Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Strawberries and Skinny-Dipping: Hatori's Remedy ❯ Her Knight ( Chapter 15 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: bugaboo107
¡°Look, Tohru is here to visit her grandfather. As you two are probably doing too, so why don¡¯t we all make this as easy as possible. Stop with the charades and come out and say it. Also, what do you have against Tohru? She is smart, sweet, caring, loving, respectable, understanding¡ªmore than anything a guy can ask more.¡±

Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.08.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 305 | Status: Work In Progress

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Hatori's Remedy presents:
Chapter 15 Her Knight
“Hi Ha-san. Sorry to bother you on your cell-phone, but I probably won't be back to make dinner tonight. My grandfather's in the hospital, and I'm going to stay with him until the surgery's over, with my cousins. I'll take the bus home when he's okay. Don't wait up. I'm sorry I can't be there. I will make it up to you.”
Hatori replayed the message left on his cell-phone a few times, allowing Tohru's sweet voice to caress his thoughts, soothe him.
He had been frantically waiting for her to call his office (flustered that she hadn't yet) to realize that she had called in the afternoon. He growled, as he removed his white `lab' coat, as everyone called it and locked the office behind him. He opened his car door, and got it. Instead of driving home, he drove to the hospital. Being familiar with the hospital layout, he parked his car on the garage level closest to the emergency room. He hoped Tohru was alright. He knew she tended to fret about things, just like him.
He peered down the bright hallway, but didn't see Tohru. Maybe she's in the bathroom, he told himself. After ten minutes of pacing in front of the woman's bathroom (looking like a new father), he went to the counter and asked the receptionist.
“Excuse me. Could you tell me if an older gentleman went into the emergency room for surgery in the past two hours?”
The woman checked the computer and responded, “Yes, Mr. Jiisan Honda.”
“Is there anyone with him?”
“Let me check.”
She scanned the sign-in sheet and said, “His daughter, and his grandchildren.”
“Thank you very much. Are they still here?”
“They all signed out except for Tohru Honda. What is your relationship to Mr. Honda?”
“I-I'm a family friend.”
“Oh.”
“Could you tell me where Tohru Honda is waiting?”
"Um, I'm not sure."
"Please try to think if anyone has come by..."
“--yes, I believe she's the frantic girl I met before, light brown hair?” the woman said to herself more than Hatori.
Hatori snapped back rather anxiously, “When was the last time you saw her?”
“She waved to me before she left. Probably an hour or two ago. She was waiting by the elevator, but she didn't sign-out, so I presume that she's still here.”
“Thank you so much.”
“No problem,” the lady said, fanning herself after Hatori left, even though it wasn't hot.
The lady behind her said, “WOW, look at the fine piece of butt.”
The woman who spoke to Hatori slapped the lady's arm playfully and hissed, “We're still working!”
---
Hatori went to the elevator and pressed for the first floor. Maybe Tohru was waiting there; maybe she was at the bus station outside, or something.
He waited, but both elevator doors remained closed. Hatori looked at the stairwell, and decided that a little exercise did no harm. He jogged down the steps, and heard a small whimper.
Oh no, was his first reaction. As a doctor and lover.
He moved quickly, until he found a hunched figure at the bottom of a platform. “Oh Kami, are you okay, Tohru?”
She said, in a barely audible voice, “Yes. Is that you Hatori?"
"Yes. Yes, it's me."
"Don't worry about me. I need to check up on grandfather.” Tohru tried to get up, but wavered, and sat back down again. “I feel really dizzy. I'm sorry. You should get some dinner for yourself. I'm okay.”
The words stung his heart. She was always worrying about others. Always.
He said down on the stair above her and said, “Here Tohru, why don't you sit in my lap? You should rest for a while.”
He gathered her into his arms, her face still facing away from him, but he say some puffiness around the eyes.
“How long have I been in here?”
“I don't know, Tohru. I should have been here with you.”
“Of course not, Hatori. You are a busy man. I understand that.”
Yes, she did. She understood everything.
That was what he loved the most about her. That she understood all the things he could never explain. Like his love for her.
He cradled her in his arms like a baby, her head positioned in the crook of his shoulder and neck, near his heart. Her eyes were closed, but a small smile played on her lips. So soft. So kissable...
He moved his lips down to hers, and placed a gentlest of kisses on her moist, naturally-pouty red lips. She opened her eyes, and returned the kiss. Hatori went further, his tongue delving into her welcoming cavern, to meet hers. Tohru emitted a low guttural rumble, which awakened Hatori's senses. The dragon inside him was ready to burst. It wanted to come out to play with the fire in his lap.
Tohru swung both arms around his neck, and kissed him fervently, with everything she possessed. They finally broke away long enough to get a deep breath, and for Tohru to swing both legs to the back, straddling her lover. There pelvises met , as Hatori held Tohru's head in his hands, “Tohru. I'm so happy when we're together. Every moment I'm away from you, I ache. I'm so happy you've allowed me into your life. Thank you.”
“Ha'ri, you never have to thank me for anything,” she responded confidently, “You know I will always be there for you.”
Her deft fingers curled into the silky hair at the back of his neck, and Hatori let out a low chuckle. “It tickles.”
Tohru in turn smiled. “Hatori's ticklish?”
“You bet, but don't use it against me.”
“Another surprise. I will try not to use it as blackmail.”
“If you do, I might have to…” Hatori buried his lips in the niche formed by her tilted head and her shoulder blade, and nibbled the skin softly.
“—Do this,” he finished, as he continued to nip and kiss down her protruding collarbone. She giggled, and said, “That tickles.”
He stopped when he reached the center, right beneath her chin, leaving a trail of kisses and a mark. He could feel her writhing from pleasure under his gentle ministrations. It felt could that he could give someone pleasure. He loved doing the loving.
He tilted her chin to him and whispered, “Thank you Tohru. For understanding.”
“You're very welcome, Ha'ri,” she whispered in his ear, wrapped her thin arms around his neck, and giving him a big sloppy peck on the cheek, remember to not have their chests touch. Sometimes in times of passion, one forgot the circumstances.
“I love you so much.”
“Me too.”
---
They stayed in that position, Tohru straddling his lap, until they heard the door open and close above them.
“Ah, we need to get up.”
Tohru got off his lap first, and stood up, flattening out her tank top of invisible wrinkles, while Hatori primed his slacks.
An old man walked down jovially and said, “Good afternoon.”
Hatori and Tohru, side-by-side, both nodded in sync and said the same.
After the old man reached his floor, the two let out a sigh of relief. Like two toddlers caught stealing chocolate chip cookies from the cookie jar, their cheeks flushed and licking their lips.
They looked to each other and smiled an all-knowing smile.
No one could deny the love between them. Blossoming and beautiful.
---
Hatori said, after a long and pleasant digression of laughter, “Let's go check on your grandpa.”
“Are you sure, I mean I heard your stomach grumble when we were um, kissing, and I think you should get something to eat—“
“I heard yours too.”
“No, well- mine was a small grumble because-because I was laughing too hard. It has nothing to do with hunger. I ate lunch.”
Hatori shook his head, “I heard it- loud and clear. A sign of hunger. I'm a doctor, I should know these things.”
“Fine. I was a bit hungry, but we have to first check on grandpa.”
“Of course,” Hatori said, capturing Tohru small hand in his as they walked up the flight of stairs to the right landing.
They, arrived (without incident), and Tohru tiptoed to give Hatori a peck on his jaw before they went in. He blushed a soft pink. The woman of the front desk smiled and whispered amongst themselves, “He's taken. She's a real catch- charming and adorable and genuine.”
The two lovers didn't hear, too focused on the task ahead of them. Hatori felt a chill run through Tohru's hand as she jilted a bit, and he squeezed it reassuringly. “Don't worry. Mr. Honda is alright,” he said in his low, `doctor' voice.
“I hope so,” she whispered.
They pushed through a set of doors, and entered a stark white hallway. It was meant to be a sign of openness, purity, wholeness, peace, innocence, and good fortune. Hatori's favorite color (if you could call it one), but now, it was intimidating and indifferent. Hatori reassured Tohru again, this time, moving his hand to the small of her back, and pulling her to his side. She responded eagerly, allowing her side to mold into his.
They arrived at the room Jiisan Honda had been placed in, and Hatori peeked in, saying, “Don't look, just yet, Tohru.”
She followed his instructions and turned away, as he peered in through the blurry sliver of window.
“They are doing a bit of surgery on his knee-caps. What happened to him again, Tohru, if you don't mind my asking.”
“He fell down the stairs.”
“Ouch. At his age, arthritis is very common. Also, the fluid in his knee might be drying out, so the two pieces are smacking against each other, making it difficult and painful to walk.”
“Poor grandpa.”
“Don't worry though, Tohru. Those kinds of surgery are always successful.”
She nodded, trusting his words.
They sat in the corridor and waited. Silently, Tohru's two hands in Hatori's.
An hour passed, filled with stomach grumbles and wails.
“Tohru, I will get us some dinner.”
“Okay,” Tohru said; she was too tired and famished to object.
“Don't worry, Tohru. I will get you something you like.”
“I trust you.”
---
Hatori found the cafeteria on the tenth floor; it was big. It reminded him of his college days. He filled two foam bowls full of miso soup (yummy tofu and seaweed), and found the cook just finishing some tantalizing beef stir-fry. He covered a bed of brown rice, and put it out. Something warm would do Tohru good, Hatori thought.
He picked up two plates, two cans of fruit juice, and brought his tray to the check-out line. The busty old woman smiled at him earnestly, and said, “Are you buying for a pregnant wife. This looks like a feast for three.”
Hatori turned a deep red and mumbled, “no, not really”, before diverting from further questions. He rested the tray on the condiments counter as he grabbed some extra soy sauce, lots of napkins (a strange habit, really), forks, and spoons (knives were nowhere to be found…).
He shook his arms for the ride up to the emergency room.
---
Tohru stared blankly at the bleak white wall in front of her, her hands in her lap. She smiled sadly, at the fact that the hospital would always hold close memories for her—sad and happy. So extreme.
She thought about Hatori's kiss. It was so sweet.
Everything he embodied.
He never pushed her too hard. Never expected something that she couldn't give.
She sighed contently, until she heard some familiar voices around the corner.
“Hey, I don't want to be here Riyo. Mom dragged me here.”
Riyo, Tohru's girl cousin hissed, “Just make the most out of it. I want to get back home. He's coming over tonight.”
“Who?! Grandpa won' be back for another week. ”
“Don't be so daft! It's not him!”
”Oh, your phantom lover? Ginjiro? Tomi? Or Ishio, the man's man, with a body literally a rock. I `bumped' into him and almost landed in the hospital from the bruise on my head. It hit his chest. He's nearly six-foot-seven. The one you talk about in your sleep, `I'm alone, will you help me find my way home. Oh and also, can you wrap your manly hands around my waist and kiss me. Touch me all over?'”
“Shut up. He is not. Plus, I cheated on him. He's been gone for months. I'm with Kazu.”
“Mom will be proud of her one and only daughter, but at least you're not like Tohru, with her multitude of boyfriends—old and young.”
They finally reached the corner, and found themselves staring right into Tohru's astonished eyes.
“I never knew you guys gossiped so much.”
“Well, you missed out. At any rate, what are you doing here,” the older bespectacled boy spat at her.
“I'm waiting for grandfather.”
“Sure,” he mocked, “You're not the good girl you make yourself out to be. You're an orphan. Face it.”
He pushed her back, and his cousins found their seats, leaving one open.
Tohru watched they through weary eyes. She didn't have to time or energy to fight back. She only hoped Hatori would not have to witness their rudeness. She didn't want him to think that she was cut from the same clothe as them.
She heard Hatori call out her name from around the corner, “Tohru, I got some tasty food.”
The boy cousin whispered to his cousin's eye, “She managed to trick some guy into buying her dinner. The little imp.”
Tohru didn't hear the last comment, running to the corner before Hatori would see the `ghastly' sight of evil.
She was too late though, he had turned.
He moved closer to the chairs, and put the tray down on the last remaining chair. Before Tohru could do otherwise, Hatori said kindly, “Hello, I'm Dr. Hatori Sohma. You guys must be Tohru's cousins,” extending his hand to both cousins. Riyo battered her eye lashes and flickered her hair back, “Are you taking care of my poor grandfather? He is such a good man, he doesn't deserve to be in pain, after all the hardship he's been through his whole life.”
“Well, actually, I'm Tohru's um, friend, who's a boy, I mean, um, boyfriend.”
Riyo's expression turned from flirty to surprise in a matter of seconds. “Huh?”
Tohru blushed a bright red at Hatori's innocent comment. He was serious about being her boyfriend. She was still surprised that he would actually consider her. Wow.
“I'm an off-duty doctor.”
“Are-are you one of the guys that Tohru lives with?”
“We don't live together, but yes. I'm a Sohma, if that's what you mean.”
Riyo slumped back and mumbled something along the lines of, “No wonder the little slut has been staying with them. He is drool-worthy. Hot.”
Hatori heard her, and said, “Excuse me?”
Her boy cousin had been smirking the entire time during this interesting `debacle', and interjected and said, “What Riyo means is, is Tohru sleeping with all of you?”
“What?! She isn't sleeping with anyone; where are you getting these ideas?”
“Logic, duh!”
Hatori thought back to his encounter with Tohru in the stairwell. He had noticed her eyes were swelled and a bit puffy, but nothing that detracted from her striking beauty, but it all came together. He wasn't stupid.
“Look, Tohru is here to visit her grandfather. As you two are probably doing too, so why don't we all make this as easy as possible. Stop with the charades and come out and say it. Also, what do you have against Tohru? She is smart, sweet, caring, loving, respectable, understanding—more than anything a guy can ask more.”
Tohru had been standing behind him the whole time, looking down, but at those words, she looked up with an expression of amazement. The good kind.
The two cousins were shocked, and Riyo uttered a, “I-I'm a sorry. I didn't mean for the question to be understood in that context,” a bit sarcastically.
Hatori said, “Good,” before putting his arms around Tohru's shoulder and walking her to the chair. He picked up the tray and offered her the seat. She told him to sit instead, but he insisted, and she finally did.
He placed the tray on Tohru's lap, and said, “Is this okay?” kneeling beside her.
“Of course.”
“Let's eat.”
Hatori was Tohru's knight in shining armor.
And she was his damsel in distress.
But he had just fixed that. No more evil ogres ruining their fun!
The cousins watched in a bit of surprise and respect for the new couple as they ate dinner.
---
A/N: Did everyone like the sweet kiss? Yay for Hatori telling those 'meanies' off! I hope Hatori's little speech makes Momiji proud. Please review. Much love.