i LUV my reviewers. i just felt like saying that. i'm
totally psyched that people like this enough to let me get to chapter
12. (see how i worked in 'psyched?' who the hell says that anymore?)
so, without further ado, let the awkward post-make out fluff
continue!! Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.
Chapter 12 - Are You In?
Tohru crept up the stairs as slowly as possible. To the naked eye, it would look as if she was trying to avoid spilling Kyo's orange juice and domburi. In reality, she was trying to figure out how she would explain why she'd attacked him with her mouth the night before. She was so inconceivably nervous about how he'd react that she was nearly in tears by the time she was at his door, raising her dainty fist to knock.
She rapped lightly with her knuckles. No answer. She tried again, slightly harder. No answer. She paused for a moment, debating whether she should knock again, just go inside, or leave the food by the door and bolt. Favoring the third option, she was just setting the plate down when the door opened and she was at eye level with two tanned feet. Wide-eyed, she followed the feet up to two legs that were still covered with fine black pants (now rumpled), up to a naked torso (gasp!) and, finally, a face. A gorgeous face. A gorgeous, slightly shocked, very flushed face.
Oops.
"Oh, ah, hello there Kyo-kun!" Tohru screeched, jumping up from her haunches and nearly spilling the food. "Oh, uh, um, I-I thought you might be hungry, since you didn't come down for, um, lunch! So I brought you some food!" She giggled nervously. "Uh, duh, I mean, you can obviously see me with a plate of food! Ha ha! Um, yeah, so I'm just gonna give you this, and um, I hope the orange juice helps your headache, and, so, bye!" She shoved the plate into his hands and turned sharply to leave, but Kyo was already in front of her and grabbing her shoulders.
"Tohru." He ducked his head so that his eyes were covered in silky orange bangs. "We need to talk." He took her hand and pulled her into his room, abruptly slamming the door once they were in. Tohru felt her cheeks flush even darker than they were outside.
"Kyo-kun," she whispered. He put a finger to her lips to silence her, but apparently thought better of it (considering what her mouth was doing last night) and snatched his hand away. Tohru cleared her throat nervously. "Um, Kyo-kun, how's your head? I can get you some Advil if you want."
He stared at her and slowly shook his head. "My head is fine," he said. "I wanted to talk to you about. . .what happened last night."
Feigning ignorance, Tohru raised her eyebrows and squeaked, "Last night? What happened last night?"
He wasn't falling for it. Kyo continued to stare directly into her eyes and said softly, "I think you know what happened."
"I-I really don't know what you're talking about, Kyo-kun," Tohru lied. "But, um, I actually can't remember anything past dancing on the table with Izi-chan." She giggled nervously again. "I guess I'm not the kind of person who can hold her liquor very well, huh?"
At last, Kyo noticed that she, too, was still in her costume. His brain sighed that that would make this a conceivably more awkward conversation; his crotch hurrahed at the sight. Looking away and trying to think unsexy thoughts, he mumbled, "Tohru. We have to talk about it."
Tohru's face finally crumpled. She never was one to handle pressure very well. "Kyo-kun, I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I don't know why I did it! Really! I-I just. . .Izi-chan kept on filling my glass with sake, and then we played that drinking game. . ." She sniffled loudly. "Ah, but I know that's no excuse. I need to take responsibility for my actions. . ." Looking directly into his eyes for the first time since she entered his room, Tohru croaked, "I'm sorry for kissing you, Kyo-kun."
Kyo didn't know how to respond in the least. He realized there was really no proper way to explain to someone who only thought of you as a friend that you'd really enjoyed drunkenly making out with them, and that maybe you could be in love with them and you weren't sorry at all on behalf of the drunken making out stated above. If indeed he was in love with her, Kyo wanted Tohru to know. If there was even a tiny chance that she might feel the same way, and they could be happy together, he desperately wanted to take that chance. But he was so crippling afraid of rejection that he just shrugged and said, "It's fine. We can just pretend it never happened, if you want."
"S-so, you aren't mad at me, Kyo-kun?' Tohru mewled.
"No," he said, "I'm not mad at you." He walked over to his bedside table and grabbed a tissue. As he handed it to Tohru, their fingers brushed the tiniest bit, shooting a shi-ZAM of lightning through both their bodies. "Now stop crying. You know I hate to see you so sad."
She laughed through her tears. "I thought you said I look beautiful when I cry," she teased.
"You do." Kyo smiled so softly that it sent Tohru to tears all over again. He grabbed another tissue and hugged her.
As she held the small orange cat in her arms, Tohru was at a crossroads: She felt relieved that Kyo wasn't refusing to speak to her ever again (he even hugged her!), but she couldn't help but feel an aching sadness that he was fine with ignoring it. Did that mean it meant nothing to him? It definitely meant something to her, even if she couldn't figure out what. Tohru grinned her hundred-watt grin and buried her face in Kyo's soft fur, and decided she'd worry about all that later.
Right now she was with him.
The rest of the day went by relatively peacefully (there was the occasional "baka neko/kuso nezumi" bickering and Izi-chan teasing). Tohru floated around the house with her head in the clouds and a chunk of lead in her stomach (an unhealthy combination if there ever was one), while Kyo kept himself stowed away in the "cat cave," claiming--through Tohru--that he was suffering a terrible headache, so keep out.
Izi-chan, too, was avoiding the group for the rest of the day. She took Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori aside and told everyone to "stay the fuck out" of Shigure's study until she said so. To the adolescents, it seemed like a tête-à-tête of conspiracy towards them. But since these particular teenagers were a terrible mixture of paranoia and egocentricity, the adults ignored them with the finesse of older siblings.
Safe in the comfort that was Shigure's study, Izi-chan exhaled and grinned at her childhood friends. "We finally escaped," she laughed. She plopped over to sandwich herself in between Hatori and Ayame.
Hatori frowned at her. "Is that why you insisted we have this little meeting? Because you were sick of teenagers?"
"Of course not, Hari." She looked serious. "I took you guys in here because we need to talk about what happened last night."
They knew what she meant. "Who knew Tohru-kun had such cahones?" Ayame said.
"I figured Kyo wouldn't have made a move if his life depended on it," Izi-chan replied. "I think he could use some cahones."
"So that's why you dressed her like that?" Hatori asked. "Does that mean I didn't actually have to wear Ayame's clothes?"
"Yes. And no." Izi-chan pinched his cheek. "Don't tell me you didn't love wearing Aaya's. . .dressy-pants thingie?"
Ayame tittered, "I for one am glad to be back in my own hand-made garb. Haa-san, your suits are tailored nicely, yes, but they're so terribly drab. Couldn't I make just one little thing for you to wear?"
Before the sidebar could continue, Izi-chan interrupted with, "You guys! I need your help concerning the two clueless teenyboppers."
"You're going to have to be a lot more specific," Shigure said from his computer.
Izi-chan rolled her eyes. "The two clueless teenyboppers that would've started going at it right on the dance floor last night if Tohru hadn't upchucked," she specified.
"Oh, right. Them."
"Yeah. Them." Izi-chan pushed Shigure playfully on the shoulder. "Now that they've kissed--twice--they're probably wondering why the hell they enjoy it so much. At least, that's what I picked up from Tohru this morning when we were trying to console her." She turned to Hatori. "How did Kyo react when you went in there?"
"He was panicking," Hatori said. "After Momiji showed him the pictures, he started freaking out. Then when Momiji suggested that the reason Kyo kissed her was because he was in love with her, he looked like he was having a montage or something playing in his head. And he fainted." He smoothed a finger over and eyebrow.
"I think that says more than enough," Ayame stated. "So. . .what happens next?"
Shigure smirked. "That really depends on Kyon and Tohru-kun, doesn't it?"
Hatori glared at the three. "Why are you doing this?" he growled. "Why can't you just let them do this on their own?"
"You said it yourself, Ha'ri," Izi-chan said. "They need to figure themselves out before it's too late. And by the looks of it, too late may be sneaking up soon then we'd like." She sighed. "Yeah, I've only been back for a week. But from what I've seen, they could actually work. They could have a happily-ever-after. Do you know how many couples who could have had that missed it?"
Hatori scowled. Sadness panged his heart.
"Oh, God, Ha'ri," Izi-chan rushed. "I--I didn't mean it like that, I swear. I'm sorry; that was insensitive."
He nodded sadly. She was forgiven. Move on, please.
"Anyway," Izi-chan continued, slightly on edge, "I just think that if they don't get a push in the right direction, they might never get there. And I don't know about you, but I know I wouldn't be able to watch that."
Shigure and Ayame nodded. Hatori still looked unsure. "Give me one more reason why I should help you wit this," he said.
Izi-chan knew she had him. "Okay." She smiled. "Think of it as a social experiment; science. Now, going by the scientific method, observation: I observed the two in their natural habitat. Question: Are they falling in love? Hypothesis: They are in love but too scared to do anything about it, and/or they aren't aware of it yet. Experiment: That's where we are now. And conclusion: We don't know unless we try." She held out her hand to Hatori and said, "There's one more reason. Are you in?"
A smile slowly grew across his mouth. "Well, I do like science." He took her hand and shook it.
now that izi-chan's plans for kyo and tohru
are revealed (or are they?), and she's got the mabudachi trio on
board, will it succeed? tune in next time!! (that reminds me of Rocky
and Bowinkle.)and remember to review, please. whoa,
typing this i kept on feeling déjà vu. i really don't know
why. Jax
