 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Rating: R(M) for language, implied rape, torture, and adult situations. If you are not above the age of consent in your area or don't wish to read this kind of content, please return here. Feedback: Much welcomed and appreciated at [email protected]. Chapter Summary: Tohru thoroughly scares the men in her life. The new voice in her head doesn't help. Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya/HAKUSENSHA - TV TOKYO - NAS - Fruba Project. Original, unmanipulated banner picture from Daisuki. ' Tohru needs to make breakfast. And do laundry. And breathe. She suspects that the breathing may be the hardest thing to do. Her lungs just don't like being used right now. It also seems like it might be a lot of effort to open her eyes. And really, she doesn't want to wake up. She's having a very strange dream involving a lot of talking that she can just barely hear. "We need to get a doctor." "Hatori may have been in on it and we can't go to a hospital now that she might be like us." "She needs medical attention, Yuki, more than we can give her." "She's got a lot of deep cuts and that butterfly scar, but other than those and her broken ribs...." "And the massive full body bruising and the coughed-up blood and her broken fingers and hands and toes and feel....." "Yes and the special counseling she is going to need when she's no longer delirious with pain and the pill that she's going to need to take in the next few hours." "What counseling?" "What pill?" "Damn it you two.... You saw her thighs...." Tohru decides that this is a good time to wake up. They shouldn't insult Hatori, and they are starting to make her remember. She isn't supposed to remember. "Hatori-san.... doesn't know." Her eyes take a while to adjust to the light. It doesn't matter though, because there is no movement in the room. Before she is completely adjusted someone, 'Shigure' the voice supplies, says something. He sounds broken and very, very tired. "I'll call Ha-san. You boys make sure that Tohru-kun is comfortable until he gets here." Now Tohru can see them. They somehow don't match her vague memories of Before. You see things differently now. Tohru knows that her eyes aren't damaged, but somehow everything looks different than what she remembers. Colors are slightly off and Yuki and Kyou are overlaid with grey and orange light with other colors flickering in and out. Suddenly, she is hit with a vision that doubles her over with its intensity. Tohru is lying on the floor trying not to move, not to draw attention. "Stupid, mindless little girl. Your simple mind isn't capable of seeing the world like the rest of us. I'm just giving you an excuse. You should thank me." "Tohru.... Tohru!" She is pulled back to reality thrashing and kicking, held down by strong hands. She can see the boys hovering over her, their eyes wide with terror. Breathe. You're safe now. She breathes slowly, forcing her heart to stop pounding its way out of her chest. "I'm okay now, Yuki-kun, Kyou-kun. Don't worry." "You shouldn't move, Honda-san. You might hurt yourself even more if you shift your ribs." "Yah, stupid girl. You don't want to get even more beat up." Suddenly, she is very tired. Life is far too short for the silly dance she has been performing with the boys. "Please Yuki, Kyou, you called me Tohru earlier. Please just call me Tohru." Almost instantly, she feels a little guilty. The boys are trying to make things seem normal again. But she won't take it back. No apologies. Not for this. There is no time for games. The boys look lost and very, very young. Tohru almost reaches out to the two of them when she suddenly realizes that underneath her blankets she is completely naked. The realization of her nakedness is followed by the realization that the cuts that should be filled with gravel are completely clean. She can see the bloody towels beside the bed. After what has happened it is amazing that such a small thing can make her blush. The blush however seems to make the boys feel more certain. They need to know that you are still Tohru. Really, Tohru is getting a little tired of the voice in her head. There are noises coming from the stairs and Yuki and Kyou move to flank her on the bed. The tension is visible in the lines of their backs and shoulders. She wants to make them less edgy, but she too nearly jumps when the door to the room opens. Someone is entering the room. 'Blue', she thinks, 'like midnight or sorrow.' Hatori, the voice prompts her. Shigure is the brown shape behind him. Hatori kneels beside the bed, setting down his medical kit. He doesn't waste any time. "What happened to you Tohru?" Tohru feels the panic rising. "I can't.... I can't...." "Oi, don't pressure her, dragon." Tohru makes a small sigh of relief. Obviously they think that she can't talk because she is hurt, though the narrowing of Hatori's eyes shows that he might suspect something. "I need to perform an examination. Do you want the others to leave?" Both her mind and her new voice howl. Nononononono. "Please Hatori-san, I would like them to stay." He is very professional, clinical, as he runs his hands over her body, probing her cuts and setting her hands and feet. He does something to her ribs that causes a moment of utter pain but they feel much better afterwards. When he gets her to cough and listens to her breathe, she notices absently that there is much less blood than earlier. Even his exploration of her inner thighs doesn't make her cringe. She suspects that a part of this is still not real to her. It certainly seems like a dream as she calmly takes the pill he offers her and swallows it with some water. He looks at her for a moment, his expression unreadable. "You had some very deep cuts Tohru. If I didn't know that they were made tonight I would assume that they were at least two weeks old. Your ribs and appendages look at least a few weeks healed. You show signs of a punctured lung, possibly from a piece of rib, but since you are able to breathe, it must have somehow sealed itself. This is all just as well, because frankly the blood loss or the collapsed lung should have killed you. As it is, all I can do is tell you to stay off your feet for a few weeks and stay in bed for at least another week so that your ribs can set properly." She had suspected this. She is healing far, far faster than she should be. You would have died without me. "Shigure told me that he and the boys can get close to you now without transforming. I can see the scar on your chest. Are you cursed Tohru?" "I'm a butterfly." She doesn't tell them that she has just realized that the new voice in her head is her butterfly half. "Akito thought that it was amusing that both my mother and I would be red butterflies." "The sick, twisted fuck! How dare he try to taint your mother's memory like that!" Tohru decides that it is better that they think it is strictly because of her mother that Akito made her a butterfly. Hatori isn't so easily put off. "Did she say if there was another reason that she chose the butterfly, Tohru?" There is a stunned silence before the two boys explode. It is not Akito's reasoning that they are concerned with. "Akito's a sick fuck, but he's a sick fuck of a man!" "Akito's no woman!" An intense look of pain crosses Yuki's face. Tohru would weep for him if she had any more tears to shed. "Akito's a man. Believe me- I know." Hatori looks vaguely ill. "Akito has toys and... equipment. You may not have been in any shape at the time to know the difference. I swear to you though, Akito is a woman." Shigure speaks for the first time. "Ha-san is telling the truth." The boys still look disbelieving. Tohru realizes that she needs to back up Hatori and Shigure. "They're right, Yuki. Akito is definitely a woman." Suddenly her breath catches in her throat, as if a weight has been placed on her chest. She is getting too close to things that she must not talk about. As Hatori holds her up, tries to open her airway, she knows that he realizes something of the truth. There will be no more questions from him. Hatori looks back at her before he leaves the room with Shigure. "As far as I am concerned, tonight never happened. Do what you need to do." The boys are now alone with her, obviously trying to process some of what has just happened. Finally, Yuki asks a question, almost absently, as if he isn't really thinking about his words. "Why would Akito change Tohru into one of us if Akito has spent all these years trying to separate us from Tohru?" This much isn't forbidden for her to tell. "I wasn't supposed to survive." Yuki pales and Kyou leans against the wall as if he can't stand on his own. "We need to leave now." "We were nearly ready anyways. We will have to go with what we have." Yuki starts systematically throwing clothes around the room, making it look like a hasty packing job and departure. Kyou carefully folds a few changes of clothes while packing Tohru's picture of her mother. "Is there anything else that you need, Tohru?" She blushes. "Just my hair ribbons and the red cap." Yuki stops throwing clothes to smile slightly, while Kyou glowers. "Oh, and the butterfly that Kyou carved for my last birthday." This time it is Yuki's turn to frown. "Baka neko. Why don't you and I go pack our own clothes?" Yuki is saying the normal words, but there isn't the normal heat behind them. Kyou doesn't even seem to take offence. They both move quickly to their own rooms, leaving Tohru on the bed. Tohru doesn't understand the rising fear in her stomach. They haven't left you. Don't worry. They'll be back very soon. Almost before she can acknowledge the butterfly, the boys are indeed back again. Kyou picks up her bags along with his and Yuki's while Yuki gently swings Tohru into a fireman's carry. She is almost more disturbed by their silent cooperation than she would have been by their fighting. When they come down the stairs, Shigure is standing in the front entrance, his face expressionless. He turns from them and opens the front door. "Where are you going?" Shigure doesn't turn around. "Tohru never made it here. I spent the entire night getting drunk at Aya's and I never saw any of you. When I got back in the morning, the house was empty." "Shigure...." Tohru breathes. For one brief moment, Shigure looks at her and the darkness in his eyes freezes her blood. By the time she recovers, the door is closed and Shigure is gone. Original Chapter: October 8, 2004 Updated August 11, 2005 |
| The Butterfly Effect by Anaphalis |
Chapter One: Hello Darkness Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to speak with you again -Simon and Garfunkel, "The Sounds of Silence" |
| CHAPTER TWO |
 |