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A Thousand Cranes
Chapter Seven – Pinky Promises
Tohru opened up her eyes groggily to the morning sunshine and the constant chirping of the bluebirds outside of her window. She sat up slowly, letting out a giant yawn and a silly smile tug on her lips along with her yawn. For some reason she had woken up feeling inexplicably happy, and she knew that reason could only be one thing. Him. He was always the one that brightened up her days and made her smile wider than usual, it was a wonderful feeling. She smiled to herself again and hopped out of her bed to begin her daily morning routine which consisted of brushing her teeth, washing her face, and brushing her hair. She then got dressed and decided on taking a long walk in the wonderful weather, thinking hopefully to herself,
Maybe I'll see Kyo
She smiled at that thought and stepped outside of her house, letting the morning sunshine wash over her body. She was just about to jog down the steps to her house when she caught sight of a pale boy with lavender eyes and hair which made her freeze completely. Her eyes lost their light and she was about to turn her back to go inside her house again but Yuki raced up to her quickly and grabbed her wrist to make her turn around to face him. Yuki looked straight into her wide hurt eyes and said with a low voice,
"Look, what happened yesterday is not what you think, okay? I mean I saw you with some other guy at the prom that night... so I was angry, and one thing led to another, but it meant nothing thought. So…let's just forget about everything that happened yesterday and start over, okay?"
Tohru searched his eyes for a moment and saw a hint of guilt in his eyes, but she knew in her mind that she had to break it off with him now or never, so she shook her head quickly while averting her eyes downward towards the gravel.
"I'm sorry, but things have to end between us."
She looked back up at him again and then said to him truthfully,
"But… I still want to be friends."
Yuki felt the pain flash through his body at the word "friend" and he asked with a pinch of whininess in his voice,
"You can't give me another chance?"
Tohru backed away from him a few inches and tucked a strand of honey hair behind her ear as she replied quietly,
"I'm sorry, but it wouldn't be right to go on with this relationship. It's better for the both of us."
Yuki turned his back to her with pain in his heart and as he was about to walk away from her, he said with in a questioning voice,
"So… I'll talk to you at school?"
Tohru stayed where she was and replied warmly,
"Definitely. Thank you for understanding Yuki-kun."
Yuki just lifted a hand in a wave and walked off into the distance with his hands stuffed in his pockets. She watched him until he disappeared at the end of the road, slowly feeling her shoulders roll back in relaxation, and a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders. She felt so relieved at that moment, and before she knew it, her smile had come back at full force. She blew out a long breath and continued on her way around the block to a certain someone's house. She casually passed by Kyo's house and fortunately she found him sitting outside underneath the huge oak tree. She walked over to him with a saccharine grin on her face as she planted herself right next to him under the big oak tree. Kyo looked over sideways at her and felt his heart pound as he shot a lopsided grin at her, greeting her with a simple,
"Hey."
"Hey... what are you doing out here?"
Kyo just shrugged and turned his head forward to look straight ahead at the grass swaying in the gentle breeze that was picking up gradually. He shrugged casually and said,
"Just wanted to come out, nothing special."
Tohru nodded and sat there awkwardly for a moment before asking,
"You don't mind that I sit here right?"
Kyo blushed and shook his head furiously, trying his best to look angry with her, but he just couldn't seem to wipe the smile off of his face as he said,
"You don't have to ask for permission! Geez…"
Tohru smiled back at him and nodded shortly before replying,
"Okay. I'll keep that in mind."
For a while they both watched the forest green leaves float gently down from the sky with a comfortable silence falling between them in the tranquil evening. Finally, Tohru cast a sideway glance at Kyo and then asked bashfully,
"Hey… do you remember our promise?"
Kyo raised one eyebrow and smirked at her,
"Refresh my memory or something."
FLASHBACK [ BACK WHEN THEY WERE SIX ] Under the oak tree…
It was a dark night and the sky was filled with clusters and clusters of stars that filled the night sky completely from right to left. The moon was peeking out from above a pale cloud in the star filled heavens. Kyo and Tohru were sitting underneath the oak tree silently and Tohru was looking all the way up at the wild tree branches of the tree. Kyo watched as she stared upward at the tree and asked curiously,
"What are you looking at?"
Tohru lowered her head and confessed with embarrassment,
"Hm… I know this is going to sound weird, but I've always wanted to sit down on one of those branches with my…um… true love."
Kyo snickered behind his hand once the words tumbled from her mouth and he said to her with a smirk,
"You think about stupid stuff like true love?"
Tohru's face heated up while she looked away from his laughing eyes and said defensively,
"It crosses my mind every now and then… it's just a fantasy."
Kyo shrugged and pointed his chin upward towards the sky before suggesting casually,
"Hm… maybe sometime if you don't find that true love person then I'll take you up there… and you know, sit there with you."
Tohru sprang up and her eyes danced with excitement as she exclaimed loudly,
"Really?! You would do that?"
Kyo shrugged and replied coolly,
"Sure."
Tohru jumped up from her spot and clapped her hands together with elation as she bounced on her heels,
"Is that a promise Kyo-kun?"
Kyo rolled his eyes and yelled out,
"It's such a stupid promise though!"
Tohru's face fell and she blinked rapidly before giving him pleading eyes along with a pout, making him groan out loud and hold out his pinky to her,
"Fine! I promise alright? Geez…"
Tohru giggled and held out her pinky giddily, linking it with his, and echoing with happiness,
"Promise!"
END FLASHBACK
Kyo thought back for a moment and when the flashback finally dawned on him, his whole face perked and his eyes widened as he pointed his index finger up,
"Oh! That promise!"
Tohru nodded and blushed deeply as she asked tentatively and slowly,
"Is it too late to fulfill that promise?"
Kyo gave her a full fledged smile and answered back,
"Hey, I said I'd take you up there sometime right?"
Tohru stood up from her spot, brushing off the grass pieces from the seat of her pants and looked up at the tree, gulping down a lump in her throat.
This thing seems pretty high though…
She was bought back to reality when she felt a warm hand grabs hers and she looked down to see that Kyo was holding her hand in his, soothing her apprehension completely. He smiled at her and gave her the thumbs up sign before hoisting her up so that she could grab onto the lowest branch. Once she grabbed hold of the branch, she lifted herself up slowly and onto the branch after a minute or so. After she was safely sitting on the branch, he climbed up with agility and sat right next to her on the tree branch. The branch shook a little and Kyo smirked when he saw her whole body stiffen, so he asked with a raised eyebrow,
"Scared?"
Tohru's eyes traveled down to see how high up from the ground she was and her eyes quickly flew back up so that she didn't have to think about the fall. Kyo chuckled and said,
"Geez, you're really scared aren't you?"
"N-no! You don't have to w-worry about me."
Tohru laughed nervously and she gripped the branch tightly with her fingers, wondering if the branch would crack, causing both of them to get injured. Kyo rolled his eyes and stated gruffly,
"How about this, if you fall I'll catch you no matter what, okay?"
He looked away and then said with more gentleness added in his voice,
"I'll protect you…"
He leaned in closer and lifted his pinky finger with a grin on his face as he wiggled if in front of her face. She blushed to a crimson color and felt her muscles ease as she lifted her pinky, linking it with his in a promise.
After a few minutes of taking in the wonderful weather and watching the world in silence, Kyo nervously cast a glance at Tohru thinking to himself,
She's so pretty right now…I wish I could…
Tohru looked at Kyo fully and saw him in such a thoughtful state so she asked,
"What are you thinking right now Kyo-kun?"
He snapped out of his thoughts, and nearly fell off of the tree branch but held on tightly to regain his composure again. He turned beet red, twiddling his thumbs together and finally turned his head, locking his eyes with her and feeling a shed of confidence speak up for him,
"Could you close your eyes for a sec?"
Tohru felt her heart skip a beat as she obeyed him and let her eyes flutter shut. Before another thought could fly across her mind she felt warm lips being pressed on top of hers, and time stopped altogether.
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