Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Becoming Spring ❯ Renewed Vows ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

BECOMING SPRING
A Fruits Basket Fanfic

Written by: Miyu, Vampire Princess


AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Wow! A whole new storyline unattached to my other short series fanfics! This story focuses on a love triangle between Haru, Kisa and Hiro. Each part is told from a specific point of view. It's Hiro's turn again. A little OOC if I must say. This part takes place roughly a week after part 7. No lemon, just more sap and more angst. Comments are always welcome. Please enjoy. ^^ Standard Disclaimer follows story.


Part Eight - Renewed Vows




I'm still in awe. After everything she's told me, I'm still in awe.

And I hate it.

The day after I was released from the hospital we sat down to talk. Kisa and I. She told me about her thoughts just weeks before OUR first time. About the something missing from her life. It wasn't that our time together wasn't special or important. It was the overall picture.

Then she told me about Haru. About how they had agreed that it would only be a temporary fix for the both of them. She looked so sad when she spoke of their last meeting, just two nights before much to my own surprise. Apparently she'd woken up alone. Haru had disappeared somewhere and he was still missing.

If that sick son of a bitch planned this just to make her feel bad I'll....

I'll what?

I believed her when she said she only wanted to experience something other than us. I believed her when she said it was temporary. I believed her when she told me that what she'd done was a terrible mistake. I believed her when she told me that she was still in love with me...but also in love with Haru.

I believe her.

But I don't understand her.

Well, maybe I do. A little.

I've realized in the past week since we've spoken that maybe I was smothering her. We'd spent almost all of our waking times together. She didn't know anything but me, and I her. It was smothering both of us really.

But I didn't mind.

I want to protect her, be with her, have a life with her. I don't have a desire to know anyone else. Sure I have friends at school, but since we were children, I knew it was Kisa I wanted to be with. I'd always thought she felt the same. She told me she feels the same.

Then why...why is she in love with Haru?

This is what I've thought about most since our discussion. Well, it wasn't much of a discussion since she did all of the talking. I couldn't bring myself to say anything at all. Not even the tears I'd been holding back were allowed to fall.

I can list a whole bunch of reasons why she'd love Haru. He's older, more experienced. Physically attractive, I suppose. Strong willed, yet temperate and relaxed. He knows what he wants and he's not afraid to go for it.

Hell, these are the things *I* admire about him. How can she not?

Whether he knew it or not, I'd looked up to him my entire life. His entire demeanor, his ability to handle tough situations with a calm smile. THAT is what I wanted to be like. I could do without the violence, of course, but everything else...that's what I wanted myself to be.

Things turned out much differently of course. I may be able to stay calm and composed in a tough situation, but it usually melts away within seconds. I have a jealous streak a mile long and just as wide, and the things that come out of my mouth surprise even me sometimes.

I'm nothing like him, and never will be. I'd accepted that fact a long time ago, or so it seems. So then why...if she's in love why Haru, why is she still in love with me? What does she see in me that makes her love me?

I could've asked her this during out talk, but I couldn't bring myself to ask questions. I was too busy trying to sort through the information she was giving to me. Trying to sort out my own emotions.

That's why we're meeting today here in the park. I proposed to her here and I felt it somewhat appropriate to what *I* have to say. I'm ready to talk. I've sorted through most of my emotions. There are still some gray areas, but those I can take day by day.

Sitting on a bench, my hands sinks into my right pant pocket and the tiny box sitting in there. I purchased this the day I got out of the hospital with the intent of giving it to her the day she came over to talk. I don't know what I was thinking, really. All I knew was that I didn't hate her.

Still don't. I just can't bring myself to do it.

I still love her.

Okay, I suppose that still makes me a stupid ass, but could you really do anything different in my place?

Please, don't answer that.

"Hiro-chan?"

My eyes turn upward to stare into golden orbs so like the sun. Kisa's standing before me, wearing a very nice, flowing blouse over lace-up jeans. She'd never been one for skirts since we started high school, but I cared little since the jeans she wore clung to her shapely legs.

I'm a man in love, so sue me!

When our eyes meet, her smile widens. "Konnichiwa."

"Konnichiwa," I reply with a smile. She's the only one who's ever been able to make me smile this way.

I motion for her to sit beside me. She does so, tentatively clasping my left hand in her right. It's the most physical contact we've had in what feels like forever. Part of me wants to pull away, but I can give her this much. My body eventually relaxes, even though my smile has faded slightly.

"How are you doing?" she asks, looking at me closely.

"I'm well," I reply, my smile growing again at the concern in her voice. "My headaches have finally gone away, and I think I'm down to two bruises which are still a purply blue and black color. Everything else seems to have healed."

"I'm glad to hear that," she says, squeezing my hand tightly. "You had me worried for a little while, you know, when you were unconscious."

I nod, touched by her concern. I can feel my love for her swell in my heart, but my head is trying to be more logical. I squeeze her hand in return, but cannot find the words to say.

"It's a beautiful day outside," she says with a happy sigh. "Spring's finally here."

"Aa. It is."

What I have to ask her is going to break that loving heart of hers.

Whether I want it or not.

"Kisa-chan, I have to...ask you...for something." The words come out with less confidence and more venom than I had intended.

She blinks beside me, looking at me curiously. "What is it, Hiro-chan?"

"I...I...." Kami, why can't I say it?! Closing my eyes I gather all the courage I can muster and tell her, "I want our engagement ring back."

The park itself seems have grown silent and I can hear my own voice echoing in the back of my mind. Fool, what have you done, I think. You didn't have to yell it at her.

As I open my eyes, I take a cautious glance at Kisa. To my surprise, she staring down at our engagement ring sitting in the palm of her right hand. I hear her sniffle, see a sob as it shakes her shoulders, but not a single tears falls from her eyes.

I'm sorry, love. I'm really sorry. I don't want to hurt you this way.

But I'll make it go away, I promise.

"I suppose I should've expected this," she says, her sadness and tears conveyed in her voice. Slowly she picks up the ring and hands it to me. When our eyes meet again, I can feel tears start to well in my own. "Gomen ne, Hiro-chan."

I take the ring from her with a lightly muttered, "Arigato." Standing I place the ring in my right pocket. I glance down at Kisa. Her head is bowed, her shoulders shaking rather rapidly. I know, with an ache in my heart, that he's crying.

She's deserves this, part of me thinks. And I have a hard time disagreeing. But this isn't what I came here for. This isn't why I wanted to see her.

Pulling the tiny box out of my right pant pocket, I lower myself to one knee on the ground in front of her. Placing my left hand on her right knee, I tell her, "Kisa-chan, let me explain. Look at me, onegai."

Slowly she lifts her head, but just enough so that I can the tears that have already fallen, hear her sobs escape her lips. When she makes no move to look at me, I use my hand on her knee to tilt her chin upward. Her eyes are closed, tears still falling. Slowly, they open to look at me.

I try to smile, but know that I fall short. "Kisa-chan, you told me last week when we talked that you wanted to work things out between us. That you didn't want it to be over, ne?" She nods and I continue. "Well, neither do I."

Her eyes widen in surprise and I can hear her sharp intake of breath choked by a sob. With my hand I wipe away some of the tears from her cheek, cupping her face in my palm.

"I don't want to lose you. Not again. I don't thin I can handle it. But...." My own tears start to fall and I hesitate. Can I do this? "But, I'm still uncertain about a few things. I love you, don't doubt that," I add quickly. "I just...well...perhaps we should start things over."

I hold up the box for her to see. Her eyes grow impossibly wider, her sobs forgotten as I open the box. Inside is a promise ring: two gold hearts joined together by a small diamond.

"Hiro...chan? But I thought...."

"I'm breaking the engagement," I confirm, taking her left hand. "But I said I didn't want it to be over, right?"

"Y-yes, but--"

"Well then, we'll start over...with a promise," I tell her, slipping the ring onto her middle finger. Seems I had it sized a bit large. "We'll start by promising to be truthful to each other, to not keep secrets and to be ourselves." I look into her beautiful eyes, still full of tears as I ask, "What do you think?"

Her arms wrap around my shoulders, embracing me tightly, and that's all the answer I need. She'll have all the freedom she wants now. She can go to college. She can hang out with her friends. Hell, she can even audition for that play at the summer theatre this year. She can even see other people if she really wants. It'll hurt like hell, no question, but I want her to experience life to the fullest.

Just as I wish to do.

And maybe next spring, who knows? Maybe the diamond ring in my pocket will come in handy. And maybe...just maybe...we will exchange the vows we've already written and renew our promise to one another.

I look forward to it.


~FIN~


DISCLAIMER:
Fruits Basket is owned by Natsuki Takaya/HAKUSENSHA - TV TOKYO - NAS - Fruba Project and licensed by FUNimation Productions, Ltd (for distribution in the USA). They own furuba. THEM! Not me! *sigh* All characters are used here without permission. Please do not sue. I have no money, although I would be happy to give away my bills. ^_^