pulled his eyes away and allowed himself to be led from the room. Akito's words were still echoing in his head, the thinly veiled threats causing a chill to come over him.

When he finally looked over at the Dragon, Hatori pulled back from him, startled by the utter coldness of his crimson eyes and the lack of emotion in his features. This was not the Kyou he knew. Perhaps, he was however, the Kyou, Akito was creating.

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Kyou arrived at the school just as the bell announcing lunch rang. He stowed his books into his locker and waited outside their classroom door for Tohru. He really had no desire for her to see him like this, but unless he wanted to stay at the Main House for a couple weeks, he was going to have no choice.

He grabbed Tohru's arm as she exited the room pulling her out of the way of the other students as they moved out the door. "Kyou, what happened to-?" She started before he placed a finger on her lips. Her eyes roamed his face, taking in the swollen black eye and split lip. His neck had bruises all the way up the front of it. But, it was his eyes that she worried her most. There was nothing there, no emotion could be read at all, and he could have been a statue for the look was that cold.

"Akito wanted to talk to me," Kyou said his voice soft as he spoke. He pulled her close to him and felt the warmth of her love start to chase away the chill in his soul.

He pulled back to look down at her, and she noted that his eyes had softened a bit during their hug. "I'll be alright; I've been expecting something like this. You really didn't think he'd forget that dance did you?" Kyou words were bitten off as he spoke, the words still quieter than was the norm for him.

Tohru shook her head as she raised a hand to his face, and gently touched his blackened eye with her fingertips. "Don't you think you should have just gone home and gotten some rest Kyou? This needs an ice pack." He shook his head, his hair falling down into his eyes as he did so.

"I want to be where you are. Here, I will remember why I'm not going to go back there and kill him in his sleep." Kyou said the words playfully, but as Tohru looked into his crimson eyes, she realized exactly how true they were.