Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Strawberries and Skinny-Dipping: Hatori's Remedy ❯ Lve Evermore ( Chapter 29 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: bugaboo107
There. He said it. Finally. He confessed. Professed his love. He put his heart out on the line. This time was for real. Offered himself as the sacrificial lamb, but not really¡­ She had already promised that she would stay be his side forever. Forget Akito. Forget the miserable, unforgiving world. Let time stop and let they blossom under the simple, unadulterated beauty of nature; with nothing but the fruits of the trees and the warmth of the sun. This was true love, and if Tohru was willing to sacrifice for it, so was he.

Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.08.2008 | Updated On: 03.08.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 277 | Status: Work In Progress

Standard Disclaimer applies.
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Warning: Sappy, smutty stuff.
Pre-A/N: A big shout-out to my lovely beta, Jen! Thanks honey!
Hatori's Remedy presents
Chapter 29 Love Evermore
The rest of the day passed monotonously. Hatori typed away at his computer, his long fingers that of a pianist's, playing a sonata; and took a trip to the hospital to pick up some special medicine for Akito—the feeble girl's summer allergies had arrived—pollen, bird feathers, dust, furry animals, people. Hatori arrived at Shigure's house at six-thirty for dinner. He left his swim trucks and towel in the car.
Yuki greeted him at the door. “Hello Hatori. Did Akito ask you to come over to check up on us?”
Kami, the boy was clever. Hatori nodded; if he opened his mouth, it might let out something he didn't want—I'minlovewithTohrubutI'mtoostupidtosayit; or something like that. Yuki shrugged and led him to the dinner table. Tohru had prepared a simmering stew that was still bubbling—it had yellow squash, pork, and carrots. “You came just in time, Ha'r—Hatori.” Tohru said, realizing her slip of the tongue. Luckily, no one except Hatori noticed. He smiled.
They ate the tasty stew (which was very tasty with the spices Tohru added) and Hatori helped Tohru wash the dishes. It was silent between them, both parties thinking about the evening.
“Still up for swimming tonight?” He said, in a low and dangerous tone.
Tohru nodded eagerly. “Yep.”
They finished the dishes, and Tohru said anxiously, her impatience radiating off her fidgety movements, “Do you want to go now?”
“Okay.”
“Wait downstairs while I get suited up. I'll only be a few minutes.”
Tohru wiped her hands on her apron and took the frilly pink thing off. She dashed upstairs and locked her bedroom door. She went the adjacent bathroom and sat on the ledge of the tub. She shimmied off her clothes and let it pool around her ankles. She put on her bathing suit and looked at herself in the head-to-foot length mirror, absently twirling a lock of hair around her index finger. She pouted her lips. She wasn't physically perfect.
Her limbs were long and gangly.
Her hair was too straight, almost dull. Limp.
Her eyes were too big. Doe-eyed, making her look helpless.
Her lips were thin. Some might call it pursed.
She wiped her tired eyes and said to herself, “If Hatori can overlook my imperfections, so can I.”
She pulled an old T-shirt over her head and returned downstairs. Hatori was in front of the bookshelf in the hallway. He was sifting through various books, namely Shigure's favorite, erotica. A smirk blossomed over his lips. Once a dog, always a dog. He looked up. His heart raced. His hands stilled. His eyes started at her eyes, and followed down her body. The line of his mouth cracked into a smile.
“You look absolutely—beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
Hatori extended his hand to her. She took it and squeezed it gently.
Hatori said, hoping that his voice didn't crack from the dryness in his throat, “Let's stop at my car to get my trunks.”
Tohru averted her eyes as she nodded--blushing. Trunks. Her hair swung forward and covered her eyes.
Hatori put the towel and swim trunks in the crook of his arm and they walked toward their secret spot. They walked stiffly. Neither one knew what to say to break the quiet equilibrium. Hatori finally took his hand away from hers and moved it to the nape of her neck. He coiled her hair around his long fingers, teasing, playing.
She pulled away. Hatori's hand jumped back. “I'm sorry.” He looked away, ashamedly. “I forgot.”
He, without realizing, began to walk faster, the automaton that he was.
“Hey, wait up, Hatori!”
“It's not YOUR fault!”
---
Silence fell over them. Tohru bowed down, her hands on her knees, to catch her breath. She moved to Hatori and tugged on his bicep to turn him toward her. He turned toward her, his eyes cold, yet lit with an icy passion-- desirous, passionate, wanton. He wanted her. Anyone could tell that. She nibbled her lower lip under his dark gaze; even in the dimming sky, she could make out the opaqueness of his usually clear eyes. She decided that words were not enough to express her current state of mind, which matched his with equal fervor and desire. If she could, she would run her hands all over his body—touch, tickle, caress. She placed her palms tentatively against his thumping heart and grazed her lips over the bottom of his. Her tongue darted out and licked his closed mouth, easing it open. Tohru sighed satisfactorily. She felt his hands over her shoulders, massaging the bone soothing. Tohru bucked her hips toward Hatori, wanting, no needing more contact. She was on the verge of losing her control; slipping, slipping, slipping…
Into utter, ardent disarray.
“Tohru?” Hatori whispers against her earlobe. He tried to form more words, anything, but couldn't seem to form anything else. His mind seemed to have dissipated into a puddle of sappy maple syrup—molten too.
He took a deep breath and said softly, slowly, “Do you know what you do to me?”
Tohru shook her head.
“You make me feel this way.” He brought her small hand to his chest. Then to his hard cock. “Please,” he said, when she drew her hand away sharply. “I can't control myself around you. I'm-I'm in love with you, Tohru. I want you—in every way, your love, your warmth—I am so selfish; I want you to myself. I'm stubborn and Stoic, but will you give me a chance?”
There. He said it. Finally. He confessed. Professed his love. He put his heart out on the line. This time was for real. Offered himself as the sacrificial lamb, but not really… She had already promised that she would stay be his side forever. Forget Akito. Forget the miserable, unforgiving world. Let time stop and let they blossom under the simple, unadulterated beauty of nature; with nothing but the fruits of the trees and the warmth of the sun. This was true love, and if Tohru was willing to sacrifice for it, so was he.
“I am in love with you too. I'm sorry.”
“Don't ever be sorry. Every day with you, every minute with you is timeless. I just want the freeze the time and hold you: forever.”
Tohru was speechless. She beamed. Her eyes fluttered, as though awaken from an enchanting dream—a modern Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. She felt like a princess. The words did something to her. Not that she hadn't loved him before (by Gods no! She was spellbound!), now, it just seemed all the more justified, as though she had something to remember at night, smile, giggle, reminisce. She could tuck herself under heavy blankets and think of this moment. This landmark. She sighed. And sighed. Like a happy little tooth fairy who had just been blessed with a child's beautiful smile. The weight of the world seemed to dispel. She felt peaceful, as though she could die today, knowing that Hatori loved her. Consumed in an alight, bonfire of passion, love, promise. Tonight, she could drown in this puddle of love in her mind.
Tonight she could die.
And be satisfied with her life. Have no regrets.
This meant everything to her.
Hatori ran his knuckles over her chin and brought her to look at him. Her eyes were glistening. With tears. He wished he could pull her tight, into his sturdy embrace. As though they were one, blood flowing like one body—one chamber. He wanted to her heart beat and soak in her warmth.
“Don't cry,” he said. He meant it. He couldn't see her cry, for him, for those words he had taken so long to say. If she cried, he didn't think he would be able to control himself, and end up taking her virginity right there. Wrong, wrong, WRONG! He wasn't a sadistic person by nature, but Tohru had a way of distorting everything for him. His mind turned to winter slush and his heart turned into a frantic palpitating mess. Unhuman.
“Please don't cry Tohru,” he said, weaker this time.
She sniffled and buried her head under the crook of his neck, ever-careful not to touch his chest with her own. He smelled of refreshing pine; it was intoxicating. Her fingers reached up to touch his face. She slid her fingers over his perfect jaw-line, as though etched in marble. She wanted to make sure this wasn't one of her dreams. “I don't want to, but I can't. I'm so happy, I want to cuddle you. Hug you.Oh, I wish I could Hatori!” She said his name like it was a prayer or something, something Shigure would have dwelt on for nights if it had been said to him.
She kissed him chastely on the cheek; then she said, “Let's go swim!” He wiped away her giant tears with the callused pads on his thumb.
He followed her lead, grinning the whole way there. He felt lighter, as though the anchor that had held him down and just been released.
She removed her shirt and dived into the water, splashing Hatori. “I'll get you for that!” he shouted, rather halfheartedly.
The water hit her hard, or rather she hit it hard. She broke the surface with a smooth dive, as graceful as that of a pebble. The water felt like sharp daggers against her exposed skin. It felt better when she began to move, to circulate the blood through her veins.
He saw her dark shadow swim toward the trickling waterfall. The proverbial waterfall, where it had all started… He went behind a tree and changed quickly. He remembered his poor still-stiff member, unsatisfied, yet again. He chastised himself for being so… Shigure-ish. He finished his business and jumped into the water. He glanced across the surface of the water.
No Tohru.
Not again, he thought, remembering that fateful night…
He heard a stifled giggle behind him and felt arms around his midsection. The feeling of soft hands hovering close to that spot had him breathing shallowly.
He spun around and gathered each of her hands in his. He kissed the center of each palm and put them delicately by her side. “Let's have a quick race.”
“Sounds good.”
He took her hand in his and they walked (no, stumbled), toward the aged-wood dock. “Whoever reaches the other side of the waterfall, the inside, gets to decide what we do next. Any questions?”
“Anything?” Tohru asked innocently.
“Anything?”
“I'll say go. Ready? GO!”
They paddled over to the waterfall, each wanting to win.
---
Hatori won. But not by too much.
Tohru accepted her loss and said, “So, what's next?”
“Let me think,” Hatori said, placing his index finger and thumb on his chin, in deep thought.
“Well, first. I get to kiss you senseless.”
--
He pressed his lips softly on hers and suckled. Her hands moved up to his neck and she tugged him closer, as close as she can without initiating the curse. His tongue brushed the fissure of her lips and she opened them slowly. He ran his hands down her back, feeling her shiver beneath his touch, but he knew that it was not out of fear; because she is kissing him as fervently as he is. His hands grazed her round bottom and he pulled her on him. She instinctively wraped her legs around his hips, her fingers tangled in the dark silk tresses at the bottom of his neck. This contact that he has been yearning for is finally fulfilled. He knew he was being selfish, but it was too good to stop. His mind seems to be closed. His heart working overtime. Every bit of skin feels alive, wanting attention, love.
Tohru squeezed her eyes tight as he kissed his way down the curve of her neck. She is like a swan, stretching her neck, wanting more and more contact. She moaned into his hair. He pulled away long enough to hoist her onto the stone platform for more comfort and access. He dragged the wide strap of her one-piece swimsuit down, painfully slow. He stopped mid-way, and looks into her eyes—focused; making sure that she is ready. She moans, “Please.”
He continued moving the swimsuit down her lean torso, leaving it bunched beneath her pert breasts. He cupped her breasts in his hands, weighing them before setting on the right on first for his gentle, teasing ministrations; he brushed his thumb over the dark nipple, watching it contract under his misty-eyed gaze. She watched his expression—surprised, yet compelled—wanting more. Greedy.
There is desperation in his eyes. His heart ached to just take her, but he knows… he can't. He could never do that to the one he loves. His tongue circled around her breast before sucking on the areola. He can feel it harden, his hands cupping the curved flesh. He does the same to the other breast before working his mouth over her shoulder—nipping, caressing, suckling. Tohru's fingers are shaking as they lay flat against Hatori's wonderfully flat, rippled chest. She cries, the decibels of her cry almost as loud as the crash of the water in the pool, out when Hatori sucks a bit too hard, leaving a love-bite on her shoulder. “Oh Kami.”
Her lips are swollen and red when he finally looks at her again. She cranes her neck again and kisses him—hard and reckless; he matches her thrust for thrust—like two swordsmen in a duel. The thrusts match something that both know they are not ready for… at least not yet. He clutches her hips to keep her from pouching on him and instigating the curse that would have them both in a very, very uncomfortable situation. When they break apart, both are breathing heavily.
They finally stop, both of them looking away, there faces red with exertion and lust. They are still shy. Timid.
“Ready for another go?” Hatori said.
Tohru looked at him in confusion. “Didn't we just—“
He realized his meaning of his words, “I mean another swim. You are good competition.” She truly was.
“Hai.”
“Race you to the dock and back.”
“You got it. GO!”
---
It was eleven before they finally dragged themselves onto the dock and collapsed next to each other. Sighing happily to herself, Tohru said to Hatori, “Nice job.”
“Congratulations to winning the breaststroke race.”
“I thank Yuki.”
Hatori quirked an eyebrow. “May I ask when?”
“Two years ago, I paddled for my life when I was in the water. Swimming at school was scary. I was really embarrassed; I couldn't get the arms and legs synchronized for breaststroke. But he taught me. He spent many afternoons until I finally got it.”
Hatori felt a twinge of jealousy, but swept it aside when Tohru laid her wet head on his glistening chest. “I love you, Hatori.” Despite the fact that she had already said that many times tonight, she wanted to give him reassurance. He was not as unflappable as when she first met him. He was vulnerable, just like any human.
“Me too.”
---
A/N: Confessions of a Grown Man. Tee-hee. Much more love and angst to come; you didn't think this was going to be a secret forever, did you? Who do you think will find out first? Where? How? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks again Jen for so willingly beta-ing this piece in record time; sorry about leaving you with a cliffy. Thanks again for reading everyone!