Choices
By
Dragondolphin1990
Shortly after the end of the anime, Tohru Honda found herself called back to see Akito Sohma yet again. She was staring at the door to his room. She glanced at Yuki and Kyo, the cat looking bored and the rat looking compassionate. Tohru gulped, trying to hide any fear she might have.
Hopefully I'll get out of here alive with all of my memories…
Tohru gathered up all of her courage and knocked twice on the door. An eon later, Akito's chilling voice said, "Enter."
Tohru slowly slid open the door and stepped inside. She tried her best to smile sweetly at the head of the Sohma family. He was sitting by the windowsill with a small, white dove resting deftly on his index finger. When he moved to face Tohru, the bird fluttered off into the distance.
Akito's voice sounded like silk dipped in blood when he spoke, "Tohru Honda, I believe I am correct in assuming that you… love… the cat and the rat. Are my assumptions correct?"
He made it seem almost impossible to say the word 'love'. Tohru stood dumbfounded. Why would he want to talk about Yuki and Kyo? Do I really love them, or are they just my friends?
Akito waited a moment, but when she did not answer, he grew angry, "Tohru, do you find it amusing to ignore my question?"
Tohru didn't say anything for a little while. She was like a deer in headlights. She thought a little longer, "No, I don't find it amusing. But, I… I don't think I love either of them. They are my best friends, nothing more."
"Why would the Zodiac wish to befriend you?" he snapped, "You are nothing but a worthless girl!"
"I don't think of it like that," Tohru replied, trying to remain calm, "All they need is a friend, someone to be nice to them. I'm sure that even you could befriend them, Akito. Just be nice to your family, especially the Zodiac because they have never gotten enough kindness in their lives."
"Shut up! You don't know anything about us!"
"I know enough. I know that when people aren't exposed to enough kindness, they give up on life. If people don't have a family to love them, they feel like they can't go on. All they really need is a family, and then everything would be better. I know. I lost my mom a while back," Tohru sniffled at the last part.
Akito didn't say anything for a while. Finally, he mumbled, "Maybe…"
"Did you say something, Akito?"
"Maybe you are right…"
"I… I am?"
"But then again, maybe you're wrong."
Tohru expected Akito to hold a temper tantrum and hurt her so she looked away, but he didn't. He heard a rustling as he walked across the room. She looked up at him when he was standing over her, saying, "Maybe you're right…"
The next thing Tohru knew, Akito dropped down to the ground beside her and wrapped his arms around her, "Thank you, Tohru Honda."
"You're… welcome?"
The door opened and Hatori entered. Akito instantly drew away from Tohru, straightened his clothing and walked away, nonchalantly saying, "You are dismissed, Tohru."
Tohru walked to the door where Hatori was waiting and glanced back at Akito. He was smiling at her. She smiled back and left. Hatori drove her home to Shigure's house. On the way, Hatori asked, "Did he… Did Akito do anything to you?"
Tohru at first didn't understand his question, but when she did, she said, "Oh, no! It was nothing like that! I just told him to be nicer to you guys and then he hugged me and said that I was right."
"Akito has never let anyone else tell him what to do and he never admits if someone else is right. There is definitely something about you, Tohru."
Tohru smiled.