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 Eleven
Moving Forward


"Well, this little meeting didn't start off in the best way," Ms. Almont confided to Tohru as she returned to her side. "But it's served its purpose. Now, though, it's time to get back to work." Turning slightly, she motioned to the four patients.

"Haru is having a really good day today, so he and Momiji are going to be spending the rest of the time before lights out in the activity room. You can join them as soon as you've put your things away."

Tohru's eyes immediately dropped to the bag she held tightly in one hand, and then jerked away guiltily as she remembered what was nestled inside. She could feel a flush slowly climbing into her cheeks as her heart beat a bit faster. Nervously she swallowed, hoping to moisten her suddenly dry mouth.

Oblivious to Tohru's dilemma, Ms. Almont continued speaking. "I'll join you after I see Yuki to his room and have a little talk with Kyou. He's earned himself some alone time."

That caught Tohru's attention. "I hope he's not in trouble on my account. It was just an accident and didn't hurt too badly. There's not even a bump! Well, there is a bump, but that's from something else that happened days ago . . ."

An upraised hand cut her off. "No, this is from an incident earlier today, before you even arrived. Don't worry about it. Although the accident from a little while does help prove a point I was trying to make about restraint." The last word, heavily emphasized, was directed at the scowling Kyou.

"Anyway, we should all get moving. Momiji, Haru?" She motioned to the door. Momiji jumped to his feet and bounded in that direction. He paused a few steps away, waiting while Haru got up in a more restrained manner. He strolled out calmly, a chattering Momiji at his side.

As Ms. Almont looked at the two remaining patients, Tohru's mind was racing. This was the perfect opportunity to replace the rulebook without being seen. Ms. Almont would be preoccupied with her duties for the next several minutes so she'd have the office to herself.

But on the other hand, was it right for her to skip out on her job when Ms. Almont was obviously busy? It was wrong to avoid work, but avoiding work to accomplish another dishonest act seemed even worse. Even if it meant missing her chance this time around, it didn't feel right to just walk off.

In the end, she compromised with her conscience. "I'll see Yuki to his room," she offered carefully.

Ms. Almont hesitated for only a second as she eyed Kyou where he had resumed his sulking against the wall. "Are you sure?"

Smiling, Tohru hefted her bag. "It's no problem. His room is right across from the office so there's no extra walking or anything. And it is my job." Plus I should still have time to return the rulebook and get to the activity room while you're with Kyou, she added mentally.

"Well, since you're sure, thank you. It's a big help." With that she gave a flick of the wrist and a pointed look at the door to her charge. With a sound that was equal parts grunt and huff, Kyou pushed off the wall and stormed to the door. Ms. Almont followed, Leaving Tohru alone with Yuki.

As the door swung itself closed, she turned to the silent boy just a few feet away. Now that her offer had tied her into service, she was unsure of exactly how to proceed. How was she supposed to get Yuki to his room?

Staring at his down bent head, she sighed. The more time she spent debating her options the less time she would have to replace the rulebook. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward. Tohru stopped by Yuki's side and reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder. Although her touch was gentle, just barely resting against his shirt, she felt it the whole way up her arm.

The same might have been true for Yuki, if his reaction was any indication. The muscles under her hand jumped as he tensed at the gesture. Before she could lift her hand or take a step back, as were her first impulses, he raised his head and looked her straight in the eye.

Tohru felt the same thing she had felt the first time their gazes had locked. There seemed to be so much hidden in his eyes, with no way for it to come out.

"Um," she began, and then cleared her throat before going on. "It's time for you to go back to your room now." Giving in to her nervousness, she stepped back. The hand that had been resting on his shoulder smoothed her skit over her hip and then dropped to her side.

For a long moment she just stood there, waiting for his reaction. She wasn't sure what it would be, if there were even a reaction at all. Just because he had looked up at her touch didn't mean he would respond to her words. Feeling something and responding was a far cry from hearing and understanding words.

"If you're ready, I'll walk you there, okay?" It was the first and only thing to pop into her head, but it seemed to work. Yuki obediently rose to his feet. For the first time Tohru noticed that he was quite a bit taller than her. And every one of their other meetings, she had been standing while he sat, or sitting beside him.

It was a small, seemingly irrelevant realization, but it stuck out in her mind nonetheless. Maybe because it was so at odds with her image of him as someone who needed protected.

Tohru nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as Yuki trailed her into the hall. The sound of Momiji's laughter met them as they crossed the threshold, carrying clearly through the activity room's closed door. It reminded her of her timetable and caused her to quicken her steps. She didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that Yuki was following along behind.

As she reached his room and pulled open the door she paused, letting him enter first. When he was inside, she quickly followed suit. Yuki headed straight for the chair by the window that seemed to be his usual spot. But instead of sitting down like she expected him to, he merely retrieved something from the seat. Turning around, he offered it to her.

Looking down, Tohru recognized the magazines she had left behind the day before. She smiled at the evidence of their success. Sitting her bag down by the door, she stepped closer to him.

"You can keep those. I'll bring some new ones in next time, okay?"

Even with his almost sociable actions from just moments before, she really wasn't expecting an answer. So when a small smile tipped up the corners of his mouth, she was more than a little surprised. When he carefully placed the magazines in the center of the desk like they were treasured items, she felt a sense of satisfaction at haven given him something he liked.

"So you enjoyed looking through them?" she questioned, deciding to see how far his responsiveness would go. He nodded, his smile stretching a bit wider. "I'll bring a bigger selection next time, then, and maybe some books, too."

The way his face brightened at that cemented the fact that a trip to the library was in her near future. Maybe she could ask the other three boys if there was anything she could get for them . . .

Reluctantly noting the passage of time, Tohru knew that she had to get going. Smiling widely at him, she clasped her hands in front of herself. "I have to go now, but I'll be back soon," she told Yuki softly. "I'll see you then," she added as she backed to the door. Picking up her bag, she left, her eyes never leaving his face until the closing door blocked it out.

Although she would have liked to, Tohru couldn't allow her mind to linger on the last few minutes. She would just have to file all the details away to bring out and analyze later. Right now, she had a rulebook to replace.

Slipping into the office, she wasted no time placing her bag on the seat of her chair and pulling out the book. Unwrapping it, she shoved the scarf back into her tote bag and then turned to Ms. Almont's desk.

Eyeing the untidy surface, she tried to find the spot it had come from in the first place. She didn't want to put it in the wrong spot and risk drawing Ms. Almont's attention to it. Not that she thought that the other woman could possibly keep track of all the clutter, but it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

Finally spotting a sandwich wrapper that looked familiar, Tohru reached to lift a couple of folders and slide the rulebook underneath. As she raised the stack the needed few inches, the entire pile shuddered before settling back into place. Letting out the breath that had caught in her throat when everything shifted, she carefully pushed the rulebook into place.

Taking a step back, she stood with both hands palm out just in front of the heap, as if sheer will could keep it all in place. For a moment, it looked like it had worked. But even as she breathed a sigh of relief, sheets of paper began fluttering through the air. They were soon pinned to the floor by the folders and binders that came tumbling down moments later.

Tohru was staring at the still settling mess in horror when she heard the door behind her being opened. She twisted around to face Ms. Almont as she took two steps inside and then froze.

Even as her eyes fixed on the mess, Tohru began trying to explain. "I'm sorry! It was an accident! Everything just started to slide and once a couple of things fell, more and more things fell until it was all over the floor and I'm so sorry! I'll clean it all up right away. I'm sorry!"

"Tohru! Tohru, calm down!" Ms. Almont chuckled as Tohru fought to catch her breath after her babbled apology. "Do you have any idea how many times I've done that? Not to mention the fact that it's my fault in the first place that it gets out of hand. I just keep throwing more junk on top of the old junk. One of these days I'll have to clean that beast off." She eyed the desk critically before adding," However, today is not that day."

Shooting a smile at Tohru, she dropped to the floor and began stacking things randomly onto piles. Still feeling guilty over both the rulebook and the mess, Tohru quickly did the same. As she lined up about six folders, she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. The rulebook she had gone to such trouble to return was lying only a few inches in front of her.

Ms. Almont seemed to catch sight of it at the same time she did. Tohru lowered her head, peeking through her bangs so it wouldn't be obvious that she had been staring at it. As further cover, she hastily grabbed a handful of loose paper and began putting it in order.

It hadn't bee a full ten seconds later when Ms. Almont snatched the rulebook up. She then shoved it inside a manila folder before casting a quick glance at Tohru. Tohru dropped her eyes to the papers in her hands while tapping them against the floor to get them even. Apparently satisfied that her assistant was otherwise distracted, she twisted a bit, pulled open a drawer on her desk, and shoved it inside.

"You know what?" she asked, so suddenly that Tohru jumped. "Maybe I had better clean this thing off today. After all, I'll only be her for a little while longer and I won't have time to come down here and do it later. Plus, this will be your office then, and it would be unfair to leave you with all this junk."

"I can help, if you'd li-"

"No!" Ms. Almont softened the exclamation with a smile. You've already spent enough time helping me. This is my mess, and I'll clean it up. Besides, you have to get to Momiji and Haru. I checked on them before I came in here. They seemed fine, but they really shouldn't be left alone for too long."

Still more guilt flooded through Tohru. She had completely forgotten about the two patients she was supposed to be sitting with. Knowing that her job had to come first, she slowly got to her feet. With a few glances to where Ms. Almont was still straightening up, she stepped out into the hallway.

As she walked towards the activity room, her mind was replaying the past few minutes. Ms. Almont had been very eager to get her out of the room. And she had certainly wasted no time in sticking the rulebook well out of sight. It had been very obvious that the older woman was hiding something.

Tohru sighed. Even though she hadn't admitted it consciously, she had been hoping that Ms. Almont wasn't an active part of whatever was going on. She had seemed so nice, and almost personally involved with each of the patients. Finding out that she might be a willing participant in some wrongdoing against them was disheartening, to say the least.

She pulled open the activity room door to see Momiji and Haru seated at a table on the far side of the room. A board game was spread out in front of them. Haru was watching as Momiji sorted the brightly colored pieces.

As she crossed the room to their sides, Tohru had come to a decision. It was time to start asking questions and searching for answers.