Disclaimer: Now, if held the rights to Fruits Basket, it probably would
have turned into a mecha-themed one or one with a lot of violence and blood
and fighting. I guess that would completely change the story then.
A/N: I'm sorry that this section took so long to get up. See, I usually work on my stories during CECA (a computer ed class), but this week we've been working on our finals and finals are coming up next week so I am studying overtime and panicking and I just borrowed some Kare Kano I haven't seen and those people are all like we want them back before the end of the year s I'm watching those and I got the Animatrix for my birthday so of course I had to watch that in English and Japanese and all of the extras. you get the idea. So here you all go and I'll be writing the next section soon and post it as soon as I can get away from all of evil studying!
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~~Dangerous Roads~~
Shigure was waiting in front of Mari's nursery school the next afternoon. He saw the fourteen other children run out to greet their parents, but Mari didn't come out. He walked into the building to find Mari walking slowly by her teacher.
"Mari?"
"Ah, you must be Mari's father. I'm her teacher Mikki Hakuu."
"It's very nice to meet you Hakuu-san-"
"Please, Mikki."
"Mikki. I'm Shigure." He stuck is hand out for her to shake. "So what seems to be problem?" The worst was rushing through his mind. "Had Mari turned into a cat during class?" Shigure wondered. "If she did, how many of the children saw? I don't want what happened Yuki's friends to happen to Mari."
"Well, I wanted to ask you a bit about Mari's family life."
"Her family life?"
"Yes. Here. Mari? Could you go down to the daycare center while I talk to your father? It won't be long."
"Yes, Mari. I'll be there to get you soon."
"Yes sensei." Mari walked past her teacher with her head down and grabbed onto Shigure's hand briefly as she walked by and mouthed, "I'm sorry" to him. She walked on.
Shigure watched his daughter walk through another doorway, slowly and sadly.
"Shigure? I hate to have to tell you this, but here at school, the other children constantly make fun of your daughter. They call her names because of her appearance and apparently one of the other children found out from their older sibling who happens to be friends with one of Mari's cousins that her mother had just recently killed herself."
"But Mari hasn't said anything about it to me or anyone else."
The young teacher closed her eyes and shook her head slightly from side-to- side. "I figured she wouldn't. I've seen her with you or her family and how happy and talkative she is. I just wish that she acted like that here."
Shigure ran his hand through his hair before he started talking. "Have you talked about this to the orange-haired boy that sometimes comes to pick her up?"
The teacher blushed. "I started to since I assumed he was the father. I mean, it was an honest mistake, and then he told me to stop and that tomorrow her father would come and pick her up."
"That Kyou. he didn't tell me anything about this."
"Did you say something?"
"Oh, no. Nothing."
"I also wanted to ask you if Mari had a, I'll call it bumpy relationship, with her mother. She told me that she just recently started living with you and she was happier."
"Mari's mother and I stopped living with each other when Mari was about a year old. She didn't get along with the way that my side of the family was set up. At first, I still saw Mari, but little by little, her mother began pulling her away from my family and me. She would never let me see Mari for more than a day every three or four months and I knew that if I divorced her, she would take Mari away from me forever. She wanted me to denounce my family. She told me that if I did, I could live with them, but in my family, it was impossible to do so, for reasons that I can't explain. So she keep Mari way from me."
Shigure stopped talking and bit his lower lip before continuing.
"Mari told me that her mother kept her isolated from the world. I had no idea until Mari came to live with me." Shigure's voice dropped. "Mari told me she was the one to find her mother's body hanging from the tree in the side yard when she went out to the porch of the neighbor's. She was the first to see her mother, hanging there, eyes rolled back. At age three. Do you know the toll she took because of this? She wouldn't speak about it. she didn't understand what it was. At the funeral, she even asked how they made her mom look so peaceful. She's didn't know that once they buried her that she wasn't coming back. She knew that her mother keep her from the world, but she still loved her. Her mother taught her to hide her true feelings and emotions and she still hasn't given it up. She hides them so the people won't get hurt."
Mikki placed her hand on Shigure's. He hadn't realized that he was now sitting.
"Mari's strong. She's been trying to fight off the other children and not let their hurtful words get to her. I've tried to get her to open up to them but she doesn't want to." Shigure looked at his daughter's teacher and studied her. Her green eyes where shinning with tears, and her brown hair was falling softly against her face. She was very petite and her fingers were free of rings. Shigure placed his hand under her chin and looked deep into her eyes.
"Don't cry Mikki. We can both help Mari get past this. I'll support her at home and you support her here at school."
Shigure stood up. Mikki looked at Shigure and nodded. "She's lucky to have a father like you to take care of her."
Shigure smiled at the young teacher and then went to pick up his little girl.
While the two were walking home, Shigure decided to ask Mari about the conversation that he had just had with her teacher. "Mari? Why haven't you told me about the other children at school making fun of you? Don't you know that I am always there for you?"
Mari put on a slight pout on her face. "I didn't want to disappoint you daddy. Yuki and Kyou and Tohru all have so many friends who are so nice and I didn't want you to be mad at me for not having many."
"Baby, you know I wouldn't be mad at you. I just want to help you in every way that I can."
"But you can't stop them from making fun of me."
Shigure knew what his daughter was saying was true. When Kisa started her new school, it was all through her own willpower that she changed. But how could he teach Mari about that?
"Daddy? Don't tell anyone about this okay? I don't want them to make fun of me too."
"I won't. But you know that they wouldn't make fun of you."
"I thought the kids at this school wouldn't either." Mari grabbed her father's hand tighter. Shigure fought back tears for his little girl.
"You know we all love you very much Mari."
"But mommy said to never show people your true weaknesses or else they will try to hurted you."
Shigure bit his lip at the thought of his old wife. "I may have loved her," he thought, "but I never believed in her ideas about keeping everything inside of yourself." "Mari? You can show people your true feelings. And if they really love you, they will understand. I promise. And at school, your teacher promised to try to help you. Give her a chance too."
Mari's eyebrows crunched together, deep in thought. She smiled after a few moments. "K!"
Shigure let out a sigh of relief. His daughter could change emotions so quickly. Sometimes, it bothered him. But he couldn't let that bother him now. Mari was here with him and she wasn't going to go anywhere.
~~Later that Night~~
Tohru was sitting at the table, reading a book for school when Mari came up behind her.
"Tohru? Whatcha doing?"
"Reading for school."
"What are you readin'?"
"Night." (A/N: I just finished this book for English about the Holocaust and I just loved it. It's all that's on my mind since we just took the test on it, so I'm sorry if they don't read books like this in Japan)
"Night?"
"Yup."
Mari sat down behind Tohru and Tohru watched Mari out of the corner of her eye. Mari started playing with Tohru's hair. Tohru smiled at the girl.
"Keep on reading Tohru. I'm gonna braid your hairs!" Mari got up and came back with a hair tie and brush. Mari careful pulled out Tohru's ribbons and stared brushing the teenage girl's hair. When she was finished, Mari attempted to braid Tohru's hair and after many failed attempts, Mari was finally satisfied. She tied off the bow then went to look at Tohru from the front. "Perfect!" she shouted.
Tohru looked up fro her reading to see the mirror that Mari was holding up. Mari's braid was simple, loosely woven together and her bow had one loop way larger than the other, but Tohru loved it. She could tell that Mari had put her time and soul into that braid. Tohru put her book down. "Arigato Mari. It's the best braid I have ever seen." Tohru opened her arms for Mari to climb into. Mari accepted the invitation. She cuddled close to the older girl and soon fell asleep. Tohru smiled at the girl and softly brushed the hair away from the petite girl's face.
"Kyou-kun," Tohru softly called, "tell Shigure-san that Mari fell asleep."
Kyou stuck his head in from the other room. He nodded at Tohru and quietly motioned Shigure. Shigure smiled and went upstairs to prepare the girl's bed. Kyou carried her up the stairs. Shigure changed the girl into her pajamas. Mari awoke slightly.
"Daddy?"
"Shhhh. Go back to sleep. Everything's fine."
"I saw mommy while I was sleeping. She said that she's sorry for everything she's put us through." Mari fell back asleep.
Kyou left the room soon after enough, but stayed long enough to see Shigure mutter, "I know baby, I see her too" and silently cry next to his little girl, the only thing that was keeping him alive.
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So there you go. I am so sorry for the long wait once again. The whole part about Tohru and Mari was inspired by six-year-old cousin (she's not five anymore!) and the time I spent at her house over the weekend and her obsession with doing people's hair. I just love her so much! Oh, and I was rereading my story when I realized that well, I really didn't explain as much about Mari's mom as I would have liked, so this chapter is kinda like a filler. Thanks for staying with me everyone! I love you all so much! Wish me luck on finals!
Another note: people tell me I'm turning into Yukino from Kare Kano. school is ruling my life and all those clubs for next year. errr. just though you would like to know. but that means I'll meet an Arima! So I'm fine with that! LOL. See ya later and keep reading my story!
A/N: I'm sorry that this section took so long to get up. See, I usually work on my stories during CECA (a computer ed class), but this week we've been working on our finals and finals are coming up next week so I am studying overtime and panicking and I just borrowed some Kare Kano I haven't seen and those people are all like we want them back before the end of the year s I'm watching those and I got the Animatrix for my birthday so of course I had to watch that in English and Japanese and all of the extras. you get the idea. So here you all go and I'll be writing the next section soon and post it as soon as I can get away from all of evil studying!
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~~Dangerous Roads~~
Shigure was waiting in front of Mari's nursery school the next afternoon. He saw the fourteen other children run out to greet their parents, but Mari didn't come out. He walked into the building to find Mari walking slowly by her teacher.
"Mari?"
"Ah, you must be Mari's father. I'm her teacher Mikki Hakuu."
"It's very nice to meet you Hakuu-san-"
"Please, Mikki."
"Mikki. I'm Shigure." He stuck is hand out for her to shake. "So what seems to be problem?" The worst was rushing through his mind. "Had Mari turned into a cat during class?" Shigure wondered. "If she did, how many of the children saw? I don't want what happened Yuki's friends to happen to Mari."
"Well, I wanted to ask you a bit about Mari's family life."
"Her family life?"
"Yes. Here. Mari? Could you go down to the daycare center while I talk to your father? It won't be long."
"Yes, Mari. I'll be there to get you soon."
"Yes sensei." Mari walked past her teacher with her head down and grabbed onto Shigure's hand briefly as she walked by and mouthed, "I'm sorry" to him. She walked on.
Shigure watched his daughter walk through another doorway, slowly and sadly.
"Shigure? I hate to have to tell you this, but here at school, the other children constantly make fun of your daughter. They call her names because of her appearance and apparently one of the other children found out from their older sibling who happens to be friends with one of Mari's cousins that her mother had just recently killed herself."
"But Mari hasn't said anything about it to me or anyone else."
The young teacher closed her eyes and shook her head slightly from side-to- side. "I figured she wouldn't. I've seen her with you or her family and how happy and talkative she is. I just wish that she acted like that here."
Shigure ran his hand through his hair before he started talking. "Have you talked about this to the orange-haired boy that sometimes comes to pick her up?"
The teacher blushed. "I started to since I assumed he was the father. I mean, it was an honest mistake, and then he told me to stop and that tomorrow her father would come and pick her up."
"That Kyou. he didn't tell me anything about this."
"Did you say something?"
"Oh, no. Nothing."
"I also wanted to ask you if Mari had a, I'll call it bumpy relationship, with her mother. She told me that she just recently started living with you and she was happier."
"Mari's mother and I stopped living with each other when Mari was about a year old. She didn't get along with the way that my side of the family was set up. At first, I still saw Mari, but little by little, her mother began pulling her away from my family and me. She would never let me see Mari for more than a day every three or four months and I knew that if I divorced her, she would take Mari away from me forever. She wanted me to denounce my family. She told me that if I did, I could live with them, but in my family, it was impossible to do so, for reasons that I can't explain. So she keep Mari way from me."
Shigure stopped talking and bit his lower lip before continuing.
"Mari told me that her mother kept her isolated from the world. I had no idea until Mari came to live with me." Shigure's voice dropped. "Mari told me she was the one to find her mother's body hanging from the tree in the side yard when she went out to the porch of the neighbor's. She was the first to see her mother, hanging there, eyes rolled back. At age three. Do you know the toll she took because of this? She wouldn't speak about it. she didn't understand what it was. At the funeral, she even asked how they made her mom look so peaceful. She's didn't know that once they buried her that she wasn't coming back. She knew that her mother keep her from the world, but she still loved her. Her mother taught her to hide her true feelings and emotions and she still hasn't given it up. She hides them so the people won't get hurt."
Mikki placed her hand on Shigure's. He hadn't realized that he was now sitting.
"Mari's strong. She's been trying to fight off the other children and not let their hurtful words get to her. I've tried to get her to open up to them but she doesn't want to." Shigure looked at his daughter's teacher and studied her. Her green eyes where shinning with tears, and her brown hair was falling softly against her face. She was very petite and her fingers were free of rings. Shigure placed his hand under her chin and looked deep into her eyes.
"Don't cry Mikki. We can both help Mari get past this. I'll support her at home and you support her here at school."
Shigure stood up. Mikki looked at Shigure and nodded. "She's lucky to have a father like you to take care of her."
Shigure smiled at the young teacher and then went to pick up his little girl.
While the two were walking home, Shigure decided to ask Mari about the conversation that he had just had with her teacher. "Mari? Why haven't you told me about the other children at school making fun of you? Don't you know that I am always there for you?"
Mari put on a slight pout on her face. "I didn't want to disappoint you daddy. Yuki and Kyou and Tohru all have so many friends who are so nice and I didn't want you to be mad at me for not having many."
"Baby, you know I wouldn't be mad at you. I just want to help you in every way that I can."
"But you can't stop them from making fun of me."
Shigure knew what his daughter was saying was true. When Kisa started her new school, it was all through her own willpower that she changed. But how could he teach Mari about that?
"Daddy? Don't tell anyone about this okay? I don't want them to make fun of me too."
"I won't. But you know that they wouldn't make fun of you."
"I thought the kids at this school wouldn't either." Mari grabbed her father's hand tighter. Shigure fought back tears for his little girl.
"You know we all love you very much Mari."
"But mommy said to never show people your true weaknesses or else they will try to hurted you."
Shigure bit his lip at the thought of his old wife. "I may have loved her," he thought, "but I never believed in her ideas about keeping everything inside of yourself." "Mari? You can show people your true feelings. And if they really love you, they will understand. I promise. And at school, your teacher promised to try to help you. Give her a chance too."
Mari's eyebrows crunched together, deep in thought. She smiled after a few moments. "K!"
Shigure let out a sigh of relief. His daughter could change emotions so quickly. Sometimes, it bothered him. But he couldn't let that bother him now. Mari was here with him and she wasn't going to go anywhere.
~~Later that Night~~
Tohru was sitting at the table, reading a book for school when Mari came up behind her.
"Tohru? Whatcha doing?"
"Reading for school."
"What are you readin'?"
"Night." (A/N: I just finished this book for English about the Holocaust and I just loved it. It's all that's on my mind since we just took the test on it, so I'm sorry if they don't read books like this in Japan)
"Night?"
"Yup."
Mari sat down behind Tohru and Tohru watched Mari out of the corner of her eye. Mari started playing with Tohru's hair. Tohru smiled at the girl.
"Keep on reading Tohru. I'm gonna braid your hairs!" Mari got up and came back with a hair tie and brush. Mari careful pulled out Tohru's ribbons and stared brushing the teenage girl's hair. When she was finished, Mari attempted to braid Tohru's hair and after many failed attempts, Mari was finally satisfied. She tied off the bow then went to look at Tohru from the front. "Perfect!" she shouted.
Tohru looked up fro her reading to see the mirror that Mari was holding up. Mari's braid was simple, loosely woven together and her bow had one loop way larger than the other, but Tohru loved it. She could tell that Mari had put her time and soul into that braid. Tohru put her book down. "Arigato Mari. It's the best braid I have ever seen." Tohru opened her arms for Mari to climb into. Mari accepted the invitation. She cuddled close to the older girl and soon fell asleep. Tohru smiled at the girl and softly brushed the hair away from the petite girl's face.
"Kyou-kun," Tohru softly called, "tell Shigure-san that Mari fell asleep."
Kyou stuck his head in from the other room. He nodded at Tohru and quietly motioned Shigure. Shigure smiled and went upstairs to prepare the girl's bed. Kyou carried her up the stairs. Shigure changed the girl into her pajamas. Mari awoke slightly.
"Daddy?"
"Shhhh. Go back to sleep. Everything's fine."
"I saw mommy while I was sleeping. She said that she's sorry for everything she's put us through." Mari fell back asleep.
Kyou left the room soon after enough, but stayed long enough to see Shigure mutter, "I know baby, I see her too" and silently cry next to his little girl, the only thing that was keeping him alive.
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So there you go. I am so sorry for the long wait once again. The whole part about Tohru and Mari was inspired by six-year-old cousin (she's not five anymore!) and the time I spent at her house over the weekend and her obsession with doing people's hair. I just love her so much! Oh, and I was rereading my story when I realized that well, I really didn't explain as much about Mari's mom as I would have liked, so this chapter is kinda like a filler. Thanks for staying with me everyone! I love you all so much! Wish me luck on finals!
Another note: people tell me I'm turning into Yukino from Kare Kano. school is ruling my life and all those clubs for next year. errr. just though you would like to know. but that means I'll meet an Arima! So I'm fine with that! LOL. See ya later and keep reading my story!