Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ It's About That Time... ❯ Part 01 - Dilemma ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: If I owned fruits basket, you wouldn't be reading a disclaimer right now. In other words, I don't own the characters, the storylines or basically anything that would earn me one measly buck! Happy? Bah! (Lucky Natsuki Takaya...)

By the way, I'm writing this as part of the 'Black Tohru Challenge' as put forward by Takun. Heh. This is gonna be fun!



Part 01 - Dilemma

Tohru sat up in bed as the alarm clock clanged in her ear. She drew her knees up to her chin and sighed, looking out at the just-brightening sky. Most mornings she felt quite cheerful, but today she seemed to be... sapped.

"Urgh..."

Tohru moaned as she put her feet to the floor. She'd glanced at the calendar on the wall and realized why she felt so terrible. She looked in the top drawer of her dresser for her usual 'supplies', which were fully stocked, of course, then wandered to the bathroom. She slid the door of the bathroom cabinet open, and peered inside. Her eyes widened, then she sighed deeply.

"I've only got one of the good ones left... I guess I'll just have to make do with normal aspirin this time. I wonder if...? No, he was probably too busy. Well, I'll just take this one..."

Tohru tipped the last 'super pain killer' into her hand and chugged it back.

"...And then I'll get ready for school!"

She closed the bathroom door and continued her morning routine, thinking back on the visit she'd paid to Hatori Sohma just over a month ago...

********************

"Tohru. This is a pleasant distraction, please come in."

Hatori had opened his office door immediately at her light knock. Tohru had immediately stepped back, feeling bad for the disturbance.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for distracting you Mr Hatori, I mean Doctor Hatori!"

Hatori had smiled slightly and ushered her into the room.

"Please calm yourself down, Tohru - I don't want to add you to my list of patients. And please just call me Hatori. Now, I take it this isn't just a social call? Unless you're here to see Momiji as well?"

Tohru seemed to blank out for a moment as she collected her thoughts.

"Uh, yes! I'm here to see Momiji too, but I... I... I wanted... to ask... a... fav..."

Her voice died away and a furious blush covered her cheeks. Hatori finished her sentence.

"You wanted to ask me a favour?"

Tohru lowered her blushing face, nodding vehemently. Hatori pursued the line of questioning.

"Is it something to do with your health?"

Tohru blushed again, and continued to nod.

"Do you need a check-up?"

A head shake instead of a nod. Progress.

"Ok, not a check-up. Do you feel unwell?"

Another head shake in response. Hatori sighed, rolling his eyes good naturedly.

"Tohru, just tell me what you need. Contrary to popular belief by most people in this family, I am a busy man."

Tohru finally lifted her head, still blushing madly.

"I'm so sorry to impose on you like this, but... back when Mom was alive she used to get a prescription pain killer for days when she had really bad..."

Her blush deepened and she lowered her eyes.

"...cramps... We used to share the tablets between us, and eventually I got my own prescription, but I'm running low on money this month and I was wondering... Well, you being a doctor and all, I thought you might be able to, I don't know... maybe get me a discount...?"

She continued staring at the floor, when a hand suddenly appeared before her eyes.

"Do you have it with you? The prescription."

Tohru lifted her eyes to find Hatori looking down at her kindly. Relief washed over her, and she dug into her bag looking for the scrap of paper. She handed it over and he placed it on his desk, then turned back to face her.

"Will that be all for today, Tohru?"

She stood up and headed for the door, then stopped and turned around.

"Um, Hatori? How much will I owe you - I can pay today if you like?"

Hatori walked over and patted her on the head, absent-mindedly.

"On the house. All family medicine is covered by Sohma family funds. I'll just add you to the list."

Tohru beamed, and had to stop herself from hugging the tall doctor.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

She could hear footsteps pelting toward her from Momiji's room, then a familiar voice.

"Tohru!"

The chuckling boy ran towards her and launched himself into her arms, knocking her off her feet, and transforming into a rabbit in her lap.

"Did you come to see me? Did you? Oh, what fun we'll have! We can go play in the garden, and..."

Tohru stood up, collecting the hyper-active rabbit and his clothes into her arms, and walked off down the corridor back to his room. Hatori had smiled softly to himself again and closed the office door. A slight breeze came through the door just as it was closing and blew the small scrap of paper, Tohru's medicine prescription, onto the floor under his desk.

********************

Shigure awoke, slightly puzzled, sniffing the air. There was an absolutely intoxicating scent in the air, but it seemed to be fading with every sniff. He shook his head, messy hair tumbling into his eyes, as he tried to place this particular scent among his memories. It wasn't any particular food, but it was just so... what was the word?

"Oh, good morning Shigure, you're awake early today!"

Tohru, emerging from the bathroom, almost bumped into him in the narrow corridor. Already dressed in her school uniform, her damp hair curling around her shoulders, and her face pink and shining from just having been washed, Shigure thought she was just about the tastiest looking morsel on the planet.

"Ah! That's it! Alluring!"

Tohru gazed at him, confused. Shigure gazed blankly at her for a moment, then breathed in deeply. The alluring scent seemed to be emanating from the petite high school girl in front of him. He cleared his throat, and put a protective arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Tohru, this may seem a little strange coming from me and all, but are you feeling all right today?"

The girl reddened slightly, and raised her hands to cover her face.

"It's nothing really... it's just the usual thing..."

Shigure understood immediately.

"Listen, Tohru - at these times, I think it might be best if you tried to limit your interactions with those two hot-heads we share this house with."

Tohru lowered her hands and looked at Shigure in shock.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?"

Shigure chuckled, and unconsciously tightened his grip around her shoulder.

"You see, Tohru, the Sohma family are affected by their animal spirits, and if the animal spirit senses another animal nearby that it's attracted to, the human part can only obey those animal urges."

Tohru looked confused. Shigure gripped both of her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Right now, at 'this time', in the animal world, you'd be considered to be 'in heat'. Do you know what that means?"

He could tell from her deepening blush that she did.

"Right now, to me, you smell better than my favourite dishes all lined up in a row. So, I am going to take the coward's way out and go stay at Mi-chan's for a few days until this passes!"

He let go of her shoulders, hurried back to his room, and slammed the door. Tohru could hear the wardrobe doors being slid open and closed, and clothes being thrown into bags, but all this was meaningless to her. She was mortified.

"I... smell... good?"

She knitted her eyebrows, and lifted her arm to her nose, sniffing. All she could smell was her strawberry bodywash. She shook her head, then wandered down ot the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the boys.

********************

Yuki sat up in bed, his eyes half-open, nose twitching. He'd caught a completely entrancing scent, which was surprising for this early in the morning. Usually nothing would bring him out of such a deep sleep.

"Miss Honda must be making breakfast. Well, I mustn't disappoint her and miss it." He rolled out of bed and started to get dressed.

********************

Kyo was in the yard, zoning out, gazing at the trees, when he caught a whiff of an absolutely exquisite yet unrecognisable aroma. He heard Tohru moving stuff around in the kitchen, then checked his watch to see what time it was.

"Geez, it's already this late..."

He stood up and wandered towards the open door of the living room, and caught a glimpse of Tohru through the open kitchen doorway. He stopped and gazed at her, smiling slightly to himself.

"How can she be so damn cute this early in the day?"

He could also hear her humming softly to herself, and he couldn't help but look away, all the while grinning like an idiot.

"This girl... humming while making breakfast, and looking so cute in her school uniform... How did I end up sharing a house with this girl?"

A sudden pain to the back of his head brought him back to his senses.

"Honestly, how can you ever expect to beat me if you can't even sense when someone's standing right behind you."

"You damn rat! You'll pay for that!"

Tohru noticed the ruckus in the living room and stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning you two! The porridge is nearly ready, so please be patient!"

The two boys head's moved in unison, swinging towards the kitchen doorway.

"Ok!"

They answered together, and glaring at each other, sat at opposite sides of the table. Tohru carried their two bowls in, then hurriedly returned to the kitchen. The two boys glanced at the bowls, looked to Tohru's empty spot at the table, raised their eyebrows at each other, then peered through the kitchen doorway.

"Miss Honda, there's plenty of room at the table if you want to sit down and eat."

Tohru, panicking, placed her finished bowl in the sink and started washing it.

"Um, no, that's ok Yuki, I still have to finish cleaning up in here first. Please go ahead and eat!"

Kyo stretched his leg out and kicked Yuki.

"You heard the girl - eat up."

He never removed his gaze from the kitchen door. Kyo knew Tohru was acting odder than usual. A loud clatter from upstairs alerted them the Shigure's approach. He sped down the stairs, pulling a large suitcase behind him, dressed, as per expected, in his traditional writing garb. Yuki looked up from his porridge, surprised.

"Shigure... you're going somewhere?"

Shigure stopped, as if in after-thought, and set the suitcase down by the front door.

"I have to go to Mi-chan's house for a few days - must meet those deadline's and all!"

Yuki rolled his eyes, and returned to his breakfast. Kyo stood up and crossed his arms.

"Since when have you cared about your work. Usually you'd leave it to the last minute, or until your editor is suicidal. What's so different about this week?"

Shigure drew himself up to his full height, closed his eyes and clasped one hand to his chest.

"I have seen the error of my ways."

A faint car horn floated down from the top of the driveway, and Shigure snapped out of his pose. He grabbed the suitcase and flung the front door open.

"Bye then!"

He started to run up the driveway, then stopped, let go of the suitcase, and walked calmly back to the house. He motioned for both boys to approach, and then unwillingly did.

"One more thing... If either of you do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, inappropriate to Tohru while I'm away - I'm sending you back to the main house. Understood?"

Yuki blinked, surprised that Shigure would even think that he, Yuki Sohma, would do anything inappropriate to anybody.

"Understood."

Kyo ran his fingers through his unruly orange hair and remained silent, until Shigure grabbed his ears and pulled.

"Ow, OW, all right, geez! Understood! You happy?"

Shigure let go of Kyo's ears, grinned at them both, the bolted for the driveway. Tohru came out of the kitchen and walked up to open front door, standing between the two boys.

"Did Shigure just leave?"

With Tohru's arrival, that faint scent returned, and both boys glanced down at her. Tohru noticed the strange look they were giving her, and slipped her shoes on quickly, grabbing her bag which was waiting by the door.

"Well then, I'm off too! See you at school!"

She almost sprinted down the driveway, as if fleeing from something terrifying. Yuki glared at Kyo, punching him on the arm.

"What did you do to her?"

Kyo kicked Yuki in the knee.

"Nothing. I was gonna ask you the same question."

They looked at each other, the realization hitting them at the same time.

"Shigure!"

********************

Tohru sighed heavily as she sank into her class seat. She lay her head on the desk, and cradled her aching stomach.

"Oh man... I shouldn't have run all that way..."

The classroom door was flung open, and a black-clad arm pointed towards her from the opening.

"Tohru: found."

A blonde head appeared below the pointing arm, grinning.

"Hana! Your wave detection is amazing!"

Tohru managed a weak grin in repsonse to Hana and Uo's entrance. The two girls came over and took their seats in front of, and behind, Tohru. Hana leaned forward and placed a hand on Tohru's forehead.

"You don't look that well, Tohru. Did something happen at the house?"

Tohru suddenly remembered Shigure's 'smell' remark, and her face turned bright red. In a true Tohru response, her hands started flailing wildly as she tried to think of a suitable explanation.

"Um, well, that is, you know..."

Hana stepped forward and knelt in front of Tohru.

"If you're having any trouble there, you can always stay with me... Megumi says he wants another sister."

Tohru gazed at her friend, with happy tears filling her eyes.

"Hana..."

She shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes, and sighing.

"It's nothing like that - I'm just not feeling well today. It'll pass though, it always does."

The other two girls nodded sagely. Uo moved from her chair to the edge of Tohru's desk, and slung an arm around her shoulders.

"Ah, so it's 'that'. We can help you deal with 'that', no problem! Do you have your 'super-duper-pain-wholloping' tablets with you?"

Tohru grimaced.

"I'm out. I didn't have enough money left over for this month, and my prescription hasn't come back yet."

Uo's arm dropped from her shoulder, and she inched away slightly.

"Hana, this is bad. Do you remember the last time...?"

Hana was gazing off into space, a dark look covering her features.

"How could I not remember the last time."

Tohru glanced between her two friends, completely confused.

"What are you two talking about? Has something like this happened before?"

Hana and Uo gave each other a pointed look, then both started laughing forcedly.

"Don't worry, Tohru, we'll look out for you, no matter what happens this time!"

Uo's smile seemed rather strained. Hana patted Tohru on the shoulder, smiling softly.

"You should probably steer clear of 'those two' for a few days though. It could get... interesting, to say the least."

Tohru, bewildered, rested her head back on the desk.

"I don't get this at all!"

End Part 01

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Ok, admittedly, there's no 'Black Tohru' in this chapter... 'Black Tohru' makes an appearance in the next chapter (hopefully!)

So what do you think so far - hopefully, I've kept the grossness factor to a low (with references to 'that' and all) and believe me, when 'Black Tohru' appears, heads will roll!

Comments are always welcome (I haven't written anything here in ages!) Hopefully I'll be updating this quickly!

Foxfire out!
catherinehgreen@gmail.com