Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Prince ❯ Chapter 3

Dark Prince

 

 

 

Chapter Three

 

 

 

“Oy, Tohru! Did you hear what I said?”

 

“Huh?” Tohru snapped out of her daze, gazing at her two friends. The tall blonde rolled her eyes, running a hand through her thick locks.

 

“What do you make of it, Hanajima?” She looked to the raven-haired girl sitting beside her, one long braid hanging over her shoulder.

 

“Tohru-kun's waves are rather low today. She's worrying herself sick over the Prince.” She responded in a soft tone. Tohru immediately put on a bright smile, waving a hand at them.

 

“No, no! Don't worry about me Uo-chan, Hana-chan! I'm fine!” Despite the bright smile, both girls could tell that she was lying. She was far from fine.

 

Arisa sighed and stretched her legs out on the grass. They were in the middle of lunch, eating and chatting idly about classmates; at least two of them were anyway. She studied her normally perpetually upbeat friend, worried about her pale complexion. Usually Tohru was so talkative and full of energy, but for the past couple of months, a little of her natural vivacity had drained away.

 

“So how about catching a movie this weekend?” She suggested, trying to take Tohru's mind off the missing prince. Hana shrugged her shoulders, taking a bite of food. They both turned to Tohru, who was once again gazing off into the distance.

 

“Tohru-kun, would you like to see a movie?” Hana asked again, touching the girl's shoulder. Tohru gave them a small smile, shaking her head.

 

“I need to be home in case…”

 

Arisa jumped to her feet, her hands clenched at her side. “Oy, Tohru! When are you going to see that he's not coming back? What's it going to take for you to understand that he's gone?!”

 

There was a stunned silence after Arisa's outburst. Tohru sat in shock, her mouth slightly agape. Hana stared down at the ground. Arisa, realizing that she'd hurt Tohru, instantly felt ashamed. She fell to her knees in front of the bewildered girl and took her small hands in her own.

 

“Oy, I'm sorry, Tohru! I don't know why I said that just then…”

 

“Because it's true,” Hana spoke up quietly. She was still staring down at the ground as she talked. “I've known for quite some time that Sohma Yuki wouldn't be returning. I…no longer feel Sohma Yuki's waves here anymore.”

 

Arisa and Tohru looked at the raven-haired girl, one with a look of sadness, the other with a look of denial.

 

“No!” Tohru said forcefully, snatching her hands from Arisa's grasp. She scrambled to her feet. “Yuki isn't gone! He will come back!” Before they could stop her, she turned and ran. Arisa made a move to go after her, but Hana laid a hand on her arm, stopping her.

 

“Don't, Arisa. Tohru-kun is in turmoil right now. The only way to help her right now is to leave her alone.”

 

Arisa eyed her doubtfully, but remained where she was.

 

“Oy, fine!” She muttered, placing her chin in her hand. She hoped Hanajima was right.

 

~*~

 

Tohru didn't stop running until she realized she was halfway home. She could see the house just down the hill, nestled among the trees. Another wave of sadness hit her. It was still the same house and yet…

 

`Something's missing.'

 

She knew what that something was, or better yet, who that something was. Tohru walked slowly towards the house, dreading the questions Shigure would undoubtedly ask her. After all, it wasn't like her to skip school like this.

 

As much as Tohru had tried the past couple of months to put on a happy face, she was finding it increasingly harder to do so. There had been no word, no letter from Yuki since he'd gone missing. The school year was winding down and Tohru was starting to believe, like everyone else, that Yuki wouldn't be returning any time soon. The thought made her want to cry, something she'd been doing a lot of lately.

 

“Oh, mama, what am I going to do? How do I go back to normal?” Tohru whispered, looking up to the sky. She usually garnered so much strength and inspiration from her mother's words and advice, but she felt so lost and alone.

 

“Mama…”

 

“Hey, you talking to yourself again?”

 

Tohru looked up in surprise, realizing she was standing in front of the house. Kyo was standing just inside the doorway, his arms crossed. Tohru tried to smile, but failed. She looked down at the ground, shuffling her feet.

 

“Um, I know I should be at school, but…but I…” She let the sentence trail off, shrugging her shoulders instead. Kyo peered at her, concerned despite his annoyed attitude.

 

“You don't have to explain anything to me,” he told her. “I didn't feel like being there either.” He didn't tell her that he'd only left because he'd heard from Arisa that she'd skipped out.

 

“Are you hungry?” He asked, feeling unsure in situations like these. He wasn't used to comforting people, especially girls. But after everything she'd done for him, it was the least he could do.

 

“Um, no, not really,” Tohru responded desolately. Before she could move past him into the house, Kyo grabbed her hand. Tohru's blue eyes widened in surprise. She glanced at Kyo questioningly.

 

He looked out toward the trees, not facing her. “I don't like seeing you like this, so down and depressed over that stupid…” he sighed, gripping her hand tighter. “The point is that I like seeing you smile. I want you to be happy.”

 

Kyo turned his head slowly to look at her, his gaze serious. “You told me once that you wanted me to come back home so we could do things together like talk and listen to each other. Well, I'm here Tohru and I want to listen any time you want to talk.”

 

Tohru blinked back tears as she gave him a genuine smile, something he hadn't seen in a while. She was touched by his display and entwined her fingers with his, giving his hand a squeeze.

 

“Thank you, Kyo.”

 

The orange-haired boy shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, well, no need to get carried away,” he said, turning to walk back into the house. “So what are you cooking?”

 

“But I thought you said…”

 

Kyo shook his head, wagging a finger at her. “I only asked if you were hungry. I never said anything about cooking.”

 

Tohru shrugged, smile still in place. “Oh, well whatever Shigure-san and you want is fine.”

 

“That idiot novelist isn't here,” Kyo responded.

 

“Oh,” Tohru said. “Well, then what you want is fine.”

 

Kyo thought about it for a moment before saying, “Anything that doesn't have leeks.” Tohru laughed at his deadly serious expression.

 

“Ok!” She responded happily.

 

~*~

 

“You seem worried, Shigure.”

 

Shigure shook his head slowly, not looking at the slender man sitting beside him. “Not worried, Akito, just…curious.”

 

Akito smiled, knowing better than to try to get the truth out of the older man. That was exactly why he kept Shigure so close to him, confiding in him. Despite his gentle, carefree appearance, Shigure was just as sharp as Akito himself was. People like that tended to make better friends than enemies.

 

“Well, no need to worry, Shigure. Yuki's doing just fine.”

 

Shigure tried to keep the contempt out of his voice. If he made Akito angry, he'd get nothing out of him. “Is he…here?” He asked, seriously doubting that he was. Even Akito couldn't keep that secret.

 

The frail man sighed, his tone clearly irritated. “I'm getting bored with these questions, Shigure. You're starting to give me a headache.” He got up from the table they were sitting at and walked over to the window. He leaned his head against the wall, peering at Shigure out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Why do you want to know so badly, anyway?” He asked. Shigure shrugged, trying to appear as if he didn't really care. “I just want to know how he's getting on.”

 

Akito's gaze slid away from the novelist.

 

`And so you can reassure that stupid girl, no doubt.'

 

“Yuki is of no concern to you, Shigure,” he drawled out slowly. “So you'd do well to put him out of your mind.”

 

Shigure clenched his fists under the table. Akito knew that he cared more than he was showing and was denying him information out of spite.

 

`Damn you, Akito!'

 

“The only thing I can tell you is that he'll be gone indefinitely, or as long as I want him gone. Now, if this little inquisition of yours is over, please leave. I'm feeling tired all of a sudden.”

 

Shigure rose to his feet, keeping his anger in check. Even if it took him longer than he'd expected, he vowed he would get answers. He would do it for Tohru.

 

Akito watched as Shigure walked through the compound toward the main gate, his body tense. He smiled, knowing the novelist was probably fuming at him.

 

`Such good little animals.'

 

He leaned over the edge of the window, letting his arms drape down the side of the house. He would keep Yuki's whereabouts a secret for now. He wanted to cause that little bitch as much pain as he could…he wanted to break her.

 

“And you, my little mouse, are going to do it for me.”

 

*end*