Chapter Text
“Kyo...kun?”
She looked so small and scared.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you blind? Can’t you smell?”
He knew if she came any closer, he would lose her forever. He had to hurt her so badly she would never come back.
“Are you stupid? Don’t you care about your mom? Or was it all a lie?
She reached a trembling hand toward him.
“Don’t touch me!” he roared, pushing her away with his monstrous hand.
Gashes appeared on her shoulder, blood seeping from the long claw marks and mixing with the pattering rain.
“You’re so annoying! Leave me alone, or next time I’ll slash your face off!”
She appeared completely heartbroken, falling to her knees. “Can’t you accept that I love you no matter what, Kyo-kun?”
“I’m disappointed in you,” he said coldly, walking away, face full of disdain.
Tears filled her eyes. Suddenly, the land gave way beneath her, and Kyo watched her fall, hitting her head with a loud crack as blood soaked the ground beneath her. Her face was frozen in agony. He had won. She would never come back.
“I won’t forgive you.”
“No!” cried Kyo, jolting awake.
He looked around the dark room, trying to get his bearings. Slowly his room came into focus around him. He was safe, Tohru was still gone, and everything in his dream had really happened.
Had he really said all those things to her?
He buried his face in his hands. He had been so cruel, over and over. Why had he hurt her so often?
Something felt different. He gasped as he realized his left wrist was bare.
“No, no, no! Please... where are they? Please don’t... don’t let me transform!” He frantically searched the bed for his beads before he remembered. The curse was gone.
It was gone, just like Tohru.
He sighed, falling back down onto Tohru's pillow, beads safely tucked underneath. He couldn’t go to the roof; it reminded him too much of her. He couldn’t go back to sleep; he’d only have more nightmares. He couldn’t stay awake like this; waking life was worse than a nightmare. He was alone, with nowhere to go and nothing to do.
He lay there, frozen, until he drifted off into another nightmare.
“Kyoooo?”
Knock, knock, knock.
“Kyoooo? Are you there?”
He sat up, bleary eyed. The sun was high in the sky. How long had he slept?
Knock, knock, knock.
“I’m coming in, Kyo!”
He buried his head under the covers before Momiji came bursting through the door.
“ Guten Tag! You slept in today, Kyo!”
Momiji opened the blinds, letting light stream into the dark room. Kyo burrowed further under the sheets.
“I know you can hear me!” Momiji chimed in his sing-song voice. “Let’s see what I’ll find under the covers!”
Kyo gripped them tightly over his face, but Momiji lifted them from his feet first, surprising him enough to snatch them away completely.
“Have you had anything to eat today, Kyo?”
“Go away.”
“ Nein. I brought takoyaki. Come on, let’s go eat.”
“I said go away!”
“You can either come downstairs with me, or I will bring the food up here and feed you myself. And if you choose the latter, know all our cousins will see the pictures.”
“Fine,” he growled in frustration.
“ Gut,” Momiji replied cheerfully.
Once they were downstairs, Momiji set the chabudai for lunch. Kyo picked at a couple of pieces of takoyaki before putting his head on his arms, uninterested in eating anything more.
“Kyo, you have to eat more than that,” Momiji said, concern creeping into his typically bright voice.
“Not hungry,” grunted Kyo.
“Can you just try? Try and finish what’s in front of you?” Momiji’s eyes shone with worry.
Kyo was silent.
Momiji sighed. “I know it’s hard right now, Kyo. Do you know how much I’ve been kicking myself for not hugging Tohru as often as I could once my curse broke? It’s a very lonely feeling. Just remember, it doesn’t have to be.”
Kyo closed his eyes, lacking the energy to respond. He supposed he should be grateful, but all he felt was emptiness.
“I can only stay for another hour, but I need to know you’re okay, Kyo. I don’t want to leave you like this.”
“I’m fine. You can go.”
Momiji wasn’t convinced, but he knew he wasn’t going to make any more progress like this. “I’ll just put the leftovers in the fridge so you can have them for dinner.”
As Kyo trudged back upstairs, Momiji sent a quick text.
Momiji: He’s worse than I thought. Can anyone be here this evening?
Yuki: I’ll be back tonight before dinner.
M: Danke. Haru, are you still going over tomorrow?
Haru: you got it
Y: What’s the situation?
M: he was asleep when I got here and he’s not eating
H: make sure he has water nearby
H: when rin is like that she doesn’t always remember to hydrate
M: bringing him a glass now
Y: That’s a good idea, Haru. Thank you both for looking out for him.
Momiji brought a glass up to Kyo, who was back in Tohru’s bed, turned to face the wall.
“There are a lot of people who are worried about you, Kyo. Please, try and take care of yourself, ja ?”
The next few days were a blur. Kyo was vaguely aware of Yuki bringing him food and water, which he mostly didn’t touch. He had nightmares whenever he closed his eyes. He heard people that were probably talking to him, vaguely recognizing the voices of his cousins and friends.
“...should see some of Rin’s sketches...”
“...worried about you, O-niichan!”
“Oi! Carrots! Get your sorry ass out...”
At one point, Kagura tried to physically drag him out of bed, but she started crying when he didn’t resist or complain at all.
“Kyo-kun! Please! You’re really scaring me!”
He was only leaving Tohru’s bed to use the bathroom, and only when he was certain he wouldn’t run into anyone else who would try to talk to him.
On Saturday, he rolled out of bed for another bathroom trip, only to startle when he saw Saki’s gaze fixed on him from across the room.
“Sleeping beauty awakens,” she remarked.
He hung his head; certain she was mocking him. He knew he smelled awful, having foregone showering or changing clothes since the day the curse broke. He didn’t want to think about how greasy his hair must be, or the acne he was sure had begun to dot his face and back while he wallowed in bed.
I don’t even need a curse to be a foul-smelling, hideous monster , he thought. Maybe this is who I really have been all this time.
“What do you want?” he asked, defeated.
Saki quietly analyzed his waves before responding, "Kyo-kun, do you remember what Tohru wanted to say to you?"
Kyo shook his head as he covered his eyes. He remembered every word, but he couldn't bear to hear it again right now.
"She wanted you to keep moving forward."
Kyo sat back on the bed, bent at the waist, head cradled in his arms.
"She said it was most important you kept going. She wanted you to live, Kyo-kun."
"But I don't want to live!" he shouted, voice raspy from days of disuse. "Why would I wanna live without her?" He started trembling. "It's too hard. I can't do it. I can't do it!" He was crying. "She's not here, and she’ll never know her wish came true!" He buried his face in his hands, sobbing.
Saki didn't respond at first. After a moment, the mattress dipped beside him, and he felt a small hand come to rest on his back. He looked up and saw fresh tears falling from Saki's black eyes.
"It will be the most challenging thing we'll ever do," she said, voice quiet with sorrow. "But we shall prevail, because it's for Tohru. She deserves no less than our best efforts."
Kyo shook with emotion, knowing she was right. Saki stroked his back as she continued to weep silently, her own anguish privately on display as she once more tended to the grief of another.
Kyo took a shower and changed after that. He even ate a small lunch. Saki convinced him to take a walk with her; it had been a week since he’d been outdoors.
“Perhaps we should make these promenades a habitual occurrence,” she suggested.
“I don’t understand half the things you say,” Kyo muttered.
“Let’s walk together, every day,” she rephrased.
“...okay.” He scowled. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“You already know the answer, Kyo-kun.”
He sighed. That’s right. We’re family now.
“Sorry. I’m not used to people worrying about me like this,” he grumbled.
“That sounds terribly lonely.”
He raised an eyebrow. He had never noticed before, but she was a lot more like Tohru-- and Kyoko-- than he had realized. Even her name, Sa meaning blossom and ki meaning hope, reminded him of Tohru. “Kyoko said that to me once.”
Saki paused. “I didn’t realize you knew Tohru’s mother.”
He sighed. “I don’t talk about it much. We met when I was just a kid. She said that same thing to me. ‘Sounds lonely.’ It... it made me feel forgiven for being born.”
Saki took a moment to ponder what he’d said. “Kyo-kun, you said something earlier about Tohru’s wish coming true.”
He froze. How could he explain what he meant? Saki would never understand-
“You think I won’t understand? Always know your audience, Kyo-kun.”
He sighed. Of course she was right. If anyone could understand strange things like ancient family curses, surely it was Saki with her mysterious wave powers.
He took her hand and started dragging her toward a nearby park. “Let’s find a bench. This might take a while.”