The Curses' Cold Touch
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Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.
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Summary: It's the summer after Tohru's first year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?
1.::.The Parcel.::.1
Ever since they've known each her, Tohru would drop a package off at the post office on the last day of every month. This June 30th was no different. No different in this case, at least. As was the norm, Yuki waited for the girl to exit the office with the same smile she walked in with and arms empty of the parcel she had. Tired of guessing with no path to guide, Yuki Sohma decided to inquire on Tohru's monthly sendings. He stood up from the bench on which he was sitting and the two started on their way to Shigure's house. "Honda-san," Yuki said, calling her attention. Once she looked over to him, he continued, "At the end of each month, you drop off a package to send out. If I may ask, who are you sending them to?" Puzzled for a moment or two by his question, her perplexed expression quickly passed onto one of her usual joy, "Oh, right, I haven't told you yet. Three years ago, a dear friend of the family moved away, so every month, I send her letters and a few other things, like snacks that she can't buy in her area." "She moved away?" Yuki repeated once as they approached the house, "Where did she move?" When they got inside, took their shoes off, and said their "hello we're home," Tohru answered him, "She moved to America to stay close to her family. I'm excited, though, because she that she's been saving up her money to visit and, last time she sent me a package, she wrote that she should have enough pretty soon." Obviously, she was happy about this, so Yuki smiled as well.
Tohru took the groceries from Yuki, who had been carrying the bags, and started to put the contents away into the refrigerator when Shigure entered the room, obviously having just woken up from a nap. He hadn't been sleeping well at night recently, though he claimed that it was merely the seasons changing. "So, the two are finally back from their errands," Shigure said before he picked up a small box from the counter, "Later than usual, aren't you?" "Oh, yes, sorry. I had to send out something, so we had to go to the post office for a few minutes," she explained as she finished putting the groceries into the fridge. Shigure looked at the box in his hand. It was a small box, about 10x10x3 cm container, wrapped neatly in a plain black paper. He rose a brow and read the emerald ink off of the white label. "You've been sending them out to America?" He held the box out to offer it to her, "This box came in for you a few minutes after you left. I put it on the counter so I wouldn't forget to give it to you, and here you are." He gave her the box and, upon taking the delivery, Tohru thanked him and lifted the lid off the box. The first thing she saw in the box was a black envelope with white ink written "To my little Tohru-can."
Yuki watched as she set the box down and took a black sheet of paper out of the envelope. "'My little Tohru-chan'?" "Yup! She's older than us, so she used to baby-sit me when I was younger. She and mom were really good friends, so she's almost like a big sister to me," she said before reading the metallic, crimson ink, "'Dear Tohru-chan, I'm pleased to inform you that I have finally gotten enough money to come back; however, I am patiently waiting for an appropriate time to take leave off of work. It's amazing how many girls succumb to heat stroke, especially considering how most of them dress nowadays. Only private schools establish uniforms anymore, so the other schools' dress code enforcements have gone down a steep slide. Pathetic, really. In any case, thank you for the yummy snacks you sent over. I enjoyed them very much, as did my little cousin. I think she likes the chocolates the best, though she won't admit it. She's like a little you, only her eyes remind me of those of a cat's. Anyhow, I've probably been rambling enough. Don't be surprised if I pop out of nowhere. It would be a force of habit. Anyway, ciao for now and I hope to see you soon. Yours dearly, K-chan. PS: I've enclosed some snacks for you and the guys you're staying with. It's not much this time, but it's as much as I could get with the money I'm not saving for my awesome trip. I'll bring some more when I visit. I've got a few other friends I need to see as well, so...yeah.' And it ends there. Don't worry, I didn't tell her your secret. She just wanted to know where I was staying since I wasn't staying with grandpa any more." "It's alright, Tohru-kun," Shigure said, looking the envelope over, "Does she have a place to stay while she's here?" "Oh, yes, I forgot to ask you, but would it be alright if she could stay with us during her visit? It would only be for a couple of weeks. After that, she said she's got some old friends that she could stay with. Though, I don't know if she's asked them yet..." Tohru's volume started to drop as she neared the end of her last statement, but Shigure put on a smile and snwered her question, "I don't see why not. It might be fun to see what kind girl this friend is." "Insanity again, Shigure?" Yuki muttered a little as he looked at the dog. As usual, Tohru smiled, "Thank you, very much!"
The next few days passed as usual, although, there were no fights between the cat and the rat as Kyo was out for two weeks, training once again.
The fifth of July arrived and the sunlight began to peek in through Tohru's window. As she awoke and sat up, she sleepily looked over to her calendar, recognizing this as the day of Kyo's return. The morning smile found its place on her face and she got out of bed to get ready for the day. She figured that she would probably be there by lunch, so she would make something special. Not to mention, she still had some other foods chilling in the fridge for the other visitor who had sent daily letters since her last black parcel. Once she had changed into a blue plated skirt, white t-shirt, and denim vest, Tohru opened the window and felt the warm, summer breeze. From the courtyard below, she heard someone clear his throat before she looked down to see Shigure sitting in front of the small pond. He seemed to be contemplating on something, but Tohru decided to go down and wish him a good morning. She figured that he must not have been able to sleep very well once again, so that was probably exactly was he needed. And that is exactly was she did.
"Good morning, Shigure-san!" Wearing his usual traditional robes, the dog turned to see the chipper high school girl waving a little and walking toward him. He smiled and nodded in response, then turned back to the pond when she took a seat next to him. "Morning. You're up rather early, today," Shigure pointed out as it was only a little after six AM. Tohru nodded, "Yes, once I wake up, I often have trouble going back to sleep. What about you? You haven't been able to sleep very well lately. Have you seen Hatori-san about it?" Shigure sighed, his expression fading a little, "I haven't seen him about it as a doctor, though I did talk to him about it. He said he is having similar problems, though not as badly. I don't think it's anything a check-up could fix." The two sat in silence for a while. Tohru had never seen Shigure act this way in the few months that she had been staying with the Sohmas, whether she knew him well or not. Of course, after nights of not sleeping well, it made sense that he was acting differently. She sat thinking before her grumbling stomach broke the silence and the two were reminded that dinner the previous night was somewhat small and pretty early. "I guess I'd better get started on breakfast, then." With that, she stood and left to leave the dog to sit in solitude once again.
"Shi-kuuuuun!"