Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Strawberries and Skinny-Dipping: Hatori's Remedy ❯ Two's Company ( Chapter 26 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

His hair was dark, dark brown, in a very fitting hair style. It was short and messy on top, but with straight swiping bangs. His body was lean and firm (as Tohru had noticed upon her fall). His skin was tan, and his teeth pearly white. His smile was jaw-droppingly devastating, and could make any single girl (or not) melt in a puddle.

Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.08.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.2K | Visits: 282 | Status: Work In Progress

Standard Disclaimer applies.

Pre-A/N: I would not be able to do this without my beta, Kelly! She is smart, quirky, and 100 percent wonderful! -Applauds-

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Hatori's Remedy presents:

Chapter 26 Two's Company

---

“Ah, it's getting late and I have to get to work. I will come back to visit soon.” Tohru said, blowing a dozen (or more) kisses to the black marble headstone.

As she tided up her tote bag and bento, a tear slide down her cheek. “Mom, I really miss you. I think about you everyday. I hope heaven is fun.”

Tohru felt a pit in her chest. Her chest felt like it was about the cave in, like a ceaseless, turbulent whirlpool. She took one last look at the grave and left. She waved to the elderly caretaker and walked to the nearest bus stop.

She noticed a lanky handsome young man, maybe in his early twenties and two elderly women sitting on the bench. Tohru leaned against the pole and looked at the swaying trees across the street. The young man said, “You look very tired, here, you can sit here, please take my seat.” His smoky silver eyes sparked at her.

The young man got up and offered his spot on the bench to Tohru. “Ah, its okay, I'm not too tired.”

The man just stood and smiled. Tohru finally sat down after a bout of head shaking and nodding between the two. “Thank you very much, sir.”

“Please, don't call me that, call me Kaneshiro.”

“Thank you Kaneshiro. I'm Tohru.” Tohru said, bowing her head low.

The bus arrived and they boarded. The bus was packed, and the two acquaintances stood next to each other. Tohru bumped into Kaneshiro many times, and apologized profusely.

“Its fine,” was Kaneshiro's reply each time.

The highway was crowded, and could only be attributed to everyone being on lunch break. “So, what were you doing at the cemetery, if you don't mind my asking?” Kaneshiro asked amiably.

“Oh, I was visiting my mom.”

Kaneshiro furrowed his brow in concern. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay. It's not your fault. How `bout you?”

“I was visiting my grandfather. He died five years ago.”

“I'm sorry about that. I know how important grandpas are,” Tohru said, with a wistful smile.

“Yes, they are. He raised me when I was young, when my parents weren't there.”

Tohru nodded sincerely, not wanting to discuss it anymore. She knew how hard it was to talk about a deceased person you loved.

After an hour, the bus arrived in the city limits. After a few turns, it arrived at the corner of the building where Tohru worked.

“Here's my stop.”

“It was nice meeting you, Tohru-chan.”

Tohru waved good-bye to the kind young man and thanked the bus driver before getting off the bus. She walked to the building and entered through the revolving doors (so fun!). A rush of cool air greeted her (The A/C was working in the lobby again!). The renovations were impressive, the walls were a golden yellow, and the floors covered with gold-streaked marble. The lobby desk was cherry wood, and accented with gold and red supplies. There were fluffy sofas for guests and glass doors.

“Hello, my name is Tohru Honda. Today is my first day after the renovation and I am not sure where I should go, could you help me.”

“Of course, young lady, just one moment please.”

The clicked her mouse a few times and said, “You are doing the two to six-thirty shift, right?”

“Yes.”

“You are to report to the custodial manager in the basement. He will direct you to what you are to do.”

Tohru thanked the woman and took the elevator to the lowest level of the building. She greeted her supervisor Yuu. “Did you have a good summer so far, Yuu-san?”

“Hai. I took my kids to the DisneySea. I am still dizzy from the roller coasters they forced me to go on. You too Tohru?”

“Hai, I've had a wonderful summer. I did some cooking and a bit of exercising. So, what's up?”

“We are the only ones here today for this shift. The other women have gone home to take care of the kids for the summer.”

“Okey-dokey.”

“Why don't you water the plants on the roof and at the lobby of each floor?”

“Hai,” Tohru replied, going into a closet off Yuu's office to retrieve a uniform and her nametag.

She went into the bathroom and changed quickly into the drab navy jumper. Kyo always said she looked like a prisoner in her pale blue uniform, without a serial number. Tohru smiled at the thought of Kyo fussing like a little girl, “I mean they should provide better uniforms. You look like a common detainee.”

Tohru finished tying the navy bandana around her head and proceed to the roof. She arrived on the windy roof and took a deep breathe. It's beautiful up here. It really was one of her favorite spots, besides the watering hole in the forest. She peered at the streets below. People walking on the sidewalks, cars honking to and fro, store signs flashing, and animated billboards. She sighed contentedly before pulling out the hose from the shed and attaching it to a water valve.

She untwisted the serpentine green hose and pulled it to the farthest tree and watered it. She watered all the other potted plants before returning to the shed.

Tohru returned downstairs and reported to Yuu again. He wasn't there. Tohru sat down outside his small office and waited. Yuu returned after fifteen minutes with a dripping mop.

“There was a coffee spill on the third floor. Do you think you could make twenty-four more cups on the first floor and bring it up to the smaller conference room? I am going to finish cleaning up the sticky mess. Can you also run over to the local bakery and pick up twenty pastries, any kind. The girl who usually does this is sick today. Oh, first go to the third floor and ask the secretary for the money for the pastries.”

“Hai.”

Tohru hurried to the third floor to retrieve the money.

Then, Tohru rushed to the first floor into the lounge. She noticed that the coffee maker didn't have enough for twenty-four people. Tohru grabbed some packages and emptied them in the pots. She set out twenty-four Styrofoam cups on the counter and ran out to the streets.

She crossed and went into the bakery.

She picked up the tongs and a tray and chose twenty delectable goodies. She had never been here before. Maybe I should come here after work and buy some for Kyo and Hatori.

Tohru pocketed the change and took the pink boxes full of sweet baked goods. She crossed the streets and rode the elevator to the second floor. She found the conference room and knocked softly. A young woman opened the door and smiled. Since the lady didn't offer to take the boxes, Tohru took responsibility to place napkins in front of everyone and to hand out pastries. The kind employees nodded to her silently.

She finished and left quickly to get the coffee.

She filled the cups and covered them in a lid. She put it in the cardboard containers and took three trips to the conference room.

After half an hour of rushing around, Tohru finally took a moment to compile herself in the lobby before heading down to find more work.

She was told to fix the flood in the sixth floor bathroom.

At six-ten, Tohru changed her clothing and checked out of work. She went to the bakery and picked out some pastries. She paid and walked home.

---

“Kyo, I'm home!”

She heard a crash upstairs and watched a grumbling Kyo stumble down the stairs. “Your scream made me hit my head on the lamp.”

“I'm sorry. Let me check if there is any damage. I'm truly sorry, Kyo.”

She put down her belongings and made her way to the red-faced cat-boy. She looked at the spot he was rubbing. “It's a little red, but I'm sure a tasty pastry will make it all right.”

Kyo took her box from the ground and brought it over to the kitchen counter. He opened it and picked out a cream-filled bun.

“Aren't you going to eat one?”

“Ah no, I'm going to start making dinner. I have to get back to work for the night shift.”

“I don't understand why you have to work during the summer.”

I need the money. For college. I don't expect anyone to pay it for me. I've already used so much money.

“Ah, everyone needs money.”

Her answer satisfied the boy. He walked over to her and said, “Need help with dinner?”

Tohru looked at him, her heart swelling with bliss. “Kyo wants to help me?”

“I'm really hungry, and I thought the time would go by faster if I helped.”

“Of course.”

Tohru took out fresh noodles and told Kyo to boil them.

Kyo mumbled under his breath, “I can do it better than Yuki, anyhow.”

They finished making dinner in no time (a record forty minutes), and less time eating it. She saved a bowl for Hatori. It was piled with food. Tohru waited until the very last moment before she had to leave. Where was Hatori?

She sat down on the couch to read the latest newspaper, but feel asleep quickly. She woke up at seven-thirty. No Hatori. She left slightly downtrodden, but wrote a note (with lots of little hearts) and attached it to the foil covering the food. “Kyo, I'm leaving.”

“Do you want me to take you there?”

“I-I don't want to burden you—“

“No, that's alright. I was going out for a walk anyways.”

Kyo shuffled into the foyer and slipped on his shoes. They walked into the soon-darkening forest.

“How was the renovation at the company?”

“It's really nice.” Tohru reeled on about the décor. Kyo listened patiently, adding in his opinions from time to time. “Is rabbit-boy working there? He doesn't do anything but bother anyone; he might as well get a job or internship there. His dad could give him an easy deal.”

Kyo was actually thinking of Tohru's safety. He knew how much Momiji cared about Tohru, as an older sister, and would be able to watch out for her. The girl was sweet and wonderful, but careless and ditzy all the same, especially when she was overworked until midnight.

Kyo would have gotten a job there, but he couldn't be caged in a corporate building after hours. Eww.

They arrived at the front of the empty building. “Tohru, do you need me to pick you up at midnight?” he said, yawning after the statement.

“Ah no, Kyo needs to get some sleep. Your eye bags are big.”

Kyo narrowed his eyes at her. “I do not have big eye bags.”

Tohru merely giggled and said, “See you bright and early in the morning. I hope you have some good dreams tonight.”

“Uh, you too.” Kyo wasn't really into the small niceties. But he was changing. Slowly but surely.

Tohru waved good-bye and entered the lobby to identify herself. She talked to the security man for a while before she went on her way. She went to Yuu's office in the basement, and signed her name on the clipboard on the window. She guessed that she was probably the only person tonight. That would be depressing for any other person, but she thought to herself that it would allow herself to contemplate her beautifully blossoming relationship with Hatori. Ah, Hatori. She hoped that he was eating his dinner. She didn't want the too-skinny man (all the Sohma men were too skinny in her opinion) to get any skinnier!

There was a list of things to accomplish for the night.

Mop the second floor lobby and hallways. Empty the garbage cans on all the floors.

Tohru sighed softly before going upstairs to clean the floors. She hummed to herself, a classical little tune.

Her cell-phone in her pocket vibrated. She hoped it was okay to answer a call after-hours. “Hello?”

“Tohru. It's Hatori. I'm sorry. I feel asleep on my desk. I'm sorry I didn't come over for dinner. I'm really sorry. I will make it up to you.”

“No Hatori. It's okay. You are very busy. I didn't expect you to always come. Don't worry. You don't have to make anything up to me.”

“Can I pick you up from work, ten?”

“I'm working until twelve.”

Twelve?! A young woman like you shouldn't work more hours than a businessman. Why are you doing this to yourself? I don't want my girlfriend working so much, I don't mean to sound so possessive, some evil greedy leech (cough, cough, Shigure) but-but… I just don't want you to overwork yourself!

“Okay. I'll be at the front at twelve. Stay in the lobby until you see me.”

“Nah, Hatori, you don't have to. I can just walk home.”

Hatori said firmly, “I will see you at twelve Tohru. Good night.”

After he clicked off, Tohru mumbled. “I hope I'm not burdening you.”

---

She swayed her hips to the jiggle as she cleaned, until she bumped into something. No, someone. She swiveled around to apologize, but managed to slip on the soapy puddle on the ground. She flailed her arms, paddling like a canoe-man in the rapid-filled rivers (but she was in air), anticipating the hard fall on the marble-tiled ground.

It never came.

Instead, she felt strong arms around her midsection. She had landed in someone's sturdy arms. She leaned her head into the person's shoulders for a mere second before she got up. “I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to, fall on-on you. I slipped.” Tohru looked at her toes ashamedly. A pair of sneakers came into her sight.

“T-Tohru, is that you?”

Tohru swiped away her hair and looked up into the grey eyes. Instant recognition hit her.

“Kaneshiro? I didn't know you worked here?”

“I'm here for a summer internship. I've been here for the past two weeks. I haven't seen you here.”

“I just started today. The company had a renovation and they wanted us to leave for a while.”

Tohru looked at Kaneshiro with bright eyes. “So, what do you do here?”

“Well, my dad is the CEO of Dragonstars Corporations. I do small things around the company. At least for the summer. He wants me to start from the bottom and earn my way up to the top, like he did. The man is really Spartan. He would never hand me a high-paying job immediately. I guess its okay. What do you do here?”

Tohru felt slightly embarrassed, and said softly, “I work with the janitorial/plant management department. Downstairs.”

She thought that like many other people he would give her a distasteful look, but he didn't. His eyes illuminated to glistening silver, with speckles of blue. It was beautiful, really, almost enchanting. “I've just been upgraded to that!”

Tohru was bemused. Upgraded?

He saw her confusion and explained, “Before I worked here, I was a temp. I brought coffee to people, walked their dogs, and bought donuts. Now I get more freedom.”

Tohru beamed. “That's great. I thought that I was going to be the only person this summer.”

“Fear no more.”

He retrieved another mop from the closet at the end of the hallway and returned to Tohru. “So, tell me about yourself, Miss Tohru.”

By the end of their four hours spent together, Tohru had learned a few facts about the dark `n' handsome young man.

---

First off, he was very well-mannered. Very like her dad, as she remembered well; opening doors for women and such, saying his 'please' and 'thank yous' everywhere.

Kaneshiro was raised by his grandfather until he was ten. He went to boarding school until he was eighteen. And he rarely saw him busy business parents.

He was going to be a junior in college, making him twenty. He was majoring in business administration, with architecture as his minor. He said he really enjoyed designing structures and drawing, but his dad didn't want him to have a job like that.

His mom had died two years ago, to breast cancer. She didn't even know until a month before she passed away. In Europe, on a business trip. Kaneshiro's voice cracked when he told Tohru. Tohru liked that about him. He was honest and emotional. Like her.

For the summers, since college started, he lived with his father.

He enjoyed cooking and swimming. He had been on the school's swim team. His best stroke was butterfly. He had been to the United States and Europe. He had done an eight-month modeling stint in Australia, but didn't like it. He didn't like having so many people at his beck-and-call, dressing him up, giving him hand (and toe) manicures, and even swiping a few coats of mascara on his eyelashes for a magazine editorial to dramatize the “Goth” look. Tohru giggled. He was very good-looking. Like a Sohma.

He had shared that he had an older brother who was working in New York City as a toy designer. He wished he had the ambition of this brother, Kaito.

But by no means was he showing off. He was merely telling her. She basked in his companionship until midnight. He was funny, charismatic, patient, knowledgeable, bashful, outgoing, polite. All around great.

“Tohru, it's been great. You made the time pass by so fast. When will I see you again?”

Tohru looked at this man. He enjoyed her company? She felt guilty for not being a better companion, but said, “The day after tomorrow. I am very glad that you are working here, Kaneshiro.”

“It's my pleasure,” he said kindly, bowing low.

Tohru said, “Well, I'll be leaving now,” putting her uniform in the basement closet.

“Do you need a ride?”

“Nah. I live really close by.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He covered their distance in two strides and gave her a quick hug. “Thanks.”

He turned to go into the garage.

---

A/N: Did anyone think that Tohru was going to meet Kaneshiro again? Good? Evil? What do you think? What do you want? Throw your opinions and wishes at me... I may answer them!

And no, Tohru does not think of him as a love interest or anything in this chapter. No hanky-panky thoughts, girls. (Aww… but.. he sounds so hot! Me want!!! Me want!!! - Kelly)-- Hehe, my beta added that in. She's an absolute sweetheart. Here's a picture of actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, who Kaneshiro is based off of... http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/7026/2004200qy.jpg. Check him out!

Much love,

Cindy