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 Twenty-One
No Pain, No Gain
"Miss Tohru, come quick!"
Momiji's words had spurred Tohru into immediate action. Throwing an apologetic look at Yuki, she hurriedly gained her feet and headed for the door. The blonde-haired boy grasped her hand in one of his own, tugging slightly as he urged her to hurry. They had just reached the middle of the hallway when another thump reached her ears, followed immediately by more yelling.
Since she knew there were only six people on the entire floor, there were a limited number of potential causes behind the noise. She dismissed Yuki, Momiji, herself, and Kagura from the list, the former because the three of them had been together and the latter because she had hardly seemed the type of person to be involved in an argument. The few moments she had spent with Kagura had given her the impression of a serious kind of girl, watchful and a little analytical. That left only Kyou and Haru.
Tohru felt her stomach muscles tighten as she recalled Ms. Almont's words concerning just such a situation. The older woman had been clear that the two of them could cause serious trouble if they met in the wrong mood. Images detailing the many forms that "serious trouble" could take on flashed through her mind, causing her to quicken her steps.
Momiji led her straight to the activity room. A detached portion of her mind wondered why Kyou would be there when he had a visitor, but it was quickly overridden as she opened the door. When she caught a glimpse of what was inside, all the other thoughts in her mind vanished as well.
The first person her eyes came to rest on was Haru. He sat in the same chair that she had seen him in on countless other occasions. Now, the same as those other days, he was absorbed in a video game, his eyes locked on the TV as his fingers flew over the controller's buttons. With the exception of the stark white bandage gracing his left arm from wrist to elbow, he looked the same and as calm as he always had in her presence.
Kyou and Kagura were another matter entirely. Kyou lay sprawled on the floor with an overturned table resting just inches from his legs. The one eye that she could see was closed and had a small bruise swelling rapidly beneath it. She couldn't see his other eye to make comparisons, buried as it was against Kagura's chest. She had her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, cradling him to her body as she rocked slightly back and forth. She was rubbing her cheek against the top of his head as she murmured to the apparently unconscious Kyou.
Tohru suddenly felt like she was floating, hanging suspended somewhere outside of the situation. Her head swiveled as her gaze bounced back and forth between the three people in front of her. She barely heard Momiji when he sighed heavily from somewhere on her left.
"Whew, it looks like they stopped on their own. For a while there, it looked like it might get bad. Sorry for bothering you!" By the end of his statements, his tone had regained its usual chipper note. Apparently content that everything was resolved, he slipped past her and into the room. Pulling a book off one of the shelves, he plopped down in the only chair in the room whose cushion wasn't on the floor and began to read.
Knowing that her incredulity must certainly be showing, Tohru forced herself to close her mouth. For long moments, she simply listened to the sound of Kagura's low voice, the rustle of Momiji turning pages, and the slight click as Haru tapped buttons. As a calming effort it failed miserably, but it did allow her many thoughts time to fully form. The most prominent of them popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.
"What happened here?!" The most reasonable explanation she could come up with seemed slightly improbable given everyone's positions when she had arrived. She fully believed that it was possible that there could be another, more violent side to the normally docile Haru. But it seemed unlikely that it could have risen and subsided quickly enough to allow him to be calmly playing a game in the small amount of time it had taken for Momiji to bring her from Yuki's room. Deciding that put her back at square one regarding an accounting of what had happened. Thankfully for her, someone took it upon himself to explain. However, it wasn't who she had expected.
"This happens almost every time they get together. You kind of get used to it."
Tohru whirled at the sound of Yuki's voice, startled to find him standing right behind her. He had pulled a robe on over his pajamas, and the time it had taken for him to do so coupled with her fear-caused distraction likely explained why she hadn't realized he had followed her from his room. That distraction was still evident as she struggled to make sense of what he'd said. "'Every time they get together'? Do you mean Haru and Kyou?"
Yuki shook his head, and the sudden action caused him to sway on his feet. Tohru immediately grabbed a hold of his arm in an attempt to help steady him. "You shouldn't be out of bed! You're still recovering from your asthma attack and here you are running around the hall." She groaned slightly, biting her lower lip. "This is all my fault! If I'd been paying closer attention to the others instead of keeping you from your sleep, this never would have happened. I'm a horrible aide! A horrible person!"
"Hey." Yuki's voice was soft, as soft as the touch he brushed across her cheek to stop the flow of words. "You're a good aide, the best that's ever worked here. And you're a wonderful person, too." When her worried expression didn't ease, he decided to try another tact. "I'll make you a deal. Walk me back to my room and we'll call it even for 'making' me stand around. Okay?"
Tohru nodded slowly in agreement to his suggestion as several thoughts and emotions warred inside her. On the one hand, she knew she should check on the others and make sure everything was okay. It wouldn't help anyone if another fight broke out while she was with Yuki. But on the other hand, things did seem to have calmed down considerably, and Yuki had been ill, which might make him a higher priority.
Still torn, her gaze flickered back into the activity room. The scene remained unchanged from her last look around, but she still paused, unsure if it was wise to walk away.
Almost as though he read her thoughts, Yuki quickly reassured her. "I think that they'll be fine for awhile, at least until the idiot wakes up."
Tohru decided to trust his judgment, seeing as how they were his cousins and he'd know better than her what their usual behavior was. Taking a step forward, she began the journey down the hall. She could tell that Yuki had worn himself out more than he was letting on by how heavily he leaned against her. She wondered why he had followed if he still wasn't feeling quite right, especially since he seemed to have at least suspected the cause of the noise. That raised another question in her mind, but she didn't want to tire him out so she kept her questions to herself until he was back in bed with the covers tucked in snugly.
When he was settled in and looking up at her, Tohru brought up what he had said in the hallway. "You said that it wasn't Haru who hit Kyou. Momiji was with us at least part of the time, so who else could it have been?"
"Kagura."
"No!" She could feel her features slacken in shock for the second time in as many minutes. She couldn't picture the girl she had spoken to actually hitting someone, and certainly not the very person she had come to see. Her actions in the activity room were caring, maybe even loving as she had cradled Kyou against herself. Why would she beat him up and then cuddle him? It made no sense.
Yuki was smiling at her reaction. "Kagura is a little like Haru at times. She can get overexcited about some things, and he happens to be one of those things, though it's anyone's guess why. It's actually kind of amusing to see him get knocked around by a girl so much smaller than him." His tone had a little too much enjoyment in it at that thought for Tohru until she remembered that Ms. Almont had said there was something of a rift between Kyou and Yuki. She couldn't help but wonder if it was a common thing for the orange haired boy to make so many rivals, or it was just the way of their family.
Her deliberations were halted when she caught sight of the weary expression on Yuki's face. She felt awful for standing around and keeping him from sleeping. It was almost as bad as it had been in the hallway, which made her feel even worse. She came to the instant decision that she wouldn't throw any more questions at him until he was completely recovered.
Leaning forward, she smoothed his blankets one last time. "I'd better be getting back to the others now. I'll check in on you later, so make sure you get some rest, all right?" She smiled down at him. Just as she was about to straighten, she felt a gentle tug as he captured a strand of her hair between his fingers. Making sure he had her full attention, he stared at her with an air of seriousness.
"I really am glad you're here."
The simplicity of his statement only enhanced the meaning behind it. Tohru could feel a hot blush flooding her face as she attempted to reply. In the end she offered a wobbly smile and escaped into the hallway before he could say anything else. She only made it a few steps from his door before she stopped to lean against the wall and collect herself.
What was the matter with her? He was a patient in her care; she should not be thinking thoughts about him like the ones that were floating through her mind. It was wrong, unethical. She shouldn't feel so flattered that he seemed to like her. She had enough worries concerning the Institute; she didn't need to add this on top of them.
Taking a deep breath, she decided she would have to be more professional when she was around Yuki. All she had to do was keep in mind that this was her job, and one that she couldn't afford to lose. If she got into trouble, it would cause a lot of problems she wasn't sure she could handle. She would just stick to the tasks that had been outlined by Ms. Almont and do the best job that she could. No more flights of fancy, no more silly daydreams would be allowed.
She headed down the hall full of determination. But all the while there was a niggling doubt in the back of her mind. As much as her rational side knew she should distance herself from all of them, she felt like she was being drawn deeper and deeper into their lives, and them into hers. And worst of all, she didn't see it as a bad thing. It was almost like she had been meant to find them, to help them. And in return, they were giving her something she hadn't even known she was missing.
