Here's the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it ^^
Kini Naru Aitsu – I Cannot Ignore Her
Chapter 1
Taka Hikari
"Tohru," a seventeen year old Sohma Kyou said, his hand over his shoulder holding his black school bag. "I'm tired, can we go home yet?"
"Well, I didn't ask you to come, you came by yourself, and I still need to get the coloured pens for the project…" Honda Tohru replied, her long brown hair tied with two yellow ribbons. In one hand she held her school bag and on the other she was carrying the accessories she needed for her school project.
Kyou didn't complain more. He silently walked beside Tohru and once in a while, he lifted up his hand and ruffled his bright orange hair. It was true that Tohru didn't ask him to come with her; she was planning to go to the city after school herself. But he wanted to be there if Tohru needed help.
"Oh, there's the shop right there!" Tohru exclaimed as she pointed out a little shop, just pass the telephone booth. Tohru turned to face Kyou. "After this, we can go home."
Tohru started making her way to the shop quickly while Kyou trailed lazily behind her. Tohru was already in front of the shop but Kyou was still to pass the telephone booth. Tohru turned around to see him; he was just passing the telephone booth. Then her eyes widened.
"Kyou-kun! Move back!" Tohru cried out.
But it was too late; a girl who just finished a phone call ran into him and caused herself to hug him.
Tohru watched helplessly as Kyou's hands wrapped around the girl's waist. Tohru waited for Kyou to transform into his cat form but it never happened. Instead the girl got up quickly and mumbled a very quick sorry to Kyou and ran across the street where she was catching her bus.
Tohru didn't get to see the girl's face properly for the bus that had just arrived covered her. Tohru quickly ran to Kyou who was watching his hands, mouth slightly open, his eyes widening and widening by the moment.
"Kyou-kun, was that another member of the Jyuunishi?" Tohru asked.
"No, if she was, I would have recognized her…no girls who are cursed have long, black hair…" Kyou answered, he turned himself around to look at the bus stop but the girl wasn't there anymore.
"Then…then, how…how can she hug you but not make you transform?" Tohru asked, very surprised.
"I…I don't know," Kyou said just above a whisper. "We should go home quickly Tohru and tell Shigure and that damn rat."
Tohru nodded and purchased her pens very quickly. They walked home as fast as they could both of them wondering what just happened and asking themselves, how was it possible?
After what seemed an eternity they saw the figure of Shigure's house. They almost ran to it. As soon as they walked in, they looked for Shigure and Yuki, making a lot of noise.
"Oi, Baka Neko," Yuki said out, his body leaning on the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Try not to make so much noise…"
Kyou started to get angry, his brown eyes clashing with Yuki's amethyst eyes.
"No, don't fight," Tohru said suddenly. "Yuki-kun, this is important…"
Yuki broke away from Kyou's deadly stare and looked at Tohru and felt his heart warmed. Whenever he's eyes gazed upon at Tohru, he felt an ease. He felt cheerful and happy. No matter what kind of situation they were in, he would always feel good when he looked at her.
"What is it Tohru-kun?" Yuki asked.
"Well, err-, ano…" Tohru started to say.
"A girl hugged me today and I didn't transform!" Kyou butted in.
"Nani?" Yuki asked, standing properly now. He was just as surprised as Tohru and Kyou were. "You sure she is not Kisa-chan or Kagura-san?"
"I don't think Kisa or Kagura has black hair!" Kyou said.
"Black…hair?" Yuki asked. "Is it ever possible that your curse is gone?"
"I don't know…" Kyou said softly.
"Ano…let me hug you, Kyou-kun, and see what happens…" Tohru said.
Kyou blushed lightly then finally nodded. Tohru took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Kyou's neck while Kyou wrapped his arms around her waist. Poof! Kyou turned into a ginger cat.
"Ok, I guess the curse is still there," Yuki said.
Tohru was kneeling on the floor next to Neko-san. She looked like she was in a very deep concentration. It was a few seconds before anyone said anything.
"But how can this be?" Tohru asked, feeling very down. "How can this girl be able to hug Kyou-kun?"
Before anyone could say anything, heavy footsteps vibrated on the floor. Yuki, Kyou and Tohru could hear a loud singing voice.
"Time to eat, time to eat…Tohru-kun…is dinner prepared?"
"Shigure!" Yuki called out. "Come here!"
"Coming!" Shigure replied.
It wasn't long before Shigure appeared in the doorway. He looked from one face to another, seeing the seriousness on each of their faces. Lastly he looked at Kyou who was in his cat form and then back to Tohru who was kneeling beside, not uttering a movement.
"Yuki-kun, you sounded so serious but it was just Tohru-kun accidentally hugging Kyou-kun, you make it sound so important…" Shigure said.
"It's not that, Shigure-san," Tohru said but before she could say anything else, Kyou turned back into his human form.
Tohru quickly turned away from him, her face bright red.
"Then what is it?" Shigure asked, his eyes fixed on Tohru.
"Well you see, after school today, Kyou-kun and I went to the city to buy things I need for my school's project, but then, there was this girl who accidentally hugged Kyou-kun, but he didn't turn into a cat, and just then I tried hugging Kyou-kun but he turned into a cat…" Tohru's voice trailed off there.
"And I'm one hundred and ten percent sure she's not a Sohma," Kyou added.
Shigure crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes, trying to find a reason why this was possible, but no possible reason came to mind.
"Are you going to tell Akito?" Yuki asked.
"This has to be informed," Shigure said, emphasizing the 'has'. "I will tell him tomorrow when I go to meet Hatori."
Yuki, Kyou and Tohru nodded but it was obvious that the three of them were still thinking about it.
"Don't think too much of it, I'm sure there's a simple explanation to this," Shigure reassured them. "Now what about dinner, Tohru-kun?"
Tohru looked up, startled. "Hai!" she quickly said and scurried to the kitchen.
She got out the ingredients to make Chicken Tonkatsu while she pondered about the situation.
*How can a complete stranger hug Kyou? When I let alone can't do such thing and I've been living with the Sohma's for two years?*
Tohru brushed the away the annoyance that she felt and continued to prepare dinner, but no matter how hard she tried not to think of it, her thoughts would always wonder back to it.
It was then that she decided to think about Yuki. A small smile played on her lips. She loved everything about him! His amethyst eyes that always looked so secretive, his rare smiles that always manage to make her act clumsy, the way he speaks and the way that he demands respect for her from people who tease her or manipulate her.
Tohru got through the night by continuing to think about Yuki and when she slept, she dreamt of Yuki, the prince that she had always waited for.
-=:Next Morning:=-
The aroma of fried eggs and freshly cooked bacons woke the three males up from the slumber. One by one they entered the kitchen, seeking for the delicious food that Tohru had made. Only Yuki looked renewed and refreshed. He was the only one that bothered to get ready before eating breakfast.
"Tohru-kun, you've outdone yourself, once again," Shigure complimented.
"Arigato," Tohru replied as she divided the eggs and bacons on to four separate plates.
She carried the plates to the dining room and placed them down neatly.
"Ohayo," Yuki said from behind.
Tohru turned and smiled. "Ohayo…"
Tohru and Yuki were the only ones wearing something either than their pajamas. Kyou and Shigure were still in their sleeping clothes.
Yuki's and Tohru's gaze locked while Shigure and Kyou shoved down the food down their throat. Yuki gave Tohru a smile that sent Tohru's heart flying and sat down to eat breakfast. Tohru followed suit after she recovered from Yuki's smile. As they ate, everyone told Tohru that she was amazing to be able to make something as simple as eggs and bacon to something very delicious and satisfying.
Tohru smiled her thanks.
When everyone had eaten Tohru brought everything back to the kitchen where she washed all of the plates and cutleries. By the time she was done both Yuki and Kyou were ready to go to school.
"Here's your bag," Yuki said.
Tohru took the bag from Yuki. "Arigato Yuki-kun."
Yuki just smiled his reply.
Just then Kyou appeared behind Yuki and hit Yuki's head with his bag. Yuki turned around and yelled angrily at Kyou. Tohru sweat-dropped anime style.
"Let's go to school, ne?" Tohru said.
It put an end to Yuki's and Kyou's argument.
"Shigure! We're leaving!" Yuki called out.
"Have fun!" Shigure replied from somewhere around the house.
Yuki, Kyou and Tohru walked to school side by side, Tohru in the middle. It wasn't long before the three of them reached their school. There they were greeted by Hana-chan and Uo-chan.
Tohru greeted them cheerfully, "Ohayo!"
"Eh carrot head! What's with the smug look on your face?" Uo-chan said.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CARROT HEAD?" Kyou shouted.
All of them just laughed, apart from Kyou whose temper was rising by the moment. Tohru stopped laughing when she saw the look on Kyou's face.
*He's still thinking about that girl* she thought silently.
"Ano, Kyou-kun…" Tohru started to say but before she could say anything else the bell that indicated school was starting, rang.
"Nani…Tohru-kun?"
"Don't worry about it," Tohru said. "Let's go to class!"
Tohru grabbed Kyou's hand and ran to their classroom. Their teacher came in a few seconds after them.
"Sit down, sit down."
Everyone went and sat on their seats.
"Today, we will have a new student in our class, Taka-san, you can come in," Their Sensei said.
In walked a girl, the same height as Tohru. She had long blackish, brownish hair that was tied in two separate ponytails, she left two fringes out. Around her hair was a jeans coloured bandana and with her two hands she held her school bag.
"Ohayo Mina-san!" She said cheerfully and smiled.
Yuki and Kyou gasped, their eyes widened as memories of the past flashed before them.
How she too, like Tohru found out about the Sohma's secret, how she too learned and accepted Kyou's true form. The only difference was that she never lived with Yuki or Kyou and also that Akito had her memory erased. It was so sudden and much unexpected. Yuki had never forgiven Akito for that. Both Yuki and Kyou snapped back to reality when she started to introduce herself.
"Watashi no namae wo Taka Hikaru desu," she said.
The Sensei told her to choose her seat and Hikari nodded. She looked around, her amber eyes scanning around the classroom. For a moment her eyes rested on Yuki but it soon drifted to Tohru whose seat was next to Yuki's. In front of Tohru was a vacant space.
Hikari walked to it and just before she sat down, Tohru introduced herself.
"Watashi was Honda Tohru."
"Honda Tohru?" She said it as if she recognized the name. "Nice to meet you Honda-san."
That was the last conversation in the classroom for the Sensei had started on the lesson.
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~
School was over and Hikari had a pretty enjoyable day. Everyone welcomed her to school nicely, all being very friendly. Hikari's hand traveled onto the silver locket around her neck. She felt the smoothness of the chain and the shape of the locket. The locket meant everything to her! Hikari sighed, gathered her things and left the classroom, Yuki's eyes following her until she disappeared out of view.
"Yuki-kun?" Tohru said. "Are you ok?"
Without turning around to look at Tohru, Yuki nodded and left the classroom not saying a word to Tohru.
Tohru stared after him, feeling offended that he just left. Soon enough she was accompanied by Uo-chan and Hana-chan. Uo-chan, with her shoulder-length blonde hair, stood the tallest.
"What do you think about that Taka-girl?" Uo asked.
"I sense strange electric waves from her," Hanajima answered.
Tohru didn't say anything; somehow she knew that Yuki had strong feelings for the new girl. Without wasting anytime, Tohru grabbed her bag and ran out to look for Yuki. She found Yuki outside the school's building, with Haru, Momiji, Kyou and also Taka Hikari.
Everyone seemed to enjoy her company, especially Yuki. There was this soft look in his eyes, something that had been buried for so long had now been awaken. Something that Tohru didn't know but something she had to find out.
Just at that moment Hikari turned and saw Tohru. For a moment they just stared at each other, Yuki tore his eyes away from Hikari and turned to see who Hikari was looking at.
"Toh…Tohru-kun," Yuki said softly.
"Tohru?" Hikari asked softly. "Ah, Honda-san!"
Tohru walked up to them. "Hai, and you're Taka-san."
Hikari nodded and gave Tohru a smile. Tohru forced another smile, though it was hard due to the jealousy that she felt.
Hikari sensed they annoyance that Tohru felt and looked at Yuki. Yuki's thoughts were unreadable.
"I better head home; it was nice meeting you all…" Hikari said.
"Matte, Hikari-chan," Yuki said. "Ano, I mean Taka-san…"
Tohru stared at Yuki, he called her Hikari-chan?!
"Ano Sohma-kun," Hikari said. "I live at the other side of the river and I also have a part time job."
"You live at the other side of the river?! Why did you choose to go to our school?!" Kyou asked.
"That remains a mystery," Hikari replied.
"Alright then," Yuki finally said. "We won't keep you any longer."
Hikari nodded and headed out of the school. She turned around and waved.
"Ja Ne!" and with that she disappeared out of view.
Tohru stared after her, lost in thoughts.
"After a few years, she's still the same," Haru commented.
"Eh?" Tohru asked.
"Short hair was really good on her and I told her to never grow her hair, because I wanted her to look like that forever, but now that I see her with long hair, it looks really good too!" Momiji said.
"She looks good with just about anything," Yuki said softly. Such affection was in his voice. His eyes drifted to a dreamy look. Nobody said anything else as Yuki was lost in his whir-pool of memories.
Yuki turned to face the others and saw the pity in all of their faces.
"It's alright," Yuki said. "I'm fine…"
"We better go home too," Tohru said.
Yuki nodded and without uttering a reply, he walked out of the school. Tohru was really surprised that he just left like that, for the second time.
"Let's go after him," Tohru heard Kyou said.
Then the both of them ran after Yuki and stood on either side of him. None of them said anything but finally Yuki said something.
"She was the first person who found out about the curse who accepted it," Yuki said softly. "I was in the same junior high school with her, I was the cold one who didn't want to go near anybody, and she was the cheerful one who was befriended by all of the people in the school. Truthfully I was envious of her; I wanted to be so much like her but I can never be like her, every time someone tries to get close to me, I push them away afraid that they might hug me someday."
"Then in the beginning of ninth grade, I couldn't take the curse anymore, I ended up trying to kill myself at school but she stopped me, she happened to be walking to her next lesson when she heard my sobs, she turned to look and saw me, lifting the blade ready to kill myself, she ran to stop me but she tripped and ended up hugging me instead and I turned into a mouse."
"She was surprised when she couldn't find my body but instead finding a mouse standing on a boy's school uniform, but then she realized that I was the mouse. She lifted me up in her arms and asked me to explain myself and I told her everything. I turned back into my human form and instead of leaving me; she stayed there, with me. She held my hand and told me that just because I was cursed doesn't mean that I can't have any friends. It was then that she pressed my palm on her chest and said the words that I had longed to hear 'I don't care whether you can turn into a mouse or an ogre or a tree or anything else, no matter what I will be your friend,' I loved her so much for giving me the confidence I needed."
"Then she ended up meeting all of the other Jyuunishi's, and everyone enjoyed her company even my brother respected her, she had something that he didn't have, a very loving relationship with her younger brother, something that Aya-kun don't and can't have. And then one day, she just disappeared, she didn't come to school, she didn't come over to Shigure's place, it was the next day that Hatori came over and told us that her memory was erased, not by him, but by Akito himself."
"Can Akito erase people's memory? How come he couldn't erase mine?" Tohru asked remembering how Akito had brutally pulled her hair and demanded Hatori to erase her memory.
"He could before, but now he is too weak…" Yuki answered.
They reached the house just a few minutes after Yuki told Tohru and Kyou everything. There was a car parked in front of the house. The three of them walked faster to see who the visitor was, and when they opened the door to the front door, they had wished they hadn't.
Akito was seated, a strange smile on his face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~~*
Yuki-kun: So what do you think? I hope you enjoyed it because CherryBlossom has worked hard for this!! *Smiles* If you click
the review button, the curse will be lifted from me! Press it!!
Kini Naru Aitsu – I Cannot Ignore Her
Chapter 1
Taka Hikari
"Tohru," a seventeen year old Sohma Kyou said, his hand over his shoulder holding his black school bag. "I'm tired, can we go home yet?"
"Well, I didn't ask you to come, you came by yourself, and I still need to get the coloured pens for the project…" Honda Tohru replied, her long brown hair tied with two yellow ribbons. In one hand she held her school bag and on the other she was carrying the accessories she needed for her school project.
Kyou didn't complain more. He silently walked beside Tohru and once in a while, he lifted up his hand and ruffled his bright orange hair. It was true that Tohru didn't ask him to come with her; she was planning to go to the city after school herself. But he wanted to be there if Tohru needed help.
"Oh, there's the shop right there!" Tohru exclaimed as she pointed out a little shop, just pass the telephone booth. Tohru turned to face Kyou. "After this, we can go home."
Tohru started making her way to the shop quickly while Kyou trailed lazily behind her. Tohru was already in front of the shop but Kyou was still to pass the telephone booth. Tohru turned around to see him; he was just passing the telephone booth. Then her eyes widened.
"Kyou-kun! Move back!" Tohru cried out.
But it was too late; a girl who just finished a phone call ran into him and caused herself to hug him.
Tohru watched helplessly as Kyou's hands wrapped around the girl's waist. Tohru waited for Kyou to transform into his cat form but it never happened. Instead the girl got up quickly and mumbled a very quick sorry to Kyou and ran across the street where she was catching her bus.
Tohru didn't get to see the girl's face properly for the bus that had just arrived covered her. Tohru quickly ran to Kyou who was watching his hands, mouth slightly open, his eyes widening and widening by the moment.
"Kyou-kun, was that another member of the Jyuunishi?" Tohru asked.
"No, if she was, I would have recognized her…no girls who are cursed have long, black hair…" Kyou answered, he turned himself around to look at the bus stop but the girl wasn't there anymore.
"Then…then, how…how can she hug you but not make you transform?" Tohru asked, very surprised.
"I…I don't know," Kyou said just above a whisper. "We should go home quickly Tohru and tell Shigure and that damn rat."
Tohru nodded and purchased her pens very quickly. They walked home as fast as they could both of them wondering what just happened and asking themselves, how was it possible?
After what seemed an eternity they saw the figure of Shigure's house. They almost ran to it. As soon as they walked in, they looked for Shigure and Yuki, making a lot of noise.
"Oi, Baka Neko," Yuki said out, his body leaning on the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Try not to make so much noise…"
Kyou started to get angry, his brown eyes clashing with Yuki's amethyst eyes.
"No, don't fight," Tohru said suddenly. "Yuki-kun, this is important…"
Yuki broke away from Kyou's deadly stare and looked at Tohru and felt his heart warmed. Whenever he's eyes gazed upon at Tohru, he felt an ease. He felt cheerful and happy. No matter what kind of situation they were in, he would always feel good when he looked at her.
"What is it Tohru-kun?" Yuki asked.
"Well, err-, ano…" Tohru started to say.
"A girl hugged me today and I didn't transform!" Kyou butted in.
"Nani?" Yuki asked, standing properly now. He was just as surprised as Tohru and Kyou were. "You sure she is not Kisa-chan or Kagura-san?"
"I don't think Kisa or Kagura has black hair!" Kyou said.
"Black…hair?" Yuki asked. "Is it ever possible that your curse is gone?"
"I don't know…" Kyou said softly.
"Ano…let me hug you, Kyou-kun, and see what happens…" Tohru said.
Kyou blushed lightly then finally nodded. Tohru took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Kyou's neck while Kyou wrapped his arms around her waist. Poof! Kyou turned into a ginger cat.
"Ok, I guess the curse is still there," Yuki said.
Tohru was kneeling on the floor next to Neko-san. She looked like she was in a very deep concentration. It was a few seconds before anyone said anything.
"But how can this be?" Tohru asked, feeling very down. "How can this girl be able to hug Kyou-kun?"
Before anyone could say anything, heavy footsteps vibrated on the floor. Yuki, Kyou and Tohru could hear a loud singing voice.
"Time to eat, time to eat…Tohru-kun…is dinner prepared?"
"Shigure!" Yuki called out. "Come here!"
"Coming!" Shigure replied.
It wasn't long before Shigure appeared in the doorway. He looked from one face to another, seeing the seriousness on each of their faces. Lastly he looked at Kyou who was in his cat form and then back to Tohru who was kneeling beside, not uttering a movement.
"Yuki-kun, you sounded so serious but it was just Tohru-kun accidentally hugging Kyou-kun, you make it sound so important…" Shigure said.
"It's not that, Shigure-san," Tohru said but before she could say anything else, Kyou turned back into his human form.
Tohru quickly turned away from him, her face bright red.
"Then what is it?" Shigure asked, his eyes fixed on Tohru.
"Well you see, after school today, Kyou-kun and I went to the city to buy things I need for my school's project, but then, there was this girl who accidentally hugged Kyou-kun, but he didn't turn into a cat, and just then I tried hugging Kyou-kun but he turned into a cat…" Tohru's voice trailed off there.
"And I'm one hundred and ten percent sure she's not a Sohma," Kyou added.
Shigure crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes, trying to find a reason why this was possible, but no possible reason came to mind.
"Are you going to tell Akito?" Yuki asked.
"This has to be informed," Shigure said, emphasizing the 'has'. "I will tell him tomorrow when I go to meet Hatori."
Yuki, Kyou and Tohru nodded but it was obvious that the three of them were still thinking about it.
"Don't think too much of it, I'm sure there's a simple explanation to this," Shigure reassured them. "Now what about dinner, Tohru-kun?"
Tohru looked up, startled. "Hai!" she quickly said and scurried to the kitchen.
She got out the ingredients to make Chicken Tonkatsu while she pondered about the situation.
*How can a complete stranger hug Kyou? When I let alone can't do such thing and I've been living with the Sohma's for two years?*
Tohru brushed the away the annoyance that she felt and continued to prepare dinner, but no matter how hard she tried not to think of it, her thoughts would always wonder back to it.
It was then that she decided to think about Yuki. A small smile played on her lips. She loved everything about him! His amethyst eyes that always looked so secretive, his rare smiles that always manage to make her act clumsy, the way he speaks and the way that he demands respect for her from people who tease her or manipulate her.
Tohru got through the night by continuing to think about Yuki and when she slept, she dreamt of Yuki, the prince that she had always waited for.
-=:Next Morning:=-
The aroma of fried eggs and freshly cooked bacons woke the three males up from the slumber. One by one they entered the kitchen, seeking for the delicious food that Tohru had made. Only Yuki looked renewed and refreshed. He was the only one that bothered to get ready before eating breakfast.
"Tohru-kun, you've outdone yourself, once again," Shigure complimented.
"Arigato," Tohru replied as she divided the eggs and bacons on to four separate plates.
She carried the plates to the dining room and placed them down neatly.
"Ohayo," Yuki said from behind.
Tohru turned and smiled. "Ohayo…"
Tohru and Yuki were the only ones wearing something either than their pajamas. Kyou and Shigure were still in their sleeping clothes.
Yuki's and Tohru's gaze locked while Shigure and Kyou shoved down the food down their throat. Yuki gave Tohru a smile that sent Tohru's heart flying and sat down to eat breakfast. Tohru followed suit after she recovered from Yuki's smile. As they ate, everyone told Tohru that she was amazing to be able to make something as simple as eggs and bacon to something very delicious and satisfying.
Tohru smiled her thanks.
When everyone had eaten Tohru brought everything back to the kitchen where she washed all of the plates and cutleries. By the time she was done both Yuki and Kyou were ready to go to school.
"Here's your bag," Yuki said.
Tohru took the bag from Yuki. "Arigato Yuki-kun."
Yuki just smiled his reply.
Just then Kyou appeared behind Yuki and hit Yuki's head with his bag. Yuki turned around and yelled angrily at Kyou. Tohru sweat-dropped anime style.
"Let's go to school, ne?" Tohru said.
It put an end to Yuki's and Kyou's argument.
"Shigure! We're leaving!" Yuki called out.
"Have fun!" Shigure replied from somewhere around the house.
Yuki, Kyou and Tohru walked to school side by side, Tohru in the middle. It wasn't long before the three of them reached their school. There they were greeted by Hana-chan and Uo-chan.
Tohru greeted them cheerfully, "Ohayo!"
"Eh carrot head! What's with the smug look on your face?" Uo-chan said.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CARROT HEAD?" Kyou shouted.
All of them just laughed, apart from Kyou whose temper was rising by the moment. Tohru stopped laughing when she saw the look on Kyou's face.
*He's still thinking about that girl* she thought silently.
"Ano, Kyou-kun…" Tohru started to say but before she could say anything else the bell that indicated school was starting, rang.
"Nani…Tohru-kun?"
"Don't worry about it," Tohru said. "Let's go to class!"
Tohru grabbed Kyou's hand and ran to their classroom. Their teacher came in a few seconds after them.
"Sit down, sit down."
Everyone went and sat on their seats.
"Today, we will have a new student in our class, Taka-san, you can come in," Their Sensei said.
In walked a girl, the same height as Tohru. She had long blackish, brownish hair that was tied in two separate ponytails, she left two fringes out. Around her hair was a jeans coloured bandana and with her two hands she held her school bag.
"Ohayo Mina-san!" She said cheerfully and smiled.
Yuki and Kyou gasped, their eyes widened as memories of the past flashed before them.
How she too, like Tohru found out about the Sohma's secret, how she too learned and accepted Kyou's true form. The only difference was that she never lived with Yuki or Kyou and also that Akito had her memory erased. It was so sudden and much unexpected. Yuki had never forgiven Akito for that. Both Yuki and Kyou snapped back to reality when she started to introduce herself.
"Watashi no namae wo Taka Hikaru desu," she said.
The Sensei told her to choose her seat and Hikari nodded. She looked around, her amber eyes scanning around the classroom. For a moment her eyes rested on Yuki but it soon drifted to Tohru whose seat was next to Yuki's. In front of Tohru was a vacant space.
Hikari walked to it and just before she sat down, Tohru introduced herself.
"Watashi was Honda Tohru."
"Honda Tohru?" She said it as if she recognized the name. "Nice to meet you Honda-san."
That was the last conversation in the classroom for the Sensei had started on the lesson.
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~
School was over and Hikari had a pretty enjoyable day. Everyone welcomed her to school nicely, all being very friendly. Hikari's hand traveled onto the silver locket around her neck. She felt the smoothness of the chain and the shape of the locket. The locket meant everything to her! Hikari sighed, gathered her things and left the classroom, Yuki's eyes following her until she disappeared out of view.
"Yuki-kun?" Tohru said. "Are you ok?"
Without turning around to look at Tohru, Yuki nodded and left the classroom not saying a word to Tohru.
Tohru stared after him, feeling offended that he just left. Soon enough she was accompanied by Uo-chan and Hana-chan. Uo-chan, with her shoulder-length blonde hair, stood the tallest.
"What do you think about that Taka-girl?" Uo asked.
"I sense strange electric waves from her," Hanajima answered.
Tohru didn't say anything; somehow she knew that Yuki had strong feelings for the new girl. Without wasting anytime, Tohru grabbed her bag and ran out to look for Yuki. She found Yuki outside the school's building, with Haru, Momiji, Kyou and also Taka Hikari.
Everyone seemed to enjoy her company, especially Yuki. There was this soft look in his eyes, something that had been buried for so long had now been awaken. Something that Tohru didn't know but something she had to find out.
Just at that moment Hikari turned and saw Tohru. For a moment they just stared at each other, Yuki tore his eyes away from Hikari and turned to see who Hikari was looking at.
"Toh…Tohru-kun," Yuki said softly.
"Tohru?" Hikari asked softly. "Ah, Honda-san!"
Tohru walked up to them. "Hai, and you're Taka-san."
Hikari nodded and gave Tohru a smile. Tohru forced another smile, though it was hard due to the jealousy that she felt.
Hikari sensed they annoyance that Tohru felt and looked at Yuki. Yuki's thoughts were unreadable.
"I better head home; it was nice meeting you all…" Hikari said.
"Matte, Hikari-chan," Yuki said. "Ano, I mean Taka-san…"
Tohru stared at Yuki, he called her Hikari-chan?!
"Ano Sohma-kun," Hikari said. "I live at the other side of the river and I also have a part time job."
"You live at the other side of the river?! Why did you choose to go to our school?!" Kyou asked.
"That remains a mystery," Hikari replied.
"Alright then," Yuki finally said. "We won't keep you any longer."
Hikari nodded and headed out of the school. She turned around and waved.
"Ja Ne!" and with that she disappeared out of view.
Tohru stared after her, lost in thoughts.
"After a few years, she's still the same," Haru commented.
"Eh?" Tohru asked.
"Short hair was really good on her and I told her to never grow her hair, because I wanted her to look like that forever, but now that I see her with long hair, it looks really good too!" Momiji said.
"She looks good with just about anything," Yuki said softly. Such affection was in his voice. His eyes drifted to a dreamy look. Nobody said anything else as Yuki was lost in his whir-pool of memories.
Yuki turned to face the others and saw the pity in all of their faces.
"It's alright," Yuki said. "I'm fine…"
"We better go home too," Tohru said.
Yuki nodded and without uttering a reply, he walked out of the school. Tohru was really surprised that he just left like that, for the second time.
"Let's go after him," Tohru heard Kyou said.
Then the both of them ran after Yuki and stood on either side of him. None of them said anything but finally Yuki said something.
"She was the first person who found out about the curse who accepted it," Yuki said softly. "I was in the same junior high school with her, I was the cold one who didn't want to go near anybody, and she was the cheerful one who was befriended by all of the people in the school. Truthfully I was envious of her; I wanted to be so much like her but I can never be like her, every time someone tries to get close to me, I push them away afraid that they might hug me someday."
"Then in the beginning of ninth grade, I couldn't take the curse anymore, I ended up trying to kill myself at school but she stopped me, she happened to be walking to her next lesson when she heard my sobs, she turned to look and saw me, lifting the blade ready to kill myself, she ran to stop me but she tripped and ended up hugging me instead and I turned into a mouse."
"She was surprised when she couldn't find my body but instead finding a mouse standing on a boy's school uniform, but then she realized that I was the mouse. She lifted me up in her arms and asked me to explain myself and I told her everything. I turned back into my human form and instead of leaving me; she stayed there, with me. She held my hand and told me that just because I was cursed doesn't mean that I can't have any friends. It was then that she pressed my palm on her chest and said the words that I had longed to hear 'I don't care whether you can turn into a mouse or an ogre or a tree or anything else, no matter what I will be your friend,' I loved her so much for giving me the confidence I needed."
"Then she ended up meeting all of the other Jyuunishi's, and everyone enjoyed her company even my brother respected her, she had something that he didn't have, a very loving relationship with her younger brother, something that Aya-kun don't and can't have. And then one day, she just disappeared, she didn't come to school, she didn't come over to Shigure's place, it was the next day that Hatori came over and told us that her memory was erased, not by him, but by Akito himself."
"Can Akito erase people's memory? How come he couldn't erase mine?" Tohru asked remembering how Akito had brutally pulled her hair and demanded Hatori to erase her memory.
"He could before, but now he is too weak…" Yuki answered.
They reached the house just a few minutes after Yuki told Tohru and Kyou everything. There was a car parked in front of the house. The three of them walked faster to see who the visitor was, and when they opened the door to the front door, they had wished they hadn't.
Akito was seated, a strange smile on his face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~~*
Yuki-kun: So what do you think? I hope you enjoyed it because CherryBlossom has worked hard for this!! *Smiles* If you click
the review button, the curse will be lifted from me! Press it!!
