Counter Measures

By: Lexi-Chan and Erandri

Yay! A sequel to drastic measures! Okay, so this is picking up on their (Kyo& Tohru, Yuki & Machi) wedding day. Tohru's going to have a more Western style type of dress and Machi will have a more traditional wedding dress (just basing it off of their attitudes). Lexie-chan here, and as Erandri and I are both suffering through the good old college work load, this chapter is very short, and we promise there will be more chapters forthcoming, just not very quickly. We apologize for the inconvenience! And as per usual, we don't own Fruits Basket, otherwise we wouldn't have to go to college because we'd already be rich.

I stared into the mirror at the stranger staring back. The woman's long hair had been formed into ringlets that flowed down her back and her white dress hugged the top of her body and flowed out at her waist. The top was covered in white lace and was just off the shoulder. A long train flowed down, almost touching the floor.

The door opened and Machi walked in wearing a beautiful red traditional style wedding dress. Both had, of course, been made by Ayame.

"Oh Tohru! You look so beautiful," Machi exclaimed closing the door. I looked into the mirror and saw that, it wasn't a stranger staring back, it was me.

"Oh, but Machi you look much better than me in your dress!" I said and a slight blush rose to her cheeks.

"Are you ready? It's almost time for the ceremony to start."

"Yes," I said and we headed out into the hall. I glanced into the reception area and saw dozens of people sitting. All of the Shomas had come, along with many of our friends from high school and university. Standing at the alter Kyo was dressed in an uncomfortable looking tuxedo and Yuki, standing next to him, was in a traditional suit to match Machi's dress.

Two flower girls started slowly down the aisle, tossing handfuls of colorful flower petals at they walked. At the end of the aisle one of the girls, dismayed that she still has petals in her basket, upturned her basket and dumped them all in a pile on the floor. The guests chuckled and she was lead out of the way and into a seat by Kureno.

The laughter died out and the wedding march started. My heart lept into my throat as Machi and I started down the aisle. We were almost at the priest when the back doors burst open. We all turned to see a tall man standing in the doorway wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with a green jacket. Everyone else turned to stare at him as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up at au and breathlessly said one word, "Stop."

I looked confusedly at Kyo as the man started down the aisle, "Tohru- San? Tohru- San!" the man cried and I was shocked that he knew me.

"Who are you?" I asked slightly frightened.

"I'm your relative on your mothers side. Is it true that Kyoko nee-san is dead?" he asked as he neared the alter and several people got up to stop him.

"It's okay, let him go," I said, calming the anxious crowd.

"My name is Ichiro. I am Kyoko Honda's younger brother. I only recently returned from America. Is she really dead?"

"Yes," I said and he collapsed, throwing the wedding into chaos.

Kyo and Yuki immediately picked Ichiro up off the floor and carried him to the couch in the dressing room. I gently fanned him and Yuki went to get a glass of water. He quickly returned and Kyo took the water from him, dumping it on Ichiro's sleeping face. He bolted up just as I yelled at Kyo.

"Well, he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon if I hadn't!" Kyo said back.

"It's okay," Ichiro said, "I'm sorry for ruining your wedding but I owe it to Kyoko to approve of her daughters husband."

"You didn't even know that she was dead," Kyo said sulkily from the corner and Yuki hit him on the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot."

"It's okay, I understand his anger. I am sorry to bother you on such an important occasion but I couldn't stand the thought of missing such a big day for my family, or not being able to meet my only surviving relative. I just had to come."

I immediately felt sorry for Ichiro, but also glad that I now had a relative I had never met before, "Machi, do you mind if I postpone my ceremony? I think that I should spend some time with Ichiro- san before I continue this," I said slowly, because although I knew everyone would be disappointed, secretly I didn't think that I was ready to be married. A deep, dark place in side of me kept screaming that I wasn't ready yet, "I- I'm sorry but I just feel like I need to do this," I said hoping that they would all understand.

"It's okay," Kyo said and hugged me, "Go spend some time with your uncle. I'll take care of everything here."

"Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Just come back to me, okay?"

"Okay," I said and they all walked out of the room.

I walked out of the dressing room in a normal pair of jeans and a t-shirt, "So, Uncle, where do you want to go?"

"Call me Ichiro, Uncle doesn't really suit me," he told me with a smile, "and I know the perfect place to go."