Disclaimer: I swear to God that I don't own Fruits Basket. sigh
A/N:FINALLY! I'm proud to present to you chapter seven! 7 is the lucky number, so I think this chapter shall be receiving a lot of reviews! lol Well, I think that it does serve as an important link in the whole story… Anyway, I sincerely hope you enjoy it.
Special Thanks to all the awesome reviewers! XD
Cured
'It is part of the cure to wish to be cured'
Chapter 7: Curiosity
Even though Machi already thought that Tohru was indeed crazy, Kyoko remained silent and watched the three of them wander around the kitchen. She was determined not to distract Tohru and make Yuki think she was crazy too. Kyoko, despite that intention, let out a chuckle. She just knew that Yuki will be impressed by Tohru's cooking skills, since he seemed so horrible at any simple cooking procedure. So far, he managed to do nothing properly, except for boiling the water—although he did leave it too long on the heat until it had all evaporated. Another advantage on Tohru's side would be Machi. She wasn't as horrible as Yuki, of course, but she was no match for Tohru. And she always seemed to leave a mess behind, making the kitchen hard to work in.
"Miss Tohru, You seem like an expert," Yuki complemented, giving up on cooking and watching how Tohru was effortlessly molding the rice in her hands. "Have you ever considered Culinary school?"
Tohru started laughing nervously. Her mom flashed her an encouraging grin, but that only increased Tohru's timidity. "Err…I-I don't think I'm good enough, and besides I can't afford it."
Yuki considered what Tohru said, smiling. "Well, you would've excelled in it."
Tohru released another one of her nervous chuckles, before hearing a sudden loud CRASH from behind her.
"EH?!" Tohru jolted, turning around. Machi was standing—with her usual unchanging expression—on a cluster of shattered broken bits of glass.
Yuki ran to Machi, and asked, the concern obvious in his tone. "What happened?! Are you hurt? Did you get any scratches?—" he added, holding her arms and turning them around, searching restlessly.
Machi stared with wide eyes at Yuki, going red in the face. Why is he looking at me like that? It's not like he'd actually care about me, would he? Machi wondered, surprised. Yuki was usually polite with her, just like he was with everyone but his eyes seem so—
"Oh Machi, are you okay?!" Tohru said fretfully. "Thank god the glass didn't cut you!"
Yuki hastily let go of Machi's hands, and her expression became straight again, and she started saying, "I'm fin—
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" Kakeru suddenly entered the kitchen.
"It's that fool again!" Kyoko couldn't restrain herself from commenting, and rolled her eyes.
He looked at the shattered glass, and released a frightened gasp, running to Tohru. "Oh dear," he said dramatically, "You are fine Tohru, aren't you? And you too—" he added turning to Yuki, leaving Tohru mumbling something incomprehensible, "Machi would be so worried—you are okay, aren't you Yun-Yun?—OUCH!—
Both Machi and Yuki hit Kakeru simultaneously. Tohru noticed that both looked fairly content with what they had just done, and couldn't help but smile.
"Do you need any help?" A very soft voice came from behind the kitchen door. Tohru looked and saw it was Kisa, standing shyly at the entrance.
"It's okay," Tohru immediately said to the girl, "we're almost done, really."
The girl gave Tohru a wide smile, nodding, and then went away. So adorable, Tohru thought laughingly. Tohru looked and saw that her mom was frowning at Machi, for some reason Tohru didn't comprehend. But whatever it was, just looking at her mom and all these people made her feel good. She was not alone.
"Seems like you've already got some admirers already, Miss Tohru" Yuki commented when Kisa left.
"Eh?! What—me? I wouldn't be so sure about that," Tohru said, shaking her head.
"It's a good thing for Kisa to meet someone like you who isn't really connected to the Sohma's," Yuki said, mainly to himself, looking at Tohru, but not really seeing her.
Minutes later, everyone was sitting around enjoying a delicious meal. They all complemented Tohru on her cooking, and it was only Yuki and Tohru that mentioned that Machi also had helped. Even Hiro kept on eating after looking at the food disdainfully, and saying that it was disgusting. Tohru wouldn't have noticed the time, if her mom hadn't commented that it was getting late. She looked around worriedly. What if Hatori was waiting for her in the clinic right now? He was doing her this great favor, and here she is being arrogant by not accepting it!
"Calm down, sweetheart. Just ask Yuki to take you back!" Her mom cheered excitedly, yet increasing Tohru's worry.
Tohru looked at everyone. They were all heaving sighs and motioning to their stomachs, to show that they're full. When Machi started collecting dishes and taking them to the kitchen, Tohru immediately followed her example, although she wasn't sure if Machi was comfortable with that.
"Machi," Tohru said slowly, putting some plates into the sink, "do you think you can take me to the clinic?—I mean you don't have to take me all the way! You could just show—
"Oh dear— of all the people," Kyoko sighed despondently, and Tohru held herself from looking at her mom confusedly. She was going to use this opportunity to show Machi that she is in fact perfectly sane.
After cleaning up, the two girls—and Kyoko—headed to forest. Tohru had attempted to start many conversations, but all responses she got were either silences or nods, and occasionally some one syllable words.
"So…" Tohru began at one attempt. She remembered what happened in the kitchen and said excitedly, "Have you always been close to Yuki?!"
"she wishes!" Kyoko screamed somewhere from behind.
"close?" Machi's uttered her longest response so far, taken by surprise.
Tohru nodded, recalling how Yuki looked different from his composed self when the glass broke.
"…I've been working here for a while…" Machi was mumbling. Apparently this has taken her into thinking of a whole new world. She suddenly stopped, and looked at Tohru.
"The clinic isn't so far from here. Just walk straight ahead, and you'll get there," Machi said inattentively, her mind obviously somewhere else, and she ran her way back.
"A strange girl, isn't she?" Tohru said, walking where Machi had pointed.
"Strange?! She's a total FREAK!" Kyoko snapped grudgingly.
"I don't understand why you don't—" Tohru trailed off, because she just heard loud rumbles that cannot be ignored.
"What the hell was that?!" Kyoko stopped too. The voices were coming from their right. If they would turn, they'd probably get lost yet again. But that apparently didn't cross either the daughter's or the mother's mind as they headed towards the source of the screams. They were becoming louder, and Tohru could make out only few words, "…Generation after generation!…How dare you?!…"
They were now out of the forest, and were walking between long rows of big houses. The source isn't as close as they thought it would be, but it was loud enough to be heard deep in the woods.
"I think I can recognize one of the voices," Kyoko whispered to Tohru as they finally reached the a mansion-like house. They both automatically peaked through the window, and their jaw immediately dropped in shock.
Inside, Shigure and Hatori were struggling to hold down a jet black-haired guy from striking the orange-head in front of them. Tohru let out a gasp as she immediately recognized the profile of Kyo.
"… He had brought that to himself! YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE! NO ONE WILL GO! SOHMAS STICK TOGETHER—DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
"Look there," Kyoko pointed somewhere behind, and Tohru let another gasp in horror. A girl with long black hair was lying on the floor. Every part of her body looked beaten.
Kyo said something, after taking all that screaming, to the black-haired guy, and before Tohru could make out what he was saying, the guy managed to slip his arm out through the restraints of Hatori and Shigure—who looked oddly serious—and slapped Kyo right on his face. At this Kyo didn't look up and stormed out of the room.
"Wait!" Tohru ran in front of Kyo before he could move on. Tohru stared, wide-eyed, at his face. He looked like he was coming out of a war. Where he was slapped left a big red hand-print on his cheek.
"What are you doing, baby?" Kyoko said concernedly, running after Tohru.
What am I doing?! Tohru suddenly thought, panicky. Kyo was looking at her, all of his body trembling violently. He looked too wild to utter comprehensible words, and suddenly started running forward, shoving Tohru out of the way, making her fall straight to the ground, with her eyes still wide-open.
"That son of a bitch! Tohru, honey, are you okay? Can you get up??" Kyoko knelt beside Tohru who sat up on the grass, but didn't attempt standing up. SOHMAS STICK TOGETHER…All this belongs to the Sohmas—and the Sohmas only…Tohru remembered Momiji's expression as he said those words…She remembered the deserted dojo… What Yuki said about Kisa being excited for meeting someone who wasn't a Sohma…Her memories went further back to the high wall surrounding this place…to what the workers at the hospital said…You don't normally catch sight of a Sohma walking down the street—
"Tohru?"
"Huh?" Tohru emerged from her train of thoughts, confused. She looked up and saw Hatori looking at her with surprise. It was actually hard to tell exactly what was his expression, because it was already getting dark.
"What are you doing here?" Hatori said, stretching his hand to help Tohru stand up, "aren't you suppose to be at the clinic?" His tone drove Tohru into her usual frantic self.
"Eh?! Yes! I'm so s-sorry! This isn't—I shouldn't, I know and I'm sorry—I just heard some…sounds, and I got c-curious—
"I see," he replied blankly, "well, it's late and if you hadn't taken the medicine yet, you're fever will not just disappear."
"Yes!" Tohru replied obediently, and walked with him to the clinic. They walked in awkward silence through the forest, and every time Tohru thought of asking about what was going on in there, she'd remember how much she had intruded already and would stop herself. Kyoko, however, encouraged Tohru to ask about that girl, who was lying on the floor beaten and forgotten. Kyoko just couldn't let the image of that girl get out of her head. Lying on floor…battered…neglected…all things that sounded too familiar to Kyoko's past.
"Umm…Sir," Tohru started carefully, "I didn't mean to but I saw a girl…" Hatori remained silent for a while, not sure if he was suppose to have a reaction to this.
"Yes, I'm sure you did," he finally said seriously.
"No, no, I mean—through the window, there was a girl lying on the floor—
"Oh, you mean Rin. She'll be fine. Shigure will be coming by the clinic to drop her, after she'd calm down—still not sure how talking to Shigure could calm anyone down," Hatori added to himself, forgetting about Tohru.
"So she's not really hurt?" Tohru asked brightly.
"Nothing serious, no," Hatori said, and was surprised to see how grateful Tohru looked. Seeing that smile on Tohru's face made him stop. Is this some sort of déjà vu? He thought, the image of a smiling girl with brown hair flashed in his mind. It's been a while, and my memories were almost fading away but…
"Is something the matter?" Tohru asked, looking at Hatori innocently.
He snorted, shaking his head. "No. It's nothing. We're almost there." It can't be helped.
They finally reached the clinic, and Hatori immediately measured Tohru's temperature.
"Hmm… It's a bit lower, but I suggest you still take this medicine, and maybe have some sleep." Hatori said, handing Tohru the bottle.
"Thank you so much—I don't know really what to do—
"You shouldn't worry about this right now—
A whistling sound suddenly broke into the clinic. "Hatori all grown-up! Comforting a girl just like a gentleman with no ill intentions what-so-ever!" Shigure teased, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, walking to the desk followed by the battered girl.
"Rin," Hatori said, completely ignoring Shigure, "How do you feel?"
"FINE!" The girl snapped with indignation.
Hatori nodded understandingly. "Well, go ahead inside and rest if you want."
Rin strode to Tohru's room door, saying, "I'm only staying here for this night. But I am not—
"Rin," Shigure said calmly, the amusement written all over his face.
"WHAT?!" she snapped, holding the door knob.
"That would be Tohru's room."
"Huh?! No—n-no—It's not really my room—I just slept in it for few days but it's not," Tohru lost her words as she was faced by that girl's stare. Rin, with her melting black eyeliner, seemed to have just noticed Tohru there, while Shigure just cracked up.
"Who are you?" Rin said to Tohru, not loudly, but Tohru would have preferred the shouting more than this sharp, full of resentment tone Rin just used.
"Damn, that girl's got attitude," Kyoko was saying, eyeing the frail girl up and down, all her previous sympathy gone.
"That's my patient Miss Tohru Honda, Rin," Hatori said sternly to Rin, walking to a door that Tohru didn't notice before, and pulling out a key to open it. "I would appreciate if you'd be politer to my patients a bit more."
Shigure stopped laughing and watched Hatori, while Rin just sniffed air angrily, and walked into the room Hatori just opened, slamming the door behind her with all the remaining force she got left in her body.
"I'm sorry to cause such a disturbance," Tohru apologized, standing up and bowing to both Hatori and Shigure.
"Oh honey…" Kyoko mumbled helplessly. The apologizing habit never changed in her.
"Don't worry about it. Have a good night sleep," Hatori said, while Shigure just gave her an arrogant smirk, having just received a bow.
Tohru went into her room, and was never happier to see that big comfy bed like now. She immediately dropped onto it exhaustedly.
"That's very interesting… very interesting indeed, but I must add that it is also dangerous," Shigure was saying outside, nodding wisely.
"You know it would make sense if you'd be a little more clearer."
Shigure laughed, "but what's the fun in that?! I'm a writer remember, I add a sense of enigma to things to make them more interesting."
"Riiiiight," Hatori said, busy flipping through pages of different books. After using so much force in flipping the pages, he finally let go, heaving an exhausted sigh. "This is really abnormal. Everything in her body system seems to be working properly, yet she has a constant high fever. Fever is suppose to be a reaction to infections, but there isn't any sign of bacteria or viruses in her body."
"I assume we're talking about little Miss Tohru?"
"Yes. Her body must be fighting something, and that's why she's having a fever. But I just can't figure it out—
"Can't you?" Shigure suddenly interrupted with a sneer.
"What do you mean?" Hatori asked, surprised by that attitude.
"Oh come on," Shigure said, rolling his eyes and laughing, "I wasn't even close Kana and She reminds me of her."
"Kana?" Hatori said, getting a sense of the point Shigure was trying to make.
"Yup."
"So, you're saying that I'm taking advantage of the existence of some slight resemblance between my patient and Kana by elongating the treatment period so I can be able to use my patient for my own personal emotional purposes over a longer time?" Hatori said to the smirking Shigure.
"Exactly!" Shigure said animatedly, "I'm the writer here and I still couldn't have phrased it better!"
Hatori looked scornfully at Shigure, and at last said calmly, "nonsense."
The End of The Lucky Chapter!
A/N: So How lucky do you think it was? (That doesn't make sense so let me rephrase) What do you think of this chapter? Please tell me your opinion whether it consisted of long critical paragraphs or just a one syllable word like Machi's. I don't mind either, really! XD
