Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Pain of Love ❯ Chapter 2
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Klove0511 
Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.10.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 653 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.10.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 653 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 2
Tohru plunged headlong into the woods in the direction Kyo had gone. Only one thought occupied her mind, ‘Please, let me find him.’
Kyo continued his blind dash until finally, after an hour, maybe more, he grew tired and stopped. Despite the weariness in his legs, Kyo still felt plenty of excess energy coursing through him. Slamming his fist into a tree, his rage masked any pain he might have felt in his hand. Sitting down on a decaying log, he held his head in his hands. ‘How could this happen? I love her. How could she betray me like this? “Together forever”, huh? Guess I took THAT the wrong way. I really am a stupid cat for thinking she could ever love me,’ Kyo thought to himself. Anger stabbed at him. He felt as though he would explode if he didn’t do something. Swinging his fist again, the tree bark splintered from the force of his punch. When he removed his scraped hand, a fist-sized dent could be seen on the tree. That had felt good. Standing, Kyo used the tree as a punching bag, throwing kicks and punches at it until his knuckles bled and he finally exhausted his frustration. Kyo slumped back onto his decaying log and fought the urge to cry as he thought to himself, ‘When did I start thinking she might feel that way about me? When she accepted my true form? When we cooked lunch at Shishou’s? Damn it! Why’d I have to go looking for her? They could’ve told me later. At least then I wouldn’t have had to see them kiss like that. Stupid, stupid, stupid cat. And that damn rat. He knew how I felt. I know he did. That bastard did this to spite me. And she went along with it. I can’t believe she’d do that. How could she love him? She deserves better than that damn rat. Damn it!’
As darkness closed in around him, Kyo became aware of the fact that he hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. His stomach growled a reminder of this fact and Kyo cursed his weakness for food, ‘Aw, damn it! Damn stomach.’ Sighing, Kyo quietly said to himself, “Well, it is getting kinda late; I guess I should head back before anyone worries about me. She would worry, too. She might love him, but I bet she’d still worry.” Looking around, trying to get his bearings, Kyo heard the ocean not far off to his left. ‘Great, I can get back easily if I just follow the beach.’ He set off, thoughts of Tohru and Yuki plaguing him as he walked.
Meanwhile as the day turned to evening, Tohru realized that she was hopelessly lost in the forest. The sounds of Kyo crashing through the branches had faded long ago, as she had tired much faster than the swift cat. Sitting on a large tree root she realized how foolish she’d been and began to cry softly.
As she cried she thought to herself, ‘Why didn’t I notice how they felt earlier? Why couldn’t I see it? And now I’m still as confused as ever about how I feel about them. And Kyo-kun probably hates me. After he saw Yuki-kun kiss me, I’m sure he hates me. Why else would he run off like that? Oh no, Yuki-kun probably thinks I hate him! I ran off just like Kyo-kun. What if he never wants to see me again? Oh no! What if neither of them wants to see me again? Oh Tohru, how could you be so stupid? You don’t deserve friends like that. You don’t deserve their love either. Not if you’re going to be such a fool about everything. It’s probably better that they hate-’
Her thoughts were broken by a sharp laugh. Her head jerked up in surprise, and she saw Akito standing in front of her.
“Akito-san? What are you doing here?” she asked timidly.
“Why, I was just taking a walk, stretching my legs. But why on earth are you crying, my dear? Did that stupid cat hurt you? He hates you, you know. He told me that himself today.” Akito laughed cruelly as Tohru’s tear-stained face looked up at him, an immense sadness welling up inside of her as Akito confirmed her worst fears.
She heard Akito’s words, but she never connected them to the correct time period. It never occurred to her that Akito couldn’t possibly be speaking of Kyo’s reaction to Yuki’s kiss. And so his words bit into her heart. Despair welled up inside Tohru’s small frame. Kyo really did hate her. Surely he’d never want to be near her again after this. And Yuki almost certainly felt the same way. If Kyo hated her, why wouldn’t Yuki? Finally the sadness and Akito’s cruel laughter became too much for her too handle.
At that moment, something very uncharacteristic of Tohru happened. Something in her snapped, and she became angry. Her sadness and guilt were temporarily swept away as an anger greater than anything she had ever felt washed over her. All of the stories she’d heard about Akito came back to her, the ones about Hatori and Kana and poor Kisa. She clearly remembered the fear on Yuki’s face when he’d seen Akito at school last year, and she recalled Momiji’s sadness when he spoke of his mother.
Despite the storm of anger raging inside her, her voice came out quite softly at first, gaining strength with every word, every question, every accusation. “I’m not crying because Kyo-kun hurt me. Kyo-kun would never hurt me. Even if he does hate me, he would never do anything to hurt me. I’m crying because Yuki-kun kissed me, and I don’t know how I feel. Neither of them would hurt me. They aren’t like that. YOU are the one that hurts people, Akito-san. You hurt Hatori-san’s eye, and you hurt Kisa-san. Why did you hurt them? Why do you always hurt people, Akito-san? Why? Why are you so angry? Why do they fear you? Who ARE you to them?” With that, her fit of anger subsided and she sank to her knees, the source of her strength gone.
Akito stood stock-still in shock. No one yelled at him. Ever. Throughout her tirade, Akito was simply trying to understand how anyone could dare to scream at him. He was Akito, most feared and respected of the Sohma family. None of his little animals could go against him, none of the other Sohmas dared to. This type of outburst was unheard of. Akito, now furious with the young girl who’d found the courage to yell at him, responded with an icy calm dripping with threat, “You want to know who I am? You should already know who I am, you stupid girl.” His voice rose as he lost his control over his immense rage, ”God invited all of the animals to His banquet, yes? Every year, where do they go? They come to MY banquet. To the members of the Zodiac I am the closest thing they have to God. They are MY animals. You can’t save them. You can’t take them away from me.” He was nearly yelling now, determined to cause this girl as much mental pain as he possibly could before he taught her a lesson, a lesson so many of the Juunishi knew so well. “As soon as he graduates, Kyo will be locked away forever. Just like the cat before him, he will be confined, all alone, for the rest of his life. Until he dies. Unless of course he beats Yuki, which will never happen. It CAN’T happen. Yuki and the others will return to me. We will all live together, in an endless banquet, happy. I won’t let you take them from me. They‘re MINE. MINE! You can‘t have Yuki! You can‘t take my little rat! MY YUKI!” Tohru’s small body began to shake as tears spilled from her horror-filled eyes. She turned her tear-stained face up to look at him, and an evil smile spread across Akito’s face when he saw this. He grabbed her chin with his hand, digging his nails into her wet cheek, and he continued speaking, reading thoughts she had barely begun to form, “You can’t break the curse. NO ONE can break the curse. They must love ME and only ME. I won’t let you take them!”
With that, he threw her to the ground. Tohru didn’t make any attempt to get up, but her body continued to shake as the weight of Akito’s words pressed onto her. Akito’s fury was far beyond the scope of his control. He was going to make this girl pay for kissing his Yuki. Rage in his eyes, he drew his leg back and kicked her with all of his strength. He kicked again and again, until his frail body was completely worn out. His anger spent, Akito stared at her still form for awhile, then turned and disappeared into the woods.
Tohru plunged headlong into the woods in the direction Kyo had gone. Only one thought occupied her mind, ‘Please, let me find him.’
Kyo continued his blind dash until finally, after an hour, maybe more, he grew tired and stopped. Despite the weariness in his legs, Kyo still felt plenty of excess energy coursing through him. Slamming his fist into a tree, his rage masked any pain he might have felt in his hand. Sitting down on a decaying log, he held his head in his hands. ‘How could this happen? I love her. How could she betray me like this? “Together forever”, huh? Guess I took THAT the wrong way. I really am a stupid cat for thinking she could ever love me,’ Kyo thought to himself. Anger stabbed at him. He felt as though he would explode if he didn’t do something. Swinging his fist again, the tree bark splintered from the force of his punch. When he removed his scraped hand, a fist-sized dent could be seen on the tree. That had felt good. Standing, Kyo used the tree as a punching bag, throwing kicks and punches at it until his knuckles bled and he finally exhausted his frustration. Kyo slumped back onto his decaying log and fought the urge to cry as he thought to himself, ‘When did I start thinking she might feel that way about me? When she accepted my true form? When we cooked lunch at Shishou’s? Damn it! Why’d I have to go looking for her? They could’ve told me later. At least then I wouldn’t have had to see them kiss like that. Stupid, stupid, stupid cat. And that damn rat. He knew how I felt. I know he did. That bastard did this to spite me. And she went along with it. I can’t believe she’d do that. How could she love him? She deserves better than that damn rat. Damn it!’
As darkness closed in around him, Kyo became aware of the fact that he hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. His stomach growled a reminder of this fact and Kyo cursed his weakness for food, ‘Aw, damn it! Damn stomach.’ Sighing, Kyo quietly said to himself, “Well, it is getting kinda late; I guess I should head back before anyone worries about me. She would worry, too. She might love him, but I bet she’d still worry.” Looking around, trying to get his bearings, Kyo heard the ocean not far off to his left. ‘Great, I can get back easily if I just follow the beach.’ He set off, thoughts of Tohru and Yuki plaguing him as he walked.
Meanwhile as the day turned to evening, Tohru realized that she was hopelessly lost in the forest. The sounds of Kyo crashing through the branches had faded long ago, as she had tired much faster than the swift cat. Sitting on a large tree root she realized how foolish she’d been and began to cry softly.
As she cried she thought to herself, ‘Why didn’t I notice how they felt earlier? Why couldn’t I see it? And now I’m still as confused as ever about how I feel about them. And Kyo-kun probably hates me. After he saw Yuki-kun kiss me, I’m sure he hates me. Why else would he run off like that? Oh no, Yuki-kun probably thinks I hate him! I ran off just like Kyo-kun. What if he never wants to see me again? Oh no! What if neither of them wants to see me again? Oh Tohru, how could you be so stupid? You don’t deserve friends like that. You don’t deserve their love either. Not if you’re going to be such a fool about everything. It’s probably better that they hate-’
Her thoughts were broken by a sharp laugh. Her head jerked up in surprise, and she saw Akito standing in front of her.
“Akito-san? What are you doing here?” she asked timidly.
“Why, I was just taking a walk, stretching my legs. But why on earth are you crying, my dear? Did that stupid cat hurt you? He hates you, you know. He told me that himself today.” Akito laughed cruelly as Tohru’s tear-stained face looked up at him, an immense sadness welling up inside of her as Akito confirmed her worst fears.
She heard Akito’s words, but she never connected them to the correct time period. It never occurred to her that Akito couldn’t possibly be speaking of Kyo’s reaction to Yuki’s kiss. And so his words bit into her heart. Despair welled up inside Tohru’s small frame. Kyo really did hate her. Surely he’d never want to be near her again after this. And Yuki almost certainly felt the same way. If Kyo hated her, why wouldn’t Yuki? Finally the sadness and Akito’s cruel laughter became too much for her too handle.
At that moment, something very uncharacteristic of Tohru happened. Something in her snapped, and she became angry. Her sadness and guilt were temporarily swept away as an anger greater than anything she had ever felt washed over her. All of the stories she’d heard about Akito came back to her, the ones about Hatori and Kana and poor Kisa. She clearly remembered the fear on Yuki’s face when he’d seen Akito at school last year, and she recalled Momiji’s sadness when he spoke of his mother.
Despite the storm of anger raging inside her, her voice came out quite softly at first, gaining strength with every word, every question, every accusation. “I’m not crying because Kyo-kun hurt me. Kyo-kun would never hurt me. Even if he does hate me, he would never do anything to hurt me. I’m crying because Yuki-kun kissed me, and I don’t know how I feel. Neither of them would hurt me. They aren’t like that. YOU are the one that hurts people, Akito-san. You hurt Hatori-san’s eye, and you hurt Kisa-san. Why did you hurt them? Why do you always hurt people, Akito-san? Why? Why are you so angry? Why do they fear you? Who ARE you to them?” With that, her fit of anger subsided and she sank to her knees, the source of her strength gone.
Akito stood stock-still in shock. No one yelled at him. Ever. Throughout her tirade, Akito was simply trying to understand how anyone could dare to scream at him. He was Akito, most feared and respected of the Sohma family. None of his little animals could go against him, none of the other Sohmas dared to. This type of outburst was unheard of. Akito, now furious with the young girl who’d found the courage to yell at him, responded with an icy calm dripping with threat, “You want to know who I am? You should already know who I am, you stupid girl.” His voice rose as he lost his control over his immense rage, ”God invited all of the animals to His banquet, yes? Every year, where do they go? They come to MY banquet. To the members of the Zodiac I am the closest thing they have to God. They are MY animals. You can’t save them. You can’t take them away from me.” He was nearly yelling now, determined to cause this girl as much mental pain as he possibly could before he taught her a lesson, a lesson so many of the Juunishi knew so well. “As soon as he graduates, Kyo will be locked away forever. Just like the cat before him, he will be confined, all alone, for the rest of his life. Until he dies. Unless of course he beats Yuki, which will never happen. It CAN’T happen. Yuki and the others will return to me. We will all live together, in an endless banquet, happy. I won’t let you take them from me. They‘re MINE. MINE! You can‘t have Yuki! You can‘t take my little rat! MY YUKI!” Tohru’s small body began to shake as tears spilled from her horror-filled eyes. She turned her tear-stained face up to look at him, and an evil smile spread across Akito’s face when he saw this. He grabbed her chin with his hand, digging his nails into her wet cheek, and he continued speaking, reading thoughts she had barely begun to form, “You can’t break the curse. NO ONE can break the curse. They must love ME and only ME. I won’t let you take them!”
With that, he threw her to the ground. Tohru didn’t make any attempt to get up, but her body continued to shake as the weight of Akito’s words pressed onto her. Akito’s fury was far beyond the scope of his control. He was going to make this girl pay for kissing his Yuki. Rage in his eyes, he drew his leg back and kicked her with all of his strength. He kicked again and again, until his frail body was completely worn out. His anger spent, Akito stared at her still form for awhile, then turned and disappeared into the woods.