Disclaimer:Of course I don't own fruits basket. I just LOVE reading it.
A/N:This is my first Furuba fanfic, so please review and tell me what you think!
Recollections
Chapter 1:
"Did you see the girl—with the long black ponytail—who was staring at you yesterday?"
"Oh my dear Gure-san, it is only natural for me to receive such admiration from all people, regardless of their gender! My speech yesterday to the teacher was highly eloquent and articulate as all my speeches of course, so I cannot say that I'm surprised by this little piece of information."
"There is no doubt about that, Aya. But actually, I was directing the question to Hatori."
"Huh?" Hatori mumbled, raising his head in confusion from the table to face Ayame and Shigure. He had almost fallen asleep on the table; since Ayame's only reason for wanting to be the school council president was to display his royal and imperious attitude, Hatori—the vice president—was left to do all the actual work of the council. Yesterday, particularly, he had to convince the teacher that the first year students' quarrel was really settled. But Ayame's speech complicated the originally simple matter in the teacher's head, and this made it rather more difficult for Hatori to unravel everything for the teacher.
"The girl," Shigure repeated to Hatori, "didn't take her eyes of you—not even for a fraction of a second."
"Tori-san! I believe this is an undeniable sign of love! You must, as fast as possible, know this girl and follow her!" exclaimed Ayame triumphantly. "Oh how ecstatic I feel for I will finally see my best friend overwhelmed by the inevitable passionate desire all young men feel!"
Hatori didn't bother to reply to Ayame. He rolled his eyes and sipped more from his cup of tea.
"Hatori," Shigure said, "I think Aya is somewhat right. Look at us, we don't run away from every girl we're attracted to—
"Precisely!" Aya yelled, slamming his fist onto the table so hard that the teacups crashed down on the floor and broke into small pieces all over the ground. Aya continued anyway, "You cannot be so ashamed of your zodiac animal as to avoid meeting with the girl of your dreams!"
Shigure chuckled at Ayame's apparently serious remark, and added sarcastically, "that's true—no matter how shameful it is to be possessed by the dragon's spirit and transforming instead into a little helpless seahorse."
"Aya, I don't think any girl would continue talking to a guy that turns into an animal—regardless of the type of the animal—every time he's hugged by her," Hatori said calmly.
"This is not fair! You must not disregard all the intense and amorous feelings you will be missing if you keep on thinking the way you do! Don't you agree, Gure?"
"Definitely," Shigure agreed, nodding and smiling.
Hatori sighed heavily. Even if what his friends had told him was true and there was a girl out there who liked him, would he be feeling happy? He'd feel like a fraud, he thought. He'd be keeping this horrible secret from her and deceiving her because he knows that if she finds out she'll never get close to him again. If she finds out, she'll be revolted, maybe even hurt—disillusioned.
It was his pale eyes. She was unable to think of anything else. One look at them pulled her into another mystic dimension. They were so thoughtful, yet so solemn.
If there was a word that could describe her, it would be determined—and she knew it. She knew, from the moment she saw him, that she would do anything in her power to be close to him.
As she continued to mull over the memory of seeing Hatori, a sudden sharp ringing made her start and fall over from her chair. The girls' laughter made her remember that she was still in school and she realized slowly that the jolting noise was nothing more than the bell's ring. She got to her feet hastily, and left the classroom. The laughter was fading now, and she started to slow down. A voice called out from far behind her,
"Manami, wait up!"
Manami turned around to face her friend, whose face was turning red from the exhaustion of running. Shinada was never a great athlete. Her too slim figure and weak muscles never allowed her to run a short distance without getting breathless.
"What is it, Shin?"
"I wanted," she said, still panting, "to talk to you. I'm the new student council president. And I want—
"Oh, that's great!" Nami exclaimed. "That means you're gonna be busy from now on, and maybe we won't have a lot of time to hang out as we've been doing for almost two years now. But I'm still so happy for you! I mean I know how much you—
"Nami! I didn't finish. Kazumi, the vice-president, just quitted, so I was thinking maybe you'd like to fill in her place…"
"Are you kidding? I'd love to! I mean this school seriously needs some changes. The first thing I'll do is expel Kazumi and her stupid too-girly superficial friends. Oh just picture this with me, a school without Kazumi!"
Shin shook her head hopelessly. She knew that this was just the way things worked in Nami's mind. To her, there were basically two categories for people: the superficial people group which were characterized by people who their faked charming looks and outrageous actions have driven them to popularity, and the intellectual people group which didn't belong to the first group.
"Nami, the student council doesn't posses the authority to expel students," Shin looked at the ground intensely as she continued; "maybe Kazumi isn't so bad. I actually feel sorry for her. She looked different today when she quitted. Almost anguished,"
"You are too kind, Shin. I don't think Kazumi deserves any of your concerns."
Nami and Shin walked on silently to their houses, until a sudden thought crossed Nami's mind and she shrieked as if she just heard that world war III started.
"What's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Shin asked, panicked.
The look of shock on Nami's face started to transform slowly into the most juvenile grin Shin had yet seen.
"Being part of the student council means organizing school events with the boys' school student council!"
Shin still looked anxious and didn't comprehend the point Nami was trying to make.
"The Sohma's are in the student council."
"I thought you hated the Sohma's. Especially the president—Ayame," Shin colored as she said this for reasons Nami didn't understand, and was too excited to analyze.
"That was before I met a Sohma that was completely different. Yesterday, as I was passing by the boys' school, I saw a bunch of students crowding over someone in the middle, and as I got closer, I recognized that Sohma's long white hair in the middle. He was telling some long dramatic story to a teacher—a lie, I suppose, to get him out of some trouble. And just when I was about to leave, I saw a guy that looked too mature to be Ayame's friend, yet he was standing next to him and to that other blacked hair guy! So I finally asked one of the students and he told me that the guy was Ayame's cousin and was named Hatori," Nami took a long breath after finishing, and waited for a response from Shin.
Shin, who was nodding and smiling at Nami, said nothing but, "that's good."
Even though that response was short, it was long enough to encourage Nami to carry on talking. Nami described Hatori's eyes and kept on doing so. Shin kept on listening until they reached their houses and had to part away.
A/N: So I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of "Recollections". If you like it then please review and if you don't then please review too and tell me what you don't like about it—maybe I can improve. I'll submit chapter two soon.