Winter Storm (v 5.0)
By Kelpy
Email: dragon@smadar.ca
Copyright December 2001-2002
Category: Drama/Humor
Rating: PG-13
A 'Fruits Basket' Fan Fiction
Original manga series by Takaya Natsuki
Published by Hana to Yume Comics (Japan)
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This piece of work is not to be sold in any form. Takaya Natsuki or Hana to Yume Comics has not
authorized this piece in any way. It may be downloaded for personal reading. Please contact me
before presenting it for public use (posting to message boards/mailing lists, web sites, etc).
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Part 2: Onset
"Hey Tohru! We're waiting over here!" Uotani's loud voice was matched only by her exuberant
hand waving. Some of the busy shoppers glanced over at the tall blonde, dressed in a long skirt and
a matching long white coat. "A member of one of those girl gangs!" was the first thought that
passed through many of their heads, but something puzzled them. Standing closely beside her, in
front of the shopping district's main water fountain, stood a shorter girl. This one was rather prim
looking with her long tight braid in the back and dressed all in black. She had a certain elegance to
her, though her black ensemble was a touch scary. Clearly this was not a normal girl gang, if that
was what these two represented.
For the few that stopped long enough to ponder over this curious twosome, they were further
surprised to see a third girl run up to hug and join them. This girl was the shortest of them all, and
she also had the widest smile. Dressed like most other high school girls her age, there was a sense
of cheerfulness that seemed to spring from her open expression. Not realizing, most of the
onlookers walked away with a smile on their faces. Some of them wondered if they were watching
the birth of a new idol-singing group - why else would such a group of disparate individuals be
together?
Hanajima smiled at her dearest friend and gave her a calm wave as she ran towards them. She
ignored the curious stares they were gathering. She had long since learned to ignore the looks that
strangers, indeed, even some acquaintances, gave her. She only hoped that Tohru wouldn't notice,
or at least, that she wouldn't mind.
"Good morning Tohru-kun. How are you feeling? Ready to go shopping?" Hanajima returned
Tohru's warm hug. She could feel the arms of her other friend wrapped tightly around Tohru as
well. It was a nice moment of warmness they shared in the crisp morning air. Sometimes she was
still caught in wonder at this friendship of theirs.
"Hai! Good morning Uo-chan! Good morning Hana-chan! I hope you didn't wait too long?
Shigure-san and Yuki-kun were going out too this morning, so we all walked out together."
"Heh? So that loud-mouth guy is stuck at home all alone today?" asked Uotani as she pushed her
bangs back out of the way.
"Un. There's only Kyou-kun to look after the house today."
Hanajima fixed one of the ribbons in Tohru's hair before asking, "So where shall we go shopping
today? Is there anything special you want to get, Tohru-kun?"
"Well, if you don't mind, there are a few places I need to go to. I would like to get some chocolates
for Christmas, but first can we go to the hat store?"
"The hat store! Why do you want to go there?! Are you cold, Tohru?" Uotani gave her an anxious
look.
"Er, no. That's not it." Tohru couldn't help but blush a little.
Hanajima with a little more insight guessed correctly that it was for Christmas presents. "But
Tohru-kun, we told you not to buy us anything this year. We're happy just spending time together
with you."
"Thank you Hana-chan, both of you are such great friends! However the presents are for other
people."
"Huh?" The two taller girls gave their friend matching blank stares.
Tohru giggled at their surprised faces. "Before you mentioned it, I already got something ready for
both of you. So you can't ask me to return them, right? I also got a pen set for Shigure-san, but I
haven't bought anything for Kyou-kun or Yuki-kun yet."
"So that's it. Well in that case, let's go!" Uotani and Hanajima each slipped an arm through
Tohru's and they marched off together towards the shop.
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Shigure let out a low sigh as he sat through his third speech of the day. And it wasn't even
lunchtime yet! He tried to stretch out his long legs in front of him, but the auditorium was packed.
By mistake he kicked the chair in front of him but before the person could start to turn his head,
Shigure had already whispered a quiet apology. He wondered if he heard though, since the person
to Shigure's left was snoring rather loudly. Oh well.
He tried not to fidget but the wooden chairs were pitifully uncomfortable. The fans overhead
whirred slowly, a low background hum to the speaker's only slightly less monotonous speech. They
had turned the heat on, and it was getting fairly stuffy inside. He hid a yawn and then glanced over
to his right. Despite teasing Yuki and Tohru-kun earlier about bringing one of them as his date, he
already had a companion of sorts today. Well, with the way things were going, it was more like
having a fellow prisoner to commiserate with. Mit-chan, his editor, had insisted on coming to take
notes and supposedly to scope out new talent. He could still remember her ridiculous shouting last
week about finding a more dependable writer to replace him. No doubt she was just trying to scare
him into finishing his latest manuscript faster. Shigure smiled slightly at the memory.
They had met up at the registration tables before entering the auditorium together. At first she had
furiously scribbled every little thing the first speaker said, in her neat little notebook. Then she took
to writing down only the so-called important points. By now, her pages were filled more with
doodles than words. Near the top of the current page, Shigure caught a drawing of the present
speaker with horns on her head and a huge mouth that stretched from ear to ear. He quickly stifled a
laugh - it was actually a fair likeness aside from the exaggerations.
Lower down the page, something else caught his eyes. He leaned closer to look. It was a picture of
himself! After a moment of surprise, his lips spread out into a small smile. It was a really good
likeness of his face, although perhaps a bit nicer looking than he was in real life. Unlike Ayame, he
never proclaimed himself as the handsomest man on the earth. He gently nudged her elbow to get
her attention. Mit-chan looked up at him with a rather blank look on her face. Poor girl, despite her
usual energetic exhortations, she was obviously getting tired too. Shigure smiled wider and
indicated his portrait on her page with a flick of his finger. Realizing what he was smiling about, a
soft blush rose in her cheeks as she quickly clamped the notebook closed.
Shigure let a chuckle escape as Mit-chan refused to meet his eyes. Instead she feigned undivided
attention to the same speaker she had just made fun of in her doodles. Shigure sat back and let her
have her way for now. After this speech, it would be time to eat. There would be plenty of time to
tease her then.
As the speaker continued to drone on, he again appreciated the solid work relationship he had
developed with Mit-chan. For a cursed Sohma with plans, this type of long-term relationship with a
member of the opposite sex was perhaps ideal. A fairly serious young woman intent on her career,
he knew she didn't have the time now to look for a romantic match. Certainly, with his teasing and
deliberately late manuscripts, it kept her busier than she might have been. Her antics amused him
though, so he continued.
Her presence gave him a break from writing and also from working on his strategies to maneuver
the jyuunishi and others towards the fulfillment of his dream. For now, they were useful to each
other. They worked well as a team, and could escort each other to special functions if necessary. If
his dream came true, who knew what would happen? Mit-chan might then play a larger part in his
personal life, or then again, she might not. There was another he had dated before, but it was no use
thinking about it now. The image of long flowing hair briefly passed before his eyes. As for the
desires of the body, well, that stuff would have to wait for now.
As the speaker finally wound to a finish, everybody stood up and applauded. It was probably more
in anticipation for lunch than anything else. In his case, Shigure was just glad it was over and he
could finally stretch out his tense limbs and get something to drink soon. As they started filing out
of the auditorium, Mit-chan wobbled and started to fall backwards towards him. Shigure caught her
just in time, and pulled her back up.
"Sorry about that Sensei! My legs must have fallen asleep."
"Yeah right. I bet you were just trying to get me to hug you. Wasn't that exactly like that part in my
fourth novel, where the heroine plans this all out to…" he teased, eyes sparkling.
"Baka! What are you trying to say? You're talking like an idiot again," cried Mit-chan looking up
at him, though she was blushing quite brightly at the same time. Quickly swinging back around, she
was oblivious to the fact that she had hit several people with her briefcase.
"Nothing my dear little editor, nothing. Shall we get something to eat now?" Shigure smothered
another chuckle as he gave her a little push to guide her through the crowd.
"Oh yes please! I'm starved! I didn't have time to eat breakfast since I was worried you wouldn't
make it here on time. I would have phoned you, except I knew you wouldn't have picked up the
phone so early in the morning anyway. So I was going over all the emergency plans in case you
didn't show up. Remember that we have to meet up with the executives from several different
bookstore chains later on! It would have been disastrous if you were not present to talk about your
latest book!"
"Yes, yes. Let's hurry and get something to stuff into that ever-opening mouth of yours now."
Shigure steered Mit-chan into the buffet line in front of him.
"Sensei!" was the only indignant reply she got out before her eyes glazed over in happiness upon
seeing the mounds of food on the serving table.
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In the student council room, Yuki finished giving his short proposal for the festival. As usual, the
others seemed to love his ideas. Even the student council president approved of them, and
immediately started everybody on working out the plans and details. Sitting back down in his chair,
Yuki sighed. He wondered if people actually took time to think over his proposals. He knew that
his ideas were generally good, and he was certainly intelligent, but it scared him a bit at the alacrity
at which others followed his lead. The president would sometimes make a show of thinking things
over, and look for other ideas, but it seemed that Yuki's initial suggestions always won out.
There was a certain sense of pride in having all this approbation from the others. Certainly that
idiot, single-minded Kyou wouldn't have come up with so many useful and successful proposals!
Unbidden, his mind once again turned to the questions that had been plaguing him ever since Kyou
joined the school. "What did the other students think of Kyou? What did they really think of him,
Yuki? Did they suspect anything?" Over and over again, he pictured the way Kyou had simply fit
himself into regular school life within a week of entering, despite his fears and reservations. Their
classmates had simply accepted him, Kyou's regular loudmouth self, with barely a second thought.
Barring the Sohma secret, Kyou didn't seem to hide anything. In fact, he was quite popular in his
own way with everyone, though Kyou was apparently blind to it all.
At least that's what it seemed like to Yuki. While they gave him all their undivided devotion when
it came to class projects and leadership roles, it was Kyou that they joked around with. It was Kyou
that they all gathered around during the break times. It was Kyou that they counted as one of their
own. Yuki on the other hand, they placed on a pedestal, someone to admire from afar. Of course it
wasn't all their fault. Yuki knew he seemed unreachable. He couldn't help it. He longed to be with
them, but it still scared him. He was still peeling away his outer layers, like an onion. Damn that
Akito and what he did to him. At least now he could pinpoint the reason for his feelings and fear,
and try to do something about them.
"Yuki-kun. Did you hear what I said, Yuki-kun?!" a voice woke him out of his reverie.
"Huh? Ah senpai. Gomen. I was just thinking of something." The older student, a female of course,
seemed in Yuki's eyes, to be leaning unnaturally close to him.
She smiled at him, "That's alright. I bet you were thinking of even better ideas for the festival,
right? Well, the president said that if we get all the preliminary plans done and divide everything up
now, then we could get started on our party earlier. Wouldn't that be great! I'm supposed to head
the food committee. So I was just wondering if you would like to work on this part together?"
Too close! Yuki's warning signals were blaring in his head. Then he thought of Tohru's words, and
his resolve to mix in with the 'normal people'. "Uh, sure senpai! Let's do it. With more people
working together, it'll be finished faster. I'm looking forward to the party too."
"Really!? I've been looking forward to a party with Yuki-kun for a long time! Yuki-kun's never
gone out with us after the meetings!" She flashed him a huge smile, while Yuki unconsciously
moved back a bit.
Yuki turned to the male senpai sitting on his right, "Would you like to help us out too?"
"What?! Sure! I'd love to work in a group with dear little Yuki-chan!" He shifted his stuff to sit in a
group with them, smiling eagerly.
Yuki tried to hide a shiver that was running down his back. Maybe this wasn't the right time to
'mix-in' with the others. Meanwhile, his other two group members were bickering over what was
the proper name to call him.
Yuki sighed. This was going to be a long meeting. He'd better take charge - again.
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Kyou finally walked out of the crowded store, letting out a deep sigh of relief, and quickly moved
away. A stuffed bag in each hand, the knapsack on his back also held some groceries. He hadn't
lived alone in the mountains for all those months without at least learning that one should prepare
for bad weather to the best of one's capabilities. So not only had he bought four cartons of milk, but
he had also bought some canned and dried goods, along with batteries, kerosene and candles as
well. Survival food for waiting out a storm in the suburbs - that's what it was. So what if the others
laughed at him? The checkout lady had looked at him questioningly, but Kyou had just ignored her.
He paid her, stuffed the milk into his backpack, grabbed the two remaining bags and left without
saying a word.
All around him, people were busy walking about, shopping for Christmas and so on. He wanted to
yell at them all, warn them about the storm. He knew though, that if he did, they would have just
thought him a total fool. After all, the weather reports only indicated a chance of precipitation.
Instead he trudged on through the crowd.
Suddenly, he blinked his eyes. A large fluffy snowflake had fallen onto his long eyelashes. With a
blink, it had quickly melted away on his cheek. Then another fell on his nose. Looking up, he could
see that the skies had already darken, though the large storm clouds had yet to roll in. These first
few flakes were just a warning to those who knew what to look for. His own body of course, was
already starting to tell him how tired he felt. Kyou tried to ignore it, but finally decided to rest
against the corner of a building while he waited for the crosswalk lights to change. The people
around him took no notice of him as they hurried by. The few passersby that became aware of the
sudden appearance of the snow rejoiced in its cold beauty. Kyou scowled at them all.
The lights changed, and he crossed the street. As he walked by a narrow alleyway, a soft little
meow caught his ears. Spying a pair of green eyes amongst the litter in the street, he took a quick
look around to make sure no one was looking, and then sidestepped into the alley. Bending down
he tried to coax the cat out from his hiding spot. A sudden gust of wind caught hold of the
newspaper on top of the cat and revealed not one, but five pairs of cat eyes!
"What!? Not all of you! What do you expect me to do?"
The father cat, for that was what it turned out to be, a ginger tom, hissed and then turned his back
on Kyou. His mate however, gazed silently back at Kyou, three sleepy-eyed kittens curled at her
side. Two kittens took a good look at him, and then closed their eyes, snuggling closer their mother.
The third, a marmalade-coloured kitten with two white paws in the front, decided to stand up, and
made its wobbly way over to Kyou's right shoe. It meowed pleadingly at him. Kyou was only
somewhat surprised to find himself petting the winsome little kitten as it now purred happily under
his hand's warmth.
"Don't you have anywhere else to go? Someone else to help you?" he sighed. The mother cat
continued to stare at him. "I can't . . . Not every cat in town . . ." The tomcat swung his head around
and glared. Finally, Kyou gave up, defeated by the determined parents and the cute little kitten now
gently gnawing at his thumb. "Fine, let me just rearrange my things."
Looking at the family of cats, he wondered how he was going to transport them all home. The adult
cats could probably walk all the way with no problems, but the kittens? He already had to carry two
grocery bags plus his knapsack, and he only had two hands! Giving another sigh, he started to
unpack his knapsack. Instead of the cold milk cartons, he replaced them with canned food. Then he
grabbed some of the newspaper and put it on top to provide some padding. The two adult cats had
now sat up tall, gently twitching their tails. There seemed to be an expression of approval on their
faces (and perhaps even a little smugness in the father's.) Kyou tried to give them a little scowl, but
it was hard with three kittens now scrambling all over his lap.
He smiled softly as he lifted the kittens and put them into the knapsack. Without warning, the
mother cat suddenly jumped in as well. Kyou stared blankly at the bundle of cats, then shrugged his
shoulders and closed the flap, leaving it unbuckled. The tomcat stood up, but remained on the
ground. Catching Kyou's gaze, the cat told him that he would catch up with them on the path home
later on, and then suddenly leaped away.
"Hey wait! Do you even know where I live?" Kyou called out.
The ginger tom glared back for a couple of seconds and twitched his tail as if to say, "Of course,"
and then bounded away out of sight.
"Whatever. Guess I'm taking you lot with me though," Kyou grinned at his knapsack. He suddenly
wondered if there were any other stray cats nearby that would need help. He didn't have the time or
strength to run around town checking though. So he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and sent out
a general question that only his animal companions could hear.
"Kyou. What are you doing here? And who are you talking to?" Kyou spun around in his crouch,
and almost fell over. There stood Haru in a long, deep red leather coat, with his usual assortment of
chains and stuff.
"None of your business!" growled Kyou, upset that his younger cousin had managed to sneak up on
him just now. "What are you doing here (sneaking up on a person like that)?" He decided to ignore
the other question.
"Oh, nothing much. I called your house, but no one was home, so I thought I'd take a walk on this
nice day. Then the sky started to darken and look, it just started to snow. Look Kyou, it's light
fluffy snowflakes, they taste good." Haru rambled on.
"Will you stop already!? Geh." Kyou stood up.
"You don't have to yell at me. So where's Shigure and Tohru?"
"He's at some convention, and she's out shopping with her friends."
"What about Yuki? Where did he go?" Haru swayed in closer to ask.
"If you can believe it, the Rat's at school on a Sunday. Some meeting and later, a party or
something."
"At school? A party? Without me? I wonder how he's doing?"
Haru stood in silence, and Kyou could almost see his mind go around in circles. Impatient, Kyou
finally interrupted his train of thought, "Look, while you're here, you might as well give me a hand
with this knapsack."
"Huh? Sure Kyou." Haru moved closer and helped Kyou swing the knapsack onto his back. As
Kyou put both arms through the straps, Haru was startled when the bag started to wriggle on its
own. Looking closer, he was greeted with some 'meows' and caught a few pairs of eyes staring
back at him. "Oh. So, that's who you were talking to. I was sort of worried you had gone crazy and
was talking to yourself."
"Shut up and just pass me those bags will ya?" Kyou shrugged his shoulders to find a more
comfortable resting spot for the straps of the now heavy knapsack.
"It must be nice having so many to talk too. I think I envy you and Yuki. There are not many cows
around here." Haru passed the bags to Kyou.
"You must be crazy to be jealous about such a thing. So many voices to bother with, at least cats
don't talk a lot (well except during courtship, but Kyou decided not to mention that). I'm surprised
Yuki's head doesn't just burst. There must be hundreds more rats than cats around!"
"Really. I never thought about that. I don't have that problem at all. Maybe that's another reason
why Yuki's so quiet. Perhaps he's busy listening. Hm, I wonder who he's listening to now..."
"Whatever. I don't really care. Look, I'm sick of talking about this. I'm heading back home. Don't
tell anyone about this, uh... well, you know," Kyou jerked his head to the side to indicate the cats in
his bag. The two boys stood silently across from each other for a moment.
"Yeah," Haru finally said. He still looked a bit spaced out.
"What, don't tell me you want to look for Yuki even now!?"
"Well, I thought that maybe... so I came out, but now I'm sort of... and then you said"
Despite feeling rather tired, Kyou started waving his arms in disgust. Inside the bag, the mother cat
yowled in disapproval. "You're lost again, aren't you!?" He pushed the younger boy back into the
main street. "Look, just forget about looking for Yuki today, and just go back home," Kyou gave
Haru directions on how to get back home.
"Thanks, but I really wanted to see Yuki today," the younger Sohma continued to say.
Almost ready to pull his hair out, Kyou almost screamed at him again. Only the fact that he felt so
tired, and because he didn't want to bring out Haru's darker side, kept him from doing so.
"Look, you idiot. The snow's only going to get worse. I don't want anyone blaming me if you get
lost again and disappear into a snowdrift. Got that!? I warned that irritating Rat as well. If his party
runs late, he may even end up staying the night at the main house. So go back home already!"
To Kyou's surprise, Haru suddenly smiled at him, and then reached out a hand to grab a hold of his
shirt. Haru's adoring expression was the same irritating one he usually reserved for Yuki. It
reminded Kyou a bit of a pet cow's gentle but rather blank liquid gaze.
"What!?" Kyou almost stepped backwards. Frankly, Haru's expression put him a bit on edge. Kyou
secretly wondered whether cows ever preyed on anyone.
"Kyou's getting soft-hearted," Haru leaned in closer. "You're actually worried about me. With
Tohru's help, even you and Yuki are developing a better relationship. That's a good thing, ne?"
Kyou flushed, and stammered, "I - I don't know what you're talking about! I just gave a warning.
I've been doing stuff like that for years, just that nobody usually listens to me."
Haru continued to beam at him.
Kyou gave up and sighed. "Come on. I'll walk you part way."
"Okay, Kyou-kun!" laughed Haru as they started to walk down the street. The younger Sohma
continued to babble about the relationship between his older cousins, Kyou just gritted his teeth in
irritation. With his hands full, he couldn't even swipe away Haru's clutch at his shirt, at least not
without the mother cat hissing at him.
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In the small hat shop, the two taller girls watched as Tohru ran around looking through every shelf.
"So what exactly are you looking for?" asked Uotani, as she leaned against the wall.
"Um. I'm not sure, but . . .wait! Oh this is perfect!" exclaimed Tohru. She came stumbling around
the corner, excitedly showing off her find to her two best friends.
"Don't you think that this will be exactly Yuki-kun's style?" It was a black beret, with a stylish
silver ribbon running around its lower edge.
"Well, I suppose it is rather princely, like his highness," admitted Uotani.
"It's perfect Tohru-kun," smiled Hanajima. "But do you really need to get them presents? You
already help the household out so much, and I'm sure they would rather you save your money for
yourself."
Tohru hugged the hat to her chest, "Oh, but I must! They've all been so good to me. Just like Hana-
chan and Uo-chan! It feels like a family! Really, my new, wonderful family!"
Uotani laughed, "You better not let his fangirls hear you. Tell me though, why a hat?"
Tohru blushed, "Well, they really have everything a person could want to buy. I noticed though,
that they don't have any hats. At least I didn't see any, and with the winter winds, a person's head
can get cold. That's an easy way to catch a cold, so I thought that I'd buy them each a hat. Besides,
hats are relatively inexpensive." She blushed even redder at the last line.
"Don't worry Tohru-kun. It's a perfect choice, they'll love getting a hat," Hanajima placed an arm
around Tohru's shoulder to encourage her.
"Hanajima's right. So now, what about one for that tangerine head? Why don't we help you look?"
"Really Uo-chan? That would be great!" The three smiled at each other as they begun to hunt for
Kyou's hat."
The three girls spent another twenty minutes going through the store. First Uotani and then
Hanajima would lift up a hat for Tohru's appraisal, but none of them seem to be what she had in
mind as a gift for Kyou. Finally, half-jokingly Uotani picked up an orange wool hat and spun it
around on her index finger, "Well we've probably been through the whole store now. This is
probably the very last hat, so how about it, Tohru?"
"Eh? Which one?" Tohru turned around and walked closer to take a look, her eyes widened. Then
she smiled and pounced upon the hat, "Thanks Uo-chan! It's perfect!"
"What? That's the one?" Both Uotani and Hanajima looked with puzzled faces at the hat in
question. "Well I suppose it's almost the exact shade of his hair," the taller girl finally conceded.
Tohru nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! There's two woolen cords as well, so he can tie the hat on
tightly. This way, even when Kyou-kun's being energetic, the hat won't fall off. And look, it even
has two cute little cat ears on the top!" She twitched the woolen ears with her fingers, as she
pictured Kyou wearing her gift.
Her friends stared at her wonderingly, watching her happy expression. At the same time they could
not help but wonder if a guy would really wear such a hat out in public, even if a girl gave it to him.
Then again, Tohru always seem to be able to touch people. First Uotani and then Hanajima started
to laugh.
"Uo-chan? Hana-chan? What's so funny? You don't think Kyou-kun will like it?" Tohru anxiously
asked.
"Ignore Arisa, Tohru-kun. It will be a very happy gift for Sohma Kyou. Shall we go and pay for
your purchases now?" Hanajima smiled gently.
"Hai!" returned Tohru excitedly.
Afterwards, with her new gifts held tight to her chest, Tohru stepped outside with the others. "Oh
look! Kyou-kun was right! It's started to snow! Isn't it lovely?" They all took a moment to watch
the snowflakes dance gently down.
"He said it would snow today? How surprising," remarked Hanajima.
"Well, actually he said it would start snowing about now, and develop into a very bad storm."
"Heh. I would hardly call this sparse snowfall a storm! Look, it even melts once it touches the
ground!" exclaimed Uotani. She laughed again as a snowflake landed on her nose and disappeared.
"Now that we're finished here, why don't we go for lunch then? I've developed a nice little
hunger." Hanajima patted her stomach as her friends grinned at her.
"Are you joking? You're always hungry!" laughed Uotani.
"That might be true, but at least I don't go mad with hunger," Hanajima pointed out with a gleam in
her eyes.
"Mad with hunger! Did I just hear you say, 'mad with hunger'?! I don't know what you're talking
about!" and with that Uotani started to walk across the street, back straight, eyes staring ahead.
Tohru giggled, and then grabbing Hanajima's hand, she pulled her friend along as she ran to catch
up with Uotani. Together, arm in arm, the girls quickly decided to head for the nearest burger shop.
--------------------------------------------------------------
By Kelpy
Email: dragon@smadar.ca
Copyright December 2001-2002
Category: Drama/Humor
Rating: PG-13
A 'Fruits Basket' Fan Fiction
Original manga series by Takaya Natsuki
Published by Hana to Yume Comics (Japan)
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This piece of work is not to be sold in any form. Takaya Natsuki or Hana to Yume Comics has not
authorized this piece in any way. It may be downloaded for personal reading. Please contact me
before presenting it for public use (posting to message boards/mailing lists, web sites, etc).
--------------------------------------------------------------
Part 2: Onset
"Hey Tohru! We're waiting over here!" Uotani's loud voice was matched only by her exuberant
hand waving. Some of the busy shoppers glanced over at the tall blonde, dressed in a long skirt and
a matching long white coat. "A member of one of those girl gangs!" was the first thought that
passed through many of their heads, but something puzzled them. Standing closely beside her, in
front of the shopping district's main water fountain, stood a shorter girl. This one was rather prim
looking with her long tight braid in the back and dressed all in black. She had a certain elegance to
her, though her black ensemble was a touch scary. Clearly this was not a normal girl gang, if that
was what these two represented.
For the few that stopped long enough to ponder over this curious twosome, they were further
surprised to see a third girl run up to hug and join them. This girl was the shortest of them all, and
she also had the widest smile. Dressed like most other high school girls her age, there was a sense
of cheerfulness that seemed to spring from her open expression. Not realizing, most of the
onlookers walked away with a smile on their faces. Some of them wondered if they were watching
the birth of a new idol-singing group - why else would such a group of disparate individuals be
together?
Hanajima smiled at her dearest friend and gave her a calm wave as she ran towards them. She
ignored the curious stares they were gathering. She had long since learned to ignore the looks that
strangers, indeed, even some acquaintances, gave her. She only hoped that Tohru wouldn't notice,
or at least, that she wouldn't mind.
"Good morning Tohru-kun. How are you feeling? Ready to go shopping?" Hanajima returned
Tohru's warm hug. She could feel the arms of her other friend wrapped tightly around Tohru as
well. It was a nice moment of warmness they shared in the crisp morning air. Sometimes she was
still caught in wonder at this friendship of theirs.
"Hai! Good morning Uo-chan! Good morning Hana-chan! I hope you didn't wait too long?
Shigure-san and Yuki-kun were going out too this morning, so we all walked out together."
"Heh? So that loud-mouth guy is stuck at home all alone today?" asked Uotani as she pushed her
bangs back out of the way.
"Un. There's only Kyou-kun to look after the house today."
Hanajima fixed one of the ribbons in Tohru's hair before asking, "So where shall we go shopping
today? Is there anything special you want to get, Tohru-kun?"
"Well, if you don't mind, there are a few places I need to go to. I would like to get some chocolates
for Christmas, but first can we go to the hat store?"
"The hat store! Why do you want to go there?! Are you cold, Tohru?" Uotani gave her an anxious
look.
"Er, no. That's not it." Tohru couldn't help but blush a little.
Hanajima with a little more insight guessed correctly that it was for Christmas presents. "But
Tohru-kun, we told you not to buy us anything this year. We're happy just spending time together
with you."
"Thank you Hana-chan, both of you are such great friends! However the presents are for other
people."
"Huh?" The two taller girls gave their friend matching blank stares.
Tohru giggled at their surprised faces. "Before you mentioned it, I already got something ready for
both of you. So you can't ask me to return them, right? I also got a pen set for Shigure-san, but I
haven't bought anything for Kyou-kun or Yuki-kun yet."
"So that's it. Well in that case, let's go!" Uotani and Hanajima each slipped an arm through
Tohru's and they marched off together towards the shop.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Shigure let out a low sigh as he sat through his third speech of the day. And it wasn't even
lunchtime yet! He tried to stretch out his long legs in front of him, but the auditorium was packed.
By mistake he kicked the chair in front of him but before the person could start to turn his head,
Shigure had already whispered a quiet apology. He wondered if he heard though, since the person
to Shigure's left was snoring rather loudly. Oh well.
He tried not to fidget but the wooden chairs were pitifully uncomfortable. The fans overhead
whirred slowly, a low background hum to the speaker's only slightly less monotonous speech. They
had turned the heat on, and it was getting fairly stuffy inside. He hid a yawn and then glanced over
to his right. Despite teasing Yuki and Tohru-kun earlier about bringing one of them as his date, he
already had a companion of sorts today. Well, with the way things were going, it was more like
having a fellow prisoner to commiserate with. Mit-chan, his editor, had insisted on coming to take
notes and supposedly to scope out new talent. He could still remember her ridiculous shouting last
week about finding a more dependable writer to replace him. No doubt she was just trying to scare
him into finishing his latest manuscript faster. Shigure smiled slightly at the memory.
They had met up at the registration tables before entering the auditorium together. At first she had
furiously scribbled every little thing the first speaker said, in her neat little notebook. Then she took
to writing down only the so-called important points. By now, her pages were filled more with
doodles than words. Near the top of the current page, Shigure caught a drawing of the present
speaker with horns on her head and a huge mouth that stretched from ear to ear. He quickly stifled a
laugh - it was actually a fair likeness aside from the exaggerations.
Lower down the page, something else caught his eyes. He leaned closer to look. It was a picture of
himself! After a moment of surprise, his lips spread out into a small smile. It was a really good
likeness of his face, although perhaps a bit nicer looking than he was in real life. Unlike Ayame, he
never proclaimed himself as the handsomest man on the earth. He gently nudged her elbow to get
her attention. Mit-chan looked up at him with a rather blank look on her face. Poor girl, despite her
usual energetic exhortations, she was obviously getting tired too. Shigure smiled wider and
indicated his portrait on her page with a flick of his finger. Realizing what he was smiling about, a
soft blush rose in her cheeks as she quickly clamped the notebook closed.
Shigure let a chuckle escape as Mit-chan refused to meet his eyes. Instead she feigned undivided
attention to the same speaker she had just made fun of in her doodles. Shigure sat back and let her
have her way for now. After this speech, it would be time to eat. There would be plenty of time to
tease her then.
As the speaker continued to drone on, he again appreciated the solid work relationship he had
developed with Mit-chan. For a cursed Sohma with plans, this type of long-term relationship with a
member of the opposite sex was perhaps ideal. A fairly serious young woman intent on her career,
he knew she didn't have the time now to look for a romantic match. Certainly, with his teasing and
deliberately late manuscripts, it kept her busier than she might have been. Her antics amused him
though, so he continued.
Her presence gave him a break from writing and also from working on his strategies to maneuver
the jyuunishi and others towards the fulfillment of his dream. For now, they were useful to each
other. They worked well as a team, and could escort each other to special functions if necessary. If
his dream came true, who knew what would happen? Mit-chan might then play a larger part in his
personal life, or then again, she might not. There was another he had dated before, but it was no use
thinking about it now. The image of long flowing hair briefly passed before his eyes. As for the
desires of the body, well, that stuff would have to wait for now.
As the speaker finally wound to a finish, everybody stood up and applauded. It was probably more
in anticipation for lunch than anything else. In his case, Shigure was just glad it was over and he
could finally stretch out his tense limbs and get something to drink soon. As they started filing out
of the auditorium, Mit-chan wobbled and started to fall backwards towards him. Shigure caught her
just in time, and pulled her back up.
"Sorry about that Sensei! My legs must have fallen asleep."
"Yeah right. I bet you were just trying to get me to hug you. Wasn't that exactly like that part in my
fourth novel, where the heroine plans this all out to…" he teased, eyes sparkling.
"Baka! What are you trying to say? You're talking like an idiot again," cried Mit-chan looking up
at him, though she was blushing quite brightly at the same time. Quickly swinging back around, she
was oblivious to the fact that she had hit several people with her briefcase.
"Nothing my dear little editor, nothing. Shall we get something to eat now?" Shigure smothered
another chuckle as he gave her a little push to guide her through the crowd.
"Oh yes please! I'm starved! I didn't have time to eat breakfast since I was worried you wouldn't
make it here on time. I would have phoned you, except I knew you wouldn't have picked up the
phone so early in the morning anyway. So I was going over all the emergency plans in case you
didn't show up. Remember that we have to meet up with the executives from several different
bookstore chains later on! It would have been disastrous if you were not present to talk about your
latest book!"
"Yes, yes. Let's hurry and get something to stuff into that ever-opening mouth of yours now."
Shigure steered Mit-chan into the buffet line in front of him.
"Sensei!" was the only indignant reply she got out before her eyes glazed over in happiness upon
seeing the mounds of food on the serving table.
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the student council room, Yuki finished giving his short proposal for the festival. As usual, the
others seemed to love his ideas. Even the student council president approved of them, and
immediately started everybody on working out the plans and details. Sitting back down in his chair,
Yuki sighed. He wondered if people actually took time to think over his proposals. He knew that
his ideas were generally good, and he was certainly intelligent, but it scared him a bit at the alacrity
at which others followed his lead. The president would sometimes make a show of thinking things
over, and look for other ideas, but it seemed that Yuki's initial suggestions always won out.
There was a certain sense of pride in having all this approbation from the others. Certainly that
idiot, single-minded Kyou wouldn't have come up with so many useful and successful proposals!
Unbidden, his mind once again turned to the questions that had been plaguing him ever since Kyou
joined the school. "What did the other students think of Kyou? What did they really think of him,
Yuki? Did they suspect anything?" Over and over again, he pictured the way Kyou had simply fit
himself into regular school life within a week of entering, despite his fears and reservations. Their
classmates had simply accepted him, Kyou's regular loudmouth self, with barely a second thought.
Barring the Sohma secret, Kyou didn't seem to hide anything. In fact, he was quite popular in his
own way with everyone, though Kyou was apparently blind to it all.
At least that's what it seemed like to Yuki. While they gave him all their undivided devotion when
it came to class projects and leadership roles, it was Kyou that they joked around with. It was Kyou
that they all gathered around during the break times. It was Kyou that they counted as one of their
own. Yuki on the other hand, they placed on a pedestal, someone to admire from afar. Of course it
wasn't all their fault. Yuki knew he seemed unreachable. He couldn't help it. He longed to be with
them, but it still scared him. He was still peeling away his outer layers, like an onion. Damn that
Akito and what he did to him. At least now he could pinpoint the reason for his feelings and fear,
and try to do something about them.
"Yuki-kun. Did you hear what I said, Yuki-kun?!" a voice woke him out of his reverie.
"Huh? Ah senpai. Gomen. I was just thinking of something." The older student, a female of course,
seemed in Yuki's eyes, to be leaning unnaturally close to him.
She smiled at him, "That's alright. I bet you were thinking of even better ideas for the festival,
right? Well, the president said that if we get all the preliminary plans done and divide everything up
now, then we could get started on our party earlier. Wouldn't that be great! I'm supposed to head
the food committee. So I was just wondering if you would like to work on this part together?"
Too close! Yuki's warning signals were blaring in his head. Then he thought of Tohru's words, and
his resolve to mix in with the 'normal people'. "Uh, sure senpai! Let's do it. With more people
working together, it'll be finished faster. I'm looking forward to the party too."
"Really!? I've been looking forward to a party with Yuki-kun for a long time! Yuki-kun's never
gone out with us after the meetings!" She flashed him a huge smile, while Yuki unconsciously
moved back a bit.
Yuki turned to the male senpai sitting on his right, "Would you like to help us out too?"
"What?! Sure! I'd love to work in a group with dear little Yuki-chan!" He shifted his stuff to sit in a
group with them, smiling eagerly.
Yuki tried to hide a shiver that was running down his back. Maybe this wasn't the right time to
'mix-in' with the others. Meanwhile, his other two group members were bickering over what was
the proper name to call him.
Yuki sighed. This was going to be a long meeting. He'd better take charge - again.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Kyou finally walked out of the crowded store, letting out a deep sigh of relief, and quickly moved
away. A stuffed bag in each hand, the knapsack on his back also held some groceries. He hadn't
lived alone in the mountains for all those months without at least learning that one should prepare
for bad weather to the best of one's capabilities. So not only had he bought four cartons of milk, but
he had also bought some canned and dried goods, along with batteries, kerosene and candles as
well. Survival food for waiting out a storm in the suburbs - that's what it was. So what if the others
laughed at him? The checkout lady had looked at him questioningly, but Kyou had just ignored her.
He paid her, stuffed the milk into his backpack, grabbed the two remaining bags and left without
saying a word.
All around him, people were busy walking about, shopping for Christmas and so on. He wanted to
yell at them all, warn them about the storm. He knew though, that if he did, they would have just
thought him a total fool. After all, the weather reports only indicated a chance of precipitation.
Instead he trudged on through the crowd.
Suddenly, he blinked his eyes. A large fluffy snowflake had fallen onto his long eyelashes. With a
blink, it had quickly melted away on his cheek. Then another fell on his nose. Looking up, he could
see that the skies had already darken, though the large storm clouds had yet to roll in. These first
few flakes were just a warning to those who knew what to look for. His own body of course, was
already starting to tell him how tired he felt. Kyou tried to ignore it, but finally decided to rest
against the corner of a building while he waited for the crosswalk lights to change. The people
around him took no notice of him as they hurried by. The few passersby that became aware of the
sudden appearance of the snow rejoiced in its cold beauty. Kyou scowled at them all.
The lights changed, and he crossed the street. As he walked by a narrow alleyway, a soft little
meow caught his ears. Spying a pair of green eyes amongst the litter in the street, he took a quick
look around to make sure no one was looking, and then sidestepped into the alley. Bending down
he tried to coax the cat out from his hiding spot. A sudden gust of wind caught hold of the
newspaper on top of the cat and revealed not one, but five pairs of cat eyes!
"What!? Not all of you! What do you expect me to do?"
The father cat, for that was what it turned out to be, a ginger tom, hissed and then turned his back
on Kyou. His mate however, gazed silently back at Kyou, three sleepy-eyed kittens curled at her
side. Two kittens took a good look at him, and then closed their eyes, snuggling closer their mother.
The third, a marmalade-coloured kitten with two white paws in the front, decided to stand up, and
made its wobbly way over to Kyou's right shoe. It meowed pleadingly at him. Kyou was only
somewhat surprised to find himself petting the winsome little kitten as it now purred happily under
his hand's warmth.
"Don't you have anywhere else to go? Someone else to help you?" he sighed. The mother cat
continued to stare at him. "I can't . . . Not every cat in town . . ." The tomcat swung his head around
and glared. Finally, Kyou gave up, defeated by the determined parents and the cute little kitten now
gently gnawing at his thumb. "Fine, let me just rearrange my things."
Looking at the family of cats, he wondered how he was going to transport them all home. The adult
cats could probably walk all the way with no problems, but the kittens? He already had to carry two
grocery bags plus his knapsack, and he only had two hands! Giving another sigh, he started to
unpack his knapsack. Instead of the cold milk cartons, he replaced them with canned food. Then he
grabbed some of the newspaper and put it on top to provide some padding. The two adult cats had
now sat up tall, gently twitching their tails. There seemed to be an expression of approval on their
faces (and perhaps even a little smugness in the father's.) Kyou tried to give them a little scowl, but
it was hard with three kittens now scrambling all over his lap.
He smiled softly as he lifted the kittens and put them into the knapsack. Without warning, the
mother cat suddenly jumped in as well. Kyou stared blankly at the bundle of cats, then shrugged his
shoulders and closed the flap, leaving it unbuckled. The tomcat stood up, but remained on the
ground. Catching Kyou's gaze, the cat told him that he would catch up with them on the path home
later on, and then suddenly leaped away.
"Hey wait! Do you even know where I live?" Kyou called out.
The ginger tom glared back for a couple of seconds and twitched his tail as if to say, "Of course,"
and then bounded away out of sight.
"Whatever. Guess I'm taking you lot with me though," Kyou grinned at his knapsack. He suddenly
wondered if there were any other stray cats nearby that would need help. He didn't have the time or
strength to run around town checking though. So he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and sent out
a general question that only his animal companions could hear.
"Kyou. What are you doing here? And who are you talking to?" Kyou spun around in his crouch,
and almost fell over. There stood Haru in a long, deep red leather coat, with his usual assortment of
chains and stuff.
"None of your business!" growled Kyou, upset that his younger cousin had managed to sneak up on
him just now. "What are you doing here (sneaking up on a person like that)?" He decided to ignore
the other question.
"Oh, nothing much. I called your house, but no one was home, so I thought I'd take a walk on this
nice day. Then the sky started to darken and look, it just started to snow. Look Kyou, it's light
fluffy snowflakes, they taste good." Haru rambled on.
"Will you stop already!? Geh." Kyou stood up.
"You don't have to yell at me. So where's Shigure and Tohru?"
"He's at some convention, and she's out shopping with her friends."
"What about Yuki? Where did he go?" Haru swayed in closer to ask.
"If you can believe it, the Rat's at school on a Sunday. Some meeting and later, a party or
something."
"At school? A party? Without me? I wonder how he's doing?"
Haru stood in silence, and Kyou could almost see his mind go around in circles. Impatient, Kyou
finally interrupted his train of thought, "Look, while you're here, you might as well give me a hand
with this knapsack."
"Huh? Sure Kyou." Haru moved closer and helped Kyou swing the knapsack onto his back. As
Kyou put both arms through the straps, Haru was startled when the bag started to wriggle on its
own. Looking closer, he was greeted with some 'meows' and caught a few pairs of eyes staring
back at him. "Oh. So, that's who you were talking to. I was sort of worried you had gone crazy and
was talking to yourself."
"Shut up and just pass me those bags will ya?" Kyou shrugged his shoulders to find a more
comfortable resting spot for the straps of the now heavy knapsack.
"It must be nice having so many to talk too. I think I envy you and Yuki. There are not many cows
around here." Haru passed the bags to Kyou.
"You must be crazy to be jealous about such a thing. So many voices to bother with, at least cats
don't talk a lot (well except during courtship, but Kyou decided not to mention that). I'm surprised
Yuki's head doesn't just burst. There must be hundreds more rats than cats around!"
"Really. I never thought about that. I don't have that problem at all. Maybe that's another reason
why Yuki's so quiet. Perhaps he's busy listening. Hm, I wonder who he's listening to now..."
"Whatever. I don't really care. Look, I'm sick of talking about this. I'm heading back home. Don't
tell anyone about this, uh... well, you know," Kyou jerked his head to the side to indicate the cats in
his bag. The two boys stood silently across from each other for a moment.
"Yeah," Haru finally said. He still looked a bit spaced out.
"What, don't tell me you want to look for Yuki even now!?"
"Well, I thought that maybe... so I came out, but now I'm sort of... and then you said"
Despite feeling rather tired, Kyou started waving his arms in disgust. Inside the bag, the mother cat
yowled in disapproval. "You're lost again, aren't you!?" He pushed the younger boy back into the
main street. "Look, just forget about looking for Yuki today, and just go back home," Kyou gave
Haru directions on how to get back home.
"Thanks, but I really wanted to see Yuki today," the younger Sohma continued to say.
Almost ready to pull his hair out, Kyou almost screamed at him again. Only the fact that he felt so
tired, and because he didn't want to bring out Haru's darker side, kept him from doing so.
"Look, you idiot. The snow's only going to get worse. I don't want anyone blaming me if you get
lost again and disappear into a snowdrift. Got that!? I warned that irritating Rat as well. If his party
runs late, he may even end up staying the night at the main house. So go back home already!"
To Kyou's surprise, Haru suddenly smiled at him, and then reached out a hand to grab a hold of his
shirt. Haru's adoring expression was the same irritating one he usually reserved for Yuki. It
reminded Kyou a bit of a pet cow's gentle but rather blank liquid gaze.
"What!?" Kyou almost stepped backwards. Frankly, Haru's expression put him a bit on edge. Kyou
secretly wondered whether cows ever preyed on anyone.
"Kyou's getting soft-hearted," Haru leaned in closer. "You're actually worried about me. With
Tohru's help, even you and Yuki are developing a better relationship. That's a good thing, ne?"
Kyou flushed, and stammered, "I - I don't know what you're talking about! I just gave a warning.
I've been doing stuff like that for years, just that nobody usually listens to me."
Haru continued to beam at him.
Kyou gave up and sighed. "Come on. I'll walk you part way."
"Okay, Kyou-kun!" laughed Haru as they started to walk down the street. The younger Sohma
continued to babble about the relationship between his older cousins, Kyou just gritted his teeth in
irritation. With his hands full, he couldn't even swipe away Haru's clutch at his shirt, at least not
without the mother cat hissing at him.
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the small hat shop, the two taller girls watched as Tohru ran around looking through every shelf.
"So what exactly are you looking for?" asked Uotani, as she leaned against the wall.
"Um. I'm not sure, but . . .wait! Oh this is perfect!" exclaimed Tohru. She came stumbling around
the corner, excitedly showing off her find to her two best friends.
"Don't you think that this will be exactly Yuki-kun's style?" It was a black beret, with a stylish
silver ribbon running around its lower edge.
"Well, I suppose it is rather princely, like his highness," admitted Uotani.
"It's perfect Tohru-kun," smiled Hanajima. "But do you really need to get them presents? You
already help the household out so much, and I'm sure they would rather you save your money for
yourself."
Tohru hugged the hat to her chest, "Oh, but I must! They've all been so good to me. Just like Hana-
chan and Uo-chan! It feels like a family! Really, my new, wonderful family!"
Uotani laughed, "You better not let his fangirls hear you. Tell me though, why a hat?"
Tohru blushed, "Well, they really have everything a person could want to buy. I noticed though,
that they don't have any hats. At least I didn't see any, and with the winter winds, a person's head
can get cold. That's an easy way to catch a cold, so I thought that I'd buy them each a hat. Besides,
hats are relatively inexpensive." She blushed even redder at the last line.
"Don't worry Tohru-kun. It's a perfect choice, they'll love getting a hat," Hanajima placed an arm
around Tohru's shoulder to encourage her.
"Hanajima's right. So now, what about one for that tangerine head? Why don't we help you look?"
"Really Uo-chan? That would be great!" The three smiled at each other as they begun to hunt for
Kyou's hat."
The three girls spent another twenty minutes going through the store. First Uotani and then
Hanajima would lift up a hat for Tohru's appraisal, but none of them seem to be what she had in
mind as a gift for Kyou. Finally, half-jokingly Uotani picked up an orange wool hat and spun it
around on her index finger, "Well we've probably been through the whole store now. This is
probably the very last hat, so how about it, Tohru?"
"Eh? Which one?" Tohru turned around and walked closer to take a look, her eyes widened. Then
she smiled and pounced upon the hat, "Thanks Uo-chan! It's perfect!"
"What? That's the one?" Both Uotani and Hanajima looked with puzzled faces at the hat in
question. "Well I suppose it's almost the exact shade of his hair," the taller girl finally conceded.
Tohru nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! There's two woolen cords as well, so he can tie the hat on
tightly. This way, even when Kyou-kun's being energetic, the hat won't fall off. And look, it even
has two cute little cat ears on the top!" She twitched the woolen ears with her fingers, as she
pictured Kyou wearing her gift.
Her friends stared at her wonderingly, watching her happy expression. At the same time they could
not help but wonder if a guy would really wear such a hat out in public, even if a girl gave it to him.
Then again, Tohru always seem to be able to touch people. First Uotani and then Hanajima started
to laugh.
"Uo-chan? Hana-chan? What's so funny? You don't think Kyou-kun will like it?" Tohru anxiously
asked.
"Ignore Arisa, Tohru-kun. It will be a very happy gift for Sohma Kyou. Shall we go and pay for
your purchases now?" Hanajima smiled gently.
"Hai!" returned Tohru excitedly.
Afterwards, with her new gifts held tight to her chest, Tohru stepped outside with the others. "Oh
look! Kyou-kun was right! It's started to snow! Isn't it lovely?" They all took a moment to watch
the snowflakes dance gently down.
"He said it would snow today? How surprising," remarked Hanajima.
"Well, actually he said it would start snowing about now, and develop into a very bad storm."
"Heh. I would hardly call this sparse snowfall a storm! Look, it even melts once it touches the
ground!" exclaimed Uotani. She laughed again as a snowflake landed on her nose and disappeared.
"Now that we're finished here, why don't we go for lunch then? I've developed a nice little
hunger." Hanajima patted her stomach as her friends grinned at her.
"Are you joking? You're always hungry!" laughed Uotani.
"That might be true, but at least I don't go mad with hunger," Hanajima pointed out with a gleam in
her eyes.
"Mad with hunger! Did I just hear you say, 'mad with hunger'?! I don't know what you're talking
about!" and with that Uotani started to walk across the street, back straight, eyes staring ahead.
Tohru giggled, and then grabbing Hanajima's hand, she pulled her friend along as she ran to catch
up with Uotani. Together, arm in arm, the girls quickly decided to head for the nearest burger shop.
--------------------------------------------------------------