Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Light in My Life ❯ Walks ( Chapter 2 )

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2: Walks

"What is that sound?" Tohru asked, yawning as she smoothed out her revealing nightgown.

"Nn," came the response from beside her. The man lying there pulled the blankets over his head. Tohru lightly brushed her fingers through some of his dark colored hair, leaning down to kiss his ear. She tucked the blankets around him, getting quietly out of bed.

Tohru sat up in bed quite suddenly. Her breath wasn't quick, for the dream hadn't been dramatic in any way. She wasn't sweating, but rather felt warm and comfortable. It was so right, so real.

Looking at her alarm clock, Tohru realized it was only a few minutes before she was due to wake up anyway. Getting out of bed, she trotted to the bathroom in her pajamas and turned on the faucet.

It was the third time that week she had had a dream like that. They had no real meaning to her right then, but she got butterflies in her stomach whenever she thought of the man that they featured. It was a warm, anticipatory sort of nervousness, as if her thought and heart was culminating towards that one feeling.

Tohru finished off the meal preparation by scooping some rice into her hands, patting it into a side-dish sort of riceball. Setting the last plate on the table, the man who had previously been sitting some ways away on a cushion came towards her. He wore a rather casual yukata, which was the same dark color as his hair and hung loosely from his fine shoulders. His eyes were shadowed, and he touched her hand briefly before kneeling down in front of the table.

Tohru remembered the dream she had had two nights previous with fondness. But what did it mean? She sighed. Who would know? Or rather, who could she tell?

Finishing with her shower, she hastily put on her school uniform and trotted down the stairs. Although the sun had only just come up, Kyou was already coming down the stairs from the roof, where he had probably been since she woke up twenty minutes earlier. He was always out of bed as soon as the sun came up, and hated waiting too long for breakfast. With that thought in mind, Tohru quickly set about preparing a meal.

As she set out plates of natto, rice, and miso, Yuki sleepily walked into the room. He was definitely not a morning person; but that was hardly the worst part of mornings. Along with being a walking zombie, when Yuki was half asleep, he was doubly dangerous as the rest of the day when he was more alive. This was more of a threat to Kyou than anyone else, since the cat was prone to picking fights at the most inopportune times. Because Yuki lacked reasoning to match his power in the morning, he would usually grind Kyou's face into the ground with one kick in order to get to his breakfast.

With this thought in mind, Tohru carefully led the sleepy Yuki over to the table, where she sat him down on a cushion and quickly set energizing food in front of him. Kyou came into the room not long after, looking annoyed. Tohru had gotten used to it by now, and took her time putting out the rest of the meal. It did not take much longer for an exhausted-looking Shigure to stumble into the kitchen.

When everyone was seated, they commenced. "Ittadakimasu," Tohru repeated, before absently eating her miso soup. Maybe it was time to pay the main house a visit, she thought. It had been a while since she had seen Hatori and the others who lived there. She saw Momiji and Hatsuharu at school at times, but they usually said hello between classes and missed one another during free periods or after school.

"I think," Tohru said, "I will go to the main house after school." Immediately, all three men stopped eating and stared hard at her. She nodded. "I will walk home with Hatsuharu-san and Momiji-kun." Yuki was the first to speak up.

"Why?" Tohru shrugged her shoulders.

"It has been a while since I have seen Hatori-san and the others. I will call him before he leaves for work." Kyou and Yuki immediately became serious.

"Tohru, we cannot allow you to go there alone!" Kyou said loudly, looking quite angry. Tohru closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"I apologize if this may inconvenience you, but there is also something I must ask Hatori-san," she reasoned. Shigure looked at the two boys, then lightly touched their shoulders.

"It's fine with me, Tohru-kun, just make sure either Momiji-kun or Haru-kun is with you at all times, and call us if there is any problem at all," he requested. Tohru nodded and smiled. Kyou still growled angrily, but Yuki let out a small sigh of assent.

Tohru stood up, collecting the plates with a smile on her face and a slight bounce in her walk. After cleaning the kitchen, she disappeared into the entryway where the phone was located.

"Hatori-san? This is Honda Tohru. Hello! Yes, I'm fine, thank you. And how are you? That's wonderful! I hope I didn't bother your morning routine, but I wanted to catch you before you left for work. Yes! They're doing well. Thank you. I was actually just wondering if it would be alright to stop by today after school. No, that's alright. I can spend time with Hatsuharu-san and Momiji-kun until you come home. Oh, not on my account! I was really just hoping to see you all. It's been a long time. Yes! Alright, thank you very much, Hatori-san. Goodbye." Yuki came up beside her. "Hatori-san said it would be fine. Is that okay with you, Yuki-kun?" He nodded and smiled.

"It would be wonderful for you to see your friends again. Would you like to walk with me to school? Kyou said he still has to do something, so he'll be a little late?" Tohru nodded.

"That would be lovely," she replied. They stepped out the door, announcing their departure before closing the shoji panel behind them.

***

"Momiji-kun!" Tohru cried, waving her hand. The little blonde-haired boy turned around, and upon spotting her, went wild with excitement.

"Tohru-kun!" he cried, stopping himself from hugging her at the last moment. There were still a lot of students filing out of the building, and a large poof and a boy suddenly turning into a rabbit would instigate a lot of unnecessary attention.

Momiji now wore regular boys' clothing, but still looked as childish as ever. His bright, reddish-brown eyes and outstanding blonde hair always earned him a lot of attention, and he seemed to enjoy every minute of it. He latched onto Tohru's arm, smiling widely.

"How are you, princess Tohru?" he asked, giggling at the name. She smiled back.

"I'm wonderful, Momiji-kun," she replied, patting his head. He was almost as tall as she was now, but acted no different than he did when he was a freshman. "I was actually wondering if it would be alright to walk home with you and Hatsuharu-san. I wanted to come visit you all this afternoon," she told him. Momiji immediately grinned and nodded.

"I would love that! I don't know about Haru-kun though, he has to stay after school for a little while. But that's alright, right?" Tohru nodded. "Great! Hatori mentioned something about that earlier, but I think I was already mostly out of the door," Momiji added with a blush.

"It has been a while since I last saw you and chatted," Tohru commented as they walked away from the school, hand in hand. Momiji nodded.

"We missed you, Tohru-kun," he said solemnly. Tohru looked sadly at him, then patted his arm.

"I will try to come and see you all more often," she assured him, but Momiji didn't seem convinced.

They crossed the street, stepping onto the path which led through the surrounding trees towards the main house. Tohru watched Momiji with curiosity; he had grown considerably since she last got a good look at him. He still had a very childish face, but was almost taller than she and seemed less boyish than when she had first met him.

The main house appeared through the trees, looming large before them. It was one floor, but extended like a village of houses around a wide courtyard. Momiji led Tohru up towards the part where he and Hatori lived, releasing her hand and opening the door for her.

"I'm so happy to see you again, Tohru-kun," Momiji said, hugging her suddenly. A cloud of smoke surrounded the surprised Tohru, and a small rabbit appeared in her arms. Tohru giggled.

"It's good to see you too, Momiji-kun," she replied, patting his head. Tohru let out a silent sigh; the happiest, most cheerful member of the Sohma family was the one with the hardest and most tragic past. She hugged Momiji, petting his long ears. "I'm sorry, Momiji-kun."

"What for, Tohru-kun?" She only hugged him tighter. "I am happy, Tohru-kun." Momiji looked up at her, before closing his eyes and snuggling up to her.

Then, there was a sudden "POOF!".