Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ All I Ever Needed ❯ As the Dish Outside the Window Fills with Rain ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: As the Dish Outside the Window Fills with Rain

 

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“so put a candle in the window

and a kiss upon his lips

as the dish outside the window fills with rain”

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-Time By: Tom Waits

 

Shaaaaaaaa. The rain poured down onto Tohru as she ran along the trail, doubled over, trying to protect her groceries from the rain. Icy cold rain water flew up onto her bare leg and hem of her skirt as she accidentally splashed her way through a puddle. Her hand kept frequently returning to brush the dripping strands of dark brown hair out of her eyes. Not that it made a difference when she couldn't even see through the rain in the first place.

She really should have accepted Yuki's offer to carry her things, but…what could she do now? And she should've also seen the tell-tale sign that it was going to rain. Kyo had been wandering around the house this morning in an irritable manner: like a dark specter floating around the corner.

“You know how I get on days like this…” had been his only explanation for the gloomy mood. Poor Kyo-kun, she thought, as she fought her way through the driving rain.

Tohru freed up a hand from her grocery bag and coughed into it. She was starting to feel a bit feverish and weak. She really hoped she wasn't getting a cold. There was so much still to do! She coughed again, this one so violent that it wracked her entire body, almost causing her to lose grip of the bag. She stumbled through the rain, half blinded by the stubborn wet strands of hair dripping down into her eyes and the rain drops splashing into them.

The wind had picked up and now the rain was lashing slantedly against her, as she thought, I'd better find somewhere to wait the storm out. I'm still a long way from home, and squinted desperately through the sheet of rain before her. Nothing but trees, which only offered meager protection from the rain, the leaves that actually blocked a couple drops of rain, still were blown by the wind, so the water made it down onto Tohru eventually. She groaned. This was going to be that longest walk home she could remember.

As long as it doesn't start hailing I'll be fine, she half promised her self. Things always have to get worse before they get better… There's a silver lining to every thing…Things can only go uphill from here...The phrases her mother had said numerous times in her childhood ran through her mind like a slideshow: flicking from slide to slide; quote to quote, and then repeating over and over again. And then the one that struck her the most in the heart flicked through her mind: Tohru, believe in people. Doubting is easy—anyone can do it. Tohru…be someone who can believe. I'm sure that will be your strength…

Tohru shut her eyes for a moment, trying to keep her face wet with only one kind of liquid. It's just rain, she thought, nothing to get worked up about! She kept running, despite her feet and ankles soaked through to the bone and numb with icy rain water and mud. Tohru sneezed into her shoulder as she ran. She felt her cheeks and forehead burning, but thought nothing of it. She felt her legs cramping up with running and cold, but she pressed on, having been taught never to give up.

“You don't have to push yourself so hard you know. Just do things at your own pace. Just be yourself. You'll be fine.”

“Mom?” Tohru looked around. Had someone actually said that? Or was she just imagining things. She looked around through the dark trees, obscured by a sheet of silvery water that cut through the air like shards of glass. A flicker of red to the left, a shadow of grey to the right, a blur of orange in the corner of her eyes.

Tohru blinked hard. What was going on? She squinted as she pushed on, forcing her sore legs to keep moving. She could almost hear them screaming out in protest. Her eyelids drooped with weariness, her grip on the grocery bag slackened, and she started to drag her feet.

“Tohru…Tohru…Oh, you've got a fever again…You know, you don't have to push yourself so hard…”

“Fever…?” she murmured to herself, her eyes only half way open. She shook her head as if that would clear the daze that was settling on her mind. Suddenly tears started leaking out of her eyes and began to stream down her face. Whether it was out of grief for her mother, or weariness, or just sheer frustration that she couldn't keep going, she didn't know.

“I promised myself…” she muttered through clenched teeth and hot tears. “I promised myself I wouldn't cry…”

“It's okay to be selfish once in a while. It's okay to let yourself be sad…”

“Kyo-kun?” She said, barely audible above the loud whisper of the rain.

“Even though it may not seem like it, I'm handling Tohru with closer care than I've given anyone else before…”

She didn't remember Shigure ever saying that.

“Ms. Honda isn't one to see her life as a glass half empty…”

When had Yuki said that? Such a kind thing to say.

I guess they really care about me…Oh, Mom. She squeezed her eyes shut. There's no one more lucky than me.

Tohru smiled at that last thought but was out even before she hit the mud covered ground, the contents of her grocery bag rolling away into the rainy darkness.

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Pata pata pata. The rain drilled on the windows and roof of the house like a drum line. Yuki pulled back the curtain for the fifth time that day, trying to peer out into the night as if, if he stared at it long enough, it would spit Tohru out of the darkness.

“I'm worried about her,” he whispered softly, letting the curtain drop back over the window. Yuki looked over his shoulder, across the room, where Kyo paced nervously, weariness reading on his face. When Yuki said this, Kyo looked over at him and gave him an “I'd kick you if it wasn't raining” glare.

Yuki sighed and turned back to the window, brushing the curtain aside once more to see out the window streaked with tiny rivulets of rain. An uncomfortable silence settled over the room, broken only by the pata pata pata of the rain on the roof until:

“Tohru-kun, my lovely flower, I was thinking—” Shigure looked up at his surroundings. He blinked for a minute, staring at the two boys, then said, his posture drooping a bit like a sad puppy-dog, “She's not back yet, is she…?”

“No.” was Yuki's short reply. Shigure was surprised Yuki had such composure to keep almost all emption out of his voice. Almost.

“That idiot!” Kyo muttered from the corner. “She probably got lost in the store and starved to death, the stupid space cadet!”

“Calm down, Kyo-kun,” Shigure said, his voice low and calming, trying not to provoke Kyo in his delicate stage. “I'm sure she's fine. She probably found somewhere to wait out the storm. She may even still be safe in the store! I'm positive that our beloved Tohru is no worse for the wear!”

“But Shigure,” Yuki said quietly, still staring out the dark window, “What if she isn't?” Both heads turned in his direction. “What if she needs us?” Kyo's eyes grew wide.

“Yuki-kun, I'm really sure that- ” Shigure's reassurances were cut off suddenly as Kyo stood up.

“I'm going out to look for her.”

“Kyo-kun! That's crazy! You know how you get in the rain! If she's not waiting out the storm somewhere, she could be anywhere! And like I said, she could still be safe in the store-”

“I don't care. I don't want to take that chance.” He walked quickly to the entry hall to get his raincoat.

“Yuki-kun!” Shigure exclaimed, turning to Yuki for help, “Please try and talk some sense into foolish old Kyo! When he's like this he does irrational things on sudden impulses! Try to talk to him!” Yuki remained in his seat at the window, eyes dark and deep as they stared past the rain streaming down the glass.

“No. If Kyo wants to do this, you'd better let him. You know as well as me he has more than the impulsive behavior the rain makes him have as a reason.” Yuki finally tore his eyes away from the window and gave Shigure a sideways glance. Shigure looked diagonally at the ceiling and sighed.

“You're always right, and it's so annoying.” And with that he walked back into his office as if he had not a care in the world.

Yuki walked out into the entry hall where Kyo, with his raincoat already on, was sitting on the floor pulling on his boots. Yuki leaned a shoulder on the doorframe and waited for Kyo to look up. When Kyo finally sensed someone watching him, he looked up with a start and spat in his foul mood:

“What do you want, Rat?” Yuki closed his eyes for a minute and then said quietly.

“Kyo…Bring her home.”

For a moment, Kyo was silent, but then just averted his eyes and gave a quick jerk of a nod, before lacing up the last of his boots and running out the door, the door creaking shut as Kyo disappeared into the driving rain. Yuki sighed and returned to the living room.

At that moment, the lights in the Sohma household winked on, and off, and on and off, and…stayed off.

Oh, great, we've lost power! Yuki thought. He turned to look at Shigure's office, but no complaint came from the slightly open door. Must be sleeping, Yuki thought passively, as he felt his way to the dinning room, and fumbled with the drawer handle. He knew there were candles and a lighter here somewhere. Ah! Here they were!

Yuki quickly lit a few candles and placed them all separate rooms that he would be using throughout the night, until he only had one left in his hands. He took that candle and carried it back his place by the window.

Outside the window seemed darker now that there was no light on either side of the glass. Yuki placed the candle on the window sill and pressed his hand against the cold glass, feeling the icy shock travel through his hand and wrist. He shuddered at the thought of being outside right now. He almost couldn't look out the window, but he forced himself to.

Yuki looked out the window, out past the reflection of the lone burning candle, out past the icy glass, past the tracks of water making there way down it, out into the shadowy wood beyond, trying not imagine what kind of things could befall Tohru out there. Then he whispered a sort of prayer:

“Please come home safely, Ms. Honda.” as the rain continued to drive down in silver sheets past the lone candle in the window.

 

End of Chapter 3:

“As the Dish Outside the Window Fills With Rain”

 

 

A/n: This chapter was by far my favorite so far to write. You know, I have a very fickle mind when I comes to titles. I changed this one too! At first, the chapter title was Taste the Rain but then I read that quote up at the beginning of the chapter there, and a little light bulb flicked on, and I was like: That would be a GREAT title for this chapter! ^_^ I actually was mowing the lawn when I thought of it, so I just ran in, abandoning the tractor, so I could rename the chapter. (And I said Kyo was impulsive! T_T)

Anyway. I hope my efforts are paying off and that you are enjoying the story so far, and I hope you'll join me next chapter!

 

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

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