Like a Switch | By : Demonic_Host Category: Fruits Basket > Het - Male/Female Views: 4192 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3 |
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own or make money from Fruits Basket or any of its associated characters. |
Like a Switch
Chapter Fifteen
Hatori was magic. That was the only explanation for why he was so good at everything he did. For crying out loud the man couldn’t see out of one of his eyes and he still was a better driver than you were! Plus what he was doing with his hands felt like pure magic.
You rolled your head forwards, loosely tucking your chin against your cleavage as Hatori worked magic on your neck. His hands were cool against your skin, drawing pleasurable bumps to your skin as he worked his magic. You knew that he was a medical doctor but you never expected him to be so good at massages. After all that was really another field all together.
“You are a god,” you whispered with a humorous irony in your tone.
He paused for a moment, taking in what you said before disregarding it all together. Hatori sat in perfect sanza while you started to slouch. Seriously at this point you were just pretty sure he was good at everything. Then again you had very little contact with him these last twelve years so your assessment was probably just a little bias. But the massage he had started to give you was enough to make anyone bias.
As you started to unbutton your shirt so that his magical hands had more room to work, you heard the door slam open. Hatori’s hands stilled on your neck as you went rigid. This felt so familiar…like deja vu.
And then for one horrible moment it felt like the word went cold. Pain flooded your chest as you let go of the button that you had been trying to undo. No matter what you did you couldn’t seem to move, not even your hand. In that horrifying moment it felt like there was a monster coming for you. Like as long as you held still it couldn’t see you. Yet at the same time you couldn’t stop your hands from shaking even if you couldn’t make them consciously move.
The feeling held you in a painful grip as your mind spun with words, things that echoed with Akito’s voice. For that horrible moment the only thing you could think of beyond the fear was things you couldn’t actually remember him saying to you.
“Anita?” Shigure sounded worried but it still felt rather hard to respond.
You slowly and shaking lay turned your attention to Yuki and Shigure. The near body paralysis slowly faded as did the pain in your chest. Akito’s voice got harder to hear by the second. All that was left to deal with was the unexplainable cold that your body had been doused with. That and a sort of sluggishness that made responding very difficult.
“Anita are you okay?” Yuki asked before Shigure had the chance to call out your name once more.
You tried to smile despite the chill in your chest. It must have been convincing enough because he didn’t ask again. Though that might have been because a blush spread over his face due to the fact that your shirt was half unbuttoned. Which meant that the middle of your bra was quite easy to see.
Shigure’s eyes moved towards Hatori in disbelief. What Momiji had insinuated looked like it had started to come true before his very eyes. Shigure felt his heart pound quickly in his chest as he tried to think of what to do to stop whatever was happening from happening. First it was Yuki and his foolish ideas and now, as far as Shigure was concerned, it was Hatori.
“She’s fine,” Hatori answered in simple a monotone. “What Momiji thought were injuries are merely bruises and sore muscles. Other than an overstretched limb or two there’s really nothing prominent.”
“That’s what I tried to tell him,” you murmured as the cold fear started to fade.
“Now you two should leave so she can rest,” Hatori said as he began to stand up.
Internally you pouted. The massage had felt nice. And if Shigure and Yuki hadn’t walked in he probably would have continued to loosen up all the tight muscles in your back. Though finally getting to lay down would probably help with that too. You looked up as Yuki strode forward smoothly, offering you his hand to help you stand up. The gesture was sweet and all but it made you feel more of an invalid than you were. Still it would have been rude to refuse so you took his hand and stood up. You found that you had to put a lot more weight on his hand than you would have thought. Man work had really done a number on you.
You looked back towards Hatori. There was an imploring look in your eye as you stared at him. You knew that he primarily just cared for Akito now a days, with the exception being when the other zodiac members got sick. Momiji had filled you in on that much. Which was why you were worried he would tell the head of the Sohma family that you were back. It was true that you lived independent from the rest of the family but if Akito tried, he could probably make you lose your apartment. And though you doubted that it would work he could possibly try and make it so you lost your job as well. Without those things you would either have to leave the country to go back with your parents or move into the estate. Neither of which you wanted but if you were forced to choose well...it was a long plane ride back to the states.
“You will have to tell Akito that you’re back at some point.”
You could feel how ridged Yuki’s grip had gotten when Hatori had brought Akito’s name up. At least you weren’t alone in your dislike for that particular control freak. Who thought it was a good idea for a child to be a ‘head’ of a family? Sure he was more like a young adult now but you doubted he was any better than he used to be.
“As far as I’m concerned, no I don’t. You know that the moment he knows that I’m back he will do everything in his power to make me go back to the estate,” you said tersely. “And when that happens I will leave again. I would rather go back to the states with my mom and dad than live with Akito. It will probably be a lot harder it not impossible for me to ever come back if I leave the country for a second time.”
There, you laid your cards on the table. You felt Yuki clench at your hand as neither you nor he had let go. You felt a pang of guilt over your threat but it was true. You would rather leave knowing everything you did than live with Akito. That had happened once. And whatever had happened...you couldn’t remember it. Which meant that Hatori has to take your memories for the good of the family. That never boded well.
“That would be your choice,” Hatori spoke in an even tone.
From beside you, Shigure tensed up as well. He stood straighter as he heard what Hatori said. Though it was almost as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. You were finally back after being away for so long. He couldn’t believe that Hatori was practically shoving you on a plane already. He knew that Hatori hadn’t wanted him to continue to see you at your work when he had gone to the main estate to request funds. Hatori had been against even that. But it really did seem that Hatori wasn’t even the least bit curious to see what would happen if you stayed. Selfishly, Shigure couldn’t help but feel like his long time friend was against him getting what he wanted. Maybe he was jealous…. The other, more reasonable side, of Shigure wanted to know why Hatori was so keen to keep you away from the family. And why were you so afraid that Akito would find out that you were finally back home where you belonged?
“I will come by your apartment in a few days to check up on you. Try to get some rest between now and then,” Hatori prescribes before he started out of Shigure’s bedroom door.
You couldn’t help but feel like a child who had just been scolded by their parent as Hatori left the room. There was definitely a level of frustration that you couldn’t shake not to mention a sense of injustice. You couldn’t help but blame Momiji if only a little. If he hadn’t decided to call Hatori you would be in the situation you were in now. You wouldn’t be forced to worry about what would happen if Hatori told Akito you were back in Japan.
“Are you okay?” Yuki whispered quietly, squeezing your hand in a very affectionate way given what little you knew of him.
“Probably not,” you answered bleakley. You didn’t have the energy to keep up the facade. “But we all have our burdens to bear right? Besides, Hatori might not tell Akito that I’m here.”
That was probably the best outcome that you could hope for.
“What did Akito do that made you so afraid of him?” Shigure asked quietly.
“When he found out I was a part of the curse, he made it so no school in the area would accept me. Except for his but only so long as it was the same home study program. He kept me confined to the estate and threatened to get my father fired from his job and hurt him and my mother if I spoke up,” you hated talking about a sordid past. “A lot of the time he tied up my hands and feet then he made me sit in a small chamber connected to his. I had nothing else to do besides listen to everything he did. At least until I was around twelve and my father got a job with an American company and my mom found a reasonable apartment away from the estate.”
“I never knew…” Shigure whispered.
You hated that tone. You didn’t want their pity. Out of all of those who were cursed you weren’t even the one who had it the worst. He might have confined you but at least he had never left a scar on your body like he apparently had with Hatori. Nor had he ever beaten you like he had with many of the others. You had suffered more like those who had been cursed by the cat - locked up. But even then you had been able to move about the estate when he was in a good mood.
“After that there’s not much I remember. The months after my father getting the job and my mother finding us an apartment are hazy. Then something happened or I did something that made Akito so made that Hatori had to take more than a year of memories. All the memories I had about or family, everyone but Akito, were gone. We moved to the states right before my fifteenth birthday. The only reason I know about it now is because mom and dad finally started to fill in the blanks. For the longest time I couldn’t even remember that there was a curse on the family. It felt more like a nightmare than reality with how many holes Hatori left in my memory. A lot of them are coming back to me in dreams but I never know which ones actually happened and which ones are just dreams.”
“That bastard,” Yuki spoke quietly but the venom in his tone, and the fact that he cussed, surprised you.
“That’s why if Hatori tells Akito that I am back in Japan, that I will probably have to leave. I won’t go through that again. I am missing more than a year of my life, practically all of my childhood, because of his tantrums. I won’t be locked up again.”
“We won’t let him do that to you,” Yuki promised.
His whisper rang hollow considering what you knew. Or at least what you had been told by your father seeing as you couldn’t actually remember it yourself. You knew that there was some sort of bond between Akito and all of the cursed members of the zodiac. If he ordered them to do something they had to obey. He was the god of the zodiac and they were his subjects even if they didn’t want to be. You were too but not in quite the same way.
“That’s a sweet gesture Yuki.”
“He’s right,” Shigure finally spoke up from his inner reflection. “We won’t let Akito hurt you.”
At least not willingly - you read that between the lines without anyone ever saying it aloud.
And then you suddenly realized...Hatori was gone. With the car.
“Damn it all,” you suddenly cursed, surprising them both. “How far of a walk is it to town?”
“About a fifteen or twenty minute walk.”
Oh hell your body was going to kill you if you tried to walk that far. Especially as you didn’t know the area. But what other choice did you have?
And then, as if on some divine cue, it started raining.
You held in the string of profanity that wanted to be let loose. You didn’t even remember it being cloudy.
“Well that settles it, you’re staying the night,” Shigure said with a small smile.
His eyes flickered towards where Yuki still has a hold of one of your hands. It took you a moment to realize what he was staring at. Yuki seemed to understand at about the same time you did. The teenager let go of your hand with a faint hint of embarrassment.
“Momiji will need somewhere to stay as well unless his father can send a car for him,” Yuki reminded Shigure, trying to move past his embarrassment.
Shigure moved his eyes up to Yuki’s face. Suddenly any hint of animosity was gone. In its place was a sort of mild surprise. He had forgotten that Momiji was there in all the excitement of realizing that you would have to stay the night. Secretly he hoped that Hatori had planned this. Either way he was going to have to get his friend something to show his appreciation.
Oh he couldn’t wait until bedtime.
So lost in his thoughts, he never realized that he had started to hum to himself until a rather rude voice interrupted his daydream.
“Who the hell is she?”
Leave it to Kyo to burst his bubble.
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