Author's Note: Hello! Here it is! Chapter 3! Chapter 4 will be up at LEAST by tomorrow morning! I'm on a roll for this story! Except, I just kind of got stumped as to what to write next. Oh, and by the way, I think I forgot to mention that right now, Tohru is 25 years old. So, Yuki left Tohru when they were just about to start their second year of college together... Terribly sorry that I didn't include that sooner! Please feel free to review and give me ideas as to what should come next!
Chapter 3
Just Another Day
"What?" I narrowed my eyes at him. All my anger seemed to come out at once. Everything that had been bottled up inside me seemed to come out. "You want another chance now? After you just leave me like that? You think that everything's going to be okay because you came back? Do you have any idea what I went through to get to how I am now? You make me sick," I spat. I knew the pain that it would bring him and I regretted my words almost instantly after I said them. They sounded so bitter and hateful.
"I understand," he said slowly. "I should have left like that. But you don't understand---"
"What don't I understand? That you were just sick of me and had to replace me? Don't bring Akito into this, she has NOTHING to do with you anymore," the words on my lips were like poison.
"Actually, she does," he said quietly.
"What? What do you mean, she let you go, didn't she?" In spite of my anger, I had some questions unanswered.
"There are just some things that I had to straighten out with Akito," Yuki said simply.
I had nothing to say to him. I knew that there was something else behind all of that. But, I felt that I shouldn't prod my nose into it just yet.
"Well, I have to go. I have to meet with a client at 2:00," I bowed slightly before picking up my bag and coat off of the seat next to the one that I was sitting in.
"Wait," he grabbed my hand. A tingling feeling went up my spine as I felt his touch.
"I know that I've never been very good to you. I'm sorry for everything I've done. But please, let me make it up to you," it wasn't an order, it was a request. An open door to another realm that I had gotten hurt in before.
Tears misted my eyes, but my bangs covered them. When I looked up at him, it was obvious that I was crying.
"I don't know if I can take it if I got hurt again. I'm sorry," I whispered as I slipped out of his grasp and ran towards the exit.
Tears ran down my face unchecked. Something was holding me back. How I longed for the day when Yuki would come into my life again, and ask for forgiveness. I had dreamed of that moment again and again. I knew what I was going to say to him, everything I would do, but when that moment came, I couldn't bring myself to forgive him. I ran down the street, a hand covering my mouth to keep from crying out.
Back at the restaurant, Yuki stood helpless and alone. He had wished that everything would go smoothly, and yet, deep inside, he knew that it was foolish of him to do so. He had inflicted deep wounds on the girl that he loved and cherished more than anything else in the world. But, as much as he tried to let her go, he felt like he would just die without her in his life.
It had been two weeks since he had asked me such a thing. I hadn't seem him since, but I thought of him frequently. I felt that I had been a little hard on him. I didn't want to just lash out at him like that, but all the feelings that had ever gone through my head just seemed to spill without me noticing it. I was going to go and apologize the first second that I had saw him.
Little did I know that Yuki was sneaking glances of me everywhere I went. According to President Minoko, he came frequently and asked after me often.
"He seems to be a nice young man," he winked when he said that. Clearly he didn't know anything about our past together.
New products had come in and I had to report to "President" Sohma about it, and I felt dread run all through my body as I walked towards his building.
When I reached it's glass doors, I hazily watched all the people walk in and out of those doors and wondered where they got all that energy and courage from. It was then that I realized that I was different from all of those people. Never had they shared the kind of past that I had. Whether it involved Yuki or not, no ordinary teenager would set camp outside in the middle of nowhere. I smiled secretly to myself as I thought of those days. I was young and naïve to think that I would possibly be able to survive through days like that, all alone. Society would allow something like that. I knew that, now.
I took a deep breath as I reached the elevator and stepped into it. There were a few other people there, and they were determined not to look at me. I was puzzled by their actions, but thought naught of it.
Yuki's office doors were made of clouded glass materials, and although it was hard to see clearly through them, I could make out the outlines of his body. Three times, I knocked on that door.
"Come in," his voice was enchanting, like a spell.
When I pushed open that door, I didn't know what I would see. But, it was evident that this was not it.
His jacket was askew on the back of his chair, and his sleeves were rolled up and his collared shirt sported no tie. He paced to and fro with a few papers in his hand. He looked up, his deep amethyst eyes reaching up to meet mine.
Briskly, I walked towards him and replied. "Good morning, President Sohma. These are the results for this months products. You will see that everything's in order," my formality seemed to have caught him off guard.
"Oh, thank you," he put down the papers in his hands and took the folder that I held out to him respectfully. As he scanned page after page, I looked around his office. It was neat and very organized. The secretary didn't seem very willing to let me in, and I was feeling a bit hurt by this, but I brushed it aside. But, I knew why.
On his desk, there was a picture. It's frame was encrusted with small, sparkling crystals. It was a photograph of when we were in our first year of college together. It was at the Christmas Formal that the Sohma family was holding as a charity event. Yuki and I had gone together. I remembered that dress very well. It was one of Ayame's best creations. He was so proud when he had given it to me. We were posing for this picture, his arm around my waist and us smiling at the camera. It was one of the golden events that year. I smiled sadly to myself as I thought about that time.
Yuki had caught me staring at that picture and hastily changed the subject, clearing his throat.
"So, um, everything seem's to be in order," he signed the bottom of the last page at his desk, before handing the folder back to me. He looked at his watch.
"Wow. It's already 10:00," he rubbed one side of his face with his hand.
"You worked late?" I asked, toying slightly with the folder.
"Yeah, I had a lot of work that I didn't get to finish," he collected his keys and his cell phone off of his desk. "I have to run down to President Takuto's for a lunch meeting at 12:00," he was retying his tie. He was faster and much better at it than he used to be in high school.
"Is this what you're schedule is like, usually?" I asked as a side question.
"Yes, I guess so, why?" he asked as he now put on his jacket.
"Oh, no reason. But, you shouldn't skip breakfast or work that late into the night. It'll ruin your health," I said gruffly.
He stared at me for a time. "Yeah, thanks. I'll keep that in mind," he smiled at me slightly before:
"Well, I don't mean to run you out, but I have to be somewhere right now, but I'll make it up to you this weekend. I'll call you," cell phone in hand, he made his way towards the door. "Are you going back to the building?"
"Uh, yes, I am," I said, suddenly brought back to reality.
"I'll give you a ride, I'm passing by there on my way," he said as we walked down the halls.
"No, that's fine," I said with a final smile. It was then that I miraculously spotted Kyo Sohma who I hadn't seen for two years because he went abroad to study in America.
"Kyo!" I waved frantically at him. He wasn't that hard to spot. His orange hair made him stand out so much in the crowds.
Yuki looked at Kyo and glared at him slightly as if that was going to stop him from getting closer to Tohru.
"Tohru! Hey, you work here now?" he smiled at her fondly and gave her arm a squeeze.
Yuki was just squirming with jealousy at how Tohru was just so at ease with Kyo and uncomfortable with him.
"No, I don't work here, I still work at the same place that I used to a couple years ago. But, President Minoko has made business arrangements with Well-Being Home-shopping. Which just happens to be this place. Yuki's the President here," I smiled before continuing. "And so, because I'm in charge of all the things that go on between the two companies, which is mainly with the products that are being sold here, I come and go every month or so,"
"Oh, must be nice," Kyo laughed. "So, how are you, Yuki?" his eyes averted to him, standing behind me.
"Fine, just fine. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Yuki said somewhat coolly.
"Yes, it has," Kyo slightly narrowed his eyes. He still hadn't forgotten what that bastard had done to Tohru. Just leaving her like that. He would never forgive him. He knew that Yuki had left her because Akito was threatening to kill her. But, still. Just to leave her like that without any warning. He couldn't even begin ti imagine the kind of pain that she'd gone through. He had learned to control his anger, and he wasn't stupid enough to start a fight in the middle of a place like this.
"Oh! We just have to stop for some coffee and talk! I can't wait to hear about all of the things that you've been doing in America," I laughed out like I have never done in quite some time.
"Well, I'm sorry to break the happy vibes here, but I've got to run, you guys have fun, and you," his eyes flashed. "Don't do anything stupid,"
Kyo smirked. "I don't think that you will have to worry about that. I'll take good care of Tohru while we're together," he slightly nodded his head at him before offering me his arm and walking out of the glass doors which I had worked so hard to get through just that morning.