Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Set Fire to the Rain ❯ Blind ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter Six
Blind

Haru was up moving around finally. His progress was slow and full of pain, but he could make it from room to room at last and was rejoining the daily routine of the house. Though, walking down the stairs he still needed to be heavily supported, and that irritated him. He always had a lot of pride in his own independence, having to accept help just to move around was galling. He would get lost for three days before he would stop and ask for directions. Despite that it was worth it to make the painstaking trek downstairs just to see the now daily matches between Yuki and Kyo.

The two older Sohma's were amusing to watch. When not on the receiving end of their fists it was possible to see the power and technique backing up every move, but they all ended the same way. After a week of fighting Kyo still landed in a heap on the ground, bruised and battered from the match. Yuki still hadn't broken into a sweat, or was even breathing heavy by the time Kyo was on the ground. Having fought the Cat himself numerous times Haru knew Kyo wasn't weak, or a bad fighter, he was simply missing something that he would need to learn quickly if he had any hope of beating Yuki, and by extent Akito.

Haru wished his body was in good enough condition to practice with them, but he was just concentrating on getting back to his former good health before thinking of taking it any further than that. He contented himself by sitting next to Tohru, snacking on whatever treat she brought him that day, and telling her about the different moves Kyo and Yuki were using. Haru hadn't been very far off Kyo's level of training having been pushed into martial arts so young in the hopes of controlling his Black personality, it was fun refreshing his knowledge while including Tohru in the process. Haru liked Tohru, she was a sweet girl, and she took great care of all the Sohma men around her without complaint to the point the others wished she would be more vocal about her needs so they had a chance of taking care of her as well as she did them.

It took a week of watching before the problem started to show itself. Kyo was trying too hard and letting his anger towards the Rat get in the way. Whenever Yuki got near him all his training flew out the window and he started brawling. All Yuki had to do was wait for that to happen and take him out when his guard was down. Haru was feeling good that day, too good for his own well being possibly, so when he spotted the beginning of the next cycle he stepped between the two fighters at the critical moment. He saw Kyo's cinnamon eyes go round with realization as he pulled the punch and stopped himself with barely a hairsbreadth between his fist and Haru's cheek. Tohru had covered her mouth in horror, while Yuki had narrowed his eyes in irritation, readying an attack he would no doubt have launched had Kyo not been able to stop the hit in time.

“Kyo stop, this isn't going to work the way you have been going about it.” Haru spoke quickly before the silent tableau could be broken.

“What do you mean this isn't going to work? You were the one who persuaded us to do this in the first place!” Kyo lashed out in displaced anger, still worked up from the spar.

Haru shook his head sadly, “You didn't do this because of me, you are doing this for Hatori, we already had that talk. Now calm down and listen. When you fight Yuki all you can see is the Rat you hate, try seeing the housemate and friend he has been becoming to you, and don't say that is isn't true. The only time you seem to really hate him anymore is when you fight, and that is the problem, that is why you haven't gotten any better.”

Kyo's hackles seemed to rise at that, “I've gotten better!”

“No you haven't,” Yuki interrupted, “I agree with Haru, but I thought I would just make it worse if I said anything about it.”

“Well if the Damn Rat were a better teacher I would be getting better!” Kyo raged, not liking this at all, feeling more attacked now than when fists were flying.

“You can't learn, even from the best Sensei, if you are too angry to listen. You don't trust Yuki enough to learn, and when you fight you lose what little respect you have for him that might make up for the lack of trust. It's the first lesson. You grew up with the best Sensei the Sohma's ever had, you should know this already. You have got to find a way to beat this, to trust that Yuki isn't your enemy this time, Akito is. If you can learn that, you can fight Yuki and finally get better.” Haru knew this from his own history, some teachers were better than others, some bad enough to fear a little boy with a temper problem. Haru learned nothing from a teacher that was too afraid to invoke Black Haru, they never gave him a chance to learn control over his dark side. They didn't trust him to control himself, and he didn't learn, the inverse was also true.

“Umm... I don't mean to interrupt, I'm sorry, but I might have an idea that could help.” Tohru's voice was low, and she appeared to be blushing from the tips of her ears to the bottom of her toes.

“What is it? Anything that could help would be great.” Haru encouraged, knowing it took a lot for Tohru to interject like that, and whatever it was would be worth hearing about.

She shifted a little in her spot, her blush deepening, “It's easier to show you I'll be right back.” With that she was off and racing back to the house, presumably to get whatever it was she thought would help.

The three Sohma's exchanged bewildered glances until Tohru returned, slightly out of breath, with a small object balled into her fist. “Here, this could really help.”

Kyo took the object from her and unfolded it, revealing a slim black blindfold. “Why a blindfold?”

“Where did you get that?” Haru asked before he could stop himself, at the same time as Kyo's question, and Tohru's blush returned.

“It's Hana's, sometimes seeing too much hurts her, and being in the dark lets her relax.” She explained quickly before answering Kyo. “You need to trust Yuki right? Believe me, nothing encourages trust more than cutting off your sight and relying completely on someone else.”

“That makes sense.” Yuki commented, as Kyo kept examining the simple black cloth, light enough to tie in place, but thick enough to block all light, it wouldn't restrict movement while fighting, but it would truly leave a fighter blind.

“You expect me to wear this and let that Damn Rat do whatever he likes to me?” Kyo demanded.

“No, not at first.” Tohru's blush was beginning to recede, she was helping them and that relieved some of her embarrassment. “I think Yuki should wear it first and than you, that would work better for you I think. If Yuki is willing to try it.”

Yuki suddenly looked at the innocent cloth like it was a viper, even his skin was crawling away from it.  The dark was not his favorite place to be by a long shot. Being in the dark with a known threat and no retreat was nearly unbearable. Only the thought of the desperation in Hatori's voice when he asked them to do this stopped him from rejecting the idea immediately. “What would I have to do?”

“Just wear it, and let Kyo be near you, even touch you. Trust him to do that without hurting you. Show him you trust him, and it will be much easier for him to trust you. From everything I heard, one-way trust isn't going to work for your fighting.” Tohru was blushing slightly again, but not in embarrassment, she had some very sweet memories to go along with this speech.

“Is there anyway I can do this but stop if it gets too much, I don't like it, but I will do it for Hatori.” Yuki asked softly, hoping no one noticed the tremors sliding up his spine at the thought of doing this.

Instead of looking at Yuki, Tohru turned to Kyo. “Kyo if Yuki tells you to stop will you listen to him? I mean Yuki could just take off the blindfold, but I think that would defeat the purpose, you are supposed to be learning to trust each other. Could you two back away when told to without argument or teasing?” She crossed her arms and glared at them for this, and they got a sudden image of Tohru as a mother and it made them sweat drop at the idea.

They locked eyes, battling to see who would give in and answer first. Yuki caved before they got too far, “I will obey if he does.”

“Same here.” Kyo responded, knowing he was the one this was really for, and that the whole plan rested on him. It was a lot to handle.

“Good. This might just work. Thank you Tohru, you helped us out a lot.” Haru thanked her, giving her a one arm hug as an excuse to rest his branded leg. She felt the heaviness of the embrace, and knowing the cause, gave him an excuse to save face.

“I'm glad I could help, now I need to get dinner started, Haru do you want to help me? Kyo, Yuki, you may not want to try that blindfold until you have someone with you to supervise, it might not work the first time.” Tohru advised them before leading Haru back into the house, Haru's arm slug across her shoulder's in what they hoped looked like a friendly gesture rather than the need for support that it was. He would be settled at the table with a glass of water and some painkillers before a single grain of rice hit a pan.

“We haven't killed each other yet, if it doesn't work the first time we will just brush ourselves off and try again, we don't have time to waste.” Yuki just wanted this over with, the sooner the better.

“Yeah, he's right. We need all the practice we can get.” No one corrected the 'we' in his statement, they knew it was taking a lot of patience for Kyo to do this, keeping his pride was a small thing that helped him through it.

Kyo handed Yuki the blindfold, allowing the Rat to tie it comfortably around his head himself. Yuki could honestly say now that it was just as bad as he thought it would be. He knew Kyo was barely three steps away from him, could hear the even breathing coming form the cat, feel the breeze blowing through the yard, but no bit of light or color hit his eyes. Hearing the first step towards him had all his defenses up, muscles coiling like springs, ears straining for any hint of Kyo's presence.

Kyo was surprised at just how tense Yuki got as he neared him, he stilled his hand as he reached out to put a hand on Yuki's shoulder. Maybe such a bold touch was a bad idea, with how prepared Yuki was Kyo knew the Rat could knock him out before he could stop himself. Instead he dropped the reaching hand lower, to one of Yuki's hands clenched so tightly into a fist his knuckles were white with his nails digging into his palms. Stroking lightly down the back of Yuki's right hand, Kyo was ready and moved back quick enough he wasn't injured by Yuki's startled jump. “Are you really that frightened of me?” Kyo couldn't stop himself from asking, a bit of awe in his voice.  

“If you had any idea how hard this is, you wouldn't bother asking about it. It's not you. When it's your turn you will understand more. Just get it over with. Keep going until I don't jump anymore. I will stop this if I am too far gone to control myself anymore.” Yuki tried explaining, but knew Kyo wouldn't get it until he had the blindfold on himself. Despite knowing this was the best thing for them, he couldn't stop himself from wishing Tohru had never brought this up.

Kyo didn't bother nodding, as Yuki couldn't see it, instead he thought about what to do next. If he kept touching the same spot all the time, Yuki could anticipate and stop himself from jumping before he really trusted Kyo. Better to change it up and have Yuki's response be more genuine.

Circling Yuki he saw the Rat tensing even further, it made him curious about just why this was so hard for him. He said this was about Kyo himself, what about being blinded scared him so badly? He didn't think Yuki was afraid of the dark, they had shared a house long enough Kyo was sure he would have noticed something like that by now, but did Yuki really think he was that vulnerable without his sight? Yuki had beaten just about every opponent ever put in his way, had he been blinded before and forced to fight? Lost a fight in the dark before maybe?

Kyo knew it was a bad idea. That serious physical harm could come from it, but he wanted to know what would happen. Stepping quietly toward Yuki, he came up behind him and lightly touched the back of Yuki's neck. The reaction was just as energetic as he predicted. Yuki flew around in a circle, the powerful roundhouse catching Kyo in the diaphragm knocking the wind out of him as it threw him fifteen feet away, the landing ripping his clothing and tearing into his skin.

Yuki ripped the blindfold off his eyes, breathing heavy, his pupils dilated as he looked around wildly, seeing Kyo in a heap on the ground. “Do not EVER touch me there. No matter what, whether I can see or not. If you want me to trust you at all it better not happen again.” Even in the half-daze the kick had him in, Kyo could hear the anger in Yuki's voice.  

Picking himself up out of the heap his own impulses had put him in, he carefully observed the wildness Yuki was showing, in complete contrast to his usual stoicism. “What happened to you?”

Yuki's wild eyes gaze landed on him, and in a voice far more serious than his crazed appearance suggested he spit out a reply. “Akito used to blind fold me, hold me against a wall by the back of my neck, and hit me with whatever he could reach. I am not just doing this for Hatori. I want Akito gone. I know it is wrong. That Akito is Hatori's son and despite everything he still loves Akito. I can't forgive him. If this is real, if you can pull it off and kill him, you will be doing me a favor. I will keep teaching you, keep trying to trust you, all because I want Akito gone forever.”

Looking at Yuki in that moment. Kyo believed every word.
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