Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Rooftop Revelations ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Konichiwa! I know I haven't posted in ages, but my internet connection was down for a while! It was a nightmare - I couldn't get any homework done, check up on my favorite fanfics, or post any new chapters of my own! Anyway, it's back and fully functioning now, and I am more pumped for this fic than ever. Enjoy!

 

(P.S. I don't own Fruits Basket! *sniffle* Oh well, at least I can still write about it ^^)

 

Chapter 7

 

The next morning I woke up suddenly from a night of rare, fitful sleep. For a moment, I couldn't recall why I was so tired. But then my eyes caught a snapshot of myself, Kyou-kun, and Yuki-kun on the wall, and it all came rushing back in an instant. I bit my lip, still puzzled about the same thing I had been pondering all night, and as I pulled on jeans and a sweater that Saturday morning, I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the awkwardness that I was sure was about to occur.

The first thing I did after slowly opening my door with a creak was tiptoe past Yuki-kun's room (whose door was, thankfully, closed) into Kyou-kun's room. I knocked softly, not wanting to wake anyone up, and upon not hearing any answer slowly opened the door. To my surprise, my eyes were instantly rewarded with the sight of a half-naked Kyou-kun pulling on a shirt! I had a moment to just barely glance his abs and toned arms before hid shirt slid down over his waistline. His head snapped up and we both blushed profusely at the eye contact. “Gomenasai…anoo…” I began, completely humiliated with my foolishness for opening his door without waiting for an answer first, but he simply walked over to me and leaned forward for a non-huggling kiss. “Quit apologizing, will you?!” he gently chastised, and I giggled in spite of myself (a habit that had begun rearing its ugly head with increasing frequency as of late.)

We walked down the stairs hand-in-hand, but quickly parted at the bottom of the stairs upon seeing Yuki-kun sitting at the table eating his breakfast slowly. I squeaked out of surprise - I had thought he was still asleep - and he looked up, eyebrows raised. But they quickly fell, as did the rest of his face, when he saw the two of us standing there. His eyes caught mine for a brief moment before descending back down to his breakfast. Kyou-kun glanced at his watch and after a few “Kuso! I'm late!”s left for his early martial arts training session with his master - which he had completely forgotten about - leaving just me, Yuki-kun, and the strange new presence that now alienated us from each other.

I sat down across from Yuki-kun, pouring myself some milk and cereal. I kept glancing up from my task only to find him staring at his cereal bowl as if searching for something in it, and I did this so frequently that I ended up spilling the milk on the table. I yelped, and Yuki-kun immediately shot up from his seat to fetch napkins, seeming to be grateful for an interruption of the awkward silence that had descended upon the room. I thanked him as he handed me the napkins, avoiding my eyes, and after I had mopped up the mess there was, once again, nothing but us and the tension of the previous night's events.

“Yuki-kun…” I began, but he put up a hand, finally looking at me.

“Don't.” he said firmly. Then he seemed to lose his nerve, for he lowered his eyes again and said softly (and quite unconvincingly), “There's no need. I'm….really….happy for you guys.”

I reached across the table to place my hand on his hesitantly. “Thank you,” I said. But he pulled his hand away without a word, getting up to wash his now-empty bowl. I stared at him, dumbfounded. I couldn't understand why he was acting this way! He was obviously upset by the fact that Kyou-kun and I were together, but why? Maybe it was just too weird seeing two of his closest friends being romantically involved - but if that had been the case, why didn't he just tell me? Why would he pretend to be ok with the situation when he was really upset by it? In the past few months that I had been living with the Sohmas, I had thought that I grew as close to Yuki-kun as I did to Kyou-kun. It had always been the three of us, and I loved how we had gotten to know each other in that time. I had thought, until now, that Yuki-kun thought of me as a good friend - one he could talk to about anything that was bothering him. But I was starting to think maybe I was wrong.

At that moment, I felt something inside of me snap. After an entire night of tossing and turning over the same question over and over and over again, I just couldn't take it anymore. Yuki-kun was heading out the door to visit Akito-san when I suddenly burst out, “What's wrong with you?!” He stopped midstep and slowly turned around, finally looking me straight in the eye. “What?” he asked, shocked. Only then did I realize how that had sounded. The fire that had blazed in me a few moments ago quickly fizzled out, and I said more calmly, “I…I didn't mean it like that…I just meant…you say you're happy for us, but you clearly are being bothered by something, and I just want to know what it is!”

Yuki-kun blinked at me, then stared into my eyes for a few long seconds. “Do you really not know?” he said softly. I just stared at him. What in the world was he going on about? I wished he would just tell me, but I figured I should go with my instinct and guess. “Is it too weird to see your two best friends together?” I asked, taking a shot in the dark. He chuckled humorlessly, still with sadness in his eyes. “Something like that,” he said, and walked out of the house.

I stood, dumbfounded, in the middle of the kitchen for a few moments. There was only one thing running through my mind - Why? Why was Yuki-kun so shaken up by me and Kyou-kun pursuing our relationship? And if he was so upset by it, why would he pretend to be fine with it? Didn't he trust me enough to tell me the truth instead of trying, and failing miserably, to hide how disturbed he was by this whole affair? At that moment I felt very much like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, “puzzling and puzzling `till my puzzler was sore.” Whatever was going on with Yuki-kun, I was going to have to figure it out soon.

 

My puzzler couldn't take much more of this.