Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, I never have owned Fruits Basket, and I probably never will own Fruits Basket, though that remains to be seen. I am merely a dedicated fan, in love with the world, story, characters *cough*YUKI*cough* and possibilities therein, so anything you recognize from the anime doesn't belong to me. So don't sue me. I'm a poor college student, so I have no money, anyway.
Enjoy, and please leave a review when you're done! Arigato!
Chapter Two: What is that 'warm tingly'sensation?
"Thank you for coming with me to the Main House today, Miss Honda." Yuki said. They walked side by side down the carefully raked gravel path that led up to the front door of the main house. "I do hope it was no trouble."
"Oh no, it was no trouble at all!" Tohru rushed to assure him. She swung her little purse at her side as she walked with a light, bouncing step. "I needed to get out today anyway to pick up the ingredients for Somen. I thought they would make a nice cool meal with all the heat we've been having. I thought I'd prepare some sashimi to go with them."
"That sounds wonderful, Miss Honda." Yuki told her. Tohru smiled broadly at him and he couldn't help but to smile back. "But isn't that an awful lot of work?"
"No, not at all!" Tohru said. "I've been wanting to try making sashimi for a while now. I've never done it before, and I thought I'd use you and Shigure and Kyo as… lab rats." She giggled.
Yuki laughed lightly along with her.
It was about a month after the incident with Kyo's mononoke. The slightly wide eyed look about Tohru had faded to just barely noticeable. She and Kyo were becoming extremely close, and Yuki knew it was only a matter of time before Kyo would ask her out. He had no idea how Kagura would respond to that.
What surprised Yuki the most was that he didn't really find himself minding Kyo and Tohru's closeness. Yes, he resented the time that Kyo spent with her, but Yuki had come to realize that he and Tohru just wouldn't make successful romantic material. Tohru had ceased blushing at him as much as she used to, and begun blushing twice as much around the Cat, much to Yuki's chagrin.
He remembered when he'd thought he was madly in love with her. Now that he thought about it, he probably had been, but nothing had come of it and it had faded into this more comfortable, refined brotherly love. Yuki was happy with that, so long as he got to stay near her. She was probably the only person he trusted completely, with his life and his secrets.
Tohru had come to be something like a sister.
Of course Kyo had no idea. He was utterly blind to the fact that Yuki and Tohru had nothing romantic between them. He and Yuki regularly got into vicious spats over Tohru. One day, Yuki would correct him, violently if necessary, but for now Yuki found it darkly humorous.
He realized abruptly that Tohru was no longer beside him. He turned around and spotted her standing some twenty paces behind him on the path, staring off into the trees on her left. He went back to see what had caught her attention. "What is it, Miss Honda?"
She jumped, obviously startled, and blinked disbelievingly at him for a moment before looking back into the trees. "I don't believe it! That's – that's Kikyo!" She abruptly leapt into motion. "Kikyo!" She shouted, running full tilt towards the tree line.
"Miss Honda!" Yuki looked where Tohru had been looking, and saw something altogether unexpected. On a gravel path, visible beyond a line of carefully sculpted trees, stood Hatori in deep conversation with a … Miko? He couldn't see her face at the moment, her back was to him, but her costume was extremely traditional, right down to the wooden geta sandals on short, raised platforms and her dark red-brown hair pulled into a waist length tail and two coiled loops. Her hakama pants were dark burgundy, and the back of her white hippari jacket was embroidered with a bold black kanji ring that said 'Hondachi'.
She heard what was obviously her name and turned to find the source of the shout, making Yuki's mouth run dry. She looked eerily like Tohru, if Tohru had been beautiful and not merely pretty.
Her eyes were large and slightly almond shaped, the most amazing shade of brilliant, vivid, surreal, emerald green he had ever seen, with long black lashes that outlined her eyes boldly, drawing attention. Her lips were the color of dark pink rose petals and looked to be as soft. Her long bangs gently brushed the sides of her face and made his fingers itch to brush them back. A slight blush of surprise and excitement touched her cheeks when she saw Tohru and a huge smile covered her face instantly, creating a tight, warm, tingly knot in his stomach. "Tohru!" She cried, and her voice was a warm alto, melodious and gentle.
In short, Yuki was instantly attracted to her. Now, this was something new and interesting to him. He was used to girls following him and fainting when he spoke to them, but never before had he felt that way about a girl. Well, there was a first time for everything.
"Kikyo!" Tohru shouted once more before enthusiastically tackling the other girl to the ground. They rolled head over heals for about five feet in a giggling mess before coming to a halt with their arms wrapped around each other in a tight hug. They began speaking over each other, asking questions, demanding answers with huge smiles on their faces. "Kikyo! When did you get back from Asahikawa?! How long have you been here?! Where are you staying? Why haven't I heard from you since Mom's funeral?"
Kikyo was running over her with questions of her own. "Tohru, where are you living? Grandpa said you lived with a friend, but didn't elaborate. Why aren't you staying with him? You should have told me if you needed someplace to stay! Where are you going to school?"
Eventually they ran out of breath and pulled back to look each other in the eye, then fell together giggling again.
Yuki walked up to Hatori, who had a mildly surprised and amused expression on his face. "Who is she?" Yuki asked quietly, not taking his eyes off the two girls as they stood and began picking grass off each other.
"Her name is Kikyo Honda." Hatori answered. "She is the Miko at the Hondachi shrine on the other side of town, and apparently she knows Tohru quite well."
"Why is she here?" Yuki asked.
"She came to treat Akito."
Finally, Yuki looked at the other man. "Treat him?" Yuki asked even quieter still.
"You know he's been ill since the incident." Hatori responded. "I wasn't able to do anything for him with Western medicine, so we felt that a more traditional approach might be worth trying."
Yuki was silent for a moment as he watched Kikyo turn in a circle so that Tohru could admire her Miko outfit. "Did it work?"
"Miraculously." Hatori confirmed. "She truly does have Miko powers."
"Amazing." Yuki whispered.
The girls rejoined them, blushing slightly but smiling like the sun. Tohru spoke. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your conversation, Hatori. It's just been so long since I've seen Kikyo, I got very excited."
"That's perfectly alright, Tohru." Hatori assured her. "I take it you know each other well?"
"Yes, Hatori-san. We're cousins." Kikyo said, smiling. "Our dads were brothers."
"Oh, I'm being so rude!" Tohru exclaimed suddenly. "Kikyo, this is Yuki Sohma. Yuki, this is Kikyo Honda."
"Very pleased to meet you." Yuki murmured as he bowed politely to the Miko. He felt a blush heat his cheeks.
She smiled and blushed, a shade of petal soft mauve that touched her cheeks and the bridge of her nose delicately, bowing gracefully back. "And you as well." She said breathily. That knot in the middle of his diaphragm tightened once, sending prickles across his skin.
"Kikyo has been training in the mountains in Hokkaido." Tohru told them. "The last time I saw her was at Mom's funeral."
"Then why don't you two catch up while I see to Yuki." Hatori suggested. "Yuki, follow me."
They set off together for the main house, but Yuki glanced back every once in a while to catch a glimpse of them talking animatedly as they sat on a bench beneath a sakura tree. Once they'd kicked their shoes off and gone inside to Hatori's office, Yuki spoke. "What exactly did she do for Akito?"
Hatori gestured for Yuki to remove his shirt and hop up onto the table. "She came in, opened all the doors and windows, read his palm, looked into his eyes and Delved his aura. Then she diagnosed him as having a curse, and made him a potion to relieve some of the symptoms. He began to improve immediately."
Yuki blinked dumbfoundedly. "H – How is he now?" He asked faintly.
Hatori pressed the stethoscope to Yuki's chest. "Very well. The windows are open and he's dressed. Quiet now, and breathe."
Yuki breathed deeply for several minutes while Hatori slid the cold stethoscope around on his chest and back. When he was done, he pulled his shirt back on and hopped off the table.
"You're perfectly fine. Keep on as you have been." Hatori said. "You're free to go. Come back on the first of next month."
Yuki left, slipped on his shoes, and trotted back to the place where he'd left Tohru and Kikyo. Tohru was kneeling on the ground in front of Kikyo, who was twisting Tohru's long hair into a complicated plait, capping her head like a braided crown. The look was very becoming on Tohru, who blushed prettily when she saw Yuki coming.
"Yuki, do you mind if Kikyo comes with us on our errands and joins us for dinner?" Tohru asked, twisting a flower stem in her fingers nervously, concerned he might be displeased. "She's very good at preparing sashimi, and it's been so long…" She trailed off.
"Of course, she is more than welcome to go shopping with us. We'll have to ask Shigure to see if he minds a guest, but somehow I doubt he will." Yuki said. Considering Kikyo's appearance, Yuki very seriously doubted Shigure would mind. 'Hell,' Yuki thought, 'I wouldn't mind, myself. No! Dirty thoughts! Bad Yuki!' His cheeks grew warm as he watched Kikyo's slender fingers nimbly twist Tohru's hair to a finish.
"Well, let's go!" Tohru exclaimed, leaping to her feet in a power stance. "We're wasting precious shopping time!" Tohru grasped one of Yuki's hands and one of Kikyo's hands and together they left the Sohma Compound.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Which do you think, Yuki?" Kikyo asked, pointing through the fish monger's glass case at three fresh cutlets. "Salmon, cod, or tuna? Which would your cousins prefer?"
Yuki thought for a moment, cupping his chin in long slender fingers, lavender eyes gazing through the glass. "Well, I know Kyo loves cod, Shigure's very fond of tuna, and Miss Honda's favorite is salmon, so why not get some of each?"
"Oh, you don't think that would be too much, do you?" Kikyo asked concernedly, glancing at the cutlets again. "Fish this fresh isn't cheap. We could do one or maybe two today and another variety another time."
Yuki smiled. 'She's so much like Tohru, worrying over the price of fish.' He cleared his throat, turning to the fish monger behind the counter. "We'll take 450 grams each of the salmon, cod, and tuna." The fish monger nodded agreeably and reached in to pull them out for cutting and measuring. Yuki glanced at Kikyo.
She had a tiny delighted smile on her face, and Yuki could tell instantly she was secretly happy that they'd gotten some of all three varieties. She touched one hand gently to the back of her hair, and pulled her hippari straight. Yuki felt that warm knot form in his diaphragm again.
'What is that warm tingly sensation?' He thought, curiously. There had been times when he'd gotten it around Tohru, though they'd been few and far between, and none in the last month. Like that time at the hot springs, when he'd given her the set of yellow silk hair ribbons. As he'd watched her take her hair out of the braided bun she'd had it in, and gently comb through it with her fingers, he'd gotten the same type of feeling in his gut, the warm knot that made him shiver.
As he watched Kikyo delicately tap the toes of her sandals on the floor the knot pulsed, making his skin prickle again.
Tohru rejoined them then. She'd wandered off down an isle to collect the makings for Somen. She came back with her basket a little fuller than when she'd left, and to that collection Yuki added the three cutlets of fish wrapped neatly in plain, brown paper. He paid for their purchases, despite all of Kikyo and Tohru's protests, and made their way to the road that led back to Shigure's house.
"So, where are you going to school, Miss Honda?" Yuki asked off hand, trying to start a conversation.
Both Tohru and Kikyo looked at him, Tohru with a puzzled expression.
"Uh, Kikyo, I meant." Yuki clarified artlessly.
"I'm home schooled." Kikyo said. She kicked a rock and sent it cart wheeling down the road. "Most of my schooling was done on the side of my Miko training, so I haven't had a chance to go to a real school. Although, I would like to spend my senior year at a public school, now that my reclusion studies are done."
"How long have you been in Miko training?" Yuki asked.
"Informally, since I was just a little girl." Kikyo said. "Tomoyo-baasan was a great sorceress, so when everyone realized I had the Talent, I moved to Hokkaido with her. She has taught me much, and now that I'm done with my training, I've moved back here to help in the family shrine."
"Miss Honda, why didn't you move there when your Mom died?" Yuki asked curiously, looking at Tohru.
Tohru shrugged. "The Hondas that own the shrine are from my Dad's side of the family. I never really knew them all that well. Tomoyo-baasan was Dad's only sister, and she lives so far away and I didn't know Dad's side of the family very well, except for Grandpa, and I wanted to stay here so I could keep going to the same High School, and Grandpa was willing to have me stay with him…"
"Okay, Miss Honda!" Yuki cut her off. Not rudely, but she was rambling. "I understand."
Kikyo smiled on the other side of Tohru, obviously knowing why Yuki had cut in. Yuki smiled back at her, a blush heating his cheeks.
"Anyway, now I live and work at the Hondachi shrine." Kikyo said. "Tohru, you never told me why you're living with the Sohmas and not Grandpa. I must admit I'm curious."
Tohru laughed nervously. "Well, uh… Ah…"
"It just works out better this way." Yuki leapt in. "We go to the same school, we're in many of the same classes, and none of us can take care of ourselves. Miss Honda is our housekeeper."
"Ah." Kikyo nodded.
But Yuki saw that she didn't take that explanation at face value. Which isn't to say she didn't believe him; Yuki got the feeling she was almost as trusting as Tohru. Just that she knew there was more. Yuki reminded himself that she knew there was a curse on the Sohma family, even though she didn't know what it was. He'd have to be very careful around her; it was too easy to treat her the same way he treated Tohru, who did know much about the curse, though even she didn't know it all.
Also, there was something… about Kikyo's eyes… that was very different from Tohru's.
Tohru's eyes were full of love and trust. She saw the world as an idealized place where everything from clouds to concrete was beautiful. All people held good in them somewhere, and only needed nurturing to bring it out. And Tohru had a way about her of doing that, bringing out the best in everyone she met. She was inconceivably naïve, to the point of gullibility and personal danger to herself.
Kikyo, on the other hand… Kikyo's eyes were different. They saw and recorded everything, down to the most minute detail. Her mind was as sharp as a sword blade.
Yuki saw this. He respected it, marveled at it, even felt intimidated by it.
"Well… Exactly how far is it to your house, Yuki-san?" Kikyo asked after a moment.
"Only a few more minutes." Yuki told her. "It's just over this rise, and off the road a ways."
Kikyo sighed, smiling. "It must be nice to live out of the city this far. It's so much quieter and you can really feel nature. The air smells much cleaner."
"I like it a lot." Tohru agreed. "There's no cars driving by, not many planes overhead, so you get a peaceful sense of seclusion."
A few minutes later, after tramping off the beaten path and into the trees a bit, they reached Shigure's house. Yuki spied a familiar orange head on the roof, looking down at them.
Tohru spotted it too. "Kyou! Come down! I'd like you to meet my cousin!" She called.
Kyo's head disappeared and Yuki, Tohru, and Kikyo went into the house.
"Not to pry, Tohru," Kikyo said softly as she slipped her geta off and set them neatly together on the mat inside the door. "But how many of you live here?"
"Oh, there are four of us usually." Tohru responded. "Yuki, Kyou, Shigure, and myself. It's very nice, and usually peace –"
"Yo!" Kyou's loud exclamation broke into Tohru's sentence. After standing there for several moments and not getting noticed he'd decided to make them notice them. "What's goin' on?"
"Oh, Kyou!" Tohru exclaimed. "You came down quickly! Kyou, this is my cousin, Kikyo Honda." Kikyo bobbed a polite bow. "Kikyo, this is Kyou Sohma." To Yuki's surprise, Kyou bowed politely back.
"Nice to meet you." Kikyo murmured, smilingly.
"Uh, yeah. Same here." Kyou said distractedly. "Hey, have I met you before?"
Kikyo blinked in surprise for a moment, as did Tohru and Yuki.
'What? Where could he possibly have met her?' Yuki thought. That knot in his stomach had moved up into his chest, constricting uncomfortably.
Kikyo looked at Kyou for several moments, fantastically green eyes narrowed slightly in concentration, before they flew open and a broad smile lit up her face. "Carrot-Top!" She exclaimed.
Kyou laughed. "Red!"
"You've… met before?" Tohru asked.
AN: I'll leave it there for now. Where could Kyou and Kikyo possibly have met before? And what the junk's wrong with Yuki, huh? Just a few things to think about… I'll update as soon as the next chapter gets written. I can't promise anything soon, though, cause this is my last week before finals, but I'll do my best to keep it going steady. Thanks! Please leave a review!