Crimson blood flew on Tohru's blouse. She tried to open her mouth to scream, but no voice came out. It was the voice of another person.
She saw the girl beside the boy who looked really, really familiar to her. The striking purple eyes, the ebony hair, the almost feminine features, but still with the masculine aura…
"Yuki!" screamed the girl, burying her head on his chest.
The name echoed mercilessly in her ears.
Yuki? What is it in the name that strikes something within me?
But the rest of her thoughts disappeared when she felt herself lurch forward and hit her head on something very hard.
Tohru's eyes flapped open as she jolted up her bed, sweating all over. Her vision blurred – perhaps due to her sudden movement – but she forced herself to reach for the lampshade beside her. She turned it on and looked at the wall clock. It was three in the morning.
She stood up and slipped her robe around her. Hatori still had not got around to buying her some personal things, so she was still borrowing his.
Which she thought was peculiar, since she was sure it was impossible for her not to own at least one possession – a toothbrush, a towel, a robe.
She shook her head. She was too exhausted from her dream to think of anything.
"I'm going to fix breakfast," she decided aloud. She walked out of the room –Hatori's bedroom, as evident with the various medical reference books on the shelves – and went to the kitchen. She then noticed at the far corner of the house that a light was already on.
Still on, she thought wryly when she saw that Hatori was sleeping, his head resting on a legal pad, the computer on with a screensaver. She turned the computer off and woke her husband up gently. "H-Hatori-sensei?"
She heard him groan, then he was silent again. He had gone back to sleep again. She knelt beside him, just so they would be face to face. She brushed the bangs off his forehead and spoke again. "Hatori-sensei?"
She then noticed the hasty scribbles on the legal pad. Overcame by curiosity, she peered at his work.
Some dates, some places, and one Akito.
Akito?
"What are you doing here?" boomed Hatori, shoving her away from his desk.
She gasped. "Hatori-sensei?"
He quickly kept the papers under his locked cabinet. "It's not right to meddle with my private things."
"I-I didn't know it was!" she protested. What is so significant about the dates and places? And Akito, who is he?
He faced her, eyes furious. "I don't want to see you touching my things again, do you understand?"
She nodded quickly. "Y-Yes! I'm sorry!" She was shaken by his reaction.
"Good," he said, helping her up. "Now, Mrs.Sohma, give me my breakfast."
"I was just about to cook-" Tohru's words were cut off by when Hatori's hand suddenly encircled her tiny waist and pulled her towards him. He then sealed her lips with his. By then, she had already learned how to respond. She tried to match his fierceness and passion, until finally, their mouths parted.
His eyes softened. "What a great exercise. Now I can start my morning."
"I will be shopping for some things," he said as Tohru served him sausages and rice. "I will be back this afternoon."
"C-Can't I come?" she asked.
He looked down on his food. "No."
"OK."
"As soon as you have fully recovered, we'll go out," he said, eyes still on the food.
"OK," she said, eyes crinkling into a smile. "I'll clean the house then." She raised her hand up when he looked like he was going to protest. "I won't go to your clinic and I will touch none of your things, I promise!"
He sighed. "Alright," he said grudgingly.
"Shut the door, and don't entertain any visitors while I'm not yet home, do you understand?" he instructed as she slipped his coat around his shoulders.
"Yes!" she nodded.
He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead then went on his way.
Tohru was working on the backyard garden of her husband. She noticed that it looked like he wasn't even paying attention on it. She decided to work on the plants, hoping that she could still save them.
"Leeks!" she exclaimed when she saw the plants on the far corner of the garden. She drew towards it and examined it. "I can still save these."
As she transferred the plants into an area with better sunlight, something struck her.
"Leeks is not food for human!"
"Eat."
The orange hair.
She touched her suddenly racing heart. She knew him – his name was on the tip of her tongue.
The violet eyes. She knew him too!
She could imagine two people close to her heart, for she could feel her heart ache with longing for them.
"Kyo-kun…" she whispered, recognition dawning in her shaking eyes.
And the other one…
Honda-san, do you want to come with me?
To the amusement park.
I'm on my way to meet someone there.
After I meet him, I promise that I'll never transform into a mouse again.
"Excuse me, are you Tori's maid?"
Tohru gasped and stood up suddenly. She turned around, and saw a tall man dressed in gray kimono. He was gaping at her, as if he had seen a ghost.
I know his face too. I know him!
"Tohru-kun…?" The man rubbed his eyes. "H-How is this possible?"
I know him! I know him!
And he knows me!
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Y-You don't remember me, seriously?" he squeaked.
"Y-Yes."
His face was drawn in concern. "We need to talk."
Tohru knew that entertaining the guest was against her husband's wishes, but she knew that this man could help her gain an idea about her identity.
"Here." Tohru placed a tray of sashimi and some sake on the table.
"Thanks. You're still very sweet and thoughtful," said the stranger wryly as he sipped his drink.
She sat down in front of him and sighed. "Frankly, I don't remember me being sweet and thoughtful. I-In fact, I don't remember much about myself, save for the things that my husband, Hatori told me-"
The stranger spat his drink out. "Y-Your what?!?"
"M-My husband, Sohma Hatori." She looked at him curiously. "I thought you know my husband very well?"
"I know him well enough to know that he is not-"
"What are you doing here, Shigure?" boomed a voice from behind.
She and the guest turned to see a very angry Hatori standing in the doorway.
Shigure stood up and looked at his cousin testily. "This is too much, even for a shocker like you, 'Tori."
Hatori turned to the onigiri. "Take the grocery to the kitchen. The clothes and the kits there are yours."
She obediently took the shopping bag from him.
"We'll talk in my clinic," said Hatori to the guest as he marched towards his sanctuary. The man quietly followed him, but not before throwing her a look.
"You don't remember anything?" he asked sympathetically.
She shook her head.
"Poor Yuki," he said before heading out of the living room.
Yuki?
The name sounded so familiar, and suddenly, she remembered the boy with the violet eyes. The one on the bus.
But what is his connection to me?
Suddenly, Shigure returned in the living room. "Tohru-kun," he said seriously.
"W-What is it?" she asked nervously, bracing herself for more shocking revelations.
He picked up the sake on the table. "I forgot this." He walked past by the sweatdropping onigiri. "We can't waste a good rice wine, can we, eh, Tohru-kun?"
"What is this game you are playing now, 'Tori?" asked Shigure when the two have settled in the clinic already.
"This is not a game," said the doctor, maintaining a blank tone.
"Good thing it was me and not Aya who visited you here. He could have killed you!"
"That is why you're going to help me to keep him from learning this," said the doctor as he lit his cigarette.
"But why are you keeping Tohru-kun here?" the novelist wanted to know.
"I think she's in danger," said Hatori, blowing a perfect circle of smoke. "Someone wants her dead."
Shigure looked at his sake thoughtfully. "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Is it related to the files you borrowed from my laptop?"
"Yes."
"Will you elaborate?"
"No."
Shigure sighed. "Alright, I cannot understand why you think Tohru-kun is in danger, and since you won't give me details, I'll shut up, or it will be me who will be in danger."
Hatori nodded. At least his cousin could comprehend what the situation was.
"But can you at least tell me when did you marry Honda Tohru?" asked Shigure, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
"Get out."
"Did you have your honeymoon already?"
"Out."
"How many times do you make love in a night?"
"OUT!!!"
As Hatori walked his cousin towards a nearby bus terminal, he said suddenly, "You sure are taking things lightly. I just abducted the fiancée of one of our cousins who just died."
Shigure smirked. "Nice plot for my new novel." He then looked away. "Yuki is alive."
Hatori's eyes widened.
Tohru allowed the breeze to play with her hair as she paused to rest from her gardening work.
I remember…Yuki…I know him.
But why am I Hatori-sensei's wife, if my memory serves me right?
tsuzuku