Fruits Basket: The Bear's Story
Chapter 2
By gametaken
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the characters. But, I DO own this fan fic and the made up characters depicted in it. So HA!
Author's Note: Incase you missed the last chapter, here's a recap on all the events: Walking back to Shigure's house after a day of grocery shopping, Tohru Honda met another member of the Sohma family; another outcast. Her name is Mitsuki Sohma and she is the bear; panda bear, to be exact. Strange and clumsy, strong and hot headed, Suki is the younger sister of Hatori Sohma. Between excruciating bear hugs, Suki spends her time annoying Yuki and Kyo and befriending (and wierding out) Tohru. But, what the young Tohru doesn't know is the painful past to the 25 year old woman and the torture she endures every day as she tries to hide her true feelings from the world. Enjoy!
Begin story.
Morning came in no time at all and Tohru opened her eyes with a yawn. She sat up and saw that there was someone next to her; it was Mitsuki. 'Oh, yeah,' Tohru thought. 'I let Suki share my bed last night.' Tohru smiled sweetly and quietly got out from under the covers. 'I'll just sneak out nice and quiet so I don't wake her up.'
She crawled out of bed, Suki shifting in her sleep, and changed into her school uniform. She walked down stairs, slightly worried about Mitsuki, and headed for the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.
Breakfast was ready in no time and as soon as she set the last bowl down, Shigure came down the stairs. "Ah, Tohru, breakfast looks good," he said, eyeing the food with glee. "How are you?"
Tohru bowed and smiled. "Thank you! I'm doing fine."
"And Mitsuki?" Shigure asked, seating himself at the table.
"Uh," Tohru said, sitting at the table. Yuki and Kyo came down the stairs. "Well, I'm not sure," she said. "I heard her when she came in last night. She was sniffing and sounded like she was crying."
Yuki and Kyo looked up, hearing Tohru's words. "Crying?" Yuki asked, sitting at the table.
Tohru nodded. "Mm-hm. I heard her mention a name, too. Oh, let's see . . . What was it? Hmm . . ."
"Was it Jin?" Kyo asked, looking down at his bowl of rice.
"Oh, yes! It was Jin," Tohru said, looking questioningly to Kyo. "Who is Jin?"
Shigure sighed and said, "Tohru, I believe now is not the time for that story. Even if it were, we shouldn't be the ones to tell you."
Shigure stopped short when foot steps could be heard descending the stairs. Mitsuki came down with a yawn. "Tell her what?" she asked stretching her arms.
Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru looked with shock at what Mitsuki was wearing.
"What are you wearing?!" Kyo asked.
"Yes, what are you wearing?" Yuki followed, somewhat calmer than Kyo.
"Huh?" Mitsuki said, seating herself at the table next to Yuki and Kyo. "You mean this? This is my work uniform," she said with a smile. Suki was wearing the teacher's uniform of Kawaiia High, Tohru's high school. She had her hair braided and hanging over her shoulder. The braid was black while the rest was white. She wore a golden clip at the end of the braid.
"W-Work?" Yuki stuttered.
"Oh, didn't we tell you?" Shigure said, sipping his tea. "Mitsuki is a teacher. She teaches art and world mythology and she's starting to teach at your school this year." (It's the second semester of the second year of high school for Tohru.)
Tohru smiled and clapped her hands together. "Oh, that's wonderful! I wish I had your class, Suki! Oh! Miss Sohma," she said with a slight blush.
Suki shook her head and her finger at Tohru. "Only call me that in class, Tohru-chan! Keep it professional, you know, but out side of class, you can call me Suki, ok?" She smiled and gave Tohru a thumbs up. (Place squiggly swirl on the thumb.)
Suki looked down at the cup of tea before her and back at Tohru, a blank expression on her face. "Oh, Tohru, do you have any coffee? I'm more of a coffee person in the morning. It gives me more of a start, ya know?"
Tohru smiled and nodded her head. "Uh-huh. I'll go make some for you, ok?" Tohru stood up and walked into the kitchen.
Yuki waited a moment after Tohru left, then turned to Mitsuki. "Mitsuki, are you sure you're ready to be teaching again?"
"Yeah, we heard about last night," Kyo said, looking down at his hands. "We were there. Maybe . . . Maybe you should wait a while?"
Mitsuki smiled sweetly, touched by their worries. She reached out and held tightly to one of their hands. "I'm so happy that you two worry about me so much. Truly I am, but you needn't worry any more. I won't hide it. Jin's loss still pains me deeply inside, but I won't allow any others to know what I have to endure. They don't deserve it. Especially Tohru. I'll continue to cover up my pain for the sake of others. Besides," she said, giving a deep sigh. "I CAN'T GIVE YOU HUGS IF YOU KEEP FEELING SORRY FOR ME-EEE!!"
She pulled the two to her bosom and gave them a great hug.
"SUKI!! LET GO OF MY HEAD!!! IT SHOULDN'T BE HERE!!!" Yuki yelled.
Suki released her grip on the two young men and smiled deeply. Yuki and Kyo blushed like walruses in spring. (Incase you didn't know, there's a season when walruses turn a bright pink. I think it's spring but I'm not really quite sure. You can learn a lot from the Discovery channel.)
"Maybe," Yuki said, looking down at his hands, "what you really need, what will truly stop your suffering, is to open up to someone."
"Yeah," Kyo added. "If you keep your pain away from everyone, it will only hurt you more and distance you from everyone around you."
Mitsuki smiled slightly and gave a great, shuddering sigh, her eyes glazing over with something sad. "Maybe you two are right? But, now isn't the time for me to be opening up to anyone. Not yet. Maybe, when I find the right person, it will be when I'll open up. But, for now," she said, and Tohru came in with Mitsuki's coffee, "IT'S TIME TO CHOW DOWN!! GREAT FOOD, TOHRU-CHAN!! YOU'RE A GREAT COOK!"
Yuki and Kyo crashed and Tohru looked confusingly at them as she set Suki's mug down before her.
"Uh, what just happened?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing," Shigure said, waving at her with that goofy expression on his face. "Let's just eat! You four have to get to school! A-Hahahaha!"
While Tohru and Shigure were talking, Mitsuki wolfed down her food, which was quite a large amount, and was standing up with a duffel bag over her shoulder and a brief case at her side. "You kids can catch up. I have to leave early so I can get a head start on the lesson plan! See you all at schoo-ool!!"
She turned around and left.
Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki finished their breakfast and had left for school. Tohru was as giddy as a school girl – er, scratch that – as giddy as . . . as . . . something. Yuki and Kyo looked even more worried than before.
"How can you be so happy, Tohru?" Kyo asked, eyeing the girl oddly.
"I'm just so happy another Sohma is coming to my school! Her class is going to be really great, I bet!"
"Great?" Kyo exclaimed. "It just means we have even more of a problem with keeping the Sohma family secret a secret. Mitsuki isn't exactly some old hag teacher, if you know what I mean. Some kid might decide to get fresh."
Tohru was about to say something when they spotted Mitsuki up ahead. She was leaning over what looked like an unconscious man. The three students hurried to catch up with her.
"What happened here?" Yuki asked, looking down at the unconscious man. He was a shady looking man and he didn't seem to have any bruises or marks where he could have been hit.
The concrete wall next to the side walk had a fist-sized hole in it, surrounded by a wave of cracks.
Suki smiled nervously. "Well, you see, I was walking and this shady looking character," points to the man, "came out from behind the wall," points to the wall, "and tried to steal my bag, and I," points to herself, "tried to stop him and when I threw my punch," mimics punching, "I missed and hit the wall," points to wall, "and he," points to man, "fainted, I guess, from the fact that he just saw a woman punch a hole into a concrete wall."
The three watched with blank faces, following her hand movements.
"S-S-So y-you punched th-that h-hole in-in the w-wall?" Tohru stuttered eyes wide with shock as she pointed to Suki, mimicked punching, and pointed to the wall.
Suki nodded her head, looking as if contemplating the matter herself. "Ee-yeah, that about does it. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to school, kiddies!"
Tohru sat at her desk, trying to pay attention to the math her teacher was trying to teach them, but she couldn't get her mind off of the day's events. 'Why was Mitsuki crying last night? Who's Jin? Why can't Shigure tell me these things?!' She looked like she was panicking and the teacher noticed as well.
"Miss Honda," he said, slamming his hand on her desk. "You seem to be in deep thought, hopefully about today's lesson. Tell me, what did I just explain to the class?"
Murmurs and giggles spread throughout the class. Uo and Hana looked worriedly at the panicking girl.
"Oh, uh-hehe, I, uh, I mean, I . . . um . . . Aahhh . . ." Tohru panicked, beads of sweat raining down her face.
'Oh, Tohru,' Uo thought as rubbed her temple.
The bell rang and Tohru hurried to get out of class. 'This gives new meaning to "saved by the bell",' she thought.
It was lunch time and Tohru was glad of it. Uo, Hana, and her self were going over to Mitsuki's class room.
"I wonder what kind of person she is," Uo thought with her hands behind her head.
"Yes," Hana added. "Tohru, has this Mitsuki been staying at Yuki's house with you?"
"Oh, uh-huh! Mitsuki's a really nice person. You'll see." Tohru stopped when she saw Yuki and Kyo walking ahead of them. "Oh! Yuki! Kyo!" she exclaimed as she caught up with them. "Are you two going to visit Mitsuki in her class as well?"
Yuki nodded with a polite smile. "Yes, we are, Miss Tohru."
Uo and Hana caught up with them, too. "So, what is Mitsuki to you two?" Hana asked in that calm, solemn voice of hers.
Yuki smiled nervously, a sweat drop sliding down his face. "Well, she's kind of like our Aunt."
"She's your Aunt, huh?" Uo said as she crossed her arms.
"Yeah, you could say that," Kyo said, sulking with his hands in his pockets.
They reached Mitsuki's class room and saw the sign on the front door. It read, "Mitsuki-san's art/world mythology class," in fancy characters. Kyo opened the door to find Hatsuharu and Momiji in the class. Hatsuharu was sitting at Suki's desk and Momiji was clinging to her side.
"Oh, it's Hatsuharu and Momiji," Tohru said with a smile.
Momiji smiled and waved. "It's Tohru and her friends! Look, Suki-san!" Momiji tugged at Mitsuki's skirt.
Mitsuki, who was writing something on the board, turned and smiled at them. "Yes, it is, Momiji! Hello, Tohru-chan! You brought Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun!!"
She walked forward and Yuki and Kyo feared she was going to give them another bear hug, but, instead, she gave them a pat on the shoulder and a smile. She was obviously saving the bear hug for later.
She looked up at Uo and Hana and smiled. "Are these your friends, Tohru-chan?" she asked as she walked past Yuki and Kyo.
Tohru nodded and introduced them. "This is Arisa Uotani and (I can't remember Hana's full name --) Hanajima!"
Uo and Hana waved.
"Yo," Uo said.
"Hello," Hana added.
Mitsuki grinned and said, "Any friends of Tohru-chan are most definitely friends of mine! Welcome to my class room!"
Haru had walked over to Yuki's side and poked him affectionately in the arm. "Hello, Haru," Yuki said, his expression blank. (Like this TT)
Momiji tugged on Tohru's sleeve and pointed up at the ceiling. "Look, look! I helped Suki-san decorate!"
Tohru, Uo, Hana, Yuki, and Kyo all looked up at the ceiling. Hanging from tacks were paper machete figures of all the animals of the Zodiac, including the cat and the bear. They were painted with fabulous colors and patterns ornamenting their bodies.
"Yes, Momiji and I just had Mitsuki-san's class and we, along with the rest of the class, helped put them all up," Haru said, looking with a satisfied smile on his face at all the animals hanging from the ceiling.
"Oh, wow! It's all the members of the Zodiac," Tohru exclaimed.
Uo and Hana looked at Mitsuki with confusion. "But, the cat and the bear aren't part of the Zodiac," Uo said.
Something angry triggered inside Kyo and a vein popped up above his head as he tried to resist the urge to punch the Yankee girl. "Maybe you should pay more attention to the story, Yankee girl!" he exclaimed.
"What story, Orange Top?!" Uo retorted as she clenched her fists.
"The story of the Zodiac," Mitsuki said with a knowledgeable finger in the air. (The finger is back!! XD)
So, Mitsuki told Uo and Hana the story of God's race for the banquet to decide the twelve animals for the Zodiac. She told them of how the bear was lazy and didn't feel like getting up to race and how the cat was tricked. (Kyo, of course, didn't like that part.)
Uo and Hana took it all in. "Wow, that's a pretty interesting story," Uo said.
"Yes, I had no idea there was a bear involved in the Zodiac," Hana added.
Mitsuki slumped over. "Yeah, not a lot of people have. No one ever remembers the lazy one. Well," she said, perking back up. "Don't you kids have to eat lunch? Go on! I have to get ready for my next class."
Uo, Hana, and Tohru waved goodbye and left for lunch.
Yuki turned to Mitsuki and gave her one final warning: "Be careful around your students, Mitsuki. You wouldn't want to bump into any of them."
"Yeah," Kyo added. "The last thing we need is for the whole school to think their art teacher is a bear."
Momiji hugged Mitsuki and said, "You guys worry too much! Suki-san is smart! She knows to be very, very careful, right Suki?"
Mitsuki nodded her head with a smile and hugged Momiji. "That's right, Mo! (That's her nick name for Momiji.) You know me so well, you adorable little bunny, you!"
Kyo sighed and turned to leave. "I'm gonna go get some lunch."
"Yes, me too," Yuki added, following Kyo.
Mitsuki walked to the door with them, Momiji clinging to her hand. "Remember! Don't eat the pasta on Tuesdays. I heard it's always bad then."
A young student came hurrying around the corner and made for Mitsuki's door, carrying a large book in his arms. He crashed right into Mitsuki.
"Ms Sohma! I found the – Oof!"
There was a loud BOOM like an explosion and a plume of grey smoke.
"What was that?" the boy said, but before he could see anything, Kyo had grabbed his shirt and dragged him out.
"Ms Sohma's busy, kid, so get lost!" he said with an agitated grimace on his face.
"But, I found the art book I wanted to show her!"
Yuki shut the door quickly behind Kyo and heaved a heavy sigh, a large sweat drop sliding down his face. "What was that you were saying about Mitsuki being careful, Momiji?" he asked, looking up at the scene.
Momiji and Hatsuharu were standing at the side of a chubby panda bear. It was Mitsuki in her animal form. The uniform she wore was torn as the bear was far too big for them.
Mitsuki placed her paws to her muzzle and blushed. "Oh, my! It looks like you're right, Yuki-kun! Ho-ho-ho!"
Haru sighed and ruffled the panda's head. "Next time, before walking out a door, Suki, check to make sure no one's out there."
Mitsuki giggled, the panda's fuzzy body, big and chubby, jiggling like a bowl full of jelly. (Santa Claus!! Ho-ho-ho!) "That's good advice, Haru-kun!"
Momiji snuggled against Mitsuki's soft fur, hugging the bear's strong arm. "Suki-san's so soft in her panda form! I just love hugging her!"
Mitsuki gave Mo a large hug, not one of her excruciating bear hugs, but a softer but firm grizzly hug.
"Forget the hugs," Haru said. "What are you going to do when you transform, Suki?"
"Yes, that is a problem," Yuki said, leaning hard against the door. "Your other clothes are shredded."
"Don't worry about a thing, you silly boys," Mitsuki said with a giggle. "I brought a couple of changes of clothes just incase such a thing might happen."
The panda pointed a clawed paw in the direction of her desk. Under it was the duffle bag she had brought with her that morning.
Haru and Yuki sighed while Momiji continued to hug. He released and sat back with a large grin on his face. "Boy, are you smart, Suki-san!"
"Oh, Momiji-kun, you don't have to be so formal! Call my Suki-chan!"
The two laughed while Yuki and Haru shook their heads. Then, the cheerful laughing session was ended with another boom and a puff of dark grey smoke as Mitsuki changed back to her human form. Yuki and Haru turned away, faces burning red.
"MITSUKI, YOU COULD'VE WARNED US YOU WERE ABOUT TO CHANGE BACK!!!!!" Yuki exclaimed.
"I couldn't have known, you silly boys!" Suki said with another hearty laugh.
Suki changed into another outfit while the others waited outside the class room. She came out wearing a black tank top, several silver necklaces with panda charms hanging from some of them; black stud ear rings and charms that dangled, hip hugging, boot cut, dark blue jeans with cuts in the knees, and black sneakers. (They look like Converse's.) "Didn't I tell you I had another outfit? Isn't it cute?" She smiled happily, obviously approving of her outfit.
"You look like a punk," Haru said with a blank expression, looking at the outfit. He gave a thumbs up and a goofy grin. "Good choice! We look like twins!"
The two stood next to each other and indeed, they looked related. It was the hair, necklaces and pierced ears that did it.
Yuki sighed. "It's going to be a long school year," he said as the two black and white animals stood laughing outrageously with their hands on their hips.
To be continued.
Author's Note: I'm so happy!! I just got new shoes! My old ones were falling apart. They were so crappy that everyone started calling them the talking shoes. Ha-ha-ha! I got a pair of running shoes for my gym class and some Kuds that look so much like Converse All Stars! The only thing that's missing is the Converse sign. They're black on the outside and purple on the inside with all these cute looking doodly drawings on it! I love my new shoes so much that I'm wearing them as I type this story! I'm so-ooo happy! :D XD Here's the sneak preview for the next chapter:
Tohru is enjoying school now that Mitsuki's there, but the Prince Yuki fan club is going into conniptions. "WHAT!?! Prince Yuki has an aunt teaching at this school?!?!" "Vice President, we have to go check this new teacher out!" "You're right, Number 2! The Prince Yuki fan club absolutely must check this woman out! She has to be proper Aunt Material for the Prince!"
Not only does Suki have to deal with a group of chattering fan girls who insist on spying on her, she has to meet with Akito, who's making another visit to Kawaiia High. Will Akito accept Mitsuki's new job or will he break her spirit again?
FIND OUT!! READ MY NEXT INSTALLMENT!!! (Goes into Ritsu mode) OO-HHH MY!!!!!!!! WHAT WILL I DO IF NO ONE READS MY STORIES?!?!!??!!!! I CAN'T BARE THE THOUGHT!!! Did you like this chapter? I hope you did! IF YOU DIDN'T, I COULDN'T BARE THE THOUGHT OF PEOPLE HATING MY WORK!!!! OH, AGONY!!!!!!!! I DON'T DESERVE THE GRACE OF TOUCHING A KEY BOARD!!! (In order to end my Ritsu-mode bonanza, send in many, many reviews and suggestions for the next chapter. Thank you. :D)