Walking to the Home I Remember
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Kyou was outside the house, lying on the roof. He had been out there for quite a while, waiting for signs of Yuki, Shigure and Hatori ending their conversation. Namely, the sound of Hatori's car pulling out of their driveway.
The conversation taking place in the house worried him. He was so close, but he couldn't hear a single word. It made him nervous. Once again, he was left out of the happenings of the Sohma clan. Why? Because he was the cat. It's always because of the cat. Damn them all.
As he thought about it, he grew more angry. He tried to calm himself by focussing his attention on the clouds. They moved slightly, changing shapes over time. Even the brightest cloud eventually faded in colour as the darkness of the evening set in. He must have been outside for several hours since then. Finally, as he saw the first stars appear, he jumped off the roof, landing on his feet. He couldn't stand to simply lie there anymore. He remembered that he still had homework to do, but there was no way that he was going back inside. At least, not when the others were still there to torment him.
He decided to go out for a long walk. He headed down the street past several fields. He merely wandered, not really caring where he was going.
He eventually found himself walking downtown, the business district of their city. It was virtually silent, except for the soft sound of cars whizzing by every once in a while. He saw a blanketed man sitting in a bus shelter to keep warm, with nowhere else to go. The stores were closed, and most of the buildings' lights were off. Only the street lights illuminated the little city. Kyou decided that Hatori must have left by then, and the others would most likely be asleep.
A door creaked loudly at a building several metres ahead of him. A girl wearing a Kaibara Highschool uniform stepped out, and closed the door behind her. The brunette walked with a little bounce in her step, happy and carefree. The way she walked was very familiar.
Tohru. Kyou remembered when Tohru used to take his hand in hers and walk just like that. It would have been the perfect memory, but Yuki's hand was always held in her other hand. Even so, those were the days. He wished that he had appreciated them more at the time.
He shook his head and frowned. He had taught her to act serious when she was alone, especially at night, since it would make her less likely to be attacked. The way she was acting right then would make her a prime target to any wandering hoodlum. He couldn't really expect her to remember his teachings, but that wasn't going to stop him from yelling at her mentally to stop acting so stupid.
"Ahh!" Kyou was startled out of his thoughts by the short, surprised scream of Tohru ahead of him. She dropped down on the sidewalk near the intersection, and was leaning forward examining her hands. It was very dark, but as he walked closer, he could tell that she was trying not to cry by the way that she hiccupped. He ran forward.
"Hey!"
Her body jumped a little at the sound of his voice. Her hands dropped to the ground as she looked up. "Sohma-san! What are you - "
"Never mind that, Tohru, what's wrong with you?"
She explained the situation to him in her quick voice. "In the dim light, I missed the curb and started to fall backwards. Luckily, I caught myself before hitting the ground full force by throwing my arms behind me, but..." She showed him the palms of her hands. They were both scraped pretty badly, and her right hand was bleeding a little bit.
"Tch, that's what you get for being so careless." He said it in his harsh tone.
Her face saddened. "I'm sorry, Sohma-san."
He realized how rough he must have sounded. "You don't have to say you're sorry. Remember, they are your hands."
Tohru nodded as he helped her to her feet. "You've got to keep in mind that you need to be careful when you are alone. You know the creepy types of people who are out this late."
"Oh? Hai! I'll try to be more careful, Sohma-san. I nearly forgot, what are you doing out here at this time of night?" She smiled and then paused to think for a second. "Ehhh, what am I thinking? I don't mean to insinuate that you are an awful type of person because you are out late. Sohma-san, please forgive - "
"Hey, don't worry about it." Kyou couldn't help but laugh a little, he was delighted and annoyed at the same time. He remembered another time before her memory loss when she had thought he was a pervert in the night. It was strange that the same sort of event was occurring again. "Oh yeah, and no need for 'Sohma-san,' that's way too weird for my ears to hear. Just call me 'Kyou,' alright?"
"Okay, Kyou-kun." Tohru saying his name was music to his ears.
"You want me to walk you home? Not because I really want to, but it would be convenient for us both. Besides, something could happen to you if I'm not with you." He felt stupid as soon as he said it, but he couldn't take it back now.
"If you really wouldn't mind me being with you, I'd like that," she said shyly. Although she didn't know Kyou very well yet, she felt really comfortable around him.
They walked through the streets with light-hearted conversations. Most of it was about things at school. Kyou made sure to mention subjects which he knew she enjoyed.
They reached the corner of the first Sohma-owned field. Kyou already knew that they would have to split ways so he stopped and looked towards the forest.
"Wow, Kyou, how did you know that I had to turn here?"
"I'm psychic," he joked with a grin.
"Really? Have you talked to Saki Hanajima? You two would get along great since you have a similar hobby." Tohru nodded knowingly.
He cringed a little at thought of Tohru's frightening friend, but his companion didn't notice. "I was just kidding. You always take me so seriously." Always? Wow. I'm an idiot. Think before you speak, Kyou! This is supposed to be the first real conversation we've had!
After thinking it through, Tohru laughed. "Oh, I get it now! Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school." She bowed and with a final wave, she turned to start down the pathway into the forest. The wave gave him a glimpse of her hand, which looked sore.
"Wait a second, Tohru!" Without thinking, Kyou grabbed her wrist, bringing her back to face him. She gasped a little at his touch, but she didn't pull away. He had pulled her closer than he expected to, and he could feel his face flush.
"H-hai?" She asked expectantly, looking up to meet his eyes. She was flustered by his closeness.
"Your hands." He released her wrist, turned her hand over and studied it. Although her palm was irritated, the rest of her hand was perfect. He rushed through his words. "You'll need to clean them well so they don't get infected. I have a first-aid kit at my house. I know this isn't a serious injury, but you don't want it to get worse, right?"
Tohru thought about it for a minute before answering. She knew that the only way to clean out the scrapes would be to use the creek water until she got to school the next morning. That water wouldn't be very sanitary. "That's so kind of you, Kyou-kun." She stepped back and smiled.
"Let's go." He dropped her hand awkwardly, and led her down the path towards the house.
Kyou worried as they drew closer to the house. He could already tell that Hatori had left by the empty driveway. But he still had no idea if Shigure or Yuki were asleep yet. He knew that they would both freak out if they knew he was bringing Tohru home with him late at night, especially Yuki. And if Akito somehow found out, he would be as good as dead. It had to be about 12:30 or maybe even 1:00 by then. Kyou crossed his fingers as he opened the door.
"Shh, my cousins are probably sleeping." Kyou warned her. He opened the front door, and was met with a dark hallway. He slid the door closed once they were both inside and turned on the hallway light.
Tohru whispered quietly to him, "Wow, what a cute house you live in. It seems like such a welcoming place." She noted the casual appearance of the furniture and the nice paintings on the wall. She felt at ease as she followed her red-haired classmate into the kitchen.
He turned the light on in the kitchen, unveiling piles of dirty dishes and an overfilling garbage can. "Er, ignore the mess. No one's gotten around to cleaning in a while." Tohru put her hand up to her temple as a scene flashed to her head.
*
'Are you sure you don't need any help cleaning the kitchen? I know it's a big job...' A violet-eyed boy stood next to her, not wanting to leave her to clean his family's kitchen all by herself.
'Don't worry, I can do it! Honda Tohru never gives up!' Tohru had a determined smile on her face.
*
Tohru closed her eyes, and her head started to ache. "You okay? I didn't think the mess would upset you so much."
She immediately opened her eyes. "No, it's not that at all! Don't worry about me. I just got a sudden headache. I'll be okay."
She flashed him a reassuring smile, and joined Kyou at the kitchen table. Kyou had a white box in his hand, and pulled out some cotton balls and some rubbing alcohol. "This is going to hurt a bit, but it'll only hurt for a second." She flinched as he rubbed the cotton ball against the skin of her hands, but just as he said, the pain went away after a few seconds. On her right hand, he attached a bandage to cover the scratches. "There you go." He nodded, admired his handiwork, then stood up.
Before Tohru could even thank him, Kyou brought a finger to his lips to keep her quiet. He looked up at the ceiling, and they could both hear slow footsteps coming from upstairs. His face darkened, and he whispered to her, "Damn, someone woke up. You've got to go quickly." He ushered her out of the kitchen to the front door, practically pushing her to get her to move faster. "Sorry, I'll probably see you tomorrow."
He quickly closed the door, not even giving Tohru a chance to say goodbye. Facing the closed door, she felt a little hurt. But she knew that he didn't mean anything by it, and it was just bad luck that someone had woken up. Pushing those thoughts aside, she headed on her way to her tent. She made sure to be cautious and aware of her surroundings, just as Kyou had instructed her earlier in the night.
It had been a long night. As soon as she reached her tent, she snuggled into her sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.
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Author Notes:
Fifth chapter; Uploaded May 3rd 2003.
Aww, caring Kyou! XD I hope he isn't out of character...I'm a bad judge of my own writing. A good thing, I just bought the second English Fruits Basket DVD today. With a ten dollars off coupon, no less! ^_^ I can't wait to hear Hatsuharu's voice. ^^;;
I do not own the rights to any of the characters mentioned in this fan fiction.
Language Translations:
Hai - Yes
