Fruits Basket Christmas Fanfic:
Finding the Meaning of Christmas, Part 2 of 3
AN: Wah~! Sorry I took so long but I made one more part! Enjoy and sing, my people! Thanks for the reviews! There should be more MomijiXHatori fics out there and it looks I'll hafta make that happen, ne? I'm also planning a prequel to FMC called Strong Hearts to explain how everything had turned out as they did and a sequel, Wondering Hearts that happens immediately after FMC. I'm really trying to make my dream to complete a fanfiction series come true (and it's one of my New Year Resolutions [besides making the dean list for the spring semester])…
"Momiji…"
Ow, that had hurt…Who's that?
My eyes opened. Everything was so fuzzy. What happened?
"Momiji, can you hear me?"
"Hari?"
Then everything became clear as Haru's blank face stared right back at me.
"Ahh!" I jumped up in fright. "Haruuuuuuu… You scared me!" I pouted.
"Hn, seems that you're awake…"
I took a deep breath to calm my fast-beating heart and suddenly noticed the Spartan-like room I was in for the first time.
"You're in Kyou's room. It seems that you fell down the stairs by surprise. Sorry for the accident." Haru said with guilt in his eyes.
"Ah, Haru, it's okay, it's okay! My mind was somewhere at the moment, a particularly very bad moment that it wondered on my way upstairs." I said with a smile on my face. I really didn't want Haru to feel that it was his fault that I fell down on the stairs. Why was I was thinking on the stairs…? Oh, I almost forgot about Yuki and Kyou kissing. I felt a blush on my face. I hope Haru take the meaning of it as embarrassment for his unnecessary apology.
"Hn, Hatori said that you're okay but you might have a concussion from the fall. He also said to take it easy." Haru said, with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Thank you, Haru. Um, where's Kyou? This is his room and all..."
"Downstairs. After your fall, Tohru started fretting and now everyone's trying to calm her down."
I immediately stood up from the futon. "Then I must go!" I said, in a determined yell. Then the room started to tilt as a horrible pain rang through my head. Haru grabbed my arm to steady me. Oh, man, I felt like throwing up…
"Hatori also said that you might feel some pain when you come to. I have some pills and water with me." Haru said as he dropped two tablets of pain medicine and a glass of water into my hands.
I looked at the two tablets uneasily. I really hated taking pills, but for Tohru and her children's sake, I had to take them. I popped them in my mouth and swallow them quickly with the help of the water. I took a breath as I slowly walked to the door.
"Hey, Momiji, why did you call me Hari? I thought you called Hatori that."
I know I'm furiously blushing now. "I-I, umm… I gotta go!" I said, walking stiffly out of the room. God, sometimes I can be a doofus.
I walked into the living room and found Tohru worrying at the table and Yuki and Hari trying to clam her down.
"Tohru! I'm okay!!!" I yelled cheerfully, despite the dull pain in my head. Ouchie!
I put on my best smile as Tohru, surprisingly knocked over Hari and Yuki as she hurried up to me and hugged me.
"Oh, Momiji-kun, I was so worried! You've should heard the sound! It sounded like you cracked your head open!" Tohru said, looking at me with near tears.
"My goodness, Tohru, don't cry! I hate it when you cry! It's nice to worry about me, but you have our cousins inside of you and you must be aware of that, Tohru." I said, snuggling with her.
"Momiji's right, Tohru. Excessive worrying would only harm the unborn children. You must keep your emotions in check, even though they're intensified at this stage of your pregnancy." Hari said.
I'm glad that I have my face into Tohru's shoulder. It seems that I can't stop blushing around Hari anymore. I released Tohru at the minute that my blushing went away and guided her back to the table. We all chatted about things about our life and some other interesting thing like Shi-san's new romance novel for teenage girls. It was kinda funny when Hari passed the book back to Shi-san, saying that he only read stuff that actually simulates his mind. I smiled as I looked at Hatori. I wondered about why I really like him. I can still remember the events that led to the conclusion of my crush for him. How he tried to protect me from Akito's wrath that was not too long ago. That when I kinda fell for him. But…
"Hey, where's Kyou?" I asked when I suddenly realized that Kyou wasn't there.
"Oh, on the roof, probably brooding as usual." Shi-san said with a casual shake of his hand. I really need to talk to him-
"Momiji, don't you think for a second about going on the roof, you're still a bit dizzy from that fall." Hari said. I did what I always did in situations like these: I pouted.
"Hari~!"
I managed to sneak away from the group as they're busying thanking Tohru for her presents as I searched for a way to get to Kyou. He's probably still on the roof since it's been a hour since Shi-san told me where he was last seen at. As I walked down the second-floor hallway, I noticed a door was opened. Curious as a bunny, I walked in and was in surprise.
"I remember this room. It was Tohru's… before she left."
I looked around the room, trying to remember where everything that Tohru owned was before she went to live at the Sohma Residence (1), everything was covered in white except the pink bed. Even so, I can still feel the warmth of Tohru emitting through the room. I smiled sadly. I never considered this before, but I always wondered what it would've been like if Akito didn't force Tohru to marry him (2) or those sad events that followed didn't happened. I sighed. I guess I'll think about it another day.
"What are YOU doing here?!"
I jumped, turned to the window and saw Kyou, upside-down from the roof, scowling at me. He entered into the room with a flip and glared at me. I wasn't gonna let his glare intimidate me.
"No, what are YOU doing here?! Don't you know that Tohru is downstairs, waiting to give you her Christmas gift? You know, you're being awfully rude to her since she came here. I thought you're over her-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT, STUPID RABBIT!"
I stared at him. "Kyou…" Oh, no. I'm about to cry.
Kyou's eyes widen as he grabbed me by the shoulders. "Hey, hey, don't you dare cry, you little runt. You're damn near eighteen and a boy, for god's sake! Stop the crying."
I rubbed my tear streaked eyes and glare at Kyou. "I didn't hafta be so mean…"
Kyou just sighed as he let me go. "Sorry, okay, I'm a bit on edge today."
I nodded as I dried my face with my sleeve to my sweater. "You didn't hafta yell at me because of Tohru."
Kyou just remained silent as I took a deep breath to get my emotions in check. "I know you're still hurt that Tohru's married to Akito. It's really obvious."
Kyou gave me a thoughtful look. "Really?"
I nodded. "You was in love with her for a long time, she was your first love, wasn't she?"
Kyou just smirked at me, responding to my answer without any words. Maybe that why I like Kyou so much, despite that he's the cat from the Juunishi legend, the cat that wanted revenge for the rat for lying to him. That very cat that possessed Kyou. I wonder how in the world he managed through life, ignoring the cat's constant urging to kill Yuki (3). Much less than that of having a romantic relationship with Yuki. Ah, how many times am I going blush today?
"B-but what about… hmmm…"
"Yuki? Yuki knows."
I can't believe that he's even talking to me about this! Oh, goodness, how on earth-
"Calm down, Momiji, hearing about me and Yuki's relationship shouldn't be that much of a deal." Kyou said, obviously getting annoyed with me.
"But why are you-"
"Talking about this with you? Like I said, Momiji, you're damn near eighteen. It's time that I stop treating you like you're ten."
I can't help but to look dumbfounded. "Huh?"
"Don't you notice why everyone treats like you're younger than you're really are? Because you're innocent and all that naïve bullshit, but I didn't believe that façade, not once… but even I treated that way because I didn't want you to turn out like the most of the Juunishi did, all bitter and resentful in a way. It was easy to believe that you were the one who was untouched, unsoiled by the fucked up shit Akito used to do to the others. Personally, I think you suffered as much as we did. You have a mother who doesn't even fucking remember you. I reflect on that every time I see you act all cheery and hyper and shit, that you suffered as much as we did. A mother who doesn't remember her child at all is worse than a mother who isn't there at all…"
"Kyou…"
"Hey, let me finish… all that shit about being naïve is just shit because you were the strongest one out of us, Momiji. We didn't want to acknowledge that. I didn't want to acknowledge that. Hopefully you know that now, runt."
I glared at him. "You SO ruined the moment when you called me a runt."
Kyou smirked. "I don't call you a runt because how you act, it's because you're short!"
"Wah~! Kyou's making fun of my most sensitive trait!"
Kyou put me in a headlock and gave me a noogie. "You, silly rabbit!"
I laughed when he released me. These are the moments I relished from Kyou. He's like a big brother to me.
"Thank you for not blabbing about me and Yuki. We're in a… well, a turning point of our relationship and everything's been topsy-turvy for us."
"I'm just surprised that you even mention your relationship with him to me."
Kyou looked at me again and genuinely smiled. "Because, I trust you, Momiji."
I was surprised. This was the Kyou couldn't trust anybody except for Lord Kazuma not too long ago. What on earth is going on?
"It's true, runt. Can't believe it, huh. It took me a heartbreak and a whole load of shit to realize that I can't shut myself out from the world and that I'm human. There will be some dark times and some happy times, but with people on my side, I can head them on."
God, I can't believe that Kyou grew up so much. I can still remember when he threw hissy fits when people tried to help him, even when Tohru mellowed him somewhat. And the funny thing is that he still has that same fire within him, but a lot more controlled now.
"I was on the roof thinking about Tohru, you know, when I first met her to the wedding with Akito. I was afraid of facing her today."
"Why?"
"After all that shit I had said to her on the day that was supposed to be the most fulfilling day of her life. After that, I really went off. It wasn't that long ago…"
"But Kyou, I can never harbor a grudge against you, you know that, right?"
I turned and saw Tohru and Yuki outside the door. I turned back to Kyou and saw his pained face. I finally understood why Kyou was trying to distance himself and Tohru. It was more than regret of hurting someone dear than unrequited love.
"Momiji, come with me to help serve tea to the others." Yuki said. A clear indication to leave.
"Coming, Yuki!" Must keep up appearances.
"Oi, do NOT let Yuki touch anything in the kitchen! I don't want to stay up all night cleaning because he set the kitchen on fire… again."
Yuki just rolled his eyes as I laughed.
I was humming along to a nice Christmas tune as me and Yuki prepared the tea. I smiled when I heard Aya and Shi-san's laughter from the dining room. Ah, now this felt like a holiday. It would've been nicer if everyone was here.
"I thought everyone was coming, Momiji? What happened?" Yuki said, on the same thought as me.
"Hiro and Kisa
went on a date after-school (4). Ritsu was panicking over a paper he had to do.
Kureno's doing some tasks for Akito (5). I don't know about Rin-"
"What about Kagura?" Yuki said, his
face turned from mine. I wonder…
"Does Kagura…umm...know you and Kyou?" I asked in a curious tone. Surely, they would've told her about their relationship by now.
Yuki looked at me in shock, probably because I knew the situation between him and Kyou. He smiled a bit at me as he retrieved the special teacups for special occasions from the dishware cabinet.
"No, but you know how Kagura is, right? But seriously, you and Tohru are the only ones who know, probably Shigure and Nii-san too."
"You told Tohru?"
"She had a right to know, I believe. She can still keep a secret, even from her husband."
"But does Kagura has a right to know? She's still… how do I put this… very much in love with Kyou?" I said, hoping it didn't sound sarcastic.
"She does, but… I really don't want to break her heart after just knowing what we did together."
I was curious. "What did you do together?"
Yuki just smiled at me. "When you find that special someone, you'll know. Even though I didn't know Kyou is that one until recently. Amazing how things changed, na? Even you don't act as hyper as you used to anymore."
"Really?" I look at him curiously.
"That's not a bad thing, Momiji. It just an indication that you're growing up. Trust me, you don't want to act like a child forever, just look at Nii-san and Shigure."
"Wah~! Little brother, how can you say that?!" Aya said as he busted in the living room, clutching on Yuki like a teddy bear.
"Get off and go home!"
After calming Aya and Yuki down, the tea was ready. I was so happy that Yuki let me serve the tea. "Tea is ready!"
Everyone at the table… well, it's just Haru and Shi-san, grab a cup. I took a deep breath and walk over to Hari who was smoking outside in the veranda.
"Momiji, it's better if you go back inside…"
"A-ah, but Hari need his afternoon tea since he's been so considerate of Tohru's health!"
Hari takes the cup from my hands and I know I must be blushing furiously now.
"Wah~! Ha-san and Momiji-kun are under a mistletoe!" Shi-san yelled.
I looked above my head and saw the mistletoe, all in its harmless glory. Oh, goodness…
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Shi-san and Aya chanted at me and Hari. I can't believe this… my first kiss in front of everybody!
"You don't have to do what those two say, Momiji." Hari said, leaning back into the shoji.
"I-uh-don't mind, Hari. I-I mean it's tradition, right? There's nothing wrong with one harmless k-kiss…"
I know I must be blushing all shades of red. Hari just crushed his cigarette into the ashtray and walked over to the table.
"Ah, Ha-san, why didn't you kiss!?" Shi-san said in a whiny voice.
"Yeah, Momiji-kun said it was fine. Mou (6), I hope you know that you're breaking a great tradition!" Aya said, also complaining.
"I'm not interested in giving you two a show." Hari said in a deadpan voice.
I just stood at the shoji, trying not to cry. I knew Hari was uncomfortable kissing people in front of others, but it still hurts that he just walked past me. Maybe I'm reading Hari wrong or something. I though he genuinely liked me more than some ward to his guardian. I can feel the tears threatening to spill from my face. When I was about to go on the veranda to cry, Kyou burst into the room. I turned to look at Kyou and saw the panicked look on his face.
"Hatori, Tohru's water broke!"
What?!
"Hn… She's two weeks early. Okay, playtime's over, we need to send Tohru to the Residence now! Shigure, call the doctor at the Senkou Hospital (7)! Yuki, get the car started! Ayame, call the Residence to tell them that the baby on the way! Kyou, Haru, get Tohru from upstairs! Momiji go with Kyou and Haru and try to calm Tohru down! We can't waste no more time!" Hari said, putting on his coat.
Tohru's in labor!
End of Part 2 of 3
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AEN: I rock much, thankies. I did this just in one night. Sorry again that I took so long to get the second part out, but college, social life, club volunteering, reading and preparing for this year's 'Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga' (and writer's block) prevented me from doing much fanfiction writing as I like. But I'm glad that I finished it, even though I was supposed to go my writing paper (which is 1/6 now, BTW). Anyway, thanks for the reviews again. I love when I get feedback from the readers and I'm try to fix that nasty problem that FF.Net has for Word Documents.
End Notes:
1.I'm dropping plot hints from the upcoming prequel this. The reason will be come to light when the Prologue and the first chapter comes out.
2. See 1
3. You see, it's my theory that Kyou really doesn't want to kill Yuki but when the cat's spirit takes over Kyou, he possessed that he really wants to. When his mother died, the cat's spirit said that it wanted to kill Yuki then Kyou… or something on the lines like that.
4. Remember, not all Japanese schools are off on Saturdays, so I guessed that they'll be at school.
5. I'm not sure about Kureno, but I read from somewhere that he's fiercely loyal to Akito and lets Akito assigned tasks to do, or something like that.
6. Mou, in this context is equivalent to "Man…" or "Geez…"
7. The same hospital Rin went to, I suppose. I never caught the name of that hospital, so I made one up!
Well, the last part and the prologue of the prequels is coming in two weeks! See ya then!
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ARN: I thought that the part with Hatori and Momiji nearly kissing was a bit rushed so I decided to change it. I hope you like this alternate version better.
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Fic Started: January 2003
Fic Finished: February 11, 2003
Revised: May 27, 2003