Disclaimer: We do not own Fruits Basket. I'm sorry.
The sun shone through Hanajima's window, quietly teasing her as she sat up and looked outside from the foot of the bed. Her expression was that of someone who had been hit by a truck and miraculously survived; and in a strange sort of way, she had.
With a shuddering yawn she forced herself out of bed and made her way into the kitchen, where she found Hatsuharu busying himself.
"Good morning, Sohma boy," she said quietly as she sat down at the bar and watched him for any suspicious signs.
Haru involuntarily shuddered under her watchful eye, but gave a heads up anyway. "Good morning, creepy girl." He said coolly as he poured himself a glass of milk and met her gaze.
They stayed like that for a few moments when a loud noise was made from the hallway, with various obscenities after it.
"Ah, damn!" Kyou muttered as he hopped into the kitchen and grabbed the glass of milk that Haru was about to drink, "stupid door, popping out of nowhere!"
Haru patted his head and smirked. "Of course, Kyou," he said mockingly, "of course." He paused and eyed the milk. "And give me back my milk."
Kyou glanced at the milk in the glass before staring up at Haru. "You drink milk? Isn't that like a form of cannibalism?" he asked skeptically.
Haru rolled his eyes and snatched his milk back. "No, stupid, it isn't a cow, it comes from cows."
Kyou was about to snap back with some witty reply when Tohru entered.
To say that she looked like a wreck would be an understatement. Her eyes were still red and puffy with bags under them, like she hadn't gotten any sleep last night. She hadn't; she was to busy crying her soul out. Her hair was messy with strands sticking up here and there and the ends going stringy. Her skin was an unhealthy shade of white, almost gray, but she still had on that cheery smile; only this one didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Good morning, everyone!" she chirped as she walked over to the kitchen and pulled out some pots and pans. She paused, placing her hand to her forehead. "Do any of you remember what we were going to have for breakfast today?"
Hana got up off the bar and walked over to Tohru. "Weren't we going to have pancakes?"
Tohru snapped her fingers and hugged Hana. "Yes, thank you!" she shook her head as she returned to the oven. "I don't know what got into me…"
Kyou, who had been watching the whole scenario, shook his head and went back into his room, the only one who saw him leave was Hana.
"Okay," Tohru said, the usual determined glint in her eyes. "It's about 7:30, so if I get started now I can get breakfast on the table by… 8:15." She began hustling about when she felt a delicate hand on her shoulder.
"Here," Hana handed her an apron as she tied one about herself. "Let me help you."
Tohru gratefully took the apron, but didn't look up to Hana's face. The floodgates had opened once again.
-----
Kyou marched back into his room, slamming the door behind him. Sometimes that woman drove him insane-always trying to hide her sorrow and constantly thinking of others. Why couldn't she think of herself for once? Why couldn't she just take a moment to drown in her own tears?
Sighing, he plopped onto the bed and placed his hands behind his head. So far, Akito and Arisa were dead and the murderer was somewhere in the house… right? That was what was going on… wasn't it; or was this some kind of supernatural killing spree?
Or what was worse…
What if the murderer couldn't remember murdering; like he had an MPD complex? What if he was the murderer?
Or, what if he had been watching to many movies lately…?
Shaking his head of these pointless thoughts, he rolled over. If he couldn't go outside to jog, then he might as well sleep in. He had never done it before; he wondered if he even could.
The last thought Kyou had before falling into his slumber was of Tohru- her small body bathed in blood.
-----
The main room had gathered more and more people as time flew by. Shortly after Kyou had left, Hatori had woken, then Kisa and Hiro- Hiro complaining about how breakfast should already be on the table and how incompetent Tohru was- then Rin, then Momiji- who had lost some of the twinkle in his eye- then Shigure and Ayame, then Ritsu- screaming how sorry he was for being late, even though he wasn't- then Kagura, Kureno and finally, Yuki.
By the time Yuki had made his zombie entrance, breakfast was already laid out on the table, and Tohru was wiping some of the sweat off of her brow. "Okay, everyone, dig in!" she cheerily cried, placing the napkin on her lap.
Yuki mechanically sat down, his eyes cold and lifeless. No one could tell if it was because he was tired or if it was the shock of Arisa's death. And no one dared to ask…
"Yuki-kun," Tohru leaned over, smiling warmly. "If you don't eat the food soon, it will get cold."
Yuki blinked a few times, his eyes coming into focus and smiled back at Tohru. "You're right, Honda-san, forgive me." And he began eating.
There was silence for several moments.
Silence.
Not a comfortable silence, not an awkward silence, just … a silence. A silence caused by the impending dread that someone else may die tonight.
It was Tohru who broke this silence with a gasp and a "I can't believe I served breakfast with out Kyou! I'll go wake him!" Perhaps she didn't understand the intensity of the friction, or perhaps she chose to ignore it. No one looked up or made any movement, they just sat there eating or staring at their slowly chilling breakfasts.
Tohru shivered as she made her way to Kyou's room. She was relieved that Kyou had not come out again; she would do almost anything to escape the pain that was crashing down upon all of them.
Hesitantly, she reached out her hand, folded it into a fist and knocked once on his door. When she received no answer, she moved closer and knocked again. Still, no answer was made. She placed her ear to the door and when she heard no sound, slowly opened it.
There lay the sleeping form of Kyou, something she had never seen before. She folded her arms against her chest and smiled softly. It was then that she realized that she could forever be content with just watching him sleep and that thought made her both nervous and excited.
Kyou stirred a bit when he felt a ray of light hit his face, but instead of getting up, he threw his arm to block it. He would have stayed like that, except the ray got bigger and bigger. Finally he squinted his eyes open to see the dark silhouette of Tohru standing there, looking down upon him.
"Tohru…?" he said softly, propping himself up on his elbows. "Is there something you need?"
Tohru's eyes grew wide and she hastily diverted her gaze to her feet. "I-I'm sorry, Kyou-kun." She muttered, still not looking up. "I just came in her to see if you wanted something to eat. I served breakfast, but you weren't there…" she trailed off and then her head shot up. "I promise I knocked, but I heard no answer and got a little worried! I would never just enter-"
"No, it's okay," he yawn, cutting her off and putting his hand up to signal for her to stop talking. "Sorry I slept in."
Tohru shook her head. "No, don't worry about it. You must've needed the sleep." And with a cheery smile and a wave, she disappeared from his sight.
-----
The day went by quietly with judgmental glares and who-did-it attitudes until it was nighttime and once again the candles had to be set out and the flashlights put to use.
Yuki sighed from his spot on the couch. Everyone had gone to bed except for he and Kisa- who just sat there lifelessly staring at the fire they had started in the furnace.
Yuki closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was in a better place than this; a place where people weren't killed and where everyone wasn't scared of anyone else. But… he was here, and he was going to have to deal with it.
"Well, Kisa-chan," he said, placing his hands on his knee's and pushing himself up from the floor. "Sorry to leave you here all alone, but it's late and I need my sleep." He walked to the door and looked over his shoulder. "You should consider this too."
Kisa gave a tired sigh as a reply and shifted onto her knee's.
He made his way to his room, pulling off his shirt as he went. Maybe tomorrow he could conjure up a meeting and they could talk about what they were going to do about this situation. Maybe they could find a way out of here and return to their normal lives… maybe.
Sighing he turned into his room and didn't even bother with the flashlight, he had enough moonlight to keep him satisfied.
He had just gotten into bed when he heard a rustle from the closet. His eyes widened, but he dared not to move, he just listened.
A few minutes passed and he had regulated his breathing once again. He was just on the verge of falling asleep when he heard the rustling noise again, but this time it was louder as if right behind him.
He closed his eye's shut, hoping that the noise would go away, but it didn't- it just intensified. Finally, he spun around and jumped out of the bed.
"Who's there?"
A knife shinning in the moonlight was the last thing Yuki saw and would ever see again.
Kisa finally decided to call it quits for the night and made her way to her room. There was a sort of eerie feeling she was getting from Yuki's that made her want to go see what was going on.
She stopped in front of the door and listened in for some kind of noise to confirm that he was awake.
But she received nothing, only silence.
Quietly she twisted the doorknob and pushed it over, only to reveal the boy's body, covered in blood.
He backed away from the door quickly placing his hands over his eyes. She didn't want to accept what he just saw, she couldn't accept what he just saw.
"No…" she mumbled, the tears welling in her eyes not brave enough to make their way down his cheeks. "No!"
She must've said this part a little too loud, because the door behind her soon flew open and Kagura stepped out. "Kisa-chan?" she asked, bending over to look at her, concern etched in her features. "What's going on?"
Kisa pointed a shaky finger to the corpse that was once the brilliant Yuki. Kagura stood there for a moment before letting out an earth shattering scream that woke the whole mansion.
Another murder had occurred.