Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Chime Child ❯ Of Princes and carrots ( Chapter 1 )

This is my first Fruits Basket fic, and I hope you enjoy it!

Yuki: Don't be so slavish.

Me: I am NOT being slavish.

Kyou: Oh, `I hope you enjoy my pathetic ficcy'.

Me: -looks nasty- I can turn black too… -cracks knuckles-.

**

"I'm warning you now, neko!" snarled Sohma Yuki, his violet eyes dark with rage. "If you don't-"

"And so on, and so forth," sighed Uo Arissa, watching from a safe distance. She bit down onto one of Honda Tohru's delicious fried tofu. Before she had eaten Tohru's cooking, Uo had never thought that tofu was good for anything, other than using for fertilizer.

"Go to hell, you stinking rat!" replied Sohma Kyou, his eyes flashing dangerously. "I'll do what I want and-"

"On and on," sighed Hana in agreement. The gothic girl sat there, icy calm in her usual black clothes, dark blue eyes serene. Tohru on the other hand, was watching Kyou and Yuki rub against each other like two pieces of sandpaper, her big brown eyes getting bigger and more stricken. Hana and Uo exchanged glances, sighed, and in unison, both scooped Tohru up on either side and started their way up to Tohru's bedroom. They passed Shigure and the way up, and he raised his eyebrows at them.

"In the kitchen," said Uo, knowing the older man would need no other explanation.

"Oh dear," Shigure chewed his lower lip in aggravation. "And I really wanted a cup of tea…" he sighed, then perked up. "Oh well, don't fret, Tohru dear. Where are you girls going?"

"To her room," said Hana softly. Everything she did and said was soft and measured. From the neat dark clothes she wore, to the soft, ever polite, ever icy tone of her voice. Uo, on the other hand, was as different from Hana as the sun was to the moon. Her long blonde hair was bright, and her movements quick and unpredictable. Her limbs were long, and her voice was expressive, as was her face with its' long eyes. Tohru was the balance between them, with her fine brown hair that hovered between dark and light, depending on the lamps and how bright they were. Her movements were fast, but delicate, like a bird, flitting and fussing around.

"Tohru-kun," said Shigure pathetically, "could you help me make some tea…?"

"Oh, Shigure-san, sure!"

"Tohru…" Hana's doom-will-come-soon voice was used. "Would you abandon your friends?"

"No! But!"

"Sorry, Shigure-san," said Uo, finishing the matter. "We need her as well. Go make your own tea, and don't destroy what's left of the kitchen, ok?" She flashed him a smile, and then forcibly urged Tohru up the stairs.

"Please remember, Uo-chan, that this is my house!" called Shigure.

"And please remember also, Shigure-san," replied Hanajima, not looking at him, "that Uo-kun doesn't like being called `-chan' so casually."

Shigure pouted. That sounded like a threat.

***

"I don't think there's anyone sane here," said Uotani, leaning back against Tohru's pink pillows. A lot had changed in the room since Tohru came to live here. What with the birthday presents she received over the years: A dresser from Hatori and Momiji, a mirror wreathed in metal leaves from Uotani and Hanajima, and knickknacks that came when people wanted to give her an individual gift. But Tohru still bought nothing for herself, and Uo sometimes thought that the room was a mish-mash of everyone else's personality, but none of her own.

"Well," said Tohru, putting her finger to her mouth as she thought. "There's me! And there's, well, there's you… and Hana…"

"You don't need to sound so doubtful," murmured Hanajima. And of course Tohru went immediately to babble mode.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that! I mean, you're special! You're not ordinary like I am!"

"Hush, Tohru-kun," laughed Uotani. "Really, don't you wear yourself out like that?"

"Not everyone is so cavalier of other's feelings, Uo-kun," sighed Hanajima. Uo scowled. "Why don't you just come out and say that I'm rude, huh?"

"Oh, don't fight!" pleaded Tohru. "I have enough of that with Souma-kun and Kyou-kun." She put a hand to her head. "I wish they would stop that!"

Uo sat up straight. "Eh? But Tohru, if I were you, I'd be flattered. I mean, they are fighting over you!"

Tohru frowned. "Well, I wish they wouldn't! But… I'm not so sure…" She blushed. "I mean, they're nice to me, and I really like them, but when they fight…"

"Yes?" prompted Hana, a glint coming into her eyes suddenly.

"When they fight…" Tohru looked down. "It doesn't seem to be over me. Not that I want it to be! But… it's as if… well… if they started ignoring each other, then I worry a lot, lot more! Of course, I wish they could be friends…"

"They could be more…" Only Uo heard Hana's comment, and her eyes widened.

"Sometimes, Tohru-kun," continued Hana in a louder voice, "sometimes, the only time people can show they care, is by fighting each other."

***

Souma Yuki flung himself onto his bed, scowling angrily. His whole soul seemed to be on fire. "Grrr-ah!" he snarled, punching his pillow and pretending it was Kyou. How he hated - punch - hated - punch - HATED - punch - that stupid, stupid cat. Yuki liked to keep cool, to be ice, and to have a spirit of steel. He would have succeeded, but for Kyou… Kyou… that stupid twit brought out all the feelings in him. Every disagreeable, every passionate emotion seemed to boil out of him whenever Kyou was around. And he was around most of the time.

At least with Tohru, and with everyone else, he could be perfect. He could be a calm statue of decorum…

But with Kyou…

With Kyou…

Yuki rolled on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

He didn't want what Kyou made him feel.

****

Souma Kyou glared up at the twinkling stars from his position on the roof. He wished that every single ball of gas would explode and stop glittering so cheerfully at him. He wished that this house under him would crumble into shards.

You idiot, said a little voice in his head, if this place fell down, then you'd go with it! And Tohru too! And Yuki…

Who gave a damn about Yuki getting buried?!

He hated the little voice in his head, because it sounded like Yuki's. And so he never listened to it.

Yuki. Stupid, perfect, wonderful, handsome Souma Yuki with his great purple eyes, and deceptively sweet face, and a pale expanse of smooth skin that made Kyou want to -

Mark it. With his fists.

Kyou wasn't stupid. Far from it. But he might as well have been, since, like with Yuki, emotions were far from his forte. He and Yuki were the same in many ways. Both concealed their emotions. Yuki with ice and a nice smile, and Kyou with his temper, burnt his feeling on a bonfire, and scattered the ashes. And trying to get a straightforward statement from either of them concerning the other was impossible.

Kyou stared up at the sky, feeling a cool breeze caress his skin. He didn't want to recognize his emotions. He wanted peaceful oblivion. So there.

***

There was a new girl in class. The teacher had led her in, talking in that overloud and over cheerful voice that teachers used for new students. Tohru gripped her table. "Oh! Souma-kun! She looks like Kisa!"

Yuki took a look from under his long black eyelashes, and most of the girls in class sighed. Every move that Yuki made normally elicited this response. "But Honda-san," he said finally. "Kisa has blonde hair, and amber eyes."

And Minake Yukika had black hair, and brown eyes so dark that they had to catch the light before you could tell they weren't black. She was short, even for a supposed 17 year old, and very fragile looking. Kyou got the feeling that one blow, and she would break. But hair was like Kisa's, noted Tohru happily, with long wings of black hair framing her face and big eyes that filled up her countenance. She wore glasses, and that magnified her brown orbs.

"Excuse me, ma'am." Yukika spoke so quietly that the teacher had to bend down to hear her. "But… I'm a year younger. I am not supposed to be in this class."

"Oh…" The teacher glanced at the piece of paper she had in her hand, and then smiled at Yukika. "Don't worry, your parents expressly wished for you to be a placed a year higher. And your grades are good enough to cope."

Yukika didn't look pleased, but didn't argue anymore. "Yeah, alright," she mumbled.

The teacher straightened up, then looked around the class. "Now, who wants to take care of - ah! Honda! Thank you. You show her around the school for a week."

Tohru nodded energetically. "HAI!"

Yukika's mouth tightened around the corners, and her hands gripped the handle of her black bag more violently, but she went over to Tohru's side and took an empty seat that had been placed there this morning. The teacher had foreseen that Tohru would volunteer. She would have, even if the new student had six legs and seven eyes. Tohru smiled at Yukika, and as Yukika saw her face, over brimming with sympathy and friendliness, her own eyes seemed to soften, or that was how it seemed to the ever-optimistic Tohru.

"Welcome to our school!" she said eagerly. "My name is Honda Tohru! And those are my friends, Saki Hanajima and Uotani Arissa!" She gestured volubly at the two other girls, who were watching them both. Uo waited for Hana to make her move, since the Goth girl's first impressions were generally correct. There was a frown on Hana's pale brow, but after a while it was smoothed away. When she spoke, she was still guarded, but civil.

"Hello."

Uo took her cue, and extended her hand for Yukika to take. "Yo."

"Pleased." Yukika looked anything but, however, took Uo's hand and shook it. Her grasp was shaky, but firm.

"So! Tell us about yourself!" said Tohru eagerly.

Yukika looked slightly taken aback at Tohru's warmth. "Er… well…" She smiled, and it did wonders for her expression. Tohru just barely stopped herself from huggling her like she would Kisa. "Well, my name is Minake Yukika, and I'm sixteen."

"Sixteen?" exclaimed Uo. "But - ?"

"My parents," said Yukika with finality. "They are in Hiroshima right now, and I live alone, in a unit of apartments."

"Any siblings?" asked Hana, still watching Yukika guardedly.

"Yes. A brother and a sister. I hate them. Or at least, I hate my sister."

"Oh…" Tohru looked upset. "Why?"

"Because she's a conniving, horrible, sardonic bitch!" spat Yukika. She realized she had said too much, and her face grew closed again. "That's enough. How about you guys then?"

Uo grinned. "Well, as of now, I'm boarding with Hanajima. She lives alone too, but in a terrace house with her brother, Megumi."

"Does he look like you?" asked Yukika, glancing at Hana's green-black hair and large dark purple eyes.

"Yes! They really look alike!" chirped Tohru. "I think that you and Hana are so lucky! You guys will always have company."

"I could do without the company of mine," replied Yukika, tucking a wing of hair behind her ear. "Where do you live, Honda-san?"

"Call me Tohru please! I live…" Tohru shot a look at Yuki, which he did not notice, because he was glancing over at Kyou (because he wanted to make sure that Kyou was keeping out of trouble!), Uo looked over as well, but her eyes traveled from Yuki to Kyou, and her eyes lit up when a late night conversation she had had with Hana entered her memory. "I live in the Souma house. With Shigure-san, and two of our classmates, Kyou-kun and Souma-kun."

"Souma? But that's the name of the family who owns my apartment buildings," said Yukika.

"Yes, because you see, they are a very big and powerful family!" explained Tohru.

"Yes, they are a bit like the mafia," added Hana. Tohru sweatdropped.

"Really?"

Uo laughed loudly, a glint in her eyes that Yuki and Kyou had put there. "Yes! They're a bit like that. I think they've got their toe in every custard here."

"I think it's `finger in every pie', Uo-kun," corrected Hana.

"Hai, hai, whatever!"

***

Tohru was taking her guardian duties a little too seriously, Uo thought as she followed behind her thin friend who was strolling along side a rather disgruntled Yukika. The new girl didn't seem happy about letting them see where she lived, but after a day with Tohru and her silly little kindnesses, Uo could see that the grateful girl would try to repay back Tohru. Yuki and Kyou had gone off by themselves, looking disgusted.

That was what Hana had said to Uo when they were closeted in the toilet and Uo asked her about Yukika. Hana pursed her lips before answering. "She… she is alright. But the waves I get from her are a little quirky. I think there is something untapped in her."

"Like a rubber tree huh?"

"I do not approve of that remark, Uo-kun."

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, Minake Yukika would do well to stay with us. She has a perverse streak, and I don't think the rest of the Prince Zombies in this class will appreciate it."

"So we have to protect her?"

"No. I think she can take care of herself." Hana's eyes darkened. "But one against so many… no. I think it is better she join us."

"That will be her choice in the end, you make us sound like some Order of the Templars or something, Hana."

She smiled at her golden-haired friend. "And are we not select? Every paw against us, and our paw against everyone?"

"Hm. It sounds nicer when you put it that way." Uo laughed. "Now, let's get out. It smells here."

"It is a toilet. And I am not allowed to clean it. What do you expect?" Hana walked out the door, and Uo shook her head in despair.

***

They waited as Yukika dug in her bag for the keys. Then in her pocket. Then she patted her clothes.

Nothing.

"I LOST MY KEYS!!"

Yukika pounded on the door. "I must have dropped it, somewhere! I can't believe it!"

"Oh dear," said Uo. "Looks like you'll have to hit the pavement."

Yukika glared at her, and continued to empty her bag. "Help me look, please!"

Hours later…

"Looks like you'll have to hit the sidewalk, Yukika-san," said Hana softly.

"Hanajima!" exclaimed Tohru. She snapped her fingers suddenly, and turned to Yukika with a large smile. Yukika looked back, rubbing her sweaty, flushed face, eyes large pools of misery. "I know! You can come and stay over till you can write to your parents for an extra key!"

Uo's eyes widened. "Eh? Are you sure Shigure-san would allow that?"

"I hope so," Tohru looked worried, and Hana patted her hair, "after all, it's for a good cause."

"And that pervert would do a lot to get a high-school girl in his house anyway…" muttered Uo.

"UO-KUN!"

Yukika rubbed her head. "Oh dear… why do I get the feeling that this might not be such a hot idea?"

"It doesn't matter," said Tohru earnestly, linking her arm through Yukika's. "But you can't stay out here alone."