Caught in a Memory
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There had been a meeting among the members of student parliament recently, and today was the day that they would report some of the upcoming school events and fund-raisers. Yuki was highly involved with the student council, and he was speaking at the front of the classroom. Most of the girls in the class were sitting on the edges of their seats, listening to Yuki's every word.
"We will be running a community group called "Helping Hands." Each student in our school will be paired up with a student in the junior highschool to help them out."
"Helping Hands? Ugh, that has to be the imaginative mind of Sohma Yuki." the indignant voice of Kyou rang out. He was silenced by the frightening scowls of Yuki's followers.
Yuki didn't lose composure, he gave Kyou a smug smile, then continued on. "Next year, these students will be in their first year of highschool. We will be here to help them start their year out on the right foot, to show them what to expect in their coming year. Each person will be paired with a student, and you are all expected to be understanding and encouraging to your buddy."
What an interesting idea, Okaa-san. I wish they had a program like this when I was in junior high. I would have been a lot more prepared for all of the hard work I had to face this year.
"I know a lot of you are thinking, 'what do we get out of this?' Well, we will be allowed to reinstate the school dance this year if this program runs without a hitch." This sentence was met with excited whispers from the students from their seats. The school dances had been cancelled one year because of the strange ideas of a student president years ago. Sohma Ayame had caused a large ruckus between the students and the school faculty, and the dance had never been restored. Finally, the students would be given a chance to take back the dance.
Oh, a dance, Okaa-san, how exciting! I've never gone to one before. Maybe it would be fun. No matter who I'm paired up with, I'll try to help them the best that I can!
Yuki continued on with the details of the program. There would be three one-hour sessions to talk about highschool life with their younger partner.
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It was the first day for the program to run. Tohru and her fellow students would meet their partners. Yuki had instructed them to be casual, walk up to one of them and introduce themselves. Tohru wasn't the bravest person when it came to meeting new people, but she was ready to try her best.
Most of the highschoolers had already integrated themselves into the senior junior high classroom and were talking with their new 'little buddy'. Tohru watched everyone for a few minutes to see what they would all talk about.
She must have stood there longer than she thought, because she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around to see Yuki standing there.
"Tohr- er, Honda-san. Do you not know who to choose for your partner?"
"Gomenasai, Sohma-san! Gomenasai! I dazed out a little there." She bowed several times to prove how apologetic she was.
Yuki couldn't help but grin. Even now, Tohru would still be Tohru. "It's alright, don't worry. Hmm. Why don't you go talk to that boy sitting in the second row? He still needs a partner."
"Arigatou!" With another bow, Tohru headed off to meet the young looking boy.
'I miss you...Please come home.' Those were the words that Yuki yearned to say, but they would never be heard by Tohru. They could never be spoken, not with things they were. More than anything else, he wanted to run after her and talk to her as Yuki, not the facade of the highschool prince.
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"Hello, I'm Honda Tohru!" Tohru greeted, holding out her hand to the blond boy sitting in the desk that Yuki had pointed out to her. She knew he was only a year younger than herself, but had she not known better, she would have guessed he was several years younger.
He lifted his head to look up at her, surprised to see her familiar face. He stared in disbelief, but he recovered quickly. He accepted her hand and shook it in a friendly manner. "Hi, Toh-ru!" he nearly sang in reply. "Nice to meet you!"
"What's your name?" Tohru asked.
The question stung more than it should have. "Sohma Momiji." He knew he should have been prepared for the question. His very own mother didn't remember his name, why would Tohru be different?
"Oh, so you must be related to Sohma-san, ne? No wonder he directed me to you!"
"Yup, yup! We're cousins!" He pointed around the room. "See, Kyou, from your class is our cousin too. And also that black and white haired boy over there with him, he is as well. He is Hatsuharu."
"Ah, I see! It must be nice to be able to see your family so much." Before she had even finished that sentence, Tohru looked over to see that Kyou and the one Momiji called Hatsuharu had ended up being partners, much to the dismay of Kyou. Even at their location on the opposite side of the room, Tohru could hear snippets of their conversation. It sounded as if an all-out battle would have erupted between the two if several people hadn't stopped Kyou from provoking Hatsuharu. The younger students had all seen outbursts of Haru's rage, and it was not a pretty sight. It was always avoided at all costs. The older students knew that if there was any trouble, their precious dance would not go on. No student in that classroom wanted a brawl to start.
Tohru watched across the room in worry. She had never witnessed a fight (to her current state of recollection, at least) and she was hoping that she wouldn't have to see one that day. Someone could be gravely hurt. To distract her from the commotion, Momiji put his hand in his uniform's jacket pocket and pulled out a package of fruit flavoured candies. "Would you like one?" He took a strawberry candy out of the wrapper and handed it to her.
"Arigatou, Momiji-san! I love strawberries!" She accepted the gift.
"I knew you would, Toh-ru!" He gave her a mysterious smile. "No need for formalities though, please no -san."
"If you wish, Momiji-kun," Tohru said with a smile. "I'm sure we'll get to be good friends." She didn't notice the vacant expression on his face. "Highschool can be tough, but it's a lot of fun too. You always have to be prepared though. Okaa-san always said that everything that you have accomplished will help you in your future. Your time in junior high is the first step to being fully educated and ready for the real world." She rambled on, telling him everything that Yuki had instructed them to talk about, plus advice from her mother that she was certain would be important.
Momiji listened to her every word, but a part of his mind stuck on the phrase, "everything that you have accomplished will help you in your future." Demo, demo, Toh-ru...you've forgotten some of your accomplishments...your impact on my, the Sohma's, lives.
"Ne, ne, Toh-ru!" Momiji cut in. "Sometimes, important things in your life become lost. I have a metaphorical question for you...If one puzzle piece is lost, can you ever call the puzzle complete?"
Tohru closed her eyes in thought. "I think...that there is always a way to find that lost important thing. As long as you keep your chin up and try your best. Can I ask about this important thing?"
"Well, it's several things, vital people who I've 'lost touch' with in a way...very complicated. I wouldn't want to worry you about it, Toh-ru!" He could still see her distress about him written all over her face, so he quickly put her fears to rest. "Don't worry about me! I'll remember all the advice you've given me, I'm sure I can put some of it to use!"
The school bell suddenly rang. The volume of the classroom rose as the students rushed to file out of the class for recess. The highschoolers would be returning to their school for their afternoon classes.
"Well, good-bye Momiji! See you next week, we've still got two more sessions, you know."
"Hai!" He gave her his childish smile. "See you next week!" Toh-ru. Another person whom I remember vividly. Just like Okaa-san and just like onee-chan...she does not remember the moments that she spent with me. I will try to be strong-willed like you, Tohru, so that I may help you when you need me, just like you used to do for me.
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Author Notes:
Second chapter; Uploaded April 25th 2003.
I was so distraught when I finished writing this chapter. I was typing it up on my old early 90's computer *sweatdrop* because the newer computer was in use. I typed it all up, proof read it about three times to catch grammar mistakes (I hope I caught them all), and ran spell check. Everything was ready. The only thing left to do was save. Suddenly, there was an error! Wah! I kept hitting the ignore, and I had to hit it many times and I was scared I would lose all my work. Then, it finally returned to the normal screen, and I saved it to disk. As soon as saving was complete, and it was safe on disk, a new message box came up and the computer performed a fatal error and shut down. X_X Good thing I got it saved to disk first! I just had to share my near-trauma! XD Please review if you have the chance too!
I do not own the rights to any of the characters mentioned in this fan fiction.
Language Translations:
Okaa-san - Mother
Gomenasai - I'm sorry
Arigatou - Thank you
Ne - Right / Hey
Demo - But
Onee-chan - Sister
