Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Where Your Shadow Falls- Part 1: Darkness, My Old Friend ❯ Bridge Over Troubled Water ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1: Bride over Troubled Water

 

 

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“Letting go is the hardest part.”

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-Selena

 

“Sensei, why are you so conniving?” Rin heard Haru say. She was peering through the back window of Shigure's house through the bushes so no one would see her. She'd had to see him. She'd just had to.

Why am I doing this to myself? It's my fault anyway…

“Because, Haru-kun, it's—“

“You're nature,” Haru interrupted, smiling. “Yah, yah.” She just couldn't look away.

“Hatsuharu?” She heard that Tohru girl's voice call. “You're tea's ready.

“Oh, thanks Tohru-san,” he replied, taking the cup in both hands. Tohru sat down on the opposite side of the table. She couldn't stop staring. A shiver ran through her as she watched the way Haru's throat moved as he sipped the tea. Stop it, she commanded herself.

“Toooooorhuuu!” The childish voice of Momiji sang as he danced into the room, plopping himself down on Tohru's lap.

“Hello, Momiji,” she smiled widely at him. Rin readjusted herself outside the windowsill to get a better look.

How pathetic is this? She thought to herself. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Suddenly, her foot caught in a little hole in the ground and she almost lost her balance.

“Ah!” Rin exclaimed as she caught onto the windowsill in enough time. She hung on, motionless, almost horizontal until the sill. This reminded her how much she hated the limbo.

“What was that?” She heard Tohru ask.

“I don't know,” Shigure chimed in.

“Very helpful, Gure-nii,” Momiji laughed.

“It almost sounded like…” she knew. It almost sounded like Rin.

“What?” Tohru asked.

“Nothing,” Haru replied. Rin sighed in relief. Okay, it was defiantly time to get out of here.

“I'll go check it out.” The little boy piped up.

Ah, crap, she thought, increasing the speed of her steps. She heard the door slid open. Hurry, hurry…She almost broke out into a run, when:

“Rin? Hey, Rin, wait up.” Rin sighed, turning around to see the little bunny rabbit bouncing up behind her. Crap, crap, crap.

“What do you want?” She said, putting an icy tone in her voice.

“Was it you we heard a minute ago? Why are you lurking outside Gure-nii's house,” Momiji asked, smile shinning as always.

“I'm not lurking, little pest.” She said and kept walking.

“Then what were ya' doin'? Are you here to see Tohru? Oh, she'd love that!” Momiji babbled and Rin wheeled around, catching his arm and digging her nails into Momiji's arm. She had never really gotten close to the rabbit, but now it was like she was talking to Hiro. “Don't you tell a soul I was here.” She could see her menacing expression reflected in his wide eyes.

“Ow! Riiiiin!” Momiji whined. She clutched harder.

“Not a soul.” She growled.

“Not even Haru?”

“Especially not Haru.”

“Why're you so mean all the time, Rin? I know you've been through a lot, but so have I. And I try to smile, because it makes other people happy. But maybe…” Momiji averted his eyes, “maybe you just don't care anymore.” She shoved the boy away, but he caught his footing. She strode away, calling back over a shoulder.

“One peep and you'll be rabbit stew!”

Rin ran through the woods out to the main road. The night was starting to fall. She wasn't going home tonight.

She ended up in the back of an alley, panting from the exertion she had forced on her body in its weak condition. Rin leaned against the brick wall and slid down to a sitting position. Staring at her hands, she saw the red crescent marks her fingernails had made. Not thinking, her mind blank, her lined her fingernails back up with the marks and pressed down as hard as she could, relishing the pain that shot through her arms. She didn't let go for almost a minute, not wanting to let go of the pain…didn't want the thoughts of Haru to return.

“Haru!” Rin screamed to the sky, digging her fingernails into her palm again and again and again. After five minutes, she opened her palms which sent waves of pain once again ebbing through her arms. The red marks littered her palm, but she couldn't see anything but the kanji they resembled.

Haa-ru, they spelled.

No, I won't cry. I promised myself…that I wouldn't… she forced herself to blink back the tears.

“Haru,” she whispered as the darkness closed in. “Why can't I let you go?”

* * *

 

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“To leave behind…or to be left behind. I wonder which hurts more.”

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-Fruits Basket Volume 16 By: Natsuki Takaya

 

“Did you find anything, Momiji?” Haru asked as the boy closed the door behind him. Momiji's eyes flickered.

“Nope,” he popped the “p” on his lips, blinking slowly.

“It was probably some wild animal traipsing through my yard,” Shigure said passively, waving his hand in the air.

“Does anyone here care what the dog thinks?” Kyo asked tiredly from the doorway he had just walked through

“No,” everyone answered in unison and then laughed.

“Well, I'm going to turn in then,” Yuki said, rising from the table and brushing off his pants.

“Turn into what?” Shigure asked.

“Ha ha ha,” Yuki said sarcastically, “very funny, Shigure.”

“Who? Me?” Shigure blinked innocently. Yuki ran his hand through his long silver hair.

“I'm not going to deal with this.” Yuki muttered as he pushed past Kyo out into the hallway, his footsteps creaking up the stairs.

“For once, the rat's right,” Kyo said, turning around and following Yuki.

“There so dull, Gure-nii, how do you live with them,” Momiji teased.

“I heard that, ya' damn rabbit!” Kyo shouted from upstairs. Momiji giggled.

“It's not that hard with Tohru around,” Shigure said, sighing heavily, “My little flower. Whatever would I do without her?”

“Did someone say my name?” Tohru's head poked around the corner from the kitchen where she had retreated back to when Momiji had left.

“We were just talking about how wonderful a girl you are to have around with such dull people like Kyo and Yuki,” Shigure restated dramatically.

“They aren't dull at all,” Tohru objected. “Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun are very interesting people.”

“Fine, fine,” Shigure dismissed the matter. “Haru-kun, you're so quiet all of a sudden.”

“Mm?” Haru looked startled; like he had just been woken up from a deep daydream. “Oh, I was just…thinking.”

“About what?” Momiji inquired.

“Nothing,” Haru muttered non-commitally. Suddenly, a loud honking noise from outside in the driveway made them all jump.

“That sounds like Ha'ri,” Momiji exclaimed. “That's too bad,” he said, wrapping his arms around Tohru's waist. “I wanted to spend more time with Tohru.”

“How about you come over another time, okay?” Tohru suggested.

“Sounds great! As long as it's all right with Gure-nii.” The boy looked over at him.

“Of course. Anytime.”

“Yay!”

“Goodbye, Hatsuharu,” Tohru said, trying to bow with Momiji's arms still around her, and hers around him.

“Goodbye, Tohru-kun. It was very kind of you to have us over. I had a great time.”

“Come over again anytime,” Shigure said cheerfully. The car horn honked again, and Momiji released Tohru and darted out into the night they'd not realized had fallen calling:

“Coming, Ha'ri!”

“I'd best be going too,” Haru said. “Goodbye, Tohru-kun. Goodbye, Sensei. Stay out of trouble.”

“Why me?” Shigure whined as Haru exited the house. The night air was cold on his skin, raising goose bumps on his arms. But it felt nice…felt real.

“Come on, Hatsuharu,” Hatori's cool voice spoke from the shiny car in the driveway.

“I'd rather walk home. I need some time to think. Besides, it's not that far away.” Hatori sighed. He knew it was useless to argue with Haru.

“Have it your way then.”

“See you, Haru!” Momiji shouted from the back seat as the car backed out and drove off down the street.

The moon shone brightly as he started off in the direction of home, but as time progressed, clouds started to drift across it, making it darker and darker as he went. But the time he was five blocks from home, he almost couldn't see his feet. But he wasn't thinking about that.

Was that you, Rin? He thought, looking up at the sky. Why were you there tonight? His thoughts carried him the rest of the way home. He stepped onto his front porch, slipping the sliver key from his pocket and unlocking to door with a click.

“Dad! Mom! I'm home!” He called. Silence answered him. Oh yah. His dad was on a business trip, and his mom was having a “girl's night out” with her friends. Haru shuffled through the shadowed, silent house to his room. Not even bothering to take off his jewelry or clothes, he sprawled out on his bed, listening to the silence. He drew in a breath and whispered to the pitch dark:

“Well, darkness, my old friend…I guess it's just you and me again tonight.”

 

End of Chapter 1:

Bride over Troubled Water

 

 

A/n: I can't resist Rin-Haru! >.< They're the most fun to write fan-fiction about because they have such a screwed up relationship.

Me: No offense

Haru: None taken

Rin: F*** you

All right then ^_^. Well, I hope to see you next chapter! ^_^ Bye!

 

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Fruits Basket is the creation of Takaya Natsuki, and is licensed in North

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