Disclaimer: If I owned them, I would be fluent in Japanese, wouldn't I? However, since the only thing I know is how to ask where the restroom is and how much that sweater costs, I don't think I own "Fruits Basket" or any related characters and objects.
Flashbacks: will be presented like )) this ((
Swearwords: will be presented like -censored- or -CENSORED-, depending on whether or not I feel like shouting.
To the readers (AKA you people who loyally keep on reading this story in spite of my non-existent update pattern): Thank you for continuing to read this! I know you must get really annoyed sometimes (I know how it feels to read stories that are never updated...), and I really appreciate your patience! Just remember what good ol' Mark Twain said:
"Don't put off 'til tomorrow what you can put off 'til the day after tomorrow."
Or something like that.
Words to live by...
Life
Seven: Prison Break
Trapped.
He was in no mood to deal with the stupid snake, perverted dog, or rat-boy, and Kagura was right outside his current sanctuary, banging on the door and asking if she could please come in and "help".
Normally, Kyo would simply jump out the bedroom window and be done with it, but there was no way he would be able to survive five minutes out there with all that rain pouring down.
"I'd curse the cat about it," he muttered, "but that's already been done…"
"My love! Are you talking to yourself?" Kagura's voice cried. "Oh, no! You must be delirious! Let me come nurse you back to health!"
"You try it," grumbled Kyo through gritted teeth, making sure the boar could not distinguish his words. "I dare you to just try it…"
-
Meanwhile, Tohru and the other three Sohmas were setting up the main room for their indoor camping expedition. The onigiri, setting up a few pillows around an electric lantern on the floor as a substitute campfire-story-telling location, seemed oblivious to the disaster that ensued as Yuki, Shigure, and Ayame attempted to erect a few tents.
"Ahhh…" Ayame was saying, "how, exactly, is this tent-pitching business accomplished…?"
Yuki stuck a booklet all of an inch from his brother's face, saying, "This is called an 'instruction manual'. If you read it—although the question of your literacy is still foremost in my mind—I'm pretty sure that even someone as awesomely idiotic as you will be able to put up a tent."
"Thank you, my darling otooto!" exclaimed the snake, flinging his arms around Yuki and beaming to Shigure, "He called me 'awesome'!"
Shigure, just to further annoy the nezumi, agreed, "How wonderful! I can manage on my own—you two should work together on a tent!"
Yuki, still stuck in Ayame's imitation of Kagura's patented hug-of-death, struggled to break free, eyes wide with horror. He finally smacked his forehead into his brother's nose, startling the fashionista into releasing him.
"I'll work alone," stated the silver-haired teen insistently.
"NONSENSE!!" Ayame boomed, throwing his hands and, consequently, the instruction manual into the air. "Two heads are better than one!"
"Except when one of them has the mental capacity of a walnut," Yuki deadpanned.
"Oh, do not underestimate yourself, brother!"
…
Coolly looking over to the dog, Yuki commented, "I hope you realize that, if Ayame and I have to do this together, there will not be enough of him left to bury."
"Oh, don't be a prima donna, Yuki-kun!" scoffed Shigure.
Yuki, eyebrows almost melding with his lashes as he glared at the writer, remarked, "I hear that you can get a wonderful tan in purgatory this time of year."
"Whatever do you—ohhhhhh…." Shigure gave a big, eyes-closed smile before sliding down to quietly start work on one of the tents.
Ayame, who was beaming at the rat, was somewhat put off when Yuki said, "Well, don't wait for me. You start on that tent—" He pointed to a red canvas. "—and I'll start on this." He pointed to a blue one.
The next few moments were silent, much to Yuki's relief, as he began on the blue tent. This lovely quiet was broken, however, when there was a cry of, "BUT WE MUST WORK TOGETHER!!"
And, before he could protest, Ayame had grabbed the instruction manual and opened it, proclaiming happily, "I will read the directions for you, Yun-Yun, and you can do as I tell you!"
"Joy," muttered Yuki, lowering his forehead to the palm of his hand.
"Yes, this is such a joyful occasion!" agreed the serpent.
Yuki, head still in his hand, cast a sideways glare in his brother's direction.
"Well, get to it! 'First," Ayame read from the manual, "sort the parts'."
"Oh, I will," mumbled the rat-cursed, beginning to put different supplies in separate piles. "I'll bury his arms in the lake, legs in the woods, torso under the house, and keep his inflated head as a trophy!"
"Are you finished sorting?"
"Yes, nii-san," Yuki replied through gritted teeth.
"Now 'connect parts A and B, C and D, E and F, and G and H, using the parts in the bag labeled 'I'. Screwdriver not included.'"
Shaking the screws out of bag I, Yuki wished that he could use them to shut Ayame's mouth. He settled, however, for asking, "Do we have a screwdriver?"
"Nope!" Shigure piped up. "Just be creative, Yun! Like me—look!" He pointed to what looked like a modern art sculpture. The canine seemed so proud, too. Proud, that is, until the work of art suddenly collapsed—then his mouth dropped open as he sweat-dropped.
"It—it—but… I was doing so well!" the writer exclaimed.
"Well?" echoed Yuki. "Your tent frame looked like a kite-shaped piece of gray Swiss cheese."
"Yes, I could have won a Leonardo da Vinci International Art Award for sculpture!"
"Or an International Idiots Award for stupid."
"Heyyy…" Shigure protested before pointing out, "Either way, I'm at the top of my field."
"Not quite." Glaring at the dressmaker, Yuki stated, "Ayame managed to beat you out for idiocy."
Shigure and Ayame looked at each other and, a few seconds later…
"Oh, Yuki, you're so meeeeeeean!" Shigure cried, throwing his arms around Ayame, who sobbed with him. Very loudly.
This finally got Tohru's attention, and the onigiri jumped up and gasped, "What happened?!"
"Yun is being mean to us!" declared Shigure through his obviously-fake tears.
"Yes! He is being so cruel to his extremely handsome older brother!" Ayame agreed.
"Honda-san, shimasen deshita," Yuki announced his innocence when Tohru looked to him. "I didn't do anything." He smiled at her. "Oh, and by the way: do you know if we have a screwdriver somewhere around here?"
"Ah… um… I-I don't know. But I'll look!" Just before she darted off, she made a somewhat frazzled plea of, "Please, everybody, be nice to each other!"
And the quiet that Tohru heard for her first few minutes of searching seemed to confirm that the three Sohmas were, for the time being, cooperating with one another. Unfortunately, that record was broken when there were two loud yelps and the sound of a door slamming shut.
Temporarily abandoning her search, Tohru hustled back to the main room and blinked in surprise upon seeing Yuki, by himself, doing as much work as he could on two tents without a screwdriver.
"Ah, Honda-san," Yuki said with a seemingly self-satisfied grin. "Did you find a screwdriver?"
"N-not yet," stuttered Tohru. "Um… where are Ayame-san and Shigure-san? And… and I thought we had three tents…."
A slightly cold look crossed his face briefly before he smiled again and tilted his head a bit to one side, explaining, "Oh, they just decided to camp outside. They took a tent with them."
"B-but it's raining," Tohru said. "Won't they be cold and hungry out there?"
"You know, that's exactly what I said," mused Yuki, "so I gave them some canned food, a can opener, and a couple of nice fuzzy blankets from one of the bedrooms."
"That was so thoughtful of you, Yuki-kun, to make sure that they were safe outside!" grinned Tohru. "Should I bring them some bottled water, too, and their coats?"
"If you want to," he shrugged, kneeling down to continue on the two remaining tents. "Just remember that they're out there because of nobody but themselves, and they promised me that they wouldn't change their minds and come back inside until tomorrow morning."
"Okay," Tohru smiled obliviously. "If that's what they wanted, I'll make sure they stay outside."
"That's good," Yuki smiled back. "But don't let them talk you into anything. They can't come inside, and I don't want you staying outside with them. It's fine for them, but too cold for you, Honda-san."
"Okay, Yuki-kun," nodded Tohru. "I'll just bring them some water and coats."
"Actually," he thought aloud, standing up again, "maybe I'd better make the run. You might catch a cold."
"Oh, no, no, no!" protested the riceball enthusiastically. "You've already done so much for them! Please, let me!"
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Yuki pressed dubiously.
"Oh, yes! I'll be fine!" Tohru darted off and, in record time, hurried to the door, armed with a gallon container of water and the two older Sohmas' coats.
"Honda-san!"
Tohru stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Eh?"
Yuki wrapped a heavy coat around her shoulders, buttoned the top button, and tied a scarf around the top of her head. "You almost forgot your coat."
"Ah! Thank you, Yuki-kun!" Just prior to leaving, Tohru asked, "When I come back, can we go see how Kyo is doing?"
"I thought Kagura was taking care of him."
"Oh, I'm sure she's doing a wonderful job!" blurted the brunette. "I-I didn't mean to disrespect Kagura-san or insult her ability! I just want to see how Kyo-kun is doing myself!"
"You don't need my permission to visit the stupid cat," Yuki pointed out.
"But will you come with me? It will be more fun visiting if both of us are there, and Kyo-kun and Kagura-san are there, too!"
Seeing Tohru's eager expression, he reluctantly caved in with, "…Fine. But I'll probably leave before you do."
"Wonderful! Oh, ah, not that you're going to leave early—since it would be really nice if you and Kyo-kun could get to know each other better—I meant that you were coming…"
"I understand." Yuki smiled and politely opened the door for her. "Hurry. It's raining harder."
"Okay, Yuki-kun!" And Tohru hurried out to deliver the supplies to the sudden campers.
A/N: Thanks again for reading! Please be warned that I am (in spite of my homebody-ness) a fairly busy person (school, piano and TKD class, taking care of our puppy, attempting to write a story with my original characters, sleeping, eating, and generally just living...), so don't expect a Miracle Update. I hope you enjoyed this last chappie or chappy or however you like it spelled!
