Disclaimer: I don't have anything resembling ownership of Fruits Basket. It does not belong to me.
A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry to those of you who were hoping to find out more of what was going on with Kyo and Aiko. That doesn't happen in this chapter. I will get to that, but I need to include the other characters too and it fits best to do it this way. And this brings in Hatori, who will actually end up playing a big part in the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
Shadows of Intrigue Chapter 5Tohru, left standing by Kyo's empty desk, tried not to feel any of the emotions she was feeling after watching Kyo go chasing off after another girl. After all, she really had no claim on him. It wasn't like they were dating or anything. It was true that they had gotten closer since she had seen his cat monster form and that she had let herself believe from time to time since then that Kyo maybe had some feelings for her; but they weren't together. So he was free to chase after any girl he wanted to. But despite all these logical reasons that she should not feel hurt and angry and betrayed by Kyo's actions, the fact remained that she did feel all of these things.
The truth was, she felt like crying. But she was supposed to be meeting up with Uo, Hana, Yuki, Momiji, and Haru in front of the school. If she started to cry, they would all want to know what was wrong and she honestly didn't know what to tell them. And if she stayed much longer, one of them would probably come back looking for her, especially since Kyo would have had to pass them on his way out. So, Tohru took a deep breath to try to calm herself and then she walked out of the classroom on the way to meet her friends.
Her friends still had questions for her, despite the fact that she was doing a passable job of keeping her emotions in check. Yuki was the first to say anything, asking gently, "What happened, Miss Honda? We saw Kyo leave in a hurry."
"For real," Uo added, "Orange-top took off like a bat out of hell."
"Oh! He, um, decided to try to find Aiko. So, he left quickly hoping to catch up to her I guess," Tohru answered, working carefully to control her voice.
Despite her act, Tohru could feel Hana's eyes on her as the two younger Sohmas joined the conversation, asking who Aiko was and why Kyo would go chasing after her. Leave it to Hana to see past the charade. But Hana remained silent and Tohru flashed her a quick smile, trying to make her believe everything really was fine. Hana simply raised an eyebrow in return. She was not so easily fooled. She knew there was more going on that Tohru wasn't telling the group, but she wasn't the type to press for details.
Tohru felt a tug on her arm and moved her gaze away from Hana to see what was going on. Yuki had grabbed a hold of her wrist, trying to pull her away, "Come on, Miss Honda. We should head home now. I think Shigure will want to hear about this."
He spoke lightly enough but Tohru understood. Kyo had gone chasing off after a girl who may or may not know about the Sohma family curse. It was something to be concerned about. If it turned out that she did know anything, it would be a matter that would need to be addressed to the family and, more specifically, Akito. So of course Shigure would have to hear of it. And, Tohru realized, since she knew more about the situation than Yuki did, she was going to have to be the one to tell Shigure. Her shoulders slumped a bit but she nodded, "Yeah. Okay. Let's go."
Before leading Tohru away, Yuki turned to his cousins, "Are you guys going to come along or are you heading back to the main house?"
Haru and Momiji looked at each other. It was clear that their curiosity was going to win out over courtesy. They wanted to know exactly what was going on. So it was not really a surprise when Haru grabbed Yuki's sleeve and said, "We're coming with you."
Tohru spent the walk home trying to calm her nerves. She was upset about the situation and nervous about having to be the one to explain it to Shigure. Not that she thought Shigure was going to get upset, but it was a serious matter so it was a bit nerve-wracking. So it was left to Yuki to field the stream of questions coming from Momiji. He did the best he could considering he did not know the answers to most of the questions. But Tohru was paying no attention, leaving him the only one who could tell Momiji anything at all. Tohru's silence did not go unnoticed by any of the boys, but they all thought it better to just leave her be until they reached the house. No doubt she needed to organize her thoughts and consider exactly what needed to be said, not to mention the best way to say it.
When they reached the house, Tohru stopped and stared up at the door, letting out a bit of a sigh. Yuki gave her a small nudge. When she looked up at him, he gave her the best encouraging smile he could muster. He wanted to reassure her, but the truth was, he did not envy her one bit the task she was about to perform. Matters such as this were never simple in the Sohma family and she was now caught right in the middle of it. The most he could do for her was help supply the little bit of information that he knew and pray that she wouldn't have to go before Akito with this information. He watched as Tohru turned back towards the house, took a deep breath and moved forward to take on a task he knew she couldn't be looking forward to.
When they went inside, the group went directly to Shigure's study. Shigure looked up from whatever he had been doing, "Ah! Momiji and Haru. What a pleasant surprise. To what do we owe this visit? And where is Kyo? Is he off sulking on the roof again?"
"Actually," Yuki answered, "Kyo's not here. That's why we came to talk to you. There was a new girl at school today. Kyo's apparently with her. But more importantly, she may know about the curse."
Shigure's eyebrows shot up and he motioned for everyone to sit down. Tohru and Yuki took their seats directly across from Shigure while Haru and Momiji moved off to the side. Tohru explained the situation as best she could, with Yuki adding details every once in awhile. Glancing around, Yuki took in everyone's reaction to the story. Shigure's face was uncharacteristically thoughtful and serious. Haru appeared to remain fairly apathetic but with an occasional flash in his eye that belied his disinterested expression. Momiji was the only one who was openly fascinated by the story. Every time Yuki looked over, it seemed Momiji's eyes had grown larger. Yuki was glad when the story ended. He didn't really thing Momiji's eyes could widen much more and he didn't want to see what happened when they reached their limit.
When Tohru did finish speaking, Shigure sat back and closed his eyes for a minute, and then he leaned forward, putting his hand over his mouth and glancing up in thought. Finally, he let out a long breath and gave Tohru a weak smile, "Well, this certainly is an interesting little predicament. I'm not entirely sure what to say. I guess the first thing to do would be to call Hari and inform him of the situation."
Shigure then got up and went to the phone. A few moments later, Hatori picked up on the other end of the line. "Hello, Hari?" Shigure began, "I've just been informed by Tohru and Yuki that we may have a bit of a situation involving Kyo and a new girl at their school. He apparently took off after her when the school let out. But earlier in the day, Kyo told Tohru that he suspected, from things this girl had said, that she might actually somehow know about the curse. Anyway, this girl seems to have taken a bit of a liking to Kyo and is friendly towards Tohru but does not seem to be particularly fond of Yuki. Strange, isn't it? Oh, and the other strange thing. Yuki told me this girl looks…."
"Let me guess," interrupted Hatori, "She looks almost exactly like Tohru, but maybe a little different in coloring?"
For perhaps the first time in his life, Shigure was momentarily speechless. When he could, he asked in a strained voice, "How did you know that?"