A Warm Place

Disclaimer
I don't own Yummy Yuki or any Fruits Basket character.
Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki.

A continuation of the anime series laced with some obsessive hallucinations of mine.

Italics thoughts

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Minutes passed as hours for Yuki Sohma, sitting alone at the living room's table, contemplating the events of the last week; when Kyo's secret had been exposed. When Yuki finally met the Cat's dreaded cursed form.

Another Sohma family secret, there seemed to be an endless supply of them.

But, regardless of the vulnerability that Kyo had shown then, to him and Tohru, he had reverted to his old callous self in no time.

Yuki figured that Kyo may have been too embarrassed with his uncharacteristic behavior, with the fact that he needed Tohru to call him back. That he had shared all those private thoughts and feelings about his mother with them. Kyo was such an unsociable person, he probably didn't know how to act in light of all of that.

Nevertheless, Kyo was acting a little nicer to Tohru now. He seemed more relaxed around her, an obvious result of her open acceptance of his curse. Though, his treatment of Yuki had not changed at all. Yuki was still very much the 'Kuso Nezumi'.

Yuki sighed; Kyo was not one to expect originality or variety from. Didn't he ever get tired of saying things like that?

The silver haired boy had thought himself changed as well. After seeing Kyo so vulnerable that night, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Maybe. But, he definitely viewed him as less than an annoyance. After all he did offer to settle their differences. That was why he had gone after his cousin in the first place. He wanted to prove to Kyo that even though the curse dictated they be enemies; they shared the same source of sorrow. That running away was not an option they should always resort to.

That Yuki wasn't just the callous, cold-hearted Rat. That he cared about his family.

It was unusual for Yuki to come to that sort of revelation. At first, he berated himself for it and thought himself weak for it, seeing that Kyo deserved only as good as he gave. But then, Yuki realized that he didn't want to follow Akito's orders to detest Kyo robotically. Part of getting out from under Akito's shadow meant to think and make decisions for himself. He had never really hated his rowdy cousin, but he found it so infuriating to deal with someone who was reluctant to learn that others around him were just as cursed as he was.

What would it take for Kyo to realize that? To finally give up this silly rivalry?

Regardless, the atmosphere at Shigure's small home was back to being pleasant once again. Shigure was most pleased with that.

Yuki sighed in the late afternoon sun.

Haru had come by to visit earlier, and after chatting with Yuki, he and Kyo had gotten into an argument which they unanimously decided to settle with a fight. Yuki could barely make out the sounds of violence coming from somewhere within the woods. Those two really were brawling idiots.

Tohru was out grocery shopping. She had asked Yuki to accompany her, to which he decline politely. He saw her wide smile falter for a second before promising to be back soon. Yuki's heart ached.

A small, selfish side of him, would not let him forget that she had not noticed the injury he had sustained that rainy night. That very same part of him, flared with jealousy at the extra attention she'd been given his rival lately. He would push those thoughts away, rationalizing that the injury was minor and that even if she had noticed, he would've shrugged it off and told her not to worry.

But she hadn't, and that hurt.

At the time, he had been somewhat numbed by what had happened. When Kagura was bandaging his shoulder, and when Tohru was sitting with Kyo, he hadn't really noticed. Now, he wondered why it was that he felt so hurt. How could he expect Tohru to be aware of everything? How could she be aware of everything and everything that happens to everyone when she was so frightened that night? Did he expect Kyo to apologize for it? Wouldn't he just laugh and celebrate causing his nemesis an injury? What did Yuki want?

He didn't know what it was that he wanted, just that it upset him. And so, he had unconsciously withdrawn from everyone, especially Tohru.

It was petty, Yuki knew that. Which bothered him even more.

When he accompanies Tohru to see Akito, it wasn't just because he wanted to ensure that she would stay with the family, but also because he wanted to stand against Akito and hope to win, for once. His selfishness was really detestable.

Presently, in the aftermath of that confrontation, he was apprehensive. Could Akito really be beaten so easily? Would Akito forgive them for not backing him? Would Akito just leave him alone? The Sohma Clan head tried to speak to him afterwards, but he nimbly avoided him.

Yuki frowned delicately as he coughed. Trying to hide the cold he seemed to have caught that night from the others was difficult. And he didn't know who he was punishing anymore, himself or Tohru. His self-pity was frustrating and he was angry with himself for feeling this way. He hated feeling guilty; it was a feeling he was all too familiar with.

Shaking his head sadly at that, he remembered Tohru's faltered smile. He didn't want to alienate the only person outside the family who had accepted him for who he was. It would be foolish to do so. He had to forget what happened and just move on. Surely, there were better times ahead.

Thinking of her again, he decided to try to patch things up. Maybe he should walk her to work later. Maybe they'd be able to talk as before. Maybe she'd smile for him.

That made his heart just a bit lighter and he decided to retire with that positive feeling. As he headed for his room, the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Yuki…"Akito's voice dripped with…what? He always sounded like that; possessive, domineering and full of depraved lust.

"A-Akito? Wh-Why are you calling?" Yuki gripped the receiver tightly, trying to control his sudden fright. However this was Akito, who was able to detect the slightest tremor in Yuki's voice, and thrived on it.

"What's wrong Yuki? Why shouldn't I call you?" Akito asked, cooing nonchalantly and very aware of Yuki's distress. "I wanted to talk to you the other day, and you avoided me. That hurt me Yuki. You shouldn't have done that. It makes me think that you don't respect me at all."

Akito pause at that, smiling as he listened to Yuki's ragged breaths as he struggled to control himself. "Just like before Yuki, you stopped me. I wouldn't have had to hurt you."

"Y-you like hurting me." Yuki tried to argue but he was shaking too much.

"Yuki. Yuki. Yuki. You know that you'll always belong to me right? No one could ever love you like I do. Not even that ugly girl. Come back to me Yuki."

"No." Yuki shook his head, as if Akito could see his refusal. "And don't talk… about… Honda San that way…"

"Why not?" Akito asked, sounding annoyed. "You know that I always do what I want. You know that none of you can oppose me." The Clan head smiled as he thought of something, "Remember that time? I said those very words to you, Yuki. You were such a horribly selfish and ugly child. I always had to keep you in line and remind you of your rightful place."

Yuki's eyes widened impossibly.

"Yes, that place just for you. Where I disciplined you. You want to go back there? Just like that time, when you…" Akito went on to reminisce about all the discipline he had given Yuki, and one episode in particular that Yuki would rather forget. One of the many painful and frightening episode that Yuki had sought desperately to bury.

The terrified boy could say or do nothing but here Akito's poisonous words as they triggered his chest to tighten and his heart to leap to his throat.

"Do you think Honda San would like to know about that?" Akito ended with apparent glee. "What a miserable and filthy person you are? Do you think she would ever look at you again without disgust? Would anyone? Did you see how she betrayed you and went to that Monster's side? Do you think she and that Monster should be disciplined as well?"

At this Yuki's now nerveless fingers dropped the receiver, his hand going to his tightening chest. A feeble attempt at easing his breathing difficulty. He slumped against the wall, feeling the beginnings of a full-blown asthma attack. He hadn't had one since he left the Sohma main house three years ago.

"No." He whispered, knowing what the outcome of such a situation would be "No!" He had an inhaler in his room, he had to get it before Akito could... could…

Unable to take in oxygen, the world around him began to first spin then darken and he stumbled to the foot of the stairs, struggling to remain on his feet before falling to the floor wheezing. Tears of fear and panic streamed own his face, knowing that he was alone and that this could very well be the end for him.

It was too late to try to calm down, too late to try to reverse the inevitable. It was all he could do to fight the transformation and he was all alone and probably going to die and he was so petty and Honda San would blame herself and he never told her—

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What's going happen to Yuki? Isn't he Yummy?

Please review and be nice, my poor heart can't take it.