Work Text:
Kyo
"Don't look at me!!"
The words had tasted like acid, and now his lungs were on fire from running, and Kyo felt sure he would never speak again.
She saw me. It's over. It's all over.
He didn't know where he would go. Just Away. Away from Shishou, from the house, from her.
I want to disappear.
If he ran far enough, fast enough, long enough, maybe he would.
Yuki
Yuki didn't realize he had gone outside until the rain had already drenched him. But now he was moving under his own power, the frayed red thread of the Zodiac bond leading him toward Kyo.
Was Tohru searching for him too?
Kyo was faster and stronger in his true, cursed form. Yuki had glimpsed it himself, heard stories from the others. Kyo might be anywhere already.
He'd find him, one way or another.
The bond led him into the woods, where he had to slow down for fear of slipping in the mud and bashing his head on some rock. Honda-san could go it alone, he knew, but she shouldn't have to.
And, alone in the rain and the trees, Yuki quietly admitted to himself that he was scared for Kyo. It wasn't the same at the house without him. Maybe he would get used to being parallel lines with Toh— Honda-san, but a triangle had three sides, and Kyo...
He shivered, stumbled over a root. What in the world was he thinking? Was the cold already getting to—
Lightning flashed, illuminating for a millisecond pink and brown and blue.
"Honda-san!" he shouted, racing to her side.
"Sohma-kun..." She was bent double by a tree, shaking. "W-Why are you...?"
"Looking for him. Kyo."
She gasped, tried to stand, failed; he caught her with one arm, the other shielding from closer contact. "Kyo-kun! I have to find him. But A-Aki—"
Ice lodged by his heart. "Akito's here? Honda-san, if he hurt you..."
"No! I'm all right. He's gone. I don't know where." She pushed against him to stand straight, instead leaning back on the tree trunk for support. "And he won't stop me. I just need..."
He moved closer at her gesture, ice turning into a lightning bolt when she took hold of his face and kissed him.
Her voice filled his shocked silence. "I think Kyo-kun went to the lake."
The lake. That house, walking together, falling together, tension broken by her laughter at their familiar animosity returning—
"Then let's go," he said, taking her hand.
She squeezed his, then pulled away with a shake of her head. "I only need a minute. But you don't have to wait for me. Sohma-kun, please, if you see him..."
Tohru
She was crawling stumbling running through the mud and the muck to find him, to be with him, and she'd do it over and over again for as long as she needed to. That was the one thing she knew right now, the fuel burning bright inside her and pushing her past her limits. And Yuki was there in spirit supporting her; he had her back like she had his. Searching for him like she was.
Why couldn't Kyo see, why didn't he know how much she (they) loved him, needed him? She wished there was a way to unleash all the feelings inside her, from her mind straight to his so he'd truly know, so all his denials and self-denigration would crumble like leaves in winter.
I'm (we're) there for you, we're an unbroken line, a circle. Kyo-kun, Kyo-kun, Kyo-kun...!
Then, when her exhaustion let Akito's darkness overwhelm her defenses, Yuki appeared. And Tohru let some of her feelings out.
She watched the direction he took after, felt a strange pull in her stomach.
We're coming, Kyo-kun, just hold on a little longer.
She took a deep breath and pushed away from the tree.
Kyo
"You're so cute I don't want anyone else to see you! I love you so much..."
He couldn't get away from those thoughts, not even here at the damned lake. Why had he come here, of all places?
"I could never be afraid of you. You're my precious son."
Shut up. Shut up, shut up...!
His mother was there, yards away, smiling at him. "Don't be afraid, Kyo. I'm not afraid. I love you so much I would die for you!"
He moaned, clutching his head (his deformed features, those monstrous claws). "Go away. Please, just go away. You're not real, you're not here, you're not!"
"Mama's here for you, Kyo..."
"Stop it!" he screamed, claws uprooting a rock, heaving it toward the specter moving toward him.
"Kyo, don't!"
That voice. It couldn't be. "You shouldn't be here!" His own voice strained with the effort. "I'll kill you!"
Then a body barreled into him.
Yuki
Kyo screamed, but so did Yuki, clinging with all his might despite Kyo's efforts to throw him off. Claws dug into his shoulders and back, a rock bruised his side, but no amount of pain would make him let go. Not anymore.
"Why can't you all just leave me alone?!"
“Honda-san... Tohru... She told me to bring you back, and that’s what I’m doing. She told me, “bring him back home.’”
"I don't believe you! You didn't see how she looked at me...!"
Eyes shut, Yuki felt himself speeding through the air; still he hung on the Kyo's arm, even with the impact knocking the breath out of him.
“Don’t you get it, you stupid cat?! You’re important to her! She wants you around!"
“She knows what I really am now. I disgust her!"
"No, you're wrong," Yuki shouted. Fury lent him strength; he let go of Kyo's arm and tackled him around his torso, teeth gritting against the searing pain of claws trying to push him off. "I'm— done running. If you want to get rid of me, you'll have to kill me."
The pressure eased minutely, and he heard a pained noise. "But— But I—"
"You... You didn't see what I saw. We crossed paths in the woods and she had fire in her eyes. She was shaking, she could barely walk, but she was still looking for you. She's afraid for you, Kyo, not of you. She doesn't want to lose you. I knew that when I saw her run after you, and the panic and despair on her face..." Tears were running down his cheeks. When had they started? It was impossible to tell, with the rain and mud and blood. "That hurt me more than anything, more than this—" He grasped futilely at Kyo's clawed hand— "because I didn't know how to help. Doesn’t it hurt you, too, when she’s sad? Doesn’t it make it hard to breathe?"
He felt Kyo begin to tremble, his breathing shudder. "I... don't..."
Some kind of groangaspscream left Yuki, and he pulled himself closer to Kyo, still clutching onto him. "I said... I’d get you... and I’m not leaving until you come home! I’m doing this for her because I never want to see that look on her face again, and... Damn it, Kyo, I’m doing this for myself too. Tohru needs you. I need you. So please— please just come back. You’re too important to me. To both of us.”
Lightning flashed twice, blinding white in quick succession, and a terrific boom of thunder followed immediately.
"Kyo-kun!"
Tohru's voice was distant, but he knew she would reach them any second. He slumped to the muddy ground. "We need you to come home."
Tohru
It was only a few moments of lightning; more than enough to reveal Kyo on the ground and Yuki holding on for dear life.
Somehow, she ran. Her mud-soaked stockings were no match for her determination; she skidded but didn't fall, and it felt like years to reach them and it felt like an instant.
She collapsed next to Yuki, on top of Kyo, reaching for his arm. He made a desperate sound; she felt herself slide, pulled away by his movements. "No, please," she said, once and a second time, willing her tear-clogged voice to be heard over the storm. "Please, Kyo-kun, you're scaring me, and I just want—!"
"I don't want to run anymore."
She gasped, eyes snapping to his face. Yuki shuddered beside her.
"I don't want to run anymore," Kyo said again, disbelief full in his voice. "But I... I don't understand. After everything, you're both still here. And you... Tohru."
The sound of her name brought tears to her eyes.
"You're not disgusted? You're not terrified? How..." He, too, sounded close to tears.
"I was scared at first. Even now, I'm still afraid. I don't know this side of Kyo-kun. I don't know... I didn't know if you would hurt me, or how much you might hurt S-S-Sohma..." Shivering, she crawled closer to Yuki, straining until her fingertips could touch him. "...Yuki-kun."
Yuki let out a broken gasp.
"But this side, this form is part of you, too, Kyo-kun. And you had no choice in that matter. Even if you did, you could never disgust me. You could never make me run away. You're... so important to me." With effort, Tohru raised her head to look at him fully. "Kyo-kun is Kyo-kun, no matter what you look like. Even if you hurt me, you have a reason. You're scared too. And if I couldn't forgive you for that, then I couldn’t forgive myself either. So..."
"Tohru."
She was sliding again, but then she was being pushed gently, tentatively, and she could get her legs under her, and he was pulling her close to him.
Her vision blurred with tears. "Please, let's go home. I want to keep living and learning with Kyo-kun and Y-Yuki-kun. I want that so much...!"
Something shifted— her mind, or the world around her, or the whole universe—
"That's what I want, too."
She still clung to Kyo's arm. His human arm. "Kyo-kun!"
Yuki, unmoving, still held fast to Kyo's torso, and Kyo made no move to push him away.
"I just... wanted someone to see all of me. Even if she was afraid, even if she didn't like all of me... I wanted Mom to face it with me, to say 'We'll work it out together'. That was all. But she couldn't. And now both of you...?"
She cried with him, leaning her forehead against his shoulder, her palm on Yuki's back, trying to share in the embrace he gave Kyo. "I'll face it with you. Yuki-kun, too. If you're sad, or scared, or struggling, please try to share it with either of us."
"And if you want to be selfish..." Tears were on Yuki's face, too. "You can. You've more than earned it."
"Just like you told me," said Tohru, nodding fiercely. "We have to be selfish with each other, now."
His fingers found her soaking hair, the back of her neck, and a shiver rippled through her. She was so very tired... but she wasn't done yet. She couldn't be.
"We need to get out of this," Yuki said as another roll of thunder tumbled over them.
Staring at Kyo, she saw a hundred emotions flicker over his face as Yuki let go of him and sat up.
"There?" she said, squinting and pointing. There looked to be an overhang in the cliff face, not far from them.
They stumbled to standing all at once, and she supported them supporting her, and miraculously they traveled those 50 yards without any transformations happening.
It was dry enough, if not warm. She ended up between them again, clutching their hands, and— somehow this was the closest they've ever managed to be, and their body heat mingled with hers and she felt them stop shivering at the same time she did.
Her face felt hot too.
Invigorated, she scooted past Kyo and pushed him over until he was in the middle, pressed him into Yuki with her side until she was sure he wouldn't move; aside from a few sputters, Kyo didn't object.
Then he grabbed her nearest arm (she squeaked) and pulled it over, gently but firmly, so Yuki could take her hand again; he took her other hand.
A smile, a true one, landed on Yuki's face, and Tohru couldn't help her own smile.
"It's starting to let up," Kyo said a few minutes later, nodding out at the sky.
"Oh, thank goodness," she said quietly, preparing to get up even though every part of her protested.
But Kyo tilted, leaned further against Yuki, and he pulled Tohru with him.
"K-Kyo-kun?" Her face was burning again. A glimpse of Yuki showed her he was blushing too, but she felt the resistance of him leaning right back.
"I know we have to go soon," Kyo said. "But not yet. Just a little while longer."
"Okay," Yuki whispered.
"Y-Yes. Okay," she said. She fought another shiver when they both squeezed her hands.
"You guys said I should be more selfish."
She stared up at him, at the cloud-soft smile emerging on his face and in his eyes.
"I decided to start now."