Abandoned
It was Monday night; Yuki had spent the whole night locked up in his room after his talk with Shigure. Shigure tapped at his sliding door to inform him that dinner had been served, and received the reply “I’m not hungry, I’m busy. Go away”.

“You haven’t got some young girl in there with you, have you Yuki?” Yuki’s reply was given in the form of a large textbook, breaking his door in two and narrowly missing Shigure’s head.

“Oh no! Not my precious house!” cried Shigure dramatically. “I was only suggesting that if it is a young pretty high school girl you are busy in there with, I think it’s only fair for you to share…”

“I said leave me alone!” yelled Yuki through the gap in the door.

“Okay, Okay I’m going…” Shigure called dreamily as he floated along the corridor and down the stairs, humming merrily to himself.

Yuki returned to gazing out of his window. He watched the clouds float across the full moon and sighed. He had always loved the night sky. Then the noise of someone climbing through the door wreckage distracted him
from his thought.

“Shigure, I already told you, I’m not hungry!” called Yuki angrily.

“Yuki?” called a quiet voice. “It’s me, Tohru.”

“Oh Miss Honda!” said Yuki, turning in his chair. “I’m so sorry, I thought you were Shigure,” he added apologetically, as he walked across his room and helped her climb over the broken bits of wood. She was carrying a tray filled with delicious smelling food she must have made for dinner that night. Yuki followed her over to his desk where she placed the tray and turned to face him.

“I know you haven’t eaten anything since you came home so I thought I would make you some food to cheer you up. I also heard a loud bang and worried that you might have been hurt or something.” She paused for a minute and then added quietly, “I know it’s none of my business, but is there anything you want to talk about? You know I like to listen, so you can tell me anything. I swear, I won’t tell anyone. That is if you tell me, you know… Oh I’m sorry, I’m rambling again aren’t I?” Yuki smiled and took a seat on his bed.

“That’s fine Miss Honda, I don’t mind. I’m sorry if you have been worried about me, but really, I’m fine.” Tohru thought for a second and took a seat next to Yuki.

“I should hope so, but I’m not so sure. You haven’t been to your secret base in a few days. I hope your fruit and vegetables are doing okay.”

“Oh, yes, you’re right. Maybe I’ll go for a walk now and see how they’re doing.” Yuki got to his feet.

“Wait, Yuki, you haven’t eaten your supper,” said Tohru sadly, gazing at the tray of food on the desk.

“Oh I’m sorry to put you through all that effort Miss Honda, I just don’t feel hungry tonight.”

“I don’t think the food will stay warm for very long, maybe I could give it to Kyo and Shigure…” Tohru got to her feet and picked up the tray. “But if you start to feel hungry at all just call me and I will make you something to eat, okay?” Yuki smiled and nodded.

Tohru left the room, and Yuki took one last look out of his window before following her down stairs. He pulled open the front door and took a deep breath of the fresh night air. It was so peaceful and calm, if not slightly cold.

Yuki stepped off the porch and made his way through the trees to his secret base. He gazed at the vegetables for a few seconds, before turning away and walking further through the forest, away from the house.

Eventually he reached a small clearing. There were several scattered tree trunks and a small pond in the centre. Yuki sat down on one of the tree trunks and gazed, deep in thought, at the glistening water. He had been sitting there for about half an hour when there was a rustle in the bushes. Yuki’s head shot straight in the direction of the disturbance, but it stopped.

“Who’s there?” he called. There was silence. Yuki got to his feet and walked over to the bush. “Hello?” He brushed branches and leaves out of the way so he could see behind the bush, and there laid Akina. Her clothes were torn; she was badly bruised and bleeding heavily from a cut on her forehead. Yuki’s mouth gaped open. How on earth did she get here? And what exactly had happened to her?

He bent down on his knees and put one arm behind her back, and one under her legs. Slowly he got to his feet and carried Akina slowly to the small pond. He took off his jacket and covered her with it, wet his sleeve and dabbed gently at the cut on her forehead. Once he had cleaned away the blood, Yuki picked her up once more and carried her back to the house. Once he got there, he kicked at the door and Shigure came running.

“Yuki, must you destroy all of my precious doors–oh, my goodness. Quick, bring her in here.” Shigure led Yuki into the living room where Kyo, Haru, Momiji and Tohru were all sitting watching television. They looked up to see a blood covered Yuki carrying a badly beaten Akina and jumped to their feet.

“Akina!” cried Tohru, as Yuki placed her gently on some cushions Shigure had laid out for her.

“You know her?” asked Kyo, startled.

“Yes she was in all my classes in middle school! Oh my gosh! Yuki what happened to her?”

“I don’t know, I found her in the forest. She’s really badly hurt.”

“I’ll call Hatori!” announced Shigure before disappearing into the hall. He then poked his head back around the door. “Hey Haru, take Momiji up stairs, he doesn’t need to see this.”

“Come on Momiji, follow me,” said Haru, pulling the young rabbit to his feet.

“But I don’t wanna go! I wanna stay here with Tohru!” he whined.

“No, there’s no need for you to be here, come on.” And Haru tugged Momiji from the room. Yuki watched them leave and turned back to Akina. He took her hand and felt her wrist for a pulse.

“She’s alive,” said Yuki. “But her pulse is really faint. She needs a doctor, fast.”

Tears began running down Tohru’s cheeks. She jumped to her feet and ran into the kitchen. Kyo followed her. She dashed to the kitchen sink and began frantically looking for a flannel. When she couldn’t find one, she collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. Kyo walked over to her and kneeled down. He brushed Tohru’s hair from her eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks. He then cupped her chin with his hands.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everything will be fine. You always get so stressed out, just relax and let that Hatori bastard take care of it.” Tohru sniffed and gazed up at Kyo. He cared so much about her, and he was right, Akina would be okay, wouldn’t she? Kyo leaned forward and kissed Tohru gently on the lips, before helping her to her feet. “Come on, let’s go.” He led her back into the living room. By now, Haru had returned and so had Shigure.

“Hari is on his way, but I don’t know if he was very keen on the idea. He is only a doctor for members of the Sohma family, remember?”

“Ah who cares if she’s not a Sohma? It’s better than her dying!” said Kyo as he flopped onto one of the cushions by the table. Tohru knelt down next to him. He offered him her hand to hold. She took it and began squeezing it as hard as she could.

“Ouch! Gees Tohru not so hard would ya? I still wanna have the feeling in my hand you know.”

“Oh I’m so sorry!” Tohru cried, blushing furiously. She let go of Kyo’s hand and stared at her knees, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Aw you don’t have to be like that, I didn’t mean – I -” I would give anything to be able to hug her right now, thought Kyo. He settled for placing his arm around her waste as she rested her head on his shoulder. Mean while Yuki had his head in his hands. He was so scared he was almost shaking.

“Yuki, it’s okay. She’s going to be fine. Hatori will help her, you know he will,” comforted Haru. He placed his hand on Yuki’s shoulder, to try an ease his growing anxiety. Suddenly, a thought hit Yuki that caused him to jump to his feet in horror.

“It’s all my fault,” he whispered.

“What did you say Yuki?” asked Shigure curiously.

“It’s all my fault,” he repeated, before running as fast as he could from the room. He flew through the front door, narrowly missing Hatori as he went.

“Yuki slow down before you hurt someone,” Hatori called after him, although clearly realising he was being ignored, as Yuki sped into the trees and out of sight.

“What was that all about?” asked Kyo from the living room, just as Hari entered.

“I think I have a fair idea…” said Shigure quietly.

“I’m going after him,” Haru announced. He then got to his feet and left the room.

Hatori placed his case of equipment carefully on the floor next to Akina. First he checked her pulse, and then he pulled out different pieces of equipment and began examining her. The only noise in the room being Tohru’s quiet sobbing onto Kyo’s shoulder. Shigure glanced worriedly from Hari to Akina and back again.

Meanwhile, Haru was searching the forest, looking around trees and calling Yuki’s name. Eventually he heard a small reply of “I’m here”, and turned to find Yuki huddled next to a tree trunk, staring deep in thought at the small pond in front of him.

“Yuki, what’s going on?” asked Haru calmly as he sat down next to his friend.

“It’s entirely my fault that this happened to Miss Saito,” Yuki replied quietly, not taking his eyes of the glittering water. Haru stared at Yuki.

“Did you just say, Miss Saito?” asked Haru bewildered.

“Yes, I did. What is it about that name that causes such a reaction from you and Shigure?”

“You mean you don’t know?” said Haru, even more shocked than before.

“Know what, Haru?”

“You don’t know about the Saito/Sohma feud, do you?”

“What? Since when? How could I not know?!” asked a startled Yuki.

“They have been fighting for years! Since long before we were born. I don’t know what about, but I remember we were always told to keep away from the Saito children when growing up. But you wouldn’t know that… because you spent all of your time inside with your asthma…” Yuki couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Akina, the girl he had known since middle school, and a fellow student council member, had all along been an enemy of his own family.

“Oh no…” Yuki whispered; his eyes wide. “Haru… She found out about the curse…”

“What! How?”

“You remember earlier when you walked in on us after the meeting? When she was passed out? Well, she had seen me transform, which caused her to faint.” Haru nodded slowly. It all made sense now.

“Oh… I get it. Hey, Yuki… You and that girl, you weren’t… were you?”

“No,” said Yuki quickly, his cheeks turning pink. Haru nodded, although unconvinced. “I think we should go back to the house. Hatori is there now, we better go see what’s happening.” They both got to their feet and made their way back through the forest.

“H-Hatori?” said Tohru weakly. “S-she is okay… isn’t she?”

“If you’re asking me if she is going to live, the answer would be yes, but if you are asking me if she is unharmed, I can’t answer as yet,” said Hatori as Haru and Yuki entered. Yuki saw Akina lying there and fell to his knees beside her. He looked at Hatori, who was gently dabbing the cut on her fore head.

“Would you like any help?” Yuki asked quietly.

“Yes Yuki, you could continue cleaning this scratch. I’ll check for any fractures.”

“Fractures?” repeated Tohru frantically. “Oh no! What if she has broken something? Then she won’t be able to go to school and she’ll have to go to hospital and stay there for a long time and she might need crutches and she won’t be able to do any of her school work and she’ll fall behind and she might have to repeat this year!”

“Tohru, breathe would ya? It wouldn’t be that bad,” said Kyo. Tohru sniffed sadly and continued watching Hatori examine her friend.

“Well there doesn’t seem to be any breakages, but I have a feeling she has a badly sprained wrist. I think that’s the worse of the –” Hatori stopped. He had just noticed a puddle of blood underneath where Akina lay. He slowly rolled up her shirt to find a deep gash in the side of her stomach. Yuki gasped and Tohru let out a small scream, covering her eyes.

Shigure ran quickly to the laundry room. Haru followed him and they returned, each with a large pile of towels and cloths. They dropped them on the floor next to Akina. Tohru was sobbing loudly, her face buried in Kyo’s shoulder.

“Kyo, take Tohru upstairs,” said Shigure. Kyo glared at him, but obeyed him nonetheless. Hatori took one of the towels and pressed it to Akina’s wound.

“This girl needs to go to the hospital,” he said firmly. “Shigure, help me carry Miss. Saito to the car.” Hatori and Shigure slowly raised Akina from the ground and edged from the room, careful not to move her too much. Yuki and Haru made to follow, but Shigure turned back to them.

“I think it would be best if you two stayed here,” he said mournfully.

“No, this is my fault. I need to go with her,” said Yuki determinedly.

“Okay fine, but Haru, you need to stay here and watch Momiji.” Haru nodded slowly and watched them carry the girl from the house and place her gently in the back seat of Hatori’s car.

Yuki climbed in with her and rested Akina’s head on his lap. He stroked her hair slowly as they drove to the nearest hospital; none of them spoke the whole journey there. Even Shigure was finding it hard to make light of this situation, and he had no way to comfort the tortured Yuki.

The hospital was crowded, overflowing with the sick and wounded. Shigure carried Akina into the emergency room, Hatori marching by his side. As they reached the front desk Hatori explained to the receptionist what had happened and she pointed them in the direction of the emergency rooms. Yuki found himself almost having to run to keep up with Hatori and Shigure as they pounded down the corridor in search of a free cubical. Finally they found one, and Shigure laid the injured girl on the white bed sheets, which instantly became stained with her blood. Hatori was explaining in a hurried voice what had happened to a doctor beyond the curtain. Yuki took the seat positioned next to the bed and took hold of Akina’s lifeless hand. After a few seconds, Yuki felt a small grasp of his hand, and looked down to find Akina’s eyes slowly fluttering.

“Shigure, I think she’s waking up,” whispered Yuki hopefully. He was now leaning over her, willing for the life to return to her. Slowly Akina’s eyes flickered opened and she gazed up at Yuki.

“W-What’s going on?” she said quieter than a whisper, tears glazing her brown eyes. Yuki didn’t know what to say, all he could do was look down with wide eyes at fellow student council member. Shigure appeared at his side and smiled kindly at the girl.

“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “You were badly hurt, but Yuki found you, and so we brought you here.” Akina’s eyes searched the room. She looked at Yuki, then Shigure, and then to the shadow of two men standing outside of her cubical. Hatori pull back the curtain and entered with the doctor, who walked straight over to Akina and began checking her over.

“I think it would be best if you two left the room,” he said to Yuki and Shigure, carefully cutting Akina’s blood stained jumper in order to remove it. They nodded and obeyed.

Yuki found a seat along the corridor whilst Shigure went to get them both a cup of tea. Yuki rested his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands. Who could it have been? He thought to himself, frustration coursing through him. Who would want to do such a thing? Yuki rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

“Who could it have been?” he whispered.