Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Ebony and Ivory ❯ Living with Kyo ( Chapter 8 )

AN: Here, see? It's a long chapter, and Kyo features into it plenty. So keep reading. And thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews! You're motivating me to update faster, so keep it up. ;-)

 

AN 2: The way Media Miner formats stories is frustrating. I usually indent my paragraphs and leave a space between my scenes, but they put spaces between paragraphs. So from now on, when there's a new scene I'll mark it with a line like this: >>>>> This chapter and the ones after it do a lot of scene shifting, because all of the scenes are too short to turn into real chapters.

 

 

CHAPTER 8: Living with Kyo

 

It was almost unreal how well their plan worked out. Yuki had been nervous for the first few weeks, saying it wasn't like Akito to be so… inactive. After a while, though, he calmed down a little. It was approaching spring now, and Yuki was helping Saito turn his half-dead garden into a beautiful display.

 

One afternoon in early April, while working with Yuki in the garden, Saito was startled by a voice from the street. “Yuki-kun,” the man called.

 

Yuki jumped and turned around. “Shigure?” he said, looking confused and a little nervous. “Why are you here? Is something wrong?”

 

“No, not really,” the man replied, walking up, and patting Yuki reassuringly on the head. Yuki didn't look reassured. “Akito just asked me to check up on you, that's all. So, this is Saito-san? I thought the name sounded familiar. You didn't mention before that he was the same man who saved you from the ice.”

 

Yuki blinked. “Oh, I… didn't think it was important. Saito-san, you've met my cousin Shigure, right?”

 

“Indeed. Good afternoon, Sohma-san,” he said, bowing.

 

“Good afternoon,” Sohma-san replied, bowing in turn. “I apologize for intruding, but I thought it would be best if I came. Didn't want to bother Kureno, you know.”

 

Yuki looked confused, and suddenly a bit suspicious. “Shigure…”

 

“Yes?”

 

Yuki paused. “Why was… Akito concerned?”

 

“He just wanted to know how his favorite cousin was doing at his first job,” Sohma-san said with a shrug. “At least, that's all he told me. So what kind of work do you do here? Gardening?”

 

“Mostly,” Yuki replied. “Also weeding, raking, general yard work.”

 

“So you're enjoying it?”

 

Yuki smiled. “Yes.”

 

“And you're taking good care of him?” Sohma-san asked Saito, with a grin to show that he didn't mean the question too seriously.

 

“Of course,” Saito replied with a smile. “Would you… like anything? It's a nice day, so if you'd like to stay a while…”

 

“No, that's all right,” Sohma-san replied. “I don't want to impose. Oh, and Yuki-kun, Haa-san called. He said you're late for your check-up, and to come soon.”

 

Yuki slumped. “Can't you get him to make a house call? It's not like he has anything else to do besides wait on Akito hand and foot.”

 

“Yuki-kun…” Sohma-san said in a warning tone. He probably thought Yuki was telling too much. Saito almost laughed. “Haa-san has the entire Sohma family to take care of,” Sohma-san said. “He doesn't have time to chase you around. You will go to see him within the next few weeks, ne?”

 

“Okay, okay, fine,” Yuki said. “Will you go with me?”

 

“If I have time,” Sohma-san replied. “I'll see you when you get home, okay?”

 

“All right. See you later.”

 

Sohma-san walked away, and Yuki gave a small sigh of relief. “I was afraid he'd want to look inside,” he said after his cousin was out of hearing distance. “I think… for some reason, I think he didn't on purpose. He's really the only adult with enough courage to resist Akito, which is why I trust him.”

 

“So, who is this Haa-san?”

 

“My cousin Hatori. Shigure calls him Haa-san. He and Hatori and nii-san are all fairly close, and they all have nicknames for each other. Or at least, Shigure and nii-san do. Anyway, Hatori's the family doctor, and I'm supposed to go to the Main House once a month for a check up, because of my asthma.”

 

“Is that… safe?”

 

Yuki looked at him in confusion. “Oh. Yeah, it's safe. I don't usually see Akito when I go, and when I do he doesn't do anything except make cryptic comments. And Hatori's not bad. He's kind of… frigid, and I don't really trust him. But I guess it's not really his fault.”

 

“What isn't?”

 

Yuki hesitated. “Hatori… is the one who erases people's memories if they find out about the secret. I once had a group of friends who found out, and he had to erase their memories, on Akito's orders, so he and I kind of got off on the wrong foot. But I guess it couldn't have been easy for him, either. I mean, he was only like… fifteen or something. And since then he's been through a lot, so…” Yuki shrugged. “I'm kind of relieved that Shigure came, though. He'll reassure Akito, for a little while at least.”

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

That little while was enough, apparently, for about a month later Yuki came in looking guardedly relieved. “I guess I owe Kyo a thank you,” he said with a shrug, as he took off his shoes. “I think I'll be flying below the radar for quite a while now.”

 

“Oh? What happened?” Saito asked, confused at how Kyo could be protecting Yuki.

 

“The idiot ran away,” Yuki said, looking somewhere between bewildered, amused, and disgusted. “He just up and vanished. And the whole family's up in arms over it, because the cat got out. So right now I'm the least of Akito's concerns. I'm sure he'll still keep an occasional eye on me, but he's more worried about Kyo. Apparently, he thinks he's given the cat way too much freedom. I don't know what he'll do when Kyo gets back.” Yuki looked briefly worried. “Well, hopefully it won't be too extreme.”

 

“Will he come back, do you think?” Saito asked.

 

“Yes,” Yuki replied. “He was pretty bold to run away, but he's not bold enough to stay gone. The curse follows him too, you see. And I've heard he's got it worse than the rest of us, somehow, besides just being the outcast. I'm not really sure of the details. It's kind of a taboo subject. Anyway, he might think he got away permanently, but he'll eventually be back, even if he's not caught. Which is why he was stupid to run away. He's not going to get away with that.”

 

Saito felt his stomach churn. “Yuki-kun… will he be abused as well?”

 

Yuki blinked. “As well?” he asked, alarmed.

 

Saito raised his eyebrows. “You surely don't think I'm not aware of it?”

 

Yuki bit his lip and looked away. “You can't tell anyone.”

 

“I know.”

 

“But yes, probably.”

 

“You seem awfully nonchalant.”

 

Yuki sighed. “When it's a way of life… it doesn't really shock you anymore. It's not like it would be anything new.” He fell silent for a moment. “Although, I don't know how physical Akito gets with Kyo. More likely, he'll just restrict him more. Maybe move him back into the Main House. Which would be bad for Kyo, but… it's not like he doesn't know the consequences of what he's doing.”

 

Saito paused. “But… isn't it the same as what you're doing?” he asked hesitantly.

 

Yuki blinked. “No, that's…” he said defensively, then looked away and sighed. He leaned his elbow on the table and put his forehead harshly in his hand. “Yes,” he said. “That's exactly what I'm doing.” He gave a soft snort. “I'm being just as stupid as him, if not more so.” He sighed again. “If I get caught… Akito will definitely make me move back to the Main House. I'm sure of that. That's the least he'll do.”

 

“Then… should I make you stop coming?” Saito asked.

 

“No,” Yuki replied, “Not unless you fear for yourself. If I got caught now… I still wouldn't regret this. No matter what Akito does… he can't take it away. Not really.” He smiled a little. “Maybe I know a little bit how Kyo feels. I don't think I'd do this if I didn't love the piano so much, but… you know, just a moment of defiance, even if it gets punished… is sometimes worth it just because it's defiance. Because defiance means… defiance means he doesn't own me, Saito-sensei.” He suddenly smiled brightly, closing his eyes. “Defiance means… he hasn't won.”

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

The summer passed quickly. Yuki was beginning to write his own music now, and had dedicated several to Saito. He wrote one called “The Best Four Hours of the Week”, and claimed it was the best he'd done so far. They varied between starting with the piano and starting with the yard work, depending on what needed to be done.

 

One afternoon, Saito decided to start on his own and leave a note for Yuki to come to the back yard. It was September—Yuki had recently celebrated his sixteenth birthday—and the leaves were heavy. At the proper time, Yuki appeared in the backyard. His face was almost frighteningly angry.

 

“Are… you all right?” Saito asked hesitantly.

 

Yuki said nothing and began to rake. At last he spoke. “I… am going to kill… Shigure,” he said firmly.

 

Saito laughed. “Why?”

 

“It's not funny! He's having Kyo live with us in our house!”

 

“Kyo, the cat?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Saito shook with inner laughter. “Why?”

 

“Remember when the idiot ran away? Apparently it was because he was training—the entire time—to get good enough to beat me at martial arts. And you know what? I still won. Easily. But of course, before that, Kyo had to be an idiot and reveal our secret, because one of my classmates, a girl… oh gosh, it's a long story, but she ended up needing to stay at our house because she was living in a tent nearby and then it got crushed by a landslide, and then Kyo comes in, crashing through the roof, which he only fixed with a patch job, and says he wants to fight me. So of course Honda-san got freaked out, and tried to protect me by grabbing Kyo, but she slipped on something and crashed into him.

 

“So he turns into a cat, and Honda-san is staring at him like she's sure she's gone crazy, and then Shigure comes up, perfectly calm, and asks if Kyo has come home, since there's been a huge crash. So then Honda-san starts freaking out and asking if we should take Kyo to the hospital, and then she gets hit on the head with a board that came loose from the ceiling—also, as I said, Kyo's fault—and starts to fall. Of course Shigure and I had to catch her, so then we transformed too. And we had to explain the whole thing.” He sighed. “And the thing is, the house where she's supposed to be living is being remodeled, and that's why she was living in a tent, in secret, and we had said she could live with us until the remodeling was done. We didn't think it would be a problem as long as we didn't hug. Until the idiot cat showed up.”

 

Saito still found it amazing that Yuki could talk about his cousin turning into a cat so nonchalantly. “So what happened to the girl?”

 

Yuki frowned, and stopped raking for a moment. “It was weird. Akito said she could still live with us, and didn't have to have her memories erased. I'm almost… worried. It's like he's planning something. Shigure says not to worry, but Shigure doesn't worry about anything. But see, she reacted a little bit like you did. She just accepted it, and didn't get all upset. Maybe…” He stopped for a moment, thoughtfully, then began to rake again. “Anyway, Akito also said that Kyo had to stay with us now. And to make matters worse, stupid Shigure tricked Kyo into taking the entrance exam to my school, and he passed. So now he'll be going to school with me. And he's already made a complete fool of himself, jumping out of a window after tackling this girl on his first day.”

 

“Tackling a girl?”

 

“He was afraid she would try to hug him.”

 

“Ah. He jumped out a window?”

 

“Mm-hmm. Two stories. He's a cat. Cats always land on their feet. So then I found him, told him to stop being an idiot and think before he acts, and then he starts going off again on how he's going to beat me and become a respected member of the Sohma family. Then Honda-san shows up out of nowhere, and grabs him from behind again—transforming him of course—because she was trying to tell him that he's not allowed to fight in school, and couldn't get his attention. And then he totally lost it at her, and she ran away. Yeah, so then he sort of half apologizes to her later, and she forgives him, because she's always liked the cat in the Chinese zodiac because she felt bad that it was left out. She was telling Shigure about it.”

 

Saito laughed. “You've had an interesting week.”

 

Then Yuki began to laugh, until he dropped his rake and had to stop laughing to pick it up. “I guess it is kind of funny when you look at it from an external perspective.” He laughed again. “Wow. This should be interesting, living with Kyo. Poor Shigure. He'll have to do repairs probably twice a week. Kyo can't seem to grasp the concept that fights are supposed to take place outdoors, and has no problem with breaking tables, smashing through paper doors, or knocking over bookshelves.”

 

Saito laughed again. “Well, you can always come here if you can't handle it.”

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

After that afternoon, Yuki frequently chatted with Saito about his family. It was mostly accounts of happenings. He talked about the time Hatori and Momiji, the rabbit, had come to his school, and about the time when Hatsuharu had come to the school to fight Kyo. He was thoughtful about that one.

 

“It was weird,” he said. “Kyo seemed… worried when I had my attack. I think he even put his hand on my back for a minute. And then Haru turned into an ox to carry me home… really, that guy is so weird. So then he starts telling Honda-san how much he loves me… how am I supposed to respond to that?”

 

Saito smiled. “Tell him you love him too?”

 

Yuki merely gave him a look, and started on a new composition, about Haru. It was sort of a joke: a very soft and gentle melody, alternating with loud, intense, and slightly cacophonous music. By the end of it, he was laughing. “I like Haru,” he said.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

When things began to calm down at home, Yuki began to tell Saito more about himself. He told him a little about his past, that he had been quarantined because of his acute asthma. He had started to say something about Akito, then stopped. Something very wrong had happened to him while he was growing up—that much was obvious. But Yuki couldn't say it yet. So Saito instructed him to play it.

 

It was amazing how much Saito could learn from Yuki's music, which was now shockingly advanced. He heard rejection, and isolation, and loneliness. In some of the songs, he learned of Yuki's fear and desperation. Yuki wrote one very long song simply titled “Cursed”, which seemed to tell it all. Some of the songs he wrote down. Some of them he didn't. Not all of them were dark. He wrote one about the girl who was staying with them, Honda Tohru, and how she was changing things.

 

He wrote one curious song called “The Hat”, which seemed to tell a story. It started with a sense of nervousness, and then suddenly jolted, as though the person in the story had been startled. Then there was suddenly an excitement, coupled with a shy happiness. Something was offered, and then it stopped. Then there was surprise, that rapidly spiraled into pure rejection.

 

At last, Yuki explained. “When I was little, I was on my way home from school, and this red hat blew over to me, and I picked it up. Then Kyo came around a corner. I was glad to see him, and I tried to return it to him, but he just looked at me like he couldn't believe I thought he'd still want it after I'd touched it, and turned around. He was always like that. The first time I met him, I wanted to be his friend… I think it was originally because I liked the color of his hair…”

 

“His hair?”

 

“It's bright orange, naturally. Like the cat he turns into. I've always like orange. But he just looked at me and asked if I was the rat, and then said he wouldn't forgive me, and ran away. I think… that may have been when his mother died, but I didn't know that then. Anyway, as for the hat, I kept it for a little while, but later I gave it to a little girl when I used it to try and disguise myself and run away.” He sighed. “I wanted to be his friend,” he repeated.

 

“I'm sorry,” Saito said.

 

“I don't want to hate him. He…” Yuki shook his head. He started playing again, something improvised. The song conveyed a fire, an excitement, a sense of being fully alive. At last he stopped. “That's what Kyo's like. I want to be like that. Real, like that.”

 

Saito shrugged. “I like you the way you are.”

 

Yuki paused. “Well, I don't.” And he began to play again.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Months later, Yuki came in with a strange expression on his face. Saito winced when he saw that Yuki's shoulder was bandaged, as though he had been gashed by some terrible weapon. More abuse?

 

Yuki said little besides his hello, and went immediately to the piano. Confusion poured from the keys, and anger. But it was… untargeted anger, as though he was mad at the world in general. Saito listened to the emotional chaos, wondering what on earth had caused it, and then was surprised to hear a shift in the music. It had somehow moved away from Yuki's feelings to… someone else's?

 

Saito took a few steps closer and sat down on the floor nearby. Yuki seemed oblivious to his movements. His expression was a study in concentration, as though he were trying desperately to understand something. Then he closed his eyes and the confusion in his music melted into sympathy, and understanding. Yuki looked pained, like he felt he had made a terrible mistake. His music yearned for something, to comfort someone, and expressed sadness that that yearning could not be satisfied. Saito listened as he played continuously for over half an hour. At last he stopped.

 

“Yuki-kun?”

 

Yuki swallowed, and then there were tears in his eyes. “I don't know how to deal with this,” he whispered. Saito sat beside him and put an arm around him. “I don't… know what to do,” he continued. “I never thought… I always thought it was…” His tears began to escape. “He was… more scared than I was,” Yuki stammered. “Much more scared… even more scared… than Honda-san. And I couldn't… do anything.” He closed his eyes.

 

“All I could do… was hold on, so he couldn't run again.” He moved his sleeve up to his eyes. “Saito-sensei… I was so wrong. I can't believe… I ever hated him.” He choked back a sob. “How can I make it up to him now?” he asked, pleading. “I know he started it, but… it's reflex—reflex!—to yell at him, and call him names, and treat him like an outcast… Saito-sensei, I was just as bad as everyone else, and I didn't even believe it!” He slumped down, burying his face in his hands. “I'm like… I'm like Akito. I acted… like Akito. How could I have been so blind and stupid?”

 

“Yuki, what happened?” Saito asked.

 

Yuki was silent for a minute, his head still buried in his hands. When he spoke, it was barely audible. “I… found something out, about Kyo.” His tone refused to answer the begged question.

 

Saito paused, wondering what he could say, or if he even should say anything at all. “You couldn't have known about it before, though, right?” he said at last.

 

“No,” Yuki replied. “But I didn't want to know. I was just… mad.” He sighed. “I should have tried to understand. Even if he hated me, I could have done something.”

 

There was a silence. “It's not too late,” Saito said at last.

 

Yuki sighed. “No,” he replied. “No, it's not.”

 

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

AN 3: I hope I haven't confused anybody with that last section. You've probably already figured out that I'm going more by the anime than the manga, especially with the last episodes. From this point forward it's kind of a continuation of the anime. So if something doesn't fit the timetable of the manga or whatever, don't get mad. -_-