Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Gu-tenmorugen (Good Morning)
Chapter 19 Journeys
Tohru was unsure of what to do, but she covered her mouth, not sure if it would block her screams of terror, or just make her stop gasping. She cast her eyes downward towards her feet and said nothing.
"Why hello. You must be Miss Honda am I right?" Akito said. He sounded, almost pleasant as he took a step into her room. She nodded furiously "I was informed by Hatori of your accident, must have been very frightening."
"It was..." Tohru's voice squeaked "But I'm okay now, Kyo and Yuki came to save me. Then I was reunited with everyone, then I just came here. No one needs to worry"
"Indeed there is Miss Honda. Your safety is the best to everyone's concerns. What would happen if you were to be gone? Many of the Sohmas seek such comfort in you, someone to pour their secrets to"
Tohru looked away nervously, his stare was frightening "Oh, I'm not so sure of that. They're just like my family. We argue, fight, laugh, and do everything together. It all, just comes with the territory."
"Speaking of family..." Akito walked over farther and sat down on her medical bed "It has been brought to my attention that Shigure wishes to adopt you."
"Oh yes, that was Shigure's birthday gift to me." Tohru lifted her head up happily
"I can understand you both want this. But this is indeed a rare proposal. No Sohma, has ever brought in an outsider, unless it were by marriage, and even then, they ended up having their memories erased"
"Like Hatori's wife..." Tohru said sadly. Akito only sneered looking away
"I am unsure if you deserve such an honor to be a part of the Sohma clan. Even if you are related to the dog, you would have no bindings or connections to any of the other Sohmas, it would only be a legal affair"
"And I am quite content with that" Tohru replied, Akito turned to her surprised. "Shigure, and the rest of the Sohmas in the house, have been a family to me from the beginning, no legal documents can change that, nor say we aren't. But, I would like Shigure as a father, my own father died when I was very young. Shigure has given me nothing but his unconditional love, he gave me a place to stay, food, and just, something I could live for."
Akito closed his eyes and gave a small chuckle "You are indeed a very simple child. I shall consider this proposal, but I warn you Miss Honda, the agreement still is at stand. Even if you were to become the dog's daughter, you would still not speak a word, or feel the wrath, of the Sohma curse" Akito then rose from his spot looking to her one last time, and then exited the room.
Campsite
Yuki, Momiji, and Haru all sat up in their beds, and walked outside looking to the stars.
"Did you feel that?" Momiji asked quietly
"Yeah, I'm concerned, for Tohru" Yuki said quietly.
"It felt like, Him, Akito." Haru growled
"You think we should call Shigure?" Momiji asked worriedly.
"In the morning...with all do time" Yuki said. Please Tohru...be safe.
With Shigure and Kyo
The car drive to the hotel had been all too uncomfortable. Kyo continued to looking out the window at the street lights and abandoned streets, his mind far beyond his body. Shigure kept his eyes on the road, but would glance back to the Cat sighing.
"I know you're worried about her. But don't worry, our little Tohru will be just fine"
"Yeah whatever" Kyo grumbled
"I don't understand why you hide things. You're so unemotional. All Tohru ever wants is to be your friend, and for you to open up. Though you have quite a lot, you still hold back a lot too."
"Shaddup" Kyo replied
"We'll see her first thing in the morning. I promise." Shigure grinned as he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. He opened the room, door handle shaking and opened. "You take a shower Kyo, I'm just going to be writing"
Kyo walked into the shower and Shigure opened up the small fridge pulling out a soda. He sat on his bed, staring down at his many notes and stories. Picking up his pen, he slowly continued to write. As so the night drew on, and the lover's heart grew all the more unbearable. He could not stand to be alone. But the girl...she was always alone.
Kyo soaked in the tub miserably. He didn't like leaving Tohru alone. The bath was comforting and Kyo was successful in drifting off into a dream. He woke up, startled he fell asleep, and wandered back out into the hotel bedroom. Shigure had already fallen asleep, his novel tucked under his arms. Kyo jumped onto his bed, and he missed not being able to see the stars from the Sohmas roof. He wondered, what everyone else was doing right now.
Uo and Hana hadn't slept much either. Uo was feeling extreme grief. She wanted to apologize, but Tohru was so far away. There was nothing anyone could do. No one slept, except Shigure, and everyone's minds were focused on Tohru.
The Next Day
Kyo was awoken by the sound of Shigure's some what annoying singing. Shigure poured himself a cup of coffee and handed one to Kyo. Kyo grabbed a biscuit too eating hastily. At a quarter past nine, the two jumped into their car and began their drive to the hospital.
When they arrived in Tohru's room. She was already sitting on her bed, in her normal and clean clothes. She looked a lot better, clean, and sparkling, like a brand new toy or something. There was something in her hands, it was a pen and some paper. She looked up seeing them in the door and she smiled "Gu-tenmorugen"
Shigure and Kyo entered the room. Both pulled up a chair, and Shigure looked to her happily, there was a certain twinkle in his eye of adoring and relief to see his flower was fine. Kyo looked at her hands "What you got there Tohru?"
"Oh this? Its nothing I was just writing to keep myself occupied. Shigure, I had umm, a visitor last night."
"Oh a visitor Tohru? Who would that be?"
"Akito. He came and visited me after you left last night"
Shigure and Kyo looked to each other nervously, "He didn't do anything to harm you did he?"
"Oh no, he didn't do anything Shigure. He just asked me about the adoption."
Shigure frowned worriedly "And...?"
"He said he'd definitely consider it, actually, he wasn't all that mean, he seemed quite pleasant. There was just, this very worn look in his eyes."
"Well Shigure is constantly sick, that is mostly the worn look you see." Shigure started slowly
Tohru shook her head, "No, that wasn't the look I saw. He was, tired, and sad. There's something about him...everyone seems to hate Akito so much, but maybe he never wanted to be this way..."
"Yeah Tohru that is definitely the medication talking right there" Kyo answered
"Sure Kyo, whatever you say" Tohru said quietly, but she hopped off the bed "Can we go home now? This place is too white"
"Of course dear. On the way home we can even go out and get something to eat"
"Let's go" Tohru smiled happily, her beaming grin made Shigure and Kyo smile too. Kyo let out a small sigh, everything would be alright now, there was nothing more to be concerned with; now he could just enjoy his time with Tohru.
Shigure drove the three of them to a small sushi bar, where they had a brunch. Kyo ordered mainly fish, Shigure an assortments of meats, and Tohru a vegetable mix. Tohru ate hers happily and tried to get Kyo to try one "Come on Kyo its good"
"No way, for all I know there are leeks in there" Kyo leaned away from it
"Please! I'll eat one of yours" Tohru pleaded, and with her chopsticks she stole one of his and shoved it in her mouth quickly
"Hey you!"
Kyo growled laughing as she stuck out her tongue innocently. Kyo nudged her playfully, and he laughed, just in time to have Tohru stick a sushi roll into his mouth. Kyo froze on the spot, but Tohru looked so hopeful, that he chewed it and swallowed it the best he could. Amazingly it wasn't that bad.
"Can you guess what's in it?"
"Apparently it isn't a leek...."
Tohru laughed "Of course it isn't, I wouldn't actually torture you with food. Come on now, it be some sort of pepper, mixed in with seaweed."
"Yeah it's a red pepper! But the seaweed kills the strong flavor" Shigure looked over his newspaper at the two of them and grinned taking a sip of his coffee. A platter of rice balls came next, and Tohru took one and bit into it gently "It has a plum in it"
Kyo took a bite of his, and instantly his head scrunched in as if he had eaten a war head candy.
"What's the matter Kyo?"
"Lemons..." His face puckered, it looked like he could've kissed Tohru with that sort of a face. And Tohru held her breath trying not to laugh, but she broke down and laughed so hard she held her sides. Shigure saw this too, and he chuckled lightly. Kyo swallowed the rice ball and gasped for air pounding his hand against his chest, but when he look from the corner of his eye seeing Tohru smile, and small grin formed around the corners of his lips.
The rest of the meal was sort of the same. Happy laughter and small smiles. The three of them loaded back into the car, and buckled down for the three hour drive home. Kyo ended up falling asleep on Tohru's lap. He had started out just by resting his head back against the head rest of his chair, and slowly but surely he started falling to the side until he finally fell onto her lap. Tohru tried not to laugh, she didn't want to wake him, and she stroked his orange hair gently.
"He was really worried about you flower" Shigure said looking up at the rear view mirror
"Everyone's been so worried...I didn't meant to worry anyone"
Shigure shook his head gently grinning, Tohru could not see, she just didn't understand men yet did she. Too innocent. Kyo hadn't slept a wink the night before, or he had mostly on and off, but none that could surely give him a lot of energy. Kyo wasn't completely asleep, but enjoyed the feel of her gentle touch against him, and eventually, he did find comforting dreams.
Back at the Camp
The day had been all to empty for anyone to really enjoy themselves. Well, the class was worried, but most of them did forget the worries when they went rafting. But the Sohmas, Hana, Uo and Kei couldn't stop their worrying. When the class had left, they had all begged to stay behind, it was just no fun for them, and what was the point of ruining the other kids's good times?
Everyone was around the fire, Yuki feeding it with more small shards of wood, Haru in the back round was chopping the wood. Momiji, Uo, and Hana were playing cards, the girls some what annoyed the carefree Momiji was winning. Kei was doing another sketch of Tohru, and stopped midway through it.
"I can't stand this! I just can't do this anymore! She was taken away in a chopper!"
"But Shigure said that Tohru is okay now, she just needs time to heal back home" Momiji answered gently looking away from his cards.
"Well shouldn't we be there with her, keeping her company and crap? Look none of us are having fun here, so why don't we just go and be useful"
"Don't you think Miss Honda would enjoy this time away from the pressure?"
"What the hell does that mean?" Kei barked at Yuki
"Think about it. Tohru has been more upset that she's worried us all, her own pain doesn't matter to her. Shouldn't we take that stress away, by being away?"
Kei just rolled his eyes frustrated and returned to the drawing "So we'll just leave Kyo all by himself with her?" He grumbled
Yuki and Haru sent him death glares. But Momiji shook his heads.
"You guys think its such a bad thing, when you're all just the same. You wouldn't be worried about Tohru if she was with me, Uo, or Hana, you're only worried about each other. You guys are all shallow. She could be on her deathbed, and you'd only act this worried if Kyo was there by her side anyway." Momiji looked at them, and no one had ever seen Momiji this serious about anything. "Kyo is genuinely worried about Tohru, so why can't you guys be the same way?"
Everyone's eyes seemed to look away from Momiji's, knowing that he was right. No one wanted to admit it. No one would dare say it. Uo and Hana, they were silent as well. Uo was mostly feeling the guilt, and Hana sat there thinking.
"If you all feel so concerned, why don't you all just go to her?" Hana said quietly before raising from her spot "Tohru may feel guilt for the worry caused, but right now, she's worrying about everyone here....so why not, do yourselves all a favor, and stop this childish mind games"
Everyone was still quiet, and Yuki continued to feed the fire, until he finally rose up and walked back towards his tent.
"Where are you going Yuki?" Momiji asked worriedly. Yuki simply turned around and smiled
"Home"
Momiji quickly grinned and ran after him "Hey I wanna see Tohru too!"
Everyone now dropped their things and ran after Yuki "WAIT UP WE'RE COMING TOO"
Shigure, Kyo, Tohru
Kyo had slept all through the car ride, and Tohru had fallen asleep midway through it. The car gently turned up the driveway into the Sohma's house, and Shigure couldn't help but smile. "Home sweet home"
Shigure walked and opened the door to the back seat and shook Tohru's shoulder gently. "Sweetie, wake up" Tohru's eyes fluttered open and she smiled softly. "We're home"
Tohru looked behind Shigure, and to her delight she saw the Sohmas house, her home. She looked down at Kyo, who was still sleeping. She stroked his head gently, and awkwardly wrapped her arm around him until he transformed into a cat. He was still asleep, and had no idea of this. Tohru cuddled Kyo in her arms, and the clothes with her hand as well. They entered the home, it was only about three in the afternoon. Shigure hauled in the bags and left them in a pile by the door.
Tohru stood in the threshold of the house, looking at the home. She had only been gone a week, and still she had missed it so much. She plopped down on the couch, resting her eyes again, stroking Kyo's soft orange fur.
"Tohru dear, do you want anything to eat?"
Tohru peaked open an eye "I'm not hungry, but would you like me to cook something for you?"
"No no my dear, I'm sure this old man can learn to defrost some leftovers of yours" he grinned
"If you need help, I wouldn't mind at all assisting you"
"I'll be fine dear, if you see smoke, then you can come help me"
Tohru laughed and nodded in agreement and Shigure left the room. That, mostly left Tohru alone in their den. She looked down at Kyo and scratched behind his ears "Hey Kyo, you awake"
The cat only grumbled and purred slightly. She giggled and scratched under his chin "Silly Kyo"
Kyo still isn't aware that he's a cat, or he'd be majorly pissed off. Tohru looked up smelling smoke. "OH NO SHIGURE!" she threw a blanket on top of Kyo and she ran into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry Flower!" Shigure moaned seeing the defrosted food destroyed.
"Its okay, I have extras, you just go wait in the den" Tohru replied calmly. Shigure slumped away sadly and she smiled. Tohru first cleaned the mess and walked to the fridge. She pulled out some of her leftover soup and began to warm it on the stove. After twenty minutes, she called Shigure back in and slid a bowl in front of him.
"As always dear Tohru your meals are delectable" Shigure sighed happily as he ate the soup.
"Oh why thank you" Tohru replied bashfully. "Is Kyo still asleep?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, the cat's still asleep."
"Shall I set aside a meal for him?"
"I think he'd enjoy that Tohru. For now, why don't you go rest Flower, you still, after all, are recovering."
Tohru nodded slightly and scurried off to her room. After unpacking her things, she sat down on the floor in the center of her room. She laid on her back and slipped on her headphones that Momiji had gotten her. She listened to the sweet music and closed her eyes relaxing. Tohru dreamed about falling into the river, being swept away, the fight with Uo, but she still managed to dream about all their laughter as well. Tohru knew deep in her heart, that everything would be fine. She smiled sweetly as she slumbered.
Kyo woke up downstairs on the couch, rather humiliated to find himself bare underneath the blanket, but relieved to find his clothes right there next to him. He quickly dressed and wandered into the kitchen.
"Ah so it seems the slumbering feline has awoken to fill his empty belly"
"Don't give me that writer crap, you mind telling me why I was naked in there?"
"Oh that" Shigure covered his smiling laughter with his fist. "Well lets see, you fell asleep in the car and Tohru felt bad about waking you up, so she carried you inside so you could continue sleeping. She sat with you for a while, then made us some supper, she left you some."
Kyo rubbed the back of his head, looking away trying to hide his thin line of blush. "Oh really?"
"Indeed, now eat the soup before it freezes." Shigure grinned
Kyo took the soup from the stove at sipped at it slowly, wondering how long he had really been asleep. He looked to the clock, and saw that it was chiming five. He shook his head and looked towards the window, wondering why Tohru hadn't woken him up.
"Where is Tohru?"
"Oh Tohru, I suppose she's somewhere in the house, I'd check her bedroom, I told her to go and rest" Shigure answered quietly as he scribbled more notes into his notebook.
Kyo pushed his chair back from the table and he wandered upstairs. He walked down the hallway. He came to Tohru's door, and knocked on it gently. "Tohru? You in there?"
Tohru had been asleep on the floor, her cd player had long since stopped. She awoke to the sound of gentle tapping against her door. "Tohru? You in there?" Tohru slipped off her headphones and sat up.
"Come in" She said lightly and the door slid open "Oh Kyo, you're awake" she smiled
"Yeah," He entered and sat down on the floor next to her. "Hey Tohru, why didn't you wake me up?"
"Well, you just seemed so peaceful when you were asleep, I didn't want to disturb you. You looked like you were having such sweet dreams. So I kinda turned you into a cat, you can sort of guess the rest." Tohru smiled gently
"Well then...I guess thanks...I did have some good dreams" He said quietly
"I'm glad. You seem so more at ease, when you're dreaming" She said quietly lying back down on the floor.
"So, how are you feeling?"
"Honestly Kyo I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me"
"Yeah well, I can't have anything happening to you, then Shigure and the others wouldn't stop complaining"
Tohru just laughed staring up the ceiling and then closing her eyes "Its nice to be home"
"Yeah it is" Kyo hugged at his knees looking around her room. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, after Akito left I slept just fine. I slept a little in the car too. I'm just..." She yawned covering her mouth "back to my fullest yet I guess"
Kyo frowned slightly looking at her, but she was practically asleep again on the floor. He got down on his knees, and mustered up whatever courage he had and rested his head against her chest gently closing his eyes.
"You know, I was really worried about you"
"I know, you've told me a million times, I'm not going anywhere, I wouldn't do that to everyone" she whispered gently stroking his hair again.
"I can hear your heartbeat" Kyo said lightly, listening to the beating.
Tohru was already asleep, and the two of them spent the rest of the day in a lazy snooze. The rest of the group piled into a taxi van and began their long drive back to Tohru.
Author's Note
Long chapter, sorry for the delay