Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Furuba Love Stories ❯ Haru and Tohru ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.

Chapter 8: Tohru and Haru

Setting: Senior year.

Hatsuharu walked down the busy school hallway, deftly avoiding getting too close to the female students. School had just ended, so the halls were slowly filling as people eagerly tried to get out of the building. Tohru's class was fairly far away from his this year, but he managed to make it there right as she walked out of the room. "Hey," he called, grabbing onto her arm. He pulled her aside so Yuki and Kyo wouldn't see them talking together.

"Oh, Hatsuharu, what's wrong?" she asked as they rounded the corner.

"Nothing," he said, letting go of her arm. "It's Yuki's birthday tomorrow. I was wondering if you had gotten him anything yet."

Tohru shook her head confusedly. "No," she told him sadly, "I can't think of anything except making his favorite dinner for him."

"Good, then how about if we go shopping together right now. I want your opinion on the present, and if you help, we can give it to him together."

Holding up her hands in a defensive gesture, Tohru shook her head again. "Oh, no, Hatsuharu, I couldn't do that. I don't really have very much money and it wouldn't be right if I couldn't pay for half. I was going to make him dinner and card and buy him something with the little money I have saved up."

Smirking, Haru leaned casually against the wall and held out his right hand. "Okay, I'll make a deal with you. You help me pick out the present, make the card, and make him dinner, and I'll pay. Then it works out for both of us."

Tohru stared at his hand while she visibly weighed the decision. "Well, I did want to get him a good present, and I wouldn't know what else to get him…so it's a deal!" she exclaimed as she firmly shook his hand. "I'll go tell Yuki and Kyo that I'm not going home with them. Stay here!" Before waiting for an answer, she scampered off back around the corner.

Haru smiled to himself as he waited. He never got to spend time alone with Tohru, and he felt a little jealous of the other Sohmas because they had interacted with her alone so much. Besides, he really did need help with Yuki's present. "Ready?" he asked once she came back to his side. Tohru nodded with a giddy smile. "All right, then. Say, are you any good with directions?"

After some time spent wandering around the center of the city, Haru spotted the shop he had seen his gift idea in. Tohru had offered to ask someone for directions, but since Haru hadn't remembered the name of the store, it wouldn't have done much good. Haru led Tohru to the back of the shop, where the objects were lined up neatly on shelves, and motioned for Tohru to pick one out.

"Are these books, Hatsuharu?" she inquired as she picked one up. Haru remained silent and allowed her to open it and see for herself. "Oh, a journal!" Flipping through the blank pages, Tohru's smile got brighter and brighter.

"I thought that a journal would be good for Yuki," Haru explained. "He needs to let his feelings out more, open up. He's been like that his whole life, locking his emotions inside because of what Akito did to him."

"It's a wonderful idea!" Tohru said. "But why do you need my help?"

Glancing at the variety of colors and designs, Haru shrugged. "I couldn't pick out which one to get him. I thought maybe you would be more help there."

Tohru stared at the different options with a determined expression. When he realized that they might be there a while, Haru leaned back against the bookshelf behind him and crossed his arms, smiling at Tohru's back. He could almost hear the argument that she was having in her head to pick out the best one. After Haru saw that she had carefully examined all of the many choices, she didn't hesitate to pick up a deep blue book, made of leather, that had an embossed garden on the front. "Do you like that one?" he questioned.

"Yes, I think this one is the best for him."

"Perfect," he answered, and took the journal from her hands. "You've got great taste, Miss Honda." Tohru just blushed and fell in behind him as he walked to the counter and paid. "Now where do you want to go?" he asked as they turned to leave the store.

Stopping dead in her tracks, Tohru turned to stare at him with her large, innocent eyes. "Go? I thought we were going home."

"If you want," Haru said, "but I thought it might be fun to go somewhere else. You and I never get to spend any time together."

With a warm smile, Tohru tilted her head to one side. "Okay, maybe we could go to a park or something. I don't know what's around this area."

"Neither do I," Haru mumbled. "Let's just walk around and see where our path takes us."

Tohru giggled at him suddenly, and he turned to give her a quizzical expression. "Is that how you get so lost all the time?"

Haru couldn't help the smirk that formed on his face. "I guess so. I've just never been able to find my way around. I try to make an adventure of it, though. If you only go on the routes you know in life, you might miss out on something new and exciting."

"Is that a proverb, Hatsuharu?" she asked in all seriousness.

Haru let the sly smile creep back. "Um, no. I just made that up, but I'm glad you like it." Tohru giggled and nodded in response. "Hey," he began, looking over her shoulder and across the street. "There's a park. Maybe we can find a quiet bench and talk for a while."

"That looks like a very nice park. I've never seen it before," she said as he led her into the crosswalk.

"Hmm, you know, sometimes I can get lost for several days at a time. It's possible that I've spent the night there before, but I'm terrible at remembering places. That probably has a lot to do with my lacking sense of direction," he said with a grin. "That looks like a nice bench. Wanna check it out?" Haru pointed to a lonely bench set near a small pond covered in lilies.

"Sure."

Haru looked around as they settled into their seats. "It's pretty dead here for being in the middle of downtown." From their position, they could only see a few people strolling on the park path in the distance. Even the hustle and bustle of the city was shielded by the lush vegetation that encompassed the pond, where carp were aimlessly swimming about. "How are things going at Shigure's house for you, anyway?" Haru asked as he brought his attention back to his companion.

"Oh, things are fine! Everyone there is so nice to me, and I feel so lucky to have three people to look after me!" Bringing her knee up onto the bench, Tohru rested her elbow over the back and adjusted herself to sit sideways and look at Haru. "What about you, Hatsuharu? Is everything going well for you? Did you and Rin make up?"

Haru's eyes widened at the name of the girl he had once considered himself in love with. "Rin and I," he began blandly, "we're just never going to work out. It's okay, though. I think we've both moved on sooner than I thought we would."

"I'm so sorry for asking," Tohru groaned, laying her head on her arm in shame. "I didn't know that you had decided not to try anymore. I feel so stupid."

"Don't." Haru slowly reached over and placed a gloved finger under Tohru's chin to lift it up. "That's better. What about Yuki and Kyo? Do you like them?"

Tohru blushed noticeably and stumbled for words. "L-Like? Well, they're my family, and I care for them very much."

"That's not what I meant. I know you aren't dating either of them, but would you?"

Blush increasing, Tohru stammered out a response. "Um, well, I never really thought about…. I don't think I could…. Dating?"

Haru couldn't help the rich laugh that escaped his mouth. "I don't think they think about it, either, but you can tell that they both like you." Tohru returned her head to her arms as heat was added to her cheeks. A small cry was the only noise she made, barely audible. "Hey," Haru said, reaching across the space between them once again to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you upset, Miss Honda. I thought you knew."

"I do," she whispered, obviously fighting to hold back tears, "but I couldn't ever choose between them. I love them both so much, but I couldn't ever be in love with one of them. What am I going to do?"

Retracting his hand so he could scoot closer to her, Haru leaned his head near to hers. "What do you mean? You don't have to do anything."

"I want to be in love someday," she wailed, voice muffled by the sleeve of her uniform. "But I don't want to hurt Yuki or Kyo."

Realization hit Haru that the girl felt so trapped by the people that allowed her to be free. All Tohru had wanted was to be in love someday, and the love of Yuki and Kyo was preventing that. If she picked one, she knew that she would destroy the other. In a way, Haru saw her as being in just as horrible a situation as they were, all of them pining for love that they could never really have, and his heart went out to her. He had never been particularly close with Tohru, had never seen what it was that enraptured his cousins so much, but now he did. Tohru was sacrificing a happy future to make all of them happy now, and she felt guilty admitting it. She was cursed just as he was.

"Tohru," he said quietly, just above a whisper, as he leaned his head even closer. He had never even called her by her first name before, probably because Yuki didn't, but it seemed wrong not to now that he could read the heartbreak in her soul. He could identify with her more than any other outsider that he had ever met. Even with Rin he hadn't felt this much pure compassion, because where she wanted to break the curse for his love, Tohru would give up all of her love for their sake.

Tohru finally lifted her head from her arms when he didn't say more, and she looked shocked to find his face just inches from her own. Haru caught her gaze with his penetrating eyes just as his hands encased hers and guided them to his knees, bringing her body ever closer to his. "Tohru, you are the most selfless person that I've ever met, but it's not fair for you to share in the pain of our curse. I won't allow it." As the last word left his lips, Haru let them come down on hers, gently yet passionately. He kissed her as though comforting her and driving her pain away, trying to send it to oblivion. Tohru deserved affection, not distress. At first she was frozen at his touch, but he was relentless and pulled her arms closer so she couldn't get away. As much as he was enjoying their connection, he knew that she needed it. A small moan came sent a tickling vibration to his lips as Tohru gave in to him, at last kissing him back. Haru let go of her hands and swiftly removed his gloves to cup her face and run his fingers through her wispy tresses. He felt like he had found himself in this kiss, and that he would do anything for the girl that he was sharing it with. He didn't want her to feel pain like his own ever again.

A/N: Another chapter for your viewing pleasure. I have to say that this is my favorite non-canon pairing, because Haru is so awesome, but he's damn hard to write! Thus, I apologize if he appeared OOC. We simply don't get into his brain enough. Please keep reading and reviewing, and thank you to everyone who has so far. I'm glad to see so many of you continuing to come back after each installment!