A/N:
Hello guys. It is nice to meet the Furuba fandom. I am a fairly new fan, even though I've known Fruits Basket since I was a child. There is a very great reason why I chose to write about this pairing. I don't dislike Kyo, but I wish for a healthy, more positive relationship, and I couldn't help imagining – what if Tohru had not chosen Kyo?
Please, if you are a die-hard KyoRu fan, I can tell you this is not a KyoRu fic. I won't force you to read something you are not a fan of.
To MomiRu fans – well, cheers! Hope you like this.
I do not own Fruits Basket, Takaya-sensei does.
Prologue
A young, female stewardess strode calmly towards the crew cabin of the first-class flight bound to Vienna from Japan, the excited chatter of her peers and co-stewardesses reaching her ears the moment she came in. At first she couldn't make out what they were saying as she went straight to the crew's refreshments area to grab herself a glass of water, though eventually she was able to catch onto their animated, low-volume talk.
"Oh my goodness. I could not believe he's riding with us today. He looks even more gorgeous in person!" One of her colleagues, Miaka, gushed dreamily as the others nodded in agreement, while the elder ones smiled almost teasingly at her. "What I wouldn't give to have a photo with him!"
"I'm not sure you should even ask him for one, Miaka-chan. I mean he may find it rude; you know celebs like him needs to take a break from public attention." Satsuki, the more senior of the stewardesses included in the flight, reminded her junior.
Miaka pouted, almost in a petulant, child-like manner not to be expected from a lady of her age. "He's not a celebrity though. He's a virtuoso."
"And he's well-known to be 'The Prince of Violin', or even the 'Niccolo Paganini of the East'. Someone given those titles is often considered a celebrity too. Not to mention that he's in every form of media nowadays."
She finally joined them, making Miaka look up to her, momentarily distracted by her return. "Tomoko-chan! You're back."
She nodded, sitting down and sipping her water calmly. "What's got you so excited? I can hear your voice outside the cabin, geez."
Miaka blushed, highly embarrassed, and Satsuki answered for her. "Henry's here, that's what."
She raised her eyebrows, finding herself unaware of who that is. "Henry? Who's that? An American?"
Satsuki laughed, while Miaka's jaw dropped open, an expression of complete disbelief written on her face that she almost blushed herself. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not exactly aware of who's famous today or not."
Miaka still had not recovered from her shock that Satsuki sighed and decided to answer her instead. "No, he's not an American. He's the Japanese violinist who has become famous internationally – winning the Henri Vieuxtemps competition and the International Johannes Brahms Competition in the same year – two years ago, actually. He was on a Europe concert tour and came home here a year ago if I wasn't mistaken. Now he's going back to Vienna."
She was not a musician of any sort, but even she recognized the names of these competitions as some of the most prestigious ones which were usually held abroad. In spite of herself she was actually impressed, never one to immediately admire famous wannabes. "He must be good."
Miaka broke out of her own shock. "Good? GOOD? He's just the most celebrated violin virtuoso nowadays! He's the unknown genius who swept the world by storm two years ago and has played at numerous concerts and events! I've seen him when he performed with the Tokyo Philharmonic – and my GOD, he's so, so…"
"Brilliant?" Tomoko offered, in an effort to calm Miaka down. Everyone who has worked with Miaka knew that once she started, it would be difficult to stop her and she had no wish to deal with a rampaging Miaka. It would be another eight hours of long flight to Vienna and she wanted to have her energy intact when they land.
"Yes!" Miaka responded, her breath coming out in a huff. "Not to mention he's a gorgeous, gorgeous man. What woman wouldn't fall for those melt-you-to-a-puddle-of-goo topaz eyes and glorious blond hair?"
Hearing her describe the man, something inside Tomoko's head clicked. "Blond hair you say? He's the passenger in suite 4?"
Satsuki nodded her head. "I think so, if memory serves me right."
She sighed, then grinned as she turned to face the still-dreamy Miaka. "I think you should give up on him."
Miaka looked as if she had wounded her with a steak knife or something. "And why would I do that?"
Tomoko recalled the short encounter she had earlier of the man Miaka was gushing over. She had stood at her post, making sure the first-class cabin is in order, until she turned to her right, seeing Suite 4's doors open and a magazine dropping out of the suite and falling flat to the floor. She was about to ignore it, expecting to see an arm extend and a hand to pick it up but nothing of the sort happened. Seeing this, she sighed to herself, rolling her eyes. Great, passengers in first class thinking they're God and expecting the staff to clean up after them when they mess around. Geez.
She stood for a few more minutes at her post, debating if she should just leave it alone, but her clean-freak attitude won her over. She glared at the magazine and decided to go pick it up and return it to the passenger, hoping that this would be the only instance she would have to do so.
She approached the suite, bent on her knees to pick up the magazine and straightened up. She opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes met the sight of gorgeous blond hair, distracting her quite effectively, until she noticed the owner turn to look up at her from a book he seemed to have been reading intently, gazing at her with clear, topaz eyes from his seat from the other side of the suite.
Is he Japanese? What beautiful hair color he has… She had thought to herself, momentarily forgetting the reason she was there.
"May I help you?" He asked in straight nihongo. He's Japanese alright… that is native accent right there. Something foreigners lack even if they're fluent in the language.
She shook her head mentally and remembered the thick magazine in her hand. "Forgive me for the intrusion sir, but I thought I should return this to you."
Upon seeing the thing she was holding, his expression turned to chagrin. "Oh. Did it fall? Would you mind putting that in the stand for me? I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment…" his gaze softened and dropped to his right, and it was only then did she understand why no one bothered picking up the magazine.
He wasn't alone.
A woman, probably the same age as her, sat fast asleep beside her handsome passenger. She couldn't understand how she had not noticed her at first, since she was beside the suite doors, but indeed there she is. Her head was lain sweetly on his left shoulder, her right arm entwined with his left one, hand tucked securely into his, and she could see a glint of pale pink diamond peek out from between the gaps of their fingers.
She must have fallen asleep whilst reading the magazine, which had gone unnoticed by her companion.
The woman was not as beautiful as the man beside her, but there was something about her that made it even harder to tear her eyes away from her. Her long, straight brown hair fell into soft curls around her and she was wearing a simple navy blue wrap dress, but it was not what had caught her attention.
The aura of contentment which seemed to radiate from her was hard to ignore. Her asleep, peaceful expression gave the impression that all was right in the world. Tomoko didn't expect to be so affected by such a feeling but everything about the woman screamed purity and innocence that should be protected at all costs, purity and innocence that she was radiating even in her unconscious state.
Tomoko had prided herself with being able to read people in just a glance – she could tell who had good intentions from the opposite, and as with the case of couples, how much they trust each other with just their body language.
With just the way the brunette's body was leaning towards the blond, she could already tell that the couple had been through some difficult and harsh times. Her posture conveyed to an onlooker that she trusted the man to keep her safe – it was such a rare thing to see someone so relaxed in her sleep – most especially throughout a flight.
"I couldn't wake her up, you see." The man's voice caught her attention as he spoke once more. "I mean…" He was smiling at her apologetically, gesturing at the woman beside him, his eyes shining indulgently.
Handsome, rich and sweet to boot. Lucky her, indeed. "Of course sir." She graced him with a knowing smile of her own, placing the magazine back to the rack afforded for them. "Would you need anything, so far?" she asked, once she has finished with the task.
"Water with a dash of lemon, please. She'll wake up thirsty." He responded, thanked her as she bowed and retreated, but not before accidentally catching the man placing a kiss on the woman's temple as she turned to look at them at the corner of her eye.
She was usually never one to swoon over other couples' sweet gestures towards each other, being very much aware of the reality with relationships, but she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge in her chest at seeing such a simple, loving gesture as she made her way back to the crew cabin. It made her wish she will find such kind of love similar to theirs one day.
"Hello, earth to Tomoko." Miaka's voice penetrated her reverie as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm asking you a question, Tomo-chan."
She recovered quickly from indulging in her memory and without missing a beat, smiled mischievously once more. "His wife is with him in this flight. You really should just give up."
Her friend's expression changed from petulant to a horrified one in an instant, it was almost funny. "What!? He's married!?"
"Keep your voice down!" Satsuki shushed her, grabbing Miaka and almost putting her in a headlock in an effort to clamp a hand over the younger girl's mouth. "Do you want us to be heard all the way to the rear?" She scolded, but Miaka was too shocked to even pay attention properly.
"There was just no way that he's married though!" Miaka removed Satsuki's hand and was screaming in a whisper while she shrugged.
"I saw the girl and I think a diamond ring. She's quite pretty. Not as eye-catching as the man you're calling Henry, but it was hard to not look away from her once you focus on her." She said nonchalantly, before turning to Satsuki. "Henry though? Is that his real name? He looks like a foreigner but his Japanese is native, so to speak."
The older woman finally let go of Miaka, who was still in disbelief. "From what I know it's just a stage name, his real name is kept under wraps. Not even the media has gotten wind of his real name. It was so hush-hush. He must have come from a prestigious family to keep something like that to himself all these years."
Ignoring Miaka who was having pretty much a breakdown beside them, she smiled at Satsuki. "I'm surprised you even know about him, Satsuki-san. No offense."
"None taken." The older stewardess smiled back. "My seven year-old daughter is a fan. And I truly understand her, I do. Hmmm. I wonder if I can get the chance to ask him for an autograph…"
"I have to see the girl." Miaka suddenly stopped having her breakdown, re-joining their conversation once more. "I have to see her for myself!"
"Don't get yourself in trouble, you crazy girl." Tomoko warned her. "You may be mistaken for a stalker."
"I'm just curious!" Miaka responded defensively as she stood up to go see the mysterious girl with her own eyes, her intent clearly written on her face.
Tomoko sighed in frustration. "Don't come crying back here once you do."
Miaka harrumphed as she walked out of the cabin while she and Satsuki shared a small laugh.
This is sure to be an interesting flight.
Reviews are very much welcome. Just no flames please. The world will be a better place if we avoid negativity.
Lots of Love,
Michiko :)