Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Revelations ❯ A Cure?!? ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Oooo, another review! Thanks, sapphire1! :=} I'm aiming to post a new chapter every 4 days or so. I'm currently writing on ch. 6, so it looks like that'll work out OK.

Ye-e-esh. This is going to be a bit longer than I first thought! This is the first time the writing bug has bit me since my Dad died of a surprise heart attack last summer...so if it's a bit overly sad or angsty, well, just call it my way of venting out my feelings.

::resigned sigh:: Grrrr, now I've got to get this one out of my system before I can finally get back to my own original stuff, that I'm trying to get published. Aaagh! Well, it is kind'a interesting to write this, anyway. I haven't really tried to write somebody else's characters before; it's good practice! ,'=} I'm just gonna let it go where it wants, and not worry about length or anything for a change.

DISCLAIMER--They ain't mine...BWAAAAAAAH!!! sniffle-snuffle!! ...though the one kami-lady did just pop right out of my head. If I owned Fruits Basket, I'd be makin' money!

Chapter 3 - A Cure?!?

An exhausted Kyo had finally dozed off--or passed out, as the case may be--in Yuki's hold, letting out the occasional stifled whimper as pain and bad dreams chased him through sleep. Yuki kept holding on to him, his head resting atop Kyo's, regretting all the years of friendship they'd lost due to Akito's cruel manipulations.

He was rather surprised at the feelings he was discovering in himself--he'd nevereven considered that he'd ever feel protective of the neko, of all people! He realized with a bit of a start, that what he was feeling--it was very much brotherly, the very feelings everyone always expected he should have for Ayame.

His mind froze up for a split second--what if Ayame wasn't what he'd always thought of him?! He forced his thoughts away from that; he just--couldn't deal with the idea of eventually becoming close to his big brother; not just then. He was having enough trouble with what he was learning about Kyo!

After a good bit of time and careful effort, he managed to shift himself and the fitfully dozing neko about so he could lean back against the wall, relieving some of the strain on his stiffening muscles. Kyo weighed a lot more than Yuki would have thought, in spite of his wiry frame; he was practically all solid muscle.

`And he's always whining about how he'll “someday beat that kuso nezumi!”' Yuki snorted to himself with a touch of amusement. He knew he wasn't in nearly the kind of excellent physical shape Kyo was in; the neko could likely hold him up overhead with one hand, for an hour, without even straining. Without even noticing, more likely!

Kyo hadn't relaxed, even in sleep. Matter of fact, he still had Yuki's sleeve in a near death-grip. That brought a slight, half-sad smirk to Yuki's face, when he noticed. He wondered if it was because of the rarity of having someone actually trying to comfort the neko, or just a reflex from the extreme pain he was in.

Yuki started when he heard the front door open. It had only been about an hour since supper--Honda-san wasn't due back for another couple hours yet. He briefly wondered that Shigure hadn't stuck his nose in; that perverted inu would just love to catch the neko and the nezumi in their current position, he'd never let them live it down...and he'd likely tell the entire world, too, probably writing it into one of his disgusting smutty books!

The kamis forbid Shigure ever told Ayame! Yuki most vehemently did not want to deal with his brother's ecstatically nonsensical proclamations--whether they turned out to be an act, or not!

Yuki took a careful breath and willed himself calm when Kyo stirred at his angry tensing up. The neko really was very sensitive to others' emotions, for all he apparently didn't know the first thing about dealing with them. Hiding behind his wall of anger all the time as he did, to keep people from getting close to him...

Hiding. Right out in plain sight, where Akito could easily see him. `See, I'm right here, nobody can stand me--I have no friends--I'm doing just what you wanted, right?!'

Yuki sighed, remembering how Akito always seemed to find out every smallest detail of the lives of his Jyuunishi-cursed. That cold-hearted--demon!--had entirely too many of the `normal' Sohmas willing to report every twitch of their Jyuunishi-cursed kin to the Clan Head. Yuki wasn't entirely certain that Shigure could keep anything secret from Akito, either--excessive loyalty was in the inu's nature, after all. If nothing else, he'd never be able to deny a directly asked question; and Akito had a suspicious enough mind to do the asking.

Though...Yuki wasn't entirely certain any more that Shigure had given his loyalty to Akito. Hatori and Ayame certainly claimed a good bit of it; those three were too close for it to be otherwise. And Shigure was just about the only person who would willingly try to physically restrain Akito when he flew into one of his rages, and tried to harm one of them.

A sudden flicker distracted Yuki. What was that light coming in under the door? It shone oddly red...he felt a warmth, somehow, on his face, as he looked at it.

***

Kyo woke when he felt Yuki tense. He hadn't gone far enough into sleep to forget about what had happened, but he was still rather disoriented, and the aspirin had only cut the very absolute worst edge off his migraine-level headache. It was still worse than he'd ever had before--and now his ears were ringing, likely from the kuso aspirin. Like a true-neko, Kyo was extra-sensitive to medications.

He stared in stupefied fascination at the soft red light shining under the door, trying to get his watery eyes to focus properly through the pain. The red light wasn't at all the same as the pinpoint multi-colored sparkles the headache was still throwing into his vision, so he wasn't so sure it was his imagination.

He briefly, almost wistfully, though of having a nice, big, multi-ton boulder drop down out of the sky onto his head, to squash it flat. That would get rid of the damned pain...!

`Uhn...then again, maybe not...afterwardswould be hell, wouldn't it...'He grimaced at the very poor joke that no one but he and Akito would completely understand, as no one in their right minds would suspect someone could survive something like that.

Akito being the only other living person to know of the neko's thirdcurse...

Neither young man moved when the door opened, both staring in surprise at the woman standing there. Neither recognized her; they didn't know how she'd gotten upstairs without Shigure intercepting her, even if she was obviously not a High School girl.

Long, silken black hair done up in intricate plaits with ornate, bejeweled sticks; traditionally painted white oval face, with ancient-seeming hazel eyes...she had a presence about her that bespoke both power and authority, though she didn't look like she could possibly be older than her early twenties. She wore layers of colorful and elaborate robes, the shimmering silks heavy with exquisite embroidery; a tasteful sprinkling of small gems was worked into the stitching.

The paired swords casually stuck through her sash seemed incongruous on a Princess' robes. They also looked well-used; and she did not show the self-consciousness of someone unused to wearing them. Perhaps it was the robes that were unusual for her, though she did not seem awkward in wearing the elaborate ceremonial outfit.

Her calm, remote expression softened as she regarded the two boys. She nodded once, slowly, before speaking in a warm voice--or was that voices?--that seemed to come from everywhere, yet nowhere around them. They both paled and shrank back a bit, as they each felt the aura of power surrounding her.

“Sohma Yuki-nezumi. Sohma Kyo-neko.” They both stiffened in shock at her knowledge of their curses, wide eyes now riveted to her face. “It is good that the two of you are finally speaking with one another.” She knelt gracefully and placed a small, white hand, with oddly silver-lacquered nails, upon Kyo's brow, closing her eyes for a moment and bowing her head.

Yuki's hold on Kyo tightened in concern even as Kyo slowly relaxed, until he seemed near-boneless. A warm, comforting flood of--something--was flowing from the woman's hand, seemingly straight into his heart...it brought a wave of supportive strength with it. He no longer felt like he was uncontrollably flying to pieces; he started to believe he might actually be able to stand his imprisonment, for more than a few days.

When she stood, Kyo looked up at her with wide eyes. His headache--it was completely gone, along with that damned rainy-day lethargy! Gone!!

Of course, that meant he was no longer distracted from noticing just who was holding him in a rather close--though still brotherly!--and supportive embrace. The embarrassed blush that suddenly heated his skin could likely be seen in pitch darkness. He tensed, not quite to the point of jumping up and away from the nezumi.

It wasn't that it was uncomfortable, exactly--just...damned embarrassing! If he'd been in neko-form, his ears would've been plastered flat to his skull, his tail bushed like a bottle-brush. Though his claws would have stayed carefully sheathed.

The loneliness he'd fought for most of his life rose up in a powerful wave; that was what was keeping him from leaping to his feet quite yet. Well--that, and Yuki's arm set quite firmly across his chest...Kyo had a feeling it would take more than a bit of wrestling to get the nezumi to let go just then, tense as he was. Kyo wasn't entirely certain his cousin realized just how strong his hold was.

So long as Yuki was willing to stay as they were, he just couldn't bring himself to move from one of the few feelings of comfort he'd ever received from another person in his short life. He'd never let Shishou that close, when he was a child--so Shishou hadn't gotten into the habit of physical displays of affection, other than through their sparring, which Kyo was pretty sure nobody else in the family understood, at all.

Though if Yuki started acting all lovey-dovey--there would be property damage! Even if it was only Kyo running off screaming, without bothering with the door!

***

Yuki smirked with mixed humor as he felt Kyo stiffen, trying not to chuckle as he kept one arm across the neko's chest to keep him still. He was relieved; the woman must have done something to help the neko's headache.

He was also secretly relieved when Kyo didn't struggle to get up; there was precious little physical expression of affection in the lives of the Jyuunishi-cursed, for the two of them even more than most, thanks to Akito. He was certain Kyo felt the lack as much as he did. It was--rather comforting, strangely enough, just to sit and support someone.

If the strange woman hadn't been there, he'd have chuckled outright at Kyo's discomfiture; he just knew what Kyo's face looked like at that moment. What he wouldn't have given for a camera just then!

Then he started to frown, as he realized he wasn't feeling much mistrust of the woman. They had no idea who she was! Even if she did know their names, and apparently about their curses; and Shigure hadn't stopped her from coming upstairs...the baka inu could have mistaken her for his editor and hidden himself, after all.

Then the sensations he was feeling, the power that just seemed to flow from her, stronger by the minute, overcame his mind's attempts to make normal sense of the encounter. He felt the fine hairs on his body standing upright as the thought suddenly crossed his mind, that this might actually be one of the kamis. All thoughts of humor fled his mind as he stared up at her.

“The two of you should talk all you can, while there is still time.” Yuki was fascinated by her multi-part voice, still unsure if the oddly, yet beautifully, echoing sound was actually coming out of her mouth. It was certain no human could voice it, not without extensive electronic help.

“It is important that you get to know each other, as you each truly are--before Kyo-neko is locked into the Neko's House.” She fixed a frozen Kyo with a particularly penetrating stare, before continuing in a softer voice, “And you should tell Yuki-nezumi about the link between you two. He has been kept much too ignorant of some rather important details of the Sohmas' Neko.”

She glanced back to a startled Yuki, as she began softly glowing with that comforting red light. “There is only one chance to break the Jyuunishi curse on your family; once every hundred years. The last time was so close...” Her hazel eyes held a weary sadness for a moment, before going unreadable; her voice firmed with a stern authority.

“Remember this--the keystone of the curse is not the person you all believe it to be. The reprehensible one who is responsible for the Jyuunishi-curse on your family has been continuously reincarnated as a Sohma, ever since the curse was cast; as has the one who sacrificed himself to keep the curse from being worse than it is for the rest of you. Once every hundred years, there is a conjunction--when the reprehensible one and the noble sacrifice are the proper ages; and a Catalyst appears, a person who can draw the Jyuunishi-cursed together.

“That is the only time when the curse can be broken. If, just once, the rest of the Jyuunishi-cursed were to rise in unanimous support of the one who tried to save them, going against the reprehensible one's will--even if only for that one particular moment--then, and only then, can the curse be broken; your family forgiven.

“The Catalyst of this conjunction, Honda Tohru-san, has built the bridge--now it is for the Jyuunishi-cursed to cross it, for their own salvation.” With that, the steadily strengthening red glow flared into a blindingly white light. The boys covered their watering eyes; when they lowered their hands, she was gone.

***

They sat in silence for a few minutes, too stunned to move, their thoughts identical. Who had that woman been? How had she done that--glowing, then disappearing into thin air?!

`A cure for the curse?!!'

Then they remembered themselves--and just how they were sitting; with Kyo practically in Yuki's lap, using him for a backrest. Old habits took over through the shock; Kyo threw off Yuki's loosened hold and leapt up to jitter around for a bit, eyes darting nervously about in search of witnesses. Mainly, that hentai Shigure...

The neko's thoughts flitted about like a cloud of hyped-up butterflies, dizzying and uncatchable. He paused long enough to stare out into the hallway, then automatically slid the door closed as he turned back, to pace randomly about the room. He couldn't quite bring himself to look at Yuki, nervous about what the nezumi's expression might be.

Nervous about what the--whatever the hell she'd been!--had told him to do. He wasn't exactly thrilled to have to tell the nezumi about the third curse the neko bore, tying the two of them together. He was certain the only other member of the family who even knew that it existed at all, was Akito.

His heart caught in his throat for a second. `A cure...!' Would it cure all of the neko's curses, though? All three? `Oh, kami-sama...please...! Just to not be locked up would be enough for me...' He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing, trying to stem the tears threatening to fall; trying to stop the shaking. `I can handle changing into a neko--even changing into my monster form...I've got my bracelet to seal that away, after all. I can even deal with--with the thirdcurse. Just--please, please,Kami-sama--let me not be locked up--!'

All through his life, he'd learned over and over again to never get his hopes up; to never wish for anything. The methodical shattering of all his dreams--those were not experiences he cared to repeat, especially the most simple ones...the wish for just one single friend; the wish for his mother, and his birth father, to love him. Hell, to just like him a little bit!

He just couldn't help himself--being locked up forever in the Neko's House terrified him past reason. Maybe...just this one, last time...he'd let himself hope. He didn't know what else he could do.

***

Yuki got up more slowly, mind also awhirl, staring at the spot where the woman--no...no, the kami--had been standing. `A cure!!' He couldn't quite wrap his thoughts around that idea yet. The family's single most hoped-for, longed-for miracle--

His mind fixed instead on a somewhat lesser thought. She had mentioned some sort of link, specifically between himself and Kyo. Did she mean their long-ago friendship? Something to do with their respective curses, maybe? Or--something else?

“Kyo? What--” Yuki paused and licked his lips, nervous. He truly didn't want them to slip back into the old bickering; and nervous as Kyo obviously was, he was likely to snap before thinking--especially since it was obvious the kami had cured his distracting headache. The nezumi took a breath and grabbed hold of his temper with both hands, determined to not take Kyo's first response seriously. “What link, between us? What was she talking about?”

Kyo froze, his back to Yuki. His sudden, complete stillness sent a chill up the nezumi's spine. As the silence stretched out, without any response at all from the neko, Yuki's sense of foreboding grew. He tried very hard to be optimistic--maybe Kyo was actually thinking about what he was going to say, after all. But--this was Kyo. If he hadn't snapped out an insult by now, or at least started giving off his usual battle aura--

Yuki stared in surprise when Kyo suddenly slumped, taking the two steps needed so he could plop bonelessly down onto his futon. Keeping his face turned away. It was Yuki's turn to give the impression his ears should be plastered back to his skull in distress.

“The neko never outlives...the nezumi...and never dies first.”

Yuki nearly missed the soft-whispered words; he did miss the instant of hesitation when Kyo's eyes flicked towards him, just before he said `the nezumi;' as if he'd changed his mind at the last second about what word to use. He'd spoken slowly enough that the pause was easily overlooked.

Yuki shook his head slightly, puzzled. What did Kyo's words mean? When one of them died...the other would? Was that it? He'd never heard of a curse like that...

Just like he'd not known of the second curse on the neko. What else didn't he know about his own family?!

***

As the nezumi puzzled his words over in silence, Kyo glanced back at him, keeping his head down so his hair mostly hid his eyes. He didn't want Yuki to see the whirling torrent of conflicting emotions in them. Kyo also believed the woman had been a kami; and she had pretty much ordered him to talk to the nezumi. Besides--

Besides...he'd carried that secret for so long, about the third curse; ever since he'd been given Kenji-neko's books by his Shishou. Most specifically--the Neko's Diary, which seemed to be overlooked by everyone but the neko-cursed; a magic-touched book if ever there was such a thing.

There was no way Shishou had seen that book, he'd have freaked at some of the things in it and never have given it to a child. That Diary had been started by the first Sohma ever born under the Neko's Curse; added to by every other neko-cursed person, down through the ages. It had detailed--some of the things their respective Clan Heads had done to the Neko-cursed. The entries of the few Neko-cursed that had been locked away in the Neko's House from very young ages were the worst; one had barely been taught to write, and had only written on one single page.

Kyo had had nightmares for months, after reading that page.

The book had contained a wealth of information on controlling and dealing with the second curse, what the first Neko-cursed young man had called “the Vengeful Neko.” After his first transformation into that hideous form, and all the sensations and feelings it smothered him with, Kyo had easily understood the reasoning behind that name. It had also informed him of the secret, third curse of the Jyuunishi-cursed Neko--the life-link.

The third curse had actually, before the family became cursed, been a blessing perpetually bestowed by the kamis on the best warrior in the Clan. This warrior would choose one person, usually the Clan Head or one of his kin as he was generally the Clan Head's bodyguard, for his life to be linked to. This allowed him to live and function even when fatally wounded by mortal standards, thus better protecting the Clan Head's life; and eliminated the need for committing seppuku if he failed at his duty, as he would die with his charge. It also assured the person chosen for the link, that the warrior would absolutely never harm them.

Kyo had been seven when he read that part of the book, and trying to figure out how he was going to keep his year-old promise to Yuki; to protect him, even if Yuki was made to forget Kyo. He'd considered his choice of person to link with obvious; he'd sure as hell never choose Akito!

Because of his pure-hearted surety, a kami had been drawn to appear in his dreams that night...and his Choice had been made, and confirmed with a flash of the kami's power, before the bemused kami could quite finish explaining why he was there. Kyo had received a separate, small blessing from the kami, before he left Kyo's dreams...a simple wish for the boy to have better luck than his predecessor.

Soon, it would be Kyo's turn to arrange for the Neko's Diary to reach the next neko-cursed person. A shudder rippled through him at the thought.

Seeing Yuki's confusion, he grit his teeth and elaborated, “I can't die `til you do--no matter what happens to me--and I won't live past your death.”

***

Stunned, Yuki stared at him, only one thought echoing loudly through his head: `What???' He slowly knelt, feeling like his legs were going to give out on him soon. A horrible sense of foreboding crawled its slow way up his spine.

“What do you mean, `no matter what happens' to you? I--I don't understand--”

Kyo jumped up off his futon, nervous energy pouring off him in waves as he paced to the door and back. He wouldn't look Yuki in the eyes. “It means exactly what I said. Akito--Akito can--” He stopped, muscles bunching, raising his tight-fisted hands in front of his chest and hunching in on himself a bit as he tried to deal with the overwhelming tension once more pulsing through his body. “Akito can do anything he wants to me--I live through it. He never lets Hatori see me, after...

“Akito damned well knows my curse will heal me; just so long as you're alive.”

Yuki felt his breath catching in his chest in a familiar, sickening way, as that sense of horror started crawling about under his skin. He raised a hand to his chest as he started to get seriously short of breath. “What...” His hands were trembling. “What has...” He forced down a larger breath, feeling like his lungs would burst.

“What...has...he...done...!”

***