Salt In His Wound

Disclaimer: This fiction is based on the Fruits Basket anime, NOT the manga...the difference is in the gender:)


~Salt In His Wound~
Chapter 1


It was early.
The sun was already warm, peeking through the ceiling of the forest that surrounded Shigure Sohma’s house.
Yuki Sohma kneeled in the dirt, weeding and tending his garden, shrouded in blissful silence.
He had gotten an early start today, hoping to spend most of his afternoon alone.
His “secret base” was just the place for such valuable solitude and he smiled faintly to himself in contentment.
The house was fine, it existed in a sort of loud, uneasy harmony.
It was just confusing enough that these peaceful times alone were more precious than anything.
His mind wandered briefly to Miss Honda.
She had already been living with them for over a year by now, her unswerving friendship in spite of their curse, made her more special, more important, to his family than any other person in the world.
She was still hopelessly naïve and innocent to the core, but he wouldn’t trade that romanticized side of her for anything, not even freedom from the curse that kept him from touching her.
She was probably at the store or with Kyo right now.
They spent a lot of time together these days and after a brief period of jealousy, he found himself able to adjust to the idea of her happiness.
The swift pain in his chest reminded him that he still had some adjustments to make.
He was busy rifling through the strawberry patch when a little cough sounded behind him.
Looking over his shoulder he smiled broadly.
“Miss. Honda! How are you today?”
Her returning smile was bright, innocent.
“I’m fine…”
She stooped to crouch next to him, fingering the soft green leaves, her smile gentle, and his body softened in response.
“I’m glad to see that the strawberries are doing so well…will they be ready to pick soon?”
Her goodness never failed to soothe him…her genuine interest in his well being and the well being of his family amazed him….especially after her disastrous meeting with Akito, just a month ago.
Akito…just the thought of the other man made him rigid with anger…..with fear.
Akito never melted for anything, for anyone and I seemed that Miss Honda’s simple sweetness was something particularly disgusting to him.
Yuki just couldn’t understand.
Remembering the last time he had seen Akito, that short month ago.
Tohru had asked to see him, following the turmoil with Kyo….the torture she had to endure at the hands of one sick person, not much older than they were.
The look on Akito’s face he couldn’t shake, even now it was a mesh of confusion crowding to the forefront of his memory.
He sat, one smooth shoulder revealed by the soft draping of his kimono.
Despite his languid posture and tone, his eyes were like glass cutting through the surface to see what lay beneath.
He lived in fear of the piercing knowledge in those eyes…which had darted between him and Tohru, then sliding back to stare intently at Tohru.
They had narrowed slightly, his nostrils briefly flared as Tohru spoke, disgust and hatred written plainly across his face.
He was obviously displeased by something he had seen and Tohru’s voice seemed to make it much worse.
Their reluctance to allow the meeting to ever take place was not without merit as Akito leapt suddenly from his seated position and attacked her.
Grabbing her hair and shaking her viciously like a hated toy, he threw her to the ground.
He had stood up to Akito that day, grabbing the arm that held her hair as Shigure took hold of the other.
He looked at them like a man possessed, his labored breathing registered in Yuki’s ears as dangerous eyes zeroed in on him.
The feeling that he had betrayed him washed over Yuki in torrents, those eyes piercing to the very heart of him.
To this day he didn’t understand that feeling…he would never understand what happened that day.
He felt even now that Akito just didn’t know what to do when faced with the outsider’s view of his situation.
While it was true that Yuki and the other members of the Zodiac were doomed to be outcasts because of their curse…the brunt of it lay on Akito’s shoulders…as each day they lived brought him that much closer to death.
He was their axis after all…he was the god that allowed their existence to continue in relative peace.
It was no secret…the injustice of being born to die….it was no secret that Akito was slowly losing his grip…and yet, he rejected the very person who may be able to bring him some comfort.
Instead he took refuse in cold control, in violence and anger…Yuki couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live without fear of one frail human being…ashamed that he couldn’t free himself from that particular bond, shackles that would keep him leashed to the sickness for the rest of his life.
His thoughts continued to spiral downward, his body drew tight against itself and a little hum sounded in his ears.
It grew louder until he snapped back into attention and hand waved in front of his eyes.
“Yuki? YUKI!”
Miss Honda stared at him intently and he looked back, the concern showed on her face as she peered into his eyes.
“Are you ok?”
“Ah…sorry Miss Honda,” he rubbed his hands down his face and smiled at her.
“I didn’t mean to zone out on you like that.”
She issued a deep sigh, the smile returned to her face.
“No worries, I do it all the time!”
He relaxed slightly.
“Was there anything you needed Miss Honda?”
She clapped a hand on her forehead and smiled again.
“I’m sorry I forgot,” she stood and brushed the dirt off of her knees.
“Shigure sent me to find you, he said he needed to speak with you right away.”
Her eyes scanned the neat rows of vegetables hesitating wistfully on the strawberries.
“You can tell what a good person you are Yuki…just by looking at the secret base. It just keeps growing, getting bigger and more green every day.”
She looked at him, laughing.
“I can’t wait until we have more strawberries!”
Yuki sighed.
She was so easily to please it was almost scary.
If only everyone he knew was like that…especially his brother…oh how sweet it would be!
He shivered slightly, clearing the image of his over zealous, touchy feely brother from his mind.
Tohru watched him, her brow furrowed.
“Are you sure you’re ok?”
He realized that he was still shaking his head, he stopped abruptly, a small rosy blush crept to his cheeks.
He was such an idiot!
Quickly changing the subject, he stood removing his gloves and tidying his clothes as he spoke.
“So you mentioned Shigure wanting to see me?”
Tohru rolled her eyes and clapped her hand over her mouth.
“I am so sorry I keep holding you up! Please excuse me and go see Shigure!”
She pushed him in the direction of the house and his heart twisted with affection.
He may not love her as he did…well, um, no…but anyway, he knew that no matter what, he would protect her.
He mussed her hair and turned towards the house.
“Will you walk with me Miss Honda?”
Tohru shook her head, her eyes growing softer, almost shy.
“Kyo and I are going to the store,’ she looked suddenly very confused, she wrung her hands and looked about her.
“But if you want me to I can walk with you now and wait to get the shopping done until you have finished.”
His smile slipped slightly and he silently cursed his inability to keep it intact.
He didn’t want to show that weakness, not Tohru and especially not Kyo.
Stupid Cat.
“No…don’t worry about me. I will see you when you get home. Be safe ok?”
She bowed, smiling gratefully.
“Thank you Yuki. Your truly are a prince.”
He colored slightly as she turned and walked down the path away from the house, humming lightly to herself….blissfully unaware of his struggle.
He stared after her until she disappeared and then started towards the house his thoughts turning inward.
He found himself in love with the ordinary every day life that he had embraced since coming to live with Shigure…since meeting Tohru. She meant so much to everyone he would keep her safe and their home happy, whatever was in his power to do.
There had been no noise from the main house as of late and he felt a little uneasy, although it wasn’t uncommon to go a little while without hearing from Akito or Hatori…but it just seemed to good to be true at this point.
Maybe Tohru really did somehow get through….
He shook his head, not likely, but it was a pleasant thought.
Miss Honda had cried for Akito that day, he wanted to believe that her tears had purchased them some distance…but he couldn’t be sure.
Akito had been outraged, confused by her caring…after all, he hadn’t given her permission to feel ANYTHING, let alone anything for him.
Yuki’s lips twisted in disgust that mirrored his fear.
He couldn’t help but wish sometimes that Akito would just disappear.
It was a double edged sword….wishing harm on him made him feel nothing but guilt….did wanting Akito gone make him a bad person?
His time spent with that man was painful, cold…how could it have been anything but?
He still remembered those eyes piercing him through the dark….the whippings he endured…the way they darted accusingly back and forth between him and miss Honda as they knelt at his feet like he was a king.
Yuki snorted.
King Akito….
He couldn’t keep the boiling emotions from bubbling over…he couldn’t help feeling the way that he did.
King Akito…
As long as the master kept silent, shut away in the main house…the subject could keep erecting the “everything will be ok” façade.
Just fine….
The house came into view, the sun broke through the green barriers completely, bathing it in a golden glow that seemed almost surreal.
His heart swelled, even as a loud crash followed by frantic yelling wafted from inside….with all the grace and gentility associated with a ton of bricks.
He laughed…this was home.