Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.
Chapter 26: Even Old Dragons Tell Little White Lies
Tohru nodded, stuffing the paper into her pocket. "That sounds easy enough."
Hatori chuckled, blowing out another puff. "All in due time, Tohru."
"So how do we solve your problem?" Fen asked, twisting his beak grimly at the man who chose to stare at the ground, hurt circling in his eyes.
"Oh, my problem is already solved," he grit his teeth. "You being here has fixed my rift in this world so that stamp should appear soon enough!" he forced a laugh.
Tohru smiled, noticing the way his lips curved up into a smile. But she frowned when her eyes drifted to his own, seeing the hurt radiate through to her confused ones.
Whatever Hatori was hiding was visible in his eyes. Tohru frowned. She didn't want to ask since it wasn't her place to do so. If he was telling the truth then his stamp should appear on the piece of parchment soon enough. But if he was lying...
Fen flapped his wings bringing her from her musings. "Then I guess our business is done with you, Teller." He squawked flexing his clawed feet. "Let's go find your friend Tohru," he flapped his wings for emphasis.
Tohru nodded grimly glancing back at the pouring rain. "Which way to the Duchess' house?" she looked at the two paths twisting off into different directions.
"The right path takes you to her house," Hatori answered her confusion for her, tapping her on the head. "Take the right path, not the left." He stressed, reaching behind his back. "And we don't want you to get wet," he handed her a replica of his leaf umbrella for cover from the unpredictable weather.
"Thank you for your help, Hatori." Tohru accepted the furled up leaf and bowed, causing her hair to bob forward from the sudden drop. "I'll see you soon, I guess." She smiled.
The sea horse nodded, straining a smile. "Good luck, I'll be waiting for you to return." He chewed the tip of his pipe. "Goodbye for now."
Tohru waved her farewells before opening the umbrella, stretching the giant leaf to cover her and her bird friend from the rain. With one last look back Tohru set off down the path leading to the right, staying clear of the left path.
After an hour or so of walking Tohru unfurled the paper parchment and stared at the empty row of boxes on the sheet. Hatori had lied.
His problem was no where near being fixed.
Posting Date: 26th May 2014
Words: 419
Symm: So that's the last chapter for today unfortunately. I'm going away tomorrow and won't be back until late Thursday night so I can't guarantee an update until the Friday. Please review if you can ;)
Also, thanks for the reviews Aeternus Rosa!