Disclaimer
Sadly, fate hasn't been nice enough to allow me to own any of the Fruits Basket Characters. They belong to Takaya-senpai...
Chapter 1 – Cursed Fates Intertwine
How irritating! Doesn't the city's zoning department have any consideration for people that are forced to walk this road? I just shake my head as I look upon the massive amount of destruction that has befallen the street I typically walk down at 3:04pm on any given Tuesday. It was corner to corner, touching each light post. The smell was almost unbearable. Sure they were replacing the water lines… Smelled like they were replacing more than that! Retreating from the smell, I decided to cut around the block and access the road from further on down. This has added almost two minutes on to my trip! Inconsiderate people really bug me.
As I trudged around the side road I notice the rather large building across the street that until just now, I had forgotten about. It was a school, reasonably close to the size of the one I attend but this one had one minor difference. Unlike mine, this one had a population consistent entirely of females. It was a private girl's grade school. Some of my more ignorant classmates referred to it as cootie central but I don't usually concern myself with such things… or people for that matter. The building itself sat on rather nice grounds and took up a full two city blocks. I watched the flow of girls leaving the building rather casually as I walked down the sidewalk to approach my desired road.
That's when it happened. I saw HER! Her hair, a light golden-brown color, flowed to her shoulders. The only place this elegant pattern was interrupted was in two long locks of hair on each side of her head towards the front. She was walking by herself leaving the school. There was a large pile of books in her arms. She glanced briefly in my direction before turning left and continuing down the sidewalk. I don't even know if she was looking at ME or not. I was surprised to find that her eyes were the same color as her hair. She seemed to keep her head down as she walked through and I found that a little odd. Maybe she just had a rough day.
After snapping myself out of my daze I realized that I had walked right past the street I had desired to turn on. Cursing my own stupidity I decided to just continue on and catch the next road. Besides, I was curious about this young girl that was walking parallel to me. After a little while of monitoring her I noticed a couple of other girls approaching quickly from behind her. Maybe they wanted to talk with her? Girl talk had always irritated me. All they seemed to be able to speak of was cute things, other peoples business, and themselves. I mostly avoided talking with them but of course that wasn't the only reason…
Wait? Something was happening. My attention snapped back to reality quickly. I could hardly hide my shock as the two girls didn't slow down in the least. They collided with her back and she went plummeting to the pavement. She didn't hit very hard but her books were scattered across the sidewalk. From my position I could hear the girls relatively clearly, "Watch where your going, Blondie!" They were taunting her? That was horrible. And how could they call that lovely shade of brown… blonde? I stopped myself mid-thought. Why was I having these thoughts? I shook my head and tried to continue onward. This wasn't my problem. If the girl refused to defend herself then she deserved what she got. I couldn't help myself though and I glanced towards her again. The girls walking the same sidewalk at best would ignore her entirely and walk around her. Sometimes they would step on her books as they walked past laughing at her. I felt this… anger… build up in me. How can you treat her like that?
Before I could realize my actions I found myself crossing the street. I was now walking towards her like so many girls had before. As I got closer I noticed that her eyes had become watery and she was starting to cry. Oh great! Now what do I do? Absently I reached into my coat pocket and withdrew one of the tissues I had. My nose sometimes reacted poorly to the changing temperature this time of year so I usually carry a small supply. Never thought I would be giving them to someone else though. She was starting to gather up her books when she noticed my approach. She instinctively moved her arms out of the way assuming I was another girl to trample her precious books. Stupid girl! You shouldn't be so submissive to others.
For a moment she just sat there, waiting for me to run her books over and move on. Then she seemed to notice that I had stopped moving and very slowly and timidly glanced up at me. At this point I am holding the tissue out to her and trying to put on my best smile. I never have been very good at smiling but I will get into that later. She stared up at me in almost disbelief for a moment before reaching up and grabbing the tissue. I can barely hear a whispered, "Thank you…" before she starts to wipe her eyes.
I start to gather her books up as she is composing herself. I finished gathering them into one neat pile and stood up. I hear a sharp intake of breath from the girl as I stand and she quickly follows me. She seemed to regain her voice enough to say, "Please don't!" I try to think of what she doesn't want me to do. My confusion must have shown through in my face because she tilted her head slightly to the side with a questioning look. I suddenly realized! She thought I was going to take her books. A pained feeling flooded through me as I tried to smile at her again. I think a little too much sadness came through in the smile but I handed her books back anyway… She seemed completely stunned, like it was unfeasible how anyone could just give back her books. I gave her a slight nod before continuing past her towards my house. I can almost feel her questioning eyes on my back as I walked on.
Wednesday
Why am I doing this? It's silly, I don't even know if she is AT school today! I screamed these thoughts at myself as I watched. Here I find myself again. Standing on the corner where I made my detour yesterday. This time is different though. I'm waiting for a rather silly girl to come out of the school. Yes. You guessed it, the same one as yesterday. I am about to give up hope when I finally see her. She left the school in a slight hurry, seeming to be late for something. She turned onto the sidewalk without looking this time carrying an almost identical, if not the same, pile of books.
I followed her rapid pace along my side of the street. I wondered if she will turn at the corner or just continue. Then I see him. A boy is waiting around the corner of the school wall. He might be waiting for her. That might be why she's rushing. I felt rather stupid at that point. Of course she would have someone wait for her after what happened yesterday. I find out shortly that I am only half right. Just as she passed the end of the school fence he stepped out and pretended to walk into her. The force of the blow was enough to send her sprawling on the pavement. Her books went flying again and a couple landed in the road. She started to crawl towards the ones in the road when the boy started shouting at her, "Watch where you're going you stupid girl!"
I extremely doubted the validity of that comment and found myself crossing the road again as I did yesterday. By the time I got close enough to clearly see the situation; a number of girls had stopped and were giggling at her. She was laying there amidst her spilled books, crying. There was a deep cut on her right elbow and she was still trying to get the books in the road. She looked so helpless crawling like that. I walked around the crowd of girls and picked up the two books that fell into the road. She watched the books in my hand as I approached her, then looked up. It would seem she recognized me from yesterday for her eyes widened when she saw my face. I smiled down at her. The boy was demanding apologies from her when I approached and handed her the books. He glared up at me and I was quick to return it. Just because she was too timid to protect herself doesn't mean I couldn't help her. I walked around the girl, careful to avoid stepping on any of the books and stood between her and the boy. She rotated as I walked around her, staring at me with a wondering expression on her face.
I stopped when I directly interposed him and the girl and declared calmly with a slightly icy tone, "I don't see why she would have to apologize for being the subject of your tormenting."
The boy looked stunned that I had actually questioned his obviously favorable taunting of the girl, and then his eyes narrowed. "She owes me an apology for running into me!"
I had to stop myself from laughing over that one. Did he really think I was so stupid? I retaliated, "Oh really? I can't remember reading about a law that states that. Hmm…" I shifted to the right so my side was facing him and pretended to ponder for a couple moments, before continuing, "And besides. From my view over there," I gestured towards the other side of the street, "I saw you run into her." I rotate my head sideways to watch him at an angle before continuing, "Thus, if this so called "law" of yours exists, then YOU would owe HER the apology…"
He starts to shake with rage. I heard an intake of breath from behind me and assumed it's the girl. He almost growled, "Why don't you just mind your own business and move on?"
My initial opinion of him was correct after all. He was an idiot. I shook my head and responded, "I am simply trying to point out my observations. I try to save you money later on and you tell me to leave…"
The boy looked rather confused now and seemed to think for a little bit before speaking again, "Wha… What do you mean?"
I casually glanced down at the girl's right arm and then looked back at him with the same snide smile before continuing, "With the proper lawyer she could press that for assault and battery. That would make quite a bit of money for her…"
The boy started to look scared. He glanced around nervously, backing away a couple of steps before turning and fleeing. I'm laughing in my head the entire time. After a brief moment of amusement watching him run, I turned my attention to the girl again. She stared up at me in awe from the sidewalk, tears flowing down her cheeks. I shot a quick glare into the crowd of girls and they started to dissipate, walking in the other direction as if afraid of me. I absolutely despise people that act like vultures. I kneeled down to the girl on the sidewalk and handed her another tissue. This time she smiled at me and took it without hesitation… At least she remembered who I was. I picked up the rest of her scattered books and formed them into a neat pile. This time I put the pile down in front of her and held my hands up, face level with her, smiling. Yes, I am trying my hardest not to be accused of stealing them this time. She smiled, blushed slightly and looked down at the pile.
"Sorry about last time but I'm used to…" she hesitates there. It's still the sweetest and most innocent voice I have ever heard. The only thing that I could match it up with would be an angel in human form. I stop there again; surprised to hear myself think these thoughts. It's not like I actually like her or anything. I just pity her I tell myself.
I smiled at her, "Don't worry about last time, no harm done." I tried to explain to her. As I am trying to make her feel better I notice that her arm is bleeding a little bit. I pulled out another tissue and extended it out towards her. She looked at me, obviously confused, so I pressed the tissue gently to her wound. She winced slightly when it made contact but reached down and held it there. She smiled up at me but then looked down at her books and lost her smile.
I suddenly realized that if she is clutching the tissue to her arm that she won't be able to carry her books. I reach down without thinking and take the entire pile into my arms, standing up. She stands as well and looks at me with questioning eyes. I think I was looking at myself in the same manner. I told her, "Don't worry. I will carry these for you. Just lead the way!" adding a happy flare onto the last part. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically. My doubt washed away when I saw her nod like that.
I carried the pile of books the entire way to her house. I found out she actually didn't live that far from my house but I remained silent about that. We talked about all sorts of things and I discovered that she also likes Anime. Towards the end of the walk I asked her if things like earlier happen a lot. She started to look sad again and I silently cursed myself, not that I needed any more.
"It happens more often than I would like…" she comments. I looked over at her and she wore a sad expression but when she looked back up at me she was smiling. She continued, "Of course, you helped me out a lot today!" She laughed after saying this and looked back at me. I smiled at her and nodded. She blushed, "Thank you." She looked down at the ground when she said that.
"Don't mention it!" I happily told her. I didn't dare mention that the combine weight of the stack of books AND my backpack was starting to be a bit much but just kept smiling. Why do I even bother? She refused to stick up for herself.
"Well, we're here…" she commented and I could almost hear a hint of sadness in her voice, like she didn't want to stop talking with me. I never got a chance to ask her if she wanted to talk more because her mother, who was extremely worried that she was so late I found out later, saw her from the door and rushed out into the yard.
"What on earth happened to your arm? Who is this boy? Why is he carrying your books? Why are you so late?" flooded from her mouth. I tried to pretend I'm not there. I was pretty sure that it was a bad idea to carry her books for her but if I could just escape before she… My attention snapped back to reality when I heard talking.
The girl looked down at the ground when she said, "I had a small accident and hurt my arm. This boy helped me by carrying my books home for me…" I frowned at this statement but then noticed that her mother was looking at me so I changed my face back to smiling. Why didn't she tell her mother about the boy? I extended the pile of books towards the girl's mother. Her mother's expression went from scowling to smiling at me.
"Well… Thank you for helping my daughter. Would you like to come inside for something to eat?" she offered. My mind screamed "yes" but as usual, my logic won out.
"No thank you. My mother is probably worried about me by now. I am after all a half an hour late as of NOW…" I said in a joking manner. Less than a half a second later, I regret ever saying those words. The girl's mother looked sad again and glanced over at the girl with a smile that can't hide her true feelings. The girl took a sharp intake of breath and stared at me, stunned. I quickly said, "Don't worry about it though! I'm just glad I could help!" An awkward silence prevailed and after a few long seconds I declared that I had better get going now. Why was she so touchy? It's not like she really owes me for fending the boy off.
"Well let's go in and clean you up…" I hear her mother say as I walk off. I stopped all of a sudden and felt like a complete idiot. I never asked what her name was… I started to turn around to ask but they already disappeared inside the house. It would be too awkward for me to go up and knock now. I went the last couple of blocks home mentally kicking myself.
Thursday
I am starting to make a habit of this. Why I care so much I don't know but I again find myself taking the same detour even though they released the blockade on the sidewalk after this morning. This time I am casually waiting on a bench watching the school entrance. The same girl came out with the same stack of books. I couldn't help but smile. She turned left down the sidewalk again, completely oblivious to my existence. I shook my head and stood up, following my usual path parallel to her across the street. Maybe if she was more observant she wouldn't get into so much trouble I thought. I sighed when I saw the same boy approaching her from behind. This time I crossed the street consciously and followed silently behind the boy. Some people are so stupid that they need to learn the same things more than once I tried to tell myself.
He reached the girl and grabbed her violently by the shoulder and spun her around. I felt myself start to get angry and I had a strong urge to crush the boy into the sidewalk with my martial arts but I wanted to try for a peaceful solution again.
"Your boyfriend ain't here to protect you today, girl! You had better consider apologizing to me this time or I might really get mad!" could be heard from where I was standing.
"No! Please…" I heard a scared whine come from behind him. I resisted growling and instead tap him on the shoulder from behind.
He spun around quickly and saw me standing there with probably the stare of death on my face. That expression I'm good at. I saw the girl peek around him and see me. Her face brightened almost immediately. The boy's face however whitened by several shades. I held up three fingers to his face and said, "One, You should never assume that people are in a relationship. Two, "ain't" is not a word and should never be used by someone who has passed first grade. Three, you must really want to lose money if you are bugging her again." As I made these three points I dropped the respective finger until I am left with none and just staring at him. He backed away from my stare a couple steps. I moved my arm in-between the girl and him, and she slid to the right to put herself mostly behind me. I kept moving my arm to mostly shield her from the boy.
"I didn't touch her today so you just shut your mouth!" he stuttered out. Inside I am just shaking my head. Some people could be so ignorant. Ignorant people irritate me.
"You really don't know much about laws do you? Even if you didn't do anything to her today she can still sue you for what you did YESTERDAY…" I rolled my eyes.
"I… I knew that!" he yelled defensively. After a couple of second of looking hesitant he continued, "HEY! Are you calling me stupid?"
"No, I said you didn't know much about laws. You called yourself stupid… not me." I retorted. Too easy I thought.
By now the boy is visibly shaking with anger. I suddenly felt the girl put her hands on my arm. I get a little concerned when she does this because bad things would happen if she got any friendlier with me. I had better wrap this up quickly… I was shocked out of my thinking when the boy grabbed the front of my shirt all of a sudden. He lifted me off the ground.
"I should just rip you in half you little brat! Then there wouldn't be anyone left to help her! You think the other girls of this school care what happens to her?" he growled. I mentally stored this information.
I felt more anger building in me when I said, "You had better be careful… This is a much worse case of assault and battery. Also you should never underestimate your opponent for he might be beyond your skill level and there are plenty of witnesses here to prove that you were threatening me first…" I gave him the icy stair of death that matched my tone of voice. The boy's eyes couldn't have gotten bigger. He dropped me almost instantly and fled in the other direction.
I turned around to the girl again. She was crying again but smiling at the same time. There was no point in me trying to figure out how this was possible. I made a comment that I was going to run out of tissues with her around as I handed her one. She blushed deeply as she took it. I suddenly noticed that she didn't have her stack of books and glanced at the ground where she was standing previously. Sure enough, the books were in their usual spot… the ground. I sighed as I stacked them into a neat pile and picked them up. It wouldn't be a surprise if they didn't last the school year. She held out her arms to accept the books but I just smiled at her and walked on towards her house.
"Hey… I don't need you to carry them today…" she said timidly with a slight laugh in her voice. Why did I find this situation amusing?
"I just felt like it", I declared as I shrugged. I heard footsteps rapidly catching up to me and she slowed down when she was walking beside me. Why was I doing this? Various screamed thoughts were going through my head. Do I really feel this sorry for her?
"Thanks…" she said, still rather timidly. Her walking to the left of me gave me an excellent view of her right arm. I noticed the place where she got scraped was heavily bandaged. I couldn't recall the cut being THAT big.
"Um… Went a little over-zealous on the bandages?" I asked casually, glancing down at her arm as she looked over at me.
"Well… Mother can be a bit… over-protective of me every once in a while." She comments. So can mine but she probably has slightly different reasons.
I waited about ten seconds through silence before saying, "I never have gotten your name…" I wasn't quite expecting the results. She stopped… completely. I turned around when I noticed she wasn't moving and stared questioningly at her.
"I'm so sorry!" she blurted out. I couldn't hide my look of surprise. She continued, "You helped me so many times and I never even told you my name?"
I didn't know what else to do so I just shook my head and told her, "Its ok… I was just curious if you could tell me now?" So she did think she actually owed me for all the small things I did…
She smiled at me before answering, "My name is Kisa, nice to meet you… um…" She tilted her head to the side slightly looking at me.
"Hiro, call me Hiro." I exclaimed. Kisa huh… I think I liked that name... She walked up to me again.
"Thank you for all you have done for me Hiro!" she almost cheers. I can't help but smile further. We turned back towards her house and continued walking.
During the trip I worked up enough guts to finally ask, "Why didn't you tell your mother about the boy that was bothering you yesterday, Kisa?"
"Well…" she said hesitantly, "Mother gets worried about me a lot and I don't like to make people worried."
"But if you just get it over with and tell her that you're being teased maybe she can do something about it and you wouldn't have to worry about it anymore?"
"Yes well… you seem to be taking care of most of my problems so I'm not too worried about it." I somehow doubted that the few events after school were "most" of her problems…
"Oh? I'm supposed to come by every day and escort you home because you don't want to tell your mother about the bully?" That came out a little snider than I would have wished.
Kisa looks down at the ground before continuing, "Well it gives me an excuse to talk to and be around you."
I was a little stunned. She wanted to be around me? Why? I decided to continue to try to hide some of my shock, "Well you don't need an excuse to hang around me if you want to…" Oops… Well that's what I get for talking before thinking again.
Kisa stopped walking all of a sudden and looked over at me. I was expecting this so I was already stopped. She looked at me with a slightly surprised expression on her face and asked, "Really?"
Why not? I had already partially blown it. I replied as nonchalantly as I could muster, "Of course! I actually don't live that far from you."
Kisa's eyes widened further and she exclaimed, "Awesome! I will ask my mom after I eat diner!" She looked really excited and I found myself smiling. I also was crying inside because I doubted this would turn out well and I didn't want her getting hurt.
Even though we walked the rest of the way to her house in silence the air was charged with electricity. Her energy had reached new levels. I started to wonder how many people actually wanted to be her friend. I realized that we were running late again when her mother greeted her at the door. I handed her books back to her and she took them inside. Kisa's mother was smiling at her as she walked upstairs to her room. She then turned around and looked at me.
"Kisa seems to like you. She doesn't get the chance to make many friends but I hope you will give her a chance. No matter how clumsy she can be sometimes…" her mother said calmly but with a slight sliver of sadness in her eyes. I realized that clumsy actually applied to her shyness and nodded. I found myself wondering how she had gotten this way.
A minute or so later Kisa came back and introduced me officially to her mother. I had planned ahead this time and informed my mother that I might be a little late as I might be stopping by a friend's house for lunch. She of course, like all mothers, teased me and said I should bring this "friend" home one of these days and I didn't have the heart to tell her it actually WAS a girl.
"Well it was nice meeting you Hiro." Kisa's mother said. This snapped me almost instantly out of my daze. I realized that today, the day I actually had permission; I wasn't going to get invited to stay and eat. I imagined having to go downtown to eat at the sandwich shop because I had already told my mother not to fix anything. Apparently I did a really poor job of hiding my look of disappointment on my face because Kisa noticed it.
"Do you think Hiro could stay for lunch mom?" she asked almost instantly in an excited voice.
Her mother turned around and smiled at her, and then to me she said, "I don't see why not. Is it's ok with your mother and father?"
I was overjoyed and nodded happily saying, "I already told my mother that I would be home a little late today so sure!" This was probably a bad idea but I would like to get to know Kisa a little better.
Kisa's mother nodded and turned around into the kitchen. I almost didn't get my shoes off before Kisa was dragging me around the house giving me a grand tour. After the tour we spent the rest of the time talking in her room. It was a reasonably large room but a little too… yellow for me. It looked good with Kisa though so it didn't matter. It was also very cozy. It definitely had Kisa's personal touch added to it.
Lunch
Lunch came around relatively quickly and all three of us sat down to enjoy it. It was just as good as my mother makes and gone just about as quickly. I sat there pleasantly full and relaxing in the chair when I noticed Kisa looking at me. The second I looked over at her she started giggling.
"What on earth has possessed you child?" her mother questioned, smiling. I was about to ask the same thing.
"It's just that Hiro looks rather happy with your food mother. I'm not so sure that we are going to be able to get him to leave!" she said laughing.
"Oh? You want me to leave now?" I replied, trying to shade it in a joking manner.
"What? NO! I was only joking!" she exclaimed, actually looking somewhat worried. She could be so touchy sometimes.
I smiled then, "Well I should be getting home anyway…" I wasn't at all expecting the next question and I don't think her mother was either.
She glanced over towards her mother and asks, "Mom, can I go over to Hiro's house for a little while?" My heart dropped into my stomach. From the looks of it, Kisa's mother followed suit. She got very pale all of a sudden. I had been dreading this. Eating casually at Kisa's house was one thing but her coming home with me was slightly different.
"Are you sure about this Kisa?" she asked without really thinking that I was still in the room. Kisa's eyes got really big all of a sudden as she glanced nervously over at me. Yes, I will admit I was a little hurt that I wasn't completely trusted but I had only met her mother yesterday. Her mother seemed to remember that I was actually in the room still when I got up and started towards the door. She looked over at me with a look of guilt on her face. I was guilty of saying things before I thought them through myself so I wasn't terribly upset.
I instead turned around with a smile and said, "Don't worry Kisa, maybe you can come over some other day…" She started to say something about not having my phone number or email address but I had already left before I heard any more. I didn't want to get in the way between her and her mother. I quickly walked home. Why was I upset that her mother hadn't let her come over? It probably would have ended in disaster anyway.
Friday
I was being really bold today. I didn't bother to wait across the street this time. I was waiting directly to the left of the gates. I waited until I just saw Kisa walk past when I reached one hand over, one under, her right arm and pulled the entire stack of books out of her arms. She stumbled forward with the momentum but I shifted the stack to my right arm and caught a hold of her shoulder with my left hand. She reacted exactly like I thought she would.
She turned around whimpering and the first words out of her mouth were, "Please give them… back?" I almost snickered.
She stopped. Not recognizing me for a split second. Then her face lightened up and she started to smile. I smiled at her then walked right past her towards the direction of her house, still carrying her books. She happily tagged along after me. I noticed that all of the girls that normally would be taunting her were moving out of our way. Kisa seemed to be noticing this too and for some reason I was happy I was able to help her. We talked the entire way to her house about various different subjects until we got nearer. Then she hit me with something that surprised me.
"I told my mom about the bully." She casually slipped in after one of our conversations was over with. If I hadn't had training in balance and weight, I probably would have been sprawling on my face in the dirt almost immediately.
I turned to look at her and asked, "You took my advice?" I can't believe I said that. Why would she trust my advice so whole-heartedly? I just met her!
She nodded, and then went on to explain, "I thought what you said over for a long time and it actually sounded pretty wise. That night I decided and told my mother about it. Of course this inevitably led up to how I got out of the situations and to you but…"
I was suddenly rather frightened to go into Kisa's house. I can't really explain why but I just had a bad feeling about it. I was rather happy that she took my advice though. This time I assumed that we were on time because Kisa's mother wasn't at the door. We wandered into the kitchen and found her humming and chopping vegetables. She turned around when she heard our footsteps.
"Oh! Welcome home dear, and hello Hiro." She happily exclaimed. Kisa just gave her a rather odd look. I remained silent.
Kisa finally asked, "You didn't greet me at the door like you usually do. Is something wrong?"
Her mother looked hesitant when she replied, "Well you were on time today and besides, I knew Hiro was with you so I wasn't all that worried…" She turned back around and continued working at that point leaving a very speechless me. Her tone had changed completely from last night! I glanced over at Kisa and almost laughed. Her entire face was a bright pink. It was so cute! I stopped myself again, wondering why this family was so happy because I showed a little kindness towards Kisa.
The "MOTHER!" that followed was probably a couple decibels higher than what Kisa had planned but it still got the point across. Her mother started laughing without turning around.
"I'm just teasing you dear! Now go upstairs until lunch is ready," her mother explained. Kisa's face gradually returned to normal.
"OK! Come on Hiro!" Kisa replied. I managed to throw my shoes into the proper place before I was hauled upstairs to Kisa's room. I can still hear her mother snickering as we left.
We watched Anime in Kisa's room until lunch. The entire time Kisa looked kind of nervous but I didn't question her about it. When her mother called, we plodded downstairs for lunch. It was just as good as yesterdays and afterwards I was pleasantly full yet again.
"Can I go over to Hiro's house TODAY mom?" Kisa asked the inevitable question.
"I don't mind, so long as Prince Hiro can get my little Princess home at a reasonable time…" Kisa's mother responded. It was my turn to blush but thankfully Kisa had already stood up and walked over to her mother.
Kisa gave her mother a giant hug and said thank you. My blush went away almost instantly as I felt a pang in my throat. Sometimes I wish I could hug my mother like that and still remain myself. Kisa walked over to my chair and held out her hand. I took it with mine and she pulled me up. Strangely she didn't let go of it once I was up though. Kisa's mother raised an eyebrow and started to stare at Kisa. I felt heat coming back into my face. Kisa just looked nervous.
I wouldn't have had time to move out of the way. It all happened way too quickly. Kisa said, "Thanks for everything that you have done for me but there is something that you really should know…"
I had just started to wonder about what she was talking about when her mother screamed, "Kisa! DON'T!" My eyes widened as Kisa lunged forward and pressed herself into me as hard as she could. Every bad thing I could think of happening flew through my mind in that instant as her arms wrapped around me. I went completely rigid in her arms. Oddly, I felt her do the same. Her mother just stood there, half-way out of her seat, staring at us in shock. All I could do was stare at the wall behind Kisa and wait for my viewpoint to get a lot shorter. Time stood still. For a brief moment we all were frozen in our positions. Something was wrong. Why wasn't I transforming? I looked down at Kisa. She had her eyes squinted shut as hard as she could, but she slowly began to open them, then look up at me questioningly.
"What happened?" Kisa blurted out. I suddenly started to think of something. I didn't transform when she hugged me. This either meant that she wasn't a girl, highly unlikely, or that she was a member of the Zodiac. If Kisa was a member of the Zodiac… that means that I wouldn't have to worry about her memory being erased if she accidentally hugged me! I could actually become friends with her! I started to smile without realizing it. Kisa didn't notice though and continued her train of thought, "But why didn't anything happen? I was supposed to…"
"Transform?" I completed for her.
Her head shot up to face me in a heartbeat and the question was already off her lips, "How did you know?"
"It's nice to meet you Kisa Sohma! My name is Hiro Sohma and my Zodiac is the Ram!" I exclaimed happily while looking into her eyes. I felt her loosen up tremendously in my arms after that was said.
Her eyes got quite a bit bigger and her face lightened up. Oddly she started to cry, but she was still smiling. Her mother was just shaking her head.
"I didn't have a clue you were a member of the Zodiac too!" she proclaimed. She started to smile. It would seem that the only reason she had been against allowing her daughter to go with me was that she was afraid Kisa would transform in front of me. I must say though I was rather curious as to what animal Kisa was so I voiced my question.
"I'm the Tiger!" Kisa happily said. She seemed overjoyed and I guessed that her reasons were fairly similar to my own.
Hiro's House
With the information she now had, Kisa's mother had no problems with Kisa coming over to my house after lunch. This didn't stop me from coming up with several nasty tricks on the way there though. I explained a couple of them to Kisa and she was all for them. This was going to be great!
When we got there, I left Kisa in the front entry way. I wandered into the living room area and my mother came around the corner to great me. Of course the usual questions came. How was school, did you have a nice day, did you learn anything new, etc… I patiently answered all of them because I knew Kisa was waiting just behind the door behind me, probably stifling her snickers. Then the question came. Mother looked up at the clock and noticed that school had actually ended an hour and a half ago.
"Did you have fun at your "friend's" house? When do I get to meet her?" she asked, laughing.
"I had a great time at my friend's house and you can meet her right now if you want…" I replied with great joy. Sometimes I think I have too much fun with pranks.
Her expression changed from casual laughter to true shock. I then shouted over my shoulder, "Kisa! You can come in now!"
The door creaked open and in stepped Kisa, wearing her cutest yellow dress and the largest smile I had ever seen her wear. She had insisted on changing before coming to my house saying she wanted to look her best for my mother. I just rolled my eyes and let her do her thing. Mother looked like she was going to pass out. It was great! I introduced my mother to Kisa. Then I continued to play along with it.
"You kept telling me to bring her home one of these days so you could see her. So I did!" I exclaimed happily. It was taking all of my strength not to burst out laughing.
"Um… I see. How long have you known Kisa?" she asked hesitantly.
"About four days. I actually brought her over here for a specific reason…"
Kisa feigned a questioning look to me perfectly and asked, "What do you mean? I thought you just brought me over here to meet your mom."
I turned back to my mother and stated, "Actually I brought her over here to show her. That way if she freaks out you can explain to her."
"WHAT!" my mother screamed.
"Show me what?" Kisa asked.
"This!" I said.
My mother lunged forward but it was too late! I had already slipped my arms over Kisa from behind and stood there hugging her. Both of us just stood there, smiling at my mother. My mother looked like she was in shock, waiting for the signature explosion followed by Kisa's scream of distress. It didn't happen though… Kisa and I just stood there smiling at her. After about ten seconds of intense staring back and forth Kisa and I couldn't take it any more. We broke up laughing. I fell over and Kisa slumped to the ground near my feet. My mother was still staring at where we were.
"How?" she asked, staring speechlessly at me.
"Let me do this again. Mother, I would like you to meet Kisa Sohma, The Tigress!" I introduced.
Kisa was still laughing. I just smiled at her. She looked like she was having so much fun. It made me feel better that I could help her be happy, although I don't know why.
My mother started smiling at Kisa. I helped Kisa up off the floor, and then we sat down at the dinning room table and told the long story about how we met. The story lasted until almost supper time and my mother offered to cook dinner for Kisa.
"Sure! I don't know when my mother deemed a "reasonable time" but I'm not sure if she actually cares now that she knows Hiro is a member of the Zodiac." Kisa replied.
My mother laughed. It was my turn to give the grand tour of MY house this time. Kisa was interested in all sorts of things around the house, I guessed that girls were more interested in that sort of thing, but she completely halted the tour when she got to my room. I had kind of thought she would after she saw my collection of Anime but I showed her anyway. We spent the rest of the time until supper previewing some of them.
My mother called us down about a half an hour later for supper and I thought it was as good as Kisa's mother prepared. I hope Kisa thought so too and it certainly looked like it after she was done eating. I couldn't resist…
"You know what mother? We might have a hard time getting Kisa to leave now that she has tasted your cooking…" I stated.
Kisa gave me the world's biggest grin. By the time we were done eating it was almost dusk. I decided that it would be a good idea to not upset Kisa's mother and get her home. I escorted her to her house and we stopped at the entrance to the walkway. She turned around to face me.
"Do you think that I could come over tomorrow and watch some of your Anime with you?" she asked so timidly that I had to smile.
"Sure!" I replied happily. She started to smile again.
"Hiro, are we friends?" she asked as we went up the driveway.
"Of course we are."
"Will we be forever?"
I nodded. She smiled again. Even in the dark I could tell her eyes were getting watery. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me. I smiled at her then hugged her back.
"I hope so! See you tomorrow!" she shouted as she ran inside.
I stood there for I don't know how long. I then turned to walk down her walkway. This day was certainly full of surprises.
"I hope so too…" I said to myself as I walked off. I did my usual two-fingered wave as I left the yard and started the walk home in the dark.
"See you later Princess…"
Chapter 1 – End!
Author's Notes:
I originally wrote this as a standalone story for its sheer fluff and cuteness, but I decided that I liked it too much and made it into a multi-chaptered (Understatement of the Century) story instead. The rating is for later chapters however so it's quite safe to read for a while. Hopefully I'll get quality feedback which should "inspire" me to format more of the chapters for online use.
Keep in mind that this is an Americanized version and I have removed all the honorifics just to keep things simplistic. Well... until next time. –A.T.