Chapter 2: Juvenile Winter Century
Shigure hadn't come back from his visit with Ayame and Hatori. Instead, he had sent a note with Tohru's grandfather to give to Yuki. After Yuki and Kyo fought over the note for five or so minutes, Kyo ended up with the bottom left hand corner and Uo ended up with the rest.
She read it out loud:
"Off celebrating and reminiscing. Don't wait up. Signed, you're dashingly handsome and wonderful brother and two cousins, Ayame, Shigure, and Hatori. XOXOXO (heart star smiley face). P.S. If Mii comes around the house, tell her that Shigure has fled the country for political reasons and will be back next Tuesday. He'll be back tonight."
"Brother?" Hana asked.
"That's right," Tohru said, smiling. "Ayame is Yuki's older brother."
"I see," Hana replied, shooting a look at Yuki like an arrow. "I wonder why we haven't been introduced."
Yuki looked transfixed by her glance.
"Ah... well... we're..."
"Look, my brother is here to pick me up," Hana said coolly, pointing over his shoulder. Yuki paled, looking around at Megumi. He'd met him before, once. Megumi only knew Yuki as the Prince, thanks to Uo, and Yuki intended to keep it that way.
Meanwhile, Tohru's grandfather was talking to Tohru.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Go where?" Uo questioned.
"Ah, my grandfather was planning a Happy Graduation and Congratulations Party for me," Tohru said, blushing a little. "He's invited all of my relatives."
Speaking off the record, he'd somehow managed to blackmail, guilt trip, and trick every single Honda relative within the 12-kilometer radius into coming. Even after the dinner got started, Tohru's great uncle twice removed was still convinced that he was at a funeral party for Tohru's third-cousin-by-marriage's toy poodle.
"Sounds like fun," Uo grinned.
"I'm very proud of her," her grandfather said, smiling.
Tohru would have said something sincerely humble if she hadn't been blushing so furiously.
"What about our dinner?" Kyo asked. Before Uo could do it for him, Kyo smacked his forehead. "No, wait, I didn't mean it like that."
"There's leek soup in the refrigerator," Tohru said helpfully.
"Leek soup?" Kyo snapped.
"Oh, no, I forgot you don't like leeks again! I'm sorry, Kyo!"
Kyo panicked slightly as he tried to come up with an apology without actually apologizing.
It was an hour later when Kyo and Yuki were standing in front of a perfectly ordinary door of a perfectly ordinary house.
Ah, but looks are deceiving, are they not?
"What were you on when you agreed to this?" Kyo whispered as he shuffled his feet in a very un-Kyo-like fashion.
"I didn't see you make any argument against it," Yuki hissed back.
"You're the smart-ass rat! You could've come up with an excuse!"
"Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"
"You think you're so fucking much smarter than everyone else, don't you?!"
"It's not that hard being smarter than you. A lima bean has more brains."
"You damn-!"
And at that very moment, the door opened.
Yuki and Kyo felt their blood freeze in their veins as they both turned their heads slowly to meet the dark eyes of...
"Oh, so you made it on time," Hana said, her voice the usual monotone it always was. "I thought I recognized those electrical signals, but why didn't you knock?"
"Uhm..." Yuki heard himself say. Kyo, on the other hand, just had his mouth open in an expression of horror.
Somehow, Yuki had agreed to come to Hana's house for a Happy Graduation Party. Yuki had said "yes" in some part of his conversation with Hana and Megumi, and Hana had said, "Then I'll see you and Kyo tonight at six."
The sight of a hand clapping down on Hana's shoulder came into the view in the open doorframe before the rest of Uo showed up.
"They probably tried to ring the doorbell," Uo said in a careless tone.
"Ah, yes. That must be it," Hana said, turning and breaking her stare on the two hapless boys. "I forgot to mention that the doorbell doesn't work. Something... odd happened to it."
"Something... odd?" Kyo and Yuki thought at the exact same time. They're hearts both skipped a beat at the exact same time, as well, and both had to fight urges to run off. The last on the list happened at different times only because Kyo first thought of pushing Yuki towards the door as a decoy before dashing off. If he couldn't beat the rat, maybe electrogirl could do it for him.
"Are you two coming in or what?" Uo sighed. "Honestly, the food is getting cold. Hell, I'm getting cold. Isn't it supposed to be almost summer?"
"Yes, it does seem quite cold for this time of year," Hana replied.
"I heard there was an odd weather condition over the Pacific," Yuki offered tentatively. Years of acting polite had turned into second nature, and it was very helpful in times like this.
"Is there?" Hana asked.
"Yes. And it causes strange weather patterns in many coastal countries."
"How interesting," Hana said, not sounding interested at all.
"Oh, please, we're not going to stand here and talk about the weather, are we?" Uo interrupted impatiently, pulling Hana out of the entrance hall with one hand and trying to do the same to Kyo. "This is a graduation party, dammit, and we're supposed to go wild! And take off those crappy shoes, Carrots. You want to track in all that mud on the carpet?"
"Crappy shoes?" Kyo asked, snapping out of his mute state. "What the hell are you talking about? And take you're damn hands off me, Yankee!"
"What's wrong with my hands?"
"I just don't like them. You gotta problem with that?"
Hana held a hand up to her forehead.
"You're squabbling is giving me a headache again," she sighed before shuffling off down the hall. Her dress swept back behind her dramatically in an-
"Oh," Yuki gasped in spite of himself. Even though it was a very small "oh!," Uo and Kyo turned to look at him. It wasn't everyday that Yuki Sohma dropped his usual composure to reveal mild shock. Even Hana seemed to sense it and turned to look.
Then again, she would sense that, wouldn't she?
"Is something wrong?" she asked coolly.
"Ah... no. No, nothing." Yuki said, feeling slightly abashed by the sudden silence and, more pointedly, everyone's stares.
Kyo looked at Yuki, at Uo, and then at Hana.
His eyebrows shot up on his forehead.
"It's pink!" he exclaimed.
All stares were now directed at Kyo, who bristled in response.
Then Hana laughed.
All stares shot towards her. Hana? Laughing?
"Yes, it is," Hana replied, patting down the hem of her NOT black, but PINK dress.
Kyo and Yuki stared open-mouthed.
"Tohru, Hana and me all went shopping for graduation clothes, remember?" Uo said in an informative tone. "Since none of us really found anything we liked, we all bought clothes we would never be caught dead in. That's why Hana's wearing a pink dress..."
"And why Uo is wearing a pair of jeans," Hana finished.
Both boys turned their head and stared. Yep, yep. She was wearing jeans, that she was.
"And what did Tohru wear, a clown nose?" Kyo asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall.
"You didn't notice the clown nose?" Uo asked in surprise.
"Huh? She really-?!"
"She was wearing high heels," Yuki said calmly.
"Ten points for the Prince," Uo grinned. "You noticed."
"Well, she tripped on them when we were leaving the house."
Tripped, fell forward, hugged Kyo. They were ten minutes late because of that, and Kyo's clothes still had some orange fur clinging to them.
"Yeah," Uo chuckled, brushing her hair back from her face, "I was afraid she might trip onstage. Was so worried I almost called her up this morning."
"You know," Hana said, taking a step towards Uo and company. "There's still the food getting cold."
Uo brightened. "Oh yeah. Man, I'm starved. You're brother made dessert, didn't he?"
"You're brother's here?" Yuki and Kyo cried in stereo.
"Well, he lives here, you know," Uo said, brushing back the hair from her face.
Hana turned. "Yes. He's been very eager to see you again, Kyo, Yuki."
The hair on the back of both Yuki and Kyo's necks stood up on end.
$$$$$ give me da money page break! $$$$$
I wasn't really planning on this story to be more than one chapter, but then I began to wonder a little bit about how it would continue.
I really encourage you to review because it really does help me write better. Reviews point out mistakes I make, reviews give me ideas, and they give me motivation.
So please, please, pretty please review?
Thank you oh so very muches:
Thank you so much for reviewing, Sailor Panda! I've read and enjoyed many stories written by you, and I'm very flattered that you liked Tohru's in- characterness in the first chapter.
Thanks also to Eilowny! I'm glad you thought it was cute since cute was what I was going for. I'm also pleased that I wrote the scene in such a way that it reminds you of your own graduation.
Thank you, Zahnegirl. It was you're review which prompted me to wonder what would happen next. What is Tohru going to do now that she's got that diploma? I wonder what Kyo and Yuki will do now, too. This'll be fun to write, so I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy future chapters.
Double thanks to Lethe! I feel like I have a fan, and it's going to my head. I actually wrote this chapter before I saw the second DVD, but methinks that Hana either aced all of those make-up exams or scared her teachers into giving her passing marks. Whichever is more interesting or imaginative.
Thank you to ginny, as well, not only for writing a review for this story, but for my other two. I'm glad you like my crazy writing, and I'm so happy that you think that Tohru and company were perfectly in character.
Thanks to Zeheria. You're review helped me with the first paragraph. I like the idea of Tohru's grandfather forcing his relatives to acknowledge Tohru's accomplishments. As for what will happen next... either I don't know or won't tell you!
Thank you to hopeless. I'm glad you reviewed! I think Tohru's still in shock, but I will definitely try to remember to address the feeling of losing the feeling of school community.
Shigure hadn't come back from his visit with Ayame and Hatori. Instead, he had sent a note with Tohru's grandfather to give to Yuki. After Yuki and Kyo fought over the note for five or so minutes, Kyo ended up with the bottom left hand corner and Uo ended up with the rest.
She read it out loud:
"Off celebrating and reminiscing. Don't wait up. Signed, you're dashingly handsome and wonderful brother and two cousins, Ayame, Shigure, and Hatori. XOXOXO (heart star smiley face). P.S. If Mii comes around the house, tell her that Shigure has fled the country for political reasons and will be back next Tuesday. He'll be back tonight."
"Brother?" Hana asked.
"That's right," Tohru said, smiling. "Ayame is Yuki's older brother."
"I see," Hana replied, shooting a look at Yuki like an arrow. "I wonder why we haven't been introduced."
Yuki looked transfixed by her glance.
"Ah... well... we're..."
"Look, my brother is here to pick me up," Hana said coolly, pointing over his shoulder. Yuki paled, looking around at Megumi. He'd met him before, once. Megumi only knew Yuki as the Prince, thanks to Uo, and Yuki intended to keep it that way.
Meanwhile, Tohru's grandfather was talking to Tohru.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Go where?" Uo questioned.
"Ah, my grandfather was planning a Happy Graduation and Congratulations Party for me," Tohru said, blushing a little. "He's invited all of my relatives."
Speaking off the record, he'd somehow managed to blackmail, guilt trip, and trick every single Honda relative within the 12-kilometer radius into coming. Even after the dinner got started, Tohru's great uncle twice removed was still convinced that he was at a funeral party for Tohru's third-cousin-by-marriage's toy poodle.
"Sounds like fun," Uo grinned.
"I'm very proud of her," her grandfather said, smiling.
Tohru would have said something sincerely humble if she hadn't been blushing so furiously.
"What about our dinner?" Kyo asked. Before Uo could do it for him, Kyo smacked his forehead. "No, wait, I didn't mean it like that."
"There's leek soup in the refrigerator," Tohru said helpfully.
"Leek soup?" Kyo snapped.
"Oh, no, I forgot you don't like leeks again! I'm sorry, Kyo!"
Kyo panicked slightly as he tried to come up with an apology without actually apologizing.
It was an hour later when Kyo and Yuki were standing in front of a perfectly ordinary door of a perfectly ordinary house.
Ah, but looks are deceiving, are they not?
"What were you on when you agreed to this?" Kyo whispered as he shuffled his feet in a very un-Kyo-like fashion.
"I didn't see you make any argument against it," Yuki hissed back.
"You're the smart-ass rat! You could've come up with an excuse!"
"Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"
"You think you're so fucking much smarter than everyone else, don't you?!"
"It's not that hard being smarter than you. A lima bean has more brains."
"You damn-!"
And at that very moment, the door opened.
Yuki and Kyo felt their blood freeze in their veins as they both turned their heads slowly to meet the dark eyes of...
"Oh, so you made it on time," Hana said, her voice the usual monotone it always was. "I thought I recognized those electrical signals, but why didn't you knock?"
"Uhm..." Yuki heard himself say. Kyo, on the other hand, just had his mouth open in an expression of horror.
Somehow, Yuki had agreed to come to Hana's house for a Happy Graduation Party. Yuki had said "yes" in some part of his conversation with Hana and Megumi, and Hana had said, "Then I'll see you and Kyo tonight at six."
The sight of a hand clapping down on Hana's shoulder came into the view in the open doorframe before the rest of Uo showed up.
"They probably tried to ring the doorbell," Uo said in a careless tone.
"Ah, yes. That must be it," Hana said, turning and breaking her stare on the two hapless boys. "I forgot to mention that the doorbell doesn't work. Something... odd happened to it."
"Something... odd?" Kyo and Yuki thought at the exact same time. They're hearts both skipped a beat at the exact same time, as well, and both had to fight urges to run off. The last on the list happened at different times only because Kyo first thought of pushing Yuki towards the door as a decoy before dashing off. If he couldn't beat the rat, maybe electrogirl could do it for him.
"Are you two coming in or what?" Uo sighed. "Honestly, the food is getting cold. Hell, I'm getting cold. Isn't it supposed to be almost summer?"
"Yes, it does seem quite cold for this time of year," Hana replied.
"I heard there was an odd weather condition over the Pacific," Yuki offered tentatively. Years of acting polite had turned into second nature, and it was very helpful in times like this.
"Is there?" Hana asked.
"Yes. And it causes strange weather patterns in many coastal countries."
"How interesting," Hana said, not sounding interested at all.
"Oh, please, we're not going to stand here and talk about the weather, are we?" Uo interrupted impatiently, pulling Hana out of the entrance hall with one hand and trying to do the same to Kyo. "This is a graduation party, dammit, and we're supposed to go wild! And take off those crappy shoes, Carrots. You want to track in all that mud on the carpet?"
"Crappy shoes?" Kyo asked, snapping out of his mute state. "What the hell are you talking about? And take you're damn hands off me, Yankee!"
"What's wrong with my hands?"
"I just don't like them. You gotta problem with that?"
Hana held a hand up to her forehead.
"You're squabbling is giving me a headache again," she sighed before shuffling off down the hall. Her dress swept back behind her dramatically in an-
"Oh," Yuki gasped in spite of himself. Even though it was a very small "oh!," Uo and Kyo turned to look at him. It wasn't everyday that Yuki Sohma dropped his usual composure to reveal mild shock. Even Hana seemed to sense it and turned to look.
Then again, she would sense that, wouldn't she?
"Is something wrong?" she asked coolly.
"Ah... no. No, nothing." Yuki said, feeling slightly abashed by the sudden silence and, more pointedly, everyone's stares.
Kyo looked at Yuki, at Uo, and then at Hana.
His eyebrows shot up on his forehead.
"It's pink!" he exclaimed.
All stares were now directed at Kyo, who bristled in response.
Then Hana laughed.
All stares shot towards her. Hana? Laughing?
"Yes, it is," Hana replied, patting down the hem of her NOT black, but PINK dress.
Kyo and Yuki stared open-mouthed.
"Tohru, Hana and me all went shopping for graduation clothes, remember?" Uo said in an informative tone. "Since none of us really found anything we liked, we all bought clothes we would never be caught dead in. That's why Hana's wearing a pink dress..."
"And why Uo is wearing a pair of jeans," Hana finished.
Both boys turned their head and stared. Yep, yep. She was wearing jeans, that she was.
"And what did Tohru wear, a clown nose?" Kyo asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall.
"You didn't notice the clown nose?" Uo asked in surprise.
"Huh? She really-?!"
"She was wearing high heels," Yuki said calmly.
"Ten points for the Prince," Uo grinned. "You noticed."
"Well, she tripped on them when we were leaving the house."
Tripped, fell forward, hugged Kyo. They were ten minutes late because of that, and Kyo's clothes still had some orange fur clinging to them.
"Yeah," Uo chuckled, brushing her hair back from her face, "I was afraid she might trip onstage. Was so worried I almost called her up this morning."
"You know," Hana said, taking a step towards Uo and company. "There's still the food getting cold."
Uo brightened. "Oh yeah. Man, I'm starved. You're brother made dessert, didn't he?"
"You're brother's here?" Yuki and Kyo cried in stereo.
"Well, he lives here, you know," Uo said, brushing back the hair from her face.
Hana turned. "Yes. He's been very eager to see you again, Kyo, Yuki."
The hair on the back of both Yuki and Kyo's necks stood up on end.
$$$$$ give me da money page break! $$$$$
I wasn't really planning on this story to be more than one chapter, but then I began to wonder a little bit about how it would continue.
I really encourage you to review because it really does help me write better. Reviews point out mistakes I make, reviews give me ideas, and they give me motivation.
So please, please, pretty please review?
Thank you oh so very muches:
Thank you so much for reviewing, Sailor Panda! I've read and enjoyed many stories written by you, and I'm very flattered that you liked Tohru's in- characterness in the first chapter.
Thanks also to Eilowny! I'm glad you thought it was cute since cute was what I was going for. I'm also pleased that I wrote the scene in such a way that it reminds you of your own graduation.
Thank you, Zahnegirl. It was you're review which prompted me to wonder what would happen next. What is Tohru going to do now that she's got that diploma? I wonder what Kyo and Yuki will do now, too. This'll be fun to write, so I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy future chapters.
Double thanks to Lethe! I feel like I have a fan, and it's going to my head. I actually wrote this chapter before I saw the second DVD, but methinks that Hana either aced all of those make-up exams or scared her teachers into giving her passing marks. Whichever is more interesting or imaginative.
Thank you to ginny, as well, not only for writing a review for this story, but for my other two. I'm glad you like my crazy writing, and I'm so happy that you think that Tohru and company were perfectly in character.
Thanks to Zeheria. You're review helped me with the first paragraph. I like the idea of Tohru's grandfather forcing his relatives to acknowledge Tohru's accomplishments. As for what will happen next... either I don't know or won't tell you!
Thank you to hopeless. I'm glad you reviewed! I think Tohru's still in shock, but I will definitely try to remember to address the feeling of losing the feeling of school community.
