Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Seasons of Sorrow ❯ Winter's Tears of Hope = Family Moments ( Chapter 5 )

DISCLAIMER: Maybe if I ask politely, do you think she'll give them to me? Okay, scratch that, just Yuki…yeah, that'll work for me. For the moment, though, Takaya-sensei still owns it!

 

 

Winter's Tears of Hope

— Family Moments —

Edited by: Miya-chan 10-19-05

`Well, that was rather humiliating,' Yuki pondered as he walked through the forest. `I should have sent that dense cat through the other side of the clearing while I had the chance.' Yuki shook his head at this thought and sighed. `That wouldn't have made Tohru feel any better—she would still blame herself for hurting my feelings. Hopefully what I did let her know that I was okay with the whole thing. I can stand to be humiliated if only to see her happy.'

 

Yuki continued his walk along the very familiar path to his garden. Not much of a garden when you saw it, though, especially nowadays. It was a far cry from what it used to be when he and Tohru would take care of it together in the spring and summer of years past. Upon reaching it, he knelt down and tried clearing some of the snow and debris that was collecting since the last time he had cleaned it. Tohru didn't even come by to get the vegetables anymore—she had been buying them at the store for some time now. The garden was very much forgotten and neglected at this point.

 

`Sort of like me,' Yuki thought dejectedly as he continued pulling old weeds out. He stopped and sighed heavily, wishing these thoughts away. Seeing that there was no point in cleaning any further, he rubbed his hands on his pants and got up to continue walking down the path that continued to the main road.

 

Breathing heavily once again, he began to sense that his surroundings were starting to relax him a bit. He took note of how much the area had changed since he first walked through it five years ago.

 

`It almost seems like yesterday'—so the cliché goes. He remembered how confused and, most of all, how terrified he was that he was actually leaving the Sohma compound for an extended period. He had almost had an attack just by coming down the road.

 

Shigure really had helped him to adjust to his new environment. Whatever deal or agreement was made between Shigure and Akito remained undisclosed to that day, and Yuki wasn't about to bring it up. He couldn't bring himself to completely trust Shigure's motives (his rat instincts told him as much, and they hadn't let him down before), yet he knew that Shigure cared for him as much as he cared for any of his other cousins.

 

Speaking of which, he was so lost in his thoughts (once again—it had been that kind of day) that he failed to notice his cousin's approach. It appeared that they would be having company over for lunch and maybe dinner.

 

“Yuki, what are you doing out here by yourself?” asked Haru. “You're not lost, are you?”

 

“No, are you?” Yuki asked warily, knowing the answer already.

 

“Well, I did have Momiji and the others with me, but they somehow managed to wander off without me… a mystery to be sure,” Haru commented while wandering off into a completely different direction than Yuki had come from.

 

“Haru!” Yuki called as he ran after the forever-lost cow. “You shouldn't be wandering off on your own around here, especially in the winter. What if a blizzard decides to hit, and you're out in the middle of nowhere? I'm not about to chase you down in the middle of a blizzard.” Yuki had decided it was probably best to hold onto his arm as he led him back to the main path.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Haru smirked as he let Yuki lead him back. “Somehow I think you'd be one of the first out there looking for me. Of course, you'll probably need a ladder to find me.”

 

Yuki stopped dead in his tracks and turned on his heel, narrowing his eyes dangerously at his younger cousin. Haru was taller by a full head like Kyo, and Yuki found himself once again cursing his genes. `What is up with everyone today—is today “pick on Yuki's height and see how far I can get without getting nailed to the ground”?'

 

Haru knew exactly what was going through Yuki's mind at the moment and resisted the very tempting urge to smile let alone laugh out loud—unless he was actually looking forward to kissing the ground, or worse, having Yuki ditch him right there on the spot.

 

“Come on, Yuki, you have to let it go. You know that you'll never be any taller than your brother, and he's the shortest one out of all the older members of the Jyuunishi. Well, actually, both of you are sort of average in height, maybe just a little shorter than average. We just happen to be taller than normal,” was Haru's response to the nezumi's stance.

 

Just as Yuki was about to send Haru to kiss the sweet, snow-covered ground, he felt a set of arms around him and the sudden weight of someone on his back.

 

“Momiji, (gasp) what are you doing hanging off of me?!” exclaimed Yuki as he struggled to breathe and maintain his balance.

 

“Hey, Yuki! We thought we'd come over and surprise you. Thanks for finding Haru for us… he was walking behind us when we noticed he was no longer there. Gee, Haru, you sure can manage to get lost!” Momiji cried out rather joyously in Yuki's ear.

 

“Momiji-niichan, you're strangling Yuki-niichan,” Kisa softly called out.

 

“Not to mention that you probably blew his damn ear off with your loud voice, baka usagi,” replied Hiro coolly.

 

Momiji immediately got off of Yuki. “Es tut mir wirklich Leid. I'm so sorry, Yuki, I keep forgetting. Das ar du okay?” Momiji asked worriedly while helping to straighten out Yuki's jacket. (Yep, he's grown, too—same height in case you're wondering.)

 

`Am I okay, he asks… other than having lost the ability to breathe for a minute, I'm no worse for wear.' Yuki calmed down considerably and gave Momiji a small smile. “I'm fine. Were you all going to pay a visit to Honda-san?”

 

“Hai, I was hoping that she could watch a new video we just rented with me that's called `Mogeta 500'. Is she home today?” Kisa asked with a smile that mirrored Tohru's. She had come a long way from being the quiet and timid child of a few years ago.

 

Haru had decided to watch from the sidelines, amused at the whole scene. He considered his mission accomplished at the moment. Before Yuki saw him, he noticed that Yuki had seemed so… alone. Yuki was alone in that there was no one around, but it was more than that… Haru could sense the loneliness that seemed to radiate off the rat. He had then decided to lift his cousin's spirits in the best manner possible… teasing him mercilessly so he could let off some pent-up steam. Rather risky, since Yuki could cause considerable damage, but he'd never hurt Haru that badly anyway.

 

But it worked—Yuki had glanced at him while speaking to the others and saw Haru's innocent smile. Yuki just shook his head and softly smiled while the others were talking.

 

“Come on, Haru, let's get going to Shii-chan's home,” Momiji cried excitedly.

 

“I'll hold onto your arm this time, Onii-chan,” Kisa smiled brightly while holding onto Hiro's hand with her other hand.

 

Hiro, however, didn't seem willing to share Kisa. “Oh, come on, Kisa. If he can't follow, he's a lost cause, literally.”

 

“Now, now, Hiro, you can't keep Kisa all to yourself!” Momiji said to the sheep slyly.

 

“Shut up, you damn rabbit!” yelled Hiro as he let go of Kisa and started chasing the bouncing rabbit.

 

Kisa held onto Haru's arm and continued walking contentedly towards Shigure's place. Yuki just rolled his eyes languidly and was going to ask Kisa if the movie had any special scenes she wanted to see.

 

Of course, since nothing seemed to be going his way that day, his cell phone began ringing. He stopped and looked at his phone's caller ID. His eyes immediately widened. He saw Haru and Kisa looking at him with questions in their eyes, so he hurriedly replied to them, “Just Kakeru from school. Let me get rid of him.”

 

He tried to keep his face neutral so as not to raise suspicions. It was unusual, to say the least, that Kureno was calling him… he normally just paged Yuki since discretion was the key word to everything he did.

 

“Moshi, moshi?” Yuki said while his heart skipped every other beat. There could only be one reason why Kureno would be calling him, and right now, Yuki really didn't have the stamina to face Akito—it had been a very stressful week at school.

 

“Yuki, I need you to come down immediately to the Honke,” said Kureno's soft voice that was barely above a whisper.

 

“Come on, Kakeru, I was planning to take care of that next week,” said Yuki, as he tactfully explained to Kureno that he wasn't alone.

 

“I know, but it doesn't matter. Akito needs to see you right now,” Kureno said rather tiredly.

 

`Something must have happened,' thought Yuki with a little apprehension, since he knew nothing good could ever happen to the clan head.

 

“All right, I'll be there,” said Yuki resignedly.

 

“I'll be waiting at the usual spot,” said Kureno, and then he hung up.

 

Yuki sighed heavily, wishing he was anybody else but himself. He immediately turned his attention to his cousins' stares.

 

Smiling his best, Yuki said, “Sorry guys, but I have to take care of some problems at school. You two go on ahead.”

 

“On a Sunday? Who in their right mind would be at school on a Sunday?” asked Haru unbelievingly.

 

“It's almost graduation time for my class, Haru,” Yuki explained nonchalantly in an attempt to make it seem that it was normal to work on a Sunday. “That means a lot of activities that require planning and preparation , like the school dance and some field trips and everything else in-between. I shouldn't be gone too long, so just go on ahead without me.”

 

“Well, if you're not going to take long, then I'll go with you,” replied Haru as he started to make his way to Yuki.

 

“No, that's fine. It's not worth the trouble, really. I'll be okay on my own. Please let Honda-san know that I'll be coming home a little later, okay?” asked Yuki. With a wave of the hand he hurriedly walked away without looking back.

 

“Okay, see you later, Onii-chan,” Kisa called out to him as he walked away. To Haru, she said, “It's too bad that Onii-chan has to go off and help out at the school on a Sunday. I hope I don't get elected Student Council President… it's too much work for one person.”

 

“Yeah, lots of work,” Haru commented absent-mindedly as he saw Yuki off in the distance. Something didn't seem right to him, but he didn't get a chance to ponder on that thought for much longer as Kisa was pulled in the other direction towards Shigure's place.

 

“Come on, Onii-chan. Hiro-chan and Momiji-niichan are probably already at Shigure-ojiisan's place by now,” said Kisa excitedly as she led Haru away.

 

Back at Shigure's place, Hiro and Momiji had indeed arrived. If the holes in the doors and walls plus Momiji's wails were any testament to that fact…

 

“Waaah, Kyo's trying to hit me again!” Momiji cried on Tohru's shoulder as she tried to placate the irate cat.

 

“Stop crying to her, you're too old for that!” yelled Kyo.

 

“For once, I agree with him,” said Hiro in a bored tone from his place at the table while eating an orange.

 

“Kyo-kun, I think I'm starting to get dizzy,” said a very swirly-eyed Tohru, as Momiji had her by the waist twisting her around and around in front of him while Kyo tried to go around and around Tohru to pound Momiji.

 

“That does it! Come here you little twerp!” exclaimed Kyo as he lunged himself at the rabbit. Of course, he missed by miles and landed on Hiro instead.

 

“Hey! Get off of me! This can be considered bodily harm with intentional assault in a court of law you know!” yelled Hiro at Kyo.

 

“Kyooooo-kun, if you're going to be committing a crime in my home, don't destroy my home in the process,” Shigure cried out with a river of tears as he looked at a rather large dent in the wall.

 

“IT'S NOT MY FAULT, BAKA!!! AND STOP CRYING—YOU'RE JUST TOO DAMN OLD FOR THAT, TOO!!!!!” screamed Kyo as he got off Hiro and tried tackling the rabbit again.

 

“WAAAHHH, Kyo doesn't want to give up,” cried Momiji as he dodged yet another attack while still using Tohru as his shield. Tohru, by now, just saw stars around and around and around…

 

“Oi, Kyo, I'd have thought that picking on defenseless kids was beneath you,” Haru calmly replied from the door he came through.

 

“Oh, Hiro-chan, are you all right?” Kisa worriedly asked as she removed her boots and ran to Hiro's side. As she helped him up, Hiro blushed a bright red.

 

“Of course I'm f-fine,” Hiro stammered as he cleaned himself off. “Here, I peeled an orange for you.” Kisa took it with a smile that melted his troubles away—she had learned from the best!

 

“Awww, how cute,” cooed Momiji while he was still trying to dodge Kyo.

 

Just as Hiro was about to join Kyo in beating the rabbit to a bloody pulp, Haru had turned to Kyo.

 

“Hey, could you knock it off already? You're not going to be able to catch him… you're too slow. Besides, Honda-san's about to faint on the spot,” called out Haru from where he was leaning against one of the walls that was yet to be damaged.

 

“STAY OUT OF THIS! HE'S BEEN ASKING FOR IT!” Kyo yelled as he made one more attempt to get to the usagi.

 

Just as he was about to grab a hold of Momiji's arm, he once again felt the air rush right out of him as he was tackled sideways by none other than Haru's charming other half.

 

“DAMN YOU! I ALMOST HAD HIM!” yelled Kyo as he tried to pry Black Haru's arms from his waist.

 

“Now boys, you shouldn't be doing this in front of such innocent eyes. You're more than welcome to continue in Kyo-kun's room,” said Shigure as he looked down at his two entangled cousins.

 

“KUSO INU! You've been bugging the hell out of me since this morning! You won't get away this time!” Of course, Kyo was still struggling to get Haru off of him…

 

“Damn neko, you still can't focus your attention on your opponent, can you? No wonder you can't even catch a simple rabbit. With all the training you do you can be such a disgrace,” coolly replied Haru in full black mode.

 

“Well, then let me help you with YOUR training, you stupid cow!” With a quick move he removed Haru's arms from around him and swiftly brought his leg in, kicking Haru clear through the doorway. Kyo then lunged himself out the door and started his all out battle with Black Haru.

 

“Hmmm, I guess I should be thankful that the door was still open,” sighed Shigure as he went to close the door, hoping to drown out their indiscreet language. “So, Kisa-chan, what brings you to my humble abode?” asked Shigure cheerily to Kisa while she and Momiji were fanning life back into Tohru.

 

After they explained their visit, Tohru seemed to snap out of her spell and jumped right into to the kitchen to tend to her guests. Kisa and Momiji went to help her as Hiro looked on from the doorway to the kitchen.

 

“Hey, where did our resident rat go to?” asked Shigure as he started counting off all the heads currently in his home, knowing that one was missing.

 

“Oh, Onii-chan was walking with us back here, but he got a call from one of the student council members (I think) that he was needed right away,” replied Kisa from the kitchen. To Tohru, she smiled brightly and said, “Onii-chan wanted to let you know that he'll be a little late returning home.”

 

“Oh…” was Tohru's disappointed response. She had hoped to cook a warm lunch for Yuki using his favorite ingredients. Then she began to worry that he hadn't eaten anything really since last night, except for the orange in the morning.

 

Momiji, seeing the changes in expression on Tohru's face, gave her a small pat on the back. “It'll be all right, Tohru. I'm sure he'll be quick and come right back. We can make plenty of his favorite foods just to be sure that Kyo and Haru don't eat them all!”

 

Tohru smiled gratefully to Momiji and shook her head of the worrisome thoughts that were starting to plague her. “Arigatou, Momiji-kun! You're absolutely right! I think we have plenty of leeks, too! Let's look through the cupboards for anything else we can use.”

 

As the trio started getting lunch prepared, an inu sat in his study, staring blankly at a computer screen while leaning back in his chair, tapping his chin with a pencil.

 

`School is it? Our little mouse could at least come up with something better than that lie… now, where did you run off to, my little nezumi?'

 

 

Author's Wacky POV:

Whew! Another chapter down! A bit lengthy compared to before but I couldn't find a stopping place—hopefully it wasn't too disappointing. The filler chapter was rather necessary—we all need a breather every so often. Especially with what I have planned next chapter…what could it possibly be?

 

Well, leave me a review, and I may post sooner! My thoughts on this chapter (not many I admit) are below!

 

***

(SOS Chapter 5 Post Remarks - 8/03/04)

WAAAHHH...I'm joining Momiji behind Tohru.

 

Yes, I know, the way the cousins addressed each other is completely off, so please refrain from throwing the kitchen sink (plus plumbing) at me. I was admittedly too lazy to go back through the anime and see how they referred to each other. I was actually so engrossed in the upcoming chapters that I really didn't want to spend any more time on this portion. I hope it didn't feel too boring or rushed. This is, after all, a filler chapter, but hopefully a funny one at that!

 

If you really want the way they addressed each other rectified, please post your corrections. I'll definitely appreciate it and will reload the chapter with the changes made.

 

How was that German...Takaya-sensei sure didn't make it easier on me, sticking a Japanese/German speaking kid in this plot! I hope it wasn't too terrible! Gotta love online dictionaries!

 

Take any music you like that's perky and play it. I really didn't have any musical moments here.

 

Shigure's moments are starting to bug me...let me pry open that mind and take a look around.

 

See you next time! Ja ne!