Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. Other then a few comics, it's not mine.
Gifted (Or Doubly Cursed?)
By: Yuugaoko
Summary: Hatori has the ability to suppress memories. But why does only he have such a supernatural power? What if other members of the Zodiac began to uncover their own supernatural abilities? Kyo, Haru and Yuki are about to find out. But what are the boys to do when they discover their combined talents are needed to solve a mystery that hits close to home...
Warnings: Kyo's mouth, violence, etc.
Notes: My first Furuba fanfic... Feedback would be lovely.
It had been contemplated many times. Well, truthfully, many a thing had been contemplated and this really wasn't what had been contemplated the most, but it had been thought upon indeed.
Hatori thought on it the most, or so it was assumed. No one could tell what the dragon was thinking about, since, for all they knew, the thoughtful look on his face could merely mean he was reflecting on the life of a snowflake. That's beside the point of this tale though.
What had been thought over, you ask? Why, merely a single question, a single inquiry that was yet to be answered...
Was Hatori the only Gifted (or was it Doubly Cursed?) one?
Was he the only Sohma with an extra ability?
Perhaps he wasn't as alone as he thought.
Kyo swore loudly as he smashed one of his fingers with the hammer. Said hammer was thrown down. Sticking his sore finger in his mouth, the Cat glared at the offending tool for a moment before moving his gaze to that which he had been using it on.
His scowl increased as he stared at the lovely hole in the wall that he'd been repairing. Yuki had pissed him off severely just the day before and had happily finished the anger-stirring with a friendly kick-through-the-wall. Shigure, in turn, had ordered Kyo to fix it.
"That god damned dog... It wasn't my fault!" snarled the teenager, after removing his finger from his lips. He picked up the hammer and set to work again.
A few minutes passed and before Kyo knew it he was almost done. He grinned and reached for the last board he would have to nail up. The instant his fingers brushed the wood, pressure settled on his head and the blood roared in his ears, drowning out everything else.
He let out a strangled noise, eyes going wide. Images and thoughts rushed through his mind, too fast and too blurred to be understood. They ended in sudden darkness.
Mumbling, fuzzy voices woke him up. He groaned at the pounding headache that struck at the same moment he became aware. His eyes opened and the light of the room didn't help at all. A quiet cry came from his throat. The light was blocked out immediately.
"Close those shades. Turn off that lamp. His eyes are apparently too sensitive right now." The voice he recognized as Hatori's... but why was Hatori there? And where was there? He couldn't seem to remember what had happened... Immediately, his brain kicked into overdrive, going over everything he knew and refreshing his memory.
"Kyo, you need to calm down... open your eyes for me." Slowly, he complied, blinking several times. The light was dim, because of the request that had been fulfilled earlier. Hatori stood over him, frowning in his typical doctor expression. Kyo shivered as the cold stethoscope was pressed against his chest- which he noticed in that moment was bare- and Hatori raised one eyebrow as he listened.
"You seem fine now, Kyo... What happened?" Hatori's voice brooked no argument. Kyo sighed and brought forth the memory, going over it once more. A moment later, he explained it all to the Dragon, noticing his voice was a little slurred and slow. Of course, if he had noticed, surely the doctor had as well.
Of course, for some reason, the doctor didn't seem too concerned with it. He seemed more focused on the story Kyo was telling. When the cat had finished his tale, Hatori stood up abruptly and looked behind him. Kyo followed his gaze to see Shigure standing there. His keen ears picked up the sounds of hushed voices, telling him that Yuki and Tohru were just outside of his bedroom door.
"I need to take him with me," Hatori said abruptly. Shigure lost his amused look and his eyes narrowed.
"What? Tori, you can't be thinking... You can't take him to the main house," he said, voice hushed so the others outside the door wouldn't hear. Hatori gave him a dark look, a challenge for Shigure to dare try to stop him.
Shigure backed down immediately, but didn't look happy about it. Kyo looked between the two of them, wondering both why Hatori wanted to take him to Sohma Estate and why Shigure was letting the Dragon get away with it so easily. Fear settled on his heart as it finally dawned on him where he was going.
Sohma Estate.
Sohma.
Estate.
Where Akito dwelled.
The yelling commenced.
Needless to say, despite the fit he pitched, Kyo soon found himself in the backseat of Hatori's car, watching out the window through semi-squinted eyes. Light still seemed to hurt, but there was little the doctor could do for him at the time.
The car ride, which truly lasted a little over forty minutes, seemed to pass by all too quickly for the Cat and soon he found himself looking upon the doors of Sohma Estate Main House... and wishing they would never open.
Alas, they did, and the car was parked and turned off just as the doors closed again behind them, trapping them inside. Kyo was hesitant to leave the somehow comforting confines of the vehicle. A sharp glance from the piercing eyes of Hatori changed his mind. He opened the door and clambered out (for he hadn't bothered to buckle his seatbelt) and nearly fell on his face (for a growth spurt seemed to be hitting him, making his legs feel awkwardly long).
Hatori gestured for the Cat to follow him and they began making their way towards the doctor's house, which was located further into the Estate. They were careful not to attract attention (a hard task considering the flame-mimicking color of Kyo's hair) because they knew that the Cat was indefinitely unwelcome.
Somehow, the pair reached Hatori's house without confrontation, and were happily greeted by Momiji. Hatori scolded the Rabbit briefly for opening the door without asking who it was. Momiji didn't even appear to pay attention as he began to chirp about random things until Kyo hit him in the head.
After Momiji was sent off to retrieve Hatsuharu (for reasons Kyo didn't know), Hatori sat the teenage Cat down and told him to go over his entire story. Again. By now, Kyo was getting pissed again. His hair stood on end a tiny bit as he began to speak. He had hoped his voice would have returned to normal, but it was still slurred, still jumbled. The look in Hatori's eye told Kyo the doctor had made a note of it.
"Now, I want you to listen to me closely, Kyo," Hatori said quietly, looking directly at the one he was speaking to. Kyo looked up at him, wondering what could have possibly made the Dragon more serious then he normally was. "There is a possibility I may be mistaken, but there are too many signs pointing to this conclusion. With what you've told me... I've come to believe that I may not be the only one with a... talent bestowed upon me by the Curse."
Kyo blinked once, then twice, letting the information sink in. Was Hatori saying that he, the Cat, could possibly be gifted with a second ability? He couldn't be serious! As thought to emphasize his thoughts, Kyo laughed, shaking his head. Ignoring the dizziness it brought forth, he gave Hatori a mocking smile.
"Hatori-san, are you listening to yourself? Me? Gifted? Ha! There's no damn way that could happen. Look, I know you're concerned about me and all, but... come on. Give me a break. It's impossible. The Cat will receive nothing from the Zodiac. Face it." With that, he got to his feet and left the house, opting to walk back to Shigure's.
It took him nearly four hours to get there, but by the gods, he did. He walked into Shigure's house like nothing happened, kicked off his shoes, and went right to his room, ignoring Tohru's call that dinner was ready. He definitely wasn't hungry, and he was cold as well, so the first thing he did was crawl under the covers of his bed and curl up there, shivering every once and a while.
A few hours passed, and apparently he dozed off, because Kyo woke to someone knocking on his door. His eyes fluttered open and he sat up on the bed, still half asleep. "Come in," he mumbled, just loud enough to be heard. The door opened and it took a moment for him to recognize who was in the doorway.
"Whaddya want, ya damn rat? I was sleeping, you know... besides, it's almost midnight," he complained, getting more and more irritated with each passing second. Yuki stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, before leaning against it. He looked over Kyo with a critical eye, not speaking a word. After several minutes, Kyo opened his mouth to protest once more, but Yuki interrupted him.
"What happened at the Main House, Cat?" he demanded curtly. Kyo sneered and rolled his eyes.
"You woke me up for this? Geez... Nothing, okay? Hatori gave me some bullshit about special powers and I left. Now leave me alone," he snapped, preparing to lie down and go back to sleep.
"Powers?" Yuki's questioning voice penetrated Kyo's already sleepy mind. Kyo groaned and buried his face in his pillow, muttering curses. Then he sat up, his trademark look of annoyance on his face.
"Yes, powers. He's all mixed up, thinkin' I might have some powers similar to his, just because of what happened today. Can I sleep now?" His tone spoke volumes of his anger. Yuki didn't care.
"No, you can't. Wake up all the way, Cat. I have more questions," he said coolly, eyes narrowing a little. Kyo swore loudly, but managed to become fully aware. Yuki continued to interrogate him.
The sunlight. Oh, how he hated the sunlight that morning. Kyo snuggled deeper into his blankets, feeling warm, clammy, dizzy, and overall ill. His alarm was going crazy, beeping obnoxiously to his left. His left arm lifted from the blankets and felt around for a few seconds before touching the cool plastic of the demonic object that so tortured him.
A second later, the resounding crash of plastic and metal came from the Cat's room. The beeping warped to a horrible screech for a second before just downright cutting out. Tohru and the other two male occupants of the house looked up at the ceiling of the dining area, wondering what had just occurred upstairs.
Shigure was voted to go and check on the Cat in the end. He was currently creeping up the stairs and inching towards Kyo's bedroom cautiously, fearful of a surprise attack. None came as he opened the door.
Kyo was sleeping once more, although it was a restless sleep. Shigure frowned, concern overtaking his usually mirthful expression. Despite his Zodiac, Kyo almost never slept in, and this was only the third alarm clock he had destroyed.
"Kyo, is there a reason you've decided to become a violent and lazy cat?" asked the Dog. A dark growl came from the pile of blankets and pillows. Shigure frowned, deciding that now was not the time for joking. He stepped over to the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Kyo. Are you all right?" It took a moment for Kyo to respond.
He sat up slowly, pushing back his blankets and running his fingers through his sweat dampened hair. Shigure was surprised to see the Cat didn't even bother to look angry. His cheeks were flushed, contrasting with the pale tone his skin had taken on. His eyes were even affected by the fever he apparently had, taking on a glassy and tired aspect.
Shigure immediately set to action. He called for Yuki and Tohru, who both came running at his urgent tone, and had them watch over Kyo while he called Hatori.
Tohru set the cold washcloth on Kyo's forehead, concern etching her features. Yuki was kneeling beside her, but she didn't notice that the Rat seemed to be suffering as well.
Yuki knew his hands were shaking, his face was pale, and he could occasionally taste bile in his throat. For reasons even he didn't know, every time Kyo looked pained or whenever Tohru asked Yuki to do something that called for him to touch Kyo, he felt as ill as Kyo looked and random emotions would surge through him, things such as fear, annoyance, wonder...things that had little to do with his current mood.
A few minutes later, they heard the sound of Shigure returning. He came into the room and stood in the doorway, silent until Tohru looked at him curiously, questions in her gaze.
"Hatori won't be able to come for a while. Something came up with Akito. I didn't hear it directly from Hatori himself, so I couldn't get any advice on what to do until he's available. I suppose the only thing we really can do... is to wait. Perhaps if he becomes sick enough, we could house-call another doctor... but that would be a risk that I'm not sure we can take," Shigure seemed to be talking to himself at this point.
Tohru had tears in her eyes, which were wide with worry. "He'll be okay though, right, Shigure-san?" she asked quickly in a hopeful tone. Shigure blinked and looked at her in confusion before a small smile came to his features.
"I sure hope so, Tohru-kun."
They ended up calling a doctor in the end. He arrived at Shigure's house twenty minutes after the call.
Kyo's fever hadn't gotten any better. In fact it was worse, having escalated to the point at which he wasn't even reminiscently lucid when he was awake. When he slept, he mumbled, tossed, turned, and even yelled a few times.
The doctor, obviously male, ushered them all out of the room as soon as he saw Kyo. The three waited in the hall impatiently, Tohru looking fearful, Yuki with a contemplative expression, and Shigure looking irritated.
"He seemed fine yesterday, don't you think, Sohma-kun? I mean, aside from not eating dinner," Tohru trailed off, looking at Yuki expectantly. He nodded distractedly, going over the conversation he and Kyo had had that night.
The Cat had told him everything he could about what had happened, down to the very emotions and sensations he had felt (ah, the wonders of how much a sleepy cat could say). It had confused Yuki, but he was beginning to think Hatori might have been right. Kyo seemed to really be developing a new talent of some sort, but of what sort was yet to be discovered.
The doctor exited the room several minutes later, looking grave. Shigure was on edge as soon as he saw the look on the man's face. The doctor asked if they could go downstairs and talk, so Kyo could rest. They knew it was serious when the doctor sat down at the table with them instead of remaining on his feet.
"Kyo-san appears to be under a lot of stress. It's making him very ill, so my first suggestion is to try and relieve that stress any way you can. Unfortunately, stress does not seem to be the cause of his speech slurring. I fear that may be something far worse than stress," he paused to sip the tea Tohru had served.
Shigure was starting to become fearful. He had taken on affection for the Cat who had so unwittingly wiggled his way into their hearts. If Kyo was severely ill... would Akito allow him to be treated? Or would he leave the teenage feline to die?
Oh yeah. Another story started.... I so suck at finishing them though. Well, here's my first Furuba fic, so R&R. I need to know how well I did... Hope I can continue this one! Later all!
Yuugaoko