Disclaimer: Me no own.
In Honor of Kyoko
Tohru's temperature dropped back to normal after two days, though, as Yuki predicted, she had caught a cold. Yuki had wondered how he was going to deal with talking to her about the "conversation" they'd had the other night.
Yuki was certain Tohru would be angry, not that he blamed her. He HAD intruded on very personal ground. But he found himself unwilling to upset her. He approached her the day she recovered from her fever, apprehensive and finding it took a great deal of willpower to begin. He could let this go, and Tohru would move out and on; it'd be the easiest way to go, but his conscious told him he was now involved. Damn conscious.
"Honda-san," Yuki began, "after you leave here, do you have anywhere to go?" His damn ethics stopped him from letting her leave without his knowing she had a place she could stay at.
Tohru put on a confused smile. "Leave…go…huh?"
Yuki made an effort to smile. He had to admit that she was good at keeping up an act though. It must be hard on her to have to live a lie and deal with her mother's death at the same time.
"Because you can't go to your house, where will you end up?"
Tohru began her story again. "While the bees are—"
Yuki stopped her, putting a finger lightly over her mouth. "Shigure and I—we didn't mean to pry, but the night you got a fever, we asked about the person you were staying with, and you told us all about…your situation." What a stupid way to phrase that. Yuki braced himself for her response.
Yuki looked up (he'd avoided her gaze as he'd talked), expecting an angry expression or a slap. Instead, Tohru looked a little teary and ashamed.
"I…" was all she seemed able to say for a minute. Then, "I'm sorry for lying to you and Shigure-san. But you can see how I could never tell just anyone the truth about my mother's death."
Yuki looked at her sympathetically. "I understand. But you can trust my cousin and myself. Even though Shigure is a little perverted." He reached over and brushed away small tears in Tohru's eyes. "You should watch out for him, by the way," Yuki continued. "He likes high-school girls."
Tohru laughed through her tears. "He seems like a good person to me!" Yuki cast a dark look at the door leading to the other room, which Shigure was in. Tohru's smile lessened a bit. "But it doesn't seem it will be a problem, in any case. I should take my leave. I've only been a burden on this house." She bowed. "I will go and get my things!"
Yuki grabbed Tohru's shoulder as she turned away. "Do you have anywhere to go though?"
Tohru grinned. "I'm sure I can find an apartment I can afford! Mother had some money put away, and I could get a job!"
"But," Yuki protested, "there's no reason to dip into your mother's savings when you have a home open to you already!" Tohru tilted her head to the side, questioning. "This house is plenty big enough for three people," Yuki explained. "I hardly doubt Shigure would have a problem with you staying with us, since you have no place to go."
Tohru held up her hands and shook her head frantically. "Oh no! I couldn't intrude on you like that!"
"Actually," a voice said from the door, "It really would be no problem. We'd ask for no rent, as long as you cooked meals and helped keep the place clean! This house could do with feminine influence, hahaha!" It was Shigure.
Turning, Tohru considered Shigure. "I would love to cook for you…are you sure I wouldn't be a bother?"
Shigure laughed again. "No worries, Tohru-kun! It's decided then: from now on you may live with us! And we'll have delicious homemade meals cooked by my little flower," he continued, drooling. Yuki's book bag connected solidly with his face.
"No dirty thoughts," the boy said sternly, his eyes hidden and a vein popping on his forehead. Turning to Tohru, his face was cheery again. "Come on, Honda-san, I'll show you to the guest bedroom. Before, we just put you in one of the entertaining rooms."
Shigure was hefting the book bag. "What did you put in here? A dictionary? Bricks?"
"Mmm, two dictionaries," Yuki replied, walking away.
That afternoon, the three sat around the dinner table, eating a very yummy lunch prepared by Tohru.
"Tohru-kun, this is most definitely the best food I have ever tasted!" Shigure complimented. Tohru blushed.
"You really think so?" she asked. Shigure grunted and nodded as he shoveled more of her cooking in. "You know," Tohru mused, "I wonder how they found Mother. No one knew who she was, personally, except for the Boss. And I don't think it's possible he gave her away. He's way too careful. She said no one even got to see her except for the most trusted members. Ah well. I doubt I'll ever even find the people who killed her. It was a silly promise to make." She sighed. Shigure grunted his question. "Oh," Tohru explained, "before I left, I made a promise to find her killers and bring them to justice." She laughed. "I don't know what it is I was planning on doing…"
Shigure swallowed his food. "I wouldn't say that," he said. "It seems fair to have the wish to find your mother's killers. It may indeed be possible to track them down!"
"How?" Tohru asked, wide-eyed.
Shigure shrugged. "I wouldn't know. it just might be possible!" He grinned. It earned him a punch on the arm from Yuki.
"Don't just blurt out stupid things that surface in your mind!"
Shigure's face became more serious. "Before the gangs rose to power, our nation was very prosperous and on the way to becoming one of the world's superpowers. Now, what's left of the broken government is in chaos, and the gangs make Japan a country ruled by anarchy. No one saw the fall of the government coming. They still dispute how it happened. It was a very complicated and quick thing. But gangs today roam the streets, defacing public and private property. They constantly fight their territory wars, ignoring public safety. The law enforcement ignores their activities and makes no effort to stop them. And the public turns a blind eye, pretending nothing happens, and so society goes on functioning, parallel with the gang world. That's the only reason Japan hasn't completely dissolved. It's both a blessing and a curse. The older residents live life as they always have, children are still going to school, and family life is disrupted little. Japan's youth are the ones most often crossing the border between civilized Japan and the gang world. Teens and young adults frequently get sucked into gangs. So life goes on, but the country's ethics are slowly dying as gangs become more prominent and promise to be the future of the nation once the older generation disappears. Japan looks like a doomed country, and the rest of the world makes no effort to intervene."
Both Yuki and Tohru were staring: Tohru's eyes were wide and attentive, but Yuki's were narrowed with irritation. "And just how the hell did that have any relevance to what we were talking about?" he asked.
Shigure smiled, all traces of his former look gone. "It didn't, but didn't I sound profound? I should write my memoirs, don't you think?" He looked very pleased with himself. A vein popped on Yuki's face, and he punched his cousin's arm once more. "Don't just blurt out random stuff that surfaces in your mind!" He repeated.
"But it was interesting!" Tohru protested. Mother often talked about the gangs, but I never heard it told that way!"
"Tohru-chan appreciates my profound and powerful words." Shigure stuck his tongue out at Yuki, in a very un-profound way. "Did anyone write that down? It'd be excellent dialogue if I ever think up a story to go with it!"
"No," Yuki said. Shigure pouted. "I think I should go rest," Yuki said, standing up. "I'm feeling sick." Tohru was immediately on her feet, feeling his forehead.
"Ah, Sohma-kun has a fever! Do you feel at all dizzy? You should have said something before! I must have gotten him sick! Gomen nasai, Sohma-kun. I'm sorry!"
Shigure laughed. "Silly, Tohru, you had a fever! Fevers aren't contagious." He stood up and looked closely at Yuki before feeling his forehead. "Mmm, I think he might have the flu. It IS that time of year. You should lie down," he told Yuki.
As they helped Yuki towards his room, something burst through the ceiling, making a huge hole and causing Tohru to shriek. When the dust cleared, an orange-haired boy stood in front of the trio, cracking his back and grinning.
"Now I'll defeat you, kuso nezumi!" He yelled, rushing at Yuki without warning. Tohru shrieked, but Yuki, looking only half-interested, stepped aside, grabbed his oncoming assailant, and threw him across the room in one fluid motion. The orange-haired boy crashed into the paper door and skidded to a halt on the back porch.
"Stop breaking my house Kyou!" Shigure reprimanded him. Now I'll have to get both the paper door and the roof fixed!
"What do you want, baka neko?" Yuki asked. "Come to get beaten again? You're too easy to win against."
"D-dammit!" The boy yelled, picking himself up and launching himself toward Yuki again. Tohru could see his red eyes full of battle fire and rage and the blood that dripped from a cut below his mouth. He reached Yuki once again, and a flurry of fists and feet erupted. The two boys moved too fast for Tohru to clearly make out their movements.
"Sohma-kun!" she called. Whoever this orange-haired person was, Yuki shouldn't be fighting with a fever.
"HA!" The attacking boy yelled as he apparently saw an opening. He swung his fist straight toward Yuki's jaw, but a foot connected solidly with his face as Yuki kicked straight up, his foot catching his opponent's chin on the way up. The boy fell backward, and sat up, wiping yet more blood away from his mouth. His teeth were bared in a snarl, but Yuki's face remained impassive.
"Baka neko. Don't bore me," Yuki said softly. The opposing boy's face contorted with rage.
"I'll show you a fight, damn rat!" He leapt up once again and renewed his attack with more ferocity than before. Yuki fell back, his weakened state beginning to hinder him. The other boy grinned and swung a fist at him, sensing that Yuki was not as strong as he may have normally been.
"No, he's sick!" Tohru cried, thrusting herself between the opponents. The orange-haired boy's face seemed startled, and he tried to pull out of the punch, but the blow still fell, glancing on Tohru's forehead as she flinched, and drawing a small amount of blood. Tohru, carried by her momentum, fell towards Yuki, and both toppled to the floor, Tohru cushioned by Yuki.
With a small pop, Tohru felt Yuki's body disappear from beneath her, and the next second, she found herself sitting on top of a pile of clothes, a small gray mouse between her legs. Mouse and riceball stared at each other for a minute. The orange haired boy stood by, also staring.
"Oh dear," Shigure said.
Tohru lifted the mouse up level to her face. It had the same violet eyes as Yuki. "Araaaaa!" she cried, "It's my fault! I bumped into him and fell on him! I must have hit him wrong! We must take him to the doctor," Tohru cried, running toward the door. Shigure grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
He put his forehead in his hand. "Ara, how do we go about explaining this?" he asked. The orange-haired boy grimaced.
"Why doesn't that damn rat tell her? It's his fault she found out!" he said angrily.
Tohru choked back a scream when the rat itself talked. "Is it my fault I'm sick, cat?" it asked. "It's your fault for attacking me!"
"Kuso nezumi!" the boy yelled.
"Baka neko."
"Shut up!"
"Boys, boys…" Shigure shook his head. He turned to Tohru, who had calmed down sufficiently to listen by now. "Tohru-kun, are you familiar with the story of the twelve—or thirteen zodiacs?"
"Yes!" Tohru replied. "Mother used to tell it to me all the time!" She paused. "I-I decided that I wanted my zodiac to be the cat after hearing it!" The boy with orange hair snorted.
"Yes, well, that story pretty much really happened," Shigure said. "There are thirteen members of the Sohma family who have the curse of a zodiac on them. Yuki is the rat, Kyou—" he motioned toward the orange-haired boy "—is the cat, and I'm the dog. There are ten others with this curse. When we are tired, sick, or overworked, we tend to turn into our zodiac animal. It's important to remain as stress-free as possible, because there is, of course, a slight problem with turning into an animal at work, say, or school. There has been the occasional occurrence, but it can usually be covered up."
Tohru looked on with wide eyes. This was too much to take in at once. Now that she thought, it seemed that Yuki did skip P.E. even when he only had a cold. "It…it must be very troublesome," she said, still trying to take it all in.
"It's not too big a problem, as long as the stress doesn't mount too high," Yuki…..the rat said. "We change back fairly fast—" a cloud of smoke erupted, and Tohru found herself holding his hand and staring at a rather embarrassing image. "Completely naked," Yuki finished, blushing. Tohru hit her head on the doorframe in an attempt to look away. Small tears formed in the corners of her eyes: she'd hit the same spot Kyou had cut a few minutes ago, and the wound reopened and began to bleed a little.
"Now look, Kyou, you hurt Tohru!" Shigure accused. Kyou, standing close by, scowled.
"It's her fault for jumping in the middle of a fight!" He retorted. Yuki, who'd just finished buttoning up his shirt, strode toward him and grabbed the front of his shirt. "Apologize," he ordered silkily. Kyou growled at him. Yuki grabbed Kyou's shirt with a second hand and pulled him close so their noses almost touched. "Apologize to Honda-san," he repeated, sounding very dangerous.
Kyou plunged his hand at Yuki and grabbed his shirt as well, so they stood opposite each other, both pulling at the other's shirt and glaring. Finally Kyou relented and released Yuki's shirt. Yuki relaxed his grip as well.
"Sorry," Kyou grunted, turning away.
"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Shigure asked. He was finishing up putting a Band-Aid over the cut on Tohru's forehead. She looked concernedly at the two boys, both now skulking around and casting dark looks at each other. "Don't worry about Yuki and Kyou, they've always fought like this. You remember how the mouse tricked the cat?" Tohru nodded. "It's just cat-rat rivalry," Shigure explained. "Natural dislike, I suppose," he said, casting a disdainful look at the two. Tohru nodded, amazed at what she'd just seen and heard.
AN: I didn't say they didn't transform at all. :) More blatant plagiarism. Sorry. It's just too good to pass up. It took a while to get started because I got the flu last Wednesday and was sick till Friday. The whole thing was very unpleasant. I STILL have a cough and cold, although they're improving bit-by-bit. My chappies are getting long, which I figure is pretty good. As for Uo and Hana finding out about Tohru's new living arrangements, I know I promise things in these notes and don't necessarily do it, and I apologize! I do have plans for chapters, but sometimes, once I'm actually writing them, they get too long, and a part has to get shoved into next chapter's agenda, or the certain part may just turn out working better later. Once again, my apologies! I do most of what I say in my little notes, but I can't promise absolutely everything will get covered when I first say it will! Oh, if anyone doesn't know the story of the zodiacs (shame on you, why are you reading this?), I understand a great deal won't make sense, so if anyone who comes by actually doesn't know what's going on, feel free to email me and I'll give you the story. I really don't see this being a problem, but just in case, I guess. So anyways, here's our shoutouts for this chapter! Thank you everyone, I'm very happy to say there were a grand total of EIGHT reviews for this chapter! That makes me happy, it's much better than what I got for the 1st chapter, I believe only four people reviewed. (I know, it's still a decent number, but I'm greedy, so sue me!) I guess it just took a little while for the story to get discovered…..? Whatever! We're good now!
Hikari Rioki: Hehe, thankies! Sorry your sick btw. :(
Chibi Mo: Wai! Glad I'm getting all the characters right! Ara, Gennie ish sick too.
Cyjj: Thanks, hope ya come back!
Anonymous: Great! Please visit again!
Sugar High Yusukeholic: Oo, favorites list? Yay! Yes, I LOVE Kyoko's character as the Red Butterfly! I have fun with it! She plays a huge role (obvious if ya read the summary), so she's not done with! There may even be flashbacks! Although I'm not promising nothing since you know how I am with promises.
Anee: Yeah, I think Tohru calls him Sohma-kun, not san. But I didn't know she ever actually called him by his first name, you give me too much credit! Yesh, more info is soon to be given on Kyoko's life as a part of the Reclaimers, and the gang itself plays a role in the future plot! Tho I wont tell you how! But your voices are very perceptive!
Merei-chan: Woo! I always try to improve based on what reviewers say! It's very helpful to get tips! I assume you got my review?
Aaron: Um, hi…have fun reading, I guess, you seriously aren't going to have a clue who anyone is tho. See you on Sunday?
Peace.
Gen