Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed Words, Cursed Lives ❯ So many questions ( Chapter 2 )

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Chapter 2: So many questions

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“Well hello there, you ugly little monster. What are you doing here? Come to play with my things again?”

“I, um,” Tohru stammered. She wasn’t sure what she’d planned to do... probably, ask Akito directly if she knew the cure. Suddenly, though, that didn’t seem like such a good idea. Her head hung as she searched her mind for a response, the passing of precious seconds punctuated by a disgusted sigh from the Goddess.

“Answer me, you worthless creature. Why are you in my sight? Why are you near MY things?!”

As Akito’s hand wrapped around her collar, Tohru felt something snap inside her. Her mother’s Yankee blood burst to the surface for an instant, released in a violent scream: “They’re not YOURS! They’re humans, not THINGS!”

A flash of rage over being contradicted passed over Akito’s steely eyes; the next instant, her victim lay on the ground before her, the crack of palm hitting cheek still resounding in the air. “They are mine,” she growled deliberately, her voice growing more callous and with each word. Her gaze sharpened as she stared at the fallen girl for an instant, a sadistic smile curling along one side of her mouth as she saw the tears pour down Tohru’s face. “Pathetic,” she spat, turning to return to her house.

Tohru rose to her knees, gasping quietly, unaware of the fact she was crying. She was vaguely aware of Akito’s form retreating before her, and she called after, her words hesitant and broken. “W-wait... Please, wait...”

She barely stopped an instant. “How dare you ask anything of me,” she said, then continued, her silhouette vanishing inside the doorway.

“I wonder,” Tohru whispered, watching the Goddess vanish through watery eyes, “why she hates me so much... What did I do to make Akito-san despise me so...”

“Why are you still speaking?”

She gasped, clapping one hand over her mouth as she realized she’d been thinking aloud again. Her eyes rose toward Akito, half wondering if she’d get an answer and half hoping she hadn’t been understood. There was no evidence of either in the woman’s hidden form, and no answer came, only more questions.

“Answer me! Why are you still here?! Answer me or leave NOW!”

“Uh-uh-I, I...” She gasped then whimpered as Akito stepped back towards her. “Please, I’m sorry Akito-sama! I only came to ask for your help!” Instinctively, she bowed, hoping the show of respect would calm the Goddess’s temper.

The only sound that followed was Akito’s approaching footsteps, and Tohru’s heart began to pound as she instinctively tensed, expecting another blow. She knew from Isuzu and Hatori exactly what Akito was capable of when angered, and currently, she was the sole target of the deity’s wrath. She tried to move, to will herself to look up when the steps stop, but she was frozen, too terrified to be the first to break the silence.

Akito stared down at the pathetic creature before her. It would almost be too easy to kill her right there, but right now, seeing the way Tohru cowered before her, she was more inclined to play with the girl a while. The sheer stupidity of everything that came out of her mouth amused her enough to counter the repulsion she felt when she looked at her. “What makes you think I would help you? Are you that selfish that you expect me to lower myself to your level and do your bidding? Or are you too stupid to grasp what you’re asking?”

A shiver went through Tohru before she found an answer. “I... I thought you might know... how to break the curse... h-how to free the juunishi... I want to help them...”

“You want to what?”

She gasped, her words becoming faster as she began to panic. “It... It’s just that... I want to make them happy... and, I thought you might like that too....”

“Never, EVER, make assumptions about what I might like! NEVER!” Her eyes widened as her anger grew again. “You will NOT take them away from me. They love me, and they will stay by my side forever! You can’t have them!”

For a moment, Tohru continued to cower, shaking as she listened to Akito’s angry breathing. She wanted to say something, to scream out that they didn’t really love her, but no words would come, only terror.

Finally, the strike came, and Tohru was curled on her side once more, the stinging in her face returning with more force. “Get out of my sight you FREAK!” Akito hissed. “NOW!”

Unwilling to face further injury, Tohru stumbled to her feet and ran blindly, weaving through the trees and weeping. She felt so hopeless, so useless, and now she knew why the Sohmas feared their God so. Her feet caught on a tree root, tripping her, and she went tumbling through the grass. For a few minutes she lay where she landed, just crying as she stared at the moon.

The realization crept across her slowly as Akito’s words replayed themselves in her head, trying to eat away at what hope remained within her. In a moment of understanding, she resolved to return the next day to ask again.

 They love me, and they will stay by my side forever! You can’t have them!

“Akito-san... I wonder if you really know what love means...”