Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Butterfly Effect ❯ Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

 

“Are your parents okay about you guys helping me?” Tohru asked, sitting down the tea set on the low table in her bedroom.

 

Uo shrugged. “It's not like he can stop me anyway. Dad's so plastered that he doesn't know the difference between me an' mom sometimes.”

 

“Megumi and my parents wish us luck. Grandmother is sewing a cloak for you to wear afterwards.”

 

Tohru smiled somewhat, “I'm sorry about this, but it wasn't my choice. Can you tell Grandmother that it's in two days instead of next Friday? I guess they didn't want any more victims to pop up while they were waiting for me to get off my butt.”

 

Hana nodded, “I have informed them and they are worried, but send their well-wishes.”

 

Tohru smiled in relief, pouring tea for the three of them. “Tell them thank you for me. I wouldn't know what I'd do without their help sometimes.

 

“I will.”

 

“Argh!” Uo fluffed her hair in frustration. ”What are we waiting for? Let's just get this over with already!”

 

Tohru sipped her strawberry tea, “we're waiting for Kyo to get back from practice so that he can be part of the planning.”

 

“So kitty-boy is coming then, huh?” Uo smirked, throwing her tea back like it was a shot of liquor. Grimacing, she tried to soothe her scalded tongue.

 

“He wanted to come,” Tohru looked uncomfortable, “but he's only going to show up to help if it becomes an emergency. This is his first time helping, so it would be better to have him stand back.” The girls nodded in grim agreement before Uo turned to Hana.

 

“Did you bring the book?” Hana nodded and walked over to her overnight bag, pulling out a large tome and placed it on the table.

 

“Megumi held it in his collection for us. He hasn't touched it.”

 

“Good. We should get started before kitty-boy gets back then.” Uo said, pulling the book toward herself and opening to a bookmarked page. Tohru put her hand on the book, shutting it.

 

“We should wait for Kyo-kun. He should be part of the ceremony also.” Tohru insisted, placing the book under the table.

 

The other two gave Tohru a confused look but agreed anyway. About the spells and such, Tohru often knew the best way to pull them off. At least most of the time. Spreading out a large detailed map of Tokyo, Tohru set their full tea cups in three corners and the tea pot in the fourth, setting the boundaries of the red light district. “This is where we'll be working. The guy,” Tohru set the manila folder for the other two to read, “has hit in these places and the police estimate that he's going to strike here next.” She pointed out places where she put small red sticker dots. Pulling out a piece of paper with a hand-drawn map on it, Tohru pointed to an intersection. “I'm going to be standing here,” she traced her finger to the corner across the street, “Uo-chan is going to be here and Hana-chan will be on this roof corner,” Tohru traced her finger between two buildings and onto the roof of one of them. “This way, you can keep an eye on both of us, okay Hana-chan?” Hana nodded in agreement as Tohru put a small flower on the building, a fish on one corner and an onigiri on the opposite corner.

 

“So where's orangey and the detective gonna be?” Uo asked, looking at the hand-drawn map.

 

Tohru traced her finger along a complex set of turns on the street. “They'll go along this route that I've marked out in green. That means that they'll lap around in front of us every half-hour or so, but it'll only take a few minutes if the call goes up, how's that sound?” Uo sat back, against Tohru's bed, crossing her arms in grudging acceptance.

 

“He'd better not get in our way Tohru-chan. Carrot-top's your responsibility. You let him come along.” Tohru nodded, absently tracing the green marked pathway. “Is Princey coming also?”

 

“No. I can hold myself against all the girls at the station, but the fan club can be just vicious. I'd rather keep my skin than have them attack me for swaying him toward the forces of evil that the District is… and he refuses to dress in drag.” The other two burst out laughing, remembering their first year cultural festival where the upper class girls gave Yuki a dress to wear.

 

“Does he still have that dress?” Uo asked, trying to stop her giggles.

 

“No…”Tohru sighed dramatically, pouring herself another cup of tea, “but it made a fantastic bonfire though.” The three started laughing again, picturing the perfect Prince Yuki in war paint, dancing around a fire and chanting `burn, dreaded dress, burn!'

 

“It was such a nice dress though.” Hana sighed, he hand pressed to her cheek. Tohru nodded and poured more tea into Hana's cup.

 

“I offered to keep it, but he said no and burned it after dark. If I would have known he would have done that, I don't know if I would have grabbed marshmallows from the store, or hid the dress!”

 

“Hid the dress! Then he could have staked out that corner instead of me!” Uo joked, drinking her second cup of tea.

 

Tohru shrugged, hearing the front door slam shut. “Kyo-kun's home. When he gets done with his shower, then we can start on…”

 

“I will set out the bowls then, Tohru,” Hana offered, standing up and setting a bowl with a tea candle on each surface. The candles were various colors and gave off different colored flames as Uo followed behind and lit each one with her lighter.

 

“Heh, never thought smoking would have a good point, huh?” Uo smirked, lighting the last candle and watched the blue flame with green sparks dance. With the bowls cupped underneath, the flames lit up the entire room and made different spirals of color on the ceiling.

 

Rolling up the maps for later, Tohru placed them under the table and took out the book and a slightly larger bowl. “I still think it's a nasty habit though. And think of how messed up your body is without the nicotine on top of that.”

 

“Wasn't my fault I was sick when I was a kid. I think some of those drugs were more harmful than helpful back then.”

 

“That happens a lot. Just be glad that they didn't end up crippling you. I saw some kid the other day on the news where he had a bad reaction between two of his pills and he almost died because of a seizure. He's not expected to walk again.”

 

“Ouch. That sucks.” Tohru nodded in agreement, idly flipping through the different spells and their own notes in the margins.

 

“I'm surprised that we didn't throw this one out…” Tohru murmured, tracing the red lettering that titled the page.

 

“Which one?” Uo asked, peeking over Tohru's shoulder.

 

“'Love's First Kiss,'” Tohru read out loud, all three grimacing.

 

“Hey, did we ever say sorry to you?” Uo asked in a subdued manner.

 

“Yes, and I would have forgiven you even if you didn't. It was my idea in the first place, remember.” Tohru smiled, “and besides, it only affected me and it helps sometimes, you know?”

 

“Does the spell work?” Hana asked, watching as Tohru's face turned several shades of red.

 

“I-I wouldn't know.”

 

“Oh, poor Tohru, no kisses from the boys!” the two gave Tohru a hug, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

 

Untangling herself from the other two, Tohru answered her door and allowed an uncomfortable looking Kyo in. Looking around, he didn't know what to think of the various candles that glowed in the darkened room. Crossing his arms, he hid a small shudder as the hairs on the back of his neck rose.

 

Uo smirked, catching on Kyo's discomfort. “Welcome to our lair,” she whispered in his ear, “home of spells, curses and general mal-intent—“

 

“Uo-chan!” Tohru, “are you trying to scare him?” she was met with nods from both girls. Rolling her eyes, she opened the book to the right page and set it in front of the bowl in the middle of the table.

 

“Don't worry, they don't bite,” Tohru cringed, “often.” Uo gave a grin and Kyo shuddered, trying to back up. “You wanted to help, didn't you?” Tohru asked, not turning to face Kyo. “Then sit down. I promise that nothing permanent—I hope—will happen.”

 

“What do you mean `you hope'?” Kyo asked, narrowing his eyes as he sat down to Tohru's left. “Ow! Jeez, what was that for?” he rubbed his head from where Uo had plucked some of his hairs.

 

“Well,” Tohru untangled a few hairs from her hairbrush and put them into the bowl with Kyo's hairs, “it all depends on different things, like the relation of the people involved, how experienced they are casting the spell, the medium used, and older long-standing spells.” `And curses' Tohru left the words hanging for Kyo's sake. Her explanation didn't help in the least to ease his uneasy feelings.

 

“So you're new at this!?” Kyo yelped as Uo plucked another hair. “Stop doing that Yankee!”

 

“Sorry, I dropped your first ones,” she drawled, making a show to put his hairs into the bowl.

 

“We have done this particular spell and others before. But never with a male—or Sohma—before.” Hana explained, carefully unwinding a long black hair from her comb. “Your denpa waves are… different. The spell might turn out interesting.” She made a show of staring into Kyo's catlike red eyes.

 

“Hana-chan, you're scaring Kyo-kun.” Tohru admonished gently, turning off her overhead light and side table lamps. The effect was an eerie swirl of pale color, distorting everything from their daytime forms. Sitting back down at the table, Tohru lit a tapered candle in each of the corners before taking Uo's and Kyo's hands. Hana took Kyo and Uo's other hands so that they made a circle. “What we're doing, Kyo-kun, is making a spirit connection that'll last—hopefully—until we release it after the sting's done. All it'll do is make it easier to pinpoint each other with our thoughts,” Tohru looked sheepish and blushed, “at least, that's the best way to describe it. You'll see.” Humming, she released her right hand and used a dowel to stir the hairs.

 

“We summon the east.” Hana started.

 

“We summon the west.” Tohru continued.

 

“South, we request your presence.” Uo called out, and then looked at Kyo sheepishly.

 

“North, we need your help?” Kyo spoke, completely confused. Tohru smiled and squeezed his hand gently in approval. After a few silent moments, Tohru leaned over and whispered in Kyo's ear.

 

“Genbu!” he yelped, embarrassed that he had held up the ceremony.

 

“Suzaku!” Uo called, the red flame beside her seemed to glow brighter

 

“Byakko!” Tohru's skin tinted blue as her candle's flame jumped.

 

“Seiryu,” Hana became slightly paler as the white light glowed on her skin, opposite of Kyo's perceived artificial tan.

 

“We humbly request of the guardians their protection in our endeavor, for we are unsure of the conclusions.” Tohru prayed, pulling out a blonde, black and red hair, tying them together tight around her wrist. Each of the girls took one of each other's hairs and did the same thing, leaving three long hairs in the bowl for Kyo. Nervously, he reached in and wrapped the hairs together before tying them underneath his beaded bracelet. The hairs seemed to meld together, forming a single strand with no knot on it.

 

“What the?” he murmured, feeling a small shock as the strand touched the bracelet. Looking over at Kyo, Tohru's mouth flashed into a frown momentarily before she grabbed his hand. The others took the cue and joined hands also.

 

“We thank you for your assistance, please bless us and release us from the circle.”

 

Hana started up the cue again, “release us from the East.”

 

“Release us from the West.”

 

“Release us from the South.”

 

Kyo hesitated again before repeating what the girls said, “Release us from the North.”

 

 

The girls dropped hands and Tohru smiled widely. “You did great!” she hardly restrained herself from hugging the cat. “Are you okay, you look a little green.”

 

“I-I'm fine. Just don't do that again without warning me.” Kyo thumped Tohru on the head and a slight twinge of pain spasmed on his forehead. “What the?” Kyo muttered, rubbing his forehead where he hit Tohru.

 

“It is good to see that the spell worked.” Hana commented from where she was pinching out candles. “As long as nothing very harmful happens, there is nothing to worry about, ne?”

 

“That means no fighting until next week, eh kitty-boy?” Uo teased, an undertone of a threat floating on her voice.

 

“And no more hitting Tohru-kun,” Hana put in her two cents.

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kyo rubbed his head until the small twinge of pain dissipated. He didn't think that he hit that hard. He'd have to be careful if just by tapping Tohru he'd get a headache.

 

`More than just pain carries through the connection, Kyo-kun,' Tohru's voice floated through his mind as she sat down on her bed, `so be careful.' Looking around wildly, Kyo pinned Tohru with a look and she nodded in acknowledgement, seeing that her message got through.

 

“How'd you do that?” Kyo demanded, sitting down on her desk chair.

 

`Practice,' Tohru hummed and crossed her legs as she swung them over the edge of the bed. Curious, he touched Hana and Uo's minds, only to be met with a chaotic barrier and a splitting headache. “I forgot to warn you, with practice of mind-speech comes the practice of mind barriers.” She said apologetically, rubbing Kyo's temples gently.

 

“Gee, thanks for the warning…” he muttered, cringing internally.

 

“This is your first time doing this, that's why I don't have my shield up around you,” `So we can speak freely,' Tohru let loose a soothing sound as she touched heads with Kyo. “With the barrier up, we can't feel each other's pain or thoughts as much,” `like locking your bedroom door.' “I'll help you train while we're waiting around for the mission.” `So you can keep your secret.' “Okay?” Kyo nodded, leaning back slightly.

 

“Like this?” Kyo tentatively touched Tohru's mind and she closed her eyes to embrace it. Nodding, she released a tendril of power to stroke his thought.

 

“Good, try speaking now.” Tohru winced slightly as his first thought came through as a ball of static emotion that flashed the colors of confusion and fear.

 

“Tea?” Uo asked, gesturing to the empty tea pot on the table.

 

“Eh, what?” Tohru snapped out of her concentration to focus on Uo. “Oh!” she exclaimed, seeing the empty tea pot. “I'll go get some more! Do you want any snacks too? I think there's some left over onigiri from earlier if you want.”

 

“That would be fine Tohru-chan, thank you.” Hana smiled, brushing out her hair. The girls watched her go before pinning Kyo with a glare. “I finally figured it out.”

 

“What? What are you talking about?” Kyo asked, standing up in a defensive stance.

 

“What, no who you are, Kyo Sohma,” Hana walked toward the cat, “and all the rest of the Sohma too.”

 

“What are you talking about? There's nothing different about us! They're just nick names!” Hana nodded and smiled sweetly, stroking his cheek.

 

“Denying something, Kyo Sohma, only makes it that much more the truth. Don't you agree Uo-chan?” Uo nodded and walked over to sit on the end of Tohru's bed.

 

“It just makes sense now, with the fights and names and all… and the hair,” she commented after a moment. “Did you know that it was her favorite story as a kid, and her least favorite also? The last time we came over, that sleepover remember, you guys would disappear and Tohru's `pets' would all-of-a-sudden appear out of nowhere.” Uo mused, her finger to her chin, studying Kyo's changing facial expressions. “Tell me, does it hurt?”

 

“I don't have any clue about what the heck you're talkin' about Yankee!” Kyo hissed, slipping into a defensive position the best he could while he was cornered.

 

“So it does,” Hana whispered, watching Kyo's eyes, “I would suggest not activating your curse within the next few days if you can help it. If you hurt Tohru-chan, we can and will do worse.” Electricity snapped at the ends of Hana's loose hair, casting an ethereal glow around her. Kyo nodded, backing down.

 

“Don't worry kitty boy, as long as you don't hurt Tohru-chan, we won't tell anyone, okay?” Uo chirped, flopping down on Tohru's bed. “No, she didn't tell us. You just have weak barriers.” She smirked, speaking out loud calmly, while booming her voice in Kyo's mind, making his ears ring.

 

Sitting down, Kyo held his head in his hands, `what now?' he groaned to himself. Clips of Akito and Hatori's memory wipe technique flashed through his mind out of fear.

 

“'What now' is that you calm yourself and trust us. As long as you don't tell on us knowing, you don't have anything to worry about, do you?” Uo thought out loud, staring up at the ceiling. “And we can help you so nothing more slips. All four of us working together is faster than just you and Tohru-chan, ne?”

 

`First lesson,' Hana started, wrapping her mind around Kyo's, `barriers are only as strong as the creator. I will help you until you can make one of your own.' The mental static that had encroached on Kyo's mind faded away, leaving a sense of silence in its wake.

 

`Second lesson,' Uo picked up, `is that any mind can be picked through without much effort or notice unless the victim knows what to look for.' What felt like a needle-like wire threaded through his mind, touching various parts. `For example, I now know that you've lived at a dojo since you were little and you still can't beat princey!' Kyo scowled and closed his eyes, wishing away the needle-like probe. The probe faded away briefly to just barely brush his mind. `That's a start,' Uo nodded in approval.

 

`Next,' Hana took her turn, her mental probe felt more like a black cloth draped over his mind. `Find out what Tohru-chan's doing.' The command was simple, but it would take fine-honing and ignoring the other minds in the house, human or not. Nodding, Kyo closed his eyes and let his mind expand cautiously, not really used to the concept of `seeing' without his body.

 

`A equals the square root of 3 over four cubed…'

 

`High school girls! Pretty fillies in my house, high school girls!' Kyo shuddered at that and accidentally shoved Shigure into unconsciousness with his mind.

 

`Oh, hi Kyo.' Slight static had made Kyo's mental body spin in the turbulence of her emotions. Feeling her grimace, Tohru apologized. `It's the mission, sorry for making you mind-sick about that. Most of the time I'm not that harsh on `guests.' I'm coming up, okay?' Kyo felt the weight of the tray that Tohru carried through the connection.

 

`Be careful!'

 

`Don't worry,' she blew him a mental raspberry, `it's not that heavy.' Kyo's disapproval flew through the link before he could stop it. Sighing, Tohru looked at the stairs before climbing up them with the tray balanced between her hands.

 

Kyo retreated back into his mind before touching Tohru's gently. `I think I made the pervert pass out…” his embarrassment prevalent through the link.

 

Tohru nodded and stopped at the top of the stairs to adjust her grip. `You probably did. I'll see what I can do later.' Tohru sighed and brushed her mind against Yuki's and Shigure's minds just to make sure that nothing else happened. Yuki looked up sharply, but he didn't recognize the mental touch for what it was. Shigure was out like a light. `Then again, he needs to learn to sleep when the rest of the world does.' She drawled, opening her bedroom door.

 

Kyo couldn't help a snort of laughter at the un-Tohru-like comment. “Where'd that one come from?” he asked out loud.

 

“Everything has a limit when it comes to multi-tasking,” she set down the platter, “and patience. Now,” she grabbed an onigiri and the map, “we should tell Kyo-kun of the plans, ne?” the others nodded and Tohru unrolled the map. “We're working here, in the red light district.” She outlined the area with her finger. “I'm going to stand here, Uo-chan here, Hana-chan here, and you and Detective-san are going to take this green route in the car.”

 

“But what if you get in trouble?” Kyo interjected, a frown marring his face. “You'll get hurt.”

 

Uo snorted, trying to cover her laughter. “I'm more worried about the poor sap that tries to hit on her, not the other way around!”

 

“Yes, although we do not like it, our little Tohru-chan can look after herself if the need arises.” Hana leaned over and gave Tohru a hug.

 

“It's not further than a five-minute drive away at any time, Kyo-kun. And we have this now if anything really bad happens.” Tohru held up her wrist, where a barely discernable strand of dark hair wrapped around her wrist. Frowning, Kyo decided to let it go for now. “Now,” Tohru turned back to the map, “who can we talk to, to help?”

 

“Mama Sakura's pretty nice about these things.” Uo suggested, pointing to one building.

 

“It's too far from the path.” Tohru traced the route that it would take. “He'd become impatient or suspicious by then.”

 

“Then what about Mama Tsuki?”

 

“Too stiff.”

 

“Too old. What about Mama Taiyo?”

 

“Maybe. Is she finally legal?”

 

“…no… but what does that have to do with this?” Uo asked, throwing her hand into the air.

 

“To use their house, putting their girls in danger, we have to pay them compensation.”

 

“It would be unwise to allow the matron that helped us get arrested,” Hana reminded Uo. “It has been a while since we have talked to Mama Zugai, has it not?”

 

Uo shuddered but nodded, “she's definitely the safest person to ask, isn't she?”

 

“Not the cuddliest in the bunch, but she cares about her girls.” Tohru agreed, getting her pastel yellow pajamas out of her drawer. “I'm going to get ready for bed, and then we can start our `sleepover' okay?” Tohru grinned, heading to the bathroom to change and get ready. Almost as soon as Tohru shut the door, Uo lunged for the closet.

 

“It's got to be here!” she whispered excitedly, going through hangers of outfits. She pulled out one black and white one, “what the…” she narrowed her eyes and glared at Kyo, “what are you guys doing to her when we're not here?”

 

Kyo glared at the skimpy maid outfit and scoffed. “The Rat's brother and the pervert thought it would be a good white day gift when Tohru moved in.”

 

“He is the one that did the costumes for our performance, was he not?” Hana asked, inspecting the stitching on the bottom hem of the skirt. “He truly does wonderful craftsmanship.” Uo nodded, still glaring at the dress as she put it away.

 

“Eureka!” she exclaimed, pulling out a shoe box labeled `blue' that was shoved in the back corner of the closet. Lifting the outfit out of the box by the top of the tube top. “nice. The material's not too worn, and the leather'll stop any blows if anything bad happens.”

 

“It's good that the leather's not worn. I haven't been able to wear that more than a few times ever.” Tohru commented, shutting the door behind her and placing her dirty clothes in her hamper. “If it was worn out, then I'd know that some other girl was wearing my clothes.”

 

“I should go now…” Kyo mumbled, standing up.

 

“You can stay Kyo-kun; we're just going to play Dai Hn Min.” Tohru smiled, subtly blocking the doorway. `And help you practice blocking your mind.' She added silently. “This game, anything goes, bracelets included,” she held up her wrist with the hair wrapped around when Kyo glanced at his beads.”

 

“I'm gonna wipe the floor with ya, kitty-boy,” Uo taunted, “unless… you're too chicken to play!”

 

Kyo sat down across from Uo and glared, picking up his cards as Hana doled them out between the four of them. “You're going down, Yankee!”

 

(O)

 

Bleh, I had this written a while ago, but not the last page or so. Gomen ne for the wait. Dark