Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Everybody Wants Her ❯ Chapter Three - My Hands Through Your Hair ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: Chapter three is here after a relatively short wait, considering I was in Virginia for a couple of days, far away from my computer and completely lacking in inspiration. Anyway thanks to all the people who've read this thing so far, especially those of you who take the time to review me. I like it when you waste your valuable time on me!

Somebody asked me about couplings. Yes, this is going to be an Akito/Tohru/Kyo triangle, just like I said. I'm not entirely sure what the configuration is, but I think that everyone is going to make it with everyone. This means Kyo and Akito, Tohru and Akito, and Tohru and Kyo, so if you're bothered by any of that then please keep reading the author's notes so you know which chapters to skip. (It will make me very, very sad if you skip any of it.)

I hope this chapter clears up what's going on with Yuki. If it doesn't, you'll see where this is going eventually anyway. Have fun reading chapter three!

 

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Everybody Wants Her

Chapter Three - My Hands Through Your Hair

 

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She wants to visit Yuki-kun, check on him because he's all her thoughts can handle now. Kyo's kissed her once or twice, mashed his greasy-gross lips against hers. She tried to get into it, pretended his slimy tongue had made her day. But every slot of time Kyo squirrels away for intimacy gets taken over by Yuki on the floor. It's not right for her to feel this way, the ambivalence is evil and she can't say no. She's going to want Kyo if it kills her.

But not today. No, today she'll devote to seeing Yuki-kun, putting her mind at ease so she can focus on her promise, make herself fall headfirst into love.

The only problem now is Akito. She needs permission, needs God's approval to get into heaven, Sohma-land. She's nervous as she picks up the phone, quaking as she dials it. And she gets it wrong, she can't remember, she has to go get Shigure. Somehow she feels secretive, wrong for wanting this. It's just to see if he's alright, it's not a betrayal of Kyo and she knows it, but the guilt's still there and anyway, Shigure has a tendency to make lies out of information. She'd really rather not tell him.

But it's better than Kyo. She can't face Kyo right now.

“Shigure-san!” she yells, splintering up her feet as she darts across the floor. “I need a phone number! I mean, if its not too much trouble…”

Shi-chan's staring at the ceiling in his studio, a pencil balanced on his upper lip. The screensaver on his Mac's kicked in, toasters flying across the monitor, and he thinks this is hilarious. “Tohru-kun,” he says, waving her over. “Come here, come look at this! Flying toasters! I've got flying toilets too, and this dog thingy that destroys all my folders! It's so cute!”

“What happened to your other computer?” she asks, staring at the ancient thing. Shigure has never been high-tech, but this thing is from the 90's, the commands are all in English and she can't read a word. The only Japanese is Shi-chan's three pages of typed-up trash.

“In the closet,” Shi-chan says, picking up the pencil that's fallen to the table. “I got this baby so I wouldn't get distracted…no Internet or music or anything like that…but the screensavers are a procrastinator's nightmare. Worse than chat rooms, I swear to god…anyway wait, so what did you want?”

“A phone number,” she tells him, smiling hard to soften it, not sure if Shigure will care. “Akito's. I need to ask him something.”

“Akito, eh?” he says, turning away from his toasters to face her. “Not sure why you'd want to talk to him, but okay. I'll give you his cell number, it's for emergencies only but we can make something up. What's this about anyway?”

Tohru pushes a lank of hair behind her, says, “I wanted to go see Yuki, and I need permission right? Akito won't like it if I just drop in…”

“You got that right,” says Shigure, rolling his eyes. “He'll probably have an aneurysm from all bellowing he'd do.” He picks up his own cellphone, punches in the right speed-dial and hands the thing to Tohru. “Later on you can listen to my ringtones,” he tells her, grinning far too hard for what he's said. “They're spiffy.”

Tohru sits on Shi-chan's couch, thinks that's something else they have to move out of this filthy house. It's been more then a week and they've made little progress, no one's really tried at all. Seeing Yuki might inspire her, put her in the mood to make things clean. The phone rings for ages, the voicemail picks up and Tohru listens for a while to Akito's wispy voice. `I'm not picking up because I'm sick and I hate you. I'll call you back if I think you're worth it.'

Tohru gulps, she's nervous and doesn't know if what she wants is quite vital enough. She takes the general message totally to heart, feels hurt that Akito loathes her so. “Hi,” she says, “this is To—Honda Tohru. It's been about a week since Yuki-kun left and I um, I kind of miss him so, with your permission of course Akito-sama, I'd like to come over and see him. Thanks in advance and call me back when you can…if you feel like it…I'll try you again, I mean I don't want to trouble you…well bye.”

“That was a long message,” comments Shigure, messing with his hair and giving himself split ends that he regrets the moment he creates them, keeps doing it all the same. “I don't think he's going to get back to you Tohru, I don't think he even checks his voicemail. It's probably best just to hit redial a couple times.”

“Yeah I guess so,” Tohru says, her nerves still wrecked as she calls him back. Six tries later she's got him on the phone, six minutes later she gets him to stop bitching about how much his head hurts and does Tohru know what this feels like? “I'm sorry you're not feeling well Akito-sama,” she says, trying her hardest to appease. “I um, I actually called you for something specific…I hope you don't mind…”

“Why the hell would I mind?” he snaps, laughs off the burst of rage as soon as he does. “What I'd be pissed about is if you were calling me for no reason when I'm trying to sleep. So who is this? I don't wanna look at the phone screen thingy, it's too bright and it'll just make my migraine worse…”

Tohru's a bit miffed that he can't tell by her voice, they've known each other long enough by now. But she can tell the man's in no mood to think, she wouldn't say anything anyway. “It's Tohru,” she says. “I called you before?”

“You did?” he asks, stops to moan in pain for a moment. “…the fuck is my Sertraline…damn it! Sorry Tohru, um…look what did you call me for?”

She tips her head, mouths concern in Shigure's direction. She's not sure why Akito's not chewing her out, enraged that she interrupted his headache. Maybe he just hurts too much to care, maybe he's just kinder then he's given credit. Tohru sees the best in everyone, wants to believe this if she can. “I wanted to come over,” she says. “To see Yuki-kun…I mean if that's okay with you! Maybe today isn't a good day but um…whenever is fine. I'd just like to see him.”

There's a gasp, a cough to cover up surprise. Aki's voice is clotting up, he sounds like he's in tears. “Fuck no!” he shouts, raging out of nowhere. She should have expected this, she had until it happened, but it's a shock now, a major disappointment. “You can't come over here just because you feel like it, you're a fucking bitch and I don't want you near my Yuki! You'll poison him!” There's no dramatic slamming of the phone, just a quick beep and he's gone away, Tohru's sitting there shaking and she's close to tears now too.

“Caught him at a bad time?” asks Shi-chan, his sympathy sounding fake but he means it, he knows how Akito can hurt the weaker ones. Tohru nods and she tries her best to hold back on the crying thing, she knows that what she's been through is not so bad. All he did was yell at her, others have been far more scarred by Akito. “It's alright,” says Shigure. “You're better off if he doesn't like you anyway.”

Tohru nods and moments later the phone rings again, a sniffly Akito says, “I'm sorry. You can come over now if you want.”

 

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Tohru heads out the door, freshly screamed at by Kyo-kun and marveled at by Shigure. He's amazed that Akito apologized, thinks that Tohru must be magic if she can make the boy polite. He'd never said sorry for the worst things he's done, but one sentence gone awry and he might as well be on his knees. Shi-chan feels no need to accompany her now, she'll be fine on her own if Akito treats her well enough for sorry.

Kyo would come, would protect Tohru from the world if not for Yuki. He doesn't want to see the rat, doesn't want to make things worse because he knows he will, he'll sure as hell kiss Tohru right in front of both the sickly boys. Bad idea and he won't be able to help himself, he's staying home for the good of everyone. And anyway, Tohru seems dead-set on going alone.

It's okay. She'll be fine and they'll stay home, unworried and untouched by guilt.

 

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Aki's drugged up, shaking and his stomach hurts, the migraine's gone but he's scared as hell. He doesn't know whether to chalk this up to the meds or Tohru, Sertraline tends to screw him over in just this way. Besides he found this batch in the bottom of his sock drawer, it's not likely to be in mint condition. Half an hour in and it's already wearing off. But it's better than nothing. Tohru's coming over.

He tells Yuki this in silky tones, strokes his hair while he tries to be vague about it. He knows that Tohru's here for Yuki-kun, knows she won't exchange anything more than pleasantries with him. But some hopes are hard to kill, and Akito will do what he can to take up Tohru's time.

“Feeling up to it?” asks Akito, staring straight into Yuki's gaping eyes. “This might not be too fun…I'll be there, and I can't always control myself…”

“It's fine,” says Yuki-kun, head in his hands as he sucks on an inhaler, sick with fear instead of dust. Aki hasn't done a thing but he's always on guard, always panicking and its taking a toll, Yuki's not improving here at all.

Akito nods. “That's good,” he says, “because I'd really like to see her.”

“Why?” asks Yuki, too sharp and too much air and he's coughing now, wheezing and praying to breathe. When he can he keeps on, asks Akito why in hell he'd want to deal with Tohru-kun. Isn't he supposed to hate her?

“I don't see how that's any of your business!” Akito snaps, blazing with rage for a bit before they both start coughing, Akito's laughing when he stops because he thinks this is hilarious. Yuki doesn't. Not at all. “Anyway,” says Akito, composing himself and looking pissed again. “She should be here soon.”

“Akito,” says Yuki through a tightly clenched jaw. “Please, please be nice to her. If you want to treat me like garbage fine, but Tohru-kun's a good person. Don't hurt her while she's here I…I'm begging you.”

Akito laughs, exaggerated because he's far from amused right now. He'd had no intention of hurting Tohru-kun, it's an insult that Yuki thinks he's such a monster. “I. Can't. Control. Myself,” he repeats, makes sure Yuki knows because it's true and he doesn't want to be blamed for what he doesn't mean to do, he wants to mess with Yuki-kun because he's bored. “I'm sick,” he says. “I'm sick in the head, I can't stop myself…”

And he has no idea if he means what he's saying or not.

 

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No one hears Tohru-kun walk in, no one greets her with so much as a punch in the head. Akito's in no mood to deliver, and Yuki wouldn't dream of it. Tohru would rather be hit then ignored though, and she's trying her best to be noticed without the use to words. She can't talk, she's too polite and she won't even clear her throat. “I need more freakin' Sertraline!” Akito yells, throwing the room to wreckage while Tohru just stands there, gaping like a fish and trying to find something to do with herself. Finally she steps in front of Akito, smiles real big and ignores the awful look in his eyes.

“Need some help?” she asks, too scared to say hello. Akito's panting, sweating with suffering and what he feels for her doesn't even register. He almost screams, almost pushes her away with his weak and shaking hands. But logic kicks in and he smiles, eyes twitching with the pain in his head.

“No, thank you Tohru-kun,” he says, wiping sweat from his forehead. She looks blurry and he needs to lie down, he won't because she's here and he's not about to leave Tohru alone with Yuki-kun. He's not about to lose them both. “I'm fine, everything's fine. Welcome. S-sit, sit down please. Next to Yuki. Or wherever.”

Tohru obeys and he hates her, he wonders whether forcing her near him might have done some good. “Thanks for having me over,” she says, crossing her legs and looking up, smiling with relief at little Yuki. “I've just been so worried…Yuki-kun has always been so healthy, haven't you Yuki-kun?”

“Well actually—” says Akito, all set to argue when Yuki jumps in, says that yes of course, life's been lovely all this time. He actually says this, lies right to her face because he wants to stop her worrying, wants Tohru to be right. Tohru smiles, asks him how he is right now, and Yuki says he's spectacular, not even hesitating when he spews out this bullshit. He's been with Akito, how can he possibly be surviving, let alone spectacular?

“That's great,” says Tohru, nervous and looking straight away from Akito, right into her Yuki-baby's eyes. “So uh, we've been cleaning the house. You should be able to come home soon Yuki-kun.”

They don't believe her for a minute, everybody knows how hard it is to mobilize the family forces, get Kyo to do anything for Yuki-kun. Yuki knows it'll be years and the thought just kills him, past a certain point he won't be able to go back anyway. No more Tohru except on these awkward visits, no more Shigure with his strange protection, no more being safe at all. No more future. Akito's gonna have him hostage for life.

“Good,” says Akito, trying to kick up dust on the spotless floor. “I can't wait to get this little dirtbag out of here.” No one's offended; no one's heard a word he said. Yuki and Tohru are deep in conversation, all discomfiture erased. Now they've got something to talk about, the house and the cleaning process, everybody back at Yuki's real home. They're not looking at Akito, he's dropped off the earth for them. Tohru laughs and it's beautiful, the sound clamps pain around his head even worse. “Shut up,” he says, and no one does, they just keep yapping though Akito's got his hands around his ears. “Oh god owww…”

“—kun was talking about going bowling—” is all he hears before it gets to be just way too much, he can't take being ignored when he's clearly in agony, ever as a matter of fact. And it's not just his head, every part of him hurts and he's sure he's got a fever, he feels like throwing up. It's too much, he stands up, starts shrieking into what he wishes were darkness, with his eyes closed all he sees are massive pink globs, green ribbons of light that won't go away.

He screams until his voice gives out, his legs do and he's on the floor, clawing at his head. “It hurts it hurts it hurts…” he moans, in too much pain to stand back up. Tohru's rushing over but he barely feels grateful, all that comes too mind is pain pain pain.

“Akito-sama!” she yelps, cradling him close like she never could have held Yuki, praying for her mother to save his soul. “What's wrong, what is it? Are you alright?”

Akito shakes his head, twists in pain and pukes all over her, she doesn't even blink. “What's wrong?” she asks again, feeling competent because she doesn't quite care, it's not the end of her world if Akito dies. Akito cries over her calm, she's just like Hatori and he couldn't mean less to her. But she's stroking his hair, trying to fix him and it's better than nothing at all.

When Tohru sees he's sobbing she just melts, every part that didn't care is dead. All she can think is poor baby, all she wants is to fix him, make whatever's gone wrong right. And now she's scared, useless without a clue what she should do. She looks to Yuki sitting feral in the corner, ready to fight if this is all a trick, if Aki lashes out at Tohru-kun. It doesn't look fake and part of him knows it's really not, that Akito wouldn't stoop quite so low. But he's still on guard; still pretending he would really take him on. Tohru says to him, “please help,” and he tells her just to go get Hatori.

“He'll know what to do, don't worry,” he says, hand on her shoulder when he moves in closer, he can't touch her any more than that. Akito swats at him feebly, begs him to go but he won't, he'd never leave Tohru alone with Akito in any condition.

But Tohru asks, “could you please do it?” and Yuki can't say no, not to Tohru, never. He can't decide, can't compromise, and for a while he just sits there. “Sorry,” Tohru says, “but I don't want to get up and move him…”

“Don't you need to, y'know, clean up?” Yuki asks, watching the vomit trickle down her pretty dress. “I'll take care of him, don't worry, you just get Hatori and take care of yourself.”

She's about to say yes, get the puke off because it's gross and she admits it, but Akito's clinging, pleading that she please please stay. So she just looks at Yuki, runs her hands through Aki's hair. Yuki sighs, stands up and walks slowly out of the room. Too fast and he'll stop breathing, too fast and he won't be able to look behind him at what's going on. “Thanks Yuki,” Tohru says, holding Aki tighter towards her, indulging his need to be close. She sits there, holding him safe in her lap while she waits, grinning down at his pain because a smile's all she'd want in his place.

 

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“Hatori's not here,” says Yuki-kun, stepping in on shaking legs. “He went to a bar. With my fucking brother. Jesus Christ, whatever's wrong with Akito had better not be serious, Hatori's going to go ballistic…” He grabs at his hair, looks to Tohru for hope and help but all she can do is hold Akito. He's moving, moaning in pain and it's not easy for her to keep her grip but she manages, she'll handle this, heal when she couldn't before. If she saves the world she saves her parents. She was powerless when they died and she remains that way, but the Sohma's live still, she can fake competence, control.

“We could call another doctor,” Tohru suggests, looking limply up at him. “It's not like Akito will transform or anything…we could trust somebody else…”

Yuki shakes his head, sits down before standings too much effort for him. “They'd get hung up on the blood…our family…well the curse is in our genes and that includes Akito…if anybody outside the family gets a blood sample, it's over for all of us. Seriously, we don't know how people will react. It might not be a big deal, but it could be a full-blown burning-at-the-stake scenario. We can't risk it.”

Tohru nods, takes it in and agrees with him, they won't risk everything just for Akito. Even God's not worth their world. “So what do you think is wrong with him?” she asks, tips Aki's face so she can see him, so he's not buried in the sopping cloth of her dress. “He looks like he's in awful pain, there's got to be something we can do for him…”

Yuki mutters something about how it can't be as bad as being whipped and Tohru tells herself she didn't hear that. Akito hears him clearly, moans again like the words just made his head hurt more. It's that reaction that makes Tohru ignore him, she's scared to act in this house, sure she'll wreck havoc on their fragile lives. Besides she doesn't want to hear about abuse, she just wants a simple victim in her hands.

They sit there. They think, stew in their minds for a time while they try and find a way to save the Sohma lord. “Yuki-kun?” Tohru asks, thinking about things said earlier. “What was the name of the medicine Akito was looking for earlier?”

A smiles slides onto Yuki's face, all of a sudden everything's dandy. “Sertraline. He takes that for migraines, he's fine Tohru-kun. It's just a really awful headache.”

“Really?” Tohru says, looking at Akito with ecstasy in her eyes. She's thrilled, he's fine and Yuki seems fine too, there won't be any dying now. It's just a headache, the bad kind she doesn't know much about but he's okay and…no. No that's not it, something else is wrong. If it were just his head then he wouldn't be such a heat against her body. “I don't know,” she says, sure beyond doubt that he'll die. But she just tells Yuki that she thinks there's more to it, that Akito feels warm to her. She's overreacting in her mind, terrified but nobody sees.

Yuki's sticks his hand out, feels Aki's forehead and it's pushed away, Akito won't let him touch him. The rejected hand is quickly replaced with Tohru's, she says she's sure she feels a fever, they should put him to bed or something straight away.

“I don't know what you think that's going to accomplish,” Yuki says, rolling his eyes but he helps her, lugs the eighty-pound child to his room. Tohru doesn't know how exercise destroys him, she doesn't stop him from killing his lungs over Akito. But he's medicated, it's under control and they keep going. “You can walk,” Yuki tells him, pissed at him for being semi-conscious, only a full-fledged faint would excuse him in Yuki's mind. But Akito can't get his legs to work, can't move because he's dizzy as hell, his head is a boulder on the floor. Yuki doesn't care, he's just yelling: “Get up get up get up!” and Akito's getting angrier, his teeth are sanding each other down with how pissed he is.

“Yuki,” he says with all his strength, all his venom when they finally reach his room. “Go away. Now.”

And Yuki does. He backs off because he's overstepped his boundaries, telling Akito what to do is just about high treason here. He drops the legs he's been carting, leaves Tohru to gather him up and he doesn't say goodbye. Slipping off silently is the only thing that's safe.

Tohru takes Akito to bed, lays him down and tucks him in, says she'll try and find his medicine. But Aki doesn't care, it doesn't work and he'll take the pain if it'll keep his Tohru close to him. He'd do anything to keep her; he'd rather have cancer than have her gone. “Please stay,” he says, smiling though moving his face half kills him, smiling for Tohru-kun. “I don't want to be alone…”

“Alright,” says Tohru, paying no mind to the mess on her dress, Akito doesn't care and she can't, it'll just be fine for now that it's everywhere, on Akito's clothes and night-blue bedding, all over the world because there's just no time to clean herself. That's fine, and it's fine that she just lay down in the bed with Akito, that she's still holding him tight to her chest. Kyo, she thinks, would understand. What he'd never get was how beautiful she finds him, lying there on the bed, just drained. Yuki on the floor is out of her mind, Kyo-kun's awful kisses too far away to mean a thing. It's just Akito now, just Tohru and Akito drifting off to sleep.

Akito touches her hair. He's still telling stories to himself, pretending Tohru's here and loving him. She's here and that's step one, but he's exhausted, beaten with pain and he can't do a thing but shut his eyes. As the world fades out he wonders if she'll let him go.

 

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Nana: And today's arduous trek is over! I was planning on adding more, but I felt like I was at a good ending point, and the other stuff that was supposed to go in there would have just seemed tacked on. It's about Kyo and it'll be in Chapter Four, so you have that spooky mystery thing to look forward to!

I hate to say it but I start school soon. I'm going into my senior year, so I've got college applications to deal with quite soon. I may not be able to get these chapters out in such a timely fashion starting soon. I will try my very best, but I can't say how much of my time school's going to eat. I also have an original that misses its mommy, so I may have to put some work into that. But I'll try my best! The next chapter at least shouldn't take too long.
Love you all to death and please leave me a nice lengthy review!