Disclaimer: Never at any time past, present or future have I owned, do I own, or will I own Fruits Basket, or any of the characters, therein.
A/N: So, I'm trying a hard to be better at updating regularly, so here is chapter 18. This is really more of a filler chapter leading up to some more interesting things happening in the next chapter. And I case I don't get another update before then, Happy Halloween, everyone (I'm going to try to carve a pumpkin to look like Ryoga's "strong tattoo" in Ranma).
Roses of Glass Chapter 18"Oh, it does feel good to be home!" exclaimed Shigure, walking into his house, "Don't get me wrong, I love taking vacations, but it will be nice to be in my own bed again. Though maybe some of us aren't so excited about that part."
Kyo and Tohru both turned a deep shade of red at Shigure's final remark. But neither could really argue it. It had not taken them long to grow accustomed to the sleeping arrangements they'd had on the trip. Now that they were home, Shigure, odd as he was, wasn't likely to allow any more shared beds, under his own roof. Besides, for some reason, here there seemed to be a higher likelihood that, if they were to continue with their recent arrangements, Akito might find out.
At this point, Yuki, who had fallen asleep on the trip home, and not fully awakened, suddenly dropped his luggage and headed upstairs to his room.
"Oh, that's fine," Shigure yelled after him, "just leave your stuff in the entryway. We can leave it here as New Year's decorations. Seriously, I hope you plan on cleaning this up as soon as you're awake."
"I can move them upstairs once I put my stuff away," Tohru to Shigure.
"Oh, no, that's all right, Tohru. They can stay here until Yuki wakes up. Come to think of it, we could all use some sleep. You just head on up to your room and get some rest."
"Oh, okay," replied Tohru as she reached for her bags. Then she turned to Kyo, "Are you going to need any help? It's not going to be easy to carry that bag up the stairs with your crutches."
Kyo gave her a slightly offended look, "I've only got one bag and it has a shoulder strap. I think I can manage." With that, he started slowly up the stairs. Tohru followed after him, concerned for his safety.
Shigure watched them go and said to himself, "Now isn't that cute?" Then he himself headed upstairs to his own room.
Having spent a long day traveling back home, everyone slept soundly that night, but were woken early the next day by the ringing phone. It was a very hyper Momiji, calling to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas. He also asked if Tohru would like to help prepare form New Year's at the Sohma main house.
Tohru decided that she would help decorated and could also use the outing to pick up some groceries. Kyo was going to stay home because of his ankle and Shigure was being hounded to finish his current book, but Yuki decided to go along. So, he and Tohru took off toward the main house. Not knowing how late they would be out, Tohru suggested that they do the shopping first and keep the groceries in the refrigerator at Hatori's house. So, after shopping, they went straight to Hatori's place. Momiji was there and he pounced on Tohru the second she walked into the house.
"Now, Momiji, you're not going to be much help today if you're a rabbit," said Hatori, entering the room, "Maybe it would be best if you tried to stay human."
"You're right, Hari. I just got so excited to see Tohru that I couldn't help myself."
Tohru and Yuki greeted Hatori, then Yuki asked, "Is it okay if we use your refrigerator? We have a few groceries we want to keep here until we go home."
"Go right ahead," replied Hatori, "By the way, Tohru, I heard Kyo had a bit of an accident. How is he doing?"
Tohru answered, "He's okay. He sprained his ankle and he's on crutches. I think he's more frustrated by his immobility than anything else."
Hatori actually chuckled, "That sounds like Kyo. Well, Yuki, why don't you bring the groceries into the kitchen? Momiji, you can take Tohru over to the hall to work on decorations."
Yuki followed Hatori farther into the house and Momiji, who had turned back into his human form, grabbed Tohru's hand and practically dragged her out, chattering about the New Year's celebration and how glad he was that Tohru was going to be able to come this year, "And we really go all out on the decorations. I'll bet you've never seen anything like it. It's just too bad you can't come to the banquet. That's one of the most interesting parts, but only the zodiac members are invited. But at least you'll have Kyo to keep you company while the rest of us are at the banquet."
Tohru walked along, half listening to Momiji. Her mind was more on Yuki's plan to break the curse. If everything went according to plan, she was willing to bet that this New Year's would be unlike any that any of the Sohmas had ever seen. And maybe, just maybe, it would be the last year with a zodiac banquet. But if things went wrong, if the plan didn't work...she didn't even want to think about what the consequences might be. She wasn't really worried for herself. If anything were to go wrong, Kyo and Yuki were likely to bare the brunt of the punishment.
"Here we are, Tohru!" exclaimed Momiji, bringing Tohru out of her thoughts.
Kisa came running at the sound of Tohru's name and threw her arms around the older girl, "Sissy! I'm glad you're here. You can come over and help Hiro and me. It'll be more fun if you help."
Tohru laughed, "Of course I'll come help you. Just give me a minute go say hi to everyone and I'll be right over, okay?"
Kisa nodded and ran back to Hiro, with Momiji in tow. Tohru looked around to see who was there and decided to go say hello to Kagura first. She was about halfway to where the other girl was working when someone suddenly stepped in front of her. She looked up to see who it was. When she saw the person's face, she took a small step back and gave a startled gasp.
"Well hello, Miss Honda," Akito said, "I'm glad you could come. I hope you'll have a good time at our New Year's celebration. Right now though, I would like it if you would come with me for a minute. There are a few things I would like to discuss with you, in private."