I'm BAAAAA-AK!
Well, so many of you asked for it, so I figured I might as well do it. I wrote a sequel to It's aKodakMoment:Cheer:Cheer!:
This was so much fun to write!! I have discovered that I really like writing about Shigure and his crazy ways. And Ha'ri's … how to describe him… Ha'ri's Ha'ri-ness. And I love Aya too. Especially when 'Gure and Aya are together! Oh, heck, I just love them all!! ;P
Hope you all enjoy! Though this one doesn't have much Kyo/Tohru till the end, and even then it's not much. But it's super fluffy, so that makes up for it. :D
By the way… the camera that is used in this story is NOT a digital one. It's a disposable, wind-on type one. That's why 'Gure had to go to the professionals to get the pics developed.
FANART
If anyone wants to do fanart for me; for this story, for Kodak Moment or for any of my other stories… feel free! I would LOVE that:) Some people said in reviews for Kodak Moment that they would like to do/see fanart of it. Go ahead! If you liked my story enough to do fanart, I feel seriously honoured:D Just let me know if you do some so I check it out. ;)
Enjoy!
Photographic Memories
The camera was finally full. True, it had taken some time – Shigure had decided that it would be used only to capture 'Kyo and Tohru Moments'; without their notice of course – so yes, it had taken a while.
Kyo very rarely allowed his 'nice' side to come out. And almost never when it wasn't just Tohru. So Shigure had had to be very stealth in filling up his camera.
Shigure had made capturing 'Kyo/Tohru Moments' his sole mission in life, and rarely had the time – or inclination – to do anything else. Mii, his editor, was about ready to kill him.
Of course, Kyo and Tohru had no idea that Shigure had a camera trained on them almost all the time. Well actually, they didn't even know that Shigure had a camera at all; much less that it was focused on them.
If Kyo had known, he probably would have killed Shigure (Oh dear, first Mii, now Kyo… it's a wonder he's still alive at all really).
If Tohru had known… well… she probably would have insisted that Shigure fill the space on the camera with photos of someone else, as she wasn't nearly as important as Shigure's family members or whatever. In short, she would have pulled a 'Tohru' on him.
But anyway, back to the situation at hand.
The camera was finally full. And, more importantly, the pictures were nearly developed.
Shigure had been very specific when handing his camera over to the professionals. "Be very, very careful with these photos, understand? They have taken me years" (ok, fine: months. Whatever, ruin Shigure's fun.) "to collect! Please be very careful with my precious babies!"
Shigure had then proceeded to stand at the counter, an expectant look on his face, apparently waiting for the photos.
Hatori attempted to bring him to his senses. "Shigure, the photos won't be ready for another hour at least. We have plenty of other shopping to do, let's go start that."
Shigure looked at Hatori, scandalised. "I have put my blood sweat and tears into these photos Ha'ri! They are like my own children! Do you expect to leave my own children in the hands of a complete stranger!?"
Hatori rubbed his eyes wearily. "Why did I pull over?" he wondered at the ceiling. Then he looked Shigure in the eye and said firmly. "You have been spending far too much time with Ayame. We are leaving. Now."
"But Ha'ri!"
"Out. Now."
"Ha'ri, can't we just – "
"Do you want me to drag you out? You know I will!"
Shigure sniffled dramatically before shuffling slowly out of the store, looking for all the world like a dog with his tail between his legs.
Hatori sighed. "If they mean that much to you, we can make sure we are here in exactly an hour's time."
Shigure suddenly looked like a child who had asked for a lolly pop and received a lolly factory. "Really Ha'ri? You're the best! Trust me, these photos are going to be worth all the effort I went to to get them! I can't wait to see Kyo's face!"
Hatori sighed (again). "You really take too much of an interest in other people's love lives."
OoO
Two and a half hours later found Shigure, Ayame and Hatori sitting on the floor of Shigure's bedroom, looking expectantly at a small rectangular package on the floor between them.
For some absurd reason, Shigure had refused to open the photos in the store, much to Hatori's annoyance. ("What!? After all that build up, all that… all that suspense… you aren't going to look at them!?" He would never admit that he was curious.)
"Ok… this is it!" Shigure started, never taking his eyes of the package. "The moment we've all been waiting for! This is – "
"Oh for heavens Shigure!" Ayame interrupted, reaching forward and grabbing the photos. "You really have been spending too much time around me!"
Ayame slid a long elegant finger under the seal, and with a quiet 'snap', the photos were opened.
OoO
Yuki, Tohru and Kyo arrived home that afternoon to the sounds of banging and crashing coming from Shigure's room.
"I wonder what's going on up there," Tohru said, a concerned expression on her face. "Do you think he needs any help?"
Suddenly Ayame's voice floated down to them. "NO Shigure! That one looked much better over there! Put it back!"
"I disagree entirely, Aya," Shigure's voice came, loud and slightly irritated. "It looks better here – just imagine it once we're done! With little flowers around and everything. Besides; they need to go in order! What do you think Ha'ri?"
Yuki and Kyo placed a hand each on Tohru's shoulders. "No, I think he's fine," Yuki said, throwing a glance over his shoulder in the direction of Shigure's room as he and Kyo led Tohru away from the sounds of the two strange adults. "I think you should just leave them to… what ever it is they're doing and make us all something to eat."
"Oh, ok! Sure! How do rice balls sound?"
"They sound great."
"Ok! Hey, we have that spelling test tomorrow for English…how about we test each other to make sure we all know the words? Kyo? How do you spell 'anaphylactic'?"
Tohru proceeded to cook and prepare the rice balls while she, Yuki and Kyo tested each other on their spelling words.
The rice balls were just about ready when the noise levels upstairs picked up again. They had been a low murmur of constant activity, but now the words could actually be distinguished. "What do you mean you don't know what her favourite colour is?!"
"You don't know either!"
"I don't have as much contact with her as you do! Really Shigure! That's disappointing!"
"Well why don't you go ask her Aya?"
"No! I have a better idea."
The voices all dropped down again, and Yuki, Kyo and Tohru were left staring at the ceiling in confusion.
"Er… right…" Kyo said slowly. "So, Rat, how do you spell 'Myxomatosis'?"
Tohru had finished shaping the rice balls, and had just pushed the last plum into the back of the last rice ball, when Shigure suddenly appeared in the doorway behind Yuki, his finger pressed to his lips, telling Tohru to be silent.
Yuki, his back to Shigure, had not noticed the Dog behind him, but he noticed Tohru's confused expression. "What is it Miss Honda?"
"Er…" she replied eloquently.
Shigure, still unnoticed by Yuki, was pulling a large Hessian bag out from behind his back and was lifting it above his head.
Yuki, hearing the noise, turned around quickly, but only got a part of his question out before the bag was slammed downwards over his head all the way to his ankles, where it was tightened so that he fell over. "Shigure, what – AAAGRH!!! WHAT ARE YOU – OOF! WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU MENTAL MUTT?!"
"Now, now Yuki, don't struggle."
"Don't struggle!? You bloody – let me out! Let! Me! Out!! What the hell are you doing!?"
Shigure spoke over the top of the furious Yuki, talking to Kyo and Tohru, both of whom were staring at Shigure as if he were mad (which he was). "Don't worry about him, he'll be back down soon. Ayame, Hatori and I just need him for something."
"Ayame!?" Yuki yelled from the floor, sounding slightly panicked. "What the heck has he got to do with this!? What are you going to do to me!? If this has anything to do with that accursed shop of his, I swear I'll kill him!"
Shigure did not answer, but instead bend down and grasped Yuki's ankles and proceeded to drag him, literally kicking and screaming, out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
Kyo and Tohru went to the doorway to watch, fascinated expressions on their faces. Ayame was waiting by the foot of the stairs, and once Shigure got to him, he reached down and grasped what Tohru supposed were Yuki's shoulders, and he and Shigure carted Yuki, still howling and struggling in his Hessian bag, up the stairs and into Shigure's room.
A moment before the door closed behind the two kidnappers and their victim, Tohru and Kyo heard Hatori ask incredulously, "Why couldn't you just ask him to come up?"
A minute or so later they heard Yuki bellow the same question furiously at his brother and cousin.
Kyo blinked. "O…kaaaaaay…"
Tohru took a moment longer to regain her composure. "Um…Oh! The rice balls are ready. Would you like some?"
OoO
Despite Shigure's promises, Yuki did not come 'back down soon.' He didn't come back at all. Apparently he had decided (or it had been decided for him) that he would help Shigure, Ayame and Hatori with whatever it was that they were doing up there.
By this stage, Tohru was fretting that Yuki would be hungry, as he hadn't had any of the rice balls, and Kyo was nearly bursting at the seams with badly contained curiosity.
"GAH! That's it! I have to know what they're doing up there!" he yelled, frustrated. There had just been another episode of shouting from upstairs. (Yuki had been disagreeing with Ayame and Shigure. Something about wether or not they should put something in. Ayame and Shigure had been saying 'yes.' Yuki had been very vehemently saying 'no.')
Kyo stormed angrily out of the kitchen and started marching up the stairs. As he ascended, he could hear the frantic sounds of rustling plastic, and the sounds of papers being shoved hastily out of sight.
He wrenched the door of Shigure's room open, just in time to see Yuki sit quietly down in a circle consisting of him, Ayame, Shigure and Hatori, and place a card on a pile in the centre.
The four of them all looked up with some surprise as Kyo burst through the door.
"Point of Order," Shigure said.
"What?" Kyo asked, bewildered. After all this time, all they had been doing was playing cards? And what the heck was 'Point of Order'?
"Oh, it means we can talk without receiving any penalty cards," Shigure explained.
Kyo paused, and then asked angrily, "What the heck are you on about?"
"We're playing a game called The Chairman's Game."
"Huh?"
Ayame took over. "It's a brilliant game Kyo. You'd love it. The aim of the game is to get rid of all your cards, but you have to follow certain rules to be able to do that, and if you break the rules, you get a penalty card.
"There's a catch though. Only one person, in this case me, knows all the rules – everyone else has to watch really closely and pick them up as the game goes along. It can be difficult at times, but it's really great for the brain.
"But anyway; there's a couple of rules that everyone gets told. One, there's no talking unless you say, 'Point of Order,' which allows everyone to talk until the PoO is ended by saying 'End Point of Order.'
"Two, as I said before, the aim of the game is to get rid of your cards, which you do by putting a card on the centre pile either one number either side or the same as the one before it. Once you have gotten rid of all your cards, you make up a new rule which, like all the other rules, has a trigger card. Say; anyone who puts down a six has to put their head out the window and yell, 'DE-FORESTATION!' or whatever. Only, you don't tell anyone what your new rule is. They have to pick it up, just like the other rules. It really is a great game."
"Er… right…I get it" Kyo said, his eyebrows contorted in such a fashion that it was clear he did not 'get it.' "But… if that's all you've been doing… what was with all the shouting?"
"Disputes about the rules," came the easy reply.
Kyo needed more convincing. "And why was Yuki only just sitting down?"
Ayame though fast. "He was completing one of the rules."
Kyo raised an eyebrow. "And what would that 'rule' have been?"
"Sorry, can't tell you that. That would be talking about the rules, which is against the rules."
"Which reminds me…" Yuki said, reaching forwards and taking two cards from the unused pile and sliding them to his brother. "Talking about a PoO in a PoO and talking about the rules."
"WHAT?" Ayame yelped, scandalised. "I was explaining the rules to Kyo! Bad call." He passed the cards to Yuki, who refused them.
"Nope, it wasn't a bad call. You talked about a Point of Order while we were in one, AND you talked about the rules."
"HA!" Shigure cried, taking six cards from the unused pile and sliding three each to Ayame and Yuki. "Talking about a PoO in a PoO, talking about the rules, AND disputing the rules.
"WHAT!?" It was the first time Kyo had ever seen Yuki and Ayame agree on anything as they said simultaneously, "Bad call!" and attempted to return the cards to their cousin.
Slowly, so as not to attract the attention of the insane people, Kyo backed out of the room, sliding the door shut and hurrying down the stairs to the kitchen.
"They're weird," he said briefly to Tohru.
Back up in Shigure's room, Hatori waited until he heard Kyo and Tohru talking once again in the kitchen before he said, "Phew. That was close."
Immediately, the rat, the snake and the dog ceased their argument. Hatori looked sternly at all three of them. "I told you that yelling would pique his curiosity. If we want to get this finished without his noticing, you three had better stop arguing."
All three of them had the decency to look ashamed, and Hatori nodded in approval before reaching around and pulling the photo album from its hiding place.
OoO
None the Madabutchi Trio or Yuki were seen for the rest of the afternoon, and finally, when dinner time rolled around, Tohru called up the stairs.
"I've made some ramen! Would you like me to bring some up to you?"
"We'll come down for it, Little Flower!" Shigure's voice replied. This announcement was followed by a dull thud, a moan, and a 'Don't call her that!" from Yuki, and an "Ooh, I love ramen!" from Ayame.
"O-ok… well… it's ready now… Shall I serve some up for you, or leave it on the stove?"
Yuki replied this time. "Serve it up please, Miss Honda. We will be down soon. We're nearly finished up here."
"O-ok… I'll serve it up then."
True to their word, Yuki, Ayame, Shigure and Hatori all came downstairs a few minutes later. They all ate their ramen together with Kyo and Tohru, making pleasant small talk type conversation, and getting through the meal with only a couple of minor outbursts from Kyo.
Once the dinner had been eaten and packed away, Shigure stood up.
"Now," he said, a mischievous grin appearing on his face, "before everyone goes their separate ways, Yuki, Ayame, Hatori and I have something present to Kyo and our darling Little Flower."
"Don't call her that!" Yuki hissed menacingly. Kyo would normally have replied in much the same fashion, but today he hadn't even registered the use of the nick name.
Something for him and Tohru… his eyes widened in horror. Whatever it was that that disgusting dog had come up with for him and Tohru would be, he knew, not good. If this is something sick and perverted I'm going to have that dog's head on a – wait… Hatori's involved… he wouldn't let them do anything too… would he?
Kyo spluttered something incoherent as his thoughts continued to travel. Next to him, Tohru was being her normal Tohru-ish self. "Oh, no! You already do so much for me! I couldn't accept a gift as well! It'd be too much! You already provide me with a roof and food and everything, and I'd be being greedy if I accepted any more!"
"But my dear Little – I mean… Dear, dear Tohru!" (Yuki rolled his eyes. "That still sounds perverted when you say it. With anyone else it'd be fine…") "We have already prepared it for you and Kyo! You wouldn't let us go to all that effort… just to not accept, and let all our hard work go to waste! Would you?" Shigure gave her the puppy dog eyes.
Such a cheap trick, Hatori and Yuki thought simultaneously.
"O…oh… well… I guess… I guess that would be rather rude of me…"
At that moment, Kyo finally managed to get his thoughts into enough of an orderly fashion that he was able to ask, somewhat apprehensively, "What is it?"
"Sit down, sit down!" Ayame said cheerfully, guiding both Tohru and Kyo to the couch. Tohru settled down quite comfortably, but Kyo perched uncomfortably on the edge, as if ready to escape at any moment.
Yuki left the room, then came back in a moment later bearing a large square box-like thing wrapped in yellow crepe paper and placed it on the table in front of Kyo and Tohru, who looked at it blankly.
"Well go on!" Shigure urged, his face alight with cheerfulness. "Open it!"
Neither teen moved.
"You open it Kyo," Tohru said, gesturing to the package.
"Nuh uh! I don't trust these guys! I don't think I even want to know what it is! You open it!"
"Oh, no, it's for both of us! And I'm sure Yuki and Hatori wouldn't have let Ayame and Shigure do anything silly. I want to you open it."
Yuki sighed and, ignoring Shigure and Ayame who were in the background grinning and saying, "She knows us too well!" said, "Just open it together."
"O-ok…"
After a few more moments of flustered blundering on behalf of both parties, the package was finally opened.
"Oh!" Tohru cried, a smile lighting up her whole face. "It's a photo album! Is this what you were doing all afternoon?"
Kyo, still highly suspicious, turned to look at the four Junnishi who were nodding their heads in response to Tohru's question. Shigure was only just managing to hide a grin, and Kyo glared at him, trying to work out what he was so cheerful about.
"Oh, Kyo! Look!" Tohru's voice brought Kyo out of his musings, and with a final withering glare at Shigure, he turned to look at the album that Tohru held open on her lap.
His jaw dropped to his knees.
The photo was on its own, sitting proudly in the centre of the page and surrounded by various scrapbook type decorations.
And the photo itself…good heavens, how had he managed to let his guard down so much?! And who was it that took the photo?!
It was a photo of him and Tohru, both fast asleep, and both using the other as a pillow. Tohru had her head resting on Kyo's shoulder, and Kyo in turn had his head resting gently on hers.
They were quite close together. Not close enough that Kyo would transform of course, but still quite close.
Kyo's brain shut down as he stared in total shock at the innocent looking photograph on the page.
How?... Who?... When? His thoughts weren't even vaguely organised. He hardly even heard Tohru start talking he was in such a state of shock.
"Do you remember that holiday Kyo? It was such a fun holiday!" Tohru turned to Shigure who was attempting to, unsuccessfully, hide a grin at Kyo's reaction to the photo. "Thank you again Shigure, for taking me with you! You really treat me so well. You give me so much! And then you took me on a holiday also! I really cannot thank you enough!"
"Not at all Tohru! If only you would let me spoil you more!"
"Oh, no! I couldn't let you!"
"I know. No matter how much it upsets me, I know."
Ayame rolled his eyes at his cousin's behaviour. "Look thought the rest of the album Tohru. We prepared it especially for you and Kyo!"
Kyo still hadn't uttered a single word. His eyes were wide and his jaw was hanging slightly open.
Yuki was watching him with a raised eyebrow and a just visible smirk. Ayame had his hands clamped over his mouth in an effort to keep his sniggers under control. Shigure was biting down hard on his lip, but despite his efforts, little snorts of suppressed laughter kept escaping from him. Hatori was leaning against the wall, his smiling face hidden in shadow.
Tohru continued to chirp happily away as she turned a page of the album.
Kyo made a strangled noise in his throat as he saw the new page, which had two photos – one in the top left corner and the other in the bottom right. Who the hell…!? the first one… he had been so sure it had been just him and Tohru! And the second one - the only person who had been there that day apart from him and Tohru was…
"Yuki…" Kyo ground out, standing and spinning on the spot to pin Yuki with his dark and furious gaze.
Yuki raised his eyebrow higher, his smirk threatening to grow larger. "Don't look at me you stupid Cat. It wasn't me who took those photos. Do I look like the sort of person to take an interest in your love life? Besides, as far as I remember, that was the day we covered catnip in science, and I was a fair bit preoccupied with trying to prevent you from blowing the secret to take time out to take a photo."
Kyo was about to demand to know who it was that was the culprit, before Shigure's sudden explosion of laughter gave him away.
"YOU!" Kyo yelled, furious. "I should have known! You stupid perverted dog, what are you playing at!?"
"Why, what ever do you mean Kyo?" Shigure replied, grinning madly.
"You know damn well what I mean!" Kyo growled, advancing on Shigure, who dropped his grin at once.
"Er…" he bumbled nervously. "That is to say… I mean – oh! Oh, you mean the photos! Well… well you see… we decided – "
"Leave us out of this Shigure," Hatori and Yuki sighed simultaneously.
"And ah… by 'we' I mean, ah, 'I'," he corrected. "I decided that we needed to, ah, capture…"
"Capture…?" came Kyo's fury filled whisper.
Despite the threat of physical damage that was looming ever closer, Shigure could not contain himself. "You two are just so cute!"
Kyo was so shocked that he stopped in his tracks, before his eyes narrowed dangerously. "'Cute'?" he hissed.
Shigure, on a roll now, was undaunted. "Yes, cute! You act differently around her Kyo, it's clear to see! And I simply had to get proof of – this is what I said at the time – proof of the fact that Kyo Sohma has a soft side! And of course, after I'd taken the first picture, I had to fill up the rest of the camera!"
"Why you – !"
"Oh, Kyo! Look at this one!" Tohru called. She had continued to flick through the photo album, completely oblivious to what was going on around her.
She was used to Kyo constantly losing his head at his relatives, and so she rarely even heard his arguments anymore. Thus, she had entirely missed everything that had just been said between Shigure and Kyo.
Kyo halted again, his arm raised in preparation for an attack on the head of a cringing Shigure, and turned to look at Tohru.
She was sitting comfortably where he had left her; perched on the edge of the couch with the photo album in her hands and a happy smile on her face.
"I really like this one," she was saying. "This was the day when it was really rainy, remember? And Yuki was still at school, and neither of us had our umbrellas."
Slowly, Kyo lowered his arm and, throwing a final filthy look over his shoulder at Shigure, he headed back to the couch and sat down beside Tohru, looking at the photo she was pointing out.
"Oh yeah," he said. "I remember that day. It was really, really cold. And when we got home Shigure was in the bath already, so we couldn't wash up."
There was no trace of anger left in Kyo's voice as he spoke, and Shigure couldn't help himself.
Dimly, Kyo heard Hatori ask incredulously, "Where did you get that?" before he was blinded by a flash of light.
"ALRIGHT YOU DAMN DOG! THAT'S IT!"
T H E E N D
:D Whatcha think?? Hehehe, that was so much fun to write!!! I really, REALLY enjoyed myself! I hope you guys like it too. :)
I'm in a serious Furuba mood at the moment; I'm reading the manga. It's great! You should all go read now it if you haven't already. :)
I found it by going to Google and typing 'download Fruits Basket manga free' and clicking on the 'StopTazmo' site that comes up near the top of the list. It has all (what is it, 139?) 139 chapters in English. :D Go, go, go!
But let me know what you thought of this little story before you 'go, go, go'. ;)
Love Bundi.
