Fruits Basket: Give me wings

Chapter 12- Flashback

Chapter 12- Flashback

Whew, that was dramatic, wasn’t it? Poor Ben! Poor Sora! Poor Kairi! I love writing dramatic chapters, ahah. Right, time for a chapter in Ben’s view, including a flashback from Kairi’s view! He’s quite a complicated person underneath it all, so he’s interesting to write for XD Read, enjoy, vote, comment! J

Slowly, surely, Ben’s world came into existence. He woke up, and blinked away the black spots. The light was far too bright. He had been sure, before he woke properly, that he was dead. Or paralysed. Or something of the sort. He closed his eyes again and he lay in his own darkness for hours, not thinking of anything in particular, just comforted to be conscious. He tried to lift an arm, but it was as heavy as lead. Suddenly, he became startlingly aware of the intense pain in his head. Sensation flooded into his numb body, and he managed to open his eyes, and sit up, groaning.

Each memory crept back into his mind, as if trying to be unnoticed, but he picked up on each one, and slowly pieced the events together. He cringed at each image that floated through.

“Ben! Guys, he’s awake!”

He turned one bleary eye to see Haruhi and the others stood at the door, with Kairi at the very front, for once not looking content. Sora looked worried to the core, her brow creased with anxiety. Knowing this was strangely comforting.

“Wh- Oh… Hey,” he slurred. The pain relief had made him a little dazed.

“Awesome- you didn’t die!” Naoko cheered. Haruhi and Sora laughed.

“I almost did. I really thought I’d died… Sorry, guys.” Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at Sora. “Sora, I am so sorry… I said those stupid things to you, and I never meant them. I’ll forgive you if you never speak to me again, I’ll even be fine if you want me to move out, or even if you wished me dead. Please…”

Sora’s eyes filled with tears, and she ran over to the bed. “Oh, Ben… I’m sorry, too. I should share my feelings more, instead of trying to be happy with everyone all the time. It’s as much my fault as it is yours. Or course I still want to speak to you.”

“Ah, and they reunite!” Naoko sang.

“What a nice scene we have here,” Haruhi agreed.

“At least no-one’s fighting,” Tsuneo said with relief.

“Let’s go out and give Kairi some time to talk to Ben. He said he had something important to tell him.”

Sora nodded, dried her eyes and followed the others out, leaving Kairi standing sheepishly by the door.

“Sorry,” Ben said, feeling stupid. He really didn't expect to feel this dumb in front of his best friend, but this was Kairi here.

Kairi took a deep breath, and walked over to the bedside. He sat down in the chair next to it and looked like he was avoiding eye contact with Ben.

“I apologise, too, for making you so angry. I didn’t mean to agitate you so much,” Kairi said in a low voice.

“It was my fault, buddy. Anyway, what did you wanna tell me? Haruhi said it was something important.”

“Oh, it’s important. I was going to tell you anyway. It’s what I actually came to the house to tell you. But you’re going to hate me forever for this. I accepted that, and I’ll take whatever hate you have. I know you haven’t let your father’s murder go to rest. You still feel confused about it. So, I’m going to tell you exactly what happened the night your father was murdered.”

Ben’s heart constricted. He hadn’t thought about his father for a while, but now rage was building up inside him. His father’s murderer had never been caught. They were never brought to justice. This had haunted him for years, but how on earth could Kairi know anything about it? They were just children, mere children. To him, Kairi was just some boy in class, the one who scored top on all the tests, the distant one, who looked like he had been groomed for success his entire life.