Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Cousin of Death... ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6:

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

 

 
Hatori came to a stop in front of a door and knocked slowly on the frame. The door was opened by the nurse and they were all allowed to enter the room. With a slight gesture of his hand, the nurse moved to Hatori's side. “I'll be back shortly.” He said and left the room, drawing the curtain but not closing the door.

 

Ryuho entered the room clinic with two men pushing a stretcher covered by a white sheet. “Take him into the exam room.” Hatori said flatly.

 

“Hai Doctor.” The two men said before Ryuho turned to Hatori and gave a slight bow.

 

“The preparations have been made for the burial and the body will be taken care of within the hour. The only thing remaining now is the funeral service.”

 

“Arigato.”

 

The raven-haired man handed Hatori a clipboard and a pen. “That's the death certificate. Hisoka signed off but since he's a Physicians' Assistant…well, you know the drill.”

 

Hatori quickly signed his name and noted that attempts at resuscitation were made but unsuccessful. With a nod, the doctor entered the exam room and closed the door behind him. For a moment he simply stood there, staring at the sheet covered man before finally summoning up the will to move forward and pull the sheet down.

 

Hazel eyes filled with anger and sadness stared down into the serene face of the man who had tormented many and had nearly taken Tohru from them. A shiver traced down his spine as his eyes landed on his lips that still held a small, yet evil upturn of the lips.

 

“You bastard…” He mumbled. “You cold hearted, sadistic bastard. What did she ever do to you? Tohru only wanted to see you happy, just like she did with the rest of us.”

 

He walked to the other side of the stretcher, still glaring down at the man. “Knowing Tohru, she probably has already forgiven you, but you will never have my forgiveness. You took one thing away from me that was precious, and you nearly took something so pure and innocent…and beautiful…” He felt his heart constrict at the thought and couldn't finish.

 

“I never understood what happened to you, Akito. I just don't know why your heart turned so black. Once upon a time, everyone respected you…not only because you bore the brunt of Juunishi curse, but because you were just like the rest of us; simply trying to live with the way you were born…Optimistic that we would find the means to rid our family of this curse…

 

“I don't know why it happened so early in your life, but something in your mind snapped. You tortured Yuki for Kami's sake! You used and abused him for your own twisted pleasure and he was only a child!” He growled as he felt a lone tear trek down his cheek. “You had the nerve to say that you loved him and wondered why he moved to Shigure's house?! It was because he was afraid of you! All of the children were…and now I hear that you tried to stab Haru?! That is unforgivable!”

 

Hatori took a moment to calm himself. He walked over to the window and gazed out at the garden as the sun set. “It figures that the day you died, would turn out to be a beautiful, sunny day.” He turned back to the dead man and stared hard at him. “Akito…I don't hate you, and I didn't love or like you either. I will never forgive you for what you've done and I'm glad you're gone. Now maybe we can have some semblance of a normal life…”

 

The dragon walked over to the stretcher and covered the man with a sheet before leaving the room and not sparing a single glance back. His heart felt lighter now that he had gotten the words that he had been holding deep within him for so many years, off his chest.

 

Hazel eyes gazed down the hall and saw Ryuho and Hisoka talking with two men, apparently they were to take Akito's body for burial preparation. A sigh escaped his lips as he turned and walked deeper into the clinic.

 

The doctor entered the recovery room quietly and felt a small smile touch his lips. Yuki and Kyo each held one of Tohru's hands with the nezumi being extremely careful with his caresses due to the pulse monitor on her finger and the IV in the same arm. Shigure gently ran his fingers through her hair talking to his `little flower.'

 

“We're all here for you Tohru-kun…”

 

“Yeah Tohru!” Momiji continued from his spot between Ayame and Kagura. “You're gonna get better!”

 

Haru sat on the bed near the unconscious girl's legs, gazing up at her closed eyes, deep in thought, but a supportive hand rested on her knee.

 

`No doubt he's thinking about Akito and that damn dagger…' The dragon thought as he went over and placed his hand on the ox's shoulder. “I hate to break you all up, but she needs to rest up. I assume you'll all be staying here at the main house until she regains consciousness?” He asked and received nods all around.

 

“Hatori? How long do you think it will take for her to heal?” Kyo asked.

 

“With her injuries, it can be anywhere from one to three months for her to fully heal, but she should be up and about in two weeks. I'll have to keep her on something for the pain, or even walking will be excruciating because of the damage to her abdominal muscles. It just depends on how quickly her body will take to recover, the injury was traumatic but I think she will heal nicely.

 

Yuki sighed and continued to stroke her hand. “The hard part is going to be making her stay in bed. This is our last month of school and she won't want to miss any of it. We all know how determined she is to graduate.”

 

Ayame tapped his lip for a moment before smiling widely. “Is Kishimoto still the principal at the school?”

 

The four teen boys nodded.

 

“Well then, Tori-san, Gure-san and I will go and speak to him and your teachers! Don't worry about a thing, we'll work it all out!” He said happily. He had felt helpless up until now, but knowing that he could do something for their little Tohru-kun, he felt better.

 

Hatori and Shigure smiled and shook his head. They almost felt sorry for Mr. Kishimoto…almost. Ayame, with his seemingly endless energy had nearly driven the old man crazy. It didn't help that he was the class president either, that brought the two together more than the principal would like.

 

“Well, we better leave Tohru can rest.” Kagura said and moved to the bedside, placing a kiss on her forehead. In her mind, she made a mental not to put Kyo and Yuki in rooms far away from both Akito's old room and the rooms that they had occupied while they lived in the main house.

 

“KYO-KUN! You can stay with me!!” She said happily as she dragged the struggling teen to the door.

 

“Shigure! HELP ME!” He whispered harshly as he held onto the doorframe desperately. His white knuckled strength was not enough however, and he dropped to the floor and was dragged away by his legs.

 

Yuki, Momiji and Haru left, snickering as the cat was taken out of the room like a sack of laundry.

 

Ayame and Shigure looked to Hatori, who had taken a seat at the girls bedside and took her tiny hand in his. They watched as he unconsciously began rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. “We'll be back in a later to check on you two…someone has to start making arrangements.” The inu said as the hibe entwined his arm with the inu's.

 

“Arigato…” Hatori said quietly, glad he didn't have to deal with that right now.

 

As the door closed behind them, Hatori stood and pulled the blankets up a bit higher on the little onigri. He reclaimed her hand and stared at the young woman. An eerie chill ran down his spine.

 

`Akito is dead…but he looked like he was simply sleeping…but here was Tohru, lying on the bed so still…if I wasn't holding her hand, feeling its warmth and seeing the gentle rise and fall of her chest…it would look like she…' He didn't even want to finish that thought.

 

Another chill went down his spine as his eyes closed. `They say the cousin of death is sleep…' His eyes looked to Tohru's sleeping face before his eyes closed, trying to hold back the burn of tears. `And so many things could have gone wrong to take her away from us.'

 

“But Akito didn't succeed…Tohru is too strong…” As exhaustion finally caught up with him, Hatori placed his head on the soft mattress. “Tohru…please wake up soon. I want to see you smile again…I don't like seeing you like this…” He said quietly and drifted into a light sleep.

 

AN: Please review!!!