Chapter Five

Shigure didn't go straight home after he left Hatori's office. Once he made sure that Akito was content in his room he headed toward Yuki's.

Yuki's door was open so he peeked in at the rat. Yuki had fallen asleep and it made the deep purple rings under his eyes more prominent. Yuki was still in the window seat that he loved so much. He liked to be able to see outside, just to know that there was something out there. Yuki had fallen asleep sitting up.

Shigure sighed. Even in sleep Yuki didn't look completely relaxed. There was no doubt in his mind that the boy would be plagued with nightmares soon enough.

As Shigure turned away to finally head home he was comforted by one thought. At least when Yuki woke up he'd be able to see the outside almost at once.

...

Shigure was half right. After he'd left Yuki's mind was filled with nightmares.

...

He was in a very familiar place. Yuki was in a very dark room. There were no windows and the door was shut tight. It may have caused an immediate sense of claustrophobia, but having the door closed was almost a relief. It meant Akito could not get in.

But it could not stop the slight visibility that he had. There were slits in the wall and he could see Akito's menacing figure towering over him a short distance away.

Akito had a smirk on his face that ensured the fact that he was in control.

The sneering insults began.

And only a few seconds later... the screaming followed.

...

Hatori sat up with a start. He had fallen asleep over his paperwork. It wouldn't be the first time. He stayed perfectly still for a moment trying to detect what it was that had woken him. It was one of those moments where you barely dare to breath because you are unsure what is going on.

He exhaled at last once the screams picked up again.

He'd been expecting this. The nightmares were always worse right after a 'punishment session' with Akito.

Yuki always slept horribly immediately afterwards if he slept at all. Hatori felt bad. He wasn't sure why. He had no reason to. It wasn't his fault after all.

Besides, when Yuki got like this there was absolutely nothing anyone could do. There was no use in sprinting down to Yuki's room.

He settled in for a long night and wondered when the kid would finally wake up.

...

"Let me go!"

Haru was struggling against Rin who was holding him back as forcefully as she could without hurting him.

It was a rather entertaining sight. Or at least it would be if it weren't in such a somber situation. They were both struggling against each other, but at the same time trying not to hurt each other.

"He needs me!"

"You can't get caught!" Rin hissed. "And would you keep your voice down?!"

"No! Let me go Rin!"

Rin was getting extremely irritated. Why couldn't Haru see how much danger he'd put himself in if he got caught. Rin wasn't about to take the risk of that.

She herself had nightmare about what Haru would do someday. Haru had too good of a heart sometime. She wasn't about to let Haru figure out a way to get himself into Yuki's position just to free that damn rat!

She put her hand over his mouth to stop him from saying anything else.

...

I honestly considered biting her for a minute there. It's good thing that sometime I have control over my temper...

...

Shigure was half wrong too. Yuki couldn't see the outside world when he finally woke up. It was pitch dark outside and it brought on a whole new level of panic.

It took almost a full thirty minutes to completely calm himself down. It was a little past midnight. Of course it was dark out he told himself silently.

Then he groaned. Also silently because he was having problems finding his voice. It was only a little past midnight. Would this night ever end?

With a shudder he realized that that nightmare he'd just had represented his life in so many ways. When would it all end?

...

Haru had seen enough. He knew that look.

No... he thought. The panic was catching up with him as well. Please Yuki... he pleaded in his mind. Don't do anything stupid, please!

Haru raced through the dark hallways glad that he'd gotten away from Rin for one crisis at least.

Haru didn't stop running when he got outside. He increased his pace to a sprint until he found the forest pathway that would soon become extremely familiar to him. He began pounding on the door.

"SHIGURE!!!!!!!!! OPEN UP!!!!!!!"

The sleep-deprived mutt opened the door, reluctant to see what Haru wanted yet eager to shut him up.

"What?" Shigure's irritation subsided when he found the younger boy was almost in tears.

"You have to save him! Please! You're the only one Akito will listen to!" Haru wiped at his eyes getting his fierce look back.

Shigure looked down at him and sighed. He knew this would happen eventually. "Look Haru, there isn't anything I can do..."

"Please Shigure. Yuki's thinking about suicide. He wasn't really planning on it when we talked about it." Mostly because I pleaded with him to know end. "But now I think he's serious." Don't let him do this... I don't know what I'd do without Yuki...

Shigure tried to keep the surprise off his face. He knew Akito could be... harsh. But, the kid was really thinking about killing himself?

Shigure got a slight smile. "Only if you call me sensei." he said teasingly.

Haru nodded, taking it seriously. "Let's go, Sensei."

They set off for the main house. Once finally there, they went their separate ways. Haru hurried to Yuki's room and Shigure went to go wake Akito. But there was no need. Akito came storming out. "Has that damn brat shut up yet?"

Even to Shigure this was a fairly obvious question because Yuki's screams were no longer filling the household. Instead of commenting on that he said, "Actually I came to speak with you about that."

Akito eyed him. Shigure was an idiot, but they'd always been close. Shigure had always been the most loyal. "Why?"

Sweat began to bead on the back of his neck. So he took a wild guess at persuasion, hoping Akito wouldn't see right through him. "Uh, well... Now that Yuki's in high school... it's a longer drive for the maids to bring him and everyone's so busy as it is-"

"Except for you, right Shigure? Shirking off on your responsibilities as much as ever I'm sure." Akito interrupted.

"So, don't you think it would make more sense for Yuki to come live with me?"

There was a tense silence for a moment. Then Akito smirked, "Yuki's going to start walking to school starting on Monday morning."

Hatori stepped out of the shadows, fully dressed even though it was now nearing two AM and he was sure to try to catch some more sleep. Or maybe he'd try to finish his paperwork until his alarm went off. It would certainly be something Hatori would do. "Precisely why he should go." spoke up the dragon. "Yuki's in no condition to be walking to school especially with Winter approaching. And you're in no condition to be woken up every night by his nightmares. You need your rest."

Akito hesitated, but Hatori is a hard person to argue with. "Fine." he said finally. A bit sulkily. He strode back to his room, grumbling under his breath, but the exhaustion was beginning to overtake him. Akito was asleep almost as soon as he hit the bed.

Once they were sure Akito was really asleep Hatori turned to his childhood friend and hissed, "Yuki's really going to be counting on you so you'd better not screw this up as you're so likely to do."

...

Haru hurried down to Yuki's room. As soon as he threw the door open he took in the scene. The tip of a knife was showing after it had been hastily chucked under Yuki's bed. There was a cut that was beginning to bleed on Yuki's wrist, but it wasn't deep and would fade soon enough.

Haru ignored these things and looked jubilantly at his friend. "Pack up your things! You're going to go live with Shigure!"

Yuki stared up at his friend in confusion. His nightmare must have switched over to one of his rare, pleasant dreams... He started to pack anyway, trying to enjoy the dream while it lasted...

Epilogue

Life is a bit better now. Most of the time. There are days when I still have to live with the panic, but the nightmares are slowly recurring less and less, and Shigure was surprisingly patient.

Haru visits as often as he can. He's over now actually. There are some times when, out of nowhere, Haru and I will get into these really deep, meaningful conversations. The rest of the time we're usually talking about any random crap we can think of.

He spoke up, "You get to live in Sensei's home. That's good isn't it?"

I looked at him in confusion just as I had the day he'd informed me that I'd be coming to live with Shigure. Of course it was good. Sometimes I was afraid that any minute now I'd wake up. "Haru, did you always refer to Shigure as 'Sensei'?" I can't remember him doing it before now...

"Yeah. Sensei is a Sensei after all." Sometimes Haru makes absolutely no sense. But I don't mind... Not as long as things stay the way they are...

...

While Haru was over Shigure had left to go have yet another meeting with the dragon. "So, how's Yuki?"

Shigure shrugged. "Okay I guess. There are days when he acts like if he does one little thing wrong he'll be sent back, though."

Hatori sighed. This news was sad but expected. But he knew Yuki better than anyone except Hatsuharu. And there was one thing he was positive of.

Yuki would be okay.

I decided to put the Epilogue in with the last chapter because it was so short. Sadly, yes, it's over. There were some scenes that I pulled straight from the books.

I'd like to thank PocketxFullxOfxDreams, crazyandproud334, Tuliharja, mousecat, ILuvHikaruAndKaoru, .hugs, Bridgettalladega, and Teglan for reviewing!! I'd also like to thank anyone who will review in the future! Thanks for your support guys!

For the last time in this story... I don't own Fruits Basket!