Title: Unbreakable Strength
Chapter 7: A New Transformation
Authors Note: My apologies on the mistake on Chapter 3, it says chapter two and has the wrong chapter title under title. And this one may say chapter 4 instead of 7, hopefully it will fix for me. I had thought I fixed it, but for some reason Fan Fiction has declared for my idiotic mistake to be viewable for everyone. In addition to that, my separation lines are not working in the posts. If anyone has an idea why I can't edit/change something in the chapter after I upload it, I would be extremely grateful. Thank you.
Bloopers: The movie's have them, why not a fan fiction? We all make mistakes and thankfully that is what editing is for. When Liv is reflecting a meeting with Akito and mentions there isn't much fight a Rooster can put up, initially I had put chicken down….last time I checked the Zodiac didn't have a chicken. Thank God for the backspace.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the characters. However, my dear little Mira Liore Nolan is mine and mine alone along with the lovely Liv Cyrene Nolan.
We change, whether we like it or not. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
You have no idea.
Dear Diary,
Nothing exciting has happened in the past few weeks. Hatori is coming to take the cast off my foot. Finally.
Liv is still bitter, about what I have no idea. She hasn't spoken to me much though, so it's tolerable. Time passes; I learned I have absolutely no hand eye coordination, but have a great deal of balance and flexibility. Kyo taught me how to do an upper cut, surprisingly I caught on and he asked if I had ever learned how to fight. Yuki happily pointed out what a dumb ass question that was…though in a much more elegant way than 'what a dumb ass question to ask'. It was also phrased to be more insulting…
We also learned I can cook, but only with close eye supervision and very direct instructions. Oh, and a fondness for sarcasm….a big fondness for sarcasm. Every day is another adventure, another thing to learn about myself. All that came with me is a busted cell phone that doesn't turn on and a silver chain with a standard heart locket. On the front is the sketch of a horse jumping. The back as the words 'Jump For The Stars My Darling' it's not signed.
Every second I seem to learn something new about myself, but I still wonder who I was. It seems I can't take a step forward, when I don't know what path I've decided to tread.
"Take it easy, don't overstrain yourself," Hatori lectured as he unwrapped the left foot, the fresh air hit it and Mira nearly whimpered with pleasure. The healing had finally completed the full circle and Mira was back to having two perfectly working legs. She had also been thrilled to find out she had twenty/twenty vision, a slightly crooked nose indicating she had been hit or taken a bad fall in her past, and developed muscles that the doctor suggested she attempt different sports to see if something clicked within her movements. So far she could rule out anything that included a ball and a set area to get the ball in.
"No worries Hatori, I don't want to end up in a cast again," his patient was agreeable to a fault, if he told her to run buck naked in the forest and praise the sun god in order to avoid angering him so good fortune fell upon her and her leg stayed healthy she would have done it without complaint.
"Just keep it easy for a few days," he clicked his brief case closed and stood up, tucking his loose hand into the white doctors coat. From afar, Shigure whined that he was leaving before dinner and Tohru was a gift from the gods, sent to save Shigure from famish and starvation. Without their darling and sweet Tohru, they'd surly die a long painful death of malnourishment. The true talent was that Shigure could say this, word for word, without cracking a smile. His serious demeanor and straight face left Mira with a crooked grin on her lips.
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," Tohru admitted, beaming out one of her sweet smiles as she gathered up the weekly grocery list, "I do have to visit the market first, I know, I'll make something special. To celebrate Mira being freed of her cast!"
"Oh, can I come? I know Hatori, I know – don't over exert it," the market was close by, "I want to walk without that bulky cast on."
Tohru enthusiastically welcomed Mira on her trip to the groceries, and to Mira's silent delight Yuki also volunteered to come. Someone, he reassured, had to carry the girls bags back.
"If girly boy is coming, so am I," Kyo huffed under his breath. The look dared Yuki to say a word, but he merely gave a cocky smirk in his direction. The lack of verbal response seemed to infuriate Kyo more.
"You got something to say rat boy?"
"If I did, I would have said it. Now wouldn't I have?"
"SHUT UP."
"You're the one who asked."
"Uhm…"
"WHAT?"
"We're leaving," Mira pointed coolly, she squinted her eyes and glared, "Don't yell in my ear. I'm standing right here," she added with a huff, or Kyo would find his student testing out the right hook he taught her on the master.
The breeze played with the stray ends of Mira's curls, it continued to force her to bunch her hair up and swat the lose strands out of her doe-like eyes. It was a satisfying feeling to finally stroll down the lane without the metal crutches to lurch her body awkwardly forward. She could keep pace with Tohru, Kyo and Yuki without breaking a stride or working up a sweat.
And let's face it, the cast wasn't very attractive with the sailor suit the school forced upon the students. Miniskirts and one ski-like boot was so last season.
"So, how does it feel? To be out of the cast?"
Lost in her delirious happiness, Mira nearly missed the question when Yuki turned to softly ask her. Her face might have turned three shades of red if she wasn't already used to acting like a complete and utter idiot around him.
"Wha-hm, oh. Wonderful, free as a bird," she smiled and felt the blood slowly drain out of her cheeks. The multiple run-ins with embarrassment she had were causing her to become Avon's Power Wear's favorite customer. The way she went through foundation…
The rise of the tipped building roofs could be seen up ahead. As they neared the slowly descent of the trail they followed, the city's borders were in eyesight and plenty close. Mira turned her head to Yuki and did her best to form a complete sentence without flushing magenta. It was tricky, she wouldn't lie.
"Run with me?"
Her question caught him off guard as he halted and did a double take at her.
"I'm sorry Mira, what did you…"
"Run with me, down to the city's borders, do you know when the last time was these legs stretched out a bit? It's been months," the doctors themselves had admitted she was lucky to escape without chicken legs, all flabby and stringy. Whatever she had done in the past, it had given her an athlete's body.
She really wasn't expecting his reaction.
Yuki gave one of his rare smiles and took her hand in his, "Let me know if your leg starts to hurt, we don't want to overstrain it, now do we?" his kind words reached all the way into his eyes. Once again, Mira was left rather speechless; a simple head bobbing would have to do. Yuki turned around to tell Kyo and Tohru that they were going ahead, and suddenly they were off.
Mira had thought that the invigorating run, the feeling of her muscles stretch, nearly tear and compact themselves again would have been the greatest feeling in the world. She would have welcomed the deep intake of crisp air her body demanded, the feeling of her heart pulse the blood and the satisfying ache set in across the spasm of her muscle. She would have thought her entire body and mind would be wild at heart, tearing down a dirt path and rejoicing in dusting off the old cobwebs on her bones and giving her legs a pair of wings.
All of this was nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the tender and soft feeling of Yuki's hand in hers.
"Oh, that felt good," Mira caught her breath and laughed, which didn't quite help trying to steady her breathing. Yuki seemed to take a deep intake and he was fine. Maybe there are paths by Shigure's that I can run; I wonder if there are any carnivores that inhabit the forest, best not to dwell on that point.
She shuddered at the thought.
"Mira, you didn't over do it, did you," his kind, thoughtful eyes reached hers. How someone could be so considerate and sincere…Mira shook her head and mumbled, "Course not, Hari has you worried too."
Kyo and Tohru seemed to take their sweet time walking down to meet them. She had the silly expression on her face and seemed to be reassuring Kyo, who was following suit with Mira and wearing the tomato colored blush that spread from one cheek across the bride of the nose to the polar cheek. It was rather cute how he seemed to constantly contradict and rephrase what he said to her.
"It really is," she never had a chance to finish her sentence, a loud boom erupted and a voice called over the crowds of people who seemed to be shrieking.
"HEY KIDS, GET OUT OF THE WAY," from somewhere a baby cried and an old man swore. What Mira heard above all else…was the thundering of four muscular hooves as they pounded themselves into the ground, marking the path. Her own heart beat accelerated as she pivoted around on her ankle, the movement pushed her healing and she winced as heat raced up her leg.
"Damn it," she cursed as she bent down to run a smooth hand down her ankle, the skin was warm. "Hatori's going to murder me…" maybe she didn't have to tell him, those long socks they wore to school were pretty stabilizing after all. She turned straight up and gave Yuki a reassuring smile, "bug bite," she lied. He narrowed his eyes, ready to question but that also never came.
Those hooves were coming up fast.
"Ah," she swore again, "Move," with a bit more brutality than she wanted, she managed to shove Yuki out of the way, and ended up being right in the smack dab way of a hostile and crazy beast with no notions in his head but to run. From above, Tohru was white as a sheet and Kyo was attempting, miserably, to reassure her.
Her face narrowed and from somewhere a wave of gusto appeared, Mira doubted the bravo would last long, so she went with it. She stretched her arm out and shouted in a firm and demanding tone, "WALK," the horse's ears pricked forward, as she knew it would do and slowed down, his inside ear pricked to her voice as she walked over, and took a hold of the tattered leather rein, without any knowing how she knew, she brought his head into his side with the reins, poked into his hindquarters with her hand and disengaged them.
He panted deeply, sweat accumulated around his chest and the lower part of his ears. His neck was warm and his nostrils flared with air as he took in large quantities of air.
"There we go, nice and easy," she murmured lightly, completely at ease next to a seventeen hand draft horse. Somehow he had broken away from the carriage; part of the tack was still wrapped around his body. One of the leather snaps dangled lightly beneath his belly.
"Poor baby had a scare," she soothed, rubbing his neck fondly as an out of breath owner caught up, meanwhile Tohru and Kyo had quickened their pace to the end of the dirt road. Yuki by now had stood up and dusted away the molecules of dirt that had clung to the clean fabrics of his clothes.
"I figured he was heading all the way to Tokyo, my thanks to you Miss. Come along Hoshi," Mira handed him the brown leather reins that felt so right in her hands and watched him walk off, the horse panting slightly less at his side.
"Are you insane?" was Kyo's first question. Mira shot in an irritated look.
"No, I am not. I knew what I was doing," I just didn't know that I knew what to do until I did it.
Well, now the necklace made sense, and so did the fact that she knew to bring the head to the side, preventing the horse from rearing or running off and to disengage the hindquarters, causing the legs to cross and making it impossible to do anything else than run in a small circle. It was the emergency break for all riders.
"Yuki, are you alright? I'm sorry I shoved you, but I have a feeling being trampled by a draft horse would be very uncomfortable."
"I'm fine, I was more concerned about you," he admitted, brushing off the final flick of dust. His words still caused Mira to duck her head and secretly smile.
"So, groceries?" she raised an eyebrow, "Shigure will whine twice as much if we are gone to grab mere groceries for such a lengthy time…think of all the fun he'll have coming up with why we were late," and dirty and out of breath. She didn't have the guts to add the last part. Besides, Yuki and Kyo knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Let's go," they said in unison.
"Then walk at a quicker pace, stupid cat. How do you expect to beat me when you walk slower than a sloth?"
"I'll show you sloth, damn rat."
They both were off; leaving Mira and Tohru behind, beads of perspiration dotted their foreheads.
"I don't think we need to walk quite that fast…" Tohru mumbled.
"Not to mention you have the grocery list," Mira grinned as she began to walk, "They'll figure that out soon enough."
"We ready yet?" Kyo groaned as he waited, and quite impatiently, as Tohru finished the last few items on the list.
"All finished," she cheered, her smile caused Kyo's grim face to vanish as he let out of a puff of air.
"Hurry up and pay for it then," he mumbled.
"Oh, Right!" Nothing could get Tohru's spirits down. Mira admired her tenacity from afar as she rested against the wall of the mini store. Her body wasn't the only element tired, her mind was about to give out on her. With these every day adventures happening, it drained her quite a bit.
Horses, huh? I wonder if I'm as good in the saddle as I am on the ground…or maybe I just end up on the ground a lot.
The prospect wasn't cheerful, it was fairly high up and most people didn't land on their feet. There was nothing graceful about an emergency dismount off a bucking bronco.
"Are you ready?" Yuki's voice shook her as Mira's eyes flashed open, she aimed those chocolate eyes at him and a smile instantly lifted his face.
"Quite," she answered softly, her eyes flashed close for a second before taking a steady breath. "It's been a long day," she finally murmured.
He had to admit, she looked drained, and effortlessly he took her hand in his and led her out behind Tohru and Kyo. Tohru was profusely apologizing; when Kyo heard Miso Soup was on the menu, and Kyo was doing a terrible attempt to sooth her.
They made it to the beginning of the woods when a familiar voice sounded out, "Hey, Miss." The man from the market ran up, out of breath once again.
"I'm glad I caught up with you, I don't know what my family would have done if Hoshi had made it to Tokyo, he's the real bread maker of the family," his laugh was bell like, loud and hollow. "Name your price, I owe you."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly accept anything for stopping a horse about to run over me," Mira insisted, a determined look settled in her eyes, "I insist, it was what any sane person would have done."
The man's face slightly fell, "Well, Anytime you see Hoshi and I Miss, anytime you need a ride, you just ask and we'll take, bless you!," he thanked her vigorously and pulled her into a quick friendly hug before walking off.
It was silent for a split second and then a loud POOF filled the air. The 5'6" girl with chocolate curls and doe like brown eyes stood at a tall fifteen and a half feet, brown trim looking warmblood. Her eyes flashed wide open, so the whites of her eyeballs could be seen as backed up quickly.
Every fiber, every instinct was tossed out the window as she starred wide eyed at the worried looking teenagers in front of her. No one spoke, no one dared to move. There was only one instinct, one natural feeling that stood out from the rest and Mira held onto it dearly; she ran.
She busted through the woods, filling her lungs with air and leaping over broken logs and ducking under low branches. From the start of the dirt path lane, Tohru starred wide eyed, Yuki simply closed his eyes and clenched his fists while Kyo swore.
