Childhood Memories - Chapter 02
Title: Childhood Memories
Author: Viv
Genre: drama/angst/romance/humor
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Fruits Basket [book - manga]
Pairing: Yuki/Kyo
Disclaimer: *shakes head* of course they're mine, like, DUH!
Summary: “… Shigure. Why in the world do you have a book on magic?” [Multi-chaptered: (01)]
Eyelids fluttered open with difficulty as a young man sat up in bed and blinked repeatedly at his surrounding, slightly disoriented. Purple orbs took a moment to adjust to the darkness and Yuki tried to figure out what time it was and why he had so suddenly woken up. He turned to look at his bedside, the clock on his small table flashing back a bright ‘03:26 AM’ at him.
Yuki frowned, running a pale hand through his messy hair, head tilting to the side in frustration. Why was he awake at this time of the night? He was usually a rather deep sleeper and he did not have any school today, so why wasn’t he still sleeping?
The rat suddenly lifted his head, his ears having grasped a soft - so soft that Yuki normally wouldn’t have heard it if it wasn’t for the blessed silence of the night - noise. A thin eyebrow rose and Yuki pushed the blanket back and slowly dragged himself out of bed, slipping on his slippers before quietly stepping out of the room.
The boy’s ears strained to silence and he remained unmoving for a few seconds before he heard almost inaudible whimpers coming from a nearby room. The next room, as a matter of fact. Yuki turned to his right - still being careful as to no wake anyone up - and headed towards the bedroom of the person that he tended to avoid during daytime.
Stopping in front of the door, he decided against calling out his cousin’s name and instead slid the door open before stepping in and closing it behind him.
More whimpers and what he thought were sobs greeted Yuki’s ears - it seemed his cousin had not noticed his presence or was still simply asleep. Yuki stared at the bed on the other side of the room for a minute or so, unsure of what to do, until he suddenly the soft sobs and sniffles were accompanied by whispered words.
“… Shishou. Shishou. Where are you? Shishou...”
The rat kept staring at the lump on the bed in bewilderment until another thought settled in his mind.
‘His voice. There’s something different about his voice.’
Yuki slowly approached the bed - or rather, stumbled his way over - before bumping into the side of the bed. His hand reached over to his left and when he found Kyo’s night table, he looked for the lamp and turned it on.
The sight that greeted him left Yuki surprised. The boy blinked, his mouth slightly parting in confusion, his mind telling him that he was dreaming.
Actually, if he was still sleepy before, he was now very much awake, purple eyes wide open in disbelief.
It took Yuki a moment to realize it, but there was no mistaking the small orange furry head peeking out from under the dark blanket. The cat’s eyes were tightly shut and one tiny paw stuck out on each side of its head. It was then that the mouse noticed the tears glistening at the corner of those closed eyelids.
Yuki leaned down closer and realized with a start that there was a thin strip of red liquid on the cat’s head.
‘Stupid cat. Must have passed out in pain or something. He should take better care of himself. His fall must have been nastier then we thought.’
Carefully extracting the other Sohma from his bed, Yuki immediately knew that something else wasn’t quite right with the kitten.
‘… wait a second - kitten!’
And as if on cue, a small poof! and a cloud of smoke surrounded him.
Yuki looked down at a small naked boy, tears still spilling behind the closed eyes as the warm bundle snuggled closer to the rat and Yuki’s forehead creased in worry while he tightened his hold on the young boy in his lap.
“… it hurts. Shishou, it hurts.”
It was then that the mouse also noticed the rather large bruise on the boy’s right shoulder. He winced, wondering how that could have happened - how many more injuries did he have?
For a while Yuki only stared down at the child in his arms before the latter suddenly stirred and crimson eyes fluttered open, still shimmering with tears. The little boy looked sleepily back at the grey-haired older boy before his eyes widened in awe - his pain seeming momentarily forgotten.
“Yu-chan? No. Who are you? Where am I? Where’s shishou? Where’s Yu-chan? H’ru-chan? Kag’ra-chan?”
The childish voice grew more and more frantic and Yuki could only respond by holding closer the redheaded boy that reminded him so much of his archrival and whispering comforting words in his ears - although they were both still utterly confused by the situation.
“Hush. It’s alright. You’re safe here, don’t worry. What’s your name, little neko?”
The boy blinked at him, with something akin to wonder appearing in his red eyes.
“Kyo.”
And Yuki blinked back, numbly nodding his head as all the facts added up - the cut on his head, the injured shoulder, the kitten, the transformation, those orange hair, those crimson eyes, that familiar although higher voice. And then he wondered how the possibility that this was Kyo had completely flown out is head.
This was Kyo’s room after all.
And the tyke was an exact mini-sized replica of his cat cousin.
And then Yuki wondered how come he had taken his cousin in his arms as if it was the most normal thing in the world. And why the contact wasn’t completely unfamiliar when the rat could only remember that the only times he had touched his cousin were during fights.
Small hands suddenly tugged at his nightshirt and Yuki down at wide, innocent eyes. The boy - no, Kyo started crying softly again.
“It hurts. I want shishou. I want Yu-chan. It hurts.”
Suddenly crashing back down to earth, Yuki slowly stood up and headed towards the door. Sliding it open, he slipped out of the room. Small Kyo was still securely in his arms as he made his way to the bathroom.
Upon entering the bathroom, Yuki’s hand quickly found the light switch as he flicked it up before closing the door behind him. He then strode to the tub and carefully sat down the small boy in his arms on the edge.
Yuki then walked over to the sink and opened the mirror, revealing a few shelves. He grabbed the first aid kit and went back to his young cousin. The boy was still staring at him in awe.
The silver-haired boy then kneeled down and dropped the plastic box on the floor. He opened the kit and took out a small bottle as well as some cotton balls.
“This might sting. Don’t try to move too much and I’ll try to be as gentle as possible, alright? I’m sorry if I hurt you, koneko.”
A small head of messy redhead bounced a few times before Kyo stopped moving and obediently looked down as Yuki poured drops of a clear liquid on a cotton puff before he leaned closer and gently ran thin fingers through the orange hair.
When Yuki finally found the cut - it was actually on his cousin’s forehead - he softly dabbed at the thin red line. Kyo pursed his lips tightly, struggling to hold back the new tears threatening to escape. Yuki could only smile fondly at the cat.
‘This should do for now. I’ll call Hatori in the morning to come check on him. I don’t know what other injuries he could’ve gotten from falling down the stairs.’
Yuki then put everything away and picked back up young Kyo and left the bathroom. He went back into his cousin’s bedroom before noticing that the boy was shivering in his arms. Yuki suddenly realized that the child was still naked.
“Are you cold, Kyo?”
The small boy nodded against his neck.
Upon putting his cousin down on his bed, Yuki saw the pair of flannel pants and the white t-shirt crumpled up on the bed. Throwing the pants on a nearby chair, the young man then took the t-shirt and nodded to himself. He turned back to Kyo and pulled the piece of clothing down over his cousin’s small form. Kyo wrinkled his nose in shame when he saw how tiny he seemed in the shirt.
The smaller Sohma let out a small yawn, a tiny hand covering his open mouth. Yuki could only grin at the sight of a pintsized Kyo sleepily rubbing his eyes - partially hidden by a completely dishevelled mop of orange hair - and practically swimming in an oversized t-shirt, cheeks still flushed in embarrassment.
‘How cute.’
“Go to sleep koneko.”
“Ah - could you stay with me? Please? I don’t want to be alone. I don’t know where shishou and Yu-chan are.”
‘Shishou. He might be talking about Kazuma-san… about shihan.’
Kyo sniffled, his eyes one again brimming with tears and Yuki quickly pulled him in his arms, slowly rocking him in his lap.
“It’s alright, Kyo. We’ll call him in the morning, alright? Right now you need to rest.”
Kyo snuggled closer.
“What’s your name?”
Yuki smiled softly, tightening his hold on his cousin.
“Yuki.”
“Yuki-chan… will you help me find Yu-chan?” The older boy frowned.
“Yu-chan?”
“Kito-san took him away from me.” Yuki’s eyes widened.
‘Kito-san? Why- who’s Kito? And why does that name scare me so much?’
Kyo quietly cried in his cousin’s arms.
“Kito-san took Yu-chan away from me. Please help me find him, Yuki-chan… I miss Yu-chan.”
“I will try, koneko. Now hush, go to sleep Kyo.”
The older Sohma carefully leaned back and lied down on the bed, the cat’s smaller body comfortably hugging him, his head fitting under Yuki’s chin as the latter wrapped a protective arm around his waist and pulled the blanket over them.
Kyo’s childish voice grew fainter as his eyelids slowly dropped and his voice faltered as he slipped away into a deep slumber.
“Thank you Yuki-chan. I’ll find you Yu-chan. I miss you so much Yu-chan. Yu-chan…”
A final thought crossed Yuki’s mind as his own purple orbs closed while the soft and warm breathing of Kyo lulled him to sleep.
‘Yu-chan… I’ve heard that name before… I’ve heard all those names before…’
---
August 5, 2005
Author: Viv
Genre: drama/angst/romance/humor
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Fruits Basket [book - manga]
Pairing: Yuki/Kyo
Disclaimer: *shakes head* of course they're mine, like, DUH!
Summary: “… Shigure. Why in the world do you have a book on magic?” [Multi-chaptered: (01)]
Eyelids fluttered open with difficulty as a young man sat up in bed and blinked repeatedly at his surrounding, slightly disoriented. Purple orbs took a moment to adjust to the darkness and Yuki tried to figure out what time it was and why he had so suddenly woken up. He turned to look at his bedside, the clock on his small table flashing back a bright ‘03:26 AM’ at him.
Yuki frowned, running a pale hand through his messy hair, head tilting to the side in frustration. Why was he awake at this time of the night? He was usually a rather deep sleeper and he did not have any school today, so why wasn’t he still sleeping?
The rat suddenly lifted his head, his ears having grasped a soft - so soft that Yuki normally wouldn’t have heard it if it wasn’t for the blessed silence of the night - noise. A thin eyebrow rose and Yuki pushed the blanket back and slowly dragged himself out of bed, slipping on his slippers before quietly stepping out of the room.
The boy’s ears strained to silence and he remained unmoving for a few seconds before he heard almost inaudible whimpers coming from a nearby room. The next room, as a matter of fact. Yuki turned to his right - still being careful as to no wake anyone up - and headed towards the bedroom of the person that he tended to avoid during daytime.
Stopping in front of the door, he decided against calling out his cousin’s name and instead slid the door open before stepping in and closing it behind him.
More whimpers and what he thought were sobs greeted Yuki’s ears - it seemed his cousin had not noticed his presence or was still simply asleep. Yuki stared at the bed on the other side of the room for a minute or so, unsure of what to do, until he suddenly the soft sobs and sniffles were accompanied by whispered words.
“… Shishou. Shishou. Where are you? Shishou...”
The rat kept staring at the lump on the bed in bewilderment until another thought settled in his mind.
‘His voice. There’s something different about his voice.’
Yuki slowly approached the bed - or rather, stumbled his way over - before bumping into the side of the bed. His hand reached over to his left and when he found Kyo’s night table, he looked for the lamp and turned it on.
The sight that greeted him left Yuki surprised. The boy blinked, his mouth slightly parting in confusion, his mind telling him that he was dreaming.
Actually, if he was still sleepy before, he was now very much awake, purple eyes wide open in disbelief.
It took Yuki a moment to realize it, but there was no mistaking the small orange furry head peeking out from under the dark blanket. The cat’s eyes were tightly shut and one tiny paw stuck out on each side of its head. It was then that the mouse noticed the tears glistening at the corner of those closed eyelids.
Yuki leaned down closer and realized with a start that there was a thin strip of red liquid on the cat’s head.
‘Stupid cat. Must have passed out in pain or something. He should take better care of himself. His fall must have been nastier then we thought.’
Carefully extracting the other Sohma from his bed, Yuki immediately knew that something else wasn’t quite right with the kitten.
‘… wait a second - kitten!’
And as if on cue, a small poof! and a cloud of smoke surrounded him.
Yuki looked down at a small naked boy, tears still spilling behind the closed eyes as the warm bundle snuggled closer to the rat and Yuki’s forehead creased in worry while he tightened his hold on the young boy in his lap.
“… it hurts. Shishou, it hurts.”
It was then that the mouse also noticed the rather large bruise on the boy’s right shoulder. He winced, wondering how that could have happened - how many more injuries did he have?
For a while Yuki only stared down at the child in his arms before the latter suddenly stirred and crimson eyes fluttered open, still shimmering with tears. The little boy looked sleepily back at the grey-haired older boy before his eyes widened in awe - his pain seeming momentarily forgotten.
“Yu-chan? No. Who are you? Where am I? Where’s shishou? Where’s Yu-chan? H’ru-chan? Kag’ra-chan?”
The childish voice grew more and more frantic and Yuki could only respond by holding closer the redheaded boy that reminded him so much of his archrival and whispering comforting words in his ears - although they were both still utterly confused by the situation.
“Hush. It’s alright. You’re safe here, don’t worry. What’s your name, little neko?”
The boy blinked at him, with something akin to wonder appearing in his red eyes.
“Kyo.”
And Yuki blinked back, numbly nodding his head as all the facts added up - the cut on his head, the injured shoulder, the kitten, the transformation, those orange hair, those crimson eyes, that familiar although higher voice. And then he wondered how the possibility that this was Kyo had completely flown out is head.
This was Kyo’s room after all.
And the tyke was an exact mini-sized replica of his cat cousin.
And then Yuki wondered how come he had taken his cousin in his arms as if it was the most normal thing in the world. And why the contact wasn’t completely unfamiliar when the rat could only remember that the only times he had touched his cousin were during fights.
Small hands suddenly tugged at his nightshirt and Yuki down at wide, innocent eyes. The boy - no, Kyo started crying softly again.
“It hurts. I want shishou. I want Yu-chan. It hurts.”
Suddenly crashing back down to earth, Yuki slowly stood up and headed towards the door. Sliding it open, he slipped out of the room. Small Kyo was still securely in his arms as he made his way to the bathroom.
Upon entering the bathroom, Yuki’s hand quickly found the light switch as he flicked it up before closing the door behind him. He then strode to the tub and carefully sat down the small boy in his arms on the edge.
Yuki then walked over to the sink and opened the mirror, revealing a few shelves. He grabbed the first aid kit and went back to his young cousin. The boy was still staring at him in awe.
The silver-haired boy then kneeled down and dropped the plastic box on the floor. He opened the kit and took out a small bottle as well as some cotton balls.
“This might sting. Don’t try to move too much and I’ll try to be as gentle as possible, alright? I’m sorry if I hurt you, koneko.”
A small head of messy redhead bounced a few times before Kyo stopped moving and obediently looked down as Yuki poured drops of a clear liquid on a cotton puff before he leaned closer and gently ran thin fingers through the orange hair.
When Yuki finally found the cut - it was actually on his cousin’s forehead - he softly dabbed at the thin red line. Kyo pursed his lips tightly, struggling to hold back the new tears threatening to escape. Yuki could only smile fondly at the cat.
‘This should do for now. I’ll call Hatori in the morning to come check on him. I don’t know what other injuries he could’ve gotten from falling down the stairs.’
Yuki then put everything away and picked back up young Kyo and left the bathroom. He went back into his cousin’s bedroom before noticing that the boy was shivering in his arms. Yuki suddenly realized that the child was still naked.
“Are you cold, Kyo?”
The small boy nodded against his neck.
Upon putting his cousin down on his bed, Yuki saw the pair of flannel pants and the white t-shirt crumpled up on the bed. Throwing the pants on a nearby chair, the young man then took the t-shirt and nodded to himself. He turned back to Kyo and pulled the piece of clothing down over his cousin’s small form. Kyo wrinkled his nose in shame when he saw how tiny he seemed in the shirt.
The smaller Sohma let out a small yawn, a tiny hand covering his open mouth. Yuki could only grin at the sight of a pintsized Kyo sleepily rubbing his eyes - partially hidden by a completely dishevelled mop of orange hair - and practically swimming in an oversized t-shirt, cheeks still flushed in embarrassment.
‘How cute.’
“Go to sleep koneko.”
“Ah - could you stay with me? Please? I don’t want to be alone. I don’t know where shishou and Yu-chan are.”
‘Shishou. He might be talking about Kazuma-san… about shihan.’
Kyo sniffled, his eyes one again brimming with tears and Yuki quickly pulled him in his arms, slowly rocking him in his lap.
“It’s alright, Kyo. We’ll call him in the morning, alright? Right now you need to rest.”
Kyo snuggled closer.
“What’s your name?”
Yuki smiled softly, tightening his hold on his cousin.
“Yuki.”
“Yuki-chan… will you help me find Yu-chan?” The older boy frowned.
“Yu-chan?”
“Kito-san took him away from me.” Yuki’s eyes widened.
‘Kito-san? Why- who’s Kito? And why does that name scare me so much?’
Kyo quietly cried in his cousin’s arms.
“Kito-san took Yu-chan away from me. Please help me find him, Yuki-chan… I miss Yu-chan.”
“I will try, koneko. Now hush, go to sleep Kyo.”
The older Sohma carefully leaned back and lied down on the bed, the cat’s smaller body comfortably hugging him, his head fitting under Yuki’s chin as the latter wrapped a protective arm around his waist and pulled the blanket over them.
Kyo’s childish voice grew fainter as his eyelids slowly dropped and his voice faltered as he slipped away into a deep slumber.
“Thank you Yuki-chan. I’ll find you Yu-chan. I miss you so much Yu-chan. Yu-chan…”
A final thought crossed Yuki’s mind as his own purple orbs closed while the soft and warm breathing of Kyo lulled him to sleep.
‘Yu-chan… I’ve heard that name before… I’ve heard all those names before…’
---
August 5, 2005