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.
Dedication: To everyone who has taken the time to review. I really do appreciate it.
Chapter Fifteen
Seeds Are Sown
Ten minutes into her shift on Monday afternoon, Tohru was just finishing her first self-imposed task of the day. She had arrived at work with a lighter heart and two shopping bags filled with various items. After running them all by Ms. Almont, she had retreated to her current location to put everything in order.
Saturday's revelation had merely allowed Tohru to re-concentrate her focus on the job she had been hired to do. She had no reason to feel slighted or lied to. What her bosses did or did not tell her about the patients she worked with was, when you got right down to it, none of her business. She didn't need to know the last names of the people in her charge to give them the best care that she was capable of giving.
With that thought in mind, she had used Sunday afternoon to scour several stores. While she had never been a huge fan of shopping, two things kept it from being an unpleasant experience. For one, she wasn't shopping for herself, but for someone else. If the actual response her purchases invoked mirrored her imagined ones, it would have been worth braving the long lines and grumpy people.
The second reason she didn't mind was the fact that the trip had come to represent her new attitude concerning her work. She was putting the happiness her undertaking would bring others ahead of the slight irritation it brought her. From then on, her full attention would be given to her patients' care, not wild imaginings and unwarranted suspicions.
Her eyes slid over the supplies she had laid out. She had decided that more one on one time was needed for her to be at ease with the four boys, and them with her. The course of action she had chosen was to spend time with each of them separately, doing something that she thought they would enjoy.
Although she had spent some time with them all, Yuki was the one she knew the most about. It was almost funny, since he was the one who spoke the least, or rather, not at all. But during their time together, she had gotten some clues as to what he might enjoy.
That idea was what had her sitting in the lunchroom of the twelfth floor with a table full of gardening things set up in front of her. She had just finished arranging them all the way she wanted and was ready to take the next step. Rising from her seat, she headed out the door and down the hall to Yuki's room.
The book she had picked up at the library on Saturday had been extremely helpful and informative. It had had clear lists of what she would need, and simple instructions on what to do. Following it faithfully, she had bought pots, soil, seeds, and other necessary equipment for indoor gardening. All that was left was to actually plant the seeds, an activity she was hoping would be pleasant for Yuki.
Tohru knocked lightly on his door, waited for a moment, and then stepped inside. He was seated where he had been every other time she had entered his room: in a chair by the window, gazing outside. She smiled when she saw him turn to look her way, an action she took for a positive sign. Moving to his side, she held out one hand.
"Come on, I have a surprise for you."
For a moment he just stared at her hand and she was afraid he might not give any sign of having heard her. But then she felt a cool palm slip into her own and took a step back to give him room as he stood. Her smile wavered a bit at his closeness, but she quickly reinforced it as she led him to the door. She couldn't help but wonder if his obedience in following her down the hall came from trust or just a habit of doing as he was told. She also wondered if she could summon the nerve to ask him.
When they reached the lunchroom, she held the door open and motioned for him to precede her inside. Yuki took two steps, and then stopped. Tohru looked at his face, only to find his eyes locked on the table. She waited, her breath stalled in her throat, for some hint as to his reaction. When it came, it was more than she had been expecting. The corners of his mouth turned upward and something sparked in his eyes. Dragging his attention from the table, he looked at her.
"For me?"
Although she tried to keep her shock from her face, Tohru was fairly certain it was still showing. She struggled to get her emotions under control and answer in a calm voice. However, her words and thoughts were two completely different things.
"Yes, it's for you."
'I can't believe he finally spoke!'
"I just thought it was something we could do together."
'I wasn't expecting anything like this!'
"That is, if you don't mind the company."
'His voice isn't how I imagined it would sound.'
"If you'd rather do this alone, I would completely understand."
'This moment is so much more exciting than I would have expected it to be.'
"Together is fine. I think I would like that." Yuki's voice wasn't hesitant, but the softness of his tone made him sound a bit shy. She wondered if it was a side effect of not speaking for so long, or if he had always talked that way.
The moment stretched out gently as she smiled up at him and he smiled back. Then, with a couple of quick blinks to break the eye contact, Tohru roused herself back into action. "You might just change your mind about that. I've never really done anything with plants before, so I'm a real novice. Everything I know comes from a book I checked out in the library a few days ago. Oh!" she gasped, turning on her heel and moving to the table. "That reminded me; these are for you."
She lifted the stack of magazines she had bought and held them out to him. "There aren't too many, but I hope there's enough to interest you. I wasn't sure exactly which kind you would like best, so I got a variety. There are a lot more gardening magazines than I would have thought. They have one for landscaping, one for vegetable gardens, one for flowers, a whole bunch for how to arrange your backyard kind of garden, and like a dozen that were combinations of all of those. I must have stood at the magazine rack for almost an hour trying to decide.
"Not that I minded, really," she hurried to add. "It was actually pretty fun choosing after awhile. But I have to admit, I'll be grateful if you can help narrow down the selection for next time."
"You don't have to go out of your way for me. You do plenty by just coming here." He took the magazines from her hands, but kept his eyes locked on her face.
Tohru could feel a blush working its way up her neck at his intent expression. Feeling unsure of herself, she dropped her gaze to the table. Trying to stabilize the moment, she shifted the conversation to something safer.
"So, do you know a lot about gardening, or are you just interested in it in an outside kind of way? Either way, you probably know more than me, but honestly, that's not saying much." She gave a small laugh that came out a bit higher than it normally would have sounded.
"I used to have a garden." One corner of his mouth kicked up again, and Tohru marveled. A week of few responses, and now she had seen two smiles and was having an ongoing conversation with him, all in one afternoon. She returned her focus to his words. "I called it my secret base, although I'm sure other people knew about it. It was my favorite place for thinking."
An expression came over his face that was strongly reminiscent of Momiji when he had spoken of playing the violin. It was the same mixture of wistful remembrance and slightly bitter loss that had moved her so then. Her reaction was the same as well, as she rushed to lighten his mood.
"Well, this isn't quite as cool as a secret base, but I think it's going to be fun. I just really hope I don't make any bad mistakes."
"I'll talk you through it," Yuki told her solemnly. Even with the small twinkle in his violet eyes, she believed him wholeheartedly. Nodding in only slightly feigned reverence, she gestured toward to the items on the table.
"Talk away."
Tohru leaned her hip against the counter in the lunchroom as her eyes swept over the table and floor. She wanted to be absolutely sure that she had gotten everything during her cleaning spree. It would be rude, in her mind, to leave behind an unexpected mess for whoever usually did the cleaning.
She had spent most of the night with Yuki, listening avidly as he explained potting techniques and the best kinds of plants to grow. By the time it was time for him to return to his room, they had managed to pot six different kinds of flowers. The faux terracotta containers, which were actually thick plastic in accordance to one of the rules, were now comfortably settled on the window ledge where they would get plenty of light.
Yuki had known a lot more than she had expected, explaining that it was because he had had a lot of time to himself growing up, and thus a lot of time to devote to his favorite hobby. In fact, he had explained a lot of things to her. Without him being more than moderately talkative, she had still learned quite a few things about him. He had said a lot about his "secret base", and even a bit about his school going years, but there were a few topics he shied away from completely.
His brother was among those topics. The one time she mentioned Ayame's name, Yuki's face had seemed to grow cold and still as a statue. His hands had frozen in the process of adding soil to a pot. A long moment passed in silence as Tohru worried that she had upset him. Then he had resumed his task, changing the subject at the same time. Unwilling to talk about something that he was obviously uncomfortable with, she hadn't mentioned the white-haired man again.
Sighing, Tohru crossed the room to replace the dustpan she had used to collect the loose dirt from the chairs and floor. Even though he had begun speaking to her, she still felt like there was a lot Yuki was holding back. While she didn't expect him to blurt out all his problems, she wouldn't have minded had he chosen to unburden himself of a few of them.
Her mind was on the problem of letting him, and all the others, really, know that without being too pushy as she silently made her way back to the office. When she passed Yuki's room, she paused for an instant. With her head tilted to the side, she listened. It almost sounded like there were voices coming from inside. A moment passed and the sound faded. When it didn't return, she shrugged it off as her imagination and continued on to retrieve her things.
As she was gathering her coat and bag, Tohru happened to glance at the clock. Her eyes widened at the hour. The cleanup had taken longer than she had thought and if she didn't hurry, she would miss her bus. Urgency made her clumsy, and she dropped her coat as she rushed to the door. Fumbling with the knob, she pulled open the door, then stretched back into the room to grasp the offending garment. As soon as her fingers tightened around it, she pivoted sharply and dashed into the hall.
She caught sight of the three shadowy figures just in time to prevent a head-on collision. As it was, the sudden stop sent her off balance enough to necessitate exchanging a grip on her things for a grip on the wall to keep from falling over. Pressing one hand to her rapidly beating heart, she struggled to get her breathing back under control.
"Who is this?" The voice was cold, and no gentler for the softness with which it was spoken. As far as she could tell, it was the person standing in the middle of the small group who had talked. He, she was sure it was a man, was slightly shorter than the two others, but spoke like someone certain of his own authority.
One of the others, she wasn't sure which, answered him as though she wasn't even there. "Tohru Honda, the new aide."
"Everyone is supposed to be gone by now. Why is she still here?"
"I don't know."
"I don't like it. Make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Yes, Akito."
Without a single word to her, the three made their way down the hall and into the elevator. The dim lights inside were just bright enough for Tohru to identify the man who hadn't spoken. In the instant before the doors whisked closed, she found herself staring at the cold, impassive face of Dr. Hatori Sohma.
Tohru remained in a daze, confused about what had just happened, for several moments after they had vanished from sight. Only the nagging thought that she would miss her bus managed to prod her into action. She slowly collected her coat and bag from where they had landed in a heap on the floor. As she straightened, her eyes fell on Yuki's door. She looked at it, remembering the sound of hushed voices she had thought she heard on her way to the office.
Had the three men been inside? And if so, why? She knew that Yuki's next scheduled checkup wasn't for another few days, so Hatori shouldn't have been there. And if the one who had been called by name was the same Akito who ran the whole the Institute, what was his reason for visiting Yuki after hours?
Unable to resist, she crossed to his door. She knocked, but there was no response. Thinking to have a quick look to be sure he was okay, Tohru grasped the doorknob and was surprised to find that it was locked.
Most of the doors were set up so that they could be opened from the outside, but not the inside. This was the first time she had ever come across one that refused to open from the outside. Ms. Almont had gone "upstairs", as she put it when she popped her head into the lunchroom as Tohru was cleaning, so she couldn't ask the older woman what was going on.
"Oh!" she cried, remembering the reason she had been in a hurry. Yuki and the mysterious visitors were forgotten for the moment as she rushed to the end of the hall, clutching her things to her chest to keep from dropping them. As she jabbed impatiently at the "down" button, she wished this floor had stairs as well as an elevator. If it did, she might have been able to make up some time instead of just waiting helplessly.
There was a ding as the doors opened and she wasted no time before stepping inside. As it began its descent, Tohru's mind returned to Akito, Hatori, and the other, unnamed man. Akito and Hatori were both Sohmas, which made them related to Yuki, no matter how distantly. She supposed that would give them reason enough to visit him. But why had they chosen a time so late at night? And why had Akito seemed so displeased at meeting her in the hallway?
