Chapter 36: To Make Her Smile
The sound of the sliding door getting thrust open made Rin cringe slightly.
"Miya-chan…!" Torahku exclaimed as he ran passed the confused Rin and into the dojo.
Akane stood at the door, bowing her head slightly. "Forgive our… well, Torahku's intrusion anyway…" Akane shrugged. "I'm sorry we couldn't come yesterday evening, but we were all kind of tired."
"That was quite the rude awakening…" Rin joked, "Where are the others? I know Ryusuke got called over by Izuna-chan early this morning…"
"Sarutoubi-kun and Michiko-chan ran off somewhere after breakfast." Akane explained.
"And… how is Tohru?" Rin said hopefully.
Akane forced a slight smile of meaningless reassurance. "You know what Izu-chana or Michiko-chan would say…"
"But…" Rin prodded as Akane looked to the floor.
Rin knew all she needed to and nodded, "I see…" before leading the distraught snake to where Torahku had run off.
The tiger-boy was looking around, frantic enough to make Akane face-palm. "What is it, Torahku?"
It didn't take long for Akane to notice, however, that Torahku had every right to panic. The poor Kana lay on a mat, fast asleep but tossing and turning, and mumbling something incomprehensible. Haruhi was lying on a mat as well, but with her leg propped up and bandaged on a short stool.
That's two, Akane thought, but…
"W-where's Miya-chan?"
As Akane recalled, Himemiya got sick after being in the rain for so long. She scanned the room for signs of the sheep, but came empty-handed.
Rin put a hand on the anxious Torahku's shoulder. "Don't worry yourself; it wasn't anything serious... well, compared to these two anyway. She was doing fine when Tarumi-chan came to pick her up. I'm sure all she needs is a little rest."
He breathed a sigh of relief before his phone rang suddenly. He whipped it out and frowned at the caller ID.
Akane's eyebrows furrowed; afraid of the answer to her own question: "W-who is it…?"
But, Torahku was already on the phone. "Hello, Kaoru? How's Mizunashi-chan?"
Rin stood quickly and locked eyes with Akane before the two turned to Torahku simultaneously.
"I… I see…" the tiger nodded into the phone as the two women waited in unbearable anticipation.
When Torahku hung up the phone, Akane was the first to speak. "Well…? How's Tohru-chan?"
Torahku looked anywhere but their eyes as he muttered. "N-not better… Chikarai Oba-chan says that she's still trying to 'mentally overcome' something. B-but Kaoru said that it would be alright if we came to visit her." He smiled slightly, "He thinks that we would all be able to help Mizunashi-chan recover."
Rin smiled fondly. "That's a first for Kaoru-kun…"
Akane nodded. "Yeah, it is… Kao-chan's never asked anyone for anything. Tohru-chan has certainly worked wonders on him."
Torahku gave them a smile before turning on his heel towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Akane asked.
"I'm going to bring Miya-chan to see Mizunashi-chan, what else? And, I have to make sure she's okay anyway. Two birds with one stone, I guess…"
"You do know that Tarumi-chan will skin you alive when she sees you, don't you?"
Torahku looked back for a moment and then shook his head. "Yeah I know… But seeing Mizunashi-chan'll make Miya-chan smile. And, Tarumi-chan can't deny me from that, can she?"
Akane smiled proudly after the tiger had left her and Rin to tend to the other two girls. "And here I thought that he was only taking care of Himemiya to gain some points with Tarumi-chan."
"You're too hard on him Akane-chan…" Rin sighed.
"I have to be…" she stated matter-of-factly, "I'm taming him after all…"
Tarumi stood quickly and shot him the most displeased look as she saw him approach their house. "Oh no, you don't…! Don't even dare to try and flirt with me after what you did to Hime!"
Oddly, in Tarumi's eyes, Torahku wasn't wearing his usual smirk, which he usually had on whenever he visited to talk with her, which was an often enough occurrence.
But no, to Tarumi, Torahku looked nothing like he usually did. For one thing, she thought, he was serious. His usually playful or trying-to-be-charming yellow eyes had become sharp and determined-looking; much to Tarumi's initial shock. Then, Tarumi noted, there was his walk; usually characterized with a sort of 'playboy-wannabe' stride, it was now straight and, just as his look was, very determined, like a man on a mission.
An inner-part of Tarumi's mind almost thought he looked kind of cool for the briefest of moments, before the rest of her mind ganged up on the thought and destroyed it.
She shook her head; she was mad at this idiot for putting Himemiya's life in danger. She had no time to gape at his 'trying-too-hard' coolness.
Lost in her thoughts for a moment, she hadn't noticed that the tiger had walked right passed her and was nearing the front door she had idiotically left wide open when she stepped outside.
"H-hey…! Don't just ignore me! You can't go in there!"
"Look Tarumi-chan, I'm just here to see Miya-chan right now."
Her face reddened slightly at the fact that she was disappointed he said that. She tried to shake it loose from her head. "T-there's no way I'm letting you see her!"
"Is she alright…?" he asked with, Tarumi noticed, genuine concern in his voice.
"S-she's fine." She nodded, "B-but you can't just…"
"So what's the problem then?" Torahku asked as he turned to face her.
She crossed her arms, standing her ground. "You brought her out into the forest, in the pouring rain, for hours! You're lucky she's alright because, I swear, I would've killed you if anything happened to her!"
"You don't think I hate myself for that too?" Torahku recoiled, much to Tarumi's surprise. "We may not agree on much, or… anything really." He shrugged. "But, we both love Himemiya and right now… I don't really care what you say. This is all for Miya-chan's sake, not yours and not mine."
He turned his back on Tarumi; fully knowing that she would probably never speak to him again. No… he shook his head as he entered Himemiya's room with Tarumi trailing close behind; apologies can wait. Right now it's about Miya-chan and Mizunashi-chan…
"T-Torah-nii…?" a weak voice questioned from inside the room.
"Hey Miya-chan," his voice was suddenly quiet, "how're you feeling?"
"Better…" she muttered as Torahku walked up to her bed and knelt down beside it.
"Well, are you 'better' enough to come with me to visit Tohru?" He saw Himemiya's eyes light up at the mention of her cousin's name.
"Y-you think I'm going to allow you to bring her out again!" Tarumi, who, as angry as she was at Torahku, did not want to disturb Himemiya, exclaimed.
"I didn't ask for your permission…" he told her as he lifted Himemiya onto his back and walked passed her.
"Sorry, Tarumi-chan…" He took a glance back at her and sighed. "Maybe I'll never make you smile." He shrugged. "But… can I at least have a chance at making Miya-chan smile?"
"I-I…"
"Please Tarumi-nee-chan?" Himemiya asked softly, completely melting Tarumi's anger and causing her to step aside and let them pass.
"Nice one Miya-chan…" Torahku laughed as he walked out of their house.
Tarumi was silent in shock as she watched Torahku walk away with Himemiya on his back. She sighed and glanced at the ground, suddenly noticing a small piece of paper that had fluttered out of Torahku's pocket.
"Stupid idiot… littering all over my house…" she muttered to herself as she picked the Tanabata paper up and read it.
Her eyes widened as she glanced at the path where Torahku and her sister had already disappeared to.
She sighed, shaking her head with a complex expression on her face. "To marry that idiot…? Is that really what you want, Hime?"
Well, I apologize for the slow update, but I've got a steady pace going so be sure to check back every weekend for new chapters. (Did I mention I hate the little free-time I have, or was it implied?) Tarumi's a tough character to portray because, I guess, she loves her sister too much to really see anything else clearly. I think I based her off of Sango from Inuyasha (though, in that case, it would be Kohaku instead of Himemiya). And, as for her relationship with Torahku, it's obviously Sango and Miroku. (I mean, who can't see just a little Miroku in Torahku? But Torahku wouldn't go as far as asking women to 'bear his children'; *coughMIROKUcough*.) Anyway, since it's a long weekend, I'm pretty confident that I can get another chapter out by tomorrow, so please look forward to that! Hope to get some more great reviews and I also hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving! See you in the next chapter!