I'm sorry, but ch 9 will NOT be about NYC, but rather Shigure's plot to put Tohru and Yuki together. It's an interesting tale of blackmail, manipulation, psychology, and of course, perv-ness. Be prepared, for ye be warned...
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, and this chapter IS a flashback, sort of. More like an explanation. And SHORT...
Ch 9:
Shigure was the one who saw it first. The constant flushing, the sudden caring of personal situation instead of the cold isolation. He'd seen it thousands of times. Hell, enough times to write about it. And to be truthful, what was going on in his own house was already interesting enough to become his next novel. But first, Shigure had to have an ending. So he built one for himself. His agenda was simple, and concise:
1) Decide who should get his flower
2) Plan accordingly
The first item was tough, but eventually, after two years of careful observation, with the three teenagers on the verge of confessing to each other, he chose Yuki. Sure, Kyo had his good qualities, but he wasn't predictable and therefore neither a good friend or lover. And a character based off of him just wouldn't sell. Plus, Yuki was virtually perfect. Literally. His one issue was that wall that Akito had constructed. But Tohru broke through that easily. So the decision was made, and a plan began to brew. His agenda lengthened according to his observations and his whims. After all, he did like screwing with people.
1) Do nothing about Tohru and Yuki physically; that was up to them on how fast it went.
2) Start putting mysterious messages in Kyo's room, in order to lead him away from the developing couple.
3) Work out certain details concerning personal relations between Tohru and Yuki.
4) Steal Tohru's normal school ribbons.
5) Respond to anomalies in subject's actions accordingly.
He started almost immediately after Yuki fainted on November 19th. That night, while the two teenagers were outside in the garden, he laid the first note on Kyo's bed, stole Tohru's school ribbons, leaving the ribbon Yuki had given her in prominence. The first note to Kyo read:
Kyo,
As the lovebirds bathe together in
one birdbath, the cat watches on, split
between pouncing and crying. The
dog watches the cat, not knowing how
to chase him away.
And amazingly, the next day, Tohru confessed. Shigure was pretty sure she hadn't meant to, but it was almost too perfect. And when he found Yuki getting dressed with Tohru on the floor, for one moment he had hoped that physical action had occured. Shigure was almost relieved when Tohru explained. His next novel would rock the world. And, he was having fun with doing this. Only Kyo would be this much fun to black mail. Only Haru and Ayame could make things worse. And only Hatori could be so cold. But that wasn't related. So, giggling, that night while Tohru tried to make dinner, Shigure put her ribbons back by her bed, and placed another note on Kyo's bed. It read:
Kyo,
Beware, for the lovebirds meet in
truth and cannot be disrupted by the
cry of one starving cat who cannot
reach them on the highest branch.
The dog watches the cat, plotting on
how to scare him from the tree.
He'd already planned the trip with Hatori, figuring that by Christmas his masterpiece would be finished and he could drag the family off to America. He never knew how wrong he was under December 17th, exactly three days before Tohru and Yuki were supposed to leave for NYC. Something had to happen, and happen fast. Airline tickets were hell to refund. Not to mention his "Reunion" with Hika-chan. He'd been looking forward to that.
It was almost like clockwork; everything was about to click. Except, of course, for the fact that Yuki had almost no social queues and Tohru was just too scrambled to do anything. At a staggering twenty-six days, Tohru and Yuki still hadn't quite reached the finish line, and Shigure was starting to worry about his editing date. So he decided to nudge Yuki a little. Well, more like shove roughly, but "nudge" sounds more subtle. He laid down one last note to Kyo, and once again took away Tohru's ribbons. All except for the White Day Ribbon. "TOHRU!" The next day, with one cry, he brought the two together. And it was so. Honestly, after two months of this, Shigure was starting to feel like God.
Grinning partly from pleasure at his cousin finding love, and his success with the manipulation, he watched on as Yuki somehow managed to convey his feelings, however awkwardly he did it. And then came his favorite part to watch: the physical confirmation. Otherwise known as the "first kiss". Well, this would be Yuki and Tohru's second, both total and together, but it was the idea that counted. Unfortunately, Tohru sent him away. How disappointing. No matter, he could listen in at least. How many more precious seconds before Kyo figured out the message and barreled in? Clearly, not enough, because Kyo came streaking past, a trial of particles of paper drifting down in his wake. A yelling match followed, and then Kyo left. There, the end of the story. Shigure was pleased, but nevertheless he wrote a fake note "from Tohru" to Kyo in order to calm him down. After all, no one likes it when a main character commits suicide.
Now: not to get caught. That would be the tricky part. As the first letter hit the page, Shigure knew that if Hatori even happened to mention anything about the pre-planned trip to Haru, then Yuki would know within seconds of hearing about NYC. As if to confirm what he was thinking, he began to write faster, without pausing for grammatical correction or even punctuation. Hell, if he wanted to win a prize, he had to write fast. Or that prize would be posthumous. Very posthumous, if Yuki had anything to do with it.
Yep. It all was fake. Well, not the feelings Tohru and Yuki and Kyo had, but rather the way the confession happened. What can I say? Shigure really does love manipulating people. By the way, the last note said:
Kyo,
The two lovebirds finally meet.
How will the cat react? Quickly he
goes, trying to catch the female
before the male calls out his mating
call. The dog watches on as the cat
attempts to kill the male but fails.
Ch 10 WILL be about NYC. I just HAD to explain this before I forgot it all...so, um, I think that is all. Oh! If you don't get the letters just ask me what they mean, so I can shoot down questions personally, according to each person's needs. See? If Shigure had been successful in manipulating everyone (Lord knows he tried...), then Tohru probably would have ended up with Yuki. Think about it, people. Sayonara or Oyasumi, depending. Oh, this chapter was meant to be kind of pointless, but what fun I had writing it. Shigure is hilarious to write about...
