Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Girl ❯ Denial is an Ugly Thing ( Chapter 9 )

M.G. Hello everyone! I'm back! Did you miss me? LOL, Anyways, I know, you guys probably want to kill me for not updating in TWO months, but I've been…busy. I'll try to post another chapter tomorrow, no promises, though I more than likely will, and to make up for being gone so long, I'll try to make it longer than usual.

As you can see I got rid of the authors' notes so you don't have to worry about those anymore.

READ! I've also changed some things in the story, not much, but I did, so if you go back and re-read it you'll see I improved the chapters and fixed mistakes, You probably want me to stop rambling now and get on with the fic so I'll stop.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS!! YOU GUYS ARE WONDERFUL!!

“Talking”
`Thinking'
12345678910987654321 (Scene Change)
POV Change
!) Dreams (!
!?!Flashbacks!?!
(A/N Me interrupting)

Disclaimer: I don't own fruits basket or Shane or any of the other OCs, only Anika and the plot.

Chapter 9: Denial

 

“ANIKA! Wake up, you'll be late!!!”

 

 

Tohru walked into the room she shared with he cousin and frowned. Anika was still in bed fast asleep and tangled in her bed-sheets. Tohru walked to the bed Anika slept in and yanked at the sheets covering her making Anika roll of the futon and onto the ground.

 

 

“Wake up!” Anika just rolled over and kept sleeping. Tohru sighed. She walked back out of the room and went to find a bucket. She finally found one in Shigure's study. Why he had a bucket in his study was a mystery to Tohru but she just shrugged it off and decided to ask him about it later. She walked back upstairs and into the bathroom before filling the bucket up half-way with ice cold water.

 

 

She walked back into the room they shared and stood over Anika.

 

1

 

2

 

3

 

(SPLASH!)

 

 

Anika shot up from the ground gasping for breath and shivering, the cold water being almost instantly absorbed into her clothing and making the now drenched clothes stick to her like a second skin. She coughed and brought her hands up to wipe the water away from her eyes. She glared up to her cousin before getting up and looking down at her clothes then back to her cousin.

 

 

“Thank you so much for that wake up call Tohru. How can I ever repay you?” sarcasm was dripping from every word she spoke. Tohru only smiled at her. “You can repay me by getting ready or you'll be late.” Anika's eyes bulged at those words. She hurriedly glanced at the clock by Tohru's bed and her eyes widened even further. She turned back to Tohru before jumping over to the dresser were her clothes were and pulling out clean clothes.

 

 

“Why didn't you wake me sooner?!” Tohru just sighed and walked back downstairs where she discovered Hiro, Kisa, and Shane waiting. She smiled brightly at them. “Hello! You guys are here to walk with Anika to school?” Hiro didn't answer, Shane smiled at her, and Kisa smiled while nodding. “Yes we are. We have a surprise waiting for her at school and we came to make sure she doesn't see it before she should.”

 

 

Tohru smiled and was about to say something before Anika suddenly shot into the room and sat next to Hiro, quickly gulping down some toast that was left there for her by Tohru. She stood up and grabbed Hiro's and Kisa's hands before pulling out of the room with her, leaving Shane there in a stunned silence with Tohru. Before Anika left the house with Hiro and Kisa though she called back over her shoulder, “Hurry the hell up Shane! Bye, Tohru, see you after school!” Tohru just smiled again before going into the kitchen humming happily. Shane sighed and quickly stood up and ran to the front, put on his shoes, and ran after Anika and her hostages, yelling: “Hold on Anika!”

 

 

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“Hold on Anika! Were not going to be late! And let go of my wrist!” Hiro yanked hard on his wrist, finally pulling it free from Anika's death grip. She had let go of Kisa's wrist a while back when Shane had finally caught up. She had let go when he had come up and, politely, asked for his girlfriend's wrist to be freed.

 

 

Anika blushed as Hiro yanked his wrist free and muttered a barley audible “sorry” before slowing her pace to match Hiro's. They walked in an awkward silence while Kisa and Shane walked a little ahead of them chatting happily.

 

 

Things had been kinda awkward with them since Anika had been raped and the dream she had. She had avoided him when she could and tried to avoid talking to him since that night he came back beat up. He had been doing the same thing, though probably for a completely different reason.

 

 

Anika, spent most of the time in her room thinking or up on the roof with Kyo and just talking about what came to their minds. She was still confused on what Akina had meant though.

 

 

“…those last few images; those are images you hold dear in your heart, even if you don't realize it…”

 

 

What could she have meant? All of the images she had talked about were all of Hiro. Why would she hold him close to her heart?

 

 

Could…it be…?

 

 

Could she… love him?

 

 

Anika blushed crimson at the thought. Love? Hiro? She couldn't!

 

 

Could she?

 

 

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts plaguing her. Hiro glanced to her, looking at her a bit weirdly. Anika blushed again and looked to the side away from Hiro.

 

 

Why was she reacting like this? Could she really love him? No, impossible.

 

 

She banished the thought to the back of her mind before looking up and realizing they were there. She sighed. She had been spacing out to much lately. They walked through the courtyard in front of the school before changing their shoes and heading to their classroom. They walked in just as the bell rang.

 

 

But something was wrong. It was dark in the room. The lights were off and the windows were covered. Anika looked confused for a second and flipped on the switch. She nearly had a heart attack at the sight that greeted her.

 

 

All of her classmates, minus Erik she noticed with glee, were standing under a large banner in the middle of the room that read: “Welcome back Anika!”

 

 

Her classmates were smiling at her along with the teacher. The teacher walked forward and brought her to the middle of the room where Hiro, Kisa, and Shane now stood in front of the students. Kisa and Shane were smiling while Hiro looked like he didn't care, but if you looked closely you could see a slight up-bringing of his lips in the corners, signaling that he was trying to suppress his smile.

 

 

“We heard about what happened Anika, and would like to let you know that we are all glad that your back.” Anika looked up at the teacher shocked. She just smiled kindly. Freaky.

 

 

Instead of the normal class they had then they instead threw a mini-party for Anika. All of the kids were coming up to her and offering their support. One of the kids, whose father just happened to be a cop, informed her that Erik had been charged with sexual assault and indecent exposer (sp?) in public. His friends all got off light. A couple nights in a cell. Erik however got 5 years in prison. Anika was glad to hear that.

 

 

She vaguely noticed a group of girls off to the side of all the kids having fun glaring at her and whispering to each other. Anika noticed that the leader of the group was a girl who was known to have had a major crush on Erik. The rest were just girls who wanted to impress her and get on her good side, since she WAS popular.

 

 

Anika could hear what they were saying now; they weren't even trying to hide their contempt for her, their voices getting purposefully louder so that she could hear.

 

 

“Look at her, getting all that attention for spouting lies. MY Erik would never do such a thing. I mean, why would he even look at such an ugly girl when he could have ME? Im popular, beautiful and rich. Who wouldn't want me? I bet she just said all those things so that she could get attention. Such a Bitch.”

 

Anika noticed that the room had gone silent and that all eyes were on the girl and her friends; listening to what she had been saying. When she had finished all eyes turned to her for her reaction. Anika kept a calm and collected face. She had learned to ignore these types long ago.

 

 

She saw the teacher in the corner of her vision look like she was about to yell at those girls but someone beat her to it.

 

 

“How dare you say something like that? Why would Anika lie about something like that? Huh? If anyone was lying it would be you! And to answer your question, no one in their right minds would want you. You're an ugly, conniving jealous Bitch. Who cares if you're rich? And just so you know, Anika is not ugly, she's beautiful!”

 

 

Everyone was staring wide eyes at Hiro now. Anika was gaping in shock and blushing slightly. She can't believe Hiro just did that! And for her! Hiro, now noticing all the eyes turned to him and all the wide-eyes stared blushed in embarrassment. He glanced to Anika to see her looking at him with her jaw slack, wide eyes, and a tinge of pink over her cheeks.

 

 

He suddenly became self-conscious and turned, rushing out of the room. Anika quickly snapped out of her shocked daze, as did everyone else, and quickly went after him. She could vaguely hear the sound of the girl who had been dissing her start yelling. She ignored it and continued after Hiro. She had a feeling she knew where he was heading.

 

 

She stopped running when she reached the park where Kisa had run to when she thought Anika had betrayed her because of a misunderstanding. She looked around before spotting Hiro sitting on a bench with his head in his hands. Anika quietly went over to him and sat beside him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

 

 

He jerked his head up in surprise and stared at her. “Anika…” She smiled softly at him. “Hey Hiro.” He turned away from her. “What do you want?” he muttered. “I suppose you're here to laugh at me for what I did and said back there.” He tensed suddenly when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso and a female body pressed against his back, their head at the nape of his neck.

 

 

“Now why would I do that? I really appreciate what you did back their Hiro. Thank you.” Anika whispered. Hiro could feel her breath on his left ear and he shivered involuntarily. He felt his stomach knot up and his breath catch in his throat. He recognized this feeling.

 

 

It was how he felt when he was still in love with Kisa. Why would he Be feeling it now? He was with Anika, and it's…not like…he loved…her…

 

 

He couldn't possibly love Anika! She was like his best friend!

 

 

`Then why did you feel a sudden rage at those girls' words about Anika, hm? Why did you feel the sudden need to protect her? To defend her? Why does your breath catch now that she's so close to you? Who do you think of her ALL the time? Why did you feel that overwhelming guilt when she had been raped and you weren't able to do anything to help but hope she would get better? What else could it be?'

 

 

Hiro tried to deny it, pushed the thoughts to the back of his head. It couldn't be. He barley knew her for two months. How could he love her?

 

 

Anika pulled away from him and Hiro turned to face her. She was smiling. “Better now?” He nodded and smiled slightly. “Thank you Anika.” She looked confused. “For what Hiro?”

 

 

This time he really did smile. “For saying that. You always know what I need to hear, even if I don't at the time. Thank you.” She just smiled and shrugged. “No problem. Ready to go back now?” He nodded and stood up and started walking. Anika got up and followed him, trying to start a conversation which was doomed for failure.

 

 

Some things never change. Thank god.

 

 

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School had just gotten out and Anika was walking home with Hiro and Kisa. Shane had something to do after school so he couldn't come, which was probably better anyway. They were just talking about random things, Hiro not talking at all. They had insisted on walking her home. Anika had the feeling that they or someone would be walking her home from now on, trying to avoid a repeat of two weeks ago.

 

 

When they got home they found Hatori waiting for them. They had walked into the living room to find Shigure and Hatori talking while drinking tea. They glanced up as they walked in and Hatori put his tea down, standing up and walking over to them. He stopped in front of Anika and stared solemnly down at her.

 

 

“What?” Anika asked. His gaze was kinda unnerving. He sighed before speaking the 6 words that they had hoped wouldn't come out of his mouth.

 

 

“Akito needs to talk to you.”

 

 

 

M.G HAHA! Cliffy! Bet ya hate me now! Ah, oh well. Just so you guys know, the next chapter should be a very important one, a couple of key things will happen. I'm not sure how many more chapters this will have, maybe four, five. We'll se what happens. READ BELLOW!!!!

 

Okay people, just one thing to say, PLEASE NO GHOST READERS!

 

I have enabled anonymous review so you don't have to sign in, so please, REVIEW!!

 

I g2g, Please R and R!

 

Ja ne!

 

Morte