Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Furuba Love Stories ❯ Kureno and Arisa ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.

Chapter 5: Uo and Kureno

Setting: Sometime near the end of Uo's senior year of high school.

"Hello?" Arisa Uotani announced loudly into the phone. She was a little out of breath from running to answer it after walking in the door. "Hello? Who is this?" She still couldn't hear anything but breathing on the other end. "Creep!" she finally said and slammed the receiver back onto the cradle.

When it rang again five seconds later, she was already furious. "Look, loser, I don't appreciate prank calls, so you can stop doing it before I report your punk ass to the cops!"

"Arisa?" came a voice from the other end.

"Oh, so you respond to threats. Who is this?" she demanded again.

A pause again.

"All right, wise guy. Why don't' you shove that phone up your-"

"Arisa, it's Kureno."

Kureno nervously arranged and rearranged the teacups on the table. Each time he straightened them, the phone conversation that he had had with her just an hour ago ran through his head. After exposing himself as her "prank caller," the talk had been brief. He had asked her if she would meet him for tea, and at her curt acquiescence, he had asked her if she knew this place, not far from the main house. She did, so he said he would be there in an hour and she hung up without responding. Her tone had confused him tremendously, as it was both angry and excitable at the same time. He looked to his watch. He had already been sitting there for a half-hour, but she was only ten minutes late. The waitress made a move to fill his cup for the fourth time, but at his gruff expression she thought better of it and moved on to the other patrons.

"So it took you long enough to call me. What's it been? Six months?" a voice suddenly said from behind him. Startled, he jumped to his feet and gazed into the eyes of a girl he had fretted about since first seeing her. "How did you get my number anyway?"

"Eh, uh…." Kureno wasn't sure how to answer that. He didn't think that he should tell her that Tohru Honda was the source of the information; it would raise to many questions.

"Don't worry about it. It's not important. So are you going to ask me to sit down?"

Mentally cursing himself for a fool, he gestured to a cushion with his hand. "Forgive me. It's just that I'm so overwhelmed to see you finally."

"Heh," Arisa chortled. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment. Are you going to explain what the hell is wrong with you?" Kureno gave her a frightened look that she didn't understand. His first thought was that she had found out about the curse. "Um, I take it that you don't remember what happened last time I saw you. Let me refresh your memory: you took me out to eat and then started acting rude, so I left. Then you followed me and just when I thought you were going to kiss me, you got all freaked out and ran off. And I haven't seen or heard from you since. What's the deal?"

Kureno sighed inwardly at the realization that she hadn't found out that he was really a bird. "I wanted to apologize for that. You are a very special girl. I didn't mean to make you angry, and then when I tried to talk to you, I don't know what came over me."

"So you didn't want to kiss me?" she asked with a furious gleam in her eye.

Kureno returned her look with one of puzzlement. But wasn't she mad that he had acted like a lecher? "Um, well, I guess I…." Taking a deep breath, he let his thoughts out. "I did, truly, but I couldn't. For one thing, I'm too old for you, and for-"

Uo cut him off with uproarious laughter. "Too old? I happen to like older men, and besides, you have the social skills of a child. Too old. That's hilarious." She laughed even harder at his horrified expression. She eventually calmed down and smiled at him mirthfully. "It's honestly not a problem for me. Since that's solved, wanna try that kiss again?" she asked, leaning dangerously close to him.

Kureno tried so hard to get away from her reaching body that he fell over onto the floor. Looking around, he saw that the other patrons were trying not to laugh at the situation going on at his table. "Arisa, no!" he said firmly. He could put his foot down when it meant not transforming in public. "There's another reason. It's not possible for me to be in a relationship."

Uo narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "You're married aren't you? Figures!"

"What? No, no I'm not married!" he said in a frantic whisper. "It's my…work. I can't be distracted."

"What a lame excuse. How about you give me a real answer," she said, arms crossed and a skeptical look on her face.

"I can't. That's the only answer I have to give. I wanted to end this on a good note. That's the only reason I invited you down here, because I didn't want you to hate me."

Arisa looked even angrier, if that was possible. "Well, you're not doing a very good job of it. Goodbye!" She quickly stood and strode out of the door, making it swing wildly on its hinges.

Kureno threw some money on the table and ran after her. His long legs let him catch up rapidly, even though she had already gotten to the end of the block. "Arisa, wait!"

Uo spun and peered up at him angrily. "No! Why should I? And stop addressing me like I'm your best friend!"

Kureno felt like her words were physical blows. He couldn't let this go on. He couldn't let her think that he hated her, or had used her. "Miss Uotani, I need to tell you, from the first time I saw you, I fell in love with you. You're brave and open and vivacious and all the things I'm not."

Uo's face softened. "Then why are you doing this? I don't need to see you everyday. Whenever you can make time for me is fine. I can live with that."

"You're kind to say that, but it just can't be. I wish that someday we could be together, but I can't have my life depend on that hope." Kureno had felt his heart break at the hope in her eyes. He hated hope, because it had gotten him nowhere in life. Still, after 26 years on Earth he was confined to live through Akito's whim, not even allowed the freedom that the other Jyuunishi were. Hope made him the shell of the man that he was, and adding the hope of being together with Arisa would kill him. He had seen what Akito did to Hatori, and indirectly to Kana. "Miss Uotani, please accept the knowledge that I love you, and that if it's possible that I might come for you one day, I will. But for now I have to walk away. This is for your protection, not mine, from forces that cannot be taken lightly. Perhaps one day we will meet again under different circumstances, and we can make it work out. We are connected in more ways than just this one." He didn't elaborate on the part about her best friend living with his cousins, because it didn't matter. Smiling at her once more, he walked away, head down.

Not three steps down the street he was mauled by her, and he turned just in time to catch her from falling into his chest. She began pounding at him, tears fiercely escaping from her eyes. "You bastard! You can't just do that to me! You can't just leave me without giving me anything first." She scrubbed the tears from his eyes and began to throw her arms around him, almost surrounding him except that he caught them at the right time. Even so, her lips found his and she ferociously attacked them, like she was going to consume him. She bit and sucked at his lower lip until he returned her affections, though not as roughly. At his reaction, she changed from ravenous to tender. The kiss was long and passionate. They even earned a few honks and calls from voyeurs driving by, but those were ignored. At last, it had to come to an end.

Uo wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and reached up to touch an injured part of his lip. There was blood on her finger as she drew it away. "Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away," she said as if talking about something mundane. "I'll accept your answer, but you have to swear to me that if you get the chance, you'll come find me and never leave my side."

Kureno nodded. "I wouldn't dream of doing anything else," he told her with conviction.

"Good! This is for breaking my heart." She slapped him full-arm across the face. He didn't even have time to flinch it was so unexpected. "I will see to you again," she finished, and left him gaping after her as she walked away.

"Goodbye, Arisa," he mouthed, gingerly touching his stinging cheek. Even pain felt better than the emptiness he faced back at home. This girl, this amazing girl, would give him a goal, a reason to continue living, a reason to find a way to break the curse.

A/N: Meh, so they can't all have happy endings. Here, I'll give you one: "After the curse got broken, Kureno called up Arisa and they lived happily ever, having lots of hot sex and many children that were temperamental and awkward." Um, yeah, so that's not really up to par with my other writing, but if you're into happy endings, that's what I'm giving you. Anyway, keep reviewing and suggesting!