Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Rooftop Revelations ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Hello all! Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed!! You guys have no idea how much it means to me when people tell me they like my fic! And, in response to one review, I looked back in the last chapter and realized that I did indeed drop an F-bomb in there! Oops! *blush* I had totally forgotten about it, and this fic is now rated T. Anyway, that's pretty much it. Now, enjoy and review, as always!

 

Chapter 9

 

After some heavy-duty bandaging, antibiotic application (with many shouts of “Kuso! That stuff stings!”), and a lot of reassurance that he would be “just fine and ready to kick anyone's ass in by morning,” Kyou-kun was ready to being the healing process. Now the only problem was getting him to stay in the house and recuperate! I told him time and time again that he needed his rest and that he shouldn't leave the house for a while if he ever wanted to get better, but he insisted over and over that he was fine and didn't need to. In the end, some eyelash-batting and kisses got me my way, but he still complained every chance he got about having “cabin fever,” even on the first day after the fight.

I had worried about Yuki-kun and his injuries that night, wondering if I should knock on his door and offer to treat him. But in the end I decided it would be best if I let him come to me, and when he came downstairs the following morning for breakfast with bandages on his face and hands, I knew I didn't need to worry about his physical health anymore. His emotional health, however, was a different story altogether.

As he walked down the stairs that morning, he had bags under his eyes, and I could tell he had been up all night thinking. I still wasn't sure how to act around him, or if he'd even want to speak to me or Kyou-kun ever again. But for the moment, it didn't matter much, since he grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and walked outside, carefully closing the screen door behind him.

At that moment, I had an epiphany - I suddenly knew, without a doubt, what I had to do. True, the day before had been emotional, confusing, and just downright upsetting. And I was sure both boys expected today, and many days after, to be awkward and strained. But I wasn't about to let that happen, and I knew that nothing was going to change unless I did something about it myself. So I ordered Kyou-kun to go upstairs and finish his last Chemistry assignment for the year - which he did, partly because he hated seeing me disappointed in him, and partly because he didn't want to be downstairs with all the tension - and walked outside.

Yuki-kun was sitting on the bench that the Sohmas had placed in the middle of their garden. The sun was shining in scattered rays through the cloudy sky, and one in particular shone on Yuki-kun at this moment. As he tilted his head back, facing his eyes towards the sun, he smiled, relishing in the beautiful day. And for the first time in three days, he seemed…peaceful, maybe even happy. I stayed there for a moment, admiring this rare moment of serenity in his face, before he opened one eye and saw me standing there. He immediately looked guilty and embarrassed, and snapped his head back down to concentrating on his hands, which he began wringing nervously. I smiled warmly at him.

“Yuki-kun…” I began, and after no response, I simply went over and sat down next to him. He moved to get up, but I put my hand on his arm to stop him. I assumed from his sharp intake of breath and the fact that he froze that it had worked. He reluctantly sat down again, but continued looking at his hands. I opened my mouth to speak, but was surprised when he suddenly spoke first.

“You must hate me.” He said sadly.

“I don't hate you, Yuki-kun!” I said earnestly.

“I was such an asshole! I tried to beat up your…boyfriend! How can you always be so forgiving?”

“Because I know how much we hurt you.” I said simply. “And, although that's no excuse for what you did, I know that you were too angry to think straight. Kyou-kun was too. And I know you didn't mean any of the things you said or did.”

“How…how much did you hear yesterday?”

“All of it,” I replied guiltily

“So you heard when I said that I-I…that I'm in love with you?” He finished in a whisper, and I nodded.

“I meant that.”

We sat without speaking for a few moments, until I couldn't bear it anymore.

“Yuki-kun, I…I'm so sorry.” He finally looked up from his hands, which I took in my own, and looked me in the eye. “You know that you are one of my best friends in the world, and I will always love you in that respect. But-”

“You chose him.” He finished simply. I nodded, and he sighed, looking up at the sky again. We sat this way for a long time, it seemed, just letting the truth soak in. They were both in love with me…but I could only return Kyou-kun's feelings.

“Tohru,” Yuki-kun began, turning to me after a while of thought, “ever since you came here, you've completely changed our lives. Kyou and I thought there was no hope left for friendship, or belonging, or trust. You know as well as we do that living your life freely, let alone with someone else, is pretty hard to do in this family - especially for Kyou. We gave up on those things, I think, secretly and simultaneously vowing to remain distant to everyone until we could break free of this curse, this family, this whole lifestyle. And neither of us knew when that would be, or if it would even happen at all!” He sighed. “So we lived our lives, day by day, with no end in sight. And then one day you come into our lives and suddenly give us all those things!” He laughed, and I knew he was remembering the day we had met. “My point is…we never knew we could feel this way about anyone. It's just unfortunate that our first loves had to be the same person.” He chuckled, then turned towards me. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to us.” He paused, blushing slightly, and then smiled at me. The first time I had seen him smile since he found out about Kyou-kun and I. He continued with determination, his voice steady and unwavering.

“And, although it will always hurt that you will never love me the way I love you…I want you to be happy, no matter what. And if that means being with a baka neko, then I won't stand in your way.”

As glad as it made me to hear him say those words, there was still something about yesterday that bothered me.

“But I thought he wasn't good enough for me,” I said, raising my eyebrows. He suddenly looked very ashamed.

“That was just me being a jackass. I was jealous…so I hit him where I knew it would hurt him most. Deep down, he has never thought that someone like you could love a `monster like him,' as he often put it. You know that, right? Even he thought you deserved better, and I'm sure that when you guys got together, he couldn't believe it at first. So I played towards that insecurity, knowing it would hit a nerve. It's no wonder he gave me a straight shot to the face - I deserved it.” He said, touching his cheek gingerly, then wincing in pain and bringing his hand back down. “The truth is, I can't think of someone who I know will treat you better…or love you more.” He smiled. “You guys deserve each other, and I'll be damned if I get in the way of that.”

I couldn't believe it. We actually had his blessing! And unlike his mumbled “I'm really happy for you guys,” I knew he meant it this time. Sure, it took a bit more fighting than I would have liked to get to this point, but things between the three of us were finally starting to go back to normal. In fact, they were even better than normal, because now Kyou-kun and I could be together and not feel guilty about it!

I took his hand and leaned into him, whispering in his ear, “I will always love you. Never forget that.” He pulled back, smiling at me.

“Hey, baka, get your hands off my girlfriend,” said a familiar voice, and out walked a grinning Kyou-kun. For a moment, I thought I was going to witness a repeat of the other night, but Yuki-kun began chuckling.

“You make sure you don't do anything to hurt my best friend, or you'll have me to answer to. Got it?” He said, cracking his knuckles.

“Oooh, I'm really scared!” mocked Kyou-kun. “As I recall, it was me who gave you a good ol' punch in the face yesterday, was it not?”

“And I believe I am responsible for that bruised head and sprained ankle!”

“Puh-lease! I LET you have those shots at me so you wouldn't feel bad that I'm finally beating you!”

“Yeah right, BAKA NEKO! I could still take you any day of the week! You just caught me off guard, that's all.”

“ WANT A REMATCH, YOU STINKIN' RAT?! C'MERE!”

As I watched my two best friends chase each other around the garden, I burst out laughing, brimming with happiness at seeing them like their old selves again.

 

Yes, I think things are going to work out just fine…..

 

(“AAAH! GET OFF! GET OFF!”

“NOT SO TOUGH NOW, ARE YA?!”

“NOOGIES DON'T COUNT AS MARTIAL ARTS, YOU MORON! GET OFFA ME!!!! STINKIN' RAT!!!”

“OWWWWW - FOR KAMI'S SAKE, WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU KICK ME THERE?! DAMN YOU!”

“HAHAHAAAAA!”)

 

 

 

……That is, if they don't kill each other first.