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The Fox and The Rabbit	By : naturechild02 Category: Manga Misc > General Views: 4788 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fruits Basket, nor do I make any monies from this fanfic. For entertainment purposes only.

Chapter List
- 17
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- 19
POP!
As Yuki’s body changed, Aimi was sure to grab him before it fell to the concrete below them with his clothes. Cupping his small rat form gently in her hand, Aimi eyed him with a smile.
“You make a most adorable rat, if I may say so. I should have figured you would still be handsome, even in your Juunishi form.”
Yuki seemed dazed for a moment, then he furrowed his tiny brow at her. “Hey, wait a minute! You knew? You know? Since when? Who told you?”
“Weeeeell…” Aimi had to think about her answer for a moment. Deciding to hug Yuki had been a spur of the moment thing but now she would have to give some explanations. The truth was, she did trust Yuki enough to tell him her secret. But where to start? She had never actually explained her abilities to anyone before. Even Tohru hadn’t demanded any explanations from her and Aimi hadn’t provided any on her own, due to Tohru’s own burden of secrets. But here she was, about to share her biggest secret (well, one of her biggest) with Yuki and she had no idea how to word it.
Yuki laid his tiny paws on her wrist, right over the scars. Another secret that only he and her father knew about. “Aimi, it’s okay. You can tell me. I won’t be mad. I won’t judge you.”
His voice was soft, his words reflecting those she had said to him one day not so long ago, when they had first become friends. She found her heart swelling with emotion and she had to blink back tears. She decided it was best to be completely honest with him.
“You know, those rumors going around school about me being a witch. Well, they’re kind of true.” She paused to gauge his reaction but his little rat eyes only blinked up at her, waiting for her to continue.
“Yuki, no one told me about the Juunishi curse on your family. I knew it the moment I met each of you. As soon as I was in your presence, I felt the effects of the curse on you. I knew you were the rat and Kyo was the cat, though Kyo is also… something more. You see, I have these, abilities. ‘Gifts’ my dad calls them, though it hardly feels like a gift anyone would willingly take. The truth is, I can sense things others can’t.”
“Like Hanajima san?” Yuki asked.
Aimi shook her head. “No. Different. Much more than that. I understand a bit of people’s feelings. It’s almost like, well, reaching in and running my finger over someone’s soul, if that makes any sense. It’s so hard to explain! I can also communicate with the elements on an atomic level. Manipulate them, to an extent. This probably doesn’t make much sense to you.”
“Actually, it kind of does.” Yuki dropped his eyes to his paws. “I felt on a few occasions that you knew about the curse, but you didn’t want to let on that you knew. And if the rumors around school are true, then you can make plants grow just by looking at them.” He gazed up at her now and she gave a slow nod. Yuki gestured to the floor and Aimi was quick to place him down on the concrete as gently as she could.
“Is this why you’ve moved around a lot? Why you were so excited to make friends? Why you’ve never been to a sleepover? People found out, didn’t they? They found out and wanted nothing to do with you.”
“You speak as if you understand,” Aimi said in a whisper.
“I kind of do. It’s the same with the curse. If outsiders find out, their memories have to be suppressed. It happened with me and a group of children once. I couldn’t be friends with them anymore after that.”
“Memory suppression…” Aimi sat down beside him and turned her face to the sun. Though the day was still sweltering, a slight breeze made the sunshine bearable. “At least they forgot. Imagine if they couldn’t. Imagine that you have to see them every day. They start to fear you. Then hate you. Then the bullying begins. Then you have to move away because there is always that one kid who takes it too far and you get hurt…”
Aimi trailed off when she saw Yuki’s eyes widening at her words. He placed a comforting paw on her knee, his tiny claws tickling her skin. “People hurt you?”
She didn’t answer, but began folding the random items of clothing that had fallen from Yuki’s body. He merely stood and watched until her task was completed and she drew herself up to her feet again.
“When you spend most of your life being told that you are a freak, a worthless piece of trash, a part of you starts to believe it. How could so many people be wrong, huh? Especially when your own mother-“ a sob escaped her and Aimi clamped her mouth closed.
How frustrating! She hadn’t meant to cry in front of Yuki. She was only supposed to explain about her gift and why she knew about his curse, not launch into some sob story about her life. He didn’t need to hear such things. She must have said something out loud because she felt his paw on her shin.
“I want to hear about your life, Aimi. You don’t have to keep everything bottled up inside. I understand all too well how doing that can hurt you. I’ve done it all my life, too. It’s just as hard for me to open up as it is you. But look at us! We both have true friends, people that care about us. People outside of family that actually care about our well-being! Isn’t that amazing? Doesn’t it fill your heart with joy when you think about it?”
“Yes, it does!” Aimi smiled down at him and laughed as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “You sound like Tohru.”
“Does Honda san know about your gifts?”
“Yes. And she accepted me, of course. Just like she did you guys.”
Yuki frowned at that. “Does she know that you know? About us?“
“No! And you are not to tell her. She has her own burdens to bear and I refuse to add to them.”
Yuki cocked his head to the side. “But Aimi chan, didn’t you ever think that she might be relieved to find out that you know about our curse?”
“How so?”
“As it stands, Honda san is the only other person outside of the Soumas that knows about our curse. Don’t you think she would be happy to have someone to talk to about it besides us? That it might actually be a weight off her shoulders?”
Aimi rubbed her cheeks with her hands, her eyes narrowing in thought. “Hmm, you know, I never thought of that.”
“It might actually make it a little easier on her, you know?”

Aimi turned around and faced the door to the school just as a loud pop sounded. Yuki, in human form but stark naked, retrieved his clothes and began to dress. He smirked at Aimi’s back.
“The time it takes us to change back is random. You happened to turn at just the right moment.”
“I just happened to, huh?” Aimi said before disappearing into the school. Yuki grinned as he dressed. A part of him was worried about what would happen to Aimi now that the fact that she knew about the curse had been exposed. It wasn’t something he would be able to keep from Shigure. Reporting it to him was out of his hands, it had to be done. And who knew what Akito would say?
Another part of him was relieved that Aimi had shown this side of herself to him. He finally felt like he understood her better. They had more in common than he had realized all along: they both possessed a kind of otherworldly magic and they both held terrible secrets that made them feel less than human. But now that things were finally open between them, perhaps they could truly help each other on the road to healing. Yuki had started down the path of change on his own already. He hoped that Aimi could find her own reasons to let go of the past and move forward. He certainly wanted to help her.

The other student council members were baffled when Yuki arrived so late.
“What kept you? You’re never late like this.” The vice president said with a chuckle.
“I was, um, detained.”
“Oh, by your weird fan club?”
“Eh, something like that.” Yuki could only shrug and smile.
- 17
- 18
- 19
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The Fox and The Rabbit