Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is the property of Natsuki Takaya. I am not Natsuki Takaya. I do not own Fruits Basket.
A/N: It's almost finished. I could have ended with this chapter, but I thought the story need an epilogue, so there will be one more chapter after this.
Roses of Glass Chapter 26The crowd in the main hall started to stir again after the spectacle they had witnessed. Most of the group decided to head back with Shigure to see Kyo and Tohru, although no one in the group really knew what they were going to do when they saw the couple. Some in the group wanted to thank them, others wanted to make sure they were okay, and still others wanted to lecture them for being so reckless, while some wanted to do all three. But, for whatever reason, a large group was headed to the house that Kyo and Tohru were sitting in at that very moment.
The group had been walking in silent thought until Momiji asked, "What exactly happened? How is the curse broken? I've been trying to figure it out, but I just can't."
"Well now, Momiji, that's a very good question. I'm glad you asked," said Shigure, "I think I'll let Yuki explain it to you. After all, the whole thing was his idea."
Everyone turned to look at Yuki, who let out a sigh. Then Haru spoke, "Of course it was Yuki's idea. I bet it's brilliant."
"Actually," replied Yuki, "I don't think it was all that brilliant. In fact it's really quite simple. You all remember the day you came for dinner after Kyo and Miss Honda's first date? That's the day I thought it up. Actually, Miss Honda kind of helped, though I'm not sure she knows that."
"Then it must really be pretty simple," interrupted Hiro. In response, Haru hit him in the back of the head, causing Hiro to glare up at the older boy. Haru ignored Hiro and moved over to ruffle Kisa's hair, further angering Hiro until Kisa grabbed his hand and continued walking with the group.
Haru moved beside Yuki and announced, "You can continue now."
"Anyway," Yuki went on, "We were talking about the old folktale, and how she had liked the cat since the first time she had heard that story. It got me thinking, everything about the curse, from the zodiac members personalities and who we get along with, to Akito's power over us, has been linked to the folktale. So I figured the cure must also be linked to the folktale. Once I thought of that, it wasn't too hard to think of what could be done, especially if you think that, by undoing part of the family's curse, you could cause the whole thing to fall apart."
"I get it. So you undid the part where the cat is being left out; his curse of being the outsider. Instead of tricking the cat into missing a banquet to which he had been invited, the rat brought the cat to a banquet to which he had been excluded. What a clever little brother I have," exclaimed Ayame.
Hatori added, "Which is why the curse wasn't broken until now. Even if someone had thought to try this in a past generation, the rat and cat could not play their parts because they only felt disdain toward each other. But in this generation, partly in thanks to living arrangements and partly in thanks to Tohru, Yuki and Kyo have managed to get beyond their differences caused by the curse being related to the folktale."
"So," continued Kagura, as she caught on to the idea, "Not only was Yuki able to bring himself to bring Kyo to the banquet, but Kyo was at a point where he would willingly go along with Yuki."
"Exactly," Shigure concluded, "and by actually doing so, they took out a tiny part of the history of the curse, causing the rest of the curse to unravel and the curse itself to be eliminated."
"Spoken like a true poet," Ayame told him.
"Novelist! Novelist!"
By this point they had reached the house. Shigure lead the group into the living room and told them to make themselves comfortable while he found Kyo and Tohru. While most of the group sat down, Kagura took Kisa with her to the kitchen to see what refreshments they could stir up. Shigure moved to the stairs leading up to the second floor and yelled, "Kyo? Tohru? Are you up there? We have guests! Come on down! Everyone wants to see you!"
Shigure chuckled to himself as he listened to the surprised squeak, followed by a few bumps and thumps coming from the second story. When Kyo and Tohru appeared a few moments later, Shigure asked, with a grin on his face, "So, where were you? What were you doing?"
"We weren't doing anything! Get your mind out of the gutter, you sick bastard!" Kyo yelled in response.
Shigure then noticed the large grin that was still on Tohru's face. Glancing back towards Kyo, he noted that the younger boy was actually struggling to keep an angry expression on his face. Turning more serious, Shigure asked again, "What were you really doing? Come on, I can tell something's up."
Tohru looked to Kyo, who rolled his eyes and shrugged. Tohru leaned forward and whispered in Shigure's ear. Shigure moved his head back in surprise, but then a grin broke out on his face as well, "Is that so? Well, congratulations. Shall we go tell the others? It gives us something to celebrate, as if we didn't already have a reason. We'll stay up all night. It'll be a great party."
Kyo looked a bit dubious, but Tohru was nodding enthusiastically. Shigure lead them to the living room, where everyone, including Kagura and Kisa, were waiting and the refreshments were all set out. As Kyo and Tohru followed him into the room, Shigure cleared his throat, "Well guess what, everyone. It seems we have one more reason to celebrate. You all, of course, already know it's New Year's and that the curse has been broken. But, we have an engagement to celebrate now as well, so let's all congratulate the happy couple, who will, I hope, at least wait until they finish high school to get married."
Tohru nodded and everyone came running over to offer congratulations, and to say thank you, and to scold the couple for being so reckless at the banquet. The celebration lasted the entire night and ended up with the whole gang watching the first sunrise of the New Year together. To many of the people there, it was the first New Year's celebration that actually felt like a new beginning. And it was one New Year that each of them would remember for as long as they lived.