Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ A Recurring Dream ❯ Chapter1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. Don't make money out of this, please do not sue.

Hatori is one of the most intriguing members of the zodiac, but whoever knows what is going on in his head? This was supposed to be a one-shot dealing on one episode in the life of the dragon, and his relationship with the Mabudachi Trio. To my greatest surprise it does not seem to want to remain a one-shot and hopefully it will be a four-part story.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Even though we may not get along, nor see eye-to-eye

That's alright

No doubt, that which you lack, I have

And that which I lack, you were born with

...I feel that your weaknesses and gentleness

Are so very noble.

Ayame Sohma

"Ha-saaan! Come on, don't be mean, just open the door."

Shigure. How is it that he always bothers me in my hour of work? Tssk. Doesn't he have anything else to do, any editor to torture or angsty teenager to hassle?

Let him knock, he'll eventually realize that the door is not locked if it's really important.

"Ha-saaan?" he tries seductively. "You know whaaat?"

I can sense a nascent headache at the back of my head. At least Ayame's drabble could be ignored, but Shigure had the nag to put you in excruciating pain whenever he opened his mouth.

How exasperating.

"Torhu-kuun sent me here to check on you, I swear, I swear! I need to make a detailed report on you and your health; otherwise the poor flower will worry and fade away under my poor helpless eyes!" Shigure sobbed dramatically.

There was no way I would get rid of him this time. He was on a roll, and not letting go. What a pain in the neck.

Fine.

Before I can think twice about it, I slide shoji door open and face Shigure, who looks at me like my opening the door was a miracle.

He can be such a moron sometimes.

"What now?" He seems to consider my inquiry like if it is a trick-question and his right eyebrow almost reaches his hairline.

How awkward. Yet again, Shigure is always awkward.

Finally he shakes his finger in front of me and proceeds to lecture me.

"Ittai! Ha-saan! How cold of you! You spend three weeks without giving news of you to anyone, and then you do as if nothing happened. And we were ALL worried over you, I mean Ayame was about to come in and break the door; you know how sensitive he is! You can't just do that you know...And Tohru-kun, ah, Tohru-kun! She is fragile you know, so fragile!" he gesture emphatically with large tear-filled eyes.

The full blown headache I can feel must have found a way to express itself on my face because Shigure's tirade suddenly dies out and when I open my eyes he is looking at me with his pocker face.

Damn him.

"Have not been sleeping, have you?" His question is said with a hint of worry, but something in his eyes is slightly accusatory.

"Ok, if that was what you had to say, Shigure, thanks and have a nice day."

I proceed to sliding the door shut, but it is stuck open. When I lower my eyes, I can see Shigure's foot on the doorway.

The headache just got strengthened a tenfold. I knew it was a bad idea to open the door in the first place.

"Shigure, I do not have time to chat with you right now. Late paperwork. You know very well that the flu season just ended, how do you suppose the formalities for you all will get filed, hm?"

I just wish he would leave already.

He broadens the doorway and casually makes his way in my office.

"Did you hear what I just said?" His nonchalance has always been nerve-racking.

He stops dead on his tracks. His back is turn on me, and I can't tell what he is thinking, but he seems to be hesitating.

Now, I'm irritated.

"What do you want, Shigure? Stop playing games and tell me already. You know, I appreciate your concern but now that you've checked on me, I would appreciate it even more if you would let me work."

He chuckles.

Wait a minute... he... chuckles?

Eh. What the heck, I can deal with him. Always have. He'll eventually get tired of this and leave on his own. Like usual.

I decide to go back to work, and to play the "ignore-the-fool" card.

As a cross him to reach my desk, I feel his hand on my arm. His eyes are lowered to the floor and all trace of aloofness is gone.

What am I saying? He looks dead serious.

"Hatori-san, I think you have not quite been yourself lately. Actually, the correct phrase would be that you have not quite been honest. Am I wrong?"

His pitch-black eyes seem to be drilling into mine. Crap. He could not have chosen a worse day for a sermon.

I feel so uneasy under his scrutinizing glare, and his grip on my arm is all but comforting.

Play dumb. That works. Occasionally.

"I don't know what you're talking about Shigure. Now let go." I tug my arm out of his clasp and proceed to my desk, unruffled. But when his hand falls heavily on my shoulder, I can feel a cringe forming on my face. Can't he just piss-off?

"Hatori-san, I am serious. We need to talk."

Who does he think he is? I talk when I want to, dammit!

I can feel my anger dangerously flaring to the surface. Shigure must feel it too, because he lifts his hand off my shoulder and his voice is driven with concern when he resumes speaking.

"Ha-san? You must tell me what is going on! Can you believe that the only way I have known you were alive those past three weeks where through Akito? Do you realize how insane this is?"

Insane, ha! Shigure has always known how to pick the right words. Why won't he just leave?

"Well, Shigure, now you know I am well, and you may leave. I need to work. I have had a load on my hands, and I am far from being finished. Greet Ayame and the kids for me, okay?" Even to my ears, my voice sounds strained a somehow dangerously low.

Maybe now, he will leave.

He does not, but he stays quiet for a while. I realize that I have been avoiding his eyes for almost the totality of your conversation, and it is getting more and more awkward to stand next to my best friend.

My best friend! Who would have thought?

It is my turn to chuckle this time, and I can sense Shigure tensing behind me. What a fool. He should understand more than anyone that I needed to be alone sometimes. I .. just needed some time. Just a little time...

My eyes are stinging, treacherous indication of a coming teary fit. Probably anger-induced. Damn. I have not cried since...Since....that time. But there is no point thinking of that now, not with Shigure looking.

"I will be back. Next time I call, you'd better pick up the phone." Shigure announces with an angry edge in his voice.

How dare he?

"Humph. You do that."

"What?"

"Nothing. Later."

He must have changed his mind because he does not move towards the door.

"What did you say?"

It's right there, right on the edge, the anger, the frustration, the pain.

"I said, nothing" If a glare could kill, he would have died on the spot. At this moment I almost wish he had.

Oh my God. What am I thinking?

He slowly approaches me, and I think that he must be at least as angry as I am. Good for him! I need to vent, and if Shigure wants to be a stubborn ass, then so be it.

Our eyes lock in a nervous silence.

"Are you smart-assing me?" he asks in a low growl.

"What if I was, he? What are you going to do? Bite me?"

Touché!

A dark veil crosses his eyes for a second, and he looks like he is holding up his breath. I sure know I am holding mine.

Just one push will be enough, just one push.

But he just sighs and looks away with sorrowful eyes. His naked voice is now full of concern and there is not a trace of anger when his eyes meet mine again.

"Hatori, I do not understand what is going on. I have been calling, emailing, knocking to your door everyday in the past two weeks, and have received no answer from you. Yet the maids tell me that you have not been leaving the office except to see Akito."

His hands suddenly grasp both my shoulders and he slightly shakes me, as if to force an explanation out of me.

"And now you just push me back! This is not you, Hatori, you need to let it go. Talk to me! Don't give me the 'I have work to do' speech, I copyrighted it!"

He's almost pleading.

Good old Shigure, always trying to placate everything and everyone. I almost pity him thinking about the amount of stress he must be under to lose his cool like that.

But now is not the time. He just pisses me off with his pleading! My throat is so tight I cannot answer for a couple of seconds, but when I finally find my voice back, I am surprised to hear that I am yelling.

"Enough already! Enough with your nonsense! You ask me what my problem is! None of your doggone business dammit! Stop pretending that you care because you sure as hell don't! Now get the hell out of my office!"

He stares back at me without a word, apparently dumbstruck.

Tell me about it, this must be the first time he sees me like that, and he seems at loss for words. If the situation was not already tensed, it would almost be laughable. If...

"Fine! You are not leaving? I am!"

Without a second glance, I grab a coat and storm out into the Sohma compound. As the car drives away from the compound, a quick glance at the mirror tells me that Shigure must still be in my office.

Idiot.

flashbask. Three weeks ago.

She was, for me, like "Spring".

Closed up in the darkness of the mainhouse

At some point, to me who'd ended up

becoming cold like the "snow"

She was so fresh and vivid a

"Spring"

It was as though it were inevitable

To fall in love.

Hatori Sohma

"Moshi moshi"

"Ha... I hope I am not interrupting anything, but... ano... may I speak to Sohma Hatori?"

Kana? On the phone? How did she get my number?

I need to stay calm.

Take a deep breath.

"Hai, Sohma Hatori desu. How can I help you" I say with my most composed voice. She sounds hesitant, but after a couple of seconds, she speaks again, with a resolute voice.

"Ano... You probably do not remember me, but... Ha, I am Kumatsu Kana, I used to be your assistant a couple of years ago..."

"Hai, I do remember you Kana, how are you doing? is everything okay?" She sounded so strained on the phone that I almost think that an 'accident' happened.

"Yes yes, I am alright." She giggles a bit. like if she was glad that I remembered her. "Ano, I was a little nervous to call you because I was not sure you would... never mind, I just had a favor to ask you, hm, if you are not too busy that is? "

A favor? Not good, not good at all.

"Anything in my reach; I would be glad to help"

Another relieved giggle.

If only she knew how every sound coming out of her mouth re-opened wounds in my heart that I thought had been healed for good.

"Hai, actually I was calling to announce you that I had a baby yesterday and..."

A baby? The rest of her sentence is somehow lost in a blur as I try to remember the time when Ayame gossiped to Shigure that Kana was pregnant.

Already nine months ago. I can't help but bite my lip.

"Ha, this is wonderful, Kumatsu-san. I am sorry, but there is some frizzle on the line, could you please repeat your sentence?"

"Ah... Sorry Sohma-sensei. But please, call me Kana."

Without taking her breath, she adds "I was saying, my husband and I were thinking of naming our little boy after you. I truly benefited so much during my internship in your cabinet and I was very grateful for the experience. I don't know how to thank you and I was thinking that maybe you'd like to be my first-born's godfather. If you agree of course." She said in one breath.

She was obviously anxious to have me accept.

I must have remained silent for a while, because she said tentatively.

"Sohma-sensei? Sohma-sensei?... Are you still here?"

Her voice pulled me out of the torpor I was in and I hung up the phone before it was too late.

So close.

I had been so close.

I get up from my table and pace around the desk to shake off the tension in my body. I just need to relax. Just a couple of moments.

Then I'll call her back.

When I feel calm enough to gather my thoughts in a coherent manner, I press the call back button on the phone on my desk and wait for someone to answer.

At the third tone, Kana's anxious voice picks up the phone, apparently distressed.

"Moshi moshi. Komatsu residence."

"Hello Kana, this is Sohma Hatori, we got interrupted in our conversation earlier..."

"Ha... Sohma-sensei. I am glad you called back. I was worried I had called at an inappropriate moment."

"Not at all, the communication is quite bad because the recent strong winds have destroyed some phone lines in the neighborhood, but it's alright. "

Truth is really overrated.

"About your proposition..."

"Hai..?" She asks her voice full of hope.

"I am sorry, but I must decline your offer to be your child's godfather. I am very honored though that you thought about me, but I do not think that I could be a good guidance for your child."

On the other end of the line, Kana let go a heartfelt sigh and did not even try to conceal her disappointment.

"I understand. I am sorry to have bothered you Sohma-sensei, really. Thank you for having considered my proposition." She hesitated. "Is it still okay if...?"

"Yes..? "

"Well, I know it's silly, but my husband and I would really like to name him Hatori, actually we kind of already have." She said with a sad edge in her voice. "Is it okay with you if he keeps your name?"

Kana's child bearing my name? Someone, please stop this.

"Sure, no problem, Kana-san. Please excuse me now. I need to take my leave of you.

"Oh yes, sure. Thank you again for listening to me. I know you're a busy man, and I am grateful that you considered my proposition."

"Don't mention it, Kana-san. Please accept my congratulations for your baby, and send my greetings to your husband."

"Hai, thank you. Sayonara Sohma-sensei."

"Sayonara Kana-san."

The click at the end of the line announced him that she had hung the phone. For some reason, my hand won't let go of the phone receiver.

His godfather.

A soft chortle finds its way out of my throat.

A couple minutes go by, and I finally summon my hand to drop the phone receiver. Almost immediately, the phone rings.

The ID reads "SHIGURE (home)."

Shigure. What a coincidence. Or is it?

The answering machine picks up the call, and I hear Shigure blabbing some nonsense on the phone for fifteen minutes. How can he be so gregarious?

He has not hung up the phone for a minute that my cell phone starts ringing.

Shigure, again.

Just a minute.

I'll talk to him later.

I'll call him back.

I will do that first thing in the morning. But for the time being, I just need to sleep.

I pop up a tube of sleeping pills and swallow one.

That should do it.

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end flashback

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AN: The quotes at the beginning of the chapter are from Shadow's webpage. She's doing a great job and I hope it's okay for me to post it out here....

Anyhow...

Please read and review... It would make me so happy!!!