OK, as promised here's the next chapter (within a week of said promise thank you very much). Instead of boring you with a long note here I'll just get on with the story and save my talking for the end.
Disclaimer: Yeah... you know its not mine (including but not limited to Fruits Basket/all relating characters, cookie dough, 7-11, Microsoft Word ect...)
The night grew later and later as Tohru lay in her bed unable to sleep. All the thoughts swirling around in her head made it impossible for her to even consider drifting off.
'What am I going to do... I can't keep lying to everybody.'
She stared at the ceiling pondering her dilemma. As the clock on her bedside table ticked to 2:15am it was obvious that sleep would provide no relief. Stepping out of bed and into her soft cotton slippers Tohru left her room, walking down the hallway and into the kitchen.
Upon entering she was surprised to find the light already on and Shigure sitting at the table with a large bowl and a spoon halfway in his mouth.
"Oh, Tohru. Having trouble sleeping?"
"Yes. I thought maybe a snack would help."
"Well if you want feel free to grab a spoon and help me finish this."
Tohru looked more closely at the contents of the bowl.
"Is that cookie dough?"
"Yeah, chocolate chip. Sure most people would rather cook it but it tastes so delicious this way that cooking it seems almost a waste."
Tohru couldn't help but laugh as she grabbed a spoon from the nearby utensil drawer and sat down.
"Rough day?" Shigure inquired casually.
"That would be an understatement."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Well...it's just... Hana-chan and Uo-chan are really worried about me, they can tell something is going on. I don't want them to be worried about me but I'm not ready to tell them just yet."
"I see"
"I'm afraid that if I tell them they will think I'm a bad person."
"Tohru, they're your friends. They would never think badly of you."
Tohru thought a moment as she chewed a particularly large chunk of cookie dough.
"Gure-san should I drop out of high school?"
"Do you want to?"
"No. I want to finish for my mother, and I'm so close now."
"Sounds like you've made your decision."
"But I don't know if I can do it. What will happen when I really start to show? They'll probably kick me out."
"I doubt it, that would be rather cruel don't you think? You're doing a brave thing having that baby."
"The administration won't see it that way. They'll think I'm some promiscuous slut who doesn't deserve a high school diploma."
"Tohru thats absolutely terrible."
"It's true."
"No it's not. I think that if you have your heart set on completing school you should do it no matter what anybody says. However, if you really think the school will pressure you to drop out it might be better to delay your graduation and take the rest of the year off."
"You can do that?"
"Yes. Few students take advantage of the option but it is possible."
"Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that."
"Don't decide right now, take a week or two and think if over. If you decide you want to take the rest of the year off I'll go to the school and fill out the paperwork but I want you to be completely sure first."
Tohru put down her spoon.
"Thank you Shigure, I feel a lot better now."
"Glad I could help."
By now the bowl was empty so they both stood up, pushed in their chairs and took their spoons to the sink.
"You should get some sleep Tohru-chan don't you have class tomorrow?"
"Yeah I do. Goodnight Gure-sama, and thanks again."
Walking back to her room Tohru stopped in front of Yuki's door. Part of her wanted desperately to go in but she knew she really shouldn't. After a brief moment of indecision she turned back towards her original destination and returned to her room without further delay.
The room seemed colder than when she had left. Her attention shifted to the window which was partially open to the cool night air.
'I could've sworn I left this closed' she thought to herself, migrating over to correct the problem. It was then that she noticed something else; a small white envelope labeled 'Tohru' sitting on her pillowcase. That had diffidently not been there before. After lowering the winder (effectively sealing off the draft) she sat down on her bed and picked up the unfamiliar envelope. It wasn't sealed so it was easy for Tohru to pullback the flap and reveal a not. She recognized the handwriting immediately.
Tohru-
I am such an idiot. I shouldn't have run off
like that. I want to come back and be with
you, but only if you want me to. If you are
willing to talk to me please meet me at our
spot at 11:30am. Please give me a chance
to make this right.
-Kyou
For a moment she forgot how to breathe. Kyou must be truly sorry if he's willing to actually apologize. Then her mind shifted to Yuki and all the things she's told him, the true and the convenient covers. Suddenly she felt nauseous. Tohru had never been a lier but she chose a hell of a time to start.
'I have to talk to Kyou.' she resolved silently to herself 'everything will work out in the end.' She placed the letter back in the envelope and hid it inside of a book at the back of her dresser drawer. Having chosen to accept this meeting Tohru crawled into bed and slept more deeply than she had in days.
"Tohru-chan it's time to wake up."
"Huh?" Tohru opened her eyes to see Yuki standing next to her bed dressed in his school uniform.
"You slept through your alarm clock, it's time to wake up."
Tohru covered her head with her blanked and rolled over to face the wall, intent of sleeping awhile longer.
"Come on Tohru you've only got half an hour."
Yuki crept up into Tohrus bed and gently pulled back the covers away from her face.
"Just five more minutes?" She asked pleadingly.
Yuki moved closer and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Ok, five minutes."
He started to roll out of the bed when Tohru reached out and placed her arm around him.
"Stay."
"If I stay you'll end up late for school."
"No I won't because you're already awake enough that you won't fall asleep."
The thought was tempting though, lying there all day even just to watch her sleep.
"Alright I won't go anywhere." He promised.
Tohru closed her eyes again, hoping for a few more minutes of restful slumber. Yuki remained by her side. After five minutes had passed the alarm on his watch beeped.
"Ok Tohru, this time you really have to wake up."
"Why?"
"Because if you don't I'll have to go to school without you." he replied jokingly.
"No, don't leave me."
Yuki sat up as if he here going to leave.
"Come on sleepyhead I'll get you breakfast."
Tohru sat up next to him.
"How about we just sleep in?" She suggested.
"We can 't be late for school when we just took two days off."
"One and a half technically."
"If you're awake enough for fractions you're awake enough to put on your uniform."
"It was a fluke I'm really not awake at all."
"Really? So if I got up and walked out of the room you would be too asleep to notice?"
In the time it took Yuki to speak that sentence Tohru thought of a plan to get her way, the words were hardly out of his mouth before she pulled herself up and kissed him.
It wasn't too hard for Yuki to figure out what was going on. It was early in the morning so his rational side was for the most part in control, but that didn't mean he couldn't indulge his fun side for a moment first. He deepened the kiss as he repositioned himself so he could gently lower Tohru back down onto the bed. She began to unbutton his uniform top. After all the buttons were unfastened Yuki pulled back just enough to pull Tohrus pajama top over her head. He paused with that slight space between them. Tohru looked at him with a longing look in her eyes, begging him to come closer so they could feel the fantastic sensation of skin to skin contact. Yuki's mouth curved into a smile as he pulled back farther, sitting up.
"Told you that you were awake. Now get ready."
He left the room as Tohru realized she had been figured out. How sad, but given that she really didn't have much time she set to preparing herself. First She pulled on her school uniform, knowing by now how to make it fit despite the fact that it was tighter than ever. Next she grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt out of her dresser drawer, stuffing them into her schoolbag which lay open on her floor. She couldn't possibly get away with ditching school wearing her uniform all day. After forcing the zipper of her now overstuffed bag to close she picked it up and skipped off to breakfast.
Tohru walked into the kitchen just as the toaster dinged to signal that it was toasting. Yuki grabbed a plate and placed the toast in front of Tohru at the table.
"Thanks Yuki."
"No problem, the toaster worked hard for you."
Tohru ate quickly without even bothering to spread some jam on the hot toast. Once she was finished she grabbed her bag and was accompanied out the door by Yuki.
The walk to school was uneventful and they arrived at the school gates just as the bell began to toll. Yuki pulled Tohru in for a quick goodbye kiss not even bothering to care who could see, before they had to run off to their separate classrooms.
Now Tohru had a decision to make. She could go to her classroom and hang out for a couple of hours before leaving though then she would have the problem of sneaking away from not only the school staff but her friends as well. She also had the option of leaving now but then she would have to find someway to occupy the hours remaining until the appointed meeting time. She didn't have much time to think, choosing the latter option she quickly ran out of the school gates and into the convenience store across the street.
Ok, I have like another 5 pages written that were supposed to be part of this chapter but school started and my laptop broke so I haven't had time to transfer it from my notebook to Microsoft Word and I didn't want to break my promise by not updating. I'll get the persicom fixed so that I can get on with it ASAP. In the mean time I hope that wasn't too bad... It's weird going back to English when I haven't really spoken it in two months.
Mii-chan ; YAY!! You Win!!
Goongluver16 ; Well I can't tell you that... but I can tell you he's coming back into the action next chapter.
