Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Pink Frills, Cheap Thrills ❯ Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba.

Author's note: This has been a collaboration fic with my dear friend, Ali. 50% credit goes to her. Also, I would like to send a huge shout out of gratitude to her for editing and coding this thing. ^^

Story warnings: Slash, shouta-con, coarse language, cross-dressing, violence, abuse, emotional volatility, suicidal behavior.

Chapter warnings: Not much going on yet, see previous chapter's warnings.

Pink Frills,

Cheap Thrills.

A Fruits Basket Fan-fiction Co-write.

Chapter Two-

Momiji waggled a finger at him.

            "Not a problem." he grinned. "Does Aya know about this yet?" He could just imagine the snake's reaction to seeing his brother looking so pretty...

           "I...haven't seen him lately." Yuki shook his head, cheeks pink...again. Poor Haru almost got a nosebleed thanks to that.

           "He'll probably get real excited." the blonde sweat dropped a little. "You did say he was going to be at Shii-Chan's today right?"

           "At some point." He nodded, expression falling a little again. That was just a reminder that Tohru wasn't coming back...

           "That does remind me..." Momiji looked around sadly. "Where are Tohru and Kyou?"

           "I don't know." He admitted quietly.

           "Oh..." Momiji replied unintelligently. He had half a mind to go look for them... But Yuki looked depressed. He needed to be cheered up! And Haru was far too busy drooling to do so. So the little bunny set about making some idle and quite unrelated chitchat. While Yuki wasn't exactly happy, the bunny's babbling certainly was...distracting...were it not for the fact that Tohru wasn't there to chime in at random intervals... Aaah feel the angst. When the bell rang the little Sohma really didn't want to leave Yuki to go back to his class... But he also needed to make sure that big dumb ox went as well. So he gave Yuki an almost reassuring hug before telling Haru they needed to return to their class. Which was odd, because he didn't really know the problem. But, anyway, the day was...survived. However, while all that was going on out there, Kyou was busy being confronted by Uo and Hana.

           "Miss Priss won't tell us anything Carrot Top... How about you help us out?" The fish asked curtly, she rather liked that new nickname for Yuki... Perhaps she'd keep it.

           "The hell're you spewin', Yankee?" Said Carrot Top quirked an irritated eyebrow at her.

           "Something happened to Tohru, thanks to... What was it he said..." She looked back at Hana for a moment before remembering. "Sohma Business? Yeah that was it..."

           "And?" That eyebrow lowered back down into a scowl. "If you're expecting some damn dissertation, I can't give you one."

           "Look you." Uo hissed grabbing the front of his shirt. "Tohru doesn't remember you, and your cousin, Princey boy, is in a skirt. Something's going on, and it involves Tohru. I intend to find out what. I don't like her being involved in anything dangerous to her."

           "Chill, Yankee. It didn't hurt her." As for her not remembering him, Kyou wasn't too worried. He had every intention of reacquainting himself to his friend.

           "Maybe your right. She's been through a lot of crap since she got in with you Sohmas." She mused, shoving him roughly back. "Perhaps it's for the best she doesn't remember."

             "Anything else, MA'AM?" He asked, with a terrible amount of sarcastic emphasis.

           "Nah," Arisa looked like she might spit on him or beat him to death... Maybe both. "That's it."

           "Fine." He shrugged, taking a bite of the rice he'd dug out of the cabinet earlier and steamed. It wasn't fancy, but it was food! Uo stalked off, slightly irritated. But she also had something new to deliberate... Maybe it really was better that Tohru had simply forgotten those stupid boys. Hanajima offered him a very interesting look, which he met head on with an angry glare, before she walked off after Uo.

           "What do you think Hana?" The Yankee asked once they'd sat down once more. "About all this in general."

           "There's something...off with their waves." She mused, still watching Kyou interestedly. "I noticed earlier that, when confronted about Tohru, Yuki Sohma's experienced a rather large and sad spike..."

           "And Carrot Top?"

           "He seems angrier than usual, and under that a... loathing. It's soft, but still rather prominent..." She shook her head then. "Other than that, nothing new."

           "Hmm, it appears they're not too happy about Tohru forgetting then." the fish nodded. "But, Tohru's okay... Maybe that's for the best. Except... Her having to move back in with her gramps..."

           "I have a feeling there's more to this than either of them are saying."

           "Of course there is. He wouldn't have shown up at my apartment, with her unconscious if there wasn't." Uo agreed immediately. "But it doesn't seem like any of them are going to tell us."

           "There are more Sohmas in this school than just those two." Hana reminded her. "Perhaps the blonde haired boy might answer these questions...if it truly is Sohma business, then it would make sense that more than two Sohmas would know about it." Little did she know, Momiji just happened to be one of the ones that didn't...

           "Right..." They could catch the other two on their way out from school. That was when Yuki reentered the room.

           But, classes did eventually end! Hana and Uo caught up to Haru and Momiji just as they were about to exit through the school gate to go meet their ride home.

           "Oooh, Uotani-senpai! Hanajima-senpai!" The little blonde greeted them, cheerful. As always. Had they not been girls he probably would have hugged them too. Then he realized something... and blinked in confusion. "Do... you need something??"

           "We were wondering if you two could answer some questions concerning Tohru-kun for us." Hanajima explained to their inquisitive states.

Without Yuki around, Haru had gotten back to reality rather quickly.

           "Oh yeah... Yuki just said that she was moving in with her grandfather." He looked up curiously at the ox. "He never did tell us why, did he?"

           "Pfft..." Uotani snorted in disgust. Maybe these two didn't know after all...

           "He didn't mention it," Haru shook his head, sitting down on a rock support for the school's fence. "What did you two need to know? We might be able to help anyway, maybe."

           "We wanted to know what was going on." the fish stated flatly. "Seeing as she doesn't remember carrot top. Or you two." Blunt aren't we Uo dear. Not having ever been very good at hiding what he was feeling Momiji's eyes widened, and the gaze he'd had on the Ox changed to fearful.

           "She doesn't remember?" Haru quoted suspiciously. He was SO going to be talking to one or more of his cousins later. (The most likely of which were Hatori, Yuki, and Shigure.)

           "You heard me." Uo growled out in warning. She was tired of these Sohmas fucking around with her.

           "Damnit all." He grumbled angrily. That explained why Yuki was acting like he'd lost his favorite piece of cheese... "I'm going to kill him!" He threatened to himself, already dangerously close to going Black. Of course, it was more the effect it had had on Yuki than the actual loosing of her memories that Haru was upset about, but he wasn't really paying attention enough to even notice that Hana and Uo were there, and listening to him.

           "Haru!" Momiji whimpered out "Don't..." The last thing anyone needed was him going black right now... ESPECIALLY since Hana and Uo were there.

           "What are you talking about you weird kid?" the Yankee raised a blonde eyebrow at him. Haru shot an irritated glance in Momiji's direction, but just growled in frustration and shook his head.

           "Nothing."

           The poor little rabbit felt like he was going to cry... After the things that had happened to him he was the one who disliked (He can't hate.) Hatori's power to most... And Tohru had been such a close friend! That explained why she was moving out, and it explained why Yuki was upset too.

Uo growled at them for a moment then quite frustrated she huffed off. These Sohmas! They won't tell you anything! Momiji watched her go, sniffling slightly.

           "Come on." Haru growled, grabbing Momiji's arm and dragging him off toward the car that had just pulled up. "We're going home so I can kick Hatori's ass." The blonde didn't protest, but a few tears formed at the corners of his eyes and stayed there even as they approached the dragon's house.

           Hatori had been home for a few hours. With Ayame's help they'd all managed to get Tohru's things where they belonged. But unable to stomach his friend's chatter, once they were done, he'd gone straight home. He'd checked on Akito a little while ago and now found himself once again sulking in his house. He made a mental note that, that really wasn't healthy. And it was then that Hatsuharu found his way to the porch and started knocking... rapping was a better word.

           "Hatori!" He called, irritation over-riding nicknames. The doctor stared at the door. Contemplating whether it would actually be worth it to get up. In the end he pushed himself to his feet, he needed to tell them about Honda-kun anyways.

           "Hello Hatsuharu... And... Momiji." he blinked at the very subdued little blonde. "What can I help the two of you with?" Hatori moved away from the door, to let them in.

           "Why'd you do that to her?" Haru demanded, standing stubbornly on the porch, not having decided how long he intended to stay. "Any clue how much it's upset Yuki?"

           "Akito-san told me to." Hatori stated flatly, if they weren't coming in he instead leaned against the doorframe.

           "I repeat, any idea how much it's upset Yuki?" The Ox was feeling quite... irate at the moment, needless to say.

           "I noticed, yes." But there really wasn't anything he could do about it, and told the boy as much.

           "Hatori, he's wearing a DRESS." Haru felt the need to point out. While indeed an enjoyable sight, it was still rather bothersome. "You're a doctor, find out what's wrong and FIX HIM!"

           "I saw the dress Hatsuharu." he felt he should point that out. "And I can't fix something like that." Momiji was looking between them both; he was caught between siding with Haru and trying to calm the Ox down... He didn't want Ha'ri to get hurt or anything.

           "Have you tried?"

           "I'm not a therapist." Haru simply sighed in defeat to that. Biting his lip worriedly, he turned wordlessly on his heels, not even caring that he wasn't going anywhere near in the direction of the Main House and his room. Momiji sniffled a little before bidding Hatori good-bye and scampering off for his own room. If Haru didn't return in a few hours he'd go look for him. But right now he was WAY too pissed off for the bunny to even think of trying. 'Well.' Hatori noted bitterly as he watched them both leave. 'That could have gone better.'

           Another thing that could have gone better was going home, for Yuki. Going into that house, fully aware that Tohru was never going to come back there was...hard was an understatement. Despite himself, Kyou couldn't help the tinge of worry for his cousin. Especially when he saw Yuki go directly up the stairs and enter Tohru's room instead of his own...again. He scowled at the mopey rat...there was only a certain amount of time that Shigure could wait and watch the boy sulk before he did something, right? That is correct. No matter how much he really didn't care. Or how much he figured Yuki would just get over it. Shigure was still supposed to take care of the rat. He had an idea of what might make Yuki feel better too. But he wasn't sure if the person in question, Haa-san, would agree... It would probably involve expressing some latent feelings about Kana. And no matter how heartless Shii-chan is he doesn't like to upset Haa-san. Sighing, the dog decided Yuki cross-dressing is enough of a situation that the dragon might actually agree. So he scampered off to use the phone.

           Yuki blinked, cocking his head in confusion when he got into Tohru's room, seeing two very interesting things on the bed: dresses. He recognized them too; his brother had given them to Tohru. Idly, he wondered for a moment just why they hadn't sent them with her, but then it occurred to him that she wouldn't remember getting them to begin with. Suddenly finding mysterious and extravagantly fluffy articles of clothing in their possession was generally one avoiding doing to someone who had just had their memories erased...

           After several minutes of whining and begging, Hatori agreed to come and speak to Yuki for a little bit the next day. It was Sunday after all... Not like he had something to be doing. Before rather rudely hanging up on his friend he mentioned that Shigure should keep an eye out for the missing ox. As the poor dragon sat down at his desk, intent on doing some work to distract himself, he noted that even though he'd told Haru he wasn't a therapist... He had ended up agreeing to go talk to the rat anyways. That elicited a sigh from him, and he got to work.

           At some point during the evening, after dinner, Yuki began to absently examine those lone dresses. They were SO fancy, seemed even harder to get into than the school uniform---and he'd barely managed that. Still...they were (or had been) Tohru's, and one of them didn't look TOO bad... Carefully, he put them away and got out of Tohru's uniform, tugging on some pajamas, before climbing into bed, with every intention of going to sleep early.  Most of the other people involved went to bed early as well. Miss Honda herself included. Most... But not all. Tori-san stayed up late into the night smoking and thinking about how he didn't want to be used by Akito any longer. Which brought him back to his usual depressing but true conclusion; he couldn't do a thing about it. Anyways, the dragon got some sleep eventually and after giving Akito his check up, the next morning, set out for Shigure's. It was Sunday, and Yuki had slept in even later than usual. After a quick but thorough shower, he returned to Tohru's room and carefully memorized all of the various fastenings on the simpler of the two dresses, before actually putting it on. It was only after he'd gotten it put on completely did it fully register to him that it was...pink. However, he shrugged that detail off, and simply grabbed a schoolbook, pencil, and notebook, climbing back onto Tohru's bed to get started on his homework. Now, Kyou really had to admit... He was getting more and more worried about Yuki. On his way up the roof he'd peeked into Tohru's room to see Yuki. Once again in a dress. A pink. Frilly. Dress. Damn... Shigure needed to do something and freakin' quick! The dog had already started to work on this though; Hatori himself soon appeared at the house.

           "Haa-san," Shigure cooed, grinning ridiculously and pulling his dragon friend into the house. "He's upstairs."

           "I see... As always you're just so eager to PERSONALLY take care of your charges." the dragon sighed dryly as he headed for the stairs.

           "You might want to check in Tohru-kun's room first, Haa-san." Shigure advised, following him as far as the foot of the steps. "You're more likely to find him in there."

           "Sure," Hatori agreed absently, already tuning out the dog. Once he'd conquered the stairs he stood outside Honda-kun's door for a moment. Maybe he didn't want to do this. Maybe he should grow a spine and tell Shigure no, you take care of it. But then he knocked anyways... Yuki blinked several times, glancing over at the door. Who in this house would knock? Curious as he was, he climbed off the bed and went over, opening the door a little, his expression darkening the slightest bit when he saw it was Hatori. He was less than pleased with the doctor at the moment.

           "Nice to see you too Yuki."

           "Hey..." He murmured, his tone perfectly matching his abysmal mood as he backed back up to sit on the absent girl's bed again. Though, he did leave the door open for the dragon to enter, should he want to. He didn't want to. But he did come into the room a little ways all the same.

           "Shigure was concerned about you." He started with, as to explain why it was he was here exactly. "And, I suppose I wanted to speak with you anyways." Now all he was waiting for was to see if Yuki would tell him he didn't want to hear it or anything like that... Teenage boys can be so dramatic. But, Yuki didn't say any of that stuff. He just sat there, knees pulled up to his chest under the long, full skirt of the dress, blinking to show acknowledgement, and watching Hatori, waiting for more.

           "I'm sorry Yuki." It was honestly that simple. "I didn't enjoy erasing Honda-kun's memory. I know exactly how you're feeling now..." It was taking the doctor a lot of effort to keep completely cool and calm, but he managed. "I know the feeling. But... Nothing you do is going to bring her back, so you should just do your best to... Get over it, and quickly."

           "I know you didn't want to do it." Was all he said. He knew that Hatori knew how he felt, but 'get over it and quickly' wasn't exactly the most sensitive way to phrase it... Hatori's not the most sensitive guy. Besides how else is he supposed to say it. The doctor moved to sit by the rat and look at him seriously.

           "I mean it Yuki... It's not good to hang onto it if she's never coming back." Oh Hatori the great hypocrite. And Yuki was very aware of his supreme hypocrisy.

           "You are." He pointed out quietly.

           "I know." he shook his head a little. Closing his eyes for a moment to keep a handle on himself. "Please excuse my hypocrisy but I would rather not see you end up like me." Yuki was quiet for a few minutes, before he spoke again.

           "At least Kana talks to you, when you see her." He pointed out, eyes incredibly sad. "Honda-san wouldn't even come on the same side of the room as me today..."

           "That doesn't sound like her Yuki." the dragon replied. "But, that might be for the best. It's... difficult to talk with Kana when I remember everything and she doesn't. It will feel the same way if you try to speak with Honda-kun."

           "Maybe, but---" His voice caught in his throat, eyes glossing over with pent up emotion. "But," he tried again, "I just want my friend back..."

           "I know, and I'm sorry to have taken her to begin with..." Hatori of all people knew that beyond her, Yuki really didn't have any friends. (Outside his cousins of course.) "I'll do whatever I can to help you through this though." His bright, glossy eyes pivoted over to land on him, the rat's voice shaking a little.

           "What can you do?" He wanted to know. "You said so yourself, I can't bring her back."

           "I don't know." Tori-san admitted simply. "But, it helps to have someone." He shrugged after this, since he was speaking from personal experience. Yuki REALLY didn't want to cry. Seriously, he didn't. However, he wasn't sure if it was something avoidable at the moment... He made several attempts to say something...anything! But that didn't exactly work, so he ended up just nodding. Sighing deeply Hatori laid a comforting hand on Yuki's shoulder. He could tell that the purple haired boy was a bit more upset than he was outwardly showing and he sort of wished he wouldn't keep it all bottled up. Damnit all, he really didn't want to cry...but tear ducts have a habit of not communicating with the brain. Or, at least that's what he found out then. It was weird, but the dragon was almost relieved when he finally saw the moisture spill out of Yuki's eyes finally. He was also glad that he was the one here for the rat rather than Shigure... That jerk, he would most likely laugh or something. Hatori pet the boys back soothingly as he murmured something along the lines of 'It will be okay.' He really wasn't sure about that, but most people liked to be reassured. Yuki let out an odd strangled whimper and fell over, now sobbing openly into Hatori's lap. Oddly, the only thing on his mind was, 'Wow, I'm getting Hatori's pants wet, aren't I?' Which was completely irrelevant to most of the situation, but that didn't change fact. The getting the pants wet with the crying thing did serve to startle the doctor a little bit, but in the end he didn't really mind. He really did sympathize with the poor boy. So he just continued to run a gentle hand on Yuki's back and let the rat cry. He didn't have anything to say, and he didn't need to say anything, so he didn't.

           Downstairs, Shigure's sensitive ears picked up the crying sound, but he only wondered for a minute just what Hatori had said to make the boy cry. Kyou who was just above Yuki's room on the roof could hear it too. But he didn't really feel like thinking about it. He'd just barely managed not to cry himself; he wasn't going to hold it against Yuki for doing it this time anyways. It took Yuki almost forty-five minutes before he stopped crying, and by that point, he'd been asleep for fifteen... which was going to make it rather difficult for Hatori to move, if he wanted to get up before the mouse woke up. He didn't have anywhere to be... So Hatori just leaned back against the wall and waited for Yuki to wake up. It might have been nice if he could have reached or a book something... But he couldn't. And he most definitely wasn't about to wake the rat up either. So, yes, that took about three hours---he hadn't slept well the night before, and being emotionally open was...tiring, to say the least. Still, he did wake up...eventually. But, consciousness came with a rather dark blush, which was understandable, as he'd just woke up in one of the most awkward situations any boy can think of. In bed with another man while you're in a dress? Yes. I do believe that is awkward. Hatori hadn't been sleeping any better than Yuki, so about half an hour of waiting and he had fallen asleep as well. So lucky for the little rat, he couldn't see the blush. Yuki sat up rather quickly, once he'd completely awoken, but he didn't get off the bed. Instead, he grabbed his school things and continued to work on his homework while waiting for Hatori to wake up. It took him a little while, not too long though. He'd lost quite a bit of sleep the past two nights... The distinct lack of warmth in his lap did make his brain go: 'Oh dear... Where'd Yuki go.' So he opened his green eyes and they settled calmly on Yuki. Good... the rat was still there. Hadn't hung himself in his closet. No, that's really only you who wanted to do that Haa-san... It took Yuki a few moments to figure out that Hatori was, in fact, awake.

           "You're awake." He stated, and really could have kicked himself for it, once the words were out. One could generally assume that Hatori was aware that he was awake... Hatori just nodded and continued to watch him. After some sleep... Yuki looked a little better. He certainly didn't feel any better , but he looked quite a bit calmer, though he was still in that same pink dress. His blush had calmed down, and while his eyes were red and a little puffy, but they were dry.

           "I should be going." the dragon told him as he ran a hand through his hair and got up calmly. "You know you can call if you need anything." The rat nodded mutely in reply. While he still wasn't exactly sure if he'd completely forgiven Hatori for suppressing Tohru's memories, he still felt like he'd miss the company---even if it were only the knowledge that someone was there. Shaking his head sadly Hatori headed back down the stairs to bid Shigure good-bye.

           "How is he?" Shigure asked him when he came back down. He hadn't had a real conversation with Yuki since he'd walked in on him the other day.

           "Unhappy. How do you think Shigure."

           "Well, that much is obvious." He nodded. "I meant, is he still cross dressing? He hasn't been down yet today."

           "He's currently in that pink frilled dress Ayame made for Honda-kun." The doctor offered in response.

           "Oh," He snorted, snickering and trying not to burst out laughing out-right. "Oh...dear. The pink one?" Some part of him knew that Yuki was having a hard time, and it really wasn't funny. But, most of him was still finding the idea of Yuki in a dress quite amusing.

           "You're hopeless." Hatori shook his head helplessly.

           "I-I'm sorry." He choked out around the laughter. "I-it's just that Yuki-kun spent so---so long trying to prove his masculinity, a-and now---now---" Well, so much for not laughing too hard...

           "Don't mention that to him Shigure." his friend warned. "It will only make it worse."

           "I know, I know." He grinned, literally waving it off. "Shockingly, Haa-san, I'm not stupid. I have met the boy."

           "Yes. Shockingly."

           "But, you know," He mused, finally calming down several minutes later. "I can't help but wonder how hard a time Kyou-kun's going to give him if he keeps this up."

           "Shockingly. Kyou isn't a jerk like you?" Hatori offered.

           "Mmmm...Maybe," He shrugged. He really had gotten over the guilt of being a jerk---and could even be nice, when he wanted to. (For example, he'd been the one to stop Hatori from hanging himself in the closet...though, the jury was still out on whether that was actually nice or not.)

           "Look, as long as he's not doing anything detrimental to his health..." Hatori shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Whatever he wants to do to deal with losing Honda-kun is fine then."