Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Here Without You ❯ Back in School ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

Back in School

The next morning after Tohru's return home, it was pouring rain outside. Ironic, eh? Even though it was the worst weather in a while, Tohru was up at her early hour, making breakfast for the three Sohma cousins. The smell of eggs, tea, and other delicious scents of breakfast filled the house, awaking Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure. It had been a long while since either of them smelled a wonderful breakfast to wake them from their dead-like slumber.

Once Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure had drifted downstairs, there was a knock at their door. Shigure, who was about to go out and get the morning paper, blinked and answered the door. "Tohru," Shigure called out in his singing-like voice, "set up another place at the table! Haru's here!"

Shigure retrieved his paper from Hatsuharu and strolled inside, Hatsuharu following. Yuki and Kyo looked up at Hatsuharu oddly. "How'd you get here?" Kyo asked.

"I traveled a long way for two days, in search of this place! Trapped in the darkness at night and blinded by the light in the day, I struggled to get here, but I made it successfully, accomplishing my mission." Hatsuharu said this rather dramatically, obviously lying. Hatori had actually driven him.

Yuki sighed and rested his head in one hand. "You still can't say that you just got lost, can you?"

Hatsuharu sat down as Tohru entered with this morning's breakfast. She sat down and ate, but her lack of energy showed. No one said anything the whole time because they knew Tohru would deny it; say that she's fine, and that she has to go to school.

Once finished with breakfast, Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, and Hatsuharu grabbed their umbrellas, slipped their shoes on, and began to proceed down the path to school. Tohru stood as tall and straight as she could. She had just gotten back; she wanted to keep everyone else's spirits up, not to have them worry about her again.

Hatsuharu kept on glancing at Tohru, watching her sway a little as she walked. Yuki and Kyo walked ahead of them, leaving Hatsuharu to talk freely with Tohru. "Are you all right," Hatsuharu asked.

"I'm fine, really." Tohru smiled up at Hatsuharu, swaying a little as she walked.

"How about your head? Your wrist? Are you tired? You want me to carry you?"

"My head is fine, so is my wrist. I'm not tired and I'm fine walking. I appreciate your concern, Hatsuharu, but I'm all right, really. You don't need to worry about me. All you need to worry about is getting through school today, hm?" Tohru kept smiling and smiling, like she really was fine. Inside, Tohru really felt worn out, weak, exhausted. She just wanted to faint. Tilting more and more towards Hatsuharu, she began to fade out of the world a little. A loud honk made her jump and spin around.

Hatori stepped out of his card, holding his umbrella, gesturing the others to get inside. Tohru sat in the front seat next to Hatori and behind her was Kyo, behind Hatori was Yuki, and right between the two was Hatsuharu. "Damn it, why is your car so damn small, Hatori!" Kyo shouted.

"You're the one taking up all the room, you stupid cat," Yuki replied from next to Hatsuharu as Hatori started driving.

"Calm down, you two. Tohru just got back." Hatsuharu said.

"Oh, no, no, no! You two don't need to stop fighting just because I'm here. I don't want you two to fight... but that..." Tohru grew tired and weaker then she already was. Is this what it was like when the weather was bad? 'Poor Kyo... we should probably get a ride on days like this for Kyo's sake...'

Yuki leaned forward in front of Hatsuharu, looking at Tohru. "Are you all right, Miss Honda?"

Tohru's head shot up, "Oh, I'm fine, don't worry about me, really!"

Yuki sat back in his seat, knowing better than to argue with Tohru. As Hatori drove, the storm got worse. Yuki sat looking out the window, even though he wanted to stare at Tohru, thinking about how much he missed her and about how glad she was back. Hatsuharu stared out the front blankly, thinking about if he should tell Yuki and Kyo that he was with Tohru while Hatori was treating Tohru. Kyo stared out the window, feeling tired, and hoping that Tohru wasn't too worn out from making breakfast this morning because this was the first storm she was facing and she wasn't all that strong.

"Tohru," Hatori said, getting everyone's attention in the process. "You mustn't push yourself today. If you do, you'll faint and transform into your cat form. Once you get home, I recommend that you relax and avoid doing housework until the storm is over."

Tohru simply nodded and looked out the window, watching the rain pour hard. She sat in her seat, thinking about how she was going to handle this. 'Oh, Mom, I wish you were here... I know I wouldn't be living with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure, but you would know what to do. Akito has control over me now and I don't want anyone to get hurt. I have to obey him... I'm so clumsy at school. What if I bump into a boy and I transform? Hatori would have to erase all those people's memories...'

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"Tohru!" Momiji ran down the halls and stood in front of Tohru, smiling brightly. "You're back! I'm so happy! I really, really, really missed you!"

"I missed you too, Momiji." Tohru smiled down at the younger Sohma, still feeling weary from this morning's activities.

"So did everyone else! Hana and Uo asked everyday if we had seen you! Haru just kept shaking his head no, along with everyone else. But, I think Kyo and Yuki missed you the most because while you were gone, they barely talked at all! It was scary! I didn't even get beat up by Kyo!"

"Shut up!" Kyo whacked Momiji in the head with his clenched fist.

"Wah! Kyo's hitting me!"

"Every time you open your mouth!"

Tohru smiled a little and began walking to her locker. "I'll be right back, I need to go to my locker."

"I'll come with you," Hatsuharu replied, following.

"You should actually really get to class."

"I insist."

"All... all right."

Tohru proceeded down the halls, the world spinning again and moving in the opposite direction she swayed. Hatsuharu glanced at her and blinked. "Tohru... are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm just fine!" Tohru gathered herself and began the combination on her locker, muttering the numbers to herself. She opened it and grabbed some of her books.

"You seem a little dizzy this morning."

"You don't need to worry about me really, I'm just fine." Hatsuharu eyes widened, staring behind Tohru. "What is it?" Tohru was ready to turn around when Hatsuharu was thrown against the wall. "Hatsuharu!"

"How are you feeling this morning, wench," A voice from behind her asked, grasping her shoulder before she could move. Tohru turned around and looked into those eyes. Those dark, empty, devious eyes of Akito. She was unable to speak, her body shook and chills kept running through her body as Akito's hand rested on her shoulder. "I see you're doing better..." Akito took his hand off her shoulder and lifted her hand with the wrist brace. "Such a delicate little thing you are..." He kissed her hand with his cold lips, making her shake. "You should be more careful..."

"Akito..." Yuki said from where Hatsuharu laid, his voice breathless, but enraged.

"Yuki..." Akito dropped Tohru's hand and he strolled over to him, whispering into Yuki's ear. Yuki's eyes grew wide and Akito struck him down as well. Akito walked away, smirking, as Tohru rushed over to her hurt friends.

"Are you all right, Miss Honda," Yuki asked, sitting up, struggling a little.

Tohru panicked and her voice grew shaky. "I'm fine, but what about you? Are you all right? Did he hurt you? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?"

"I'm fine, Miss Honda, but it appears Haru took the harder blow." Yuki looked over at his unconscious cousin. "He's going to be Black Haru when he awakes, we should probably get him out of school."

"Oh yes, of course! We should call Hatori!" Tohru rushed over to a pay phone and quickly grabbed change out of her pocket, inserting the change into the phone. She dialed Hatori's number.

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Hatori groaned; he had been sleeping on his desk due to a long night of paper work. He picked up the phone and said into the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hatori? It's Tohru." The person replied from the other end of the phone.

"Tohru? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"I am, but it's about Hatsuharu, he's unconscious."

"Did him and Kyo start fighting again?"

"No... Akito showed up at my locker..."

Hatori froze. 'What was Akito doing at the high school? What's Akito planning now? Isn't he satisfied that he's doomed Tohru?' "What did he do?"

"He knocked Haru into the wall and then he knocked Yuki against the wall as well." Tohru's eyes fluttered shut and she said into the phone. "... Please... hurry..." Tohru fainted.

"Tohru?" Hatori said into the receiver. "Tohru? Tohru!"

Yuki rushed over and began shaking Tohru. "Miss Honda? Miss Honda? Miss Honda!"

"Yuki!"

"Hatori?" Yuki picked up the receiver that was hanging by its cord.

"Get her out of sight before she--" Hatori heard an audible "poof" and a click.

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Yuki hung up the phone as Tohru transformed. He rushed into the locker room and set Tohru down. He gathered Tohru's clothes and dragged Hatsuharu into the locker room. Yuki ran out of the locker room and dashed down the halls. He looked into his classroom and saw his teacher writing on the board. He looked around and saw Kyo, he threw a pen at his head and Kyo spun around, seeing who threw the pen at his head. Kyo's vision went to Yuki at the door and Yuki gestured him out. Kyo stood up slowly and crept out of the room. Everyone watched him in silence and Kyo walked with Yuki until they were out of hearing range of their classroom.

"What the hell do you want, damn rat?" Kyo snapped.

Yuki hung his head and continued to walk. "Miss Honda fainted and Hatsuharu got knocked down by Akito."

Kyo froze, but gathered himself to follow Yuki. "What's Akito doing here!"

"I don't know, but Tohru called Hatori when Akito left... I wasn't thrown hard enough to be knocked unconscious."

"Where are they?"

"Tohru's in the locker room with Hatsuharu, I need you to go there before Hatsuharu wakes up. You know what he's like when he's black."

Kyo nodded and ran to the locker room as Yuki proceeded to the front of the school to wait for Hatori.

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Yuki sat next to his bed, watching Tohru sleep in her cat form. Everything that Akito had done to Tohru was horrible. How could he have done this to her? To Shigure? To Hatori? To Yuki? 'Could hate really be this strong?' He looked down at his lap, but he heard a little moan. His head shot up and he saw Tohru moving a little.

"Miss Honda, are you all right?"

"I'm fine..." Tohru sat up, curling her tail around her side. "I'm sorry if I was too much trouble..."

"It's all right, you weren't any trouble at all." Yuki smiled at her and Tohru smiled back. There was a "poof" and Tohru transformed back into her human form. She fumbled with the sheets for a moment, covering herself, blushing bright, cherry red.

"I must've been trouble... I pushed myself too much, stupid me." Tohru smiled a little and hit her head lightly.

Yuki sat on the bed and scooted towards her. "I don't think you're stupid at all, Tohru." Tohru froze, and looked at him, blushing a little. Yuki had never called her by her first name before. Yuki leaned in, closed his eyes, and let his lips touch her lips softly.

Tohru paused, blinked, looking at Yuki. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his, returning the kiss. Her first kiss, her very first kiss was with Yuki, her best friend. There was a knock at the door and Yuki sat down in his seat and Tohru gathered the blanket more.

"Ah, you're awake." Hatsuharu said, opening the door. He smiled and set down a tray of food on the bedside table. "You should probably get dressed. You're clothes are hanging in the laundry room. You'll have to improvise." Hatsuharu smiled and left.

Tohru blushed a light salmon pink and Yuki saw this. He went over to his drawers, grabbed a large shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He handed them to Tohru and said: "Here, you can wear these. I apologize if the pants are big."

"Thank you, Yuki." Tohru began to dress as Yuki turned his back towards her.

Yuki was replaying the kiss over and over in his head. Each time, he kept on thinking what would've happened. Would that kiss just go on? Would more happen? Would there even be more kisses?

"I'm finished dressing." Tohru said as she climbed back into bed.

Yuki turned around and sat in his chair. Tohru grabbed the bowl of rice and handed Yuki the other bowel. She smiled at him and ate cheerfully. The silence was haunting Yuki as they both finished the last of their rice. Tohru looked at him and Yuki looked back at her. Tohru leaned in and blessed herself with another kiss. Yuki returned in, making it deeper with more passion. Yuki heard his name being faintly said over and over again...