Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Defying Heaven ❯ God's Will ( Chapter 1 )

[ A - All Readers ]

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to
Yume comics. This fic is done only for the glorification of Furuba!
Random spoilers for Fruits Basket manga beware! I'm basing this fic on
the manga, so there will be some time inconsistencies in according to
the anime. I'll explain in my notes at the end of the fic.

December 25, 2001

Defying Heaven

1^st Perception: God's Will

By Ina-chan

He watched the clear liquid flow freely down the washbasin as it
escaped the confines of the faucet. It was a normal habit and
necessity to wash one's hands... to let the fresh cleansing water run
through your soapy hands and let it snatch the dirt away. For him, it
was as natural as breathing... almost comforting. Except on days like
today.

Most especially on days like today...

["Hattori," Shigure's voice filtered quietly through his door.

Normally he would simply ignore the voice, do about his business until
the owner gave up and went away. But normally, Shigure doesn't call
him by his proper name. Or speak with that uncharacteristic trace of
grave urgency.

"Hattori," Shigure repeated, "There's been an `accident'."

The young man waited for that familiar feeling of dread to pass over
him, before answering, "Who is it?"

"Yuki."

The young man closed his eyes and ran his hands tiredly over his face,
"Tell Akito that I'll be on my way."]

It seems like on days like today, dirt seemed to cling with more
resilience on his hands. No matter how hard he scrubbed, no matter how
much his hands turned raw, no matter how much it stung... the dirt
won't go away. He felt it underneath his fingernails, and swiftly
crawling over his skin. With atypical force, he tugged at his clothes
and almost desperately brought handfuls of the resilient cleansing
liquid to counter the unpleasant sensation quickly making its way to
his face.

["This bird..." Akito's soft voice filtered almost inaudibly, as he
gently caressed the tame animal perched inside the open cage, "...no
matter how many times I let it out to fly, it always comes back to me
and sits contentedly in its cage. Do you know why?"

The young man simply replied with silence. He was a man of few words,
and normally had no patience for people who talked around in circles.
However, he knew of the task that was ahead of him, and was thankful
of any short amount of time that may delay it.

"It's because..." The Head of the House continued as he closed the
cage with great care, "...it knows how fragile it is... how weak it
has become... and this cage is its only protection from the cruelties
of the outside world." Akito slowly made his way to face his kneeling
companion, "As the Head of the House of the Souma Family, I have a
responsibility to protect our vulnerable."

Hattori found his gaze unconsciously wandering to the hallway behind a
certain wall, which led to a certain small dark room. A sharp pang of
guilt flashed through him, as he is reminded of who was being punished
in that room at that moment, and knowing his indirect responsibility.

"Hattori, I'm afraid I must ask you again..." The younger boy knelt
down before him and leaned closer to whisper almost breathlessly in
his hear, "...do it for the Souma Family... for Yuki..."

The young man closed his eyes as he willed himself not to
instinctively shrink away as he felt death-cold fingers lightly stroke
his cheek in a soft caress.

"...for me."]

He had done it many times in the past. He did it without question or
hesitation, at the whim of his father's request or by the Head of the
House's order. But still, when days like today happen. When he was
forced to erase all traces of the laughter from a group of children at
play. When he was forced to erase the miniscule traces of genuine
happiness from one child's face... he is reminded of how cruel a
dragon has to be, in order to protect the treasure entrusted to him.
How dragons crawl on earth, mud, and ash. How dirt clings to their
skin, and no matter how hard he scrubbed or how much water he washed
himself... the damning dirt will never go away.

The faint coughing across the room snapped the young man back to
reality. He quickly dried himself and gave back his full attention to
his patient, recovering on the futon. Somehow, he always found himself
in these situations as well... automatically coming to the aid of an
ailing family member. A pair of intense purple eyes opened, highly
contrasting against the small snow-white pallid delicate face that
held them.

"You had a very bad attack," Hattori stated the obvious, "How are you
feeling now?"

"I can't breathe," Yuki replied, almost inaudibly, if not for the
silence of the room

"I'll get your medicine," Hattori stated as he started to get up on
his feet, only to freeze as a small hand clung tightly to the hem of
his school uniform. He looked questioningly back at the boy, but the
child simply held on tightly as if his life depended on it, refusing
to meet his gaze.

"I can't breathe." The child stated again as he gripped his older
cousin's knee and violent sobs wracked through his tiny body

"I'm sorry," Hattori whispered as he placed a comforting hand on the
little boy's head and quietly gazed at a nonspecific point across the
room, digesting the child's weighted words in his mind. Though it was
expected from The Mouse to be highly intelligent and gifted, it still
never failed to amaze him to hear simple but profound words from this
boy. Once again, that earlier pang of guilt seared painfully through
his body.

The Head of the House clearly refused permission for the sickly child
to leave the immediate grounds without supervision. But Hattori knew
that Yuki had made some friends from the outside, and was secretly
sneaking out to play with them in one of the secluded gardens. He
turned a blind eye to it, upon seeing his cousin improve. Until
recently, the asthma attacks that almost consistently ravaged his
younger cousin's fragile body ceased to almost a complete halt. In
turn, he also turned a blind eye to the inevitable consequences. His
act may have cost his cousin much more.

"In order to breathe freely," Hattori stated quietly, "You have to
grow stronger, Yuki. When you're strong enough... when we're strong
enough, we can all fly away to any place we want to go."

This child needs to go to a place where he can breathe. He needs to
fly away to that place before the intensity of his eyes fade, before
the rest of his body weakens with his lungs, before his spirit is
broken and be reduced to nothing more but a tamed beautiful bird
sitting contentedly in its protective cage.

"Until then, we'll have to endure it and help each other."

End of 1^st Perspective

Ina-chan's squawk:

AAAAAND this marks the end of the first chapter of my first "Fruits
Basket" fanfic. Heh-heh... Ina-chan was the self-proclaimed "Queen of
Angst" of Jonny Quest fanfics. How am I doing with Furuba? ^_^. This
particular writing style is actually something that I have been
playing around with for the past two years. I started it in JQ, and
for some strange reason I can't seem to shake it off! I dunno. I just
fell in love doing slice of life/ various perception vignettes. As you
have guessed by now, this fic will focus on one particular incident in
the manga... that incident with Yuki when he was seven-years-old. It's
also going to be a trilogy (I like groups of 3's for some strange
reason...) and the other two perspectives will be... well, you'll find
out when I post it. ^_^. Comments, criticisms, bricks... you know
where to send them!

Ja!

Ina-chan