Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Strawberries and Skinny-Dipping: Hatori's Remedy ❯ Little White Riding Hood ( Chapter 28 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: bugaboo107
Tohru felt as though she had intruded upon some beautiful love. Yet something haunted her. This quotation was beautiful, but with a twinge of some... pain, bitterness? Who was Sano? Who was Hanako? Where they Juunishi or 'normal' Sohmas? She wondered. She reminded herself to find out more, maybe from Momiji next time she saw him.

Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.08.2008 | Updated On: 03.08.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.7K | Visits: 276 | Status: Work In Progress

Standard Disclaimer applies.
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Hatori's Remedy presents:
Chapter 28 Little WhiteRiding Hood
Tohru cleared up the table and washed the dishes while the boys went upstairs, Yuki to start his summer reading/homework for English and Calculus, and Kyo to just read… something. Tohru looked like a mindless automaton, staring out into the cloudy sky. By all means she was happy that Yuki was back, but a deep sadness also filled her chest. It reminded her that it could not stay a secret forever. She wanted people to know (I LOVE HATORI SOHMA!), to be happy for them, but she also knew the dire consequences. If she could, she would drive up to some beach late at night. She would run across the beach barefoot. She would scream those four words over and over again, her passion matching that of the waves crashing against the shore, pouring out like the sea form spilling onto the sand. Those words at the tip of her tongue, yet stuck in her throat. She would scream and scream until her throat was dry, until the waves sound muted hers, until the sun rose, until the waves calmed to a soft ebb-and-flow, until her heart finally settled in her chest-- in contentment.
She took the remaining box of pastries and placed them in her knapsack. She went upstairs to change. She changed into a white Henley hoodie and kept her plaid pajama shorts. She walked to Kyo's door and knocked.
“What?!”
“It's me, Tohru. I was wondering if I could borrow your bicycle for the morning. I'm going out.”
“Fine.”
“Thank you,” she said, bowing to the closed door.
She went to the shed on the property and retrieved the shiny blue bicycle. Shishou had bought it for Kyo when Kyo started high school. A wonderfully sweet gift, Tohru thought. She tied the sack to the basket in the front; to make sure it didn't `fly' out when she rode downhill. She pushed up the kickstand with her heel of her foot, and hopped on. She pedaled steadily, and soon gained momentum. She rang the little (feminine) ladybug bell. It had been her gift to him for helping her clean the house last summer. He had looked at it with utter horror, but put it on his bike... that must mean something, Tohru thought. She hummed a melancholy tune that she had heard on the radio a few weeks after her mom died; it was her (cliché!) life-story, about a death and denial.
It began to shower.
She pulled her hood up and rode through the curtain of droplets.
She finally arrived at the Sohma estates. She realized that she didn't particularly feel like talking to anyone this cloudy, damp morning, and decided to find a break in the fence. A trespasser. As she walked along the edge of the property, she felt fat drops of rain graze her cheek. She looked into the sky. It was dark.
Billowing.
Grey.
Drizzling.
Bleak.
Tohru finally found a small gap in the fence. It looked like something Haru created. She smiled, that sweet cow. She parked the bike near the fence.
She crawled on her hands and knees, getting some mud on her knees-- dragging her knapsack, almost touching the rusty fence in this neck of the woods. It didn't even look like part of the property. There are no houses or gardens. Tall grass and overgrown weeds. Her hair is a wet mess, with running streaks of water down her face.
She stumbled over knolls and mounds until she came upon a terrace. Even though she had come here before, it always looked like a resort to her. Fountains, gardens, benches, lanky trees, a large swimming pool (unused), terraces, an outdoor fireplace.
The houses were dark.
The flowers in the gardens—dead.
Leaves swirled in the gentle wind. They grazed her ankles-- the flurry of colors-- green, yellow, red. It was like she walked a path of natural gems-- emeralds and rubies. Tohru stood in front of a stone bench and read the inscription.
For Sano S.
Love does not die easily. It is a living thing. It thrives in the face of all life's hazards, save one-- neglect.
James D. Bryden
With eternal love,
Hanako S.
Tohru felt as though she had intruded upon some beautiful love. Yet something haunted her. This quotation was beautiful, but with a twinge of some... pain, bitterness? Who was Sano? Who was Hanako? Where they Juunishi or 'normal' Sohmas? She wondered. She reminded herself to find out more, maybe from Momiji next time she saw him.
---
She finally averted her eyes from the beautiful stone-carved bench. The back of the bench was a criss-cross lattice. The legs of the bench had vines crawling up. It was a marvelous piece of art. However, she noticed that a piece of the leg had been chipped away, leaving a fist-sized hold. How? Why? She knelt down and noticed that the inside of the leg was hollow. Interesting.
It looked like a ghost town.
It made her feel sad. Such beautiful creatures living in such a barren place. It had everything but that… coziness.
She picked her away across the land until she spotted Hatori's small house. She passed by a window and caught a glimpse of Hatori at the computer, wearing his glasses.
So cute, she thought.
She knocked on his door.
---
Hatori was startled. Who was it this early in the morning? It's raining. I'm annoyed. I daon't want to talk to anyone. It better not be Akito. He `exited' the webpage he was looking at, a map of all the nearby restaurants. He had only a few days to makes reservations for Tohru's birthday, and he still hadn't decided? Casual or Formal?
He was at an impasse.
He wanted her to enjoy herself. If he went for casual, she might think that he was stingy. If he brought them to a fancy restaurant, she might think that he was trying to buy her love.
He walked over to the door, bracing himself.
Tohru.
Tohru?
She was drenched from head to toes. She looked like a virtuous goddess who had just arisen from a lake. Her lips were blue in contrast to the rest of her pale skin. Some of her hair had escaped from her hood; it was wet. He wanted (oh dear) to wrap her hair around his fists and kiss the daylights out of her! She looked so delectable!
Her lower-half wasn't too attractive, to an ordinary man, at least. She had rivulets of mud streaming down her legs.
He loved her.
In all her sopping glory.
“What are you doing here? It's raining outside. Kami, you're all soaked! Your knees are muddied. You're soaked to the bone! Are you okay?”
“I brought you breakfast.”
He hustled her in and offered a seat beside him on the couch. “How did you get here? You really shouldn't have... It put you in danger.”
“Bicycle.”
“You should have called me. I would have come to pick you up.”
“Well, you see—Yuki's back.”
Hatori's knuckles turned sheet-white, as he gripped his knees. “Oh.”
“But I've thought about it. It's okay. We will keep it a secret. For as long as you'd like. I don't mind.”
Always the trooper.
She never thought about her own well-being. Wants. Desires.
He nodded, speechless, pale.
She continued (trying to wrap her mind around something she could actually understand and control), “Do you want to go swimming tonight? At the watering hole?”
It was rare of Tohru to be so open, but she loved him so much, and love meant risks and ventures.
“Yes. I'd like that,” Hatori said, easing up slightly. He added lightheartedly (trying to cheer up the solemn mood), “You do own a swimsuit, right?”
She turned her face away, blushing. She nodded, thinking of that alluring black swim suit she had bought a few weeks ago.
Hatori felt his lap area tent. Argh! He adjusted his sitting position so she would not see. Luckily she didn't as she focused her attention on breakfast. “Yuki brought home some really tasty pastries. Try this coconut cream one.”
“Not before you change out of that wet clothing and take a shower. I can't let you get sick under my eye.”
“It's fine. I'm not too wet.”
He could see the outline of her breasts, and her taut nipples against the white fabric! It was making him very, very uncomfortable.
He got up and went to the adjacent bedroom to retrieve a black shirt. It was long enough to act as a dress. It was dark enough to hide everything that would make him tight in all the wrong places at the wrong time.
He came toward her and pulled her to her feet and ushered her into the bathroom. “I don't want my girlfriend getting sick.”
Tohru finally agreed.
He kissed her slightly blue lips before closing the door behind him.
While she showered, he called the restaurant to make reservations.
She came out.
She looked gorgeous.
Even in the worn shirt.
She came up behind him and massaged his shoulders. She leaned her mouth down to his shoulder, hovering millimeters away from his ear. She said in a low voice, “Now, where were we? Breakfast?”
She grasped his hands and brought him over to the couch, once more.
She lifted the roll up to his lips, and he took a hesitant bite. He didn't really like sweets.
Or maybe not.
A change of heart.
He liked this one, though.
Maybe because of the fact that Tohru was feeding it to him.
“Hmm-mmm. This is good.”
“You have Yuki to thank for that.”
Hatori finished the coconut cream bun, himself, and Tohru brushed the area around his mouth with a napkin. She didn't even notice her motherly fixations until he looked at her with a curious glint in his eye.
“I-I'm sorry. I-I do that a lot. I won't do it again.”
“I like it.”
He captured her hand as she attempted to move it away, and brought it to his cheek. He rubbed his cheek against the inside of her small palm, reveling in its touch.
“What are you doing today, Tohru?”
“Not much. I was going to do some planting at the garden. Now I will just stay in and do laundry. Yuki has tons of things. I need to scrub his hiking shoes too. They did some extracurricular outdoor activities.”
Hatori's mind didn't hear a word about Yuki, instead it was shouting “Yay! Yay! Yay!”. Good, she was going to like thatpart of his gift—Gardening!
He had decided to take a day off for Tohru's birthday. He wasn't an ordinary doctor who had obligations to patients. He was free to go as he pleased.
At least when Akito wasn't nagging after him.
“Okay then, I'll leave you then. Will you be over for lunch?”
Hatori nodded eagerly.
“Good-bye then!”
Tohru grabbed her knapsack and made her way to the door.
Hatori stood up. “Do you need a ride?”
“No, it's okay.”
“Are you sure.”
“Yep. Besides, my bicycle is parked in a secret spot.”
He quirked an eyebrow, “How did you get in here? Momiji?”
“Nope.”
“Haru.”
“Nope.”
“Kisa?”
“Nope. I crawled in through a hole in the fence.”
“Sounds like something Momiji would do. In the mud, at that too,” he retorted, rather amusedly.
Tohru grinned.
“I'll see you.”
“Not just yet. You just took a shower. I'm not letting you get wet again. I will get your bicycle when the rain ceases and bring it over. As for now, you are getting a ride home.”
He grabbed his keys and an umbrella from the coat closet. Huddled close together, he helped her into the passenger side door before getting into his driver's seat.
---
Five hours later Tohru, Tohru finished making lunch. (She was still wearing the black shirt. Yes, she was a sentimental person. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. As thought Hatori's hands were roaming her skin.) The rain had stopped and Tohru had opened the kitchen window to let in some fresh air. The birds were twittering cheerfully. She flipped a few pieces of sole fish fillets coated with an egg-y batter in the pan. She served it over rice with a steamed broccoli. Yuki had probably eaten a whole ton of fast food on his trip and needed some gold ol' protein and veggies!
She sprinkled black sesame over the rice before calling the boys down. Just as they bumbled down, the doorbell rang.
“Who the hell? Shigure is not supposed to be back until the end of this month!”
Yuki opened to door, ignoring Kyo's bickering. “Hello Hatori.”
“Hello Yuki. It is good to see you back,” he said curtly.
“Likewise.”
They said down at the table.
Kyo offered his advice of the dinner. “Yuki, stop eating like a girl, with your pinky in the air like that.”
Yuki quickly dug the nail of the pinky into his palm to prevent any further antique femininity and said nonchalantly, “You know Kyo, you say it as though it is disgusting. You are insulting women all over the world.”
Kyo turned a nice shade of red, as red as the ripe strawberries in the garden.
“Take that back!” He was holding his chopsticks in the air like a scythe. It was directed at Yuki, but looked like was facing Tohru, an innocent bystander/wonderful (brilliant!) cook/laundry do-er/sisterly figure/ selfless friend.
Yuki mumbled, “I take it back.” He didn't want any accidents.
Kyo focused his attention at the sesame seeds, engrossed, as though they had started walking in the meadow of rice morsels.
Hatori could only hide his smiles… no wonder Shigure was always so happy-go-lucky. Look at this entertainment! Tohru saw his lips twitch and she smiled. It was impromptu and oh-so-hilarious! Where they ever going to grow up?
Tohru and Hatori sat across from each other on the small square nook table. His long legs grazed hers. She stiffened.
Then, she returned the gesture. His legs were slightly spread apart, and unknowingly, Tohru rubbed her knee against his inner thigh.
Hatori groaned.
Quite desperately.
It was loud.
Chopsticks clanked against the ceramic bowls. The two boys looked up from their food at the two blushing suspects.
“Who did that?”
Tohru had a confused expression on her face and mumbled some incoherent things. Hatori interjected, “I choked on a piece of, umm, broccoli.”
Yuki raised an eyebrow inquiringly, but accepted the answer. Kyo on the other hand muttered, “Creepy sound. I make those when a girl at school sits too close to me at school, and rubs herself against me or something. Weirdo.”
Hatori couldn't look into Tohru's eyes.
His opaque eyes were wanton, lustful, wanting, yearning.
After a hasty lunch, Tohru carried everything to the kitchen to clean. Yuki offered a hand. Hatori couldn't possibly stay. He left after an affectionate touch on Tohru's shoulder.
---
He left the house with a bit off a discomfort.
In his pants.
It wasn't as if she had touched him in some sensitive place. Why was he lacking in self-control?!
It had never been like this before.
---
A/N: I really like the word billowing. If you do too, review. Even if you don't or feel neutral toward the word… review!
In second place for the stone bench engraving was: If you love something, set it free. If it comes, it was, and always will be yours. If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with; by an anonymous author. The one for this story was more mysterious... it will return in the future of this story... that should give you a hint to as who Sano and Hanako are...
You guys are so cool. Many of you responded to the Harry Potter mini-survey. It was great; so many different answers. I live in a cave and don't really have an interesting personal life, so if you ever have anything to share/talk (an opinion, random though, idea), go right ahead.