Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Divine Intervention ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: I've given up. I'm never going to own Fruits Basket. I'm going to go wallow now.

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Chapter 13:

Ayame glided through the aisles of his shop, preparing for the morning customers. Despite the specific nature of the merchandise, he had developed quite a reputation among the eccentrics and elites of the city. He kept his clientele in the utmost confidentiality, but he would readily admit that the people who frequented his store were often well known. Shrugging off any who criticized his trade, Ayame was quick to point out that everyone had inner desires that he could fulfill with his products. "Mine?," he called out in a melodic voice.

"Hai, Ayame-sensei," the perky girl replied as she stuck her head out from some bolts of fabric. Two swathes of cloth were draped over her shoulder and she had several pins sticking out from between her lips.

Ayame flicked his wrist dismissively without really looking at her. "It's nothing. I had just forgotten if you were here or not. You shouldn't hold the pins in your mouth. What if you swallowed one?" he asked in melodramatic concern.

Laughing, Mine returned to her task of pinning the material onto the mannequin. "Sensei? The schedule says that you're leaving early today. Is everything all right?" She waited patiently for a few minutes until he came over to stand by her. Ayame could be insufferably particular about the appearance of the store, but Mine admired him for that. She would never have his level of skill with design, but she would try her best. Every day working with him taught her something new about the passion that he had for his work.

"Yes, I have family members to attend to," he said at last.

"Is it your brother?"

Ayame busied himself with readjusting the angle of the chartreuse silken cloth on the mannequin as he answered. "I'm afraid that this is a big day for Little Brother. It's his graduation, and I'll be attending the ceremony with Shigure and Hatori. They should be here around lunch time to pick me up."

Mine nodded succinctly. "Hai, Sensei. I'll get the orders out this afternoon, and I'm almost done with the summer line."

"You're such an asset to my business," he told her, laughing offhandedly. "I don't know what I would do without you here. I just hope that Yuki is handling graduation better than I did. Naturally, as king of my high school, I never wanted to leave."

Mine smiled at Ayame's back as he retreated, still rambling about his cherished high school memories. She hoped that this day would bring Ayame and his younger brother closer together.

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"Ha-san," Shigure began as they drove out of his driveway, "Are you nervous?"

"About what?" The stoic Dragon kept his eyes focused on the road in front of him, refusing to let his cousin and friend see whatever emotions might be playing in his one visible eye.

Glancing at Hatori from the corner of his eye, Shigure sighed. "This is a big day for Yuki and Kyou, and Tohru-kun as well. They've been a somber bunch these past few days."

Hatori thought back on the arresting cream-colored envelope that Shigure had given him after his visit with Akito. Shigure hadn't warned him of the contents, but Hatori had guessed well enough what was in the note, decorated on the front with an artistic representation of a dragon. A real dragon, he had bitterly thought at the time. The letter wasn't long, and as Hatori had expected it was in Kureno's handwriting. Akito rarely wrote anything out himself, instead using the Bird as his scribe, servant, slave: anything degrading. Hatori still remembered the message, word for word, even though he had only read it once.

Kureno, in his respectful way, had added a perfunctory 'Akito-sama' at the end, but Hatori knew that wasn't dictated to him. He knew Akito well enough to realize that the man demanded things even when he gave the illusion of asking. It wasn't an invitation, therefore, but a mandate, and it didn't require the courtesy of a signature.

"Ha-san, is everything okay?"

Without letting any expression except skepticism mar his face, Hatori looked over to meet Shigure's dark eyes. "I'm fine. And there's no use worrying about what's going to happen later. For one thing, we can't change Akito's mind once he's set on something, and for another we don't want to distress any of the younger ones. This is going to be harder on them than on us."

"I know that," Shigure said, "but it doesn't make me feel any happier about it. We're going to have to be there for them, no matter which way it goes, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to hold myself together. Have you considered Tohru?"

"Of course, but there's nothing to be done about that, either. It's going to hurt her."

Instead of responding right away, Shigure leaned his elbow on the door and focused his gaze out the window. He wasn't sure about how to bring up the subject to Hatori after he had seemed so shocked at the idea in the past. "What about the curse. How do you think this will affect our chances of breaking it?"

"That's the last thing on my mind today, Shigure." Hatori pursed his lips in annoyance.

"Well, not on mine. I've been thinking about it a lot, recently, and we've come to the conclusion that this could be the beginning."

"We?" asked Hatori, suddenly intensely interested in what Shigure was saying. "You and who else? What have you been planning?!"

Shigure knew that his friend was looking at him, but he kept his head aimed at the window. "I think maybe now is the time to tell you some things."

"No," Hatori snapped back, "now is the time to tell me everything!"

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Yuki sat at his desk, waiting for the final bell to ring. He couldn't be excited about school being over, not like his classmates. He almost hoped that the day would last forever, so he wouldn't have to face what would happen tonight. He wasn't particularly scared about losing to Kyou, since it had never happened before, but the fear of God, so to speak, had been instilled in him. He kept running the dream that he had the night before over in his head, but it got worse every time.

Akito was in his dream, and Tohru, and Kyo, of course, and all of the others. They were laughing at him because he had lost his fight with the Cat, and now he was huddling in on himself, trying to shield his ears from their mocking laughter. He felt himself disappearing, falling into a void of nothingness….

That's when he had woken up, but the brief dream had made him anxious enough that he couldn't concentrate on anything else. Since receiving the letter from Akito, no one in the house had been very talkative or happy. Even Shigure had been pensive while he feigned his normal attitude.

Yuki had been forced to think about what his letter had said for two days straight, all through finals, which he was sure that he had only barely passed. What the letter had said was awful, torturous, and it only made him wonder what Tohru's had said, since his was so blatantly personalized. She hadn't shared hers with anyone, probably for fear of worrying them, but she kept the invitation in her pocket, and he had seen her several times reading it when she didn't know he was there, her hands white and trembling as she clutched it like a lifeline. He couldn't even imagine what vile, manipulative words Akito had made Kureno write in that note to her. It made Yuki want to hurl Kureno through a wall for going along with it, though. He sighed to himself, knowing that the defenseless Bird didn't know any other way than to obey Akito, not after being weaned on the will of the clan head. The poor man never referred to Akito as anything but 'Akito-sama,' at least when those present knew of the curse.

"Yuki-kun? The bell rang. We're done now, except for the ceremony."

Yuki looked up into Tohru's lovely face and tried his best to smile. "Gomen, Honda-san. I guess I was lost in my own little world." He could see that Tohru was concerned, but he attempted to ignore it and smile more sincerely. They hadn't yet spoken about what would happen later, but they each knew that the other was aware. If he could hold onto what little he had left of life, he would be making the best of his day.

"It appears that our Tohru-kun has rubbed off on you," Hanajima said seriously. "She tends to let her mind wander, also."

"It's called being an airhead, Hana," Uo snickered.

Yuki realized that Tohru, her friends, and even Kyou were waiting for him to go to lunch before the ceremony. He quickly stood up and set his belongings in order. "You didn't have to wait for me. I have to skip lunch today to work on the preparations."

"I know," Tohru told him with a smile, "so I made you a lunch to take with you. Mom always said that you shouldn't work on an empty stomach!" He smiled at her gratefully as he took the lunch and watched them walk out of the classroom.

"Sohma? Are you all right?" Mayuko asked as she approached Yuki, who was still staring after Tohru.

Inclining his head, Yuki put his false smile back on. "I'm fine, Sensei, but I should get to the auditorium." He left before his teacher could ask him any more questions.

Mayuko shook her head and sighed, sitting back down in her desk chair. She was really going to miss the class that she had taught this year, despite the dramatics that had gone along with it. All of the students had made her life more interesting, even if it had meant dealing with Shigure from time to time. She supposed that she wouldn't escape him that easily, because two more Sohmas were going to be in her class the following her. She wondered how her aggravating ex-boyfriend had a way of staying in her life, and reminding her of the love that she had once had for Hatori. Hell, she was probably going to have to see both of them today, and Ayame, since it was the graduation ceremony. Laying her head on her arms, she tried to put her thoughts and feelings back in order.

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Peering over her shoulder, Tohru could see the small crowd that had gathered to see her and Yuki and Kyou in the graduation ceremony. Ayame waved wildly, and Shigure comically blew her a kiss. Hatori was centered in between the two, and despite his obvious irritation with his two best friends, he managed to smile for Tohru's sake. Kazuma, Haru, Momiji, Rin, and Kagura had also come to see them off into the real world. 'Except that I don't know what that will be for us,' Tohru thought sadly to herself. All she knew was that tonight Akito had offered her a seat of honor at his side, and it numbed her mind to think of what that might mean. She didn't want to be scared of Akito, instead wanting to get through to him and find the good in him, but she couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine when he came to her thoughts.

To Tohru's right, Uo lounged in her seat yawning, and Hana sat demurely on the other side of Uo. Tohru felt so comforted by their presence that she found it hard to think that anything bad could happen that night. This meant that Kyou was sitting directly to her right, but the Cat had been so distracted lately that Tohru didn't even think that he noticed his surroundings. She imagined him like a turtle in her mind, one that had curled himself into a ball inside of his thick shell, dwelling on this thoughts and not letting anything either in or out. She had tried the day before to ask him if he was all right, but he had ignored her question and left for the dojo. He normally wouldn't pull back from her so blatantly, and it made her worrying nature go into overdrive.

Placing her fret over Kyou to the back of her mind for safe-keeping, Tohru turned her attention to the front of the auditorium, where Yuki and the rest of the student council members were sitting, as they were instrumental in the graduation ceremony. Yuki had been a great friend and supporter over the past few years, and the past few weeks especially. Her hand unconsciously went to her bottom lip at the thought of their first kiss that they had shared only two days prior. She still felt a warm, tingling sensation whenever she thought about that moment, and although it had only happened that once, she knew that Yuki had found the incident special as well. She hoped above hope that whatever happened that night would turn out for the best when it came to her housemates and confidants.

Trying to get her mind back into the present, Tohru forced herself to listen to the principal's graduation speech. The whole ordeal had been rather short, and he was just concluding the speech, having already handed out the diplomas.

"…and so, in conclusion, I welcome the class 3-D of Kaibara High School into the real world. Good luck in any and all of your endeavors, and may you ever remember the lessons that you learned here, both academic and practical." Clapping loudly into the microphone, the principal stepped down from the podium and motioned for all of the seniors to stand.

"It's about time," Uo grumbled as she stood and stretched her arms above her head. "I think my ass fell asleep about an hour ago."

"Oi, you have such a dirty mouth, Yankee," Kyou told her, only without much conviction.

"Tohru!!!" Momiji latched himself onto her hand as he raced to her from the crowd. "Congratulations!"

"Well at least someone is in a good mood," Shigure interjected, joining the group with the rest of the Sohmas. He tried to keep an upbeat face for the sake of Tohru and her unknowing friends. "Kyou-kun looks like he's going to punch someone."

Kazuma glared at Shigure in obvious warning, but said nothing to the Dog. "Kyou, I think that we should go now. There are some things that we need to do before tonight." Kyou merely nodded and moved to stand by his Shishou, a resigned expression on his face. The usually angry Cat appeared to be almost melancholy.

"Do you really have to leave so soon?" Hana asked in a shockingly flirtatious manner. Uo shot a look in her direction, but she pretended not to notice. Instead she actually gave the man years her senior a withering stare. 'Withering!' Uo declared in her mind. She was beginning to worry about Saki's sanity, although that wasn't something new to her.

"I'm afraid we must. Hanajima-san, correct?" he asked as he smiled and inclined his head to the normally blank-faced girl. "I will see many of you later," he told them cryptically. "Perhaps we will meet again, young lady," he added, directly to Hana. Kyou tried to smack him in the arm, but Kazuma effortlessly diverted his blow and dragged him from the auditorium, Kyou talking heatedly to him the whole time.

Uo just shook her head. "I think Orangetop is really scared that you're going to be his step-mother, Hana. You should really cut that out."

"Mmm," was the only response she gave.

"I'm afraid we all must be leaving," Hatori cut in, eyeing all of his cousins. Everyone was beginning to branch off in his or her own direction, and most of them hadn't heard him. Haru and Ayame had left to talk to Yuki, and Rin and Kagura were chatting privately with Tohru, seemingly comforting her. Hatori hoped that they didn't make the girl worry more than she already was.

"I don't think they heard you, Ha-san." Shigure looked down at Momiji, who was standing at his side, brown eyes wide and expectant. "Momiji, would you mind getting them for us. I think that we should have dinner soon and be on our way to the Honke." The little Rabbit nodded in answer and skipped off to pull on Kagura and Rin's arms, edging them back towards Shigure and Hatori. "I think it's best that we eat something at my house before going. There are a few hours left, and I know a good place where we can pick up to-go orders quickly."

Hatori was proud of his typically irresponsible friend. "That's an excellent idea. Why don't you go and get Ayame and Yuki and we'll pick up the food. The others can walk back."

Without answering the Dragon, Shigure sauntered over to his other friend's side. "Aya-san, we must be leaving now," he sang out. "You, too, Yuki." Ayame, who had been tightly hugging his unwilling brother, immediately let go and grabbed his hand instead, laughing as he led Yuki to the door. "Haru," Shigure said, once they were alone.

"Yes, Sensei?"

"Take Tohru and the others to my house. I think we're going to eat before heading over to the estate. It's going to be a long night, and we could all use a little rest and some re-energizing before seeing Akito."

Haru stepped a little closer to his cousin so he could lower his voice. "Sensei, what do you think this night brings. The invitations that Rin and Kagura and I got weren't very descriptive."

"I don't know, Haru," he said to the impassive Cow in a dark tone, "but I think that we should prepare ourselves for the worst. Just be sure that Tohru isn't frightened."

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A/N: This was maybe a little shorter than some of the previous chapters, but I think it's a good stopping place. Next chapter I promise will bring Akito back into the story. I hope you continue to read and review. It was very nice to see some new faces reviewing the last chapter, as well as continuous reviewers! Your comments really encouraged me to write faster this time, so I guess I'm asking you to please review again. It means a lot!

Thanks to:

Aiden Sadi: I promise that I'll continue writing the fic, no matter what. I have no intention of stopping. I want a Kyou plushie!

Zapenstap: Sorry I made you stay up so late, dear friend. I hope that you liked the Yuki bits in this chapter, too. ^_^

Veronica: Haha, I haven't read a fic with Yuki sounding dirty, but I can imagine that it would be disturbing. I hope he never appears that way in my fic! It's certainly not my intention.

bigwooshin: Thank you, and you should probably finish the series before reading too many fics. Unless you like spoilers!

DarkSov: Subtle? I kind of thought my writing hit people over the head with a mallet, so that's definitely a compliment. And I really appreciate the in-character thing. That's always a big struggle and what I ponder over the most when writing.

Merei-chan: It's always nice to see your familiar name pop up on my reviews!

Stephanie: It's okay if you can't review because of hw. I know that you're reading!

Zanattic: I really appreciate the criticism on the sentence structure. That's something that I know definitely needs improvement in my writing, although I would like to think that it's gotten better with more practice. As a science major, the only writing I ever get to do is boring lab write-up type stuff, so any compliments I get for creative writing are delightful. Hey, and you really hit the nail on the head with the envelopes. We'll be getting a little more of a Kyou balance shortly, so don't worry. And as for the Japanese words, I admittedly don't speak Japanese, and the words that I use are pretty common in fanfiction. Here's a list of the ones I can remember using (if there are any more you don't know, please feel free to ask):

-kun, -chan = friendly suffix on a name

-san = kind of like Mr. or Mrs.

-sensei = teacher, instructor. For some reason Haru calls Shigure that in the manga

gomen = sorry

hai = yes

oi = hey

iie = no

arigatou = thank you

onegai = please