Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Defying Heaven ❯ The Guardian Witness ( Chapter 2 )

[ A - All Readers ]

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to
Yume comics. This fic is done only for the glorification of Furuba!
Random spoilers for Fruits Basket manga beware! I'm basing this fic on
the manga, so there will be some time inconsistencies in according to
the anime. I'll explain in my notes at the end of the fic.

December 26, 2001

Defying Heaven

2nd Perception: The Guardian Witness

By Ina-chan

It was said that people leave imprints of themselves in objects. And
traces of that person's story... that person's secrets... linger on
and on, even after death. If that is so, then if the great hallway of
the Souma Main House could talk, it would have been a writer's dream.
For these walls have witnessed hundreds of years worth of history...
and secrets. Specifically secrets that people would normally prefer
not to be a part of.

When he was a child, Shigure wanted nothing else but to sniff and dig
up these dark secrets to sustain his unnatural curious appetite for
knowledge. Until it came to the point when he found himself in the
role of a main player, who created more of those secrets. With all
honesty, he wasn't really sure if he wanted to be proud or be ashamed
of the things that he knew. But he was only sure of one thing. He
wanted to be a part of it. It made life more interesting.

Like today...

The faltering of the small footsteps echoing behind him broke his line
of thought. The young man turned around to find a small pale
frightened face looking back at him, silently begging him not to lead
him to face the wrath of God.

"Yuki..." Shigure sighed

"GURE-SAAAN~~~!!" A cheerful voice suddenly called out, and a
beautiful silver-haired figure immediately came rushing after him from
the end of the hallway, "Ya! There you are! You and Tori-san promised
to meet me after school. Neither of you showed, so I thought I'd come
to pick you..." Ayame's voice trailed to silence when his cousin
didn't return his jovial greeting

"Sorry, Aya... I'm afraid I have to cancel today. I don't think Ha-san
can come either. Sorry," Shigure replied, before sweeping his gaze to
the direction of the quiet smaller figure behind him, "Come along,
Yuki."

Perhaps in an act of desperation, the little boy turned and reached
out to the new comer, seeking for protection, "Ni-san..."

The silver-haired young man shrank away instinctively from the small
hand reaching out for him, as if protecting himself from being scalded
by the child's touch. He then turned to his cousin and forced out a
disappointed sigh before walking away, "Ahh ma! Now I have to find
other means to have fun all by myself. How troublesome. Ya Gure-san!
I'll see you later."

The little boy bowed his head tried to stifle a sob rising painfully
from his throat, as his last hope for a protector rounded the corner
and disappeared from sight.

"Yuki," Shigure called out again, "It'll be worse if we keep Akito
waiting."

Motivated by a greater fear, the little boy immediately complied and
walked beside his older cousin. He would never admit it out loud, but
this was one task that Shigure was reluctant to do. It was too much
like leading a lamb to be slaughtered. Personal feelings and opinions,
however, mean nothing compared duty and loyalty. Furthermore, he will
never let such sentiments to prevent him from attaining a goal that he
promised himself. Yes... even if it meant sacrificing a lamb to be
slaughtered.

He felt a pair of small hands suddenly clutch his leg tightly as they
stopped in front of a door at the end of the great hall. He put a
protective hand on top of the little boy's head before reaching out to
open the sliding door with his other hand.

The light of the afternoon seeped through the window and flooded the
room with ethereal brightness. They found him sitting on a chair and
leaning idly by the window. One relaxed arm hanging outside, the other
supporting his chin... He didn't even bother to acknowledge his two
visitors. Shigure simply stood quietly by the door in venerated
silence. His charge continued to limit his movements and prevented him
from showing proper respect through action. He let the silence linger
a few more moments before attempting to speak, "Akito, I brou--"

"It's late," Akito's soft voice interrupted quietly

"I'm sorry, we--" Shigure began again

"I let it out this morning and it still hasn't returned," Akito
continued, as if he didn't hear Shigure speak, "Do you think it's all
right?"

"Eh?" Shigure blinked in puzzlement before realizing what the Head of
the House was referring, "Ah... I'm sure it will come back anytime
now. You shouldn't worry too much about it."

"You're right. I shouldn't worry. Eventually, it will come back to me.
It always comes back..." Akito agreed as he shifted to finally face
the two newcomers, an unreadable smile lining his serene face, "All of
them."

Shigure kept an impassive expression as he gently nudged the
frightened little boy hiding behind him to move forward. The child
only dug his fingers painfully deeper into his cousin's flesh and
started to shiver violently.

"Come here."

As if controlled by invisible strings, the child reluctantly released
his death grip and slowly walked closer to face God's wrath.

"Why did you do that?"

The little boy's lips moved to give a reply, but his voice failed him.

"Because of what you did, we will need to ask Hattori to do something
awful to those poor children. Because of what you did, Hattori will
have to erase their memories... all because of you."

"Wh-why..." The little boy finally managed to force his voice out,
"... is it... am I so abnormal that we have to hide it so much?"

Akito stood up and slowly walked in front of the younger boy and
towered over him. "Yes. You're abnormal. A human who turns into a
mouse? Of course, its abnormal." The Head of the House lightly cupped
the younger boy's chin and gently forced the little boy to look up and
face him, "If normal people find out, they will be disgusted. They
will be sickened. That's why it's better to stay away." The older boy
leaned down to meet the younger child's height and gave him a
re-assuring smile, "But don't worry. Everything will be okay. I'll
always protect you from them."

"But..." The protesting word burst from his mouth before he could stop
it. Realizing his mistake, Yuki meekly lowered his eyes and bit his
lip.

"`But' what?" Akito prodded, his soft voice hardening and all traces
of gentleness fading from his features.

"Th-they're... my... my... friends..."Yuki forced himself to continue
hesitantly

"Yuki... sweet gentle Yuki," The Head of the House slowly stood up
straight and lightly ran his fingers through the little boy's hair,
"I'm afraid that I have to remind you again of WHAT you are." The
little boy let out a shriek of pain as the older Souma's fingers
suddenly curled into a tight grip.

"AKITO!" Shigure called out in alarm as he helplessly watched the
young Head of the House drag the younger boy out of the room and to
the dark Great Hall by the hair

"Shigure!" Yuki wailed in pain, as he let one desperate arm to flail
out and unsuccessfully reach for him

"AKITO, WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HIM!?" Shigure called out again, as he
walked briskly behind them.

The young man already knew where the Head of the House was going.
Another room... a small dank room with stale air, with no light and
with no windows. It's walls kept secrets as well.

"NO! NO! PLEASE AKITO!" The little boy screamed when the familiar door
at the end of that particular hall came in sight, "I'M SORRY! I'LL BE
GOOD! I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! I PROMISE! PLEASE! DON'T LOCK ME ALONE IN
THERE AGAIN! PLEEEEEEASE!!!!"

Without another word, the Head of the House tossed the younger boy
into the pitch black room, slid the door shut, and locked it. He stood
there listening to the younger boy scream and bang the door with his
hands with an unemotional expression on his face until the little
boy's wails died down to silent sobs.

"You're so pathetic," Akito stated blandly through the door, "Being
afraid of the dark. Mice like the dark, and that's what you are. No
matter how hard you try..."

"YOU'LL..."

"...NEVER..."

"...CHANGE..."

"...WHAT..."

"...YOU..."

"...ARE."

Des pite of himself, Shigure ground his teeth and clenched his hands in
indignant anger. Then he slowly forced himself to relax as the mantra
of duty, loyalty, and his dream chanted quietly in his mind. That is,
until his ears picked a subtle change in pattern in the sobbing of the
little boy being punished at the other side of the door, "Akito, let
him out."

The Head of the House didn't make any hints of acknowledging his
words.

"Akito, this is an emergency, he's having an asthma attack."

The boy simply stood there, staring at the door impassively.

"IF WE DON'T GET HIM OUT, HE COULD DIE!!"

A small smile made its way into the Head of the House's lips, "Then
it's for the best."

Shigure's eyes widened in horror as he stared at the younger boy in
disbelief.

"A person who can't accept who or what he really is will only face
inevitable death when left alone in the cruelties of the world. If he
dies now, then it will be more merciful. It's the least that I can do
for him..." Akito soft voice rang clearly through the quiet halls, as
he slowly turned to face the young man and gave him a serene smile,
"Ne?"

The young man swore under his breath and immediately spun around and
raced down the great hall, his footsteps thundering loudly.

"Shigure!" Ayame called out in alarm as the his cousin rounded the
corner that he was hiding in

Shigure stopped and grabbed the silver-haired young man's shoulder
urgently, "Run and get Uncle. Tell him to go to Yuki right away. I'll
get Hattori so we can get Akito away from the door!"

An uncharacteristic look of anger flashed on Ayame's face, before
turning on his heels and obeying his cousin's order.

In the brightly lit room, a little bird flew through a window and
perched itself on top of its cage. It cocked its head to the side, as
if puzzled to find the room empty. Oblivious to the chaos happening
around it, it proceeded to groom its feathers and waited for its
master.

End of 2nd Perception

Ina-chan's squawk:

HAAAAAA! Two down, one to go! I'll finish the last part tonight and
hopefully post it by tomorrow. For now... I'M GOING SHOPPING! ^_^.
Happy Boxing Day! ^_^.

Usual stuff... Comments, criticisms, bricks... you know where to send
them!

Ja!

Ina-chan