Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ A Caged Heart ❯ Just Perfect ( Chapter 6 )

Author's Note:

 

As promised, here's an extra-long chapter, just for you!!!

And Fruits Basket still isn't mine… not even Kyo! sob

 

Just Perfect:

 

Kyo took a small step closer to Tohru's bedroom door.

 

It was the perfect time.

 

The weekend had just begun, and Shigure had gone to spend some bonding time with Ayame and Hatori - whatever that might involve. Yuki had left mysteriously to what he claimed to be a `secret base'.

 

`Secret base my ass. Probably gone to get a manicure.' thought Kyo, smirking.

 

The smirk quickly vanished as Kyo took another step towards the hallowed door, his confidence washed away like seaweed off the seashore.

 

With Shigure gone, Yuki gone, Tohru's friends elsewhere, and all other unwanted visitors at the Sohma house - where they belonged, in Kyo's opinion - there was no one left but Tohru. Only Tohru - sweet Tohru - and Kyo.

 

His heart fluttered in his stomach.

 

Slowly, so slowly, his feet picked themselves up and took him another step closer, then another…

 

His pulse quickened.

 

Another step.

 

A storm of `what ifs' began to rage within him, his imagination unleashed.

 

`What if Yuki climbed the wall, crept into her room through the window and was with her right now?'

 

Step.

 

`What if Shigure put perverted thoughts into her head and she became just like him?'

 

Step again. Don't forget to breathe.

 

`What if she was up there with Hatsuharu, then he went Black and did something to her?'

 

Another step.

 

`What if Hiro finally snapped and tore her into little pieces?'

 

He neared the door, closer, closer, closer…

 

`Hell! What if she's gay and in love with that Yankee?'

 

His heartbeat pounded in his ears.

 

Step.

 

The storm began to move more purposefully. So did Kyo's feet.

 

`What if Akito… What if he finds out and makes Hatori erase all her memories?'

 

Closer now, almost there…

 

`What if he hurts her?'

 

A trembling hand - so uncommon when connected to a person usually so sure of himself - reached for the doorknob.

 

`What if...what if she hates me?'

 

The doorknob turned.

 

`What if I, as the Cat, am destined to be alone for the rest of my life?'

 

Like the final act of defiance in a losing battle, with faithless confidence, no hope and no future, Kyo threw the door wide open.

 

He stood in the doorway, bright red.

 

Tohru's room.

 

Empty.

 

It took a moment to sink in.

 

“What if she's not there, you idiot!” Kyo exploded, hitting his forehead.

 

*************************************

 

He found her, not long after, next to the dining table. On her knees. Dusting.

 

Of all things to do on a Saturday morning.

 

“Hell! Do you ever quit?” said Kyo, a bit louder than he had intended. Truth be told, he hadn't planned on saying it at all. Or anything else, for that matter.

 

Startled, Tohru stood up, spun around, then fell down again - tripping over the dust cloth that she had dropped as she stood up, which had gotten tangled around her ankles when she had spun around (it was a large dust cloth) - and to finish it all, after bumping her head on the table, her foot accidentally kicked a cup (which sat ignorantly on the floor, as most cups do) in a sudden attempt to get up again, sending the cup flying through the sliding door - leaving green tea puddles and a gaping hole, with no evidence of the cup that caused it.

 

`Perfect. Just perfect.' Kyo grimaced.

 

“Oh my god! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll clean it all up again, I promise!” Tohru babbled, looking up at Kyo apologetically. Kyo's heart skipped a beat.

 

“Don't worry about it.” he said gruffly, avoiding her eyes. He held out his hand. Tohru took it gratefully.

 

“Thank-”

 

And down they went, right smack into the middle of a particularly large puddle, thanks to the mischievous dust cloth that had managed to entangle itself around Tohru's foot.

 

POOF!

 

An orange cat with damp fur sat next to girl with wet hair. They both smelled faintly of green tea.

 

“Sorry.” whispered Tohru, after a moment of silence.

 

“Not your fault. You shouldn't be cleaning on the weekend. You deserve a break.” The cat looked down. “You deserve better.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Oh, ok.” Tohru looked down at the floor.

 

A moment passed.

 

Silence.

 

Then a smile.

 

Followed by a laugh.

 

“Huh?” Kyo looked up, confused.

 

“I just think it's a bit funny.”

 

“What is?”

 

“This!” she laughed, louder this time. Kyo didn't laugh, but a smile crept into his eyes.

 

“Everything smells like green tea! The room, the floor, you - even my hair! See?” She smiled, still laughing, and held out her hair.

 

Kyo gently placed a paw on her knee and leaned forward, his cat nose sniffing slightly.

 

“It smells… nice…”

 

Truth. Even dampened by splashes of tea, Tohru's hair still contained that lovely aroma that had slowly, but surely, contaminated Kyo's entire being.

 

Tohru froze, blushing deeply.

 

They were inches apart.

 

Even in his cat form, Tohru still saw him as Kyo, the Kyo she first met smashing through the roof, the Kyo she saw crying in the bathroom…

 

“Tohru…”

 

“Kyo's got the hots!!!!!!!!! Kyo's got the hots!!!!!!!!!” sang a rabbit-boy from the gap in the door. Kyo roared in frustration, pouncing.

 

“Shut up!!!!!!!!!”

 

“Waaaah!!!! Kyo's picking on me!!!! Waaaaah!!!!”

 

The door slid open.

 

“Kyo. Tohru. Nice to see you again.” said Hatori. “Momiji, please, lower your voice.”

 

Kyo muttered something about continuing it later, and leapt off Momiji's marshmallow-like hat, landing neatly on the wooden floor, narrowly missing another puddle. Grinning, Momiji followed Kyo properly into the house.

 

Tohru scrambled onto her feet - amazingly not falling over - and opened her mouth to greet their guests hospitably, only to be interrupted by a dramatic wail outside.

 

“Oh, my poor, poor house! What have I done to deserve such cruel treatment of my precious abode, which I share so graciously with hooligans that dare to call themselves men! And Tohru, of course.”

 

Shigure entered, an overly devastated look imprinted on his face. There was a noticeable bump on the side of his head, and in one hand, he held an oddly familiar cup.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?” shouted Kyo, glaring up at him.

 

“Hello to you, too, Kyo. And Tohru.” Shigure bowed slightly.

 

“Hi! You weren't gone very long.” Tohru's smile quickly changed into a look of concern. “Did something go wrong?”

 

“No, no.” Shigure waved his hand up and down, as if to wave the matter away. “Simply a slight change of plans.”

 

Pause.

 

“What on earth is that strange odour that has infringed itself upon my once-sweet-smelling dwelling?”