Childhood Memories - Chapter 04
Title: Childhood Memories
Author: Viv
Genre: drama/angst/romance/humor
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Fruits Basket [manga]
Pairing: Yuki/Kyo
Disclaimer: *shakes head* of course they're mine, like, DUH!
Summary: “Ah… what do you think happened to Kyo-kun?” [multi-chaptered: (01) (02) (03)]
“Kyo-chaaaaan! Is that youuuu? Long time no see, squirt!”
Yuki blinked.
And young Kyo also blinked and stared for a moment at the adult Sohma, his small hands tightening on his mug of milk.
Shigure simply responded by seating himself down on the floor and leaning even closer over the table, his nose an inch away from the kitten’s as he kept grinning happily.
“What’s the matter, little squirt? Don’t you recognize me? Oh, my poor heart!” he exclaimed, suddenly straightening himself and dramatically placing his hand on his chest, “Kyo-chaaaan, do you know how much I suffer from the fact that-”
“Shigure, your heart is on your left, not your right.”
The dog paused for a fraction of a second before deciding on ignoring the scowling silver-haired teen as he raised the hand in his lap, holding up his index finger. “For most people, you mean! As for me, I am so generous that I even hold my heart in my hand! After all, I-”
“You look like Gure.”
Shigure stopped again and looked down into large suspicious red eyes. “But you look older than him.”
The older Sohma only giggled and, flicking his wrist repeatedly, made an almost delicate up-and-down waving motion with his hand.
“Well of course, Kyo-chan, just because you’ve been away for a little while doesn’t mean others stop growing, do they? Ah, but I do remember that you absolutely loved those butterscotch candies! Do you still do? I mean, you must have eaten many other things too since you do seem to have grown a quarter of a millimetre or two since I’ve last seen you! Oh dear, don’t I feel old now? Old, I am getting so old! How this saddens me so!”
Little Kyo’s eyes had only kept widening during Shigure’s rambling and an excited smile appeared on his face at the mention of the candies. He quickly placed his mug of the table before scrambling out of Yuki’s lap, much to the shock (and disappointment) of the rat, and jumped into Shigure’s, his arms winding around the dog’s neck. The older Sohma, who was busy carefully dabbing off his imaginary tears, let go of his sleeve and wrapped his arms around the child’s waist.
“Gure!”
“Well bless this boy! He finally recognized me! Kyo-chan, my heart sings and leaps in glee for you to remember me! You have made me the happiest man on earth, to get the chance to have such a cute little relative in my arms and-”
“Shigure,” Yuki growled, interrupting his cousin, “shut. Up.”
“My, my, no need to get angry, Yuki-kun! Why so jealous?” Shigure chuckled, rubbing his nose on they younger cousin’s chin and in the process tickling Kyo’s small nose with his dark hair. Kyo’s cheeks, in turn, turned a faint pink as he giggled gleefully and tried swapping the hair away as he wrinkled his nose. “Or is it that you need my approval on your looks? You share good genes with your brother, Yuki! Ah, well of course, since you are still young and I am Shigure Sohma and all my little cousins look up to m-”
“Shut up, perverted inu!”
Yuki, by then, was more than tempted to just reach over and grab chibi Kyo for fear that the boy would be infected by the dog’s stupidity. Instead, his hands fisted themselves over his pants as he tried to prevent himself from ripping his cousin away from the man. Kyo looked happy, and Yuki didn’t have the heart to deny him anything at the moment.
And so the teen finally settled on watching his cousins laughing together. Yuki had realized that he had never seen the dog of his family so open and affectionate, unless it was with Hatori and his stupid brother Ayame, and yet, there was something… different in the way Shigure held the young cat. He was holding small Kyo and looking on at him almost like- like-
'… like an older brother would.'
Yuki’s violet orbs widened for a short moment, unseen by the two other occupants of the room, before smiling softly at the sight his cousins made. He slowly turned his head away after a while, feeling as if he did not have the right to watch such a sweet scene, and was startled when he saw someone standing in the doorway that connected the room to the kitchen.
Tohru smiled at him before trudging over and crouching down beside her friend. She leaned closer to Yuki and, letting out a soft giggle, directed her gaze at Shigure and small Kyo, who were then tickling each other, as she whispered, “Aren’t they just adorable?”
The warm smile on the brunette’s face widened as she tilted her head, “I have never seen Shigure-san like this. Shigure-san seems to have the same look in his eyes when he’s looking at Kyo-kun right now as Ayame-san has when he sees you, Sohma-kun.”
Yuki wasn’t quite sure what to answer as he opened his mouth and-
Heard a rumbling noise coming from beside him.
All eyes turned to little Kyo, who’s flushed cheeks darkened to a lovely shade of tomato red as the blush slowly spread out throughout his face to his ears.
And Tohru turned hysterical as she quickly stood up and ran to the kitchen, almost stumbling to the floor as she did so.
“Ah- ah, I’m so sorry, Kyo-kun! The food, I forgot to bring out breakfast, it’s already past nine and I haven’t even set the table yet! I’m so, so, so sorry, you must all be starving! This is all my fault! Oh no, oh no, oh no!”
Kyo, on the other hand, blinked repeatedly after the girl before settling on giggling. After a moment, while his two cousins watched him and smiled at his pink cheeks, he made his way out of Shigure’s arms and crawled over to the mouse’s side before wrapping his short arms around the latter’s arm and cuddling it. Yuki looked down at the mop of orange hair in surprise before chuckling and pulling the chibified cat into his lap.
“You looked lonely, Yuki-chan.” Kyo snuggled himself into the teen’s chest.
Yuki and Shigure’s eyes widened simultaneously.
Finally, the silver-haired Sohma smiled down softly at the worried boy in his lap and fondly pat his head, suddenly remembering his injury, before gently turning him around in his lap so that Kyo would face the table. The rat then took the still half-full cup of warm milk on the table and carefully placed it between Kyo’s tiny hands.
“Drink this up before Honda-san comes out with breakfast, koneko. After that I’ll check your cut and bruises again and find you some proper clothing alright?”
The child cat beamed up at the older boy and nodded as he took a sip of milk and returned his attention to the cooking show still airing on the television.
---
“Ah… what do you think happened to Kyo-kun?”
Yuki and Shigure looked up from their bowls of rice. Their oginiri friend blushed as she looked down at the table.
“Ah- ah, not that you need to answer, I’m not blaming any of you, I’m just curious, you really don’t need to ans-”
“Well,” the dog drawled, interrupting her babbling, “that’s an interesting question, my little flower.” He paused, putting down his bowl and chopsticks before raising a hand and tapping his chin with a slim finger. The other hand went under the elbow of the raised arm and held it up as Shigure looked up and seemed to ponder the question.
Yuki sweatdropped.
“Ah! I cannot think of a proper answer, so I might as well tell you the truth!” the writer finally grinned. “I gave Kyo a drink from the fountain of youth!”
Tohru blinked. Yuki frowned.
“Why yes, the pond in our garden! It is a small fountain of youth! If you drink it, it will cause your body to physically reverse itself into time and become younger!”
The frown of Yuki’s face deepened and a vein popped on his forehead. He dropped his bowl on the table.
Tohru blushed again and her brown eyes became large. “A- a fountain of youth? The pond? Youth? The water from the pond is magical? I’m so sorry, I never knew!” The young girl waved her arms around in shock.
Yuki’s eye twitched.
And he threw his chopstick as the older man.
“Honda-san, please do not believe everything that stupid mutt say.”
The brunette’s eyes became swirls, the redness of her cheeks intensifying.
“Ah- ah, you mean it’s not true? Oh- oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so gullible!”
Shigure sighed and pouted at his cousin, his nose red. “Ah, Yuki! Are you implying that I am a liar? Yuki, how can you hurt me so? How can y-”
“The book.”
“Huh?” the dog rubbed his sore nose, confused.
“The book.” Yuki glowered at his older cousin.
Shigure shrunk back, eyes wide and sweatdrops appearing on his forehead. “Huh?”
“The magic book my idiotic bother gave you. Tohru read something in it and when she looked up, Kyo happened to be sitting across from her.”
Tohru started sobbing and shrieking. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault I shouldn’t have read that page. I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry Kyo-kun, it’s all my fault that you’ve-”
“It’s alright, my pretty flower, we’re not mad at you for-”
Yuki sent his empty cup - again - flying at the dark-haired man, effectively smacking him on the forehead and sending his head reeling backward for a few seconds. “It’s not your fault, Honda-san.”
“Yuki-kun is so mean to me.” Shigure whined.
A sweet laugh echoed through the room.
All gazes were directed into Yuki’s lap. Kyo, cheeks pink and eyes closed, was laughing as he placed his hands on the table and bent his head down slightly. Yuki had been feeding him by carefully dropping food in his small mouth with his chopsticks.
Time suddenly seemed to stop for the rest of the room’s occupants.
At the back of his mind, the rat noticed that Shigure seemed more than shocked at Kyo’s expression. The dog’s mouth was open but no sound came out as he froze for a moment. Slowly, though, a small, soft smile formed on his lip, and the adolescent thought he saw a flicker of something like regret and sadness in his cousin’s eyes. Before he could be sure, however, Shigure’s gaze became affectionate.
Tohru had covered her mouth with both of her hands. She stared at little Kyo for a while before trying to suppress the tears of joy that threatened to leave her large chocolate eyes. Was this really Kyo-kun? Was this the boy that she lived with? Was this how he used to be before Akito, before the curse really started weighing down on him? The girl smiled tenderly at the boy, marvelling over the boy’s actions and wishing that she had met him as a child.
Yuki did not move for a while as the small bundle of warmth in his lap kept laughing.
With a start, Yuki realized that he did not remember ever hearing his redheaded cousin laughing so freely, being so carefree, as if nothing in the world worried him. Yuki realized that he never remembered seeing Kyo so open and happy.
Kyo was laughing.
And Yuki had never heard such a beautiful sound in his life.
Suddenly Yuki felt his heart tighten in his chest as he looked down at the lively kitten sitting on his thighs. Chibi Kyo looked up at him, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he opened his red orbs and kept laughing.
Something flashed through the rat’s mind, a brief image of a small boy with messy bright orange hair and large ruby eyes reaching out a hand to a slightly smaller boy, crouching under a tall tree, with silver hair and large amethyst eyes. Amethyst eyes filled with tears and ruby eyes filled with concern clashed and as the fairer child crumpled to the ground, the other one dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the crying boy.
“… I’ll protect you!”
The smaller boy looked up and whispered something. The concern and sadness on his companion’s face transformed into a fierce determination as he pulled the grey-haired youth closer.
“I promise!”
The redhead dropped a soft kiss onto the head of the sobbing child.
‘My dream… was that my dream last night?’
Another imaged flashed through Yuki’s mind.
The small boy, the redhead from earlier, was holding a tiny creature in his arms. He carefully cradled the tiny rat closer to his chest and dropped a small kiss on the grey head. The rat opened its eyes and looked up at the boy before raising itself in his arms and giving the boy’s cheek a small lick with his pink tongue, as if to reassure him. The child laughed and blushed, letting the rat rub its head against soft cheek.
Yuki realized that Kyo’s laugh was resonating through his mind.
“Yu-chan!”
“Yuki?”
“Sohma-kun?”
“Yuki-chan?”
… Wait, Sohma-kun?
Yuki tore his gaze away from the red orbs looking up at him before noticing that everyone was staring at him.
Small warm hands suddenly gently cradled his face and Yuki tilted his head back down to look at chibi Kyo, worry written all over the boy’s face. A soft finger trailed up his right cheek and wiped something under his eye.
The young redhead then pulled his hand away and still held out his finger. Yuki saw the clear droplet resting on it, glistening back at him.
He was… crying.
Crying?
Kyo stood up in front of Yuki, making him slightly taller than the rat, before lowering his head and dropping a small kiss on the silver-haired boy’s forehead.
“… I’ll protect you… I promise!”
The rat abruptly wrapped his arms around Kyo’s shoulders and buried his head into the crook of the boy’s neck.
Yuki broke down.
‘Why… Why am I crying? Why?’
Kyo wrapped his arms around Yuki’s neck and pulled him closer, concern and sadness etched across his childish features.
‘Why? Why am I crying? What were those images? Why, Kyo? Tell me why you’ve never looked at me like that? Why, Kyo? Tell me why you never smiled like that to me? Tell me why I can’t remember ever seeing you smile so sincerely? Tell me why I can’t remember ever seeing you smile like that to me? Tell me why you refused to care about me? Tell me why I’ve never remembered being held like this and yet your embrace seems so… familiar?’
Yuki failed to see the guilt and regret underlying Shigure’s calm gaze.
---
November 6, 2005
Author: Viv
Genre: drama/angst/romance/humor
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Fruits Basket [manga]
Pairing: Yuki/Kyo
Disclaimer: *shakes head* of course they're mine, like, DUH!
Summary: “Ah… what do you think happened to Kyo-kun?” [multi-chaptered: (01) (02) (03)]
“Kyo-chaaaaan! Is that youuuu? Long time no see, squirt!”
Yuki blinked.
And young Kyo also blinked and stared for a moment at the adult Sohma, his small hands tightening on his mug of milk.
Shigure simply responded by seating himself down on the floor and leaning even closer over the table, his nose an inch away from the kitten’s as he kept grinning happily.
“What’s the matter, little squirt? Don’t you recognize me? Oh, my poor heart!” he exclaimed, suddenly straightening himself and dramatically placing his hand on his chest, “Kyo-chaaaan, do you know how much I suffer from the fact that-”
“Shigure, your heart is on your left, not your right.”
The dog paused for a fraction of a second before deciding on ignoring the scowling silver-haired teen as he raised the hand in his lap, holding up his index finger. “For most people, you mean! As for me, I am so generous that I even hold my heart in my hand! After all, I-”
“You look like Gure.”
Shigure stopped again and looked down into large suspicious red eyes. “But you look older than him.”
The older Sohma only giggled and, flicking his wrist repeatedly, made an almost delicate up-and-down waving motion with his hand.
“Well of course, Kyo-chan, just because you’ve been away for a little while doesn’t mean others stop growing, do they? Ah, but I do remember that you absolutely loved those butterscotch candies! Do you still do? I mean, you must have eaten many other things too since you do seem to have grown a quarter of a millimetre or two since I’ve last seen you! Oh dear, don’t I feel old now? Old, I am getting so old! How this saddens me so!”
Little Kyo’s eyes had only kept widening during Shigure’s rambling and an excited smile appeared on his face at the mention of the candies. He quickly placed his mug of the table before scrambling out of Yuki’s lap, much to the shock (and disappointment) of the rat, and jumped into Shigure’s, his arms winding around the dog’s neck. The older Sohma, who was busy carefully dabbing off his imaginary tears, let go of his sleeve and wrapped his arms around the child’s waist.
“Gure!”
“Well bless this boy! He finally recognized me! Kyo-chan, my heart sings and leaps in glee for you to remember me! You have made me the happiest man on earth, to get the chance to have such a cute little relative in my arms and-”
“Shigure,” Yuki growled, interrupting his cousin, “shut. Up.”
“My, my, no need to get angry, Yuki-kun! Why so jealous?” Shigure chuckled, rubbing his nose on they younger cousin’s chin and in the process tickling Kyo’s small nose with his dark hair. Kyo’s cheeks, in turn, turned a faint pink as he giggled gleefully and tried swapping the hair away as he wrinkled his nose. “Or is it that you need my approval on your looks? You share good genes with your brother, Yuki! Ah, well of course, since you are still young and I am Shigure Sohma and all my little cousins look up to m-”
“Shut up, perverted inu!”
Yuki, by then, was more than tempted to just reach over and grab chibi Kyo for fear that the boy would be infected by the dog’s stupidity. Instead, his hands fisted themselves over his pants as he tried to prevent himself from ripping his cousin away from the man. Kyo looked happy, and Yuki didn’t have the heart to deny him anything at the moment.
And so the teen finally settled on watching his cousins laughing together. Yuki had realized that he had never seen the dog of his family so open and affectionate, unless it was with Hatori and his stupid brother Ayame, and yet, there was something… different in the way Shigure held the young cat. He was holding small Kyo and looking on at him almost like- like-
'… like an older brother would.'
Yuki’s violet orbs widened for a short moment, unseen by the two other occupants of the room, before smiling softly at the sight his cousins made. He slowly turned his head away after a while, feeling as if he did not have the right to watch such a sweet scene, and was startled when he saw someone standing in the doorway that connected the room to the kitchen.
Tohru smiled at him before trudging over and crouching down beside her friend. She leaned closer to Yuki and, letting out a soft giggle, directed her gaze at Shigure and small Kyo, who were then tickling each other, as she whispered, “Aren’t they just adorable?”
The warm smile on the brunette’s face widened as she tilted her head, “I have never seen Shigure-san like this. Shigure-san seems to have the same look in his eyes when he’s looking at Kyo-kun right now as Ayame-san has when he sees you, Sohma-kun.”
Yuki wasn’t quite sure what to answer as he opened his mouth and-
Heard a rumbling noise coming from beside him.
All eyes turned to little Kyo, who’s flushed cheeks darkened to a lovely shade of tomato red as the blush slowly spread out throughout his face to his ears.
And Tohru turned hysterical as she quickly stood up and ran to the kitchen, almost stumbling to the floor as she did so.
“Ah- ah, I’m so sorry, Kyo-kun! The food, I forgot to bring out breakfast, it’s already past nine and I haven’t even set the table yet! I’m so, so, so sorry, you must all be starving! This is all my fault! Oh no, oh no, oh no!”
Kyo, on the other hand, blinked repeatedly after the girl before settling on giggling. After a moment, while his two cousins watched him and smiled at his pink cheeks, he made his way out of Shigure’s arms and crawled over to the mouse’s side before wrapping his short arms around the latter’s arm and cuddling it. Yuki looked down at the mop of orange hair in surprise before chuckling and pulling the chibified cat into his lap.
“You looked lonely, Yuki-chan.” Kyo snuggled himself into the teen’s chest.
Yuki and Shigure’s eyes widened simultaneously.
Finally, the silver-haired Sohma smiled down softly at the worried boy in his lap and fondly pat his head, suddenly remembering his injury, before gently turning him around in his lap so that Kyo would face the table. The rat then took the still half-full cup of warm milk on the table and carefully placed it between Kyo’s tiny hands.
“Drink this up before Honda-san comes out with breakfast, koneko. After that I’ll check your cut and bruises again and find you some proper clothing alright?”
The child cat beamed up at the older boy and nodded as he took a sip of milk and returned his attention to the cooking show still airing on the television.
---
“Ah… what do you think happened to Kyo-kun?”
Yuki and Shigure looked up from their bowls of rice. Their oginiri friend blushed as she looked down at the table.
“Ah- ah, not that you need to answer, I’m not blaming any of you, I’m just curious, you really don’t need to ans-”
“Well,” the dog drawled, interrupting her babbling, “that’s an interesting question, my little flower.” He paused, putting down his bowl and chopsticks before raising a hand and tapping his chin with a slim finger. The other hand went under the elbow of the raised arm and held it up as Shigure looked up and seemed to ponder the question.
Yuki sweatdropped.
“Ah! I cannot think of a proper answer, so I might as well tell you the truth!” the writer finally grinned. “I gave Kyo a drink from the fountain of youth!”
Tohru blinked. Yuki frowned.
“Why yes, the pond in our garden! It is a small fountain of youth! If you drink it, it will cause your body to physically reverse itself into time and become younger!”
The frown of Yuki’s face deepened and a vein popped on his forehead. He dropped his bowl on the table.
Tohru blushed again and her brown eyes became large. “A- a fountain of youth? The pond? Youth? The water from the pond is magical? I’m so sorry, I never knew!” The young girl waved her arms around in shock.
Yuki’s eye twitched.
And he threw his chopstick as the older man.
“Honda-san, please do not believe everything that stupid mutt say.”
The brunette’s eyes became swirls, the redness of her cheeks intensifying.
“Ah- ah, you mean it’s not true? Oh- oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so gullible!”
Shigure sighed and pouted at his cousin, his nose red. “Ah, Yuki! Are you implying that I am a liar? Yuki, how can you hurt me so? How can y-”
“The book.”
“Huh?” the dog rubbed his sore nose, confused.
“The book.” Yuki glowered at his older cousin.
Shigure shrunk back, eyes wide and sweatdrops appearing on his forehead. “Huh?”
“The magic book my idiotic bother gave you. Tohru read something in it and when she looked up, Kyo happened to be sitting across from her.”
Tohru started sobbing and shrieking. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault I shouldn’t have read that page. I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry Kyo-kun, it’s all my fault that you’ve-”
“It’s alright, my pretty flower, we’re not mad at you for-”
Yuki sent his empty cup - again - flying at the dark-haired man, effectively smacking him on the forehead and sending his head reeling backward for a few seconds. “It’s not your fault, Honda-san.”
“Yuki-kun is so mean to me.” Shigure whined.
A sweet laugh echoed through the room.
All gazes were directed into Yuki’s lap. Kyo, cheeks pink and eyes closed, was laughing as he placed his hands on the table and bent his head down slightly. Yuki had been feeding him by carefully dropping food in his small mouth with his chopsticks.
Time suddenly seemed to stop for the rest of the room’s occupants.
At the back of his mind, the rat noticed that Shigure seemed more than shocked at Kyo’s expression. The dog’s mouth was open but no sound came out as he froze for a moment. Slowly, though, a small, soft smile formed on his lip, and the adolescent thought he saw a flicker of something like regret and sadness in his cousin’s eyes. Before he could be sure, however, Shigure’s gaze became affectionate.
Tohru had covered her mouth with both of her hands. She stared at little Kyo for a while before trying to suppress the tears of joy that threatened to leave her large chocolate eyes. Was this really Kyo-kun? Was this the boy that she lived with? Was this how he used to be before Akito, before the curse really started weighing down on him? The girl smiled tenderly at the boy, marvelling over the boy’s actions and wishing that she had met him as a child.
Yuki did not move for a while as the small bundle of warmth in his lap kept laughing.
With a start, Yuki realized that he did not remember ever hearing his redheaded cousin laughing so freely, being so carefree, as if nothing in the world worried him. Yuki realized that he never remembered seeing Kyo so open and happy.
Kyo was laughing.
And Yuki had never heard such a beautiful sound in his life.
Suddenly Yuki felt his heart tighten in his chest as he looked down at the lively kitten sitting on his thighs. Chibi Kyo looked up at him, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he opened his red orbs and kept laughing.
Something flashed through the rat’s mind, a brief image of a small boy with messy bright orange hair and large ruby eyes reaching out a hand to a slightly smaller boy, crouching under a tall tree, with silver hair and large amethyst eyes. Amethyst eyes filled with tears and ruby eyes filled with concern clashed and as the fairer child crumpled to the ground, the other one dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the crying boy.
“… I’ll protect you!”
The smaller boy looked up and whispered something. The concern and sadness on his companion’s face transformed into a fierce determination as he pulled the grey-haired youth closer.
“I promise!”
The redhead dropped a soft kiss onto the head of the sobbing child.
‘My dream… was that my dream last night?’
Another imaged flashed through Yuki’s mind.
The small boy, the redhead from earlier, was holding a tiny creature in his arms. He carefully cradled the tiny rat closer to his chest and dropped a small kiss on the grey head. The rat opened its eyes and looked up at the boy before raising itself in his arms and giving the boy’s cheek a small lick with his pink tongue, as if to reassure him. The child laughed and blushed, letting the rat rub its head against soft cheek.
Yuki realized that Kyo’s laugh was resonating through his mind.
“Yu-chan!”
“Yuki?”
“Sohma-kun?”
“Yuki-chan?”
… Wait, Sohma-kun?
Yuki tore his gaze away from the red orbs looking up at him before noticing that everyone was staring at him.
Small warm hands suddenly gently cradled his face and Yuki tilted his head back down to look at chibi Kyo, worry written all over the boy’s face. A soft finger trailed up his right cheek and wiped something under his eye.
The young redhead then pulled his hand away and still held out his finger. Yuki saw the clear droplet resting on it, glistening back at him.
He was… crying.
Crying?
Kyo stood up in front of Yuki, making him slightly taller than the rat, before lowering his head and dropping a small kiss on the silver-haired boy’s forehead.
“… I’ll protect you… I promise!”
The rat abruptly wrapped his arms around Kyo’s shoulders and buried his head into the crook of the boy’s neck.
Yuki broke down.
‘Why… Why am I crying? Why?’
Kyo wrapped his arms around Yuki’s neck and pulled him closer, concern and sadness etched across his childish features.
‘Why? Why am I crying? What were those images? Why, Kyo? Tell me why you’ve never looked at me like that? Why, Kyo? Tell me why you never smiled like that to me? Tell me why I can’t remember ever seeing you smile so sincerely? Tell me why I can’t remember ever seeing you smile like that to me? Tell me why you refused to care about me? Tell me why I’ve never remembered being held like this and yet your embrace seems so… familiar?’
Yuki failed to see the guilt and regret underlying Shigure’s calm gaze.
---
November 6, 2005