Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Chime Child ❯ Chapter 7

Thank you so much to Aki_the_insane! I don't get many reviews, and yours really meant a lot to me! ^_^

 

****

 

Shigure and Yukika were having a ding-a-ling argument. Yuki stood by the side, ready to drag them apart if they got violent, but on Yukika's side himself. He had not been exaggerating when he called Shigure's den a `health hazard of Japan'.

 

“What is `the cheese stands alone' supposed to mean? Or even matter??”

 

“Much you know about the ways of genius!”

 

“Or insanity!”

 

“What are you implying?! Don't forget that this is still my house!” Shigure paced back and forth, flinging his arms up for dramatic emphasis. Both he and Yukika were both half in earnest, half silly. Shigure was enjoying it. Yukika was too small to beat him up like Yuki and Kyou could, and not as sensitive as Tohru, who wouldn't have been the least fun to pick a fight with.

 

“Yeah? I'm still paying to board here! If this is the way you always act, then you ought to be paying me!” Yukika put her hands on her hips, glaring at Shigure, pointing histrionically at the moldy cups. “Just look at that! Heavens knows how many years they've been in there! And don't blame me for getting your hand in the Chinese Takeaway; it should have been in the dustbin, instead of straddling the top of your computer!”

 

“You have no right to go into my room!” howled Shigure. “It's mine! My domain! My sanctuary! My kingdom! Haven't you ever heard of privacy rights?!”

 

Yuki counted six italics on Yukika's side, and five on Shigure's. The two of them were really in stride.

 

“There's a difference between having your own room and having your own rubbish dump!”

 

Kyou joined Yuki, with Tohru huddling behind him. “What's going on?” he asked disinterestedly.

 

“Argument.” Yuki saw that it was Kyou who had been asking, and added in a sneer, “Obviously.” Kyou went a hot angry red. Tohru was wide-eyed, and upset.

 

“Shigure-san! Kika!”

 

“Don't worry about it, Honda-san,” advised Yuki. “It's not for real.”

 

“But what's the matter?” asked Tohru, still uneasy, even though she could see that both Shigure and Yukika were flushed not from anger, but from suppressed laughter. She would even have betted that in the next few minutes, one of them would lose the control and burst into howls of mirth.

 

Yukika lost first, not used to having Shigure as an opponent. She collapsed into a pile of snickers and sniggers, narrowly missing Yuki as she leaned against the wall, trying to keep her balance. “That - that wasn't - isn't -fair,” she wheezed. “You've- you've probably had more practice.”

 

“Never underestimate the master,” said Shigure seriously. “Don't worry, you'll get there. Eventually.” He patted her patronizingly on the head, and then disappeared into his study, before Yukika could say anything else.

 

“Do you want me to beat the asshole up for you?” said Kyou hopefully, rolling up his sleeve, eager for any excuse to send Shigure flying through the wall. Tohru shot him an almost chastising glance.

 

“Kyou-kun!”

 

“Do what mummy says,” mocked Yukika under her breath, grinning.

 

“Te-me! I'll beat you up then!” Kyou had Yukika in a safe headlock, roughly knocking his fist against her head without full strength,

 

“Ow! Stop it! TOH-R-U-U-U-U-U! He's bullying me!” wailed Yukika nevertheless. “You're strangling me!”

 

“Let go of her,” sighed Yuki, yanking at Kyou's arm. He tugged too hard, causing Kyou to let go of Yukika, wrenching her head nearly off, and catapulting into Yuki's arms. For a moment Yuki just held Kyou dimly, their breathing quickening. Kyou made a strangled noise from inside his throat.

 

Then they remembered that they were not alone, and broke apart. Yukika and Tohru looked at them. The expression on their faces were faint, and Yuki might have been mistaken, but Tohru had a happy smile on the corners of her mouth, her face otherwise innocently uncomprehending, while a smirk was dancing in Yukika's eyes.

 

“Um.”

 

“Em.”

 

He and Kyou spoke at the same time, and immediately fell silent.

 

***

Shigure laughed as he threw himself into his comfortable armchair cavalierly. He had to admit that it was nice not having to worry about pens, or bits of paper, or more unsavory things lurking in his seat, so he didn't need to worry about stabbing his backside. The phone by his table rang. Shigure sighed, sure that it was his harassed editor calling him again, for the fifteenth time that day.

 

“'Lo?” he said brightly.

 

“'Gure?” Hatori's voice was tight.

 

“Yeah, hey Ha-san, you should have been here!” exclaimed Shigure with a laugh, momentarily not noticing Hatori's terse tone. “Kika-chan, she cleared up my study, and then threw everything into the bin!” He cackled. “I just won a fight with her. I'm telling you, Ha-san, you want to get her as a secretary. Some of your files are seven years and older!”

 

“Yes, yes, I'll think about it,” snapped Hatori. “Listen, Gure!”

 

“What? What's the matter?”

 

“I'm bringing Akito over.” Shigure's jaw tightened at Hatori's words.

 

“Himawari Kodachi?”

 

“Yes. Can't talk now. He's in the backseat.” Hatori hung up immediately afterward. Shigure frowned, vowing to bring down Himawari Kodachi one day if it was the last thing he did. Stupid, meddling bitch! No… calling her a female dog was far too good for her… And daring to upset Hatori, to give him something to worry about, to make him less than happy! Shigure wished that he could take Hatori into his arms, just hold him, kiss him - and his ears. Shigure had noticed many times that Hatori's ears were the perfect shape. The lobes looked soft and downy. Shigure sometimes had to stop himself from reaching out to touch it.

 

He sighed angrily. Hatori was straight. And there was work to do.

 

“Yukika?” He poked his head out of the study. “We have a guest coming. I want you to go up to your room. Please don't come down and disturb us until I call you. Is that alright?” he added anxiously, looking at her, not wanting to waste time arguing with her.

 

“Huh - ?” As he predicted, she looked surprised and rather affronted at his formal, commanding tone. Yuki, Tohru and Kyou turned to face him in surprise. “Well. Yes. I'll go.” She padded off.

 

“Shigure -”

 

“Akito is coming. That Himawari Kodachi found out. Hatori is driving him over now,” explained Shigure. Tohru gasped.

 

“I'm so sorry! I brought all this trouble! And Yukika might be in danger.” Her large eyes filled with tears. Tohru remembered the cold, hard look on Akito's face, the violence lurking in his beautiful eyes. She hugged herself, cursing her stupidity.

 

“Pull yourself together,” said Shigure, not unkindly. “Go boil some tea. As long as Yukika doesn't make an entrance, I'm sure she'll be fine.” Her room was on the top floor after all. And as long as she didn't leave the stepladder down, and closed the hatch, then no one would know there was another room atop the second one.

 

Unfortunately, as Yukika had clambered up, she neglected to pull the ladder in after her. No one could know, since at that moment, the doorbell rang stridently.

 

“Shigure,” Hatori said simply, in greeting. His best friend looked normal, grinning cheerfully at them both. His yukata was loose around his chest. Akito breezed in without a word, but Hatori lingered, itching to put a hand through the folds of Shigure's clothes and just stroke that smooth skin. What a time to get urges. Lately he hadn't been able to control his thoughts as strictly as he normally could, never mind at night. He would wake up, moaning and gasping, thankful Momiji wasn't there, so he could seek some relief from the latest steamy dreams of Shigure.

 

“Oh, you aren't dead yet,” Akito was saying to Tohru, calmly but with great disappointment. Tohru managed a shaky smile.

 

“H-hai.” Placing a cup of tea onto the table before him, Tohru retreated into the kitchen. Yuki and Kyou sat beside Akito, opposite each other. Both envied Tohru her hiding place. Akito looked at them both, then took Yuki's hand into his own, and smiled at Kyou. The cat bit the inside of his mouth, while Yuki, already white, went even paler.

 

“Akito-sama, it's really nice to have you visit,” smiled Shigure, seating himself. “How are you feeling?”

 

Akito looked at him, tilting his head slightly to a side. “Fine, thank you. Hatori is a good doctor.” Hatori nodded, surprised at the compliment.

 

To Shigure's surprise, if Akito really suspected them of letting another girl live in the house, he gave no sign of it. He was almost normal, dismissing Tohru only with a long look of dislike and nothing more. Shigure was rusty in Akito's ways though, not living in the Souma estate now. But even Hatori was taken in. Almost towards the end, when Hatori contemplated suggesting that Akito went back, because he was looking a bit peaky, Akito said: “I need to go to the toilet.”

 

“I'll show you where -” Shigure started to say, but Akito cut him off darkly.

 

“No. I shall find it myself.”

 

He left the room. The knuckles of Tohru's clenched hands were pearly white. Yuki stared at his lap. Kyou's face was thunderous and ill-tempered - strained from having Akito so near him for so long. Hatori glanced at Shigure. Shigure looked back, reassuring him, and trying to reassure himself that they would not have Yukika's blood on their hands.

 

***

 

Akito had controlled his black fury all through the tea. He believed that this time, the best way would be to drag it out, make them all uptight and frightened. After this, he would make sure that Shigure, Yuki and Kyou returned to the Souma compound. He hated that Tohru-girl on sight. Everyone liked her, everyone adored her, everyone worshipped her, for being herself - she wasn't their God, she didn't bear their burden on her skinny shoulders, not like he did.

 

He was feeling tired. Akito wandered down the hall, pushing open whatever doors he liked and peeping inside. Yuki's room, Kyou's room, the Tohru-girl's room, near the balcony. On a whim, Akito pushed a vase of flowers down from her shelf. At the end of the corridor, there was a ladder.

 

Akito began to climb.

 

He stuck his head through the hatch, trying to get his balance steady. Climbing was for stupid snakes, and monkeys, and cats, not Gods.

 

A girl was inside, her head bent, black hair obscuring her face. Akito looked at her, willing the hate and anger and contempt to build up. But at the same time he could not resist the curiosity. Akito hated being left by himself. Then the voices would build in his head, taunting, teasing and tormenting him. But here this girl was, seemingly snug in her own world, cocooned and cozy. No one fussed around her, no one was even near her, she was alone, like that Tohru-girl never was, surrounded by friends.

 

He clambered in, and stood there, waiting for her to look up. She didn't. She didn't even seem to notice anything. Was she dead? Akito had a sudden fear of being left alone with an eerily upright corpse. No, she was rocking back and forth slightly, and her hands moved, turning the pages of a book. A strand on hair was in her mouth, and she was chewing it bit by bit.

 

Now he was offended. Was that boring block of white paper and black words so absorbing? Akito never liked reading. People seemed to believe that he would rather be left alone when he read. At least the Kodachi-girl never left him alone, she stuck by his side, chattering about stupid things that Akito didn't care about, but keeping the voices at bay. Then again, she often dropped bits of information that turned out to be true. Like this one, for example.

 

Akito walked over, his bare feet making no noise on the wood, and bent over her like a dark angel. She seemed to sense a presence then, twitching slightly. Akito's eyes caught a few sentences on the page.

 

The young woman was crying unashamedly. It was busy bridge; cars kept passing by, yet no one paid more than a cursory glance to the woman. It never failed to amaze him how the human race could be pressed together in one space, yet so rare was it to achieve a true friendship.

 

What? Why was this woman crying? He wanted to read some more, but the girl's shoulder was blocking it. Oh. She had turned around. The expression on her face was not what he had expected. There was no disquiet, or apprehension, like Akito was accustomed to, but mild surprise and irritation.

 

“Yeah?” She sounded annoyed to be interrupted in her reading. Akito didn't care. To him, all human beings were sent onto this earth to make his life a little easier - Heaven help them if they didn't!

 

“What's this story about?” he asked. “Why is this woman crying?”

 

“Oh, you mean this book? It's called Flowerist,” she said, moving aside. Akito sat down, and took the book from her hands. She frowned, but let him. “Please keep my page for me.”

 

He put his hand on it, and then looked at her, expecting more. “I don't care about the name, I want the whole story.”

 

“It's difficult to explain,” said Yukika, resting her chin on her palm, wondering where this boy had come from. No one had ever expressed much interest in her books, except her sister Ryuu, and they had almost had a fight over Ryuu's comment that a few novellas in Yukika's shelves were `trashy'. “It's a whole series. About this person, or rather, entity, named K.”

 

“He's the one watching the woman? The one who's surprised at the way the human race can be so pressed together, and so alone at the same time?”

 

“Yes, he's the one.” Yukika's face went pink. “He's really, really cool!” Her sudden turn of enthusiasm made Akito scoot away a bit and blink. “He's like this person who never dies, an immortal. K has this flower shop, where he sells blooms to people, except those are special flowers, and they're only meant for one person, and it's like destiny if you wander into his shop. It can be good or bad though, there's this episode where the roses he sold impaled the girl - but she was nasty anyway, so…”

 

“These books are all about… the flowers K sold… the lessons he meted out?” said Akito, looking rather interested. He quite fancied the idea of some immortal punishing and rewarding at will.

 

“Yes! You need to read the first few books though, because if you don't, you'd get confused.” Impulsively, Yukika stood up. “Hold on, I'll get them for you.”

 

She came back with a pile of books, five at least, and dumped them onto the floor before Akito. “I've got almost all the series,” she gloated, fingering the covers. “I'm just missing number 13, and number 14.”

 

“There are so many?”

 

“Yes.” She pointed at her shelves. There was an empty space, where the books he had before him had been. “See the top row? All those books are the Flowerist series. Most of my money is spent on them. I might not be able to get the other two now…” Yukika brooded. “I've no money left…”

 

“How stupid. Just get someone else to buy them for you,” said Akito.

 

“Not that easy,” sighed Yukika, picking up book 3 of the Flowerist. Her face lit up. “Now this one has a really good story in it.”

 

“Tell me about it,” ordered Akito imperiously.

 

***

 

Half and hour had passed, and it felt like half a century. Tohru's eyes were brimming over with tears. She kept making sniffling noises, face red. Everyone was stiff and awkward. Finally, just as Tohru was really about to start sobbing, Akito reentered the room. “I want to go back now.”

 

Tohru leapt up, almost afraid to ask. “Did-”

 

“Tohru,” warned Shigure, patting her shoulder. Akito ignored them, glaring at Hatori.

 

“I want to go back now!” he said impatiently.

 

“Yes, Akito,” said Hatori, rising. He looked around, straightening his clothes. “Are you tired? I have your medicine in the car.”

 

“No. I just want to go back!” snapped Akito, angry at having to repeat himself. “Hurry up, Hatori!”

 

“Yes, Akito.” Shigure followed them, letting them out. “Bye Akito! Bye Hatori! Come see us again soon!”

 

“He doesn't really mean that, does he?” remarked Akito calmly on the way to the car. Hatori was silent. Akito carried on, “Not for me at least. That's why I've arranged for the books to be sent tomorrow.”

 

“Books, Akito?”

 

“Yes, because I don't want you going there so much - it is a nuisance, is it not?” added Akito sweetly. Hatori swerved sharply, and narrowly missed hitting a bus.

 

“Careful!” spat Akito petulantly.

 

“Yes, Akito.”

 

****

 

“It's too bad your vase broke,” sympathized Yukika. “It was really nice.”

 

Tohru swept up the shards cheerily enough. “Never mind, I can go buy a new one.”

 

“I wonder how it fell…” mused Yukika. “You always kept it so carefully. Surely the wind isn't that strong, and we would have felt a minor earthquake.”

 

“Never mind about it,” said Tohru hastily, hating to think ill of anyone, but having a pretty shrewd idea of who had tipped her jug over. “It's not a very special one anyway. You can get it in any store.”

 

Yukika nodded, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. She thought back to the boy she'd talked too. It was so unreal that she almost fancied it was a dream. They had talked about the most prosaic things, mainly the Flowerist series, but there was something unearthly about the boy that made reality waver. Her stomach was turning over with excitement as she remembered that he had asked her to visit him tomorrow, bringing to the other books along. He didn't want to bring them all back with him now, that would be a nuisance. Yukika sighed.

 

What a spoiled brat - but somehow the ordinary laws didn't apply to him. Was that, and his beauty, reason enough to forgive him?

 

She shook her head emphatically. Yukika would not be caught in any web, not if she had anything to say about it.

 

Tohru ruffled her hair affectionately, and Yukika smiled up at her. “Good night, Tohru.”

 

“Good night.”