~Yukimi's POV
"Sweetie" A soft gentle voice called out to me. There was a bright light shining over me which felt so warm and comforting at the same time. "Sweetie, you're safe now"
I groaned slowly fluttering my eyes open just as the bright light dimmed down a little bit.
My eyes looked up to see a tall man with golden brown eyes just like mine and brown hair.
He then gestured to the right of me which I slowly averted my attention to widening my eyes at the sight of a woman.
She had long white hair with red eyes and just from that I knew it was none other than my mother looking down at me with a warm wide smile on her face.
"MOM!!!!" I shouted pushing myself up quickly also realizing the pain wasn't there and neither were my wounds.
"I'm so happy to see you again" I whimpered burying my face into her stomach slowly looking up at her. "Please don't leave me all alone again"
"Honey you can't stay" She wrapped her arms around me. "There are others that still care for you and their waiting for your return" Slowly stroking my hair she then lifted my chin brushing away my tears with her index finger smiling warmly at me.
"Your mother is right...If you leave them behind they'll be hurt more than you think" My eyes flickered up to the man. He seemed familiar, however, I don't recall meeting him before.
He had a bright smile plastered upon his face before crouching down to my level.
Wait, Isn't he Akito's father.
Ren did show me a picture when I went to go visit with her.
If this is Akito's father... then that means...
I gasped as my eyes widened when the realization hit me.
This man is my father.
"You also have someone that cares a lot about you" She started again. "He's been hurt enough" She must mean Hatori. She is right about that though. I could only imagine the pain he's going through right now, probably blaming himself.
Are they telling me that I'm not dead yet?
Is there a way for me to go back?
What if this was all just a bad dream and I'm actually okay?
That can't be true all those events were too real for it to be just a dream.
My parents are correct about all of this.
The zodiac members have been through so much already. Especially Hatori and Akito, they might not be able to cope with another loss.
I'm sure that I am dead, how could I get back to the others.
"I don't understand... in what way can I get back?" My mother looked up at my father.
"Let us go for now sweetie, I promise this isn't the last time we will see each other"
Before I could say anything else the ground under me crumbled taking me with. Both of my parents stood at the edge of the cliff watching me fall into the darkness.
Is this a dream or am I dead?
Am I going to sit in utter darkness now that I am dead?
TICK! TICK! TICK!
I woke up in a white room confused as to where I was. Memories came rushing back to me flooding my mind with the events that recently took place.
The last thing I remembered was holding onto Akito before darkness took over.
Right, I never had time to ask myself why Akito would show up. If I weren't mistaken she was another person that hated me.
BANG!!!
A loud banging noise could be heard right outside of the room that I was in causing me to shoot straight up from the bed as I shrieked loudly covering my ears. The sudden movements caused a sharp pain to shoot up my left thigh and my side.
"Yukimi! Don't move so suddenly or you will reopen your wounds" My eyes flickered towards Momiji who stood next to my bed looking up at me with a worried expression.
"M-Momiji?" He smiled warmly at me as a few tears slipped from his eyes. "I'm not dead-" He cut me off.
"N-No, you're not" He brushed the back of his hand across his face wiping away the tears.
"How long have I been out?" I started. "Are Akito and the others alright?" I started panicking not knowing what had happened after I blacked out. "Hatori?" He grabbed my hand in his trying to get me to calm down before answering.
"Everyone's alright... It was you we were worried about... you have been out for three days now" He looked down before continuing as I gasped softly. "Akito locked herself in her room and won't eat...She's blaming herself that this even happened to you" He looked back up towards me. "Hatori blames himself too, he's feels worse for lying to you and hurting you" I placed my free hand over my mouth tears began to form in my eyes. "I think some of the curses broke too like Hiro's and mine"
He seemed happy about it but also saddened at the same time.
"I'm glad no one got hurt, maybe it would be best if I stayed away from Akito and everyone"
"Why are you saying that?" Momiji was confused as I let his hand go.
"I feel like I'm burdening everyone around me"
"Don't say that! You would be dead if you hadn't called anyone" He started to cry again. "That would be worse for me too" My eyes widened a bit as I stared at him. "When you, Hatori, and I are together people admire us as if we're a real family and that makes me happy" I pulled him into a hug tightly apologizing to him.
"I'm going to let everyone know that you're awake now" He had already left before I could stop him.
It would make sense that he'd believe that we're a family due to all the comments people make about us being one. I remember the story he told us of how his mother rejected him and so Hatori had to erase her memory.
But even still he always seems happy even when watching them from afar.
Momiji came back with the nurse waiting for her to finish checking my vitals.
"Looks like you might actually be able to go home today" My eyes widened, well I was out for about three days so as long as I keep my wounds clean and start eating I should be okay. "You've recovered so well after your incident" She added before walking out with her clipboard.
"YUKIMI!!" My head snapped towards the person shouting from the door. Before I could process or even say anything he was already hugging me.
"H-hatori" I softly said noticing Momiji slip out of the room shutting the door behind him.
Hatori buried his face into my neck breaking out into tears. I never thought I would have seen that but I'm glad he feels comfortable enough to express his feelings to me.
"I thought I was going to lose you" Hatori's voice sounded so pained that my eyes started to water as well while I gently brushed my fingers through his hair before slowly lifting up his head so he would look at me. "I'm sorry I couldn't prote-" I placed my finger on his lip to keep him quiet using my other hand to wipe his tears away.
"Don't be sorry, Its not your fault" I winced from the pain in my leg a bit hoping that he didn't notice.
The thought of leaving my friends or even Hatori, or Akito and my sister pained me. If I'm going, to be honest, I thought I was going to die.
Once Hatori calmed down, he began to explain to me why everyone was so on edge.
"The doctor told us that you wouldn't make it" I wasn't expecting to after being shot twice but I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if Akito or anyone else was hurt because of me.
"I was scared to leave you guys behind" I wanted to be positive about the whole situation but everyone is still scared and upset about all that happened.
How can I expect a negative situation to be positive?
"Especially not you Hatori... you wouldn't have deserved that" I couldn't hold myself back from crying any longer.
"I'm more than grateful that you made it" Hatori's hand gently brushed crossed mine. He stared into my eyes for a while.
Then unexpectedly leaned in.
My cheeks were flushed I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. His minty breath against my lips just as he brushed his lips against mine softly but long enough for me to inhale his scent.
Our lips were moving together in perfect sync until we were quickly forced to break away from the sound of someone clearing their throat. A sudden hunger filled my heart wanting him to embrace in his arms not letting go.
You don't usually find love at such an old age or at least I wasn't expecting someone much older than me.
Hatori is going to be the man that I love and cherish for the rest of my life.
"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything" Looking past Hatori I spot a shoulder-length brown hair girl with red eyes. She was wearing a skirt with heels and a white blouse.
Once my eyes settled on her face getting a good look at her I realized that it was my older sister standing in the doorway.
"Ayami?"My eyes widened causing me to stare without even blinking.
"I was worried about your condition but you don't seem all too thrilled to see me" She walked to the foot of my bed so calmly shifting her weight to the right side of her leg slowly placing her hand on her hip.
"It's not that... it's just I'm surprised you're here" I waved my hands in front of me reassuring her that I was relieved to see her.
"I'll give you two some time" Hatori stood up stepping out of the room after greeting my sister.
Once he left her expression dropped real quickly as she glared at me.
"Really?" She questioned.
"Really what?" I was confused trying to read her but I didn't get what she was trying to hint at.
"He's nearly thirty... you're seventeen" I shrugged but she seemed to be more upset as the conversation continued. "Mom got disowned from that family" She stepped around the bedside crossing her arms. "You're coming to stay with me" I shook my head quickly at her proposal.
"I won't do that" She didn't give me time to really react to her comments.
"If not for me then forget them for mom" Her attitude and her voice together started to escalate quickly.
"NO!! She wouldn't want that and besides Akito is my sister just like you are" I claimed not moving much as the medicine slowly started to kick in.
"You don't know what mom been through... Ren tried to kill you even hurting mom" She pleaded in anger trying to get me to reconsider but I still refused to give in.
"But what mom did wasn't right it wasn't any better" I added looking up at her. "Mom cheated with a married man" Her palm quickly connected with my cheek causing a rush of warmth and pain as silence filled the room.
"You ungrateful BITCH!!" She lost her temper just that quickly. I wonder if she even came to see me because of my condition.
"I don't need your permission to be with Hatori or associate myself with the Sohma's" I held my hand against my cheek from where she slapped me as tears fell from my eyes. "You don't care about me you left me to die, so just GET OUT!!!" I yelled the last part throwing a box of juice at her followed by the TV remote, which hit her in the head.
"You think you can demand me, they don't give a damn about you" She raised her hand to smack me again quickly resulting in me shutting my eyes as I waited for the impact that never came.
Slowly opening my eyes to see that someone had a hold of her wrist just before snatching her back slapping her to the ground.
As soon as my sister fell the person became visible and also shocked me causing me to let out a slight gasp.
"Akito" Kureno called rushing in with Hatori and Shigure following behind him as we all exchanged looks.
"I don't tolerate you putting your hands on her or speaking to her in such a way that you did" Ayami scoffed at Akito standing up.
"Why because only you can? And you...you're dead to me" She didn't bother to look at me at all slowly heading for the door stopping at the entrance. "I'd still have my dad if Ren killed you back then" She said lowly but loud enough for me to hear her as she headed out.
The others were shocked by the things she said, however, Hatori wasted no time rushing over to my side to comfort me as I began to cry.
Did she really come all this way just to hurt me?