Archive of Our Own ^beta

“...yo - ...n...?”
...Wha’s...?...static...?
“...yo-kun...can yo...ear m...?”
...was that...my name, I just heard...?
“Kyo-kun...wake up, now.”
...it was... Wha - where am I...? Who...who’s there...?
“Come on, now; you can do it. Wake up, Kyo-kun.”
Bleary crimson eyes cracked open, letting in too-bright white light, as sounds from outside his own head suddenly gained sharp clarity. There was a fuzzy, darker patch a bit to one side...after a minute or so of trying to remember how to focus his eyes as well as his ears, Kyo realized there was someone leaning over him, staring intently into his eyes.
“That’s it, open your eyes...”
That voice...he felt he should know it. It was so soft, though...so...gentle...? It didn’t sound quite right; not with that tone to it. He couldn’t think who it could possibly be, talking to him with so much care in their voice. Nobody cared about him; not really. He’d gotten used to it, having lived with that knowledge for all of his not-so-long life. It was his lot in life. He was just the Cat, after all; the outcast of the Sohma clan.
The monster...
Kyo squinted against the brightness, blinked his eyes several times, then managed to pry them open most of the way in spite of his body’s tired lassitude. It was even worse than what rainy days did to him, except he couldn’t really feel anything; it was like floating in a sea of cotton, instead of drowning in a bone-deep, full-body ache.
That...didn’t seem right. A brief memory of a terrible, unbearable pain flickered through his mind, then vanished. He worked his jaw a moment, then forced out a, “...whha-a...?” The hoarse, feeble excuse for a voice startled him, helping bring him more awake. He blinked again, suddenly recognizing Hatori standing over him with a flicker of concern showing in gray-green eyes - and a surgical hair-net on his head. The doctor was wearing a green surgical smock, and rubber gloves; the green fabric mask pulled down from his face to hang loosely around his neck. The doctor looked decidedly - rumpled.
Kyo startled the rest of the way back into full consciousness, staring in surprise at his older cousin. What the hell?! He tried to remember how he’d gotten - wherever he was; but came up blank, other than that brief, too-intense memory of pain. And why in hell would Hatori be using that odd, gentle tone - on him?! He hadn’t even known the normally cold Dragon could sound that concerned! And why the hell did the normally immaculate doctor look like he’d been sleeping in his surgical clothes?!
“Kyo-kun. You’re in the hospital; you had to have emergency surgery. Do you remember what happened?”
Kyo thought about it for a moment, trying to remember; to focus still-hazy thoughts. His eyes briefly wandered about the room, noting the white walls, white sheets, white curtains on the window; and the pale green curtain hung from a ceiling track to one side of his bed, the only color in the room other than Hatori, and the odd-looking technological whatever-the-hell-it-was just off his shoulder, that had a thin plastic tube running down to Kyo’s arm. He stared at the IV for a couple moments, too fuzzed to recognize if at first. When he did, he jerked his eyes away as a crawling sensation scrabbled about under his skin.
Hatori was still waiting patiently, and Kyo belatedly realized he’d asked a question. To take his mind off the needle stuck in his arm, Kyo obediently tried to search through his foggy memory; it wasn’t like he had anything else he could do, just then. The last clear memory he had was having breakfast at Shigure’s house; arguing with that damned Rat, as usual, while Tohru tried not to worry about them...walking to school...
That flash of remembered agony flickered again; this time bringing with it an image of Yuki’s face, wearing the funniest expression of shocked surprise...
There was - an impression of...falling - ?
“...n-n-n...not really...” What in hell happened?!!
Hatori cocked his head slightly, his eyes holding an expression of concern Kyo wasn’t used to seeing directed at him - from anyone. The doctor stated, dryly, “You’ve confused Yuki-kun; and completely and utterly shocked Shigure. Congratulations; that hasn’t happened since he was ten years old.”
Kyo blinked owlishly at the doctor, jaw hanging slightly open, totally unable to figure out how he’d managed to shock Shigure. There was no way he’d done anything perverted enough to do that!! “Ah...?”
Hatori nodded solemnly, suppressed mirth now glittering clearly in his eyes and trembled in the pull at the corners of his thin-lipped mouth as he held back a smile. The open amusement on the normally somber Hatori’s face poked at Kyo’s sense of reality, even more than the man’s unusual show of concern. Maybe he was still unconscious, and dreaming this?
“Do you remember the robbery that you, Yuki-kun and Tohru-chan witnessed?”
Another blink from Kyo, before an image of a man with a gun jumped into his thoughts, sending a sharp jolt of fear through him. Crimson eyes glazed as Kyo stared intently into his memories, searching, trying to make sense of the image. A shiver left goosebumps all up and down his arms as his numb body tensed. “Uhm...I remember...a man, with a...a g - gun...” How he wished his voice weren’t so damned weak and whispery! Anger tried to rise and firm the sound, but the lassitude cradling his body stole the emotion away.
All amusement gone, Hatori placed one hand on Kyo’s shoulder, leaning in a bit closer. Kyo started at the touch and stared into the doctor’s eyes. People didn’t just touch him; not in any way that they could avoid, and certainly not in an attempt at comfort!
“Yes. He’d just robbed the convenience store, and you three were walking by when he ran out, straight at you. Tohru-can tripped as she panicked and landed safely behind a nearby car; but the robber was going to shoot Yuki-kun as he’d frozen in place, right in the man’s way. You tackled your cousin out of the line of fire, purposefully taking the bullet meant for him by keeping your body between him and the gunman; and you continued to shield him once you had him down, not letting him up until the man was gone.”
Kyo blinked again, twitching slightly as the memory came back in full with Hatori’s words. He remembered seeing the gunman; his suddenly hyper-aware mind registering Tohru dropping out of the line of fire, her clumsiness probably saving her life... Seeing the barrel of the gun pointing right at Yuki’s heart as the Rat froze wide-eyed in place, and hadn’t looked like he’d be able to move any time soon -
Leaping in a strangely clear-headed panic to tackle his damned stupid, immobile cousin out of the freakin’ way -
Why the hell did I do that?!!
- He remembered the shock of the bullet hitting him...and the excruciating pain, a few seconds later, as he came to rest on top of the stunned Yuki; whose face had the most hilariously surprised look, Kyo would have laughed if his guts hadn’t felt like they were on fire at the time - his breath stopping from the intensity of the pain - but he couldn’t let Yuki scramble out from under him, not yet, the heavy footsteps were getting closer; too close, he might shoot again if someone got up...had to keep the damned Rat down, wait for the footsteps to fade - !
Breathing in short, heavy gasps, Kyo closed his eyes and concentrated on remembering a difficult martial arts kata, trying to block the dizzying flood of overpowering images and remembered feelings. He remembered too clearly landing on Yuki, then pinning his skinny cousin to keep him down...gritting his teeth against the flaring agony in his torso, eyes scrunching shut as he waited for the next bullet to tear through him -
Kyo cursed himself soundly in his mind, a sickly feeling creeping through his body as he changed from the useless mental kata to wondering how he was going to live down saving his worst enemy’s life; trying desperately to distract himself from the much-too-clear memory of being shot. What the hell had he been thinking?!! He must have had a moment of temporary insanity! Yes, that must be it; he’d finally gone off the deep end! The stress caused by the Cat’s curse had finally gotten to him!
Or...maybe...he’d realized subconsciously how upset Tohru would be, if Yuki were killed. He never wanted to see Tohru sad like that. She’s already lost so much - her father, her mother; her home...he damned well knew Yuki meant a great deal to her, much as it galled him. Certainly...more than a monster like him could ever mean to her...
Depression pressed down on him at the thought of Yuki and Tohru, together. He had no doubts whatsoever that she’d choose the oh-so-perfect Prince over a loud, scruffy, rude idiot like himself; even if she did always say how she loved cats. He was no cute house Cat, to be cooed over and pampered; he was a feline mongrel, a straggly stray as likely to scratch you as look at you - even without meaning to.
He was the monster. There was no forgetting that fact; not ever.
“Kyo-kun...?”
Kyo pried his eyes open, blurrily focusing a glare on Hatori. “What?!” Damnit, his voice was so weak and hoarse...! The lassitude was fading, so where was his strength?!
The doctor’s lips twitched with amusement again. “I take it you’re with me, now?”
Crimson eyes lost their slight glaze as Kyo narrowed them at Hatori, almost growling.
Hatori - smirked. His eyes twinkled. It was obvious he though Kyo had done something Grand by saving that damned Rat, and was amused by Kyo’s mortification over that same act.
Kyo snorted, hard.
- And suddenly found enough strength to bring one arm over his protesting gut as his breath froze in his chest; his wound had not appreciated that un-thought stress on traumatized muscles. He swallowed hard in a dry throat, eyes screwed tightly shut and head pressed back deeply into his pillow, breathing carefully through tight-clenched teeth as he waited for that sudden, completely unexpected, sharp pain to fade. It seemed the painkillers had officially worn off.
A firm hand back on his shoulder and squeezing gently eventually got a lightly panting Kyo’s eyes cracked open again, if only from pure curiosity. Hatori was leaning over him, face concerned. When the doctor saw he had Kyo’s attention, he sighed softly before saying, “I’m sorry. I should have warned you about that, first thing.”
A scowl met Hatori’s apology. Kyo shifted his head to a more normal position and glared at the doctor, telling him testily, “Don’t apologize; it’s not your fault. I should have known better; it’s not like I don’t know which muscles do what, and what they’re connected to.”
Hatori frowned back at him. “You’re just out of six hours of difficult surgery after receiving a serious, highly traumatic wound, and are still under the after-effects of deep anesthesia. I’m rather surprised you can talk coherently at all, let alone remember complicated anatomy. So yes, as your doctor, it is my fault; and I do owe you an apology, which I will give again: I’m sorry.” The doctor’s voice was quite firm. “You don’t need to brush it off as unnecessary, Kyo-kun; you do deserve it.”
The Cat blinked back at the insistent Dragon, his pale face woefully bewildered at his elder cousin’s vehemence. Hatori couldn’t help but frown slightly at how small and deceptively fragile his younger cousin looked, without that fiery temper making him seem larger than life. His orange hair stood out brightly amidst the white sheets and his too-pale skin, making his crimson eyes seem bigger - making the boy seem younger than his seventeen years. The doctor sighed softly, smoothing his features to their usual bland expression. Kyo wasn’t going to like what he said next.
“Now that you’re awake, you have a...reluctantly grateful visitor. There’s no way to get out of this visit, I’m afraid.”
Kyo frowned at him, vague suspicion gnawing at the edges of his mind. He somehow knew Hatori wasn’t talking about Yuki; the doctor could keep that damned Rat away for however long he wanted to. Getting Yuki into the room with Kyo would be the difficult part. Just who wanted to see him that the doctor couldn’t forbid, who would cause Hatori to have barely concealed fits?
Kyo froze for a moment as realization dawned in a brain that must surely still be a bit dazed, or he’d have known right away. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move - couldn’t even blink, as his mind suddenly provided the only logical answer. A surge of anger at himself for his reaction narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, forcing his lungs to work normally again. He refused to let anyone see that fear on his face!!
After powering the head of Kyo’s hospital bed up so the boy could sit mostly upright in relative comfort, and once he’d fussily propped and prodded the pillows and straightened the sheets and blanket to his complete satisfaction, Hatori reluctantly turned to go open the door. Kyo watched silently, growing more and more nervous as Hatori tensed up. He wasn’t used to seeing the doctor procrastinate like that; especially, he wasn’t used to seeing Hatori keep Akito waiting, not for anything!
Kyo sucked in an involuntary breath in spite of the pain it caused him when Akito stepped quietly into the room, thin face unusually blank; black eyes intent on the suddenly terrified boy in the bed. Kyo couldn’t help but shrink back into the mattress somewhat as Akito slowly stalked towards him, those intense dark eyes never looking away. There was something in that dark gaze that Kyo couldn’t understand - some emotion he’d never seen before; something that grabbed his eyes and wouldn’t let them go.
Fear gripped tightly at his heart as he remembered their bet with a wash of cold panic. There was no way he’d ever be able to recover in time to beat Yuki; not now, not with this hole in his gut! There was only a month until graduation; it would be longer than that before he could even think of resuming his training, to just get back into the shape he’d been in before being shot - let alone improving enough to beat that damned snobby Yuki!
Had Akito come...to tell him he was going straight from the hospital, to his cage...? Kyo couldn’t stop the shiver that crawled across his skin, though he managed somehow to keep his face mostly impassive. His mouth and throat felt dry as stone. He was afraid his eyes easily gave his fear away to his Clan Head; Akito was certainly staring intently enough into them. Kyo grit his teeth so hard his jaw ached, and steadfastly ignored the way his tenseness and rasping breaths hurt his abdomen. He somehow managed to scrape together a halfway decent glare.
Akito surprised him by remaining quiet for several minutes. Not having a death wish, and with pain both physical and mental twisting at his insides as the adrenaline coursing through him wiped out the last dregs of anesthesia, Kyo kept his own mouth shut. He was nowhere near up to this; he had no desire to be hit, not in the shape he was in. His confusion was growing, though - why was Akito being so silent? Why wasn’t she glaring at Kyo with the usual hatred and disgust that the Clan Head felt towards the Cat-cursed boy? Where were the poisonous, velvety-smooth words, explaining the pathetic worthlessness of the Cat’s entire existence? Where was that feeling of inexplicable, heavy power that usually cloaked the Clan Head, pressing on Kyo, smothering him; poised to strike him down?
“Why...did you do it?”
Kyo blinked in confusion for a moment, still lost in his worries over Akito’s presence; his mind apparently still a bit vague from both the anesthesia, and now adrenaline overload. The Clan Head frowned, blowing out an annoyed breath before rephrasing herself. “Why did you save Yuki?”
A faint stain of red dusted Kyo’s too-pale cheeks as he bit back the suicidal impulse to offer sarcastically, “Temporary insanity?” He forced himself to keep staring into those terrifying black eyes that seemed to bore right through him, trying to find the words for an answer that he didn’t yet understand, himself. His mouth opened and closed a couple times as he struggled.
Surprisingly, Akito waited patiently, showing no sign of impatience.
Finally, Kyo looked down at the hands clenched in his lap. “I...” He took a deep breath and raised his head again to meet Akito’s eyes squarely, his jaw clenching. “I don’t know. I just - acted on instinct, I guess.”
Akito blinked and cocked her head curiously, staring at Kyo with a slight, wondering frown. A glance towards Hatori showed the doctor standing silently by the door, the barest hint of anxiety showing about his icy calm features. Akito let a wry smile steal over her face, the pure and twisted humor of the situation belaying any anger. The Cat - the outcast, hated Cat - had saved his Clan Head’s favorite, the Rat...whom the Cat hated most.
On...instinct. And now, Kyo obviously believed he was going to be punished for it - likely by being locked up early.
The smile faded as Akito stared once more at her Cat. The creature had, with this one...instinctive...act, completely shaken Akito’s view of him. She knew Kyo hated Yuki, his only desire in life was to defeat the Rat and become part of the Zodiac...Akito had certainly worked hard enough for the boy’s whole life to foster that attitude in him! But...instead of happily standing by and letting Yuki die, as Akito would have expected, the Cat - the...‘monster’ - had nearly sacrificed his own life, willingly, to save his enemy.
On...
...instinct.
Akito’s once-firm belief in the rightness of locking the ‘monster’ Cat up was now thoroughly shaken. All that she had been taught as a child...all that she’d thought she’d known, through the curse itself...said the Cat was evil; a vengeful monster who would stop at nothing to see them all destroyed from one past wrong, whatever it had been lost to time’s passing. But now, the creature had demonstrated a selflessness that Akito knew she’d never be able to match; not even for Yuki’s sake. Her love for her Zodiac-cursed kin did not extend that far, in spite of her destiny to die for them. She had not willingly embraced her fate, after all; not yet...not by a long shot.
Possibly...her loyal, foolish Dog had been right since the beginning. Maybe, this Cat was different - maybe he could break the curse. Maybe...he was a monster...only in body. Akito was not happy with that thought, though it might mean she could then live to a ripe old age; after all, what use in living that long, if everyone left her? She was under no illusions that any of her Zodiac-cursed truly cared about her; not even Kureno...not even Shigure. They did not understand...did not want to understand, how the curse ruled them; how they could not be allowed to ruin the lives of the innocents about them. Anyone a Zodiac-cursed dared to love, wound up hurt; the curse saw to it, one way or another. The stronger the love...the worse the hurt. And that, in turn, hurt them. Akito tried to limit the curse’s damage in those cases; she willingly took the onus of destroying their budding relationships onto herself, willing to allow them to hate her for it rather than risk having the curse outright kill those her Zodiac-cursed so foolishly chose to care for.
Let them all hate, and blame, and curse at her; let them fear her. It was better than allowing them to suffer the too-personal responsibility for destroying those they dared to love. She loved them all enough to spare them that agony, at least.
If the curse were broken, though... Sadness filled Akito’s black eyes, dulling their sharp gaze and slumping her shoulders. She was tired: tired of the pain of the curse, both physical and not; tired of the bitterness of this cursed life...tired of seeing her most cherished kin hurt, time after time - sometimes by her own hand. If Kyo were able to break it -
If they were freed...no more Sohmas ever to be born under the damned Curse...!
If they all left her, and she had nothing else...Akito always had one option left. If the curse were never broken, she’d die sometime within the next five years, anyway. If they left her with the curse’s breaking, if would certainly be within those five years; and she could easily take her own life, once they were all gone. Who would be left to stop her? She could find peace in her own death, then, knowing they were all freed of the curse; that no more Sohmas would ever be forced to bear the pain of the curse.
Maybe...passing on all alone wouldn’t be so bad, in that case. It wasn’t as if anyone truly cared about her, as it was - not beyond the curse-inspired, mindless loyalty of her cursed kin. A brief surge of familiar, aching rage was swamped by an even stronger wave of determination.
Nodding once and sharply, Akito brought her attention back out from her own thoughts to the real world, and the highly confused Cat staring at her with bewildered crimson eyes. She leaned close to Kyo’s ear, both saddened and pleased at the flinch and tension that the Cat displayed at this closeness. The boy didn’t move away, though he so obviously wished to. Points to the Cat’s courage, that she was finally recognizing for what it was, instead of calling it false bravado or foolish stubbornness. What choice had the Cat-cursed, after all? It wasn’t as if meekness or silent obedience would have improved his lot in life. He’d simply - chosen to not break.
Pitching her velvet-smooth alto voice so only Kyo could hear it, Akito whispered clearly and directly into his ear, thin lips nearly touching the sensitive skin. “Our bet is finished, my monster.” Her warm breath tickled the sensitive organ, setting involuntary shivers up and down Kyo’s spine. “You have won your freedom. I know dear Yuki could never do for you, what you have done for him.
“The Cat...has beaten the Rat.”
Pulling back slightly, Akito watched with rare satisfaction as Kyo’s eyes widened in shock, his jaw gaping open. Expression swiftly melting to a deep and hollow sadness that the still somewhat drugged Cat couldn’t understand, black eyes acquired a tell-tale sheen of unshed tears as Akito couldn’t help but wish for one person on the face of the entire planet, who would do something like that...for her. Admiration clashed with jealousy and resentment as Akito stared at the Cat, the outcast among outcasts; her jaw clamped tightly, thin hands fisting tightly at her sides. She saw as Kyo stopped breathing for a moment, crimson eyes riveted to the Clan Head as he so-obviously braced himself for blows. Though fear clouded those lovely crimson eyes before being drowned in weary resignation, he made no move other than that flinch-like tensing.
Shame and despair drowned the curse’s nearly overpowering impulse to strike out, and Akito spun on her heel and stalked from the room before it could force her to do something she’d regret even more; nodding stiffly to a relieved Hatori on the way out. The Dragon could not have heard what she told her monster, but would have been worrying that his Clan Head would choose to inflict more damage on the injured boy - physical or not.
Akito’s lips twisted into a darkly amused smirk as she anticipated how long it would be before Kyo trusted what he’d just been told. Akito was definitely not known for...giving gifts; she only did it if it benefited himself. Kyo would never figure out that Akito truly did wish, deep in the heart she’d freely chosen to let wither and blacken, for the curse to be broken; for the sake of her family’s freedom.
Kyo didn’t even know that he was one of the two keys necessary to the breaking of their family’s curse. The keys must not know; not until they had turned within their respective locks. Knowledge - would spoil the cure. The emotions the keys needed to feel had to be spontaneous...and completely true. From Shigure’s reports, the emotions were there; it was merely a matter of the two admitting them to each other, frustrating as it was for the rest of them to watch.
Kyo had just bought himself nearly unlimited time, though. Shigure should have little trouble arranging things to their salvation now, without the deadline of Graduation looming over the Cat.
Hatori saw the bewildered, lost look on Kyo’s face and frowned in worry, wondering just what Akito had whispered to him. Shigure was the only other person to know about the bet between the Cat and their God, even if Hatori could have guessed it upon thinking about the Cat-cursed’s usual fate. The Dragon glanced at the door Akito had just left through, sighing. At least now that the Clan Head was gone, he could let Kyo’s other visitors in - some of them, at least.
The problem, amusingly enough, was deciding who to let in first. They were going to fight over it, he knew. All of them. Not that he thought Kyo would believe that, even if he saw it. A smirk twitched at the corners of Hatori’s mouth as his eyes slanted towards the dazed looking Cat for a moment. He took a breath and centered himself, then turned to face his patient.
“Kyo-kun.”
Kyo blinked after a minute, turning to look at Hatori. It was obvious he still wasn’t tracking too well - especially after the stress of Akito’s visit. Seeing the others would be good to distance the experience in his mind, and perhaps let him sleep more soundly afterwards.
“Kyo-kun, I’ll be back in a few minutes - you have more visitors waiting. I’m allowing them to see you one or two at a time.” He leveled a stern glare on the bewildered Cat. “Be sure you let me know if you get too tired, and I’ll make them leave you alone for a while.”
The Dragon’s eyes glinted with amusement as Kyo stared at him with a rather pitiful look of disbelief. “...visitors...? Who...other than Tohru...?” Hatori’s humor faded as his mind suddenly insisted on seeing Kyo as a six-year-old little boy, right after his mother’s death; looking lost, and alone...and just as completely bewildered as he was now. A flush of shame passed through the doctor for a moment.
“It’s not my fault! It’s not my fault!” Echoes of the gradually more and more angry young voice rang through his mind, repeated insistently for several years. He couldn’t quite recall when Kyo had stopped protesting that. The Dragon gave himself a mental shake to focus his mind on the present.
“Tohru-chan is waiting, yes; and Kazuma-san. And of course Shigure and Ayame; and Momiji-kun, with Hatsuharu-kun; Kisa-chan, and so of course Hiro-kun - even Ritsu-kun. Rin-chan is hovering about the hallways, also, trying to pretend she doesn’t care a bit.” A smile twitched the corners of his lips up as he went on, dryly, “Kagura-chan has already been...removed from the building. Don’t worry; you won’t have to deal with her for a week, at least. I won’t have her endangering your recovery with her antics, however well-intentioned.” His unusual smile stayed as he added, “Uotani-chan and Hanajima-chan are waiting with Tohru, also. If you can handle it, I think I’d like to send those three girls in together, first.”
Kyo blinked at him, looking shocked. That was - practically everyone he knew! Why...?
Hatori’s smile dimmed a bit with seriousness as he stared into his cousin’s confused crimson eyes. “Yuki...has been here from the moment you were brought in, two days ago. He refuses to leave, or sleep. I think...he’s been reevaluating his opinion of you. He doesn’t understand why you saved his life.”
The Cat’s wince was quite visible. Hatori chose to ignore it, turning and quietly leaving to go bring in the girls. He’d always known Kyo had a bigger heart than the boy ever wanted anyone to realize.
He didn’t have far to go - Akito had passed by the waiting room just down the hall on his way out, and languidly informed everyone that Kyo was awake. The whole lot of them were crowding the hall just outside the Cat’s room by the time the doctor opened the door. A stern glare from Hatori with a nearly hissed demand for silence quieted the excited babble. In short order he’d winnowed out the three girls and sent them into Kyo’s room with the strict admonishment to not tire his patient, then firmly escorted the rest of them back to the waiting room, feeling rather like a mother hen with too many fractious chicks.
Hatori wasn’t about to leave them all alone in the waiting room, either; he knew the whole lot would just gravitate back to the hallway as soon as he left. In their own highly individual ways, all of the Zodiac-cursed cared about their Cat-cursed cousin. Nearly losing him had scared them all, in various ways...but most especially Yuki, who’d had a perpetual dazed look about him since the shooting. Hatori was becoming worried about the Rat-cursed young man; the boy desperately needed sleep, but was refusing until he could personally set now-baggy and bloodshot violet eyes on an awake and aware Kyo.
Hatori had reluctantly allowed Yuki to sit in the room with the Cat turn-about with himself while waiting for Kyo to come out of the anesthesia. It had seemed to calm Yuki a bit, being able to pretend he was being somewhat helpful, watching for reactions. The monitors hooked up to Kyo would notify the nurse’s station long before Yuki noticed anything wrong; but the doctor had thought it best, if Kyo were to somehow wake early, for him to see a familiar face...even if it was his supposed worst enemy’s. Who’s life he had just so spectacularly saved.
Yuki knew he wasn’t really doing anything useful; but he’d been pitifully grateful to Hatori just the same. If nothing else, the Rat had had time to sort through his own feelings somewhat, about what Kyo had done for him, without having to deal with the clamoring of rest of their relatives.
Kyo was still looking stunned when the three girls hesitantly stepped into his room, crimson eyes wide and staring vaguely at the door as his thoughts swirled chaotically. Tohru had slipped over and tentatively grasped his IV-free hand in hers before he shook his head and cleared his thoughts enough to consciously realize they were there. His mouth worked soundlessly for a moment as he stared into Tohru’s watery brown eyes, but he couldn’t seem to get any words out. He tore his eyes from her to look at Hanajima and Uo as they took up positions to his other side and at the foot of his bed, his obvious confusion drawing a smirk from the tall blond Yankee as she settled her hip on the bottom bed-rail.
“Hey, Hero; had a nice nap?” The blonde’s smirk wasn’t as mocking as she wanted it to be; but Kyo could clearly see the relief in her eyes. He blinked at her, noticing the slight bags under her eyes and the general air of tiredness about her. No comeback came to mind, and he let his eyes slide sideways to Hanajima...whose dark eyes had clear redness to them, her normally pale face showing unmistakable signs of recent worry.
The goth-girl smiled softly at him, for just a moment; the unexpectedly relieved expression sending a flock of butterflies spiraling down his spine before her face went back to its usual blankness. “Kyo-kun had everyone worried.” Hanajima’s soft voice held an actual note of relief that kept his neck-hairs from rising at her addressing him.
Tohru found her voice then. “Kyo-kun - we’re so glad you’re all right! Everyone was so worried about you; Hatori-san couldn’t tell us if you were going to make it through the surgery - he said there were complications, they had to take your gallbladder out but there was a vein growing into the top of it, a-and they weren’t sure if they’d have to t-take out anything else; o-or if you might b-b-bleed t-too much to st-stop - ”
“Hey, Tohru - quit scarin’ the poor guy! He’s only just woke up, and I kind’a get the feeling from those glazed eyes of his that that doctor-guy hasn’t told him much, yet.”
Kyo took a careful deep breath as Uo chided their admittedly air-headed Tohru, trying to concentrate on relaxing the muscles that so wanted to tense up and send shooting pain through his torso. Complications...? They’d - removed his gallbladder...? What else had they done - ?! He bit down on a rising wave of panic, sending dark thoughts Hatori’s way for his lack of information on just what in hell had been done to him. Didn’t he deserve to know right off that there were pieces of him missing?!!
The familiar anger washed through him, scattering the growing fear, just as it always did. This time, though, the anger faded almost as soon as the fear left. He didn’t really have anything to be angry about, after all; anything the doctors did had been towards saving his worthless life...how in hell could he argue with that?! And -
It still hadn’t sunk in, what Akito had said. He’d - won? His long-fought-for goal, to finally beat the damned Rat - he’d...done it...?
He wasn’t...going to be locked up...?
He now had a life, to be saved...?
An hour later, Kyo was rather embarrassed to realize he’d pretty much zoned out on everybody who’d come in to see him. His mind didn’t snap back into anything like clear focus until they’d all been and gone, and a nurse was giving him a final check before telling him to get some sleep. He couldn’t remember if he’d even said anything, to anybody! Embarrassed frustration tinted his cheeks red.
He barely registered that Yuki, his last visitor, had actually stayed in his room. The Rat was slumped in the visitor’s chair down beyond the foot of Kyo’s bed, feet tucked up on the seat and pretty much hugging his knees to himself, as if he were cold; eyes barely slit open as exhaustion tried to bury him in sleep. Kyo vaguely remembered Hatori mentioning that the damned Rat had been refusing to sleep for the last two days - out of confused worry for him.
Kyo barely caught himself before he snorted and caused himself more pain. The Rat was confused...? Kyo was the one confused, he was the one whose entire life had just significantly changed! Though it looked like his screwed-up instincts had managed to find a way around his too-hot temper, and save him from his own childhood foolishness-of-a-bet with Akito. Not that he’d had any choice in accepting that bet...being locked up that young hadn’t appealed to him at all.
Red eyes fixed thoughtfully on the now-dozing ‘Prince’, for once without the lens of fear turned to anger coloring his perceptions. Yuki actually looked far worse than Kyo felt. There were dark bags under his eyes, looking almost like twin shiners on his more unnaturally pale than usual face. His mousy gray hair was limp and mussed, his normally immaculate clothing wrinkled and looking like he’d slept in it. Twice! There was none of that self-possessed confidence about him that Kyo both hated, and secretly admired. Standing, the Rat had swayed ever so slightly, seeming not to notice anything or anyone around him but for the Cat-cursed boy in the hospital bed in front of him; who hadn’t known if he should be angry, embarrassed, worried, or amused at the clumsy, tongue-tied Rat’s awkwardness. Luckily Kyo had kept silent, sparing the both of them further awkwardness.
Kyo also wasn’t certain if it was a good thing, the way Yuki had collapsed into that chair, curled up and all but passed out. He didn’t think his cousin had meant to do that at all. A faint ghost of annoyance flitted through his mind; more from habit than any true feeling.
Kyo frowned, his gaze going inwards, the world seeming to fade away about him as true, conscious realization suddenly rocked the foundation of his whole world. Akito’s words earlier echoed through his mind like thunder: “The Cat...has beaten the Rat.”
He’d done it. He’d won. Not how he’d always pictured it happening, true...but the end result was what he’d hoped and prayed so long for. He’d now have an actual life after graduation!
He didn’t - have to hate Yuki, any more.
Kyo’s thoughts went still, his mind blank of all emotions for several moments. Then a question came into his head. If he didn’t have to prove to the whole world that he hated Yuki...how did he truly feel about his cousin?
How did he want to feel about Yuki?
Red eyes were drawn to his restlessly dozing Rat-cursed cousin. Kyo couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the concept of not hating Yuki. He’d concentrated on hating his cousin for so long...he’d had no choice, really; if he didn’t hate Yuki, he could never have had a whisper of a prayer of beating him - because he’d never have been able to work himself up to fight the Rat in the first place, if he’d been friends with him. He’d have had to consider the consequences to Yuki, if the Rat was beaten by the Cat.
He wasn’t sure he knew how to go about mending such a huge rift as he’d made between the two of them. What was more, he wasn’t certain Yuki would be willing to even try...though the Rat’s current vigil suggested it was possible.
***
Yuki was sound asleep, sprawled bonelessly across his chair the next morning when Kyo’s first visitor of the day arrived. Mayu-sensei gave the gray-haired boy a resigned but sympathetic look before turning to Kyo, speaking softly so as not to wake Yuki.
“Kyo-kun. I’m - so glad you’re all right.” She hesitated, as Kyo noticed how unusually tired she looked. She briefly glanced down at the stack of books held in her arms. “I’ve brought yours and Yuki-kun’s homework, to...give you something to do.” A small smirk pulled at her lips, her eyes glinting with humor. “I’m sure laying about not doing anything all day will drive you crazy in short order.”
Kyo was getting better at restraining himself from snorting, but the sour look on his face was eloquent enough. Mayu-sensei grinned outright, chuckling softly. Glancing once more at Yuki, she carefully set the stack of books on the table by Kyo’s hospital bed. “I’ll just leave these here...”
Her face sobered, recently acquired lines of worry not yet smoothed away by proper rest. Kyo was startled to realize his teacher had also been quite actively worried about him. He couldn’t think of what he should say, though; especially when she leaned over to carefully rest one hand on his near shoulder, staring intently into his startled eyes. “Kyo-kun. Get well soon, ne? You’re missed more than you know.” Her eyes flicked to Yuki, almost faster than Kyo’s stunned mind could follow. After a gentle tightening of her grip, she let go and stood straight. He saw the extra brightness that unshed tears brought to her eyes; and a sense of astonished warmth flowed into him as he realized that his teacher really, truly cared what happened to him...and now that his life wasn’t going to effectively end with graduation - there was no reason for him to push that caring away. He didn’t have a clue how to handle that.
Mayu-sensei had one final thing to say before leaving. “I want my best student back.” With one last, intent stare into his eyes, she all but stalked from the room. The teacher meant Yuki, of course, Kyo reasoned to himself. Kyo almost chuckled softly, except he didn’t think that would do his gut any better than snorting, as the action used basically the same muscles. Except -
- she’d been staring straight at him, when she said that; serious as Hatori.
“She favors you.”
Kyo’s whole body instinctively jerked in surprise; then he hissed and wrapped an arm about his middle, pressing his head back into the pillows as he grimaced and rode out the sharp burst of pain as it exploded through his gut. And here he’d been trying so hard not to set it off! When the fireworks quit dancing along his nerves he carefully raised his head to glare at his cousin, catching Yuki with a truly remorseful look on his face. The unexpected expression cooled the Cat’s temper with a dousing of confusion.
“Sorry...” The Rat’s extra-soft voice barely carried. Kyo grumbled to himself and shifted the slight bit he safely could, trying to get more comfortable without aggravating his injury even more. Movement from Yuki distracted him; the Rat had stepped forward, one arm rising, as if to help - then thought better of it, thinking Kyo would hurt him himself more by pushing Yuki’s help away.
Kyo hesitated a bare moment as he stared at the Rat, fighting lifelong habit; then let out a strained sigh. The Cat shoved his head back into his pillow again while he briefly scrunched up his face, steeling himself. He might as well get started on changing their relationship now, while he was still too weak to indulge in violent old habits. It wasn’t like he thought he’d be able to keep on acting like he hated his cousin’s guts anymore, especially when there was no driving need for it. After what he’d done, nobody was going to believe it, anyway.
“Come on, I can’t do this on my own...” Kyo very carefully didn’t look at a surprised Yuki as he spoke, his unusually quiet voice sounding strained and rough to his own ears. He licked dry lips, one arm hovering protectively over his middle as he held the other hand out vaguely in Yuki’s direction.
It took a minute, but the Rat hesitantly stepped to his bedside. At a feather-light touch to his fingers, Kyo blindly grabbed Yuki’s hand, shivering a bit at the sheer oddness; here he was, for the first time in his life, voluntarily touching the Rat - without any intent of trying to cause him bodily harm. An amused snort nearly escaped with the half smirk that pulled at his lips as he kept his eyes firmly on the ceiling. He wished his hand weren’t shaking; his only consolation was that Yuki’s hand wasn’t exactly rock-steady in his grip.
“I’ve gotta shift up a bit, and the bed’s gotta go up a few inches.” He figured Yuki wasn’t going to get around to asking what he needed anytime soon, so he might as well spit it out. The mere thought of tensing the muscles in his torso in order to sit up set him in a cold sweat; even merely using his arms to push or pull himself up would strain the absolute wrong muscle groups. He lightly tugged Yuki’s hand towards his shoulders, hoping the Rat would get the hint without detailed instructions - and that he’d be willing to slip an arm under the Cat’s shoulders to lever him up the bed a bit.
It took them a few minutes to work out just where and how Yuki could hold him in order to pull him up without setting off the fireworks in his gut; under his arms didn’t really work, especially if he instinctively dug his heels in. It seemed he could hardly move at all without causing himself more pain, and Yuki was being so exaggeratedly careful Kyo was constantly fighting the urge to either laugh or snarl at him. The two eventually got Kyo sitting up to his satisfaction, but it took them nearly fifteen minutes, and Kyo found himself stifling an almost hysterical urge to snicker at what they must look like in the process.
Crimson eyes set firmly on his knees and shadowed by his hair when Yuki’d gotten him settled more comfortably, Kyo mumbled a quick “Thanks” before leaning his head back into the pillow, closing his eyes. He was disgusted that so little activity was all it took to exhaust him.
Yuki stood hovering at Kyo’s shoulder, looking uncertain. The Cat could feel those violet eyes all but boring a hole through his sensitized skin, even with his own eyes closed. Stifling an irritated growl, he pried his eyes open and slanted an annoyed glance at his cousin. He had a feeling Yuki wasn’t so flustered just by his unusual word of thanks. Tired as he was, and dopey as he seemed to be, he didn’t feel up to any kind of long talk with his rival. He wondered vaguely just what they’d been putting in his IV; he’d seen the nurses sticking syringes in at regular intervals, and he usually ended up asleep within fifteen minutes. He dredged up as much of his old temper as he could, little as that was, and hoarsely demanded, “What?!!”
Yuki - twitched, as his eyes shut and his face tilted downwards. Kyo suppressed the urge to smirk at the vein now throbbing merrily away in his cousin’s temple. He was used to being the short-tempered one; seeing Yuki struggle so to control his reaction from just one little word struck Kyo’s funny bone. He bit the inside of his lip to keep from smiling. The Cat was in no real hurry to settle the mess he’d made of how they related to each other, not just now; but he had a feeling he’d have the damned Rat sleeping in his room until they got things straightened out. Which thought dumped a bucket of ice over his good humor.
“Why...?” Yuki seemed to choke on the words he wanted to say. He couldn’t look up.
Kyo sighed, staring at the ceiling as he debated making his annoying cousin spit it out, or not. After a couple minutes, his impatience won. He knew what Yuki was asking, the only thing that could be on his mind - and Kyo knew he would be even more tongue-tied than the Rat, if their situation had been the reverse.
“Just - instinct, I guess.” He ignored the odd little sound Yuki made as violet eyes jumped up to him in shock. “You’re always telling me I’m an idiot; guess I just had to prove it in a big way, is all.” He smirked up at the ceiling, eyes closing, his body feeling heavy as a block of lead. He consciously kept both arms at his sides, not letting one up to hover over his too-sore gut. Never mind not wanting to rub his wound, and therefore how he’d gotten it in Yuki’s face; he simply didn’t like showing so much weakness, not in front of anyone.
“You - !! You...” Kyo’s smirk grew as Yuki, the so-perfect ‘Prince’, spluttered. After a few minutes of silence, Kyo figured Yuki would give him up as a lost cause, and leave. His smile faded a bit; he found he didn’t really like the idea of being alone, just then. Even if he would likely sleep through most of it. The idea that Yuki had stayed with him, since the shooting -
Even if Akito hadn’t declared the bet won; even if Kyo could have miraculously healed up in a week, he wasn’t certain he could have been anywhere near so single-minded in trying to beat the Rat as he had been. If Yuki really were a bad person, he’d never have stayed at the hospital - without sleeping! - in concern for his enemy, the supposedly despised Cat.
Kyo didn’t expect the sound of a chair being dragged over to his shoulder; or for the Rat to settle himself right there at Kyo’s side, resting his chin on crossed arms over the hospital bed’s side railing. Nervousness popped Kyo’s eyes open, though he kept them aimed at the ceiling. He just - couldn’t face looking at Yuki; not yet. He couldn’t keep his breathing from speeding up a bit, though.
Yuki took a while before he spoke. When he did, his voice was quiet, barely carrying even to Kyo’s nearby ear...and the underlying thread of self-hatred that Kyo could sense made his stomach churn in upset. He was much too familiar with that emotion, himself.
“I couldn’t have done it, you know. Saved your life that way. I don’t even think I could have saved - Honda-san.” There was the sound of a soft gulp and a deep breath. Kyo’s eyes seemed to find the screws holding the pale green partition curtain’s track to the ceiling to be of immense interest; he couldn’t pull them away. “Be it instinct, or something else...I...” Another deep breath; and a faint, metallic squeak from the railing the Rat was gripping so tightly.
“Kyo. I thank you for my life.”
Kyo felt unattached to himself; like he was dreaming that he was awake. Yuki hadn’t called him a single name, or insulted him at all - the Rat had quashed his own pride down, and thanked the Cat; and quite sincerely, too. Kyo didn’t know how to deal with it, especially on top of all the other shocks he’d had since waking up! A trembling spread through him as he swallowed hard, breath catching. The curtain’s track grew blurry, the screws indistinguishable as his eyes misted over. He felt the burn in his reddening cheeks as his eyes lost their grip on the tears, letting them slip out to roll down the sides of his face and into the hair just over his ears. He clutched at the thin blanket spread over him, knuckles whitening.
Yuki had the courtesy to leave Kyo to his distress, then; quietly pulling the curtain closed and slipping out the door into the hallway. He wasn’t gone terribly long; a half hour at most, time to freshen up a bit and raid the vending machines for a bite to fill a belly that had begun a low-level rumbling to protest its emptiness. He returned as a nurse came in with the latest syringe of painkiller, quietly settling back into his chair. Kyo had gotten himself back under control, wiping any trace of tears off his face with a corner of the sheet covering him.
It looked like the way the Cat and the Rat related to each other was in for some serious change. As he slipped into numbing blackness after the nurse had left, a tiny smile quirked the corners of Kyo’s lips as a flicker of a warm feeling he’d hardly ever felt before puffed up in his chest. His last thought before the drugged sleep claimed him was that it was going to be nice, actually being able to talk to his cousin, as a cousin, for once...