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Chapter 20

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"Did you hear me?"

The cat retreated inside the door, his entire face unnaturally still.

Haru followed, his fingers slow to untie his boots, the clunk of them hitting the floor loud in the utter silence of the empty house. "Do you even care?"

Kyo numbly moved them to the kitchen. The kitchen looked as bright and cheery and clean as ever, and Kyo stood near the window, a glass sat near the tap. Kyo paused, back turned to him, holding the glass—his head tilted towards the sink, orange hair all Haru could see. He was so quiet.

"Because…I can't. I'm not strong enough to—Rin told me she loved me and three days later she was telling me she couldn't stand the sight of me from a hospital bed."

The glass was slowly filled. Water threatened to slide down the sides, and Kyo silently shut the tap off. His fingers were entirely white around the implacable glass.

"I have to—you have to want this too, Kyo. I feel like—I'm the only one that ever wants—that you can't bear to be human, sometimes."

Kyo didn't make a noise, but his shoulders twitched a little, and his unnaturally stiff pose broke as his hand trembled and fingers tightened around that damned glass. Haru realized, with a sick little twist in his chest, that there was no sound in the kitchen, except for his harsh breathing and harsher words.

"Kyo?"

There was the sound of a strangled, choked sob, the kind one made when you couldn't breathe. The kind you made after holding your breath so you wouldn't cry. The glass fell, shattering, and shards and water spread across the floor. The sound wasn't enough to cover the heave of Kyo's shoulders, the sobbed gasp, the wet noise of tears.

Haru was across the kitchen in a heartbeat, his socked feet crunching in the wet, broken glass. Kyo didn't resist when Haru pulled him close. "Don't cry—don't—why the hell do we end up like this? I can't be the only one to who believes we're worth it."

Kyo pulled away, turned his face to the floor as if his future was told in the patterns of broken glass. "I'm afraid. I'm still afraid to let you—."

Haru stayed where he was, knowing how much it must cost Kyo to make himself vulnerable. "Why are you afraid?"

"Because in the end, she's right, Haru. I am a monster."

It was possible the cat's deadened voice was breaking his chest apart. "Look at me," Haru commanded, "look at me."

His hand circled the cat's wrist, pressing so hard he could feel the tendons, the bones, pressing down on the exact same spot that those damn beads were.

"Do you think I'm going to run away? Seven days without me and you're back to being the 'monster' and nothing else? It's always this fucking monster card. I'm sick of it. Get over it. You're not a monster, you're not an animal. You're not even remotely cruel. This is just your last defense—that last horrible thing you throw in people's faces when they get too fucking close to you. An excuse to explain why people won't stay. Well, I've got news for you—we all have monsters inside of us, we're all a little ugly on the inside—"

Kyo was silent for a long time. "So what is it, then?" He asked, his voice hollow, eyes numb, "that makes me so unbearable? If it's not—if it's not the monster?"

Haru's hands framed the cat's face, his thumbs resting atop cheekbones, his lips so close they could kiss, eyes wide enough to see their eyelashes touch. "You are not unbearable, or unlovable, Kyo. Because I love you." He stroked his hands back so he could cradle Kyo's head, "and damn you for making me say it first, but I love you. I love you."

Kyo's eyes were so wide in the fading daylight, the first tell-tale gleams of moisture in his eyes edging into his eyelashes, and Haru ached with his possessiveness, with the need to own (to never lose, to never forget) Kyo's tears, the seep of their wet into the dry lashes, the way each lash would clump together, would darken. To see Kyo cry, to see Kyo smile, laugh, snarl, breathe—"You could say it back, you know?" Haru managed through his tight throat.

"Don't you know, already?" Kyo whispered. "I've been waiting to tell you I love you since you looked me in the eye when not even my mother would. And now I can't imagine living without you—so yeah, Haru, I love you, and you're an idiot if you think I can help it. You're an idiot for coming back."

"How could I stay away? I told you once I'd never wear the symbol of a cat—that it was yours alone—but I feel like you've branded me down to the core. Don't tell me how to love you."

"I won't." Kyo promised. "if you promise not to stop while I figure out how to love you."

"Another promise. Aren't you—" Haru said.

"I'm not afraid you'll break them anymore," Kyo whispered.

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Well. The end.

Author's Note: There is a lot I could say to explain the long, long hiatus this story took-but I'll boil it down to a few reasons. Honestly, my interest in Fruits Basket waned, especially as canon events more and more shifted towards a resolution I wasn't enjoying. And, as the muse departed-my love for this story went with it, and all I could see, as I looked at it, were the rampant mistakes and silliness that made up my writing style nearly four years ago. Also, I started college.

That being said, there was quite a bit more to the plot that I had in mind, two years ago. There were complications involving the second curse, Akito, and even the manifestation of Haru's second curse. But in the end, all I could eek out before I stopped writing was a resolution to our two boy's relationship.

For those who followed along so faithfully long ago, I hope this fanfiction gave you a little enjoyment and you weren't too disappointed that I never finished. These last few chapters are for the few who might still enjoy reading about a pair of boys I once adored. This little piece of writing, as old as it is to me, brings back many fond memories, especially because of the reviews I received.

So once, again, thank you to everyone who left a review, no matter how small or big, each one gave me more incentive to finish this, and all of them convinced me to post the last few chapters, which I hope offers a good enough ending.