Defying Heaven 
1st Perception: God's Will
by Ina-chan
First Posted Online:  December 25, 2001
History:  Ina-chan's first Fruits Basket Fic ever

            He watched the clear liquid flow freely down the washbasin as it escaped the confines of the faucet. It was a normal habit and necessity to wash one’s hands… to let the fresh cleansing water run through your soapy hands and let it snatch the dirt away. For him, it was as natural as breathing… almost comforting. Except on days like today.

            Most especially on days like today…

            [“Hatori,” Shigure’s voice filtered quietly through his door.

            Normally he would simply ignore the voice, do about his business until the owner gave up and went away. But normally, Shigure doesn’t call him by his proper name. Or speak with that uncharacteristic trace of grave urgency.

            “Hatori,” Shigure repeated, “There’s been an ‘accident’.”        

The young man waited for that familiar feeling of dread to pass over him, before answering, “Who is it?”

“Yuki.”

            The young man closed his eyes and ran his hands tiredly over his face, “Tell Akito that I’ll be on my way.”]

            It seems like on days like today, dirt seemed to cling with more resilience on his hands. No matter how hard he scrubbed, no matter how much his hands turned raw, no matter how much it stung… the dirt won’t go away. He felt it underneath his fingernails, and swiftly crawling over his skin. With atypical force, he tugged at his clothes and almost desperately brought handfuls of the resilient cleansing liquid to counter the unpleasant sensation quickly making its way to his face.

            [“This bird…” Akito’s soft voice filtered almost inaudibly, as he gently caressed the tame animal perched inside the open cage, “…no matter how many times I let it out to fly, it always comes back to me and sits contentedly in its cage. Do you know why?”

            The young man simply replied with silence. He was a man of few words, and normally had no patience for people who talked around in circles. However, he knew of the task that was ahead of him, and was thankful of any short amount of time that may delay it.

“It’s because…” The Head of the House continued as he closed the cage with great care, “…it knows how fragile it is... how weak it has become… and this cage is its only protection from the cruelties of the outside world.” Akito slowly made his way to face his kneeling companion, “As the Head of the House of the Souma Family, I have a responsibility to protect our vulnerable.”

Hattori found his gaze unconsciously wandering to the hallway behind a certain wall, which led to a certain small dark room. A sharp pang of guilt flashed through him, as he is reminded of who was being punished in that room at that moment, and knowing his indirect responsibility. 

“Hattori, I’m afraid I must ask you again…” The younger boy knelt down before him and leaned closer to whisper almost breathlessly in his hear, “…do it for the Souma Family… for Yuki…”

The young man closed his eyes as he willed himself not to instinctively shrink away as he felt death-cold fingers lightly stroke his cheek in a soft caress.

“…for me.”] 

He had done it many times in the past. He did it without question or hesitation, at the whim of his father’s request or by the Head of the House’s order. But still, when days like today happen. When he was forced to erase all traces of the laughter from a group of children at play.  When he was forced to erase the miniscule traces of genuine happiness from one child’s face… he is reminded of how cruel a dragon has to be, in order to protect the treasure entrusted to him. How dragons crawl on earth, mud, and ash. How dirt clings to their skin, and no matter how hard he scrubbed or how much water he washed himself... the damning dirt will never go away.  

The faint coughing across the room snapped the young man back to reality. He quickly dried himself and gave back his full attention to his patient, recovering on the futon. Somehow, he always found himself in these situations as well... automatically coming to the aid of an ailing family member. A pair of intense purple eyes opened, highly contrasting against the small snow-white pallid delicate face that held them.  

“You had a very bad attack,” Hattori stated the obvious, “How are you feeling now?”  

“I can’t breathe,” Yuki replied, almost inaudibly, if not for the silence of the room  

“I’ll get your medicine,” Hattori stated as he started to get up on his feet, only to freeze as a small hand clung tightly to the hem of his school uniform. He looked questioningly back at the boy, but the child simply held on tightly as if his life depended on it, refusing to meet his gaze.  

“I can’t breathe.” The child stated again as he gripped his older cousin’s knee and violent sobs wracked through his tiny body  

“I’m sorry,” Hattori whispered as he placed a comforting hand on the little boy’s head and quietly gazed at a nonspecific point across the room, digesting the child’s weighted words in his mind. Though it was expected from The Mouse to be highly intelligent and gifted, it still never failed to amaze him to hear simple but profound words from this boy. Once again, that earlier pang of guilt seared painfully through his body.  

The Head of the House clearly refused permission for the sickly child to leave the immediate grounds without supervision. But Hattori knew that Yuki had made some friends from the outside, and was secretly sneaking out to play with them in one of the secluded gardens. He turned a blind eye to it, upon seeing his cousin improve. Until recently, the asthma attacks that almost consistently ravaged his younger cousin’s fragile body ceased to almost a complete halt.  In turn, he also turned a blind eye to the inevitable consequences. His act may have cost his cousin much more.  

“In order to breathe freely,” Hattori stated quietly, “You have to grow stronger, Yuki. When you’re strong enough… when we’re strong enough, we can all fly away to any place we want to go.”  

This child needs to go to a place where he can breathe. He needs to fly away to that place before the intensity of his eyes fade, before the rest of his body weakens with his lungs, before his spirit is broken and be reduced to nothing more but a tamed beautiful bird sitting contentedly in its protective cage.  

“Until then, we’ll have to endure it and help each other.”

End of 1^st Perspective
Continued on 2nd Perception: The Guardian Witness   

Ina-chan’s squawk:

                   AAAAAND this marks the end of the first chapter of my first “Fruits Basket” fanfic. Heh-heh… Ina-chan was the self-proclaimed “Queen of Angst” of Jonny Quest fanfics. How am I doing with Furuba? ^_^.  This particular writing style is actually something that I have been playing around with for the past two years. I started it in JQ, and for some strange reason I can’t seem to shake it off! I dunno. I just fell in love doing slice of life/ various perception vignettes. As you have guessed by now, this fic will focus on one particular incident in the manga… that incident with Yuki when he was seven-years-old. It’s also going to be a trilogy (I like groups of 3’s for some strange reason…) and the other two perspectives will be… well, you’ll find out when I post it. ^_^.  Comments, criticisms, bricks… you know where to send them

Ja!
Ina-chan