Tanabata:
Fruits Basket
Story by Knight Basilisk
Chapter Two
Tohru cleared her throat. "So," she began trying her best to make conversation. "Are you on vacation?" She cleared her throat again from the difficulty of getting that little sentence out without having to mumble. She did her best even though she couldn't say it with ease. It's as if Tohru felt like she was back in Junior High--oh, those awkward years.
The man turned his head slightly and answered in a slightly annoyed voice, "Visiting family."
"Oh, that's wonderful," she replied.
"No, it's not."
Tohru sweated under what she thought was a tense situation. But she somehow managed to pull herself out. "Well, I think it is. We should never take family for granted. You'll never know when you might lose one..."
He snorted at her little ideology and went back to watching the scenery zoom by.
Tohru leaned back in her seat. 'That went well...' She sighed inwardly and opened a brochure she plucked from pocket of the seat in front of her. Soon, she easily became entertained with its contents.
There was a list of festivities that led up the main attraction--Tanabata. 'The Star Festival,' she thought excitedly. The brochure held photos of stands and shops with beautiful displays, brilliant costumes, decorative lights, and breathtaking scenery.
She looked over at her "seat-buddy" and saw him fast asleep. So much for making another conversation. She'd just have to--
Before she could finish, she felt the brakes on the train screech against the metal tracks. Her body was pushed forward and almost hit the seat headfirst if not for the seatbelt. After the train made a complete stop, the intercom turned on with a message from the captain.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for this sudden inconvenience. But it looks like we've encountered some technical problems and will be delayed for a few hours or until assistance arrives. Fortunately, we are close to a town nearby and our technical engineers are working their hardest to help us bypass this problem. If you would be so kind as to exit out of the train in an orderly fashion, that would be very helpful. Don't wander too far, though, and be back to check on the status of the train in one hour. Thank you for you patience and cooperation."
The train driver heard the passengers groan and he too rubbed his neck in frustration. He looked around and asked an engineer that happened to pass by, "So, how's everything? Can it be fixed in an hour?"
The engineer scratched his head and gave a look of utter confusion. "We checked the engine and it looked fine, but something's jammed the breaks on."
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The workers gathered around the trouble spot. "It looks like a star, doesn't it?" The others agreed. It was no bigger than the palm of a child's hand. "How do you suppose that got under there?"
The captain stood beside them. "I think you should ask, 'who do you suppose will go under there and get it?'"
No one volunteered.
"This is going to take awhile."
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"Ah...," Tohru sighed. "How terrible."
"I think it's a god-send."
Tohru turned sideways and looked at the seat next to her. 'When did he wake up?'
"I'm glad for the delay. Now, I won't have to go see them." The last part he mumbled to himself happily.
"But I can't believe that this could happen! I was hoping—"
"Are you going to get out?"
"Huh? ...Oh!" Tohru saw the other passengers get up and remembered the announcement. "Sorry!" she apologized embarrassedly. She waited a while for an opening in the once-again crowded aisle. "Um, excuse—excuse me..." Her cries of politeness fell on deaf ears. Especially since her voice became as quiet as a mouse. And so she waited...and waited...
She heard a sigh behind her and saw an arm shoot out in the aisle to stop the current of people. "Excuse us," she heard right above her ear as he got closer to stretch out his arm even further. Tohru blushed at this and muttered a thank you before stepping out from her row with him following right after her.
As soon as she stepped out she breathed in the country air—far more clean than the air she was used to. She turned around to thank the stranger but he disappeared. Her head turned this way and that to find no trace of Mr. Orange-top.
'Oh, well,' she shrugged. 'I'll thank him later.'
Ten minutes passed and Tohru couldn't help but be bored out of her mind. The town that happened to by "nearby" was really a good two-day's walking distance. She swept a ladybug in her hands and said, "If I had wings like you, I could fly towards my destination."
The other passengers looked at her and backed away a few feet.
"Then," she continued, "I could fly to—hey! Wait! Where are you going?" The insect opened its wings and flew away. "Come back!" She suddenly stopped when she heard a familiar melody floating in the air and faded away. She shook her head and dismissed it as an illusion from boredom.
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Behind the workers stood Mr. Orange-top, an apparent displeased look gracing his face.
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Tohru glanced down at her watch. Five minutes had gone by...five minutes and 30 seconds...31...32...She stood up. She long abandoned the ladybug, but now she was itching for company. Looking around, she finally realized—
"Where is everyone?!" She made a 360 degree turn and found herself completely alone. Her mind reeled from confusion and lack of logic. "I didn't move! How could hundreds of people disappear?! I'm not even three minutes away from the train—the train!" It, too, was gone.
"Ehh?!" Tohru ran as fast as her legs could carry her with her purse being flung around. "it was right here!" She waved her arms as if she could command it to reappear again.
"This is so bizarre! Am I going insane?! This isn't possible..." She stopped at the sound of the same melody from before reappearing as subtly as it had disappeared.
Tohru stayed at the same spot for a few minutes, hoping maybe that this was all a dream. But the music overpowered her thoughts and soon, she was on a quest to find the source of it.
"Maybe if I follow it, I can find some answers..." She smiled. 'There you go! Optimism will pull you through!' She looked and saw grass, forest, grass; a large field of grass with one, large, ominous spot of forest. "Well, if there's one thing you learn in reading fairytales, it's that you never walk in forests." She laughed nervously because somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that she had to go inside. "Okay!" she said in defeat and to no one in particular. "I'll go inside..."
Tohru reached the forest in just a small amount of time. The trees' branches bent gracefully to make arches that seemed it was like she was stepping in a forest temple. It had a magnanimous feel entwined with suspense of the unknown. The leaves draped down like curtains swaying in the light breeze also playing with her long, brown locks. The leaves also left little pockets of light that illuminated her every step with the underbrush seeming to curl away from her footsteps. She looked down and saw a little rat scurry by.
"Eek!" Tohru screamed and jumped to one side. "Great, there're mice here, too?" She pulled herself together and continued on to who knows where. She parted some vines away and peered through. The music—her only source of guidance—grew louder when she turned to her right. "This forest...is endless!" she whined quietly. Her head turned to her left and right deciding whether or not it came from either direction. "It just seems hopeless—oof!" Tohru had accidentally run into a cow.
"A cow?! What are you doing here?"
"Moo."
"Eh...I'm sorry. I forgot I don't understand 'cow talk.'"
The cow nudged her forward. "Huh? What are you doing?"
Again, it nudged her. "Hm..." She turned her head and the music grew a tiny bit louder. "Oh, I see. Thank you..." her voice faded. The cow was gone.
"This is getting stranger by the minute...not that it's already been strange..."
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Hours later, Tohru arrived at a little clearing in the forest. Three giant logs as big as houses laid vertically hollowed out at her front, left, and right.
"Now what?" she moaned. First, she had encountered a rat, then a cow, a dog, a boar, a tiger that almost scared her to death, a chicken, 'Or was it a rooster?' she thought, a snake, a monkey, a sheep, a horse...she tried to recall all ten or eleven animals that crossed her path—all nudging or scaring her. Now that she thought about it, they all helped her in the direction of the music—which seemed almost within reach.
Tohru plopped down. "Sigh...which one should I take?" She rubbed her ankles. "Mom, now what?" she mumbled. Before she could venture further in her thoughts, a rabbit wandered in front of her.
"Hello, there! You're cute!" The rabbit stared at her. Suddenly, it grabbed her purse and hopped down the left tunnel.
"No, wait! My purse!" She got up and chased after the tiny critter. 'Mom!'
The tunnel was pitch black save for the end where she saw the rabbit hop out of. She reached it and realized that the ground sloped down a little too late. "Aah!" she yelled before she tumbled and rolled down. When she reached the bottom, her head collided with a rock and she blacked out.
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Tohru dreamt she was in a pitch black room illuminated by tiny dots scattered above her head. Around her, it was a soft lull of the same song that she had heard earlier only with the voices of children singing it.
Sasa noha sara sara
Nokiba ni yureru
O-hoshisama kirakira
Kingin sunago
Tohru blinked and tried to get the room into focus. "Hn...where am I?" she asked waking up.
"Oh, you're up! I'm glad you're okay. You took a nasty fall."
Tohru looked up and saw a man with black hair smiling down at her holding a stack of folded sheets. "Who are you?" she asked. Tohru grimaced at the sudden pain in her head.
"My name is Shigure Sohma. What's yours?"
"I'm...my name is...is..." Tohru widened her eyes. 'Who am I? I don't remember!' A pained expression graced her otherwise pretty face. "I don't know..."
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AN: HAH! I got it finished! And I made sure it was long, too, to make up for not updating
@_@;; [gomen, gomen...]
The translation for the lyrics is:
Bamboo leaves are rustling
And swaying at the eaves
Stars are twinkling
Like gold and silver sands.
Ever look up the story of Tanabata? Well, I think my story will forever screw up the history of the Chinese and Japanese XD Whoops.