Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Honda constellations ❯ Libra ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: Libra

 

I keep on forgetting to do this: I don't own fruits basket!

 

The scales Libra have come over time to mean multiple things. One is Pluto's golden chariot that was pulled by four jet-black horses when he visited the surface and the other gods. Also, Libra can also represent Zeus' decree for Persephone to split her time between her mother, Demeter, and her husband, Pluto, otherwise known as Hades.

 

(O)

 

“Good morning Kyo!” Tohru chirped, looking up from the rice maker to watch Kyo drowsily take a chug from his milk carton. Looking at her, Kyo took an attempt at a wave, that ended up more like a dismissal arm flop.

 

“You…how can you be this perky with not having that much sleep last night?” he droned, leaning against the closed refrigerator door.

 

Tohru shrugged. “Ah, that is a good question, my young cousin,” Shigure interrupted, “how indeed… oh, and don't forget you have an appointment with Haa-san after school!” he sang, prancing over Tohru's shoulder to see if he could snag an early bite. Tohru tapped the back of his hand with the rice spoon.

 

“Wait for Sohma-kun, Shigure-san!” Tohru admonished gently, putting aside her finished `Neko-giri.' Kyo shook his head, spying the cat-head shaped onigiri. “Aren't they cute, Kyo?” Tohru asked, holding one up.

 

“Sure, if you're into cannibalism…” Kyo trailed off, shrugging as he went to sit in the television room/ dining room. Tohru took a glance at the onigiri she had made already. Plain ones for Kyo then. She had never really thought of the cute cat-shaped onigiri as being cannibalistic before though. So what did that make gingerbread men? Or, in her and Haru's case, Hamburgers? She knew that she had seen the other cow scarf down one or two before. Shrugging, she filed that for a topic-filler for a slow day: the culinary habits of an animal/person. Personally, she had no real qualms about it before, but would being able to speak with the animal make a difference?

 

Walking into the dining room, Tohru noticed that Yuki was already there. Problem was, he was practically drooling in his sleep onto the table. Setting down the plate of onigiri in the center of the table, she gave each a plate to serve themselves the onigiri that they wanted. It wasn't much of an experiment, but Tohru was curious to whether the neko-giri would be eaten last or first. She remembered that at the school cultural festival their first year, the neko-giri had been her most popular. Surprisingly enough, only Kyo avoided the neko-giri. “Your answer from earlier, Kyo, is that I'm used to it. My `allergy' happens this time every year regardless, so I got used to it.” Kyo shook his head, understanding the reference from last night, and hovered his hand over the last onigiri: a cat-shaped one. Tohru tilted her head at the hesitation, “think of it this way: are eating gingerbread men cannibalistic?”

 

“Sometimes I wonder…” Kyo mumbled, grabbing the last onigiri seconds before Yuki reached for it.

 

(O)

 

“Honda-kun, where are you going?” Yuki asked, watching as Tohru followed Momiji and Haru the direction of the Sohma Honke. Tohru tilted her head curiously before replying to the Nezumi.

 

“To see Hatori-san.” Yuki flinched imperceptibly. “Apparently you were still asleep when Shigure reminded me this morning. This is a good thing… I tend to get a little sick this time of year anyway. Must be the season?” Tohru shrugged and Kyo rolled his eyes at the white lie. Yuki moved to follow them to the Honke, but Tohru shook her head and smiled gently. “Don't worry Sohma-kun, I have a feeling that nothing out of the ordinary will happen. It's just a check-up.” Yuki didn't seem too convinced as he continued to walk closer to be next to Tohru.

 

“With Hatori, it's never `just a check-up.' I'm coming with you.” He insisted, looking over at Kyo as if expecting the cat to agree.

 

“I have practice with Shishiou. Do you want me to start dinner if you don't make it on time?” Kyo asked, hefting his duffle bag over his shoulder to head straight for the dojo.

 

Tohru smiled at his offer. “Just get the fish defrosted, okay? I don't think it'll take that long.” Humming his agreement, Kyo turned and waved himself off, crossing the street on the light change. “Shall we go?” she asked, gesturing the boys to lead on. Yuki took point with Haru and Momiji on either side in an almost subconscious protection formation. Laughing, Momiji took Tohru's hand and swung it wildly as he talked animatedly about his day and various other things. Yuki could have easily gone after Momiji if it wouldn't have potentially lost some of his approval in Tohru's eyes. In the end that was all that mattered anymore: Tohru' approval. Akito be damned, nearly all of the zodiac would stand up for the girl that had stolen their hearts if push came to shove.

 

“Yuki-kun, are you alright?” Tohru asked worriedly, her hand flittering over his shoulder, not quite touching. She had to be quite worried if she had reverted to his given name.

 

Yuki looked over his shoulder at the girl and gave a reassuring smile, “I'm quite fine, thank you for asking, Honda-kun.” Tohru pursed her lips slightly before going back to her less-than-enlightened mask and nodding enthusiastically.

 

“If you're sure, I just don't want you to be sick while we are heading to a doctor's appointment in the first place.”

 

Yuki smiled one of his `princely' grins and shook his head. Oh, how ironic that would be: Yuki having to take Tohru's appointment because she was a little worried. Reaching the front gates of the Honke, Yuki stepped back slightly and allowed the trio to enter first. This was the last place that he wanted to be, but for Tohru, he would bear anything.

 

Turning around to see Yuki increasingly lagging behind, Tohru tilted her head curiously. “Sohma-kun, if you want to, you can go back home now. I'll probably take a little longer than expected because I'm going to run some errands before I come back home and Haru-kun and Momiji-kun have already agreed to walk me home for the night, okay?”

 

“Don't worry about me, I'm fine.” Yuki assured, walking faster to catch up with the other three as they reached Hatori's office. A moment after knocking, the Dragon opened the door and looked at the group.

 

“Honda-kun, I'm glad that you could make it.” He opened the door to let the others in, “and you brought Yuki too. Yuki, why don't you wait in the living room so I can do your monthly check-up after I'm done with Tohru, alright?” Yuki nodded and made for the living room until Hatori led Tohru into one of the back rooms of his home that was used as his clinic.

 

Turning to the Ox and Rabbit, Yuki narrowed his eyes, “if anything happens to Honda-kun, it's your necks, got it?” with that he left, shuddering as he mumbled something about `evil needles.' From the next room, Hatori watched his younger cousin leave, shaking his head before turning to Tohru and sliding the door closed.

 

“You tend to get sick this time of year, I've noticed.” Hatori started, pulling one of his drawers open and grabbing a pale pink and yellow patient dress. “So, I hope to prevent it by giving you a through look-over to see if I can find the culprit. Change into this—yes you can keep your underclothes on—in the bathroom and come back in here.” He handed her the gown and herded her to the attached bathroom. A few minutes later, Tohru came out hugging herself uncertainly. Patting the doctor's table, Hatori didn't even look up from his notes. “Don't worry, I'm not like Shigure. I'm not a pervert and I won't touch you more than necessary. Sit down and we'll start with the basics, okay?” Tohru nodded and hopped up on the table, trying to hide her back from Hatori's view. Taking out a tongue depressor from the wrapper, Hatori signaled Tohru to open her mouth. “Strawberry flavored, I thought you might appreciate that. Tohru smiled a little around the stick as Hatori looked at her tonsils and down her throat. He let her mouth close around the stick and let go. “You can keep the stick.” He commented dryly as he scribbled a note on his clipboard. Tohru laughed slightly and took the stick out of her mouth after sucking the last of the flavoring out. It tasted like a Popsicle stick when there was no Popsicle left. “Who was your last doctor?” Hatori asked, shining his pen light into Tohru's eyes to check her reaction: it was slightly slower than normal and Hatori frowned at that.

 

“A…” Tohru closed her mouth and looked thoughtful. “…I don't remember her professional name…” putting her hand on her chin, she tapped a finger as she spaced out looking at a wall. “But I think I can get my records, if that is what you're asking.” Hatori nodded as he held the metal part of his stethoscope in his palm to warm it up. Tohru looked at it warily as Hatori moved around the table to place it against her back.

 

“Hmm, what's this?” he muttered, brushing the bandaging that wrapped Tohru's lower torso to under where her bra edge was. Tohru hissed slightly, trying not to flinch as Hatori ran his finger over her injury. “Let me see Tohru.” He ordered, dropping his honorific on purpose. Tohru dipped her head, but turned so that he could see her back better. Tohru took out the safety pin that held the end in place and started unwrapping to reveal the scar tissue and tattoo in the center.

 

“Before you ask, I've had this for a long time. It didn't really think that I would have stayed long enough to tell you about it before.” Hatori nodded as he helped with the last of the bandage strip and the pad that was held in place over the actual open part of the wound.

 

“A wound like this shouldn't take—I'm assuming—years to heal. What happened here?” he asked, prodding the swollen scar tissue on either end of the open slash.

 

“I was kicked by a horse.” Tohru didn't even try to lie. “It wasn't Rin-san, but another horse that kicked me. And the tattoo… please don't ask…Please?” Hatori nodded absently as he went to a cabinet and pulled out a blank white container.

 

“This might sting a little.” He warned bare moments before applying a generous glob into the wound. Tohru barely contained the flinch and grunt that pushed at her throat. After applying a new pad over the medicated wound, Hatori started to wrap Tohru's torso to keep it in place. “We'll see how this works and I'll see you in a week for another application. I assume that I don't have to tell you to take it careful, correct? I heard that you fell over a log the other day and that possibly reopened the wound. Leave it unwrapped for a little before you go to bed to let it breath a little and it might start healing up, alright?” Tohru nodded and Hatori helped her off the table and back into the bathroom for her clothes.

 

Stepping out of the bathroom, Hatori stopped her momentarily, “Honda-kun, sit down for a moment. I forgot to do something.” Turning from the counter, Hatori held an empty catheter needle with a blood collection vial attached and a wide strip of thick latex. “I just need a quick blood sample and an immunization shot and then you can go, okay?” Tohru nodded and sat in the lightly cushioned armchair, leaning back and relaxing as much as she could, closing her eyes softly. She placed both of her arms on the arms of the chair, palm up, and waited.

 

She felt the snap of the latex as it was tied around her upper arm and she created a loose fist and took a deep breath. “One done,” Hatori commented, sliding the needle out of her inner elbow and taping a cotton ball in place. Releasing the latex band, Hatori moved to her arm as Tohru closed her eyes again and looked away slightly as she breathed deeply. “And… two. Usually I get at least a flinch when I have to stick needles in one of the boys.” Hatori mused, throwing away the immunization needle in the biohazard bucket.

 

Tohru stood up and rubbed her upper arm to get the hot tingling to go away. “May I go now?”

 

Hatori nodded and handed Tohru a small vial of pills. “Take two as needed. And I'll see you next week after Yuki's appointment, okay” Tohru nodded and turned to leave, pocketing the small pink pain pills. Looking around, Tohru wasn't surprised that Yuki had left already. Hatori followed them into the living room in pretence to get Yuki, but rolled his eyes and grabbed a book of the shelf instead. Waving the teens out, he sat down on the couch to enjoy a brief moment of quiet.

 

Outside the honke, Tohru turned a different direction than the straight route to Shigure's house. “Tohru-kun, are you lost?” Momiji grinned, standing next to Haru.

 

Tohru shook her head and continued to walk the direction away from Shigure's house. “I have something that I need to get before we go home. It's this way.” Tohru waved her hand for them to follow, her mouth smiling in a carefree way that didn't reach her eyes completely. She led them to one of the lower class nice apartment complexes and up a flight of stairs.

 

“Where are we?” Haru asked, looking around to see if he could spot any familiar land marks. He was surprised how close this was to the Sohma houses, yet he had never really noticed the houses here before. Tohru looked up from digging in her school case and looked around.

 

“Huh? This is the right place.” She mumbled mostly to herself, turning to the flower box distractedly and pushing aside some of the dirt to look for something. “It's not here.” Tohru let a small moan escape her lips as she looked at the overhand above the front door.

 

“What are you looking for Tohru-kun?” Momiji asked, looking at the street below.

 

“My key to get in. I don't want to ask Uo-chan for hers and I think I lost mine.” Tohru explained, pulling a chair to the wrought-iron railing between the walkway and the long fall to the street below. Standing on the chair, Tohru reached for the overhang was missed by a few inches. Sighing, Tohru bent her knees for a jump, mumbling along the lines of “mom, why did you have to be so tall” as she jumped and grabbed onto the overhang, much to the boys' shock. Lifting a shingle slightly with one hand, Tohru manipulated a piece of metal out from under it before losing her grip and falling back into the chair.

 

Haru looked at the key skeptically. “So… what's that for?”

 

“To open the door,” Tohru commented, avoiding the real question again.

 

“The door where?” Haru was trying to keep his patience.

 

“Here.”

 

“Where's `here'?” Tohru ignored them as she undid the lock and opened the door.

 

“If you want to come in, you can but I suggest not taking your shoes off. There's glass everywhere.” Leaving the door open for the boys, Tohru carefully picked her way through the debris and general mess of the house. Looking in, the boys saw that practically everything had a thick layer of dust covering it. The apartment looked like it was once kept immaculately clean, but a fight or something left glass shards scattered on the floor and pictures fallen from the walls and tables. Kneeling softly at the only place that seemed somewhat cleaned off, Tohru put her hands together and bowed her head briefly at a small shrine in one corner. Lighting a stick on incense, Tohru bowed at the small shrine once again and turned into a very short hallway with a door on either side and at the end. Opening the door on the left, Tohru went in and closed it most of the way behind her. The resounding crash and tinkle of glass sent the boys running inside and to the room that Tohru went into.

 

“What happened?” Momiji asked, being the faster of the two. Tohru turned her head slightly and leaned against the wall, rubbing her hand as if it was sore.

 

“Nothing. I accidentally hit a picture and it fell off the wall when I passed it.” The picture mentioned was actually across the mostly bare room, but the empty hook belonging to the picture was over Tohru's head, still firmly placed in the wall. Inviting themselves in, Momiji and Haru looked around the room. A futon was folded in one corner with a dresser next to it. There was also a small closet and a window outside to the back of the apartment complex. “Welcome to my room.” Tohru gestured with her arms as she walked over to the closet and threw a pink duffle bag onto her folded futon.

 

“This is where you and your Mutti lived?” Momiji gaped, looking out the window. Tohru nodded and continued to dig in her closet, trying to find something in the back.

 

“Yes, I lived here my whole life until…” Tohru trailed off sadly, “found it!” she chirped, pulling a wooden sword out of the back of her closet and tossed it on her futon also.

 

“Kendo?” Haru asked, picking up the sword and swinging it around to test the weight.

 

“No, it was mom's when she was in the gang!” Tohru smiled as she took it from Haru and performed a hard downward stroke. “And it hurts when you get hit with it too!” dropping the sword back onto her futon, she headed to the dresser and started to pull out some clothes and looked at them critically before tossing them on the futon also. “Aha!” Tohru cheered, pulling a dress box out of the bottom drawer. Haru looked down from where he was looking at various trinkets on the top of her dresser and Momiji looked in from the window.

 

“What do you have?” Haru asked, kneeling down to Tohru's eye level. Smiling secretly, Tohru shrugged and turned away with her box.

 

“Something.” She commented smiling, taking the lid off the box and pushing aside the tissue paper. “Something that I was thinking of starting to do again.” She pulled out a black leotard with a semi-long skirt attached and turned it for the boys to see. Spotting something on the back, she brought it down to her lap with a pout. “Oh, pooh,” she sighed, putting her finger through a hole that was eaten in the back of the fabric. Looking down into the box, Tohru saw a hole that was gnawed into the corner. “I guess a little mouse liked my dress too. I guess that's one more errand for me to do… if I can.” Tohru mumbled, folding the leotard up and placing it gently back into the box.

 

“You dance?” Momiji asked, hopping with joy.

 

“I used to. I don't anymore because… never mind,” she put the box back into the dresser and closed the drawer gently. She didn't dance for several reasons, but mostly because her back wouldn't let her most of the time. She hadn't even attempted to dance until yesterday since her mother died.

 

“Oh…” Momiji's face fell briefly before giving one of his care-free smiles, “do you think you can show us something now?” he suggested, sitting on the futon and clapping his hands.

 

Tohru smiled and tapped the tip of her shoes against the floor to make sure that they would stay on. “I-I'll try, but I'm not really that good… and I haven't been able to practice in a long time… and…”

 

“If you don't want to, you don't have to,” Haru commented, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. Looking down, he saw the picture that `fell' and its broken glass.

 

Tohru gave a hesitant smile and nodded, dropping her head and closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands into position and opened her eyes halfway, not even aware of the room that she was in anymore. Hearing the tinkling chimes of one of her favorite songs, she spun gently as she mouthed the words, telling the story in her mind and gestures of an orphan girl remembering the parties that she used to go to with her family, dancing with her grandma and having a wonderful time.

 

Ending the dance with a low curtsey, one leg extended in front for balance, Tohru opened her eyes completely and blushed a deep crimson. Both boys clapped, Momiji more enthusiastically, and smiled. “That was great! And really pretty!”

 

“This you?” Haru extended the picture that he extracted from the broken frame to Tohru. She took the picture and her hand started to shake as she looked at it. It was Kyoko hugging Tohru from behind, both had winning smiles on as the younger Tohru was holding a bouquet of flowers as she tried not to fall from her mother's weight. She was in a leotard much like the one that she had put back into the dresser, only it was blue with sea-green swirls in the fabric. The skirt was in petal-shaped overlapping sections that were in the same sea-green as the top's swirls. She had blue fishnet on her legs and arms and her hair was held up in a bun by a blue and green net-like accessory. She even had green ribbons tied around her lower legs, arms and around her neck in a large bow.

 

Handing the picture back to Haru, Tohru nodded. “That was right before I… quit. Mom was so proud that she took me out to dinner so I didn't have to cook that night. She said that I deserved a treat after winning, even if I didn't place in first… ballet's not my forte anyway.” Tohru started packing her duffle bag full of the clothes and other things. Frowning, Tohru realized that the wooden sword wouldn't fit in the bag because it was too long. It would be suspicious if she carried it like a traditional katana, so she dug out a cloth case that would make it look like she was carrying a bamboo kendo sword instead. Shaking a small box out of the bottom of the bag first, Tohru slipped the sword into the case and tied it shut.

 

“Vas is das (what's this)?” Momiji grabbed the black liquored box and flipped open the latch before Tohru grabbed it. Pulling out two crescent scythes, Tohru held them by the handles and spun them around midair as if she was used to using them. The sharp tip of the scythe curved around into three-fourths of a circle, pointing toward the handle. The sharp edge was on the inside, so Tohru didn't have to worry about cutting someone (or herself) by accident.

 

“Mom gave them to me when I turned ten… I guess I forgot about them… She said that she wouldn't always be around to save me… I guess she was right.” Tohru twirled them around almost carelessly, tossing them up and catching them in a sort of pinch hold on the blade, hooking them together to extend the weapon's reach and other things before placing them back into the box and stuffing it into the duffle bag. “Do you have any questions?” Tohru asked, shouldering the duffle and sword bags.

 

“You don't like fighting, so why do you have weapons?” Haru asked, pushing himself off of the wall to follow Tohru out. Searching the ceiling for answers, Tohru shrugged.

 

“The Red Butterfly's legend is still alive today, as long as Hana-chan, Uo-chan and I are there to remind people. There are some people out there that think that if they cut down one of us, they'll get more street credit.” Readjusting the shoulder strap on her duffle bag, Tohru turned to close her bedroom door. “Hana has her denpa waves, and Uo has her street credit but I don't really have anything, so it makes me a very good target.” Tohru smiled and turned to the living room to bow at the shrine once again before gesturing for the others to leave. “I don't worry about it though, because I rarely have to worry about being by myself anyway. You guys or Uo-chan or Hana-chan or the other Sohma are always with me.”

 

“Was that your old man?” Haru asked, gesturing to the shrine as Tohru closed and locked the door. Tohru nodded, climbing back up on the deck chair so that she could put the key back in its place. Haru plucked it out of her fingers and placed it under the loose shingle for her.

 

“Yes, that was Katsuya, my dad. It's more of a habit than me actually missing him though… I can't really remember him except for the fact that he and mom were always happy together.”

 

“If you can come in here whenever you want, why don't you live here? It's a nice apartment.” Momiji asked, gesturing around.

 

Tohru shrugged and hitched the duffle bag higher. “I can't. The electricity, heat and water's turned off, but I can barely afford to keep it as it is. The landlady's really nice though and isn't charging me the full rent price until I can afford it. Most of my paycheck goes into this rent, so that makes it a little hard sometimes…” Tohru turned thoughtful and some small worry lines showed on her face briefly.

 

“Tohru-chan is that you?” a voice called from behind them. An older woman in a house dress and apron came out and gave the girl a hug. “It is you! How have you been doing dear?”

 

“Takuya-san, I'm sorry for not visiting earlier.” Tohru apologized, bowing.

 

“Oh, posh.” The woman waved off Tohru's apology. “I'm just glad that you didn't whither away on the streets, poor thing. And who are these handsome gentlemen, eh?” she nudged Tohru suggestively and raised her eyebrow.

 

Blushing, Tohru stammered out introductions between the Sohma boys and Takuya the owner of the building. “Now, if I'm not mistaken,” Takuya-san put her finger to her chin in a thoughtful gesture, “you turn 18 next month, do you not?”

 

Tohru blushed and nodded, “yes Takuya-san. I'll have my answer by then. Most likely I'll clean up the apartment and move the rest of my stuff out. A storage garage is probably where everything is going to go anyway… or I'm going to have to sell it.” Takuya frowned but nodded anyway, giving Tohru another hug.

 

“I'm glad to see that you're doing well. If you want to talk, please don't hesitate to call.” Tohru nodded and watched as the older woman walked back into her apartment.

 

Momiji could barely contain his joy, “when's your birthday, huh, huh, huh?” Tohru dipped her head, hiding her eyes momentarily before smiling at the rabbit.

 

“That's for me to know and you to find out. If you do find out, you can throw a party for me and I won't complain, how's that?” Momiji nodded enthusiastically and started throwing out numbers. Tohru laughed, but didn't respond to any of the numbers that he guessed.

 

“What's next?” Haru asked, cutting off Momiji's hyper-ness.

 

Tohru looked at her watch and shrugged. “It's getting late. The school and Papa-Bear's house are the same distance, but different ways.” Tohru mumbled to herself, tilting her head. “Papa-Bear can wait, but I have to pick up something from the school for tomorrow first anyway.”

 

“Did Tohru forget her homework?” Momiji teased, his hands behind his back.

 

Shaking her head, Tohru gestured to the left as they followed. “No, the School of the Arts is the school that I'm talking about. I need to pick up my… never mind. I just need to talk to someone there about getting me enrolled in classes again.”

 

“I go there for my violin lessons!” Momiji exclaimed, curiosity lighting his features, “what lessons are you planning on taking?”

 

“Sylvia's mom is the ballet instructor and I was asked if I could be a stand-in for one of the parts in the play because the girl playing the part is sick and it's possible that she's not going to make it to the performances.”

 

“What part are you going to play?”

 

“The black swan in Swan Lake. She's the witch's daughter and tricks the prince to fall in love with her so that Odette's spell becomes permanent. The ironic part is that the Black swan and Odette is usually played by the same dancer—my sister.”

 

“Ooh, ironic.” Haru smirked, “so you're basically taking over your sister's part in the play?”

 

“Not really, it's just that she doesn't want to be the black swan and pushed it off on some poor first-year girl.” Tohru shrugged and looked up at the relatively large building ahead of them. “And now let's just see how well I can avoid my step-mother, shall we?” Tohru bowed them ahead through the gate and led them inside and into the basement studio rooms. The entranceway just inside the doors for the dance studios held an entire wall of cubbies for shoes and a pair of chairs with a side table between them on the opposite wall. Starting at the bottom, Tohru searched for her name on the side edge of the cubbies going further and further up. Tohru finally spotted her name written on one of the cubbies on the top row. Groaning, Tohru used the cubby holes as hand and foot holds to get up to it.

 

“You snooze, you lose Tohru-chan.” A smooth tenor voice sounded out behind her. With a squeak, Tohru fell backward and into a pair of strong arms. “Why, do you always greet hot dance guys like this?” the boy chuckled as he set Tohru down.

 

“Apparently only you so far, Naoki-kun.” Tohru huffed and looked up at her cubby. “Would you be a dear and get my stuff out of my cubby hole for me?” she pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and generally looking cute. The taller boy rolled his eyes and kneeled down.

 

“How about I just,” he grabbed Tohru's legs and stood up, “lift you up instead.” Tohru squeaked and hugged his head to steady herself from the sudden height increase. “Can you reach it now?” he asked, adjusting his grip so that Tohru would grab him again.

 

“If you stop that I can!” Tohru stuck out her tongue and reached into the cubby to pull out a plastic bag. “Okay—eee!” Tohru shrieked as Naoki suddenly let go and grabbed her waist to set her down gently. Hitting his chest with the bag, Tohru stuck out her tongue. “That wasn't very nice! At least give me a warning next time so I can grab onto something.

 

“What? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't trust me.”

 

“Try with a ten foot pole… at least you put a shirt on before coming out,” Tohru commented dryly, digging around in the plastic bag.

 

“I'm guessing you heard about Kaoru's accident then.”

 

“I heard that it was food poisoning or something like that. What did you see?” Naoki shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs, slumping.

 

“Nothing much. All I saw was that she collapsed when we were rehearsing. Did you know that she was recovering from Anorexia?”

 

“Poor baby. And she was smaller than me to start off with. I'm assuming the usual pressure from the usual person?” Naoki started to nod.

 

“Nathan! Where did you get off to this time?” both Naoki and Tohru flinched at the sharp voice.

 

“Uh-oh. Busted.” He commented as he stood up straight, hiding Tohru from sight.

 

A tall and slender woman with jet-black hair pulled into a severe bun stalked in. she was wearing black tights and leotard. “There you are! Get in there and run 50 laps. Then you can explain why you're cutting out on class again.” The woman pointed to a door down the hall.

 

“B-but I thought I heard someone out here, so I came to check…” the woman started tapping her foot, “them!” Naoki moved aside to reveal the two Sohma boys and Tohru.

 

“Tabitha, it has been a long time, has it not? Did Sylvia give you my message?” Tohru gave a low curtsey and nodded.

 

“Yes Ma'am. Thank you for such a wonderful opportunity to support your daughter in her role in the play.” The woman looked down her nose at Tohru and turned to the two boys.

 

“Yes?” she quipped, looking the boys over in turn. “Too scrawny. If you want to join, you'll have to lose that baby fat and get some muscles first.”

 

Momiji shook his head and stood up straight. “I'm sorry for the intrusion Hidama-sensei, it won't happen again. I was showing my cousin the building because he's interested in an acting class here. I accidentally took a wrong turn and ran into Honda-san here.” Momiji gave a helpless motion toward Tohru and backed up a step.

 

Snorting, the woman turned back to Tohru, looking as if she was eating lemons. “You had best choose your friends better Tabitha, it could come back to haunt you. I will see you next rehearsal, correct?”

 

Tohru curtseyed again, “yes Ma'am.” The woman turned and grabbed Naoki in her raptor-like grip before stalking her way down the hall from where she came. The Sohma and Tohru left as fast as they could and slumped against the outside gate.

 

“Bitch,” Momiji and Tohru mumbled at the same time, groaning.

 

“You can avoid her because you don't take dance. I can't because she was my dad's first wife.”

 

“Ouch. That why you quit?” Momiji sympathized. He'd actually taken dance for a very short while to prepare himself for his new year's dance, and he was glad that he didn't have to take it much longer.

 

“Tabitha?” Haru mumbled.

 

“Among many other things. That's the only reason I didn't take ballet too long though.” Momiji nodded.

 

“Tabitha?” Haru questioned a bit louder.

 

“What other dances did you take then?”

 

“Practically everything. I stayed the longest at ballroom dancing though. My waltz has something to be desired though.”

 

“Tabitha?” Haru asked, looking straight into Tohru's face.

 

“What?!” she huffed, her arms stiffening so that she wouldn't hit the cow.

 

“Why'd she call you Tabitha?” Tohru flinched again and growled.

 

“Because that's my English name. Our family teaches Latin and English practically before we're taught Japanese. But as far as you should care, my name is Tohru, okay?” the cow nodded and stood up to look at the sunset.

 

“It's getting late; we need to get you home.” Haru commented as if he hadn't just riled Tohru's feathers.

 

“She gives everyone English names, doesn't she?” Momiji asked, holding Tohru's hand and one of her bags. She absolutely refused to let the boys carry her wooden sword though.

 

“To those that don't have them already, yes she does. She absolutely refuses to call anyone by their Japanese name. I once asked her about it and she said that it was uncivilized in dance to have anything but a European name… and then she cuffed me for being stupid.” Tohru shrugged and looked over to Momiji. “You've talked to her a few times, haven't you? Did she give you a name?”

 

“Michael or something like that. Mom actually gave me a German name. I saw it on my birth certificate once. I think it was… I can't remember what it was. What do you think Haru's name would be?” the cow grunted and looked at the two from the corner of his eye.

 

“Harry, Henry, Hold on!” Momiji let go of Tohru's hand and grabbed his ringing cell phone out of his pocket.

 

“Hold on?” Tohru mouthed, trying not to laugh at the possibility of that being a name.

 

“Moshi, moshi!” the rabbit chirped and pulled the phone away from his ear as he started hearing yelling from the other side of the line. “Tohru-kun, I think it's for you.” Momiji offered the phone to Tohru and she took it hesitantly.

 

“Kyo?” she asked and the yelling immediately ceased. After a few moments' silence with a small scuffle sound over the phone, Shigure's chipper voice started up.

 

“Hello Tohru-kun. It's getting dark and we're wondering—well, the boys are wondering— if the dear princess needed rescuing?”

 

“No Shigure-san, we're on our way back. I had a few old friends that I ran across and it took a bit longer than I thought it would. Would you tell Kyo to put the fish into the wire pan and set the oven to three-fifty for twenty-five minutes? Thanks.” Tohru heard Shigure muffle the speaker and repeat the instructions to Kyo before uncovering the phone.

 

“He's on his grumpy way to do just as you asked. Where are you now?”

 

“We just left the School of the Arts and we're heading to the Honke and then to your house. I'll be home in about fifteen minutes.

 

“Okay, bye-bye.”

 

“Bye.” Tohru took the phone away from her ear and pressed disconnect, handing it back to Momiji. “Thank you both for escorting me this afternoon. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?” Tohru grabbed her bad from the dance hall and stuffed it into the duffle bag also. “I think I can make it home from here without getting lost. You guys should go before your guardians start to worry about you. Bye!” leaving no room for argument, Tohru turned down the road that would lead a straight shot to Shigure's house… through the woods. Taking out the black liquored box, Tohru hid one of the scythes underneath her skirt after holding it up for the boys to see.

 

Haru nodded and walked away, leading Momiji home. The rabbit followed Tohru's movements with a worried eye, but didn't chase after her. Giving one last glance over her shoulder, Tohru gave a `don't worry about me' smile before ducking into the woods.

 

(O)

 

Tohru and Momiji aren't ones to say bad words, but I just wanted to emphasize how much of a nuisance she is to them, so don't yell at me about that. Otherwise, I'd love to hear your comments on this story of which I have taken characters that I do not own and made them my own.

 

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