Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Love At Christmas ❯ Love At Christmas ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

This story is dedicated to kurenoharu for being such a great friend and nice classmate ^^

Love At Christmas

To Kyou, it was just like any other day. He had never celebrated Christmas before. Truth be told, he had never celebrated any festival before. He was the Cat. The Cat was not allowed to celebrate and have fun. The Cat was supposed to be alone and suffering. Therefore, he was never offered the luxury of spending Christmas in a special way.

This all changed when Tohru came to live with them. Tohru insisted on celebrating and honoring every single festival in the calendar. This was her own unique way of thanking the Sohma family for taking her in and caring for her so. All of a sudden, Shigure, Yuki and Kyou found themselves very busy dealing with all the different customs and festivals. Kyou hated it but he could not help not blaming her. Tohru was not like any other girl. She was special and Kyou could not find it in his heart to be irritated with her. Thus it was that they ended up decorating their usually plain house for Christmas.

“Why do I have to be the one to scrub the toilets!?” Kyou hollered at everyone and no one in particular.

“Because everyone else is busy. Honda-san is busy cooking. I am busy putting up the Christmas tree. As for Shigure, who knows where he is. He'll only appear when convenient. So obviously, it means that you're the only one free enough to scrub the toilets,” Yuki replied matter-of-factly.

Kyou could only growl at Yuki with eyes narrowed in fury. He knew Yuki was right but he just did not understand the rationale of celebrating such an event. Much less scrub toilets for it. He had never done so before, so he could not see why he had to start now.

`It's that Tohru's entire fault! If she hadn't been so adamant about the whole affair, I wouldn't have to suffer such indignity!' Kyou thought, thoroughly irritated.

“Kyou-kun! Yuki-kun! Shigure-san! You can come down now! Dinner is ready!” Kyou heard the cheerful chirp of the innocent girl living under the same roof as him.

“I'm coming soon,” Kyou grunted downstairs.

When he got to the dinner table, Kyou was surprised to see that the girl from the school council was seated demurely next to Yuki.

“Wait, aren't you that girl from the school council who's always so weird? What are you doing here?” Kyou interrogated her rudely.

“Ah, Kyou-kun. You should not be so rude to our honorably beautiful guest you know. If you scare her away tonight, who knows how Yuki-kun is going to spend his lonely nights in a cold bed,” Shigure smirked his lecherous smile at Yuki.

“Her name is Machi and she's not weird. The reason she's seated here is that I have invited her over for the Christmas Eve feast Honda-san has whipped up,” Yuki pointedly ignored Shigure and replied with a dangerous look at Kyou.

Kyou shuddered inwardly at that look of pure ice. He knew that tone. Yuki had used it once when Tohru first came to live with them. He was being very protective of her then. Kyou had made some casual insult about her and that was all it took for Yuki to turn the icy tone on him. He tried to argue back. He succeeded. In getting himself beaten to a pulp by Yuki.

Kyou looked at the girl, trying to find something wrong with her. Failing to do so, he could only grunt softly in agreement. Tohru's face brightened visibly at that and she chirruped that it was time to dig in. Kyou then looked at the food Tohru had so painstakingly prepared for the first time. And had a great shock.

Besides the customary turkey, which was roasted to a crisp brown, almost all the other dishes were his favorite foods. There was his ultimate favorite sweet and sour codfish, steamed and baked with the special sweet and sour sauce homemade by Tohru herself. Then there was the chicken stew, creamy and smelling so heavenly. The salad with the homemade mango dressing was also one of his favorite foods. It was all he could to keep from drooling while staring at all the fare. A quick glance over the other dishes reassured him of the absence of leeks. Exhaling a sigh of relief, Kyou then dug into the spread, tasting and liking the taste of Tohru's cooking.

When dinner was over, Kyou escaped to the roof and lay comfortably on the bench kept there. He liked passing his time there. It was quiet and the peace it could provide was unrivalled. Closing his eyes, he thoroughly relaxed and thought about the sumptuous dinner he just had. After a few moments, he heard footsteps coming up behind him. Without opening his eyes, he already knew who it was.

“I thought you'd be washing the dishes,” You seem to make a hobby out of doing household chores.

Tohru settled herself on the end of the bench at Kyou's feet, “I was doing the dishes, but Yuki-kun and Machi-san came up to me and offered to do them instead. I was about to recline when they pushed me out of the kitchen.”

Kyou sighed deeply at her words; he wondered how she could be so clueless at times and yet so perceptive at other times.

“The kuso nezumi wanted to be alone with the weird girl. And he most probably feels guilty for making you cook and not helping a single bit. Well, he deserves to do the dishes anyway!!” Kyou explained with a humph.

Tohru smiled gently at his reclining form. Kyou had changed so much. He was so different from the day she met him. He had become so gentle, so kind and so peaceful. Sometimes, she just wished he could understand her feelings…Oh well, some things are just not meant to be.

“…It was delicious. Great cooking,” Kyou began awkwardly. It was hard for him to thank or praise a person properly.

Tohru seemed to sense his unease and aided him, “Oh, it's nothing. I'm glad I'm able to do something for you… I mean, all of you. For taking care of me all this time. I'm truly grateful.”

Kyou opened his eyes and looked at Tohru. She was sitting at where his feet rested, her gaze demurely down. Her hair was flowing in the night breeze, silky strands that tempted him to run his fingers through. The single shaft of light coming from inside of the house made her skin glow an almost holy color. From where he was, Tohru looked like an angel, untouched by any blemish. And, in actuality, she was an angel. His angel. She looked so different from when he first set eyes upon her. She was just a normal high school student back then. Nothing special. Nothing spectacular. When had she changed?

Kyou sat up and inched closer to her. When he was right beside her, she tilted her head up and looked at him in the eyes. A myriad of emotions fleeted through vibrant orange orbs before settling on the most prominent: indecision.

“I…” Kyou felt his throat constrict. He could not do this. He should not do this. He was the Cat. He was the monster, filthy and smelly. Unwanted by everybody, he was destined to be alone and locked up for the rest of his life.

“I…” Closing his eyes, Kyou tried again but failed miserably to get a second word out.

“Look!! A shooting star!! Make a wish, Kyou-kun!!” The delighted squeal startled Kyou out of his losing battle with the lump in his throat.

He slid open brilliant orange eyes and looked at Tohru. She had her eyes closed, her hands clasped together in a form of prayer. Her face was tilted up to the heavens, a silent wish on her lips.

Then, ever so quietly, he heard her speak, “I wish Kyou-kun would be forever happy here with me.”

Kyou could only gape as realization hit him. Tohru had just wished to be with him! She returned his sentiments! Words could never describe the intense happiness he was feeling there and then. How long had he wished to hear those words! How many nights have he prayed for that moment! Though he has not confessed his feelings to her, he now knew she returned his affections. That was good enough.

The clock struck twelve then, signaling the arrival of a most perfect festival. Surprised, Tohru snapped open her eyes and met Kyou's gaze.

“Merry Christmas, Kyou-kun! May all your wishes come true!” She exclaimed joyfully, with hope brimming in her expressive eyes.

Kyou smiled gently at her and replied calmly, feeling finally at ease, “Merry Christmas, Tohru. May all your wishes come true too,” he suddenly halted, then added hesitatingly, “I will be happy as long as you are. Are you?”

A splendid blush blossomed across her cheekbones. She could not believe what she was hearing! Kyou was openly concerned for her! She had thought the day would never come. With crystal tears rolling down her cheeks, she nodded her head vigorously a few times, reassuring Kyou that she was indeed very happy.

Seeing her tear-streaked face, Kyou got worried, “What wrong? Did I say something to make you cry? I'm sorry, I…”

“No, no! It's not your fault, Kyou-kun! I'm just too happy! That was the first time you said something like that to me. I was too happy that the tears just started to flow. Sorry for worrying you…”

Relief flooded Kyou when he heard Tohru, “Baka.”

Tohru only smiled at that and together, they continued gazing out into the night sky, marveling at how perfect that night was and what a great season Christmas had become.