[A/N] I DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET OR SHAKESPEARE'S "ROMEO AND JULIET"!
Chapter 1 – Punishment
Three pairs of feet splashed through the puddles on the cracked pavement. The rain poured down on the three drenched teenagers as they ran to school. Their soaking clothes clung to them and their pants for air appeared as thin mists before them. The two boys ran ahead of the girl, who could barely keep up.
The bluish-grey haired boy, Sohma Yuki, turned to the brown haired girl behind him. "Hurry Honda-san!" he declared over his shoulder. "We can't be late again!"
Honda Tohru tried to keep up. "Hai!" she gasped.
They pounded down the sidewalk breathing hard. All they could hear was the rain pelting down around them, their hearts thumping in their ears, the panting of their breaths in the air and the beating of their feet. Suddenly…
"AAAAAH!"
Tohru's foot got caught a crack in the sidewalk and flew forward with her arms out stretched – right onto the orange haired guy running in front of her.
POOF
Tohru landed on the orange cat in a puddle on the sidewalk. She fell backward on her hands, eyes wide in horror. "Gomen nasai!"
The pan-caked cat's eyes spiraled as he lied in the puddle. Quickly, he jumped up from the water, dripping. He stood over his clothes in the puddle, his wet fur stood on end. His back was to her, shaking with fury. "Baka…" he hissed, turning his head to her, "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!!"
"Gomen-"
"NOW WE'RE REALLY GOING TO BE LATE!"
Smack
"Shut up, baka-neko," declared Yuki calmly.
A bump formed on the neko's head, his eyes swirled again and he collapsed to the ground, drained of energy.
"Quick Honda-san," said Yuki, "pick him up and let's go."
"Hai," she answered obediently.
Tohru scooped up the unconscious orange neko and his soaking clothes from the ground. Yuki took her schoolbook bag for her and together they hurried off to school.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
"This is the third day in a row now!" roared the principal. He stood glaring at the three teenagers with dripping, wet hair and spare clothes sitting in chairs in front of his desk. His hands pounded the desk top in frustration, his face beet red. "I cannot allow this to continue! Sohma Yuki-kun, you are the school president! You are supposed to be reinforcing the rules – not breaking them yourself!"
Yuki watched him intently, brushing back his wet hair from his eyes. Compared to Kyo and Tohru sitting on his left, he didn't look flustered at all. "I'm sorry sir, but -"
"Sorry is not good enough!" the principal shouted. He was getting just a bit irritated with their lack of punctuality over the past few days from the same three teenagers. "Just because you're the school president doesn't mean you and your friends get special privileges!"
Yuki didn't flinch, unlike Tohru who sat next to him, separating Kyo from him. "I couldn't agree more," replied Yuki calmly and respectfully.
The principal stared at Yuki in surprise. He did not expect him to agree with him completely. Usually, kids tried to come up with some sorry excuse to not get punished, yet Yuki was approving it? Kyo's mouth snapped open, as if to yell at him, but he didn't. He was too shocked to speak that the damn rat would say something so stupid. Tohru just sat in her seat quietly, blinking as her mind registered the conversation taking place in front of her.
Yuki stood up dramatically, wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants that didn't take away or added to the unattractiveness in his appearance. In Tohru's mind, she thought he looked handsome in normal clothes. Yuki continued in a professional manner, "We have been abusing our rights as students, and I for president. We will now accept the consequences we deserve to receive."
Tohru's blinking never faltered, but Kyo was looking like he was about to burst. His orange hair and cat ears stood up on end as he jumped up from his seat. He finally found he could form words to speak up in offense. "N-Nani!"
"Quiet, baka-neko," snapped Yuki. He glared at Kyo to zip-his-lip and sit his sorry ass down in the chair, before he turned back to the principal. Kyo sat down grumbling. Yuki's voice never lost its confidence as he spoke. "We will accept all consequences, as long as they remain in school."
The principal sat down, watching the three of them closely and searching his mind for a possible punishment for them. He scratched his chin in thought, his eyes sweeping off the annoyed Kyo, the dumbfounded Tohru and the cool and collective Yuki. "Hmm… Tawaichi-sama was saying she needed two more students… and the janitors could always use a few extra hands…"
A sweatdrop appeared on Kyo's head. Janitorial work? Blah!
Tohru blinked. Janitorial work won't be too bad… but who is Tawaichi-sama?
Yuki was taken back in horror. T-Tawaichi-sama? As in… the drama and school performing arts' teacher? Oh no!
Looking at their faces, the principal smiled. "Yes, that sounds like a fine idea. All three of you will do janitorial work for two weeks and join Tawaichi-sama's drama club," he concluded, feeling rather proud of himself with a big smirk on his face.
Kyo's vein in his forehead pulsated, Tohru sweatdropped and Yuki looked down at the ground sullen faced. They found they all had nothing to say to his decision.
"You will all start today at the end of school," he announced, sitting back in his chair and folding his hands in his stomach as if he just ate a huge and fantastic supper.
"Yes sir," they muttered in unison.
They stood up from their seats in front of the principal's desk and left to go back to class. No one said a work until they were out of the office and into the hallway with the door closed firmly behind them. Only then did Kyo finally release his pent up rage.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, KUSO-NESUMI!?" he yelled, his hair and cat ears pointing up on his head in fury.
Yuki put his hands in his pockets, walking toward class off in thought. Tohru followed him awkwardly, holding her hands in front of her, leaving Kyo behind. Kyo, irritated that Yuki would just walk away from him, ran up to him and stood right in front of him, forcing him to stop in his tracks. "Why did you say we'd 'accept the consequences, as long as they're in school'? What's with that? I didn't agree on that! Why don't you just shut up and let the principal come up with his own decisions instead of feeding some garbage in his head-"
Yuki's eyes glared up at Kyo coldly. "Why can't you just shut up and accept the fact that I saved your butt?"
Kyo wasn't intimidated yet. He pressed on loudly, still angered, "Is that what you call it? Being forced to join the drama club and perform in front of the entire school?"
"No, I call it, 'Not getting suspended'," Yuki responded forcefully. "How would we all catch up if neither of us was at school?"
Kyo's rage cooled a bit as this thought passed through his mind. He hated to admit that Yuki had a point, so he just step aside, crossing his arms across his chest, and refusing to say anything else.
"Besides, it would look better on our school records to say, 'Took part in extra-curricular activities: drama' instead of 'Suspension' or 'Detention'," Yuki stated. He started to walk forward again, not looking at Kyo. "Really, sometimes you can be such a baka."
This led to yet another heated argument while Tohru followed behind them, worried about what would happen in the drama club…
[A/N] New story! This one is for the Yuki fans while my other one is for Kyo fans – this one is also not as serious as the other one "With Arms Wide Open". Well, I hope you enjoyed it. School's almost out here! I only have one exam! YAY! But it's math! BOO! Anyway, I'll shut up…