ARGH! Sorry this is so late, you guys! Stupid school… ::kicks it::
Disclaimer: We do not own Fruits Basket or its characters, but we do own our characters and the plot. Lani Haruka belongs to SilverWolverina and Chayaki Tsuma belongs to Midnight Insanity.
Enjoy! And please review!!
Chapter Two:
Déjà Who?!
Aside from the occasional squabbles between Yuki and Kyo, the remainder of the weekend was a quiet one, providing beautiful weather and a peaceful atmosphere that everyone enjoyed. When she wasn't studying, Tohru spent her time in the garden with Yuki, learning more about the plants there and helping him pull out the weeds. Shigure was holed up in his study working on his latest novel, although he was frequently interrupted by Lani who seemed to enjoy tormenting him. Kyo, as per usual, was nowhere in sight, although it was general knowledge by now that he would return Sunday night or Monday morning for school, but only because Lani and Tohru had talked him into it.
Tohru sighed and sat back, rubbing her temples in an attempt to appease the growing headache the past few hours of studying had given her. To make matters worse, her back and neck were sore and she was thirsty.
"Honda-san?"
The brunette turned and saw Yuki standing in the doorway, an amused smile on his handsome face. Tohru found herself smiling back as he made his way into the room and knelt beside her, setting a cup of tea next to her textbooks. "Thank you."
"Still studying?" Yuki looked over her texts and his brows lifted when he saw the amount of notes she had written in her notebook on a single page.
"Yes. I can't understand this one paragraph here, though." Tohru pointed to said paragraph in the text and watched as Yuki turned the book so he could see it better and his eyes scanned over the contents. "I don't know why, but the translation never turns out right."
Yuki was quiet for a few moments and then he pointed to a place in her notes where her troubles had begun. "This is in the present tense because it's a direct quote." He indicated the part in the text and Tohru followed the movement of his slender fingers from each point as he explained. "The rest is in the past. And here they're using the formal 'you' verb form instead of the informal. Do you see?"
She perused her notes and nibbled on her lower lip. "Y…yes. Yes, I do. So that means… Oh!" Her eyes widened and she began scribbling the corrected translation down under the notes she had crossed out ten minutes before. "Thank you, Sohma-kun!" Tohru beamed at him and he smiled back and she felt her heart skip a beat.
Before she could find a reason behind her body's strange behaviour, Shigure appeared in the doorway. "There you are! It's almost seven!"
Tohru gasped and quickly jumped to her feet, nearly knocking over the cup of tea Yuki had placed next to her texts. "I'm sorry, Shigure-san! I lost track of time studying."
Shigure smiled and nodded in understanding. "That's all right. Was my cousin any help?" Dark eyes glittered mischievously when he saw the faint tinge of color on Yuki's cheeks, which was missed entirely by Tohru.
"Yes, I understand now." Tohru gave him a brilliant smile and then hurried off to the kitchen. "I'll have dinner ready soon!" she called over her shoulder as she disappeared.
The moment she was out of sight Yuki scowled and narrowed his eyes at his older cousin. "She isn't a maid, Shigure."
"Of course not. But don't you think she'd look cute as a maid?"
"SHIGURE!"
Shigure let out a very dog-like yelp when Yuki threw a textbook at him, his laughter ringing throughout the house as he ran off to escape the Rat's wrath.
"See you later, Shigure-san," Tohru called over her shoulder as she hopped down the steps to the path that would eventually lead to the school. "Feel better, Lani-san!"
The redhead poked her head out from beneath the sleeve of Shigure's yutaka and waved to the three departing teenagers. "Stay out of trouble, okay?"
"Try and stay at school this time, Kyo-kun," Shigure called, quickly followed by a curse when Lani elbowed him in the ribs.
Kyo stiffened and stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep himself from throwing a rock at the Dog. A very large, very heavy rock. Stupid Shigure…
"Kyo-kun…?"
The orange-haired boy lifted his head and blinked at the shorter girl that was walking in front of him. "What?" He grimaced mentally when he realized he had snapped at her again and cursed fervently when he saw Yuki giving him an annoyed look.
"Hatori-san said you were at the animal shelter, but he didn't say how you kept from transforming. Was there a girl there?" Tohru turned her head and looked at him with her large, innocent eyes as he lengthened his stride slightly to walk by her side.
"You reeked of passionflower for hours," Yuki commented from Tohru's other side.
Kyo bristled and his hands clenched into fists as he glared hatefully at Yuki. "I did not!"
Amethyst eyes turned their languid gaze upon him, which only infuriated him further. "She smelled of passionflower, didn't she?"
Fuming, Kyo refused to dignify that with an answer – mostly because he was right – and instead set about jamming his hands in his pockets again and glaring at the ground. She smelled like cat food, too.
"So there was a girl!" Tohru exclaimed, clapping her hands together happily. "Was she our age?"
"I dunno, I wasn't paying attention!" Kyo snapped, his hackles rising as an angry tick formed on his temple. "I wonder why you're here... who'd not want a cute little kitty like you, hm?" "Cute kitty my ass!"
Tohru gasped and stared up at him with wide brown eyes, having heard only part of his grumbling. "She said you have a cute butt?"
"What the – NO!" A faint tinge of pink coloured his cheeks when he heard the soft snickers coming from Yuki, who was covering his mouth with his hand in an effort to stifle them. "Shut the hell up, rat boy!"
"I didn't say anything," Yuki said calmly, although there was still a faint sparkle in his eyes from his suppressed laughter.
"You were laughing!"
"Is that a crime?"
"Shut up!" A fist formed and flew toward the Rat's face when a shout of alarm rang out and he felt slender arms wrapping themselves around his waist –
Poof!
A very ruffled orange cat lay cradled in Tohru's arms, tail lashing angrily, while a pile of clothes lay on the ground where Kyo had been standing. The brunette blushed and held him close to her chest. "I'm sorry, Kyo-kun, I just…I just hate it when you fight!"
"If it could be called that," Yuki muttered under his breath, exasperated with his cousin's idiocy once again.
A paw lashed out to claw at his arm but he tilted his body out of reach while Tohru backed up a step to keep them apart.
"Please don't fight!" she cried.
Both boys were quiet for a moment – aside from the faint hissing from Kyo – and then the cat's body went limp in her arms and Yuki turned his head away, a clear signal that the fight was over for now.
"Argh, leggo!" Kyo squirmed in her arms and Tohru blinked and stammered apologetically before she knelt down and set him gently on the ground. He gave her an indignant look and then set about to tugging his clothes closer to his body with his paw just in time for him to transform back.
Tohru gave a startled and embarrassed "eep!" and whirled around with a vivid blush on her cheeks. Yuki rolled his eyes and touched her hand to get her attention. "Come on, he can catch up."
"Oh, well…" Tohru bit her lip in contemplation. "Kyo-kun, you don't…mind?" She began to look back to see him and thought better of it when she remembered his condition.
"Just go," came the grumbled response. Kyo didn't bother looking up as he buckled his pants to hang on his hips and then began unbuttoning the shirt so he could put it on. His keen hearing caught the footsteps gradually fading away and when they were almost completely gone, he chanced a glance upward.
Yuki and Tohru were walking side-by-side, the former with his bag on his back and one hand in his pocket and the latter with her bag tucked beneath her arm with her hands clasped in front of her. He could hear her laughing at something that damn rat had said just before they disappeared from sight altogether. Their voices could still be heard, but only just.
Kyo snorted in agitation and held the tie in his mouth as he began walking, pulling on the black tank top and then slinging the uniform shirt over his arm as he broke into an easy lope. As much as he hated school, even he didn't like being late.
RINGWHUMPCRASH!
"Goddammit…" A string of curses followed as the teenage girl untangled herself from the blankets and sat up, her hair tousled in an impossible rat's nest and her eyes barely open, red marks lining one side of her face. She continued cursing as she stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the shower, stripping off her clothes and stepping inside without adjusting the temperature, hissing when she was doused with freezing water. Gooseflesh rose unbidden on her skin and she shivered, turning the dial to make the water as hot as she could stand it.
The first day of school always sucked, but nowhere near as badly as the first day at a new school where not only did no one know you, but you were also pegged as an instant outcast by default. Well, looking at the high school itself – Kaibara High – it was bound to be full of rich snobs and the like, just like her last high school. Which was wonderful considering she at least knew what to expect.
A derisive snort escaped her and she closed her eyes, tilting her head downward and allowing her tangled hair to fall over her face. Fuck this.
Cloaked with a fine passionflower-scented mist, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a large green towel around her torso, absently flicking water droplets out of her hair. Her eyes fell on the uniform that lay on the chair near the door and she sighed, already missing the more casual uniforms her old school had had. Now she had to wear a navy skirt that went to mid-thigh, a matching sailor-style blouse, and brown slip-on shoes. She eyed the outfit with distaste and then set about making herself at least halfway presentable.
Once dried, Chaya slipped on the new uniform and toyed with the studs in her ears a moment before she changed them to a series of silver hoops that decreased in size as they went up her ear. Brush in one hand, and a mess of bracelets in the other, she made her way out of the bathroom and back into her bedroom, immediately going to her desk to rummage around the top-most drawer for her choker. After a great deal of tossing things onto the floor and muttering obscenities under her breath, she pulled out the black leather choker with a sound of triumph and promptly dropped the other objects she had in her hands.
"Chayaki! Are you ready yet?"
Chaya scowled and clasped the choker around her neck, quickly jamming the collection of black and purple jelly bracelets onto her wrists and then grabbing her black hoodie and bag from her bed. Without a backward glance, she left the room and went down the stairs, pulling her hoodie on over her head and then swinging her bag over her shoulder.
There was a brief exchange – which consisted of a farewell from Mimi and a grunt in reply from Chaya – as she passed through the kitchen to grab breakfast (a Pop-Tart) and then she was out the door.
The slight chill of crisp autumn air brushed against her cheeks as she pulled on her headphones, her thumb hitting the Play button. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana filled her ears as she scuffed her shoe on the walkway and then headed off in the direction of the school. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, paying only minimal attention to her surroundings – enough to keep her from running into things but that was about the extent of it – as her eyes slipped into half-mast. Her easy gait unconsciously changed to match the beat of the song, her lips silently moving to form the words that she knew by heart.
The growling of her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since the night before and she took a bite of her Pop-Tart, still mouthing the words to the song. The strong ground beat thumped in her chest, gravely voices whispering in her ears and reminding her of years past and chances left for dead.
Because she had been born in Japan, it was the first language she learned, despite her mother's American background. Then, after the divorce and the move to Los Angeles, English became the primary language spoken at home and her native tongue was saved only for special occasions, such as a muttered curse or words spoken in anger. Her mother had been desperate to cut any ties she may have had left with her father and Chaya had been too little to argue.
Any previous memories of Japan had been wiped clean of her purely American life in the States. Her mother had made sure of that. All of the traditions that she had partaken in during her first three years of life were burned away in a furious inferno, taken over completely by the cheesy candy canes that lined the driveway at Christmas time and the enormous inflatable Easter bunny that resided in the front yard during spring break.
A light breeze caused her bangs to brush against the tops of her lids and tickle her temples. Languid brown eyes rose to take in the change of scenery – she had left the path behind and was now following the main road – and found that it held little interest. The sidewalks had been swept clean and a neat hedgerow lined the one side while a concrete wall that ended far above her head closed the other off.
So different… Chaya couldn't shake the feeling of being an outsider even before she came close to the school. She had been an outsider before, many times, in fact, but she had never been an outsider in a different country before. She was the New Girl. The American Girl. It was different than just being the new kid on the block in kindergarten.
The corner of her mouth curved upward in an amused smile as she deftly sidestepped a boy on his skateboard. Then again, some things never changed.
Somewhere the recesses of her mind she picked up the faint tolling of a bell and paused. What the… Oh, shit. She was vaguely amused with the fact that even her thoughts couldn't keep the sarcasm at bay. Then again, she had never really been a fan of hiding her true feelings toward things. Late on the first day… Wonder how they're going to take this one?
"Honda Tohru, I would like you to meet our newest student, Tsuma Chayaki. She just transferred here from the United States," Rosatto-san, the school's secretary, said brightly, placing a hand on the new girl's shoulder. "Now I'll just run along and let you two talk a bit before you can start going through a tour of the school, okay?" She flashed them both a brilliant smile and nearly skipped from the office, shutting the door smartly behind her.
An awkward silence stretched between the two with Tohru staring at the closed door in a state of shock and the new girl rubbing her cheek with her finger with an unimpressed look on her face. The meeting had been ten seconds at the most and the secretary's haste had been a bit too obvious than what could ever be considered cordial, much less professional. Frankly, Tohru hadn't been given a chance to process the fact that she would be the one to show the new girl around the school and help her to her classes. A new girl that had lived in the United States, and thus spoke English, a language that the brunette was failing miserably in understanding.
The situation couldn't possibly become any worse.
"Huh." Tohru blinked and looked over to see the new girl – Chayaki? – standing beside her with arms lightly crossed over her chest, an iPod in one hand and the strap of her bag in the other. She seemed to be studying the office door with her dark brown eyes. "Is she always like that?"
Tohru stared at her, at first not comprehending at all. Chayaki's voice wasn't anything like she had thought it would be at all. Instead of the halting, heavily accented words, she spoke with a clear and confident grasp of the language, only the easygoing western lilt giving away her foreigner status.
Suddenly remembering that she had been asked a question, Tohru blushed and shook her head. "I… I don't know." Her blush deepened as she added, "I've never talked to her before."
For a long moment, the two girls could only stare at each other with identical expressions of bewilderment. Then the corners of Chayaki's lips twitched and her eyes sparkled and she burst into a fit of laughter.
Cheeks burning, Tohru backed up a step. "I… I'm sorry… If you like, I could find someone… Someone better for the job…"
"No, no, you're good," the American managed to choke out, waving a hand. "Sorry, it's just… I thought I would be bored, but…" After a brief struggle to regain composure, Chayaki straightened, offering her a broad grin and a bow. "Tsuma Chayaki. But everybody calls me Chaya, or Aki."
Tohru hesitated, staring at Chayaki's – no, Chaya's – grinning face in surprise. It didn't take long before she felt the beginnings of an answering smile on her own face. "Pleased to meet you," she replied, bowing in return. "I'm Honda Tohru."
Yuki Sohma leaned against the lockers, patiently waiting for Tohru to arrive so they could walk home. Usually Kyo would be waiting somewhere nearby, but the nekozumi seemed to have disappeared. Not that Yuki cared.
"Hey, check out that cutie with Honda-san!"
Yuki blinked and his head lifted to see the familiar form of Tohru walking toward him talking animatedly to a girl that he didn't recognize at all. The girl was perhaps an inch or two taller than Tohru with wispy blonde hair that just reached her shoulders, strands splayed out all around her head like she was in a constant state of mild static shock. Two strands of light brown hung in front of her ears, which were each adorned with four silver hoops. A black choker was clasped around her neck, a small silver charm dangling over the base of her throat. Both wrists were covered in a tangled jungle of black and purple jelly bracelets, the exact number impossible to tell.
He had the distinct feeling that she would probably get along very well with Haru.
"Isn't she the transfer student from America?"
"Can she even speak Japanese?"
The girl seemed to hear this last comment because her lips twitched and her eyes – which Yuki could now confirm were a soft brown – narrowed. "Of course I can speak Japanese, you idiot."
Lilac eyes sparkled with amusement as the commentators – who happened to be third years – cringed from her cold words. Yes, she would definitely get along with Haru.
– Tsudzuku –
Sorry again for such a late update, guys. Hopefully it won't take this long for the next chapter. Gah, I suck. ::buries head in pillows::
Happy Holidays! We gave you our present, now it's time for you to give us ours. XD Review!
– Midnight Insanity and SilverWolverina