A Normal Boy
Author: Kiwi
Author's Note: The name Gabrielle is always to be pronounced with a soft,
mysterious, enchanting tone...
Tohru glanced down the empty hall as she waited patiently for Kyou and Yuki to walk down it. It was Wednesday afternoon, and Yuki had stayed late to tutor another student for a while, and Kyou had been held back after the bell rang to discuss his behavior with the teacher. Fortunately, Tohru didn't have work immediately after school that day, so she was able to wait for them.
She stood at one wall in the middle of the hall facing the one across from it, with her head turned to the right to look for her two friends. When someone walked up to her from the left, she didn't take notice until they tapped her on the shoulder, at which point she jumped and turned around, startled.
"It's just me, Gabrielle," the boy reassured her in his deep, calm voice. His clear blue eyes shone through dark bangs. He was tall, with a sturdy build. He seemed much the typical high school girl's dream. He was quite a celebrity in their school, but he didn't come close to Yuki's popularity. Tohru's cheeks went red as she bowed her head in apology and managed a 'hello'. The dream-boy grinned an impossible grin and picked up Tohru's hand to kiss it politely.
"Oh, umm... Thank you," the girl blushed further.
Gabrielle looked behind her quickly to see Yuki and Kyou walk out of separate classrooms far down the hall. I'll have to make this quick, he thought. Those two wouldn't let me live if they saw me talking to Tohru- kun... He smiled at Tohru again and said, "You have a part-time job, don't you? Well, do you have Friday night free?" His soft, glorious eyes gazed into hers.
"Um, I get off work at 7:30 that night," Tohru offered. The young man seemed pleased.
"Wonderful. I'd love to take you out to dinner afterward. I could pick you up." Gabrielle smiled hopefully, and Tohru simply couldn't say no.
"O-okay..." she agreed. He looks so sincere... I would hate to let him down...
"Fantastic. I'll see you in homeroom tomorrow!" He hurried away and out of sight, but somehow, even when he rushed, his pace was still cool.
"What was that about?" Kyou demanded. Yuki looked off in the direction the boy had gone. Tohru looked up at the orange-haired boy and smiled innocently.
"TOHRU-KUN'S FIRST DATE!! HOW KAWAII!!" Momiji seemed particularly pleased about the situation. When Yuki, Kyou, and Tohru had returned home, they had found Momiji and Hatsuharu there to tell them that Shigure was visiting Hatori and would be staying in the Sohma house that night. When asked about the events of the day, Tohru had mentioned Gabrielle's request for dinner with her.
"It's not really her FIRST date... She went on that double-date with the baka-nezumi and Kagura and me..." Kyou protested.
"That doesn't count!" Momiji pouted back. "But anyway, since Shigure's staying in the Sohma house tonight, he said we could stay here!! Haru's gonna take Shigure's room."
"And you?" Yuki inquired.
Momiji held up a decorative light blue sleeping bag with little bunny designs on it. "I wanna sleep in Tohru-kun's room!!" he declared. "Can I, Tohru-kun?"
Tohru laughed and opened her mouth to respond, but Kyou grabbed Momiji by the ear and shouted, "You are NOT sleeping with Tohru!! You can sleep in the living room, I usually sleep on the roof, anyway."
Momiji started to pout, but Tohru cut in. "How nice of you, Kyou-kun!" Kyou then started to protest, but Tohru added, "It's very brave of you to sleep on the roof so often! Thank you for guarding the house at night," she smiled a grateful smile and Kyou released the boy's ear, grumbling.
"Why is Kyou so mean to me and so nice to Tohru-kun?" Momiji whimpered. Kyou twitched, but Haru replied, "Kyou's just teasing you..."
"Neko-freak isn't nice to anybody," Yuki noted. Kyou shivered with anger, but merely stomped out of the room at Tohru's concerned look.
Mother, have I made a mistake? I've never been on a date before... Except with Sohma-kun and the others, but this is different. I hardly know Gabrielle! But he looked so hopeful. I didn't want to hurt him. Maybe I should just forget about it and go out with him... But I don't really think I like him that way! Oh, Mother, I hope I don't have to hurt his feelings...
Honda-san... going on a date... I can't necessarily argue, since I never got up the courage to tell her how I feel about her. But what if this Gabrielle turns out to be a creep? Maybe she shouldn't be going out with anyone in the first place, with this secret she's harboring. Honda-san would never tell anyone, I know that, but... I should call Shigure.
Tohru's going out with a _regular guy_. But she's a regular girl, so how could I expect anything different? She can't even hug me. No, she's not a regular girl. She deserves better than a regular guy. So she goes out with Gabrielle. I can just picture him, framed by his ego in little sparkles and bubbles. What a bigheaded moron.
"Yuki? Is something wrong? You don't call the house very often."
"Nothing's wrong, Hatori-san. I wanted to speak to Shigure, though. He's there, isn't he?"
"Yes, just a minute." A short pause. "Yuki-kun! What a pleasant surprise! Do you miss me?" A longer pause. "Right, of course not..."
"Honda-san is going on a date with a guy from school. Should we be worried?"
"We may be confined to our circle because of the curse, but we don't have the right to take away Tohru-kun's social life, too."
"...I guess you're right." Yuki hung up and sighed, getting into bed and pulling the blanket up over his chest. I'll trust your judgment, Honda-san.
"Well, if THAT'S all he wanted to say to me, why did he even bother calling?" Shigure's face showed false pain. He grinned again. "Tohru-kun is going out on a date Friday evening! Isn't that interesting."
Hatori took a sip of his tea and replied, "Hm. That girl could use a night out. I think the interesting part will be the boys' reactions..."
"Why should it be so easy for some pretty-boy from school to confess his feelings for Tohru?" Kyou paced around the roof indignantly. "I know why. The guy probably doesn't even like her that much, just thinks she's cute. Pervert!" He punctuated this last word with a stomp, then tried to calm himself down. "Stomping on the roof is not a good idea, baka. If that anti- morning-person Yuki happens to be under my feet, he'll come up here and throw me off the roof. Besides, I wouldn't want to wake Tohru, either... She's already sleep-deprived enough..." He sat down and put his weight on his palms behind him, glaring over the trees. I don't like the idea of Tohru alone with some guy we hardly know. SHE hardly even knows him! Maybe I'll see if I can find anything out about him tomorrow at school...
Hatsuharu sat up abruptly in Shigure's bed. What on earth was that?! he thought. There had been some sort of a pounding sound on the roof right above the bed. Oh, he quickly settled back down, now aware of the cause of the problem. It's just Kyou... Stubborn baka. There was another, smaller 'thud' on the roof, followed by silence. Haru's eyes popped open again. "Shut up, Kyou...!!" he yelled softly to the ceiling. He waited for a response, but heard none.
Kyou lay on his back now, gazing decidedly upon the stars. He was about to fall asleep when he heard someone talking below him. Curious, he put his ear to the roof-top and listened, but heard nothing more. He shrugged and relaxed again.
By the time Friday came along, things were going the same as usual for the Sohma family and Tohru, which, of course, was not at all usual. Shigure's editor had appeared Thursday morning, fully expecting Shigure to be there. Alas, he was still at the Sohma house. When he finally had returned, Mit- chan was past seeking comfort from Tohru, and now locking herself in the bathroom to be alone. Yuki, Kyou, Tohru, Hatsuharu, and Momiji had all walked to school together and (thankfully) met up with Hana and Uotani just as a bunch of angry schoolgirls were about to approach Tohru. Unfortunately, word had spread fast that Tohru had a date with the popular Gabrielle. Hana-chan and Uo-chan escorted her everywhere in order to avoid the wrath of the ever-present mob of homicidal "Gabe-chasers". After school on Friday, Yuki and Kyou offered to walk Tohru to work.
"Thank you very much!" Tohru turned around and bowed to Kyou and Yuki before entering the building. "I'll see you tomorrow morning! I'm sorry I won't be able to make dinner tonight, but I bought some instant cup-o-soup at the store and-"
"Don't worry about it, Honda-san." Yuki smiled. "Take care!"
"Later," Kyou shouted unenthusiastically. Tohru beamed at them and then finally walked away. Kyou turned to Yuki and said, "Alright, baka, I'm takin' my own way home," and then ran off in another direction. Good, Yuki thought, he'd only screw up the plan.
"I want to make a reservation," Kyou spoke quickly into the phone.
"For how many?"
"Just one," he replied.
"One? I'm afraid not, sir. You see, we only serve couples," the employee explained patiently.
"Why?" Kyou asked, frustrated.
"...That's just the way it's always been here. I'm sorry, but if you-"
"Fine. Two then."
"Are you sure?" the voice on the other line asked, confused.
Kyou looked at the door anxiously, knowing Yuki would be home soon and wanting to get this done with sooner. "Yes, I'm sure!"
"Very well then... Is there a specific place you'd like to be seated?"
"There should be a reservation under the name Gabrielle Tane. Can you give us a table near them?" He began rapping his fingers on the table nervously.
"...I don't think we can do that, sir..."
"I'll pay you for it."
"Great!"
Yuki was calmly doing his homework up in his room when Kyou suddenly burst through the door, looking less than sane. "Here's the plan: we have to go to the restaurant together in order to get in, so-"
"What are you talking about?" Yuki asked, puzzled.
Kyou replied impatiently, "Look, I planned on going to the restaurant to keep an eye on this Gabrielle guy, and I know you did, too. I called to get myself a reservation near their table, but they only serve couples."
"...You mean... I have to sit through dinner with a baka-neko in order to keep Honda-san safe?"
"You betcha."
"...If there's no other way, I guess we don't have a choice."
Needless to say, the "couple" got quite a few weird glances at the restaurant. Seeing as it was quite the romantic scene, they weren't able to simply come off as friends. Oh, no, much more than that was assumed of them...
"I should have expected such an outcome from a plan someone with so little brain mass thought of," Yuki murmured, trying to ignore the vast amounts of people whispering and looking in their direction curiously.
"At least this way Tohru and her date are in perfect view... Could you think of a better plan, baka?"
"...Maybe something that didn't get my sexuality questioned..." Yuki glared.
Kyou snickered, "Your sexuality is questioned every time you open your girly mouth. Now shut up and eat."
"Don't try to order me around now. I'll kick your stupid butt when we get home, neko-freak..." Yuki began eating after this comment. The two of them kept a constant eye on the couple at the table in the corner.
Tohru couldn't keep her face from turning red the whole night. She couldn't think of much to talk about, either. Gabrielle didn't seem to have many interests. In the middle of the meal, he noted, "That's an interesting sight. I didn't think Yuki and Kyou liked each other at all." Tohru snapped to attention.
"What do you mean?" she cocked her head to the side confusedly. The boy pointed to Yuki and Kyou at a table together about 20 feet away. Tohru gasped and brightened immediately, getting up from her seat and walking over to their table. "Sohma-kun, Kyou-kun, what are you two doing here?" she asked cheerfully.
Yuki looked ashamed. "I'm sorry, Honda-san. We wanted to make sure you were safe, so we got reservations near your table to keep an eye on you..."
"Actually, I got the reservations, but it really wasn't worth it. Sitting with the baka-nezumi with all these lifeless morons gossiping about us has not been fun at all." The two waited for Tohru's reaction.
She looked almost in tears, and they were afraid they had troubled her somehow, but then she said, "Sohma-kun and Kyou-kun... cooperated, and even went to dinner together, just to make sure I was all right..." She smiled an absolute-delight smile. "...I'm so happy! I have such great friends!! Thank you so much for worrying about me..." she continued talking as the three of them left the restaurant together.
"Um, sir, what about the tab?" the busboy yelled after them.
Back in the corner, Gabrielle whimpered, "Tohru-kun! What about me...?"
:.End.:
Tohru glanced down the empty hall as she waited patiently for Kyou and Yuki to walk down it. It was Wednesday afternoon, and Yuki had stayed late to tutor another student for a while, and Kyou had been held back after the bell rang to discuss his behavior with the teacher. Fortunately, Tohru didn't have work immediately after school that day, so she was able to wait for them.
She stood at one wall in the middle of the hall facing the one across from it, with her head turned to the right to look for her two friends. When someone walked up to her from the left, she didn't take notice until they tapped her on the shoulder, at which point she jumped and turned around, startled.
"It's just me, Gabrielle," the boy reassured her in his deep, calm voice. His clear blue eyes shone through dark bangs. He was tall, with a sturdy build. He seemed much the typical high school girl's dream. He was quite a celebrity in their school, but he didn't come close to Yuki's popularity. Tohru's cheeks went red as she bowed her head in apology and managed a 'hello'. The dream-boy grinned an impossible grin and picked up Tohru's hand to kiss it politely.
"Oh, umm... Thank you," the girl blushed further.
Gabrielle looked behind her quickly to see Yuki and Kyou walk out of separate classrooms far down the hall. I'll have to make this quick, he thought. Those two wouldn't let me live if they saw me talking to Tohru- kun... He smiled at Tohru again and said, "You have a part-time job, don't you? Well, do you have Friday night free?" His soft, glorious eyes gazed into hers.
"Um, I get off work at 7:30 that night," Tohru offered. The young man seemed pleased.
"Wonderful. I'd love to take you out to dinner afterward. I could pick you up." Gabrielle smiled hopefully, and Tohru simply couldn't say no.
"O-okay..." she agreed. He looks so sincere... I would hate to let him down...
"Fantastic. I'll see you in homeroom tomorrow!" He hurried away and out of sight, but somehow, even when he rushed, his pace was still cool.
"What was that about?" Kyou demanded. Yuki looked off in the direction the boy had gone. Tohru looked up at the orange-haired boy and smiled innocently.
"TOHRU-KUN'S FIRST DATE!! HOW KAWAII!!" Momiji seemed particularly pleased about the situation. When Yuki, Kyou, and Tohru had returned home, they had found Momiji and Hatsuharu there to tell them that Shigure was visiting Hatori and would be staying in the Sohma house that night. When asked about the events of the day, Tohru had mentioned Gabrielle's request for dinner with her.
"It's not really her FIRST date... She went on that double-date with the baka-nezumi and Kagura and me..." Kyou protested.
"That doesn't count!" Momiji pouted back. "But anyway, since Shigure's staying in the Sohma house tonight, he said we could stay here!! Haru's gonna take Shigure's room."
"And you?" Yuki inquired.
Momiji held up a decorative light blue sleeping bag with little bunny designs on it. "I wanna sleep in Tohru-kun's room!!" he declared. "Can I, Tohru-kun?"
Tohru laughed and opened her mouth to respond, but Kyou grabbed Momiji by the ear and shouted, "You are NOT sleeping with Tohru!! You can sleep in the living room, I usually sleep on the roof, anyway."
Momiji started to pout, but Tohru cut in. "How nice of you, Kyou-kun!" Kyou then started to protest, but Tohru added, "It's very brave of you to sleep on the roof so often! Thank you for guarding the house at night," she smiled a grateful smile and Kyou released the boy's ear, grumbling.
"Why is Kyou so mean to me and so nice to Tohru-kun?" Momiji whimpered. Kyou twitched, but Haru replied, "Kyou's just teasing you..."
"Neko-freak isn't nice to anybody," Yuki noted. Kyou shivered with anger, but merely stomped out of the room at Tohru's concerned look.
Mother, have I made a mistake? I've never been on a date before... Except with Sohma-kun and the others, but this is different. I hardly know Gabrielle! But he looked so hopeful. I didn't want to hurt him. Maybe I should just forget about it and go out with him... But I don't really think I like him that way! Oh, Mother, I hope I don't have to hurt his feelings...
Honda-san... going on a date... I can't necessarily argue, since I never got up the courage to tell her how I feel about her. But what if this Gabrielle turns out to be a creep? Maybe she shouldn't be going out with anyone in the first place, with this secret she's harboring. Honda-san would never tell anyone, I know that, but... I should call Shigure.
Tohru's going out with a _regular guy_. But she's a regular girl, so how could I expect anything different? She can't even hug me. No, she's not a regular girl. She deserves better than a regular guy. So she goes out with Gabrielle. I can just picture him, framed by his ego in little sparkles and bubbles. What a bigheaded moron.
"Yuki? Is something wrong? You don't call the house very often."
"Nothing's wrong, Hatori-san. I wanted to speak to Shigure, though. He's there, isn't he?"
"Yes, just a minute." A short pause. "Yuki-kun! What a pleasant surprise! Do you miss me?" A longer pause. "Right, of course not..."
"Honda-san is going on a date with a guy from school. Should we be worried?"
"We may be confined to our circle because of the curse, but we don't have the right to take away Tohru-kun's social life, too."
"...I guess you're right." Yuki hung up and sighed, getting into bed and pulling the blanket up over his chest. I'll trust your judgment, Honda-san.
"Well, if THAT'S all he wanted to say to me, why did he even bother calling?" Shigure's face showed false pain. He grinned again. "Tohru-kun is going out on a date Friday evening! Isn't that interesting."
Hatori took a sip of his tea and replied, "Hm. That girl could use a night out. I think the interesting part will be the boys' reactions..."
"Why should it be so easy for some pretty-boy from school to confess his feelings for Tohru?" Kyou paced around the roof indignantly. "I know why. The guy probably doesn't even like her that much, just thinks she's cute. Pervert!" He punctuated this last word with a stomp, then tried to calm himself down. "Stomping on the roof is not a good idea, baka. If that anti- morning-person Yuki happens to be under my feet, he'll come up here and throw me off the roof. Besides, I wouldn't want to wake Tohru, either... She's already sleep-deprived enough..." He sat down and put his weight on his palms behind him, glaring over the trees. I don't like the idea of Tohru alone with some guy we hardly know. SHE hardly even knows him! Maybe I'll see if I can find anything out about him tomorrow at school...
Hatsuharu sat up abruptly in Shigure's bed. What on earth was that?! he thought. There had been some sort of a pounding sound on the roof right above the bed. Oh, he quickly settled back down, now aware of the cause of the problem. It's just Kyou... Stubborn baka. There was another, smaller 'thud' on the roof, followed by silence. Haru's eyes popped open again. "Shut up, Kyou...!!" he yelled softly to the ceiling. He waited for a response, but heard none.
Kyou lay on his back now, gazing decidedly upon the stars. He was about to fall asleep when he heard someone talking below him. Curious, he put his ear to the roof-top and listened, but heard nothing more. He shrugged and relaxed again.
By the time Friday came along, things were going the same as usual for the Sohma family and Tohru, which, of course, was not at all usual. Shigure's editor had appeared Thursday morning, fully expecting Shigure to be there. Alas, he was still at the Sohma house. When he finally had returned, Mit- chan was past seeking comfort from Tohru, and now locking herself in the bathroom to be alone. Yuki, Kyou, Tohru, Hatsuharu, and Momiji had all walked to school together and (thankfully) met up with Hana and Uotani just as a bunch of angry schoolgirls were about to approach Tohru. Unfortunately, word had spread fast that Tohru had a date with the popular Gabrielle. Hana-chan and Uo-chan escorted her everywhere in order to avoid the wrath of the ever-present mob of homicidal "Gabe-chasers". After school on Friday, Yuki and Kyou offered to walk Tohru to work.
"Thank you very much!" Tohru turned around and bowed to Kyou and Yuki before entering the building. "I'll see you tomorrow morning! I'm sorry I won't be able to make dinner tonight, but I bought some instant cup-o-soup at the store and-"
"Don't worry about it, Honda-san." Yuki smiled. "Take care!"
"Later," Kyou shouted unenthusiastically. Tohru beamed at them and then finally walked away. Kyou turned to Yuki and said, "Alright, baka, I'm takin' my own way home," and then ran off in another direction. Good, Yuki thought, he'd only screw up the plan.
"I want to make a reservation," Kyou spoke quickly into the phone.
"For how many?"
"Just one," he replied.
"One? I'm afraid not, sir. You see, we only serve couples," the employee explained patiently.
"Why?" Kyou asked, frustrated.
"...That's just the way it's always been here. I'm sorry, but if you-"
"Fine. Two then."
"Are you sure?" the voice on the other line asked, confused.
Kyou looked at the door anxiously, knowing Yuki would be home soon and wanting to get this done with sooner. "Yes, I'm sure!"
"Very well then... Is there a specific place you'd like to be seated?"
"There should be a reservation under the name Gabrielle Tane. Can you give us a table near them?" He began rapping his fingers on the table nervously.
"...I don't think we can do that, sir..."
"I'll pay you for it."
"Great!"
Yuki was calmly doing his homework up in his room when Kyou suddenly burst through the door, looking less than sane. "Here's the plan: we have to go to the restaurant together in order to get in, so-"
"What are you talking about?" Yuki asked, puzzled.
Kyou replied impatiently, "Look, I planned on going to the restaurant to keep an eye on this Gabrielle guy, and I know you did, too. I called to get myself a reservation near their table, but they only serve couples."
"...You mean... I have to sit through dinner with a baka-neko in order to keep Honda-san safe?"
"You betcha."
"...If there's no other way, I guess we don't have a choice."
Needless to say, the "couple" got quite a few weird glances at the restaurant. Seeing as it was quite the romantic scene, they weren't able to simply come off as friends. Oh, no, much more than that was assumed of them...
"I should have expected such an outcome from a plan someone with so little brain mass thought of," Yuki murmured, trying to ignore the vast amounts of people whispering and looking in their direction curiously.
"At least this way Tohru and her date are in perfect view... Could you think of a better plan, baka?"
"...Maybe something that didn't get my sexuality questioned..." Yuki glared.
Kyou snickered, "Your sexuality is questioned every time you open your girly mouth. Now shut up and eat."
"Don't try to order me around now. I'll kick your stupid butt when we get home, neko-freak..." Yuki began eating after this comment. The two of them kept a constant eye on the couple at the table in the corner.
Tohru couldn't keep her face from turning red the whole night. She couldn't think of much to talk about, either. Gabrielle didn't seem to have many interests. In the middle of the meal, he noted, "That's an interesting sight. I didn't think Yuki and Kyou liked each other at all." Tohru snapped to attention.
"What do you mean?" she cocked her head to the side confusedly. The boy pointed to Yuki and Kyou at a table together about 20 feet away. Tohru gasped and brightened immediately, getting up from her seat and walking over to their table. "Sohma-kun, Kyou-kun, what are you two doing here?" she asked cheerfully.
Yuki looked ashamed. "I'm sorry, Honda-san. We wanted to make sure you were safe, so we got reservations near your table to keep an eye on you..."
"Actually, I got the reservations, but it really wasn't worth it. Sitting with the baka-nezumi with all these lifeless morons gossiping about us has not been fun at all." The two waited for Tohru's reaction.
She looked almost in tears, and they were afraid they had troubled her somehow, but then she said, "Sohma-kun and Kyou-kun... cooperated, and even went to dinner together, just to make sure I was all right..." She smiled an absolute-delight smile. "...I'm so happy! I have such great friends!! Thank you so much for worrying about me..." she continued talking as the three of them left the restaurant together.
"Um, sir, what about the tab?" the busboy yelled after them.
Back in the corner, Gabrielle whimpered, "Tohru-kun! What about me...?"
:.End.: