The Sohma Institute
By Lady of the Ink
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but you knew that. I hope. I do own this story, and all the plot twists it contains.
Chapter Seven
Whispers
Tohru continued with her notes until a sound from the doorway pulled her attention from the sheets of paper spread before her. Jotting down one last thought, she twisted in her chair in time to see Ms. Almont's head poke around the doorjamb. The older woman took a cautious look around the room, as though trying to make sure that no one was hiding behind the few pieces of furniture. When she finally stepped inside, Tohru thought for a moment she would drop to her hands and knees for a check under the desks and chairs.
While she didn't go that far, she still appeared slightly ill at ease as she leaned her back against the wall, directly inside the door.
"So," she asked in an overly casual voice, "how did your first meeting with Ayame go?"
"It was fine. He was a little . . .different from the people I'm used to dealing with, but I think everything went well. We talked for a bit, and then I left him to his visit. He seemed nice."
An incredulous expression rose to her face. "'He seemed nice'? Things went well?" She seemed to take a moment to allow that to sink in. Then she began firing off questions in rapid succession. "He didn't try to measure you? Or convince you to come to his store? He didn't start suggesting outfits and color schemes to compliment your complexion and build? He didn't try to drag you out to dinner and convince you become a model or something like that?"
"Uh, no. Should he have?"
"Oh, no, it's not that. It's just that Ayame is a very outgoing type of person. Not a bad person, mind you. He's just extremely social, and that's been a little off-putting to some of the others who worked on this floor. You really didn't have any problems with him?" She didn't seem able to believe that Tohru hadn't had any problems.
"None at all. He seemed a bit surprised when I left, though. Maybe he was expecting me to stay, but I didn't want to intrude."
"You did the right thing. No problems there. I was just a little worried that he might have upset you, since it was your first meeting." She swiped her hand across her brow in an exaggerated gesture. "Whew, now that that's behind you, everything should be smooth sailing from here on out." She smiled. "So what have you been up to while Yuki was otherwise occupied?"
Turning back to her desk, Tohru stacked the papers she had been working on into a neat pile. While she had gotten a good way through the rules, she wasn't finished yet, and so was hesitant about bringing up her idea. Deciding to wait until she had found out everything that she could, she answered honestly but vaguely. "I was working on an idea I had for helping Yuki. I figured I'd get a head start with him since I'll be dividing my time between all four of the patients on this floor soon."
"That reminds me," Ms. Almont exclaimed, finally moving away from the wall and towards her desk. "I have those files for you somewhere around here. I wanted to give them to you tonight, since it would be a good time for you to go over them and get some idea of what to expect for tomorrow."
Tohru nodded, realized the gesture was lost on the other woman who was digging through her desk, and answered again out loud. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea. But don't hurry. I have to get some things I left in Yuki's room before lights out." A preoccupied nod was her only reply.
Quickly slipping through the door and across the hall, she paused in front of 12-A. There was silence from inside, something she doubted would be occurring were Ayame still present. Glancing at her watch for the first time, Tohru realized that it was much later than she had thought. Visiting hours had been over for almost an hour, and soon it would be time for her to head home.
Feeling slightly more rushed now that she knew the time, Tohru grasped the doorknob. If she stayed too late, she would miss the last bus of the night that went by her apartment. Then she would have to call a taxi, which would take money she didn't have to spare. Not to mention that Saki and Arisa would be worrying themselves sick if she wasn't home at her usual time. She could just imagine them calling The Institute looking for her, and demanding to know what had happened . . . Not the best way to make a good impression at a new job.
Opening the door, Tohru stepped quietly inside. She wasn't sure if Yuki was asleep or awake, and she didn't want to disturb him any more than she had to. A swift glance showed that the overhead light was out, with the only illumination coming from a softly glowing recessed light in the wall over the table.
While the chair Yuki had been sitting in during her two previous visits was still positioned in the same spot, it was empty. The sight caught Tohru off guard. She whipped her head around, trying to locate him in the dim room. It took a moment before she made out where he was on the bed.
He lay over the covers, his hands folded on his stomach while his face pointed at the ceiling. She caught the dimmest reflection of light off his eyes, telling her that he was awake. Not sure whether she should speak to him or just gather her things and go, Tohru paused in the doorway. Deciding it would be rude not to say anything, she settled for a simple, quietly spoken explanation.
"I'm just here for my things. Don't let me bother you." Crossing to the table, she began to gather the magazines from where they were still spread in haphazard piles. At the last moment, she kept two from the stack. Leaving those on the table (an act that she knew was allowed from her ongoing review of the rulebook), she scooped the rest into her arms and headed back to the door.
As she passed the bed, she heard a slight swish, the sound of something moving over fabric. Stopping in her tracks, she turned . . .and found herself face to face with Yuki. Or at least as face to face as two people could get when they were two feet apart and one was standing while the other was in bed.
Time seemed to slow as she stared into those eyes again. In sunlight, when she could see all the subtle colors that swirled within them, they had been dazzling, ethereal in their clearness. Now, in a room brimming with shadows, they fairly screamed of mystery, their murky depths unfathomable.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she suffered the oddest feeling that she was going to drown in those. Frightened, she broke eye contact, dropping her gaze to the floor. When she spoke, her voice had a raspy quality to it, and it shook slightly. "Well, I'll be going now. Good night."
Hurrying as she was, Tohru never heard the softly whispered sentence that floated after her as she fled the room.
"Good night."
When she reentered the office, Ms. Almont was standing by her desk, folders in her hand. Seeming not to notice her new co-worker's agitation, she flashed a quick smile.
"I just noticed the time. You have to be going, don't you?" As usual, she didn't wait for a response before launching into her next sentence. "Here, let me give you a hand so that you aren't late."
There was a thud as she dropped the folders carelessly on Tohru's desk. Taking the tote from where it hung on the back of the chair, she held it open so the magazines could easily be slipped inside. While Tohru was adjusting the straps, she heard papers being gathered. As soon as she stood, the thick pile was shoved into her hands.
Ms. Almont ushered her through the door and down the hall, relating some last minute instructions at an amazing speed. "Remember to go over all my notes carefully. There's also some information from the other people who've worked this floor. Anything you learn now may be a big help later on. Pay equal attention to mentions of the doctors and other employees. You'll be meeting them soon, and reading this stuff should give you at least a vague idea of what they might expect from you." They reached the elevator, and she punched the button since Tohru's hands were full. "Oh, and I suggest trying to get a good night's sleep as well. You'll need it."
As Tohru stepped into the elevator, she saw Ms. Almont give her a little wave as the doors slid closed. Still off balance from the incident with Yuki and now feeling a bit dazed from the rapid-fire instructions, she allowed herself to slump against the cool metal wall behind her. It looked like it was going to be a long night.
When she left the building, she saw her bus looming as it closed in on the bus stop. Breaking into a run, she clutched the folders to her chest so she wouldn't drop them. Making it just in time, she slipped into a seat towards the front and struggled to catch her breath.
Tohru scooted away from the aisle and dropped her burdens onto the seat beside her. Due to the late hour, there tended to be few other passengers, and this night was no different. An older man sat two seats behind her and two teenaged boys were huddled near the back.
Leaning her forehead against the cool window, Tohru allowed herself to relax. It had been the most hectic day at the Institute yet, and she had a feeling things were going to speed up a lot more in the coming days. She had three more patients to get to know, any number of other staff members to become familiar with, and all that with the knowledge that she'd soon be dealing with it on her own.
Groaning quietly, she lifted her head and then allowed it to thump back against the window with a thud. Ms. Almont's parting advice came back to her. "Get a good night's sleep," indeed. She'd be lucky to get any rest at all.
Still in a gloomy mood, Tohru stepped off the bus twenty minutes later. As it roared away, she walked with dragging steps to her building, tiredly digging through her coat pocket for her keys. As expected, her telephone rang only moments after she stepped inside. Reassuring Arisa (whose turn it was to call every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) that she had made it home okay, she dropped the phone back onto its cradle and slipped off her shoes.
Ignoring the temptation of the sofa, she crossed to her desk. Setting the files in the middle of the empty surface, she put the tote bag full of magazines on the floor beside it. Remembering her early work, she hurried to the kitchen to grab her copy of the rulebook off the counter where she had left so she could finish that first. As she was sorting through the folders to find her notes, she realized that Ms. Almont had also picked up the copy of the rules that she had been using at work.
Tohru paused, looking back and forth between the two volumes. The covers were exactly the same, with identical pictures of the Institute right in the center. But she knew that what they had inside that cover was quite different.
Casting a quick look at the folders she should be going through, Tohru fought a losing battle with her curiosity. Deciding that she could read them between classes and during her free period, she set the thick manila bundles aside. Placing the two books side by side, she flipped them both open and began comparing from page one.
