Hi! It's been a while! Yep, this is a one-shot stemming from Strangers. I really wanted to include this in the main story but there wasn't a place or chance to. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it! If you haven't read Strangers I suggest you do so before reading this. If you haven't however, just know that Yuki and Tohru married against Akito's wishes and it didn't end well. Tohru ended up with her memories erased and essentially disappeared from Yuki's life for six years. Unbeknownst to him, she was pregnant with his child when her memories were taken away. That's the basics, but you really should read it if you haven't. And yes, they did get married while he was in college.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters and all rights go to Natsuki Takaya. I make no profit from this work.
"Congratulations," the man said, handing Yuki his college diploma. "May you have a bright and successful future."
"Thank you." Yuki took the diploma, sitting down to wait for the rest of ceremonies to end. He just wanted to go home. All that waited afterward was his over-enthusiastic brother and, of course, his parents. His mother would say something about not wasting his education and keeping shame from the family, and his father would probably agree and say the same thing. He didn't want to deal with any of them at the moment.
He wanted to go home and sleep. More accurately dream of her.
They'd asked him how many immediate family members he'd expected to come, and the truthful answer was only three. Tohru wouldn't be there. He still wore the wedding ring, but hers was tucked away at his apartment. She didn't even know him anymore.
She would've been there though if not for events nine months ago. He was holding back from going to the restaurant she used to work at in hopes of seeing her. He didn't have to talk to her; he just wanted to know that she was okay. If he could see her smile just one more time… But no, it would only hurt afterwards. He hadn't gotten past the pain yet, and he couldn't drag himself further down without falling into an emotional ruin he might never crawl out of.
He drifted through the rest of the night until he could go home. When the speeches, camera flashes, and fake pretenses were through, nothing had changed. He still felt as lonely as before. He slipped his shoes off at the door, setting them beside the place where Tohru used to put hers.
It didn't take him long to just start staring at the wedding picture that still hung on the wall. A perfect moment frozen in time. He'd missed her more than usual that day, unintentionally imagining all the things she might have done to commemorate his graduation and what she might have said. He could only keep telling himself that she was better off without him. Sometimes he even hoped that she'd found some one else to love just so she wouldn't have to be alone and could count on some one.
She had Hanajima and Uotani, and that was a consolation of sorts, but he wanted some one to love her and take care of her and at the same time he wanted hit anyone who thought they could walk into her life like that.
He didn't want to think about it anymore. If he thought too much on where she was now and what she was doing it would drive him insane.
Crawling into bed, he looked at the pictures all around his bedroom of her. Of them together and happy. He kept her as nearby as possible and the two years worth of memories at the front of his mind.
He just had to see her. It didn't matter anymore, whether it would do more harm than good for him. He just had to know that she was happy. He still knew her work schedule and she would be there the next afternoon. He'd just go in and have lunch, hoping that she was still working there. It was all he could do.
OoOoO
Yuki had purposely eaten his lunch slowly, watching the restaurant for her even though it was obvious that she wasn't there. The waitress had given him a strange look when she'd seated him. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"
She did know him; he'd been here often enough when he and Tohru were still together. Despite that, he was forced to lie, "Gomen, I don't think we've met before."
"Oh… Never mind then, I get confused easily." She'd still looked skeptical but she hadn't pressed the matter. He had been tempted to ask if Tohru still worked there, but decided against it. Tohru couldn't know that he had been there.
The food was long past cold, he'd delayed finishing it for so long. With the small hopes that he'd had crumbling into dust, he paid for the meal and left, not hearing the talk of how an employee had gone into the hospital to give birth that morning.
OoOoO
Tohru held her precious newborn close, Hana and Uo cooing on either side of the hospital bed. "She's such a pretty baby," Uo said.
"I'd have to agree," Hana said serenely. "I usually don't like little children, but she's an exception."
"Did you hear that, Kyoko?" Tohru said softly. "You're the prettiest baby."
Kyoko squirmed around, grabbing onto her mother's hair and face with her little fists before starting to cry.
"She's hungry again," Tohru sighed but smiled too, beginning to undo the front of her hospital gown so that she could nurse her new little angel.
Tohru knew it was going to be hard, taking care of this little person by herself, but she knew that there wasn't anything she wanted more than to love and care for her new and precious child.
As if in response to Tohru's train of thought, Kyoko looked up at her mother with her large amethyst eyes. Eyes that Tohru felt like she had loved even before seeing her daughter for the first time.
Tohru held Kyoko just a little closer. She didn't know how the child in her arms had come to grow inside her, but there wasn't anyone in the world more precious to her.
OoOoO
Yuki sat outside the restaurant, watching the sunlight glint off of his wedding ring, hoping and praying that wherever Tohru was she was smiling. Whatever had happened she wasn't working at the restaurant anymore. Slowly, Yuki began his walk back to the train station to go back to a home filled with pictures and memories that he might never be able to touch again.
It has a sad ending to this one-shot, but if you read the original story *hint hint* you'll find the rest of the story and a happy ending for Yuki. Now, wish me luck! I'm off to a con tomorrow debuting my Yuki cosplay! Squee! If you're at the Glass City Con '11 you might see me. ;) I doubt it though... :'( I might briefly set my profile picture as an actual picture of me, my cosplay, and rats once I take pictures. I'll let you know.
In other news concerning Strangers, the sequel is coming along. I'm trying to find a pregnancy book that I like, since I'm not too knowledgeable in such things. If you have suggestions... So anyway, it's going slowly, gomen.
Now, please please review! I know I'm milking this story quite a bit what with both a sequel and this one-shot, but I just figure that if I write it I might as well share it.