Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Strawberries and Skinny-Dipping: Hatori's Remedy ❯ A Birthday to Remember, Part Two ( Chapter 31 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: bugaboo107
Hatori hated pictures; he looked so glum and it made him uncomfortable to have a ¡®reminder¡¯ of something, but today, he was glad to take a picture with Tohru, as long as no one else saw it¡­ it wasn¡¯t that he wanted to hide his relationship with Tohru; he wanted to protect her from the wrath of his cousins and the ¡®God.¡¯ It wasn't safe. He wasn't cynical, it was true. Plus no one deserved to know this special bond that had formed over the past few weeks. It was something sacred between them. He didn't want to share this beautiful woman with anyone else.

Anime/Manga: Fruits Basket Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.08.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 293 | Status: Work In Progress

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A/N: Sorry for the almost one-month long wait. Hope the wait is worth it.
Hatori's Remedy presents:
Chapter 31 A Birthday to Remember, Part Two
Tohru, will I ever be able to love you as much as you love me? Can I ever show you how much you mean to me?
They piled into the car after Tohru returned from the bathroom. Tohru looked at Hatori thoughtfully. He looked very tense today. Both of his hands were tightly wrapped around the steering wheel.
“Hatori, is there anything you want to say?”
He shook his head.
She looked straight out the front window and said with conviction, “My mom always said it was good to get things off one's chest because keeping pains and doubts in one's soul is not healthy. You can go ahead and even talk about medicine and doctor stuff if you'd like; I may not understand, but I'm a good listener. When you share with someone a problem, that person can help you resolve it. Truth is the best remedy. Sometimes it may be hard to release the truth or knowledge, but it is always good to fix the problem as soon as possible - whether it is about another person, or event. Love is meant to experience challenges. I can handle it.”
He thought about what she said.
The car deviated from the mainstream traffic after an hour. They drove around a mountain. To Tohru's right was the beautiful ocean, glimmering under the morning sun. But she was afraid of heights, and didn't want to look down. Hatori's lip twitched into a small smile. It was amusing to see her huddled in the fetal position in the passenger seat.
---
Hatori said, “We're almost there.”
Tohru wrecked her brain for ideas of what this place was. He had said there was a clue in her breakfast. She drank orange juice and ate porridge and a pastry. What could this surprise possibly be?
Hatori turned onto a pot-hole filled two-lane road toward the mountain. Tohru saw a modern, transparent glass building. The mountain side was verdant and green. She could imagine a sheep plopped right onto the idyllic scene. She giggled. It reminded her of the felt storyboards her elementary school teachers used. The structure looked like a large greenhouse. Was that were they were going, a greenhouse?
Hatori arrived at a parking lot. Tohru saw many, many people. People in Hawaiian shirts. People with cameras around their necks. People with children. People with heavy backpacks, sunglasses, hats. She even saw a family of seven hop out of a van with a 24-package of water bottles. Today was perfect for flowers, trees and butterflies. And sightseeing on this brilliant, clear day. Tohru watched the interaction between children as Hatori paid at the booth.
He parked a ways away from what seemed to be a tram station.
“We are going to ride the tram to the Momento Botanical Gardens.”
“Really! I have never been to a botanical garden before! I've seen them in books. They are beautiful! Thank you so much! That was what the sunflower bun for breakfast was about! Thank you Hatori!”
She squeezed his arm happily, almost cutting off the circulation. To an outsider, she might have sounded overly excited and false, but Hatori knew that this was the true Tohru - she was just this sweet, just this warm, just this enthusiastic about life -- she had enough spirit for the both of them. She planted a kiss on his base of his jaw. He made sure her birthday present was tucked safety into his backpack, away from any fluids or sticky chocolate (that Tohru had insisted upon putting in, saying that it provided energy during the most dire of times).
They walked over to the long train entrance line.
“Please wait behind the yellow line until the doors are fully open. When steer clear of the door when you here the bell. The ride is approximately fifteen minutes. Thank you, and may you enjoy your ride up to the Momento Botanical Gardens.”
Hatori followed Tohru into the train, after an inspections officer checked Tohru's bag and Hatori's backpack. The seats were all taken, so they stood. Hatori held onto the bar overhead; he held Tohru close to him, along the side of his body.
As the train steady ascended the hill, Tohru bumped beside him, and gravitated to the front on his body; her back to his chest. The scent of fresh honey wafted his senses, and seemed to make his body extremely sensitive to her touch. He bit his lip to prevent any sound.
They finally arrived at the top of the hill. The view was sensational; seeing the waves crash viciously, passionately against the cliffs made Tohru long to just jump in and be immersed in such beauty. Hatori couldn't take his eyes off that beautiful sight. He wondered if they could get to the bottom of the cliff and watch the sunset later.
“Would you like to see the inside of the gardens or the outside first?”
“How about the inside, it's getting sunny outside.” Tohru decided for the both of them. Hatori always came first, she knew how much he disliked the sun.
“Okay.”
Tohru retrieved two maps from an elderly docent (not without bowing and bowing and bowing graciously) and handed one to Hatori.
“The orchid exhibit sounds great. Yuki and I were almost going to buy orchids one time, but we decided against it, because neither of us knew how to properly care for them. I do think they are beautiful though.”
They entered the cool, air-conditioned building and went to the orchid exhibit. Some of the rare, delicate plants were in glass containers. Tohru looked at the plants as if they were alive, growing right before her eyes.
Hatori was not exactly fascinated by the plants that they saw over the course of the next hour, but happier due to the fact that Tohru was happy. Her emotions radiated onto him. She taught him about each plant. It was quite educational. H grew more interested with each plant. He only wished he could express it.
He found the carnivorous plants quite interesting. The pitcher plant. The Venus Fly Trap. They reminded him of Akito, eating small flies and frogs. The couple did not stay for the “fly-eating” exhibit. Tohru could not bear to see innocent insects be eaten for human pleasure. He also liked to here Tohru's melodious voice when she explained things to him. She would be a perfect teacher. No, Hatori, not of sexual acts!
“Let's go see the sunflower maze. The clouds are out.”
They went outside. Many people were seated under colorful umbrellas eating lunch, but Tohru didn't feel hungry; excitement cured any hunger. She was running on pure adrenaline.
The sunflower maze was a short walk away. Many of the people with children did not go there, opting for the nearby Butterfly Patch inside a tent. The clouds were puffy like cotton candy. The sun was nowhere in sight, but the sky was lit with a soft glow, almost angelic, like something Michelangelo painted on the Sistine Chapel, as though someone could picture God and Adam almost touching their index fingers together. Breathtaking.
When Tohru sat on a bench around the lily pond. “Hatori, thank you so much. I wish I brought my camera.”
“No need to thank me for the seventeenth time Tohru, As long as you are happy, I am willing to do anything.” He sounded slightly sarcastic, but it was all true. I love you so much. A smile on your face makes my heart beat faster. I feel victorious.
“Can we take a picture in front of the lily pond?”
Hatori hated pictures; he looked so glum and it made him uncomfortable to have a `reminder' of something, but today, he was glad to take a picture with Tohru, as long as no one else saw it… it wasn't that he wanted to hide his relationship with Tohru; he wanted to protect her from the wrath of his cousins and the `God.' It wasn't safe. He wasn't cynical, it was true. Plus no one deserved to know this special bond that had formed over the past few weeks. It was something sacred between them. He didn't want to share this beautiful woman with anyone else.
Tohru politely asked a teenage girl to take the picture.
“One…two… three…” Click.
“Thank you so much, Miss.”
“You're welcome,” the girl replied; shy to look into the eyes of the foreboding man standing beside the young woman her own age, Tohru. By Gods, he looked devilishly handsome, but something about it… misanthropic. Forbidden.
Tohru showed Hatori the picture the girl took. Tohru looked like an angel with her sparkling white teeth and rosy, cherubic cheeks. “You look good. Though I wish you smiled. Your smile is so sweet Hatori, I want to see it!”
He growled weakly, “My smiles come out looking like I'm a little boy who just won a big prize at a carnival or something. Or covered my face with fluffy pink sugary cotton candy."
Tohru merely giggled. “You are so funny Hatori. You make me so happy.”
I'm glad. It's the least I can do, since I can't confess deeply that I love you. I am so weak. I said it once. At least you have that to remember.
I'm sorry.
I want to.
They passed the rose garden, the herb patch, the Children's Cultivation Zone, the Fountain of Youth, the pansy park, and finally arrived in front of the Sunflower Maze.
There was no one around. Lunch.
“Do you see that red pagoda on that platform Hatori? Whoever gets there first wins.”
“A challenge, Tohru?”
“Yes. I challenge Hatori Sohma to a race to the pagoda. Whoever gets there first gets to dare the other person to do something.”
“Hmm-mmm. Sounds fair. Ready… go!”
The two set off at the speed of cheetahs. Tohru took the right path. Hatori took the left path. He arrived at a dead end.
He really wanted to win this.
Tohru paused at a fork and said to herself aloud, “I can really cheat. The sunflowers aren't dense like a bush or corn stalks or anything. Well… nah. I'm going to win this far and square!”
Hatori could see Tohru hundred feet away, running with determination. Arms working like a robot -- forward, backward, forward, backward. He looked away at the object of his toils and when he looked over again, she was gone. Her head was not above the gangly canary-yellow sunflowers.
He stopped. He watched for her buoyant, vibrant brown hair to surface above the sunflower heads, but it didn't. He panicked.
“Tohru!”
He began running toward where he last saw her. He found her sitting up, with her legs bent in an awkward position.
“I am here,” Hatori said softly. He crouched down beside her and ran his hands through her soft hair. “What happened?”
A tear trailed down her cheek. “I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going and I tripped on a stalk.”
“What is there to be sorry for? Don't be sorry. It isn't your fault. I'm sorry I wasn't here to catch you.” To catch you, my lovely maiden.
He straightened her leg carefully, “Is this okay?”
She nodded.
“I'm going to take a look.”
She nodded.
He pulled up her jeans. There was an unattractive purple splotch forming on her knee. At least it wasn't an open wound.
He sat down beside her and pulled her into his embrace - her back molded into his. He pulled her hair away from her face and kissed the nape of her neck. She arched her back and moaned. “That tickles.”
Hatori groaned. This girl.
This wonderful specimen.
Hatori wasn't much of a guy for snuggling, but right then he wanted to hold Tohru in his arms for eternity; to have her sigh pleasantly, contently, blissfully.
“Today has been absolutely wonderful, Hatori. Thank you.” She pulled down a showerhead-like sunflower and made the inanimate object kiss Hatori's cheeks. "Mr. Flower says thank you."
I'm glad.
All for you.
Because… I love you.
Tohru tilted her head up to look at Hatori. She watched his black air glinting like obsidian in the sunlight, as he pressed his cheek close to her head. His pale face was illuminated by the sun; it seemed to be glowing. He noticed her staring at him with intensity and looked away, away that she would see pain in his eyes on her birthday. While he was very much enjoying himself, he couldn't help but think of the graveyard, and what Tohru said to him when they got into the car. “My mom always said it was good to get things off one's chest because keeping pains and doubts in one's soul is not healthy. You can go ahead and even talk about medicine and doctor stuff if you'd like; I may not understand, but I'm a good listener. When you share with someone a problem, that person can help you resolve it. Truth is the best remedy. Sometimes it may be hard to release the truth or knowledge, but it is always good to fix the problem as soon as possible. Love is meant to experience challenges. I can handle it.”
Hatori chastised himself for thinking painful thoughts on such a special day.
He focused on the situation at hand: a familiar aching was forming low in his belly, a longing for her. She saw the crease in his brow and decided that he was thinking about what happened this morning at the graveyard. She had sensed a change in him when she left for the bathroom. She saw him looking over at an overgrown part of the cemetery. It must have been someone special. Someone as important as to Tohru as her mom.
She shifted her bottom between his outstretched legs.
“Ahhh-hhhhh.”
“Oh, sorry Hatori. I didn't mean to.”
"It's okay."
Tohru summoned up her bravery. She moistened her lips. She placed her fingers delicately on Hatori's firm chest. She felt the sinewy muscle ripple beneath the cloth. She watched his eyes flutter. He looked like a sleeping prince who had just woken from a deep slumber. Her fingers ran over his nipples and he groaned loudly. As much as he enjoyed these innocent touches, they were a pain on his lower half, and his lust-induced brain. He couldn't think logically, and might do something bad in the cornfields.
He opened his clouded eyes and pulled her wrists to his chest. “Please don't do that - What I'm trying to say is that I can't think logically, rationally when you are doing that. I don't want to harm you.” I care about you do much to lose you trust over an impulsive act.
He brought her hands to face. He kissed the center of each palm before releasing her.
She said softly, “You will never hurt me. It's okay. I'm ready.”
You don't know what you are saying Tohru! I can't to that to you! Do you know that I fantasize about you every night?! I am tracing my fingers over your soft body, watching the tips of your nipples harden at my unyielding stare, tracing the heel of your foot to the insides of your thighs, watching you moan, gasp, mewl, and wither beneath me because of love and passion, brushing myself against your wet mound, pressing myself against you -- feeling you, releasing the built-up physical pain, entering you, breaking past your maidenhood, watching your eyes turn dark with passion equal to mine, listening to the slip and slide of our bodies against each other, having you cry out in ecstasy, having you pulsing around me, milkening me, until we lay by each others' side, in each others arms, kissing you until my mouth is dry, listening to your sweet heart settle in your chest, pound next to mine…
Oh Gods.
I'm turning into a modern Shigure. A pervert!
Her face turned into a crimson red when she saw how fast his eyes turned into lust-filled dark orbs. I hope he's okay.
---
“I'm sorry. I don't mean to be like this…” It's just that when I'm around you, lust is coursing through my body like goddam electricity through a wire!
He wanted to change this uncomfortable, strange mood. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a small turquoise blue bag.
Tohru recognized it instantly. The girls at her high school always looked about Tiffany's and its trademark bags and boxes - but most of the attention was focused on the gifts, the marvelous jewelry -- silver, gold,platinum, two-toned, diamonds, rubies...
Never in a million years would Tohru have thought someone would get her anything like this.
Hatori gave the bag to Tohru. “This is for you. I was going to give it to you during dinner, but I think know is the perfect time: we are in the middle of a pastoral cornfield.”
Tohru giggled. Hatori's professional voice never failed to get a laugh out of her, and also seeing him with the dainty blue bag and a soft smile on his face. It was an adorable sight. She kissed him on the lips.
She was silent as she lifted a small matching blue box from the bag. The box was thin and long. She looked into his eyes. They were clear now, as clear as the pristine azure waters of the Pacific.
She lifted the box lid and looked inside.
A simple platinum chain bracelet, with a heart-shaped… watch.
“Tohru looked at the small ticking watch. This was absolutely beautiful!
She pounced on Hatori unexpectedly. “I love it. I love it! I LOVE IT! It's so pretty.”
“That's not all. Look on the back of the watch.”
Tohru flipped the dangling charm watch over and saw a small inscription. She tried to pronounce some strange stuff that didn't sound like English, or at least any she knew. Some ancient language? The only thing she understood was the `H' at the bottom. She had a bemused look on her face.
“Here, let me help you put it on before I tell you what it means.”
“Okay.”
He took her think wrist and laid it in his lap. He unclasped the bracelet-watch and fastened it onto her wrist. He held her hands in both of his as he told her what it said on her birthday gift.
“It says Ad vitam aeternam, which means: To life everlasting in Latin. I care so much about you Tohru. I want you to live forever, to share your passion and love for life with everyone. I also want remember that our love and time is forever. That is the reason for the watch. The time we spend together is everlasting, eternal, ageless. We are immortal when we are together. If I am not by your side for some reason, you will have this to think of me. Please don't forget me and remember that I love you so much. So much. I will remember you forever - I have learned so much from you. The ability to care for life and for another person; you have breathed air into my lungs and my heart.”
It pained Tohru to see him say something so passionate; she knew it was difficult. Tohru was speechless. This went beyond simple love, this was a pact. This was a sealed promise that: Their love was for eternity.
Tohru and Hatori were immortal against the ravages of time.
---
A/N: This story has reached 300 reviews! Thanks so much; it means a lot! One or two more parts to this birthday! In the Sunflower Maze, for some reason, I remember the maze scene in HP and the Goblet of Fire… Voldemort was about the jump out at any second and attack someone…
With two people like Tohru and Hatori… the lemons are hard to get around to… they are just so moral and stubborn. Hatori wants her so badly, but can't afford to lose her trust and love because of a stupid sexual act. Tohru wants Hatori in the physical sense, though she knows that would be betraying her promise to herself to stay `virgin.' Argh.
This was quite a sappy little chapter. I hope you liked it. Reviews are nice.