Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Light in My Life ❯ Visits ( Chapter 7 )

Apologies for not updating yesterday. I don't really remember what I was doing, but it was important. I think. By the way, all these reviewers attempting to guess at the pairing is incredibly amusing. Keep it up! I won't mention it if one of you is right, for it should be apparent soon. And if anyone is questioning why I didn't put some sort of 'advertisement' about what's hidden in this story, I'll give a list of things I hate about this site:

People constantly put "R&R PLZ!!" Here's my biased opinion: If it's worth reviewing, it'll be reviewed. Tell people what you have to tell, and get on with it.

With listing pairings like "Yukiru" or "Shigure x Tohru"... it just looks tacky. If a story's good enough, any pairing can be appreciated.

7: Visits

Hatori had been half-dozing when a sudden movement from across the room jolted him out of his little nap. He instantly went on alert, staring intently at the girl still kneeling some distance away. She sat in front of Akito's padded futon, and the flowers she had brought for him still sat beside her. Perhaps an hour had passed; Hatori wasn't sure. The sunlight streaming into the room had shifted, seeping across the birdbath which rested on a nearby desk. A small, white bird sat on the rim, fanning its wings. How it went in and out with the door closed, he wasn't sure. Maybe it just slept in the room, and the servants opened the door for some fresh air at night.

The sound had been Akito shifting. Tohru was fully awake, still kneeling beside the mortally ill man. The flowers looked sort of wilted, but still had the vibrant colors that Tohru had chosen them to be.

"Hatori," came a shushed, whispering voice. Hatori was immediately alert. "Hatori... what is that smell?"

Tohru kept quiet, looking back at the doctor. "Flowers," Hatori replied. His voice seemed to boom in comparison to Akito's choked sound, but the eerie silence of the room magnified the very sound of a bird fanning its wings.

"What kind are they?" Akito asked again, devoid of emotion. Hatori blinked. He wasn't very good with flowers, so he looked to Tohru.

"Tulips," she said very quietly, her voice soft and tender. Akito seemed to take the answer well in his fevered state, and put his face back into the pillow. He still had not opened his eyes. "Pink and yellow tulips," Tohru added.

"Girlish," Akito's voice replied, almost indecipherable in its weakness. Tohru rose, lifting the flowers and turning to walk away. "But," he started again, "they smell pleasant." Tohru nodded, looking to Hatori. He looked around the room, his eyes settling on a vase in the corner. She gave him the flowers, bowing as he took them and put the vase in order near Akito.

"I'll come back tomorrow, when he feels better," Tohru told Hatori, smiling lightly. Hatori nodded slowly. When he feels better? She seemed so confident, Hatori felt as if her words must have been true. If she said it was so, then it must be, right?

He shook off that sort of thinking. Akito was only prolonging his death by using whatever small bit of self-preservation remained in his thin, weak body. Tohru bowed again, leaving the room. Hatori put the flowers in the vase, quietly ordering a servant to fill it with water.

He set it near the desk, which was some feet from the head of Akito's futon. He heard a light sniffing sound, and a small sound of what seemed to be some twisted form of pleasure. Hatori stood up, dusting off his knees and stepping out the door silently into the hall. It was time for some rest.

***

Tohru stepped inside the house not long after noon. She announced her arrival, but there was no response. Yuki was most likely in the garden, and Kyou would for sure be taking a cat nap on the roof. Shigure was either typing away, harassing his editor in the middle of the desert in some remote country, or at his cousin Ayame's.

She removed her shoes, padding into the kitchen and preparing herself for a large lunch. Her mood was one of mixed emotions; she felt content at having visited Akito and brightening his day with some tulips. Although she knew he had no idea anyone but Hatori was in the room, it had made her feel better about the frightening man. But Tohru also felt guilty about lying to her friends, and decided that she would make it up to them.

With practiced grace and efficiency, Tohru set about rolling rice in nori, filling riceballs, making miso soup, grilling fish, and a number of other equally skill-testing occupations.

When she was done, the entire table was filled with plate after plate of steaming, aromatic food. Tohru then set about summoning her housemates; she walked down the hall towards Shigure's office, knocking lightly on the door.

"Yes?" Shigure asked.

"Lunch is ready, Shigure-san," Tohru told him. She skipped back up the stairs towards the roof, and poked her head out through the trap leading up to it.

Tohru sighed, giggling slightly at Kyou's relaxed, sleeping face. "Kyou-kun," she said quietly.

"Uhn, Tohru," Kyou replied in his sleep, shifting. Tohru poked him lightly. He opened one eye, barely registering her. "What is it?" he asked, his voice thickly tainted with annoyance.

"Lunch is all ready," she informed him, smiling. Kyou blinked as the girl disappeared back to the hallway.

She passed Shigure, who was seating himself down at the table. "Where are you going? What about eating?" he asked. Tohru shook her head.

"Yuki is outside I think," she informed him. Shigure pondered this for a moment, before nodding. She bowed lightly and turned, hurrying out the door.

"Yuki-kun! Lunch is ready!" she called behind the house. Hoping he had heard her, she went back inside and seated herself just as Kyou shuffled sleepily to his cushion.

They all assembled for lunch, and Tohru felt herself beam with happiness as the three boys gladly ate their meals. They were too busy eating to notice her radiant smile, but they felt it all over. She must have had fun with Hanajima, Yuki decided. Kyou didn't think twice about it, and instead focused on dismembering a riceball in his mouth. In his rush to eat the delicious item, he had put the whole thing in between his jaws and was having trouble getting around it. Shigure merely swallowed a noodle politely, eager to get past his appetizer-like dishes and be the first to get his paws on the fish.

Tohru's mind drifted as she cleaned up after the meal. Although she had felt frightened and on edge when she first entered Akito's presence, the action of sitting beside him seemed to have put her in a daydream of a trance. There was a certain calmness around the main house then that she could never hope to discover anywhere else in her busy life; and certainly, Hatori got some much-needed rest. If that was what was required to make him get some sleep, then that's what she would do.

Tohru nodded her head. She would go again, and maybe, just maybe, Akito would recognize her.

***

Hatori had begrudgingly agreed to Tohru's proposal. He rather liked her company, even if it wasn't in his or Akito's best interests. They needed her there, he decided. She brought a bright, cheery mood that could raise the spirits of even the darkest members of the family. Even Momiji needed some of the rejuvenation that only Honda Tohru could provide.

Hatori sat in front of Akito's door, leaning against the wall. Despite his dignity and pride, the doctor couldn't stay on his feet any longer. The feverish Akito had been lashing out in his sleep the entire night, and no one had gotten a wink of downtime.

Tohru walked down the hallway, kneeling beside the snoring Hatori. She was about to shake him awake, when she decided against it. He was getting what appeared to be his only rest in days, and she would feel horrible about disturbing it.

Unsure of what move to make next, she opted to go into Akito's room. Momiji had led her inside, and told her where she could find Hatori. The rabbit seemed too tired and distraught to do much else, so she had insisted he go to bed and that she would take care of things. Not that she knew what "things" were or how to go about it, but she would try.

Tohru lifted the bag she had been carrying onto her shoulder as she opened the sliding shoji panel door. She left it ajar, just in case of an emergency. "Good morning, Akito-san," she greeted formally. She waited for a moment, in case he had regained some form of consciousness. There was no reply.

She kneeled down some feet away from his futon. His breathing was heavy, and he appeared to be in some form of wakefulness. Tohru looked at the flowers, smiling lightly; they brightened the dark room.

She stood, walking in a wide circle around the room towards the pair of doors leading to the outdoors. It was a wonderfully bright and warm day, and the air in the room was becoming stifling. She opened one door onto the porch, where she stepped out, and saw a orange-haired man, panting, his face screwed up in anger.

"Kyou?"