Disclaimer: As they say, I do not own anything that is of Fruits Basket and of course, I'm not earning any profit from this either. I take no credit for the creations of Furuba.
A Pledge of Onigiri – Chapter Four – By Cherry Chibi
Kyo's POV
An innocent smile
Masking all sorrows and grief
Is one to be admired for
- - - -
The house was quiet. No sound could be heard except for the ticking of the clock hanging on the far wall. It was well into the late hours of the night. The others have already gone to bed to their respective areas. I however, am still wide awake. There was so much going through my head. My mind was way too active for me to be able to get any sleep anyway. Just awhile ago, when the doctor had departed, all he said was to make sure that Tohru gets enough rest and that she doesn't strain herself.
Anger just boiled within me. How can Tohru not strain herself? She already has a part-time job, she's doing the chores here and she also had to worry about school. What really angered me was that she always smiled. It was a trait that stood out. It was Tohru to be happy. Regardless what the situation is, she has to find some way to smile.I stifled a growl - that was probably the reason why I so blindly let her do as she wishes. Because of that stupid smile. When she smiles, I can't really tell what she's thinking.
I silently crept into the kitchen and walked over to the sink that was cramped with the dirty dishes. I wouldn't usually do this so voluntarily but if no one was going to wash the damn dishes then tomorrow for sure it would end up as a burden for Tohru. Earlier on I had decided to do it once everyone was asleep – I didn't want that rat-boy to see me. Damn I hate him! Someday real soon I'm going to throttle so bad that he would regret that he even existed!
After drying and packing the plates, bowls and the other stuff into the cupboards, I paused and thought of what I should do next. Maybe I can check on Tohru… just to see if she's alright. As silently as I could, I prowled out of the kitchen and up the stairs, towards where Tohru's room was. I slid open the shouji door and peeked in.
She was lying in the futon with the blankets covered right up to her chin. Her face stilled looked flushed but compared to earlier, I would say that she was recovering. Inside it was stuffy and I wondered why no one had opened the window. Were they so stupid and leave her to suffocate or something? I would've expected the wise-guy to have considered that. Guess I would have to open the window a notch then.
Entering the room with caution, I took walked over to the window and slid open the window a few centimetres. A cooling breeze entered. Alarm signaled through my senses when I heard Tohru mumble something and sat upright. Crap! "… Kyo-kun…?" Tohru said quietly. Great… now what?
"Don't get any ideas in your head." I said dully, "I'm only opening the window." I paused again. What do I say now? It looked like she wasn't going to say anything. Her eyes were just staring at me curiously.
"Oh, thank you Kyo-kun." She said after a moment and smiled.
"Uh, yeah. Whatever." I replied. It would've been easier if she had just yelled at me or something! I wasn't used to people being nice to me. But, I felt guilty. Maybe I should've shown a bit more… niceness towards Tohru. She was after all, being nice to me even though she knows that I turn into a cat. "How are you feeling?"
"Better." She said, "Kyo-kun, why is it that you turn into a cat and… Momiji becomes rabbit…" I must've had some scary face on or something because she immediately changed subject, "I'm sorry, um, I didn't mean to ask that." She gets flustered so easily. I almost chuckled at how sometimes she can be so stupid but at the same time, so… cute.
"You shouldn't apologize, it was only a question." I said as I sat cross legged on the floor boards. "I'll explain once so listen." In the next ten minutes or so, I told her about the Sohma family. I knew that I wasn't supposed to but she already knew about my secret and partially, about Momiji's. I had kept record of her face expressions and her responses. Not once did she look scared or horrified. Realizing that, I was somewhat relieved. She was amazed and after a moment, she was excited.
"It reminds me of the zodiac legend that mum use to tell me about all the time when I was little!" Tohru said brightly, "I cried when I first about it."
I raised an eyebrow. Why would she cry listening to that stupid legend anyway? She continued on explaining with great enthusiasm.
"When I first heard about it, I felt so sorry for the cat… and from that moment, I always had wanted to be the cat!" Tohru said, I was immediately stunned. She wanted to be a cat? Who would want to say something as stupid as that? Well, she did and she was being sincere about it – that made it a bit stranger. "I always loved the cat from the zodiac!" She said, getting a bit more excited. My face was heating up. I wanted to punch myself. She wasn't talking about me or anything. She was talking about a character from a legend. "So you're the cat of the zodiac…" Tohru said thoughtfully, "I hope that we can become good friends!"
"Uh…" I turned my face to another direction and quickly put myself together again. Once I had regained control of my emotions, I said, "It's not great being the cat." She stopped as soon as I said it. Almost as if she was asking, 'Why?' This was getting too much for me. I stood up, "You get looked down upon a lot and it really isn't any fun. Anything to do with the cat from the zodiac legend is stupid." Before she could put any of her words in, I concluded the conversation, "The doctor said for you to rest and not to strain yourself. Go at your own pace. Night."
Just as I walked out the door, I heard her say, "Good night Kyo-kun." Maybe I should really get a break now, it really is pointless staying awake any longer. Moving towards the ladder which led to the roof, I passed Shigure's room. Light was still seeping underneath the door. I stopped and narrowed my eyes. What was he up to in the hour of night?
"Yes, Tohru-kun is settling in… … … no she hasn't told anyone. … … I do think she's trustworthy. Yes, yes. Don't worry about it."
Typical. Even at this moment, he would still go reporting to the main house like a good dog. But by the sounds of it, Tohru won't be getting her memory erased… and she was going to be able to stay here. That was good news at least. I stopped eavesdropping then and continued to get up to the roof top.
- - - -
Early next morning I stepped out to the lounge room with a towel hanging around my neck. It felt better to take a bath and feel awakened. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by Momiji's loud annoying talking and Tohru. "Good morning Kyo-kun! You wake up quite early." I grumbled a response. What was she doing up now? She's supposed to be in bed. "I'm making breakfast." She said smiling brightly.
"And I'm giving Tohru a hand!" Momiji interjected loudly. He looked proud of himself. Don't know there is to be proud about though. Suddenly, Momiji turned to Tohru, his face bright as though he had just remembered something. "Oh that's right! I came here to give you welcome present Tohru-kun!"
"Me?" Tohru looked astounded. "Oh no, I can't accept it… I can't accept," She was cut off when Momiji shoved a box into her hands, making her even more flustered. "Momiji-chan… I can't… really…"
"Hehehe… Tohru-kun is so cute!" Momiji said, "I got it especially for you! You have to take it!"
This could take awhile if it keeps going at this rate. I could already see it. Tohru wasn't the kind of girl who would willingly accept gifts from others. She doesn't want to trouble anyone. She was always putting in effort to be selfless. She gives but doesn't take from others. After a few more seconds, I couldn't stand it any longer. "Just take the stupid present already!" I raising my voice silenced her and she finally accepted. I really didn't mean for it to come out that way but I really didn't know how else I could've said it.
I wasn't use to it…
After, I left the two to continue their conversation and to whatever they were doing and slumped onto a cushion seat. With a push of button I turned on the television.
'What a lovely morning it is today…we are expecting fine weather for the rest of the week. Today will be a top of…'
I heard a loud thud and immediately knew who it was. That stupid rat-boy. The door slid open and he entered. A nerve twitched. My hands itched to smash his face in. However, remembering my last experience attacking him early in the morning – I decided against the idea. My teeth grinded together like flint. Why was he always stronger when he's half asleep?! That meant that he's always holding back when we fight! I sneered at him.
"Sohma-kun isn't really a morning person is he?" Tohru asked.
"Morning Yuki-kun!" Momiji called.
Oh yeah… so typical… I watched from the corner of my eye as the rat-boy was sent waves of attention as he slowly woke up and greeted them properly. Yuki was always the one who was liked. I hated the fact that he had to be such a 'perfect' guy. The rat was always being compared to the cat in the Sohma family. We were destined to be rivals from the day of our births. I don't know why I had to be the one who had to suffer being the cat. The rat was always the special one. Always the best one. Always the most likeable one. First glance and he was easily attracting attention.
"Oh, so the stupid-cat over there isn't helping?" I heard Yuki say. I knew he was purposefully darting that comment at me. I sensed loathe in it. In return I growled and prepared for my reply.
"Don't you think that one helper is already enough?!" I said as I pounced onto my feet. Instantly, the atmosphere of the room tensed up and there was a death glare match. We always fought. Even for the tiniest reasons. I couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him! Let alone under the same roof!
"You didn't even ask if you could help, stupid-cat."
"I'm not a stupid-cat!!!" I roared back at him. I hated it when they called me that. For one, I'm NOT stupid. Rat-boy always made his sneering comments at me with some sort of snobby words to be connected with my name or title or whatever. "That's it… enough talk! Let's get this over with a fight! I'll beat the crap out of you!" I shouted at him as I raised my fists. I could tell that he was annoyed enough to agree to the fight. I grinned with anticipation.
"Wait!" Tohru stepped in. She looked almost… frightened – if that was the correct word to describe her face expression. "Please, don't fight." She was getting even more flustered. I was about to snap at her when something else caught my attention. When did she change her outfit? The red Chinese-like dress really suited her. But then I took note of the embroidery… the 12 zodiac animals?
"Miss Honda… you look nice." Yuki said.
Immediately, Momiji jumped in. "Of course it does! It really looks pretty on her! She looks very cute!" The sudden change of subject took its toll on her. She blushed a cute light shade of pink and looked down at her dress.
"Thank you." She said, "But…" After a big hesitation she said quietly, "But… there isn't a cat…" She said it so quietly and hesitantly that the Rat-boy and Momiji didn't hear. It sounded as though she was afraid that her comment would make it appear as though she was ungrateful for the present. I stifled a sigh.
She really must have been kidding. She was still going on about the cat. Even after I told her last night that being the cat wasn't good – that anything to do with the cat from the zodiac legend wasn't good. She was still persisting. Even though it may appear on the outside that I was being really cruel to say such things, somehow inside I felt glad that she liked the cat so much. I couldn't explain why I felt that way though. I just did.
For a short moment, she looked up at me. Our eyes locked and she smiled. I felt the heat in my cheeks and quickly turned my head another direction. Didn't know why I did that. I really didn't. However, seeing her smile at me like that…. Was…
"Kyo-kun!!" Shigure entered the room, "Good morning everyone! Guess what Kyo-kun?" I didn't respond to his stupid act. "You're going to have to stay here from now on. It's Akito's orders." I almost retaliated to that but held back. Even if Akito didn't order me to, I would've ended up staying anyway. Because I wanted to become friends… with Tohru.
- - - -
AN: Now that was a fun chapter to write! /Jumps around happy./ Another update to the fic! I thought that I would do this one in Kyo's POV since it felt like a good idea. /smiles/ Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it!
Thank you for reading everyone! Until next time!
Cherry Chibi.
