Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ All Stories Have a Beginning ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, or any of the characters.

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

 

“Mama, you're squishing me!”

 

“Mmm?” Tohru looked down, then let Mamoru squirm out of her embrace, though, she noted, still remaining on her lap, waiting to hear more about his father. “Sorry, Mamoru,” she said, smiling and tousling his hair lovingly. “What else do you want to hear?”

 

“Uhm…” Mamoru put his index finger on his chin, tilted his head, and gazed thoughtfully into space. Tohru giggled a bit… her son had always reminded her of Momiji. Momiji, if she remembered right, had always thought so too.

 

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“Oh, Tohru, he's beautiful!”

 

“He looks just like his mother,” Arisa said, smiling and brushing a sweaty strand of hair out of Tohru's eyes.

 

“Yes,” Saki agreed, carefully sitting down next to Tohru and holding Kaiya just as carefully as Tohru was cradling Mamoru.

 

“Thank you,” Tohru said tearfully, looking back and forth between her two best friends. “I couldn't have done it without Uo-chan and Hana-chan, though.”

 

“No, Tohru is strong! Tohru could have made it!”

 

Tohru looked up from Mamoru, who was sleeping peacefully in her arms, and saw Momiji and Hatori standing in the doorway. Momiji immediately raced over to Tohru and peered at her child, who had been born only hours ago.

 

“She's right,” Momiji said, nodding at Saki. “He is beautiful.” And, after a moment of silence as they all watched Mamoru sleep, he added, “just like me!”

 

Smiling nervously, Tohru watched Hatori shake his head slowly, his hand covering his eyes and forehead, and Arisa and Saki exchange looks of amusement. Mamoru, now wide awake, gurgled happily and reached up for Momiji.

 

Tohru held out her young child to him. “Would you like to hold him, Momiji?” She grinned at the boy, who looked startled and had an oddly serious expression on his face. “He wants you to hold him… I can tell.”

 

Cautiously, Momiji took the child and cradled it in his arms as Tohru had been doing moments ago, looking down on Mamoru with a serene look on his face, almost like a mother. “Hello.”

 

Mamoru giggled and reached up for Momiji's face, attempting to grab his nose. Arisa laughed. “Now, isn't that sweet. He really is like Momiji after all…”

 

“Yes…” Tohru said, looking down at her arms, which were now empty and lay strewn across her lap, not sure of what to do. “And that's good…”

 

“Momiji is also like Tohru,” Saki said thoughtfully, looking down at her daughter and rocking her gently back and forth, holding her close. “They're both cheerful, kind, and innocent.”

 

Mamoru seemed to agree, and began to gurgle happily again, while Momiji, grinning and laughing a bit, continued to hold him.

 

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“Tell me how you feel in love!”

 

“Eh?” Tohru had gotten lost in her memory, and wasn't quite sure what was going on. Love… falling in love… “You want to know how I fell in love with your father.”

 

“Yes!” Mamoru snuggled close to her and looked up at her expectantly, obviously waiting for what he thought would be a fairy tale. If Tohru had learned anything from Hideki, it was that love wasn't always a fairy tale, especially not the ending.

 

“Where to start…” Tohru was back to her original dilemma of not having a beginning. Well, not a clear one anyway. “I suppose it began…” she let her voice trail off as someone tapped gently on the door.

 

"Hold on a second, Mamoru," she said, gently setting the child down where she was sitting seconds ago, and strode over to the door. Opening it, her face brightened immediately. "Yuki!" She gave the young man a quick kiss on the cheek, then stepped aside so he could walk past her.

 

"Uncle Yuki!" Mamoru, who had been peering through the door separating the two rooms in order to see the mysterious guest, now eagerly ran toward Yuki and hugged him. "Yay!"

 

"Mamoru, I told you not to call him that!" Tohru chided gently, smiling nonetheless.

 

Yuki laughed and hugged the child the best he could, seeing as how Mamoru only came up to his knees. "Good to see you, Mamoru," he said, smiling broadly and tousling the boy's hair. Looking up at Tohru, he smiled even more. "He's turning out to be more and more like his mother everyday."

 

Tohru looked down at her child and blushed. "Oh, no, not at all!"

 

Yuki put one hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, looking down at Mamoru, still laughing and hugging Yuki's knees. "Would you rather I say he looked like his father?"

 

Tohru stopped smiling and looked at Mamoru almost sadly, resting one hand on top of Yuki's and squeezing ever so gently, as though trying to convey what she was feeling through a simple hand gesture. Although, being Yuki, she thought, he probably knows exactly what I'm feeling as is. Yuki had always been good at understanding Tohru, no matter how hard she tried to keep her pain to herself.

 

Gently, Yuki nudged Mamoru with one of the legs he clung steadily to. "Maybe we should go sit down. Your mother looks tired.”

 

“Alright! Hey, Uncle Yuki, did you know my father?”

 

“Did I…” Yuki let his voice trail off, and looked at Tohru quickly in an attempt to hide the immediate look of disgust they both knew was there. “Yes, I did.”

 

“Can you tell me about him? He was awesome, wasn't he?” Mamoru happily skipped into the living room and sat down on the couch, waiting for them to catch up to him.

 

Tohru looked back at Yuki, and realized with a sinking heart that anything Yuki would tell her child would bring him down. “We'll be there in a second,” she called, and grabbed Yuki's arm, tugging him gently toward the kitchen. “We're just going to make something, right Yuki?”

“Right,” Yuki said dully, following her into the kitchen without much resistance.

 

Once the door slid shut, Tohru turned to face Yuki. “I'm sorry to trouble you, but please, anything you tell Mamoru…” she looked down at her feet, “could you… please… you see… Mamoru… I…” she felt her eyes grow teary, and looked up at Yuki. “He's so young, Yuki! I—“

 

“You don't want your child knowing your father was an asshole.” Tohru winced. “Erm, moron.”

 

Well, that was an improvement… while Tohru looked back on memories of Hideki with sadness, Yuki chose to look back on them with anger. It made since, she supposed… after all, she had been the one in love with Hideki instead of Yuki.

 

Wiping her tears quickly, Tohru turned around quickly so Yuki wouldn't see them [even though he probably had already…] and started to bustle around the small kitchen, preparing Mamoru's favorite snack. She had promised him something, after all.

 

“Tohru…” Looking quickly at Yuki, she smiled slightly as she saw the blush. Yuki had only begun to call her “Tohru” a few months ago, and it still took some getting used to for both of them. It was a nice change though.

 

Clearing his throat, Yuki continued, “he'll find out some day. You have to tell him. You can't let him go on believing that his father was a great man.” He shook his head and smiled to himself. “And knowing you, you've probably made him sound like Prince Charming.”

 

Biting her lip gently, Tohru turned around and went back to washing her hands. Back then… he was.

 

Hideki was my Prince Charming.