The sounds of the footsteps following him is barely audible over the pounding of his heart, but he can hear them. They are chasing him. They are angry.
Run. Get away. They intend to hurt you. The small beings mind whirls as he travels quickly down the dirt path behind his old home. The group of boys has been hunting him nearly all day and he's exhausted. Hoping he could loose them in the trees, he headed into the forest. If he can just reach the end of the path he could reach the restricted area of the woods where they can't follow. He's so close. He just needs to reach where the path forks and turns away from the river.
Yelling behind him. The rush of water to his right. And the sound of rustling bushes from his left. He turns his head to the left just in time to see two boys jump out from the bushes and block off the path. They were waiting.
After cutting off his escape route he comes to a stop. Panting hard he turns to look over his shoulder. The others have caught up and are surrounding him. They are panting too, but unlike him they are smiling.
"We got you now!" One of them says. "You're going to pay for what you did to my brother's arm!"
Red and yellow eyes narrow at the boy. The others are yelling at him now. Calling him names. It doesn't matter. He can take whatever they throw at him. As long they aren't trying to hurt his master's son.
Seijurou turns to face the boy. Standing confidently. His pure black coat has always brought him trouble. He never cared what the humans would say about him, but if it had something to do with his master he would never hesitate to bare his fangs. He needs to take care of these boys before they hurt his master's son.
"Get it!" The boy shouts and all of them pounce. Seijurou dodges a few of their hands and slices at any available skin with his claws. He hisses and yowls when he feels a hand grabbing him. They caught him, multiple hands hold him down. He struggles in their grips, yowling loudly. Cursing at them.
One of them produces a bag and the hands shove him in. Seijurou continues to struggle, hissing and spitting his curses they cannot understand. He hears the boys cheering and congratulating each other. Then they are moving again. Taking him somewhere through the forest. They carry him roughly, hitting him against the trees as they pass and laughing at his growls.
"Ready!" The leader says once they stop. "One! Two! Three!!" They all shout swinging the bag. They release the bag on the count of three and Seijurou feels weightless for a moment as he soars through the sky. Then he crashes down into the cold and fast rushing water of the river.
Seijurou panics as he realizes what they've done, but as their voices get farther away his panic settles. He tumbles along the river, hitting rocks and getting soaked to the bone. He's going to drown, he knows this, but he is calm.
"Sei!!" The distressed voice reaches his ears. "Sei!!"
Seijurou closes his eyes, ceasing his struggling. At least it wasn't him. At least his master's son was safe.
-
"Sei!!"
Kuroko wakes in a panic. His blankets tangled around him from thrashing around and his sweat cold against his skin. He's breathing hard as he struggles to get himself free from the material. From the bag.
"Tetsuya?!" Sei's voice calls as he slams the door open. Kuroko turns his panicked eyes onto the man with his cat's eyes. His voice gets caught in his throat as he sees the water dripping from his hair. His eyes are wide and full of fear as the scenes flash before him again. He died. They killed him.
Kuroko starts to hyperventilate as he struggles with his covers. His heart feels like it's going to burst and his entire body is shaking.
"Tetsuya, what's wrong?!" Sei rushes over to him. He quickly pulls the blankets off of the boy and holds him by the shoulders. Kuroko looks up at him, unable to get his words out properly.
"You... The river... Killed you... Sei... Drowned... Sei... Died..." Kuroko chokes out through gasped breaths. Seijurou's concerned eyes widen. Quickly he pulls Kuroko against his chest, wrapping his arms around him tightly.
"It was a dream Tetsuya. It's okay, I'm here. I'm okay. You were dreaming." Seijurou says soothingly. He rests his head against Kuroko's, holding his shaking body as the boy gasps for breath.
"...hair." Kuroko manages to say as he grips onto Seijurou's shirt.
"I just got out of the shower." Seijurou understands what he's trying to say. "It's okay Tetsuya, just breathe. Everything is okay. Breathe."
Kuroko does as he's told, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing. It takes a long time for him to get it back under control. Quick short breaths eventually turning to painted pants then to deep shaky breaths. He listens to Seijurou's reassuring voice as he whispers in his ear.
"It was a dream. It's okay now. Just a Dream."
YOU ARE READING
Nine Lives
Fanfiction"Kuroko knew his mother practiced witchcraft. It was a fact that he never doubted. But for her to leave behind a familiar to take care of him. It was nearly inconceivable. Just as inconceivable as Kuroko being dead for two days." After an accident t...
