Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Pain of Love ❯ Chapter 11

Yay! I updated again!!! And much sooner this time, too. Thanks to my wonderful reviewers, and thanks again to my awesome beta laniani for her wonderful job making sure I didn't screw up the characters too badly.

 

Before we get to the story though, I have some sad news I'd like to share. My close friend (and first boyfriend) died last weekend, on July 1, and I'd like to ask you guys to keep his family and friends in your prayers. He was a great guy that deserved a much longer life. He'll be forever missed by everyone that knew him. We love you, Alex.

 

Disclaimer: No, they still aren't mine. I just enjoy messing with their lives for a while. I'll put them back when I'm done, I promise.

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According to his plan, Kyo avoided Tohru as much as he could the last few days of vacation. It wasn't difficult since she was still confined to the couch the majority of the time.

 

Her injuries had been fairly minor, but anytime she tried to stand, someone inevitably walked into the room and forced her to lie down. Finally, on the last day they were at the summerhouse, Hatori asked if she felt well enough to try moving. She explained that she had felt fine for days, but no one would let her do anything. He laughed a little to himself, imagining the concerned expression on Yuki's face seeing her stand unsteadily on her own, and helped her up. He also told her that she was permitted to do anything she felt able to and that she should tell anyone who disagreed to talk to him. She smiled excitedly and immediately walked out of the living room and straight into Kyo.

 

As their upper bodies touched, there was a puff of smoke, and Kyo transformed. Tohru braced herself for his yelling which always came when she was particularly clumsy, but it never came. She cautiously opened her eyes and saw a very quiet orange cat walking away, dragging his clothes in his mouth.

 

Her heart leapt to her throat. It had been the first time in days that she'd even seen Kyo, and she'd already upset him. She wanted to run after him and ask him what she'd done to make him so angry with her, but the words died in her throat. She sank to her knees and dissolved into tears.It was in that position that Yuki found her a few minutes later.

 

“Honda-san? Are you all right? Shouldn't you be resting?” Yuki asked, rushing to her side and crouching beside her. Unable to control the sobs wracking her body enough to speak, she shook her head vigorously. Yuki was desperate to stop her crying. He'd never seen her like this. The only other time he could remember seeing her cry at all was on New Year's when he and Kyo had left her alone. She was always cheerful, nothing could get her down. He'd often suspected that she was hiding her real emotions under that beautiful smile, but seeing her cry like this was beginning to scare him. He knelt by her and tried to get her to return to the living room and the couch. She surprised him by not only resisting him, but by also leaning over, crying on his lap.

 

Her actions were impulsive; she was barely even conscious of the fact that her head was on his lap. She only knew that she liked the human contact. The warmth of his body so close to her was more comforting to her than either fully realized.

 

`What on earth happened to her?' Yuki wondered. He was completely baffled by her behavior, and eventually gave up trying to figure it out on his own and let her cry.

 

Finally, Tohru managed to stop crying enough to tell Yuki how she had bumped into Kyo. “Yuki-kun? What's wrong with Kyo-kun? Why is he acting so strange?” Tohru whispered through her tears.

 

“Honda-san, you shouldn't worry yourself over him. He's just being moody. I'm sure he'll be back to his old self in no time,” he assured her, gently running his hand through her hair as he did so. Inside though, he was wondering himself why exactly Kyo was acting so oddly; the cat had been avoiding Tohru, and everyone else, for days. He made a mental note to confront him about it later. Until then, he was relishing the feel of having Tohru seek comfort from him. Soon her crying subsided completely, and she was fast asleep on his knees.

 

Alone in his room, Kyo was fighting tears himself. He hated being like that around her. He hated not seeing her goofy smile and her clumsiness. All he wanted to do was run down to her and apologize for his rudeness, but the promise he'd made on the roof prevented him from doing so. He no longer trusted his voice around her, no longer trusted his face. If he attempted to apologize it was likely to turn into a declaration of love, since he wanted to let her know his feelings more than anything. However, that wouldn't work. No matter how much it hurt him, he would stick to his promise and not interfere with her relationship with Yuki. He pretended that it was better this way, this miserable loneliness. No matter how he tried though, he couldn't stop the pain of not seeing her smiling face.

 

Later that night, after most everyone else had gone to bed, Yuki knocked on Kyo's door. Opening it, the sleepy cat looked surprised to see his enemy standing there. “What do you want, Yuki?” Kyo growled.

 

Dumbfounded once more by the use of his name rather than “damn rat” or another insult, Yuki was momentarily speechless. Quickly he remembered what had sent him here in the first place though and his anger grew. “What do you think you're doing, stupid cat? She's worried about you. You should have seen her earlier, after you transformed. Why are you doing this?”

 

“Because I want her to be happy! That's all. If that means her being with you, then fine. She can be with you. I'm done. When we get back, I'm going to see Akito about moving back in with Shishou; then you won't have to worry about me getting in the way. Now, I'm tired, and I'm going to go get some sleep.” With that, Kyo shut the door on the dumbstruck rat.