Hey guys. Just a short one shot centering around Rin and Kyo (don't worry - I'm not pairing them up!). Contains manga spoilers.
Disclaimer: The amazing, wonderful, and ingenious Natsuki Takaya owns Fruits Basket. If I did, no one would read past the first three chapters. *coughs* 'Nuff said.
Enjoy, my dears!
"Happy Birthday, Yuki!" Hatsuharu exclaimed as he entered through the door of Shigure's house.
The grey haired boy simply turned around and gave the former ox of the zodiac a small, polite smile. "Thank you for coming, Haru. I really appreciate it. I hope I didn't cause you any trouble by asking you and Rin to come at the last minute."
"No, it wasn't a problem at all. Right Rin?" Haru asked the beautiful dark haired girl next to him. Rin scowled in response and looked away.
Yuki chuckled and said, "It's nice to see you here, Rin. I haven't seen you that much since..." Yuki trailed off and looked away while Rin flinched in memory. It was a tacit understanding; they all knew what he meant. When Rin got out of that living hellhole, that cat's prison, and started to begin feeling the taste of freedom after so many long, harsh years.
Rin looked down at her boots and did something unexpected. She held Yuki's hand and said softly, "I know. I'm sorry we haven't really seen each other that often. But...happy birthday."
Yuki smiled once again squeezed her hand. "Thank you." Rin then abruptly pulled away and said to Haru, "I'm going to...greet the others. It's been a while since I've seen them too."
Haru kissed her forehead and said, "Alright. But make sure you don't over exert yourself or eat anything that will upset your stomach."
Rin laughed a small, gentle laugh, that sounded like the cool wind of an autumn day and said, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."
She walked away quickly in long, proud strides, still resembling the haughty, stubborn, strong, and proud horse she used to be.
Yuki looked around the room, where his family and all his loved ones were. There were streamers and balloons everywhere, and a huge banner was placed on the wall reading, "Happy Birthday, Our Dear Prince!" Dozens of delicacies lined the room, carefully prepared by Tohru herself. Yuki initially hadn't wanted such a grand celebration, - he just wanted a small dinner and some gardening time alone - but agreed to it when Machi begged him to (he could never say to no to her).
Yuki looked at the retreating figure of the raven haired girl in the distance and smiled. He felt utterly complete. Haru looked at him and asked, "Nande?" The prince shook his head and said, "It's just nice hearing her laugh."
Haru smiled and said, "She's changed. Ever since the curse broke...ever since that day when she crawled out of the hospital and came back to me...she's been different. She's kinder, and tells me what she's feeling a bit more often now. She's still recovering, but slowly, bit by bit, she's starting to open up to people more."
Yuki looked at Haru's dreamy expression and hit his head. "Baka. You are so hopelessly in love."
Haru simply sighed and said, "I know."
Rin weaved through the crowd trying not to attract to much attention. The crowd was starting to bother her; ever since she was trapped in the cat's room she became claustrophobic, and this was certainly not helping.
She was never one for socializing - that was Haru's job. She preferred keeping to herself and never bothered talking to anyone at the family banquets.
She found it a bit difficult breathe and was starting to feel sick; she needed to go outside. She didn't want to go back to Haru. Although it was foolish of her to think, even now, she felt like she was a burden on Haru, and didn't want to bother him.
Ritsu's mother, Okami, who had made the trip from her hot springs just for Yuki's birthday, noticed the beautiful girl breathing heavily.
"Rin! How lovely to see you! I've barely seen you these past few years, and my my, what a beautiful girl you've grown into! You don't look so well, though. Oh you need to eat some more food!" Okami went on fussing over Rin and examining her skinny form.
"Oh, and you definitely -" "I'm sorry, Okami-san," Rin said weakly, cutting the older woman off. "But could you excuse me for a while? I'm not feeling well."
Okami started having a panic attack. "It was me, wasn't it?! You don't want to stay here because I've been annoying and insufferable and I'm so sorry! I'M SORRY! WAHHH! ACCEPT MY APOLOGY!" Ritsu caught sight of his mother panicking and immediately came over.
"So so sorry, Rin!" Ritsu apologized, on the verge of an anxiety attack himself. He regained control of himself and said soothingly, "Come mother, let's go to some place relaxing," leading his mother away.
'Relaxing,' Rin thought, suddenly remembering her own issues. She started feeling sick again, and made a dash for the door to the roof. Once she was outside, she immediately began to relax.
The moon was out, and shining brilliantly. The muscles in Rin's face relaxed and she smiled dreamily. The queasiness in her stomach began to fade away.
She stayed like that for a few minutes, simply enjoying her solitude, until she heard the door open quietly.
Rin whipped her head around in surprise and looked to see who was there. 'Oh,' Rin thought, rolling her eyes, 'It's just that stupid cat Kyo.'
The red head glared furiously at her from where he was standing and snarled, "What's with rolling your eyes like that?! I mean, what the hell are you doing up here anyways?! Shouldn't you be with Haru or Tohru or something?!"
Rin just scowled at him and said coldly, "I was trying to get away from putrid idiots like you. Besides, I could ask the same of you." Rin looked away, then back again at Kyo. Her eyes softened and she said, "I mean...I was just trying to get away from the family. They can be a little...suffocating, you know?"
Kyo stared at her for a moment, a bit taken back by her softness and honesty, and then replied, "Yeah." He sat down next to Rin, his reddish-orange hair waving in the wind and asked, "Are you ok? You seem a little...different."
Rin laughed and said, "Actually, I've never been better. For the first time in forever, I feel happy."
Kyo stared off into the distance. "The roof's a great place to think about things. I come up here all the time whenever I'm mad at that rat, or I'm just messed up about something."
Rin looked at him strangely. He never really talked about himself, or tried to make a conversation, or even offered up things like this. She said, "You've changed too, you know. We've both become a little kinder. A little more...open with others." She said jokingly, "I think Tohru's been influencing us."
Kyo laughed and muttered, "You're damn right about that. But just because I'm a little kinder," he continued, "Doesn't mean that I'm gonna let my enemy use this place too!"
Rin raised an eyebrow and said skeptically, "You're still hung up on that childhood grudge of ours?"
"Of course I am!" Kyo yelled. Rin flipped her hair and said haughtily, "Just because I'm clearly Kazuma-san's favorite student?"
"Oh, you shut the hell up! You are so not!" Kyo argued.
"Am too," Rin replied.
"Are not."
"Am too."
It went like that for a while. They kept arguing and bickering like they were little children again, tasting the tender childhood that was harshly taken away from both of them, at such young ages. They talked about random things; about school, life, the future...the broken curse.
Under the dark curtain of stars, Rin felt safe, loved, warm, happy...and at home. A feeling she hadn't felt in such a long time.
"Thank you," she quietly said to Kyo. He looked at her confused and asked, "Why are you thanking me?"
"Thank you," she started, "For making me feel like a kid again. I haven't felt like that in a long time." She shuddered, remembering her mother's warm words and her father's endearing caresses. Then how it cruelly transformed into insults and slaps. Curses and bruises.
Kyo softly said, "Yeah, it's been a while since I've felt that way too." He remembered the soothing touches of his mother and how it was harshly taken away from him the day she stepped onto the train tracks.
Kyo shook those thoughts out of his head and focused on how happy he was at the moment. He stood up and looked down at Rin.
"We should probably get back to the party," he said, holding out his hand.
Rin took it and smiled. "Yeah."
Lovely? Disgusting? Amazing? Horrible? I'm open to ALL opinions, so please, don't hesitate to drop a review, any review! I'm still a pretty new writer, so reviews are very important to me.
Stay tuned, I'm working on a multi-chap story for this fandom, and am planning to post it soon. Also, I'd appreciate it if anyone would check out my other Furuba one shot, titled "To Shatter and to be Shattered." Until then,
~Queen Ore-sama ^_^