Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ If There Be Sorrow ❯ 03- Tohru's Birthday Present ( Chapter 3 )

03 - Tohru's Birthday Presents

 

"KYOU!!!! OMIGOSH! WHAT HAPPENED?"

 

Tohru blinked… was that… Kagura?

 

"OH MY LOVE! HOW DARE SOMEONE LAY A HAND ON YOU? I'LL DESTROY THEM!" the same voice yelled, causing the brunette to tilt her head towards the classroom door.

 

Tohru took a quick glance over her shoulder, expecting the orange-haired boy to be near damn ready to jump out that window that she sat next to. However, Tohru found that the desk Kyou usually sat at was empty. Quickly, the brunette scanned the classroom. Kyou wasn't there!!!

 

Suddenly, the realization hit her; If Kyou wasn't here in the classroom… and Kagura was out there, then that meant…

 

"KYYOUUU!!!"

 

Tohru groaned.

 

Without even bothering to ask her teacher, Mrs. Harada - who was currently giving a lecture on a History assignment that nearly bored Tohru to tears- the brunette stood and paced the length of the classroom, swinging open the once closed classroom door.

 

Tohru took a few steps into the hallway, softly calling out Kyou's name as a loud thud came from the opposite side of the door. However, the brunette didn't pay much attention to the noise since she caught a glimpse of a small, orange cat lying in the middle of the hallway to her left. Momiji was kneeled down next to the fuzzy, orange animal, crying.

 

"WAHH!! KAGURA KILLED KYOU!!!"

 

"I'm not dead…you… you… idiot!" Kyou's cat form panted, causing him to pause between words, "I just… t-transformed…"

 

"WAHH!! KAGURA MADE KYOU TRANSFORM!!!"

 

There was suddenly the sound of shuffling feet from the classrooms just outside the hallway. It seemed that Momiji's loud, crying mouth had drawn some attention. Attention that most certainly not needed; especially, in the state that Kyou was in now.

 

“Kyou!!” Tohru nearly yelled, sprinting down the hallway and dropping down next to Momiji, "What happened to you? Why did you transform? Why is Kagura here? Where is Kagura?”

 

“OMIGOSH! TOHRU I WAS SOOO WORRIED!!! I MEAN, I DIDN'T SEE YOU WITH KYOU THIS MORNIN' AND I GOT SCARED `CAUSE I THOUGHT SOMEONE STOLE YOU OR SOMETHING AND-AND-AND-AND… OH, I'M JUST SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE!!!”

 

It seemed Momiji couldn't contain his sudden outburst of `happiness' since threw himself towards overly worried Tohru and pulled his arms around her, burring his face in a part of Tohru's torso that - if Kyou wasn't currently unconscious - would have probably sent the hotheaded cat into a state of frenzy which would have resulted in the blonde not being able to even lift a finger without crying.

 

A misty, all too familiar, purple haze obscured the brunette's vision as she fell backwards from the force of Momiji's sudden embrace. Tohru squeaked, bracing herself back on her hands so she didn't fall, as she felt the fabric of her school uniform blouse become moist as Momiji - in his rabbit form- cried to her chest.

 

"K-kyou?" a small, hurt voice called as Tohru's classroom door slowly creaked closed. Kagura was sitting on the floor squinting in pain, a bump the size of Alaska protruding from her forehead. Tohru held back the sudden urge she had to laugh… so that was what the thud was…

 

Tohru also knew she really wasn't in a situation to laugh. After all, she had the problem of explaining the reason there was a crying rabbit and an unconscious cat in school to the teachers who were most definitely going to come out and see what was going on.

 

"Come on, Kagura!" Tohru yelled in a whisper as the older-woman rubbed the bump on her forehead, "We have to get Kyou and Momiji out of here! Before someone sees them!"

 

"Wha?" Kagura asked, obviously a little taken back from that collision with the classroom door, "My Kyou is in danger?"

 

"Well, not exactly but close enough!" Tohru answered, pulling to her feet, bundling Momiji in her arms, "You get Kyou and we'll get out of here!"

 

"Kyou? Where is my Kyou?" Kagura paused, looking around and as soon as her gaze settled on the orange, furry figure lying lifelessly at Tohru's side, the darker-brunette jumped to her feet and jetted down the remaining stretch of hallway, reaching down and pulling the tiny cat into her arms.

 

"Oh-my-god-what-has-happened-to-you!" Kagura cried, shaking the cat violently, "Wake up, Kyou! WAKE UP YOU BASTARD!!!" Just as Kagura - in her sudden state of rage - was ready to throw poor, cataleptic Kyou through the glass window that was mounted into the outside wall of the hallway, there was a sudden yell.

 

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, MISS. HONDA?"

 

Tohru spun on her heel facing wide-eyed, red-faced, birds-nest-for-hair, Mrs. Harada her oh so loveable History teacher. The brunette laughed uneasily as Kagura froze mid-movement, her eyes softening as she carefully placed Kyou back into her arms, a cheesy smile on her face.

 

"Well you see, Mrs. Harada," Tohru started, "I heard some noises out in the hallway and I just had to see what was going on and-"

 

"I do not want to hear your LIES Miss. Honda!" Tohru's teacher yelled, "And why the hel-heck are those god forsaken animals in this school? And who was cursing? I want answers, NOW!"

 

Tohru tensed… what was she to say?

 

"Well, Mrs. Crazy-hair, you see my friends - Momiji and Kyou Sohma to be exact - as well as a few other members of their family are cursed with the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac. When they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, or placed under a lot of stress, they transform into that animal that are cursed with. So, as you can see, Momiji here is the year of the rabbit, as for Kyou, he's the year of the cat, which technically doesn't exist because the rat tricked the cat and all that jazz. You know the story don't ya?"

 

If she said that, she'd either be sent to a mental institution, or she'd have her memory erased. Both options didn't sound too pleasant at the moment…

 

"It's my fault, Miss," Kagura spoke in a whisper, glancing up at the teacher with sad eyes - the same eyes she had given Tohru when they first met at Shigures' house, "I just wanted to bring my cousin Tohru her birthday presents, I don't know what I was thinking bringing them to her school and all…" Kagura sniffled, wiping her dry eyes with the right sleeve of her sweater, as she held Kyou close to her chest with her left arm, "I was just so excited and my dear Tohru always wanted a kitty and bunny…"

 

"Always!" Tohru cried, snuggling Momiji who, for the moment, had stopped crying. Wait, since when was it her birthday?

 

Mrs. Harada didn't look amused, or even convinced for that matter.

 

"Well Miss…" Tohru's teacher trailed off, waving a hand dismissively in Kagura's face, "Whoever-you-are! You should know better than to bring fifthly, smelly animals into a school. And for you, Tohru Honda!" Mrs. Harada turned to face the hazel-eyed seventeen-year old, "There is no excuse for you simply getting up and leaving my class. For that, you will have a week's worth of detention starting tomorrow! Understood?"

 

The brunette glanced up at her teacher, horrified. Detention?

 

"MISS. HONDA? AM I UNDERSTOOD?"

 

"Y-yes," Tohru managed to choke out, glancing down at her feet.

 

'Sorry, Mom,' she muttered quietly to herself, ashamed.

 

"And why are those uniforms in the middle of the hallway!?"

 

"Okay-we-need-to-go-now-buh-bye!" Kagura nearly yelled in one breath, picking up the discarded clothing with her free hand. Quickly, she then hooked arms with bedazzled Tohru and pulled her down the hallway and out of the school.

 

<Hr>

 

"Kagura, I think it's better if you just let Kyou rest…"

 

"BUT HE NEEDS MY LOVE TO HEAL!!!"

 

"I think he can survive without your love for just a little while," Tohru explained, prying the older-woman off of Kyou's bedroom door, "He'll need something to eat when he wakes up, won't he? Why don't you go make him something! I'm sure he'd appreciate it!"

 

"Oh that's such a good idea!" Kagura squeaked, racing away from Tohru and down the flight of stairs that led to the lower part of the house. Sighing deeply, the brunette ran a hand through her medium brown hair, contemplating what to do next…

 

She and Kagura had already dropped Momiji off at the Sohma main house, since he just so happened to sprint from the school with them. So she didn't have to worry about that…

 

She decided against going downstairs, unless of course she smelled smoke, seeing as Kagura would probably kick her out anyway. When it came to Kyou, the woman wanted to do everything she could for him independently.

 

She did have quite large amount of homework to do; most of it consisted of make-up work from the previous week when she came home from work finding that she was too tired to care about her grades.

 

She could clean, that always took her mind off of the things that were bothering her but sadly, at this moment she couldn't find the will power to pick up a mop.

 

Something in her gut kept her placed in front of Kyou's door and she fought the back the idea of checking on the orange-haired boy. She had kept Kagura away from his room, so she'd be a hypocrite if she went in herself, wouldn't she?

 

'He needs his rest,' Tohru told herself, taking a few steps away from the door and down the hallway towards her room, 'Leave him alone!'

 

It couldn't hurt just to take a peek to see if he was okay, right?

 

While her brain told her to leave the boy be, her heart told her go see him and for some reason, her heart had a stronger will power over her actions at the moment.

 

Deciding only to stay a few seconds - one minute at the most - Tohru descended back down the length of the hallway and silently entered Kyou's bedroom, sliding the door shut behind her. Dropping her arms at her sides the brunette turned towards Kyou's bed.

 

He was still asleep, much to Tohrus thanks, she didn't know what she would have said or did if he was awake. He had transformed back into his human form, and he lay on his back, his bare arms resting at his sides above the blanket that Kagura had pulled over his legs and most of his torso. His lightly tanned skin looked deeper in color against the pasty-white quilt, and Tohru couldn't help but notice the well-toned muscles of his arms and upper chest.

 

The brunette shook her head quickly, pushing away the slight and sudden desire she had to see the rest of his upper body. Sure, she had seen him without a shirt before but she hadn't really taken any time to actually look at him. A blush crept up her usually pale cheeks as she sat down on the edge of Kyou's bed, trying her hardest to keep the mattress from shaking too much. God forbid he wake up and find her like this.

 

Tohru really didn't know what was going on with her. She had never, ever felt like this before. But it seemed ever since he had looked at her like that, ever since he had pulled her to him like he did, ever since he spoke her name with enough emotion that it made her entire body tingle, she had felt this way. Like, she'd do everything and anything just to see him smile, or laugh even. Like she'd go to the ends of the universe to find a way to break that damned curse he was under just so maybe he wouldn't be as cold as he was, or that maybe he could hold her… just once… just long enough that she could feel a single beat of his heart against her cheek.

 

The orange-haired boy shifted in his sleep, muttering something incoherent to the air. Tohru tensed, pursing her lips in a pathetic attempt to keep her presence to the hotheaded cat unknown.

 

'He's out cold,' the brunette thought, 'What am I so worried about?'

 

That's when Tohru noticed something abnormal about Kyou's face.

 

He had a split lower lip, as well as a blackened eye. Why she hadn't noticed this as soon as she got a good look at him she wasn't exactly sure. Feeling her curiosity get the better of her, Tohru hesitantly leaned forward a bit so she could graze her fingers against Kyou's forehead and brush his bangs from his eyes, much like he had done for her this morning. But when her hand came close enough to his face, Kyou's left arm suddenly shot up and grabbed her wrist, his fingers lightly digging into the soft flesh of her inner forearm.

 

Tohru gasped despite herself. He wasn't hurting her, but his rash and quick movement had certainly caught her off-guard.

 

Kyou opened his eyes, only moments after grabbing her. His crimson eyes were hard, evidently angry. Tohru didn't know what to say, or even to do. She had obliviously annoyed him since he looked pissed off beyond reason and though she tried to form the words 'I'm sorry,' she just couldn't. No matter how hard she tried.

 

"Oh," Kyou spoke in a whisper, lessening his grip on Tohru's forearm but not letting go of it entirely. His eyes softened a considerable amount, "I thought you were Kagura."

 

"What happened to your face?" Tohru blurted out, then internally scolded herself for being so blunt. Kyou sighed, wincing slightly as he blinked.

 

"Me and Black Haru got in'a fight," he explained, "this mornin' after I—well, you know, ran off…"

 

"Oh," was all Tohru could say.

 

A few seconds - that felt like an eternity to Tohru - lapse silently between the two of them, leaving Tohru to pass the time with admiring the blue-tint of her uniform skirt. Kyou's fingers were still flexed around her arm, and the brunette instantly wondered why he hadn't dropped his hand yet. This wasn't like Kyou at all. He had always kept himself at a distance from everyone, including her, yet here he was, holding her arm in such a soft, loving, way…

 

She instantly blamed Kyou's actions on brain damage he probably suffered when Kagura shook him as though he were nothing more than a rag doll.

 

"Tohru," Kyou's voice was weak but was loud enough to beckon her from her thoughts, glancing up from her skirt, she met the hotheaded cat's crimson gaze.

 

"I wanted to say that, well, I didn't really mean what I said this mornin', 'bout not carin' I mean," Kyou paused, his grip around Tohru's arm tightening, "It's just that damn dog was singin' that song… and…"

 

Tohru laughed, slightly confused, "What song?"

 

All the color drained from Kyou's face. Shit.

 

"N-never mind," he stammered, "I'm just sorry, okay? 'Bout leavin' and all," he blushed slightly, "And if I worried you when I didn't show up for school on time."

 

"Oh, no, it's okay!" Tohru said quickly, smiling, "Don't fret, I wasn't too worried."

 

'I didn't even know you were missing,' Tohru thought shyly.

 

"OH KYOU I MADE YOU YOUR FAVORITE!!!" Kagura's voice yelled from just outside his bedroom door. Both Kyou and Tohru's head whipped to the side at the sound of the older-woman's voice.

 

"Oh god," he whispered, "She's goin' kill me."

 

"KYOU, DARLING?"

 

Almost on cue, as Kyou was sitting up, Kagura came barreling through the door, a large, idiotic smile on her face as she raced across the room with a platter of food in her hand all of which looked either to be severely burnt or under-cooked.

 

But it's the thought that counts, right?

 

Though, as quickly as Kagura had entered the room everything went silent, and the older-woman's gaze dropped to the hand that Kyou had clutched around Tohru's arm.

 

"Did I miss something?" Kagura asked all too innocently, eyeing the pair that sat close to each other on Kyou's bed. Tohru instantly pulled her arm away from Kyou and he away from her; an awkward silence encompassed the air as Tohru stood.

 

"No, nothing! We were just talking!" Tohru smiled, "Well, I better go finish my homework. See you guys later!"

 

Tohru could feel Kyou's eyes on her as she swiftly left the room, embarrassed beyond words. It wasn't that someone touching her was embarrassing or anything, after all, it wasn't like they were kissing or something, it was simply because it was Kyou who had touched her…

 

As soon she the brunette was out of hearing range, Kagura narrowed her eyes sadly at the orange-haired boy, noting the look on his face, a look she knew very well.

 

"No, Kyou," she whispered.