AN: This chapter contains references to CH7. - There seems to be a lot of scene changes too now that I look at it. Enjoy ch10.
Chapter Ten - Rescuing the Rice Ball.
Yuki awoke feeling... resolute, so much so that he bounced out of bed. Not being a morning person at all, Yuki, one may think, could have something seriously wrong with him on this particular morning. However, on this morning of this day, that could be no father from the truth.
With a new pace to his morning, he went about his usual routines that normally took place a little later in the morning and done, half asleep.
This morning seemed different to every other morning Yuki had faced before. Being fully awake, time seemed to pass at a slower pace than it usually did and the zodiac rat found that he was down in the kitchen fifteen minutes after he had initially woken up.
Not feeling venturous or brave enough to cook something, the rat decided on some fruit and cereal for his morning meal. Kyou arrived a few minutes later, scratching his head in a cat-like manner before searching the fridge for some milk.
When the orange-haired teen turned around and saw Yuki at the table, fully awake and eating breakfast, he almost dropped the milk in surprise.
"AHH! What are you trying to do? Scare me to death!?"
"Did it work?" the other boy smirked from behind his spoon of cereal.
"Ha, very funny." Kyou said, dripping sarcasm. He knelt at the table across from his cousin, drinking his milk out of the carton and starting on some cereal himself.
"We're getting her back today." Yuki said slowly in an almost whisper.
Kyou just nodded his head in response, feeling no need to add anything to the comment. They would get Tohru back today. There was no way he would allow that damn snake to keep Tohru a moment longer.
"Oi, nezumi!" Kyou prodded, suddenly curious about something.
"Nani?"
"How are we going to get there?"
Yuki dropped his spoon into his bowl with a loud 'clang'.
"You don't know how, do you?" the cat asked after a minute's silence. He was half annoyed and half amused by his cousin that he had forgotten to think about that important detail.
The rat shook his head quickly to get himself out of his little trance and picked up his spoon again to resume eating.
"We may have to do a little transport hopping, but there's a bus that goes past Tetsumi's that leaves from Mankichi station..."
"A bus?" Kyou questioned incredulously, "You expect to get there by bus? How long would all that take?"
Yuki stirred the last remaining bits of cereal around in his bowl before answering.
"Well, the bus to Tetsumi's would take about an hour, so if we add on walking to the bus, getting the bus to the station and then the train to Mankichi station, we're looking at about a two hour plus trip... not to mention the time we'll have to wait for all these things to arrive..."
"Alright, alright."
Kyou massaged his temples in order to try and rid himself of the headache that was slowly forming from listening to his cousin for so long.
"When do we leave?"
Tohru wriggled under her warm blanket, savouring the feeling. She knew it was time for her to get up and eat breakfast, but she was so comfortable and so content, that she just laid there, wrapped perfectly in a little cocoon.
After her soak with Maria in the hot springs yesterday, Tohru honestly felt better. She could now see, although she knew it was too late, that telling ones friends about problems one may be experiencing is truly a load off ones chest. She felt lighter, not because of the weight she had lost, but because she was now sharing her problems and the people that knew about them, were each carrying a small part for her in their support.
Ayame had been quite the gentlemen, which was half surprising. His normally flamboyant actions almost ceased entirely as he and Tohru engaged in the quiet activity of reading. They read from late in the afternoon until ten to seven, at which time they strolled to the dining hall whereupon they had the most delicious dinner the rice ball had ever tasted.
Later that evening, Ayame had taken Tohru by the arm and the two had taken a stroll through the luscious flower-filled garden, often stopping to admire the different flowers up-close and taking in their different scents. For the petite girl, it seemed quite like a fairytale.
"If only Yuki was here." She thought, snuggling deeper, if possible, into her cocoon of warmth.
Tohru's cheeks slowly began to redden as she thought about it. Her and Yuki, arm in arm, strolling through the gardens just as she and his brother had done.
She squirmed, feeling giddy. It seemed like forever since their walk to the vegetable patch and down to the stream. The young girl had not forgotten Yuki's promise to take her somewhere on a picnic and she looked forward to it immensely. Perhaps they could go together during the next weekend?
After sitting up and stretching, Tohru finally got up from her extremely comfortable futon and padded across her room and over to her case where she dressed for the day.
The Sohma boys got off the bus when it arrived at the station, one feeling a little sleepy, the other in a foul temper. It seemed that being forced to travel alone with his cousin had already taken its toll on Kyou.
He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly, locking them to his thighs in an attempt to maintain self-control.
"Calm down, baka-neko." Yuki said from the ticket machine. He'd payed for both his and his cousins tickets and withdrew them, "I'm not too thrilled to have to travel with you either." He thrust Kyou's ticket at him, "But I will tolerate it for the time being. Remember, this is all for Tohru."
"It's not only that!" he hissed in an all too-familiar manner, "A little girl almost ran into me before! How do you expect us to get there without transforming!?"
"Be careful." The other teen put simply.
The cat snatched his ticket from his cousin's hand and marched away, eager to get away. "That damn noble rat... thinks he's top-notch..." he mumbled, finding a place to stand on the platform to wait for the train.
Yuki sighed and made after his cousin, stopping a few meters away from him so to not make matters worse in a public place. It was bad enough that they were risking revealing their secret, but to create such a scene which would probably get them thrown out of the station? He shook his head slightly. No, that would make it almost impossible for them to rescue Tohru. He had to get to her, no matter what it took. He could not allow his brother to keep her away any longer.
"Ohaiyo, Ayame-san." Tohru greeted the older male with a bow.
"Ah, Tohru-chan. O-hai-yo!" He sing-songed his greeting back. "Shall we go to breakfast?" he asked, offering his arm for the girl to take.
"Hai!" she responded with a bright smile.
Tohru took his arm and the two wandered to the dining hall.
After choosing what they would like to eat that morning, the two companions made their way to the back of the room to a small table whereupon they laid their meals and took their respective seats.
"Itadakimasu!" they chanted together before delving into their meals.
"Tohru-chan," Ayame began before taking in a mouthful of his breakfast, "What would you like to do this morning? I figure we only have an hour or two before my dear brother and Kyoukichi turn up to rescue you."
"Eh!? Y-Yuki and Kyou would do that?"
"Obviously you don't know my brother as well as you thought."
Tohru dropped her head, "No, perhaps I don't."
Sensing her discomfort, the snake decided to try and brighten the atmosphere. He placed one hand on his cheek and waved the other up and down. "Ah it was a joke Tohru-chan, a joke."
The girl smiled slightly at his words, but her thoughts still remained the same. Maybe she didn't really know him that well. Sure she had spent a considerable amount of time with him, but did she really truly know him?
She was snapped out of her thoughts by Ayame's hand waving in her face.
"So what shall we do with our remaining time together Tohru-chan?" he asked, sending her a smile that reminded her even more of Yuki.
"I wonder what he's doing right now..."
The two boys had been travelling on the train for quite some time when it finally arrived at Mankichi station. The burst out of the train as soon as the door opened, eager, Yuki especially, to get away from the group of teenage girls that had been eyeing them off since a few stations back.
"Now I see how annoying that gets!" Kyou told his cousin as the two ran to the bus that would take them to Tetsumi's.
"I told you I didn't like it!"
"We're lucky none of them came over or we would've transformed for sure!"
The two bounded onto the bus and paid their fare. The driver pulled away from the station and they began their hour long trip to Tetsumi's.
Tohru and Ayame sat on their mats amongst the rest of the class as the yoga instructor lead them through various poses and taught them the proper way of breathing.
"It is important," said the instructor, "for you to remember this way of breathing, this posture and to not hesitate to use them when you are feeling stressed and difficulties are piling up on you."
That was extremely coincidental for Tohru, but she was glad nonetheless that she now had something else to resort to when times got tough. Better yet, preventing times from becoming tough seemed the way to go.
It was then and there, that Tohru found her resolve and made a silent promise to herself that things would get much, much better.
The Sohma boys were sore and numb after their hour long bus ride up and over the hills. They stood stretching for a minute or two, trying to regain at least some feeling in their behinds.
"I am definitely not going to enjoy the trip home."
"Kyou! Yuki!"
The boys snapped their heads in the direction the voice had come from. There stood Tohru, white dress fluttering in the gentle breeze as she waved to the boys.
Both boys sighed simultaneously when they heard her giggle. It had only been a day and they already missed her so much.
"Ah, see Tohru-chan!? I was right that they'd come, ne?"
"Hai, Ayame-san!"
The mouths of the rat and cat dropped open when Ayame spoke.
"You knew we were coming?" Yuki asked his brother incredulously, "Did Shigure tell you?"
"Shigure?" the snake laughed, "No, no. It's just a brother's intuition!"
"Intuition? Are you serious!?" Kyou asked, getting quickly annoyed.
"Yes, yes!" Ayame smiled cheekily, "And I was so sure that I only booked one night. You boys are right on time!"
Kyou was seething, he had just travelled for two hours with his enemy and Ayame was smiling about it?
"YOU'RE SO DEAD!" he yelled lunging towards the snake who had quickly taken refuge behind Tohru.
"Ah, K-Kyou. Don't hurt Ayame-san." She pleaded, waving her hands up in front of her face in order to try and calm him down. "Le-Let's just go home, ne? We'll take the car."
The cat clenched his fists and growled, "Fine." He spat, "As long as I don't have to sit near either of these idiots."
Tohru just laughed nervously and Ayame saw fit to come out from his hiding spot. He stepped out from behind his human shield and took his phone out of his pocket to answer an incoming call.
"Moshi moshi?" he sang into the receiver, "Is that so? See you soon." He took the phone away from his ear and disconnected the call, "The car will be here in a moment."
Yuki walked up to Tohru, almost ready to throw his arms about her and give her the biggest hug he could muster, but he held off, knowing all too well what the consequences of such an act would be. Instead, he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You look good, Tohru."
"Arigatou, it's good to see you again."
The car pulled up and Ayame put their luggage in the boot of the car.
"Tohru-chan!" a voice from behind called.
Tohru turned around to see Maria running towards her. "Maria-san!"
"Tohru-chan, I had to give you this..." she hesitated for a moment before wrapping the girl in a tight hug. "It was wonderful spending time with you, come and see me again okay?"
"I will. Thank you for everything Maria-san."
The two girls released each other and waved goodbye as the four travellers climbed inside the car. Kyou sat in the front seat so he wouldn't have to be anywhere near Yuki or Ayame, but he did turn around so he could talk to Tohru every now and then.
Yuki, angry with his brother and because he just generally hated him, asked Tohru to sit between them. She did so without hesitation, Yuki and Ayame were her friends after all.
Ten minutes into the trip, Yuki had taken Tohru's hand in his own and whispered in her ear, "Shall we go on our picnic soon?"
Tohru blushed lightly and nodded her head, "Hai."
AN: After that severe writers block, my brain spat this out. I'm sorry about the shortness. There was originally more to this chapter, but I decided to put it in the next chapter. Please tell me if there's anything you don't get or don't like about this chapter. I'm already thinking of editing it but I'd like some opinions first.
Thank You for reading.
-X-Nefertiri-X-