Hello my lovely friends and fans across the globe! I'm back, only, oh, maybe a week or two, after I received my ninth review from… EBONY DAGGER! YAY! Hooray for reviewsies! *Gives a big sundae she reserved for other possible reviewers to Ebony Dagger, who staggers under the weight* Okay, I'm in a really good mood for some reason, (who would've guessed, she just took her midterm!) so I almost love you all but I do wish you happy readings as I stay silent and not talk as I usually do! Okay, maybe a little. Oh! I also have a "who's the hottest Furuba dude" poll on my profile, so choose the man, for your choice may affect *gulp* Ruka's happily ever after. I know, right? So tense! No one knows what will happen… RR&R please, and your messages will be treasured in the mind of a hormone-crazy teen forever. And yes, I did edit this again; I kind of just discovered that I published my rough draft here. I hope it's a lot better! Anyways, enjoy!
Fruits Basket isn't mine, only Ruka Himura, but I will love Yuki forever! (-;)
So here's the update. I entered Kainbara High only a day ago. Yesterday, I got a phone call that Maw Maw, my sole wanted guardian passed away from old age. So I decided to move out of the city and into the forest. And collapsed. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in "Tohru's house." Well, what I mean to say is that she lived in the house, but it's not exactly hers. And everything comes to a full circle.
I'm propped up on pillows because I can't sit up on my own (seriously? Try rolling a near-ton piano for five hours straight through bumpy roads and traffic and your muscles wouldn't fell so hot either), and staring at the ceiling. Where is everyone? Well, right when the conversation was getting interesting, I opened my big mouth and asked "hey, isn't it a school day today?" And so, the majority of everyone had to leave. Even though Tohru was reluctant to leave; she wanted to stay with me and comfort me. Poor angel, if she gets a boyfriend, it'll be catastrophic when they break up.
Oh, and when I mean the majority of everyone, I mean that Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru left, leaving me with this creepy Shigure dude. We're not in the same room at the moment, though – he said that he had to do something for a minute. But man, I don't like those vibes that he's giving off. I think I'm getting psyched. Or maybe it's because I'm getting claustrophobic. Or bored. Maybe a little bit of both.
But I guess it's been silently decided that I would stay with the Sohmas' (and Honda's) until I get better, so that makes life a little easier for me. For now.
It's quite annoying to just be left in a room with nothing to do and a sack of potatoes for a body. But luckily, I get better much faster than the average person… for some reason. I tested my arms. They were still sore, but at last, I could move them! My legs are a different story. They're so beaten that they're numb. So no using them. Okay, I'll just stay here for the entire day, quietly; try to sleep, maybe. I think, knitting my fingers together, like I'm about to take a long rest. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm out of here! I wriggle a little, trying to plan my way onto the floor while I'm at it. My eyes light up as I think of one of my best ideas yet.
I shake my head as if I'm refusing a plate of southern turnip leaves, and my pillows fall on the floor on my left. One, two… all three of them on the floor. Not only do I want to be quiet; I also don't want a broken nose. My fingers clutch the bed mattress, and I use them to help roll myself off. THUNK Dang it. So much for my cat-like stealth. Oh, dear, I think that Shigure might have heard me. I wait helplessly as I hear footsteps, my face pressed into soft feathers. Ow, my glasses are pressing into my eyes… I think numbly. The door slides open, and I turn my head to see two socked feet besides my head. Shigure's hands also appear on the floor, and his face soon follows. He's, surprise-surprise, also wearing glasses and the first serious expression I've seen on his face; somewhat jaded interest. "Bored, are we?" He teases, that stupid grin coming to his face again.
"No, I just like rolling myself off my bed and hurting my eyes with my glasses." I mutter to myself. "Please help me up, 'Gure-san." I say louder. He looks like a guy who likes nicknames, so I might as well kiss up to him (since I'm in his house and all)
Instead of instantly simply picking me up like I expected, he dissapears and comes back. Then I squeak when he slides a sheet of something, poster or cardboard maybe, under my stiff figure and pillows. He then whipped out a hole puncher, punched a hole in the sheet, laced a string through, and started dragging me across the floor. This is... awkward, and...wrong. Something tells me that this isn't normal for men, even boys. Is he scared that I'll attack him or something? Attack of the rabid American girl! I'm sure there's a Japanese horror on that somewhere. Maybe he has a girlfriend... and is prone to pestering girls whether he was single or not? I shoot him a questioning look, but his back is to me, and I feel like I'm a dog during a walk. I think, and laugh a little, my stomach muscles stinging. "You Sohmas are strange."
He turnes around and sort of smiles despite himself. "Yep!" Then he thinks for a minute, and addresses me. "You're very straightforward, aren't you?" "I don't have much to hide. Are you an actor?" The curiosity just kills me. He's very good at hiding his feelings. He would be a very early actor if so – I've never seen such convincing acts off-screen. Will he be 'angry' at me? I wonder as he puts me down on the sofa. But I think that he's flattered; his face lights up and sparkles seemed to dance in the air "No, I am a… ROMANCE WRITER!" He gloats proudly with one hand pointing to the ceiling, the sparkles almost blinding me before they are gone. It's in this moment that I realize that he changed the subject. Sly dog. Shigure produces a few novels from his kimono. How long have they been there? I glance at the covers blatantly, and am shocked to recognize all of them. I blushed in pleased shock.
"YOU'RE Kiritani Noa!" I almost shout in spite of myself. "You've read my books!" I flush, and wanted to hide it, but I was too excited. "Maw Maw had some… you're a… a good writer." I sputter, embarrassed, but feeling honored like I've just met celebrity material. And I knew that Shigure could be celebrity material if he tried. "I know, right? But…" He comes close, and I get worried. "the book's for adults." I blush. "I'm at an adult level of understanding." I managed to reply. Shigure's eyes seem to dazzle in that old-man perv way that they do. "Aaya! We've picked up a girl perv! Girl perv!" He sings. I glower at him darkly, feel around me for a moment, and throw a vase at his head. He caught it almost reflexively. I stuck my tongue at him. "Don't call me a perv, perv." So much for kissing up to him. "Uwa! So ruuude!" He chides, flitting this way and that with the vase and his glasses in his hands. Then he's "serious," shaking his finger at me. "You should be good to your elders! And what was your name, anyway?" "Ruka Himura." That guy's just so… random! No, no… he's manipulative. I argue with myself. You have to be clever in order to be such a good writer. It made sense. And I already knew that he had a weird streak that first time I saw him. "I'm Kiritani Noa! But you can call me by my –" He comically darts his eyes this way and that (like he's checking if someone is listening in) " – real alias. SUPEEERRR SHIGURE SOHMAAAA!" I laugh while he sings his superhero theme song. But why is my opinion changing? Dang, I think that I'm getting along with the guy anyway!
~ YUKI'S POV ~
Class was the same as any other day that it was before. But, for some reason, without event. "Pst! Hey!" I chanced a look behind me, and saw Uotani poking Tohru and Hana into a private discussion. "Where's –" Kyo was looking at the blackboard behind the teacher's left ear as she taught us our second day of mathematics. Or at least tried. She suddenly smiled wickedly at us all and stroked her fingernails across the board to make a loud screeching sound. Everyone winced and complained, save for me. Akito is so much worse than that… I almost gasped out loud as he came into my head. I raised my hand. "Yes, Sohma?" "May I go to the restroom?" "Yes." She nodded at me. As I closed the door, I heard her speak sarcastically to the class. "Hey! Hey! I'm real sorry to interrupt your conversations, but we're going to have a test on this Monday!"
I found myself in the school gardens again, like yesterday. Yesterday… why does everything remind me of him? Will he ever leave me alone? How far away do I have to be to stop him from torturing me mentally?
"Excuse me." A curt voice says above my head. A wrinkled school patroller looks down at me, trying to look more suspicious than awed, as she truly is of my physical appearance. "What business do you have outside of class?" "Restroom. But I felt dizzy." Her face softened. "Do you need to go to the infirmary?" "No, but thank you." I smiled at her, charming her to make her go away. She blushed, blinked, and strode off, muttering that she thought she heard someone in the hallways. I breathed in deeply, hands balling up and quivering. I hated fooling people. I hated deceiving them, not telling them how I feel, or straight out saying "GO AWAY I'M UPSET!" like I wanted to tell that patroller. Like… Himura-san. She interrupted Akito yesterday, using the exact two words that the patroller had first said; "excuse me." I scanned through the conversation meekly, and paused at something. "Is he one of your boyfriends?" She had peeked at me from under her bangs at that moment. What the- ? God! She thinks that I'm gay! I'm not gay!
I put my head in my hands. Damn it. Damn my cursed appearance. I'm not gay! I quickly tried to stop thinking, to simply focus on the smell the garden around me… But my mind couldn't help but wander. On her. Again. Arrgh! Americans!
But I paused in my quiet mind-rant. She's certainly strange. What made her stop Akito? If she didn't know us, we certainly didn't know her. What makes her so… different? So straightforward? What was she doing yesterday, skipping badminton and ending up trying to uproot my vegetable garden. Ah! I still need to check it. I was reminded. I made a note of that, but kept on thinking, feeling myself relax. Even her hair is strange and boisterous; the other girl that is now back at home. Weird.
~ RUKA'S POV ~
Shigure and I talked books for a while until he got a call from his editor and had to go back to his writing work. I managed to reach the remote and surfed through the TV until I got bored of that, too. There was a pad of paper under the couch, and I found a mechanical pencil in between the cushions, so I started to draw.
Truthfully, one of the things that I love most about Japan, and one of the chief reasons I actually moved here is the manga there. Ever since I discovered it in America, I started teaching myself how to draw some serious sketches. It was difficult at first, but it's so easy and fun for me to draw now! I think that I'm a fast learner. And I think I'm a good drawer.
I draw randomly, first starting with the eyes and long lashes of a beautiful young woman, and then gently curving my pencil around them to make her face. It's so easy it's almost like walking! I almost already know where everything has to go. Sad smile, slender limbs, a tear dripping off her chin, clad only by a wrinkled sheet that wraps modestly around her body. Her hair flows around her body, the ends nearly touching the small puddle of water as she gazes at her reflection. I studied her, almost shocked by what I drew. She looks like she's in pain - the sheets pulling her body into all these different directions, her face now looks like she's struggling instead of simply looking at the water. Her sad smile is now really the beginning of a grimace. She wasn't posing - she was fighting. Fighting to get to that water. Another world. My fingers dropped the picture like it was hot metal, but my eyes followed it to the floor. The girl haunted me. Who is she? Narcissus? Calypso? I honestly have no idea. It isn't until I'm asleep that, deep in my subconscious, I confirm; yes, the lady is really just an exaggerated drawing of me.
~KYO'S POV~
Aaya, the day's been so long and boring. The second day of stinking school, and everything's still the same. We still have the same seats, same teacher, same stupid Yuki fan club hounding Yuki. I smile at the thought. Stupid rat, he deserves it! For being so annoying. Anyway, it's the end of school for the whole week, and I can't wait to just go home and eat something. Tohru's walking home with the Yankee and Pyscho-freak… uuhhh… the freak gave me that weird look again… The Rat's walking behind me, and he's kinda weirder than normal today. I didn't know why. I yawned loudly and stretched. Like I would give a damn, anyway. I swung my arms back and forth as I walked.
So Akito came to school yesterday. I resisted the urge to dent a passing streetlight. Damn him. Why does he always have to butt in and ruin everything? Everything that's a part of me, he trampled and stomped on with those tiny girly feet that he has. I hate him. Hate him for everything. I glanced at Yuki. No, I hate him more. So, I'm supposed to win against him in a fight. I've never been able to beat him in a fight yet. It's been a while. I flexed my powerful muscles under the thin school uniform. But I'm ready. In fact, why don't I just take him out n-
Hana and Yankee had went over to the other fork of the road, and Tohru was walking back, between me and Yuki. "I can't wait to go home! I wonder what Hi-chan is doing? If she's getting along with Shigure?" Oh, great. Here it is again with that weird American chick. And how's she doing with Shigure? I almost shuddered. Eurgh, I don't want to think about it. Stupid dog. I think Yuki started to walk faster. Okaaayyyy. I looked at the trees for a moment, and I got angry again. "Why did that teacher have to give us that essay today, anyway? Ruining my whole weekend!" Tohru laughed.
~ YUKI'S POV ~
"Maybe if you'd just do it when we get home instead of dragging it out through the weekend, you would have more time to sleep in!" I wanted to growl at him. I don't like the idea of Shigure being alone with Himura-san. She does have the physique of a college girl, and for some reason, she acts like one, too. But wasn't she a year younger than us? Or was it two? I suppose that regular girls with weird heights eventually just learn to act their look. Maybe… maybe she was actually like me. Trapped from her looks, afraid that if she showed her true self, then she wouldn't be accepted, like me. Am I having an epiphany?
We entered the house one-by-one, into the living room, where Himura-san was sprawled across the sofa, with her head dangling to the floor and her feet stretched across the head of the couch. Weird. Thank goodness the kimono was bound tight. I barely noticed that Kyo and Tohru were also staring besides me in equal shock. Shigure walked into the room. "Hey, I heard you guys coming – ahk!" He stopped short, his eyes falling on Himura-san as well. An inner turmoil of fighting battled within him, and the usual side won. He laughed, hard. "WAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" He clutched his sides and nearly fell to the floor in his obnoxious guffawing.
~ RUKA'S POV ~
My eyes snapped open, and I started in shock at the strange sound that woke me up. I lost my balance on whatever I was resting on, and made some sort of a back roll, my knees hitting on something hard and toppling it over. I landed with my belly on the floor and my chin bounced off the wood, making me bite my tongue and make a Stitch*-ish sound; "euagh!" Someone else cried my name in selfless worry. "Hi-chan!" Of course, causing me to lift my head and smack my crown against the surface of the flipped table. And biting my tongue again. "Mh-mh-mh-mh!" I made a whimpering sound with whatever was left of my tongue.
~TOHRU'S POV~ Oh my gosh! Hi-chan!
~KYO'S POV~ WHAT THE -
~YUKI'S POV~ What the – wait, what just happened?
~SHIGURE'S POV~ AH HA HA HA HA HA! OMIGOD JUST LOOK AT HER FACE! But that looked like it hurt!
~RUKA'S POV (AGAIN)~
Hands lifted up the table above me, and I was flipped onto my back and sat up to look at two deep purple eyes staring at me. Yak! I hastily put my tongue back in my mouth, trying not to look more stupid than I do already.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha," I giggled awkwardly, the pain in my tongue messing up my nervous laugh. "I'm going to get the first-aid kit!" I heard Tohru cry, both her voice and footsteps hurried. I blinked once, and Yuki and Kyo's face came into focus. One of Yuki's weirdly pale (but unquestionably handsome) hands raised my face so that I was looking into his eyes again, forcing me to look in his eyes as he searched my face concernedly, his nose only a few inches from mine. "Himura-san, are you all right?" My face began to heat up… aaaand suddenly I heard squelching sounds. "Chu-chu-chu! Kissy-kissy! Oh, lovely, budding roma – ow." Shigure, ruining the mood. Enter infuriated Kyo and Yuki, hitting him simultaneously at the exact right moment. And Tohru, almost dropping the first-aid kit in an adorably comical way when she sees Kyo and Yuki in that dark mood, trying to figure out what just happened. I tried to stifle my giggle, but ended up laughing out loud, stretching the cut on my chin. "HA(-ow)-HA(-ow)-HA(-ow)!" Everyone looked at me and ended up laughing. (Except for Kyo, he didn't get anything.) What a strange bunch!
Forgive me for any of the swearing, it's not my fault they're like this! Oh, and an epiphany is a part of the story when one of the characters (usually the main character) realizes something unknown until then. But Yuki doesn't know that he's not – shh! – real, so… Oh, and major thing here; now I'm in high school, English got really into "deep meanings" of things, so it was actually really kind of fun and weird at the same time when I was writing the whole 'drawing' episode. Anyways, hope you liked this, sayonara! Send me lotsa reviewsies and I'll give you more cookies! Not the computer… type, I meant the sugar/chocolate chip kind. BYEEIEEEE!
