Pleasant Conversation, a fruits basket fanfic

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is the domestic property of Funimation. I'm just doing this for the fun of it and because I love the show so much.

Description: What is it that makes Tohru Honda so special? This is something Akito has decided to discover himself and over the course of a series of casual conversations, he's started to find out. This is just one of those conversations.

Fruits Basket: Episode 27: Pleasant Conversation

Akito lay on the porch staring out into the garden. Most of the summer plants had died back already and the leaves on the trees were beginning to change color. The head of the Sohma family wore his kimono more tightly then usual but still insisted on being outside in this manner, despite Hatori's objections.

The door to his sitting room slid open and a moment later slid back shut.

"Your tea's ready." A tentative, high pitched voice said softly.

"You know you are a guest at this house. You don't have to serve me here. We have people for that," he replied without turning.

"Oh no, that's all right. I don't mind at all," Tohru Honda responded with a smile. She hesitated, "Would you like to take your tea outside today?"

Akito slowly pushed himself to his feet. "No, it would get cold too quickly out here." He closed the door behind him and made his way to his usual spot at the head of the room where he sat down.

Tohru knelt down, careful not to spill any of the tea. She picked up Akito's cup with both hands and gingerly handed it to him.

"Thank you Miss Honda."

She gave a nervous laugh. "Not at all; it's my pleasure, really." She picked up her cup and gently blew into it.

Akito imitated her actions while staring at her over his cup. She always waits for me to drink first no matter how long I take. He grinned then took a sip. Just as he expected, Tohru stopped blowing and took a sip as well.

"Mmm, good, isn't it?" She smiled at him.

"Yes, it's very good actually." He took another drink.

They sat drinking their tea quietly for several minutes before Akito broke the silence. "So Miss Honda, how are things at Shigure's?"

The girl lowered her cup instantly. "Oh everything's fine. Shigure still enjoys tormenting his editor and Yuki… well… Yuki's been very busy lately. What with the Fall Festival coming up and next year's field trip to Okinawa. Being the incoming student council president as well as being on the planning committees for both; Yuki's been very busy." Unconsciously she lowered her head. "And with all the hours I've been working lately, we haven't seen much of each other outside of school."

"Is that right?"

She just nodded without looking up.

They fell silent again as Akito finished his tea. Setting his cup down on the tray he asked. "So are you looking forward to traveling to Okinawa Miss Honda?"

Lost in her thoughts Tohru looked up suddenly. "Oh… no, not really." The hint of confusion upon the head of the Sohma family's face told her she needed to elaborate. "Well, that is… you see… I'm not going." She giggled nervously and set her cup down on the tray.

"You're not going? And why not?" Mild curiosity resonated from his voice.

The young teen lowered her gaze once again. "Well you see, it costs so much for the trip and I barely make enough to pay for tuition as it is." She quickly looked up with a smile. "But it's okay really. I sorta have a fear of flying anyway and I'm not much of a swimmer so I wasn't really looking forward to it anyway. Besides it'll give me a chance to work more that week so I can get ahead on my tuition payments." She laughed nervously.

Akito studied her for a moment, "You seem to be going out of your way not to mention that filthy cat today. Am I correct?"

"Oh…" Tohru looked away. "It's just… well, you always seem to get so upset when I mention Kyo. I just thought I'd try not bringing him up this time around." She bowed her head. "Sorry."

"Does that monster still scare you?"

The kind-hearted girl gasped. Slowly she reached out, picked up her cup again, and looked down into it seeing her reflection in the tea. "Sometimes… yes. Sometimes, when he gets really angry, I think he might change into that form, and that scares me. But most of the time he's just Kyo, and I like him when he's that way. In fact he seems much calmer these days. Much more at ease with himself."

"Does he still fight with Yuki?"

"Yes, but most of the time it seems that it's Yuki who initiates it. I can hardly remember the last time Kyo started a fight with Yuki, but he never backs down when Yuki challenges him."

"I see."

Tohru looked down into her cup again. "To be honest, I'm glad I've seen Kyo's other form. When you think about it, he simply manifests the ugliness that exists in all of us. Sometimes I think it's not the monster that Kyo is capable of changing into that scares me so much as I'm afraid of the monster that exists inside of myself." Looking deeply into the cup Tohru saw her own reflection transform into a medusa. She looked up suddenly with a gasp only to see Akito mildly laughing.

"I'm sorry Miss Honda but about the only creature I can possibly imagine you transforming into is a mouse, and a baby mouse at that."

The teenager laughed timidly. "Maybe you're right, or at least I hope you are."

The dark-haired young man tilted his head slightly, his laughter stopping abruptly. After a few moments of silence he asked, "So neither Shigure nor Yuki offered to pay your way for the field trip?"

"Well, actually they both did, but when Shigure found out how much it was, I think he was pretty relieved that I turned him down."

"And Yuki?"

"Well… to be honest, I think I may have hurt his feelings when I said no. But I just couldn't accept such a generous offer. It's just too much."

"You think?"

"Oh definitely. The trip costs over eighty thousand yen. That's almost a quarter of my tuition. I couldn't allow anyone to pay that for me. I just couldn't."

"I see." Akito stood up and walked over to the window, sliding it open, he gazed out into the cloud filled sky. "You do know that sometimes you can insult a person much more by refusing their offer of kindness then by expecting help when none was offered. Sometimes, refusing someone's help can be considered an unforgivable offense. You wouldn't offend me in that way, would you Miss Honda?"

"Hmm." She didn't know what to say. She bit her lower lip and answered softly. "N-no, of course not."

"Good." He reached out and closed the window, then walked back and sat down. "So tell me about this Fall Festival."

"Oh!" She smiled. "Well it's a culture festival. This year the theme is, A History of Japanese Fashion and Art. Our class is supposed to focus on the Heian period. So we've been gathering prints and making copies of the art from the period. A few girls are even making kimonos that are supposed to be period accurate."

"Is that right?" The head of the Sohma family smiled back.

"Mmm," she nodded. "It should be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to it."

"Are you really? And will you be wearing a period kimono as well?"

"Oh no. I can't afford the material, but not only that. I'm not really that good at sewing, and sewing silk is so tricky. I'm afraid I'd just make a mess of it." She laughed at herself.

"For someone as remarkable as you are Miss Honda, you have a very bad habit of putting yourself down."

"Oh no, there's nothing remarkable about me at all." She blushed and turned away to avoid Akito's powerful gaze. "I'm just an ordinary girl, below average really. I don't do very well in school and I'm really not pretty at all. I'm terrible at sports and not really athletic even. I guess I cook pretty well, at least that's what Yuki and Shigure say but then again I think that maybe they're just being polite. Oh my gosh, I'm rambling again, aren't I? I'm sorry; I should really shut up now. Okay, I'm shutting up now. Really, I don't know why I get so nervous some times and I just can't seem to shut myself up…"

"Miss Honda."

"Oh." She looked up expecting to see an expression of irritation on his face, but instead he simply smiled at her. "Y-yes?"

"It's alright," He stood up. "Come, follow me."

"Oh, all right." She reached out to pick up the tray.

"Leave that, we won't be passing by the kitchen." He walked to the exit.

"A-all right." She stood up and hurried to follow behind him, taking care to close the door.

They walked down one hallway, then another, and still yet another. Tohru looked about but not in an obvious manner, not wanting to appear too nosy since there where people in the rooms they past. Suddenly two people she recognized came running out of a room down the hall. They were running down the hall towards them but were having too much fun laughing and talking to notice the young adults heading their way.

Tohru's gaze shot between the young blonde girl and the head of the Sohma family. She wanted to cry out and warn the young girl but her fear of the young man in front of her caused her to hold her tongue until it was too late.

"Kisa!" Tohru cried out but the girl had already walked into Akito.

She looked up in horror and instantly dropped to her knees and bowed her head to the ground. "I'm sorry Lord Akito. I wasn't paying attention. I'm so sorry. I'll do better next time. I promise."

Akito looked down at the small child, then looked back at his guest. Her eyes pleaded for compassion and he offered her a faint smile. He kneeled down and placed a gentle hand upon Kisa's head. "Sit up Kisa, it's all right," he whispered.

Slowly the girl straightened up, tears were already running down her cheeks.

Akito began to move his hand toward her face.

"Lord Akito, it was my fault, really!" Hiro cried out. "If you're going to punish anyone please punish…"

Akito held up a finger towards the boy, causing him to fall silent instantly. Then he continued to reach out and gently wiped away the girl's tears. "Are you afraid of me Kisa?"

The young girl trembled but answered honestly. "Yes Lord Akito."

"You need not fear me… anymore." He ran his fingers through the girl's hair.

Kisa offered Akito a nervous smile. "Yes Lord Akito."

The young man lowered his hand but continued to offer her a gentle smile. "Very well… now the two of you, go… play."

"Yes Lord Akito." The two young children bowed and ran past the young adults. Kisa hesitated just a second to offer up a smile to Tohru, who smiled back and waved.

A second later the children turned the corner and were out of sight.

Tohru turned to Akito. "That was very nice of you." She grinned.

He stood up and faced her, his smile long gone. "Do you think so? It didn't cost me anything. In the long run it didn't mean anything. I may decide to strike her down tomorrow instead. In which case it would have done more harm than good. It would teach her not to trust what people tell her. Not to trust people at all." He turned and continued walking down the hall.

Tohru gasped, taken aback by the young man's cruel scenario.

"Are you coming?" Akito's commanding voice echoed from around the corner.

"Oh!" The girl walked quickly down the hall until she caught up with him. She remained a step behind him but stole a glance at him every chance she could get. This hall seemed to go on forever and it was much darker than the rest of the house. The doors to the rooms where much larger and the distance between them was much greater.

Coming to the final set of doors Akito stopped and reached out to it, pausing a moment to turn and look at his guest. "These are the family store houses. Hundreds of years of Sohma family history are stored in these rooms." He pointed back down the hall they had just come down.

"Wow." She looked back down the hall. "That's amazing."

Akito slid the door open and walked in. "Watch your step." He made his way to the middle of the room and reached up searching the dark for the light cord. Finding the brittle string, he pulled it and the old light fixture flickered on filling the room with a dim yellow hue.

It took a few moments for Tohru's eyes to adjust to the poorly lit room but slowly she walked in, staying close behind Akito but not too close.

The room was filled with large chests and barrels, with rolls wrapped in paper and wall scrolls that hung from the ceiling. Akito walked to the back of the room to an upright chest in the far corner. With some effort he pulled the doors open, revealing a suit of armor inside. "This belonged to one of my ancestors. He was a samurai lord a hundred years before the Tokugawa era. This was what he wore into battle."

Tohru was in total awe. "It's amazing." She reached out with her hand but kept it several inches away from the suit almost as if she were able to touch the aura the armor emitted. "It's so beautiful."

"Miss Honda."

She looked over. "Oh, sorry." She straightened up and allowed him to close the case.

"Follow me." Akito lead her to the opposite end of the room where a row of oversized chests lined the wall. He brushed the dust off the inscriptions that identified each chest. Finding the one he was looking for he undid the latch and lifted the heavy lid. Inside there were large individually wrapped packages, each tied securely and inscribed upon. Akito moved three of the packages aside before finding the one he was looking for. He pulled it out and read the inscription carefully. "Here." He handed the sizeable package over to Tohru then repositioned the packages he had moved before closing the chest.

Tohru looked down at that package with an uncertain expression. "W-what is this?" she asked.

Akito grabbed the girl by the elbow and led her out of the room, then secured the door closed. "Come." Was all he said and led the way to the main door of the house.

"I enjoyed our conversation today Miss Honda." Akito slid the door open. "Please walk home carefully and whatever you do, don't drop it." He shifted his gaze to the package in her arms.

"But what is it? Should I give it to Shigure or Yuki when I get home?"

"No Miss Honda. It is a gift from me to you." He gave her a rather unnerving smirk.

"A gift? No, I can't accept. It's too much, really." She extended the package towards him.

Akito's expression turned cold. "I thought you said you wouldn't offend me in this way."

"Oh!" Tohru bowed low. "I'm sorry. Really, I'm very sorry. Thank you so much for the gift. I really appreciate it… really. You're far too kind. Thank you for the gift. Thank you so very much." She straightened up and clutched the large package to her chest. "I'll treasure it always. Really I will."

"Yes…" Akito's smile returned. "I'm sure you will." He bowed his head slightly. "Good day Miss Honda."

"Good day Lord Sohma." Tohru bowed low then slipped on her shoes and started down the path to the front gate, but she stopped suddenly and turned to face the young head of the household. "Lord Sohma." She smiled. "I don't believe you will hit Kisa again. I don't believe you're that cruel. I believe there is a kindness to you that for whatever reason you chose not to show… until now." She bowed again. "Thank you again, Lord Sohma." Then she turned and trotted towards the gate.

"A kindness," he whispered. "Perhaps, perhaps Miss Honda… but if such a kindness does exist, then it is only because you managed to find it inside me." He closed the door and retired to his room.

AN: This is my first attempt at a Fruits Basket fanfic. I just finished watching the show this last weekend and absolutely fell in love with it. It was so funny, and silly, and romantic, and sad, and wonderful. It has become and instant favorite and a show I know I'll have to buy.

This is just a short standalone fic showing how Tohru continues to reach out to Akito and slowly but surely does for him what she has managed to do for the rest of the Sohma clan. Can you guess what is in the package? Depending upon the response I get for this fic, you may find out in a subsequent episode.

Thanks so much to my new beta-reader, CrimsonH. It's so much more comforting to be able to post a story after someone else has looked it over. Thanks CrimsonH.

A. Amishi