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.
AN: Hello everyone! I'm really, really, really, so, so, so sorry for not updating for so long! I hope that this chapter would make up for the wait.
Oh yes, just for the reviewer who asked if I was British because I spelled 'Mom' as 'Mum'... the answer is no. I'm Australian. /thumbs up/
A Pledge of Onigiri – Chapter Six – By Cherry Chibi
Secrets bound with fate
A Pledge of Onigiri
Remember once more
- - - -
Kyo's POV from Chapter 5
"I feel like some ice-cream! Shall we get some?" Tohru's voice sliced through like a cheerful melody breaking a trance that we had fallen into. "Let's go! I'm sure that Kyo-kun, Sohma-kun, Momiji-kun and Shigure-san wouldn't want to stay outside for too long!" Suddenly, she took my hand and with a tug she was soon pulling me along. Momiji was holding her other hand.
The silence still carried through but it wasn't as uncomfortable as before. Today, I realised that there was clearly something being kept from me. The way that Yuki, Shigure and Momiji acted for those short moments were proof that something was being hidden. I had to find out. What was it that made Momiji's intended 'teasing' so serious?
- - - -
"Yummy!" A child-like cry tore across the table. Momiji was happily eating away his double vanilla chocolate topping ice cream that had been sided with a serving of jelly and fruit salad. Eventually, he stopped and licked the back of his spoon and looked onward to Tohru. "Tohru-kun, aren't you going to eat?" He asked with a radiant smile.
'If he can smile any bigger, he's head would be brighter than the sun.' Kyo thought to himself sarcastically as he played with his share of dessert. In truth, he didn't feel like eating anything. His mind was occupied with so many other things. Things such as what could it be that the other's were keeping a secret from him and why did it matter so much. Other questions were just trailing into his head one after the other and they were putting him in a foul mood since he didn't have any direct answer for them. It was like an archer missing his target by miles and never seeming to get any closer or make any improvement.
Tohru smiled, "Yeah. It looks yum." She said enthusiastically. It was exciting and she really felt that she belonged into the Sohma family. Regardless of the fact that she had known them for only a short while. Looking up from her ice cream, she hid her disappointment when she saw the cold look in Yuki's eyes and the masked concern within Shigure's thoughtful gaze. What was it in the family that made them all seem to bear their own unique grief? Since earlier, Tohru had been thinking a lot about it too. It felt as though no matter how close she came to revealing the truth, she would somehow rebound from it and end up in square one.
She really wanted everyone to relax and have a good time. She really wanted everyone to forget their troubles and just be carefree and cheerful. Thinking of something up quickly, a smile soon lit her face brighter. "I know! Why don't we play a game?" Tohru asked. "It's really fun." Upon hearing the word 'game' it seemed as though everyone decided to listen in.
Tohru immediately moved into explaining. "The game is called Dai Hin Min."
- - - -
"I got a winning hand."
"You damn rat!" Kyo slammed his handful of cards onto the table. "That game was rigged!"
Tohru giggled. It was already their fifth round and so far, Yuki was winning with five games in his hand. Momiji and Shigure continued playing while Yuki and Kyo squabbled on with their argument. 'At least everyone has loosened up a bit...' She thought happily. Any trace of how the situation felt from earlier had vanished to not even a speck of dust.
"That's it! I am so getting sick of you!" Kyo shouted.
"Funny. I never thought that you would ever leave me alone." Yuki replied as he settled his hand of cards onto the table. Looking at Tohru's direction he smiled, "Honda-san, it's getting fairly late. Are you tired?" His sudden actions of ignoring Kyo made fumes vent from the cat's head.
She would've replied with a 'no' but her gentle yawn gave it away. Seeing this chance to speak, Shigure made his intervention. "Oh! Tohru-kun, looks like we should get home. You've been so busy lately and you really must be tired. Come, come! Don't want to have to deal with pesky lecherous boys all night!" Shigure just felt amused when he saw the others shoot glares at him.
"I would say that you were the one who is lecherous." Kyo stated.
"For once, I agree with you." Yuki added.
- - - -
"Good night everyone." Shigure said as he made his way back to his workroom. "Don't be too late." He gave a wink and hurried off before anyone could make a move to get him. As the shouji door of his room closed, they heard him chuckle.
"Why is he in such a hurry?" Yuki questioned as he removed his coat.
"Well, he really must be behind work. Thank you for tonight everyone!" Tohru said radiantly. Heading towards the stairs she stopped at the foot of the steps with her hand resting against the wall. Her eyes flickered with something that didn't match her happy mask. Kyo had a feeling that he needed to ask her but before he could, Momiji had cut in.
"Tohru-kun... are you alright?" He hurried up from behind her and gave her a shock.
"Argh! Oh... I'm sorry... Yes, I'm fine. I'm going to go to bed. Good night!"
Her reaction had given him a further reason to look into the lurking demon that placed such a grim aura on their evening. His eyes gazed at the onigiri pendant as it swung in tiny circles on the silver chain as he held it up. Within seconds he found himself comparing the pendant to the stars and the moon in the sky... after that, he completely zoned out.
"Kyo? What are you doing here?"
"I-I want to meet her before I..."
Clatter. Kyo stared at the onigiri pendant shine against the tiles. "It... can't be..."
"What can't be?" A cheerful voice caught him off guard.
"Hell! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Kyo shouted, Tohru laughed and then climbed fully up the ladder and took a seat beside him. They fell silent but it was comfortable and gave them a warm feeling within.
She would've been in bed but she couldn't sleep. For some reason, when she stopped by the stairs, something struck her. The whole evening felt like deja vu for her and she really wondered why. Usually, Tohru would let that feeling pass but it stuck on her like two magnets. As she lay in bed, her mind kept thinking about it and eventually, she just had a gut feeling that it was something to do with her past. Not a lot of it, just a small section of it. "A lot has happened recently..." Tohru said with a smile, her eyes fell back on Kyo. They seemed to be trying to lead him to another point of their meeting. "But I never thought that I would remember and think through so many things."
"Heh. Yeah..." From the corner of his eye he could see her smile. "What are you smiling about?" In his mind, he was saying, 'what are you doing up here in a time like this?'
"There are a lot of things to smile about." Tohru said with a giggle. Her fingertips played with the pendant that hung around her neck. Watching her, Kyo thought about it. She was always doing her best to look at the positives in a situation. In a situation like this, she still manages to find something to smile about. But because she was always smiling, he never knew what she was actually thinking or what she was feeling. Somewhere deep down she must have been thinking that she would be able to carry her burden alone. "Kyo-kun, do you ever wonder if we've met before?"
That question struck him like lightning. He didn't show any reaction but inside his feelings were churning with some form of excitement. Maybe he really did have part of the answer but there was much more that he needed to look into. Maybe a part that feels missing from inside could finally be replaced. "Maybe."
"You really think?!" Tohru suddenly pounced onto her hands and knees. "Then it really probably isn't just deja vu or anything like that." Her excitement was making him uncomfortable and the fact that their faces were only inches apart didn't help either. "It's just that while I was thinking, I been having this feeling that we've met somewhere before. But you didn't go to my school and I don't think that I've met you at the shopping centre or..." She stopped and then a tinge of pink touched her cheeks. "Why are you so red Kyo-kun?"
"Ah..." Kyo didn't realise that his face had turned red and he turned his face quickly to another direction. While Tohru had been speaking, Kyo had realised at how beautiful she looked when she was happy and how he loved watching her when she smiled. 'This isn't the time to think like that...' When Tohru's hand pressed against his forehead he squirmed. "Hey!" He edged away. 'Being too close to her isn't good for me...'
"You're not coming down with a fever..." Tohru said. A 'chipping' like sound was heard and Tohru got distracted by it. Her eyes widened when she realised what it was. An onigiri pendant with a sapphire jewel was rolling off the roof. "Oh no!" As an instant reaction, she charged and reached out for it.
"Hey! There's a loose tile there!" Kyo's warning came a second too late and Tohru's knee hit the shaky surface and slipped. He pounced and grasped her shoulder before she could fall off edge. Whatever happened next seemed to be slightly confusing but the consequence was stomach lurching. He was on his hands and knees above Tohru with one hand gripping her shoulder firmly. "Tohru-kun... are you alright?"
Pink smeared on her cheeks as she stared at Kyo's face. In her right hand that was hanging off the roof's edge, she could feel the silver chain dangle around her fingers. "I..." Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. It was a close call and she was relieved.
"What are you crying for?" Kyo questioned. He tried to replace his embarrassment with anger but it was wearing off really fast, his tone became gentler as he spoke. Sighing, he brushed her tears away with his thumb. He could feel her soft skin under his touch. "Look, I... really... don't like tears..."
"ARGH! KYO-KUN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO TOHRU-KUN?! YOU'RE MAKING HER CRY!!"
The whiny shout made Kyo freeze. Turning his red face towards the direction of the intruder he swallowed with embarrassment, "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK YOU BRAT!!!" Privacy was so damn hard to get these days and out of all times to be interrupted it had to be in such an embarrassing situation. Before he could move away from Tohru a well delivered punch struck his face and sent him flying back. He crashed onto the roof hard. "Damn it!" He got onto his feet and yelled, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep you damn rat?!"
"I didn't think that you'd be so low." Yuki responded.
"W-Wait! It's not what you think Sohma-kun!" Tohru quickly interfered. Suddenly all eyes were on her. "You see, um... this..." She held out the necklace, "Was going to roll off the roof and I went to save it but I slipped on a loose tile..." She pointed to the tile, "And then I was about to fall off but Kyo-kun saved me." For a moment she looked anxious and then concluded, "I-I wasn't crying either. Some dust got into my eye..."
"Oh... so Kyo-kun wasn't trying to give Tohru-kun a kiss..." Momiji added acting thoughtfully.
"YOU'RE NOT MAKING THIS ANY EASI-" Once again Kyo was hit in the face by Yuki. "Dammit! What's wrong with you?!" He shot a death glare towards Yuki who just reflected his sneer. Somehow, it made it seem as if Yuki was giving him some form of warning but at that moment, Kyo didn't care.
"Miss Honda, you didn't hurt yourself did you?" Yuki turned his attention to Tohru and smiled, "That idiot didn't do anything to make anything worse did he?"
Tohru blushed and shook her head. "N-No he didn't. Everything is OK!" As things settled, Tohru gave Kyo a sympathetic look but she gave him a smile of assurance as well as gratitude. Sensing that he wasn't in any mood for any fights and she didn't want to see them shoot anymore bad words at each other, she said, "Everything's alright so Sohma-kun, Momiji-chan... why don't we all get to bed?"
"Yeah! Good idea!" Momiji said as he climbed down the ladder towards the ground floor of the house. Yuki followed him and soon enough, peace was restored to the atmosphere.
Kyo was busy within his withdrawal cursing about Yuki but he was interrupted by Tohru. "Are you alright Kyo-kun?" She looked concerned and was analyzing the bruises that were forming on his cheeks. "Sohma-kun really hits hard..."
"Yeah. I'm fine." Kyo said glumly, "But you're alright aren't you?"
"Yes. And it's thanks to you." Tohru tucked the necklace into Kyo's hand. "Keep it safe yeah?" She smiled.
"Yeah, I..." Heat pumped straight to his head when Tohru leaned forward and kissed his cheek. It was a timid and quick touch but it sent adrenaline through his body.
"A kiss to make it better, good night Kyo-kun!" She giggled and soon was climbing down the ladder. She flashed him a beautiful smile - a smile that illuminated his dreams that night.
- - - -
