✔Fighting Hearts |Fruits Basket| Kyo Sohma

51-Not the Monster

  I stand outside Kyo's door, an anxious patter of my heart beating roughly inside my chest.  Whatever happens when I open the door would change everything.

  "Kyo?"  I knock gently, wiping a few stray tears away.  It's quiet, but I can faintly hear the sound of the tv playing beyond the door.  "I'm coming in Kyo."  I push open the door, being greeted by the almost pitch black of the room and the bright light of some news channel playing on the television in the background.

  I look around the room, trying to make out just where he is.  The balcony door is open, a cool breeze blowing the pale curtains on the window by the bed.

  "Kyo?"  I step into the doorway to the balcony, watching as he leans against the concrete railing.  The wind is cold, but I wrap my pajama top tighter around myself and step out beside him.

  "Hey."  He mutters gently, staring out at the ocean.

  "Hey."  I rest my back against the railing so I can face him.  "I'm sorry-"  I start, fumbling with my sleeve.  "I don't know what came over me.  It was dumb, I know."

  He snorts, shaking his head.  "It was a bit more than just dumb."  He sighs.  "I was scared I wouldn't be able to protect you."

  "I had to protect Tohru, you know that."  I glanced up at the starry sky. 

  "I wouldn't have been able to do anything.  Akito-"  He let out a low sigh.  "Akito threatened you, y'know.  Both of you."

  "Both of us?  They threatened Tohru?"  I frowned.  "Why?"

  He shook his head.  "It doesn't matter.  It was under false pretenses anyway."

  "What did they say Kyo?"  I put my hand on his forearm.  "Tell me, please?"

  He took a deep breath, stepping away from the railing.  "Akito said that you would do anything for Tohru, and that I would do anything for you.  Because we're all just monsters.  Angry, loveless monsters."  He glanced away and I reached over and turned his chin so he would look at me.  "They threatened to hurt you if I-" 

  "Hey, hey it's okay."  I said, pulling him in front of me.  "Why would they hurt me because of you?  I'm the only one who's ever given them reason to hurt me.  I'm the one who's threatened their power.  You've done nothing wrong.  We're not the monsters Kyo, Akito is."

  We stood in silence on the balcony, listening quietly as the night animals scurried around on the ground below. 

  "Kyo,"  I said, taking his hands in mine.  "I have something to tell you."

  "What is it?"  He looked down at me.

  "The day dad got home, Akito summoned me."  I traced the outline of the constellations in the sky above us.  "They made me keep it a secret from everyone.  Shigure, Hatori and Dad were the only ones who knew anything about it."

  "What?"  He narrowed his eyes.  "Why would you do that?"

  "I wanted to make a deal with them."  I sighed.  "It was that day that dad hatched the plan to steal your rosary.  Akito told me that if I ran off after you, I could remain living at the house with you and everyone else.  If not- Dad told me afterwards Hatori would remove my memories of everyone and I would live inside the estate for the rest of my life."

  "That bastard-"  He hissed.  "You should have never stricken up a deal with Akito in the first place.  It's nothing but bad news Sato."

  "Before you go scolding me, let me finish.  A while before I struck the deal with them, Hatori let me into the family archives.  That's when I learned what happened to my grandfather would happen to you after High School."

  "You've known about it for this long?"  He asked.  "You should have said something."

  "I didn't want to hurt you.  Akito asked me what sort of feelings someone like me could harbour towards a 'monster' that would convince them to let you be free.  I told them my intentions, and that's where the deal came into play." 

  "What did you say?"

  “I loved you.” 

  "What?"

  "I told Akito I love you Kyo."  My heart skipped in my chest.  "Because I do."

  "Are you crazy?"  He asked softly, blinking rapidly.  "For how long?"

  "I've been dealing with you for a long time.  If I didn't love you I wouldn't have put myself in these drastic scenarios to change everyone's fate.  I think- I think I realized I did when you left to train in the woods with dad.  You weren't around and I was driving myself crazy thinking of you."

  "You'd have to be crazy to love a monster like me-"  He said softly.  "No one loves a monster."

  "You're no monster Kyo."  I put a hand on his cheek.  "You've just been dealt a less generous hand in life than the others.  That doesn't make you any more of a monster than anyone else."

  He laughed, a gentle smile on his face.  "I'm so glad."  He whispered, stepping closer to me.  "I'm so glad."  He placed a hand on my cheek, running his thumb along the tear stained skin.  "I love you too."

  "You do?"  I blushed red, playing with the bottom hem of my shirt to hide it.

  "I was afraid-"  His other hand faltered just before my cheek, and he sighed, letting it fall to his side.  "I've always been afraid you'd leave me behind the second you got the chance.  That you were just putting up with me."

  "Oh Kyo-"  I took his hand in mine.  "Of course not.  Every second I get to spend with you is amazing.  There's never a boring moment."

  He held my gaze for a moment, neither of us saying anything.  Yet the sound of the my heart beating anxiously pounded in my ears as I looked at him.  I brought a nervous hand up to his cheek, my eyes flickering around his face as I brushed his equally tear stained face.

  He let out a small laugh then, shaking his head.  "This is stupid- but uh- Can I?"  His eyes flickered to my lips. 

  "If you want-"  I smiled.  "I don't bite."

  He rolled his eyes.  "I really wouldn't put it past you."  He leaned down, placing a shadow of a kiss on my lips.

  I laid a careful hand behind his head, pulling him towards me the best I could without him transforming and ruining the moment I'd been waiting to experience for years.

  After what felt like an eternity well spent, I pulled back.  I knew my cheeks were a bright red, but the soft glow of the nightpost lamps on Kyo's face showed me his were as well.  I giggled at the sight, making him scowl.

  "Don't laugh at me!"  He exclaimed.

  "I'm not!"  I laughed.  "It's just- I've been waiting for this moment for so long.  It's kinda surreal."

  He smiled, gently kissing my forehead.  "I know how you feel.  I never would have thought it could ever happen."

  "Are we going to tell the others?"  I asked.  Not that I didn't love our family, but I also didn't want the word to accidently get back to Akito and cause any more trouble.

  Turns out, he was thinking a smiliar thing.  "Why don't we keep this between us?"  He asked.  "I don't need any grief from them right now."

  "Works for me."  I reached up and wrapped an arm around the back of his neck.  "I love you."  I whispered.

  "I love you too."  He responded, leaning in for another kiss.
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Word Count: 1279 Words