Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Tainted Choices ❯ Strawberry Serenade ( Chapter 1 )

Tainted Choices

By Jen Lanphear

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters. They belong to Takaya Natsuki.

 

 

Chapter 1

Strawberry Serenade

 

“Alone”, Yuki thought to himself as he stood on the balcony of his bedroom looking up into the clear, cloudless sky. That is what he would always be. At least, before she came into his life that is what he had always believed. Now, he saw a new light beginning to brighten his once dark life. His mind was filled with the desperate hope that he would find true happiness in the arms of someone who knew the `real' him. He still wasn't 100% sure that he would be able to open up to someone, even Tohru, the way Kyou did. He really envied the baka neko for being able to show his true feelings. Even if sometimes it was in an unproductive and often violent way. Yuki, on the other hand, generally would hide his away behind a cool gaze while his heart screamed. Then, when he was alone, he would let it all out. Tears would stream down his cheeks and he would swipe them away with disgust for his weakness. His nightmares were often filled with his repressed fears and feelings. They haunted his nights. Maybe that is why he was so exhausted in the morning. He never truly rested without a care and he feared that contributed to his often-sudden illnesses. But, he didn't know any other way. He had always had to repress his dreams and his wants because he was always told what he felt didn't matter and he actually came to believe that somewhere deep in his psyche. Although, the more time he spent with Tohru, the more he felt that perhaps, even someone like him, could change. He sighed and walked back inside his room. He picked up his tattered journal; he fingered its worn blue covering and opened it gently. It had been the one place he could voice his feelings.

He picked up his feather quill and opened the cork on his jar of precious purple ink that he had ordered from England, dipped the pen in and began to write, “The more time I spend reflecting on these last few months since Tohru came to live with us. The more I realize she may be the one person to whom I can truly open up to. I hope so. I love her more and more each time she sees me for who I really am…”

He blew on the ink so it wouldn't smear and closed the journals cover.

“I think I will go down to the Secret Base and see if the strawberries are ripe…Tohru would like some with dinner…” he said quietly to himself as he opened his door and trotted down the stairs.

 

Tohru walked through the forest towards Shigure's house. She had gone out to ice cream with Uo and Hana-chan and she wanted to hurry home so that she could start dinner.

“Oh, dear…it is so late! I hope the guys aren't worrying about me…I hope they aren't too hungry…I wonder what I should make?” she mumbled to herself.

She was approaching Yuki's Secret Base when she glimpsed Yuki through the trees. She could hear him singing a little song to the tune of “High School Girls ala Shigure”…”Strawberries for just for you…for Tohru…I know she'll like them juicy sweet. Just like her…all for me…strawberries…”

She couldn't believe her eyes or her ears. This was definitely a side of Yuki she had never thought she would see. She held her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggle. She wouldn't want him to find her laughing at him and she wanted to hear more of this song. She crept as quietly as she could closer to Yuki. She could now see that he smiled sweetly as he gathered the ripe strawberries into a basket. She watched him as he almost lovingly selected each berry, checking it for imperfections and placing it in the basket gently.

“You are a good berry…very, very, very, berry…la la la…” he sang cheerfully to himself.

“Kawaii…” she thought as she knelt in the bush. She didn't notice the bush's tri-leaved bracts until it was too late.

“Oh no, poison ivy! Now I will have self incriminating welts all over me.” She thought as she scurried quietly out of the bush and down the path away from the Secret Base.

 

Yuki heard a bush rustle behind him and he froze. He listened carefully for any further sounds of movement and he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary and he didn't sense he was in any danger.

“Hmmm…must have been a rabbit or something, oh well, I should be going anyhow…” he thought as he stood up and dusted off his pants.

He picked up the basket full of strawberries and set off down the path to Shigure's. When he arrived home he found Tohru in the kitchen. She was standing at the sink filling the teapot; she looked so cute when she was being domestic.

“I'm home!” Yuki shouted. “I brought some strawberries to eat with dinner Honda-san!”

Tohru turned around and an impish grin lit up her face. “So, how is the garden? Is everything growing well Yuki-kun?”

Yuki smiled, although he was a little surprised by the grin she was giving him, like someone who was holding back a surprise.

“Well, everything seems to be ripening nicely; all except the okra…it seems it is a little too cool around here for it to grow well.” He said as he set the basket down on the counter.

Tohru took one of the strawberries and bit into it savoring the tartness, the juice staining her lips a rosy hue. Strawberries really were her favorite and it was very kind of Yuki to plant them just for her.

“These are really good Yuki-kun! But maybe I can help you with the okra… I read a book today that said if you play music for your plant they grow better…maybe some music would help your okra…” she said as she passed Yuki and gave him a peck on the cheek and ran up the stairs to her room.

“I'll be right back Yuki-kun! I just have to get some spices I bought today out of my backpack…”

Yuki stood there shocked and blushing furiously.

“Did Honda-san just kiss me? And what was that comment about music…did she hear me in the garden…nah…probably just coincidence…”

Yuki thought, as he slowly raised one hand to his cheek and touch the spot that Tohru's lips had been only moments before.

 

Tohru bounced down the stairs and back into the kitchen. Yuki was in the same spot he was when she left him. His eyes fell upon Tohru and he smiled. “You really are kawaii…you know that?” and he laughed lightly.

Shigure parted the kitchen door curtain and poked his head in. “Yuki, stop molesting our little flower…she is trying to make dinner. She doesn't have time to cuddle.”

Yuki looked over to Shigure with an icy glare and said, “You truly are a hentai…go away before I make you.”

Shigure slinked back out of the kitchen like a turtle retreating into its shell.

Yuki turned his attention to Tohru, “So, what are we having for dinner Honda-san?” he smiled.

Tohru spun around and held out the special spices she had ordered from the cooking catalog that Hanajima had given her. “We are going to have an American specialty…southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes. ..with biscuits and corn on the cob. And, I think now that I have strawberries, we will have strawberry shortcake too!”

“Wow! Honda-san…that sounds good…I can hardly wait. I've never had those dishes but I am sure since you are the one making them they will be delicious!” Yuki said as enthusiastically as he could. He was a little suspicious of foreign food, especially America, but if anyone could make it taste good it would be Tohru.

Tohru blushed and tried as usual to deny her talent. “I don't know…I am not really that good of a-“she stammered.

Yuki cut her off with a slender finger held against her lips. “Shhh…don't sell yourself short Tohru. You are more talented than I will ever be when it comes to the kitchen.”

He kissed her gently on the cheek and rushed out the back door calling, “I'll be right back! I forgot one thing that would make dinner perfect!”

 

Kyou sat up from his perch upon the roof and sniffed the breeze. Something smelled good and he was hoping it was dinner. He hopped down onto the ground and walked into the kitchen.

“Oh! Kyou-kun! You startled me!” Tohru said as she wiped her hands of on her apron.

“So, whadda ya makin' for dinner?” Kyou asked with a casually and leaned over counter peering at the ingredients strewn all over the counter.

Tohru listed off her dinner menu and held the basket of strawberries out.

“Look what Yuki brought us for dessert…I'm going make strawberry shortcake! I've always wanted to try it!” she said cheerfully.

He was slightly annoyed that Yuki seemed to be trying really hard to beguile her.

“Yeah, well, I guess that was nice. Although he could've made sure there were no bugs on them first.” He said as he squished an earwig that had been hiding in the weave of the basket.

He spun on his heel and said, “I'll be up on the roof…”

As he pulled himself up onto the roof he sighed, “I should've been more nice to Tohru…but Yuki actin' all princely gets me irritated…Argh…I wish I could think of something nice to do for Tohru…”

He lay on his back and looked up into the sky. “Hmmm…I wonder if she would like me to make a carving for her.” Carving was something he had done often while he was alone in the woods at night after a long day of training. He would lay in his tent alone and use his pocketknife to whittle a bird or a star from a chunk of wood. It passed the time and turning a stick into something interesting was very gratifying to him.

Although, he would never call himself an artist, he would never want to be seen as something so girly. Carving was probably the only artsy thing he had been good at.

“What should I carve though…a cat? A flower? Hmmm? What would suit her?”

Above him the clouds floated lazily by in a sky the color of turquoise. One of the clusters, he noticed, was shaped like a cat curled around an onigiri…

”That's it! I will carve an onigiri with a cute kitten curled around it sleeping! She will love it!”

He rocketed off the roof and ran into the forest to find the perfect piece of wood. He should be able to carve it by dinnertime.