Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Mending Ways... ❯ Chapter 1

Mending Ways...

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket

I sighed as I glanced around my shop. It was one of those days where one could easily close their shop early and no one would be upset. I watched as my assistant, Mine, scurried about the shop, cleaning up as she went. It was a usual habit for her. I was about to tell her to go ahead and head home when the phone rang. Since she was closer she answered it.

"Ayame-san?" She came up beside me with the cordless phone in hand. "Its Shigure-san. He says its an emergency."

"Arigato, Mine." I said as I took the phone from her. "Gure-san? What's the emergency?"

"Aaya? Its about Yuki-kun. He's in the emergency room." Shigure sounded more serious than I have ever heard him in my entire life...in fact it kind of scared me.

"In the emergency room? Was it his asthma?" I asked, recalling a few times when Yuki's asthma attacks got so bad he had to be taken to the ER when he was younger.

"Iie, it wasn't his asthma. According to Kyo-kun and Tohru-kun, Yuki-kun was hit by a speeding car." Shigure said.

"Kami-sama..." I whispered. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know that much right now. Haa-san's with him now."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." I said quickly. I hung up the phone and called for Mine.

"Hai, Ayame-san?" she came out of one of the back rooms with a pile of material on her arm.

"I need to get to the emergency room. Yuki's been in an accident. Can you close up the shop? If you want you can close up early." I said as I hurried to get ready to go.

"Hai! Don't worry about the shop. You just worry about Yuki-kun." she said.

'Kami-sama, onegai, let my little brother be okay.' I prayed as I hurried to the emergency room.

I rushed through the double doors and looked around. "Aaya!" I turned to see who had called my name. "Aaya!" I saw Momiji running up to me waving his arm while he ran. "Shigure-chan told me to keep an eye out for you. Come on, I'll show where everyone else is." Momiji grabbed my hand and led me to a small door on the far end of the emergency room. "Ha'ri told us to wait in this room. That way we don't bother any of the other patients, you know, in case there's bad news or something. If you talk to Tohru or Kyo, don't expect them to answer. They haven't said a word since the accident." I had forgotten how much of a chatterbox Momiji can be when he's worried. "In here, Aaya." he said as he pushed the door open. I saw most of the other members of the zodiac. I wasn't at all surprised to see that Akito wasn't there. I sat next to Shigure on a rather large couch. I glanced at Tohru, she was staring down at her hands which were being held by Kyo. On the other side of her were two girls I'd never met before but I had an idea on who they were. They must be Tohru's best friends, Arisa and Saki.

I felt Shigure's hand on my back. I glanced at him. "I'm sure he'll be just fine, Aaya." Shigure said.

I nodded. "Hai. He is a fighter. He's not going to let something like this get him."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

'Kami-sama, onegai, let my little brother be okay. I don't know what to do without him.' I prayed for the millionth time a few hours later.

"Ayame?" I raised my head and glanced towards the door and saw Hatori there. His white doctor's jacket was splattered with blood. I stood as he walked into the room and sat on the coffee table, which was littered with Styrofoam cups and magazines.

"Tori-san? How's Yuki? Is he okay?" I asked hurriedly.

Hatori raised his hand to stop the questions. "Yuki's out of surgery now and in a private room where he can recover. Thankfully, he didn't transform during the surgery. I seriously doubt he will transform while he's sedated. Anyways, he's in a coma right now. His left leg and right arm are broken. He's also got a small amount of brain damage, as well as damage to his stomach. Those will heal with time. Thankfully there's no internal bleeding."

"Hatori oji-chan?" Kisa spoke up so quietly that I wasn't sure I heard here. "Will Yuki-chan be okay?" Her face was covered with tears and tear stains.

Tori-san pulled the tora into a hug. "I honestly don't know if he will. It all depends on his will to get through this, his will to live."

"Can we see him?" Kagura asked, she had hardly spoken since she got here.

"Right now the only one who can see him is Ayame." Hatori said as he rubbed Kisa's back.

"Why only me?" I asked. "I figured since he hates me I'd be the last one to be able to help him."

"That may be true, Ayame, however, he's going to need all of the people he's familiar with by his side. In situations like this, only immediate family members are allowed."

"Aaya, this could give you the chance to be the big brother you want to be." Shigure piped up from beside me.

I sighed. "Alright, for Yuki's sake you all had better be right."

Hatori gave Kisa a quick hug and motioned for me to follow him out of the room.

"Ayame-san!" Tohru's voice cried out just as we left the room. I turned back to look at her. "Tell Yuki-kun that we want him to get better, onegai." That girl's so polite and always thinking of others.

I gave her a half smile. "I will and I'm sure he'll appreciate it, Tohru-kun."

I followed Tori-san through another set of double doors and down a long hallway. 'It all depends on his will to get through this, his will to live.' Hatori's words echoed in my mind. 'What if Yuki doesn't get better?' The thought entered my mind with out me realizing it. 'Baka! You said it yourself, Yuki's a fighter, he'll get through this and be back to the way he used to be.' I scolded myself mentally.

"In here, Ayame." Hatori's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Nani?" I said dumbly. "Gomenasai, Tori-san. I was just thinking about Yuki."

He nodded. "That's what I thought. We're here at Yuki's room." He opened the door and nearly collided with another doctor. Thankfully, it was another male doctor. Normally I would have laughed because Tori-san's always telling us to be careful with the curse.

The other doctor talked a bit with Tori-san. After a moment, Tori-san and the other doctor turned to me. "Ayame? This is Dr. Ikagi, Yuki's neurologist. Dr. Ikagi, this is Sohma Ayame, Yuki's brother."

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Ikagi." I said with a small bow.

"Likewise." he replied. "I was hoping I'd be able to see you before you see you brother. I'm sure Dr. Sohma here, has told you that your brother has a small amount of brian damage." I nodded. "Well, I don't think he told you that the damage occured in the part of the brain that controls the memory. If he wakes up, he may have lost part or all of his memory. I'll be checking him everyday while he's in a coma and every other day if he wakes up."

"If he wakes up?" I repeated, slightly angry. "Dr. Ikagi, you don't know my brother that well. With Yuki, its rarely 'if' and mostly 'when'. My little brother is a fighter and he's going to make it."

Dr. Ikagi, sighed and glanced quickly at Tori-san. "Sohma-san, I don't know the real extent of your brother's injuries. I really think that--"

"That's enough Dr. Ikagi." Tori-san spoke up suddenly. "I'll take it from here."

"Hai, Dr. Sohma." Ikagi said. He nodded his head in my direction. "Sohma-san." He said as he left.

"Tori-san? Did you tell me everything in regards to my brother?" I asked as soon as Dr. Ikagi was out of earshot.

Hatori didn't answer, just looked down at his feet, then at the door.

"Hatori-san!" I said. "What didn't you tell me?"

Hatori sighed. "Gomenasai, Ayame. I didn't want to tell you in front of the others. Yuki's on life-support. The next few days'll determine if he lives or dies. If he lives through these few days then the odds of him surviving, despite how long he's in a coma, are in his favor. Ayame, I didn't want to tell you in front of the others, especially, Honda-kun and Kisa-chan. You know how they can be."

I nodded as my eyes began to sting with tears that were threatening to fall. I pushed the door open and felt Hatori grab my arm.

"Ayame? Don't worry about what Dr. Ikagi said. You're right he doesn't know Yuki that well. Yuki's going to pull through, I know it."

I nodded again and walked into the room. I saw a nurse adjusting an IV bag that hung from by a bed. On the bed, was my brother. He looked like he came off worse in a fight with Kyo, for once. He had a black eye, his head was bandaged, he had a gauze taped under the other eye. His right arm was in a cast.

I slowly walked closer to the bed and stared down at Yuki.

"You must be Sohma-san." The nurse spoke up suddenly. I quickly nodded. "My name is Ishida Mariko. I'm one of the main nurses on this floor. I'll be able to help you if you need it." She gave a smile that reminded me a bit of Tohru's. "You can talk to Sohma-kun here. He may be able to hear you. There are people who say that it may be able to help them heal quicker. Well, it was nice meeting you, Sohma-san." She bowed and left.

When she left, I sank heavily into a chair beside the bed and grabbed Yuki's good hand in mind and squeezed it gently. "Yuki? It's me, Ayame. I know you probably don't want me here, but Tori-san seems to think it'll help. Everyone's real worried about you. Tohru-kun wants to let you know that they all want you to get better soon." I reached up and pushed a lock of his hair aside. "I want you to get better, too. I know I haven't been the brother you needed me to be, and I know that I've annoyed you with trying to fix things between us. Gomennasai. Yuki, I promise to be the brother you want me to be."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ayame?" I glanced at Tori-san, who had just come in. I was surprised to see Shigure and Akito were with him. Normally, he came by himself. "Ayame? We need to talk to you."

"What about?" I asked.

"I want Yuki taken off of life-support." Akito said in his usual cold manner.

"Nani? Naze?" I asked, puzzled.

"Well," Akito continued. "It's been almost three months since the accident and the rat hasn't woken up, or done much to convince me that he's recovering."

"Didn't you tell me that he's getting better?" I asked Hatori, almost pleadingly. "You told me that yesterday."

"I did." Hatori said with a nod. "It may be a matter of time before he wakes up."

Akito crossed his arms. "Last New Year's, he skipped out. He's not going to miss another New Year's. You're not going to skip New Year's either, Snake. The only reason I'll accept him not being there is if he's dead."

I don't know what came over me, but the next thing I knew, Shigure and Hatori were both holding me back and Akito was sprawled on the floor with a black eye. "Yuki's not going to die! I swear that he's going to make it!" I cried. "You'll see, he'll be fine. Even if I have to take his place!"

I pulled myself free from my lifelong friends and sat back down in the chair and grabbed my brother's hand again and gave it a squeeze.

"You are a fool, Ayame." I heard Akito say. "That rat's too weak to make it."

"Akito!" Shigure snapped. "That's enough. Haa-san said that Yuki-kun's getting better, so shut up!" I stared up at Shigure as though I had never seen him before.

"If my predictions are right," Tori-san said. "He'll wake up in a month or so."

Akito glared at Hatori. "In a month or so? Fine! If he's not awake by the end of next month, I want him off of life support!" He quickly stormed out of the room.

As soon as the door slammed shut, I let out a long sigh.

"I just hope I'm right." I heard Hatori whisper.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ayame?" The soft voice pulled me out of my sleep. "Ayame?" I glanced around the room. 'Its probably one of the nurses. What time is it anyways?' I thought to myself as I glanced at the clock on the wall. 10:30 in the morning. It was almost two weeks since Akito announced that if Yuki didn't wake up in a month, Akito was going to take him off of life-support.

"Ayame?" I glanced around to see which nurse was calling me, but I didn't see anything.

"Ayame?" The voice was coming from inside the room. The only other person in the room was Yuki. I glanced at him and saw his violet eyes looking at me.

"Yuki?"

"Ayame? Where am I? How did I get here?" Yuki's voice was softer than it usually was, but I didn't care.

I pulled my brother in to an awkward hug. "Yuki! I'm glad you're awake."

"Nii-san, you didn't answer my questions." Yuki said as he pulled away from me. I couldn't help noticing that he was holding my hand.

"You're in the hospital. You were hit by a car on your way home from school. Tohru-kun and Kyo-kun saw the whole thing." I explained.

He closed his eyes for a moment. "I remember Honda-san was walking behind me and Kyo. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car turn the corner and come towards us. Kyo and I were already on the sidewalk, but Honda-san was still in the middle of the street. I ran and pushed her out of the way, to safety. The next thing I know, I'm here in this room with you." He brought his free hand to his head, it was the same hand that had was broken. The big cast had been taken off a week ago and now Yuki had a bandage wrapped around his arm. "Nii-san, how long have I been here?"

"Just over three months. How do you feel?"

"I'm kinda tired and my body hurts a bit. I guess that's better than the alternative." Yuki said with a weak grin.

"Is he awake Ayame?" Hatori's voice came from the doorway.

I turned to my friend and smiled. "He just woke up."

Hatori smiled and walked around to the other side of the bed and began checking over my little brother. "Good to see you awake, Yuki. You gave us all quite a scare, especially Honda-kun."

"Is she okay?" Yuki asked as Hatori put his stethoscope on Yuki's back.

"She's a bit shaken up, but she'll be happy to know that you've woken up." Hatori said as he finished the check up. "I'm going to have to get Dr. Ikagi to take a look at you."

"Who?" Yuki asked.

"You mean that crackpot of a doctor?" I asked. I remembered what he said the day of Yuki's accident.

"Dr. Ikagi's one of the best neurologists that I know." Tori-san said.

"Who's this Dr. Ikagi?" Yuki asked again.

"Don't worry, Yuki." Tori-san said.

I sighed and shook my head. "Dr. Ikagi's a baka. He didn't think you'd get better, even when your brain was showing signs of improvement."

"Sounds like a baka to me." Yuki agreed.

"Ayame? Do you want to call Shigure and tell him that Yuki's awake?" Tori-san said. "I'm going to remove some of these tubes and I know you can't stand stuff like this."

I glanced down at my baby brother. He gave me a smile that was stronger than the one before. "Go ahead, Nii-san."

I returned his smile and squeezed his hand. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise."

"Ayame? Tell Shigure that they can see him now." Tori-san said as I walked to the door. "Including Honda-kun."

I left the room and walked to the nearest payphone and dialed Shigure's number.

"Moshi moshi?" a masculine voice answered the phone on the second ring.

"Kyo-kun? Its Ayame. Would Gure-san happen to be there?" I asked.

"Uhh, I think he's working on a deadline he's got coming up. Is everything okay?" Kyo asked.

"Everything's fine, Kyo-kun. Tell Gure-san and Tohru-kun that Yuki's awake now, and that if you all want to you can visit him." I said happily.

"Really? That's great." The neko said. "That gives me another chance to beat him." he added as an afterthought.

I chuckled. "Admit it Kyo-kun, you were worried that Yuki wasn't going to pull through."

"Yeah right!" He yelled. The phone went quite for a while. The next voice I heard was a soft feminine voice.

"A-Ayame-san?" Tohru's voice was laced with worry. "Is Yuki-kun okay?"

"Hai, Tohru-kun. In fact, he just woke up."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had been six months since Yuki was released from the hospital and seven months since he woke up. He was back to his old self again, except for the fact that he no longer tries to beat me up when I annoy him. I get the feeling that the rift between us is long gone. I guess I've gone back to my old self too, but its just a facade. I still remember how close my brother came to dying and I realize that I've got a lot of work to do to really mend things.

Yuki visits me every now and then and sometimes we go out and do brotherly things together.

Today we were going to see a movie with Tohru-kun and Mine. I owe Mine so much. She kept the store running smoothly while I stayed with Yuki.

"Ayame? Are you awake in there? Earth to Nii-san!" Yuki waved his hand in front of my face.

I blinked and shook my head. "Nani?"

Yuki laughed. "Nii-san, the line's moving!" I heard Tohru and Mine laughing as well. I laughed as well and quickly paid for the popcorn. Well, at least my brother is laughing like I've never heard him laugh.

Arigato- Thank you

Kami-sama- God

Onegai- Please

Tora- Tiger

Nani- What?

Gomenasai- Sorry

Naze- Why?

Nii-san- big brother