Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Constants In Motion ❯ Chapter 7

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

SEVEN:

Hatori found Akito the next day, huddled outside the gates to the main house, soaked to the skin and pale-faced and not speaking to anyone.

I didn't particularly care. But I was in the room when Shigure and the doctor were discussing it, so I really couldn't help but overhear.

Apparently, Hatori brought the bastard inside and got him warmed up and in bed, despite the fact that he found he didn't have to anymore-- he's a lot more generous than I am. I would have left him outside to freeze, or die of pneumonia. But then, I guess I know better than anyone how easy it is to fall back on habit when you don't know what else to do.

Despite the care, though, Akito managed to do what Yuki had almost tried those few weeks before-- he lay in bed, not eating and not moving, until he just slipped into unconsciousness and died.

A few days later, a Sohma child was born to one of the distant cousins-- a perfectly normal child, showing no signs of the effects of the curse. A month after that, another was born. Still with no indication of turning out to be another Akito.

Those of us affected by the curse still changed into animals at inopportune moments. But from the evidence, against all probability-- it seemed that this generation of the cursed zodiac might just be the last.

All of them seemed rather stunned, for those first few days following that realization. Wary, unsure. And I could understand that, too-- they had lived their entire lives under the weight of Akito's command, and now that it was gone they were trying to get used to their freedom, while also worrying that it would be taken away again.

But it did slowly sink in, and I could see the results in all of them. Haru started to go Black less and less. Momiji seemed to become less maniacally happy and more genuinely content. Ayame came by more often and was perfectly pleasant-- and he and Yuki actually talked, and seemed to be getting along. The kids, Kisa and Hiro, started acting like real kids every now and then. Hatori actually talked about getting a job in a clinic in the city.

They all seemed to be-- waking up, in a way. Yuki described it for me as having some sort of invisible ropes cut away from where they'd been tied around him. It was an odd thing, to think that I had done this, somehow. That all it had taken was me saying 'no'-- and I know that it had to have been some technicality of the curse, something to do with me being the cat and all the rest. It was still a very odd feeling.

I didn't feel guilty about indirectly causing Akito's death. I thought a few times that I should have, perhaps, but I never did.

Yuki told me on several occasions not to worry about it.

He and I continued with our odd little relationship, which became more and more comfortable as time went on. And without the need for secrecy to make us careful, it was of course only a matter of time before everyone knew. Tohru was, of course, thrilled to have us getting along. She clapped her hands and threw her arms around us, which had the predictable results and set her off apologizing, but that was just one of those things that are constant in my life.

What surprised me more was Kagura's reaction, when we eventually made more of an announcement about us. I'd expected something along the lines of the pummelling I usually received from her, only about twenty times worse-- but she just looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. There were tears in her eyes, but she smiled at me anyway and said that as long as I had someone, she could accept that. That she just hadn't wanted me to be alone.

She went quietly, and I was left with the rather shameful feeling that I had underestimated her.

By the end of the school year, when it came time for graduation, everything had mostly settled down. Humans are adaptable creatures, after all, and I know that my family was more than willing to get used to their new situation. Everyone was looking forward to the future with a little more enthusiasm than they'd ever thought to have.

Even me, maybe. And Yuki-- very definitely.

Yuki. My cousin, my lover. My friend. We still fight, of course. Everyone does, from time to time, and we both have a long-held habit of pissing each other off, by accident or on purpose. But it's different than it used to be. I don't know whether it's love, on my part or his, but I suppose-- we'll just have to wait and find out.

It should have seemed odd, somehow-- surprising, maybe, or just plain wrong-- that I could see in the same face I used to despise someone I now couldn't imagine living without.

And yet somehow-- nothing had ever felt more right.

END.