Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Selfish ❯ Tabula Rasa ( Chapter 4 )

Tabula Rasa

 

Chapter Four

 

"We should be leaving now, Kyoko-san."

 

"Grandpa, that's Tohru!"

 

Biting her lip, Tohru gave her grandfather a hug before her Aunt and cousin's impatience dragged him away from her. "I'll visit you soon, Grandpa! I promise!" Besides Hana-chan and Uo-chan, he was all that she had left now. Since her mother died at the beginning her of first year of high school, she'd been living with him in his house. Except for the couple of months she spent living alone in a tent as the remodeling was done, she'd never had to fend for herself. Tohru worked hard and tried to help around the house as much as she could, it had been rough in the beginning and she never seemed to do anything right in her aunt's eyes but she'd done what she'd set out to do.

 

She'd graduated high school without any problems, just like she promised her mom she would. She'd never hoped to continue her schooling past high school. Tohru had fully expected to join the workforce and make a life for herself after graduation, so finding herself here was pretty frightening. Mayuko-sensei had arrived the morning after graduation, apologizing about submitting her name for some scholarships and saying she hated such talent going to waste. Tohru's grades weren't the best, but they had been decent and apparently enough that she'd been offered a full ride scholarship as long as she maintained a certain grade point average toward her Social Work degree.

 

Her Grandfather had been so proud of her, telling her the degree would let her make a difference in others lives. Mayuko-sensei had agreed, saying her compassion and helpfulness would be a big asset in the field. It had taken Tohru a few days to decide, but when Uo heard she had reservations, she promised to be there for her and enrolled that day. Hana followed suit later that week, Tohru wasn't sure how she'd passed the entrance exam without missing a single one, but she had.

 

So all three of them were entering college together!

 

Since they all registered so late, they had only been able to get Hana and Uo in a room together down the hall from Tohru. She was nervous about making new friends and being on her own, but she'd survived four months living in a tent! Surely, college wouldn't be so bad. She'd shared a room with her cousin for the past couple of years, so living with a roommate shouldn't be too hard. 

 

Looking through the boxes, she knew she had a lot to unpack still and her side of the room was completely bare. Her roommate looked like she had gotten herself settled in already, books already set up on the desk and her bed made. It looked like she hadn't brought much more than Tohru had, there wasn't anything like pictures or knickknacks sitting on the desk. Tohru noticed how tidy everything was; although she was extremely clean herself, it rather intimated her. She hoped that they would get along. Maybe they could even become friends. 

 

Placing the picture of her mother on the corner of her desk, Tohru smiled at it. "I made it, Mom!" she whispered to the frame. "Can you believe I am in college now? I never thought I would be here! I wish you were here so you could see this! It's so exciting!"

 

Turning back to the lone box she'd packed, she pulled out an old picture of her with Hana and Uo and placed it next to the one of her mother. Next she pulled out a scorched red cap, it had blown out of her tent one of the nights she'd been living in the woods and landed in the fire. Luckily, she'd saved it in time before the damage had gotten too bad. There was a large hole in the fabric where it had burned, but the remainder of the cap had been salvageable. 

 

The last real item she'd brought from home that hadn't been an essential was her Jyuunishi set.  She'd purchased it on her school trip during her second year, but for some reason it hadn't felt complete until she'd made a little cat to match the rest of the set. She'd always loved the story her mother had told her as a child, she'd always wanted to be the year of the cat. She'd finally taken the time and made a little cat out of papier-mâché two weeks ago and painted it bright orange to complete her set.

 

"Tohru!"

 

Turning around in surprise, she found her friends standing in the doorway watching her. "Uo! Hana! I am so glad to see you! Did you find your room? Are you settled in? I would be glad to help you!"

 

Arisa smiled, "You just worry about yourself first. You look like you're almost all settled in already."

 

"Yes!" she replied, running her hand along her comforter to smooth the wrinkles out of it. "I...I haven't met my roomate yet though. She looks like she's extremely tidy...I hope I am not a bother to her."

 

"Tohru, you could never be a bother to anyone," Hana replied, stepping forward to pull her into a tight embrace. "You'll get along just fine with whoever your roommate is. I think she will grow to adore you as much as we do."

 

"I...I don't know, Hana-chan," Tohru stuttered, making her way back to her desk to arrange the Jyuunishi set. "I haven't had many friends besides Uo-chan and Hana-chan. Momiji-kun's my friend, but I haven't known him that long. He said the same thing that you did...that my roommate would be the lucky one to get to live with me."

 

She blushed, thinking about Sohma Momiji as she placed the rabbit next to the dragon in her set. He'd been so nice to her these past couple of weeks. She'd met him at work about a month ago, right after graduation and he'd been by her side almost non-stop since that day. A year younger than her, Momiji-kun's father apparently owned the building she worked in and had visited Tohru almost every day that she worked. She'd stopped working to get ready for school about a week ago, he'd come to her house to check on her and took her out to get some ices.

 

Although she was embarrassed to think about it, Tohru thought that Momiji might have a little crush on her..., which surprised her. Tall, blond and gorgous, she couldn't understand why he wanted to spend so much time with her but she enjoyed his company. He was one of the kindest people she'd ever met...

 

"Listen to him, Tohru," Uo said, pulling her out of the room by a hand.

 

"Yes, his waves are good," Hana added, taking her other hand as they exited the room.

 

"He said he has family that's going here," Tohru added excitedly as she looked back and forth between the two of them. "I wonder what they are like! I hope they are as kind as Momiji-kun."

 

"Sohma Yuki," Hana said, smiling as a beautiful grey haired boy exited the stairwell onto the floor. "I wondered if you would be joining us."

 

"Tohru, meet the Prince," Uo said, laughing as the young man gave her a slight glare at the introduction. "Prince, this is Tohru. I believe she's friends with your cousin, Momiji."

 

"You're Momiji-kun's cousin?" Tohru cried, excited that she'd met him so quickly. Rapidly bowing her head to him, Tohru couldn't help when she started babbling about her latest friend. "Sohma-san, I am so happy to meet you! Momiji-kun said I might get to meet some of his relatives, I just didn't think I would be able to meet you so quickly. He's been such a good friend to me these past few weeks, I am so happy!"

 

"Please, call me Yuki. You've met Momiji, Honda-kun?" Yuki said, looking at Uo and Hana with surprise before focusing his attention back on Tohru.

 

"Oh! Tohru's fine!" She said, nodding her head with excitement. "Yes, I worked in Momiji-kun's father's building and I met him there a few weeks ago!"

 

"I'm not surprised..." Yuki muttered, before giving Tohru a big smile. "Are you all settled in your room, Tohru-kun?"

 

"I think so..." she said, biting her lip. “I haven't met my roommate yet and I still need to go pick up my books from the bookstore before class starts, but I am ready to handle anything."

 

"Calm down, Tohru," Uo said, placing a hand on her head to soothe her fears. "Everything will go fine, just you see."

 

"It is close to dinner," Hana said, looking around the empty hallway. "Perhaps we should find ourselves something to eat."

 

"Hana...you're always hungry," Uo laughed, turning toward the hallway door that Yuki had just come from. "But I agree; I'm starved! If I was any hungrier I would probably kill someone!"

 

"We have company," Hana said, stopping as the door flung open from the other side. Surprised, Tohru watched as an orange haired boy stared back at her, his eyes a startling shade of maroon. Although not nearly as attractive as Yuki-kun, his appeal was something much more primitive and for some reason the sight of him made Tohru's stomach fill with butterflies.

 

He spared her nothing more than a cursory glance before moving onto the rest of the people standing with Tohru. "I thought I told you to stay the hell away from me!" he growled, glaring furiously at Yuki-kun. "I don't know why the hell you had to come here, but you can't even leave me alone for a day! Get the hell off my floor!"

 

"I can go where I want, stupid cat," Yuki replied. "I forgot how much a pain in the ass you are…”

 

The kid threw what appeared to be his gym bag on the ground, scowling as he stormed toward Yuki-kun. “Damn, you are the biggest asshole ever, I swear!” Tohru watched as the newcomer, someone about a half a head taller, probably a good thirty pounds heavier, and wearing a martial arts uniform headed toward Yuki-kun—obviously intending to fight the smaller man. Yuki-kun, with his lithe frame and elegant features didn't stand a chance against the likes of this guy!

 

`I've got to do something!' she panicked, rushing forward to stop the man from attacking her new friend. “Don't! You'll hurt him!” she cried, placing herself in front of Yuki-kun, intending to stop the newcomer from attacking him, even if she got hurt in the process.

 

She hadn't been fast enough though and instead of coming between them, she got ran into by the man, knocking both of them to the floor as he fell on top of her. To her surprise, a cloud of smoke emerged blocking her vision as the man lost what little hold he'd had left on his temper. "You and your god damned girls! You have a friggen fan club here already? This is just fucking great! Look at what the hell you did, kuso nezumi! Damn it! Now Hanajima and Uotani know now!"

 

She'd expected to be crushed since he'd fallen on her, but to her surprise it didn't even feel like the flame haired man had landed on her at all. The smoke started to clear a little, and she watched as a cat with the exact shade of hair that the man had walked away from everyone. "Ah! Um!" she stuttered, staring after him as he walked away. 'What just happened? Is that...him?'

 

"He wouldn't have hurt me at all," Yuki replied, giving her a smile as he helped her to her feet.

 

"Screw you!" the cat yelled, turning around to glare at Yuki. Tohru noticed his eyes were the same shade as they'd been earlier as well. "I've beat you before! You know I have!"

 

"Baka Neko, it doesn't count if you can't remember it happening."

 

The cat took two steps toward him, before growling and storming away into a nearby room, slamming the door behind him. "I...uh..." Tohru stuttered, her face turning red as she realized the cat had just shut himself in her room. "That's...ummm...."

 

"Kyon's got issues," Uo laughed, patting Yuki on the back.

 

"You don't need to tell me that," Yuki sighed, rubbing his temples. "I've had a migraine for a month straight. There hasn't been a day of rest, I am just glad he was living back at Shishou's the whole time."

 

"He left his clothes behind," Hana said, depositing them in Tohru's arms.

 

"Clothes? I...um...did he just turn into a...he's a cat!" Tohru cried, looking at everyone in surprise, wondering why they weren't as shocked as she was.

 

"That's Sohma Kyou, another of our cousins," Yuki said, coming up next to her and giving her a little nudge toward the door. "Since that's your room, I nominate you to go give him his clothes back. He should be changing back any moment now and he'll need those, otherwise he'll have nothing to wear."

 

"Eh? He...? Why do I have to be the one to give his clothes back?" she said quietly, her face burning with embarrassment. "I don't even know him!"

 

"Yeah, but he knows us," Uo replied. "He won't come near the door if any of us try. I can't imagine you want a naked man in your room when your roommate gets back."

 

'Naked?' A quiet pop within the room and a puff of smoke beneath the door made Tohru's eyes widen as she realized what just happened. "Oh no! He turned back!" she screeched, quickly looking between Hana and Uo for help.

 

Neither would even make eye contact with her. Sighing in defeat, Tohru walked up to the door and knocked. "Go away!" Kyou yelled from inside.

 

"I...um...pardon me, Sohma-san," Tohru bit her lip and quickly looked back at her friends. All of them had encouraging smiles on their faces; Uo even looked ready to bust out laughing. Taking a deep breath, Tohru tried again. "I...uh...you left your...c...clothes, Sohma-san."

 

She heard a small growl before the door cracked open and a dark maroon eye looked back at her. His hand reached out and snatched the clothes from her grasp before the door slammed shut in her face. A quiet click indicated he'd locked her out...of her own room. "I...um...you don't have to hurry, just let me know when you are finished."

 

"I thought I told you to get the hell away from me!" he yelled through the door.

 

Tohru yelped in surprise, biting her lip again as she backed a few steps away from the door. 'He hates me! I just met him and he hates me! Not that I should be surprised because I just turned him into a cat, but I've never had anyone hate me before!' "I...I'm so sorry! I didn't mean--"

 

"Oh stop that!" Uo chided, grabbing the key to the room from Tohru's pocket. "You have five seconds Kyon! Four...Three...Two..." On one Arisa shoved the key into the door and turned, flinging the door open. "Times up!"

 

"Get the hell outta my room, Yankee!" He screamed, turning around the glare at everyone standing in the doorway. "What'd you do pick the lock?"

 

Tohru's face flushed, completing missing his words as she stood staring at him. Wearing a pair of sweatpants, he hadn't put a shirt on yet and she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him. He caught her staring at him, which just made her cheeks heat even more. 'Oh! I am so embarrassed!'

 

"No, I used the key," Uo replied, grinning at Kyou as she dropped the key in Tohru's hand. "This is her room."

 

"Like hell it is!" Kyou growled, dragging a white tee-shirt over his head. "I've been living here for a week already cause of practice! They wouldn't put a girl and a boy in the same room together, you idiot!"

 

"Y-you? This is your room?" Tohru cried, looking around his side of the room in a panic. "I'm sorry! I probably made a mistake and came to the wrong room."

 

"No, there was probably just an error in the office," Yuki sighed, placing his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "You have a key; this is where your room assignment is."

 

"This is just my fucking luck," Kyou growled, dragging his shoes on his feet as he shoved past them, storming out the door. "I'm not rooming with a girl; I'll go home before that happens! I'm gonna go straighten this shit out!" Tohru watched as he left, trying not to cry as the day was quickly turning into one of the worst she'd had in a long time.

 

“You should probably go with him, Tohru-kun.” Hana said, giving her a little shove out the door after the retreating neko. “Make sure what you both decide is something that you are happy with.”

 

Taking a deep breath, Tohru nodded before heading out of the room and chasing after the neko down the stairwell near their room. The experience had obviously shaken up the onigiri, but Saki found herself quite in awe of the planners of this little twist for the pair.

 

“Oh man! I was not expecting that!” Arisa laughed as soon as Tohru was out of earshot, rushing to the window facing the front of the building to watch the couple as they left the dorm. “Who the hell thought of this? Kyon was pissed!”

 

“Hatori said they would get them in as close proximity as possible,” Yuki said, following Arisa to watch Tohru try to catch up to Kyou as he stormed for the housing department. “I didn't expect this though. I don't know if I like this…”

 

“She'll be fine,” Saki replied, pressing the latch to the window up so she could push it open. “His heart recognizes her. They both had a little shock today; their waves reacted the same way when they saw each other today as they did in those final few months together. Since neither of them remembers those feelings, it was like love at first sight for both of them.”

 

“Yeah, I saw the way he was looking at her,” Arisa said. “I've never seen Kyon check out a girl before, it was hilarious. Honestly, if it wasn't for the way he'd been so absorbed in Tohru, I would have doubted he even liked girls when we were in high school. He'd never even looked at Tohru like that before.”

 

“I just worry that she will be able to last the first few days with him,” Yuki said, walking over to Tohru's desk and shaking his head at the Jyuunishi set on it. “He really was mean to her those first few days; I'm not sure what changed to make him actually be nice to her.” Picking up the cat, he showed it to the girls. “I thought we packed the cat away.”

 

“We did,” Saki answered, taking a moment to make her connection with Tohru's waves. “Tohru thought that it didn't seem complete without the cat, so she made a new one a few days later. The cat has always been her favorite part of the zodiac fable; I am not surprised she created a new one.”

 

“Dang, he looks tense as hell,” Arisa laughed, still watching from the window. “I bet she's still calling him `Sohma-san'. I just wanted to bust out laughing when she did that.”

 

“It irritates him,” Saki replied, tuning into his waves as well. Once completed, she headed for the door. “I don't think he knows why though.”

 

“Why did she paint it orange?” Yuki asked, still staring at the cat.

 

“Call it intuition,” Saki answered, opening the door to the room. “I am ready to eat. They will be awhile, I am sure.”

 

“Maybe she's just always wanted her own orange kitty,” Arisa laughed, taking the cat from Yuki's hand and placing it back in its spot with the rest of the zodiac. “So when Kyon came along it was fate!”

 

“I may just faint of hunger,” Saki said, walking out the door.

 

“Yeah, we're coming,” Arisa replied, shoving Yuki after Hanajima as they headed for the stairwell. “You won't starve.”

 

Reaching for the stairwell door, Saki paused as a rush of waves attacked her, making her knees give out beneath her. `What is going on?' she wondered as Arisa grabbed her arm. “I am fine, Arisa.”

 

“Are you sure? What just happened?”

 

“I think I am just hungry,” she lied, getting to her feet again. “I am sure I will feel better after a full stomach.”

 

“Okay…” Arisa answered doubtfully, following her into the stairwell.

 

Unwilling to pry on something so personal, Saki cut her connections with the couple and tried to focus on what she would get for dinner instead. She would force herself to enjoy her dinner, even if her thoughts were elsewhere.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Definition from Wikipedia

Tabula rasa (Latin: "scraped tablet", though often translated "blank slate ") is the notion that individual human beings are born "blank" (with no built-in mental content), and that their identity is defined entirely by events after birth.

 

 

 

 

I do not own Fruits Basket or the characters affiliated with the Manga and Anime. They are the property of Natsuki Takaya…I am just `borrowing' them for my own nefarious deeds. I own nothing, suing me won't help anyone.

Sari-15