𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄 | Fruits Basket FF

(10)

unrevised.
/ chapter 10 /

Hatori remembered the day he took Kana to see Akito.

It was two years ago.

They had been dating for two months prior. She was the woman he wanted to marry, he thought. She was different to him, yet completely accepted his entire being despite his curse. She was everything he ever needed, and although being hesitant to hold her in his arms, he had let her into his heart and decided that this was who wanted to be with for the rest of his life.

So he took her to see Akito and asked him to let them marry. It didn't end well, of course.

Hatori walked away that day with an injured eye and a lover who became induced with trauma. Akito berated Kana for being the cause of his injuries and manipulated her into believing that wanting to marry Hatori was a mistake. He tormented her with horrid sentences and thus she became overridden with guilt.

Slowly after that day, she began to fade away until she was almost nothing of herself. Her heart couldn't take the trauma anymore. Hatori became regretful, and his heart broke to see her lose herself. He blamed himself and was filled with anguish.

Having to hear her apologise over and over again for not being able to protect him and being unable to help her had completely destroyed him. And so, eventually, he made a sacrifice to make her pain go away. The sacrifice in which erased his existence from her mind entirely. The precious memories they shared, their happiness and their pain, only Hatori remained with them by the time he was done.

He never showed up in front of her again, and he never loved a woman after that. Carrying many scars in his heart, Hatori closed his heart once again with a lock and threw away the key to it.

After two years of emptying his body of emotions, he suddenly found himself entangled with a mysterious girl named Ichika after promising himself he wouldn't get involved with anyone.

Seeing her majority of the time in a broken state that reminded him of Kana, he couldn't help but reach out to her, despite vowing to keep to himself. He didn't want to be helpless anymore. Maybe he still suffered from the guilt of being unable to help a person he loved, yet he couldn't turn a blind eye to Ichika. He found himself suddenly caring about her and this had made him uneasy.

"Akito! Please stop!"

Hatori squeezed his eyes shut as a pain shot through his chest, remembering the screams of Ichika and the panic yells of Kureno that took place not too long ago.

He felt like his past was repeating itself. He instantly regretted taking Ichika to see Akito. Now the girl sat before him in his office with an injured forehead and bled down one side of her face as he treated her. He noticed her navy eyes had returned to the emptiness after barely a day of seeing a faint sparkle in it.

Hatori felt a mix of emotions. Sadness, anxiety, guilt and anger. Once again, he blamed himself as the blue-haired Sohma began to break down in front of him.

He sat in silence as she explained how scared she was with her shaking melodic voice. She feared he would view her as a monster.

A question marked appeared in his head. He was confused. Why would he ever view her as such. She was just a fragile girl.

As many questions ran through his mind, she wept endlessly. He struggled on what to do or say and the lump in his throat made it hard for him to swallow. He saw a resemblance to himself, almost as if looking at mirror of himself. Her pain and sorrow reminded him of his, and he couldn't explain why he just wanted to reach out and wipe her tears away. Tell her that everything was going to be okay and comfort her.