Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ I LOVE YOU ❯ She ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters. It belongs to Takaya Natsuki. Nor do I own the lyrics to "She" they are property of Elvis Costello

As always I want to start off by saying "Thank you" for reading, and for all of your kind words... even the beheading threat was sort of sweet. : )

Next: I must send out a big Sohma hug (yes I know, but that's what makes it so special) to a few people. First my editor Smiling Onigiri, who once again took my messy little thoughts (even spiced every thing up a bit too) and put them into something that you could actually read, put up with my whining, and sent me about a hundred great songs that I very rudely turned down. Also thanks to awintersrose, who is not only helping to edit my other story, "Nectar" (that's right I actually updated thanks to her help.) but gave me lots of advice and also sent me tons of great songs that I very rudely turned down... It was scary hard to decide on a song for this chapter. Last of all thanks to Shiemi for sending help and advice, she's so darn nice.

Spoiler alert: This chapter has a few mild spoilers from the later volumes of the manga. I don't think it will ruin anything for you, but still wanted to let you know, cause I'm thoughtful that way.

I LOVE YOU

Chapter Ten: She

*

She

May be the face I can't forget.

A trace of pleasure or regret

May be my treasure or the price I have to pay.

*

I knew it immediately upon waking, I was getting sick. 'Well, that's what you get for running around naked in the rain' I told myself as I forced my weary eyes open. It was true, that hadn't been the smartest move on my part, and I suppose I deserved to get sick for acting like such a fool, but that didn't make me feel any better about it. We had so little time together as it was, I had to go home this afternoon and Tohru would be returning to school. If she knew I was sick, it would ruin everything. It was bad enough that I kept accidentally transforming on her, now I had to go and add this to the mix. I was pitiful.

'She won't mind.' The grand realization caressed me like a gentle whisper. 'Didn't she say it? She's in love with you, so stop making things harder than they need to be.' Smiling optimistically, I pushed the lingering negative thoughts away. She loved me! Tohru was in love with me. I still couldn't believe it, she didn't care that I was only a silly rat, she was mine at last and we had....

I sat up quickly and stared at the empty space beside me. She wasn't there. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I glanced at the clock, 1:17 P.M. It was past noon, I'd been sleeping all morning. I had to be on the bus in just a few hours, why hadn't Tohru woken me? Had she realized that I was sick and decided to just let me sleep? That was most likely it, I decided. That would be so like her. Right now she was probably in the kitchen preparing soup. That wouldn't do. I didn't want her in the kitchen, I wanted her beside me. I didn't need soup, I needed her.

Stepping out of the bed, I frowned as I took in the state of the room. The Sohma Beach house was old and situated close to the water, and as such was subject to flooding. I would need to mop up before I left. I had promised Shigure when I borrowed the keys that I would take care to leave the house exactly as I found it, surely it wouldn't do to leave the bedroom full of muddy seawater. No, it wouldn't do at all.

I shuffled across the floor, avoiding the small watery puddles, and yanked my robe from the closet. Then I carefully backtracked to the dresser to hunt for a dry pair of socks. That's when I noticed the letter. Written on a simple piece of notebook paper, it was folded in half and propped up on the dresser between my inhaler and her red hair ribbon. My name was hastily scrawled and nearly illegible, but I knew immediately that the letter was from Tohru. When I lifted it from the dresser my fingers brushed against her ribbon, bringing her smiling face to mind. I carefully unfolded the letter and began to read.

Yuki,

I'm so sorry to tell you like this, but I understand now that we can't be together. There is so much that I can't explain to you, so much I want to tell you, but it's too late. I need to confess that last night was not the first time for me. I should have told you yesterday, before we were together, but I didn't. Now I know that coming here was a mistake. Please try to forget me, and to live a happy life. Tell the others I said goodbye.

Tohru

The letter dropped from my fingers and fluttered to the ground as I darted across the room and rushed into the hall. I tore open the door to the other bedroom. "TOHRU?" The room was empty, so I slid the closet door open to verify what I already knew. Her clothes and bag were gone!

"TOHRU!" I ran through the empty house toward the kitchen, calling out her name. The kitchen, like the bedroom, was flooded. The phone receiver still lay on the floor where I had dropped it last night while we were making love.

I hurried out the front door, pausing only long enough to slide on a pair of soggy shoes. I ran all the way to the bus stop, but she wasn't there either. Where had she gone?

I sat on the bench and tried to catch my breath. The rain had stopped and there were people around, but I really didn't care. I knew that they were watching me, wondering what I was up to, for I must have been a sight. A silver haired boy dressed in a violet colored robe and a wet pair of sneakers, a boy who didn't care if everyone saw him cry.

*

She may be the song that summer sings.

May be the chill that autumn brings.

May be a hundred different things

Within the measure of a day.

She may be the mirror of my dreams.

A smile reflected in a stream

She may not be what she may seem

Inside her shell

*

After returning from the bus stop, I spent the rest of the day sitting on the wet kitchen floor in a daze. I needed to clean up, I needed to pack, I needed to head home, but I didn't. Instead, I called Tohru's cell phone. I listened to her voicemail and found it strangely comforting to simply hear her voice. I left a message and hung up. I walked to the bedroom, retrieved the letter, and re-read it on the way back to the kitchen.

She hadn't been a virgin. That's what the letter meant... but if she wasn't a virgin, who had she been with before? Only one person came to mind and I vowed that I would kill him for it. Kyo. That stupid, bastard cat had finally beaten me at something. It made sense, now that I really thought about it. During our last two years in high school, I had been certain that Tohru was falling in love with that asshole. I had even tried to convince myself that I was all right with it. The truth was that I had been afraid of rejection, so I made excuses and ran away from my feelings. I threw myself into schoolwork and my role as student council president. I made new friends and they served me conveniently as a shield. I hid behind Kakeru, Kimi, and Machi while pretending I wasn't in love with Tohru. For longer then I care to admit, I watched jealously as Kyo and Tohru grew closer, as Kyo seemed to win Tohru's heart. But then, just like the stupid cat he was, he blew it. Kyo started sleeping with Kagura.

I, of course, was ecstatic. My rival was suddenly out of the picture. The school year had ended, it was our last summer before starting college, and my friendship with Tohru had blossomed anew. She started avoiding Kyo and Kagura completely and began to spend all her free time with me. We hung out in my garden and held hands while taking long walks in the forest. We picnicked in the park and read together in the grass by the lake. Things were perfect between us. All was as I felt it should be, but then one day as we sat on the front porch, my world blew up.

"I've decided to move to Tokyo for school." She told me, and my heart crumbled. We had both applied for the same college, the one Akito had chosen for me. I had agreed to go because she would be going with me, but now she'd suddenly changed her mind.

"Tokyo? Why Tokyo? It's so far away, I thought we had decided..."

"I wasn't accepted, Yuki." She said quietly, and I knew at once that she was lying. Tohru never lied, unless she was protecting our secret, so I recognized it at once. She was keeping something from me.

"How can you afford to live in Tokyo? It's so expensive." I wondered, still trying to get my mind around the idea that she was moving away.

"My grandfather is paying for me to go and I've already found a job." I looked at her angrily, I couldn't figure out why she was lying to me. The door opened and Kyo appeared. He took one look at me and smirked.

"What's your problem, rat boy?" He said and gave Tohru an icy smile, the same smile he'd been giving her all summer long.

"Tohru said she's moving out and going to school in Tokyo." I told him and was surprised when his smile grew bigger, almost sarcastic.

"Yeah, I know. I think it will be good for her." Then he walked off, and I stared after him, speechless. What had happened between Tohru and Kyo? How could he let her move out without a fight?

And now, as I sat on a cold wet floor getting sicker by the minute, I finally understood. Tohru had slept with Kyo and then that bastard had moved on to Kagura. I hadn't won Tohru's heart. I had received it by default.

"I don't care!" I told myself and tore the letter in two. "It isn't important." I would tell her the same thing, if only she would pick up the phone. I loved her, and nothing she had ever done, or could ever do, would change that. I picked up the phone, hit redial, left another message, and disconnected. Then I crumbled the letter into a ball and hit redial again. "Please answer, Tohru." I whispered. I wanted to be with her, if only she'd give me a chance.

*

She may be the love that cannot hope to last

May come to me from shadows of the past.

That I remember till the day I die

She

May be the reason I survive

The why and wherefore I'm alive

The one I'll care for through the rough and rainy years

Me I'll take her laughter and her tears

And make them all my souvenirs

*

"Yuki?" Shigure's voice penetrated through my sleep. "Are you alive?"

I had spent the night on the cold kitchen floor, the phone still clutched in my hand. I opened my eyes and looked up into Shigure's curious face.

"She's gone." I said, telling him the only thing that seemed to matter. "Tohru left and I miss her so much."

Shigure placed a hand to my forehead. "You're burning up." He informed me and picked me up in his arms.

"I know." I whispered. "But for some reason I'm freezing."

"I have to get you to Hatori."

"Not the main house, please." I begged him. He looked at me sympathetically but I knew I wouldn't get out of it.

"I'm sorry, Yuki. I'd have to take you to the main house even if you weren't sick. There's no way around it, Akito's been asking for you."

"That's fine." I told him, deciding that I really didn't care anymore. I held on tight to Shigure's neck as he carried me to the car and I transformed the moment my body touched the chilly leather seat. Shigure picked me up off the seat and placed me safely in his shirt pocket.

"Thank you, Shigure." I whispered and curled up against his chest, appreciating the warmth of his body as I drifted into darkness.

*

For where she goes I've got to be

The meaning of my life is

She

*

End of chapter.

Thank you for reading, I will try to update soon, but once again it might take a little longer then usual, my new Plush Yuki arrived today and I will be spending a lot of time snuggling him, so I will be pretty busy. Oh and work is still pretty hectic, as well. Please review and let me know your thoughts. I look forward to hearing what you think.

YTR