Title: Needed
Summary: Tohru makes a wish to be able to hug the Sohma member who needs it the most. But what happens when the Sohma who needs it most isn't the one who Tohru expected?
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, no money is being made with this fiction. Only waste of time which could be spent reading Harry Potter fanfiction. I also don't own the song used at the beginning of each chapter, although I recommend this song fully.
A/N: Wow! This has gone from tour reviews for the first chapter, to 22 for the second! I couldn't have wanted a better answer, I swear! I was told this was the only ToriRu fic that still updates. Well…I hope to keep it this way, maybe finish it until next week when I'm off to my home land. Heh. Enjoy.
iii. company
Is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet?
Still the road keeps on telling me to hold on
Something is pulling me
I feel the gravity of it all.
Gravity, Yoko Kanno
Tohru couldn't help but smile over the current situation in the Sohma residence. It turned out that the medical check-up had given positive, and Tohru now was the victim of bronchitis. Naturally, Hatori immediately declared the house in quarantine, checked up on everyone to see if they had traces of the disease, and then banned everyone from Tohru's room.
Everyone but the doctor, of course. And since Hatori was the doctor, he turned into Tohru's source of information as to what happened beyond the four walls of her room.
"Two weeks is a long time, Ha-san!" Shigure complained, sitting down with a huff.
Hatori suppressed a smirk at his whining cousin, and shrugged him off. "It's the necessary time, look in any medical book. If you own any."
"Now you're just being mean! I'm sure you want Tohru-chan all for yourself." When Shigure saw Hatori's eyes narrowing to slits, he stopped his teasing.
"I'll come back tomorrow to check up on her," Hatori declared, standing up to leave.
"Oh, no! You're not leaving her side, mister!" Shigure shouted. "You put her in bed for two weeks, so you better bring your work here, because if we can't keep her company, then you will!" Shigure stood up straight, feeling proud of his decision.
But then Hatori gave him what looked like a crooked smile, and Shigure wasn't sure he was proud anymore. "Fine. I do hope you can cook for five, Shigure-san," Hatori said, and closed the door behind him.
Yuki entered the living room to find Shigure muttering: "That Hatori is one evil, evil doctor."
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Hatori entered the room silently, his suitcase, filled with papers, in his hand. He picked a chair and sat beside Tohru's bed. The girl was still sleeping, but she was burning. Hatori sighed, he didn't want to do what came next, but it all came with his job.
"Honda-san. Honda-san, wake up." It has to be known that Sohma Hatori rarely had to deal with waking up a woman in his life—Kana was excluded—so he didn't know how to deal with it nicely. "Honda-san, wake up." The covers shifted, and someone groaned under them. "Honda-san…Tohru…you have to wake up now," he whispered.
And it worked, for seconds later Tohru's big eyes peeked from under the covers. "'hayo, Ha-san," she muttered, her throat dry.
"Ohayo," he answered, taking out his papers and settling at the desk.
Tohru shifted until she sat with her back leaning on the wall behind her. She brought a hand to rub at her eyes, and looked over where Hatori was writing something at her desk. "Ano…Hatori-san, what are you doing here?"
Hatori turned his head, letting her have a view of his profile. "I'm being held hostage," he explained.
"Huh?"
"It's a punishment from Shigure, Yuki and Kyou. Since I'm making you sit in this room for two weeks, I have to keep you company, since none of them are allowed."
"Ah. But you could've said no…"
"Yes, but then I wouldn't see Shigure try to cook. It's not something you see every day."
Tohru giggled, imagining the sight. Well what do you know. Hatori-san has a sense of humour.
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"Ohayo, Hatori-san!" she said, once he entered her room the next day.
"Ohayo," he answered, same as always.
"How is everything going outside this room? Are the boys going to school? Is Shigure-san still working on his book?"
"Everything is going fine. There's just one thing missing, they tell me."
"Oh? What's missing?"
"Honda Tohru."
She blushed, and had a coughing fit.
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"Haa-san?"
"Hmm?"
"How much longer?"
"A week."
"Are they okay?"
"Hungry. But fine."
"Ah. Haa-san?"
"Hmmm?"
"Do you…do you like being here? In my company, I meant. Am I a nuisance?"
"What triggered that question?"
"Well…hasn't Akito-sama wondered where you've been off to?"
"He thinks I have another lover."
"Ah…"
Their morning conversations always ended up with her blushing.
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"Something's wrong," Shigure stated, his voice serious.
Hatori looked up from his plate, to find his cousin sitting up straight, his ears perked up. "Something's wrong…with Tohru-san."
No sooner were the words spoken, Hatori was already half-way up the stairs. Whether the others followed or not, he didn't care.
He burst into her room, to find her kneeling on all fours, coughing heavily. She looked up at him with helpless eyes, making him silently swear he never wanted to see that look in her eyes again.
"Can't…breathe…" she managed to squeak between coughs.
Hatori kneeled down beside her, his hand rubbing her back. He grabbed a glass of water from her night-table, and tilted her chin up. "You have to drink this." He brought the glass to her lips, and she managed to swallow a few drops, before she spilled it all, her coughing more pronounced. Hatori was barely aware of Yuki, Kyou and Shigure standing outside her room, the door wide open.
Then Tohru fell forward, her head falling against his chest, and he brought his hands around her, forgetting the curse and everything else. Outside Tohru's room, three men gasped when the transformation didn't come.
Hatori managed to cradle a passed out Tohru in his arms, and placed her in bed. He brushed away a few strands of hair, and turned around to close the door. He froze when he saw his cousin's faces.
"What…what just happened?" Shigure breathed out, finally.
"I…I don't know," Hatori answered, dragging a hand through his hair, his shoulders slouching in tiredness. "I have no idea…"
He pushed the door to her room closed, and took a seat near her bed. And there he sat, the entire day, alternating between looking out the window, or checking up to see if she was comfortable. His mind never left thinking about what had happened.
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Tohru squinted her eyes, finding herself surrounded by darkness. She found herself looking at a starlit sky. A falling star passed her by.
No wish comes true, without consequences to follow.
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A/N: Have I managed to leave you hanging? Heheh. The plot thickens, who would've thought? I realised I placed this under humour. It's not. It has romance, but the other is much more general. I'll change it. and I'll try not to turn it into a drama. Hehe.
Oh my, how many thank you:
Missblondie, gabby, FMP-lvr, Mori'quessir, Not a Monkey, Kurai Himitsu, MidniteRoses, bubbles078, Cortamone, MacDuffyGirl, Elle DeVarquez, Kimberly, animefreak, Korii Shoujo, aishteru, purejoy, marie, whpiar. Thanks for reading, and reviewing! You all rock!
