Silver Lining.

Begin Again

With every breath, I felt like I was coughing up knives, and my asthma probably didn't make things any better. However, I knew I had to keep running. There was no way I could continue living with Akito. Not anymore. I would explain why, but the sizable cut on my left cheek was probably more than enough reason.

"MASTER YUKI, GET BACK HERE NOW!" one of Akito's servants yelled. Her voice ripped through the cold air with an intensity that almost made me want to turn on my heels and run straight back out of fear. But I didn't, and I'm glad that I didn't. Instead, I kept on running and occasionally wiping the blood that dripped from my face on to my sleeve. I'm not really sure where I was headed, but I was definitley getting there quickly.

That is, until I doubled over in pain at a nearby Sohma-owned park. The grass was dead and crunchy and cut at my bare knees, but that didn't matter at the moment. My biggest problem was probably that I couldn't breath no matter how much air I seemed to suck in. And as if that wasn't bad enough, I could hear an adult's footsteps approaching speedily. The last thing I though before I blacked out was, "I'm dead," and I probably would've been.

Except, I wasn't.

When my eyes finally opened, I could vaguely see a big orange blob in front of my face. I blinked again, and my vision cleared.

"-!!"

He (the blob, which I figured out was a boy) jumped in surprise and scurried out of the room. Had he been watching me sleep? And how long had I been asleep? "Ah, you're awake," a warm voice said.

"Where did he go...?" I asked in a sleepy voice. I still wasn't one-hundred percent awake.

"He...Kyo?" the man asked. He looked around the room.

"I guess you scared him," he said with a chuckle.

"Did not!" the boy yelled from some unknown location, "I just don't like him!"

"He didn't mean that," the man assured me. "By the way, I'm Kazuma Sohma. You're Yuki, aren't you..?"

His face looked serious. Or was it worried?

"Yes sir," cough, "I'm Yuki Sohma."

"Hm. I thought so..."

He paused for a moment.

"Did you run away?" he finally asked.

My heart dropped a thousand feet and plummeted straight into the ground.

"Yes, sir..." I mumbled.

"I see. Well, dinner will be ready soon. Until then, you can play with Kyo. Just don't over-exert yourself."

His words were kind, but I could feel hesitation in his voice - as if he was reluctant about letting me stay. Then again, I could see why he would be.

Eventually, I got out of bed and looked around for Kyo. My sock-covered-feet patted against the wooden floors as I navigated through the old home. I saw a pile of dirty laundy, a stack of martial arts books, and a wad of bed sheets - but no little boy. That is, until I happened to look up and saw him sitting on top of a bookshelf. Well, I say sitting, but it looked more like cowering to me.

"...Kyo?" I asked.

"Ahg!" he yelped, "Why did you find me!?"

"I, uhm..."

I wasn't really sure why I had found him. I guess because Kazuma had suggested it.

"Ah, whatever," he said, and jumped down gracefully. He didn't even so much as slip, despite the fact that he was wearing a pair of slick striped socks. After a moment, he began walking back towards the bedrooms. However, I asked him a question before he had the chance to leave.

"So, is Kazuma your dad?" I wasn't great at smalltalk, since up until now Akito had been my only 'friend' to talk to.

Kyo though for a moment, wondering just how he should respond. Was it really that difficult of a question?

"Sort of. I-I mean, yeah. He is. Why?"

"No reason..." I responded. Like I said - not good at smalltalk.

"Well. I'm gunna go play in my room now," he said. He walked for a few seconds before stopping and looking back in my direction.

"You can come with me if you want."

After entering his room, we both crouched down onto his skratchy lime green rug and grabbed a stuffed animal. I guess it was already kind of predetermined that we would be playing with stuffed animals. Anyway, I grabbed an elephant and he grabbed a dinosaur.

"Well?" he asked, shaking his prehistoric pal.

"O-Oh. Um," I held up my elephant and lifted its trunk, "bphluuueg."

After a few seconds, Kyo let out a small laugh, his burgandy eyes just barely crinkling at the corners.

"That's not how an Elephant sounds! They say, 'phwwwaaaa!'"

I was humiliated. However, I knew that I would have to try again.

"Oh, okay then. Phwaaa!"

But I said it sheepishly, not all that confident in my elephant noises.

Kyo giggled and said, "Rawr!"

Then his dinosaur tackled my Elephant.

However, the attack was cut short when three knocks sounded at the door. I flinched, my eyes growing wide.

They found me.

Hatori or Kureno or the maid was here to get me.

I was going back to Akito.

This was it.

I could feel tears stinging at my eyes, and whatever it was that Kyo was asking me at the moment was lost in the sound of my own shaky breathing.

"Yuki? Are you alright...?"

My eyes shot open. That wasn't Hatori or Kureno or the maid - it was Kazuma. Just Kazuma.

I wiped the tears out of my eyes with my balled up, clammy fists.

"I-I'm..."

But my voice was still caught in the back of my throat.

Kazuma gave a calming smile and helped me up.

"It's okay. I just need to talk to you for a moment, that's all. Kyo, would you mind making your bed while Yuki and I talk?"

Kyo said something, but I didn't hear him. Instead, I followed Kazuma into the livingroom, which had a sliding door that the trees and sunshine practically crawled through when it was open. We sat down together on a wicker couch.

"Yuki, what I'm about to say to you - or rather, request - of you is very important. So, please listen closely."

I nodded. I was kicking my dangling feet back and forth, my little leather shoes bouncing off of the wicker like the sunlight bounced off of the cracks in the floor.

"Listen to me - under no circumstance should you ever let Kyo know that you're the rat. He, being the cat, seems to have a lot of anger pent up towards you. Now, it's not your fault, and I know that, but just to be safe..."

I nodded slowly.

He's the cat...?

Akito had told me many times in explicit detail exactly what the cat was, and how vile and disgusting it was. That it was a monster that reeked of death and despair. That it was a heartless, souless creature that deserved no less than to be locked up for the rest of eternity.

But...Kyo?

He just seemed like a shy boy to me. Yeah, he had a slight temper, but still...

I was puzzled. I wanted to like Kyo - I really did - and I wanted to push the whole cat thing out of my mind. But, after all that I knew about the cat...

It was hard. I could already feel myself trempling just thinking about how I had been sitting across from a monster a little under two minutes ago. But I knew I had to act like it didn't bother me - for my sake, Kazuma's, and...Kyo's.

"I won't tell him. I promise."