Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Final Price ❯ The Final Price ( One-Shot )

The Final Price

By, Jamie1317kast

 

Sequel to ' Protector And Betrayer'. ' The Final Price' is the story of one man's struggle to protect his family with everything he has. However, nothing in life comes without a price tag, and Shigure must decide for himself just how much he's willing to give.

 

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is copyrighted to Natsuki Takaya, not me. The little bit in Italics belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber. 'The road less traveled by' line is by Robert Frost. The 'eloquent silence' piece is by Ms. Anderson. The song at the end in Italics is from the Prince of Egypt and was written by Stephen Schwartz. Since Shigure is a writer it stands that he is also a reader, and that he would have lots of references to literature and the such in a fic entirely about him.

 

AN~ Please no flames, I do love Shigure. I just think that his dark side and his good side happen to be in the middle of a very big war right now.

 

Rated R simply because I think the dark nature of this fic implies more than a PG-13 rating.

 

The Final Price:

 

I am about to turn from protector to betrayer.

I am standing on the final threshold.

And I'm hating myself for it.

 

Past the point of no return,

The final threshold.

The bridges crossed,

So stand and watch them burn.

We've passed the point of no return…

 

Softly, silently, I pad through my house. I am careful not to wake the children as I make my way into my room. Entering my room, and closing the door behind me, I disrobe.

Crawling under the sheets of my bed, I try to slow my thoughts and heart. I don't know if I'll be able to live with myself after this. Unable to sleep, I sit up in bed, leaning on the headboard behind me.

The dark covers me like a blanket, caressing my flesh the whole length of my body. Wanting to touch some piece of reality, gently I slide my fingers over myself. It's not an erotic action, just some assurance that I'm real.

Sometimes I forget.

Sometimes, I forget that the people in my life have no idea about what I intend to do.

Sometimes, I forget that the lives of others aren't there simply for my pleasure and sinister plans.

Sometimes, I forget that I'm real. So, I need that assurance, or else I won't be able to sleep. And if I can't sleep, I won't be ready. And I need to be ready. Ready for whatever tomorrow night will bring.

 

" Tohru, what's for breakfast? I'm starving." As stupid as I act, there are times when I make myself sick.

" Oh, Shigure-san, you're awake. Good morning!" She smiles cheerily. She looks so sweet, a blush rising on her tender face, I've decided that I'm not going to use honorifics today.

" Tohru," She blushes again, " I'm going over to Sohma House today, and I won't be back until late.

She nods, " Will you be back in time for supper?" I know she's inquiring because she needs to know how many people to cook for. " I won't be back for supper, gomen-ne. Machi is sleeping over tonight, don't forget." Her eyes grow wide and I can tell that she had forgotten.

It had been my suggestion; I'm amazed Yuki had agreed. That his girlfriend, Machi, would sleep over tonight. I almost slip into regret as Tohru consults her shopping list, worrying that she's getting enough food for everyone. Regret that I'm manipulating people who deserve better.

But I've never given it thought before, so I won't now. There's no time for regrets, I'm just getting nervous. That's all.

I suppose I almost want someone to ask me what's wrong. I suppose I almost want someone to help me and hold me.

I suppose, what I really almost want, is for someone to stop me.

 

If you were plotting something particularly devious and harmful, I wouldn't suggest taking long, quiet walks in the woods.

Your conscience has a nasty habit of nagging you to 'do the right thing.' Well, this is the right thing.

Or so I hope.

 

I visit Ha'ri, and Aya, who is visiting him. Aya carries on without a second thought, as usual. But Hatori keeps staring at me, as if he can sense what I'm thinking. He knows, now, that I'm trying to make every single second count. That every moment is more precious than the last, and, when I leave, he smiles sadly and squeezes my shoulder reassuringly. As if to say, ' It'll be alright.'

Hatori says a thousand things without saying a word. And I don't think I've ever heard a more eloquent silence.

After visiting the rest of the Zodiac whom live at Sohma House, my feet turn to take a different route. The road less traveled by, I suppose, and that, has made all the difference.

 

Akito. I have often wondered how ironic my God's name is. The 'Aki' part sounds like the Spanish word 'Aqui'. Strange, I think now, that aqui means 'here'. As if saying that, whether or not our God's life is cut short, that Akito is here. And saying that Akito being here now, is all that really matters.

Funny, isn't that what Tohru said? But I wouldn't tell Akito that, I don't want to make my God angry right now. I have better things to do.

 

Akito is sleeping, so I don't take long. I pad in softly, so as not to wake my God. I steal a quick and simple kiss, for that is all I feel entitled to, and then I leave.

 

I wake up late; a gentle breeze prods me from my dreaming. The sky is an inky black, and the infinite blackness seems to have swallowed up all the stars. Checking the horizon, I can determine that midnight is close.

So I stand from my position against an old tree trunk and I stretch. I've slept the day away. I head back to my house, adrenaline coursing through me.

The time has come.

 

Into the house, up the stairs. Quiet, don't wake the children. Soft and gentle now, there's no time to hesitate.

Into my room, pick it up. Test it, ouch, it's ready.

Out the door, down the hall. The floorboards creak, one, two, three steps, hop the last one.

Steady my hand, steady my breathing. Steady, down boy. Stay. Wait, have patience, wait.

Instinct clouds my mind, but I know I can do this.

Silent as the wind now, through the door and across the room.

Kneel beside the futon.

Raise the hand.

Watch the moonlight glaring harshly off the dagger in my hand.

Ready to strike.

Say the silent prayer, and-!

 

No.

 

I can't do it.

 

Yes.

No.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

 

NO!

 

Stumble.

Back down the hall.

Weary.

Searching for a way, some way, any way to break this accursed curse.

 

And find the way.

 

I've found it.

 

Why didn't I realize it before?

Why didn't I realize that because it was my Duty and my Task; why didn't I realize that it had to be me?

 

Strangely calmed, I place the dagger within the sleeve of my yukata. I slip down the hallway once more, and I place kisses full of hope for future fortune on the brows of these sleeping children.

Kyo, grow up strong.

Yuki, stand up for yourself.

Machi, I'm sorry.

Tohru, just be yourself, and I know that you'll pull through just fine.

 

I lock the door to my room, first taping a note to the front of it for the children when they wake up.

Then I turn.

All this time, I've been so stupid.

All this time, this was all I ever had to do.

 

Dagger, I am your opponent now.

 

I kneel, holding my hands palms up in front of me.

And I make the cuts.

On the inside of my writs, left and right.

Feeling the blood of my life ebbing away, it's warmth soothing the cancer of pain that had spread itself through me like poison.

Casting my dark and tired gaze to the Heavens once more, I can fancy that the roof falls away, and that I am left with nothing between me and God.

 

Many nights we've prayed, with no proof anyone could hear.

In our hearts the hopeful song, we barely understood.

Now we are not afraid, although we know there's much to fear.

We were moving mountains, long before we knew we could.

 

There can be miracles when you believe.

Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill.

Who knows what miracles you can achieve?

When you believe, somehow you will,

You will when you believe.

 

" Lord, please grant me this one last wish." I whisper softly, holding out my courage, my hope, and my very life into the night.

" Lord, can you please free my family?"

And, with every fabric of my being, I await the answer.

 

In this time of fear, when prayer so often proved in vain,

Hope seemed like the summer birds, too swiftly flown away.

Yet now I'm standing here, with heart so full I can't explain,

Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

 

There can be miracles when you believe.

Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill.

Who knows what miracles you can achieve?

When you believe, somehow you will,

Now you will,

You will when you believe.

 

Frightened for a moment, as the last of my consciousness fades away, that I won't receive an answer.

But the answer does come. A concise, clear, and unmistakable…

 

YES.