DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Fruits Basket or Taylor Swift's song "Teardrops on My Guitar"
Motoko laughed at something Rika, another Yuki fan club member, said to her. She was continuing an ongoing joke they were sharing about following Yuki home one day and catching him in the shower or something. That would be a picture she'd laminate and treasure forever, but then she'd feel like a perverted old man. Motoko shook her head; she couldn't be a dirty old man when she was a beautiful, young woman. She brushed a long strand of brown hair back behind her ear and pulled out a compact, looking over her face for any flaw she had to cover with makeup. Finding none, she closed her compact and shoved it back into her purse before looking at Rika again.
"Seriously Motoko, we should go one day. We don't have to bring the other fan club girls. They'll get in the way. We should just go ourselves," Rika continued.
Motoko simply smiled, not sure what to say. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want to, but she didn't want to admit she wanted to. It was wrong to follow him home. She'd feel more like a stalker than she already did. She already kept a framed picture of him on her nightstand. Heck, she talked to that photo, and she had kissed it more than once before. That photo was the closest thing to a boyfriend she had, and it was disgraceful. She even treated the photo as a real person; it sat in her drawer, on top of a bed made of silk. What a pitiful being she was, but there was definitely a reason she was the Yuki fan club president.
"Come on, you know you wanna," Rika urged.
"Well…" She trailed off when she spotted Yuki walking down the hall. He was smiling that beautiful smile of his. His face was glowing, his gorgeous silver hair trailing behind him, and his perfect pale skin made her jaw drop. She could only helplessly stare at his perfection as he walked closer to her. Her prince smiled politely at her, and she could only return his kind gesture by grinning like a moron. He continued on his way to his classroom which was precisely three doors away from where she was standing. Her eyes followed him until he was within the room. Even after the door was closed, she continued to stare at it until Rika waved her hand in front of her face.
"Motoko, hello? Earth to Motoko…" Rika muttered dully.
Motoko blushed hotly before saying, "Fine… Let's go, after school today. We'll wait until he is out of his student council meeting and then we'll follow him home, okay?"
"Sure, sounds splendid to me," Rika responded with a smile.
Drew
looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see
That I want and I'm
needing everything that we should be
I'll bet she's beautiful,
that girl he talks about
And she's got everything that I have to
live without
After another boring day of classes, Motoko walked out of her classroom in a rather good mood since she'd soon find out where her prince lived. Rika was walking beside her, all ready to go. Motoko smiled, until she saw her prince pass by her again, this time, Tohru was with him. She was beaming broadly, her hand within Yuki's. Motoko's smile wavered before vanishing completely. Yuki had just brushed past her without a gesture of acknowledgement. How he ignored her stabbed at her chest. The color drained from her face, and suddenly she felt light-headed.
"Motoko, are you okay?" Rika asked starting to get worried.
"… He's with that witch…" Motoko whispered.
The two girls were silent, neither of them had anything to say. Both of them hated her equally. Tohru was the girl who had taken their prince from them. Worse, Yuki looked happier than they had ever seen him look when he was at her side. They couldn't say for sure whether Yuki and Tohru were actually dating or not, but they were awfully familiar with one another. She was the person he talked to most, and whenever he was around her, her face lit up with a blush. If Yuki wasn't in love with her, Tohru definitely was.
"Minagawa-san, are you sick?"
There he was, her glorious knight in shining armor, concerned about her health. Inside of her mind, she was dancing around in a field of flowers just because of that one question he had asked her. She was swooning before she knew she was and was, to her disappointment, pushed back to her feet by Rika, not caught by her prince. Yuki continued to stare at Motoko with worried eyes. She almost drifted back to her fantasy, but Rika jabbed her in the side with her elbow. Rika did so, hard enough to yank Motoko out of La-La land but gently enough that Yuki didn't notice.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine Y-Yu-Yuki…" Motoko stuttered like an idiot.
"I'm glad to hear that," Yuki smiled again, but the smile wasn't the same as the one he smiled when he passed by with Tohru.
"Where's Honda-san?" Rika asked calmly.
"Oh, she's going home because I have a student council meeting… Which I should be going to now…" Yuki smiled once more before turning around to leave.
Motoko choked out a farewell as she gazed at his back. Her mouth hung open with jealousy. That smile of his, that gorgeous genuine smile, had to reappear when he was talking about Tohru. That hurt her, especially since her eyes would notice no boy other than him. She laughed to herself bitterly. It was stupid. She hated her affections towards the prince, who didn't seem to want to return them. Why wasn't she good enough for him when he was the only thing she thought about when she lay on her bed at night? Tohru wasn't even in his fan club, how could that witch like Yuki?
Drew
talks to me, I laugh cause it's so damn funny
That I can't even
see anyone when he's with me
He says he's so in love, he's finally
got it right,
I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at
night
She didn't even know she was following Yuki to the student council room until she was standing outside of it. Motoko peered in through the glass pane on the door. Machi sat in the corner saying nothing, Kimi was too close to Yuki for both his and Motoko's comfort, Naohito was fuming in the corner, and there was her prince, amongst the student council, hitting Manabe on the top of his head. Motoko found herself smiling at the group. She placed both of her palms on the glass staring at Yuki until the meeting was over. Surprisingly nobody even noticed her standing there except for a few passing teachers, but they didn't comment.
Suddenly, Rika jerked her arm and dragged her around the corner. Motoko hadn't even known Rika had been leaning against the wall beside her until that moment. Baffled Motoko jerked her hand away once Rika had stopped. Motoko examined herself and fixed the creases on her uniform before lashing out at Rika who remained as calm as usual.
"What are you doing?" Motoko demanded.
"They're done with their meeting. You don't want to be caught fawning over the prince, do you?" Rika asked simply.
Motoko shook her head slowly. The two fan girls stood against the wall quietly listening to the shuffling in the hallway. Machi and Manabe passed by them first, followed by Kimi and Naohito, leaving Yuki a good distance behind. The rest of the student council were already out of sight by the time Yuki passed by. Like when he had been with Tohru, he didn't notice the two of them standing there. This was a good thing in Rika's eyes since one usually doesn't want the person one was stalking to notice them when they were following him, but to Motoko it hurt.
He's
the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that
keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He's the song in the car I keep
singing, don't know why I do
Wordlessly, Rika grabbed Motoko by her elbow and tugged her out of the deserted hallway. Motoko was startled at first to be moving again, but she remembered their mission soon enough. They trailed behind Yuki, keeping about five yards away. Hearing footsteps, Yuki turned around suspiciously, but before he could spot either of the older girls, Rika shoved Motoko into an empty classroom. With a shrug, Yuki continued on his way home to see his angel. He smiled; swinging open the doors, he stepped outside. Rika and Motoko waited a good two minutes before exiting and darting down the abandon halls. Yuki was nowhere in sight at this point.
For a minute, they raced around the school in search for their prince. After passing the other student council members for the third time, they concluded that Yuki must have left school grounds already. Departing the school, it only took them a second to catch sight of Yuki's silver hair a block away from the school already. They exchanged a quick glance before tailing after Yuki. The two of them cautiously walked quietly with the shadows of the forest to hide them. Rika and Motoko soon learned, their prince was not only a fast walker, but he also had good ears. Every minute or so, he would turn around and look in their direction. Each time, they would barely get away. By the time a house came into sight, both girls were covered from head to toe with various leaves and dirt stains.
Drew
walks by me, can he tell that I can't breathe?
And there he goes,
so perfectly,
The kind of flawless I wish I could be
She'd
better hold him tight, give him all her love
Look in those
beautiful eyes and know she's lucky cause
"Come on Motoko… We're there," Rika muttered with a sly smile crossing her face.
Motoko smiled, still hiding behind a nearby tree with Rika as she watched Yuki slide open the paper door. In a quick perfect motion, he slid off his shoes and loosened his tie. Even from where the girls were standing, they could hear a girl's voice welcome him home. Both of them looked at each other, the same baffled expression plastered across their faces. Naturally, they assumed the voice belonged to his mother, regardless of how young the greeter had sounded. Without another thought, they glanced back at Yuki and saw him grin; this was a grin, a sincere smile they had never seen on his face until now. His mouth opened and closed, their only indication that he was speaking, as another smile flashed across his face. They clenched their fists tightly, wishing they could hear what he was saying. He closed the door before they could even try to read his lips.
They crept out of their hiding place and tip-toed over to the old-fashioned house. When they were a few yards away from the house they got down on their hands and knees and crawled around the house in search for a window. After finding a window where they could catch a glimpse of Yuki's head they got up slowly. Motoko checked around them before inching her way to the window. Getting up on the tips of her toes she peeked into the room with Rika. They were looking in a kitchen. The tops of the counters were covered with grocery bags, and on the stove was a pot of soup. Yuki was in the room; he was standing in the corner. He was laughing this time, his perfectly lean body hunched over from laughter. His lovely silver hair hung over his closed eyes, his whole body trembling from laughter.
Wanting to capture this heavenly moment, Motoko pulled out her camera. Rika followed in suit with her camcorder. Both of them brought their devices to the window at the same time, and both of them froze at the sight they saw next. Yuki was no longer alone in the room. Tohru, that wretched witch, now entered the room. She was wearing a frilly pink apron with a wide smile across her face. Why in the world would she be in Yuki's house with an apron on? She said something inaudible to the fan girls' ears to Yuki before walking to the stove. Before Tohru could get a foot past Yuki, he extended his arm and grabbed her wrist pulling her back towards him. Tohru gave him a dumbfounded look. He only returned a smile before pulling her closer to him until their faces were less than a centimeter apart. Tohru's face turned a bright red as his lips met hers in a passionate kiss.
He's
the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that
keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He's the song in the car I keep
singing, don't know why I do
The blush previously on Motoko's face faded to a white color as the camera slid out of her hand. It landed on the ground with a crash. Her eyes doubled in size. Hearing the sound, the couple broke apart rashly. Tohru covered her mouth shyly backing away from Yuki. Yuki beamed at her embarrassment before moving over to the window where he heard the sound come from. By the time Yuki was looking out of the window, Motoko and Rika were already hiding behind a nearby bush. Yuki spotted the camera and stared at it for a minute before he looked back at Tohru. She cocked her head to the side curiously. He shrugged his shoulders before walking to the backdoor and stepping outside. Yuki walked over to the camera and picked it up slowly.
"Yuki-kun, what's that?" Tohru asked poking her head out of the door.
"A camera… But I don't know who it belongs to… If it's Shigure's, I'll kill him…" Yuki vowed, malice glistening in his eyes as he crushed the camera to pieces.
"Yuki-kun!!!" Tohru exclaimed worriedly.
Yuki chuckled softly before turning around and going back inside. Rika and Motoko sat there in complete silence, their bodies tense in attempt to keep anyone from noticing them. After hearing the door shut, they both let out a sigh of relief. Motoko peeked back at the house uneasily. What was left of her camera remained on the porch. She cringed, not at the loss of her brand new digital camera but at what she had just seen. It was bad enough when she had thought Tohru was a friend of Yuki's, but now, Motoko was sure they were much more than that. She had enough proof now that Yuki and Tohru were boyfriend and girlfriend at the least.
So
I drive home alone, as I turn out the light
I'll put his picture
down and maybe
Get some sleep tonight
Motoko stood up without a word and walked away from the scene. She felt like she had intruded on the couple's privacy. She wasn't supposed to see that, and she didn't want to see anymore. One kiss her prince shared with another woman was enough for her. Her heart ached incredibly already. Biting her lip, she tried to ease the pain with no success. She clenched her fists tightly trying to refrain from crying.
"Motoko! Where are you going? We didn't get any pictures of him yet," Rika asked Motoko.
"I'm… I'm going to go home…" Motoko whispered to her friend before running down the dirt path.
The fan club president ran, and ran until she arrived at the door to her house. From there, she darted up the stairs and into the safety of her bedroom. Once inside Motoko collapsed onto her bed and began to cry her heart out. The tears wouldn't stop, not when she wiped them away for the millionth time, and not when her mom yelled at her for making a racket. Her heart had just been torn into thousands of pieces, and she wasn't sure how to mend it back together again. She cried herself to sleep even though the sun hadn't even set yet.
When she woke up, it was midnight. She stared up at the ceiling, unable to go back to sleep. The images of Yuki kissing Tohru wouldn't leave her mind. Over and over, they kissed, and they kissed. Motoko would have cried some more if she wasn't so dehydrated. Instead she pulled out the picture of Yuki she kept in the drawer of her nightstand. Her fingers ran up and down the glass, tracing the image of her prince. She lifted the photo and brought it to her lips. She kissed the image one last time before flinging the photograph across the room. Motoko lay there in bed, fighting the temptation to go pick up the image and kiss his beautiful face again. She lasted for about an hour before she stood up and grabbed the frame. Walking back to her bed she set the picture frame down on her nightstand, front-side down to the wood so she couldn't see the picture.
"I'll get over you Yuki… I will… You'll see…" Motoko murmured as she slid back into bed and went back to sleep.
He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only one
who's got enough of me to break my heart
He's the song in the car
I keep singing, don't know why I do
He's the time taken up, but
there's never enough
And he's all that I need to fall into…
For the first time in years, Motoko woke up and left the house without staring at her picture of Yuki for at least a minute. She didn't even bother to hide the redness and puffiness of her eyes with make-up. For once, she didn't care about her looks anymore. She had no one she needed to impress, since even though she still loved Yuki, he would never see anything in her, no matter how she looked. Thinking this way, it was like a burden had been lifted from her chest. Motoko felt freer than she had ever felt in her life; she might even quit that club later on today. She smiled ready to skip the rest of the way to school until she heard someone call her name. Assuming it was Rika, she turned around with a smile across her face.
"Minagawa-san, it is you. Good morning," Yuki greeted her politely.
Yuki stood there, three feet away from her with Tohru at his side who bowed politely to her. He was as gorgeous as ever. Motoko stared unable to say anything in reply. She couldn't breathe, his beauty was suffocating her. She swallowed uncomfortably. Something was now clogging her throat, and her heart felt heavy. Why did she have to see him when she was struggling to get over him? Motoko forced a smile upon her face ignoring the fact that his hand was wrapped around Tohru's. She continued to smile and chat to him like she would any other day paying no attention to the pain in her heart. It was only after she was inside the school did Motoko run into the girls' bathroom and lock herself in a stall to cry all over again. Within the small stall, she knew she wouldn't be quitting his fan club any time soon.
Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see.
