Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Where Your Shadow Falls- Part 1: Darkness, My Old Friend ❯ More than Skin Deep ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: More Than Skin Deep

 

 

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“What moves me is fear

That I'll always be alone at the end of the day"

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-Lullaby By: Armor For Sleep

 

 

“Tori-nii?” Rin opened her eyes a fraction of an inch. His eyes held sadness…as if he'd lost someone dear to him. “Is that you?” She felt something cold moving across her collar bone.

“Try not to speak, Isuzu,” the cool voice above her said.

“Where…where am I? What time is it?” She asked, cursing the venerable tone she could hear in her voice.

“It's ten thirty in the morning. You've been out since last night. Isuzu, please don't talk. You're jaw's broken.” She could feel a faint tugging around her face. He'd probably loaded her up with pain-killers. Is that why she felt so numb…so empty?

“But—what—?” She tried to ask, and felt a cool hand placed firmly over her mouth.

“I'll tell you what happened later,” Hatori whispered in her ear, lowering his voice to the point where it was barely audible. “Since you obviously don't remember.” She nodded slightly. Half of her didn't want to know what had happened.

How many times can they keep putting my body back together like a broken doll? She wondered as the tugging continued in her face. How many times before craft glue won't be able to hold me together anymore?

An hour passed, and Hatori left with a quick, detached goodbye. His eyes had seemed full of loss, and his actions distracted. Eventually, the drugs he'd given her knocked her out. She'd fought against it, but the drugs had eventually won out, and she drifted into blessed oblivion.

 

When she awoke, Rin found herself in a cold, dark, wood-paneled room…one that gave her nightmares. She stood up slowly, feeling bandages tighten around her waist as she angled her body. She felt her face. It was also covered in cloth. She guessed the pain killers were still in effect because her entire body felt numb…empty. She almost would have preferred the pain—so she wouldn't have to think about how empty and alone she suddenly felt and why Akito had kept her here. The door creaked open, and Rin wheeled around to see Shigure step in.

“Gure-nii?” She asked breathlessly.

“Hello, Rin,” Shigure said, his happy-go-lucky mood seemingly unaffected by the atmosphere.

“Why—how—?” Rin stuttered.

“I was visiting and heard you'd stopped by. So I decided to come and see how you were doing,” Shigure's smile held a malicious gleam.

“You know fucking well how I'm doing.” Rin spat.

“Feisty as every,” Shigure stated. “I'm not surprised. That wasn't the part affected.” Rin stared at him.

“What?”

“Haven't you felt it yet?” Shigure asked, his eyes seeming to glow in the dim light.

“Gure-nii, what the hell are you talking about?” She stared at him. He just smiled.

“You're so slow, Rin. Can't you feel it? Deep down inside of you. Something's changed.”

“You'd better tell me what the hell you're talking about, or I swear to God—” Shigure continued as if she hadn't spoken.

“Hatori felt it the moment he walked in last night,” Shigure said, turning his back to Rin, hands clasped behind his back. “I convinced him to confide in me. And now that I'm here, I can feel it too.”

“Shigure…”

“Have you really blocked it out that much, Rin?”

“Dammit, Gure-nii! TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!” She shouted. He turned back to her, his expression unchanged by her outburst.

“Rin…”

 

“It's not like I really have any memories of it, but God and the zodiac spirits made a promise. I'm sure of it. A long…long time ago. To be together…for eternity…”

 

“Can you feel it, Rin? You've been released…”

 

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“Love seems like a mess
When it won't let go of me
But when it's gone I don't feel
When it's gone I don't feel alive”

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-Walking at Night, Alone By: Armor For Sleep

 

 

I wake up and think dreams are real
I sleep so I don't have to feel
The truth that you can never be
The one person that won't ever forget me

 

The CD player was set on repeat, so when he woke up the next morning, the sun shining through the window, the song was echoing over and over in his head.

The one person that won't ever forget me…

He rolled over and looked at his clock. It was nine o'clock in the morning. Haru groaned. He didn't want to get up, so he just lay there, staring up at the ceiling.

Five minutes later he groaned, getting up off the bed and going downstairs. Walking into the kitchen, Haru decided to get some tea. Spotting the pot already on the stove, he rummaged through the cupboards until he found a mug with the black outline of a horse on it, and poured the steaming tea into it.

Leaning against the counter, Haru took a gulp of tea, not even feeling as it scalded his throat.

I'll never forget...Rin…

 

“Rin…Will you kiss me?”

“Wh—Why…?” She stuttered, staring at him, wide-eyed.

“Because I like you,” he said bluntly.

“We…We can't! A—Akito will…get mad…” She warned.

“But, if you ended up with another guy just because of that…I wouldn't be able to bear it,” he said as she looked down at the floor. “Or would you prefer another man?”
“Of—of course not! I—Haru, I…” She stammered as if she was having difficulty getting the words to form.

“Do you think I'm pitying you?” He asked.

“No…no, I don't,” she whispered.

“I like you,” he said, reaching his hand out to stroke her cheek. “So I... want you, Rin.” He leaned in so close he could feel her quickened breathing on his cheeks. “Do you not want me, Rin? Do you not want to be with me?”

 

“Haru! Could you come here please?” His mother called. Haru had been so lost in the memory that the sudden jerk into reality almost sent him tumbling off the bed.

“What?” He called, having not heard the message.

“Could you come into the dining room for a minute, you father and I need to talk to you.”

“Okay, I'll be there in a minute!” Haru quickly dumped the remaining cold tea into the sink, placing the empty mug onto the counter as he walking into the dining room. His parents sat both on one side of the table, anxious looks playing on their faces.

“Haru…”

“Hey, Dad,” Haru started to ask, confused, “why aren't you at work?”

“I just got back from a trip. I don't have to go in until tomorrow.” His voice sounded weird.

“Oh, okay,” Haru said, sitting sinuously on the opposite side of the table from them. He looked back and forth between their faces, feeling as if he were being interrogated. “So…” he started awkwardly, “Wha'd you wanna talk to me about?”

“Well, Haru,” his mom said, looking to Haru's father and then back at Haru. “I was putting some laundry in your room this morning after you came down and…”

How long was I zoned out…? Haru wondered.

“…and I didn't mean to snoop, but I spotted something in the corner of your room. It was bright red under a pile of clothes, so I was curious. I didn't remember you owning anything that red.”

“Mom, what are you talking about?” Haru asked. She looked over at Haru's father again.

“I…found this in your room,” she said quietly, pulling out from under the table a blood-red lace bra. Haru stared at it for a minute.

That's Rin's bra…

“Could you explain what it was doing in your room?” Haru wondered if he should tell them the truth. And if not, how would he explain this?

“I—uh—” He stared.

“There's a tag on the inside,” his mother said, her eyes still locked on the undergarment as she flipped over the strap.

Isuzu S.

Ah, crap

“Why was Isuzu's bra in your room, Haru?” His mother asked. He could feel her eyes boring into the top of his head as he stared down at it. Again…what should he say?

“Haru…please tell us the truth,” his father implored.

“Were you…” his mother started, “Were you and Isuzu sexually involved?” There was no way out of this.

“Yes, okay?” Haru admitted, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists in his lap. His mother gave a little gasp. He hated to do this…Haru had never meant for them to find out. And it was all the harder now that it was all over…all over…

“How long has this been going on?” His father asked.

“Since last year. A little after I turned fifteen,” Haru said, staring down at the grains in the table. His mother's hand went to her mouth, her eyes wide. “But it's—” Haru could barely choke out the words, “it's all over now.”

“Haru…”

Haru jumped up suddenly… a feeling of loss spread through him. Like a candle had been snuffed out. As if a presence had disappeared. What was going on…?

Haru's eyes grew wide. Someone was gone…one of the zodiac. He closed his eyes.

“Haru?” His parents' voices were distant murmurings. He counted them all off…everyone he could feel…

His eyes shot open.

“Haru? What's going on?”

Tears dripped from his eyes.

 

“Rin's gone…”

 

 

End of Chapter 4:

More Than Skin Deep

 

 

A/n: So now you know! ^_^ eeee! I've been wanting to write a fic where someone's curse is broken, but none of the one's I've written has had room for it. But now I do. So…yah

Rin: Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Me: Cuz of me! ^_^

Rin: So what? You wanna go b****?

Me: Uh…no thank you

Haru: I'll take you, Rin. *puts up fists* let's go!

Me: This should be interesting! ^_^

(tune in next chapter! ^_^)

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Fruits Basket is the creation of Takaya Natsuki, and is licensed in North

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