"W-well I-I really wasn't planning on going to the festival," Tohru said frowning. This surprised Yuki.
"I mean it's not because of you or anyone else its just that I really can't afford to miss work or skip my duties at the house," Tohru explained. This saddened Yuki a great deal.
"I guess I understand," Yuki said disappointed. A gray cloud masked his emotions. They approached the front of the house where they had started they're walk.
"Please don't be upset with me Yuki," Tohru said as they walked into the house, "I just couldn't leave my duties… I would feel awful," Tohru finalized. Yuki headed upstairs to his room without saying a word to anyone. But he paused at the stairwell as Tohru shut the sliding door. Before she turned to him he continued to move upstairs.
"I'm not upset, just disappointed," Yuki whispered to himself as he closed the door to his room. Then the house was silent. An ominous mist of tension and emotion hung over the house in the air. It had been a bad night, and everyone was aware of it.
The next morning was just as bad as the night before. Tohru tried to be cheerful, but it was hard to manage seeing as she felt guilty about how she rejected Yuki yesterday evening. Breakfast was eaten in silence that morning. Shigure had to put down his paper because he felt the need to know what was going wrong.
"Is there something wrong the matter with any of you?" Shigure asked rather bluntly.
"Shut up you stupid dog," Yuki replied harshly. He didn't even pause eating his breakfast.
"What the hell is your problem?" Kyo asked while guzzling down some milk. Ignoring Kyo's question, Yuki stood up and went into the kitchen where Tohru was cleaning up.
"Tohru did you even eat breakfast this morning?" Yuki asked concerned.
"Oh no, I wasn't too hungry this morning so I decided to skip," Tohru replied with a smile.
"Tohru you really must eat something, it isn't healthy to not eat breakfast. Are you feeling unwell today?" He was consistently trying to figure out was wrong. He approached her and put his palm to her forehead.
"You aren't warm. There is some food still on the table I think you should go eat," Yuki said.
"Now that you mention it I am beginning to get hungry. But I have to finish the dishes first.
"Tohru its ok I'll finish the dishes for you," Yuki said as he began to wash the ones he had brought in.
"All right, if you insist," Tohru said going into the living room. She sat down and began to eat.
"Ahh, decide to join us for breakfast did we?" Shigure said trying to be funny.
"You weren't going to eat breakfast? You feeling ok? You always eat breakfast," Kyo said all at once.
"I know I guess I just wasn't hungry, but now I am!" Tohru said smiling. She began to put the left over food onto her plate.
"You guys don't think this was to bland?" Tohru asked eating some of the food she had made.
"Nope its delicious as usual!" Shigure added still reading the paper.
"Alright then, Kyo? Is there enough milk in the fridge? Should I go get some more?" Tohru called from inside.
"Nah we're all good, there is one whole other carton in the fridge," Kyo answered. Tohru then began to clean up her dish and bring it to Yuki who had finished the other dishes.
"Here I'll wash those," Yuki said grabbing the dishes from her hands.
"Are you sure?" Tohru said a little worried look on her face.
"Ahh, what would we do if Tohru didn't come and live with us and take care of us?" Shigure said to himself.
The morning went on smoothly. Tohru could tell that Yuki was going back into his old attitude. To describe it would be to call it an anti-social depression. But Tohru had been trying to avoid him for most of the morning; she didn't want to make him or herself for that matter feel bad for what happened last night. Tohru sighed, avoiding Yuki only made her feel more upset. She emptied the washer of the laundry and went outside to hang them up to dry. There she saw Yuki sitting outside below her. She sighed again, Tohru didn't know how much more of the guilt she could bear. She continued to hang up the laundry and noticed that Yuki wasn't there any more.
He had come up behind her, "Miss Honda?" Tohru jumped back in surprise.
"Oh Yuki, you surprised me!" Tohru said as she bent down to the laundry basket and continued to hang up the clothes.
"Would you like to come down to the secret base with me today? I'm sure there are some vegetables that need to be picked, we haven't been down there in awhile," Yuki asked as Tohru continued with the laundry. Despite her extreme level of guilt, Tohru couldn't stay away from Yuki. She couldn't find it in her heart to do so.
"Sure," Tohru said hoping that the serenity of the garden would help calm the mood for herself. They got ready and headed out the door.
"We'll be back a little bit after lunch time!" Tohru called as she stepped out the door. They walked down the wooded path that led to Yuki's secret base. Tohru and Yuki had shared so much time together at the tiny garden. Both of them had found it as a way to connect with one another. At the secret base was where Yuki realized that he could depend on others and be himself in front of his friends… so many things had changed, the garden looked more alive when Tohru was around it. When they had reached the secret base, Yuki handed Tohru some gardening gloves and slipped some of his own on. They set out to work.
"Listen Yuki, I feel terrible for making you upset yesterday. If there is anything I can do to cheer you up. If you need to talk that's good to," Tohru stopped her apology to find Yuki smiling at her.
"Tohru I was just a little bit disappointed that's all. I've gotten over it now, don't worry," Yuki replied. Tohru smiled although she still felt very bad about the whole ordeal. Yuki picked one of the dew-dipped strawberries.
"Here Tohru, taste this strawberry for me. I need to know if they are ripe enough to be picked yet. And you deserve to have the first strawberry of the season," Yuki leaned over to Tohru, the strawberry in his bare hand. He placed in her mouth.
"Oh its delicious! Its so sweet!" Tohru wiped her mouth as the juice from the ripe berry ran down her chin.
"I'm glad. Lets pick some and we can eat them later," Yuki suggested, as he looked through the small bushes for strawberries that he thought looked ripe.
"You know Tohru I really hope that you change your mind about the festival," Yuki said as he and Tohru walked home with their arms full of vegetables. Yuki took a strawberry and put one in his mouth. When he found that Tohru hadn't heard the remark, he just went on and changed the subject.
"These strawberries are delicious, I think we picked them at a perfect time," Yuki commented when they had gotten home and were washing the vegetables in the kitchen.
"Yes, I'm so happy!" said a very excited Tohru. Shigure came into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.
"Is that romance I smell in the air?" Shigure said chuckling at his rhetorical question.
"You know, you really know how to ruin a moment of peace. What are you doing here anyway?" Yuki said in an aggravated tone.
"Umm… one I live and own the house. I believe I have every right to be here. And second I just came to tell you that Hatori, Momiji and the others are coming over for the night," Shigure said still trying not to burst out laughing at Yuki's still unhappy face.
"Great," Yuki sighed.
"Oh good! Good thing we went to the grocery store yesterday huh, Yuki," Tohru said, her joyful disposition slowly cheering Yuki up.
"I guess I'll start making dinner then," Tohru added as she took some of the washed vegetables and began to dice them.
It was around late afternoon when Kyo was awakened from his catnap on the roof by Hatori's car pulling into the pathway up by the gate to the house.
"Aww jeeze, why the hell are they here?" Kyo complained as he rolled off the roof towards the ladder. He climbed down the ladder into the house.
"Tohru? Tohru are you there?!" an excited Momiji called out at the front of the house. Tohru ran in from the kitchen to greet her guests.
"Tohru!" Momiji called running to her.
"Hey Momiji! How are you?" Tohru asked as the hyperactive little boy in front of her was hopping up and down in beside her in excitement.
"I'm doing great! Guess who else is here… its Hari and Hatsuharu!" Momiji looked over to the door as the two of them stepped into the house.
"Momiji calm yourself down," Hatori said taking his coat off and setting his bag down at the doorway.
"Hatori-san, Hatsuharu-kun, are you hungry? Dinner is almost ready I was just setting the table," Tohru said leading them into the living room where Yuki and Shigure were already comfortably seated.
"Make yourselves comfortable, and I'll finish putting the food on the table. I will call you when everything is ready," Tohru said turning her back to everyone and headed towards the kitchen. Kyo came bustling down the stairs.
"Why are all of you here?" Kyo said almost as blunt as possible.
"Aww Kyo, you're not happy to see us?" Hatsuharu retorted sarcastically.
"Oh shut up will yah," Kyo said taking a seat at the table.
"So are you all excited for the Summer Festival?" Momiji asked. All three of the high school boys turned to look at him. Dark glares were sketched on their faces.
"I guess we aren't in the mood to talk today," Shigure pointed out. Just then Tohru came out of the kitchen with food in her hands.
"Here we go," Tohru said setting the plates down on the table.
"Enjoy," she said as she went to go put her apron away. She came back to the table and took her seat.
"Tohru, are you excited for the Summer Festival?" Momiji asked again with a hopeful smile on his face.
"Its in a week right?" Hatori asked joining in the conversation.
"Yes it is," Yuki, answered Hatori's question flatly.
"Well I wasn't really planning on going," Tohru said sadly. The room silenced and everyone had their eyes on Tohru, waiting for an explanation.
"Why?!" Momiji whined, "I wanted to have fun at the festival with you!" Kyo hit him off the head.
"Quit whining like a little brat!" he commanded.
"Well, I have my part time job and making dinner and cleaning around the house. I wouldn't feel right going to have fun when there are things that need to be done," Tohru said blushing.
"You know Tohru I'm sure you can take one night off of work. Isn't there a rule about accumulating vacation time?" Shigure tried to coax her out of her decision.
"Yes Tohru there are people that will not have a good time without you being there," Hatori added in.
"Wah! Tohru I thought you would go with me!" Momiji cried. His little face showed a great deal of disappointment. Tohru was starting to feel extremely guilty. She was going to go insane inside, but she needed to stay strong with her decision.
"Tohru may I speak with you for a few moments?" Hatsuharu demanded more than he requested. He got up from his seat and beckoned Tohru to follow into the kitchen. Everyone watched as the two of them went into the kitchen.
"I'm gonna kill that bastard if he goes black on her," Kyo said quietly.
"Tohru please don't think I'm pushing you into anything or trying to make you guilty," Hatsuharu said calmly, "but I need you to know that Yuki and the rest of us are actually really unhappy that you won't come to the festival. Usually when Yuki is around you he's all smiles. But I think the news is taking effect on everyone. We all are hoping you will change your mind in the week you have left to decide," Hatsuharu continued with a solemn face. Tohru's eyes began to fill up with tears.
"I-I'm sorry. I feel really stupid for crying but I feel terrible for skipping work just to have a good time. On the other hand I also feel really bad for making all of you sad because I wouldn't be coming to the festival," Tohru sobbed out. Hatsuharu just looked at her and sighed. He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her giving her a few seconds of comfort. POOF! He turned into a large black and white cow. The people who were in the kitchen heard the noise and immediately knew Hatsuharu had changed.
"What are they doing in there?" Yuki quietly asked himself.
"Wait, Haru, what are you doing?" Tohru asked wiping away her tears.
"Well you looked really upset so I thought 'Screw the curse' and tried to give you some comfort. A hug was the first thing I could think of but I guess I could've done it a different way," the cow explained. Tohru came back into the living room and the cow followed behind her. They each took their places on the table and resumed the meal. Yuki leaned over to the cow's ear.
"What did you say?" Yuki said a little more bitterly than needed.
"Nothing really, just said I wished she would change her mind," Hatsuharu whispered back. POOF! Hatsuharu turned back into his human form.
"Ahh!" Tohru freaked out and immediately turned around.
"Jesus! Put some clothes on!" Kyo screamed across the table when Hatsuharu returned to his meal. Once the meal was over, Tohru cleaned up and went to either sit and relax or get ready of bed.
"I'm sleeping with Tohru tonight!" Momiji ran ahead of Tohru towards her room.
"NO you're not! You're going to sleep with Hatori and Hatsuharu in the guest room!" Kyo roughly grabbed the crying Momiji and dragged him away from Tohru's room. Mean while the adults were downstairs talking.
"You know, that girl worries so much over everyone's well being," Shigure said.
"Yes, but I'm afraid she made Yuki, Kyo and everyone else very upset tonight when she announced she wasn't going to go to the festival," Hatori pointed out.
"Ah but I have a feeling that whatever Hatsuharu said to her faltered her decision just a little bit," Shigure added with a smile.
