Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Well That Was Surprising ❯ Up In The Air ( Chapter 10 )

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"Someone get me Hatori!" screamed Akito. Several maids hurried off. "Kureno!"

"Yes, Akito?"

"Find me Kyo. Somehow this is all his fault."

"Yes Akito."

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Tohru looked away quickly when she heard another poof, and waited for Momiji to step back into his clothes. Her face was beet red, and she hated that she had been clumsy yet again.

/I've been trying so hard too, to be more careful./ She frowned and stared at her feet. She was quickly snapped out of it by a voice smoothly reaching her ears.

"What's been going on here?"

Trying not to look too eager, but failing miserably, Tohru spun around with a huge grin on. "Yuki," she smiled sweetly, "would you like breakfast? Or…" she looked up at the clock on the wall, and back to Yuki. "Lunch, I suppose it is now."

"No thank you, Miss. Honda. Actually I was just about to go out…"

"Oh," Tohru's face fell and she couldn't seem to put on another smile. With all her might she forced a feeble, transparent grin and had to turn around quickly after so that no one would see tears threatening to spill over. After a moment of staring blankly at the wall she turned back around, only to see a vacant spot where Yuki had stood. /Goodbye, Yuki…/

"Wait, what am I doing?" With a determined look she took off the apron and hung it over a chair, slipped on shoes, and went towards the doors.

/I'm not going to give up…I'm going to catch him, and when I do…/

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Momiji could only watch as Yuki left Tohru standing there, cold, alone, and desperate…and in a burst of anger at Yuki, he followed the boy outside.

"Yuki!" he called, not in his usual happy tone but in a more serious one. Yuki turned, surprised.

"Yes, Momiji?" he looked at his watch, checking the time.

"How could you just leave Tohru in there like that? Can't you see…" Momiji trailed off, unsure of what to say, waiting for Yuki to respond.

"See what? I'm really late Momiji…"

"You aren't listening, Yuki. Why will none of you ever listen…" Momiji shook his head and turned his head, seeing Tohru hurrying out of the house. "I-" Momiji found himself unable to talk, harsh words that he wanted to say wouldn't come out. He locked eyes with Yuki, and that made it even harder to tell him. So Momiji just turned and walked away from it, like he did with everything else. /Turn and walk away from the ones you love, it's so much easier…Just put a smile on and no one will ever realize…/

His bare feet left prints in the soft earth.

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/Yuki…please wait for me./

"Miss. Honda," he greeted her, "I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly. I'm going to be late though…"

"Oh, it's alright Yuki, I was just wondering though…do you mind if we talked for a second? It won't take very long, I promise!"

"Sure, what was it you wanted to discuss?" Yuki looked at her and Tohru's legs began to feel like jelly.

"Well, it's something I've been wanting to tell you since school let out…well, maybe even before that a little too, but it's just I never really found any time, and…"

/Woah, I've gotta slow down and stop rambling…Yuki's probably really confused./ One glance up at his face told her that he was. He stared at her, waiting for her to continue. She didn't know what was running through his head though, re-thinking Momiji's talk with him and feeling his stomach clench up in anxiety.

"Yuki, I just…I had to tell you that…I like you. A lot." She stood on the balls of her feet and gave Yuki a quick kiss on the cheek, blushing furiously. She found herself staring at her feet again, and her heat hammered in her chest, but she was relieved that she got it all out.

"Tohru, I-I…"

"Sorry babes, but he's taken."

Shocked by the new voice, Tohru snapped her head up and came face to face with Haru. Black Haru, to be exact.

"What?" was all Tohru could manage.

"Tohru," Yuki cut in, stepping in front of Haru, "I'm sorry, but…I don't feel that way about you. I like Haru…I'm-hey, Tohru, wait!"

Tohru took off, not wanting to listen to another word of Yuki's so called `apology'.

/Oh mom, why am I always such a fool? Of course Yuki wouldn't think that way of me, I can't even hug him!/

Uo and Kyo crossed her mind, and she wondered why Kyo could love someone, even though he wouldn't be able to hug her, but Yuki couldn't.

Choking back a sob, she burst through the front doors and ran towards the stairs, intent on getting to her room. She sidestepped Hatori and flew up the steps, slamming the door just before Yuki could step inside.

"Tohru!" she heard him banging on her door, but she just buried herself farther under the covers of her blankets and tried to drown out the sounds of his pleas for her to come out. After a while he stopped, and she heard the front door open, and then close shut. She knew he had left the house, and her heart, forever. And she cried.

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"Bye Kyo," Uo said softly as Kyo put his shoes on. He turned to her and gave her a smile, a genuine one. And she found herself smiling back at him as she stepped towards him. Their lips were inches apart, and he closed the gap, surprising Uo. Their tongues met and battled for dominance and Uo slammed the door closed with her foot, falling back against it. She felt passionate, alive, more so even then when she was with her old gang, biking. Heat rose in her and flushed her face and she pressed her lips harder against Kyo's. It was pure adrenaline that coursed through her veins and without thinking she wrapped her arms around Kyo…

::poof::

Uo jumped back, shocked for a second at the furry orange cat frozen on the floor. It dawned on her then, what his secret really was.

"Kyo…Kyo wait!" He took off, running around her apartment. Uo was glad she had closed the front door. She spotted him by the kitchen table and tackled him, keeping hold even as he scratched her arms.

"Stop it Kyo, stop!" She winced as he struggled, but refused to let go.

/I've finally found out the secret…the secret that keeps him away from everyone. But, now that I know, do I still…/

Kyo's struggles weakened and then altogether stopped, and Uo lay on the floor, panting but satisfied that the struggle was done. They stayed on the floor, Kyo blankly staring at the wall and thinking of all the repercussions, Uo wishing that things could be different for them.

When she felt Kyo finally stir, Uo's grip tightened reflexively.

"You know," she said, scratching behind Kyo's ear, "you could have told me, Kyo. Nothing's changed, well, obviously something has changed, but my feelings for you-my feelings for you haven't changed at all. I always knew there was something special about you Carrot Top, something different. And I thought that I'd never find out, because I was too afraid to ask, in case you pulled away…"

"Are you sure? Sure that your feelings are the same?" Kyo, in his cat form, turned to look at Uo. "Look at me, I'm a disgusting cat…"

"To tell you the truth, I've always had a soft spot for cats…" Uo grinned and Kyo managed a small grin as well, and in a cloud of pink smoke he turned back.

"Uh," Uo turned a delicate shade of pink, "does that always happen?"

"Yeah," Kyo blushed and tried to will his hardening errection away. Uo began to laugh and she snuggled even closer to him, testing all of Kyo's will power.

"So, how does this thing work?" Uo asked, curious. To her it seemed like Kyo was struggling with himself, debating over whether or not to tell her.

"Well, the less you know the better…but the main part of it is I can't hug a member of the opposite sex or else I transform into…this."

/So that's why he's always avoiding girls…like when he jumped out the window because a girl gave him a valentine…/ Uo continued to ponder this, tightening her grip around Kyo's frame…

/This is nice, just laying in Kyo's arms-wait, laying in Kyo's arms--/

"If that's the secret, then why haven't you transformed again?!"

"What?" Kyo looked at Uo's arms and began to freak out. "Holy shit! What the hell is going on!"

Uo recoiled from him and he jumped up, searching for his clothes. When he had pulled them on, (breaking a button off in the process,) he grabbed Uo's hand and began to pull her out the door.

"Where are we going??" she demanded.

"To see Shigure, if anyone knows what the hell is going on it'll be that damn dog!"

"Wha, Shigure is one too?" Uo grabbed her shoes as Kyo pulled her out bare-footed.

"Yeah, now lets go!"

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A knock sounded on Tohru's door. For a moment she debated not answering, or yelling go away. But her politeness shone through anyways.

"Come in," she said, her voice muffled by the smothering blankets. From under them they didn't look the friendly pink that they were on the outside, the underside was darker, and without much light it was dark in some spots but nearly opaque in others.

/Oh mom, I wish you were here to tell me everything is ok…I need you mom…/

"Tohru? Please come out from under the blankets…" A kind voice spoke, soft and quiet but soothing. Unafraid, Tohru flung the blankets off and looked up at Hatori's face. She blushed deeply.

"Oh Hatori-san, I'm so sorry for causing you so much trouble, I really didn't mean to, you didn't have to come up here, I'm not ill at all and I know you're very busy, unless it's because you're mad at me, and oh my gosh I'm so sorry if I offended you and-" Tohru spoke very fast, her hands fluttering and her eyes wide.

"I'm not offended, Tohru." Hatori cut her apology off, not wishing for her to be so distressed. "Are you--" Hatori hesitated, unsure of the territory that he was about to tread on and not wanting to intrude, but still feeling that need to hold the girl and comfort her until she was crying no more, "Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to…help?"

Tohru looked up at him, and he saw fear embedded in her eyes, she had gone pale. "No!" she exclaimed, "No, I don't want my memory erased, please let me keep my memories Hatori! Please, please, please plea…se" she couldn't finish; she was sobbing so hard into his white cotton shirt. Her hands clutched at the material so tightly that her knuckles were as white as bleached sheets.

Hatori was stunned, having been misinterpreted. Or had he been? Was that not the lingering thought at the back of his head, lurking in the shadows and dusty corners, slinking around and toying with his thoughts? With a determined sigh he put a comforting hand on her head.

"That wasn't what I meant, Tohru. I wouldn't do that to you unless you specifically asked. But if there's anything you need or someone to talk to…"

She began to shake and cry even harder. "I-I'm so sorry," she stammered out from the safety of his shirt, "I can't stop crying…" her explanation stopped short and Hatori could do nothing but hold her in his arms, wishing that he could whisper his thoughts to her, whishing that she knew, but she never would. His love was high, thrown like a child's ball, up in the air. And if she caught it, then he would be lucky.

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