Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Like A Caged Bird ❯ Like A Caged Bird ( One-Shot )

Like A Caged Bird

By, Jamie1317kast & Kirenia_Tenoh1

 

Containing spoilers for the Cat's Fate, Kyo deals with being caged in the only way he can.

 

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is copyrighted to Natsuki Takaya, not us. But we wish it was. The poem `Sympathy' is copyrighted to Paul Laurence Dunbar.

 

Rated PG-13 for suicide

 

Like A Caged Bird:

 

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!

When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;

When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,

 

We were supposed to be together, you and I.

Everything was going so smoothly, until that one day at graduation. Graduation marked the turning point in our lives. I know I fought so hard with Yuki all the time, and that my fighting made you sad and worried. And I also know that I couldn't tell you, and I'm sorry, because I see now that telling you would have spared you some pain.

So, when I couldn't beat Yuki, I knew what was going to happen. I had tried to push it to the back of my mind, hoping to God that it wouldn't really happen. Hoping that God wouldn't really happen.

“ Come with me, you filthy Cat…”

But God did happen.

 

And the river flows like a stream of glass;

When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,

And the faint perfume from it's chalice steals—

 

I watched you trying to talk some sense into Akito, as Kureno and Hatori siezed my arms and dragged me away. Tears streamed down your pretty cheeks, and that sight broke my heart.

 

I know what the caged bird feels!

 

Shigure watched them drag me away, calm as you please. Damn him! He knew! He knew that this was going to happen! He knew it was going to break Tohru's heart! And still, he just f-ing stood there!

Even that damn Rat looked shocked. Ha! Like he hadn't known about the Cat's Fate.

But there's no reasoning with a mad man like Akito, so here I am; in my cage. Holed up someplace at the very back of the Sohma Estate, my prison more in-escape-able than Alcatraz itself.

If I could get away, I would run back to you. But, just to feel the gentle poof of smoke, as I turn into a Cat in your arms; there would be no point now…

 

I know why the caged bird beats his wing

Til it's blood is red on the cruel bars;

For he must fly back to his perch and cling

 

Thunder crackles in the distance, a premonition of rain. Great. Just what I need.

I wonder what you're doing now?

The gossip-grape vine just happens to pass by the walls of my prison every once in a while. And I hear things that I know I could do without. I hear that you're with Yuki now. I suppose that's good, at least you're not lonely.

… But we, …we had something.

I know we did.

You told me that you loved me.

It was cute, really, the way you blushed. You were stuttering so badly, I thought that damn Dog was going to have to hold up cue cards just to get you to say it.

In the end, it was just you and me. Silent whispers, and stolen kisses. I know those times are, now, too far out of reach.

 

When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;

And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars

And they pulse again with a keener sting—

 

The rain started to pour down from the sky, thunder and lighting crackling in the sky. I lean against the wall, and close my eyes, the rain makes me weary. My eyes flutter open slowly. and then settle on the black and white beads that decorate my left wrist.

Accursed beads. They are a testament to the horror that lives inside me, and every Cat to follow me.

 

I know why he beats his wing!

 

I hate it.

I could take it off, throw it out of a window and never look back.

Then I would become a monster, a monster in the rain. I don't want that, even though you accepted that part of me. Even though you accepted me, I'm not able to do that same courtesy for myself.

So tired, so lonely, I hate it here.

There is a way out, I know there is.

The question is … do I really have the courage to take that path?

I would be leaving you all alone in this world. Even if you can't see me, you know I'm here. I don't think I could stand leaving you alone.

` She has Yuki now.'

A little voice in the back of my head nags at me, telling me you have Yuki now. Telling me that if you have Yuki, you wouldn't truly be alone.

I turn and look into the kitchen of the Cat's House. I wonder for a moment, how many Cats have died here? How many of them have gone to an early grave? And how many Cats have actually waited out their sentence, like good little prisoners of the Sohma Family?

I'm only allowed to see the family doctor, Hatori. Though others like Shigure come by every once and awhile, with a new book for me to read.

No one else though, nobody comes by to see the `lowly cat'. I long for the fights with Haru, or hearing Momiji's whiney voice so I can hit him on the head. God, I miss those days.

My feet move forward towards the kitchen. I have to keep things fairly tidy in this place, since my House is the only one on the Sohma Estate that the maids aren't allowed to visit. The silverware, pots, and pans that glimmered in the kitchen were all hand-me-downs from the Cat before me, Shishou's grandfather.

I open a drawer and pull out a knife, it glimmers in the artificial light of the chandelier above the kitchen table. I can see my reflection on it. Un-noticed tears roll down my cheeks. My tan skin tainted with tears. I draw the knife to my wrist, and slowly close my eyes.

` Go on. Cut them. Nobody will miss you, you filthy Cat.'

A voice that sounds strangely like Akito whispers to me.

Somehow, I know that this path is right.

I look once more at the beads and feel a twinge of pity for the next Cat, the next person cursed to wear these accursed beads. I shake my head, this is no time to be second guessing myself.

I made one cut very slowly under my beads, blood trickled down the knife and onto the floor. It ran red, as all blood does. But, what did I expect? Did I expect my blood to run different from everyone else's blood?

Why?

Because I'm the Cat, that's why. I'm different, and I didn't expect to bleed like a normal person.

I switch the hand holding the knife, and make a cut across my other wrist. The deed done, I let the knife drop to the floor. I feel tired, and dizzy. I slide to the floor, feeling my knees give way. The only thing that's left to do now, is to wait for Death to take me.

I hear footsteps … Hatori might be coming. Who cares? I'm sure Hatori wouldn't wouldn't bother to save me.

 

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,

When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,

When he beats his bars and he would be free;

 

“ Kyou!”

I heard my name being called faintly though the blur in my mind. The blood pulsed from my wrist, and my eyes went in and out of focus.

“ Who…who's there?”

I could barely call out. The urge to just close my eyes, and let it all end was becoming overwhelming.

I heard three voices. One of them sounded scared and shaky like it was crying. The other one sounded like it was normally playful, but the playfulness was gone and seriousness had fallen in. The third was serious, always serious.

“ I don't know what to do, the blood wont stop…”

“ Try harder Ha'ri!”

“ Oh, Kyou…”

The third voice to speak was female, it was her; Tohru.

…But, what is she doing here?

My mind fuzzed out after that thought, my eyes fluttering shut, and all I can hear is the faint blowing of the wind.

I feel myself going someplace, somewhere.

Somewhere where the mists and curtains of the world part. And beyond that, crystal white shores. And, farther into the blue distance, green hills. That doesn't…sound…so bad…

 

 

It is not a carol of joy or glee,

But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings--

 

“ It's no good, …we've lost him.”

Hatori stood up, and sighed.

Shigure's eyes were cast to the ground, and they held an unprecedented dam of sorrow behind them that threatened to break and spill over.

Tohru sobbed into her hands, seeing Kyou's dead body on the floor, his blood pooled out about his wrists.

“ If we had only been … a few minutes sooner.”

Shigure punched the wall, hard.

“ If we had only gotten here in time…”

Shigure hung his head in this moment of his most grueling defeat. Hatori put a hand on Shigure's shoulder in an attempt to comfort somebody.

“ If only we could have told him. Told him that Akito's dead. Told him, that he was free…”

“ Maybe, we could have saved him….”

 

I know why the caged bird sings!