Memories of You

It was that time of the year again. A time where fathers' are being treated specially just for the day. The very same day where extra love are showered on them. The day which… Honda Tohru can't really celebrate.

She glanced at the calendar pinned on her bedroom wall. Yep, it was definitely that day. She smiled sadly as she carefully held her mother's photo close to her heart.

"Okaa-san, it's Father's Day again. Should we visit otou-san later?" she whispered to herself.

Actually, there was no need to ask in the first place. Every year, she would always visit his grave together with her mother. This would be the first time; however, she would be going alone. No… she shook her head. She won't be alone. Her mother would still be there, in a sense. It's just that… no one would be there anymore to tell her stories of her father whom she didn't remember properly.

Tohru sighed. She took a sideway glance at her alarm clock. It read 7:30 am.

Yuki-kun is probably still asleep, Kyo-kun too maybe…. But Shigure-san is usually an early riser so… I better go make breakfast now, she mused absently.

Hastily combing her long brown hair with her fingers, she set down her mother's photograph on the dressing table and went downstairs.

~*,*~*,*~*.*~*.*~*.*~*.*~

The smell of fried eggs greeted the writer's nose that morning. He smiled as he yawned. Shigure put on his daily choice of attire; a loose kimono, lit a cigarette and went downstairs to enjoy his soon-to-be breakfast. He was feeling rather good that morning. He finished his final draft last night and was finally able to put an end to his editor's string of complaints. A delicious breakfast should enlighten his mood even more.

"YOU DAMN RAT!"

A familiar voice filled the hallway. It sounded angry. Shigure sighed. Oh boy… and so early in the morning too…

"You're gonna pay for what you did! Why the hell did you hit me for no reason?" it shrieked.

"You brainless rants woke me up from my well-needed sleep, you stupid cat. I thought I shut you up," replied a bored voice.

"How about I shut YOU up FOREVER?" the other voice roared.

Shigure turned to one corner to see Yuki and Kyo standing in front of each other. Yuki leaned casually against his bedroom door frame; still in his night wear, arms folded, looking bored. Kyo had changed into a shirt and his usual slacks, positioned to fight, looking terribly pissed. You could almost see his cat ears flattened in anger. Not to mention his bristled tail.

"Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, good morning," Shigure called. "Having a fight already? You'll wake up the neighbors," he added, chuckling.

Kyo glared at him. "None of your freaking business, dog! 'Sides, we don't even HAVE neighbors," he said with a huff.

"It was a figure of speech, idiot," Yuki replied, yawning.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT, YOU DAMN RAT?"

"You, idiot,"

"Why I ought to"

"That's enough, you two. You'll worry Tohru-kun again with all your rants," Shigure cut him off. "Yuki-kun, go ahead and change and join us for breakfast. We don't want to keep our little flower waiting~" he said in a singsong voice as he climbed down the stairs.

"He sounds like a pervert," Yuki sighed before retreating to his bedroom.

Kyo marched downstairs in a huff, still pissed that his fight was interrupted. Breakfast better be good, or the rest will be expecting a very foul mood from him today. What's more, today he planned to visit his step-father for Father's Day, just to hang out. It was a normal thing for him. But yesterday, he called to say to Kyo that he won't be at the dojo for the whole day so it's best not to waste his time waiting for him to come home. Kyo tried to protest but he failed. He hung up, feeling frustrated. Now he's stuck here, with nothing to do.

"Breakfast is ready," Tohru called out. Kyo stopped in his tracks. Something about that voice sounded weird. He was way too used to her bubbly voice, always filled with joy. The voice he heard just now was the same, except, it had a sullen feeling to it. Kyo raised his eyebrows. He entered the living room to see Tohru setting up the table. A variety of food was placed on it; egg rolls, rice etc. But that didn't matter to Kyo at the moment. His eyes were focused on Tohru.

The latter looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Kyo-kun," she greeted. Yep, something was definitely wrong with her today. Her voice sounded slightly hollow, and her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Kyo frowned. He looked intently at her face. Tohru noticed.

"What's wrong, Kyo-kun?" she asked.

Shigure chuckled. "My, my, staring at our little flower like that. Don't tell me you have a crush on her?" he teased.

Kyo's face turned red.

"What the hell are you blabbering about? Are you drunk or something?" he fumed, feeling embarrassed.

"But I wasn't the one who stared at her~" Shigure sang.

"SHUT UP!" Kyo roared.

A sound of footsteps entered the scene. Yuki came in, fully dressed and sat down at the table.

"The cat's being noisy again…" he said. "Good morning, Honda-san," he smiled at Tohru warmly.

Tohru returned his smile. "Good morning, Yuki-kun!" she chirped. "Come eat your breakfast. I made egg rolls today,"

'Ah~ My favorite! Tohru-kun sure knows how to make a man happy! I envy the lucky man who marries her one day," Shigure said cheerfully as he helped himself to his meal.

"Eh, I'm not that great…" Tohru replied, flustered.

Idiot, Yuki and Kyo fumed mentally.

They ate their meals silently for a moment. It was a while before Tohru hesitantly put her chopsticks down and faced Shigure with a small smile.

"Hey…Shigure-san…" she began.

"What is it?"

"Um…"Tohru hesitated.

Shigure looked at her hesitant expression. "My, is Tohru-kun confessing her love to me? Oh, I'm afraid I'm too old for you, my dear Tohru-kun…" he teased. Only to be hit on the head by the annoyed Yuki and Kyo.

"You're such an idiot!" Kyo shouted.

"And I wonder why you haven't got arrested yet," Yuki sighed tiredly.

Shigure rubbed his head soothingly, teary eyed. He looked at the pair, mocking sadness.

"I was only joking… Kids nowadays are so grouchy," he whined, feeling sorry for himself. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to say, Tohru-kun?" he turned back to Tohru. "Before these two rudely interrupted?" he emphasized as he pointed at the said pair who seethed silently.

Tohru sweat dropped and gulped. "I was wondering if I can go out for a while this afternoon. I won't be long,"

"Sure," Shigure said. "I have something planned as well. Where will you be going?"

Tohru smiled albeit slightly sadly. "Well… today's Father's Day so I thought I visit otou-san's grave. I haven't done so for quite a while…"

At this, everyone stopped what they were doing. Yuki stopped eating. Kyo stopped drinking. Shigure stopped making jokes and became serious. Seconds ticked by. No one said a thing. It was Shigure who broke the silence.

"Of course… I forgot today was Father's Day… sorry I couldn't come with you," he said ruefully.

Tohru help up her hands. "No, it's okay. I don't mind,"

"Still, I didn't come with you when you visited you mother's grave as well. I feel bad,"

"No, it's really okay. You're busy, I understand," she assured him. "I was actually planning to go by myself anyway… well… together with okaa-san's photo, that is,"

Kyo furrowed his brow. So that's why she seemed off today. Why didn't he realize the reason behind it sooner?

"If you don't mind…" Yuki called out quietly. Heads turned to him. "I would like to follow as well,"

"No,you don't have to waste your time like that!" Tohru said. Why would Yuki trouble himself for her sake? She didn't want to trouble him for such a little matter.

"It's my choice, Honda-san. I'm not troubling myself,"

"But…"

Yuki merely smiled. "I would really like to say hi to you father like I did to your mother,"

Tohru beamed. "Well, if you put it that way, of course you can come, Yuki-kun! I'm sure otou-san would be glad to meet you,"

Shigure smiled and looked over to Kyo who had his back on the rest.

"Kyo-kun, if you're not too busy, why don't you come with them?" he suggested.

Kyo turned around slightly and looked at Tohru hesitantly. After much thought, he sighed.

"Well… I don't have anything to do anyway… so whatever, I'll come," he said in a resigned tone.

Tohru's smile got wider."Thank you, Kyo-kun!"

Kyo's cheeks turned pink and he quickly turned away in a huff. He folded his arms. "Yeah, well, whatever. Beats being bored all day," he said, making as if he really didn't care. He was actually flustered.

"Just make sure you don't make so much noise that you actually wake up the dead, stupid cat," Yuki called out quietly.

"LIKE I WOULD! The dead can't be woken up, genius!" Kyo shrieked.

"Figure of speech, idiot. Learn your grammar,"

"Oh boy," Shigure sighed.

Tohru merely giggled. Okaa-san, you can't have a more cheerful bunch than these three… I'm so blessed to have known them….

~*.*~*.*~*.*~*.*~*.*~

Tohru, Yuki and Kyo stood in front of the temple that afternoon, clad in black. Tohru clutched her mother's photo in her arms and felt the wind brushed up against her face. Today's weather was wonderful and she was glad for that fact.

"By the way, you mentioned you don't remember much of your father, Honda-san," Yuki pointed out. "So…"

"Okaa-san used to tell me stories about him all the time. From the stories, I felt like I knew him my whole life. Though I don't remember his face,"

"Why?" asked Kyo.

Tohru smiled sadly. "All photographs of him were lost many years ago,"

Yuki and Kyo dropped the subject. They knew how sensitive the topic must be to her. As they walked, Kyo turned to Tohru once more. He was getting a little uncomfortable with the awkward silence. Plus, he was getting a little curious. Just a little.

"Spit it out, stupid cat," Yuki said suddenly.

"Huh?" Kyo was caught off-guard.

"You look like you wanted to say something to Honda-san so just spit it out already," Yuki said nonchalantly.

Tohru turned at the sound of her name. "Kyo-kun? What is it?"

Kyo's cheeks turned slightly pink. Oh great. Leave it to Yuki to get all the unnecessary attention. Now he can't escape anymore.

"What's… he like? Your dad, I mean," he said hesitantly.

"Eh?"

"You mentioned that your mom tells stories about him, right? So… what's he like?" he explained hastily.

Yuki raised his eyebrow. Well, well, the cat's actually curious.

Tohru was quiet for a while as she stopped walking. After a few seconds, she beamed.

"Okaa-san said he's a wonderful person! He's gentle and warm, plus loving," she replied happily.

Yuki and Kyo stared at her as she replied. Yuki smiled and spoke. "Well, I'm glad he's nice,"

"Yeah," Kyo said absently. "Let's go already,"

"You're the one who asked now you're hurrying us? What a fickle," Yuki commented.

"SHUT UP!"

The trio climbed up the stairs and went to the end of the temple. There, sat a tombstone with Tohru's father's name carved on it. Honda Katsuya; it read, may you rest in peace. But someone else was already there. It was an elderly man. He turned around and it turned out to be Tohru's grandfather.

"Ojii-san!" Tohru called out, surprised.

"Tohru," he replied. He finally started calling her by her name a while back.

"You're visiting otou-san as well?" Tohru asked.

He nodded."Yes. I just thought that I cleaned the grave a bit,"

He continued to wipe the tombstone with a wet cloth, carefully cleaning the carvings. After he was done, he placed a bouquet of daisies on top of the grave. He lit some incense before turning to Tohru.

"That reminds me… since that you're here, I want to give this to you," He reached for a plastic bag and handed it to Tohru.

"I found one. Finally," he breathed.

"Eh?" Tohru tilted her head to the side, confused.

Her grandfather smiled knowingly. "I better go now. The others will worry. See you soon, kids,"

He walked past them and waved goodbye. After waving back, Tohru glanced at the bag he gave her. "There seems to be something in it," she noticed.

"What is it?" Yuki peered over her shoulder. Kyo did the same.

Tohru reached into the bag and took out something. It was a photo frame. What she saw formed tears in her wide eyes. Yuki and Kyo followed her gaze and were stunned into silence.

There, in the photograph, was a photo of her whole family. Her parents were carrying a three-year-old version of her and both were smiling warmly as she laughed cheerfully. Her father's eyes were warm and gentle, the same as her mother's. They looked so happy as they embraced her. A note was stuck onto the glass .It said:

"It's the least I could do. After all, today's Father's Day. Katsuya deserved to meet his family again,"

Love,

Your grandfather

Teardrops landed on the photo frame glass.

"Otou-san…" Tohru breathed. Her breath hitched as she cried. She finally knew how her father looked like.

"Okaa-san, it's otou-san…." She whispered. Yuki and Kyo smiled at her side.

"Are you happy that you finally met him?' Kyo asked. Tohru nodded vigorously. "Very happy," she sobbed.

Yuki rubbed her back soothingly.

"Thank you so much, ojii-san," she said quietly.

Tears streamed endlessly from her eyes while Tohru clutched both photo frames in her arm. Tears trailed down her cheeks, slightly soaking her dress but she didn't care. She was too happy.

The trio went in front of the tombstone. Tohru kneeled down and prayed.

Otou-san… I finally got to meet you… I'm so happy that I did….

She smiled as she fingered the delicate carving of his name. Otou-san… I hope you're happy up there with okaa-san…

It was an hour later that they decided to go home. They spent time talking about her father and the stories her mother told her. They laughed, tears were shed. Tohru was clearly having fun. Her joyous smiles never ended as she chatted alongside Yuki and Kyo..

Walking home, she glanced at the sky above her.

Okaa-san, otou-san… I'm truly blessed… aren't I?

Author: Yo! I thought I'd make a one-shot of Fruits Basket for a try. It's quite short and the ending is a bit shorter than I intended but I tried my best. I got the inspiration from the chapter where her father was introduced and the part where they visited her mother's grave… so I thought, why not? I love Katsuya' character and he needed some love too! In any case, don't hesitate to tell me what you think! PLEASE REVIEW!