CHAPTER 3
...they were spending their holidays at a bungalow Souma had, Momiji rented it for a week. The bungalow was near the beach and a forest. Haru, Kyou, Yuki, Momiji, Hiro and Kisa had come to the occasion.
They were having fun at first, but in the middle of the week, Akito paid an unexpected visit. Momiji was there when Akito confronted Tohru...It was strange that up until now, Momiji had not mentioned the confrontation to the others. Everyone went to a gathering with Akito during that day, which leaves Tohru and Kyou behind. "Don't look at me like that... the Cat did not belong in the Jyunishi in the first place..." Kyou said and looked away, slightly flushed. Tohru smiled at that time, even though her heart was heavy with feelings about Akito's sudden appearance, "Let's make something for them to eat when they get back! Kyou-kun, what would you like to eat?"
"Rice cakes..."
"Rice cakes? Kyou-kun likes them?"
"No, I just haven't eaten them for a very long time..."
"Okay! Then let's make rice cakes for them!" Tohru said, grabbing Kyou's hand and dragging him into the kitchen. Kyou could not help but smiled shyly at her. They made rice cakes and when the rest got back, they ate heartily. The next day, Kyou was assigned to go and see Akito, it was also another strange thing considering Akito has never wanted anything to do with Kyou. Tohru waited for Kyou to return and hoped he came back with a smile on his face.
But that was not what happened, Tohru happened to catch a glimpse of Kyou frowning, yet when he saw her, his face lit up and smiled at her, "Kyou- kun!" She smiled back, "Yo...You waited for me?" Kyou asked, Tohru nodded and Kyou blushed slightly again when he regarded her. He punched playfully at Tohru's head, "Baka," he said. Even though Kyou had never expressed his concern or unhappiness in front of her, Tohru could sense that whatever happened back at Akito's house, Kyou was deeply affected by it. Yet, she had no courage to voice her concerns, no will to ask for fear of spoiling the happy mood between them.
Alas, Tohru had expected that the last person Akito would want to see, was her. It was late at night and Tohru was worried for Kyou, for she had accidentally heard Kyou telling Momiji to protect her no matter what happens after graduation. What would happen after graduation? Why is Kyou saying all that? Hard as she might try, she could not sleep. Suddenly, she heard people talking faintly.
It was Momiji's...
"I want to see Tohru," It was more of a command than of a request. Momiji guarded the door, "No, even if you want to see her, she's already asleep,"
"Then wake her up now,"
Momiji stood still, unable to reply but he guarded the door. "What is this...? What are you trying to do? Are you... are you disobeying me, Momiji- san..." Momiji did not move, perhaps he should have but it was too late, a hard punch hit him on his left jaw and he fell on the ground, scraping his knee. "Yameru!!!!" Momiji heard Tohru's voice, he turned around to see if it was true and she was there, looking concerned and bewildered. "Tohru-kun!"
"Momiji, go away, I have to talk to Honda-san," Akito glared at Momiji. He got the feeling if he would not go, Akito would personally call him over for a nice confrontation of his own. He could see feel the throbbing sensation on his jaw and it felt hot and slick. Akito had hit him so hard that blood trickled down his face. He stood up, gritting on his teeth as his knee hurts. He took one last glance at Tohru and walked away. Even though Akito commanded him to go, he made a detour to get to a corner where he could hear Akito speak to Tohru. He was too worried for Tohru to care for his well-being.
"I want to tell you something before I go; after graduation, Kyou will be locked up until he dies. And you will be alone. Everyone... Yuki... Shigure... everyone will return to the Souma's house. No one can take away our unity together...You will be all alone... I assure you of that...nobody would spoil our happiness, nobody..."
"Ky...Kyou-kun would be locked...up...?" It was strange at that time, even though Akito was speaking, all she could focus on was Kyou and she felt like someone had just punched her in the gut, the realization of why Kyou was acting strange when he came back. Akito could have reminded Kyou about his jailed life. Why didn't she notice it before? She felt like something contricted around her heart. Kyou...
With a quick flash, Akito slapped Tohru hard on the face, the force of the blow sent her losing her balance and falling to the ground, while she stayed there, Akito kneeled down and gripped hard on her hair, whispering to her, "You have no business with us, all from the start, you are just a tool...After everyone moved back to the Souma, I will not allow any one of the Souma to see you, and I have the power to do that...So I suggest you move away after graduation...leave and never come back. Forget all of us..." ...forget all of the Jyunishi would be to forget and throw away the happiness and warmth I've always known in the Souma family... Tohru wanted to say, but don't.
Akito let go and stood up, he turned around, just to catch a glance of Momiji, he smirked and walked away. "Tohru-kun! Daijobu?" Tohru smiled at him while Momiji helped Tohru up and both of them went back to bed in silence.
... ... ... Tohru sat back in solitude as she thought about what happened 3 years ago. After Akito's appearance, she tried to shrug off, dismiss and forget everything Akito had said, but if Akito said was true...then she would really be alone. The pain of watching them leave, just the mere thought of them leaving her one by one sent her thinking and planning for the future.
Too afraid and confused and not knowing what to do, she felt that the quickest possible way to sort out her thoughts and feelings was to bail as quickly as she can. Thinking back those days, huh...Tohru sighed and flicked away a tear that was threatening to fall, how selfish could she be at that time...? How could she not spare a thought for Kyou? For Yuki? For Momiji and the rest?
"TOHRU-KUN!!!!!" She heard a familiar cheerful voice rang behind her, she turned around and a pair of arms wrapped around her, as soon as the smoke cleared, she noticed a little bunny smiling at her, she hugged him back, "Momiji-kun!!" She looked up, there stood Kisa and Hiro together. "Kisa- san! Hiro-san!" Tohru exclaimed, shocked to see how much Kisa and Hiro has matured. Kisa has grown tire of the dresses and have fully grown into a beautiful teenager. She was wearing blue jeans and a floral t-shirt. Hiro wore cargo pants and a sleeveless white shirt. Seems like the both of them are still inseparable. A pity Momiji's transformed into a bunny, or she could see how Momiji has changed since graduation. "Kirei...Kisa-san is really pretty!" Kisa came over to hug Tohru, "Tohru-kun has changed too, you've grown much prettier!" Kisa smiled and blushed, "Eh?" She looked up at Hiro. Hiro grinned. Tohru smiled, he's become so matured... "Hiro-san has grown very matured," Tohru said and smiled. Kisa looked up at Hiro and smiled softly at Hiro, returning to his side.
"How have you been these days?" Tohru looked at Hiro and Kisa. Kisa blushed slightly and avoided eye contact. Hiro regarded Kisa for a while, smiling softly. Just like love-birds...Tohru smiled widely.
"They're together" Momiji cut in, "Akito has approved of their relationship!"
"EH?" Tohru exclaimed. "But how...?"
"Shigure-san went to talk to him," Momiji said, "Knowing Shigure is the only one who can talk to Akito...Hiro-chan went to talk to Shigure... and he agreed to help Hiro-chan..." On hearing that, Hiro held Kisa's hand and smiled at her. She blushed slightly.
POM!
Tohru looked away, allowing Momiji to change back into his clothes. "Hi again, Tohru-kun!" Tohru turned around and gasped. Momiji has also become such a handsome young man. He has 4 ear studs on his left ear and grown half a head taller than Tohru, he still had the cheerful disposition that he always have and he still wore French suits. His blond hair has grown longer too.
"Yo, Tohru-kun, we have to go back home, lunch is almost ready," Hiro regarded Kisa and gave her hand a tiny squeeze, "Let's go back before your Oka-san starts to worry," Kisa looked at Tohru. She gave a short nod, Kisa regarded Hiro and smiled as she nodded. Within a short while, Hiro and Kisa had left. Tohru thought about Momiji and his mother, and couldn't help but looked at him, feeling heavy at her heart.
"Tohru-kun... how... have you been these few years...?" Momiji's tone became serious. Tohru looked at Momiji. He must still be thinking about what happened...
"What... made you come back again?" Momiji said softly and looked at Tohru sadly. Tohru remained silent. Because of so many things... She wanted to say. Because...
[OOC: So sorry I had so many mistakes in this chapter! I edited it so I wouldn't sound like a typo-freak. .; I forgot about the Japanese thing, so here I am, explaining the terms used...I hope reading my chapters wasn't too painful ((I know it's reeally long, but bear with me, okay?)). I even made sure it was nicely paragraphed so it wouldn't look, frustratingly, like a dizzy blot of words... The plot is going to kick off now and along the way, I'll introduce how the rest have changed over the years. =] I hope you enjoy my story! It's my first fanfic I ever wrote! ((As you can see so obviously, this is a kyoru fic. I don't like Yuki, so I wrote less of him. XP... ))
Yamete - Stop
Daijobu – Are You All Right?
Kirei – Pretty
Oka-san - Mother]
Jyunishi - the 12 animal zodiac]