Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Gone Full Circle ❯ Surprise? ( Chapter 4 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: BizarreLoveTriangle 
A chapter full of pleasant, and some not so pleasant surprises.
Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.23.2005 | Updated On: 01.27.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 433 | Status: Completed
A chapter full of pleasant, and some not so pleasant surprises.
Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.23.2005 | Updated On: 01.27.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 433 | Status: Completed
Ali the Co-Authoress Note: Okay. Mediaminer is giving me a horrible time with the format. Please be patient? I’ll fix it if I can.
Chapter 4: Surprise?
As the next year and a half or so went by, Haru noticed a steady declination in Yuki's moods. He'd started seeking him out more often, and the rat seemed closer and closer to toppling over the edge every time he saw him. Finally, he just disappeared. The little ox had asked everyone he saw, but none of them had seen him---not even Ayame or Shigure. He hadn't dared to ask Akito if he knew where he was. If you were to ask him at present, he would probably admit that he had just assumed Yuki had succeeded at running away this time. Honestly, he'd hoped he had. He didn't want to dare to even imagine what might be happening if he hadn't. Of course, Hatori's return had given him a little hope. But the dragon seemed so distracted with his new girlfriend; there was no point in going to him then.
That, however, came to a crashing halt when Akito found out about them. ‘Crash’ being the key word. Yes, we all know what happened to Hatori. He went to Akito to ask permission to marry Kana. And that plan blew up in his face completely. By the end of it all, Shigure was holding back a completely berserk Akito and Ayame was forcefully herding the bleeding Hatori and completely shocked Kana out of the room. The next few weeks were some of the most miserable any of them had ever experienced. A deep, completely smothering, gloom happily settled over the entire compound. Kana sat in an almost catatonic state and got sicker and sicker. Where as Hatori wandered around in a rather suicidal depression most of the time. And then, of course, there was that telltale moment when Hatori had to erase Kana's memories. Out in the snow, she whimpered to him apologies for her last few minutes of conscious remembrance of him. And damn was it sad. Hatori kept himself cool until she left. But then Ayame and Shigure had to drag him kicking and screaming away from several instruments of death. It was right about there that he changed. Before he'd managed to keep himself together, but right there it was just gone. He was still his same self, still kind. But the dragon finally developed that stoicism that we all know so very well from him.
It was about two weeks after Hatori had decided to stop trying to kill himself that Haru ran into him---by complete chance, he'd decided not to seek him out around the time that Akito had hurt him. The dragon went to him. He really wanted someone to talk to, other than Ayame and Shigure.
"Hello Hatsuharu." he murmured quietly. He really didn't sound the same way he used to; his voice was lacking emotion.
"Tori-nii?" Haru blinked at him, a little surprised to see him. He'd been under a tree, doing some reading for school, but he marked his place and put his book aside then. "Hi! Been a while."
"Yes," Ha'ri agreed idly. "I haven't seen anyone in quite a while." He paused to think how long it had been. Shigure and Ayame had only been letting him be alone for a few days now. So it had been a very long time indeed. "Hmm, so how have you been?" the seahorse leaned against the tree a bit.
"Been better." He admitted quietly, soft gray eyes flickering up to him. "Have you seen Yuki since you came back here from school?"
"Yes," He was the family doctor now. Akito didn't want to kill the rat. Just make him as miserable as humanly possible. Meaning Hatori got to treat him after Akito was done with him.
"He's still here then?" Haru really wasn't sure if he was relieved or scared to hear that. The dragon nodded mutely. He knew how much Hatsuharu had liked Yuki.
"I'd hoped he'd left."
"No." Hatori responded quietly. "Akito wouldn't have allowed that."
"He tried to run away before, I thought he might have tried again."
"If he'd run away, you would have known." The doctor told him with a shrug. "Akito would have had every last one of us out looking for him."
"I--I haven't seen him in years." He murmured unhappily. "Is he okay?"
"He's been better."
Haru nodded, eyes leaving Hatori again. He could have guessed that on his own. He wished Akito would let Yuki out, occasionally. He missed his friend, and he felt sure it would be good for the rat too. Lately he'd been getting to know Kagura and Momiji better, but it wasn't the same. He missed Rin too, but he hadn't been able to see her lately.
"I'll tell him you said hello when I go to check on him and Akito today." The dragon offered simply.
"Thank you." He mumbled quietly, grabbing his book again and burying himself behind the pages. Hatori was much less helpful since he'd come home from school.
That's what happens.
Hatori bid him good-bye and then continued on his completely aimless wandering around the compound.
Yuki wished he could be let out of that room too. The only two people who came to see him weren't exactly the best company. Which was ironic, because Hatori used to be who he went to for every little thing, but the dragon had yet to make any move to get him out of there. After about two months of that, Yuki had just stopped responding to anything Akito or Hatori did, save the occasional attempt to hit one of them for something or another, but that didn't usually work out very well. He spent most of his time slipping in and out of a state something close to catatonic, and wishing that Akito would let him out to wash more often, and actually in the daytime. He hated being in the dark.
Well that afternoon Hatori appeared. The same way he always did. He tried to help Yuki, he really did. But he just didn't have the will to defy Akito anymore. So about all he could, usually, do was leave the doors to the room wide open while he checked over whatever new injuries Akito had inflicted on the ten-year-old boy.
"I saw Hatsuharu today." he told the boy, not caring if he was listening or not as he checked him. "He says hello." Yuki didn't make any move to show that he'd heard, simply stared at the floor limply, like a poorly cared for rag doll, as Hatori tended to him. The older he got, the less gentle Akito was with him, not to say that he'd been particularly kind to begin with. "He's still rather fond of you." The dragon told him as he finished and stood. He would have liked to stay longer. But he knew Kureno was waiting outside, (already Akito's lackey) and Akito was waiting for him. So, he left after that.
"He's still alive, I take it?" Akito wanted to know when Hatori came to his room. "Not that you could tell. The way he never moves, you may as well be talking to a corpse." He complained in addition. (Oh, Akii’s a necrophiliac now?)
"He's alive Akito-san." The doctor assured him half-heartedly. Yuki probably didn't like being alive and Hatori sympathized. But, apparently it didn't stop Akito from raping the kid nearly every chance he got. Oh well, that wasn't why he was here. He was here to check on the sickly little boy, then leave as quickly as possible.
"How are your friends doing?" The head questioned him conversationally as he went about his check-up. "I'd imagine they're quite hurt at the moment."
"They're doing fine." Hatori answered vaguely. He hated how this kid liked to gloat like that.
"Shigure came to me the other day." He continued, as if he hadn't heard the response. "He wants to move out of the estate. What do you think, Hatori? Should I let him?" Like Ha'ri's opinion really mattered. But he wanted both Shigure AND Ayame out of this damn house as soon as possible.
"Yes," he nodded slowly.
"He's already found a piece of property he likes." Again, he ignored the response and simply continued. "He showed me pictures of it---it's really quite lovely, way out in the woods where he won't have to worry about so many females being around." This time Hatori simply nodded, feigning interest. He didn't care where it was, just as long as it was out of here. He finished up the check up and began packing the things back up in his bag.
"Ayame wishes to leave as well." Akito continued, not appearing to wish to dismiss Hatori any time soon. "He wants to open a shop in the city. All my Juunishi are leaving me, Hatori. Whatever shall I do?"
The dragon sat down listlessly, facing his clan leader. "There are still plenty of us left here for you Akito-san. If it means anything, I think you should let Shigure and Ayame leave."
"I was planning on letting Ayame leave---I never really liked him. Shigure, however, I'm quite fond of." An odd little smile curved lips as his tongue darted out and he licked them. "He's much more fun to play with than Yuki is lately."
"I'm sure Shigure would still come to see you Akito-san." Tori grimaced a little. "He's rather fond of you as well." He wasn't sure if that was true. But he wanted to help his friends out of the compound.
"If I let him leave, it shall be your responsibility to make sure he returns frequently enough." He conditioned.
"Yes, Akito-san." Hatori agreed quietly.
"Very well, I'll consider it." He nodded. "In the mean time, you may tell Ayame he's free to go whenever he wishes." Ha'ri bowed stiffly to him, and took that as his sign to leave. He'd go find Ayame later. Right now he had some scheduled sulking time in his house.
It was drawing dreadfully close to Kyo's thirteenth birthday. The other people in the family made it a habit to be even nastier to him than normal on and around his birthday. So for the past several weeks the cat had been more stressed out, rude, finicky. Whatever you want to call it. And that's partially why Kazuma got a certain phone call.
"Ah, hello is this Sohma, Kazuma?" The secretary from the school asked once the phone was picked up.
"Yes." Kazuma replied slowly, getting a sinking feeling in his stomach when the secretary's now familiar voice rang into his ear.
"We have your charge Sohma, Kyo here." She stated simply. "We need you to come get him."
"What's he done now?" He asked, almost automatically. Kyo had been acting quite resentful and rowdy in school the past few years. It was now a mechanic response.
"Fighting, again, Sohma-san."
Kazuma simply sighed, nodding to himself. "Yes, yes. I'll be right there." He agreed, figuring he'd have to start actually punishing Kyo soon if he kept this up.
As usual, Kyo sat in a chair scowling most moodily. It wasn't his fucking fault. And that was all he had to say on the matter. So as usual they'd called Kazuma. Yada, Yada, Yada... Like he cared.
"Kyo." Kazuma called sharply to the cat when he arrived, a rather irritated look in his eye, though his expression was rather calm.
The red head got up slowly and went over to his 'father'. "Yeah," He muttered in response to his name being called.
Kazuma sighed again, as he'd done on the phone. "Let's go." He ordered shortly. "You'll explain when we get home."
"Sure," The cat shrugged and headed out of the school building to the car.
The drive back to the dojo was deadly silent. Kazuma spoke only when they were back in their little living area of the dojo.
"This has been happening far too much lately, Kyo." He stated calmly. "Explain to me why---convince me not to punish you."
"Everyone's after me lately." Kyo grumbled. "Here all the family members are picking at me because it's almost my birthday." He scowled deeply. He hated the family. "And at school it's always something. What color my hair is, what color my eyes are. How I write, how I talk. I can't fucking take it from everyone at once."
"And you couldn't find a better way to retaliate than hitting them?"
"Hey, at least, this time, they started it."
"Kyo," He sighed kneeling down by him. "This method of yours isn't working." He stated, though that was fairly obvious. "You can hit the family all you want, excluding Akito, I don't really care about that. But no. More. Fighting. At School." He made sure to speak slowly and clearly. "Clear?"
Kyo snorted. "Yeah, fine, whatever."
Kazuma sat down fully, watching him carefully. "Talk to me?" He requested gently. "I haven't seen Hatsuharu around here in his spare time for a while, and you're mood got shot around the time that happened. What's going on with you?"
"Shishou, it's been four years. Why are you asking about it now?"
"Because you still haven't volunteered it."
"Maybe, because there's nothin' to say about it." Kyo drew up his knees and glared away from Kazuma.
"If there weren't," He put a lot of emphases onto 'if', "it wouldn't be bothering you so much."
"Who said it's bothering me?" He really hated when Shishou did this. It hurt, he didn't like talking about feelings, and he doesn't deal well with the pain.
"It's too big a coincidence." He insisted. "Talk to me, Kyo."
"Shishou, Haru isn't going to come here in his free time unless he wants his face punched in." Was all Kyo was prepared to offer right now.
Kazuma blinked rather unintelligently. "Why?" Was all he could think to ask at the moment.
"We don't get along to well anymore, Shishou." The cat told him before getting up and heading for the door. "But could we not talk about this anymore?" He didn't like it. Because he missed Haru a lot. He hated him, and that rat. But he still missed him.
Kyo pretty much avoided anyone and anything for the next couple of days. When he was at school he sat as close to the teacher as possible so he wouldn't have to deal with the kids. And when class was out he either went to the roof or rushed straight home. That is, until the day of his actual birthday.
"Shishou, could I please stay home?" He didn't want to go out and give any of the family a chance at him.
"Don't you want to see any of your cousins?" He wanted to know. He'd met a few more of the juunishi the previous New Years. Momiji and Kisa seemed nice enough. And, of course, Kagura was very fond of Kyo. The entire family knew that.
"No." The red head begged. "Please. That's the very, very last thing I want." Where as the very first thing he wanted was to spend the day with Kazuma.
"Mm, Fine." He relented without too much trouble. He usually let Kyo stay home from school, at least, on his birthday.
The cat really actually smiled to that and hugged the older man. "Thank you,” he purred out quietly.
"No trouble." Kazuma murmured, happening to glance out the window then to see a most interesting sight: Hatsuharu pacing around a little ways away from his house. Kazuma had been trying to think of a way to help the boys mend their relationship for a few days now, and suddenly an idea clicked. "But, go outside for a few minutes."
Kazuma got blinked at for a moment. "Uhm, Okay?" The kitten finally murmured and complied by going outside.
Yes, Haru had been pacing for sometime. While he'd been pacing, he tried to figure out what to say. So far, this hadn't worked. See, it had only occurred to him AFTER he'd gotten there that he had nothing to say. So, he'd spent the past hour or so trying to decide why he'd come there to begin with. Kyo sighed desperately when he saw who was out there.
"Dammit, Shishou!" He cursed under his breath. But it was too late now; he was out there, and knowing Kazuma the door was locked behind him. "Oi! Haru what the hell are you doing here?" He called across the front yard as he leaned huffily back against the door.
Haru jumped a little, glancing at him. "I have NO idea." He admitted, sweat dropping a little.
"Shishou isn't going to let me back inside until you leave." The red head told him dryly. This was his way of saying 'Leave already'.
"I guess I was wondering if you were still pissed." At twelve years old, Haru's vocabulary was just as colorful as it is at fifteen.
"Why don't you figure it out for yourself you stupid cow."
"I'm an Ox, not a cow." Haru corrected crossly. If there was one thing that Haru appreciated less than someone commenting negatively on his intelligence, it was the gender misinterpretation of cattle. "And you have NO reason to be mad at me! I'm probably never going to see Yuki again anyway!" He spat bitterly.
"That's not my problem." The cat told him simply.
"You shouldn't have been mad to begin with." Haru pointed out, attempting to calm down again. "I still don't get why you were."
"My one friend is in love with the person I hate most in the world?" Kyo glared darkly. This hurt, and he was hiding it, already, by getting angry.
"So? It's not like I'm asking you to do anything!" He shot back, loosing that calm rather quickly again. "I didn't question you when you told me how you feel about Shihan." Even though he'd wanted to. "Why can't you accept that I might have found someone I care about like that?" He'd realized it too late, he knew. But, he might see Yuki again?
"I did accept it you ass." The older boy hissed. "But I HAVE to hate him." That was his present from Akito on his 12th birthday. Was the find out more of the curse and how if he didn't beat Yuki by the time he graduated he'd get locked away. "So don't talk about shit you know nothing about." Haru took a deep breath to retort, but simply spun around on his heels instead, starting to stalk away.
"Forget it." He replied shortly. "I don't know why I came here today. Guess too much has changed for both of us." He did eye him for a moment, uttering a quick, ‘Happy birthday’. Before taking off toward the gate. Maybe Rin would be at the house when he got back and he could talk to her for a while.
"Fuck you." Kyo cursed under his breath before spitting on the ground in front of him and trying to open the door. Kazuma hadn't locked it. He'd been banking on Kyo thinking it had been, though. During the time that Kyo had been talking to Haru, Kazuma had wondered off to go do something else. He didn't think either of his students would appreciate him watching. The red head cursed irritably when he found it unlocked and promptly went to sulk in his room. His birthday always sucked, but this year? This year totally took the cake.
It wasn't too long before Kazuma thought Kyo had had enough time to sulk and went to go find him.
"That was mean, Shishou." Kyo grumbled quietly from behind his knees.
"I'm sorry." He admitted, leaning against Kyo's doorframe. "I thought you two might be able to figure out what made you fight and get over it."
Sighing, the kitten got up and moved over by the older man. "I don't think that's going to happen." He was quite thoroughly unhappy after his encounter with the ox.
"Well, it's your birthday." Kazuma stated. "You get a present. How do you want me to make it up to you?" Kyo glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He knew exactly what he wanted, and a light blush came to his face at the thought. Very, very light though.
"Anything?" he wanted to confirm.
"Within reason." He nodded. "That excludes small countries and or personal servants.”
He had the smile at Kazuma's bad joke. "Well, Shishou..." He beckoned with his finger for Kazuma to lean down, like he was going to whisper it in his ear. He was pleased when his master did it. "What I'd really like for my birthday... Is this." The red head swallowed once getting up that last bit of nerve. "I still love you more than anyone else." And he placed one of those chaste inexperienced little kisses that 13 year olds do, onto the gray haired man’s lips. Kazuma's eyes widened a little, and, while he made sure not to kiss back, he didn't move away. This was Kyo's birthday present; he wasn't going to cut it short. The lack of moving away made Kyo extremely happy. When the small kiss was finished Kyo hugged him around the neck affectionately.
"Thanks, Shishou." he purred lightly. He knew he still wasn't as older as Kazuma had meant when they'd had that conversation four years ago, but it still made him happy to have gotten the kiss.
"Happy birthday." Was the response he got.
There really is only a certain amount of crap a person can handle before they just stopped. Nearing the fifth year of his imprisonment, Yuki was dangerously close to that point. He had to get out of there! Akito had made Hatori start shutting the door when he was there for his check-ups. So, Yuki spent the afternoon working up the will power to actually say something that day. By the time Hatori came that night, he still hadn't, though, he felt pretty close. The dragon still felt horrible about not being able to do anything for Yuki. But Akito's orders were what he had to go by. So, since Akito had begun ordering he shut those doors, he'd decided that he needed to think of a way to convince the brat to let Yuki out. He had enlisted Shigure's help with this task, and hopefully they'd think of something soon. But for now he just had to go with it.
Yuki honestly couldn't command his muscles to move at first, though, he did look at Hatori that day. Which was startling. Ha'ri hadn't seen much of those violet eyes in the past five years. So, some kind of recognition was truly an amazing thing. It made him do something he hadn't done in several years too. Which was, actually, talk to Yuki.
"Hello Yuki." he greeted ever so quietly. Then he had to admonish himself mentally. Yuki hadn't said anything in six years. So, he just shut the hell up and started the examination. When Hatori was finished, Yuki realized this was his last chance that day. He COULDN'T stay in the dark anymore. As Hatori turned to leave, he simply forced his arm to shoot out and grab hold of the dragon's pant leg.
"Let me out!" He pleaded, voice strained and hoarse from years without use. "Let me out of here!" That startled the doctor even more. He halted his steps and knelt down by the rat.
"Yuki, you know I can't just do that." His voice thick with remorse. Which should make Yuki feel privileged. Hatori didn't give many emotions beyond annoyance and disgust to anyone. "Shigure and I are trying to think of a way to get you out of here though."
"Please let me out?" He begged, tears unknowingly snaking their way down his cheeks, though he stared determinedly at the floor. "I can't stay here anymore."
"All right." Hatori murmured, edging away. "Let me see if Kureno is waiting out there." Yuki fell silent again, though he did release Hatori's leg and his arm just fell limply back to his side. The rooster was absent. Akito had thought Yuki broken, and had no longer seen any reason for his lackey to waste his time watching the room. So Ha'ri returned and helped the rat up. He needed to get back to his house and call Shigure actually. He'd need the dog’s help figuring out just what to do with this kid now that he had him. So, that's where they went.
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Chapter 4: Surprise?
As the next year and a half or so went by, Haru noticed a steady declination in Yuki's moods. He'd started seeking him out more often, and the rat seemed closer and closer to toppling over the edge every time he saw him. Finally, he just disappeared. The little ox had asked everyone he saw, but none of them had seen him---not even Ayame or Shigure. He hadn't dared to ask Akito if he knew where he was. If you were to ask him at present, he would probably admit that he had just assumed Yuki had succeeded at running away this time. Honestly, he'd hoped he had. He didn't want to dare to even imagine what might be happening if he hadn't. Of course, Hatori's return had given him a little hope. But the dragon seemed so distracted with his new girlfriend; there was no point in going to him then.
That, however, came to a crashing halt when Akito found out about them. ‘Crash’ being the key word. Yes, we all know what happened to Hatori. He went to Akito to ask permission to marry Kana. And that plan blew up in his face completely. By the end of it all, Shigure was holding back a completely berserk Akito and Ayame was forcefully herding the bleeding Hatori and completely shocked Kana out of the room. The next few weeks were some of the most miserable any of them had ever experienced. A deep, completely smothering, gloom happily settled over the entire compound. Kana sat in an almost catatonic state and got sicker and sicker. Where as Hatori wandered around in a rather suicidal depression most of the time. And then, of course, there was that telltale moment when Hatori had to erase Kana's memories. Out in the snow, she whimpered to him apologies for her last few minutes of conscious remembrance of him. And damn was it sad. Hatori kept himself cool until she left. But then Ayame and Shigure had to drag him kicking and screaming away from several instruments of death. It was right about there that he changed. Before he'd managed to keep himself together, but right there it was just gone. He was still his same self, still kind. But the dragon finally developed that stoicism that we all know so very well from him.
It was about two weeks after Hatori had decided to stop trying to kill himself that Haru ran into him---by complete chance, he'd decided not to seek him out around the time that Akito had hurt him. The dragon went to him. He really wanted someone to talk to, other than Ayame and Shigure.
"Hello Hatsuharu." he murmured quietly. He really didn't sound the same way he used to; his voice was lacking emotion.
"Tori-nii?" Haru blinked at him, a little surprised to see him. He'd been under a tree, doing some reading for school, but he marked his place and put his book aside then. "Hi! Been a while."
"Yes," Ha'ri agreed idly. "I haven't seen anyone in quite a while." He paused to think how long it had been. Shigure and Ayame had only been letting him be alone for a few days now. So it had been a very long time indeed. "Hmm, so how have you been?" the seahorse leaned against the tree a bit.
"Been better." He admitted quietly, soft gray eyes flickering up to him. "Have you seen Yuki since you came back here from school?"
"Yes," He was the family doctor now. Akito didn't want to kill the rat. Just make him as miserable as humanly possible. Meaning Hatori got to treat him after Akito was done with him.
"He's still here then?" Haru really wasn't sure if he was relieved or scared to hear that. The dragon nodded mutely. He knew how much Hatsuharu had liked Yuki.
"I'd hoped he'd left."
"No." Hatori responded quietly. "Akito wouldn't have allowed that."
"He tried to run away before, I thought he might have tried again."
"If he'd run away, you would have known." The doctor told him with a shrug. "Akito would have had every last one of us out looking for him."
"I--I haven't seen him in years." He murmured unhappily. "Is he okay?"
"He's been better."
Haru nodded, eyes leaving Hatori again. He could have guessed that on his own. He wished Akito would let Yuki out, occasionally. He missed his friend, and he felt sure it would be good for the rat too. Lately he'd been getting to know Kagura and Momiji better, but it wasn't the same. He missed Rin too, but he hadn't been able to see her lately.
"I'll tell him you said hello when I go to check on him and Akito today." The dragon offered simply.
"Thank you." He mumbled quietly, grabbing his book again and burying himself behind the pages. Hatori was much less helpful since he'd come home from school.
That's what happens.
Hatori bid him good-bye and then continued on his completely aimless wandering around the compound.
Yuki wished he could be let out of that room too. The only two people who came to see him weren't exactly the best company. Which was ironic, because Hatori used to be who he went to for every little thing, but the dragon had yet to make any move to get him out of there. After about two months of that, Yuki had just stopped responding to anything Akito or Hatori did, save the occasional attempt to hit one of them for something or another, but that didn't usually work out very well. He spent most of his time slipping in and out of a state something close to catatonic, and wishing that Akito would let him out to wash more often, and actually in the daytime. He hated being in the dark.
Well that afternoon Hatori appeared. The same way he always did. He tried to help Yuki, he really did. But he just didn't have the will to defy Akito anymore. So about all he could, usually, do was leave the doors to the room wide open while he checked over whatever new injuries Akito had inflicted on the ten-year-old boy.
"I saw Hatsuharu today." he told the boy, not caring if he was listening or not as he checked him. "He says hello." Yuki didn't make any move to show that he'd heard, simply stared at the floor limply, like a poorly cared for rag doll, as Hatori tended to him. The older he got, the less gentle Akito was with him, not to say that he'd been particularly kind to begin with. "He's still rather fond of you." The dragon told him as he finished and stood. He would have liked to stay longer. But he knew Kureno was waiting outside, (already Akito's lackey) and Akito was waiting for him. So, he left after that.
"He's still alive, I take it?" Akito wanted to know when Hatori came to his room. "Not that you could tell. The way he never moves, you may as well be talking to a corpse." He complained in addition. (Oh, Akii’s a necrophiliac now?)
"He's alive Akito-san." The doctor assured him half-heartedly. Yuki probably didn't like being alive and Hatori sympathized. But, apparently it didn't stop Akito from raping the kid nearly every chance he got. Oh well, that wasn't why he was here. He was here to check on the sickly little boy, then leave as quickly as possible.
"How are your friends doing?" The head questioned him conversationally as he went about his check-up. "I'd imagine they're quite hurt at the moment."
"They're doing fine." Hatori answered vaguely. He hated how this kid liked to gloat like that.
"Shigure came to me the other day." He continued, as if he hadn't heard the response. "He wants to move out of the estate. What do you think, Hatori? Should I let him?" Like Ha'ri's opinion really mattered. But he wanted both Shigure AND Ayame out of this damn house as soon as possible.
"Yes," he nodded slowly.
"He's already found a piece of property he likes." Again, he ignored the response and simply continued. "He showed me pictures of it---it's really quite lovely, way out in the woods where he won't have to worry about so many females being around." This time Hatori simply nodded, feigning interest. He didn't care where it was, just as long as it was out of here. He finished up the check up and began packing the things back up in his bag.
"Ayame wishes to leave as well." Akito continued, not appearing to wish to dismiss Hatori any time soon. "He wants to open a shop in the city. All my Juunishi are leaving me, Hatori. Whatever shall I do?"
The dragon sat down listlessly, facing his clan leader. "There are still plenty of us left here for you Akito-san. If it means anything, I think you should let Shigure and Ayame leave."
"I was planning on letting Ayame leave---I never really liked him. Shigure, however, I'm quite fond of." An odd little smile curved lips as his tongue darted out and he licked them. "He's much more fun to play with than Yuki is lately."
"I'm sure Shigure would still come to see you Akito-san." Tori grimaced a little. "He's rather fond of you as well." He wasn't sure if that was true. But he wanted to help his friends out of the compound.
"If I let him leave, it shall be your responsibility to make sure he returns frequently enough." He conditioned.
"Yes, Akito-san." Hatori agreed quietly.
"Very well, I'll consider it." He nodded. "In the mean time, you may tell Ayame he's free to go whenever he wishes." Ha'ri bowed stiffly to him, and took that as his sign to leave. He'd go find Ayame later. Right now he had some scheduled sulking time in his house.
It was drawing dreadfully close to Kyo's thirteenth birthday. The other people in the family made it a habit to be even nastier to him than normal on and around his birthday. So for the past several weeks the cat had been more stressed out, rude, finicky. Whatever you want to call it. And that's partially why Kazuma got a certain phone call.
"Ah, hello is this Sohma, Kazuma?" The secretary from the school asked once the phone was picked up.
"Yes." Kazuma replied slowly, getting a sinking feeling in his stomach when the secretary's now familiar voice rang into his ear.
"We have your charge Sohma, Kyo here." She stated simply. "We need you to come get him."
"What's he done now?" He asked, almost automatically. Kyo had been acting quite resentful and rowdy in school the past few years. It was now a mechanic response.
"Fighting, again, Sohma-san."
Kazuma simply sighed, nodding to himself. "Yes, yes. I'll be right there." He agreed, figuring he'd have to start actually punishing Kyo soon if he kept this up.
As usual, Kyo sat in a chair scowling most moodily. It wasn't his fucking fault. And that was all he had to say on the matter. So as usual they'd called Kazuma. Yada, Yada, Yada... Like he cared.
"Kyo." Kazuma called sharply to the cat when he arrived, a rather irritated look in his eye, though his expression was rather calm.
The red head got up slowly and went over to his 'father'. "Yeah," He muttered in response to his name being called.
Kazuma sighed again, as he'd done on the phone. "Let's go." He ordered shortly. "You'll explain when we get home."
"Sure," The cat shrugged and headed out of the school building to the car.
The drive back to the dojo was deadly silent. Kazuma spoke only when they were back in their little living area of the dojo.
"This has been happening far too much lately, Kyo." He stated calmly. "Explain to me why---convince me not to punish you."
"Everyone's after me lately." Kyo grumbled. "Here all the family members are picking at me because it's almost my birthday." He scowled deeply. He hated the family. "And at school it's always something. What color my hair is, what color my eyes are. How I write, how I talk. I can't fucking take it from everyone at once."
"And you couldn't find a better way to retaliate than hitting them?"
"Hey, at least, this time, they started it."
"Kyo," He sighed kneeling down by him. "This method of yours isn't working." He stated, though that was fairly obvious. "You can hit the family all you want, excluding Akito, I don't really care about that. But no. More. Fighting. At School." He made sure to speak slowly and clearly. "Clear?"
Kyo snorted. "Yeah, fine, whatever."
Kazuma sat down fully, watching him carefully. "Talk to me?" He requested gently. "I haven't seen Hatsuharu around here in his spare time for a while, and you're mood got shot around the time that happened. What's going on with you?"
"Shishou, it's been four years. Why are you asking about it now?"
"Because you still haven't volunteered it."
"Maybe, because there's nothin' to say about it." Kyo drew up his knees and glared away from Kazuma.
"If there weren't," He put a lot of emphases onto 'if', "it wouldn't be bothering you so much."
"Who said it's bothering me?" He really hated when Shishou did this. It hurt, he didn't like talking about feelings, and he doesn't deal well with the pain.
"It's too big a coincidence." He insisted. "Talk to me, Kyo."
"Shishou, Haru isn't going to come here in his free time unless he wants his face punched in." Was all Kyo was prepared to offer right now.
Kazuma blinked rather unintelligently. "Why?" Was all he could think to ask at the moment.
"We don't get along to well anymore, Shishou." The cat told him before getting up and heading for the door. "But could we not talk about this anymore?" He didn't like it. Because he missed Haru a lot. He hated him, and that rat. But he still missed him.
Kyo pretty much avoided anyone and anything for the next couple of days. When he was at school he sat as close to the teacher as possible so he wouldn't have to deal with the kids. And when class was out he either went to the roof or rushed straight home. That is, until the day of his actual birthday.
"Shishou, could I please stay home?" He didn't want to go out and give any of the family a chance at him.
"Don't you want to see any of your cousins?" He wanted to know. He'd met a few more of the juunishi the previous New Years. Momiji and Kisa seemed nice enough. And, of course, Kagura was very fond of Kyo. The entire family knew that.
"No." The red head begged. "Please. That's the very, very last thing I want." Where as the very first thing he wanted was to spend the day with Kazuma.
"Mm, Fine." He relented without too much trouble. He usually let Kyo stay home from school, at least, on his birthday.
The cat really actually smiled to that and hugged the older man. "Thank you,” he purred out quietly.
"No trouble." Kazuma murmured, happening to glance out the window then to see a most interesting sight: Hatsuharu pacing around a little ways away from his house. Kazuma had been trying to think of a way to help the boys mend their relationship for a few days now, and suddenly an idea clicked. "But, go outside for a few minutes."
Kazuma got blinked at for a moment. "Uhm, Okay?" The kitten finally murmured and complied by going outside.
Yes, Haru had been pacing for sometime. While he'd been pacing, he tried to figure out what to say. So far, this hadn't worked. See, it had only occurred to him AFTER he'd gotten there that he had nothing to say. So, he'd spent the past hour or so trying to decide why he'd come there to begin with. Kyo sighed desperately when he saw who was out there.
"Dammit, Shishou!" He cursed under his breath. But it was too late now; he was out there, and knowing Kazuma the door was locked behind him. "Oi! Haru what the hell are you doing here?" He called across the front yard as he leaned huffily back against the door.
Haru jumped a little, glancing at him. "I have NO idea." He admitted, sweat dropping a little.
"Shishou isn't going to let me back inside until you leave." The red head told him dryly. This was his way of saying 'Leave already'.
"I guess I was wondering if you were still pissed." At twelve years old, Haru's vocabulary was just as colorful as it is at fifteen.
"Why don't you figure it out for yourself you stupid cow."
"I'm an Ox, not a cow." Haru corrected crossly. If there was one thing that Haru appreciated less than someone commenting negatively on his intelligence, it was the gender misinterpretation of cattle. "And you have NO reason to be mad at me! I'm probably never going to see Yuki again anyway!" He spat bitterly.
"That's not my problem." The cat told him simply.
"You shouldn't have been mad to begin with." Haru pointed out, attempting to calm down again. "I still don't get why you were."
"My one friend is in love with the person I hate most in the world?" Kyo glared darkly. This hurt, and he was hiding it, already, by getting angry.
"So? It's not like I'm asking you to do anything!" He shot back, loosing that calm rather quickly again. "I didn't question you when you told me how you feel about Shihan." Even though he'd wanted to. "Why can't you accept that I might have found someone I care about like that?" He'd realized it too late, he knew. But, he might see Yuki again?
"I did accept it you ass." The older boy hissed. "But I HAVE to hate him." That was his present from Akito on his 12th birthday. Was the find out more of the curse and how if he didn't beat Yuki by the time he graduated he'd get locked away. "So don't talk about shit you know nothing about." Haru took a deep breath to retort, but simply spun around on his heels instead, starting to stalk away.
"Forget it." He replied shortly. "I don't know why I came here today. Guess too much has changed for both of us." He did eye him for a moment, uttering a quick, ‘Happy birthday’. Before taking off toward the gate. Maybe Rin would be at the house when he got back and he could talk to her for a while.
"Fuck you." Kyo cursed under his breath before spitting on the ground in front of him and trying to open the door. Kazuma hadn't locked it. He'd been banking on Kyo thinking it had been, though. During the time that Kyo had been talking to Haru, Kazuma had wondered off to go do something else. He didn't think either of his students would appreciate him watching. The red head cursed irritably when he found it unlocked and promptly went to sulk in his room. His birthday always sucked, but this year? This year totally took the cake.
It wasn't too long before Kazuma thought Kyo had had enough time to sulk and went to go find him.
"That was mean, Shishou." Kyo grumbled quietly from behind his knees.
"I'm sorry." He admitted, leaning against Kyo's doorframe. "I thought you two might be able to figure out what made you fight and get over it."
Sighing, the kitten got up and moved over by the older man. "I don't think that's going to happen." He was quite thoroughly unhappy after his encounter with the ox.
"Well, it's your birthday." Kazuma stated. "You get a present. How do you want me to make it up to you?" Kyo glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He knew exactly what he wanted, and a light blush came to his face at the thought. Very, very light though.
"Anything?" he wanted to confirm.
"Within reason." He nodded. "That excludes small countries and or personal servants.”
He had the smile at Kazuma's bad joke. "Well, Shishou..." He beckoned with his finger for Kazuma to lean down, like he was going to whisper it in his ear. He was pleased when his master did it. "What I'd really like for my birthday... Is this." The red head swallowed once getting up that last bit of nerve. "I still love you more than anyone else." And he placed one of those chaste inexperienced little kisses that 13 year olds do, onto the gray haired man’s lips. Kazuma's eyes widened a little, and, while he made sure not to kiss back, he didn't move away. This was Kyo's birthday present; he wasn't going to cut it short. The lack of moving away made Kyo extremely happy. When the small kiss was finished Kyo hugged him around the neck affectionately.
"Thanks, Shishou." he purred lightly. He knew he still wasn't as older as Kazuma had meant when they'd had that conversation four years ago, but it still made him happy to have gotten the kiss.
"Happy birthday." Was the response he got.
There really is only a certain amount of crap a person can handle before they just stopped. Nearing the fifth year of his imprisonment, Yuki was dangerously close to that point. He had to get out of there! Akito had made Hatori start shutting the door when he was there for his check-ups. So, Yuki spent the afternoon working up the will power to actually say something that day. By the time Hatori came that night, he still hadn't, though, he felt pretty close. The dragon still felt horrible about not being able to do anything for Yuki. But Akito's orders were what he had to go by. So, since Akito had begun ordering he shut those doors, he'd decided that he needed to think of a way to convince the brat to let Yuki out. He had enlisted Shigure's help with this task, and hopefully they'd think of something soon. But for now he just had to go with it.
Yuki honestly couldn't command his muscles to move at first, though, he did look at Hatori that day. Which was startling. Ha'ri hadn't seen much of those violet eyes in the past five years. So, some kind of recognition was truly an amazing thing. It made him do something he hadn't done in several years too. Which was, actually, talk to Yuki.
"Hello Yuki." he greeted ever so quietly. Then he had to admonish himself mentally. Yuki hadn't said anything in six years. So, he just shut the hell up and started the examination. When Hatori was finished, Yuki realized this was his last chance that day. He COULDN'T stay in the dark anymore. As Hatori turned to leave, he simply forced his arm to shoot out and grab hold of the dragon's pant leg.
"Let me out!" He pleaded, voice strained and hoarse from years without use. "Let me out of here!" That startled the doctor even more. He halted his steps and knelt down by the rat.
"Yuki, you know I can't just do that." His voice thick with remorse. Which should make Yuki feel privileged. Hatori didn't give many emotions beyond annoyance and disgust to anyone. "Shigure and I are trying to think of a way to get you out of here though."
"Please let me out?" He begged, tears unknowingly snaking their way down his cheeks, though he stared determinedly at the floor. "I can't stay here anymore."
"All right." Hatori murmured, edging away. "Let me see if Kureno is waiting out there." Yuki fell silent again, though he did release Hatori's leg and his arm just fell limply back to his side. The rooster was absent. Akito had thought Yuki broken, and had no longer seen any reason for his lackey to waste his time watching the room. So Ha'ri returned and helped the rat up. He needed to get back to his house and call Shigure actually. He'd need the dog’s help figuring out just what to do with this kid now that he had him. So, that's where they went.
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