SoullessConsumer- About right now, Thanks by the way

WoopsyGirl- LOL!

Archy the Cockroach- Precisely my friend

DarknessRose63- Teeheehee

Vermillion Wolf- Believe me, mine too

K

HitokiriBattousai214- lol, Even I agree, being written by an authoress like me, Poor Kyo.

Aura-chan the neko-jin- I intend to

Azneyes- Yeah, he was pretending…but I intend to fix that!

Lost Flame- Agreed, personally, I think, if Yuki is stronger than Kyo, and apparently Akito is abusive to Yuki, shouldn't he be capable of doing the same to Kyo?

Morothewolfgod- :D Flattery works a great deal in this business

mineutfeu- All shall be answered! When I finish senior project v.v

Neko-me- Thanks long live the kink!

Licking the Wounds

Chapter Two

Mending Wounds

Hatsuharu looked about his new room with a blank expression. He recognized it as Kyo's old room and for several reasons this bothered him. He couldn't at all fathom why Kyo would relinquish his possession of such a fine room- Or the reason Kyo was rooming with his sweet Yuki.

But instead of bringing up jealousy as it should have, it brought up a sense of anxiety. There was something wrong, and he didn't know what it was. But he intended to find out.

XxXxX

Kyo groaned as he opened his eyes, a pounding in his head making him dizzy and nauseous. "What the hell?" he murmured, licking his chapped lips and squinting to allow his eyes to adjust to the light.

The first thing that was made abundantly clear was that he wasn't in his room. The color scheme was all wrong, replacing vibrant oranges and reds were cool blues and greens. Beyond that, where his room had the scent of the woods and fresh stream water, this room had a scent of something elegant and crisp.

He shot up only to discover it was a bad idea as his head reeled.

"I see you're awake." came an even voice.

Kyo froze ignoring even his dizziness to slowly turn to the source of the voice. Yuki stood in the doorway, a bento in his hands and his expression unreadable.

"What am I doing in here?" asked Kyo, wincing at the pain in his throat.

"Sleeping, and eating," said Yuki pulling up a chair next to the bed. "Here," he said holding out chopsticks and setting the bento in his lap.

"That's not what I meant!" snapped Kyo putting the bento box aside and getting out of bed. He winced as his knees failed him and he almost hit the ground. Almost being the operative word considering Yuki had caught him.

"Baka neko. You're in no condition-"

"Get off me!" snapped Kyo shoving at Yuki roughly. Yuki let go, but standing as he was, Kyo ended up shoving himself backwards onto the bed. A slight overbalance by Yuki caused him to fall forward.

The cat looked up into the rat's eyes with raw fear. "Get off me." he repeated in a near trembling voice.

Yuki complied, carefully moving off the cat, but not before murmuring something. "I'll never hurt you Kyo."

XxXxX

"I can't do this." said Yuki flatly. "Why don't we send Tohru in? He'll be more comfortable with her,"

"True." said Shigure. "But if we want to keep him away from Akito, he has to get used to you. I know it's difficult for you to see him like this…But," he broke off shaking his head.

It didn't really have to be said. Kyo had the same expression in his eyes that Yuki had possessed when he first came to Shigure's house. But then, Shigure had helped him come to himself- and so had Tohru.

But this time, Tohru couldn't do it, for fear of throwing off the façade. And Shigure… Shigure probably couldn't handle it again.

"I understand." sighed Yuki.

XxXxX

As badly as Kyo had reacted to Yuki's touch, he didn't go back to his room. For some reason Yuki's room felt safe to him. It was a clean orderly stronghold where the monsters would stay in his nightmares…A place where he wouldn't be forced to face the harsh realities.

He didn't know how they'd gotten Akito to relinquish him, but he didn't want to think about it. He instead sat on the window sill looking out as it rained. It was when the door opened again that he turned to glare at Yuki before looking at the floor awkwardly. He didn't want to leave, but it was Yuki's room.

"Kuso nezumi," he muttered. "Thanks for loaning me your room, I'll go now,"

"No." said Yuki.

Kyo's head shot up. "What?" he growled.

"You should probably rest some more," said Yuki trying to maintain his patience.

"Well I will, in my room," said Kyo slowly as if Yuki was having trouble understanding his words.

"…I have to tell you something Kyo, and it will probably upset you," said Yuki.

Kyo froze. What could possibly upset him after the nightmare with Akito? "What?" he asked shakily.

"…When we went to the main house to get you, Akito didn't want to give you back." he said sitting on the edge of the bed. "To convince him to give you back…We convinced him that you and I were…Lovers…And for you to stay, we have to keep him convinced."

Kyo's eyes had widened by the second. "What do you mean?" he asked finally. "I have to sleep with you?"

Yuki flushed at the implications of the cat's simple words. "You have to sleep in the same room and bed yes. But I assure you-"

"I don't want to!" said Kyo.

"Kyo there's no choice-"

"I don't want to!" repeated Kyo backing into the window seat shaking his head. "I won't! I hate you kuso nezumi!" with that he turned and darted out the open window.

"Shimatta!" cursed Yuki before taking off after him.

XxXxX

As in pain as he was, Kyo kept running. His lungs and throat burned and his quavering legs threatened not to hold his weight, but as a trained martial artist he accepted it and kept running.

He didn't know where he was going, he didn't care. Maybe he'd run to the Yankee's, or his Shishou's. Anywhere but a Sohma household.

In the back of his mind he knew that Yuki, despite their fights in the past, wouldn't hurt him like Akito had, but at the same time he couldn't just accept what he suggested.

It was when he was tackled to the floor that he let out a shout of protest and began rolling on the floor with his attacker.

XxXxX

Yuki had never seen Kyo as a threat physically. He'd always been the stronger one, and the more capable one. But it made him sad to see the cat like this. Injured, weak, and panicked, it was easy to pin the neko to the ground until the other boy was nothing more than a shaking mess. With tears rolling down his cheeks.

It struck Yuki hard. "Please…Onegai…Don't cry." he murmured.

Kyo was shaking with the effort to do just that. Each tear that escaped made him hate himself a little more. He didn't want to cry in front of his rival. He didn't want to show this broken side of himself to anyone. He turned his face to the ground.

"Don't tell anyone. Please. Don't tell anyone."

Yuki gathered Kyo into his arms and held him against his chest. "I promise! I promise! I won't tell anyone! Not even Tohru!"

"Especially not Tohru!" said Kyo adamantly.

"Okay." said Yuki. "I promise."

With that the cat allowed himself to cry on the shoulder of the rat, consoling himself a few minutes later and following him submissively back to the house- in an uncomfortable silence.

XxXxX

Hatsuharu had seen his two cousins run off- and he'd seen Kyo's shaken state when they'd returned. He couldn't think of anything that could rattle his cousin like that, even Yuki's physical beat-downs only served to keep the cat down for seconds.

For once, his love for Yuki was overpowered by concern for his other cousin. Something had happened. He was sure of it.

His calm eyes scanned Kyo's old room as he laid down. He'd already been through most of the possessions and nothing relayed anything of significance. In fact, there were few possessions. The room was scantly furnished. So scantly furnished that Haru wondered that the cat hadn't run away sooner. It hardly felt like a home at all.

XxXxX

Yuki sat on the edge of the bed watching the sleeping cat. It was after a long uncomfortable silence that the cat had finally fallen asleep. Even though he was fairly certain him and the cat had shared many of the same horrible experiences by now, he couldn't imagine being in Kyo's shoes.

Fire. Kyo was normally pure fire. But Akito could smother any fire. Kyo was used to not receiving much attention. He'd been expected to grow on his own. Even his own Shishou had allowed him to travel about, wild and unchecked.

In a matter of days, Akito had given the cat his full attention, and broken the spirit that Yuki had always envied.

He pulled an old bedroll out of the closet and laid it on the floor. Where normally he wouldn't have a problem sleeping in the same bed as Kyo, if only for the fact that he knew the neko wouldn't or rather couldn't attack him in his sleep, he knew that Kyo needed his space right now.

Closing his drapes and locking his door, Yuki allowed himself to sleep, trying to ignore Kyo's tossing and turning, and praying that the night wouldn't bring nightmares of their shared fate. To either of them.

He could only hope, that like him, Kyo would eventually be able to stop whimpering in his sleep. That, and that one day, they would both truly escape from Akito.