NOTE BEFORE READING: This is a post-series fic, so there will be spoilers.
The Next Step
Even though the Sohma curse had been lifted, freeing them from Akito's rules and demands, it still took over a year for Hiro to get up the courage to ask Kisa to be his girlfriend. Of course, she had agreed right away, making him wonder why he had waited so long.
They made plans to get together at his house Sunday afternoon to study. It wasn't officially a date, but Hiro had cleaned his room and dressed nicely in preparation, hoping to make a good impression. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he was combing his hair when he heard the doorbell ring.
"I'll get it!" he shouted as he passed his mother in the hallway, racing downstairs to answer the door. Assuming it was Kisa, arriving early for their study session, he was disappointed when he saw Hatsuharu standing outside instead. "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?"
Hatsuharu entered the house uninvited, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Hiro was not happy to see him. "Gossip around the compound is that you and Kisa have finally made it official," he said.
"Yeah, so?" Defensively, Hiro crossed his arms over his chest. He was well aware of the fact that Hatsuharu considered himself a big brother of sorts to Kisa. "Are you here to say I'm not good enough for Kisa? That I'm nothing but a brat who has no business going out with a sweet girl like her? That I –"
"Calm down, Hiro. I know you will make a fine boyfriend for Kisa. In fact, I brought you a gift as congratulations." Hatsuharu reached for Hiro's hand and placed a small, square-shaped foil packet in the center of his palm.
Hiro's face went red hot when he realized what it was. "What the hell? What kind of gift is this to give a fourteen-year-old boy?"
"You don't like it?"
"No, I don't!"
"It might come in handy, though. I wasn't much older than you when I did it with Rin the first time."
"I'm not a depraved sex maniac like you!"
"And Kisa's petite," Hatsuharu said, ignoring Hiro's outburst. "You're already much taller than she is, despite being a year younger."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
The former Ox tilted his head to the side, pausing for a moment before replying, "Nothing, I guess, if it doesn't bother you."
Hiro stared blankly at his cousin. Sometimes he just didn't understand Hatsuharu's thought process. "You're weird."
He shrugged his shoulders, not taking offense. "Well, it never hurts to be prepared, just in case, right? I gotta go." Hatsuharu turned to leave, but quickly pivoted back around. "By the way, be careful, Hiro," he said in a low pitch. "I'll be keeping an eye on you. If you ever hurt Kisa, I will make you pay for it."
"D-Did you just turn Black?" Hiro asked, unnerved by the sudden threatening tone in his voice. It had been a while since Black Haru made an appearance. In fact, he thought that aspect of Hatsuharu's personality had vanished with the curse.
"No, but I might if you –"
"Okay, okay, I get the message! I promise I will never do anything to hurt Kisa or make her cry. Now will you leave? She's going to be here any minute."
Hatsuharu returned back to his normal, easygoing self as Hiro shoved him out the front door. "Oh, a date? Have fun!"
After closing the door behind him, Hiro let out a sigh and looked down at the condom he still held in his hand. Seriously, what was Hatsuharu thinking, giving him such a present? He and Kisa hadn't even kissed yet; they were nowhere near ready to take such a huge step in their relationship. Hiro headed up to his bedroom and tossed the condom inside one of his desk drawers.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again. That time, his mother was the one to answer. "Hiro, Kisa's here!" she called out.
"Coming!"
Not wanting to appear too anxious, Hiro took his time going down the stairs.
"– so glad you and Hiro are finally going steady!" he heard his mother saying as he approached. "You know I've always thought of you as a daughter, and now soon you will be. I just know you're going to make the most beautiful bride, Kisa!"
His face again went hot, mortified at the implication. "Don't go marrying us off, Mom! Geez, what is wrong with you? We're not even in high school yet," Hiro said, grabbing Kisa's hand and pulling her towards the stairs. "Come on, Kisa, let's go up to my room."
As they made their way upstairs, his mother called out after them, "I'm making cookies! I'll bring some up with the tea when they're done."
"Thank you, Auntie," Kisa said, polite as always.
"Sorry about that," Hiro apologized when they made it safely to his bedroom. He closed the door behind him, not wanting his mother or his little sister Hinata to enter unannounced. "You know how my mom is…"
Kisa shook her head, her cheeks painted a light pink. "N-No, it's okay. I didn't mind."
He sat down at the low table in the center of the room and motioned for Kisa to join him. She kneeled down across from him, pulling out her study materials and setting them neatly on the table in front of her.
As a ninth grader, Kisa was preparing to take the upcoming high school entrance exams. She hoped to enroll at Kaibara High, the same co-ed high school Hatsuharu and Momiji attended, although they were graduating at the end of the current academic year. Kisa still wanted to go, though, because it was the school that her honorary big sister Honda Tohru had attended.
Watching her study so intently, Hiro dropped his pencil and let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't exactly thrilled with her first choice school. They had always attended separate schools, of course, but at least they were same-sex schools. He never had to worry about boys trying to hit on Kisa at her all-girls' school. Not for the first time, Hiro wished he and Kisa were the same age. At least then they could attend Kaibara High together and he could protect her from annoying boys and bullies.
"Is something wrong, Hiro?" Kisa asked, noticing that he wasn't working on his math problems. "Are you having trouble with those equations? I can help you if you want."
"No, it's nothing." He picked up his pencil and began twirling it around his fingers, trying to look casual. "So, um, Kisa, is Kaibara still your first choice?"
"Yes!" She smiled brightly. "Sissy and the others always seemed to have a lot of fun there."
"But you've never gone to a school with boys before," he reminded her. "Wouldn't you feel more comfortable going to an all-girls' school?"
"Maybe, but now that the curse has been lifted, I don't have to worry about transforming anymore."
"Yeah, but –"
"Besides, I want to try to be braver in high school," Kisa said. "I've always been so shy, but maybe if I go to a new school where nobody knows me, I can start over again and make some new friends."
It was hard to come up with an argument against that. Hiro remembered the awful bullying Kisa endured a couple of years ago at the hand of her classmates, causing her to stop speaking for a while. Things were better now, but maybe it was a good idea for her to have a fresh start at a new school – even if it meant being around boys he didn't know and trust.
"Well…just don't find a new boyfriend," Hiro said. "And tell me if somebody is being mean to you. Don't keep it to yourself like last time. It makes people worry."
"Okay," she promised, digging around in her backpack for something. "Oh, no, I forgot my eraser. Hiro, do you have one I can borrow?"
"Yeah, there should be one in there." Resuming work on his math problems, he waved toward his desk. "Check the second drawer from the top."
Kisa walked over to the desk and opened the drawer he had indicated, Hiro only then realizing his mistake. "No, wait, I'll get it –"
It was too late. She had already spotted it. Kisa picked up the condom he had carelessly tossed in the drawer earlier and asked, "Is this what I think it is?"
As quickly as he could, Hiro jumped to his feet and yanked the condom from her hand, throwing it back in the drawer before slamming it shut. "That isn't mine. I mean, it kinda is, but I didn't buy it. Haru gave it to me as a joke," he explained, laughing loudly. "Hilarious, right? Like I want to have sex with you." Realizing how that sounded, he shook his head. "That came out wrong. Of course I do, but –"
Kisa's cheeks went flush. "You do?"
He just kept digging himself deeper and deeper in the hole.
Waving his hands in front of himself, Hiro said, "Not right now, of course! We're not even in high school yet." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But, yeah, when we're older, I want to do it…with you."
"Oh."
"Is that okay?" He wished he had never said anything. Stupid Hatsuharu! It was all the former Ox's fault that he was in such an embarrassing situation. "Just forget about it," Hiro said, turning around to grab an eraser from the drawer. "Here. You can keep it if you want."
"Thanks," she said, taking the eraser he offered.
"Come on, let's get back to studying."
He headed back to the table, but Kisa remained standing by the desk, clutching the eraser in her hand to her chest.
"Kisa?"
"Um…can we…um…I mean…"
She was talking in such a low, soft voice, Hiro could barely hear her. He walked back over to her. "What is it?"
"K-Kiss…" she stuttered, forcing herself to speak louder. "Are we old enough to at least kiss?"
Hiro sucked in a sharp breath. As timid as she was, he never expected her to ask something like that. "You wanna…kiss?"
Nodding, Kisa pushed back a strand of her golden hair behind her ear.
"Um…yeah…I guess it would be okay," he said after a long pause. "We are going out now, and that's what couples usually do…"
In front of him, she straightened her posture, lifting up her chin and closing her eyes.
"You mean, right now?" Hiro wiped his suddenly sweaty hands on his jeans. If he had known today was the day he would have his first kiss, he would have prepared more. Maybe he should have asked Hatsuharu for some tips instead of kicking him out earlier… "Are you sure?"
"Hiro, please… This is kinda embarrassing…"
"O-Okay."
He could do this.
Hiro moved closer toward her and placed his shaking hands on her upper arms, his heart pounding so hard in his chest that he was almost certain Kisa could hear it. Leaning forward, his lips were just centimeters away from hers when suddenly the door swung open.
He immediately stepped away from Kisa, raising his arms in surrender.
"We weren't doing –" he started until he realized it wasn't his mother but his adorable toddler sister who had interrupted the intimate moment. Hiro groaned, wishing he had locked the door for good measure. "Hinata, how many times do I have to tell you to knock before you come barging in my room?"
"Sorry, Hiro," his mother said, entering the room behind Hinata with a tray of tea and cookies. Knowing how clumsy she usually was, Hiro was shocked she had managed to make it up the stairs without dropping anything. "I told her to knock first. She didn't disrupt your studies, did she?"
Hinata clapped her hands. "Big brother kiss Kisa!"
"No, I didn't!" Hiro exclaimed as Kisa's cheeks burned even pinker than before.
"A kiss?" After setting the tray down on the table, his mother brought her hand to her mouth, her eyes practically sparkling. "Oh, my, was it your first? My little boy is growing up!"
"Mooooooom!" Never more mortified in his entire life, Hiro started pushing his mother and Hinata toward the door. "Kisa and I are studying – just studying – so leave us alone."
"But Hiro…"
"Out!"
"Um, thank you for the snack, Auntie!" Kisa managed to squeak out before Hiro closed the door behind them.
Running a hand through his neatly combed hair, Hiro silently swore. What rotten timing! He had been so close… "Sorry about that."
"N-No, it's okay," Kisa said. "We should probably get back to work, anyway…"
"Yeah."
The next step would have to wait.
DISCLAIMER: "Fruits Basket" is the property of Takaya Natsuki.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Who is excited for the upcoming anime reboot? *raises hand* It's been a long time since I wrote a "Fruits Basket" fic, but thanks to the recent announcement, I was inspired to go back and finish writing this story I started several years ago. It was originally meant to be an entry for my claim at the 15pairings community at LiveJournal. (Theme: Be careful) Even though that community is long dead, I hope you enjoyed the story anyway!