A/N: Whew…summer school is finally over and so I should have more time to update. Unfortunately, I'm going to be going to Philadelphia on the 17th and so I won't be able to update for at least two weeks after that. Then school starts, and so expect updates like once every one or two weeks, OK? I'll try my best!
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An hour later, Tohru was still sitting on the ground, but she had a rather dazed expression on her face. She had heard every word that the three men had said, but she was still having trouble processing it. It all just seemed so unreal, like at any second, she would wake up and find that all of this had been some crazy Alice in Wonderland type of dream.
She pinched herself, just to make sure she was still awake.
"OUCH!"
Yup, she still was.
Yuki paused in his talking and looked over, "Miss Honda, are you alright?"
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Why am I always getting myself into these embarrassing situations?
She laughed nervously and waved her hand to reassure him, "Oh, I'm perfectly alright. I just…had a sudden twitch in my arm…hahaha…that happens all the time. Doesn't that happen to you sometimes? Oh well, probably not, but well, that's what happened. Anyways, don't let me interrupt you…keep talking, Yuki."
Yuki frowned and bit his lip, "Well, I think that is really all there is to tell." He looked at Shigure to see if he had anything to add.
Shigure shook his head, "Nope, I think that's it. Any questions, Tohru? I know this is a lot to process in such a short amount of time."
No kidding…Tohru thought.
"Well, I think I understand now. So your family has been cursed for generations? You can't be hugged by a member of the opposite sex or you will turn into a member of the Zodiac, right? And Yuki, you're a rat. Shigure, you're a dog, and Kyo…you're…you're a cat? But a cat isn't…"
Shigure winced and was about to stop the words from coming out of her mouth but he was too late.
"…a member of the Zodiac."
Kyo looked like he had been slapped, "Yeah, it's not," he mumbled.
Tohru was already saying something else, though, "I love the cat in the old story of the Zodiac! I always wanted to be a cat instead of a dog because I felt so sorry for the cat…I wanted him to know that he at least had one friend in me!"
She had a determined look on her face and in the midst of her speech, she had leapt up in her excitement. She did not notice the amused look on Yuki and Shigure's face or the shocked look on Kyo's.
She continued, "If there was a year-of-the-cat fan club, I would be definitely be a member."
Finally, Tohru looked around and noticed that everyone was silent.
Kyo gaped at her, "You…you would?"
Blushing, but still determined, Tohru nodded her head firmly and declared, "I would."
Shigure thought for a moment quietly for a moment, decided not to comment, and then inquired, "Tohru, it's getting late, and well, we would be glad to have you stay for the night since it's raining, but wouldn't your parents worry?"
"I…well, I can't really go home, and no, my parents wouldn't worry," Tohru looked down in shame.
"I really don't want to be a bother, but ifyouwouldletmestayforonenightjustonenightI-wouldreallyappreciateit."
Shigure looked confused, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that one more time please?"
Tohru took a deep breath and was about to begin again when Yuki cut in, "No need, Miss Honda. I understood. You can take my room and I will sleep on the couch. But may I inquire, what will you do after tonight if you have nowhere to stay?"
"I don't know. I have nowhere to go…but I'll find a way!"
Yuki was shocked to find himself say, "You already have…why don't you just stay with us? We have plenty of room, and after all, you have nowhere else to go…that is, if you don't mind staying with us."
Yuki was not the only one surprised. Tohru was stunned by the generous offer. Shigure and Kyo gaped at their cousin. For one thing, they had rarely heard him voluntarily speak so many words at once. For another, they had certainly never heard him so casually offer to help someone, and a girl at that…he usually tried to keep his distance from them.
"Well, of course, I don't mind. But…I…that would be too much trouble for you. I've already intruded and I couldn't possibly…" Tohru trailed off.
But what choice do I have? I have nowhere to go…and this seems like the best offer I can get right now.
She smiled and took a deep breath, "Thank you…I am so grateful for your generous offer. I will stay on one condition. You have to let me do something for you in return."
Shigure clapped his hands together gleefully and exclaimed, "Wonderful, well, this is just a wonderful bargain. Tohru, can you cook and clean?"
Tohru was about to tell him that she had had no prior experience, but he did not wait for her reply.
"Oh, well, I'm sure you're just a wonderful little worker. But, look at the time…now, now, you still have classes tomorrow, do you not? Hurry off, go to sleep. We can talk more tomorrow."
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Long after Tohru had gone to sleep, the three men were still in the living room. Yuki remained silent and stonily looked at the ground while Kyo and Shigure discussed the matter.
"She can't stay here…Akito won't allow it and she'll just get in the way anyways. We don't need some girl living with us…as if our apartment isn't already a mess."
"Kyo…Kyo," soothed Shigure, "you heard the girl, she has nowhere else to go. Besides, this is only temporary. I'll talk to Akito about it and I'm sure he will understand…that is, if he decides not to erase her memory."
Kyo and Yuki both stiffened, but Yuki remained silent.
Kyo, however, said, "This is all that damn rat's fault anyways…if he hadn't opened his big trap, this wouldn't have happened and we wouldn't have to deal with a stupid girl barging into our lives."
Finally, Yuki spoke up softly, "I remind you to keep your voice low, stupid cat. We wouldn't want to wake the 'stupid girl' now, would we? And may I remind you, who was it that ran in here in his cat form, talking and carrying on a conversation? If you hadn't come in like that, even though I had transformed, I could have found a way to explain it. How am I supposed to explain a talking cat?"
Kyo flushed angrily, "Well how was I supposed to know that she was here. I was coming back from the main house and it started raining. I thought it would be faster if I ran as a cat and then all of a sudden I saw Shigure who started laughing like an idiot. We came back and we found this…don't you dare blame this on me, you damn rat!"
Shigure hopped from one boy to the other, trying to calm him down. He saw that they were both ready to snap, "Well, well, it's been a long day for all of us, hasn't it? Why don't we just all calm down and go to sleep? This will all make more sense in the morning when we're nice and refreshed!"
He smiled brightly but both boys glowered at him.
"Heh…heh," he laughed and waved them on their ways.
Once they were gone, his smile immediately turned into a frown, How am I going to explain this to Akito? He sighed deeply, Well, better get some sleep…tomorrow's gonna be a long day.
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Yuki lay on the couch. Once again, he couldn't sleep. Words and images flew through his mind…
Tohru screaming in embarrassment as they transformed back…
Tohru listening intently with a furrow of concentration as he explained…
Tohru apologizing…repeatedly…
Tohru declaring she wanted to be a member of the year-of-the-cat fan club…
Stupid cat…that's probably the first time anyone has ever said they wanted to be his friend. Stupid girl, why would she want to be friends with a freak like him…like us? Why is she different from everyone else? Why doesn't she recoil in horror at us? Why don't we disgust her? We're all so different, we're…monsters…
Akito's words floated into his mind, "Look at you, you're a freak. No one wants to be around you…if they knew what you truly were, they would all run away from you. You'll never be normal…NEVER."
She didn't run, though…what if Akito was wrong, what if she could accept us, what is she could understand us, what if she could—"
He cut himself off.
Don't be ridiculous Yuki…no one will ever accept us, much less…
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Meanwhile, Kyo was also lying awake in the room across the hall.
She didn't run away, or laugh, or even feel sorry for us.
She said she wanted to be my friend.
Could it be that she might actually…
Stop it, Kyo…you're being stupid. She's just like all of the other stupid girls out there. Brainless…all they know how to do is comb their hair and make themselves look pretty.
But she said…
He tossed back and forth in frustration. Why couldn't he get what she said out of his head?
No one's ever accepted the cat into the Zodiac…I will never be a part of this family…
He remembered Akito's sneer…
"Kyo…poor little Kyo…don't you understand, Kyo, you'll never, NEVER belong. You'll never be a part of this family. Not only are you a freak because of the curse, you're a double freak because you're even an outcast in your own family…and that's the way you'll be forever! FOREVER…"
"Hahahaha double freak…double freak…"
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Shigure also lay sleepless.
This girl, she's different. Besides the fact that she's really really cute…
SHIGURE, get a grip on yourself…he smiled to himself.
Besides the fact that she's really cute, she didn't react like anyone I've ever known.
He chuckled.
Year-of-the-cat fan club? That's a good one…I've gotta remember to tell that one to 'Tori and Aya…they'll get a kick out of that. Well, at least Aya will…I haven't seen 'Tori laugh since…
But when was the last time any of us ever laughed, really laughed because we were truly happy? Yuki, Kyo, even me, we're all just going through life without any laughter, any joy…
Maybe this girl will change all that…she's different, I can sense it…that is…if Akito…
A/N: Honestly, I really like this chapter because it includes some of parts of the characters that I love best. I like Furuba characters because they're not one-dimensional stereotypical characters but they all have different aspects to them. Yuki isn't all icy politeness…Kyo isn't all macho manly-man…and Shigure isn't all perverted jokester. I feel so bad for all of them though…it's really kind of depressing to think about.
Anyways, on to the replies:
Chaka the Chopstick Ninja: Haha, yup, Akito is coming soon, but I don't know yet if I want him/her? to be a big part in the story plot or not. Anyways, yeah, I wish I could be Tohru sometimes…all those cute guys drooling over her? All those super-nice, super-loyal friends? Yup, she's one lucky-duck. I'm year of the horse too! High five! lol…I'm so hyper.
kitsunedemon: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I was originally planning on making this chapter just the explanation with lots of confusion and Tohru's own Asian blondness, but I decided on writing it this way instead because I really wanted to actually make some head-way into the main plot.
Jess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko: Thanks a lot! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, hope you liked this one too. Was it too mushy? I don't know, I just can't help feeling so bad for the characters…even though they're just one-dimensional pencil and color drawings…haha go figure, I'm weird.
Black Rose of Wilmington: Thank you a lot a lot for the review! I'm glad you found it interesting and I hope you keep reading…let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement!
kahel09: Yup, so I'm done with another chapter. I don't know, though, when my next update will come. I kinda just write when something hits me or when ideas start going so fast that I have to write them down or I'll just pop…if that makes any sense. Anyways, thanks for the review!
Kyo's Favorite Kitty: Yeah, Yuki and Kyo make me sad too, but you can't really blame them. They really need some therapy…haha, but hopefully they will cooperate and be nice soon. They are making progress…
Girl Pika: Thank you, thank you, thank you! That was the nicest compliment I've gotten so far. Haha, I was inspired to write another chapter just because of that…or at least partly. :
Ixilight: Uhh…I think I get what you're saying. I don't know…sometimes I make no sense either, even to myself, haha. Yup, Tohru manages to get in trouble everywhere, but if she didn't, then it wouldn't be Fruits Basket, would it? On the other hand, sometimes, I really envy her, all of that trouble would be so worth it if I had so many cute guys liking me at the same time.