Disclaimer: I don't own anything Fruits Basket. And I don't own Akito-san, Yuki-kun or Kyo-sama either…neither does Ayame make my clothes …sighs…life is unfair.
A/N: This is a sort of sequel to "God" in the Tohru x Akito section that explains how Tohru lost her memory of the Sohma and went to live with Akito. I'm in a slightly 'fluffy-less' mood at the moment and felt like writing a companion piece with Yuki.
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"H-Honda-san."
From where she'd been giggling with one of the younger servants, Tohru turned in surprise at the naggingly familiar name, and her brown eyes widened when she came face to face with Yuki Sohma. As every time she saw him, there was a flash of recognition before she shook it off as silliness. She didn't know Yuki Sohma, she'd seen him once or twice at Akito-san's few family gatherings, but other than that he was a stranger, and this was the first time he'd ever spoken to her.
"Hai?" She tilted her head to the side, wondering why he looked so nervous. Yuki had once been Akito-san's favorite, yet her lord and god now only spoke with contempt about the younger boy's ungratefulness.
She wondered what he was being so ungrateful about.
She also wondered why Akito-san would want the 'ingrate' to be his witness during the wedding ceremony he'd informed her they were having in some months time. Tohru truthfully couldn't believe that she would be marrying Akito-san in some months—she'd never have expected him tell everyone in the Sohma family that they were to wed when he'd never even mentioned the possibility to her before—not that a god had to ask anything of his servants.
"How are you doing, Honda-san?" Yuki asked, voice still nervous.
"I am fine Sohma-sama, thank you for asking." She bowed slightly in respect for Akito-san's cousin, wondering why he'd winced at her addressing him in the proper, formal family name. "How are you?"
"Lady Tohru!" A servant came running up towards them. "Master Akito's miso soup is ruined! What do I do? He's coming home in less than an hour!"
Forgetting Sohma Yuki, Tohru turned to the shivering servant. "Calm down Cho." She placed a hand on her trembling shoulder. Tohru knew all too well of the dark cruelty of her god and master, but while Akito-san thankfully hardly ever unleashed it upon her, the servants had suffered more than she wished to remember.
"But mistress--!" Cho's eyes were filling with terrified tears. "Master Akito---."
"Will eat something other than miso soup. Leave him to me." Tohru shivered, Akito was set in his ways, but she was sure that she could convince him that he didn't want to eat miso soup again today. She'd discovered that the only way to deal with an irate Akito was to make him believe that he'd made all of the decisions himself. "Go, prepare something else. But remember, nothing too sweet, Akito-sama doesn't like sweets."
"Hai mistress." Bowing gratefully, the servant hurried away to do as told.
Suddenly remembering her guest, Tohru turned to Yuki, giving him an apologetic smile. "I am sorry, Sohma-sama, for the interruption, but ever since Akito-san rescued me and let me stay here I have been given the role of mistress of the Main House." She touched the sakura blossom clip Akito-san had given her and ordered her to wear whenever he wasn't at home. "And now that Akito-san has decided that we are to wed, well…"
He was silent for the longest time, watching her, surprising her with the pain in his purple eyes. Why was he here? Why was he speaking to her? And why did it hurt her heart to see him so sad? She didn't know him, didn't know anything about him, yet something deep in her heart urged her to, no, begged her to hug him close and try soothe his pain.
Yet she pushed it away valiantly. Akito-sama would punish her dearly for starting physical contact with another male, especially if it was the male he seemed to harbor such ill will towards.
" Is something the matter, Sohma-sama?" She whispered, fighting the sadness that entered her body by being next to him, fought the urge to lean towards him.
"Honda-san," he whispered, taking a step closer and outstretching his hand hesitantly before cupping her cheek tenderly, as if frightened to hurt her, oh so unlike Akito-san's rough, claiming touch. "Are you truly lost to us?"
"Lost?" She whispered hoarsely, confused, fighting the sudden lump in her throat and the burning behind her eyes. "B-b-but Sohma-sama, I'm right here."
"Yuki-kun."
"What?" She asked, confused, feeling desperate to rid herself of this alien feeling.
"Call me Yuki-kun." He begged in a strangled voice. "L-like you used to."
"Like I used to?" She asked, pulling away from his touch. It was suddenly hard to breathe. "What are you talking about Sohma-sama?"
"Yuki-kun." He took another step towards her and she took another away, they continued this dance until she'd backed up into the bench she would use to sit in the garden and admire the beauty before her that Akito merely sneered at. "Yuki-kun."
Gulping, heart racing desperately in her chest she forced the words past her lips. "Yuki-kun."
He closed his eyes, as if in ecstasy at just hearing his name on her lips. "Honda-san."
Images assaulted Tohru's mind. She saw herself in a house like the one she now lived in, but it was smaller, and she wasn't the lady of the house, she cooked and cleaned, and laughed and loved the three men within it.
Images of a cat, a rat and a dog crossed her eyes, of Yuki Sohma and an orange haired boy fighting with each other, while an older, dark haired man chuckled and fanned himself from the heat of the day.
…
"Tohru, you weirdo." The orange haired one smirked, shaking his head at her right before giving her an affectionate noogie.
…
"Tohru-chan, my little flower, how could I ever have survived without you?!" The dark haired proclaimed dramatically, cartoon tears running down his face.
…
"Onee-chan!" A young girl with weird colorings smiled sweetly up at her while a slightly taller boy just raised an unimpressed eyebrow in her direction.
…
"Oh Tohru-san! You HAVE to try on one of my costumes! Mine, take our little Tohru to try on THE dress while I chat with my brother!" A flamboyant man with silver hair and golden eyes twirled around and gave the command to his helper, who was dressed up in a scandalous maid outfit.
…
"My mother doesn't remember me, but that's okay. I love her enough for the both of us." A small blonde boy confessed with a heartbreaking smile.
…
"Honda-san." Yuki smiled at her as they sat out in what appeared to be a garden, tending to the vegetables and fruits growing there. "We'll soon be able to eat the strawberries."
"Really?" She giggled in excitement. "I can't wait Yuki-kun! I love strawberries!"
He smiled at her tenderly before shaking his head. "Honda-san…"
…
"Honda-san." The voice sounded worried. "Honda-san!"
Blinking back to the present, Tohru looked up into his face. "H-hai?"
"Why are you crying?" He cupped her face with his hand once more, and with his thumb he wiped at a tear making its way down her pale skin.
She was crying?
Lifting a shaking hand, she wiped her fingers across her cheek. They were damp with the tears she hadn't realized she was shedding. She looked at her wet fingers in awe, not understanding anything, the images she had no memory of, the voices, the feeling she had with Sohma—with Yuki-kun. "I don't know." She whispered, voice trembling just as viciously as her hands. "I—I don't know."
"You aren't lost to us, are you, Honda-san?" There was awe in that voice, and when Tohru looked up at him, she gasped at the happiness that had suddenly entered those beautiful eyes. "You're still there, deep down inside. He hasn't taken you away completely." He paused, before whispering. "There's still hope."
"Hope?" She asked and then gasped, eyes widening when he leaned forwards and pressed his lips against her softly, caressing her surprised ones tenderly before pulling away, blushing just as darkly as she was. Tohru blinked, trying to understand what had just happened. "Y-Y-Y-Yuki-kun?"
His smile returned completely at that and he let her go, leaving her without another word.
Holding her hands to her heart, Tohru watched him go, tears still streaming silently down her pale cheeks.
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Sitting in his hidden position in the trees that night, Yuki watched Tohru as she walked silently through the gardens in a long flowing kimono. He'd discovered that this was her favorite place in the Main House, and she spent most of her time alone here.
Akito had managed to keep her away from Momiji and Haru, having moved them to the farthest part of the Main House and ordered them not come near her—which broke Momiji's heart—yet another person he'd loved had forgotten all about him. The only other person Akito allowed around Tohru was Hatori, and only when he himself was present.
The obsessive possessiveness of Akito's kept Yuki and the others from being able to get to her sooner, but the rat didn't care. He'd snuck into the Main House thanks to Haru and Momiji (who'd taken care of distracting the guards Akito had ordered to follow Tohru around and tell him everything she did while he was gone) Yuki could get to talk to her in private.
And now that he had, he felt some hope returning to his heart.
Tohru remembered him. Somehow, somewhere deep within her, she'd reacted to him unlike Kana ever had with Hatori after her memories were erased. It was a miracle, an impossibility—but wasn't Akito's sudden health supposed to be impossible as well? Who said that Tohru's memories hadn't been erased, but locked up deep inside of her instead?
He paused.
She'd cried when he'd touched her.
He'd broken through to her somehow.
And Yuki wouldn't give up—wouldn't let Akito take her as his wife just to cause them all more misery.
The whole Sohma clan missed Tohru viciously, and even Shigure hadn't been able to write a word of his newest manuscript since she'd left. His editor had ended up in the hospital from a heart attack at his lateness and his horrible writer's block.
And Kyo? Kyo had withdrawn into himself completely.
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" A harsh voice asked, and Akito appeared into the moonlight from the shadows behind Tohru. "You know I don't like you wandering about by yourself and especially at nighttime, you foolish child."
She looked up from the flowers she'd been admiring and gave him a soft smile despite his harshness and mean words. "Akito-sama was sleeping peacefully while I couldn't close my eyes. I didn't want to bother you."
He rolled his eyes at her and went to stand at her side stiffly, clasping his arms behind him. "You prefer the company of these flowers to that of your god?"
"Of course not Akito-sama!" She cried, turning to look at him once more. "I—I just couldn't sleep."
"So you've said." He sounded like a spoiled child not getting his mother's attention. "What has your little mind in such a state that you can't even sleep?"
She paused, hesitated, and visibly flinched. "Akito-sama?" She paused once more as if gathering courage. "What was my life before you found me unconscious in the woods and rescued me? Did I—did I have a family? Friends?" She paused. "Did I—did I have someone I loved?"
Yuki could hear Akito's growl from his hiding place.
"Your life before belonging to me matters not Tohru. You were a homeless, common, meaningless orphan; a pitiful creature god took pity upon and created into a butterfly to adorn his garden for so long as he desires you to." Akito told her in a voice that sounded like velvet steel and promised pain if the topic was broached once more, yet the masculine fingers now running through her hair were doing so in a tender way. "You are mine. You were branded by the hot-iron of god himself, and what is god belongs to him forever."
Yuki clenched his fists, the pain of his fingernails biting into his skin kept him from losing control and doing something that would only hurt Tohru and double the changes of him losing her forever.
"Do you understand this, Honda Tohru?" He whispered, bending with his mouth to her ear.
"Hai, Akito-sama." She whispered, head lowered, hands clasped in front of her in meek submission. "I am sorry for questioning you."
"It is to be understood." He waved that off, turning her as it to return to his bedchambers. "You are just a mere girl." When Akito placed his arm around her waist possessively, bringing her against him only to push her roughly against a tree while lifting the skirt of her kimono, Yuki looked away and closed his eyes, unable to watch.
Blood trickled down his closed fists.
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Tortured Yuki…I feel bad for him, but I'm still in a dark mood so I am satisfied with that. Plus, after writing "God" I was stuck with this in my head and needed to get it out before I went beserk.
Review? Please?