Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Light in My Life ❯ Awakenings ( Chapter 9 )

NieA: Well... about that. I had tried to get across that he thought more of her without coming out and saying it... but I guess I should have. I don't know; get out of it what you can, sometimes not everything the author intends the reader to understand really gets noticed. Make of it what you like. ^_^

9: Awakenings

I could hear music. It wasn't an instrument, or a song, or a recording device of any kind... it was a soft, motherly sound that enveloped me in my world of darkness. It was a comforting tune; one that should have been sung to a baby being rocked by its mother. I was a baby in this world, raw and unreal, blocking out all pain and suffering just to exist in this darkness.

As I felt my black mask slipping away from me, the sound became more and more real. It was a hum, and it forced me to acknowledge it. My consciousness slowly came back to me, and I could no longer hide.

I could remember nothing since I had fallen sick. Nothing, except for the smell of flowers. I assumed that Hatori had brought in some for me, but I had never guessed he had any sort of interest in such things, or that he cared enough to bring them. The smell had been so close to me, so real and wonderful, I had to ask him about it. Although I had processed the reply and given a well-rounded, cynical remark on them, I couldn't really remember actually hearing Hatori's voice. It was as if I could only see and hear through my subconscious, and everything else was caught in the filter of my brain.

But now... now, I was awaking. I felt as if a healing presence had followed me into my abyss, and the voice of some savior was pulling me from my haze. I didn't want to leave; I didn't want to return. I was supposed to die, to leave this plane and finally move on. They didn't need me... didn't want me. Those cursed animals. I bore the weight of the curse, and all they could do was cower in fear of me! They were pathetic, inbred animals, and I wanted no more to do with them. I had loved them. They were my family... But they were afraid of me! I can never forgive them for such sins against me!

I felt myself regressing, my memories traveling backwards, hoping against hope to keep me away from the real. Keep me away so I could die in peace and be no longer forced to accept my fate. I could hear the sweet song of my mother, her soft arms, my world as it had once been. But it no longer existed, and I could no longer keep my dying body alive.

I wanted to go, but I felt myself being pulled back. It wasn't a force or a coercion... it was a sweet lulling, a seduction of the real world. I could do nothing to stop from opening my eyes.

***

Tohru stopped in her knitting as she saw a brief movement on the futon. As soon as her humming came to a halt, so did the shuffling of blankets. "Akito...-san?" Tohru asked hesitantly. Her voice was quiet and soft, and the futon moved again.

"Hatori..." came a hoarse, choked voice.

"Do you need water? Food?"

"Hatori, why do you sound so strange?" Akito responded, the words almost indecipherable as he muttered them into the thick blankets surrounding him.

Tohru looked at the sliding door of the room, hoping that Hatori would show himself so she wouldn't have to respond. But the doctor was nowhere in sight, so Tohru prepared herself for whatever consequences she would incite.

"I'm not Hatori," she told him. Akito shifted again.

"Hatori, what was that sound?" he asked, as if refusing to believe her. His voice was still whispered and cracked, but his fingers managed to find their way to the edge of the blanket.

"What sound?"

"It was... humming... You weren't humming, were you, Hatori?" the still invisible man asked in a rather challenging tone.

"I apologize, Akito-san. I was humming while I knitted," Tohru replied, keeping herself calm. If she were to burst into apologetics, it would surely disturb the sickly Akito.

His voice became more skeptical. "Why are you knitting, Hatori? Are you becoming a woman?" Akito snorted.

"I am a woman," Tohru replied, trying her hardest not to burst out her identity.

"Hatori, this is no time to be making jokes," Akito said sternly. His hoarse voice was becoming angry.

Tohru stood up, taking a glass off the desk. It was still there from the day before, but she had no time to go and order another one. She kneeled beside him again, setting down the glass. "Would you like some water, Akito-san? You haven't eaten or had a drink in three days," she told him.

"Three days?" There was a short silence. "Yes."

Tohru moved to set the water beside him, before realizing he would never know it was there. She lightly lifted his fingers, her insides swelling from fear as she placed the glass in his hand. He shook, water coming dangerously close to spilling on him.

Akito slowly lifted his head from beneath the cover of blankets, his eyes still closed. His face was white and drained of all life, and his hair clung to his cheeks and ears. Tohru guided the water towards his mouth, and watched with fascination as he steadily took a sip.

That seemed to satisfy him, for a small push on her hand seemed to signal him forcing her away. "Your hands are so small and womanly," he commented. "There's something wrong with you, Hatori."

Tohru made no reply, and Akito lay his head on the pillow. He seemed to have gone back to sleep, so Tohru watched him for a moment before resuming her knitting. Before she knew what was happening, she was humming a light, jolly song as well.

Akito tried to force his eyes open. That humming of Hatori's was severely irritating him; no man, especially his own personal doctor, should act so fruity. His fingers were delicate and thin; his voice was feminine and sweet. Akito wanted to tell him to go and take some lessons on acting manly. Or hit him. That would make him feel much, much better.

He finally gave up, rendering himself to sleep. It would be his first real sleep in days; he had been locked inside himself before, his mind challenging his fading body. But this time, he could get some real, rejuvenating sleep.

Then he could hit Hatori.

***

"Tohru?" Hatori peeked into the room, glancing around. It had been over two hours since she had arrived, and he was getting worried. There were no sounds coming from the room; he thought he had heard whispering about an hour before, but he assumed it had been the rustle of the trees outdoors or a servant shuffling down the hallway.

Tohru sat beside Akito's bed, humming as she knitted. She had completed the repairing of the skirt, and was using colored yarn to make a strangely small, thin sweater. The object looked a bit awkward, and seemed too little for even a toddler. How many toddlers did a girl like Tohru know? Hatori shook his head.

Tohru glanced up, smiling as she saw him. She slowly got to her feet--so as not to wake Akito--and trotted across the room towards him.

"Hello, Hatori-san. How can I help you?" she asked politely.

"He hasn't woken up at all, has he?" he asked. Tohru shook her head.

"Akito-san woke up about an hour ago. He thought I was you," she said with a slight giggle, "and I gave him some water. He went back to sleep..." she trailed off for a moment, looking thoughtful. "He seems to really be asleep now, Hatori-san. He wasn't asleep before."

Hatori raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

"Akito-san was unconscious before, right? His breathing was different, and he seemed more... feverish and..." Tohru looked for the right words. "Involuntary. But now, he seems relaxed."

Hatori stared at her. At first he had been surprised that she knew such articulate words; now, he was surprised that she could tell Akito's state, even though he was unconscious.

"Do you want to go home?" he asked, then mentally smacked himself. He had intended to sound like he was relieving her of a post, but it had come out like he was sending her away.

Tohru lowered her head. "Yes, if I am a bother to Hatori-san," she said. Hatori shook his head.

"No, no, not at all. In fact, you are just the opposite. You are free to stay if you like, I just thought that you might have been hungry or homesick," he said. He was rather surprised at the ramble-like tone of his voice.

Tohru nodded and smiled. A kind word from anyone could always lift her spirits, Hatori thought. That's why being near Akito could be so dangerous for her... negative words could have the exact opposite effect.

"Would you like something to eat?" Hatori asked. Tohru was about to refuse, when her stomach made a loud, embarrassing sound. "I'll take that as a yes," the doctor said, trying his hardest to prevent a grin. He turned and walked back down the hallway.

Tohru smiled and walked back into Akito's room. She sat down beside his bed, resuming her knitting.