𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄 | Fruits Basket FF

(9)

unrevised.
/ chapter 9 /

"I..chi.."

The sounds of the bell reduced as Ichika was slowly able to make out a few words. She watched as Hatori mouthed a few words, stopping, and mouthing a few words again.

"Chi... can..."

She blinked a few times as the sounds became clearer.

"Ichika, can you hear me?"

She flinched at the sound of her name and immediately recalled what had happened. She glanced around the room. Shattered pieces of the vase scattered on the floor and a knocked over bookshelf.

She was relieved to see Akito was nowhere to start. Only the maids, Hatori and herself remained in the room. The maids scurried around the room trying to clean up the mess that was made.

Kureno must have take him away before he did any more damage.

She was filled with overwhelmingly discomfort and shame. She knew her encounter with Akito, like every other, wasn't going to end well, but she couldn't sit there and bare to listen to him try to antagonise her about her newly found friend.

"Once she finds out who truly are, she'll turn around and abandon you!" Akito had said not too long ago.

She felt a pang of pain in her heart. A part of her wanted to deny what he said, to tell him he was wrong and wanted to believe that Tohru wouldn't be anything like that. But what if there is that slight chance that Tohru would actually abandon her?

They had only just become friends, for starters. This made Ichika conflicted.

She finally came to terms with pressure on her forehead as Hatori held a handkerchief to her cut. His concerned purple eyes stared at her wound and he seemed to be in much deep thought.

Ichika parted her lips to say something, but decided against it.

She hated the fact that Hatori had to witness all of that. She was weak, pathetic, and couldn't do anything. A burden just as Akito said.

He carefully took one of her hands and placed it on the handkerchief for her to told. The he gently moved behind her and took a hold of her arm and supported her back, lifting her up to her feet.

He was silent and the air was thick and heavy.

Her hair a strand of hair fell onto her face as he gingerly guided her away from the broken shards on the floor and out of the room.

They quietly walked hand in hand and as usual he lead the way. She glanced at his back and down at their joined hands. His fingers were long and his hands seemed fragile. Then she looked upon his back again.

His thoughts were so unpredictable. She barely knew what he was thinking at times, but it made her wonder just much he was keeping inside inside.

Before she knew it, she found herself inside a familiar room. His office.

He seated her on the bed and she patiently waited as he looked for his medical kit. When he finally found it, he took a seat on a stool in front of her and opened his kit.

Using a long tweezer, he applied some alcohol onto a gauze and dabbed on it a few times. The bleeding had stopped, but the painful sensation remained.

She winced before finally regaining her composure and finally looked into his eyes with her tearstained face. He didn't look like his usual self. The usual faint light in his eyes had completely diminished.

She knew that look all too well. After all, it was the same one she'd have every time she looked into a mirror and saw a screen of her reflection.

He was tormenting himself. But for a reason she had no clue of.

"Hatori-san?" She hesitantly called. "You don't look well."

He paused for a moment, hovering the tweezers just above her cut.

"It's nothing, compared to how you are right now," He finally replied.

She smiled grimly, but soon after her smile dropped as she found it too hard to maintain. To many things were going through her head and she couldn't shake off Akito's words.

"I'm scared, Hatori-san."

Hatori froze in his seat.

"I'm scared what he said was true."

Tears welled up in her eyes and begged to pour out. Her nose became stuffy and red and her body grew hot.

"What if you think I'm a monster too?" She whispered as she squeezed her eyes shut and sobbed.

Tears poured down her face endlessly.

She was shattering. Being hurled endless insults and verbal abuse was something she'd already gotten used to, but the fact she heard it so much during her lifetime a part of her was starting to believe it.

Ruki, her younger brother, was all she ever had. The only person she trusted and believed in. He was the kindest, treated her completely different compared from how her parents, or Akito, had. In fact, a part of him reminded her of Tohru. Sweet, optimistic, positive. But even good things come to an end, and she was the one who had ruined it for herself and for her family. She made things worse.

The day she lost him was the day she wandered the world as an empty shell. There was nothing else for her to look forward to. No one else. Now the person she loved resented her, even in her dreams.

So what if Hatori, the first person after her brother to shine some light on her, started to resent her as well?

She couldn't bare the thought. It exhausted her beyond measures.

Ichika suddenly felt a large warm hand on top of her head with a gentle back and forth motion. Surprised, she raised her head to meet Hatori's handsome face. His expression had softened, different from his usual stoic look.

"In front of me is just a girl with a broken heart. Not a monster." He wistfully stated.

Her lips parted slightly ajar as she was left speechless. Her chin trembled and she chewed on her bottom lip as her eyes bleed with the salt of her soul once again. The instant relief she felt after that.

Who was this man and how did he know exactly what she'd been waiting to hear?

She swiped her eyes as more and more poured out uncontrollably. It didn't help as she begun to sniffle and choke on her sobs.

That night, Hatori silently comforted the crying girl until she couldn't anymore. His head filled with many thoughts.