Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Hanashi ❯ The Tragic Prince ( Chapter 2 )

July 24, 2003

[Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and all its characters are properties of Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to Yume comics. Everything else in this fanfic are figments of my imagination. Any similarities to name, places, yada yada yada are simply examples of the world's many coincidental mysteries. Earlier chapters of this fic is available both in Fanfiction.net and Mediaminer.org]

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One step… and it was right in front of her. It was so near that if she was to reach out her hand, she would be able to touch it to figure out if it really was a ghost… that is, had her mind-state not been trapped between feelings of fear and wonder. If one was to see it for the first time, one would even think that the creature would be a wood nymph… or an angel… or even a…

"…prince…?" The girl mumbled almost inaudibly

But the mysterious figure before her gave no answer to her one-word question. Instead, he took another step and walked passed her, unnoticing her, as if he devoting his entire attention in moving towards the edge of the woods. He was so focused on reaching wherever his destination was that he completely paid no attention to everything else around him…

…the beauty of the woods in the morning…

…Honda Tooru seated on the ground watching him in admiration…

…the low hanging branch on his path…

As if watching a 30-second-stop-animation sequence, the girl could only watch speechlessly as the mysterious figure walked into the tree, reeled backwards despite the low impact, tripped on its own feet from the motion, and clumsily fell on the ground… its eyes whirling comically.

Not very coordinated for a prince… or even a ghost… is he?

"HAAAAAAAAA! WHAT HAPPENED?!!?! EMERGENCY!!!! EMERGENCY!!!! WHAT SHOULD I DO!?!?!" Tooru cried out in horror, arms flapping wildly in the air. She crawled closer and surveyed the fallen body before her. Upon closer inspection, the loose white outfit it wore looked more like oversized bedclothes rather than a scary ghost's robes. Its silvery gray hair framed its pale face, making its owner's sleeping figure look like as if it were a delicate porcelain doll. No matter how you look at it, the stranger was really beautiful, you can't even tell if it's a boy or a girl.

"Ara? What if prince was really a princess?" The girl blinked at the thought, she bapped her forehead lightly, silently laughing to herself , "Haaaa! If that's the case, then no wonder I couldn't find him after all this time!"

"AAAAAAAH! This is not the time for this!" The girl snapped back to the present as she looked over the prone figure in front of her. She wrung her hands together nervously, and called out in a soft voice, "Anou… etou… excuse me… are you dead?"

Panic shot right though the girl at that realization, as she immediately grabbed and shook the unconscious person's right arm, "Ara! Don't die! If you die, you really will become a ghost!!!"

The figure didn't respond, but her shaking caused a small silver tag bracelet around the figure's hand to glint for attention under the morning light. The girl's eyes widened upon recognizing what it was.

"Ah! A medic alert bracelet! This is serious!" She put two fingers on each temple, deep in thought, "Ah! What did sensei said about people with these? They could be diabetic and be going into shock… Or epileptic and having a seizure… or have a heart condition and having a heart attack… AAAAAH! Which one was it?"

Anou… won't it help if you took a look at the bracelet first?

"Ah! That's a good idea narrator-san!" The girl agreed cheerfully as she took the unconscious figure's arm and inspected the bracelet on his wrist, "Etou…. Souma Yuki… If found, please call XXX-XXXX or return to XXX XXXXXXXXX…"

Standard disclaimer #2: All telephone numbers and addresses have been censored upon request.

The girl sweat-dropped and made a nervous laugh, "What is this? Is he like a lost dog?"

"Not quite, but close enough," A new voice suddenly spoke from behind her

The girl looked up, her eyes in surprised beady little dots… and saw an upside-down view of a man's looking down at her. "Haaa?"

"Harooo!" The man, clad in a yukata, said smiling and waving down at her, "What's a girl like you doing here? A school girl to boot!"

My, my, my, what interesting woods! It really does have everything… disappearing princes (or princesses), ghosts, poisonous plants, wild animals and…

"…a pervert?"

******

/Once upon a time, there lived a prince. He was a child of beauty who possessed a gentle heart and a tongue of gold. The people adored him, loved him and spoke nothing but their deep affection for him. But a jealous god also loved the prince. The jealous god did not want the prince to return the people's affections. Thus, god imprisoned the prince in an ivory tower. So that the prince can adore, love, and say his words of deep affection for god and god alone. Resulting a divine tragedy… for jealousy tarnishes beauty, and a cage hardens the gentlest of hearts. With his final act of defiance, the prince swallowed a shard of glass to cut off his own tongue… his golden words, never to be heard by anyone again./

Hanashi

Chapter Two: The Tragic Prince

By Ina-chan

"Thank you for your help in finding my poor cousin," Souma Shigure said gratefully over a cup of steaming tea by the open engawa, "Aaaah! Nothing like a nice cup of tea on a summer morning, isn't it."

"Yes, it is," Tooru agreed before turning to a more serious tone, "Anou… but I really didn't do anything, I just happened to be there when he passed by," Tooru protested beside him as she shot a glance on the still unconscious figure splayed on the tatami mat behind them, a bag of ice resting over his forehead, "Is he really going to be okay?"

"Don't worry about him," Shigure replied reassuringly, "Its still too early in the morning. Yuki-kun doesn't do well on mornings. Ever since he was a child, he always had the tendency to walk in his sleep. We even had to come up with different kinds of booby traps to make sure we know if he's wandering off."

"Booby traps?" The girl echoed, her eyes widening

Shigure nodded, almost solemnly, "But, as you can tell, coordination isn't really Yuki-kun's strongest suit when he's in that state. We also tried tying him to bed, but that mouse can figure a way out of any trap even in his sleep."

"Mouse?" Tooru echoed again, with a puzzled frown

"Ah-ha-ha-hah," Shigure suddenly laughed nervously, "By the way, Tooru-kun… you're still in high school right?"

"Hai! I'm a freshman in Kaibara Highschool," Tooru replied

"Kaibara? Hnnn?" Shigure raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Isn't that a coincidence, Yuki-kun is transferring to Kaibara in time for the summer classes."

The girl brightened at the older man's words, "Huaaaaaa! That's great! But… why is Yuki-kun transferring to a new school in the middle of the school year?"

"Hnnnn… it's actually a complicated situation," Shigure hummed, "Yuki-kun has been isolated from the outside world most of his life. He's been sickly as a child… and various things happened afterward. It was a lot of work, but we finally managed to convince our Family Head to let Yuki-kun out of the Main House…"

Tooru blinked, not quite understanding what the older man said, "Convince to let Yuki-kun out?"

Shigure sweat-dropped, "Well… let's just say that he hasn't really had a chance to interact with people outside of a few members of our family… and his behaviour lately had started become too weird to ignore."

[Insert flash image of Yuki… barking angrily at the television.]

"On top of that," Shigure sighed, "Yuki-kun hasn't spoken aloud a single word since he was seven years old."

"Eh?" Tooru wondered aloud, ""If that's the case, then how did Yuki-kun manage to go to school?"

"Ah, well… Yuki-kun hasn't been in school since that one time around two years ago. Prior to and after that, he had been receiving home schooling through most of his life," Shigure replied, "He may not look like it, but Yuki-kun is actually very smart. He has the amazing talent to master almost anything… That is if you actually keep his attention long enough. Mayu-chan considers him a genius," The man let out a strained and amused laugh, "Then again, she has a penchant for lost causes."

"Mayu-chan?"

"Ah, Yuki-kun's current tutor. She was an old friend of mine, she teaches at your school, by the way," Shigure explained, "She was the one who helped with getting Yuki-kun transferred."

"Mayu-chan…" Tooru continued, deep in thought

This is getting annoying! This story is getting nowhere with all this feet dragging… so many hints on where to go, but our heroine is clueless to choose which direction to move towards to. Haaa… the narrator's guidance is never done. Nee, Tooru-chan, don't you think it's kind of strange?

"What's kind of strange?" Tooru replied aloud

"Strange?" Shigure echoed as he turned to the girl, an unreadable expression on his face

Don't you find it strange that a total stranger would unabashedly tell you all these personal things out of the blue?

"Hmmm… that is a bit strange…" Tooru finally mumbled in agreement

"Anou…" The older man began hesitantly, "Who exactly are you talking to?"

"Just Narrator-san," The girl replied casually as she pointed to a random direction above her head, "We were just wondering out loud at how strange you are, Shigure-san."

"Ha? You're talking to who?" Shigure blinked as he shook his head in confusion, "And you say I'm strange?"

Well, normal people don't usually give out personal information about family members to strangers.

"That's right Shigure-san," Tooru agreed thoughtfully, "Though my mother did tell me not to be suspicious of other people, telling strangers personal things about Yuki-san is not very nice. Yuki-san probably won't appreciate you doing that."

"Yuki-kun wouldn't mind, even if he cared," Shigure replied confidently, "But you're right. I didn't expect you to be such an excellent judge of character. I do have something else in mind in telling you all this. But it's all for Yuki-kun's sake."

"For Yuki-kun's sake?" The girl echoed again

This is suspicious.

"For Yuki-kun's sake," The man stated solemnly, "You are the first stranger that Yuki-kun met since the last time he attended school. You see, Yuki-kun is not a very social person. His first instinct is to run away from people he's not familiar with. When I saw you with him, I figured that he must really like you. He didn't run away like he usually does."

But if you think about it, unconscious people normally don't run away…

"And when I heard that you are going to the same school as Yuki-kun, I just thought that it must have been a fate. It's too much of a coincidence."

Ah, that line… now, it's really becoming very suspicious.

"So I was hoping…"

Hoping?

"Hoping?" Tooru repeated slowly

"…if it's possible for you to help Yuki-kun around school. It will be a lot of help if he had someone to show him around and keep him out of trouble," Shigure continued pleasantly, "To tell you the truth, we're really concerned because this is actually Yuki-kun's last chance to prove himself that he can handle something like this…"

"Prove himself? Did something bad happen to him in his last school?" Tooru asked in concern

Beads of sweat appeared on the older man's forehead as he looked away from the girl uncertainly, "Ah, well… Let's just say that… Yuki-kun doesn't take kindly to adversity… from strangers…"

[Unsteady home movie image of 14-year-old Yuki standing in front of his old junior high school, looking at the camera expressionlessly. Quick flash and close up camera pan to his lips silently mouthing the word "boom"… quick flash again to earlier image, as a small ball of fire caused one of the second story windows to explode...]

Haaaa? Is it really safe to release a person like that in society?

"Hmmmm… Mother always said to always give people a second chance," Tooru mumbled thoughtfully before putting on a determined expression, "YOSH! Alright Shigure-san! You can count on me! I'll help Yuki-kun in anyway I could!"

"Wonderful!" Shigure exclaimed happily, "It's great to know that Yuki-kun will have at least one friend in a new school! I'll leave it all up to you Tooru-kun! You're welcome to come over here to play at any time. I hope you'll help Yuki-kun make lots of new friends."

Uh-oh… somehow this conversation seems to be, once again, taking a suspicious turn…

"Un!" Tooru replied excitedly, "I'm sure Hana-chan and Uo-chan will be more than happy to be friends with Yuki-kun as well!"

"Uwaaaa? Are Hana-chan and Uo-chan Tooru-kun's friends?"

A very suspicious turn…

"Un! They're my most beloved and dearest friends! They're really very kind people!"

"Are they pretty?"

Tsk! Tsk! Suspicious… suspicious…

"Un! They're both very beautiful!"

"Then Hana-chan and Uo-chan can come over here to play at any time as well!"

"SUGOI! Shigure-san is very kind."

I rest my case.

But our heroine, God save her kind and oblivious soul, was too overwhelmed with happiness over the responsibility put upon her. Causing her to completely forget that there's also the fact that today was just the start of summer vacation. There was a lot of time for more strange things to occur before the insanity of school even begins…

Things that were even stranger than the sleepwalking prince who doesn't talk…

…or his overly-outspoken perverted cousin…

Things like…

…exploding walls.

"EEEEEEH!?!?!?!" Tooru cried out in surprise in the cloud of dust, instantly going into super shocked mode as pieces of debris barely missed her

The dust settled and through the big hole on the now demolished wall, stood a solemn figure of a fiery-haired youth, still in his battle stance. He lifted his head, showing his spirited crimson eyes, an arrogant smirk lining his lips.

"Anou…" Tooru began uncertainly

"Haaaa~~~ Kyou-kun…" Shigure sighed in defeat, "Why can't you use the door like normal people? It's a big pain in the butt repairing all the damage you cause in this house you know?"

"Etou…" Tooru continued

"SHUT UP!" Kyou glared at the older man, "I'm not here for you! Where's that damned rat! Let's finish this fight once and for all!"

"Bu-but Yuki-kun is still unconscious!" The girl protested as she pointed to the empty futon spread on the floor, "Ha?"

"Hmph," A new voice mumbled from beside her

Tooru instantly jumped up in surprise as she noticed the other boy sitting between herself and Shigure, non-chalantly drinking a cup of tea.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Kyou yelled angrily as he rushed closer to his opponent, "GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FIGHT ME!!!"

Yuki let out an annoyed sigh, and before any one can blink an eye, reached out and quickly pushed Tooru with the palm of his hand. The girl let out a yelp and stumbled forward, loosing her balance and falling unto a very surprised Kyou.

A loud poof…

A puff of smoke…

Another yelp of surprise…

And a loud groan of disbelief later…

Honda Tooru suddenly found herself on the floor, clutching a very shocked orange cat.

"You really want to sabotage this plan and make things difficult for yourself, don't you?" Shigure groaned again as he gave the grey-haired youth a silent glare

Yuki simply raised his cup to his lips and quietly sipped his tea.

[End of Chapter 2: The Tragic Prince]

Comments, criticisms, bricks to ina_chan@yahoo.com