Disclaimer: I shall have to get my lawyer to ask Takaya-sensei for the ownership of Fruits Basket, but I don't really care about Cinderella (Sorry Cindy!) so I don't own either these two… yet…
Chapter 7:
"W-who's there?" Her voice trembled as she inched forward, holding onto the thick branch as if it were her lifeline. She held it carefully and tightly above her head, ready to strike. "Who's there?" she repeated, slipping out her tone of uneasiness without realizing it.
Another rustle and the young woman almost shrieked. "Calm down, Tohru… Everything is going to be fine…" she started to say a mantra as she inched closer and closer. Breathing very hard and deeply, her hand left the branch and she quickly dried it with her apron. She quickly grasped the branch again.
A louder rustle was heard and she couldn't take it any longer. Tears sprang out of her eyes and she yelled, "AH! TAKE THAT" and she swung the thick branch down—very, very, hard.
Her head went up with surprise as she heard a very distinct word.
"OW!"
--
"I can't believe you…" he mumbled as he crossed his arms. "I can't believe you… I let you lead the way for only five minutes. FIVE frigging minutes and we end up here! HERE!" He yelled, uncrossed his arms and lean forward into the older man's face. He reached out a hand, grabbed his tangled collar and pulled him upright.
"We end up here! In the bushes! And what are we doing here again!" he yelled in a mocking tone as he placed his fingers on his chin and rubbed. "Oh yeah! Because you were being your perverted self!" He shook the older man by the red collar. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" His face, disoriented and blinded by his rage for his older cousin, scared the older cousin.
"And what was the reason we were running away for anyways!" echoed in the older cousin's head. "It causes nothing but harm! Why run away when it only makes things worse!"
"Ne…Haru-kun…" the older cousin started in a comical way. He finally struggled, freed his hand out and waved it in front of the boy. "I'm sorry… I promise to be more…ah… Let's say… I'll try to act more like an adult," he said, covering his golden orbs with his bangs.
The younger cousin looked back in surprise and slowly released him. "Uh… Aya-niisan? Did I turn black again?" he asked, looking around at his surroundings. "'Cause…I don't remember getting here…"
Ayame nodded his head over and over again. "Haru-kun. I think that was the longest time that you've turned black and stayed… Maybe we should have seen Hatori before we left…" He turned his attention back to the bushes and started to pick around the branches.
"What are you doing?" asked the younger man with a raised eyebrow, in his "white" form. He leaned over the older man's shoulder and looked through the branches. What he saw, made a vein twitch. "I can't believe you!" he yelled, waving his arms like mad. He then stood up and stalked off.
Ayame turned his head, only to see that his cousin had stalk off. He raised an eyebrow and looked back in through the branches. Only this time, he didn't see anything. He looked around frantically for the girl, but felt an impact on his head.
A thick branch had fallen right on top of his head and left a goose egg.
"OW!"
--
Her eyes widened as a distinct word was heard. "Eh? W-Who there's!" she shouted this time. She took a few deep breaths and started to raise the branch up again. "If you don't come out after I count to three, I will bring this branch down upon you! VERY HARD!
"ONE!"
A small whimper was heard.
"TWO!"
A rustle in the bushes.
"THREE!"
She took another deep breath and brought down the thick branch again, tears spilling out. "HIIIIIIYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!"
"OUCH!" another distinct word. She looked up just in time to see a tall, young man with black and white hair, hair messed up, leaves, twigs, and branches everywhere covering his gray cloak; drag out a tall woman. The tall woman seemed to look older but didn't act like it. She had long white, silvery hair and golden snake-like eyes. She was wearing a red cloak.
"Nah…," the woman spoke first, nursing her "goose-egg" on her head. "You didn't have to hit that hard… The first time was hard enough…"
Tohru looked at them with a strange look, lowering her branch.
"Huh?"
--
"Mou…" he whispered to himself as he nursed the bump on his head. "That hurt…" He looked over to see what his cousin was doing and found him with his back turned towards him, muttering, "Serves you right…"
"If you don't come out after I count to three, I will bring this branch down upon you! VERY HARD!" he heard a female yell from the other side of the bushes.
"ONE!"
He whimpered slightly while Haru snorted.
"TWO!"
He moved slightly towards the right.
"THREE!"
He waited.
"HIIIIIIYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!" He felt pressure push against him on his head. He was struck on the head by a thick tree branch.
"OUCH!" Haru gave up, walked over to him and dragged him out.
"Nah…," Ayame spoke first, nursing his "goose-egg" on his head. "You didn't have to hit that hard… The first time was hard enough…"
"Huh?"
A beginning of a friendship. How wonderful…
--
"So…Tohru, where we headin'?" a voice asked. It was amazing that you could even hear him to begin with, because his thick, bushy, black beard was covering much of his face.
He walked along side a smaller male, whose hood was over his head and the cloak held the bright turquoise color. He swung his abnormally large arms and cocked his head as he asked.
The shorter male shrugged and replied, "I don't really know… Do you have any place you need to stop by?" He looked up at his friend, careful not to show his face or let his hood slip off.
"No, no. Nowhere really… Jus' wonderin' if I coulda…stop by me old home?" he asked, eyes twinkling and imagining if he could.
"Tohru" nodded and asked, "Where exactly?"
"Oh don' worry. It's jus' ov'r the village there," he said, pointing in a random direction with a confused face, "Or was it… ov'r there?" He moved his large finger over to another direction.
Meeting "Tohru's" worried eyes, he shrugged and said, "Or maybe not…"
--
She nodded and sipped the tea some more. "So… What you're saying…is that… You've been running away…?" she repeated.
Ayame nodded and said, "Well… Actually, we both got in trouble for helping someone escape so we decided to run away…" He was jabbed in his stomach by his cousin. "Ow! Mou… That hurt, Haru…"
But what meant him were a pair of angry gray eyes. Muttering fast and softly, Haru said, "How do you know that she won't tell anyone!"
Ayame only gave him the look that simply, said, "I do know… Trust me…"
Haru gave in.
"So… Aya-chan," the brunette said, "You made dresses and stuff, right?"
Ayame nodded and blushed. "You called me 'Aya-chan'!" he said suddenly.
Tohru looked surprised. "Is it…alright…? If I call you that?" she suddenly asked with wide eyes. "Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to offend you or anything!" she yelled. "I'm so sorry!"
Ayame chuckled. "It's alright. I don't mind. I was just surprised, that's all…" he explained. He turned to look at Haru. "Haru, we should get going."
Haru nodded and both got up.
"Oh!" Tohru suddenly realized what they were doing, "be safe…alright? And you're welcome to come back anytime." She smiled.
Both Ayame and Haru looked surprised at first, but both nodded. "Tohru-chan. If you ever meet up with my brother, please take care of him. And I'm sure you will see him and recognize him," Ayame added and he left the cottage.
Haru looked at Tohru for a minute before saying, "By the way, Ayame is a guy."
Tohru's face flamed up while Haru left, following the older male.
--
A few minutes of silence was broken when the large man spoke. "Oi… Tohru…?" he started, questioning the young man, "Why do 'ya always wear tha' hood?"
The young man stopped walking. He froze.
"Er… 'ya dun' hafta answer if 'ya dun wanna," the large half-giant added quickly.
"Tohru" shook his head. "No, it's alright. I don't mind. It's just…" he trailed off.
"Well… I won' ask anymore, alright? Eh… 'ya alright?" Hagrid asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Tohru" nodded his head quickly and said, "We're having too many distractions. C'mon…"
Chapter Start Date: December 24th
Chapter Finish Date: February 12th
Chapter Post Date: February 17th
Author's Note: I'm sorry. I just don't seem to have the inspiration to write this. I want to though, but I don't really feel like writing it right. I know it's a weird place to leave off, but I'll make a longer chapter next time. (sighs) If you review, it'll motivate me to write faster, alright?