For the first three people to review my fanfic, I re-did the first chapter so re-read it! (Actually I just added a ton more…)
Chapter 2
The door could be heard closing with a loud slam as the voices of two unruly boys were heard.
"Watch where you're going, rat-boy!" cried the first in an irritable voice.
"It's YOU who was in my way, stupid cat." The second pronounced the words clearly, and it probably would have meant a fight between the two, who were getting more irate with every second, if it weren't for the appearance of a grinning face.
"Hello, Miss Honda," said the second boy.
If possible, the smile got brighter, almost bright enough to lift the sinking sun back into the sky. Although it didn't quite manage that, it did brighten the faces of the two boys.
"Yuki, Kyou! I'm so happy to see you!"
"You don't really have to get so excited over a visit, Miss Honda."
"Yeah," said the first boy. "It's really nothing special."
"Oh, no, no! I really missed you, and it makes me so happy that you came to visit me. Really, I am happy!"
The two males blushed. Shigure watched, amused, from the stairs. Suddenly, he called out cheerily, "Tohru, your two loves miss you!"
"Shigure…" the two males growled in unison, before they both began to speak at the same time.
"How dare you talk to Miss Honda that way!" said Yuki indignantly, as Kyou began, "You sick—" But Shigure had already disappeared, laughing.
"Get back here!" cried Kyou, running after him.
Suddenly a head popped out of a doorway. "Kyou's in love," Shigure called in a sing-songy voice.
"Pervert!" cried Kyou, and gave chase.
All too soon the visit was over and Shigure was alone with Tohru once again. He didn't know what to think. On one hand, he had more time to further his plans. On the other… he didn't know what he would do to her or her to him when they were alone. Well, he would try to act normally. But he soon found out that that would be very hard.
"Shigure!" Tohru practically crowed with delight.
That Shigure was coming to hate the way she called his name. Or, more precisely, coming to love it, and hate that fact. But… it was her birthday (the first one the two of them had spent alone together, Shigure noted), so he would tolerate it for now.
The said Tohru was staring with surprised amazement at a just-unwrapped gift. "It's beautiful!"
The gift was a small dog charm, a charm to be added to the bracelet that Yuki and Kyou had sent her. The silver bracelet already contained two silver charms, a cat and a rat, but the charm Shigure gave her was of pure jade, and looked ancient.
It really is beautiful, Tohru thought happily, an undercurrent of something stronger tugging at her heart.
The dog (Shigure dog, not dog charm) looked abashed, and was blushing slightly. Tohru noticed that with some surprise. She had never seen him blush before and that expression was certainly not familiar on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, worried.
"Oh, I'm just happy you liked your gift!" cried Shigure in a too-hearty voice. That was not the reaction he had expected.
"Shigure?" But she let matters stand for now. After all, it was her birthday. No need to make anyone uncomfortable. Her thoughts wandered.
Shigure hadn't let her make food that day. "It's you're birthday," he had said. "I'll cook… On second thought, let's go out to eat. It'll be my treat." The last part had been hurried.
She smiled at the memory. It was about noon, and they had just eaten a delicious lunch at Sunset Beach. After that, the two of them had come home and Shigure had given her the present. It had been a wonderful day so far.
She grinned happily and glanced around the room, her eyes alighting upon a book Shigure had written. He had said it was in honor of her. She had been so delighted that she had hugged him, but then he transformed and she felt really bad, repeating sorry over and over until he had told her to stop.