InuYasha Fan Fiction / Blue Seed Fan Fiction / El Hazard Fan Fiction / Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction / Fruits Basket Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ A Long Way From Home ❯ Changes ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Nope. I still don’t own Jack. Hell, I even stole the fake celebrities!

Kyo blinked at the stranger. A boy, about their age stood awkwardly in the center of the hall. He was in excellent shape, with defined lines of muscle showing through the plain shirt and pants he wore. Kyo found himself wondering if he practiced martial arts. Handsome, he guessed, although living in the Sohma house with so many extrodianrily good-looking men made it hard to judge an average. Not that he spent a lot of time looking at men. Well, he spent a lot of time looking at that Damn Rats girly face…

Dark black hair tied into a pigtail. Despite the maleness of his figure there was something quite delicate about the boy, an ease and grace of his movements that Kyo recognized went even beyond his Masters martial arts skill. This boy was good. Yuki wouldn’t be able to touch him.

His eyes were wandering over their group slowly, Kyo noted, studying the girls espeacilly. It made the cat bristle with a brotherly urge to keep the women away from strange men with debauchery on their minds. Yet he had asked for Akane, which forced Kyo to admit that perhaps it wasn’t debauchery but some massive perverse game by Hatori.

One by one after his words all eyes turned to Akane. She was staring at the strange boy in what looked like mottled joy and despair, and her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. She knotted her hands before her, the bad mood sweeping away. Good Riddence too, according to Kyo. If she set that glare on anyone else he might of considered giving her a good hiding. Just because she was in a bad mood didn’t mean she had to spread it around. Yet he was forced to admire her as she was forced to summon strength from her reserve. Her spine stiffened. If it was one thing Akane did not lack, that was strength.

“I-I am.” She whispered, stepping forward. “I’m Akane.”

“Uh...Hi...Listen, I’m-”

‘Ranma. Ranma Saotome.” Ahhh so THIS was Ranma. Duh. He should have figured that out. Only this one didn’t change genders. This was...this world Ranma. Normal Ranma. So there was one. Kyo felt like he’d just swallowed a lead weight. Ugh. If there was a Ranma...was...there a…Tohru too?

“Yeah...how did you know that?” Ranma frowned at her, perturbed that she knew his name when he had never heard of her before. Now that he knew which was Akane his eyes dragged up and down her. Kyo felt another bristle before soothing himself again. These two were engaged…sort of. He had no right to be saying how he should or how he should not be looking at Akane.

Akane smiled wistfully. She really was cute when she smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I’m…” She drew herself up here. “I’m crazy. It doesn’t matter.” The words sounded so harsh on the ears. If she was crazy then they all were. Kyo did not like to think of himself as crazy. If you could say you were crazy were you indeed? Wasn’t being crazy doing things because you believed so much in them, and being entirely unaware of how baumy they were?

Ranma sent a glance to the group standing behind her who were absolutely riveted to the scene of drama unfolding before their very eyes. He raised a brow at Akane in unspoken question. She gestured to him and the two dissapeared into her bedroom.

“Damn! That looked interesting!” Hitomi said regretfully.

Kagome eyed the door mournfully “You said it. Plus I can’t go in there to drop off my stuff now.”

“You can put it in my room.” Hitomi patted Kagome’s shoulder. Yet, no one moved. It seemed the arrival of Ranma had sobered them all from the cozy world they had inhabited. The world where they had refused to consider exactly that would happen to them were they to remain here. The world where this was all but a dream. In some ways they had been putting off looking at the hardships that lay here. The silence was deafening.

“I...guess we should go.” Keiichi was the only one who dared to break the quiet, and group disbanded, casting furtive glances at the now closed door-making speculations about the scene taking place inside.


An hour later Akane was still ensconsed in her room with Ranma. The residents had lolled about the recreation room before Hitomi decided she needed to do some jogging because waiting was killing her. Kyo at once volenteered to go with her, as he too had nervous energy to burn. A run would do him good and help to clear his mind. Put things in perspective. Possibly plan what he might do if Tohru wandered down the hall next week. Poor, innocent Tohru.

Fifteen minutes later he and Hitomi circled the track at an easy jog, the only sound their puffs of breath and the gritty scuff of their shoes on the track dirt. He admired the runner-she was in excellent shape.

Without Yuki to spar with Kyo was feeling a little under worked, so much so that he was considering taking Akane up on her challenges to fight seriously with him. Maybe. Tenchi was a swordsman, and not so much a hand-to-hand fighter. Akane was the only one who did serious damage with her hands. If they ever got home though he was going to meet the people Akane lived with. If he got to practice with Ryouga, Mousse and that Ranma guy- He could wipe the floor with that Damn Rat! Kyo couldn’t help a wry smile at that. What a satisfying feeling that would be, to finally win one over Yuki! Not to mention it might be nice to talk to some other cursed people. A duck, a panda and a girl. Man that Ranma guy did not know how lucky he was that he didn’t turn into an animal. That would be the first thing Kyo did was give him a piece of his mind. Big deal he turned into a woman- He got to keep his humanity and thumbs! Granted, Ranma had it harder because there were more ways to get wet in a day than there were opportunities to get hugged. Yes. Definatly give Ranma a talking too.

Well…if that Watchoo woman found them. Kyo snuck a glance at the rest of the crew as he rounded the curve. In the grassy center of the track Kagome was sitting, textbook open on her lap and doing homework (She was entirely too happy to be attending school regularly, if you asked Kyo), Keiichi was helping Momiji make a flower chain from some of the weeds that grew with the grass and Tenchi was simply kicked back, watching the sky. Kyo’s gaze shot to Hitomi, but found her eyes centered directly forward. He frowned. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about, but planning a reaction to seeing Tohru was not going well. Obviously Hitomi wasn’t going to get chatty. Sometimes she was, although other times she treated running as a sort of meditation.

Though this was not his home, Kyo had to admit that these Sohmas were nicer. In this world the Sohma Family was rich and influential, still introverted but not to quite the degree they had been. Waking up and finding himself with a bedroom, a Mother, Father and Grandfather was…amazing...yet saddening. This wasn’t his family. They were too happy, too…alien. A smiling Yuki with whom he was best friends with added to the strangeness. A demure Kagura, straight Ayame, a mellow black-less Haru, and an who Akito was just a sick boy with no control over anything, let alone the family. There wasn’t a Momiji, as far as Kyo could tell. At least Shigure seemed absolutely the same; Single, perverted and possessed of a childlike glee in making mischief.But no Tohru. That hit the hardest. He wanted Tohru-needed her. He trusted her more than his own Mother. She was his savoir. He wanted Shigures house with Tohru cooking in the kitchen-Hell even her friends dropping by and demanding snacks! He hadn’t realized how accustomed to that version of life he had become. Not even when she left for that short time to live with her Grandfather.

But Gods, he didn’t want to see a Tohru who had no idea what she meant to him.
Yet…in this world…maybe she hadn’t lost her Mother or Father? The idea of Tohru living happily with both parents in a house somewhere made Kyo feel warm. She deserved that. Someone as sweet as Tohru should never have lost both parents. Even if it would mean he never met her, if he could restore them to her he would have done so in a heartbeat. Just as long as he didn’t have to see her. Knowing she was happy would be enough.

The dirt crunched under his shoes in a steady time. If Tohru was happy…it didn’t matter.


Ranma left a few hours later, and Akane remained in her room through the rather lifeless poker game that night. No one wanted to talk about things, it seemed. They disbanded early, calling out goodnights before returning to their rooms. There was no crowing over winning, no butt wiggling dances. That night as Kyo lay in bed he decided he couldn’t remain here. None of them could. He began to slowly hatch a plan.




“ I am NOT breaking into Hatori’s office!” Kagome hissed a few days later in Keiichi’s room at a hastily made two a.m. meeting. “There are so many ways we could get caught it isn’t even funny!”

“You just want to hang around here the rest of your born days?” Kyo snapped back.

“No, I want to be rescued!”

“What if you’re not?! What if that past was a delusion-Hell what if it isn’t, what if it takes the others years and years to find us? We can’t keep waiting. If we all get out and stay together wherever we go… I dunno we could get jobs somewhere…” Kyo was frustrated. He might not have done as good a job explaining his intentions as he wanted to.

“It sure might beat this place…” Keiichi said tentitivly

“But-what if more kids came? We couldn’t just leave them here.” Momiji frowned. She still had a lopsided crown of limp flowers atop her head, tangled in her hair. “They’re important too, and they might not understand what‘s going on, if they‘re like me.”

Kyo growled. “ Look if we look at our files-get them, burn them and…delete anything we can find on his computer…then get out of here...Maybe we’ll leave them less equipped to hunt us down. I‘m sorry if more kids come, but that‘s their problem!”

“Great Kyo, Great. Why don’t you just burn down the clinic while you’re at it-Get rid of all those pesky Doctors and Nurses with memories of who we are. Look Kyo. Hatori Sohma may not be my favorite person in the world but I don’t want him to burn to death!”
That was Hitomi, her chin supported in her hand.

“Not a bad idea.” Jinnai chuckled back.

Kagome snorted “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard! It’s like a bad Fanfiction plot!” Kyo bristled as Kagome barreled on.“ We have to stay here! This is where we’ve been the longest, this is where all other people like us will be brought. Didn’t you ever take a survival class?!”

“What is this, hug-a-tree on a dimensional scale?” Kyo shot back.

He had thought about his notion of leaving quite carefully, or so he thought. Certainly the staff wouldn’t expect them to abandon their families. They wouldn’t think the entire number of them would get rid of the file folders of information on them, then escape. Kyo had had it all planned out. They could go to Tokyo, or maybe one of the Nothern fishing towns. They would rent two rooms in a boarding house, take jobs and try to stay as low profile as possible. Maybe they could even get disguises! Of course they couldn’t contact their families after the break out, because that would give a trail to follow.

The reception was not as good as planned. For starters he hadn’t precisly ironed out an escape plan that wasn’t ‘book it to the fence and climb over’. Nor did he know where they might get traveling funds. Truthfully he hadn’t considered that others might arrive and need assisstence-But Damn them! They could find their own way out of this mess.

“ Tell you what Kyo. YOU go. Send us a postcard. You’ll rid us of your presence.” Kagome threw herself onto Keiichi’s bed, accidentally sitting on Momiji’s arm. She gave a yelp and an accusing glance to Kagome-whose attention was still focussed on Kyo, who glared back.

Jinnai broke the stand “I am forced to agree with Sohma. I want out of this place. I want away from that twit of a nurse and that moron of a Doctor. If I have to paint another picture or play nice in one more round of Group Sharing I will go mad. This is a waste of life! Life I could be conqouring El Hazard with!” Well that was one vote for escaping. Although Kyo kind of wished it had been anyone BUT Jinnai. Oh Well, Beggars can’t be choosers.

“Just had to add that, didn’t you?” Hitomi rolled her eyes, referring to his aspirations of conqouring El Hazard.

“What’s the deal anyway? I thought you were starkers.” That was Momiji, who eyed Jinnai curiously.

“Perhaps in a fashion I tend to elaborate.”

“Perhaps?”

“We’ re getting distracted from the point. Kyo you have no plan-just the same ‘I wanna escape’ routine. Only this time you’ve turned it into “I wanna escape and burn our files’.” Kagome snapped, clearly irritated. Kyo would have preferred she have gotten on Jinnai’s case- He had no defense against her accusations.

“Kagome...calm down” Momiji reached the previously sat upon hand and rubbed her friends leg gently, trying to sooth her nerves.

Tenchi dared to speak here. “We’re a big group…it would be hard to escape…but…Maybe we have to…”

“Why?” That was Hitomi.

“Something isn’t right here.”

“What do you mean?” Hitomi frowned.

“I’ve only been here a week-and I feel as if I have been here forever. You guys are right- The Doctors, the Nurses…they watch you. Really closely. I think…too close. What kind of Doctor makes you face people you are convinced you knew by yourself, anyway?” Tenchi shot a glance to Akane “Uh…no-no offense…It just…it seems like...if he went to all that effort to find Ranma, wouldn’t he want to sit in on your interactions…?”

“I’m not offended. You’re right.” Akane said woodenly. Kyo felt curiosity tugging at him. No one had asked her what that visit had been like.

“We can’t leave without a plan though.” Keiichi leaned back against the wall.

“So, you’re both right.” Momiji smiled at Kyo and Kagome. Kyo frowned, but his anger lessened. Momiji was too much like Tohru in some ways.

“Yes. We need to get out, but not without some sort of plan.” Hitomi finalized their thoughts.

“And Money.” Jinnai added.

“Money…so who can we pump cash out of secretly?” Hitomi drummed her fingers on the side of her foot.

“I can talk to Nabiki.” Akane volunteered.

“ I have Yuki and Kagura.” Kyo felt hope relit. Well this was something!

“ So you guys…hit them up for cash. Say it’s for…candy or…something. A visitors day is coming up… if we could scam enough we might be able to afford train tickets.” Hitomi glanced at Kagome. “What do you think?”

The miko shook her head. “That gets us away, but it doesn’t get us out. We can collect money, but until Kyo or anyone can find a way to get us off the grounds, we’re still stuck.”

“Well we can’t leave until we can take care of ourselves. So let’s do the money. Once we’ve gotten that taken care of we can worry about getting out.” Tenchi stood up.

“I feel kinda guilty.” Momiji admitted, but Kyo scowled at her.

“Feel guilty later.”

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him “Don’t get all smug Kyo. You get to think up our escape plan. And it better be good.”


Kyo was forced to conceed. In his room he threw himself onto the bed. Okay. Plan. He had to plan. Planning had never been his strong suit...he was more of a jump-into-the-fray kind of guy. He leapt before he looked. He could of course gone himself, but Kyo was forced to admit…he needed the others. They were the ones who had magical acquaintances to assisst him. So in order to convince the girls-Espeacilly Kagome he had to think of something good. He had to have a set number of plausible events. Yes. He was going to get them out of here!




Every other week Sohma Clinic allowed visitors to come visit their various charges. They were, of course, debriefed on things they should and should not say, or things they could or could not bring. The members of the clinic were hoping to wear that notion down and turn out some cold hard yen through the power of persuasion. Letters mailed out during the week would make sure that this might be the most crowded visitors day yet.

Yuki Sohma came faithfully every other week to see Kyo without fail. At first it had been awkward, as Kyo had no idea how to communciate with a boy he had supposedly been friends with. Not amount of convincing could prevent him from coming though. Yuki was quite patient with him, never giving up. He would even sit in silence, if Kyo didn’t feel like talking. If he did, then topics raged from things he had heard through the rumor mill, such as the blood tests, to the occurrences at Sohma house proper. He let Kyo rage at him if need be, there seemed to be no end to his tolerance, Lord knew Kyo had tried provoking him enough. This Yuki just didn’t seem to have the temper that the other one had, nor the willingness to beat him senseless. It was, in some regards, nice. In others it was woefully sad.

This Yuki was as soft spoken as the other, yet this one was not so cold and wounded. Against his will, Kyo even would have had to admit he kind of liked him. Kind of. Sometimes Yuki brought someone else; Haru or Kagura, even Shigure. This week though, Kyo had written him asking for Yuki to come by himself, and with some money.

The Sunday in question things were a little tense. Everyone was dressed nicely, and sat in the Recreation Room. In most cases fidgeting. They awaited their assorted relatives and friends. Most of them had not seen their various relations in some months, since Sohma clinic was so far from everything else. The families could not afford frequent visits. They had all dolled themselves up in nice clothing.

As the door to the hall swung open everyone sat bolt upright to catch sight of who it was. Kagome gave a cry and jumped up from her chair and ran to catch her younger brother into a hug, and then her Mother and Grandfather in quick succession. There was a babble of speech as they all spoke, and Kagome lead them away to her bedroom.

“One down.” Kyo mumbled into his hand as the cooign family disappeared.

The rest of the expected parties followed soon after the Higurashis. Nabiki Tendo came in with Nanami Jinnai, both talking quickly with Keiichi’s sister following silently, an eyebrow raised. Hitomi’s family gathered her up in a group hug as Kagome’s had, and then came Yukiko, a friend of Momiji.

Last was Yuki, dressed impeccably. He wandered into the abandoned recreation room area and sat beside Kyo, with only a soft Hello before he settled into quiet. Probably to gauge his mood, to discover what he felt like this time, the cat thought. Kyo felt guilty, suddenly. As if he was…using Yuki, and thus he could not speak for trying to decide what to say. Ugh. He’d made fun of Momiji for feeling this way, and now he felt it. He didn’t like it. It made his stomach upset.

It was Yuki who broke the long silence as they both looked out the windows across the way.

“I got your letter. It sounded very urgent.”

Kyo grunted and there was quiet again. He remembered what Tenchi had said about prying staff eyes and he jerked to stand, cramming his hands into his pocket.

“Come with me.”

Kyo lead Yuki outside into the afternoon sunshine and across the track to a set of benches planted on the ground. Yuki sat, but Kyo stood, pacing for several moments, practicing opening lines in his head without finding one that suited this situation. Finally a hand was yanked out of his pocket and he made a slashing motion.“Okay, Look. I feel …I fell crappy about this. Really crappy. I know I wrote and…and asked for money. It sucks. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you. Because I’m not him- not your friend. I don’t even get along with you where I come from. All we do is fight.” He paced frantically, sickened that the words were coming out of his mouth. He needed this money! He needed to get away! Why wouldn’t his conscious shut up?
“ So I don’t…I don’t know. I don’t know if I could take anything from you, even if you were going to give it. I feel…like…shit.” Energy gone he thumped down on the bench beside his silent relative and snuck a look. Yuki looked serene, his face calm. Silence stretched, although it made Kyo itch until he blurted.

“Well? Ya damn rat, what do you have to say to that-UGH..I mean….Sorry.” He jerked his face away from Yuki and looked at the grass fluttering in the wind. Then he heard a soft chuckle. Wide red-brown eyes turned to look at Yuki, who had a hand cupped over his mouth and was laughing. Kyo crossed his arms over her chest and waited for Yuki’s mirth to subside.
The gray haired boy turned and smiled at Kyo, which made him squirm in his seat.
“You really don’t know, do you?”

“…Know what?”

Kyo eyed Yuki skeptically. The stupid rat was smiling enigmatically and sort of…fondly at him. In this world Yuki had blue eyes rather than the vivid lavender. But they still looked the same, oddly enough. Still slightly mysterious.

“I think…your story must be true, Kyo. You’re a little different from my Kyo…but in so many ways…you are just the same. I can‘t imagine you would forget everything, and suddenly come up with such a story about transforming animals. It must be true.”

There was something in the way Yuki said ‘my Kyo’ that made the hairs on the back of Kyo’s neck tingle in warning.

“What did I forget?” He forged ahead bravely. Even though that tingles were telling him to shut the hell up.

Now Yuki seemed sort of sad. He looked up to the clouds rolling across the blue summer sky, carried by the same warm wind that fluttered the grassy field. His girly face was wrought with deliberation, but he seemed to come to a decision, and turned to look at Kyo. His head tilted, the blue eyes softened and a pale hand raised and lightly caressed Kyos cheek.

“We weren’t best friends.”

Kyo’s eyes widened in understanding, shocked into stillness. He at once felt a panic fill him and were it not for the stubborn threads of control (Or perhaps the frozen state of his limbs) he would have flipped himself off the bench and onto his ass in the dirt to get away from Yuki’s hand. HE and the RAT? Ugh! No! His whole person vibrated with revulsion and shock. In essence, he froze upon the bench, unable to escape the familiar touch.

Although…it made a lot of things make a hell of a lot more sense. No wonder Yuki had come every visitors day to see him. It wasn’t the bond of friendship, but the hope that his -Oh GROSS- lover would remember their…love. Oh Ew EW EW!

Yuki drew his hand away, apparently noting the expression on Kyo’s face. He looked dejected and Kyo felt guilty. His big ball of homophobic disgust deflated swiftly. Yeah it sounded like one of those lame shounen ai manga for girls, but Yuki looked so heartbroken…

“Hey…look…I…” He tried to rectify, but had no words for comfort, and he felt wary of touching the rat-er, Yuki.

“No. It’s alright. It’s…not you-you. I don’t think you have ever responded that way to me. Actually you were the one that made the initail advances.”

Kyo felt his face burn hotly with a blush and he leapt off the bench, pointing at Yuki
“That’s a lie! I never would have hit on you! I don’t like guys-I mean, I don’t date guys! Never Ever! I‘m not attracted to you!! It‘s a lie! You Liar! Damn Rat! It‘s got to be!! I‘m not gay!!! ”

“Oh but Kyo, you always said I had the prettiest face…”
“AUUGH! NO! It’s a Lie! EW!” He trembled in homophobic panic

“You used to tell me I was prettier than any girl you could get and far sexier.”

Kyo howled in agony, clapping his hands over his ears to blot out the words as he fell to his knees. Too late, the damage had been done. Images of himself and Yuki wrapped up in a romantic embrace danced behind his eyeballs. And Yuki was laughing at him. He’d never seen Yuki laugh so much, though he was too steamed to take much notice of it. Instead he stamped his foot and demanded. “WHAT are you laughing at?!”
“Well I had to make you earn your money.” Yuki then smiled sweetly and dug around in his pocket to retrieve his wallet. From the leather interior he began to count out bills. Kyo was again, shocked as he peeped through his fingers. Roller coasting from disgust to highly embarrassed. He was all red as he sheepishly rose to his feet and sat upon the bench again- although with plenty of room between himself and the rat. His Boyfriend. Oh Lord.

“You were…just…teasing me…right?” He said hopefully.

Yuki folded the money in half and slipped it to Kyo who pocketed it.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.” Kyo nodded.

“No. Consider that money payment to send my Kyo back to me. I’ve been missing him.”

Beat.

“Uh…I’ll do the best I can. I want home as much as I’m sure…he wants ..back here.” The visual was just too much. If Kyo had worried about them forgetting and growing complacent with another Kyo, that was nothing to this new concern that another him was hanging all over that damn rat and ruining his reputation. What would Shigure say or, God Forbid, Tohru if the other him hit on that Yuki?? He’d never live it down! Or-Good GOD what if they were…

“Hey…uh…we weren’t…or-You and the other me- You didn’t…you know…Did you?”

“Didn’t what? Be intimate?” Yuki said. Kyo had never thought he would be so thankful that Yuki was so proper and polite with his terminology.

“Uh…Yeah… ‘Cause…the other me…um…”

Yuki didn’t answer, but seemed to look rather concerned. To which Kyo had the perfect response.

“Shit.”

“I hope you didn’t try and sneak into the other me’s bed. That might be awkward in a different situation.”

“Shit.”

“I’m sure things are alright.” Yuki assured him though. “I mean…waking up in a different house with a stranger- I’m sure that would damped your libido.”

“Shit.”

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